#honestly can Tul fight

[wanwiwa]

Charlotte Austin as Dr. Cherran in PETRICHOR | EP.01

[suzukiblu]

Thank-you sentences for Roosterwhale behind the cut; “we are so pleased with this match". (( chrono || non-chrono ))

“. . . what,” the scientist says, and Kara ignores him to revel in the perfect synchronicity that Kon and Match outright throw themselves at each other with. That's just very satisfying, as a beta. Especially as the beta who led this alpha to this omega. 

As the beta who led her only sem-zahm packmate to the kyn-tul who’s been waiting so long for him to come and let him be a good bitch for him. 

Kon and Match crash together and Match immediately tries to rip Kon’s throat out, which Kara considers very restrained of him under the circumstances, and Kon smashes him into the floor to keep from getting his throat ripped out, and Match hisses viciously and backhands him across the jaw. Kon snarls back down at him and Match claws at his face and Kon bares all his teeth, and Match’s breath–hitches, very noticeably. 

And then he tries to bite Kon’s throat out, which is also very restrained of him under the circumstances, Kara thinks. 

“About goddamn time,” the scientist mutters. “Subject Match will deal with this. You three, get the–” 

“Uh, sir . . .” one of the guards interrupts him warily, the other guards looking somewhere between confused and alarmed. Kara assumes it has something to do with them actually being combat-trained and therefore capable of noticing things like, oh, body language and intent and specifically how Kon and Match are fighting each other, and the equally specific ways they very much aren’t fighting each other. 

Like–very, very specifically, on both grounds. 

“Don't interrupt me!” the scientist snaps at the guard, who grimaces. “Call the collections team and tell Lab 4 to prep for a new sample set. Vivisection or necropsy, whichever we get.” 

Didn't even say “autopsy”, Kara reflects idly. Well, she already knew the asshole deserved this. 

 He deserves much worse than this, in fact, for keeping Match all locked up down here in a cell instead of letting him have what a kyn-tul on their cycle deserves. 

And for keeping her packmate’s kyn-tul from him, he deserves even worse. 

She is not in any way whatsoever going to even pity the Agenda, no. 

Kon and Match are wrestling more than anything else right now–well, as much as “if Kon fucks up Match will murder him” can pass for “wrestling”, anyway–and Kara remains impressed with Match’s restraint. She cannot imagine what her father would’ve done if her mother had left him alone in . . . how many heats must Match’ve had by now, if he presented about when Kon did? 

Kara does a few conversions to Earthling calendars and some quick math in her head. 

. . . actually, she needs something stronger than “good bitch” to go with here, because any Kryptonian-raised omega would’ve gelded Kon for putting them through this. 

The El packs owes Match such nice nesting materials. And his pick of places for nesting in, too, up to and including all their own personal homes and bedrooms and laps. And also literally every single thing he ever wants when he’s in heat or pre-heat for the entire rest of his natural-born life. 

She should probably text Kal and her other self about collecting some of those things after they get out of here, she thinks. Once Match has gotten fucked into a more talkative mood, anyway, and can tell her what said things are. 

Though the nesting materials she is definitely already making plans for. 

Match slams Kon into the floor hard enough to crater it–hard enough to shake the room–and Kon struggles underneath him clumsily, clearly overwhelmed and trying to keep control of things he doesn't actually need to be in control of right now. Kara obviously understands why, given he's never done this before, but . . . 

“K-Kara, I . . .” Kon pants from where he’s pinned and struggling underneath Match, his eyes flared wide and pupils almost as dilated as they can get. He keeps most of the alpha out of his voice, which is honestly fairly impressive too. “I feel . . . I wanna . . .” 

“Don’t pay attention to her!” Match hisses down at him as he grabs his throat and starts to choke him, leaning all his weight and an obvious amount of muscle into it, and Kon grabs onto his wrists with a strangled wheeze. “I’m right here!” 

“I told you, Kon, you have my permission,” Kara reminds him patiently. Again, she understands why he's trying to keep a rein on his alpha, because he's never gotten to not keep a rein on his alpha, but that's the literal opposite of what the current situation calls for. “Don't you know what your Match needs from you? Don't you know how bad your Match wants you to give him what he needs from you?” 

Kon makes another strangled sound, and Match looks away from him just long enough to glare at her, baring his omega teeth in an alpha sneer–

Baring his neck, and leaving it unprotected. 

He doesn’t know what he's doing, doing that. 

But Kon's alpha does. 

Kon’s eyes snap into full eclipses and he lunges up and throws his arms around Match as he buries his teeth in his exposed throat with a full-on alpha snarl, and Match–well, Match doesn’t have irises to eclipse, but his eyes still flare the exact same way Kon’s did even as his body reflexively stiffens–as whatever these stupid humans taught him makes his body reflexively stiffen–and then, as its actually honest reaction, just melts completely down into Kon’s teeth. 

Because of course it does. Because Match is a good bitch who Kara can very clearly smell just slicked up enough to soak his hole over that bite, and is willing to let Kon prove that he’s a good alpha. 

Kon drags Match down and rolls them over and slams the other to the floor flat on his back, and Match’s expression goes all dreamy and heat-drunk and he tries to smash Kon’s temple in with a fist. Kon digs his teeth in harder and catches Match’s wrists, and Match makes a breathy, omega-soft sound and then brings a knee up into his gut, and they both shove down and claw at and cling to each other. 

Kara watches contentedly as Kon and Match thrash and struggle and crack the floor underneath themselves, all hisses and snarls and gasped-out little grunts and moans. They’re a little clumsy about it, but it’s their first time together, and she still can’t help finding it sort of adorable how their pheromones are all tangled up and smell like–well, a candy she’ll never taste again and a roaring fire, but also the quiet intimacy of a human bonfire off alone in the dark and the kind of sticky-soft-melty marshmallows that humans roast on them. 

. . . or toast, maybe? Maybe it’s toast, she doesn’t really know. Mostly she just burned hers to charcoal, the times Kal got her to try it. 

