#gauntlet fairy

[sl33py-g4m3r]

nerding out about Burroughs~~

is it possible to get all of the Burroughs apps in a single playthrough? or is it more "pick and choose what's useful cause the answer is no" or at least not with extensive grinding?

speaking of.... does she work via bluetooth or something? If she can talk to the other Burroughs, makes me think bluetooth or wi-fi, as the gauntlet's themselves are rellics...

Of course the gauntlets are also a part of the Demonica armor from Strange Journey (i think? i could be very incorrect here as I know not much as I'm not familiar with SJ)....

If a samurai with a gauntlet was in our world, would they still be able to summon their demons? asking for my writing shenanigans as well as curiosity~~

or like say they wanted to know what someone with bluetooth headphones was listening to; could Burroughs intercept the signal and share it with them? could we use our phones to send texts to samurai with gauntlets? to what extent would that work?

of course Hope can scry on the samurai's positions with the gauntlets; does that mean that they could be disabled should they go missing? Are they registered to the samurai that enabled them in The Gauntlet Rite, and won't work for anyone else?

I'm now imagining someone finding out a way to try to run arbitrary code on her....

I'm curious about Burroughs~~~~ The sprite that hails in the gauntlet. Do we ever get to see her full form?

currently nerding out over the logistics and inner workings of a demon summoning gauntlet~~~ Wonder if she'd find that creepy~~~?

sort of unrelated below~~

or like mixing pokemon violet and SMT iv; if the samurai somehow got access to area zero, would Burroughs work there? pokemon trainers can use their phones and pokemon storage PCs but not access the map... So I'm assuming she would still function but mapper wouldn't... would the mapper spell work if that still exists in modern SMT?

or unrelated to nerding out about burroughs; would any demons summoned be affected by the energy of the Paldean crater?

[fallingbyjuleecruise]

every day i think about the ansur plot in act 3 could've actually had emotional weight if larian studios gave a shit about wyll. damn.

[elvenwolves]

[thatneoncrisis]

had an idea for a story a while ago and finally got to designs im mostly happy with, might retool them if anyone has any notes but this is where im at rn

[justpoliteconversations]

Midnight Impulses [Chain + Healer!Reader]

Keeping your abilities hidden is difficult when the object of your attention is so close.

It keeps growing. Will the trash heap never end?

Masterlist

TW: None.

Disclaimer: Don't own The Legend of Zelda franchise. Linked Universe is the fan creation of jojo56830.

---

You stare up at the night sky with a pinched expression, something ominously similar to a pout pulling at your lips. The blankets are pulled up to your nose, and above the soft rim your eyes glare squinty-eyed at the man laying beside you.

In the light of the pit fire, you can see the way his shoulders and back are tense with pain and fitful sleep. The shine of his hair taunts you where it highlights the delicate curve of his ear, the soft pink of a bang an elegant curve contrasting the harsh shadows of the fire light.

His bare skin. If only you could touch his skin without waking him, even just the tips of your fingers. But he's always been cagey, especially when he's in so much pain. He'd snap awake before you could even pull your hand from your covers, and then he'd be awake and suspicious all night. Just like every night before.

Your fingers grip into the inside of your bedroll, jaw clenching, resisting the temptation to rush him while he's vulnerable and force your healing magic into his aching joints and creaking, burning bones.

It wouldn't take long. If you could get your whole hand onto his face or maybe an arm, the deed could be done in less than a minute. He'd struggle, yes, but his gauntlets are off and you could keep him pinned for a few precious seconds after he manages to escape the confines of his covers.

Just one minute of struggle, and it'll be done. Sure, he'll hate you more than ever and will most certainly never trust you again. But his arthritis and damaged body (so damaged, laden with so many old, untreated wounds it makes your heart ache) will be gone.

He'll be free of them all. The pain, the weakness, the insecurities and the memories. He'll finally be able to put all those hurts behind him and just live, free of the burdens his path forced upon him. Free to look forward to a future not overshadowed by the slow, inevitable breaking of his body.

Free of a future that sees him stripped of mobility and restful night by the time he's 30. If he even lives that long, damaged as he's been by the cruel hand of destiny.

It would be worth it. Just one moment of struggle. One final twist and ache of his bones as he fights against your hands and arms and full body grip, and then he'll be released from the bondage of everlasting degeneration. The agony of a body sacrified for the greater good.

Just one-

No. The thought is irrational and unfair to the man in question. It would also reveal your hand to the Chain, and you had no intention of putting yourself in that situation.

You'd learned your lesson. Even the kindest and most honorable of men can be brought low by the promise of life. The guarantee of no more brothers lost to the slow hand of time, and the knowledge that tomorrow will find you and all you love there to greet it.

Life is so precious. Who wouldn't be tempted to keep it forever by your side.

You envied Hyrule. For his strength and his cunning. For no shackles shall ever find his wrists, no tether will ever bind his arms and legs. No force on this plain of existence will ever break his spirit.

You are nothing like him. Not a hero. Not a fairy borne. Not a beloved brother of the many powerful men who came before him.

You are just yourself. Someone who got unlucky with their blessings.

You envied him, for your healing is nothing like his. It is slow and bone deep, poorly suited to the riggers of field wounds but inevitable in its power nonetheless.

In this world of fairies and potions and the blessing of Goddesses, the hand of death will not come in the blaze of battle. No. It will creep slow and steady into the very marrow of your bones. It will start with aches so deep no fairy light can reach them, with a cough so thin no potion can grasp it.

For many, death will not be by the sword, but by the bone deep memory of what it left behind.

If you could still the hand of fate, wouldn't you? Wouldn't they, whom fate has chosen so readily? Even if it cost just a sliver of thier humanity?

You never intended to find out if these men had it in them to pay that price. No need to tempt fate. Not with men like these, who live and die by such sacrifices.

The ear twitches in his sleep and so do your fingers, the shine of his ruffled hair like a siren's call to your eyes.

You suck in a sharp breath. The temptation flaring once more within you, pushing you forward like strong wind at your back. Calling you like the promise of cool water under the desert sun. Like the shelter of home as a thundering storm shakes the land.

It twitches again. The shine of hair.

'Fuck.'

---

"He's messing with them again." Twilight grumbled, arms crossed as he levels his most unimpressed stare at the Vet's back.

Time chuckled, stretching along the log at his back and savoring the smooth roll of muscles and bones unhindered by pain or aches. He couldn't wait to bring you home to Malon and let you work your magic. His beloved wife had even planned out their sleeping arrangements to encourage your helpful nature.

"If Legend wants to drag this out, let him be. He's the only one suffering from it." He smiled then, more of a grin than anything. "And it's cute." The older man admitted impishly, leaning fully back against the log he'd been stretching over in a boneless sprawl.

