#fleshed the whole thing out

[beaningeneralacceptance]

Nimbus story lore speculation

At the beginning of Chapter 6, we learn that the people of Sameria (or just the empress and the military, who knows if the people are aware) know that King Calvus is dead but they don't know who the culprit is. Now, Morden has bought the group time by saying that they're mercenaries (which isn't a total lie but no one is getting paid so) who are willing to help settle things with Keraxe. So, Empress Nilah thinks that we are good guys.

.

.

We are not.

With the Drachmae pirates out of the way, Samerian ships can come and go as they like. By this point, Ravenna is probably looking for the murderer of their king and unless Neviro has somehow managed to hide everything, the Empress is going to learn everything. Even if the Player is the most normal person in the war seas, we have a very temperamental anomaly whose legend has been spread worldwide (maybe) and a curse user in the group (and there is a survivor to report them *ahem* Revon -though he has gone missing according to a Ravenna npc- and General Julian -he's probably alive). Regardless, it is only a matter of time till the Empress learns of what took place in Ravenna Castello.

And then we won't be the good guys in her eyes. In her eyes, we'd be the ones who put her country in danger by killing King Calvus, the sole reason the treaty between the Sameria Province and Keraxe was signed in the first place. Now, she has reason to suspect us.

Because Morden said we're mercenaries. She thinks we're probably hired by someone to kill the king to indirectly wound Sameria. So, she could be suspecting that we are somehow going to exploit her to bring Sameria down or something along those lines.

So I think that while we're sailing to Port Mistral, news will reach the Empress, she'll send soldiers after us to arrest and interrogate us (or torture us if you love angst like me).

It's going to be a massive misunderstanding but also not that much of a misunderstanding because we killed a king and accidentally voided a peace treaty. But we're also lacking a man who is good with words to get us out of that misunderstanding.

(Hmmm perhaps Neviro will arrive at the nick of time to save our butts?)

[vaggietheangel]

Edited gif by Miyakuli

The way they lean into eachother when Millie was comforting Blitzo. 🥹 Blitzo puts up walls for the majority of people- he usually only crises on his own. He only felt comfortable doing that in front of his former best friend and current best friend.

Blitzo is the one who inspired Millie to join IMP and brought her up in the world. No one realised how talented she was before they met. She was just some farm girl with a bit of muscle. Which is the average imp in wrath.

Blitzo opening his own business as an imp is unheard of. She realised she could do more with her life than what everyone expected her to do.

He didn't just inspire her he was there for her when she needed reassurance. Both struggle with self worth issues, and only the other can show them they they are way more than they give themselves credit for.

Thier friendship is so shrjwodjnwkdoskskdd ❤️

[writeouswriter]

You ever come up with a story concept and think oh this is brilliant, this is so good, this is so clever, I'm a genius, people will love this, and you brainstorm and you outline and you create a whole host of details about it, but also you... don't want to write it, not in a "I dislike writing" or "I want someone/something else to write this" type way, but in a "I love and enjoy this concept and want to be the one to execute it if it ever comes to pass, and yet this story/genre just isn't really me" way, like this is good but I'm not the one to do it, but also I'm the only one to do it, it's mine

[shaykai]

He thinks the name is ill-fitting but humerus (he also refuses to call them Watchers- both because it doesn’t suit them in his opinion and also because it makes Gortash upset)

All in all he finds them to be pretty nifty murder machines! He hasn’t the faintest clue how machines work, but he tries to help Enver with them- namely through the occasional suggestion or being an unwilling guinea pig

(For instance, Gortash didn’t tell Vat’il that he was working on installing scrying eyes and thusly giving them the ability to see invisible targets. The way he found out was by getting jump scared by a Watcher that, as far as he’s concerned, shouldn’t have been able to see him)

[storywestistrash]

watched mouthwashing finally. the fact that i saw people be more aggressive towards curly than jimmy is kinda strange. kinda real weird

[ineed-to-sleep]

*me immediately after going through a terrifying and traumatic experience* haha yeah I guess it was rough but I'm fine now like I'm totally chill. It was kinda funny actually if you think about it

[ratcandy]

you all know that one vine. i couldn't stop thinking about it while doing this storyline (tobe clear sozo is my wife)

[kacievvbbbb]