It’s a nice scent, though. Kara likes the thought of it all intermingled with and absorbed into their pack scent: the tangled mess of a compatible alpha and omega, all mixed up in each other ‘til even their own packmates won’t be able to tell the difference between their scents half the time. It might break her heart a little every now and then, but so does everything that’s ever mattered to her, from her parents to Krypton to Kal to their pack to finding out this was even a option. 

For now, though, it’s just a submission bite and not actually a mating one–obviously, because Kon isn’t the kind of bastard who’d ever force something like that–so for now their scents are still separate enough to recognize as separate scents. Kon’s teeth are still in Match’s throat, and he and Match are still struggling on the floor, and all tangled up like this they smell warm and melty and burningly horny, which is both a good sign for their compatibility and also zero percent surprising at this point. Especially since their “struggling” is increasingly less and less about the “struggle” part and more and more about getting their hands all over each others’ bodies and dragging and grinding them both together. 

And maybe about one other thing, Kara can’t help but think when she notices Kon fist a hand in the symbol on the chest of Match’s suit and shred it off him. She understands the temptation, with some other pack’s crest sitting there. 

Also now Match is showing significantly more skin, which seems like a very Kon kind of solution to the problem but is also an undeniably effective one. 

Kon pulls back just enough from Match’s throat to snarl down at him, his fistful of torn emblem held balled against the other’s chest, and Match stares up at him with eyes that can’t eclipse, that already look like moons anyway, and then–very obviously, and very deliberately–tips his head back against the floor and pushes his chest up against Kon’s clenched fist, fully displaying–and exposing–his throat and pectorals to him in the process. 

Rao, that’s the kind of submission display most omegas wouldn’t even do in porn, Kara thinks, barely resisting the urge to cover the nearest guard’s eyes for propriety’s sake. 

Well–Match doesn’t know any different, does he. He just knows what his omega is telling him it wants. 

And Kon, presumably, knows what his alpha wants, but is just holding himself still and frozen above him; above that exposed offering of a posture from an omega who probably doesn’t even really understand why he’s doing it or what it really means; from a compatible omega who very obviously differentiated to be specifically compatible with him. 

“Aw, I knew you liked each other,” Kara hums approvingly, mostly to confuse and stress out the Agenda’s idiot lackeys even more than they already are. They deserve a lot worse, frankly. And also, Kon and Match are stuttered to a stop and do both need and deserve to hear some encouragement. “The House of El is very pleased to see it.” 

“What the hell are you talking about, you alien freak?!” the scientist demands, visibly sweating from nervous tension and struggling to regain his composure. Kara doesn’t bother looking at him, but bares her teeth sweetly all the same. 

“Come on, Kon, give your Match what he needs,” she coaxes lightly, and Kon starts panting harder again, his own chest just shy of outright heaving. “He���s so angry all the time, isn’t he? So unsatisfied. Doesn’t he need someone to treat him right?” 

“I really . . .” Kon chokes, a shudder going all the way down his spine and to his respective grips on Match’s wrists. “I really . . . Kara.” 

“Doesn’t he smell so good, Kon?” she asks, just a little more coaxing in her tone–and her pheromones, obviously. “Isn’t it just how you’ve been waiting for him to smell?” 

Kon makes a strangled sound, and she hears Match’s teeth grind together. They’re both still stuck in their standstill, neither taking their eyes off each other or moving to either accept that offering or retract it. 

So Match doesn’t want to stop, and Kon doesn’t know how to start, and again: they don’t know how this goes, but Kara does. 

“Relax, Kon,” she says, dropping her voice and pheromones both into soothing notes. Betas soothing anxious or overwhelmed or overemotional alphas and omegas through their cycles is as natural as cycles themselves. “Go with it. Your body just wants you to sympathy-cycle for your Match. Wants to put you in condition to take care of your Match. So let yourself go. Give him what he needs. It's alright.” 

“Subject Match!” the scientist snaps sharply, his voice just barely avoiding cracking. “Kill Superboy! Kill him now!” 

“Little late for that idea, don’t you think?” asks Kara, who is very much aware that Kon now smells like a Rao-damned forest fire to Kryptonian senses.

[invisiblegarters]

Between Us Ep 6 Ramble

Oh hey got a little extra time on my hands whatever shall I do?

This is hands down my favorite episode of the entire drama. I love everything about what it does for Win and Team’s relationship and I’ve watched it so many times that it’s probably a little ridiculous. 

But it’s just so good. Team giving up, letting himself sink. Win diving in without a thought for his hair (honestly I’m surprised it wasn’t green in the next ep) and still wearing his shoes (yes I checked because I like realism and the truth is he wasn’t gonna bother kicking those off when he had the love of his life to save).

The acting in the first ten minutes is also superb, if you ask me. The way that Win is so gentle with Team right up until he knows that he’s breathing and can talk, and then his face just goes from concern to fury.

Team seeing it and scrambling up, his pitiful defiance in the sight of Win’s utter rage (which of course is entirely fueled by terror, although I’m not entirely sure Team gets that at first). The way Win very very nearly loses it and Team just turns his head. No deflection, not even really flinching, just...accepting it. Of course I never doubted that Win wouldn’t hit him - if he’d been going to, he wouldn’t have merely raised a fist and held it there, it would have been instant. I hear that he does hit him in the novel, but I have to say I’m glad he didn’t here, even though I get it. I just think that the hesitation works better, and of course oce he hesitates we all know he’s never going to follow through.

Then Win just yanking him in, and that setting Team off because he can feel how hard Win is shaking against him, can hear is pained breathing and the sobs in his voice. 

I love how desperate both hugs look. How Win is visibly shaking. The way they’re both just sobbing into each other’s shoulders. And then of course the crying kiss when Win starts to spiral:

But the thing is Win doesn’t really stop spiraling. He just sort of...puts it on hold so that he can take care of Team, get him home and showered and safe. And he brings him home, too - somewhere he can’t run away from Win. There will be no heading to his own room in the dorms and locking himself away, no sir. Not that I think that Team would - I think they both desperately need the comfort of being with each other after that - but honestly I’m not entirely sure that Win is thinking rationally here. I think he brings Team to his house because he’s seeking a bit of comfort himself, and regardless of whatever fights he has with his family on occasion that’s still a place he feels safe. And I don’t know if it is ever said but I get the impression that Win does not bring people home, like ever. Wiew’s startled reaction to Team seems proof enough of that, but even if it’s never said I’m going to feel free to headcanon it, thanks. 

