#he WANTED to save the other spawns of his own will. every single time you run into them he talks about it

[mochapanda]

so you just didnt play the game

[faerievampling]

Decisions, Darling

Chapter 2 of An Unexpected Visitor~ The larger work is called Killing Time.

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Summary: Lae'zel makes her proposition, and Astarion has a choice to make.

Pairing: Ascended!Astarion x Female Tav

Word Count: 4.7k

Warnings: 18+, Explicit. Blood Drinking, Blood Kink. PiV. Oral Sex. Light Dom/sub. Vaginal Fingering. Violence. Possessive behavior, angst.

You stare blankly at Lae’zel as she explains, in a rather long and drawn out way, that she needed your aid. Her tale is rather boring, you think, and you nearly begin to trance again, but Astarion keeps you alert. 

Try to pay attention, little love.

You swirl your glass of wine, trying to keep yourself focused on Lae’zel’s words, but you're rather hungry. You try to drown out the two beating hearts in the room, but the sound is hard to ignore: they are both so nervous.

Soon, my darling. Astarion takes your other hand, fingers idly playing with your rings. He noticed you had worn the priceless pearl ring, the one he had gotten you from Amn about a century ago. He thought it looked lovely on your finger, and he mindlessly plants a kiss to it. You had paired it with an amythest stud in one ear and a long, droopy sun on the other.

Astarion had called the droopy earring derivative. 

Lae’zel describes her need for allies to further Orpheus’s cause and the diminishing power of Vlaakith. She speaks about Vlaakith for a while, too long for Astarion to reasonably expect you to pay attention. 

But you try to at least pretend like you are, even though you are now wondering what Githyanki blood tastes like.

I will do my best to find some for us. You’d love it, my sweet. Astarion looks at you playfully, and you shoot him a little smile.

Your eyes lock on him and take in his decadence; his deep red and gold ensemble pair nicely with his perfect silver curls. His pretty, full lips are tilted in a half smile as his attention is split between you and Lae’zel. 

You’ve always thought the color of his eyes were beautiful, and they were now a perfect reflection of your own. Not every vampire had the same shade; Astarion was surprised but incredibly pleased at the outcome. He thought it rather cute. 

Just as you are bordering on a trance once again, Lae’zel finally gets to the point: she wanted the both of you to fight alongside her, just as you had at the Battle of Baldur’s Gate. 

Just the thought of a battle, the bloodshed, sends a shiver of excitement through you.

As she is explaining the logistics of how she can safely get you to the Astral Sea, you lose focus once more, your mind drifting to the Elderbrain. You still remember how horrifying it was to look upon so closely. 

The Netherbrain, my darling. Remember that pesky crown? You nod at Astarion as you see it in his mind’s eye. But you quickly move on from this, considering Lae’zel’s words. You cross your legs, causing your dress to hike up, showing off your bare feet. Your toes are painted a dark, blood red, and are pretty as ever.

The anklet you sport is polished silver, so as to not burn your delicate, undead skin. It is embedded with black diamonds from Calimsham and has a single obsidian charm in the shape of a bat. Even the rings on your toes are embedded with other priceless jewels garnered from across Toril. 

Astarion’s eyes dart to your feet before giving you an amused look. Such a rebellious little thing. He was rather enjoying your wild streak. The ladies of the court have already begun to wear their hair long. 

Today, you had fought Bethild off by hissing, once again. She really didn’t like it, and you made a note to yourself to save this tactic for later. But Astarion had gotten onto you this time: Hiss at the spawn if you must, my treasure, but not at Bethild. After so many years, Astarion appreciates a good servant. Especially one that was willing to put up with his darling.

You already decided you were still going to do it, though.

But Astarion had doubled down. I’m serious, love. You needn't have a poor reputation among the servants. Bethild’s been good to you and has served you for nearly all her life. 

You had scowled at him, crossing your arms in annoyance at his sensible reasoning. Tell her to stop fussing over my hair and shoes.

Consider it done. 

Lae’zel is staring at the both of you with a bewildered look on her face. You realize she’s uncomfortable. You think that maybe you have been sitting in silence for too long, by mortal standards. Or maybe she isn’t used to seeing you like this, so comfortable. So pampered.

You spent so much time sleeping in the dirt. Countless days trudging through the swamp, those cursed lands, the disgusting sewers of Baldur's Gate. 

And yet, you can’t help but associate it with which you had the time of your life. You had loved the adventure, the fight, and you even fell in love. When you look over to Astarion, his look has softened, his eyes rounding when you meet his gaze. 

You see him put the mask back on as he turns back to Lae’zel, his chiseled features narrowing. “I hardly like the idea of my sweet consort on the battlefield,��� Astarion says, crossing his legs. You notice his foot is tapping.

Lae’zel leers at him. “She was once something more than just your bride, Astarion.”

The smile plastered on Astarion’s lovely face does nothing to hide the targeted darkness in his eyes. “I know exactly who my darling is, Lae’zel. She is the True Hero of Baldur’s Gate. She saved that wretched city and thousands of mortal lives. And yet, she asked for nor received anything in return. And now, she is my wife and I will not so willingly risk her precious life for another battle that is not hers to fight.”

But, what if?

Astarion looks at you, his harsh stare softening with inquiry. “If what?” 

What if we go with her?

You can feel the growing pit in Astarion’s stomach. In his chest.

Lae’zel curses as she looks to you. “Whatever mind tricks you are playing must end. Speak.” 

Astarion really doesn’t like Lae’zel commanding you, but he’s too focused on you to fantasize about inflicting some sort of violence on the gith. 

“This is a discussion my consort and I need to have in private.” He speaks to Lae’zel, but his eyes have not left you.

”I would like to hear what she has to say first,” Lae’zel’s unwavering tone is low, threatening. Now, both Lae’zel and Astarion’s eyes bore into you.“Unless you are so beholden, like a slave, that you cannot speak without your Master’s consent.” 

You feel the anger rise within you, because you know she doesn’t understand. She doesn’t understand your relationship, she doesn’t understand that you know you’re different now. But…you remember those sweet moments of adventure.

”I…” You have to find your footing. You set your now empty goblet down. “I have lived in a palace for two thousand years, Lae’zel. I haven’t fought in a long time.”

Lae’zel looks you over. “That is apparent. Lucky for you, I am an elite teacher. And you used to be strong with a sword.” Lae’zel takes a deep breath before she moves closer to you, taking your hand in hers.

Her hand is warm, so unlike your own. That was one of the few gifts that Astarion couldn’t extend to you. You can hear the quickening of Lae’zel’s heartbeat at your touch, and her breath catches. You can even smell the growing desire between her legs, her musk. Eager. Like so many mortals were in your presence.

Maybe they too, will serve. You know not if this small voice comes from Astarion or yourself. 

You feel Astarion tense up beside you. For a moment, you greatly fear he will lash out and harm Lae’zel, and then put you in time out.

You feel Astarion crawling through the folds of your mind, undoubtedly searching your memories of lovemaking with Lae’zel.

You didn’t understand why he tortured himself so. 

Now, you find yourself thinking of them: all the times she dominated you. The times she fucked you so hard your entire body was sore. Astarion had noticed back then, too, but hadn’t really cared at the time.

Times change. 

And thou art mine.

“Do not make a githyanki say please. But I will, if I must.” Lae’zel says, eyes darting over to Astarion. 

“And what do you have to offer us in turn?” Astarion asks, his eyes meeting hers. The tension in the room could be felt by anyone who could blink. Including vampires who merely chose to, so as to not seem too creepy to mortals. 

“I can only offer you my allyship in times to come, if we are successful.”

—

Before Lae’zel is even out the door, Astarion’s protests begin. He burrows in your mind, swathing you in the folds of his own; his thoughts were paranoid, muddled, scared. And you too, felt terrified.

He remembered all the times you died in battle. The agony he felt even when knowing he could revive you. It would only be exasperated now, by an unfathomable amount, because you were his bride, his treasure, and his eternity. He thought himself in circles until he nearly decided to try to lock you away again. 

The Astral Sea is extremely fucking dangerous, Tav. I can’t let you go. I won’t say yes to this. 

Rarely has Astarion ever denied you. Giving you everything was the way he loved you, and his denial felt like a slap to the face. For a moment, you and Astarion both fear that Lae’zel may have been right in some regard: your shackles of love binded you to your Master, just as it binded your Master to you. You two were so intimately connected, body and mind; thus, Astarion couldn’t deny the dimming of your light. He was not so blind. He wanted you to have everything you wanted, and he wanted to be the one to give it to you. 

But he was still so afraid.

You’ll protect me. 

You feel his solid arms wrap around you as he presses you to his chest, planting kisses anywhere he could: your cheeks, your forehead, your jaw. His lips devoured you, pleading you to be contended.

I’ll take you anywhere else. We could take a long vacation again, explore a part of Toril we haven’t seen in a while - 

Weveseenthemall. “I used to be a fighter,” You say aloud, breaking his train of thought with the sweet sound of your voice. There was a time where I once protected you. The thought is but a whisper in the well of your shared connection.

He narrows his eyes at you, bringing up a hand to rest on your collarbone, just below your neck. 

“And now you are a wife,” Astarion’s voice is barely above a whisper as it rasps between his lips. His other hand grasps your waist, his fingers digging into your sides.

I would be more powerful than ever, Astarion. With my abilities as a vampire, I would be a most excellent hunter.

“I know this,” Astarion hisses. He knows you’ve thought about this before, adventuring again, but he’s simply just ignored it until it went away, like a buzzing gnat. 

“But I just couldn’t bear it if something happened to you, spawn.” You scowl at his choice words, thinking them strange at this moment. You try to push him away from you, baring your fangs at him, but Astarion doesn’t release you from his firm grip. 

He’s come to a decision, and you then understand. 

Astarion’s fear had not subsided, not completely: but alongside it, understanding was bred. He knew why you wanted to go; why you wanted to fight again, strategize again, and relive the days of your young love. 

Nonetheless, his hand moves from your neck to your jaw, where’s he firmly grasps you, forcing you to meet his gaze, where he locks into you. He is going to use his Ascendant compulsion on you, since he couldn't compel you by normal means. He had never thought this before, not to your knowledge, and you feel betrayed as he starts to draw you into him. 

The pull is far too strong to defy, even though you try. 

As your thoughts are subsiding, the world around you has come to a close: there is only Astarion. You see him amidst darkness, his eyes becoming wet and round as he studies you. You watch as his eyebrows knit to a scowl and the corners of his mouth pull down.

You sense many identifiable emotions at once, like his mind is clearer now that yours has gone so quiet. One that sticks out to you is a lustful shame. A sick part of Astarion wanted this: he wanted total control over you.

He thought you’d be a very pretty, mindless, little spawn. He would keep you in the boudoir, where he would drain you nearly dry, fuck you whenever he wanted, and hold you for as long as he’d like. 

Or maybe he’d keep you at his side, putting you on his lap, or perhaps under his desk, so that he could indulge whenever he desired.

He needn’t even worry to dress his toy. Or maybe he would, just to put you in something sinful. He wouldn’t have to worry about your wants, or needs, or hopes and dreams; you would be fully his. 

Lucky for you, the larger part of Astarion is disgusted by this. Ashamed, even scared, of those desires.

As the world comes back to you, your thoughts once again occupy your mind. Astarion is backing away from you, a tear in his eye threatening to fall.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” Astarion says, his mind racing in agony as you float further away from him, eyes vacant but your heart fuming. 

His broad shoulders are hunched over, his arms stretch out to you, as if he feared he had hurt you. And suddenly, you can’t take it, and the tears begin to fall, and you’re  angry he’s crossed an unspoken boundary between you two; angry he isn’t giving you what you want.

Forgive me, please. His voice is but a whisper in the well of your mind, a droplet of water amongst an ocean. You’re everything. Everything. Can’t lose you. Won’t. 

You turn your back to him, but you don’t leave. You don’t want to feel this way, sharing the burden of both his and your emotions. You want to drift away, but he isn’t letting you, and neither is your own heart; because, at the very least, that light refuses to go out. 

You are my light. He’s running his hands through his hair, curls misplaced, and his heartbeat is through the roof. 

You turn to him. Then let me live. Let us live. No more of this. You wildly gesture around the palace, to your dress, which has become rather suffocating. With a motion so fast no mortal could comprehend, your decedent gown is in tatters on the marble floor. 

You think that Astarion’s paranoia is getting to you. His fear, his own possessive love for you; but maybe, you both think, this has been boiling over for a while. You also think your bloodlust is starting to rise, and Astarion smells delicious. 

You’re down to your slip and your jewelry. The necklaces that drape your pretty neck are broken and strewn across the floor with a tug. You’re still crying, but you’re having a difficult time processing this. You can’t stop thinking about blood, and it is all too much, and you need to run.

You don't remember if you’ve ever thought about running before. The look on Astarion’s face confirms you haven’t, because surely you would remember the look of such anguish.

Before you can move, he has his arms around you once more. You feel his hard cock pressing against you. You can’t help but want him too; but being so close to him, the beast takes over, and you cannot help but begin to ravage him. 

Your fangs cut into his clothing, but Astarion doesn’t loosen his grip on you. Before you know it, you feel the coolness of wood on your back, and your slip is pushed up above your breasts, your nipples hardening from the coolness of the palace air.

Spoiled. I’ve spoiled you. He rings out to you as you realize he’s teleported you both from the foyer to his office. 

Astarion quickly puts his hand between your folds, searching for the evidence of your arousal that you both know he will find. Probing at your entrance, you feel a gentle pressure as he slides his finger between your slick walls with little resistance.

Astarion’s other hand is tangled in your hair, nestling you to his neck as you feed. After pumping you a few times, Astarion stretches you with a second finger before he decides he’s done.

No more. You’re mine. You will do as I say. His voice is loud in your head, commanding.

You release your fangs from his neck when you feel the pressure of his thick member pushing between your tight walls, causing you to gasp from the stretch. He inserts his full length in you, and you to squirm from the adjustment.