Twilight wanted to say something back, but honestly couldn't deny any of it. Especially not when Legend rolled over and let his hand fall just inches from your bedroll. And your eyes widened and then narrowed, your mouth twisting into an obvious pout. How you whipped your back to him with a growl, hiding your face in the covers. Only to peek over your shoulder moments later to glare at the motionless hand with a single, leering eye.

Not when Warriors was hiding his face in Wind's sea-salt hair, trying to cover his amused grin and single cracked eye. Not with Wind's shoulders shaking with mirth, just barely hidden beneath Warrior's greater size.

Not with Hyrule smothering his laughter with both hands, back turned purposely to you so you wouldn't see. Not with Sky out like a light, breathing free and soft and unrestrained for the first time since they'd been forced onto this quest.

And not when Time looks so relaxed, spine arched freely like a man who'd not known the burden of the world pressing down on his shoulders. The effortless roll of his muscles a stark contrast to the painful twists of naught a week before.

"Fine." He eventually conceded, narrowing his eyes. "But if this keeps up for more than a week, game's over. They've not slept well in the last 3 days."

Time nodded, eye closing as he began to drift into a light, mediative doze. "Of course. We wouldn't want our shyest member to lose too much sleep over our brother's aches, now would we."

The heavily ringed finger twitched when you rolled back over to face Legend's back and began hesitantly reaching for it. You squawked at the unexpected movement and jerked back, hands flying to your mouth when you realized what you'd done.

Legend opened his eyes then, feigning sleepiness as he snapped. "What are you looking at, hah?"

You glared back. "Nothing!" Before turning your back to him once more and crossing your arms with an even deeper pout. Hunkering down in your covers.

Vet huffed, though an amused grin stole across his face the moment you looked away. "Weirdo." He snapped in a falsly waspish tone, his grin growing when you growled lowly under you breath.

Twilight looked at Time again. Frowning.

"Tomorrow. I'll talk to him." Time hummed in assurance, though he didn't bother to open his eye.

Twilight sighed again, and Time chuckled.

Near the fire, the shifting of covers, the reveal of a bare neck and another quiet gasp. The smothered giggles of Hyrule laying closest to them. The whisper of Warrior's trying to keep Wind from blowing their cover. Four returning from his watch, multi-colored eyes already rolling skyward with exasperation at the now very familiar sight.

'Yeah.' Twilight thought. 'You and me both.'

---

Return to the shadows.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

For the prompts:

Eepy time for eepy Time? Time getting pillow piled? Heck, Time getting cuddle piled? Big brother Everyone? Baby brother Time?

Adventuring was such a strange mix of emotions.

When Time had been little, the thought of adventure had consumed him. He'd wanted to go explore the Lost Woods, he'd wanted to fight monsters and find his fairy companion. After his journey and fight against Ganondorf, adventuring was all he had left.

But once he'd settled with Malon... adventuring still had its pull on him, and he enjoyed it. Truly, he did. And it was an honor to fight for others and protect everyone.

But by heaven did he miss just being home.

It usually took about three days for it to really hit him. He was still a victim of the excitement of setting out for somewhere new, after all, and so the first day or so he would be fine with his new journey. But by the third or fourth day, he'd miss the warmth of his bed, the embrace of his wife, the sound of her singing, the laughter from his father-in-law, the purring of the barn cat, the sound of hooves and mooing and neighing. He missed all of it.

He missed the company. He missed his family.

This journey was a little different, he supposed. He'd never had so many traveling companions, and one of them was family. But he was in charge here, and he had to keep them all safe. It didn't quite hold the same comfort to it.

Yawning, Time stretched and tried not to think about it too much. They'd just left Lon Lon Ranch a few days ago, so he knew the ache was hitting him, but he had to focus.

It was hard to focus when he was so tired, though.

Time huffed somewhat irritably. He was certain he wouldn't have felt this drained when he was younger. Then he huffed again. It wasn't like he was that old. Not physically, at least. He just felt old sometimes.

Time yawned again and scowled at himself for the gesture. Stop that.

"Old man, I think you need a nap."

The words were good natured coming from Wild, but Hyrule snickered, elbowing Legend and commenting that Time truly was old. The eldest Link huffed a little, amused and mildly annoyed, but he just waved a dismissive hand. "Probably so. Let's set up camp, though."

He let Warriors delegate tasks to the group, assisting Wind with gathering firewood. When the little sailor tried to carry more wood than his infinitely larger and stronger predecessor, it didn't go unnoticed.

Honestly. Being older didn't make him decrepit, for Farore's sake. The gesture was sweet and endearing, but slightly exasperating. When Hyrule joined them and Wind very helpfully pointed out that their leader was tired and they should carry most of the wood, Time finally just picked up both heroes, wood piles and all, by the back of their tunics, letting them squirm and wiggle as they protested their predicament.

Twilight laughed as the three reentered the camp. The gauntlets Time wore made the boys' weight essentially nothing, but he still felt even more drained nonetheless.

This was definitely just him being homesick. That and the fact that the hadn't slept well the last few nights.

Well. Probably that more than anything. But he did miss home.

Time glanced at Twilight, smiling at him as the rancher corralled the now grumpy Wind and still cackling Hyrule towards the fire pit Four had made. He could hear Malon's laughter in the man's own, and it warmed his heart.

And then he yawned again.

All right, this is just ridiculous.

Giving up, Time waved off Wild's question about dinner, heading for a corner to unpack his sleeping gear and take off his armor. He noticed Sky had already nodded off, having been in the process of unpacking his own things and just slumped over them instead. How that boy was ever comfortable in any of the places he passed out was beyond Time.

Oh, to be young, he supposed. He could curl up anywhere in his youth and wake up fine. Nowadays if he sneezed wrong he'd pop something.

Well. Youth was fleeting, and time was cruel. There was no point lingering on the matter.

Time plopped down next to Sky, unfolding his bed roll. The boy didn't stir, snoring lightly into his own bedroll that was halfway pulled out of his adventure pouch. The elder Link felt a twinge of sympathy for the exhausted teenager, opting to help get the boy's blankets unpacked so he could rest in a more comfortable position. That would imply he had to wake him up, though.

Well, maybe he should just leave him be. Sky's sleeping habits were all over the place, but the boy made do well enough.

Time yawned for what felt like the hundredth time that day, and he carefully removed his armor. Rubbing his face, he pinched the bridge of his nose, just standing there a moment and trying to muster up the energy to unpack everything. Honestly, he was fine just sleeping on the ground at this point.

He heard movement, and he glanced over to see Sky awake, groggily unpacking Time's sleeping items instead of his own.

"Sky," Time called softly, trying not to laugh at the addled teenager. "Wrong bag."

Sky paused, confused a moment, and then laughed, shaking his head. "No, no, I meant to. You look tired. I just... wanted to help a little. I promise I didn't go through your stuff, your mat is beside you bag."