But the second they get back to the pool, all that stuff just resurfaces and he’s right back to the night before, Team drowning in front of him and Win barely having enough time to pull him out. Literal seconds.

And I have to give credit to Boun here. His face goes through a journey while he watches Team get up on the starting block, dive into the pool, and swim, and it isn’t a pleasant one. His glassy eyed stare as he watches Team speaks volumes.

I appreciate Dean trying to pull him out of his spiral, but I am also entirely unsurprised by him running. He keeps questioning it like he doesn’t know, but the truth is Win knows exactly what he’s feeling here. He knows, he’s terrified, and him fleeing the pool here is a last desperate attempt to tell himself that he can still pull back if he needs to, can still keep his heart safe, even though by the time he gets to the bar and calls Wan and Tul (of all the people in the world, Tul) to help him hold it up he already knows better. 

Yes, thank you Wan.

I feel like right up until he saw Team in the pool, Win was having a lot of fun with the idea of being in love. It was new and novel and felt good, and he was relatively cocky about Team’s own feelings - look, you’ll never make me believe that Win doesn’t know exactly the effect he has on people, and he’s been observing Team and watching how he in particular reacts to him for a while now. He’s not blind and he’s not dumb. But it was still mostly just this interesting thought experiment, almost. He wasn’t messing with Team or being insincere, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think he’d quite realized the depth of his own feelings.  

And now, bam, he’s faced with the realization that he can lose Team, that even if Team does like him back he can be snatched away anyway, and suddenly it’s not fun anymore. Suddenly things are very real and very scary, because Win isn’t flirting with the idea of being in love, he’s in so deep that the very idea of losing Team rips his heart into pieces. And now the fear of him walking away really hits, because now Win realizes just how badly he wants to keep him. And as he says, he’s never been able to keep anything. 

Meanwhile Team keeps looking for Win and Win isn’t there. He’s not there when Team finishes his race, he’s not there when he calls or messages, and he’s definitely not there when he finally gives in and goes to his room, pillows in hand. And logically, this is fine. They can’t be attached at the hip every moment of every day, Team knows this, and I think that is a large part of why he’s so insistent that he’s fine, just fine when Win finds him in front of his door having yet another nightmare even though he’s really not fine at all (another part, I think, is that he sees that Win is also clearly not fine and he doesn’t like watching him tear himself apart over something he couldn’t have foreseen or known). But knowing that this came right on the heels of Team nearly drowning, I wonder if in the back of his head he wasn’t worrying that he was getting to be Too Much for Win to deal with. 

I adore this episode because it marks a real turning point for both of them I think, although perhaps at this point only Win is really aware of exactly just how far in he is (then again maybe not). 

It also marks the first meeting of literal sunshine and Team, and the darling pretty much adopting him on the spot:

I love this kid, and you can’t tell me he doesn’t clock exactly what Team is to Win almost immediately. I also just love how fast he and Team take to each other (I love that Wiew confides in him later, and that even in the midst of his angst about what he really is to Win Team takes the time to tell him he can reach out to him whenever he needs to. Fic where he does just that please). They’re adorable. 

[negative-speedforce]

Dami has decided all the animals on your OCs Earths deserve a better home and MUST be liberated to their Earth (their home specifically) immediately, how do your OCs stop her? lol

Siv: Runs off with Delilah to Argentina or something because NO ONE is touching her cat

Jay: Sends Dami back to their Earth

Cassandra: Contacts E-63's Batwoman and tells her to come and get her kid

Hailey: Literally can't be bothered, Dami is just one kid, she can't possibly make a dent in E-2002's biodiversity by themself

Arya: Assists them for shits and giggles

Esme: Temporarily blinds Dami with her light powers then gives her to someone who can send them home

Gina: Distracts her with a hauntingly beautiful performance of the Queen of the Night Aria (or annoys them, depending on her opinion on opera)

Ember: Sits them down and has a long talk about how Earth-2002 needs its biodiversity and she can't have all the animals

Cat: Sends her back to her earth

Kyle: Defends his koi pond to the death

Max: Grabs Dami in the fist of his mech suit and keeps her there dangled 50 feet above the ground until she promises not to touch his cat or Kyle's koi pond

Eric: Could care less, Dami is one kid and it would take far longer than her lifespan to take ALL the animals

Jacob: Tries to parent Dami into not taking all the critters

Khalil: Warns Dami about rabies, then wanders off.

Antonio: Shows them the feral cat colony that he visits on his way to school bc they all deserve good homes

Ameerah: Does her Prism thing to make Dami go apeshit at a pet store so she can rob the bank across the road to pay off her psychology degree

Rania: Tells Dami to go away because she's working

Director Hawke: Honestly as long as Dami's not a meta she doesn't give a shit

Meredith: Asks Dami if they know ASL bc she found a nest of very angry possums and it thought they'd be interested in seeing them (and potentially taking them home)

Liah: Beams down on the nearest M-class planet and shows Dami all the cool alien wildlife

Qiara: "Kid, we're in space. I appreciate your love for animals, but the only animal on here is Tul's targ, and that thing is MEAN."

Marie: Beams Dami onto a Borg Cube and sends her off to the Delta Quadrant because she doesn't want to deal with annoying teenagers.

Soraya: Locks Dami up in the brig for their own protection because that targ is so mean and she knows Dami's probably going to go after it

Thalia: "First of all, I have never even heard of this 'Earth', second, no, you may not have my Loth-cat."

Athena: Attempts to trick Dami into going into her lab with the promise of space hamsters so she can experiment on her

Laila: Abandons them on an uninhabited planet- she's no longer Laila's problem.

Reyna: Will fight to the death to protect her 14-foot pet snake/lab assistant

Aldrich: Really could care less

Samira: Gives Dami a long talk about taking things that don't belong to them

Matt: "Excuse me that is my service dog-"

Sohelia: Will fight to protect Matt and his dog. Do not mess with her. She has no sense of self-preservation

Dolores: "Can you at least get that annoying bird that screeches outside my window at four o'clock every morning?"

