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thoughtsfromlayla · 4 months ago

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A Pirate Quest For Me - Chapter Two

Moodboard by: @dragon-kazansky

Summary: Despite the "Kraken incident" you're back on your feet for a new adventure and rare treasure. The inconspicuous map calls for three items: a mermaid's tear, a bottle of lightning, and a dream crystal.

Notes: ~3.4k words, this chapter was so fun to write. I'll be back from hiatus next week. Can't wait to see you guys again!!

Warnings/Tags: RIP Merman!Dream, chaotic bisexual disaster pirate reader, drunk reader, fingering, prostitution, queued post

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You’re drunk off the ship to Tortuga, with three bottles of rum in your system, when a missionary comes into your path and stops you. He stands in front of the door of the tavern that is calling your name and a rented room with two lovely ladies requiring your attention.

“Do you know what the Creator wants? Do you know the actions of your life will lead you to the fiery pits of Hell? Join the Savior and repent your sins, pirate!” He praises in front of your stumbling self.

“I know what the Creator really wants, dammit! They want me to kill my motherfucking self.” You scream into the face of the missionary, your breath foul with alcohol. “That’s why They fuck with me, that’s why They gave me Dream of the Endless as a soulmate and this fucked up ass life! But the joke’s on Them, I ain’t going to give that motherfucker the satisfaction!” Your drunken ramblings continue as you stumble into the tavern. You slam the door in the missionary’s face and grab a random bottle from the bar top.

The tavern's commotion is loud and shakes the wooden beams on which the building supports itself. You brush off their shouts, wobbling on unsteady legs to the room you rented out for the night.

“Hello, ladies,” You greet them with a lopsided smile and take another swig at the bottle of rum. You briefly lean against the door frame for support as the prostitutes you have hired acknowledge you.

“Captain Fortune!” Katy and Tia greet you with a smile.

You sit down on the provided wide armchair and beckon for one to come to you with a slow finger. Tia straddles your hips easily and smiles down on you. The other circles and sits on the arm itself, running her hands across your chest, and begins to peck your neck with short kisses.

You grab Tia by the hair, pushing her lips towards your own as you drown your sorrows in her softness. She sighs as you force your tongue into her mouth, the taste of her mixing with your own.

Your fingers graze across the thinness of her dress, across the mound of her breast, feeling as her nipple perks from the light sensation. Your hand explores further, familiar with the way her body is shaped, and traces down her stomach and cunt. She’s not wearing anything underneath, and your fingers grow slick as you run it back and forth across her slit.

You watch as she moans, head thrown back, and even if she is pretending to love it, it’s enough for you. Your finger traces slow circles around her enlarged clit and your hips buck up into her impatiently. The smell of sex is heavy and thick in the air, the alcohol is doing its job of dulling your senses, and for one moment, you are allowed to forget.

Katy, meanwhile, is busy untying your blouse, your breasts spilling out as her hands go to grab at it. You moan into the touch, slowly pushing your finger into Tia’s weeping cunt. You pump the appendage as you feel the tightness of her around you.

“Please,” Tia begs and you smile.

“You know I love it when you say that, my sweet,” You croon with lidded eyes and add another finger into her.

“I see you still enjoy the pleasures of the flesh,” Dream’s voice doesn’t surprise you when he comes into the private room.

“It is a good distraction… given current events,” You respond to him, sighing, not bothering to look towards him.

You take your fingers out of Tia, the slickness of her runs down your fingers and you indulge yourself in her taste, pushing your fingers into your mouth. Katy and Tia seem to understand the situation and peel themselves off of you, sauntering off to the provided bed and entertaining themselves. Instead, you keep your eyes on the two women who are more interested in each other than you at the moment.

“Does it remind you of the night you spent with me?” Dream asks hesitantly.

“No,” You lie, your lips hovering over the bottle top. Both of you know you’re lying, but you pretend not to care.

Morpheus watches closely as your wet lips close over the glass bottle. He would never admit out loud the effects you had on him, especially not when you tilt your head back and give him a view of your neck, or the way you swallow the rum slowly, he follows the movement down to your chest.

Oh, how your breasts heave under the influence of cheap and illegal moonshine. It should be moving like that underneath him as he ravishes you in the ways that you deserve. To make you squirm like the first and only night you spent in his bed. Morpheus wants to hear you cry out for him, to depend on him to bring you pleasure once again.

When you finish the last of the rum, you lick your lips slowly, still watching the two bodies pleasure each other in front of you. You turn to Dream with a frown, remembering that he was the reason why you were denied your lovely time with your lady friends.

You take in his clothing; he has shifted back into a human form, his tail splitting into legs. Your eyes take in high-waisted pants and a loose black blouse all covered by a long jacket with buttons down the center of it all.

Your frown deepens as you stare at the hat he wore. “Is that my captain’s hat?” You growl at him, standing up to swipe at it.

In your drunken state, the attempt is more pawing at him than swiping at him. Morpheus watches with amusement as you tumble after your actions, falling back into your chair with a huff. You groan, giving up too easily.

You drop a pouch of coins onto the bed for Tia and Katy and push past Dream as you make your way out of the room, out of the tavern. You invert the bottle of rum, forgetting that the bottle was empty in the first place, and sigh.

Dream follows you like a shadow, his footsteps empty on the merchant dock that you find yourself at. The late summer wind is hot and humid against your skin. The Dream Lord’s presence is like that of overtly sickly sweet candy. The type that gets stuck between your teeth and gums and makes your throat raw from consumption.

Yet, he doesn’t leave, he never will, not when you were right in front of him, not when you were merely an arm's length away. His fingers trace across the curve of your shoulder, feeling the way you breathe under his fingers. He presses himself against your back, and you rest your tired body against him.

It was his pathetic attempt at an apology, to admit that he had done something wrong, but his pride would never let him say the words out loud. Even as you wait for it, watching the sun dip below the horizon, the words never come.

You’re starting to lose yourself in his touch, in the way his warmth spreads across your body better than any type of alcohol could possibly do.

You hate it.

With a groan you push him away from you, turning towards him with a frown. The sound of the last ship disembarking its goods fades into the background as the two of you stare at each other. You’re not sure what came over you, perhaps it’s been a long time coming or it’s the alcohol in your system. But the weight of the empty rum bottle rests easily in your hands.

You launch it full force at Dream’s face.

What’s worse is that Morpheus manages to tilt his head away just in time for the bottle to miss him. A beat of silence follows the two of you.

“You dare‒” He seethes at you.

“Yes, I dare.” You cut him off by repeating his words, mocking his voice in the deep rasp that he has.

The bottle thunks into an open barrel on the dock, floating to the top by the time you reach it. You peek inside, watching the squirming eels writhing against each other. Curiously you notice the zap of electricity between the bodies as they rub against each other.

The bottle is in the center of it all, the nose turns downward and with a slackened jaw in disbelief, you see the electricity form within it. The ball of energy is sporadic inside the glass, bouncing off the walls of its enclosure. You grab at the bottle and bring it closer for inspection but as soon as the bottle leaves the eels, the electricity falls out of the bottle like unraveling yarn until it reaches the eels once more.

“It needs more power…” You mutter to yourself, the cogs in your head are turning, albeit a little slower than usual. Dream’s presence is still looming over you, watching intently as you form a plan to achieve your bottle of lightning.

You think back to the map, it said something about a dying star. That’s when it clicks in your mind. Off the Gulf of Mexico is a ship graveyard, stranded and broken by protruding porous rocks. The rocks are old and otherworldly because they came from…

“Meteorites.” You finish your thoughts out loud, turning to Dream with a satisfied smile. “I know where we must go next.”

“We?” Dream raises an eyebrow at your choice of words. You had never been one to invite him on any of your excursions.

The way he looks at you makes your stomach churn and your throat dry. Simply, it is adoration.

Wait, no, it’s the alcohol.

You double over as the contents of your stomach leave you the way they came in. The taste of acid is heavy on your tongue as you throw up dinner and several bottles of rum all over Dream’s shoes. It paints the shiny black leather into sickly green as you throw up again, the last lingering between your teeth.

After you’re certain the last of your stomach is on the floor you peer at Dream, his face in utter exasperation as he looks between you and his shoes. He lifts a leg, the sound of your sloshing vomit is enough for him to retire any idea he previously had of cleaning it.

“Sorry,” You groan, the smell making your nose scrunch as well. “At least I’m more sober now. I think.”

“You think?” Dream repeats and takes a cautious step back, the sound of slime squishing beneath the boot. And for good reason too as one more bout of nausea washes over you and you empty your stomach once more.

When your swollen eyes open, the first thing you notice is that you’re back in your captain's quarters‒and that it’s morning. The seagulls are perching themselves on the small window ledge that looks out the back of your ship. An odd raven accompanied them, making you blink a few times to determine whether or not it is real.

The thought is quick to disappear as an arm wraps itself tighter around your waist. You follow the arm with a judgemental look to find Dream of the Endless flush to your back.

Fuuuuuuck…

You throw the blanket off your body as if it is on fire, the action waking the slumbering Dream Lord.

“You… me…” You point between your two bodies. “You! Me?!” You grab at your hair as you begin to pace around your quarters. You’re down to nothing but your ruffled blouse, which thankfully was enough to cover your more pirate parts, but otherwise you were completely exposed.

“Nothing occurred,” Morpheus’ morning voice rumbles through his chest as he watches you pace around the room trying to find a pair of pants.

He recalls you doing the same thing last night only you were ridding yourself of the clothes instead of trying to find them. His eyes wander to the farthest corner of the room where he placed his boots, the flaking bits of vomit still on them, and shudders.

“I’m never drinking again,” You groan as you jump into the pants from last night. You rub at a dark spot with a wet thumb and you’re not sure if it’s rum or if it’s Tia’s arousal that stained the pants.

Dream’s ready and dressed by the time you open the door to the rest of the ship. The bustle of your crew working their morning chores greets you. The combination of the sun and their greetings causes the hangover headache to throb painfully in your head.

“G’morning, Captain Fortune,” Theo comes to you with a canteen.

“More alcohol?” You ask dryly. Maybe if you’re drunk again then you don’t have to deal with the consequences of what happens after you’re drunk.

“No, water,” Theo replies as soon as you bring the bottle to your lips.

The water tastes like dried leather and staleness off the bottom of a barrel, yet it is the most delicious thing you’ve ever tasted. You finish the last of it, wiping the drops that manage to drip down your chin with the back of your hand.

“Theo, set course to the Gulf of Mexico, be careful for rocks,” You mention vaguely to him as you slowly begin to recall the events of last night.

“Lower the sails and head out of the coast by way of merchant routes,” Morpheus adds quickly from behind you. You turn to look at him with a sneer. What the fuck?

“Oh, uh‒” Theo blinks between the two of you.

“Don’t tell him what to do, I’m the captain!” You jab a finger into Dream’s chest, feeling the lean muscle underneath. The wind begins to pick up and your crew of misfits start to put away their scrub brushes to set sail.

“Well, he is wearing the captain’s hat,” Theo states matter-of-factly; he even points his finger up.

You turn to him slowly with a frown, your jaw ticking as you grind your teeth together. “It’s my hat in the first place!” You scream as you point at the hat that rests comfortably on Dream’s head. The feather attached to the silk scarf around the leather hat billows in the present wind.

“Yet, I made the ship,” Dream counters easily.

“Sooo…” Theo draws out. “Who do I listen to?”

“Me!” You both say at the same time, yours more irritated than the dark, lanky man beside you.

No, not a man, more than a man, you had to remind yourself with a shake of your head.

“Theo,” You breathe deeply to reset yourself. “Just‒just get us out of dock.”

“Aye-aye, cap’n.” You hear him say as you turn around. Maybe you should take a second nap.

“What was that about?” You hear someone ask Theo between the huff and puffs of their breath as they secure a rope.

“I dunno, maybe it’s a lover’s quarrel.” Theo shrugs as he goes to help.

“It’s not a lover’s quarrel, we are not lovers,” You exclaim, hands flailing in the air as you whip around to their conversation. “I will hang you by your innards and fly you as my new flag if you bring it up again!” You groan and swing your room door open with a harsh exhale from your nose. Dream slinks in like a pesky bug that keeps flying in the same window.

“Then why did he bring her back on the ship last night? And why did he get to stay in the captain’s quarters?” You groan as you hear the last of their conversation, flopping face-first into your bed.

You take another deep breath to calm yourself, the smell of old libraries and leftover cinderwood invade your senses from where Morpheus slept. The idea that it’s actually calming your nerves makes you turn on your back. You’d rather be riddled with anxiety than be calmed by anything from Dream of the motherfucking Endless.

Dream roams your quarters, looking around in the space you’ve created for yourself. His fingers glide over the ivory globe that rests in the middle of the room, tracing the short journey to the Gulf of Mexico.

As you cross territories, the late summer storms brew easily. Rain comes down in a soft sheet, waterfalling off the window. You’ve since gotten from your moping state and instead, find yourself staring out the windows, watching the waves crash into each other.

The instructions of the map play in the back of your head and you only hope that you’re on the right track. The idea did, after all, come to you when you were drunk off your mind. The ship rocks slowly, Theo taking to your instructions quite well. The porous rocks pass by your window as you lose yourself in thought.

“This is for you,” Dream’s voice brings you out of your stupor.

You turn to him and watch as he places a familiar ceramic music box in your hands. He opens the box carefully and the two of you remain quiet as you listen to the nostalgic tune play in time with the dancing couple in the center.

“I thought I lost it,” You whisper, tracing the frame absentmindedly. The song reminds you of the lullaby your mother used to hum to you to sleep.

“No,” Dream pauses, picking his next words carefully. “It was left behind the night…”

Both of you think back to that fateful night many years ago. The storm that night was not so different from the one you currently face. Everything in your life had been working out just dandy. Though you were reluctant to be married off like traded cattle, it would have been a comfortable life. If only your father didn’t get hung for treason against the crown.

At the end of the day, it costed your relationship with your future husband and your mother to run away from all allegations. Last you’ve heard, she’s managed to reinvent herself as someone else’s wife. In your vulnerability, you met Morpheus in a dream dawning on your 24th birthday.

You lost yourself in the pleasure that he was able to give you; to forget your pain amidst the throes of passion and love. Wrapped in each other’s embrace, Dream sees a vision of you as his forever queen. In your softness, in every caress of your skin, in every clash of your lips, he solidifies his vision of you.

Morpheus had finally felt at peace when he watched you writhe beneath him, eyebrows pinched, and the sound of his name on your lips. He woke the next morning to you missing from his arms. Dream watched from across realms as you stole the dowry meant for your ex-fiance and used the money to run away.

You ran away from the consequences of your family, from the grief that had yet to find you from the death of your brother and father. From the betrayal of your mother.

“Right,” You finish the thought by clearing your throat. Dream has yet to stop chasing you since that night.

A knock breaks the moment and Theo enters a moment later. “Thank god,” You huff, placing down the music box on your desk and shutting it. The music that had filled the air stopped abruptly and it was once again just your thoughts that permeated the room.

“Captain Fortune,” Theo starts.

“Storm’s reached its peak?” You ask hopefully.

“No,” Theo pinches his lips. His hands were oddly behind his back as he broke the news.

“Why do you always hurt me so,” You sigh sarcastically. “What is it then?”

“I, uh, found a stowaway,” Theo reveals, a look of concern crossing his face.

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#the sandman #dream of the endless #morpheus #morpheus x reader #the sandman fanfic #dream x reader #dream of the endless x reader #the sandman x reader #sandman x reader #morpheus x reader smut #dream of the endless smut #dream of the endless x reader smut #dream x reader smut #the sandman x reader smut #pirate au #a pirate queen for me

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owosa · 1 year ago

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"XD - Lord of The End"

A Draconequus is "a chimera like species, being a fusion of many creatures which have demonstrated their omnipotence by the ability to use powerful, reality altering magic."

Rambling under the cut

How many End references can I use? yeah (?)

This "god-like-thing" that is XD is too chaotic and unhinged to be anything else in this context. It only crossed my mind for a second to make him an alicorn, but I immediately ruled it out because it has been shown many times that despite being able to move celestial bodies with their magic, they are still very limited in their power levels.

About his body?

I was a little inspired by the appearance of the statue that Foolish built on the server, specifically the hidden face and the halos that intersect in front of it + the white wings.

For the rest, everything that was related to the End and I could use: such as the fact that his face and hands are basically the space that is seen in the End portal. The hind legs and wings of the dragon of course.

The tail was a last an addition because I found the chorus flowers and branches pattern interesting.

Same with the purpur ram horn, while the antler is a choice he made to imitate George's antlers and match with his bestie.

Lastly, the noodle body has a mix of fur and plumage that is clearly inspired by Dream. Why would you copy that? who knows.

I really enjoyed designing this beast, so I hope you like it.