Time stared at him a moment, and Sky halfheartedly backed away a little, misreading the man's naturally stern gaze. The elder hero was about to reply when Warriors walked up behind them, chuckling.

"Sky, you're such a mother hen," the captain commented. "I'm pretty sure the old man can do it himself. But I brought you both some water since you didn't refill your supply."

It was amazing how little escaped the captain's notice. Time gratefully took the water skin provided to him, settling on the ground beside Sky, who relaxed a little at the proximity.

Twilight joined them soon after. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Time answered. Honestly, while Warriors kept tabs of everyone in a more tactical manner, Twilight was far fussier. It reminded him of Malon again, and he felt his heart both ache and soften. "Just a little tired."

Wind skipped over, plopping his own supplies down beside Time. "You're not sick, are you? I feel like you're not usually this sleepy."

Time sighed. All this attention was getting to be too much, but it was endearing nonetheless.

Legend wandered over silently, settling close by and pulling out some mending project he'd been working on. It looked like Four's undershirt - it probably was, as the boy had torn it in the skirmish they'd had yesterday.

"I wonder if we'll see Wolfie," Hyrule noted as he made his way over to the group, still armed. "I kind of miss him. He was good at alerting about danger."

"I still wish I could hug him," Wind grumbled. "He's so soft, but he's so grumpy!"

"He's not grumpy," Twilight huffed, and Time laughed. "He just doesn't like being coddled. He's a wolf, not a puppy."

It was probably the sleepiness, but Time found himself overly sentimental. "There's always a little bit of pup left."

Twilight watched him a moment, annoyance gone, eyes a little wide with gentle surprise. He softened slowly, making his way over to Time and sitting down beside him. Time was distracted, watching his descendant, and he missed that Warriors and Sky finished setting up his sleeping arrangements until the captain started walking back towards the fire. Time turned to thank Sky, at least, and found the young knight already passed out over his partly unpacked roll once more.

How...? Time shook his head, outright laughing quietly at the kid's antics, and elbowed Twilight. "Help that poor boy, will you?"

Twilight laughed too, nudging Sky gently. Wild came next, a bowl of warm stew in hand, quietly but earnestly waiting for Time's approval as he ate it. When Time gave him a warm smile and nodded his head, the cook brightened immensely, heading back to get another bowl.

Dinner was usually spent around the campfire, but this time all the boys meandered to Time's corner. The conversations were quiet, and it took a solid hour to convince Hyrule to finally put his sword down, but eventually Time found himself unable to keep his eyes open. Sky leaned against him, steadily falling asleep, and it was somehow the last little push his body needed to shut down.

Time awoke in the middle of the night, neck aching a little from leaning against the tree as he was, his head plopped over Sky's. He couldn't escape his predicament, though, as he found himself completely surrounded. Wind was using his legs as a pillow alongside Four, Twilight was in wolf form curled up on his left side with Wild snuggled in his fur, Hyrule had settled a step away from the others, curled around his sheathed blade, Legend was at his back, eye mask on and snoring, hand ghosting against Time's tunic.

Warriors sat across from him, eyes alert and sparkling in the firelight. When they locked eyes, the captain gave a little smile and a nod.

Time sighed, smiling in return, heart warm. Perhaps he wasn't quite so homesick anymore.

[brainman1987]

Hmmm yes colors

I gotta do scar maps and also full body stuffs next! And outfit changes (mostly for Gid and Gricko (Hootsie too but that’s a given)) which means research! Fun!! I. Thinking of giving hootsie a little Chest plate and gauntlets for when she gets knighted by the fairy dragon (forgot his name) uhhhh feel free to use as pfps or like. Whatever really, just give credit if your using my exact designs or using these drawings please.

Also also (a lil unrelated but still) I might be able to take commissions soon!! Which like- awesomesauce tbh. I‘ve been thinking about doing commissions for a while and while I don’t know how they work or what sites to use or literally anything about how it works I’m definitely excited to try! I‘d like y’all’s views on if you’d like to commission me to get a good gist on the audience I’d be marketing to haha. (But in all honesty I’d draw or paint anything anyone asks, I like drawing more than money haha)

Anywho I hope you enjoy another segment of vagabonds and vagrants :)

[demon-kumo]

𝒞𝑜𝓃𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑀𝓎 𝐻𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉

·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ 𝒮𝓊𝓂𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓎: 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝑒𝓍𝒽𝒶𝓊𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝒸𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝑜𝓃𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝑒𝓌 𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓀𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒷𝑜𝓇 𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝒶𝒻𝑒. 𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝓅𝑜𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒳𝒾𝒶𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒𝓃 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒹𝑒𝒸𝒾𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓅 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝓊𝓉…

·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ 𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈: 𝐹𝑒𝓂!𝑅𝑒𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓇, 𝒪𝓇𝒶𝓁 𝓈𝑒𝓍 (𝐹𝑒𝓂 𝑅𝑒𝒸𝑒𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔), 𝒫𝓇𝒶𝒾𝓈𝑒/𝒮𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒟𝑒𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 (𝒾𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓃𝓉), 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝓃𝒾𝓅𝓅𝓁𝑒 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓎, 𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝓅𝑒𝓃𝑒𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝒷𝑜𝒹𝓎 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅, 𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈, 𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝑒𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝒪𝒪𝒞 𝒳𝒾𝒶𝑜, 𝑒𝓉𝒸 (𝓂𝒶𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈).

·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ 𝒢𝑒𝓃𝓇𝑒: 𝒮𝓂𝓊𝓉, 𝐹𝓁𝓊𝒻𝒻

𝐻𝑜𝓇𝓇𝒾𝒷𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓃 𝓈𝒸𝑒𝓃𝒶𝓇𝒾𝑜 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝓂𝓊𝓉 >

˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ 𝓑𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓰 an Adeptus means being and having a lot of things. You are much more powerful than mortal beings. Having immense stamina and physical strength that is beyond them. But that didn't mean they couldn't get tired.

Despite claiming that they had no need for rest, Xiao knew that even the strongest warriors from him to Rex Lapis needed rest. That is why ever since you, his beautiful and sweet wife- whom he has been married to for over millennia, started to hunch over and sigh from exhaustion.

That is simply not allowed, he refuses for his beloved to be troubled by anything whether it's demons or the evil clutches of exhaustion. At first, he wanted you to come to him or call out his name so he could help you but as time went by you never had and you became more and more exhausted. Realizing this, he knew he would have to be the one to confront you about it.

He would make you relax whether you like it or not. Which is why he had something special planned when he called you when the moon was high in the sky.

One that he knew you couldn't refuse...

˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ 𝓨𝓸𝓾 stood on the balcony, hands clasped together behind your back as you waited for your spouse to come and see you.

Before you left in the morning, Xiao had asked for you to meet him on the balcony at night. This piqued your curiosity, to say the least considering your husband would not beat around the bush often. If he wanted something he would either wait for you to figure it out or be direct about it, no other way around it. So to be asked to wait here for him was rather odd.