Vanessa: Hides her pet lizard in her hair and hopes that it's thick enough to hide him

[dwaekki-bee]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

WTF

What the actual fuck

Okay so I liked how the episode started, people were making sense and everything was okay (besides y'know Kenji)

Tew telling the Scooby gang to go home was the right thing to do like yes it is dangerous.

Tew and Tul fighting Kenji's men... Kinda hot ngl.

Now here's where I'm starting to get frustrated. Guy got kidnapped and had a knife held to his neck and he was almost shot. I would think he would at least cry once. I would. Like I know that the show obviously rushed it and it was too fast for us to really worry about Guy but still. He just seemed wayyy too calm about all that. And him going back to school? Huh? Why?

Wahl coming out of practically no where to cling onto Guy again like nothing happened and acting as if he's okay with Tew is suspicious and I don't like it. I need his dumb ass to fuck right off with that bullshit.

Ah I almost forgot Tul telling Boss to leave his and Tew's lives was so real and I'm behind him 100%. And I know that they might be endgame but as of right now they're not and I think that Tul deserves better. And he's hurt, it wouldn't make sense for Tul to open up his arms for Boss after all that.

Nami breaking up with Wahl. Like yes Queen. I still don't like you but good on you.

Now Tew breaking up with Guy...

I hate it because why. This trope is so stupid and yes I get it it's dangerous but it's obvious Tew still care's for Guy and Kenji's not gonna care that he broke up with him he is insane.

And then fucking Wahl showing up at the aquarium and the end shot of them leaning in made me so angry. Like fuck off because 1. Guy most likely doesn't know that Nami broke up with Wahl and 2. Wahl probably doesn't know that Tew broke up with Guy. I can excuse Guy at least a little bit because he had, or probably still has if the song that plays when Guy is walking through the aquarium is anything to go off of, a crush on Wahl and bby's hurting.

Also the Kenji lore. Omg. Like what did Tew do to you to make you hate him this much my insane baby.

I honestly think I like Kenji a lil too much but sue me he's one of my favorite characters

[heretherebedork]

Piggybacking off that anon who was talking about how Dan could help and make the guys realize not all cops are bad… I don’t think Nuchie is gonna go down a route like that, which would be very problematic. I’m not Thai so I can’t speak to the complexity of their own issues with cops, but doing research it seems the cops their are and are known to be wildly corrupt… as cops are want to do pretty much everywhere. I think the Dan situation will most likely be an issue where Dan was young an idealistic and when he joined up realized how bad the system was and that’s what spurred him on to become unar. But a “not all cops” approach is not helpful or beneficial and i would extremely disappointed if the show did something like that. I’m sure the show can’t go to far in its critique because of censorship, but Manner of Death for instances handled it pretty well making the cops completely incompetent and corrupt (side not Tul was actually really excited about the social critique of MOD! I love that man). I’m personally not thrilled about Dan being a cop but I also trust the show and what it’s been doing and handling the issues it’s brought up. Especially for a gmmtv show. I feel like even with censorship there will hopefully be a way for the to critique cops without having the characters look at Dan and come to the conclusion “hu, well not all cops are bad.” I won’t get into acab here cause that’s another essay, but if you join a corrupt organization and stay, guess what? You are bad even if you don’t do anything corrupt you’re still witnessing it an upholding a corrupt organization.

I understand why they did it, since they are trying to protest against a military dictatorship and putting all your eggs in the same anti-government basket can be a very good way to get your show taken off the air and censored if you go too far.

But I also see why they might do it as a fascinating character. Dan is a cop who's also a protestor, who's also against the exact people he works for, who tries to show them what the government and what the people he works with are doing wrong as well. He's a dichotomy that is very hard to pull off and I'm looking forward to seeing the explanation, even if it's likely not going to be what people want to see.

I did enjoy the way MOD did the police line but they also showed corruption while also having a good cop who ended up helping change the police from within to an extent. And that's exactly what I expect Not Me to do, honestly.

Dan is a cop who sees what the cops and the government are doing wrong. He's someone who likely became a police officer in the hopes of helping support justice and has learned that fighting them directly from within isn't working (that's why he's also UNAR) but still isn't willing to give up on also trying to create larger style change.

Is it ideal? No. Is it what you do to try to show the idea that change is needed while still showing the government that you support them, as you need to, and believe that they can be better? Yes.

I doubt that the conclusion they'll reach is 'not all cops are bad' so much as 'the change we need to make comes from the inside' which is kind of what I expect now? Which is different and, yes, problematic as well but frankly I respect ANY criticism from ANYONE in a dictatorship, no matter how they have to phrase it or how carefully they have to wiggle it in.

I believe in the message that Not Me is trying to give us, no matter what it is, and that they will bring us everything they can and as clearly as they can and that anything they have to say or censor they will do with the upmost respect to the story and the message.

Hoo boy, y'all, I love Not Me but I as not fully prepared for the politics! I am doing my best, so please be forgiving.

[merelliahallewell]

The Drust in the Night Fae Campaign (1)

I lied, there are going to be five parts to this whole thing because we’ve got another Drust week coming up in two weeks or so. 

This will contain spoilers from the Drust to Drust chapter of the Night Fae campaign. 

Part 1 - The Drust Background

Part 2 - The Drust in BfA

Part 3 - The Drust in Ardenweald

Part 5 - The Drust in the Night Fae Campaign (2)

Also, I missed out on a few small things that I have discovered since the last post I wrote. 

Skuld Vit, a Drust rare draining soulshaped souls in a cave says this upon his defeat:

It... doesn't matter. The Drust rule over death....

There is a Fae Dreamcatcher that can be assembled in order to get through a barrier and open a chest. It is described as being able to “protect against nightmares and ward away blight.”

Also, Marasimus says “You have to completely root them (the Drust) out to be rid of their presence, or they’ll grow right back, tougher than ever.” 