#mlp #my art #dsmp fanart #dreamxd #dsmp xd #this thing

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pyrettawychwiggin · 24 days ago

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Songstress of Skyrim - Chapter 4: Wabbajack

Disclaimer: The following story is centered around my own character, Mhari Freysri, who is the only character in this piece that I own. All other characters and elements of the world within the Elder Scrolls series is the intellectual property of Bethesda. This story contains, not just massive spoilers, but is in and of itself one very long spoiler, as it is based off of my playthrough of Skyrim: Special Edition. You have been advised. Please enjoy this newest installment of my cringy fanfiction.

Mhari blinked through her blurred vision, waiting for something, anything, to come into focus; but her eyes saw only a thick fog unlike any she had ever seen. She'd travelled many journeys through stormy mists and musty fogs, but the atmosphere felt...wrong. She peered through the grey, looking uselessly in all directions for a light; a shadow; anything to give her a hint as to where she had been taken. Her head felt as though it were in a dream-like foggy state; where time was distorted and nonsensical.

Her usual clothes were gone - replaced by quilted pale blue robes with a black leather belt and silver buckle, and upon her head sat the red hat that had been shoved into her mouth before she'd lost consciousness. A brash, familiar voice cut through the air; she whipped her head around to the source of the sound.

"More tea, Pelly my dear?"

"Oh, I couldn't," a gruff, monotone voice replied in what sounded like forced civility. "Goes right through me. Besides I have so many things to do..."

Mhari started to walk towards the sound of the conversation; each movement slow and heavy as if she were moving through molasses.

"...so many undesirables to contend with..."

The monotone voice continued it's cynical reverie as Mhari continued onward.

"...Naysayers. Buffoons..."

Mhari squinted, hoping desperately for something to come into view.

"Detractors. Traitors..."

Finally! Mhari thought excitedly to herself as faint shadows began to appear in the distance as she approached.

"Why, my headsman hasn't slept in three days!"

Mhari had finally arrived at the source of the conversation. In a clearing that seemed immune to the other-worldly fog, stood a long dining table piled with a comical amount of food, the amount of which seemed to cause the table to bow threateningly with the weight of it; plates of stuffed mushrooms, roasted pig, towering piles of dozens of different kinds of cheeses, caramel-covered apples and silver bowls overflowing with bon-bons and berries, and meads and wines of questionable origin were plated haphazardly across it's length. On one long side of the table was a throne-like chair; seated within was a tall, thin man with wild, scraggly snow-white hair that fell just above his shoulders, and a neat, but amusingly-curled moustache and goatee with smatterings of stubble. He wore a two-toned tunic of pink and blood red with a pattern that seemed to shift chaotically in shape; a pattern that Mhari could only describe as 'alive.' His milky white eyes danced in wicked amusement and were focused on his company who sat hunched over in a chair opposite him. Mhari instantly recognized the other man from the painting she had seen earlier. It can't be...

"You are far too hard on yourself, my dear, sweet, homicidally-insane Pelagius," the white-haired man replied, wickedly and yet somehow sympathetically. "What would the people do without you? Dance? Sing? Grow old?"

Mhari watched in confused awe. As she opened her mouth to attempt to speak, she was dismayed to find her voice catching in her throat; as she tried to force out even a single sound, it was almost as if the words would sink like stones back into her subconsciousness.

"You are the best Septim that's ever ruled. Well, except for that Martin fellow, but he turned into a dragon God, and that's hardly sporting," the white-haired man continued, practically rambling at this point. "You know, I was there for that whole sordid affair. Marvelous time! Butterflies, blood, a fox, a severed head...oh, and the cheese! To die for."

Mhari continued to watch the one-sided conversation, uncertain of what to make of the bizarre recounting of the white-haired man.

"Yes, yes," Pelagius III sighed in exhausted irritation, propping his chin on his hand as he leaned on the table, looking as though he would collapse at any moment. "As you've said countless times before..."

"Harumph!" the white-haired man exclaimed jokingly, folding his arms in a mocking pout with a stamp of his foot. "Well, if you're going to be like that, perhaps it's best I take my leave!"

"Yes, yes, go," Pelagius III waved his hand lazily as if to shoo his host away. "Leave me to my ceaseless responsibilities and burdens."

"A good day to you, sir!" the white-haired man raised a hand in the air and with a flick of his wrist, Pelagius III vanished in a puff of bright blue smoke and light. "I said good day!"

"How rude!" the white-haired man's head turned to regard Mhari as he spoke. Mhari nearly jumped out of her skin when she blinked and found herself in the chair that Pelagius III had just been sitting in, looking to her host across of the table as he vented to her ironically. "He couldn't even be bothered to host an old friend for a decade or two."

"That man you were just talking to," Mhari began, her head swirling, almost as if she'd had a couple bottles of mead. "Was that-,"

"Pelagius III!" the man finished her sentence, confirming her assumption and only deepening her confusion. She blinked at him, stupefied. "Now surely even you know about Pelagius' decree?"

"Decree?"

"On his deathbed - oh and this was inspired - he forbade..." he began, apparently waiting for Mhari to guess; she shrugged in uncertainty before he continued. "Death!That's right; death! Outlawed!"

"How would that even work...?" Mhari's thoughts trailed off for a moment before she shook her head and returned herself halfway to her senses. "Wait, where even are we?"

"Inside the mind of Pelagius, silly," the white-haired man scoffed as if this fact should be common knowledge. "Oh, is it your first time?"

"Yes, it's my first time; and hopefully my only time," Mhari replied uneasily, wanting to get to the point. "I'm here to deliver a message."

"Reeaaaallllyyyy?" the man grinned, playfully curling the moustache of his goatee upward, raising his eyebrow dramatically. "Ooh, ooh what kind of message? A song? No. A summons? Wait, I know! A death threat written on the back of an Argonian concubine! Those are my favourite."

Mhari looked blankly at the man, blinking incredulously at his slough of mock guesses, wondering if he had truly ever received a message in such a manner; somehow, she felt she would be more surprised if he hadn't. This concerned her even more.

"Well, spit it out, mortal. I haven't got an eternity!" he chortled before pausing as if he'd just remembered something. "Actually...I do. Little joke. But seriously. What's the message?"

"I was asked to retrieve you from your, uh..." Mhari's eyes scanned the table of strange foods and the foggy clearing, surrounded by a circle of stone archways and dead trees. "...vacation."

"Were ya now?" the man leaned forward, his elbows on the table, wresting his chin on his fingers as he laced them together, seeming to practically challenge Mhari to continue. He tilted his head to the side innocently. "By whom?"

"I was sent by-" Mhari started to answer, but was surprised when her hat flung off her head and shoved itself into her mouth.

"WAIT! Don't tell me." the man interrupted, holding up his hands, rising to his feet to pace back and forth as he spoke. "I want to guess."

Mhari let out a muffled grumble as she tried to yank the hat from her mouth to no avail.

"Was it Molag?" the man asked aloud, thinking more to himself than to Mhari. "No no...little Tim, the toymaker's son?"

Mhari furrowed her brow, yanking even harder on the hat that didn't seem to want to budge.

"The ghost of King Lysandus...? Or was it...Yes!" the man pointed at Mhari with a victorious slap on his knee. "Stanley! That talking grapefruit from Passwall!"

Mhari looked at the man with a deadpan expression, having finally removed the hat from her mouth.

"Wrong on all accounts, aren't I?" he shrugged lazily with a grin. "No matter! Honestly, I don't want to know. Why ruin the surprise?"

She glared daggers at the man as she set her hat to the side. The man noticed Mhari's angry expression, and smiled wickedly as he slowly began to rise to his feet.

"But more to the point..." the man's voice became lower; and more sinister as he stepped up onto the surface of the table, taking steps toward Mhari. "Do you - tiny, puny..." Mhari gulped nervously as the man leaned into her face, his milky white eyes peering into her soul threateningly; this was the first time since she'd come here that she felt she was really, and truly, in danger. Her angry expression shifted to one of worry and great discomfort. "...expendable mortal - actually think you can convince me to leave?" the man's smile widened almost unnaturally, practically from ear-to-ear, causing Mhari to sink back into her chair. "Because that's...crazy. You do realize who you're dealing with here?"

"You're a madman," Mhair's words left her mouth before she'd thought it through. She clasped her hands over her mouth and watched the man, uncertain of how he would respond.

"Jolly good guess, but only half-right. I'm a madGod," the man extended his arms out to his sides and lifted his head ceremoniously, basking in his own introduction. "The Mad God, actually. It's a family title. Gets passed down from me to myself every few thousand years."

Mhari let out an involuntary chuckle.

"Now you," the man pointed at Mhari, his finger an inch away from her nose. "You can call me Ann Marie."

"You want me to call you Ann Marie?" Mhari inquired suspiciously.

"Sure, you can call me that if you want," the man began, pausing for dramatic effect. "...but only if you're partial to being flayed alive and having an angry immortal skip rope with your entrails."

Mhari blinked at him, uncertain of how to respond. "I'd...rather not."

In the blink of an eye, the man's demeanor changed from hysterics to that of a suave nobleman.

"Then you can call me Sheogorath, Daedric Prince of Madness," he said finally, lowering into an exaggerated bow. "Charmed."

Mhari's eyes widened; she had heard of the Daedra in occasional folk stories from back home; but to encounter a Daedric Lord...she found herself equal parts fascinated and terrified.

"So..." Mhari gulped nervously, hoping she wouldn't fall out of the Daedra's favour by pressing the issue. Sheogorath was still bent over in his bow, unmoving. "Does that mean you've leave...? Or not?"

"Now, that's the real question, isn't it? Because honestly, how much time off could a Daedra really need, right?" Sheogorath shot back up into a standing position, tapping his chin as he spoke as though he was giving Mhari's words some serious thought; though, she couldn't tell whether or not he was being sincere or if he was simply toying with her. After a long pause, he snapped his fingers as if he'd come to a decision. "You know what? Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to leave. That's right - I'm done. Holiday complete!"

"Wait, really?" Mhari asked hopefully, grateful that her task had turned out to be so simple.

"Time to return to the hum-drum day-to-day," Sheogorath let out a forlorn sigh and shrugged. He noticed Mhari relax into her chair slightly before snickering and continuing his thought. "On one condition."

Mhari frowned and her stomach dropped. A condition from a Daedric Prince. Why do I feel like he's just messing with my head?

"Well, that's because I am, mortal!" Sheogorath scoffed with a boisterous guffaw.

"What?" Mhari exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock. Can he hear my thoughts?!

"Not important," Sheogorath waved her off, leaving little time for pause before he continued. "My condition is simple - you have to find your way out of this place. Easy!"

"Okay..." Mhari sighed, feeling her fear and frustration rising with every second. She folded her arms in discomfort, attempting to quell her anxiety of what was to come. "What's the catch?"

"Ha!" Sheogorath slapped Mhari on the shoulder with sheer amusement. "Idolove when the mortals know they're being manipulated. Makes things infinitely more...interesting."

"What is it that you want me to do?" Mhari pressed on, genuinely concerned about the answer to come, but ready for this encounter to be over.

"Care to take a look around?" Sheogorath spun around with his arms outstretched to his sides, motioning to their foggy surroundings. "This is not, dare I say, the Solitude botanical gardens. Have you any idea where you are? Where you truly are?"

Mhari looked around her once more and shook her head as she turned her gaze back to the Daedra. "I assume this wouldn't be the Shivering Isles that your, er...friend mentioned."

"Welcome...to the deceptively verdant mind of the Emperor Pelagius III" the Daedra announced finally, his smile now extending fully from ear-to-ear. "That's right! You're in the head of a dead, homicidally insane monarch!"

"This is what the inside of his mind looks like?" Mhari whispered in fascination. Her excitement grew slightly at the prospect of literally being able to see into the mind of a historical figure; even a mad one.

"Now, I know what you're thinking." Sheogorath began. Out of nowhere, he produced an uncanny, and rather disturbing linen puppet of Mhari in her party robes with button eyes and what appeared to be real human hair and teeth with flecks of blood still speckling them. Raising his speaking voice into a shrill, squeaky mockery of her own, he continued. "Can I still rely on my swords and spells and sneaking and all that nonsense?"

Mhari was too disturbed by seeing herself in Daedric puppet form to respond.

"Sure, sure..." Sheogorath responded to his own question in his original voice. He slyly tucked the puppet behind his back. "Or you could use..."

"I could use...?" Mhari mumbled impatiently, flinching backward as Sheogorath began to step closer to her.

"The Wabbajack!" Sheogorath sang, presenting Mhari with a strange staff, poking her in the nose playfully as he exclaimed. "Huh? Huh? Didn't see that coming, did you?"

Mhari took the staff slowly as Sheogorath waved her away, returning to his seat as he poured a glass of wine, cackling under his breath, contentedly ignoring her at this point.

The staff was short - only about the length of one of her arms - and was made from fine, clearly-enchanted ebony Upon it's head were three extremely-detailed carved faces - one of glee, one of outrage, and one of sorrow - all of which strongly resembled Sheogorath himself, but each was more disturbing than the last as their mouths stretched open into what appeared to be screams. It was strangely heavy in her arms, and just the feel of the ebony on her fingertips made Mhari's skin crawl as she could practically feel the magic of it's insanity seeping into her skin. Whatever I'm to do, I'd best do it quickly. I don't know if I should be in contact with this thing for too long.

Mhari looked at the three stone arches surrounding the foggy clearing; each leading to a path into the mists, and each looked completely identical. I suppose I should just choose a direction...

As Mhari passed the threshold of the first archway, the air suddenly grew colder as uncertainty crawled up her spine. The path forward was lined with dead trees and bushes, the only life seeming to be occasional smatterings of glowing torchbugs, but as Mhari peered closer at one of the insects, she noticed they were bizarrely flying upside down, their lights pulsing in unison to the tempo of a slow heartbeat. Mhari slowly started to reach out to touch one.

"A-ha!" the raspy voice of Sheogorath cut through the silence like a knife as he appeared upside down mere inches from Mhari's face.

"DAMMIT!" Mhari cursed as she nearly doubled over in shock. The Daedra's cackling laugh made her flush in embarrassment. He floated in the air upside down, standing as if his feet were firmly planted on the ground. "What was that for?!"

"Oh, I just thought I'd lighten the mood, mortal!" Sheogorath chuckled as he watched Mhari catch her breath, attempting in vain to slow her heart. "You chose an awfully sad path, after all."

"What do you mean?" Mhari asked, tentatively walking forward along the path as the upside-down Daedra floated alongside her, moving his legs as if he were walking naturally on solid stone.

"Pelagius hated many things. Assassins, wild dogs, the undead, pumpernickel...but the deepest, keenest hatred was for himself." Sheogorath explained; Mhari was uncertain as to why he was telling her these things. What does any of this have to do with me finding my way out of this realm?

"The attacks he makes on himself can be seen just beyond that wall of mist."

Mhari peered forward as she neared a second stone archway where she could see nothing but white. With a gulp, she walked through the fog to hear the sound of obscenities and was sounded like a very one-sided fight. In the next clearing were two figures; one was clearly Pelagius himself, standing numbly, his arms to his sides as a second figure, much taller than himself, mercilessly beat him to a pulp.

"Hey!" Mhari called out, rushing forward in an attempt to stop the fight. "Stop hitting-" Her words caught in her throat as she approached them. The figure that was punching the emperor was none other than another likeness of Pelagius dressed in the armour of an Imperial Soldier his face contorted into a hateful grimace as he continued his relentless onslaught of violence. "Stop hitting...yourself?"

"Ha!" Sheogorath guffawed in delight at Mhari's confusion. She scowled at him. "As you can see, the self-loathing enhances Pelagius' anger; but his confidence will shrink with every hit."

As Mhari watched on for a few more seconds, she began to notice that the submissive Pelagius seemed to indeed be shrinking in size.

"Use the Wabbajack and bring the two into balance." Sheogorath said finally, disappearing into thin air, and leaving Mhari alone with the two figures.

Mhari drew the staff and looked at it quizzically. I don't even know what this thing will do... Mhari's eyes darted between the Pelagius' in front of her. Perhaps I should use it on the aggressive one. In case the staff will simply outright kill it's target. Here goes...

Mhari pointed the staff at the angry Pelagius; with a bolt of red light and a puff of red smoke, there was momentary silence. When the smoke cleared, two angry Pelagius' dressed in Imperial armor appeared and began charging to the true Pelagius, much to Mhari's dismay.

"Ack! That's not what I wanted to do!" Mhari scrambled in an awkward panic as the true Pelagius now found himself being beaten by not one, but two assailants, though he still refused to retaliate. Mhari pointed the Wabbajack to the true Pelagius and gulped in anticipation. "If this doesn't work, I'm sorry!"

She allowed the spell to fly to him, once again causing a puff of red smoke. Almost immediately, the two angry Pelagius' shrunk to the size of wild rabbits, and the true Pelagius emerged from the smoke, standing tall, confident and entirely unscathed. After shooing the rabbits off into the fog with a victorious stomp, Pelagius turned to look at Mhari through his blood-shot ghoul-like eyes before rewarding her with a grateful bow. He then faded from her view as the surrounding mists grew thicker until she could see nothing but white. What the hell is happening now?