You stare out at the view with a small smile, despite seeing it every other day it seems to never get old no matter how many times you look at it.

"You're here." A calm and slightly raspy voice was heard from behind you, yet you weren't startled in the slightest. Being the wife of a yaksha meant having to get used to him teleporting to you anytime and anywhere.

You gently smiled at him, the moon shining high behind you giving both you and Xiao an ethereal glow that seemed to be out of a fairy tale. Xiao couldn't help the tiny amount of pink that dusted his cheeks when he saw how lovely you looked in the moonlight, you, of course, thought the same of Xiao.

How could you not, the iridescence of his skin seemed to glow with such beauty that it almost felt like a sin to touch it with how pure and lovely it looked. You snapped out of your thoughts when he looked at you with his perfect brows furrowed.

He placed a pale gloved hand on your cheek causing you subconsciously to lean into it placing your own over it. Even through his mismatched gauntlet, you could feel the warmth from his touch hands. You felt your cheeks heat up when he looked at you with such softness, a look of adoration that he only used with you.

"My love, you're overworking yourself... again," Xiao muttered in a soft tone that he only ever used for you. Such sides of an Adeptus are, in Xiao's mind at least, embarrassing and shameful, yet such modesty was something he had let go of when he married the woman in front of him.

You bit your lip lightly and lowered your head, a shadow casting over your eyes as they watered slightly. The tears of frustration and shame form yet don't fall as stutters bubble up in your throat.

" I-I know Xiao, but an Adeptus doesn't need-"

"Qixing, you are going to relax whether you like it or not..." The voice of the yaksha deepens at the end, becoming husky causing a shiver to run down your spine. Hot breath tickled your ear as his teeth lightly grazed the shell of your ear.

"And if not, I will have to make you submit to me, my love..."

˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ 𝓦𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼 and moans filled with lust filled the room, being fueled by desire. Sitting on the conqueror of demons' laps is only something you felt in your night fantasies during heat or when you made love with your husband under the moon.

The upper portion of your silk robe glided across the arms of your skin and off your shoulders, now hanging off the junction of your curved elbows, allowing the cool air to nip your skin and your breasts full access for his hands. The bottom of the robe bunched up at your waist, allowing a complete view of your sex which was now filled with slim pale fingers.

A blush stronger than the brightest of silk flowers in their full bloom appeared on the apples of your cheeks, matching the red splotches left as marks by Xiao. Softly biting into your soft skin before letting go and continuing to grope your tit as his fingers plunged further into your warm, wet, hole causing your head to drop back onto his naked shoulder.

"X-xiao~AH!! F-feel 's good! F-f-faster~ah!"

Your words came out as broken moans and slurs. The dark-haired man only let out a hum, following your command as he sped up his pace. He worshipped your body and beauty more than he did Rex Lapis. Every gentle kiss to every mark was all for you.

" X-XIAO~♡!!! I-I'm -ngh- gonna c-cu-"

Suddenly Xiao ripped his finger out of you, causing you to whine at the emptiness you felt only to be cut off his lips, soft as the petals of his favorite flower, you could taste sweet syrup and almonds as his tongue intertwined with yours.

His faintly scarred hands trailed from your tits to your waist, savoring the shiver your body did as his chilled hands slid down your hot skin laying you down on the bed. Slipping his mouth away from yours, a huff could be heard from his nose as he saw you faintly chase his lips but was too dizzy to do so, one might think it was of mockery but as his wife you knew it was one of amusement.

Feeling his lips pecking fleeting kisses all over your body, teasing your breasts and circling your nipples with his tongue making you sigh in ecstasy before making his way down further to your nether region.

Nipping at the soft, silky skin of your inner thighs and making way to the spot you most desired, and waited in anticipation for the scream of pleasure only to feel him turn his attention to your other thigh, leaving rosy blotches that are glazed over saliva. You could see the twinkle of mirth swimming in his cat-like eyes

"P-please X-xiao, don't t-tease me a-anymore,"

Your broken sobs and pleas made the Adeptus smirk with hunger as he lifted his face to look up at you.

"As you wish, my love."

Xiao slid down your body once more to come face to face with your cunt. He almost let out a moan when he took in the full view of your flower, possessively drinking the sight of what was his, his cheeks tinting red from the sight alone. Archons, how did I get so lucky... those were the words floating through his head. He wanted to fuck you then and there but he was always one to uphold his words.

And oh did he do so...

Your back immediately arched when you felt the hot wet muscle slide against your folds, a scream-like moan ripping out from your vocal cords. Your hands grip the dark and teal hair that covers the very bottom of your stomach as Xiao buries himself in your soft rose.

Your head began to spin as you felt his tongue swirl around your puffy bundle of nerves, flicking across your slit. You felt vibrations course through your bones as you felt him mumble a moan of delight at the taste of your fluids, causing another groan of pleasure to leave your swollen lips.

Xiao brought a hand to your folds and separated them, allowing him to have access to your pearl, causing him to lick and flick it making you tense up and gasp, arching your back even more and moaning louder as he suck on the small ball.

Tears of pleasure streamed down your cheeks as you choked sobs, feeling the knot in your stomach untwined and your juices splash into his mouth. Your cheeks redden even more as you could have sworn you heard slurping the fluids of your body. Eyes practically rolling to the back of your skull, drool pooling at the side of your mouth.

Xiao lifted his head, his devilish tongue peeking from the side of his mouth licking up your pollen before licking the drool at the side of your mouth. Gently crashing his lips against yours you submitted yourself before you felt something entering you, disconnecting your lips as you closed your eyes and moaned.

Xiao knew your body far too well to leave you hanging. Yet despite being with you for thousands of years he still couldn’t help but moan at the warmth he felt when you both made love.

His head spun with lust, gilded eyes glazed over with desire and love, lost within a rose haze. Softly kissing your jaw as he waited for you to adjust, he would never want to hurt his precious angel.

After a few minutes of kissing and groping, you jerked your hips up causing both of you to moan. Xiao took that as his signal and started to thrust within you, a mantra of moans spilled from your lips.

Pleasure prickled up your back and into your skull. Griping his arms as you wrap your legs around his hips, digging your heels into his back to bring him closer to you.

“A-archons, you are s-so tight… s-so soft, so w-warm,”

You whine at his words, tightening around his cock making his shutter and smirk in satisfaction. You were completely submitting to him. Your expression held nothing but undying ecstasy, pupils shaped like hearts as you kissed his neck, making your own marks.

“Oh my, Xiao~ ♡”

The breathy words slurred from your mouth made something within Xiao's snap. Grabbing your legs, he placed them up against your chest as his thrusts started to become much sloppier and faster.