The Drust seem to have made a major offensive push after showing their hand during the assault on Hibernal Hollow and similar attacks in the Ardenweald quest chain. While it’s not clear explicitly just where during the timeline of initial Shadowlands events the Covenant Campaigns are occurring, they are still definitely a threat to Ardenweald. 

Our quests have us investigating a grove controlled by the Masked Fae to find a lost hunting party. Most of them have been slain, but we discover one in a very interesting state: in the middle of being turned by the Drust. One interesting aspect of this quest is that we use dormant Drust masks to sneak past the other Masked Fae. This implies that the Fae are not necessarily a hive mind-esque entity while controlled, and can be fooled by simple disguises. Our deception can be uncovered, however, by the actual Drust that are present. 

After that, we go to seek the guidance of a familiar face in an effort to save the cursed Gweyir: Ulfar, the only original Drust who still lives. Alliance players know him well, for he helped open the way to Thros so that we could save Jaina. There are none upon Azeroth who know the magic of the Drust better than he. He has a lot of interesting things to say. 

Not only does this curse presumably date back to the Drust’s time on Kul Tiras, but we get a bit of expansion on Gorak Tul as well- it was never said before that he had twisted their existing rituals. Also, he’s seriously dead for real now. 

We are told to go to Gol Inath, which is a great tree that rests at the heart of the Crimson Forest. The Drust once had carved steles of them worshipping it. From Ulfar’s text in BfA:

The entrance to Thros lies within the great tree, Gol Inath, but crossing the Threshold will not be as simple as walking through. 

We return once more to the great tree, and find something curious beneath it:

THAT’S RIGHT, BABY. HEARTSBANE WITCHES AND WICKER MONSTERS ARE STILL HANGING OUT THERE.

Anyway, we attempt to temper the fetish within this neat Thros flame that wasn’t there before, and then we get to meet the big bad of the Drust storyline: Gorak Zhar. She calls Ulfar witless for sending us here, and a giant ass Drust monster leaps out of the portal to attack us. A few small things:

1) Gorak may be a ruler’s title among the Drust. In BfA, Ulfar calls him Tul, rather than addressing him using Gorak. Perhaps it could be similar to Ingra in that way, as there are several NPCs using that as well.

2) The portal to Thros is still open, I guess. That’s neat.

3) Gorak Zhar seems to have not only known who Ulfar is, but also that he would send us here. Maybe they met at some point long ago. 

When we return, Ulfar says this: 

However, he says also that he does not know how to proceed from here, though he knows we will require Gorak Tul’s power to break the curse. Ulfar sends us back into the Shadowlands to find the spirit of his mentor Kivarr, who conveniently lives only a short distance from the Heart of the Forest. 

I find it interesting that the Drust have not forgotten Kivarr, even after thousands of years. Maybe she was one of those who refused to follow Gorak Tul back in the old days? She also takes the soulshape of a wicker beast, so that is something you can canonically become. 

Either way, we have to collect some keys to save Kivarr. One is called a Thros-Forged Key, which is kinda neat. I guess Thros can be used to forge things. The other is a Lustrous Silver Key, which is also interesting because silver is one of the natural counters to Throsian magic. Where could they have acquired this, and why would they hold onto a metal that can disrupt their magic? There is no stone to mine silver from in Ardenweald. 

The Drust carry Kivarr off and intend to use her in a ritual of some sort. We kill the ritualist and save her, and she says this:

The Drust curse is apparently so powerful that the reagents to break it do not exist on Azeroth. When we go to gather the necessary rituals, we are sent to find Nox Root. This plant only grows within soil that has been corrupted by the magic of the Drust. It is described as a potent and invasive plant. It also looks like a mushroom, which is probably just a model thing. 

Ara’lon is sent to find the satchel of a witch, which apparently is what the lady Drust are called. Kivarr also calls them Nightscreamers. He fails to find it and vanishes, but we end up being able to collect one anyway. These witches carry bags full of reagents and focus objects, which are both necessary for Drust rituals. 

Once everything has been gathered, we end up using the fetish from Drustvar to channel the power of Kivarr’s ritual into Gweyir. It purges manifestations of dark magic from him that we have to fight, and is referred to as Gorak Zhar’s sorcery.

In the end, we fail. Which is honestly kind of shocking given how generally bright and happy Warcraft lore can be at some points. Gweyir dies during the ritual, unable to withstand the magic of Gorak Zhar. 

The other Night Fae seem disheartened by this- it seems to them that the Masked Fae are going to be lost permanently, if this ritual did not work to restore even a partially-converted one. This ritual seems to place immense strain upon the person being purged.

Mystery of the Cut Text

There was one thing that I had my eye on from some time ago. Back during the original beta iteration of these quests, some word choices were different. Ulfar originally said this when asked about the magic the Drust used. 

I find this especially interesting because of the mention of a “Drust Lord,” which is capitalized like a proper noun. I wonder if a Drust Lord might refer to those bearing the title of Gorak, or could be akin to powerful Drust within the realm of Thros. It is a shame this was cut. 

[heesulovebot]

oh my god so i was just browsing on bae’s blog @gunsatthaphan (as one does) and she got an ask here about what her own BL with cast would look like and it got me thinking like—