Before she could act, the mists cleared and she found herself in the dining chair across from Sheogorath once more.

"Wonderfully done!" he sang with an enthusiastic applause. "Pelagius is finally ready to love himself...and continue hating everyone else. But you're not done yet, mortal. Two more paths to go."

Sheogorath motioned an arm lazily to the next stone archway. That wasn't so bad. I can do this. Mhari thought to herself with a renewed sense of confidence.

As Mhari wandered down the next path, she noticed the area looked much the same as the previous one, but this time, the dead trees on either side of the path were floating just above the ground, roots and all, and the upside-down torchbugs now appeared to be dancing, their lights bouncing rhythmically from side-to-side amongst the dead branches of the hovering trees. Mhari suddenly felt her arm yanked to the side. She yelped as she was violently flipped upside-down, being whisked across the path by Sheogorath in a comical and chaotic waltz as he cackled in delight.

"You've headed down the path of dreams." Sheogorath spun Mhari outward, nearly knocking her face-first into a dead tree. She gasped in shock as the patterns in the bark quickly morphed into that of a shrieking man's face, twisted in either pain or anguish. Before Mhari could comprehend what she was seeing, Sheogorath was pulling her back into step. "Unfortunately for you, Pelagius suffered night terrors from a young age."

Mhari struggled to keep the pace in the haphazard dance, the trees around her whirling by in the background beyond the Daedra - they were moving too fast to make out details, but she could catch glimpses of dozens of faces in the bark and the branches, each more tortured than the last. They bounded into another clearing as Sheogorath released her without warning, nearly sending her flying into the ground. She sighed in exhaustion as she stopped to catch her breath. "For the love of Kynareth."

As she looked around her, Sheogorath was gone. In the center of the clearing was a large, wooden bed whereupon laid Pelagius as he slumbered, but his sleep seemed to be anything but peaceful as his breathing was ragged, and his muscles and limbs twitched restlessly.

"All you need to do is find something wake our poor Pelagius up." Sheogorath's voice could be heard echoing all around the clearing, but Mhari still couldn't see the Daedra anywhere. "You'll find his terrors easy to repel, but persistent."

Mhari leaned forward and put a hand on Pelagius' shoulder, shaking him gently at first, then a little more firmly when he didn't seem to stir. No matter how loud she raised her voice or how violently she shook him, his eyes remained shut. She sighed and aimed the Wabbajack at him, uncertain as to how this would effect him. "Casting this on you seemed to be the solution last time, so hopefully, this should work."

The red puff of smoke surrounded Pelagius for a second before fading, but nothing seemed to happen. Mhari frowned in confusion, her shoulders drooping in disappointment. "That didn't work...dammit."

As she stood pondering at Pelagius' bedside, she heard what sounded like a low, rumbling growl from behind her. She turned to see a black wolf the size of a horse approaching her; Mhari's stomach dropped as she realized it's eyes were completely white with no pupils, it's fangs spotted with brown flecks of dried blood and decay, but sharp as knives, it's fur, patchy and stringy with what appeared to be infected patches of rotting flesh and pus beneath. What was most disheartening was the white abundance of foam-like saliva dripping from it's mouth that seemed to hiss and sizzle, causing patches of grass to disintegrate as the droplets made contact with the ground.

"Easy, friend..." Mhari put a hand out, attempting to calm the wolf, but she had never seen one this fierce. It lowered before lunging at Mhari with a guttural snarl, snapping it jaws at her, narrowly missing her as she dove out of the way.

It's fine. I'm in Pelagius' mind. Which means none of this is physically real. Mhari thought to herself, trying to ease her nerves. It can't actually hurt me.

The wolf turned and ferociously lunged at her a second time, it's claws dragging across the skin of Mhari's leg as she attempted to dodge it once more. She let out a hiss of shock and pain as a searing sensation shot through her leg.

"There goes that theory," Mhari gulped, trying to scurry backward to create some distance between her and the wolf. As it began to charge her, she held out the Wabbajack and sent a red puff of smoke to connect with the fearsome beast. She clenched her eyes shut, uncertain that her counter attack would work. The air was still and silent for a moment before she opened one eye to see a golden-haired goat with ivory-white hooves and horns where the wolf had just been; grazing around the patches of disintegrated grass. As she approached Pelagius once more, she shook his arm to try and wake him, but he still did not respond. Knowing what she had to do, she took a step back and cast the Wabbajack's spell on his once again, watchful and ready for whatever nightmare awaited her. After a moment of silence, there came a blood-chilling war cry through the mists.

An iron-clad warrior standing thirteen feet tall, wielding an axe that was larger than Mhari herself, came barreling out of the fade, weapon raised as he rushed her. Once again, Mhari took aim and cast the spell. There was a puff of red smoke that connected with the warrior's chestpiece, but to Mhari's dismay, nothing seemed to happen, and the figure didn't even slow his pace as he continued to close the distance between them. Mhari gasped and moved to the side as the axe dropped to the ground where she had just been standing, causing the earth itself to seemingly shake with the force of the swing.

"One blow from that axe and I'm nothing but a stain," Mhari gulped nervously, looking at the Wabbajack. "Why didn't that work?!"

The warrior began to rush her once more. As Mhari narrowly dodged another swing of the axe, she bunted the shoulder plate of the warrior with the end of the staff, causing the plate to fall to the ground and vanish, revealing the scarred skin underneath.

"The armor!" Mhari exclaimed in understanding. His armor is deflecting the Wabbajack's magic!

She pointed the Wabbajack at the warrior once more, aiming carefully, and letting fly another spell. Sure enough, as the magic landed on the patch of skin at the warrior's arm, the telltale red smoke engulfed him, clearing to reveal the likeness of a young Pelagius, sitting cross-legged on the ground as he played with a small knitted axe and a stuffed king doll.

Mhari whipped her head around hopefully to look at Pelagius, but still he slumbered with no signs of stirring.

"Dammit!" Mhari hissed. "How many of these nightmares do I need to fend off?"

In frustration, Mhari cast the spell on Pelagius once more. On the other side of his bed, appeared a Hagraven. Mhari had read about them in stories, but she had never seen one in real life before; the Hagraven would have been nearly seven feet tall if not for the massive hump of her back that caused her to curl in a permanent hunch. Her eyes were black as coals, with no white to be seen, her nose long and curved like a hook, her scalp nearly bald with only tufts of oily grey patches about her head. Where Mhari expected wrinkly fingers, she saw talons that had been doused in old blood and who knows what else, and scattered on the Hagraven's arms and legs were a smattering of course black feathers by which they were known.

To Mhari's confusion, the Hagraven didn't move. She simply stared at Mhari, each of her breaths a dry wheeze as she clicked her talons together impatiently. She isn't attacking me? Mhari cautiously took a step forward, but the Hagraven stayed where she was; Mhari pointed the Wabbajack at the Hagraven, holding it only iches away from her nose - still, no response. Mhari calmly cast the spell and watched the grotesque features of the Hagraven alter and shift to that of a sultry tavern wench with short fire-red hair and a wink in her eye. She smiled knowingly at Mhari and whispered in her ear, "my hero," before turning and sauntering away to sit beside the young Pelagius.

Mhari sighed and pointed the Wabbajack to cast it upon the still-slumbering Pelagius again. In burst of fire and light appeared a somewhat humanoid creature that appeared to consist of fire and black brimstone-like armor; it floated menacingly in the air, it's goat-like horns curving along their head, trailing a plume of fire behind them. A flame atronach. I've only ever seen them conjured up by skilled mages; but there's no mage here for me to defeat. Mhari thought to herself. I'll have to fight it directly.

The atronach started to glide at Mhari hurling darts of fire her way as she narrowly attempted to dodge each blow; Mhari attempted to aim the Wabbajack at her assailant, but the atronach's onslaught of attacks was making it nearly impossible to ensure a clear shot.

"Dammit!" Mhari felt the heat a little too closely as she dove away from yet another attack. Just as she was beginning to feel herself losing her grip on her evasive maneuvers, to her shock, the wolf-turned-goat charged at the atronach and bunted it in the legs, causing it to turn it's attention to the small creature. Wasting no time, Mhari sent a bolt of the Wabbajack's magic hurling at the atronach before it could burn the brave goat to a crisp. With the tell-tale puff of red smoke, a crackling campfire roared where the atronach had been just moments ago. The goat went back to contentedly grazing nearby, ignoring Mhari's presence entirely once more.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take," Mhari sighed, standing at Pelagius' bedside, looking hopelessly at the sleeping monarch. She raised the staff to point it at him once more and hesitated for a moment before letting out a breath of resignation, and lazily cast the spell. Almost immediately, Mhari felt the fast-approaching heat of an incoming fireball spell, diving away and breaking into a sprint as she looked to where the blow had come from. Floating ominously at the edge of the clearing was what appeared to be some form of Draugr in tattered robes that bore sections of chitin armor, and an ancient-looking stone mask with a tarnished copper circlet set within the material. In one hand, the Draugr bore a wooden staff with a head that curled into that of a fierce-looking dragon, indicating it's use in powerful destruction spells. In it's other hand was a shield-sized ball of raging fire, ready to be hurled at any moment.

Mhari started to attempt to move, but a pit formed in her stomach when her legs refused to respond. It was as if the bottoms of her feet had been sewn to the ground beneath her. No! Mhari began to panic; she could swear she heard the creature chuckling from behind it's stone mask. My only chance is to land the spell before he lands his on me.

The fireball lifted into the air and began to hurdle towards Mhari. With a shout laced with terror and determination, Mhari cast the Wabbajack's spell; she was certain she hadn't cast it in time as for a moment, all she could see was a wall of fire. But the red dart of Daedric magic cut through the fireball like a bullet through smoke and engulfed the Draugr, dissipating the flames around her within seconds.

Where the Draugr had been now sat a large chest with no lock. Mhari's knees buckled beneath her as relief set in and she attempted to catch her breath. In the corner of her eye, she spotted movement coming from Pelagius for the first time. Sure enough, he rose from his resting position and swung his legs over the side of the bed with a stretch and a yawn.

The mists surrounded Mhari as they had done before and she was once again sitting across from Sheogorath, regarding her with a grin and a raised eyebrow.

"Well, now; that's something to crow about!" Sheogorath nodded in approval as he took a sip of wine. "With Pelagius up and about, we'll both be home in no time. Only one more path, mortal! Chop chop!"

Mhari's shoulders drooped in exhaustion as she dragged her feet to the final stone archway. This path was the strangest of the three; the trees now floated above the ground, upside down with heir roots extending to the sky as strange, black, ink-like strands sifted into the seemingly endless sky above; the faces that Mhari thought she had seen in the trees before were now very clearly detailed, and incredibly well-defined, as if tortured souls were truly trapped beneath the bark, and from the branches of the trees, Mhari noticed the wood was flaking off to fall on the ground, revealing a layer of bright red underneath. Nearly the moment she had walked halfway down the path, Sheogorath appeared, walking beside Mhari in an uncharacteristically normal fashion.

"Oh, this is a good path!" he sang excitedly. "Well, good for me. I find everyone being out to get you so terribly entertaining!"

As Mhari looked around her, she could see no dancing torchbugs, but she could swear she could see eyes in the mists, peering at her, watching her every move. Well, that's troubling.

"You see, Pelagius' mother was, well...let us say 'unique.' Although I suppose in the grand scheme of things, she was fairly average for a Septim," the Daedra sighed wistfully as he continued. "That woman wielded fear like a cleaver. Or...did she wield a cleaver and make people afraid? I never get that part right."

"Both?" Mhari sighed.

"Nevertheless, she taught her son well. Pelagius learned at a very early age that danger could come from anywhere, at anytime, delivered...by anyone."

Mhari felt a chill crawl up her spine and the sudden urge to watch her back, uncertain as to whether or not she had reason for alarm, or of this emotion was simply another of Sheogorath's influences.

"'The objective is simple, you simpleton!" Sheogorath cackled. "Use your Wabbajack to defeat the enemy"

"Who's the enemy?" Mhari asked. "The shadows in the fog?" As Mhari's eyes darted from white space to white space in the hostile mists, she stumbled on a single, solitary raised root, landing face down in the dirt.

With a curse under her breath, she pulled herself to her feet to find Sheogorath had once again disappeared, and she now stood in the center of a large stone colosseum, the same eyes that she had seen in the mists now spectators surrounding her from all directions. Mhari turned quickly to see one raised seating area a pompous noble dressed in extravagant golden robes and two golden-armoured guards. The noble watched Mhari with a cruel amusement in his eye as he dined on roasted pig and deep-purple wine.

Before she had a chance to dwell any longer, a figure suddenly emerged - a floating, wildly-shifting grouping of large rocks rotating within the dust and debris of a vortex, humming with a constant hum of lightning within - a storm atronach three times her size came barreling out of the mists, sending a bolt of white-hot electricity her way. Mhari gasped in pain as it connected with her arm, feeling the shock course through her body, dropping her to the ground instantly.

As she crouched, stunned and unable to move, the atronach, rushed towards her ominously. As the boulders that formed it's haphazard form lifted into the air, Mhari felt a deep-rooted panic set in as her body refused to respond to her desire to escape. It's going to crush me to paste, and I can't move! Mhari attempted in vain to will her legs back to life, to no avail. No, no, no, no, no.

Mhari clenched her eyes shut, waiting for the dreadful, blunt force of stone breaking over her head, but it didn't come. Warily, she opened her eyes to see the storm atronach frozen in place, a boulder hovering only a hair's length away from her forehead. It trembled as if attempted to shake off the spell, but this gave Mhari just enough time to scramble backward before she felt something pound the ground near her, sending her flying across the arena with a yelp.

She managed to regain her footing and quickly attempted to point the Wabbajack at whatever had nearly crushed her.

Another atronach - one of frost - even larger than the storm atronach, stood attack-ready. It was a faceless, hulking humanoid-creature made entirely of ice and snow, with massive shards of ice tapered to pointed spikes to serve as each arm.

Mhari cast the Wabbajack's spell upon both atronachs, but nothing happened. The storm atronach burst through the ice with a thunderous crash, sending needles of ice clattering across the arena. As Mhari backed away, uncertain of how best to proceed, she heard a loud laugh of amusement from the spectating noble, and she was hit with a sudden realization. "Use the Wabbajack to defeat the enemy..." she whispered under her breath.

She pointed the staff at the noble; as she was about to cast the spell, the storm atronach sent a boulder rolling at Mhari. She yelped in pain as it collided with her arm, knocking the spell off-course, striking instead, the guard to the left of the noble. "Dammit!" she hissed, holding her aching arm with a wince. To her surprise, however, the guards disappeared in a puff of red smoke to reveal two large golden wolves, who immediately descended upon the noble, tearing him limb-from-limb without hesitation. Mhari's stomach turned at the sound of the shrieking man and the monstrous snarling that echoed through the arena. The frost atronach shattered into thousands of pieces of ice; the storm atronach cracked and crumbled into dust, and everything grew silent save for the panting on the wolves above, now lounging full and content in the spectator's area where the noble had once been.

Mhari's vision faded to white as she was transported once more to her chair at the dining table in the clearing.

"Oho! I thought you'd never figure it out!" Sheogorath chuckled in delight, swinging his legs over to dangle at one side of his chair, crossing them casually as he scratched behind the ears of the golden wolves who now sat by his chair, tails wagging happily as he fed them scraps of suspicious meat.

"To be fair, I didn't exactly figure anything out," Mhari sighed, lifting her hand to rub her sore arm, only to find the soreness had faded as if nothing ever happened. "My spell missed my target; that was just a lucky coincidence."

"But you did use the Wabbajack; and the enemy was defeated." Sheogorath waved the wolves away into the mists. "With the threat gone, Pelagius is under the illusion that he is safe, which means you've helped him out. Sort of."

"You said that was the last path, right?" Mhari sighed in exhaustion. She had no sense of time in this place; she felt that she easily could have been there for multiple days, and she could feel her eyelids growing heavy. "Have I fixed Pelagius' mind?"

"Hmmm...'fixed' is such a subjective term. I think 'treated' is far more appropriate, don't you?" Sheogorath tossed a small blue bonbon into the air, effortlessly catching it in his mouth. "Like one does to a rash...or an arrow in the face."

"I feel like there's not much 'treating' an arrow in the face," Mhari spoke with an idle yawn, Sheogorath's nonsense seeming to phase her less and less the more tired she became. "I think you'd just be dead at that point."

"Ah, no matter...Pelagius Septim III. Once the mad emperor of Tamriel, now so boringly sane. I always knew he had it in him." Sheogorath rose from his seat and stretched with a loud groan before propping his hands on his hips and grinning at Mhari. "Heartless mortal that you are, you've actually succeeded - and survived!"