You half-heartedly try to push him away, to tell him no, but your sex is so swollen from your fill of your lover's blood, and you’re so wet, Astarion cruelly laughs at your attempt as he restrains both your wrists with one hand. 

His strokes are intensely deep as he uses his free hand to bring one of your thighs to a deeper spread. He’s desperate to feel the depths of your cunt, to make you come and remember how much you want to stay with him.

He’s thinking he loves the way you look, tearstained and covered in his blood. 

But that light inside of you is still fighting, and you know she won't ever stop. I’ve lived so long in our heads. 

But Astarion knows; he’s been racking around your head for centuries. And when his troubled gaze meets yours, he buckles. His strokes become slower, and his stare is so intense you almost look away, but you know you shouldn’t. 

His gaze is softening as he lets go of your wrists and you wrap your arms around him to draw him closer. He moans as he continues to slide his cock between your tight walls. Not even death could separate us, Tav.

This seems like progress. 

I would tear across the planes of existence to find you. I have the means, the resources. I would get you back. No matter the cost. And you will bind yourself to me and promise that you would do the same. If something should happen to me, you must swear to come find me. 

Astarion’s disheveled curls tumble down his handsome face; his lips are parted in pleasure, sweat dripping down his perfect nose. He moves to capture a nipple in his mouth, gently sucking you and making you squirm.

You won’t leave my side. And you certainly won’t be any fighter. You and I will be in the shadows, where we belong, together-

Astarion has more provisions and rules to this agreement, but his balls are clenching so hard that he cannot focus any longer, and his lips find purchase on your own as his orgasm looms over him.

Tell me. Please. 

“I love you, Astarion.”

Again. 

“I love you, Astarion.” The words come out as a whimper as Astarion hits that sweet spongy spot deep inside of you. 

Please. Again. 

“I love you, I love you, I love you,“ Your eyes wet as you say the words, which carry Astarion through his orgasm as he comes thick spurts of seed inside you. 

His body trembles above you, breath ragged in your ear. You loved hearing his moans of pleasure. 

After he recovers, he puts himself back together and looks to you: there was simply no putting you back together, because you were a mess. You needed a bath and a nap. 

The two of you retreat to your bedchamber, where you do just that. The two of you are silent as you ease into the water. 

Once you’re more relaxed, and the maids have finally left the two of you alone, you begin to mindlessly trance again, to wander in the vast space that was your mind. 

Astarion eases into your thoughts, cradling you as gently as he would a newborn babe. He was feeling more centered now as his powerful Ascendant mind worked its way through the plan and its details.

You often thank whatever gods were listening that Astarion had become sharper and smarter over the years: he learnt to focus on the details, and as his competency increased, your apathy grew alongside it.  

Astarion is pleased to find you’d been lost in the memory of one of your more recent vacations: Astarion had taken you to an ancient castle in Tethyr, where the two of you lived for nearly a decade. 

Astarion had made love to you in the lush fields under the stars often, then. You had asked, of course. He hadn’t wanted to take you in the dirt, initially, believing it far too lowly of you both. He certainly thought his wife deserved better.

Please, Astarion. The grass is soft and plush, and the moon is full. You had said to him, before you told him how beautiful you thought him to be, inside and out. 

“Those were lovely times. I, too, think about them often, my love.You looked so beautiful under the light of the full moon.”

You give him a little smile, but Astarion catches your upset. You hope he will give you even more, more of what you want. 

I’m sorry, Tav. I swear to you I will never try to compel you again. But you will swear by what I asked: that we will never be separated, even in death.

“I swear it,” You speak with confidence because you know it to be true. You weren’t even really sure why he was bothering to ask: as a bride, you’d likely be compelled to do so, anyways. He knows this, but he needs to hear it. 

Once you’re finished with your bath, you don’t bother with clothes once you get back into bed. You could smell the scent of his arousal, his leaking precum, through his trousers and from across the bedchamber. 

I think I’ll use a sending stone to attend to business while at the crèche. Hopefully it works in the Astral Sea, too. Astarion is thinking, idly playing with your hair as you lie on his chest. 

I hardly remember the crèche Lae’zel had us go to. But you did remember Karlach painting a face on the portrait of Vlaakith after having to fight about forty Githyanki. 

Karlach. You say, and Astarion already knows the deal: he does his best to imagine her, what her face looked like when she smiled, but even his memory is shrouded by her death on the docks of the city.

Astarion quickly moves on from the memory. I worry about how we will feed you.

“I can eat human food,” You hesitate, because for some reason or another, you just prefer to drink blood. Food tasted the same as it always had, you were fairly sure, but you couldn’t deny your nature.

You may have to. Of course, you can nibble on me as much as you’d like. The pads of his fingers trace your bare skin, grazing the curve of your hips and the side of your breast. I’ll try to come up with a better solution, my darling. I want you to be as comfortable as possible.

He plants a kiss on the top of your head, nuzzling you closer as he goes to free his cock. I need you again. 

***

In the night, you dream of riding atop a great Githyanki red dragon. You have the reins as Astarion sits behind you, arms around your waist. The two of you feel so dominant, so powerful, and the dream is a happy one. But as dreams often do, the moment turns to something strange.

You are alone with the dragon now, and as you feel his cool scales beneath your suddenly spread thighs, his body begins to morph and change until he is one of the Githyanki red dragons no more, but a simple red Dragonborn.

His eyes are red, and they bore into you as he fills you up completely, as you’re still riding him. The pressure of his cock makes you gasp in shock; his arms wrap around you, pulling you to him, and you shiver as he whispers in your ear: You will be mine. 

You wake with a jolt. Before you can blink twice, Astarion heaves you across his shoulder, causing you to knock against him with a hard blow, leaving you breathless.

You try to call his name, but you can’t seem to find your voice. You didn’t need to breathe anymore, but your chest felt tight, your stomach drawn with apprehension. A reluctant arousal lingered at your core, which only added to your disarray.

Astarion is in full defensive mode. He’s running through the halls of the palace, sword in hand, and the smell of blood is overwhelming to you; you try to squirm out of his grasp, but with his hand firmly on your ass, you quickly realize you aren’t going anywhere.

You’re trying to calm yourself, but you can’t make sense of it all. The dream, the running, the blood.

Moth attacked the palace - one of the servants had become his thrall. 

He doesn’t stop until he is in the foyer,  where the other spawn are awaiting. Astarion effortlessly puts you on your feet and intensely sweeps his eyes over you, looking for any injuries. His hand is gripping yours, the strength of it suggesting he has no intention of letting go. 

“Ten of the servants have been killed, Master, but we have swept the palace thrice. All of Lord Moth’s forces are dead.” 

“Sweep it again. And you won't stop until the sun rises.” Astarion sneers at the spawn, who immediately follow the command. 

Well, I guess Lae’zel has something to offer us after all. 

“I will see the end of Lord Moth,” Astarion begins his evil monologue about destroying Moth, which you certainly agree with, but you really can’t focus with all the blood. Once Astarion realizes this, he is quick to sequester you as far away from it as possible, quick to offer you his neck as he carries you to sanctuary.

He’s letting you nibble on him, and as the blood of the Ascendant fills you up, you remember why you didn’t care to eat food anymore. Literally, nothing could ever be as delectable as Astarion.

My protector in the dark. You think once you finally feel satiated. 

Astarion, despite his anger, can’t help but be endeared. The evening ends with hushed kisses and more gentle lovemaking. Astarion couldn't seem to keep his tongue out of your cunt or his fangs out of your thigh: Moth’s invasion of your body compelled Astarion, as your Master, to dominate you.

You and the palace wizard had assured Astarion it wasn’t a vision or anything connected to your foresight, but magic. Moth had used a powerful spell to project himself into your dream, and thus, controlling it. A simple protection ward was all that was likely needed to prevent a further attack.

Later, as Astarion is rutting into you, you feel the wetness of his tears as he rests his forehead to the curve of your neck. They mix with the flow of your blood when he bites you; strangely, his mind is guarded, nearly silent, because he doesn’t want you to know whatever he is thinking. 

Astarion plants soothing kisses to your lips when you begin to feel your anxiety rise in your chest. 

Don’t worry, Tav. I’ll protect you. “Nobody will ever take you from me,” His voice is rough and low in your ear. After two centuries, you know that Astarion is good for his word.

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Masterlist

[tauri91]

The confrontation with Cazador is a disaster. Astarion is helpless as he watches Tav fall in battle. He barely has time to process the horror in front of him when he opens his eyes… and finds himself lying in on the ground, sunlight warm on his skin. The smell of the nautiloid burning nearby. He’s at the crash site again. More than that, it’s the morning after the crash. He’s reliving the past. His mind is a hurricane of emotion. The memory of Tav’s lifeless body just out of reach… the feel of the infernal contract burning away his soul… it’s all so fresh. But it hasn’t happened yet. He’s been given a second chance! A chance to save Tav!

He knows what to do. He finds the spot he first met Tav and waits. It won’t be long now. But the sun sets, the boar runs off, and Tav doesn’t come. The fear that he somehow missed them eats at him and finally he goes to look for Tav himself. What he finds is a swirling arcane rune. “Please! Someone help, me! I’ll perish!” Gale calls out of he vortex. Astarion rushes to the rune. Magic isn’t his thing but he grabs Gale’s arm and pulls with all his might. The wizard doesn’t budge, but Astarion won’t give up. He tries again. Tav would have gotten him out easy. Tav *did*. Finally Gale falls out of the portal. Before Astarion can ask if Gale remembers him, Gale gives an all too familiar introduction.

They travel together to look for other survivors. They find one. Shadowheart sits on a rock. Alone. She looks tired and doesn’t notice their approach while she stares at the astral prism. It takes every ounce of self control to keep from yanking the thing out of her hands and demanding the Emperor tell him where Tav is. Why aren’t they here? They should be here. He was supposed to protect them! But Shadowheart notices his interest in the artifact and keeps her distance.

They make it to the tomb. Of course! He pushes them to in, but his haste nearly gets them all killed. Gale goes down and Shadowheart only just manages to save him. He had forgotten just how weak they all were at the beginning. ‘We would have been fine if Tav were here’ he thinks.

They make camp. It’s quiet. Gale’s bruised face eats at Astarion until he can’t bare it any longer and retreats to his tent.

He’s more cautious afterwards. He double checks for traps he may have forgotten about, and makes sure to take all the weapons off the skeletons before they reanimate.

Withers is in his sarcophagus as expected.

Astarion thinks of Tav’s smile, their hand in his, the warmth of their arms hold him tightly. “Everything. A single mortal life… it’s worth everything. You know, don’t you? Please tell me you know where they are.”

“What is the worth of a single mortal life?”

Withers regards him for a moment. “The name thou seeks as been recorded.”

Astarion chokes back a sob. “But you can bring them back! I have gold. You’ll bring Tav back!”

Withers raises a halting hand. “A price has already been paid. The balance, unsettled, was restored.“

“I don’t understand. Where is Tav?”

“When thine own life was cut short, thy soul rended from body, a resurrection was not possible.”

“My soul? Are you saying *I*died?”

Withers nods. “Thou spoke true, one mortal life is infinitely valuable. A price most high was set. For one soul so damaged to return another must take its place.” Withers looks at him in a way he can only describe as pity. “The price was paid.”

Astarion knows he’s not the smartest man, but he understands all too quickly.

Cazador succeeded. He sacrificed Astarion and all his spawn to ascend. And Tav, his dear Tav couldn’t accept that. Cazador’s ascension must have been short, Astarion almost wishes he could have seen his old master when everything he worked hard for get taken away from him.

He feels dizzy. He feels sick. He wants to laugh. To cry. To curse the gods, every last one of them. Tav isn’t here because Tav is gone. Their life for his. He can’t help but think his wasn’t worth it.

[bklynmusicnerd]

"Yeah, but in a relationship, any relationship. It's important to let the other person know you appreciate them so that you don't create barriers that delay any hope for reciprocation" - Jess Mariano (Gilmore Girls)

I originally wrote this GG quote down because I thought it'd be good for an analysis of Spencer's daddy issues but I feel like there's probably endless discussions about Spencer's trauma going on right now, so I'm repurposing it for some analysis on Trina's repressed trauma and how that coincides with her character archetype of classical heroine.

I think it's important to discuss that Trina's perspective in that argument (possible precursor breakup lol), while far more logical than Spencer, was also just as shaped by her trauma as Spencer's pov was.

I landed on classical heroine as Trina's archetype because it felt the closest to how she's perceived and treated by the characters around her. Trina is characterized as wise beyond her years, deeply empathetic, intelligent, selfless, and brave/proactive.

Whenever characters in Trina's orbit describe her as "special" or "extraordinary", they're typically referring to one of these classical heroine elements she exhibits. It keeps coming back to what Taggert said, she's the daughter of a healer and a strategist but at her core, Trina is a rescuer who leads with her heart and wants to save the world.

Trina's desire (or maybe even compulsion 👀) to save shapes every single one of her relationships. All classical heroine descriptions come down to the core elements of bravery and sacrifice. First thing about Trina that Spencer falls in love with? Her bravery when she chases him out of the gallery. What Trina was actually doing at the gallery? Prioritizing checking on Ava over her graduation party because she wanted to make sure she was okay. Sacrifice. I'm zeroing in on these two qualities for Trina's archetype because they speak to how Spencer perceives Trina (both the good and the bad of that) and they speak to what Trina convinces herself she's obligated to do for the people she cares about. Trina's idea of love is rooted in sacrifice. It's something that keeps coming up for her. She always goes back to utilitarianism, the greater good.

She puts her desires/needs last, especially if she thinks doing so will make the people she loves happy. She absolutely views that as a method of saving people. It also often becomes a method of avoiding the reality that the trauma she experiences impacts her. For Trina, her trauma is an inconvenience, a nuisance, a burden. Her default is to be the steady and stable presence for others.

The second Spencer framed this entire demon spawn situation as "protecting his baby brother" and started flipping out over his inability to do so, Trina went into sacrifice mode for him. She decided that she could endure retriggering herself with the entire Esme situation and how helpless she felt during her drugging and framing, if it meant "saving" Spencer and his demon spawn brother. She told Spencer she was "fine" and she convinced herself the hurt was "worth it" for Spencer's happiness.