if i made a bl, i’d want the romance to be kind of like side plots and the main plot to be about two brothers and them navigating through life as young adults. the older brother would be played by max nattapol (29) and he’d be the sole guardian of his younger brother played by win metawin (20). their parents probably passed when win’s character was very young so max’s char had to grow up pretty quickly to assume the role of parent for his little brother. nonetheless, they’re still very much brothers, and i can just imagine win and max giving us the funniest brotherly scenes— the playfulness, the.... weirdness lmao— and also the most heart warming. and then there’d be angst, obvs (the whole “you’re not my dad!!!” thing, or oou oOU maybe win’s char was in the car ((yes i’ve decided it’s a tragic car crash because i’m a sl*t for cliches o k)) and was the sole survivor and a heart-wrenching scene where max’s char angrily tells win’s char he wished he’d gone with his parents so he wouldn’t be such a burden in his life out of frustration or smthg damn tay chill u dramatic ass bitch). but still, the drama would focus on the brothers and max’s char as a working adult, and win’s char as a newly enrolled uni student. max’s char’s love interest would be played by none other than tul pakorn (32) because i can never get enough of maxtul & maybe they’re doctors or something and tul is his senior and it’s absolute HATE at first sight. and i haven’t decided on win’s char’s love story lol but maybe it’s a good ‘ole love triangle with an enemies line (paralleling his older brother’s) but then there’s his bff who’s silently in love with him since they were kids and it can be like we think he’s gonna end up with the enemy he’s got such amazing chemistry and tension with but half way through the who-we-thought-was-second-lead turns out to be the main because he decides to fIGHT FOR LOVE and then it becomes friends-to-lovers lol anyways the “enemy” would be played by peak peemapol or saint suppapong (honestly i’m still thinking about this because i can also see bright playing this but i didn’t wanna be TOO much of a cliche haha) and the bff would be ohm pawat 🥺🥺🥺 (i really wanted tawan but lmao could he pass for a 20-year-old????). hospital group of friends for max’s char would include: the queen herself WJ mild, earth pirapat, off jumpol & toptap. & win’s char group of friends would include: prem warut, mond tanutchai, ploy kanyarat, white nawat, first kanaphan, ticha wongtipkanon & nene pornnappan— and YES of course ticha and nene will have a love line!!!!!

tl;dr: @thailand make this drama pLEATH

[lucamagica]

I think my biggest beef with the Ava’s Demon characters is that their most inherent flaws don’t line up with their associated sins, so the flaws they do get from their sins feel forced in and inconsistent, or are even purely informed flaws rather than being present in the narrative.

Long-winded analysis of what sins I think the characters should have under the cut.

Broke: Wrath Ava. Her first major act of wrath in the comic is the result of drinking the vial, and is implied to be an altered state where she’s more like Wrathia than normal. Afterwards, she starts getting random bursts of intense anger that still seem to be a side effect of the vial. As we’re getting to know her more, her cute and childish side is coming out, which just makes the bursts of anger seem even more out of place. (Also it’s just weird seeing her be so innocent and happy go lucky after incinerating thousands of people, come on)

Woke: Envy Ava. She is so, so jealous of people who get to live the happy life full of happy relationships that she wants. Envy is wanting what isn’t your own, and she wants a life other than her own so badly she’ll take on TITAN to try to get it. It would feel much more consistent to act so cute and cheerful as a way to try to swallow her envy.

What Ava wants: an entirely new chance at life, where she can start over with people who don’t know her so she can try to reinvent herself.

What Ava needs: to forge her own life into something that she’s happy with by making connections with people who like her as she is now.

Notice that neither of these things have anything to do with wrath. Ava’s arc isn’t going to be concluded by her resolving her anger issues (her wrath), because she didn’t even have them to start. Her arc is going to be concluded by realizing that along her adventure, she’s found the life and relationships she wanted, alleviating the source of her envy.

Broke: Lust Maggie. Her wanting a relationship so badly is kind of sad, but that... isn’t even what lust is. It also isn’t what her biggest character flaw is, it just feels like a sort of tacked on and exaggerated subplot to justify her being “lustful”. Also like she’s 15, come on.

Woke: Wrath Maggie. She’s mean, snippy, often even a bully. Something hurt her, so now she lashes out at the world indiscriminately, partially as vengeance and partially to try to avoid being hurt again.

What Maggie wants: the perfect boyfriend who’s super nice to her and will make all her other problems go away.

What Maggie needs: to confront the root of her anger issues, make up with the people who she’s lashed out at, and gain compassion for herself and others.

Let’s be real, Maggie’s lust-based plotline is not healthy. Its happy ending is her finally falling in love without the use of Tuls’ powers, but that isn’t going to fix the problems Maggie needs to fix in order to have a complete arc. The alleviation of her lust will leave her just as unhappy as before, probably even more unhappy as she realizes that having a relationship isn’t fixing everything else in her life. The alleviation of her wrath is what’s going to help her become a well-adjusted person capable of maintaining a healthy relationship.

Broke: Envy Gil. He hasn’t even... really shown any signs of being envious of anything yet. We’ve been given hints that he’ll fall for Odin and then be envious as Odin falls for Ava, mirroring their demons’ love lives, but it’s not a core trait of his. He was honestly pretty content with his lot in life up until he became a refugee, and even that made him understandably panicked, not envious.

Woke: Pride Gil. He's proud of being a TITAN follower. He’s almost smug about becoming a doctor in TITAN’s army. The best people follow TITAN, so of course he does. The very best of the best in the whole universe may be granted access to Paradise, and of course he deserves to go there.

What Gil wants: to get into TITAN’s paradise.

What Gil needs: to recognize that TITAN isn’t as great as he thinks he is, that he’s never going to Paradise, that doing well in school (by cheating) and then “studying” all those years alone on that planet (he sure did give the other hosts some great medical treatment /sarcasm) don’t make him a good person worthy of whatever he wants.

Once again, not really any envy-related issues in his arc. He takes a lot of pride in his TITAN-centric identity, which has already been punctured by his refugee status and is only going to be deflated more as he learns the truth about TITAN. The whole plot seems designed to pummel his pride over and over, so he’s only going to be happy if he can swallow his pride and accept that his life path was wrong.

Broke: Pride Odin. As with Gil, I can’t really think of any times he’s actually displayed his associated sin to a noticeable degree. His last name “Arrow” comes from “arrogant”, and yet he’s far less arrogant than Gil or Maggie. And it makes sense that he isn’t particularly prideful, as he doesn’t have much to take pride in--sure, once upon a time he was a prince of a prosperous kingdom, but that’s been in shambles since he was a kid, and he seems pretty used to coping with a miserable life.

This is where I stumble, because pride definitely doesn’t suit Odin, but I can’t really say what sin does. Odin is the only one of the four without a selfish motivation--the other three all want some variation of a better life for themselves, but what Odin wants is to find his sister and save his planet, and what Odin needs is... Well, honestly, he needs to find his sister and save his planet, for their sakes. He clearly needs more than that for his personal character arc, but we haven’t seen deep enough into him to tell what emotional problems he can work on. He’s still very mysterious, and anything unsavory that he’s done so far is understandable in light of his noble goals, so he doesn’t really have blatant character flaws like the other three from which to extrapolate an associated sin. I could see sloth or greed more easily than pride, though.