"Heartless?" Mhari frowned, taken aback by the Daedra's choice of words. "How am I heartless? I've helped Pelagius, I've played your game; I'm even helping your servant Dervenin in the process."

The lines around Sheogorath's eyes creased into a wicked, intrigued smile. With a snap of his fingers, the Daedra vanished and reappeared behind Mhari as he leaned in close to her ear, his speaking voice lowering to what sounded like a purr or a demented whisper. "Much pain and suffering is to come; and you will be the one to deliver it."

From behind her, he reached down to her wrists and slowly raised her hands so that she could see her palms. Mhari gasped in horror to see them dripping with what appeared to be dark red blood. She raised her gaze once more to the dining table. What had once been an extravagant display of decadent dishes and desserts, was now piled with offal and gore, a trail of blood leading to Mhari's now bare feet, the feeling of ooze and chunks of flesh and organs squelching between her toes where she stood. She began to shake uncontrollably as her blood-stained hands began to elongate and wrinkle before her eyes, long black claws tearing through the tips of her fingers causing her to let out panicked, gasping shrieks as she rubbed her hands desperately, trying to stop the transformation. As she scratched her talons against the flesh of her arms, practically tearing herself apart, oily black tufts of what appeared to be bristling feathers began to emerge from her wounds. Mhari's ears began to ring as her fear ran rampant, taking over each of her senses until she felt that she could no longer stand it.

But then...stillness.

Mhari's chest rose and fell with residual panic, but the table was once again adorned with steak and wine; there wasn't a drop of blood to be seen, and Mhari raised her arms to see them intact and as human as they had ever been. Sheogorath was now standing in front of her with the same wicked ear-to-ear smile that he'd had before Mhari's vision.

"After all this time spent digging through the mind of a homicidal maniac..." he spoke quietly, leaning forward to once again whisper in Mhari's ear. "I know a nightmare when I see one."

Mhari's lips quivered as she attempted to find the words to respond. Finally, all she could force out, though barely audible was, "you're wrong."

Sheogorath took a step back from Mhari and looked at her in silence for what felt like an hour; his expression now blank and painfully unreadable. He then jumped into a highly-animated shrug and a casual grin, "could be! But I've enjoyed our little game; you mortals just make it so easy."

Mhari frowned, clenching her fists in fury.

"Nevertheless, I am forced to honour my end of the bargain," Sheogorath bent into a comical bow, extending an arm to the side to motion into the mists. "So congratulations; you're free to go."

"Really?" Mhari relaxed slightly, uncertain as to whether or not she should show too much hope.

"I...have been known to change my mind, so...go. Really." The Daedra waved his hand flippantly as if to shoo her away. "Well, I suppose it's back to the Shivering Isles. The trouble Haskill can get into while I'm gone simply boggles the mind."

Who the hell is Haskill...? Mhari thought to herself.

"Let's make sure I'm not forgetting anything. Clothes? Check. Beard? Check. Luggage?" Sheogorath looked to his left, then to his right. "Now, where did I leave my luggage?"

With a puff of grey smoke and light, a new figure came into view in front of the Daedric Prince; Dervenin, looking as disheveled and lost as Mhari remembered.

"Master! You've taken me back!" He exclaimed with an excited wheeze. He rushed forward to Sheogorath, who barely acknowledged his presence; Dervenin gripped onto the fabric of his lord's sleeve as he grovelled. "Does that mean we're going home? Oh, happy times! I can't wait to-"

"Yes, yes, that's quite enough celebration." Sheogorath yanked his arm away with a roll of the eyes. "Let's send you ahead, shall we?"

Dervenin was gone similarly as he'd appeared; in a puff of smoke and light. Sheogorath patted his sleeve with a dramatic sneer and a grumble. He turned his pure white, pupil-less eyes to Mhari and raised an eyebrow as he motioned to the Wabbajack laying on the ground at her feet.

"As for you, my little mortal minion. Feel free to keep the Wabbajack. As a symbol of my..." he began.

"Gratitude?" Mhari asked with a wry one-sided smile. As she opened her mouth to speak further, she found her hat once again shoved into her mouth. She furrowed her brow in irritation, folding her arms in disapproval.

"Oh, just take the damn thing."

Mhari sighed through her nose and reached up to pull the hat out of her mouth, which came much easier this time. "I really wish you'd stop doing that."

"You take care of yourself, now. And if you ever find yourself up in New Sheoth,dolook me up. We can share a strawberry torte." As Sheogorath straightened and placed a hand on the top of his scalp, he lifted his head from his shoulders as if it were merely a hat, and motioned farewell with a flourish and a bow. "Ta ta!"

Before Mhari could react, the mists engulfed her and flooded her senses until she slipped into an otherworldly slumber.

As Mhari regained consciousness, she found herself lying in a musty old fur bed roll on a stone floor in a rather dark room. She slowly sat up, allowing her eyes a moment to adjust. The room appeared to be an abandoned cellar, but judging by the decor and furniture around her, riddled with dust and cobwebs, she could safely assume she was still somewhere in the Pelagius Wing.

"Did I dream the whole thing...?" Mhari muttered absently under her breath. As if to answer her question, her hand bumped an object on her side, rolling an inch away from her with a dull rattle. Beside her lay the Wabbajack, just as she had wielded it in the mind of Pelagius. "I guess not. I wonder how long I've been out."

As Mhari tucked the staff safely into her holder on the side of her pack, she rose to her feet realizing that however long she had been unconscious didn't seem to matter; her exhaustion had not left her.

Wasting no time, Mhari trudged back to the entrance of the Blue Palace and stepped out into the chilly Solitude air. Night had fallen over the glistening city, and nothing could be heard but the sound of crickets and crackling torch fire. Dragging her feet, Mhari made her way back to the Winking Skeever to find it silent and still. I guess I won't be playing for my room tonight.

Mhari knocked at the door of the innkeeper's quarters and waited a moment before Corpulus opened the door.

"Ah, Mhari," Corpulus yawned, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. "How can I help you?"

"Sorry to wake you, friend," Mhari whispered, trying not to wake any other patrons. "I just wanted to slip you some gold for a room for the night."

Corpulus took the small amount of gold before sleepily bidding her goodnight, returning to his bed.

Mhari tucked herself into the sheets of the bed in her usual room upstairs, and fell asleep nearly the moment her eyes closed at long last, the panic from Sheogorath's taunting vision fading to feel like nothing but a distant and impossible nightmare; but still she found her dreams would bring her little rest...

~To Be Continued...

Q & A Corner:

What do 'Drem Yol Lok' and 'Voth Werid' mean?

Well spotted, dear reader. If you are relatively new to the world of Skyrim outside of this fanfiction, there are various words you may see me use that are specifically in the Dragon Language (which are often used as 'shouts' in the game, but you will also hear some of the dragons in the game use some of these words and phrases.

'Drem Yol Lok' is used as a greeting; it literally translates to 'Peace - Fire - Sky.' If you've played the game, you've likely heard this phrase used by Paarthurnax.

As for 'Voth Werid,' this simply means 'With Praise. 'I've chosen this phrase as thanks to those who are taking the time to read my work. In that, I praise you for your time.

Note From the Author: Thank you again for reading the latest chapter of Songstress of Skyrim! If you enjoyed this chapter, please consider following this story and dropping a review below. I'd love to hear what my readers think; what their favourite parts were, what they'd like to see more of, etc. If I receive any questions, I am happy to either answer them via private message, or even as a short QA section in the next chapter. I hope to see you in the next chapter, dear reader. Voth Werid.

~ Pyretta Wychwiggin

#pyretta #wychwiggin #fanfiction #py #psh #purple strudel house #oc #skyrim #the elder scrolls #wabbajack #sheogorath #pelagius #songstress of skyrim #mhari #mhari freysri #fan fiction #Spotify

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ghost-town-story · 8 days ago

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Yup, the tagging myself is so I can see when you respond since this is a side blog lol

Alright, no-name dragon vibes WIP let's go! Since Zack is a lil pain in the ass about giving me information about himself, let's go with the dragons :D (also I apologize in advance for the rambling. Have a read more for y'all's dash's sake)

So this is a low fantasy story with Zack and Bee living in some random mundane suburbia with no idea that any sort of magic is real. So where the hell are the dragons hiding?

Pocket dimensions! :D

(side note I'm obsessed with otters and their lil pockets and now I'm like "omg what if the pocket dimensions were created by otter dragons" :DDDDDD)

*ahem* Anyhoot lol

So the dragons are living in various pocket dimensions to hide away from the mundane world, but there's various portals that go between the pockets and the "real" world.

Now onto the dragons themselves, there are a few different types of dragons, each with their own powers, characteristics, and color. There also might be some gem magic going on, like the dragons got their magic from gems and such on, but I'm not 100% sold on that yet.

So the types of dragons!

Red: Ruby or garnet, if I do the gem typing. Most versatile looking of all the dragons, considering their powers of shapeshifting. On average the largest dragons. They live alone in their pocket dimension.

Orange/yellow: I haven't decided if I want a yellow dragon type yet. If so, this one is gonna be orange. If not, they'll be like an ambery color. Tiny dragons. Like, palm of your hand size, maybe like the size of a 5 lb cat. Glass manipulation powers. Their vibe is very much inspired by honeybees.

Green: Emerald, probably. I do love that color. As for everything else....... Do I know they exist? yes. Do I know much more than that? These guys can manipulate plants! (probably. unless I decide that's too cliche and change it lol). This is about the level of detail I have for the rest of the dragons on this list lol

Cyan: Not 100% sold on this one, but tbh this entire idea is based off a dream I had and the kid with cyan powers (I'll elaborate more on that in a hot second) was very chaotic and fun. Tech powers. If they get to exist.

Blue: Lapis lazuli or sapphire for potential gem typing. Fabric manipulation.

Purple: Amethyst or alexandrite. Unfortunately these dudes don't have powers figured out yet.

??????: Time powers. Potentially only one dragon alive with these powers. I also can't decide what frickin color I want 'em lol

While I'm at it otter dragon would also be one-of-a-kind deity dragon. It's what she deserves <3

Now to loop back around to that offhanded comment about the cyan kid, dragons can choose to bond with humans and share their powers with them. That's how Bee gets her glass manipulation powers (bonded with the daughter of the Orange/Amber Queen), and Zack ends up bonded with an impulsive teenage-equivalent red dragon. (There's also more kids that join their apocalypse-stopping group but I have. nothing on them yet. Except for dragon colors lol)

It's also possible for these powers to be stolen, but don't ask how I have no idea yet. But somehow, Zack's brother (Jesse) has shapeshifting powers that come from a red dragon, but there are absolutely no dragons involved with him. Eventually I'll parse out how that's gonna work exactly lol

I hope you enjoyed the rambling!

Trick or treat! :D ~ @ghost-town-story

Ooooh spooky anon with a name tag! 👻👻👻

TRICK! If you are who you tag, I wanna learn more about that vibes-only thing you've just started :P

#writeblr reblogs #trick or treat #also this has a dumb stand in title finally!#untitled dragon wip #or #udw #bc oh lord am i becoming lazy with my housekeeping tags #they exist for my benefit they don't have to make *sense* to other people lol

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stuckasmain · 2 years ago

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Surprising direction

So this is more a ramble then a review but it’ll cover a lot of topics from Trick or Treat (1986). My main thing is that I’m actually surprised and really happy that the movie didn’t chose the “all metal is evil actually” route. I don’t know why I thought it would considering Ozzy and Gene signed on but- it was common at the time

It’s surprisingly touching? At least in the beginning. Eddie has one friend in the world and the other is his God. This bullied metalhead kid who writes to his idol constantly and feels like the one person who gets him (He quite literally implies he would not be here if it wasn’t for Sammi’s music and that is dark right off the bat) and that person dies.

Now as the movie goes on and things get violent Eddie is suddenly no longer best pals with the rockstar once people start getting hurt (despite that being implied from the beginning but I digress). Naturally as things get darker and more chaotic I expected the stereotypical “im normal now” moment where he drops the music all together but he doesn’t! He attempts to, wearing colorful shirts and trying to listen to some easy listening but- he just doesn’t. Eddie sees the situation as it is- “hey this one guys a little fucked up but that doesn’t mean the whole genres evil” hell! At the very end he takes over for Nuke at the rock radio station!

This is what I wish more movies would’ve got at the time instead of doing a “normal transformation” where they un-Alternative or un-metal a certain character.

Another part I really like is while totally batshit- Sammi is a little sympathetic? (I’ve yet to figure out if the fire circle thing was just a bad dream or what actually happened because it’s random and funny ass Shit. It’s like the dragon later on that just appears. It’s not addressed or explained the rest of the movie)

He’s made to be relatable. He’s a angry guy who’s been pushed around his whole life who just lets it out instead of pushing it in. He channels it into music and his wild ass publicity stunts and stirring controversy. Man found his calling I’ll say that. Honestly he’s “Dee Snider goes to congress: gone bad”. The guy finds out he has powers and pulls a Carrie- big time revenge etc. Sammi for the whole beginning of the film was mainly doing what Eddie wanted… maybe not violence but getting back at the fuckers who tried to kill him like six times (I’m not kidding. What they do is not bullying it’s a murder attempt). It’s also somewhat implied that he is not in complete control of his actions? Like there is several several references to owing one’s soul and being under someone’s control etc— honestly I think he just wants to play music forever but the violence is a bit out of control but that’s just me (this is also way broader of a topic then I can lay out here this post is already long)

Anyways, I just wanted to say that I love this movie because it doesn’t condemn metal and it has a enjoyable and purposefully relatable Antagonist (I’m assuming especially for metalheads and outcasts in the 80s) and it’s just- so good

#trick or treat 1986 #trick or treat #sammi curr #Eddie weinbauer #ozzy ozbourne #gene simmons #KISS #dee snider #horror #80s horror #horror cult classic #80s cult classic #hair metal #glam metal #heavy metal #80s metal #meta #rambling

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paintedkinzy-88 · 2 years ago

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Have u heard of the leviathantale au by @skumhuu ? If u have, what r ur opinions abt it and how do u think ur dragon balance au would react?

I… I have no idea what you’re talking about *scrambling to hide many many bookmarks, chaotic discord rambles, and small doodles—*

Fbsjfb Y e s, I have heard of leviathantale and follow everything that has to do with it very closely... ;w; Sku is a huge inspiration to me, writing and drawing wise, and it’s an amazing AU. Honestly the reason why I fell in love with BSP+Dream so goddamn hard. And kinda the inspiration for those merskeleton drawings Oh So Long Ago, though they were based on freshwater fish instead of ocean lmao.

But yes, I adore it very much, am constantly refreshing that tag on AO3. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ As for the dragos reaction…

It’s mostly confusion lmao, but probably a lotta intrigue too. Honestly Leviathantale is pretty similar to their situation, just a mermaid version?? And they deal with AUs a lot, so it’s likely not a huge shocker to learn about, but still interesting at the very least.

Drago Ink would be the one that’s utterly enthralled by them, askin all the (intrusive) questions and gettin all the answers, but that’s mainly just his general interest in AUs and character design as the Protector. He definitely gushes about how he and Error are “destined for each other even in other worlds.” … Then harasses Blue a lot cuz “look, omg, the fishy BEI trio are so cute, Blue, look at them, ERROR WHAT IF WE—“

(Error shuts that train of thought off very fast wheeeeze)

Reaper thinks it’s hilarious, and is also pestering Geno about how they’re “destined” for each other fbsjfbsk Geno be his Treasure through and through, no matter the circumstances. But he’s also probably super cocky about how dope Leviathan Reaps looks, like goddamn. 👀👀 The two would get along well together, I’m sure XD

After the initial intrigue, Noot’s is pissed, because now his boys have EVEN MORE reason to call him a fuckin octopus, cuz apparently it’s TRUE in other worlds (and they definitely start making kraken jokes when he’s especially pissy). He’s also probably highly fixated on the merCross. His instincts going haywire for that poor fishy.

… Killer definitely makes a comment on how Dream’s just as sparkly and bright no matter the world, which flusters the boi quite a bit. XD

#I’ve always wanted to draw for leviathantale #beyond the little squid doodle I did for last Inktobertale…#They’re designs are just incredible ahhhhhh #ONE DAY #asks #undertale #undertale multiverse #dragon balance au #leviathantale

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angelbytz · 3 years ago

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Dream SMP AU pt.2

Dream SMP Miraculous crossover pt.2. Read pt.1 for Tommy, Wilbur, Tubbo, Ranboo, Techno and Philza.

Fundy: He is really tired of getting made fun of. Everyday he gets bullied - in a loving way - and called a furry. And then he, of course, gets the fox miraculous. How ironic. Fundy decides he is not gonna be made fun of as a hero. Fennec Fox with the power of illusion is a sly, devious and mysterious character. He quickly and easily tricks most villains and does so with an air of smugness around him. If it goes the other way around and Fennec gets trapped he usually pouts until saved and gets salty after being rescued. Unfortunately, Fundy is cursed to be seen as a furry - even though every single other hero is also animal themed, there is even a cat, wolf and rabbit hero - and he gets mocked by the heroes - affectionately. He usually gets them back and plays a load of harmless pranks for fun and no other hero has successfully pranked him back. But no matter what he can’t escape his title unlike...