Many more moans could be heard as you felt the familiar knot coil in your stomach. Xiao drew his hand down to your clit and groped it.

“Such a good girl, letting me use you like a little toy, letting me fuck the stress out of you, you wanted this didn’t you,”

Xiao's husky voice whispers in your ear, hot breath hitting your neck as he licked your lobe. Moaning at his words your body began to twitch.

“X-XIAO, I’m~agh gonna~ngh, c-cu-“

“Cum for me, Darling~,”

And just like that you did, letting the knot unravel, a creaming ring staining his member as hot white ropes shot out of Xiao’s dick.

“AAAHHHH!! XIAO~ ♡”

You collapsed on the bed, chest heaving up and down as Xiao flipped both of you over, your cheek hitting his toned chest.

Sighing through your nose you smiled as Xiao sat up and leaned against the headboard but looked at you with a smirk as he brought your face close to his.

“Qixing, pick a number between 1 and 10.”

Furrowing your brows you tilted your head and looked at him in confusion but answered anyway.

“6?”

A smirk that could be compared to the devil itself crept its way onto Xiao's face. You are about to get up and ask what is going up but are cut off but a thrust making you gasp a moan.

“Alright, 6 more rounds to go. What did you really think I was done? You came twice while I only came once. It’s only fair to return the favor, my love. I am going to breed you until you won’t know how to say anything other than my name~ ♡”

[drmistytang]

Looks like Cinderella's Fairy Godmother made a goof--she made her dress out of a pumpkin this time! Cinderella comes with: green headband, green choker, twisting vine earrings, pumpkin themed gown (with hand-sewn sequins and leaf details), leafy green gauntlets, orange shoes, and the doll herself (her arms are articulated!).

The idea struck me for this one so I just ran with it! Love how she came together.

CLAIM HER:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1674501213/ooak-rescue-doll-disney-cinderella

[theresattrpgforthat]

Hi! I'd like to run a game that's Jane Austen-esque or a political/social drama with fantasy elements. Think A Court of Fey and Flowers, except I don't want to subscribe to their channel so I haven't actually seen it. Fairy settings in particular would be appreciated! Thank you in advance

THEME: Political and Social Drama

Hello, I think I have a really fun collection of options for you to take a peek at. We’ve got fairies, we’ve got secrets, and we’ve got drama!

Fey Court Chaos, by Mabbly.

Fey aristocrats party the equinox away. You have been invited by the most prestigious monarchs of this wild magical land. Parlay with potential allies, humiliate your enemies, & impress those worth impressing–but avoid getting kicked out yourself!

Fey Court Chaos is a party-based tabletop role-playing game designed to let you escalate a royal ball into dramatic highs and lows. You will need a pool of dice or coins to play. Any kind will do, but the fancier the better!

This is a game about trying to make a name for yourself while possibly ruining the status of your companions. You’ll wager points of Reputation every time you do something risky, with the risks rising depending on the status of the person you’re interacting with. Success means a rise in reputation or learning a juicy secret. Failure means losing someone’s favour, or even giving one of your own secrets away! If you love fantasy faerie settings, this game gives you all the basics, and has advice for the game runner as well. You should definitely check it out!

The 147th Annual Necromancer’s Ball, by Meghan Cross.

You are cordially invited…

The 147th Necromancer's Ball is a one page TTRPG about necromancy and feeling fancy for a GM and 3-6 players played with a single d6.

You are necromancers attending The 147th Necromancer's Ball, dressed to the nines with your familiars in tow. You are ready to have a wonderful time, but more than that you are ready to show your rival once and for all that you are better than them by displaying your social prowess (and maybe even winning Necromancer of the Year.)

But not everything goes according to plan when a party crasher shows up to ruin the evening for everyone - and it is up to you to stop them and save the party!

This is a game all about being dramatic as fuck and also petty as fuck. You can roll Necromancy when you want to do magic or command the undead, and you roll Feeling Fancy when you engage in social entanglements or navigate the ball. Showing that you’re the Necromancer of the Year won’t be easy, especially once a party crasher shows up to complicate things - and possibly steal your chances of winning!

If you love silly games, as well as taking time to describe just how drop-dead (pardon the pun) gorgeous you look, this might be your game.

Avalon Society, by Martian Machinery.

Avalon Society is a game about courtly love and intrigue, and the conflict between passion and duty. You'll play knights, lords, ladies, upstarts, pretenders, unknowns, or possibly a changeling or a sorcerer. Pull swords out of stones, break curses, ascend to the round table, duel your rivals, or even fall in love with them. It’s up to you.

Avalon Society is a setting created for Good Society, which is the game of social intrigue, and in fact, the game that helped build A Court of Fae and Flowers! Good Society takes place in the same time as Jane Austen’s novels, but Avalon Society replaces character roles and family backgrounds in order to represent an Arthurian story. The court also shifts seasonally, which feels very reminiscent of a fairy court. The biggest downside - you also have to buy Good Society in order to use this supplement.

Townhouse Dracula, by Tenbear.

You have the opportunity to attend a dinner party at the one and only Townhouse Dracula. Here you will vie for Dracula’s favour, which includes eternal life and power beyond your imagination.

To decide who gains this power Dracula puts party guests through a gauntlet of past memories. Guests do their best to impress Dracula and convince them that they would be an asset to have in the Dracula lineage. 

Townhouse Dracula presents the players with scenarios that their characters will have to navigate, trying to piece together Dracula’s memories when they might not have all the answers.

This is first and foremost an improv game, so it’s good for people who like coming up with pieces of a story on the fly. You’ll get tokens as rewards for being funny, clever, bold, kind, etc. At the end of the game, you’ll tally your score and determine whether or not you become part of Dracula’s lineage. If you like the mysterious allure of vampires and want to stretch your storytelling muscles, you might want to check out this game.

Tax Cuts and Pixie Dust, by Weird Blue Yonder.

The home of a sordid assortment of terrible woodland spirits doing terrible things in a desperate bid to sit atop the Fairy Throne.

You are those woodland spirits, and election season is just around the corner…

Tax Cuts and Pixie Dust is probably the most political game on this list. It uses pretty standard faerie tropes - you can be an elf, a leprechaun, a banshee… even a giant! All of you are supposed to be part of the same party, but you all secretly want the throne!

This is a game about dirty politicians, with the humour and camp turned up to allow you to get really ridiculous with it. The resolution system involves building small dice pools of d6’s, tallying successes to see how you fared. The GM is responsible for presenting scenarios and complications, which are present in a few roll tables. At the end of elections you vote on each player’s position in the new court, and that’s game!

Butterfly Court, by mishagw.

In Butterfly Court, you will play as a member of the titular Butterfly Court, the court of the monarchy of the kingdom Praecia. This is a court intrigue game that uses the No Dice No Masters system, based on Avery Alder's Belonging Outside Belonging games.