Nobora deserved to be mentored by Yuki actually. They are the same breed of person Nobara would fucking hate her (lovingly)😭. But would latch onto her like a fungus. She’s think she was so cool and then yuki would open her mouth asking her what she prefers in a woman and she’d flash back to Todo and his weirdness and be done 😭

They have a similar loud boisterous will kick your face in if you dare say they aren’t cute personality but I do think that Yuki could have really helped Nobora grow out of her almost borderline apathy towards the general public. Because I think they had the opposite problems. Yuki got lost in the big picture spent so much time trying to cure it all she stopped being able to see the individual while Nobara is so lost in the weeds all she can see is the individual and unless she cares about them she only saves them because that is a consequence of her job. Nobara for all she hates them is in some ways just as small minded as the people from her hometown.

God also they have a similar application of their curse technique Yuki kicks around her shikigami and Nobara hammers her nails. They are insane in the same way. There is actually so much she could have learned from Yuki and it breaks my heart that we didn’t really get to see Yuki or Nobara develop as characters or even really be characters in the story. Because their major fights are so bad ass and they are so insane. And god they needed more 😭.

[bayetea]

I think it's really annoying that leo has completely falsified memories of jason too and this is barely acknowledged in the books

[warriordragonart]

I find the connection of Miquella likely being Torrent’s former owner - the Spirit Calling Bell being entrusted to Ranni by Torrent’s former owner - Miquella being depicted alongside three wolves in a statue - and Ranni having the Lone Wolf Spirit ashes to be really interesting so here’s a dubiously canon compliant headcanon based on that!

[sluckythewizard]

'I wont cry for you, I wont crucify the things you do. I wont cry for you, see, when you're gone, I'll still be BLOODY MARY'

[spotaus]

New Age AU (Obtaining Killer)

Hey guys! Through with a bot of stuff for the day and I have a sneaking suspicion that this stress headache will not leave me until I finish some projects for work, so I *may* be m.i.a. for a hot second until they stop.

In the meantime, I want to drop this! (Unedited, unrefined, raw off the slab style)

Andddd @ancha-aus and @papiliovolens ! Hello! (Mutzelputz if u see this, the tags weren't working for some reason, I apologize.)

Hope y'all enjoy!

Ccino had convinced him to leave the castle. After nearly a year had passed since his last true public appearance. Since he'd stolen the apple from his brother. Nine months had passed since he'd sent Dream away. He tried not to think about it.

Nightmare had been finding out a lot about his magic. How it made him jittery, and how he felt like he understood so much more. How it made him deeply paranoid, quick to react.

How it made people listen to him.

He figured it was because he was scary now. The negative magic condensed over every inch of his bone wasn't exactly appealing, and the extra limbs which had sprouted from his spine now acted like his own personal weapons. If someone didn't listen, didn't give him an answer he liked, the limbs moved without him even thinking.

It had taken time to learn to better control them. Even now, they writhed in his wake. His nerves expressed through their lashing and twitching as they hovered just above the ground.

The streets weren't exactly crowded.

Upon word of the King's arrival to this small providence, Nightmare had found that many people fled from his path. His travel party of several soldiers, and himself on horseback. He'd always wanted to ride horses. The traitor twin was someone that every citizen wished to avoid.

Ccino had coaxed him outside with promises of fresh air. Apparently there were promising young members of the city guard that Ccino swore would be wonderful future knights. Young warriors for him to bring up loyally under his name, no fear of betrayal.

It had made sense, at the time, but Nightmare hadn't chosen to recruit any of them.

It wasn't to say he didn't want to. Several of the humans and monsters were very talented, and he did his best to give them praise, but he could tell. None of them wanted to work under him. They didn't like him. Rejection and hatred that had pierced him immediately, he could practically taste it.

Ultimately, they would do better here in their hometown. A place they were passionate about protecting, and with people they cared for. Night would not try to mold promising soldiers into his perfect guard. No matter how smart of an idea it may have been.

And so he'd moved on.

Night had visited several smaller shops, onces which couldn't afford to refuse him, and he bought some fabrics, a trinket, some small thing from each place he stopped by. He payed exactly the price he needed for each thing. He wouldn't bribe his people, either. The best he could do would be to remain neutral.