Niki: Everyone loves Niki. Who doesn’t? She is just too sweet and kind to not love. But sometimes people get sick of being nice and want to go apeshit, right? Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that she hates being kind, she just wants to let loose and be a bit wild. So when given the axolotl miraculous (mouse) Niki saw this as an opportunity to be a little crazy. Chimera is the cutest hero with adorable feathery gills, pretty pigtails and cool costume but she doesn’t really act typically cutesy. Ba Xuyen may be the most chaotic but Chimera is the most feral. Chimera is an unhinged, demented force of nature who would not hesitate to bust through a wall, a window or a ceiling to stop Hawkmoth. She is pretty destructive but Pipistrelles power fixes everything so why not break shit? And that is Chimera’s motto. She is an unstoppable force that destroys anything in her path. Her personality is quirky, brash and energetic. She’s like a caffeinated axolotl on a sugar rush with a completely empty head and no thoughts. The other heroes know not to get in her way or question her methods with the exception of Jack’s persona (more on him in pt.4). They aren’t scared of her (aside from Maine Coon at times) because she is too bright and cheerful to be scared of, unlike...

Quackity: Lets face it, he knew he could never be a superhero. Quackity is way to recognisible because of his mysterious hair, scar and demeanor. Thankfully, in costume still hides his hair with a beanie but his eye scar and demeanor are still too noticeable. So what did Quackity do? He decided that he cannot act like himself whatsoever. He has to talk like someone else. He has to act like someone else. He has to fight like someone else. He has to be the opposite of himself. And who is the opposite of Quackity? Techno. Yep. These two idiots, completely independent of each other, pretend to be their best friend as their alter ego. Quackity gets the duck miraculous (the horse in canon) and the power to create portals. The hero known as Cayuga (have you figured out I suck at names yet?) is deadpan and threatening but at times messes up and says something only Quackity would say. Cayuga and Ba Xuyen have their own duo and become good friends. When it’s only the two of them they drop the personas and act more like themselves. They might know each others identities and they might not. The two are best friends anyways. Cayuga also has a good relationship with...

Karl: Surprise surprise, he gets the bunny miraculous that allows him to time travel. Not much is known about the hero as he is a lone wolf when it comes to his job and only drags one hero along with him at a time. When with another hero he is fast-talking, impatient and twitchy. He seems like he doesn’t have time for games and goes on many paranoid and anxious rambles. Despite all this, he is very open with the other heroes and encourages them to do the same. He has an air of experience around him and tells stories of his time traveling adventures when not fighting. Even though he loves telling stories, barely anything is known about him. The public aren’t even aware of his existence. The heroes theorised that he might know their identities. All they know is that his name is Harlequin and they mostly go on missions with Cayuga and...

Sapnap: The holder of the panda miraculous (dragon is cool but panda is cute) and the power to transform into water, air or lightning - Its probably a good thing he can’t turn into fire after ‘the incident’. In this AU, Sapnap took martial arts classes to learn self-control after ‘the incident’ and also for self-defense. (The idea for Sapnap knowing martial arts popped into my head and I ran with it.) When given the chance to be a hero Sapnap embraces the composed and temperate part of himself all while showing of his hidden combat skills. So, the hero Qinling a martial arts expert, a calm, disciplined and determined warrior but at times is pretentious and egotistical. He’d probably have a rivalry with one of the other heroes. As a civilian, good friends with...

Badboyhalo and Skeppy: The two keepers of the miraculous box. These two are the ones handing out miraculous’ like candy on Halloween and not always for great reason. Skeppy initially suggested giving the bat and cat miraculous to Wilbur and Tommy because he wanted to see how long they could go without figuring out each other identity and who would find out first. Badboyhalo on the other hand believed that their chemistry would create an unstoppable team. Every hero after that was chosen because Bad believed in them and Skeppy wanted to see them as heroes. They know all their friends’ secret identities and never reveal themselves unless the plot demands it.

Next post will feature:

Dream

George

Schlatt

Jack

Sam

Ponk

#dream smp #dsmp au #miraculous au #dsmp superhero au #dsmp miraculous #fundy #nihachu #quackity #karl jacobs #sapnap #badboyhalo #skeppy

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weasleydream · 4 years ago

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trip in the forest

I know, the title sucks, let’s hope this piece of fluff will be better!

As usual, feel free to like, comment, reblog and enjoy!

Masterlist

I thought I knew what I had signed up for when I had accepted a date with Charlie Weasley. A good evening with him for sure, maybe filled with some awkward moments but nothing we wouldn’t laugh about later, certainly something magical creatures related, but you know what I hadn’t anticipated?

Sneaking out with him to spend the night in the freaking forbidden forest. That was definitely not in my plans. And now, as I was trailing in the mud behind him, I still didn’t know why I had accepted. Probably his puppy eyes, which seemed to be his favourite way to obtain whatever he wanted - now at least, I knew how he had convinced Pince to let him spend a night studying a book about dragons in the restricted section of the library.

“When- Charlie, when will we arrive wherever you’re bringing me?” I breathed out, which made my stitch even more painful.

“I don’t know!” he replied cheerfully, not panting the least. How the hell was he so enduring? “We’ll see when we’ll be there, I guess!”

“Charlie Weasley!” he turned to me with a surprised expression that turned quickly into guilt. “No matter how fun it is to be walking in the forbidden forest during a freezing night, I would adore you if you could tell me why you brought me here!”

“Keep your voice down, they could hear us!”

“Keep your voice down? Charlie, I swear to Merlin that monsters hearing us will be the least of your worries if you don’t tell me-” I began, slightly infuriated and walking straight to him.

A branch betrayed me though, and I tripped just in front of him. Fortunately, his reflexes were way better than mine and he caught me, steadying me on my feet before putting his hand on my mouth. Without any particular reason, I wondered why his hands weren’t covered in mud as were mine.

“I’m not talking about monsters Y/N,” Charlie murmured, “I’m talking about unicorns.”

“Oh.”

Was all I found because that wasn’t what I expected at all, but, let’s be honest, mainly because our faces were only a few inches apart and the slightly inappropriate thought that his lips seemed so soft crossed my mind. Charlie, clearly oblivious to what was going on in that disoriented brain of mine, kept explaining how he remembered me saying to Tonks that seeing unicorns was a dream I had since my childhood and how he had thought he would bring me to this spot Hagrid had indicated him.

“We couldn’t go during the day because the forest is less dangerous during the night, I know, it’s hard to believe, oh and because we have classes too of course. So I just thought-”

“Charlie.” He stopped talking immediately, and the way he looked at me made my heart beat at an even faster pace than during the trailing. “You should have told me, I wouldn’t have dressed up with these jeans!”

Charlie chuckled.

“Well, they look nice on you.” Here it was, this first awkward moment of Charlie and I looking at each other without saying anything and getting redder and redder. “So… Do you want to go and find these unicorns? We can come back later if you want.”

Considering the brownish colour of my once blue jeans, I shrugged and grabbed his hand.

“You promised me unicorns, Weasley, you better bring me to them now!”

_ _ _

To Charlie, the portion of river where the unicorns liked to stay should be only a dozen of meters away from us. It seemed like I had to cross half of the planet though, because even after an hour and half struggling to stay on my feet when branches, roots and mud were standing in my way, I still needed Charlie’s stable balance. At least now, he was firmly holding my hand, and sometimes when there was too much mud he would even wrap his arm around my waist, making my heart beat ten times faster and pretty much all the blood in my veins rushing to my cheeks. However, how Charlie’s face could stay so straight was a mystery to me, and maybe a very little bit frustrating.

“I think it’s here.”

Charlie’s voice suddenly reached my ears, low and very close to me. I didn’t move my head, too embarrassed at the thought of accidentally bumping his to do what I desperately wanted to do, but my peripheral vision told me that his face was just next to mine, and I was very aware of his torso almost pressed against my back.

I was so surprised and lost in my thoughts that I almost missed the first unicorn. It was an adult, and it looked like she was glowing in the night. The light of the moon, instead of being blocked by the trees, seemed to be stronger here, as if it was amplified by the water of the river. A split second later, I caught a flash of gold on my right and a foal appeared. The baby unicorn joined its mother, and the both of them leaned over the water to quench their thirst. The view was so pure that it almost brought tears to my eyes, and I almost didn’t feel Charlie’s hands when he put them on my shoulder.

“Get down,” he murmured as he pressed lightly on my shoulder. “We don’t want them to see us, do we?”

I shook my head and did as he said. Charlie was still just behind me, and his hands only left my shoulder to grab my waist. The two unicorns were oblivious to our presence, or if they knew we were here they never showed any sign of acknowledgement or nervousness. The baby stopped drinking before the mother and decided to explore the surroundings. Smelling every leaf of every bush led the foal just in front of the bush we were hiding behind. I feared they would run away as soon as our presence would be discovered, but the little unicorn didn’t do anything, even though I knew we were spotted. The exploration continued, and eventually the mother whinnied softly. A second later, the two unicorns had disappeared with an inaudible galop.

“They were way more discreet than you!” chuckled Charlie a few seconds after their departure. He helped me get up, but in all honesty I didn’t even realize my legs were sore after having spent almost fifteen minutes crouched down. I was still amazed by what I had just experienced, I just couldn’t believe I had been face to face with a unicorn.

“How was it?”

“Charlie, it was- it was awesome!”

I knew my smile was wide as ever and Charlie’s was too. I wrapped my arms around his neck - at this point, all restraint had left my mind - and thanked him maybe a thousand times.

“I’m glad you’re so happy,” he said later, as we were walking back to the castle. “I have to admit I was afraid you were mad at me.”

“I wasn’t mad, just slightly unhappy.”

“I didn’t want to ruin the surprise, that’s why I didn’t-”

If Charlie stopped his rambling apologies so abruptly, it’s because we were so caught in the conversation that we didn’t realize we weren’t walking straight.

“Y/N- you hurt somewhere?” muttered Charlie as he was trying to get on his feet.

I looked up to him, getting rid of the leaves stuck on my face, and then to the embankment we had just rolled down. I grabbed Charlie’s hand and got up, not daring to say out loud I was sure my butt would turn blue in less than ten minutes. I wanted to say instead that it was okay, but my voice got lost somewhere between my paralyzed mind and my open mouth when Charlie reached for my hair and removed a single leaf with a delicate touch.

“You’re worrying me,” he simply said, scrunching his nose as if he was trying to figure out what was wrong with me.

“Nothing- I mean, no, I’m okay… That’s embarrassing.”

“I fell as much as you did,” he said with a chuckle, and the sound seemed louder in the silence of the night.

Actually, it came so loud that I was fearing something like a werewolf could have heard us. As if he had read my mind, Charlie wrapped an arm around my shoulders, reminding me that it wasn’t the full moon yet and helping me climb the embankment again.

Fortunately, we got back to the castle without any other fall and without being eaten by a werewolf. We made it to the Gryffindor common room without any bad encounters. I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to slip in my bed, but I didn’t want this night to end either. Charlie seemed as energetic as he was at the beginning of our walk but a yawn betrayed my exhaustion.

“You should go and sleep.” he murmured before clearing his throat and scratching the back of his head. “I- I spent a good night, that was great.”

“Me too. Next time, remind me to ask you where we go before anything else!” I suppressed another yawn and missed his puzzled look.

“Because you want a next time? I mean, I do but it turned out pretty-”

“Chaotic?” He blushed, which made my heart skip a beat. Merlin, this boy would be the death of me, in a way or another! “I know, but that was fun as hell and I loved every second of it! I’m free whenever you want, just not tomorrow because I have to make up for a lost night’s sleep.”

Charlie seemed to think for a second and then smiled widely.

“I’ve heard there’s a clearing quite popular with the hippogriffs… Next week?”

#Harry Potter #harry potter imagines #harry potter imagine #charlie weasley #charlie weasley imagine #charlie weasley x you #charlie weasley x reader #charlie weasley x yn

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imthepunchlord · 3 years ago

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what do you think the rest of the kwami's personalities are based on the little things we see about them? like for the main seven kwamis its already apparent, but what about the zodiac kwamis? like the goat (who is a baby in my eyes because they look very curious about the world and is very polite that they were offended and almost looked like they were about to cry when chloe didnt say please to her in that one episode)

Mouse: little mischief maker. Not as bold as say, Xuppu, but very clever and coy. All for winning any means necessary, from using others to cheating. Likes to encourage her humans to think outside the box.

Ox: definition of tough love. Means well and very supportive, but can come off as harsh at times. She encourages her humans to stand their ground and keep to their goals. Likes those who are diligent and keep their word.

Tiger: extremely curious and bold, loves to learn about the modern day, ready to fight if you irked her. Competitive. Encourages her humans to be dominant and successful.

Dragon: poised, patient, has tendencies of rambling. Thinks highly of herself though not one to brag. Encourages her humans to be helpful to others.

Snake: calm, observant, intuitive, and patient. Very calculating and is good at getting a sense of a person in front of him. Can surprise humans with cheekiness, though it's rarely seen as he's usually the serious sort. Can understand darker and lighter aspects of someone, and the struggle to balance and accept both.

Horse: refined, egotistical, and very picky, she knows what she wants and aims to get it. Despite her elitist preferences, she's not opposed to those beneath her standards, especially if they impress her. She'll just help them rise to the fame and glory they deserve. When with someone who does

Goat: gentle, open minded, readily accepting, and very ambitious. She likes to encourage those to reach goals they set as any obstacle has a way around it. There are no such things as limits when it comes to a dream.

Monkey: short tempered, wildcard, and chaotic. He acts out his whims and is the leap before you think sort. Is a literal handful and knows how to excite your life. Is ready to fight everyone and thinks he's bigger than he actually is.

Rooster: boastfully proud, vigilant, and devoted. Readily watches over his humans and ready to help anyway he can. Encourages them to be honest and expressive. Everyone has a right to be heard, don't be shy about who you are.

Dog: protective, dutiful, loyal, and affectionate. She's very personable and reliable, embracing new humans but also always watchful. Loyalty and love are the most important to her.

Pig: sweet, gluttonous, and on the side of lazy, he is very easy going. Has bouts of being thoughtlessly rude (like interrupting someone) and can be a little full of himself at times. He stands for enjoying the moment, and encourages feelings of happiness with others and self love.

#ask Punchie #zodiac miraculous #Zodiac kwamis #miraculous headcanons #shipping out on names since a majority are lazy/dumb/or I just dont care for them

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kalimagik · 4 years ago

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As Family the First Time

Charlie Weasley x Reader

Includes storyline of “A Hogwarts Mystery”

Word Count: ~4K

A/N: Here is the Charlie post that I promised you all! I already wrote it, so it was easy for me to edit and such just to upload. If you enjoy reading, like, reblog, comment, or give me a follow! I have a few requests that I will get to writing, but I’m away for the week, so I will write them when I get back home! (Don’t you worry! I got some good ones too!) I’m also starting to edit my long fic that will be a Harry Potter Series! So be on the look out! Happy reading, loves! <3<3 P.S. I didn’t really have time to edit this, so I apologize 😅

“Are you sure you want to do this, love? It’s always so crazy at home.” Charlie questioned as the couple prepared for their journey from Romania to England.

“Charlie, I’ve told you a million times. I can totally handle your family. I’d been there a few times during our school years. Plus, at school, I spent time like half of your siblings anyways! Bill was there for our first 5 years and one of my good friends. Percy was Percy. And I even befriended the twins! I can totally handle this. Why do you doubt me?” Y/N laughed, tossing a sweater into her suitcase.

“Okay, you got me there, but it’s gotten even crazier. Ronald’s friends are almost always there and the twins have gotten even more chaotic since their first two years at school!”

“Charlie, do you not want me to meet your family as your girlfriend or something?”

“Yes– I mean, no. I just like to have you for a little more to myself in that aspect.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. She’d been in Charlie’s house during school and they’d gone on the craziest adventures while Y/N broke all the cursed vaults. She’d been very close to following in Bill’s steps as a Curse-Breaker, but was pulled towards dragons after practically raising a Welsh Green and visiting the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary with Bill on assignment. They were magnificent creatures.

Now, she didn’t work with them like Charlie did. The boy was constantly covered in cuts, bruises, scars, and burns from working so closely with the dragons. Y/N on the other hand observed and took notes and did research surrounding all of the different ones. However, there was one dragon that both of the dragonologists shared a bond with. The dragon that Ron wrote to Charlie about, Norbert or Norbertta, adored Y/N. Maybe since she was raised by Hagrid, she was a little better with humans, but she loved Y/N.