This is the part of Trina's perspective that Spencer still can't see. Their relationship just devolved into the similar dynamics of their friendship, where Trina compromised herself to make Spencer happy again and again while she felt increasingly vulnerable and unprotected. The pedestal of heroine is a dangerous thing, and this is often the consequence of embracing the "rescuer" role in a relationship. One's vulnerability/fallibility over time is not considered or remembered.

Trina's slip of "finally" that set Spencer off wasn't just an insensitive mess up, it was a culmination of her biting her tongue until it bled for months about how Spencer's coparenting obsession was hurting her. Spencer is, in general, terrible at recognizing Trina's trauma because he's so myopic about his own but also because Trina has a tendency to push this narrative that it doesn't affect her. She is always "fine" because the people around her need her to be "fine."

Trina is going through her own arc of learning to come to terms with her vulnerability, her fallibility, in accordance with her strength. That it's okay to not always be the steady one, that it's okay to follow her heart, make mistakes and need people. And Spencer was supposed to help her with that.

He was supposed to be one of the few people that she could fall apart around and count on to stay by her side. So as much as Spencer feels betrayed by Trina not being the perfect support system and listening ear in that moment, Trina also felt betrayed by Spencer implying that he would discard her if he needed to.

He once again made her question her faith in him and probably regret every moment she was vulnerable around him. She grew to a point where she admitted she needed him in her life and Spencer turned around and tried to weaponize that in a moment of anger. Spencer lashing out basically sent the message to Trina that she can't count on reciprocity from him. That she can't trust him with her heart after all. She still loves him, but you could see the walls go up again by the end of that conversation.

And this is all coming at a time when Cyrus is also back and retriggering her as well. Her recurring, visceral refusal to be positioned as a "victim" again likely also applies to anything regarding the sociopathic mooch. She will never just be Spencer's ex to Trina. She will always be the girl who drugged her and tried to destroy her life. I think that, plus Trina's concerns about defending herself against Cyrus, have led to Trina reaching her emotional limits on sacrificing for her relationship.

All her triggers coming at her at once forced Trina into self-preservation mode. As much as we love that Spencer genuinely looks up to and respects Trina when she's in classical heroine mode, it's a catch-22 because that same reverence leads Spencer to not process her vulnerability and need for support seriously.

He's been sending a message to her that he's not a consistent safe space for her, he's volatile, he doesn't live up to his words to her, and Trina is reacting to that as much as Spencer is reacting to his own grievances with Nik. Yes, she has classical heroine tendencies, but she's still vulnerable and affected by her traumas. Right now, she is in a moment where she wants to feel safe, and unfortunately, Spencer is not making her feel safe in their relationship.

[tchtra]

Best video game.

Why?

Oh that's difficult.

Gonna have to say ULTRAKILL

Massive rant about it and a few other games below

The fast-paced first person shooter has literally everything I would want for a fps. Cool mechanics (slam-storage, railcoin, chargeback), not much dialogue (the only time you're forced to listen to someone talk without being able to fight it's either skipable or at the very end of the act). The boss fights are incredibly fun, like I would gladly replay any of them just for fun. The P-Rank makes the game very replayable and the reward of getting to fight an even more difficult boss is so worth it.

Plus, despite not getting all that much screen time, the main characters/bosses in ULTRAKILL are very memorable.

Like Gabriel, who was seen as a disgrace by the angel council for losing to you, a simple machine. The council removes his holy light and will perish in 24 hours. Instead of enjoying his time left, he decides to fight us once more, enraged by what you've done to him. Half way through the fight, he starts laughing, genuinely enjoying the combat with you. When he looses, he comes to the realisation of how corrupt the angel council was and does the only reasonable thing and kills every single member. He'll still die though.

The concept itself is very interesting as well. You're a war machine that runs on blood and you're going to kill everything until there's nothing left. Humanity is dead so you travel through hell killing husks, machines and even gods. This plays into the gameplay and mechanics of the game more than you'd expect.

The mechanics in the game are so so fun. There's the basics like being able to slide and groundslam. But with your first unlockable weapon, the marksman, it opens up new opportunities for tech and all that gun does is allow you to throw a coin which if you shoot, it guarantees a bit on any nearby enemies. And that's just one weapon. Then you've got the ability to parry projectiles which. Funnily enough, the shotgun pellets count as a projectile so when you "parry" them after shooting, it causes an explosion. It's honestly my favourite way to rack up style points but I can't do complex tech like chargebacks and dead coining. The addition of a style meter makes you want to play in a way which gets you the most stylish way possible.

As well as the main story levels, there's an endless arena area called the Cybergrind where you try and survive for as long as possible while killing enemies stylishly. As with most endless modes, it gets more difficult the longer you survive with harder waves spawning and the introduction of radiant enemies (enemies with more health, speed and damage). This makes Ultrakill infinitely replayable as people try to get the highest score on it. My best is wave 23 on Violent and 25 on Standard.

I'm definitely not the best at it, I haven't P-ranked most of Layer 7 and I haven't even gotten past the many enemies to complete P-2 but this game is great and I can't wait to see what waits for us in the rest of act 3

Honourable mentions to Half Life and TF2. Both are great games by Valve which will never get a third installment.

TF2 is so much fun but the bot problem has really been ruining it. I hope VALVE actually try to fix it after this #savetf2 movement. I personally main Medic which just means I can't aim to save my bloody life- I love the characters, their personalities and playstyles. They're all so unique yet yet stereotypical at the same time. I love the meet the team shorts and how well they establish the characters. This as well as their adventures in the comics really shows the world of TF2 well. The various hats you can get are unique and allow you to make the mercs your own (I have watched death of an art style but I don't think that the cosmetics are the biggest problem for TF2 right now-). The community is completely insane and I'm glad we're all still here after everything the game has been through. I love the fan-made projects so much. The various sfm animations talented creators have made never fail to impress. Like Emesis Blue, a psychological horror movie about the TF2 mercenaries made entirely in SFM, a software that's around as old as TF2 itself! TF2 is really being carried by the community and thank you to anyone who contributes, you guys are incredible. I know I've gone off about the community more than the actual game but without the community, there would be no TF2. But yeah TF2 is amazing, I miss the PS3 version as that was how I first played TF2 when I didn't have a pc.

Half Life as a game series is absolutely incredible. Valve completely changed the opinion of FPS games and the gameplay as a whole. The slower build to the resonance cascade, the scientists chatter, the interactivity as a whole contributes so much to the world building if the first game. The combat options were unique and fun to experiment with while providing interesting enemies to use them on. Of course, the Xen chapters were a bit bland but they still set the atmosphere of what was to come. And Black Mesa's complete remake of Xen completely fixes that if you do have a major issue with it.

Half Life 2 completely blew my mind the first time I played it. I had never seen anything to do with Half Life (except the references to it in TF2) so when I played it, it was amazing. Just like TF2, I first played it on the PS3. There's not many differences except the load times (which were horrid) but I still completed the game.

I hardly remember anything from my first play through of Episode 1 but I did get really attached to Alyx. Oh and I found the kleiner broadcast funny. Episode 2 is a completely different story. I loved every single second of it (there weren't achievements on PS3 version so I didn't do the gnome challenge and it shows-). The car section was fun. I liked looking for those supply crates and doing the physics puzzles to get to them. Hunters were really fun to fight but once I discovered they get instakilled by the jalope, I just started running them over. Made the final sequence much easier. The helicopter fight was interesting. And the ending. Oh my god, the ending. I ain't gonna lie, that shit hurt. It's a shame they rewrote it for Half Life Alyx.

Speaking of Half Life Alyx, I never got to play it but it looks incredible. I hope to be able to play it some day but right now, I have to stick to watching playthroughs.

I love Half Life but at this current moment I prefer ULTRAKILL, may change.

Uh yeah, I'm normal about all these games

[auburniivenus]

IT ONLY MADE SENSE.

Of course they would have them questioning themselves, looking back and wondering, how much of it was cursed and rotten magic, how much of it was his blood flowing through them to force them to obey and never stray too far from him, ever, but then how much of it was real and how much of it was down to them, when someone comes into your life and turns it around, for better or for worse, that is down to you, he merely provided the means to extend one’s time, everything he said was the truth all those centuries ago, it was not a matter of him wanting nor needing them, it was a matter of if they wished to be saved, in the end always, the choice comes down to them and them alone, there was no one else to blame.

“Is that so …”

As he stopped for the moment, remaining where he was, it would take some time to travel this land, moving from kingdom to kingdom, to reach home, to see it with his own eyes and make the choice in what he would wish to do once he had reached there, would it bring back fond and pleasing memories of a past he can barely remember, seeing as his own master had done a rather talented job, befitting of the lord vampire of his generation to ensure it was beaten bloody right out of him with every single thing that he had to ensure he understood where his new home was and what his purpose in life was going to be going forward, but for now, he turned and looked at her, head slanting to the side as he just vanished right before her eyes and appeared, right behind her as he circled her.

“Tell me of them …”

His hand was within her hair, fingers parting to run through it, letting the silk threads fall between his fingers as he curls fingers through the endless colourful threads and tugs then pulls to make her turn and come towards him, as he looked down at her, this was how it was meant to be, he had broken vampiric laws, shattered the rules, taken there history and spat in it, all to gain the power he wished to claim, a vampire was only ever meant to have one spawn and no more than that, which was why, he had spared her life, allowed her to live and to live well, allowed her to serve him and ensure that she would remain linked to him until the day she either believed herself, to be worthy to take the mantle of lord and master, or he found another within the lands that caught his eyes, either way until one of them killed the other, this was there fate, tied together, as he would wrap her hair around his hand and give it a gentle little pull again to bring her right before him.

“Of everything that I make you feel and perhaps, I will reward you.” @fallesto

Mortals   take   root,   perish,   and   amalgamate   with   the   earth.   Immortals   thrive,   vanquish,   and   ascend.   She   once   harbored   the   belief   that   utopia   was   an   unobtainable   ideal.   She   considered   her   suffering,   sacrifices,   and   torment   as   mere   entertainment   for   a   man—a   being   plagued   by   a   fractured   soul   and   sinister   designs.   Yet,   she   was   in   error.   His   commitment   was   genuine   when   he   proclaimed   he   would   transform   her   existence,   bestow   upon   her   a   reward.   Nothing   of   worth   is   achieved   without   sacrifice,   without   the   shedding   of   blood,   with   no   spilling   of   tears.   A   dream   materializes   into   reality,   all   because   of   him,   the   man   to   whom   she   pledges   her   allegiance,   the   soveraigne   for   whom   she   would   willingly   lay   down   her   life,   because   Szarr   granted   a   new   dawn,   a   virgin   genesis   beneath   the   sonne.   Comely   maiden   no   longer   conceals   herself;   she   drifts   across   the   verdant   meadows,   akin   to   a   woodland   nymph   luxuriating   in   the   caring   embrace   of   quintessence,   exquisite   auburn   curls   radiant   as   never   before,   alabaster   complexion   nourished   by   the   sun’s   tender   kisses.   A   debt   that   may   well   be   blossoming   into   something   profound…

Decades   have   unfolded   in   his   presence,   marked   by   disputes,   carnage,   and   now   serenity.   It   all   commenced   with   oppugnance,   she   reflects.   Her   affections   for   him   were   once   founded   in   hatred,   in   disgust   for   his   behavior   towards   her,   but   now…   what   has   changed?   Ambiguity   infiltrates   into   her   thoughts,   because   she   struggles   to   decipher   her   own   emotions.   Perhaps   she   misinterprets   her   own   heart.   Her   elegant   movements   cease   as   she   observes   him   halt   in   his   tracks.   Blood   pressure   surges   abruptly. "Forgive   me.   I   shouldn’t   have   spoken."   Inoue   initially   tries   to   apologize,   anxious   not   to   incite   his   ire   with   her   irrational   thoughts.

In   a   moment,   she   perceives   his   dominant   assertive   arms   encase   her   sinuous   form,   pulling   her   close   against   him.   Heart   flutters   with   his   sudden   proximity,   and   her   dermis   tingles.   Does   he   truly   wish   to   hear   her   speak   of   uncertainties? "Are   you   sure,   my   Lord?   I   wish   not   to   trouble   you."   Murmurs   softly,   striving   to   regulate   her   frantic   pulse.   She   feels   Cazador's   nimble,   slender   fingers   weave   through   her   lustrous   auburn   tresses,   gently   coaxing   her   to   face   him.   Their   gazes   intertwine,   her   velvety   lips   gradually   drying.   She   is   his   chosen;   to   him   she   belongs,   and   to   no   other.   With   an   additional   soft   tug,   she   finds   herself   nearly   fused   to   his   form.   How   can   she   articulate   her   emotions   when   he   is   so   near?   Nerves   betray   her,   and   heart’s   rhythm   declares   its   truth,   a   melody   that   might   well   be   a   psalm   to   his   ears.   Lips   part   to   speak,   yet   initially,   no   words   emerge.   How   can   she   convey   her   emotions   without   seeming   unhinged?   It   seems   an   impossibility.   Will   he   comprehend   her?   Inoue   harbors   doubts.

"You   evoke   sensations   within   me,   indescribable..."   Begins,   momentarily   diverting   her   eyes   as   she   attempts   to   assemble   her   thoughts.   A   deep   breath   escapes   her.   "It’s   normal,   is   it   not?   To   feel   such   a   profound,   magnetic   attraction   towards   you.   I   know   I’m   yours,   but   it   no   longer   feels   like   an   obligation.   It   feels   inherent   now,   as   though   something   has   transformed."   She   chastises   herself   internally,   her   words   disorganized   and   incoherent.   Orihime   raises   her   eyes   once   more,   a   gesture   of   frustration   touching   her   features.   "I   apologize.   Please   disregard   my   ramblings.   I’m   being   foolish,   and   there   are   graver   matters   at   hand."   She   tries   to   deflect   from   the   topic.