He did discover, against all odds, that he was enjoying this day out. Ccino was, in fact, usually correct about this sort of thing.

The travel had been enriching. Almost exciting. He'd never gotten out of the castle much at all, this was all new and excitingly mundane.

Good things do not last forever.

It was almost sunset when he noticed it. Torches being set up, a platform prepared. A crowd gathering.

An execution, came the mutter from one of his soldiers. Though he recognized the set-up, Night had never been in attendance to an execution. He was morbidly curious. The crowd held such a contempt. A broiling hunger for blood.

He wished he'd wheeled his horse away when a few people were ushered out of a nearby building.

The prison, maybe?

There weren't many of them. Nightmare dismounted his steed, and much to the dismay of the soldiers at his side, he found himself sinking. Into the growing shadows cast by the dying sun.

He re-emerged beside the stage, where the few people were lined up. Ready for death by hanging.

That trick wasn't one that Nightmare quite understood yet, but he was always drawn to feelings of intense negativity. He knew that, now. Something about these prisoners were bothering him, even at a distance, and he found himself more curious as he stood before them.

His guards, at the back of the crowd, hadn't seemed to figure out where he had gone. He had the time, now, to loom over the small group of prisoners.

The city guards, the trained ones, had likely seen him earlier at their headquarters. They did not speak even a word against him as he stared.

Nightmare stared at these faces.

A dog monster, scrappy and scarred, black fur clashing against a few patches of white. One of her ears was missing.

A pair of humans, both men, one with long, curly red hair and another with short-cropped red hair and the beginnings of a beard. Maybe they were brothers?

A skeleton. His sockets dripped with black magic, and his soul was a piercing crimson, just infront of his chest.

A flame monster, small and stout. Their flames a flickering green and purple. One of their eyes had a patch over it.

Nightmare was not great at determining emotions yet. He was hardly versed in his own feelings, but there had been improvement recently. Understanding new emotions had been coming more naturally to him.

Sometimes it hurt, but he was learning.

Now, past the blossoms of a headache, he felt a bit baffled as he subconsciously picked through the negativity these monsters exuded. Their fear. Their pain. Their loss, and their anger.

Oh.

"Only one of you is guilty."

He'd said it without thinking, practically announcing it with a voice that still felt unnaturally deep. A voice which rattled his ribcage and seemed to force past the barrier of darkness around him.

The group before him seemed startled. Confused.

Well, all but the skeleton, who seemed to only raise his skull slightly. As though just noticing Nightmare was there.

"How could you have possibly been jailed in the first place?" He muttered a bit quieter to himself.

He knew, deep down, that there were many, many rules in place for situations like this. Laws which he could challenge. People he could speak to. He could appoint members of his court to each of these people and try to earn their innocence through the rites of the law.

Then again, he remembered the rage of the crowd. The frustration of the people waiting to see these killings take place.

He didn't know what to do.

Now the prisoners, especially the two humans, were staring at him hopefully. He'd managed to shatter the negativity a bit. He believed them. He knew this was wrong.

"I don't know..."

The mutter came again unprompted.

These people would not have the means to repay him for his help. He couldn't just waive fees, or risk his court turning against him. He couldn't afford enemies being made so close to his inner circle.

He couldn't just leave them, though. Not after he'd seen the injustice of it all.

Stuck in his own thoughts, he was drawn out of it by a snickering laugh.

"Just set them free." A voice followed, "You are our King, aren't you?"

Nightmare then found his eyes drawn to the skeleton.

The others had eased themselves away from him. He stood, now, almost alone. He seemed unbothered by speaking up, his sockets held in an almost lazy posture. Tension going completely un-held.

He grinned up as the King, and seemed to watch contentedly as the thought settled in Nightmare's skull.

He could do that. Simply waive their charges. Pardon them. He could do that, surely. Many royals had done it before him for less certain terms. His mother had plenty of times.

"And you are guilty. You'll still be hanged. You know this, don't you?" Nightmare asked.

That was when the Skeleton's lazy sockets seemed to tighten with a sort of glee. Some hidden joke Nightmare wasn't privy to.

"Hmm." This was a poor choice. This was a bad decision. "Tell me, quickly, how you came to be here. Before I proceed?"