She’d laid some eggs and Y/N got to watch the entire process close up. It was a dragonologists DREAM!

Anyways, once Y/N and Charlie found themselves at the same dragon sanctuary, they reconnected. They’d always been good friends in school and maybe, there’d been a little spark between them, but they never dated or anything. Just an intense amount of tension in their last 2 years. It drove Bill mad because he wasn’t around enough to push them together.

But, here they were. 4 years out of school and they finally started dating, but for the first year and a half, they hadn’t gotten around to telling either of the families yet, so Christmas was the best time, right? That’s why they were packing, Charlie told his family that Y/N had moved to Romania and that her family wasn’t going to be around. And seeing as how she had holiday time at Christmas as well, Molly immediately invited her to their home at the Burrow.

“It’s about 4:30. The portkey is going to leave soon, so we should get going,” Y/N smiled, zipping up her bag and pressing a kiss to Charlie’s lips to get him moving.

“Now is your last chance to stay here, love. I’d of course stay with you and we could just make a family of our own!” he beamed.

Y/N couldn’t stop the loud laugh that erupted from the back of her throat. “WOAHHH! Slow your roll there. We haven’t even thought about an engagement yet!”

“Okay, maybe not, but who says we’ve ever done things in the right order? I mean, I kissed you before you even knew if you liked me or not.”

“True, but a kiss and a baby are two very, very different things,” Y/N giggled. “Now, common, we’ve got a portkey to catch!”

The couple made it to the location of the portkey where about 7 other witches and wizards were travelling to England. Once they reached England, they would then apparate to the Burrow. Simple.

“Okay, please grab onto the boot, it will be leaving in three…two…one!”

The pulling right behind her navel was never something she could get used to, but once landing in England, she’d gotten the hang of landing on her feet.

“I will never like those things,” she shuttered, picking up her bags. “Not when Rakepick took us on one and not now!”

“Really, I think it feels like riding a dragon! It’s blood brilliant!”

Y/N rolled her eyes, preparing herself for yet another uncomfortable experience as they prepared to apparate.

Regaining her balance once again, Y/N looked down the hill to see the Burrow standing brightly in all of its glory.

“I’m telling ya, this is your absolute last chance. We can always snag a room in London and spend the holidays there.”

“Charlie, why do you not want for me not to spend time with your family?”

“Not you, I’m just slightly selfish. I know the second we walk in, my mother is going to feed us. Bill is going to want to catch up. Ginny just loves having you around more than Fleur, so she’ll be right there. Fred and George will want to show you what they’ve been working on or flirt with you because they don’t realize you’re dating their handsome older brother and couldn’t care less about any age difference. They just see you as the badass girl who mum should’ve despised for all the danger Bill and I got into, but didn’t. Ron isn’t as much of an issue because the boy is in teenage moods according to mum. Although, if Harry and Hermione are there, he should be okay.” Charlie rambled on about his family.

“We’ll be here for at least two weeks, so if they take me from you for an evening or two, it’ll be completely fine. Oh look, it seems that they have seen us. Do you want to tell them we’re dating now or what?”

Charlie took in a deep breath trying to decide, but it didn’t have a chance to respond before Arthur, Bill, Fred, and George were calling out to them.

“I’ll find the right moment, don’t you worry,” he whispered. “Dad! Brothers!” he smiled, opening his arms.

“I’ll hug Y/N first!” one of the twins yelled.

“Fred! I called the first hug!” George quickly interjected.

“I do have the capabilities of hugging two people at once,” Y/N chuckled, opening her arms for both twins, who seemed to have doubled in size since the last time she’d seen them. “When did you two double my height?”

“Oh you know, a lot changes when you move off to Romania. Freddie and I have matured,” George informed her, straightening his coat.

“That’s not what mum’s last letter said. I heard you two blew up a bathroom. I bet McGonagall had a heart attack.”

“Charlie, we used to sneak off school grounds on a regular basis for dangerous adventures. She didn’t have a heart attack because of us.”

“Good point. Also, don’t talk about all that in front of Ron and his friends. Mum would kill me if I gave them any ideas. They put themselves in regular danger too, so I hear.”

“Yes, uh, no ideas would be excellent,” Mr. Weasley echoed. “Now, Y/N, how are you doing?”

“Dad, you took my question!” Bill smiled, coming in for a hug.

“I’m doing well. Hagrid’s dragon’s eggs just hatched and Norbertta has let me get near them. It’s been SO exciting!” Y/N smiled.

“Missing curse breaking at all?” Bill asked.

“I would say that I’m enjoying the quiet life, but like with dragons isn’t exactly quiet,” she laughed.

“So are we going to stay out here talking all night or are we going to head inside? I mean, Y/N/N and I are used to camping, but I was promised a warm bed,” Charlie pointed out.

“Right you are, Charlie! Fred, George, can you take their bags please. Y/N will be going to Ginny’s room. We’ll be a tight fit, but we’ll make it work. We always do.” Arthur instructed.

“Oh, dad, Y/N can sleep in my room. She doesn’t need to sleep on a cot. I’ll bunk with Bill.”

The two lived with each other already, so it would be weird to be in a room by herself for a few weeks. Who knows though, maybe if Charlie told about them being together,

“Is Fleur here, Bill?” Charlie asked on the way down to the house. Y/N walked beside him, so Charlie had to resist the urge to take her hand in his.

“She went back to France for the holidays. Wanted me to come with her, but when I heard you were coming home, I decided to hang back. Haven’t seen my closest brother in a while, not to mention one of my best friends from school,” Bill winked at Y/N.

“I’m excited to be back in England! I just wish my parents and brother would have decided to stick around. We could’ve gone to see them too!”

“We?” Bill asked, eyebrows raised, but a smirk on his face.

Y/N bit her lip. Shit. Little did she know that Charlie had spilled the beans to Bill months ago, making him promise not to say anything to anyone.

“Brace yourselves, Mum has been looking forward to this since you wrote home, Charlie,” Bill said, keeping the door open behind Arthur.

“Y/N! Charlie!”

The pair was hit by the warmth of the Burrow and Molly making her way around the table to them.

“I’m so happy you got here safe! PERCY! RONALD! GINNY! HERMIONE! HARRY! Y/N and Charlie are here! Dinner will be on soon!” Molly called right before wrapping her arms around Charlie and then Y/N.

“We’re so happy to have you hear, dear! I cannot believe your family decided to go on holiday over Christmas. No matter, we’re happy to have you back in our house. I don’t think you’ve been here since 3rd year! It’s been far too long.”

“I think 3rd year is when Bill brought Merula and I back for Christmas, but I saw you guys when Bill graduated from Hogwarts and when Charlie and I did,” Y/N thought back.

“Still, far too long! Ah, Ginny, come say hello!” Molly motioned over.

“Y/N! You’re here!”

Y/N opened her arms wide for the young red head. She was in her 2nd year already and Y/N couldn’t believe it. She’d always gotten along with Ginny. She saw a lot of herself and her spirit in Ginny.

“Hey squirt! How have you been! How’s school?”

“It’s fine. Been crazy all year as usual, but I’m happy you’re here!”

“Hogwarts is always unusual! Always was for Bill, Charlie, and I. Lots of adventure to be found in that place.”

“Hello, Y/N. Good to see you again.” Percy said formally.

“Hello, Percy. How is your last year at Hogwarts?”

“Busy. There’s been a lot going on!”

Before Y/N could respond, they heard Ron’s voice coming from the top of the stairs.

“Mum, did you say Charlie was home?” Ron asked, footsteps being followed by 2 other pairs.

“Yes, dear!”

“You’ll love Charlie,” Y/N heard Ron tell his friends. “And…Y/N’s here too,” he suddenly stopped at the bottom of the stairs, eyes wide.

Harry bounded down, running right into him. “Ow! Ron, why’d you stop?”

Y/N couldn’t help but chuckle. Ron never seemed to know what to say around her.

“I’m Charlie.” He held his hand out to Harry and Hermione. “And this is Y/N. He went to school with me. She was in Y/H, not like it really matters though. She was the bloody best curse breaker Hogwarts has ever seen.”

“Hey!” Bill played offended.

Knowing what it felt like to be all anyone can talk about, Y/N did her best to remain normal around the Boy Who Lived, even though she couldn’t believe what he had been through already in his short life.

“Hi! It’s so lovely to meet you. Charlie has told me all about you two from Ron and his mum’s letters.” The two 3rd years shook her hand too.

“Dinner’s on! Everyone to the table please,” Molly said as plates flew from the cabinets to the table.

“Y/N, you can sit next to me here!” Fred hollered from down the table.

“Oi! She can sit here,” George retorted across the table.

“Knock it off.” Y/N could tell that Charlie’s voice was deepening, almost as if he was getting angry. He did say that he hadn’t wanted her to be taken away by his family. “She’s going to sit next to me, alright?”

Y/N did her best to conceal her laughter. It was always amusing when he got like this. Not to mention, Y/N then never had to do any teasing.

“I think I'd like to sit with Ginny. If anyone wanted to know what I would like,” Y/N laughed, walking towards her little friend. “We have a lot to catch up on! But, you can come sit beside me, if you’d like, Charlie.” She giggled.

Dinner went well. Ginny told Y/N all about what she’d been learning, who she hung around, which professors were her favorite, and how she loved Hogwarts. The twins went on about the best pranks that they had pulled since the last time they saw her. Y/N heard from Ron’s friend Hermione a little bit. She was as sweet as could be, but definitely a bright witch. She of course caught up with Bill. They still wrote to each other, but not as often as they had before.

But, when Molly stood up to clear the table, Y/N’s attention broke away.

“Oh, let me help you with that, Mrs. Weasley,” she offered.

“No, no! Sit down. You’ve traveled so much today. Bill and the other boys can help me. Ginny will show you her room, so you can get settled in.”

“Oh, mum, I told Y/N that she could stay in my room. I’ll bunk with Bill. There are already enough people in Ginny’s room. She should get some privacy,” Charlie responded.

“Fine, fine. Ginny, show Y/N where Charlie’s room is. Boys, will one of you get her bags?”

“No worries, Mrs. Weasley! I can get them myself! Thank you though,” Y/N smiled, picking up her two small duffle bags. “Lead the way, Squirt!” Y/N smiled at Ginny. Red spread onto her cheeks as she turned towards the stairs. What had Y/N said?

Y/N followed the red headed girl up the stairs to the 4th floor. A green dragon painted on the door.

“I’m guessing this is Charlie’s?”

“Uh huh!” Ginny beamed, her usual persona returning. “Want me to help you unpack your things?”

“Sure! Lead the way in!”

Ginny sat on the bed while Y/N took things out of her bags. She could sense that she wanted to say something, but didn’t know what to say, so Y/N started instead.

“Do you not like it when I call you ‘Squirt’ anymore, Gin?”

“Oh, no, no, no! I just uhhh….”

Y/N raised an eyebrow.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Ginny asked. “A secret that you won’t tell anyone else?”

“Of course! I promise I won’t say it to anybody,” Y/N smiled, sitting on the bed across from Ginny.

“I sort of, kind of have a crush on Harry. And when you called me squirt, I remembered that he was there and it probably made him look at me!” Ginny blurted out, like she’d been just waiting to tell someone.

“Squirt, you’re shaking! It’s okay to have a crush! Everyone has them.”

“Even you?”

“Yes, even me,” Y/N smiled, hoping she was calming the girl down.

“Who?”

Well, Y/N wasn’t expecting that.

“Can you keep a secret too?” Ginny nodded vigorously. “I have a crush on Charlie…”

Ginny’s eyes grew wide. Ugh, gossiping with a 13 year old was fun.

“Really? Charlie? I think you two could work. I mean, don’t tell him, but he’s had a crush on you for a long time.”

Y/N giggled, feeding into Ginny’s antics. “Oh really? How long?”

“I think he had one on you ever since he heard you fought the Hungarian Horntail. And then, when you went to the Dragon Sanctuary the first time, Charlie said you weren’t scared at all. I think he was mesmerized. You should tell him,” Ginny giggled.

“Wanna know another secret?” Y/N whispered.

“Another one?!”

“Well, it has to do with the same one. Want to hear it?” Ginny nodded. Hanging on to every word. “I did tell him,” Y/N smiled.

“You did? What happened?”

“We’ve been dating for a year and a half,” Y/N whispered, as though someone would be listening in.

“REALLY?!” Ginny squealed. “Why haven’t you told anyone?”

“I don’t know. We are just always in Romania and haven’t really seen anyone. It was fun being in our own little world. No one else in the world to worry about, you know?”

Ginny’s smile was huge! She was so excited she was nearly trembling. “Are you going to tell everyone? Is that why he said you could sleep in his room?” Ginny was blurting out questions left and right.

“We were going to tell everyone during this trip, but I don’t know when. I sorta left that up to Charlie.”

*Knock, knock, knock*

“How’s unpacking going?” Charlie asked, opening the door.

“Half done!” Y/N laughed, looking at her unpacked bags.

“What have you two been doing all this time?”

“Just chatting,” Y/N responded, a twinkle in her eye.

“Yeah, just chatting,” Ginny smirked, still not containing her excitement.

“Alright, Squint, what’s going on with you?”

“Y/N told me a secret and I can’t tell anyone else. She made me promise…”

“Oh, did she now?” Charlie asked, moving his focus to Y/N’s grinning figure.

“You can tell him, Gin. He’s in on the secret!”

Ginny essentially combusted. “YOU AND Y/N ARE DATING!” she yelled.

“Wooooah, Squirt. I said you could tell him, not the whole house!” Y/N laughed.

“Sorry,” Ginny blushed.

“Alright, now get outta here. I wanna talk to my girlfriend,” Charlie cooed. Ginny couldn’t stop giggling as she hopped off the bed and out the door, shutting it behind her.

“Don’t look at me like that!” Y/N laughed, picking one of her duffle bags off the ground.

“You blabbed!”

“Oh? I blabbed? How about the fact that you’ve definitely told Bill. I made the ‘we’ comment and he didn’t even question it! Don’t think I didn’t figure it out!”

“But you told Ginny. What would possess you to tell Ginny? She’s always been the blabbermouth!”

“No way she’s worse than Fred and George,” Y/N spit back.

“Okay, no, they’re worse. But you saw how she was when I walked in, she couldn’t keep it to herself.”

“Yeah, she also mentioned how you were mesmerized by me after we went to the Dragon Sanctuary for the first time,” Y/N winked. She watched as his freckles disappeared with the color of red growing on his cheeks.

“See, what did I tell ya! So, why did you tell her?”

“I can’t tell you. It’s a secret!” Y/N turned her nose up.

“She’s got a crush on Harry, doesn’t she?”

“How do you know?”

“Mum’s thought so since they first met. Ginny can barely say two words around him. It’s hilarious!”

“Don’t be mean! First crushes are hard!” Y/N slapped Charlie on the wrist.

“Tell me about it!” he rolled his eyes.

“What are you talking about?”

“I had a crush on you since 2nd year and you had no idea. So obviously, the other person can be quite oblivious,” Charlie laughed, thinking back on it.

“I was not oblivious! I just wasn’t thinking about that. I was kind of busy avoiding being killed, remember?” Y/N pointed out.

“Oh no way! You went on your first date with Barnaby in our 4th year. And everyone had a crush on you!”

“Okay, but that was in school. Look who ended up with me, huh? Huh?” Y/N tried to direct him away from school time memories.

“True. I did get pretty lucky that you didn’t follow Bill into his job. I’d be so lost now!”

“Lost? More like dead. You’d have gone and tried to tame the meanest dragon in the place. Really, your family should be thanking me!”

“I don’t know. That could be payback for putting Bill and I in so much danger during school…”

“Merlin! I don’t think your mum ever blamed me for that. She still invited me for Christmas every year, no matter how much danger we were in…”

“mhmmmmmm, you may be right.”

“Should we go back downstairs?” Y/N asked.

“Wait, but I came all the way up here and haven’t kissed you yet!” Charlie pouted.

“Fineeee,” Y/N groaned before giggling. He was still pouting when she quickly pecked his lips and pulled away.

“Woah, woah, woah! I was thinking maybe a little more, maybe?” Charlie begged.

“Charlie, we’re in your childhood bedroom with your family downstairs.” She felt bad looking into his sad chocolate eyes. Ugh, why was he so cute?

“Uh, Charlie?”

“One more?”

“Do you think Ginny’s spilled the beans yet?”

Charlie’s eyes grew double the size. “We need to go.”

Y/N tried to stifle her laughter as Charlie pulled her down the stairs, going way faster than she was.

“Charlie! I’m going to fall over!”

“We have to make sure she hasn’t told them yet! I’m not ready!” Charlie shot out.

“Not ready to tell us what, brother?”

The pair came face to face with essentially the entire Weasley family, including Harry and Ron.

“I was just preparing to give everyone dessert,” Mrs. Weasley said, putting down a plate of food.

“Mum! Don’t change the subject. What do you have to tell us, Charlie?” George pushed, following the suite of his twin.