[queenrizzardnthelizardscissored]

thoughts on wyll baldur gate:

The Thing about wyll is that he's almost very interesting. He's this nobleman - no, noblekid, barely even an adult - who grows up on these stories of adventure, of romance, of great heroes sacrificing themselves for their people - he is raised in a position of power and is taught, from that elevated perch, to help people, in the most Grand and Story-like way. He doesn't think twice about sacrificing his soul to save the city - twice - even when it is an objectively bad choice - not just because he is a good person, but because he has been taught that the specific way to be a good person is to be self-sacrificing, to be noble in a very particular way. When he has the chance to save the city from a dragon-summoning, a threat that could be dealt with in other ways! he sells his soul to the devil and deals with all of them. when he is exiled, he becomes a folk hero, and obeys his pact in his own helpful way - hes not an evil warlock, he's a self-sacrificing hero! He cannot see past his conception of a hero as a guy that gives everything, and because of that, he makes mistakes that hurt more people, not least himself, just because he Learned It In A Book. he just about admits this to you multiple times. 

in every single choice that his main companion quest has, he seems to want to make the most ‘noble’ choice, pragmatism be damned: 

kill the evil hellbeast, don't bother parleying, it'll only try and trick you.

Don't extort the woman (she's a devil, but still!) before saving her, that's a Bad Thing To Do. 

Give your soul to save your father in particular! Never mind that this means that he would still be pacted to mizora, meaning that he would doubtless have to kill more innocents like karlach, and that there are countless other ways to kill Gortash. 

He wants to do this last option not just because it's his father, who, for the record, largely ignores him save for teaching him to serve others and then going (shocked pikachu face) when he follows through on it, but because he still feels like he hasn't given enough, like he has to make up for some wrong thing he's done by just trying to help. 

Even beyond these big moments, he has a lot of admirable, idealistisc traits - save everyone, spare everyone you can, be intrinsically good. These traits should, in theory, clash with the real world - his ideals should be tested, pragmatism vs. nobility, vengeance vs. heroism. The issue here is that they just. Don't. you can save just about everyone in this game with no consequences -

save the tieflings in the grove, and expose the shadow druids! no one has to die! free halsin and volo and everyone with no downsides.

save the gnomes from nere, save the gith egg and the child being picked on.

save minthara from being mind controlled and have her join the party. save the tieflings again in moonrise, save zevlor from the mind flayer pods, save last light and the moon lesbians (my beloved) and talk, literally talk, all the big bad to death.

save a girl from a hag twice, save undead from their master, save 7000 vampire spawn and release them into the streets murdering and rampaging, oh wait, they can go into the underdark with no consequences. save the gondians from the banites, save *everyone* on the iron throne, including wylls father despite breaking the pact. 

the game has a lot of choice, but it's all very black and white, obviously good and bad - save the refugees or kill them, save the elephant or become a bhaalist. even the godsdamned organized crime quest has the obviously bad option who are slavers, and the good guy thieves guild. there's some good pragmatic vs. nice choices in the companion quests, but the rewards they are offer are so obvious and in your face that it feels like trading your morals for such a tiny benefit it's not even worth it. there's literally only one morally hard choice in the game, and that's whether or not to become a mind flayer instead of Orpheus, and really even that's just “do you want to be a mind flayer or not”. The obvious, morally correct thing to do there is to take the deal, and if Wyll were the party leader, he would do it in a second. The world itself is basically one of Wylls stories, and so his moral system almost always works, except for in the specific scenarios I outlined in his companion quest. His self sacrificing, heroic, throw yourself into every danger outlook works, because it's a game with a relatively straightforward story morally, which, let be clear, is not a bad thing! at all! it's a valid way of writing a game story! but it means that his ideology basically never gets any pushback except from the player. Even at the end of the game, he wants to be a blade of Frontiers, not a grand Duke - and, from what we've seen in the game, that's fine! but of course, being a grand Duke would allow him to make sweeping changes, to fix things like the refugee problems, lack of food and housing, criminal underbelly, etc, and it's also more comfortable, and that's why he'll never pick it without your characters influence. His view of serving and being a hero is so self-sacrificial and so individualized that even when he hates the system, even when he wants to reject it, he does so not by tearing it down and building a new system, or changing it from the inside, or building a sort of mutual support system, but instead by just being a vigilante who goes around solving individual small problems with wayyy too much firepower. and because of that, he doesn't address the real issues, like starvation, homelessness, extortion, the fact there are hags and necromancers inside the city walls without even a notice, etc.

but because the game doesn't challenge him on any of these beliefs, save the self-sacrificial aspect, and even then only through the player, he remains rather flat. he doesn't ever blame his father or the nobility or any of it.

[silverjirachi]

4-6 exile vilify pls

4. What detail in [insert fic] are you really proud of?

The whole thing with Thelem. Since I made the realization about the ending of the book very early on, I was able to shape every single scene and every piece of his dialogue around this point. There are some very subtle things going on with him; things he says, things he leaves out, little things that he does in every scene he has that make his knowledge apparent, and I'm hoping it's one of those things that deepens meaning for the reader with each re-read and recontextualizes things after you get through the book the first time. There's even some bits in the wording and tone of the prose that point to Thelem too.

5. What do you wish someone would ask you about [insert fic]? Answer it now!

Oh god well I feel like I talk about this fic a lot actually, and I've gotten a lot of great questions. But I don't think people have ever asked me just like... what my favorite parts were. So, small list of fav moments:

the scene where Azelphir gives Astor The Prophecy™

Astor's first "prediction" when he says "Because Fate has decreed it" at the ceremony and Azelphir's reaction to that

the time Astor saves the Queen from drinking the poisoned goblet

the time Thelem yells at everyone in the abbey

Astor saving Rose from the Malice (I love this detail because despite how Astor spends his entire life hung up on this fear of killing her, what he ultimately ends up doing is buying her time).

The part immediately after Astor dancing with Rose where she loses her earring and he brings it to her

Astor's short encounter with toddler Zelda just as he is leaving for exile

Astor's "you could, but you won't" moment when the Yiga Clan almost kills him when they capture him

And of course the heart-wrenching..,, "I know, Astor. I always knew."

6. What’s one fact about the universe of [insert fic] that you didn’t get a chance to mention in the fic itself?

Astor is the reincarnation of Ganondorf's royal seer and does not remember the pact he made. This is a big part of the reason Ganondorf is so aggressive toward him. The robes Astor obtains in the Yiga Clan hideout are literally his old robes. I mention the mark of the Order on them, but I'm never direct about how Astor ended up selected by Ganon from the time he was born.

This is my personal headcanon, but took it out because I wanted the focus of the story to be on the cruelty and randomness of fate, not karma. While Astor being unable to escape a pact he doesn't remember making--and made in a past life that should not affect him in the present--does still speak to the cruelty of fate, it also reads as karma to me, and that's different, and not the meaning I wanted to give the book. So that fact is like, canon-but-not-canon. I wrote Exile//Vilify with it in mind, but also in a way that it can also be excluded. It's up to the reader to decide if they like it or not, or even got the implication at all.

Other honorable mentions:

Thelem and Azelphir actually do love each other, but can't be together per laws of the abbey. Thelem is aware of his crush on Azelphir, Azelphir repressed his own.

Azelphir is always the first one into the chapel in the morning per his job. Something very important happens in the chapel toward the end of the book. I will... let you connect the dots there.

Astor loves Rose (I think this is obvious but maybe not obvious to him.. there is a lot of unrequited love in this book). Thelem knows Astor loves Rose.

Azelphir is the prior at the time of the Great Calamity 🤡 poor buddy

The abbey doesn't have an abbot because their abbot is Fate 😊

Check out the abbey's location on the BOTW map!! Isn't that fucked up and bad!!!!!? (There's also a floormaster/gloom hand that spawns at the abbey's precise location in TOTK??? the game's files also apparently refer to it as a "Miasma Lord" which is..... an interesting thing to note, given the circumstance.)

Azelphir has a major gap in his psychic abilities. I want to share it, but also don't so it's a surprise in Trouble Will Find Me. There is one kind-of hint of it in Exile//Vilify, but it's subtle, and in my revisions I'm doing currently I'm going to make it slightly clearer.

Ask me writing things!!

[goldemas1244]

Zhask and Yve headcanoons time!

Okay so we all have seen this

ZHASK X YVE MOONTON CANON

So, with inspo from @astrowarden I'm making a headcanons and ideas list to jot some stuff down because I need to infodump. Hey, Yve mutual, (I can call you that, yes? Because you're the astrowarden?) you can reblog and add more below (or argue against mine). We can infodump a lot here. Let us build this Zhask X Yve ship together!!

Man I just need to infodump-

-- Headcanons under the :readmore: --

Equilibrium (Placeholder ship name)

Zhask and Yve got together after many forced team-ups against the ever-present problems threatening to destroy the Land of Dawn. Because if the planet gets destroyed then Zhask, now comfy with the place, will find more planets and that'd suck for Yve.

Just imagine Zhask shielding Yve from an attack... and the other way around... ehehehehe

There were lots of witty banter between them and many more insults but they gradually softened and became cool beans with each other.

"You want some pizza?" "No thanks, it's got meat on it."

*Yve eats the pepperonis for him.*

*He finally eats the pizza and asks for more.*

Zhask got really injured during a fight once AND IT WAS YVE WHO CALLED FOR HELP AND HELPED SAVE HIM

He was grabbing on to her arm for dear life at this point (which is when she realised 'Oh God he needs me').

They can both breathe, talk to each other, and hear each other in space. Which is weird because space is a vacuum.

Zhask is the idiot. Yve is the only one who can accept that.

Zhask lets Yve control Domorey (his staff) sometimes. He will NOT admit she's better than him.

Since Zhask is the only one of them with a canonical place to stay, Yve bunks with him. She has a set of pyjamas and everything.

Pillowfights (GAH)

Zhask's love language is acts of service. Yve's is listening. They're both secretly touch starved.

This planet was meant to be his Kastiya II, like an extension of the place. Yve doesn't have the heart to tell him what happened to Kastiya I.

They both love the wildlife. But Yve is usually the one to drag him out of his trance when he sees bugs. He gets an identity crisis.

Yve is Zhask's personal leash. She usually stops him from violently dropping his head into a nearby bush and eating it.

They both have eating problems. Zhask overeats. Yve doesn't eat enough. They criticise each other until their diets eventually cool up.

Imagine again, Yve comforting Zhask through his nightmares-

Zhask

Zhask likes coconut milk. He steals snow from the Northern Vale to build himself a mini fridge for his coconut shakes.

Kastiya II has a bunch of coconut trees. It's mentioned that he's building a swarm army there but it's mostly just a pet-type thing now because they KEEP. EATING. THE COCONUT TREES.

People mistake Zhask's forest of coconut trees for the actual Swarm.

He makes a living somehow by... selling the freshest coconuts known to the world???

Of course it isn't just the swarm who keep eating the trees. Zhask takes a bite out of every single type of plant he finds and if he likes them he'll suck out their juices. Like a beetle.

He sometimes does this to his own coconut trees when he's sleepwalking. He has no recollection of this and starts blaming his spawn beans again.

Yve recorded it and is now saving it as blackmail.

He's a traditional medicine kind of guy. Feed him a ginger root and he'll be all good in three hours.

The Land of Dawn uses his services to clear land and stuff. It's disturbing to see the usually composed and upright king going full-on feral when he's specifically requested for though.

A swarm can clear the intended land in minutes. But if he's hungry he'll take seconds (lol it's a pun).

We all know he can hear people's thoughts. Oho, he has the juiciest gossip if you can crack him open.

'Anything is edible if you're brave enough.'

He's not brave enough.

He's homesick.

He has a good relationship with Badang because Badang makes the best rice (he's Malay of course he does).

Yve

Unlike Zhask she is omnivorous which means she's the one who usually eats the shrimp in his mac and cheese.

She cheats at tag.

Zhask is her FIRST friend.

She likes fish. She can swim for hours. Which terrifies Zhask because he's seen one of his spawn young get eaten by a creature in the water and he's NOT taking risks.

She's actually very good at videogames.

She's not very social. But she DOES get invited by Aurora for tea every two weeks.

She still thinks Aurora should beat up Zhask and then some. As a treat and revenge.

Of course, coming from Mithlora, she is a great hunter. She and Helcurt have hunting battles occasionally when they cross paths.

One of Mithlora's veteran hunters keeps watch on Martis. So she still has family to communicate with in close quarters.

She likes sour cherry sweets.

She has a favourite of Zhask's spawn. Its name is Edem. Zhask's favourite is Meric.

She can light up like a glowstick. Just without the cracking and shaking (but you can do it to her; only once).

Her bestie is Pharsa.

[saving-word-crawls]

Good Omens Crawl

By: anon3009908

As requested by some people, here is a Good Omens crawl! Based on the show, because I was hoping that would keep me from making an epically long crawl as I knew the book would. (That failed.)

Angelic and Demonic Interventions (written as miracles below, to save time). Collect these to skip challenges as you need! But be careful, Heaven/Hell will take notice at the end of the crawl. You don’t want them to take notice.

We expect you to do every. single. step. Unless it says to choose, or optional, or you use a miracle.

There are times where a (#) is added. This is specifically for people like @riverdoe, who request torture. You are welcome, my friend. Everyone else, don’t worry about it unless you really want the challenge.

Here is a dice roller 40, for those who don’t have them in arm’s reach.

Episode One.

Time: the Beginning. Place: Garden of Eden.

Time to tempt humanity and really change the course of everything and anything, Crawly Crowley!

Write for ten minutes, distraction free and at your own pace as you convince Eve this is a good idea.

Take this number and divide it by 10 for your WPM. Keep this number in mind for the entire crawl.

It didn’t take much. She ate it, Adam ate it. They did a wrong. Time for their escort out, Aziraphale.

Write WPM x 10 words in fifteen minutes to resist giving up your flaming sword. **Failed: Well, they need it. She’s expecting already! **Succeed: Good, temptation averted. But… it’s dangerous out there. And cold. And what would the harm be, really? (+1 miracle)

On top of the wall, our two “heroes” meet. He’s the enemy, but what exactly does that mean right now, other than thwarting? And there’s nothing to thwart at the moment. Angel and demon have a conversation.