Nightmare didn't know why he was asking. He was... curious. Just like he had always been.

Very few people would ever speak straight to his face. Ccino, that was the only one who'd done it since his change. Since the prophecy. This skeleton had done it. He'd spoken when no one else could muster even a plea.

The silence he seemed to bring to every room. Broken, just briefly.

The skeleton stared at him a moment.

"Name's Killer, your majesty." The tone was mocking. "A while back a buddy of mine got into hot water, and I decided to help them out. Now, plenty of bodies later, I'm the one stuck on death row."

Simple. An admission of guilt.

Nightmare stared at him some more.

Finally, it seemed his frantic guards had noticed him. Found him. They rushed to his side, though not as fast as he would've liked. He could feel the frustration seeping from each armored body around him.

"You don't have an aversion to it," Nightmare voiced, "Killing, I mean."

Killer nodded. Unashamed.

It felt strangely calm, still. Perhaps it was because the crowd was still chattering. They likely hadn't noticed Nightmare at all.

The king turned to the city guard, still stood on the steps. "Free these four people. My judgement decrees them as not-guilty."

And, before any time could pass in the slightest. "Killer, I would like you to accompany me, before you abscond."

He'd noticed it. Killer had undone his cuffs before their conversation. Completely freeing himself from his weak imprisonment.

Killer seemed amused at the concept of sticking around to chat.

"If you would, I would like to recruit your services at my castle. I need a man who is willing to kill. And kill swiftly." Ccino said to establish an image. It was obvious now that his reputation would remain in the gutter, no matter what choices he made. He was not Dream.

Killer's sockets narrowed.

"And what would I get for being your little hunting dog?" Again, it was bold. It was new.

Nightmare was sure his expression hadn't changed since he'd come before the group. That same angry glare that sat permanently along his skull. The magic had an image to project.

His tendrils flicked, slightly.

"Payment, room, Fresh meals, and any other amenities you may like, so long as it does not break our treasury." He replied, "All I ask is that you simply obey me. And Me alone."

Not true. He'd probably ask for him to listen to Ccino as well. Once he knew for certain he'd stay.

Killer seemed to be thinking. He eyed they king, up and down. He looked to each of the guard around the king. The ones who were back in position now, though Nightmare could feel their annoyance. Their confusion.

Then Killer turned.

Then he turned back.

"Mm. Can't be worse than the ol' noose." Killer replied. "Funny way to run a country, my king. Hiring the first murderer you spot?"

Nightmare didn't humor that with a response. He was honestly shocked the skeleton had even agreed.

Though, all of that negativity had been swapped out for a glee. Something deep in Killer had changed during their brief interaction. A hope. Night could barely grasp the edges of its existence with his subconscious. But it was there.

.

He ignored the crowds as they grew confused. He ignored the worry pouring from the criminals as he had them released and informed them of their pardon.

He did not ignore when his guards told someone to keep their distance. He glanced up. Killer was standing beyond the guards, looking bored.

Nightmare, trusting fool he was, didn't even ask a guard to watch him to ensure he stayed put.

"Stand down." He ordered the guard, who begrudgingly allowed the skeleton to smugly slip past.

His tendrils kept the monster at a distance Night preferred all on their own. He seemed to take the hint.

"They're all gonna be dead by morning, you know." Killer voiced easily.

Nightmare turned to him, confused. What did he mean by that? He'd pardoned them?

"Are you deaf? The crowd wanted us dead, especially me." He chuckled, "Leaving them here is definitely going to get them killed. If the crowd doesn't rip them apart the second you leave, then it'll happen at night. There will be no witnesses."

Oh... Night hadn't fathomed that these people could turn on the innocent once declared. It hadn't even crossed his mind. Did they have a home to return to? A family they put at risk?

The noose was a fast death, but being murdered? That would've been so much worse.

He could tell, by the way they evaded looking at Killer, that he was right. Nightmare would be sentencing them to a new sort of death if he did it like this.

But he didn't have time for a trial. Or several. The sun was going down, abd Ccino expected him back. The castle needed him present, or they might revolt.

Someone might hurt Ccino.

Oh, he was such a poor ruler. He did not know his people well enough. How he lamented the lessons Dream had taken about crowds and current issues abd how to be likeable.