“Yeah Charlie, what do you have to tell them?” Y/N teased, standing right beside him and grabbing onto his hand.

“No!” Ron’s mouth dropped open.

“Merlin’s beard!” Fred spat out.

“Are you two…together?” George asked, big eyed.

“And I already knew it and didn’t say anything!” Ginny added in proudly.

“I hadn’t even said yes or no, squint. Thanks for the help.”

Y/N felt the grin on her face grow as she watched the interaction between a family that she adored so much. “Want to tell them then?” she pushed.

“Fine,” Charlie groaned. “Y/N and I have been dating.”

“Have been?” Bill scoffed.

“Oh, sod off. I told you like 2 weeks after it started! Don’t give me that grief!”

“This isn’t new?” George wondered.

“It’s been about a year and a half!” Ginny stated proudly, smiling at Y/N who nodded in return.

“A YEAR AND A HALF!?” 4 voices, one being Mrs. Weasley said in unison.

“Well, how did this all happen?” Mrs. Weasley now smiling rushed forward, pulling Y/N into a second hug for the night. “You’re with my boy. Oh thank goodness. I was really starting to worry that one day he was going to bring home a dragon!”

“Gee, thanks mum.” Charlie sarcastically replied.

“Well, tell us what happened,” Mr. Weasley encouraged. “You won’t get any peace and quiet until you tell this lot the story.”

“Yeah, not even I got the full story!” Ginny giggled, pulling out a chair for Y/N.

“Wait, wait, wait. Y/N. You mean to tell me that you have kissed our brother? The brother that has been in love with dragons since I was born and that used to dress our owl up as a dragon?” Fred asked, disgusted.

“What? He’s passionate,” she giggled.

“EWWW!” the twins replied at the same time.

“Wait,” Ron piped up, “you’re saying that you two just hang out all the time in Romania, working together and seeing each other…after work?”

“Well….actually….” Y/N dragged on, looking over to Charlie.

“We live together,” he grinned broadly for the first time since his family started grilling them.

“LIVE TOGETHER! Y/N no way. He isn’t even that great!” George blurted.

“I think he’s pretty fantastic actually,” Y/N blushed as Charlie stood behind her chair, placing his hands on her shoulders.

“Oh, Fred, George, be quiet. Let them tell their story! We want to know everything! Common, common! Everyone sit down. Have some dessert. Listen to Y/N and Charlie!” Mrs. Weasley commanded.

The room quieted and all eyes were on the newly outed couple.

“Would you like to do the honors?” Y/N asked Charlie.

“I like it better when you tell it, love,” Charlie grinned, kissing Y/N’s forehead.

Ignoring the groans from the boys, Y/N began to tell the story with Charlie interrupting way too often to add in details. Y/N didn’t say anything because it was just so cute how he did it. But, it turned out to be a really wonderful first evening of an even better two weeks. It was really just a great time to be back in England.

#kalimagik #new fic #harry potter #hp fandom #hphm #hphm charlie weasley #harry potter x reader #charlie weasley x reader #charlie weasley #fred weasley x reader #george weasley x reader #ron weasley x reader #weasley family #draco malfoy x reader #charlie weasley fluff #cute and fluffy #fluff #the burrow #weasleys

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amindofstone · 3 years ago

Text

Match up, No. 11

Anon said:

Helloooo can I please get a one piece match up? I go by she/her pronouns and am bi. I enjoy skating and reading. I love to listen to other people ramble about their hobbies and interests, it's just so cute when they do that. I'm also a person that is shy at first but then will be more chaotic when I'm comfortable around you. I'm kinda lazy tbh and I love to listen to music while napping. I am a ravenclaw if that helps too. Thank you love!

a/n: Hello dear. I hope that you´re good and are somewhere you can enjoy good weather with good and lovely people around you. My dear anon I have to apologize for making you wait for so, sooooooooo long, but sadly I couldn’t get myself to do it earlier because of live and assailments. Anyways I still do hope that you didn´t forget about your request and still look forward to the work of mine. If there is anything that bothers you or you simply hate please make sure to tell me so I can work on it and give you something better and different. Other than that I hope you will enjoy what will come next. Happy reading, my dear anon!

Match up rules can be found HERE.

Warning(s): Maybe grammatical or spelling mistakes since English is my third language and I´m still improving in every aspect (Please have mercy on that.)

!!! Please do not steal my idea or work. Credit me if this is shared or published in any other platform or any other way. Please respect me as the writer and my work. Picture is not mine. Credits to: @m_snm_wd (Twitter) !!!

- Well my dear I choose to match you up with the number two of the revolutionary army. Our beloved chief of staff Sabo!

- When Sabo gets asked what made him fall in love with you, he would say your eyes. The moment he looked at you he knew that you were someone special. He knew that you were someone he´d get along with easily. He simply knew that you´d be someone he would love to be close to and always having close to him.

- You were a new comer at the revolutionary army and were about to introduced to some of the important people of the organization.

- Although you were just 18 you had great fighting skills. And on top of that you were an amazing fencer.

- You were currently walking next to a office worker of the organization who showed you all the important places in the base. You were about to walk up to the cafeteria when you bumped into the back of your guide who out of nowhere stopped walking. “It´s a pleasure to see you Sabo and Koala. How was the mission? Did everything go as planned?”,

- A blond tall man stood in front of your guide followed by a beautiful woman. Both of them giving you friendly smiles and greeting you before giving your guide a short info about their mission when Sabo stopped focusing on your guide but rather you. “You are the sword fighter that is now a part of us, right? This place might look a bit boring and gloomy but trust me when I say that it´s more than that. It´s great here and you get to see so much of the world in perspectives you never thought of. If there is anything you ever need just know that I am just one floor below you.”

- And that was your first ever encounter and talk in which he gave you a taste of his lovely smile that was able to light up a whole room no matter the mood.

- Sabo was always impressed of you. He always heard that the trainers complained about your lack of participation in the training sessions for the trainees and newbie’s. But Dragon never said anything because he knew how competent you were. And so did Sabo.

- The first times he tried talking to you, you always gave short answers or just listened to him ramble bout something. And he would have always apologized for not letting you talk too. And each time you would laugh and tell him that you liked listening to people no matter the topic. As long as they were comfortable.

- And so it came that he would always find you to have a walk with him so you could talk about something. Although he was talking the majority of the time.

- The little walks you would always have every day after dinner would turn into a little tradition. Whenever you wouldn´t have them he would think of the worst and get sad. Whenever he wasn´t able to see you he would be down and a total child that has to be dragged to a meeting by Koala.

- One day Dragon send you, Sabo and Koala on a mission. Everything was all good until a little mistake was done by Sabo simply because of him being a bit reckless and thinking he could shorten up the whole process even tho Koala told him he couldn´t. But that man never listens. Maybe his stubborn self was boosted more than usual because you were with them and he wanted to prove how great he is. But he would never admit it.

- Everything escalated in the blink of an eye. Koala was going nuts while scolding Sabo. And you? You were the definition of calm. You might be someone who was lazy but you were impressively smart. Logically and strategically thinking was your strength next to sword fighting. But you never spoke about your talent because you thought that when someone had a talented or was good in it they did not have to always show it off or talk about it. You always said that overconfidence was something you despised and avoided in all cost.

- And so it came that Sabo had the chance to get to see the intelligence in you and the burning determination in your eyes to complete the mission successfully. Sabo was in awe. He was impressed and had a huge grin upon his lips the whole time. Even on the way back to the base he would always have a tiny smile on his lips.

- After that mission he would always look forward to missions with you. He would always suggest you to accompany him on missions. But after some time it got suspicious and he always got teased for wanting to go with you on missions because these occasions were the only moments one could get you to come out of your room. And you didn´t mind at all. But Koala did because she knew that her friend found a liking in you but you simply couldn’t see it.

- Weeks passed and no sight of you realizing that the number two was crushing on you. Months passed and you were still as clueless as ever until Koala told you out of nowhere that Sabo liked you and left you overwhelmed and surprised. Alone in your room with your brain shutting down and intelligence leaving your body.

- After a few days in which Sabo hid from you and tried to avoid you at any cost you finally saw him at a meeting. When the meeting ended he approached you and tucked on your sleeve to get your attention since you were talking to Koala. “Do you have a minute? I would like to talk with you.”, he smiled at you with a little blush while he got lost in your eyes. “Sure. What do you wanna talk about? Did something happen?”, Sabo shook his head and offered you his hand and walked you out. He led you to the roof of the base and instantly got to the point right after he told himself to not do anything embarrassing. “y/n. Listen. I know this might sound weird but I truly like you. I thought I should tell you this myself although Koala already told you that and ruined everything. But that’s not the point. I am not telling you this because I want you to go on date with me but make sure you actually hear it from me. So if you, after this, still would like to be friends and keep wanting to spend time with me I really would appreciate it and would like you too….“

- Sabo was none stop rambling with no sight of him stopping soon. So you simply hugged him to stop him from rambling without an actual end. “Huh?!”, the blond man froze on the spot not knowing where to put his hands or if he should put his hand on you at all. “When someone usually hugs someone, they expect them to hug back. But it´s fine I took you by surprise.”, you said with a little smile on your lips while hiding your face on his shoulder. “That I know my dear, but they do not instantly hug back when they are in love and would like to hug that significant other all the time.”, the smile on your lips grew and made you look up. “So out of your words that were just a – I like you- turned now into a – I love you-. Glad to see that the hug worked and I could get you to speak what I wanted to say myself.”

- Congratulations my dear. Your sweet confession got one of the strongest men alive to blush and not know what to say. Flustered Sabo looked away with a smile upon his lips and a racing heart. “So you like me too? Am I correct… my dear y/n?”

- You nodded and that was what made Sabo to embrace you in his arms and pull you as close to him as possible. “Thank you for allowing me to hear your confession. Thank you for seeing me worth to be loved.”

- Your and Sabos relationship was one of the sweetest. You were what the world would have called couple goals. Every person at the revolutionary army knew you two and would always refer on you two with different names. One would call you -the beauty and the beast-, -Romeo and Juliet-, -Yin and Yang-, -Royal couple- and so much more.

- Sabo and you knew about that and loved it although it always would cause the both of you to blush and get shy around each other when you would hear it. Out of all the names you heard or got told about by colleges or Koala, Sabo had a favorite he would never admit out loud. And the name he loved was – the calm and the chaos-

- The calm and the chaos wasn´t romantic or sweet but to him it meant a lot. Because you were like the calm silence at the beach. The comforting silence that surrounded the atmosphere when the sun rise. You were like the warm silence full of hopes and dreams that surrounded the atmosphere when the sun set. You were the comforting silence he, the chaos, needed in his life to recharge and gain strength. You were the love filled silence he always looked for when the world was about to drown him in his raging wrath. You were like the love filled, comforting calm that embraced him when the voices in his head threatened to fill his heart with agony and despair.

- He was the uncontrollable storm and you were his heart the eye of the storm that held all the comfort and silence that would keep him from losing himself

- You were the only calm in his life. You were hiscalm. You were the only calm in his life. And he swore to keep you and love you until his last breath.

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punkrockmads · 3 years ago

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Miller Crackheads

Summary: I have no words. This is for @joel-motherfucking-miller

Joel sighs, leaning back into the couch and tossing his backpack to the floor. He closes his eyes, rubbing his face with his hands. Another long day. He's barely had any time off duty, constantly helping the many people of Jackson by picking up any assignments he can. Patrol, farming, armory, you name it. He's always been the "work till you drop" kind of guy. His wife comes downstairs wearing one of his flannels and her favorite pair of jeans.

"Looks like you had a fun day." She jokes. Joel's eyes snap open as he jumps, not realizing she had come into the living room.

"Jesus christ, Tess." He breathes, giving her his best 'I hate you but I love you' glare. Tess grins, moving to sit next to Joel. The two hug, enjoying the relaxing, quiet moment. That's when Joel realizes something's missing. "Where's Madelyn?" Usually their daughter comes running down the stairs to greet him every afternoon when he gets home. She has almost every day for seventeen years.

"Upstairs sleeping." Tess answers. "She had a rough day."

"What happened?" Joel asks, his worry growing and spreading like a fire in his gut.

"I think she just really misses you. That and she didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Nightmares again." Tess explains, pushing some of Joel's hair back. "You need a haircut."

"It's all turnin' grey anyways." Joel chuckles. "Might as well just let it do it's thing." He stands up, taking Tess' hand and kissing her knuckles lightly. "I'm gonna go check on her." He sighs. Tess nods, reaching for the TV remote on the coffee table.

"I'll see if I can find a movie for us to watch." She says as he walks up the stairs.

"Alright." Joel calls back. He knocks lightly on Madelyn's door to see if she's awake. When he gets no response, he slowly opens the door, poking his head in. Madelyn lays curled up in her bed, surrounded by stuffed animals and balled up blankets. Her arms are wrapped around her torso, knees pulled up to her chest, hair that she never brushes splayed out in every direction. Creepy Bird by Ladylike Lily plays from the little speaker Joel had helped her fix up for her fifteenth birthday. He recognizes the song immediately; one of her favorites.

Joel sits down on the end of her bed as the song changes. Honeybee by Steam Powered Giraffe, another one of her favorites. She must be listening to the playlist Ellie made for her during their weekly sibling bonding time. Her breathing is steady, she's calm for the first time in what probably feels like forever. She's a hard worker just like her father. Months of working nonstop have finally caused her to shut down. Joel sighs, feeling slightly guilty for not spending much time with her lately. Too much has been going on, putting a wedge in their usually close bond. He reaches over to grab the slightly shattered cellphone Madelyn uses to play music. He turns the music off before gently setting the cellphone back on the night table. No need to leave it on and waste the battery.

Joel puts a hand on Madelyn's shoulder, remembering when she was tiny enough to fit in his hands. He wishes he could go back in time to when she was so little and carefree. Back when she'd run into his arms as soon as he returned to their rugged old apartment from his assignments in Boston. When she'd sass him and argue with him in her little baby language that sounded like absolute nonsense. He'd always let her win those arguments. He wishes she'd stay his tiny little jellybean forever. But she's growing up faster than he'd like to admit.

He remembers when she used to hit him with the old pool noodle Tess had found for her. He remembers constantly hearing her teeny tiny feet racing through the apartment as fast as they could go. She used to have so much energy. The stress of life stole that from her as it does to most at some point in their lives.

It stole her energy, stole her childish dreams of princesses in huge castles and mermaids in magical oceans and dragons up in the clouds, it even stole her hopes of a future free of infected. The things she's seen. The things she's done. Joel's had his fair share of trauma and it's something he lives with daily. He can't imagine how tough it must be for a child. He's just glad the world hasn't crushed her free spirit. Or her wild and chaotic energy. Or the way she seems to shine wherever she goes. The world could never crush her soul.

Joel never thought he'd be here. Married to the most incredible woman in the world, two daughters, one all grown up with a kid of her own. He never thought he'd survive more than a year and now he can't imagine living any other way. He tucks a lock of Madelyn's hair behind her ear. She takes a deep breath, her eyes slowly opening. She looks at her father with tired eyes.

"Can we have chicken nuggets for dinner?" She mumbles almost incoherently, stretching her arms out in front of her.

"What?" Joel chuckles. "I just got home and this is how you greet me?" He grins at his daughter as she sits up, rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands. He wraps his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head.

"Nooooooo!" Madelyn groans. "Get your scratchy beard off meeeeee!" Despite her complaining, she hugs back, falling limp in Joel's arms.

"What is with you people and making fun of my hair today?" Joel laughs. "You're too much like your mother."

"Nah. Mom doesn't spray Tommy with a spray bottle every time he rambles about matchbox cars." Madelyn grins.

"You're so mean to him." Joel says.

"It's just how we bond." Madelyn says. Her eyes close. "I missed you." She sighs.

"I missed you too, kiddo." Joel says, holding her tighter. "I'm gonna take a few days off so I can spend time with you and mom. How's that sound?" Madelyn moves to look up at him.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Joel nods. "I could use a break anyways." Madelyn crawls out of his arms, slipping off the bed and onto the floor. "Jesus christ." Joel laughs. She stands up, kicking away a blanket that got caught on her ankle. She runs out of the room and into the hallway.

"I'm gonna go get Ellie!" She yells from the stairs. Joel runs out when he hears a loud thud from the bottom of the stairs. He sees Madelyn laying on the last step. "I'm fine!" She assures, getting up and running out the back door. Tess walks out of the living room and looks at Joel standing there with a look of terror on his face. She laughs at him, causing him to crack a smile.

"That's your genetics right there." Joel jokes, pointing at Tess. She glares at him, reaching to take off her shoe. Joel realizes what she's about to do just as she aims it at him. "Oh no."

Here's the lovely chaos family;

First photo is obviously mine

If you know the owners of the Joel and Tess photos please let me know! All credit where credit is due!