This is a storytelling, roleplaying game, where players portray members of a court, but not necessarily the monarch or the heir. Instead, the game focuses on everyday lives, intrigue, relationships, obligations, and myriad other concerns of the regular people in the court: nobles, but also staff, servants, artists, and other people that make court life possible.

Butterfly Court doesn’t dictate who you are exactly, but it leaves a broad space for different kinds of supernatural beings. So if you want faeries, this game is certainly able to take place in a faerie court. The game is designed to pit your characters into situations that are difficult for the country at large: rebellions, scandals, famine, crime, etc. You also create factions that have different methods and priorities.

Everything that you create together is shared communally, because Butterfly Court uses a GM-less, diceless game system. This means that you’ll each have shared authority over where the story goes next, although there is a cycle of play that helps you move from one scene to the next. I think that the idea of this being a game about different factions navigating political turmoil has the potential to be represented really well through a collaborative system like this.

Games I've Recommended in the Past

If you want something more like Jane Austen, you might like Le Bon Ton! If you like equal parts adventure and social intrigue, then Household might be for you.

[vacuouslyfalse]

I was sent this by @metamatar on my thread about the material reasons why the US is not materially incentivized to back Israel. I'll be honest - I do not find it very convincing. Let's dive in.

The recent period has seen the bloom of two falsehoods, stemming from the same root of irrationality, glibly ahistorical narratives, and disinterest in understanding struggles for national liberation against imperialism. One: Benjamin Netanyahu more-or-less conspired with Hamas to maintain the Palestinian national division and empowered the movement in Gaza. Two: Israel and its parasitic lobby drive America into irrational warmongering.

The first is a slight overstatement of my position - there is no conspiracy, merely shared interests. The second is very far from my position - the US needs no external sources to drive it into irrational warmongering, but in this specific case, domestic support for Israel (both popular and elite) is what drives US support.

The ‘Netanyahu courted Hamas’ fairy-tale is newer, an odd chimera of the older truth that Israel and the US preferred Hamas – but, seldom mentioned, also Fatah – to Marxist-led Palestinian forces in the 1980s, and the newer truth that Netanyahu made deals that had allowed Hamas some financial manoeuvring space since 2014.

I think this basically concedes to my position on the first "falsehood," though it fails to mention Netanyahu's statements arguing that Hamas was a bulwark against Palestinian statehood.

From here on, the article spends several paragraphs summarizing the history of the Israeli-US relationship. While riveting, this does not directly relate to the question of US interests in this current war, so we'll skip ahead a bit.

The ‘Netanyahu enabled Hamas’ distortion rests on the correct statement that Netanyahu dealt indirectly with Hamas via Qatar and allowed the formation of a permit regime for Palestinian Gaza guest workers. This was meant to ensure relative quiet in the South. Far from Hamas collaborating with Netanyahu, or policing the ceasefire, this set-up was an achievement of the Palestinian resistance, allowing it the appearance of political stillness on its surface waters while underneath it moved fast and built up a deep defensive infrastructure. The lie is meant to suggest that Hamas’ strength is due to conspiracy with Israel, when Hamas simply expresses the nationalist aspirations of the Palestinian people. 

This is another, further distortion of the argument being made in "falsehood" one - that Israel's interests were served by Hamas. The idea that Hamas' strength emerges from conspiracy with Israel is absurd. It is, however, true that Israel has been willing to bolster Hamas and prefers it to a unified Palestine under the PA. Speaking of which:

This tall tale has also suggested that Netanyahu wished to avoid direct talks with the PA in Ramallah towards a peace agreement. The lie is the implication that the neo-colonial PA is a force for state building and Palestinian sovereignty. In fact, it is the velvet – more often these days, mailed – gauntlet of neo-colonial collaboration in the West Bank, amidst PA coordination with Israel and the murder of anti-collaborationist cadre like Nizar Banat in 2021.

This is, imo, completely correct - the PA is collaborationist. What this misses is that modern Israeli maximalists like Netanyahu reject the line pursued by the US, that of a collaborationist state governed by the PA. Even this shell of a state, along the lines of what was offered during the prior peace process, is now outside the bounds of what the ultranationalist Israeli far right is willing to accept.

Amidst closure and de-development, the popular resistance has been able to consolidate an arsenal and bring 1.5% of its population into a guerrilla force of 30,000-40,000 men that can – man for man – outmatch nearly any in the world.

This is where the article starts to go off the rails a bit. Can Hamas, man to man, outmatch nearly any army in the world? How would we know? Does this read like someone trying to do analysis or trying to write a PR piece?

The concrete is their mountains. From there they have imperiled an enemy with orders of magnitude higher GDP per capita – Israeli GDP is at $52,000 a year, with arsenals worth billions.

Fifth, through these achievements, the Palestinian resistance has been able to present an acute threat to the settler-capitalist property structures called Israel,

Here, we continue into mythmaking. How has Israel been imperiled? What acute threat has been presented? Certainly, over a thousand people were killed, but this does not constitute a threat to a nationstate. The article does not attempt to justify these statements further.

It is unimaginable that the neocolonial authoritarian states nor their US benefactor would remotely tolerate massive working-class militia which speak a language of justice and republicanism and raise arms against those states’ sponsors. In turn, it is as natural as the sun rising in the East that the US, the UK, Germany, France, and their Gulf and Arab satraps would converge on support for Israel as the spear’s tip of the assault on the surrounding Arab popular militia. 

Much of the "analysis" in this article takes this form - broad, sweeping statements with little attempt at justification.

Interestingly enough, this article actually links a far more lucid and well-reasoned analysis of the situation, with this funny aside:

(When did Marxists decide it is their job to whisper to the exterminationist class that their calculus is off?)

Good analysis is its own reward!

This article contains sentences like this one:

To contemplate any real reduction in its presence, though, it first needs a security settlement that would strengthen friendly regimes and constrain the influence of nonconforming ones. The 2020 Abraham Accords advanced this agenda, as Bahrain and the UAE, by agreeing to normalize relations with Israel, joined a wider ‘reactionary axis’ spanning the Saudi Kingdom and Egyptian autocracy. Trump expanded arms sales to these states and cultivated connections between them – military, commercial, diplomatic – with the aim of creating a reliable phalanx of allies who would tilt towards the US in the New Cold War while acting as a bulwark against Iran.

Which was really a breath of fresh air after the previous article. Directly citing US policy from the last ten years - incredible!

While it would be flattening a very nuanced article to claim that it takes my point of view, this is one of its core arguments:

Second, in pinning its imperial strategy on the Israeli normalization process, the US became especially reliant on this settler-colonial project just before it was captured by its most extreme and volatile elements: Smotrich, Ben-Gvir, Galant. If American support for Israel has historically exceeded any reasonable political calculus, under Trump and Biden it acquired a coherent rationale: to place its ally at the centre of a stable Middle Eastern security framework. Yet the Israeli cabinet that came to power in 2022 – addled by eliminationist fantasies, and determined to draw the US into war with Iran – proved least able to play that role.