Word war against your angel/demon at a length of your choice. ** Win: You won! The conversation! Congrats! (+1 miracle) ** Loss: Time well spent, was it? 

Time for a time skip! Eleven years before the End.

Hastur and Ligur are waiting for you, Crowley. You’re late. Why were you late? [Choose one, or flip a coin.]

Taking down the mobile network for all of London!: sprint to the next 500(0)

Taking down the mobile network for all of London after having breakfast with the angel (just don’t tell them that): sprint to the next 1000(0)

Hastur and Ligur aren’t amused either way. They give Crowley his next job. A baby. To swap!

Baby Swap!

There are three babies, see? Baby A, baby B, and baby the Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Spawn of Satan and Lord of Darkness. Time to swap the babies!

Baby taken from the Dowlings: 3 digit challenge

Baby Destroyer of Worlds: write d20 x 100(0) words

[Optional] Baby superfluous, will have a prized fish collection: pick any song and write without stopping until it is over.

Unknowingly having already cocked up the situation, Crowley calls Aziraphale to let him know what’s going on. They meet up to discuss the coming apocalypse. Or get drunk. Or both!

Discuss the apocalypse: Write 666(6) words or 999(9) words (if you’re feeling plucky)

Drink: Ask your angel/demon what word war length they want to do and do it. ** Fail: do another one, do them all until you win ** Succeed: do another one, but it’s okay if you lose, you’re drunk (+1 miracle)

Once the two are on the same page, it is time to convince your supervisors about what you’re doing.

Crowley: “I’ll make this Antichrist really bad, count on me.” Sprint to the next 666(6).

Aziraphale: “But what if we make him good?” Write to the next palindrome.

Now that they have permission, it is time to get hired by the Dowlings! That’s not hard, just make them want you. [Choose one, or both]

Nanny: Write for twenty minutes as you get this damned baby to sleep.

Gardener: Write your WPM x 15 as you figure out plants.

TIME SKIP. Eleven Years Later.

The boy seems normal. Aziraphale and Crowley don’t know what to make of it, other than how do you stop the apocalypse? You kill the boy, of course.

Argue about who should kill him.

Do a carrot and stick challenge 19 if you think Crowley should do it, being the evil one of course, good people don’t murder, right?

Visit the word-eater’s dungeon 25 if you think Aziraphale should do it, because the Antichrist is evil so why would Crowley do it?

Meanwhile, the actual Antichrist has grown up well. His name is Adam. Adam is a good boy and the leader of the Them, because he comes up with the best games. Time to have fun!

[Do any of these you want, if you do them all +1 miracle.]

Adam: Go to the Writing Challenges 12 part of the forums and look at the sixth challenge. Do that one. If it’s a crawl or too long, look at the next one down. Just keep going down.

Pepper: Join the next NaNoWordSprint on Twitter/Discord! If unable/unwilling, sprint for ten minutes.

Wensleydale: Write your WPM x 15. Try to do it in 15 minutes!

Brian: A fifty-headed hydra.

Being eleven is great.

Birthday party.

Time to release the Hound! But also have an excuse to be at the birthday party.

Crowley, you have to help with the catering. Without being super obvious. Why are you wearing that suit so well? 1k sprint for being so fly, you devil.

Aziraphale, you have decided to entertain. You are probably the most entertained by this magic. Write for thirty minutes as the show goes on too long.

Hellhound, you are off to find your master. It is your master’s birthday. You will be anything he wants you to be.

Adam: “I’ll name him Dog. Saves a lot of trouble, a name like that.”

Do a 3 digit challenge to do someone else’s word bidding!

Armageddon is on its way now! With Dog, a good boy.

As Dog isn’t with Warlock, that means Warlock isn’t the Antichrist. Crowley? Aziraphale? It is time to panic. And while you are panicking, write your WPM x 5 to at least panic usefully.

Episode Two.

A deliveryman makes his way in sun, rain or snow! Because you are also a good boy. First delivery is that of an ancient sword. To a war correspondent with bright red hair.

WAR: Take your WPM. Multiply it by 60. Get to it, soldier. (If you manage in less than an hour, +1 miracle.)

1656

Witchfinder Thou-Shalt-Not-Commit-Adultery Pulsifer. You have an unfortunate name. You are also looking for a witch. (One probably cursed you with the first name.)

Head to the Carrot and Stick 19 thread, but that stick better be a big one.

Agnes Nutter. You know what you are going to do. You saw it coming.

Because you’ve seen in coming, write to the end of the scene, where you blow something up. Or not.

Agnes leaves behind a book. The history of “The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch” and the professional (and unprofessional) descendants.

When Anathema Device is seven, she draws in the pages of this book, which apparently no one in her family had done before.

Write 300(0) words if the thought makes you cringe.

Write 1k if you have drawn in a book before.

DO BOTH IF BOTH APPLY.

When Newton Pulsifer is nine, he takes down the power in the entire block by trying to be a computer boy.

Write a % of your word count as you attempt to computer. [3% if you are 50k or below, 2% between 50k and 150k, and more than that? 1%.]

In present day, Anathema has come to Tadfield to find the Antichrist. With a lot of tools, including the Book, to try to find him. It’s all chance~

Write d6 x 100(0) words while searching through a book already memorized.

Write d6 x 5 minutes searching through Tadfield.

While searching, Anathema meets the Them. The Them are as eleven year old as eleven year olds can be, but pretending to be witchfinders is more adorable than worrisome. Get a number from the 3 Digit Challenge and write that while the children switch off who is to be “tortured”.

In present day, Newt has come to an apartment to find Shadwell, who has offered him a job as a Witchfinder Private. Answering the door is the… landlady?

Madame Tracy: “Seances are on Tuesdays, unless you want other services.” Write for ten minutes, assuring Madame Tracy neither of her services are necessary.

Fortunately she sends you to Shadwell. Did I say fortunately?

Shadwell: “Always make sure to ask how many nipples they have.” Write 500(0) words as this is confusing, but damn if Newt still needs this job.

This is confusing, but it’s better than Newton telling his mother that he got fired from his computer job.

A 15 minute word war to work through the guilt! ** Succeed: This job’s not too bad. Crazy, but not too bad. (+1 miracle) ** Fail: This job is crazy, but it’s a paycheck. Do another word war.

Back to our “heroes”, Aziraphale and Crowley return to where the hand off of the Antichrist had occurred, a corporate paint ball retreat. Crowley doesn’t make a good argument of not being nice.

Do all of these you want, dependent on how nice you think Crowley is:

Clean off Aziraphale’s jacket. Write 100(0) words.

Argue with Aziraphale about being nice. Write 300(0) words.

Turn all the paintball guns into real guns, but make it so everyone has near misses and no one dies, because Aziraphale would be upset (though the excuse is “it wouldn’t be fun”.) Write 600(0) words. [If you do them all, +1 miracle.]

A fire got rid of all of the evidence. Neither angel or demon are happy. Who is less happy is the cyclist who is hit by the Bentley. Time to fix what’s more important!

Aziraphale: fix Anathema, write WPM x 10.

Crowley: fix Bentley, write for 20 minutes.

Anathema worries about being in a car with two strange men, but she is dropped off. One calls the other “angel”. Oh, so she was safe the entire time.

Write 500(0) words as Anathema forgets Agnes’ book in the back of the car.

Crowley drops Aziraphale off at his shop, only for the angel to notice what was left in the car. A book of prophecy. No, the book of prophecy. Aziraphale barely hears anything that Crowley has to say.

This is the big one. Write your WPM x 30 as Aziraphale reads every. Single. Prophecy. In the Book.

Episode Three.

THE PAST

It’s time for a flashback. Many flashbacks. It’s time to get to know an angel and a demon. [For every challenge you do below, you get a CONNECTION. Keep track.]

Noah’s Ark. Watch the spectacle of the Ark as it starts to rain. Rain is familiar. Write your WPM x d10.

Crucifixion. Aziraphale and Crowley watch the Son die. Fifty Headed Hydra. There is no winning.

Rome. Food isn’t necessary, but it’s good. Who’s tempting who? Write to the end of your current scene.

Medieval England. The two realize they cancel each other out wherever they go. Word war against your angel/demon for 10 minutes.

Shakespeare. Time to flip for the arrangement. Roll a die (of any type) and visit that challenge in the Writing Challenge 12 topic. [You may reroll if you get another crawl.]

France. Aziraphale nearly gets beheaded for crêpes, but fortunately Crowley shows up. Sprint to the next 500(0) words.

St. James Park. Crowley asks for some water. Holy water. This causes a fight. Word war against your angel/demon for 30 minutes.

Blitz. Caught up in a Nazi plot for books of prophecy, Crowley saves Aziraphale again by blowing up a church. Take your time to write to the next palindrome, because. This sort of thing takes time.

[Tally up your CONNECTIONs. There is a possible 8.]

The Heist. Crowley is all set to steal some holy water, but Aziraphale saves him the trouble. “You go too fast for me.” Take your WPM. Multiply it by 100. You can choose to divide it by your amount of CONNECTIONs. (If you don’t and you have at least 6, +1 miracle.)

Back to the present. Anathema is crushed, losing the book her entire life has revolved around. Adam and Dog want to cheer her up. Talking about being an occultist and the environment definitely distracts her for a bit.

Write for 45 minutes to learn about all these things an eleven year old in Tadfield never would have heard about before.

Anathema gives Adam plenty to read about it all. There are a lot of magazines , and a lot of topics to cover. Here are some of them!

Whales. Sprint 300(0) words.

The Amazon. 3 Digit Challenge.

Atlantis. Get a drink and write until you’re done with it.

Nuclear Power Plants. Visit the Word-Eater’s Dungeon 25.

And if a nuclear power plant vanishes, who is to know? Everyone. Everyone is to know. How could they not?

Shadwell has an army of witchfinders! Like Private Milkbottle and the like. And now his two very wealthy benefactors both have a request for him to give his best agent: the newly recruited Newt.

Crowley’s request. He looks just like his father, Crowley. Imagine that. And rather vague instructions. Ask someone else for an amount of time to write for and write for that long.

Aziraphale’s request. He calls with explicit instructions. That’s much more defined. Ask someone else for an amount of words to write and write that many. Newt is sent off to Tadfield. Because Private Milkbottle is dead. Write 300(0) words.

Aziraphale talks with his superiors about, hypothetically, what would happen if they lost the Antichrist.

Gabriel: “Doesn’t matter! The War is coming either way!” Write your WPM x 5.

Sandalphon: “Doesn’t matter! The War is coming either way!” Write your WPM x 10.

[Optional] Uriel: (Why the fuck is he talking like this?) A fifteen minutes word war as Uriel is more on the ball.

The best boy, the deliveryman, finds the second recipient of this order. A set of scales for a man called Dr. Raven Sable, diet doctor extraordinaire.

FAMINE: Take your WPM and multiply it by 30 Either write that much or for half an hour, whichever comes first. (If you manage the WPM in under 30 minutes, +1 miracle.)

Episode Four.

The Them are worried about Adam. The world is worried about Atlantis and the Kraken. [Choose one.]

Them: Take a moment to write your current scene from the perspective of another character.

World: Sprint d6x100 words.

Gabriel knows that Aziraphale isn’t a really good employee, but it’s not like they get to choose in Heaven. Michael has doubts about his loyalty though.

Gabriel: “I’m sure there is a good explanation.” Write for ten minutes.

Michael: “It isn’t hypocritical to work with hell to find out if this other angel is working with someone from hell, because he’s the traitor and I’m just thorough.” Write to the next palindrome.

Crowley sees that everything is falling apart and tries to convince Aziraphale into leaving earth and the entire mess behind. [Do at least one.]

Phone. Word war for 5 minutes.

Bandstand. Word war for 15 minutes.

Street. Word war for 30 minutes.

If you lose any, you are Crowley, losing each time. Take a break, because this sucks.

(If you win all three, you gain +1 rather angelic miracle. Not that Aziraphale feels it.)

Good Boy delivery man has a crown to give to someone in his own stomping grounds of Tadfield.

POLLUTION: Sprint to the next 5k. If that is more than 2.5k, write for ten minutes afterward. If it is less than 2.5k, write for 30 minutes.

And the last. It’s a message. A delivery man works through rain, snow and shine. And…

DEATH: Write a % of your word count as you face DEATH. [3% if you are 50k or below, 2% between 50k and 150k, and more than that? 1%.]

Newt is on his way to Tadfield when he is stopped by aliens. And then people popping out of the ground, causing him to crash Dick Turpin. Write 200(0) words.

The Them find Newt and help him out, but it’s time to get him to someone that might help. Like the local occultist, Anathema!

Write for 20 minutes as four eleven year olds help a grown man walk to Jasmine Cottage.

Anathema was expecting this. Of course she was. As the Them leave, Adam starts acting strange, as strange as the weather.

Write WPM x 10 as the Them follow their leader, but are becoming more scared.

Newt wakes up and is filled in by Anathema. Things he can’t believe, but they keep happening as she says. Including the bad weather thing.

Write 1k as Newt and Anathema share… a moment.

Meanwhile, Shadwell feels guilty for leaving Newt to deal with a witch on his own. After the pin in his map on Tadfield starts shooting out and burning the paper around it.

Word war for 10 minutes while searching for money to get to Tadfield. **Fail: Not enough money. Time to get some from one of the benefactors… the southern pansy. **Succeed: Still not enough money. Of to A.Z. Fell’s for money. (+1 miracle)

Elsewhere, the long forgotten once-thought-to-be Antichrist is shipped to Meggido for where Hell wants Armageddon to start. Hastur realizes that Crowley has tricked them and he and Ligur go for sweet revenge.

Crowley, it is time to defend yourself. Here comes the holy water!

The classic bucket on door trick, set it up by writing for the duration of a song of your choice.

Fill up the most dangerous weapon of all - the plant mister - by writing for 5 minutes.

It worked on Ligur, but Hastur is still around. Write till the next 1k while bullshitting to Hastur about how this was all a test.

Aziraphale calls, but it’s not the time, however it does give a good idea of trapping Hastur in the answering machine.