Ava is not an angry person. Maggie’s desperation for romance isn’t the source of her issues. Gil’s fall isn’t going to be caused by envy--his fall has already started, and he has yet to have any envy-related issues. Odin doesn’t seem particularly arrogant or self content.

If the narrative treated the sins as potentially good things--if the characters were too lacking in sin-related traits before, and by adopting the merits of their associated sins they can get over their issues--then their current sins could work. I’d love arcs about a pushed-around Ava learning to stand up for herself and fight back when the world hurts her, about an angry and antisocial Maggie learning to channel that passion into intimacy and open up to a romantic partner as a first step to opening up to the world, about an overly self-satisfied and unempathetic Gil realizing that his life isn’t the best thing ever and being humbled by a taste of envy, about a nervous stammering Odin learning to be more self confident and proud of who he is... 

But that’s not what the story is, and these characters have these sins forced onto them by their demons only to be punished for them. Ava enjoys her first true taste of wrath, but in doing so she slaughters thousands of innocents. I know the demons are supposed to be metaphors for mental illness, but it’d be a lot more compelling if the characters naturally developed mental health issues related to their sins and then were able to overcome them by dealing with their demons, rather than having the demons directly cause these issues in kids who would otherwise be fine.

This was even more long and rambly than I intended, sorry. I just really love the art, character designs, and world building of Ava’s Demon, and I really wish that it had compelling character writing to match, instead of making me feel more and more detached from the characters as the comic goes on.

(Except for the demons. I love all the demons way more than any of the hosts. Odin’s sisters are also top notch.)

[borealtwilight]

reprieve

Summary: Sometimes, a place to rest can be found in the most unexpected of locations.

Meanwhile, Thel not-so-subtly wonders when Rtas will actually adopt every stray he takes under his wing.

Warning/s: swearing. that’s....that’s it, honestly Word count: 1,519 A/N: for the beautiful @pantheris ;) <3

The Longsword’s engines screamed, whined, and died out.

The strike interceptor plummeted, distance nigh unfathomable, to the ground below.

The impact reverberated the land for miles around, a thick cloud of dust and smoke billowing upwards and outwards, a clear signal that whomever had piloted the bird was in dire straits.

And said pilot, a Spartan-III clad in aqua blue MJOLNIR, was out cold, slumped over the controls, armour plating cracked and dented.

“What was that?”

Rtas tilted his head, gaze swinging towards his longtime friend, the Arbiter, Thel ’Vadam. Mandibles clacking in a shrug, he swiftly rose from his seat, one hand straying to the hilt of his energy sword on instinct.

“Hold fast, Arbiter. I shall see what it is that has caused this disruption.” he rumbled, and without waiting to see Thel’s acknowledging nod, turned and bounded swiftly away on springy digitigrade legs.

The Shipmaster felt new purpose pumping through his veins as he ran, fuelling him, and he made it to his Phantom faster than he’d ever done for the past five or six years. It was very unusual for something to crash onto the surface of Sanghelios; after all, last he recalled, there had been no ships fighting in orbit above. It was possible that a wounded ship had jumped out of Slipspace, been pulled towards Sanghelios by its gravity well, and crashed as a result, but that did not seem very likely, either.

He did not know. He would have to wait until he reached the site of whatever it was that had impacted, to find out.

Rtas jumped out of the Phantom’s bay door, accompanied by three of the finest warriors belonging to the Swords of Sanghelios, Tul ’Juran among them.

The young Scion was the first to speak as all four Sangheili took in the sight of what had once been an inky black space fighter of some kind, now spread across half the landscape. A noise that might have been disgust, or apprehension, escaped the back of her throat, and she remarked, “Shipmaster, this is one of the human ship-to-ship fighters, correct?”

“My belief is that this is the one they call a Longsword,” he answered her, studying the wreckage with the Sangheili equivalent of a frown on his features. “They are formidable in packs, and I would wonder how this one was brought down over Sanghelios.”

“A human fighter ship,” one of the other Sangheili murmured in surprise, “Let us hope they are not a hostile human.”

Rtas clacked his mandibles twice, peering at the wreckage a moment longer, before issuing out orders. “Stay out here, and be on your guard. We do not know if this fighter’s pursuers have followed it down. Tul, follow me but keep at a distance. I would rather this human not take me by surprise.”

His warriors did as obeyed, and Tul followed him into a gaping hole that had once been part of the fighter’s hull, since no other entrance was discernible to him. The Shipmaster had to blink the smoke out of his eyes as he ventured deeper into the Longsword. About ten minutes later, and he was dragging an armoured human soldier out of the fighter.

“A Demon? Here, on Sanghelios?” The third Sangheili finally spoke up, jaws hanging slack, as he took stock of the limp figure that Rtas laid upon the ground. “Shipmaster, this is—”

“Unprecedented, yes, but this one is hurt. It would be dishonourable to leave them out here to die. As much as it may be unpalatable to see their blood spilled upon the ground when they have not been fighting.” The half-jaw’s green eyes flashed a warning, as he met the gaze of his fellow warrior. “You understand this, yes? We are not at war with these humans any longer; have not been for some years. There is no reason to think that this one will want to kill us unless they attack us on sight. And if we do not act hostile, then there will be no valid reason for them to attack us.”

The Sangheili hung his head, thoughtful, before raising it once more. “I understand. I will send word ahead, to prepare a medical suite.” He marched back towards the Phantom, and, indeed, he was no longer anxious about the situation.   

Silently, the Shipmaster wondered what had happened to this Spartan, a soldier considered to be on par with any one of the warriors beside him. He hoped that they had not brought trouble to these shores.

“How did this human end up here?” Thel could not keep his eyes off the Spartan, where she lay resting in one of the medical suites of Vadam Keep. His gaze finally swung towards Rtas, head canted to one side. “And a Spartan, of all the human warriors....”