Night didn't know how to handle this. He was still learning!

A trembled in his hand. He tucked the limb quickly away from where it had been lightly clutching his tunics thick fabric, now hiding it beneath his cloak.

"Killer is right. It won't be safe here, for any of you." He spoke. Thank the gods it didn't sound as shaken as he felt. "I extend an offer to you all. You may stay here, or you may come take up positions among my staff back at the castle. Unlike Killer, I do not expect any crime from you, but you will be paid and housed."

The offer was met with a roar of frustration from the crowd, Nightmare chose to allow his guards to handle it. He watched, carefully, as the four looked between eachother.

The brothers agreed first. (They introduced themselves as brothers as they knelt in thanks.) Then the Dog. She said she had no family left to watch over, starting a new life would be for the best.

The flame refused, saying they would leave town by morning, and try to stay safe.

And so, Nightmare left the town with four new party members. Each had been provided a horse, each tied to one of the guards. Aside from Killer, whose steed was held personally by Nightmare.

He figured Ccino would chew him out for this, for bringing criminals into the castle when he was sent to collect soldiers, but Nightmare had a good feeling about these ones.

They did not hate him. Or fear him. He was helping them. And it felt good.

[curse-of-dming-strahd]

okay so I'm still figuring out some stuff for my mostly-safe-for-work CoS game and I just finished reading the Krezk chapter, and

it's like

it's like a clown car

except all of the clowns are horror tropes

and they're all fighting over each other to get your attention and prove that they're the nastiest boy, but you can barely see into the metaphorical car to begin with because it's absolutely packed

and then you read the "Something Blue" section and the metaphorical car is suddenly hit by a semi that ran off the road

GANG

I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M GONNA DO WITH THIS CHAPTER

[sailing-ever-west]

One Piece is proof that in the end there's nothing a creator can do to stop fans from completely misunderstanding it at a base level. Like imagine being handed the most punk, anti-establishment narrative of the century where the characters all come from wildly different often marginalized backgrounds and punch tyrants all day long and then watching the live action where the cast was chosen by the og creator and going "why are there black people in this :/"

[teatitty]

Was rereading the first Naruto chapter just to get some Iruka panels for a moot and wow I completely misremembered the Mizuki relationship. Iruka actually is entirely fucking friendless in the manga! Mizuki's backstory of being a fellow orphan and childhood friend of him is both a fanon and anime invention, in fact Mizuki only mentions Iruka's parents as having died to the fox, and it's somewhat implied that he was the only kid in his class to have lost anyone in that attack. Look how depressing he is here

This is also an interesting bit of lore I forgot about and I'm pretty sure this is bc it gets retconned at some point later so that everyone knew he was the jinchuuriki from the jump. This was also back when Iruka's adult age was given as 25 rather than 22, so this bit of lore was probably meant to imply he was one of the people who fought the fox, since he would've been 13 at the time [so a genin] instead of 10 as he was in current canon

Honestly the timeframe stuff even back in these early days was still very wonky and messy so I guess Kishimoto is consistent in one thing and its being bad at timelines and having to retcon a bunch of stuff lolol

[ladyluscinia]

Dipping into videogame fandoms is always wild. Like fandoms of all sorts are bad at genre conventions, but gamers LOVE to praise or criticize things for, like, blatantly subjective gameplay styles that literally just are types of game that maybe they should be playing more (or less) of, and then cap it off with a suggestion that is obviously far beyond game engine capabilities based on experience, or would radically change or cripple the intended interactive player experience / replay value

You think the devs fucked up because the protagonist is a blank slate just dropped in the world with no backstory connection or driving motivations???

Bruh... Skyrim never even hinted to you what you had done to get thrown in a cart on your way to the death penalty

I think maybe you would have more fun stepping away from the RPGs. Grab something with a named protagonist on the cover and no character creator. If you don't want this canon character to have "OOC" dialogue options when you control them that make them sound like an outsider to the plot, well, they don't tend to do that when you play something with minimal / option-less cutscenes 🤷‍♀️ nor do you lose critical interactive experiences if you pick a game designed from that mindset

It's never something subtle, is the thing 🤣 always with the "TRAGIC - Amazing Game would be objectively better if only it was a Completely Different Game more suited to my preferred play style"