It makes the argument that recent US support for Israel was part of a larger strategy to disengage from the region, but one that made mistaken assumptions about the ability of Israel to maintain stability, and that the eliminationist actions of the Israeli state have undermined the realpolitik rationale for US support.

I am not going to go through the second article because it would mostly consist of me nodding along, but I think we see two distinct ways in which leftists write on display here.

The first article makes very broad assumptions about US goals and motivations and cites actual events only sparingly and selectively to support its thesis. The second puts the focus on the events themselves and draws out the motivations from them. The former is useful for writing fluff for people who are already convinced of your point of view, but it does not pass very convincingly for analysis. The latter reads like someone who is actually trying to understand the world.

[blueskittlesart]

I’ve been playing oot lot and I’ve been really enjoying it loads, weird question but I’ve had the thought- Is Gabon’s castle hard? Like I’m only on the spirit temple and then I thought and got stressed/anxious about the final dungeon/final part of the game, I think I might be psyching myself out mainly because I feel like I’m bad at games especially oot and the switch controls can be frustrating plus I panic when there’s a timer and or when im in a lotta pressure. I’ve tried googling it but I don’t know

the dungeon itself isn't super difficult imo, it's basically 6 different rooms mimicking the 6 late-game dungeons, each with a small puzzle which will get you closer to entering the final battle. there are a few ways to make things easier on yourself--do the shadow room early and get the golden gauntlets, and then you can lift up one of the pillars in the final area to get an ability that reduces the damage you take. that makes the final battle WAAAAY way way way easier. you should also practice camera-clipping with no target a little bit before going into ganon's castle, because he becomes untargetable for one phase of the final battle, which can be a really steep learning curve since most of the other battles in the game encourage you to rely on targeting so heavily. if you get a feel for where exactly the camera will clip to when there's nothing to target, that phase will become a lot easier. You're also gonna want to get a good amount of heart containers before battle--it's not IMPOSSIBLE to do with just the base hearts you get from the dungeons, but having a few extras will help you out. and obv you're gonna want a few fairies lined up just in case. there is also a minor timed segment just before the final phase of battle, but if you lose it just puts you back at the start of that segment, not the whole battle, so try not to freak out about it too hard. It's not the easiest boss battle in the franchise by any means, but i don't think it's extremely difficult either. remember that there's no penalty if you have to try it multiple times, and even though i know it's tempting, try not to save between stages within the final battle, because that can lock you into a difficult situation if you're low on hearts or items. as a general rule, if you're trapped into an enclosed space, don't save even if the game lets you. your save should be at a place where you can retreat and make further preparations if you need to. but you'll probably be fine!! you got this :)

[doodlegraveyard]

Tecna and Musa are my two most sci-fi-y designs of the Winx girls so I was working on them in conjunction; I really wanted to exaggerate the shapes of their silhouettes (and yes these are their base winx forms lol. Enchantix is a whole other problem I’ll figure out when I’m set on the base designs)

[image description: designs for tecna and musa. Tecna is in a purple bodysuit with large boots and gauntlets trimmed in like green comet-tail spikes. Her helmet is in the shape of a shooting star. Musa’s outfit is a red and magenta poncho obscuring her face and figure over a pink and red bodysuit patterned with jagged lines like an audio spike or pulse line. Her wings are jagged like lighting bolts and her headphones have fairy-wing like antennas. End description.]

[procrastinatorrex]

“Absolutely not.” When Merlin looked up the prince was blocking the door. His eyes glittered in the fire, twin chips of ice. “Excuse me?” 

“You heard me.” Arthur crossed his arms; his gauntlets clanged against the chestplate he still wore. Dirt was smeared on the edge of the plate, stained the collar of his tunic a rusty brown that contrasted with the soft, tanned skin of his neck. Merlin could see the pulse there, steady, but fast. He was human. Vulnerable. Even so, he was not one to be trifeled with. Arthur planted himself between the snarling fey and the door with grim determination and, human or not, he may as well have been a wall; impenetrable Pendragon will wrapped in iron.  

The magic hadn’t settled yet after the battle– it mingled with the desperation, a mixture that buzzed like adrenaline in Merlin’s veins, tingling in his fingertips. He would make this mortal obey him. How dare this human presume to understand the machinations of the Court? How dare this man attempt to trap a Prince of Faerie. 

(more below the cut)

“You dare–” The slide of metal cut off the furious words. Merlin drew back with a hiss. He felt his fangs, sharp on his lip; “you dare to threaten me!” Tears– of rage, no doubt– pricked at his eyes, the betrayal was like a wound, though Excalibur was limp in Arthur’s hand, the deadly tip pointing at the floor. 

Arthur’s gaze softened, “You fool,” he said, his voice low, like the point of his sword, “I can’t let you leave. I can’t. You can’t honestly have expected anything else.” 

“You have no say–” The sting faded under the sadness on Arthur’s face. The look in his eyes wasn’t anger, Merlin realized, it was fear. Fear for him. “Arthur, you can’t keep me here.” 

“I can try. I have to try–” His voice broke when he added; “They’ll kill you, Merlin. They’ll rip you apart.” 

The two princes stared at each other. Human and fey, barely an arms length apart, and yet in two different worlds. Finally, Merlin sighed. “I cannot ignore the summons. They will only come here. Your people will suffer, and then they will take me back to the Court all the same. I can’t escape judgment for my crimes.” 

“What you did wasn’t a crime.” Arthur snapped, frustration adding a sharp edge in his voice. 

“Loving a human is a crime.” Merlin argued, automatically. The words registered a second later and he froze, eyes wide. “I– I didn’t–” Blue locked with blue, and Merlin felt the blood drain out of his face– “I didn’t–” but the human was on him before he could even consider what to say. The legendary blade clattered to the floor as gloved hands fisted in the front of Merlin’s battle leathers and dragged him toward Arthur. The human prince kissed like a man possessed– like this was his last chance. It probably is, some part of Merlin’s mind reasoned, but he couldn’t be bothered to care just at that moment. He met the human prince enthusiastically, leaning into the soft warmth of Arthur’ mouth, so much more yielding than the rest of him. It was like flying, falling, and being pulled all at once. 

Arthur was warm, hot even, flush from the battle and from the rush of letting go. Merlin recognized it, because the same sudden, unexpected freedom sang through his own blood. Merlin’s hands slid across Arthur’s chest, up over his shoulders and to his neck, searching for any exposed skin. There was frustratingly little. Merlin pulled back from the human’s lovely mouth to pant against his lips, “you are wearing armor, human.” 