15 minute word war. If you win, +1 miracle, but either way Hastur is stuck.

Aziraphale can’t believe where everything is going, so wishes to speak to the Almighty to clarify everything. Go above his superiors heads, as they might say. But Metatron is the only one to answer.

Write 150(0) words, failing to make the point to Metatron, who summons Aziraphale to Heaven.

Shadwell arrives and believes Aziraphale a demon. While trying to keep Shadwell from entering the summoning circle, Aziraphale steps into it.

Write a minute for every letter of your favourite word.

Aziraphale is gone. Shadwell has accidentally set the bookshop on fire. Are we reaching the darkest hour yet?

Episode Five.

Aziraphale’s message brings Crowley to the bookshop, which is engulfed in flames. He thinks Aziraphale is dead, while he is simply incorporated and in Heaven.

Word war for 15 minutes while Aziraphale refuses to take part in the war. (+1 miracle) **Succeed: Time to get back to earth. Which means possession. Angelic possession? **Fail: Write another 100(0) words to get away.

Finish the scene you are on while Crowley soliloquies in a bar. Fortunately, Aziraphale shows up to snap him out of it. They agree to meet at Tadfield’s Airbase.

However, the FOUR are finally together. Try to find three other people to have a word war of your desired length with. Choose what place you will make: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th. (If you make that spot +1 miracle.)

Madame Tracy is having a seance, when Aziraphale drops in.

Sprint to the next 333(3) as Aziraphale clues his new body in as to what is going on.

Then sprint the same amount of words as both Tracy and Aziraphale have to explain it to Shadwell.

Crowley is on the road to the airbase, but the M25 is on fire. Because of Crowley. Of course.

And now Hastur is here. Things keep looking up. Time to drive through the wall of fire! Write 666 words to hold everything together while Hastur burns up.

Adam is all powerful, but Pepper, Wensleydale and Brian aren’t having it. Write for 25 minutes as they finally get Adam to let them go.

As they escape Adam makes chase, go to the word-eater’s dungeon 25. Do not feed the beast, slay it! (If already slain, write the same amount as was needed for the last time it was slain.)

When Dog wants nothing to do with him Adam returns to himself, realizing what he has lost. The Them forgive him while writing d10 x 100(0).

Adam says he has to stop what he has started. The Them get their bikes.

The first to arrive at the airbase are the FOUR. They get in very easily. Nothing to stop them, they can change the world around them as they will. There are important computers here. They take charge of them. Of all the computers.

War. Join the next NaNoWordSprint on Twitter/Discord. [If unwilling/unable, sprint for 20 minutes.]

Famine. Write your WPM x 15.

Pollution. Do a fifty-headed Hydra. (+1 miracle if it’s a success)

DEATH. Go to the Writing Challenges 12 part of the forums and look at the sixth challenge. Do that one. If it’s a crawl or too long, look at the next one down. Just keep going down.

Newt and Anathema drive to the Tadfield Airbase.

Newt tries to get Anathema to step into his Dick Turpin joke. Write for ten minutes for each letter of that name.

Episode Six.

Next to arrive at the main gate are Shadwell and Madame Tracy (and therefore Aziraphale). Getting in is another problem.

Word war for 5 minutes as they argue with the gate keeper. (Is the entrance to the airbase on the eastern side?)

Crowley shows up. His car is on fire. Young man, your car is on fire.

Write for 3 minutes and 15 seconds (or to I’m In Love With My Car) for the Bentley’s swan song.

The Them arrive and reality lets the Antichrist in. Everyone follows. We’re at the end now, write your WPM x d20 to wind down and prepare.

The confrontation comes on two fronts. Inside, Anathema and Newt are left with what the FOUR have done with the computers, setting every nuclear code ablaze. The world will have fallout in less than an hour. Much less.

Write 700(0) words.

The Them confronts the FOUR. But before that, Aziraphale and Crowley are going to try to kill the Antichrist. Which turns out to be more of a fight between Aziraphale and Madame Tracy.

Word war against someone new for 5 minutes. **Succeed: You don’t kill the Antichrist, because killing children is wrong. (+1 miracle) **Fail: You still don’t kill the Antichrist, but now you have to do another word war. 10 minutes, this time.

Adam decides that Aziraphale and Madame Tracy shouldn’t be two people and writes to the next palindrome to fix it.

The FOUR won’t be ignored. One must confront humanity’s creations.

War vs Pepper. Join the next NaNoWordSprint on Twitter/Discord. No matter the length, you must win. Repeat until victorious.

Pollution vs Brian. Do 1k in 10 minutes. If failed, write in ten minute intervals until you reach your WPM x 10.

Famine vs Wensleydale. Sprint to the next 5k. If it is more than 4k, write for ten minutes afterward. If it is less than 4k, write for 45 minutes.

A prophecy gives Anathema an idea. “He is Not that Which He Says He Is.”

Write a die roll (of your choice) x 666(6) to make the nuclear launches come “faster”.

By being completely incompetent with computers, Newt saves the day. Or at least the world.

The day is still in trouble.

DEATH and Adam. Write a % of your word count as you face DEATH. [3% if you are 50k or below, 2% between 50k and 150k, and more than that? 1%.]

Anathema comes out and sees the people who “stole” her book. Crowley returns it, but that leaves Aziraphale with a prophecy.

Write 150(0) to grab the paper out of the air.

And all seems well and fine, but Heaven and Hell aren’t happy. They send their representatives to talk Adam back into the apocalypse.

Gabriel and Beelzebub tag team Adam by being patronizing terrible people. Write your WPM x d6 to withstand it until Aziraphale comes up with a question.

Aziraphale and Crowley ask if the Great Plan is the same as the Ineffable one. Word war for 30 minutes. **Succeed: It’s a CRITICAL HIT! (+1 miracle) **Fail: Still a CRITICAL HIT! (Just less magical.)

Who isn’t happy about this development? Benedict Cumber- I mean Satan. Satan isn’t happy. Aziraphale tells Crowley to do something about it, or he’ll never talk to him again. So Crowley does something.

Write 666(6) words to stop time and talk Adam through what’s about to happen.

Faced with Satan, write until the end of the scene as Adam says all he needs to say. “You aren’t my dad.”

And who is to arrive but Adam Young’s real father. Only father. Write for five minutes as the group has to split.

[optional] This means baby B never actually existed, right? So there’s nothing to worry about? Write 100(0) words to stop worrying about this. (+1 miracle)

And this is the end, all has gone well.

A package has arrived for Anathema, that she and Newt open. Agnes wrote more prophecies. Write to the next 500(0) as Newt convinces Anathema to burn the book, retiring her too from being a professional descendant.

Madame Tracy has made Shadwell a meal, but one they share together. She suggests retiring together. Write for d20 minutes as Witchfinder Sergeant Shadwell (retired) agrees.

Adam is grounded and the Them come to see him. He assures them he is fine. He is only a human boy, after all. But he can still change things. And steal apples. Go get something to eat or drink. Stretch your legs.

The world will keep turning and there will be more time to write.

But here we are. At the end.

How many miracles you got? Careful of which face you wear.

There is a possibility of having 18 miracles. We have three challenges coming up. You can only use a max of six for each, so choose wisely.

So Crowley is to be tried in Hell, while Aziraphale has the same in Heaven.

They are together when Heaven and Hell comes for them. Take someone’s last three digits and multiply it by six. Write that many words as they drag Aziraphale and Crowley away. [You can divide the amount up to six with miracles.]

A bathtub of Holy Water to submerge a demon. Write ten 15 minutes word wars or fifteen 10 minute word wars splashing around in the tub. [You can remove up to six of the oars with miracles.]

A pillar of Hell Fire to consume an angel. Write to the next 6666 that is at least 1k away to just stand in the fire (and maybe make faces at the angels watching). [One miracle, -1111. Two, -2222. Three, -3333. Four, -4444. Five, -5555. Six, sprint to the next 1k.]

Aziraphale and Crowley meet up afterward and swap back their bodies. They go to dine at the Ritz and for the first time ever, a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

Write to this song 6, or for three minutes. The world is saved, and so are you and your angel/demon.

Thank you for doing this crawl, I hope it got you lots of words. I’m cheering for you!

Thank you to @riverdoe for brainstorming with me, and thank you to @HannahCT forthe wonderful thread that helped me write this 4.

[chronoxtreme]

The Cage: Chapters 2-5 Author's Notes

So, I'll be honest - one of the biggest weaknesses of this fic for me, personally, is that these 3 chapters don't really need to be here, but they do at the same time. They're important to Astarion actually getting to know Nanne, but at the same time they don't really move the story along in terms of the main thesis, i.e. "they met 10 years ago and now they're back together oopsies."

I've also been trying to break the habit of relying on canon dialogue/scenes to convey relationships. It's something that I notice I do a lot in my other fics that aren't AUs, so this fic is trying to get out of that niche.

As well, Nanne giving the tent to Astarion is something I kind of stumbled into and ended up loving. I think it's a nice way to establish Nanne's personality in context. That sort of generosity mixed with envy because you really want it for yourself but you know that it's the right thing to do to give it to this poor nobleman who's clearly never had a day of hardship in his life. The selflessness that isn't quite selfless because it's been engrained into you from a young age and is it really a choice? (Don't worry, we'll get into more of that later)

Some funny headcanons/canon events that I shoved into this fic:

Literally all of Astarion's camp gear is stolen from the crypt/the tiefling refugees/the druids at the grove. I refuse to believe that he obtained all of those trinkets by gainful means when it's repeatedly emphasized that this dude owned literally nothing under Cazador.

Astarion's burial shroud (inspired by the rags you can see in his various camp sites, especially in Last Light Inn). This is something that was almost 100% pulled out of my ass. I don't think the vampiric resting place rule applies to spawn, but I do like the thought of Astarion's sole possession being a reminder of his trauma. We'll do stuff with that later, don't worry.

Astarion thinks Wyll is hot because he's exactly his type of "innocent charming younger man who is selfless and slightly awkward but good at heart." Also Wyll is just hot.

Astarion making fun of Shadowheart's goth name is a thing that happens in game if you happen to recruit Astarion first before her and it's VERY funny

The sheer, utter frustration Astarion has watching everyone in camp target his seduction mark and try and pull the moves on them

I do also believe that Astarion's compatible with every single party member (except for Minsc and Jaheira for obv reasons), so while he does tick them off the list of "seduce for protection" candidates for various reasons, it's mainly because this is a Tav x Astarion story. Likewise, I love all the party members, no matter how much Astarion may shit on them lol

So, let's talk a little about Chapter 5 and what's going on here. A lot of the events are based on my second-first playthrough as Nanne (my first playthrough was on my old PC that died and the saves got corrupted, so I had to start over). Looking back, I do think it's pretty self indulgent to have everyone hit on my OC, but considering it happened in game just by playing a nice character who naturally wanted to get to know everyone and was a compulsive peacemaker, I can't say it's, like, over the top outrageous. (They literally ALL cockblocked Astarion's romance scene except for Wyll. Literally all of them)

If I were to go back and rewrite this section, though, I'd probably stretch out the timeline a lot more, moving Shadowheart's date later back, Gale's magic lessons, etc. One of the issues that I have with writing is the timeline, and nowhere has it been more obvious than with this fic, where I'll describe a week's worth of events happening in literally four days, then skip ahead two months and go "Hey guys, take my word for it that x time has passed." It's something I definitely need to work on lol. At the same time, this is very much a self indulgent fic for funsies.

Now SPOILERS FOR NANNE'S CHARACTER ARC: In case anyone's curious, no, Nanne had no clue that Shadowheart's little date was supposed to be a date. This is a person who has never been approached for anything romantic except from their sketchy employer. Astarion is exasperated that they didn't see the signs, but Nanne has no experience with "hooking up", dating, whatever you wanna call it.

They do feel bad about accidentally leading Shadowheart on, but honestly, they're torn because on the one hand, someone did find them attractive! Wowee! On the other hand, this is moving awfully fast and they're scared about being exposed. They have had it repeatedly bashed into their head that their body is disgusting, unnatural, a deviation that must be fixed, and so relationships are this thing that they can't ever have, but desperately crave. It is a deeply painful position to be in. They do a good job of hiding it and not coming across as clingy, but Nanne is a very lonely person who craves connection and intimacy (physical, sexual, emotional, any of it). At the same time, they can't risk being rejected again.

END SPOILERS

The boar scene is one of my favorite early on scenes because this is the moment when Nanne clocks that Astarion is actually a vampire. A lot of people make fun of the game for waiting like, five in game days before exposing the elephant in the room, but considering that everyone knows vampires can't stand in sunlight, it's reasonable to assume that Astarion's just an incredibly pampered noble who's got delicate skin and maybe some drow ancestry.

But then he starts acting VERY suspicious and guilty and, well, the boar is literally right there.

Nanne's comment of "You're protecting us from the vampire, aren't you?" is meant to be a very subtle way of thanking Astarion from not eating anyone yet, which considering what happens in the next chapter is, uh, lol. Lmao, even.

[rametarin]

The Female Space Marine Thing

You want to know the “non-misogynist” reason why the female space marines thing is a bad idea?

Because WH40K is not a happy story with a happy ending. It’s a tragedy of a powerful man who chose to become a tyrant and doomed the human race by cavorting with demons, and now sits powerless on a throne, being force fed a thousand souls from all corners of his rotting empire’s population, while he cries and can do nothing about it.

A story about a man who for selfish purposes tried to become a fascist tyrant but benevolent dictator and for a while, succeeded, but then in his hubris, neglected his own children that he used like weapons of war to further political ambitions. So his children either met with easily avoidable fates due to ignorance, arrogance or neglect, even as adults, even as leaders of their own.

A story about rigid, violent hierarchy and authority stymying growth and liberty for the sake of the state and culture, where not even the wealthy and privileged ultimately matter in the faces of unrelenting gods hellbent on squashing life out of the cosmos.

A reality where bad won. Where every horror and crime against humanity persists unrelentingly because that’s the living hell they subsist in and there’s nothing anyone can do about it but live their lives in a cosmos that is so much bigger than they, and they are one of trillions on polluted, overpopulated, resource starved masses.