#the last of us #the last of us 2 #tlou2 #ellie williams #tlou #ellie tlou #joel miller #joel tlou #tess tlou #oc character

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dumb-dumb-mander · 3 years ago

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BB, egg(s), Caithe and Aurene

Little ramble that I'm not even sure I will keep it in the end version, but─

It keeps playing in my mind

⚠ under the cut: spoiler of HoT and following until a bit of LW3 (I started Lake Dorik)

Few things first ; Mikhail is a big reckless "chaotic neutral" one and has big trust issue.

He saw a griffon mount when he was a sapling, learned it was coming from the Desert, and just... Go for it, managing to pass the Guards in Ebonhawk

He almost died more than once (just the travel my dudes, if Elonian people didn't find him faceplan in the sand he would have died), met the twins Largos Kenut and Nikare before they made a deal with Qadim I don't care if this isn't Canon, I want them to meet before Raids, hush and ultimately came back with a Griffon's egg and Domi the Raptor

He began to nurse the egg, keeping it close to him, studying how to take care of a baby griffon and everything

Mikhail obviously didn't make the egg, but there was kind of a parallel between the round belly shape of a pregnant person and the egg he was keeping close to him for it to not get cold

Before the griffon was born, it was already his baby

He could feel a connexion to it because he was nursing it, talking to it, and everything, teaching Domi to run in safety with the egg when Mikhail couldn't do anything else than going on adventures with it (which wasn't difficult for how a funny coward the lizard can be)

When BB came out from the egg, he still took care of it─ Domi too

Mikhail loves all his mounts, he adopted a few people and animals as heart's family, but BB... It's different

It's his child, because he took care of it to start to finish and bound with it

And then Mama Pale Tree shared with him and his friends Cor and Vielcos the vision of the dragon egg─ Aurene

The world's situation was dire, and he wasn't stupid enough to believe he could take care of this new baby as much as he did with BB

But he still was excited to hold the egg close to his chest and nurse it as much as possible

...

But then, Caithe stole it

Caithe, a Firstborn of his kind, the person who guided him in the Dream before he woke up, a mentor he knew from the start...

Someone he thought he could trust

Stole the egg, the hope for the world, without any warning, cut the Master of Peace sentence and put the egg─ the world in danger because she warned nobody where she was

What if something happened to her?!

The egg would have been lost... !

Mikhail was furious

Mikhail was furious when he couldn't join Trahearne and Destiny's Edge because he was forced to hunt Caithe down for the egg

When he finally held the egg, he didn't have time to nurse it. He was on a mission; he needed to take care of it like a precious package and nothing else

Time was clicking. He had no time

Mikhail couldn't trust anyone anymore, if he couldn't trust Caithe, anybody could betray him─ anybody

He hesitated to leave the egg to Tarir, in the Exalteded's hands...

But he couldn't take it with him against Mordremoth

Still warry, however, he asked Domi to stay with the egg, to be sure 'someone' he could trust was with the egg

After everything, there was still a lot to be done, a lot to process...

Mikhail tried to bound with the egg, like he did with BB's but...

There was always an Exalted watching at the very least, Tarir was pretty and shiny but it was still a cage and finally, he couldn't shake off from his mind that this dragon was very important for everyone...

And when it finally hatched

When Aurene looked at him with those objectively cute eyes

His fear became true

He felt nothing for this baby

Mikhail felt no bound at all, not attachment like he could with his heart's family

It was like those humans that couldn't hold their newborn right after birth and missed that deep connexion that everyone praises about, that people say that every progenitor could feel

He felt awful, awkward, and sad

He missed time to bound with the egg

And a part of him still blame Caithe for it, even if he tries to fight those negatives emotions, he's still furious and doesn't trust her anymore

Mikhail doesn't give up to bound with Aurene, trying to visit her as much as possible, but something is... Off

Maybe with time, he will tie this bond with Aurene

Maybe with time, he will forgive Caithe

#mikhail lys #the tale #blabla #caithe #aurene #BB #guild wars 2 #gw2 #Mikhail has excuses me I'm just a brat that doesn't excuse betrayal #well we'll see later but for now it's a nope #we'll see how it goes

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changepherrox · 4 years ago

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Hi its 5am so sorry if this doesn't make sense but I just dreamt that there was this big student protest and azula, ty lee and mai were there (as protestors) and were giving off some serious chaotic vibes and because it was new years' eve azula saID "TOO BAD WE CAN'T GET ANOTHER FURRY CON THIS YEAR"?????!!!! This was all in your art style which is why I think you should know. Anyways sorry for rambling so much, have a great day

Sweet anon don't you worry she actually got to attend a furry con last night in MY FUCKIN DREAM like I saw Azula who simply became Tai Lung from Kung Fu Panda who was also stuffed and placed as a dummy in the hall with the dragon scroll but came back to life after lord Shen was literally yeeted in oblivion (like someone literally threw him into space) and SUDDENLY got all the memories back and it turns out that Azula-Lung is actually a long lost sibling of GRU FROM DESPICABLE ME and her actual name is JOE and then she proceeded to run away and tried to hack a computer but she had to enter the name of GLaDOS from Portal but then couldn't remember how to write it so she broke down in tears but then she just stole a motorcycle and drove away into sunset while still being Tai Lung and I have nothing to say about it except 👁️👄👁️

#thank you for giving me this opportunity to rant about this WEIRD ASS DREAM #what a coincidence #last night was absolutely high #no other explanation

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akurathereaper · 4 years ago

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An insignificant rant on HoT&PoF

As everyone knows, yady yady ya, everyone prefers HoT, whatever

I’m one of those people and I’m about to rant about this too.

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE RANT

I will be talking about story elements and stuff that happens in both DLCs.

I like Path of Fire, I really do, it gave me Elona, it gave me agent Kito whom I wholeheartedly pity cuz he has to deal with the Commander, it gave me more of Aurene (and it gave me Joko on whom I can shit on when I feel bad)

But, it didn’t give me maps I like (and I will tell you why) (please note I am no game designer, or designer in general. In fact, maps designed by me would be probably shit, but I still believe my opinion is valid, because I am a person with eyes that can see)

This is going to be a small rant when it comes to maps, now mark, english isn’t my first language so there may be nonsensical sentences, and I am no professional critic so all of this is coming from my heart, not my brain.

Ready? Let’s go

So I’m going to do a little comparison (nothing too much in depth) of the four maps from each DLC (plus Domain of Vabbi but I don’t have much to say on it if I’m honest).

We have Verdant Brink, Auric Basin, Tangled Depths and Dragon’s stand from Heart of Thorns, and Crystal Oasis, Desert Highlands, The Desolation, Elon Riverlands and Domain of Vabbi.

Let me start with HoT, because it makes logical sense.

When you first start the Heart of Thorns campaign, you’re told to go from Silverwastes to... Verdant Brink. You get a small taste of it right before you enter it, in that cave where the injured pact members are talking about it. And then you load in (hopefully, if your pc doesn’t reenact an atomic blast), and first thing you see, when you walk in on that VERY SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED LEDGE

is absolute carnage.

Ships are strewn about, hanging in pieces torn apart by Mordremoth’s vines, smoke and fire is everywhere, that part of the jungle is ravaged not only by Mordremoth, but also by you. Your Pact. And in that moment you exactly realize what happened (if it wasn’t obvious from the cutscene that played before it *cough cough*)

But now you see it. The map tells you a very obvious story, and you don’t need to be a genius to figure it out. It tells you and SHOWS you exactly how strong and dangerous the Dragon you’re hunting is. It shows you what you have to overcome. (And if you’re me, you’re crying cuz Trahearne got kidnapped)

I’m going to skip the storyparts of this map, but will instead focus on the meta of it (since i’ve done it like trillion times). There’s five main crashpoints. Each has to bring their all to successfuly make this map “safe”. The nobles, the Pale Reavers, the quaggan and her soldiers. Everyone. I’m guessing that after you kill all the five champions, the area becomes safe enough for you to move on, after all, you’re the Commander, and you cannot leave everyone to die in the middle of the Jungle. Once again, the map tells you a story through the gameplay)

And then you move onto Auric Basin (I’m guessing it’s a lot of people’s fav map)

Oh, Auric Basin... The map instantly breathes “something”, something different. You KNOW you’re somewhere else, the whole atmosphere tells you that you’re somewhere forgotten, somewhere where the touches of humans, sylvari, charr, whatever main race, have not reached.

Your first instance of it is most likely the story instance, so you get introduced to the place pretty quickly. I don’t have to say how gorgeous the city actually is, right?

The whole place is an archaeologist’s wet dream. And again, the map tells you, it shows you, it’s story, it’s history (the Priory people are wetting themselves over the whole thing), and sometimes it’s the Exalted themselves who tell you the story. But you can gauge a lot of it just from observing. It’s not the most effective of cities, I’ll be honest, but it’s a damn impressive one. After all, Tarir was build for Glint’s scion.

And the meta? It’s about PROTECTING the city. Protecting it from Mordremoth, from destroying it, from destroying the safe place for a dragon’s egg. You stop Mordremoth from leaching the place with Octovines (or an exalted does it for you. Kudos to you, immortal and endless exalted), and you don’t rly realize the importance of this place until the whole Aurene thing happens.

And oof, Tangled Depths.

Tangled Depths, one of the most hated maps in the entire expansion, a thing (imho) that can be very much blamed on the map limitation (I’m talking about your map, where you see where you are and where the waypoints are, etc.) Like, honestly, wouldn’t it be a WHOLE lot easier to traverse if your map made actual damn sense? But I digress.

Tangled Depths is probably one of the lesser impressive maps? Overall, I very like it, although it’s story has to be unearthed and explored actively. It’s more of a bland looking pie with delicious filling.

Tangled Depths is quite...a good map. In a way. Don’t throw trash at me, please. I also hated it when I had to walk through it, but I learnt the shortcuts and then traversed with relative ease, so I stopped seeing the whole map as a nuisance and started seeing it for what it was.

Such an untouched piece of history... The Rata Novus? Rata Novus? Hello? Asura lived here?

The Ogres, making their village there? The Nuhoch, fighting for their survival with the Zintl hyleks and the Chak? The Chak? Such new and interesting creatures who literally eat magic! In the middle of the jungle, you see such life, such vivacity, even in the midst of Mordremoth’s reign of terror.

And the story of the meta is tying in so nicely to the overall thing! You’re literally tunneling into Dragon’s stand, to reach old Papa Mordremoth, and you’re doing it with the help of everyone on the map! The Ogres, the asuras (well they dead, so their robots lol), the Chak (yeah, Chak bois be helping, not rly it’s just the lane lol), and the useless easy line! You’re charging a thingimajig that blasts a hole through the ley-line empowered wall and bam, you’re in DS. (Excuse me it has been a while since I was in TD) And Chak bois are on your ass trying to eat it cuz magic but that’s so the meta is interesting.

And then... My favourite map. Dragon’s stand.

I played this map... probably more than I should’ve, but... the way it is structured is simply so interesting! Three lines, for three leaders, each battling their way through the jungle to get to the Generals, to get to the Mouth of Mordremoth. And along the way, you gain more and more allies, more and more people to help you fight this noodle! You get the ogres, the itzel, the nuhoch, the skritt(!), the exalted, the... THE NIGHTMARE COURT? *cough cough* cut content *cough cough*. Yeah, some don’t get an explanation, but you see everything that you have done, everyone you have helped in the previous map, go help you out in this one? You see them and protect them at the last island (and the whole map is just one giant meta and I LOVE IT (it can be a point of criticism as well, since it’s quite hard to explore if the meta ain’t done and the last few pois are impossible to get if MoM isn’t dead)) and it’s just so epic

Everything you did was leading up to this moment, this last battle, this last stand, the DRAGON’S STAND. And the battle was just... epic. Epic, is all I can say about this map and it’s story. (Shame the Commanders/Generals were cut out, as we have no clue who they were, and knowing something about them would make it a bit more meaningful in fighting them)

To conclude.

HoT is focused as hell. You got a goal: Pop a cap in Mordremoth. And you’re going to do it. You got twice the motivation if you’re a sylvari. Each map is designed to give you the build up of the fight, first you see what Mordremoth can do, then you see what’s at stake, and then you gotta fight for it. The fact the maps are gorgeous (If a little (bit a lot) laggy) only helps the overall feel. Anything and Everything can and will murder your ass, and you gotta be ready for it.

Now onto PoF maps. This segment is going to be shorter, because in all honesty? PoF, I like you, but you’re just... well, you’ll see. Hopefully. This is after all just my opinion lol.

Oh and if you got this far? Kudos lol I ramble a lot. <3

Anyway, PoF maps.

So the opening to PoF is... quite good? It’s a bit out of your control but it does it’s job imo.

You come in on an airship, and you see the land spread before you. You see a pyramind, and you think “Oh hell yeah, pyramids.” I would LOVE to just be able to explore the area, you know, have a chill opening, but PoF is about FIRE and FIGHT so, you fight and try to save the people and it’s very chaotic and everything is on FIRE OH GODS.

So you chase this mysterious person, you get introduced to the raptor village, all goes well or bad, and then you are directed to the city of Amnoon (since we’re still in a story instance), so you go. Amnoon is very pretty, and following the tradition of MMO cities very impractical, but hey, rule of cool. The whole time you’re not rly allowed to explore anywhere or look at anything, you’re focused, sure, but you’re also very distracted, you get me?

You want to look around, you want to explore, but you’ve just been attacked by this Herald woman and you’re tired of politics. The opening of PoF isn’t bad, but it is very different from HoT, as in HoT you first SAW the carnage Mordy did and THEN you went on down to help the remaining survivals, whereas here, in Oasis, you kinda.. live through it? You see it first hand what Balthy is doing, while in HoT you only chased the aftermaths of the massacres. This works differently for everyone, and I personally prefer the HoT approach.

PoF is very open when it comes to the story, as in you are not AS limited to instances as it was with HoT, sometimes it works to its advantage, sometimes.. it doesn’t.

The way PoF maps jerk you around is very confusing to me. You explore Crystal Oasis, then you go to Desert Highlands, then to Elon riverlands, and you gotta go back down through the Oasis to get there, so you are already trudging through the land you already know (and since you have mounts they took full advantage of making the maps bigger, but it makes them feel... emptier? Like I get it, it’s the Desert, but still...) so you get to Elon riverlands, you do your thing there, then you go to Desolation, then to Vabbi. Nice. Okay.

In none of these maps, there is a story meta. None. No impressive whole-map meta where you gotta all cooperate to keep the map stable. Nothing. There is no use in me trying to analyze these maps, for they are just... backdrop to what’s happening. Balthazar this, Balthazar that. Oh no Kralky is awake, and oh look we met Vlast for like 2 seconds and then he immediately ded.

I’ll be honest... I don’t remember much of PoF before chapter 9 The Departing (because that chapter was fire. Lol. get it), which saddens me immensely. I remember most of HoT. Where what happened when it happened how it happened, I know, and if I don’t know immediately, in few minutes my brain serves me the entire instance. I could probably play HoT blindfolded.

This is a very shallow look into why I probably don’t like PoF as much as I like HoT.

To try and conclude my very messy terrible rant essay:

Heart of Thorns used its maps in a way that showed you with gameplay what’s in store for you. It used maps in a way to help you build that anticipation of the fight, of everything you sacrificed along the way. The maps are smartly connected in a way where with each map you delve deeper into the jungle, deeper into the mouth of the beast. Sure, they lag as fuck, but the PoF maps do so too, don’t lie to yourselves. With each map you meet new allies that help you along the way.

In Path of Fire I just... don’t get that feeling. I run from map to map, mindlessly following the green star, hoping I will stumble upon something interesting on the way. In Heart of Thorns it was the opposite. I was walking around the map, breathing in the atmosphere of the place, and stumbling upon the green story star. I feel like the Elona desert did not get such justice as it deserved. I trudge around the maps, I complete the maps to get the reward, then I move onto the story. My interest in the whole thing only started to pick up once I freaking DIED for gods’ sake.

My hopes for the End of Dragons, which is happening in Cantha, is that I get more of that focused map design. That story in gameplay, that map-wide meta that will have me grind my teeth at 10pm on a work/school night. I don’t need Drizzlewood metas (an inferior Dragon’s stand, mind you) that are like 2-3 hours long. A 30 min prelude and 30 min metas are fine. An hour long meta if you have the idea for it, but... give me map stories, Anet.

Feel free to share your own feels about the different feels between the DLCs. I will GLADLY take in PoF preferrers. What did you prefer in PoF? What did you like in it? Give me your opinions, give me your take on everything.

And thank you for reading my overly long rant essay, hah.

#gw2 #guild wars 2 #Path of Fire #Heart of Thorns #guild wars 2 Path of Fire #guild wars 2 Heart of Thorns #If you open the rant #there is a sort of a tl:dr at the bottom #to try and conclude my very messy terrible rant essay it is called #feel free to reblog and comment on #or just ignore lol

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