Arthur laughed, responding by peppering Merlin’s face with small kisses; on his lips, one for his chin, trailing across his jaw. When he reached his destination the prince bit gently on the slightly pointed shell of Merlin’s ear and purred, “Good thing you have magic isn’t it, fairy?”  

[thonkphonk]

For Want of a Nail Metaphor AU

[spoilers for the entire game]

Gallica: An air-headed fairy living in the Eldan Sanctum. Often found picking flowers.

Strohl: The well-intentioned lordling of House Haliateus. Spoiled sweet by his people to his parents' exasperation. They're thinking of sending him to the military to gain some life experience.

Hulkenberg: The burnt out captain of the royal guard with a case of wanderlust. Desperately wants a sabbatical for stopping all those assassination attempts, but if she goes on a break then who will protect the prince?

Neuras: A noble who proposed to a widow, his former fiancée, after his second aviation accident. Had to promise to never attempt flying again so she wouldn't become a widow twice over. Has a hobby of building gauntlet runner miniatures.

Heismay: Used to be a hermit residing near Martira, until one day he ventured out of his cave and saw smoke in the distance. Lost his life to the human he fought in the town's ruins and was mourned as a hero afterwards.

Junah: A Mage Academy graduate turned songstress. When she's not touring she's doing research with her sister Rella.

Eupha: Priestess of the village on Virga Island. Nearly lost her life when she discovered a human in the Dragon Temple. The first in many years to unlock an Archetype, she managed to save her village but not her brother's life.

Basilio: A chef at the Mage Academy. Used to be the personal chef to Rella Cygnus, but was poached by one of the Mage Academy's faculty members when Bas and Rella were visiting. Plans to one day open up his own restaurant.

Fidelio: A carpenter's apprentice in Altabury. Estranged from his brother Basilio for his decision to work at the Mage Academy, leaving Fidelio behind. Wants to build a restaurant with a little stage, just like Bas used to talk about.

Zorba: A former army engineer hired by Neuras to help him maintain the prince's gauntlet runner, due to Neuras's condition. Zorba is planning to continue Neuras's research into flight but hasn't found the right moment to tell him yet.

Glodell: Lost his life in a rebel ambush.

Louis: An elda professor of the Mage Academy, renowned for his healing abilities. A close friend of Basilio and despised by Rella and Fidelio. He's aware of Rella's ire and finds it amusing.

Forden: Died many years ago when he choked on a chicken bone.

[blackblooms]

Irredeamable developpement retrospective Final part: Irredeamable Well, thats it. The one game in this series that you actually get to play, but even this project encountered quite a few changes as it went. So lets get into some of it.

Early in development, irredeamable was meant to be more of a metroidvania, where you'd explore interconnected levels with several routes, including some that would bring you back to the hub or allow you to visit later levels early.

This is especially visible with grimwood breach which was originally intended as the first level. Part of why it ended up feeling much more twisted and disjointed than other areas was that its rooms were constantly moved around in development as i tried to make a linear level out of them.

What eventually cemented the current form of the game was a change of approach as i began working on the shaded coast and focused on making a linear sequence of rooms rather than a complex maze. (you may also notice that the two levels ended up switching position in the hub)

From that point onward, i worked under the philosophy "focus on the game you have, not the one you want" I continued to make slow but steady progress, occasionally having to make concessions about my plans to make the project more achievable.

During the project, i worked with this hand little thing, a chart of all the areas i had planned (their state of progress being indicated by the saturation of the color)

Here you can see an older version of the chart, and all the side paths that were planned and ended up being cut. Originally, the postgame was meant to be much bigger than it ended up being. Each level had an extra-side route within the world's bowels, ending with a boss rematch. These included an underwater ship graveyard, a forbidden grove, A scrapyard full of undead machines leading to an abandoned factory, rotten tunnels and roots under the forest, an ancient tomb where you`d find the spirits of fallen heroes, and a secret vault where old secrets were preserved. These would all eventually lead to the watchmaker citadel/eye of the watchmaker, a final gauntlet inside of the space station that the "gods" of this land operated from. From all of this, only the foundations remain a single expensive postgame level that ends with a dedicated boss rematch zone. (there is a bit of a secret to anyone who visits this area before finishing the game, but i won't spoil what you`ll find)

Aniway, don`t mind this picture, just needed something to make a cut for this next section about miscellaneous locations and characters that were cut.

First was the original backstory of lady, where she was a giant crystal bird monster and mount evermore was what remained of her body after being slain. The final level back then would have been "house of glass" a journey through lady`s old body where she would ultimately be confronted by the lady of the lake who was once planned as the game final boss

meanwhile the original boss of Mount Evermore (known back then as worlds edge) was the silent sage. An ancient suhagins that had managed to survive all the resets by hiding from the watchmakers within the world`s foundation. He was also completely optional and would just give you lady soul piece without a fight. Much of his role in the story was given to the pilgrim, leaving him as a mere lost memory. If threathened, he would have fought by hiding and launching attacks from the shadows of the background. (there was a vague theme that each boss represented a moral flaw and he was cowardice)

This one won't be too complicated. Violet used to be from New Eden Upper District but was made into a witch to fit better into the areas she is found in.

Krogues/Uris used to fly like the forgotten due to being based on the fairies from the fountain. Their design had to be changed as they became more grounded.

There used to be an arch-witch enemy planned, but she was ultimately scrapped and her grenade-slinging moveset and general aesthetic were instead given to the Uri Chieftain.

The Steam Knight got through a lot of story changes in development. First, he was meant to be Ironwood's son, then it was made into merely a robot that the old man controlled during the first fight. There was plan that the knight would free itself and grow sentient to justify the later fight, but i eventually opted to give control of the robot to another character instead.

Originally, Kingsly was supposed to be donkeyskin father, but while his story was about accepting that his actions had irreparably destroyed his daughter's life and that he would never be forgiven, it ended up feeling a bit wrong to give him a redemption arc when his daughter got a more mixed and ambiguous conclusion. That storyline ended up being used for Faith's father instead and Kingsly was replaced by his aloof son, a much more sympathetic character. Speaking of the boy, there were originally plans for him to become a witch at the end of the questline, but those were dropped as there wast really any justification for it. I also pondered on wether to make him a transwoman since the area story has a big focus on gender and some of the witches, especially his sister and megan, do end up coming off as kind of terfy, but i eventually decided that these were not really the circumstances to explore it. I wouldn't mind if some headcanon that he did go through that character growth after the story through. Anyway, that should be all for now. It was really nice to share all the discarded ideas that couldn`t make their way into the game. So to finish thing off, here some pictures of all the enemies and areas that did end up making it into the game.

Well, i hope you all enjoyed this retrospective. Now i`ll get back to procrastinating. To be continued: whenever i actually get done with the next game.