Where the galactic propagandized “heroes” are objectively child soldiers plucked up from a million worlds as pre-teens, inducted into a space cult, subjected to genetic fuck-you-up juice to make you the narcissistic spawn in the image of a cultural overlord, converting you from a mere man to a sub-human ubermensch whose only aspirations are to kill and die protecting regular human beings- which you will never, ever be again.

Where the sexual binary and dichotomy is exaggerated to the point of British comedy specifically to underline the horrors of single sex exploitation and obligation in the name of defending humanity, with the unspoken part being that for every space marine you see, there’s a female sexed person that arbitrarily never got to serve and be exploited by the exploitative empire, because she was born a female and thus is arbitrarily not permitted to take part in bloody, violent conflict and be considered an expendible asset, shunned for failing to live up to impossible odds of survival in the face of death itself and celebrated only for sacrificing themselves in a way that saves others near a thousand times more.

The only people that want female space marines are the sorts of people that: 1.)try to “improve” British humor the American way, because they don’t understand the joke and think it’d be better if you throw in big cartoonish winks, wakka wakkas or trademark catchphrases to make it obvious sarcasm. 2.) Want to platform a popular thing and “have a conversation” by drawing attention to their gripe of the week to make “fixing” that gripe seem like a generational progressive victory.

The space marines/Adeptus Astartes being all cis male and practically just being reduced to Bolter/Power Fist for pronouns, is part of the horror. No different from how in every movie that comes out starring black slaves in pre-Civil War era America, you need to have unrepentant racist characters to be the bad guys, or you need unrepentant skinheads to punch.

Almost every single space marine is a victim of circumstance. Just a dude trying to do their best in a time and place where even doing the right thing is somehow playing into evil’s hands, where progress against the dogmatic and oppressive theocracy that treats the near corpse of an emperor like an unassailable, infallible god is impossible, where all technology and its maintenance is dependent upon a self-reinforcing transhumanist cult that treats all technological and mechanical diagnostics as religious rote and note empirical science to learn, just sermons to remember and understand none of it truly.

Where your entire colony and world can be genocided by the “good guys” because demons put an evil symbol on a jumbotron and your entire civilization saw it, dooming you all to trading the memetic evil forever, inescapably and inexorably bound to it. Resulting in the ritualized and systematic concentrating camping, sterilization, and then probably also mass murder in order to save the rest of the Imperium from seeing the same thing YOU only saw because a demon exploited the system specifically to kill you all.

But oh no. Tiffany  wants female space marines because she wants some proud trans icons, “The God Emperor says black trans lives matter!”

You don’t care about anything but being able to control other peoples perceptions of you while you manipulate their realities to get what you want from them, disallowing them to understand the situation as it really is and instead interpret reality only according to your perspective, not empiricism, not objectivity.

You don’t care about the setting, you don’t care about the actual anti-tyrannical messages, you don’t care about the dark comedy and nihilistic parody of the horrors of war played straight, because you just think the franchise and all the fans are absolutely “the demographic that unironically likes that sort of thing.” Which you think are the majority.

You care only about trying to browbeat the company into “fixing an old sexism heldover from a more patriachal and sexist age.” While not fucking understanding even the exploitation and abuse of the men as disposable fucking cannon fodder is in itself a political statement.

You only care about seeing this from the juvenile perspectives of, “NO GURLS IN MUH BOYS GAMES.” When it’s not fucking that, at all.

Warhammer 40K is not a happy setting.

Warhammer 40K is not a happy setting.

Warhammer 40K is not a happy setting.

You could do a million fucking things if you want more prominent sexual integration in Warhammer factions. There are Imperial Guards, whom don’t CARE who bleeds and dies for the emperor (though traditionalism means it’s mostly boys doing it.) There are rogue traders who don’t care your sex or your gender so long as you’ve got will, grit and maybe tradable items or cash.

You could play as ANY kind of female Adeptus Mechanicus and be any gender or sex or sexuality because all flesh is weak vs. adamantium.

But no. Rather than work WITH the setting, you choose to try and abolish and demolish a constant and mainstay of it. Why? Specifically so boys can’t have anything designated exclusively for boys. And especially not designated by sex. There’s no, “me”, just “us,” with you.

If you took the male exclusivity out of the Space Marines, there’s no reason not to take the murder, the sex crimes and the economic exploitation and the institutional corruption out of the game. And then you’d just have... Humans Vs. Aliens. Another generic, meaningless, flavorless shooter with a thin veneer of lore and saccharine sweet fake sentimentality that could’ve been whipped up by an AI, or a South Asian MMORPG designed just to imp World of Warcraft.

And fuck it. Why stop at sucking the fun and grim out of WH40K? Lets just make vampires that don’t suck blood and are arbitrarily magical and consent to sucking you. OH WAIT, THAT’S BECAUSE THAT’S A JOLLY FAIRY, NOT A HORRIFYING UNDEAD MONSTER.

All of this because the idea that society and culture validates that there are real and empirical differences between men and women, and that even if that weren’t true, males still deserve to have cultural and media icons and organizations that cater to them on the basis of being male, offends gender anti-binarists so fucking badly they demand the elimination of them by marginalizing them in their own rooms.

Because these people are hellbent on the idea that males are an oppressor class, therefore “deserve” to be marginalized, just for justice for “women and sexual minorities.” And they want media and icons to carry water for, normalize and institute these values, or they want them to go away.

There are a million and one factions in the WH40K setting where women and sexual minorities can be represented equally, but it’s the ones specifically and exclusively about being male that they can’t stand and don’t want to be exclusively male anymore. For no other reason than because they do not see being male as validly distinct.

But you point out the factions that are effectively queer icons exclusively, and they see nothing wrong with that.

Because when your ideology tells you that sexuality is based on gender, and gender is based on arbitrary cultural and societal identity that should be chosen by the individual and other people are obligated to relate to them by the transitive property of how they identify, and that some genders are more oppressive/oppressor tha others, you see no problem with an entire faction of queer, but can’t fucking stand the idea of a faction exclusively of men as anything but being anti-woman.

This isn’t anything new. The hypocrisy and unspoken part out loud when it was the TERFs wonking ignorant about Space Marines and how “40K is outdated and old fashioned for its sexual politics,” was they would celebrate a female exclusive faction, but demand only the male exclusive groups gender integrate, in order to invalidate the idea of male identity and gender as anything but detrimental to humanity.

[fangsandfeels]

Yeah, you need a "Remove curse" spell to get rid of the necrotic aura and approach the girl.

And yes, Leon staying to help and care for the spawn kids is a sweet idea. Also it sounds like something he will do if he decides to stay away from Victoria and let her have a normal life. He needs to do something, and if he can't be with his daughter, he may as well help children who got themselves a very rough deal.

I want to believe that if Gur were ready to fight a vampire lord for their children, they wouldn't abandon them when they finally reunite with them, but...it definitely wouldn't be like that with every kid. I think, at least a part of Gur people would move closer to their children to help them hunt, deal with their blood lust, and look for solutions while the rest would be unable to cope with the change. I don't know what the conditions are for getting the scene where Gandrel reunites with their kids, and Astarion can give him the advice to feed them animals (I believe it should be Astarion's origin playthrough), but I really liked that moment: a hunter sent to find and drag the spawn to interrogation ends up with his kids saved by the said spawn and relying on his guidance.

As for Dal...the truth is that every single one of the spawn family did horrible things either because they were ordered or because they were desperate.

Leon doomed an orphan girl to save his own daughter.

Dalyria lured a little girl and drank her blood (yes, by the way, "Victoria" mentions that while Dal bit her and hurt her, but she wasn't the one who killed her; according to the girl, Dal almost instantly let her go and started coughing because of her poisoned blood, and then "a monster" came in to drag Dalyria and her away).

Certainly, Aurelia, Petras, Yousef, and Violet have a macabre story of their own. And yes, the way they treated each other, is an entirely different can of worms - Cazador made sure they were family in name only.

I imagine, if they start working together, the term "family" or "siblings" will never be mentioned again: at least, if I remember correctly, Astarion never called any of them "brother" or "sister". He always used their names as if straight out refusing to acknowledge them as family whenever he spoke to them.

So, if some of his siblings choose to stay around, he will probably make it explicitly clear that they are not family; the only thing they have in common is their miserable past and the people who got subjected to the same curse because of them. He will try not to hold his grudges against them (Cazador is gone, there will be no more tortures, no more barracks, no more kennels, bad memories will scar over), but I think he will keep his distance and insist on them being colleagues or unlikely partners rather than "siblings". At least, until they gain experiences that will help them bond in a healthier way, which will take some time.

Oof, I would loooove to read such a story.

I can't get the idea that the Ascended Astarion and Good Ending Vampire Spawn Astarion really are mirrors of each other.

And Ascended Astarion's whole speech on his future plans for world domination is just another example I think.

Good Astarion can become leader of a massive vampire colony in the Underdark. You can guarantee Tav/Durge is the enforcer and right hand, probably closer to what an actual consort is historically (meanwhile ""consort"" is very much a euphemism for "hippity hoppity you're my property" in the bad ending).

Literally, Ascended Astarion's wet dream of having thousands of vampire spawn and covering the world in darkness (which is weird, wouldn't he and his spawn be immune to daylight?)... is just.... already a reality for Good Astarion. He's got a ton of vampires and he's in the underdark, where they have their little kingdom in the dark.

Look, I'm sure there is ALL SORTS of bullshit and headaches that come along with being King of the Vampires in the Underdark (finding resources, finding enough blood, dealing with the massive amounts of PTSD of 7000 abused and confused/deranged vampires, the Drow in the Underdark, and you just *know* that bitch Petras is going to stir up problems) but... well, the Good Ending has the potential to give you the whole "and now we're vampire royalty" experience.

[modx-reborn]

Demon George, coming to corrupt pastor's child! Reader and making them unable to think of anything other than him, corrupting them until they can't get off without him, calling them angel while absolutely railing them into next week

—🌟

🌟, Your ass is Phat, it's always gonna be phat.

Here you spawn a fucking george one shot!

You would think with how all the candles flicker around the alter it would be warm and yet no matter how many of those small flames flicker and burn by you, there is no warmth here. None bar the heat from how your knees burn from how they are pressed into the stool below you, hands clasped together and elbows braced on the altar before you, bound together with the very rosery you wear meant to be used in prayer.

Where you should be focused on the words you had spoken time and time again was nothing but thoughts of him the thing that had found its way into this house of God, the very thing that had consumed your thoughts and slipped whispers of sin into your ears at every sermon and visit to the hallowed halls. Lingering at the edges of your mind even now after all you had done to rid yourself of his influence, it had bled too deep.

At home in the dark roaming hands that had once been enough to stifle your lust became lacking, the sound of others indulging in each other blurring into the sound of his voice whispering to you again. A phantom feeling of his hands against you, a memory of how he had first come for you, finding you alone lending a hand lighting the rows and rows of candles in the main hall.

He seemed so friendly at that moment and yet it was not long before that kindness bleeds into his hands on you, pale skin pressed to your own, slipping under your clothes and leaving the first mark that would lead to so many others. A type of corruption that was predetermined from the moment he had you alone, a stain that bloomed from a single speck on your soul.

Now here on your knees before the alter you still find him in your thoughts, hearing his voice even if he wasn't here with you, but oh how wrong you were. These were his halls now and from the moment you had stepped in them you were his too, and now you're here again perfectly poised for him to take what he wants, to have you in more than just teasing touches that had been keeping you up at night.

There is nowhere for you to go when he grabs your hips, pushing you further into the alter you prayed before, fingers swift to pull down what was keeping him from you, leaning his body across your back, his lips brushing against your ear as he speaks.

"Oh, angel there's no one up there to listen to you now, not once I am done with you. If you are looking for a name to call think about calling mine, you do remember it don't you?"

His own hands are wrapped around yours, fingers tracing over the dark beads that you had thumbed at earlier, laughing when he can feel you shiver.

"George..."

"Ahh so my sweet angel does remember me, and here I thought with how long it's been since you had been here with me you had forgotten..."

"Please I-"

"What a shame it would have been had you forgotten."

You can hear the fake pout in his words, even as he keeps you here on your knees, a position that you knew only for your prayers now being sullied by the roaming hands of this thing in the shape of a man. The hands that had been holding yours closed move once again, running down the sides of your frame tracing every curve and dip they found before returning to exposing you to the thing that lay behind you.

Despite the cold of the church, his hands feel more like ice than anything else as they trace around you, pressing gently in teasing you with what he wants from you, what he wants to do to you. Watching and drinking in the way you twitch as he actually slips one of his fingers in, cooing at you once again.

"Oh look at that. How easy that was, almost as if you'd been prepping yourself for this, getting all nice and ready for the day I finally took what was mine."

"No I-I never. Not for you but-"

"Shhh shhh, angel it was always going to be for me. I think it's high time you learnt them, hmm?"

His one finger is quickly replaced by two, then three as he works you open making sure to coo at every half-muffled moan and whine when he brushes against that one spot, waiting for the best moment to fully abuse it, watching just as you take a sharp inhale to begin his assault. Gently cupping your neck and keeping your head tilted back, your sound now filling the empty hall with sin.

"That's it, so pretty when you sing for me angel..."

And sing for him you do, legs barely on the small stool as he pushes you into the altar, replacing his fingers with his cock and bracketing your body with his own. Your heated skin against his, fingers still interlocked as if you could still pray away what you were doing and what was doing it to you, but with every buck of his hips and every groan he pulls from ou lips you know he was right.

No matter how much you had done here before he had taken a liking for you, nowhere with a demon in a human disguise fucking you into sin there would be no one in heaven to save you, nothing you could ever do to wash away the stain he was leaving on you, and a small voice in the back of your mind that was growing louder and louder as you moaned told you that you wouldn't mind this damnation.

That even if there ever was a chance to have redemption and you would turn your back and walk into the arms of the thing buried in you, giving you the kind of pleasure you had been seeking for even if it was in secret.

"Now angel what was my name again?"

You can feel it, a knot tightening in your core, building and building as your mind falls away, you were going to cum and there was little you could do bar call this things name when you did.

"GEORGE!"

[itsevanffs]

Hihi!! I've been hyperfixating on tommary lately and I absolutely loved (In the dark!)! I wanted to see if u have any tommary/harrymort fics that u recommend.. preferably ones that feature a possessive Tom ^^ ty in advance

I guess this would be the right time to publicly declare my bookmarks as open? Everything on there is a hard rec, and I vigorously quality-check those... for my liking and my liking only. (Sorry, not sorry. They're there for me, after all.)

That being said, hmm. I've got a few you might like.

Below the cut: more (additionally to my bookmarks) Tomarrymort (Tomarry or Harrymort) recommendations with possessive/obsessive Tom in alphabetical order; NOT order of how much I enjoy them. I'd argue I enjoy them all equally, just in different ways.

Ps: thank you! I'm incredibly flattered you liked my work :D

and don't let the police know anything by littlecupkate https://archiveofourown.org/works/24920947

Ted Dirlod is dangerous, Harry Potter knows this for a fact, but the man was still his only hope at escaping a doomed fate. It is never wise to blackmail a crime lord. It is even more unwise(?) when said crime lord is obsessed with you. An expanded version of "praying to whatever's in heaven, please send me a felon"

Genuinely lovely? Ticks all my boxes, at least, and minimal angst, which is always a plus. That being said, you should probably read the work mentioned in the summary as well for context. But hey. Two cakes by one person ;) Can never go wrong, can it?

As Certain Dark Things Are to be Loved by Strange_Soulmates https://archiveofourown.org/works/6015619

Tom was Harry's best friend growing up and his first love. At eight, Harry gave Tom his first kiss before moving away. As a freshman in college, the name of the RA on the door across the hall is terribly familiar.

Also absolutely deliciously indulgent. Tom is a possessive terror and Harry loves him for it. Need I say more?

Harry Potter and the Search for Ancient Magic (series) by Snickerdoodlepop https://archiveofourown.org/series/1133141

Once Voldemort realizes that Harry Potter is his horcrux, his plans change drastically. So does Draco Malfoy's assignment for the school year. Harry's sixth year starts going very differently. Snape is on a mission. Harry needs to learn pureblood politics. Draco Malfoy is trying to convince Harry to forgive him. Voldemort finds himself visiting Harry Potter in his dreams. Everyone is realizing that no one is quite what they thought. And through it all, there's a mystery. What is Ancient Magic? Can Harry use it to save himself or will it pull him toward the dark side?

Honestly, genuinely, hands down the best fucking tomarrymort series I've ever read. Hard, hard rec from here. The first work is completed and the second is in progress, so it's a nice pile of words to chew through!

can't commit to anything but a crime by caelesti https://archiveofourown.org/works/27286483

Excitement is the word he does not dare utter, even in the privacy of his own mind. It’s wrong, he knows. These women are people, in their own right; people with fears and aspirations, with friends and families and dreams, and to have anything cut those lives short is nothing but tragic. To have anyone cut those lives short is nothing but condemnable. He doesn’t have James Potter’s laugh lines, but he does have his father’s innate flair for danger. He doesn’t have Lily Potter’s enthusiasm, but he does have her insatiable curiosity. (In every world, Harry will excel at finding the biggest spot of trouble available and sticking his nose in it.)

Hot serial killer serial killer hot. That's it, those are the thoughts. Please read.

Dripping Fingers by May_May_0_0 https://archiveofourown.org/works/25440826

When Harry finds Tom Riddle's diary he does not write 'Hello.' He does not write anything at all. He draws. Tom Riddle falls in love with the artwork. _________________ Sketch by sketch, drawing by drawing, the ink Harry pours into the diary manifests as creations in Tom's monochrome world.

Okay so if I'm the reincarnation of Shakespeare, May_May_0_0 is fucking... Ted Hughes. Which doesn't say much to your average viewer but that man wrote my favourite poem ever (the one I based my war fic off) and I hold him in very high regard. This story? It is poetry in its rawest form. Pure, condensed beauty. If you decide to read only one of the fics in this list, please choose this one.

Either must die at the hand of the other by Metalomagnetic https://archiveofourown.org/works/29356095

Voldemort survives the Battle of Hogwarts because Harry Potter had not been the one to kill him, as the prophecy demands.

When is Metalomagnetic not a master of words? When will I cease becoming breathless at every paragraph, at every cleverly twisted word that comes back and reveals itself so beautifully later?

Fine Line by galaxiesundone https://archiveofourown.org/works/26949952

Magic always leaves traces. The lingering darkness of Sectumsempra, combined with Harry’s nature as a horcrux, awakens the soul piece contained within Ravenclaw’s diadem. At twenty years old, Tom Riddle walks a fine line between man and monster, the devil and the light-bringer in one. His influence forces Harry to face an ancient enemy unlike anything he has faced before: temptation.

Long story short: Tom Riddle is Hot and Good At Being Hot and Harry truly doesn't stand a chance and I am here for it. Lord help me I love this fic to pieces.

Good Intentions by Strange_Soulmates https://archiveofourown.org/works/7035334

Five year old Harry Potter meets and befriends a seventeen year old Tom Riddle while hanging out at his dad’s station. James Potter decides to take Tom under his wing, using Tom’s connection with Harry to try and keep the teen grounded, even as he begins to investigate the Death Eaters, a dangerous organized crime group and their mysterious leader only known as Lord Voldemort.

The sheer potential of this fic. The horrible, terrible dread of future events that have yet to be revealed. I will cry.

Honey, Smoke, Shiver by machiavelli https://archiveofourown.org/works/16068062

Harry - Omega, only son of Lord Potter - is nothing more than a useful playing card in a political game of power and money, one that is bought by the famed Tom Riddle: powerful, dangerous, pureblood Alpha. Unsurprisingly, Harry loves being underestimated.

Machiavelli is always a rec from me. Sorry lads but that's the way it is. Never a moment where I won't recommend their stuff.

Sickly-Sweet Obsession by maquira https://archiveofourown.org/works/18259103

Quiet, studious Tom Riddle spends his first year thirsting after an older student—Gryffindor’s Quidditch Captain, Harry Potter. His crush is common knowledge, and even Harry finds it cute… at first. Possessiveness spawns monstrosities. Tom does all within his power to mess with Harry’s dating life. And one seemingly harmless crush spirals into something darker, begetting deadly consequences.

Again; the potential. Delicious. This will bloom into something beautifully twisted, I'm sure of it.

Stars, Hide Your Fires by Audair https://archiveofourown.org/works/27745546

Riddle’s undivided attention snapped to him with the swiftness of shattering glass. His turbulent magic receded from where it had besieged the shop. "You,” he breathed. Coiling in leisurely motions, the eager tendrils of his magic reached for Harry, swathing about his limbs and neck and chest with a liquid, flowing fascination. "I’ve been looking for you,” Riddle continued, tilting his head to the side and sweeping his gaze over Harry. It was an appraisal that felt simultaneously like the raking of iron nails and the tender drapery of silk. It was so familiar, and yet… so foreign. In the winding streets of Knockturn Alley, an intricate dance of mutual obsession unravels between twenty-three-year-old Tom Riddle and a time-travelling Harry Potter.

This work has recently been undergoing a rewrite, and I can tell you with certainty it's only gotten better for it. It's beautiful; the setting, the atmosphere, the vibes... Perfection. Captures Knockturn Alley's mood impeccably and does not disappoint a single moment.

the pleasure, the privilege by asterisms https://archiveofourown.org/works/21227528

It begins with Vernon Dursley's body, dead across the table. In which Voldemort is dosed with amortentia, and nothing is better for it.

Completed, terrifying... and gorgeous.

The Shrike (to your sharp and glorious thorn) by PaperWorlds https://archiveofourown.org/works/22380079

Shrike: A songbird with a sharply hooked bill, known for their habit of catching insects and small vertebrates and impaling their bodies on thorns, the spikes on barbed-wire fences, or any available sharp point. A young Harry Potter survives an attack by notorious serial killer Voldemort. Over a decade later, they meet again.

Lads I'm so desperate for an update from this fic that I might cry if I think about it for too long. I keep saying it and I'll say it again; this is one of those fics with amazing potential that are sure to never disappoint no matter what path they take. An incredibly hard rec.

To Raise a Servant by bluegrass https://archiveofourown.org/works/19780816

Tom had found the boy amidst pouring rain. He figured he'd always wanted a pet snake.

Surprisingly not quite as dark as the summary makes it seem? I certainly enjoyed it, though, and that's why it's on this list.

What He Grows To Be by Severus_divides_into_H https://archiveofourown.org/works/19042240

Tom Riddle is a frightening coil of darkness, cruelty, and greatness, and changing him is Harry’s only hope for saving people he loves. Going back in time, he takes Tom from the orphanage, but his optimism shatters with every year they spend together. Tom still longs for darkness. Tom stifles him in his possessiveness. Tom is fixated on him to the point of destroying the world just to keep him. But Harry loves him. And the future changes.

Beautiful. And absolutely terrifying. I've started crying mid-scene at least three times for this fic, and it honestly seems unfathomable if you haven't read it if you're on my profile, since I think this is one of the fics that have shaped my style and ambitions. It is what I aspire to be.

[crisismoth]

that shit was crazy. fuckass p2w server and minecraft gf love of my life moth lore below cut

people knew i had obs so they would call me over to record evidence when they needed to report someone.

on one of my first days on the server someone random in chat asked if anyone wanted to get married and i said yes and tpd to them and we got married right then and there (there was a venue set up from an almost wedding that was going to happen but the groom got stood up). my mc gf <3

she started spending time at my base and the leader of her clan (it was star clan i think. one of the richest clans on the server [later found several of their members used xray]) got mad that she wasnt spending enough hours clocking in to mine gold (the server currency) for the clan so i made my own clan and their members started coming to mine because i had no required mining hours 😌

i was making a huge zoo with one of every mob which the mods disliked because my opps kept managing to kill my mobs (despite the fact they were on my claim, either by pushing animals all the way out of my claim[sweaty haters fr] or by the fact that some hostile mobs arent protected on a claim so i had to keep them locked up tight or else they would get shanked.) so i had to keep calling the mods.

the mods also disliked me because one time a guy stole another guys blue axolotl (by stalking him in his land claim till he accidentally died and dropped the item) and the mods didnt do anything so i got a fishing pole and used my epic p2w flight powers to kill him with fall damage to get the axolotl back. for justice. for gotham. also against the rules.

i would play with chat turned off often because 1. the chat was full of very small immature children (which i was too but not single digit numbers young) and 2. star clan was always tryna start beef and being haters in chat bro they were so mad. they reaaaaaallly wanted my minecraft gf back but they didnt love and respect her like i did 😤.

i paid $20 usd to someone for 2k gold to buy an artemis net which was used to pick up and transport a single mob at a time (didnt save nbt data tho) and i used it a lot to make my zoo but oneday i let my gf borrow it and she went afk on a land claim, got kicked by the owner, the border was at a small lake and she drowned and the item got wiped by a ground clear. tragic. i mined for hours to try and buy a new one but inflation was so bad it was worth 10x the amount of gold as before.

one time ashswagg visited the server and a lot of us including me gathered at spawn and showered him with gifts as the mods told us to make a good impression so im in an ashswagg video for a few seconds.

onetime a hacker destroyed spawn and made a youtube video out of it that was fun. bro made them rollback the server i lost progress on my redstone arcade game grrr. but i think he mightve done it because it was a p2w server so respect.

i made several maparts, a netherite block one for trolling, some guys discord pfp because he asked nicely, ccranboo bcz i was obsessed, and mario for my arcade game. mightve been one or two others. took hours.

i got up to no good a lot. i had lots of /sethome slots due to my beautiful $50 rank and had almost all of them set to secret spots that you could only get to by glitching or spectator mode and people only got to them by a mod tping them in. i would host large tp sessions to show everyone behind the scenes at the spawn and shopping district maps.

i also had one of the admins shulker farms saved as a tp because the collection point was in the nether (which reset every week so claims didnt work in it) so i would enter from the overworld part of the farm and kill shulkers in there for hours and distribute them to my clan. (couldnt just rob the collection chests as those were locked)

i also had a private collection of 'stolen art' because i discovered several prolific mapart makers claims hidden in the ocean and i would just check up on them for new maparts and record a map for me. never showed anyone these as the owners sold their art for a lot of gold, didnt want to divert their customers.

i built a hidden obsidian safe room below my house/our clan base and sometimes my clan members would be searching everywhere for me but i would just ignore them as i was too busy pretending to be c!ranboo. in my defense it was usually to have a meeting about the latest shit our rival clans pulled and i was tired of the drama. dawg they haaated us cuz i was a newcomer clan leader and people would mutiny from the rich child labor clans into mine. echo clan #1 babyyyy hell yeaaaaaah.

i was a little bit of a hater too ill admit. i had to engange in counter espionage against the opps most notably the leader of star clan owned a wood shop and i would immediately buy it out when he restocked and put the stock in my own shop. eventually he raised his prices so high i couldnt but no one else wanted to buy his stuff either. free market bitch.

i think thats all of the notable moth munchymc lore in conclusion:

1. fuck pay to win servers its pretty crazy that bbh is running a p2w server advertised to his young audience. just checked and you can still buy ranks n shit. $80 usd lifetime top rank, $100 usd for 100k token bundle, $100 usd for 70 seasonal crate keys. are the most expensive things in there rn. gambling for children hooray!!!!!!!!! im really pissed i spent a lot of money on this server. mostly just regret the crate keys because i never rolled anything good.

2. did i sink intense amounts of time and money on this server and face constant drama and threats and haters. yes. do i regret it? yes. would i do it all again? yes because i met my minecraft girlfriend and we were besties for years. LOVE WINS!!!!

im sorry if anyone read all this. finding that recording unlocked a large flood of repressed memories 🙏 gotta put them somewhere so i can move on.

looking through old files found this terrible recording of a room i made on badboyhalo's stupid pay to win minecraft server.