Rtas carefully and quietly explained what she had told him, when she had woken up to find her armour stacked in a corner, and the medical suite in the process of repairing the injuries done to her body. He told the Arbiter that the Spartan had been fleeing from those who had formerly held command of her; that she was tired of suffering their abuse, as she’d termed it, and that she had not expected to survive the jump into Slipspace, as she’d attached a drive to a ship that was not built for such things.

“Human in-fighting.” Thel murmured, flexing his mandibles, a snorting sigh escaping his nostrils. “I would presume that she is under your care now, Shipmaster? Another lost soul to stay with you?”

Rtas drew his head back, stunned, before he saw the gleam of amusement in the Arbiter’s eyes. It was somewhat of a joke, a jab at the fact that the half-jaw had the tendency to “pick up strays”, as the humans might have termed it, as he travelled throughout the galaxy, keeping peace. “I— Yes, Arbiter. So long as it does not displease you to have a human staying at Vadam Keep.”   

For a moment, the other Sangheili was silent. And then, “It matters not to me. But be careful to not allow word to get out. There are others who are less... hospitable... towards humans, even among my keep. I would not have a civil war over the sake of one human, lost or no.”

The Shipmaster dipped his head in a nod, placing a fist on his silvery-white chestplate. “You have my word, Arbiter.”

“Nnngh...” 

Artemis opened her eyes, sitting up slowly. Where the hell was she? The last thing she remembered was entering her Longsword, and fleeing from COLD MOON into Slipspace.... The drive had failed, because it wasn’t supposed to have been attached to a strike interceptor, shields or not... She’d crash-landed on...

“Sangheili!” she gasped in surprise, as she caught sight of the very hinge-head that had pulled her out of the wrecked Longsword and taken her here. She dimly recalled speaking to him earlier, telling him what had happened. He’d said his name was... was... “Rtas ’Va.... oh shit.... Rtats.... Rtas ’Vad- ’Vadum?”

The noise that rumbled out of the alien’s mouth sounded like laughter, but it was so strange, and so jarring. “Nevermind that, human. If you struggle to pronounce my name, just call me Shipmaster.”

“....Right.” The Spartan rubbed her forehead, exhaling wearily. “So I am really on Sanghelios.”

“Yes,” the Sangheili answered, “And the Arbiter Thel ’Vadam has granted you stay here at Vadam Keep. He is also Kaidon; what he says, goes. I trust that you will keep yourself confined to the Keep, and its grounds, and only those areas. None of us wish dissent to be sown among our people by your mere presence. I am sure that you would understand.”

That made sense. It was much the same on the few worlds where the former Covenant aliens were allowed to live. They were only allowed to stay in designated areas, lest any of the humans panic and stir up trouble. And she knew full well how to remain seen and yet unseen, hidden in plain sight.

“Of course, Shipmaster. You have my word.” Artemis was quiet for a few beats, as she struggled to ask something that would doubtless nag at her if she did not do so otherwise. “I... I would perhaps like to know if you have somewhere for me to sleep, and something for me to eat? I’m... running on fumes. Human terminology, but you might get what it means.”

“Food and sleep is sustenance to a human, yes?” The Sangheili rose from where he had been seated, nodding his head. “Please, come with me. Have no fear while you are staying with us. You do not have to worry about asking questions; I am more than happy to oblige you. Anything you may require will be at your disposal.”

Well. That was more than she was expecting. It was a sign of goodwill, of the aliens doing their best to keep the peace, and yet somehow, the thoughtfulness going into it.... It warmed her heart.

“My thanks, Shipmaster.”

“And my pleasure, Spartan.”

[lbc-tincan]

How about a ficlet with Can getting in a fight with someone? Maybe someone said something bad about Tin and he gets mad.

TinCan are at an industry function that Tin has to go to for the Medthanen Real Estate Conglomerate.

Honestly neither of them had really wanted to go, they would’ve preferred to just stay at home together or gone on a nice little date but Tin hadn’t made it this far up the company ladder by neglecting his duties and Can knew how inwardly anxious Tin sometimes got about these things, concerned about what others thought about him or “more importantly the company, Can. I can’t disappoint my family by hurting the company, I just can’t.” and couldnt bear to let him go alone. So that’s how they got stuck spending their Friday night with “a bunch of stuck up dudes in suits” (according to Can).

Tin and Can were standing by a large window which faced out to a beautiful view of Bangkok all lit up at night. Tin was deep in conversation with a man whose name Tin had already forgotten as he tried not to appear completely bored once the conversation had started going above his head. “I’ll be right back,” Can interjected during a small pause in the conversation. Tin glanced over and nodded to indicate he’d heard before continuing on talking about whatever boring crap it is that businessmen talk about.

Can headed over towards the buffet tables to re-fill his plate (if there was one good thing about these events, it was the free food) piling basically a bit of everything onto his plate. As he moved towards the end of the long table where the pitchers were placed, however, he stopped dead in his tracks, blood boiling. There stood two greasy men carelessly trash talking the love of his life.

“Oi, you know the Medthanen kid that P’Ram brought today?” said one.

“You mean Tul?” replied the other.

“No, his younger son, Tin.”

“What about him?”

“Have you heard all the shit that boy has done. I can’t believe Ram let him stay in the family let alone in the company. If he had been my son, I would’ve disowned him after the stain he put on the family name. Don’t you know? His parents sent him to get a good education in England and that scum repaid them by getting into drugs and who knows what other kinds of dirty business. It was all over the news a few years back, don’t you remember? The boy’s lucky he had daddy to save him, if it was any other family he would’ve been done for ugh. He’s probably not even sorry, that filth disgusts me,” said the older of the two.

That was it. Can had had enough, he wouldn’t here another venomous claim fall from that snake’s mouth. He had to do something.

“Oi asshole! What’s the bullshit you’re spreading?! You should shut up if you don’t know anything!” Can yelled, catching the attention of Tin and several others in the room.

“Excuse me,” Tin said, not even sparing a backward glance to his conversation partner as he quickly made his way to Can, drawn by the younger boy’s shouting.

‘Talk shit, get hit’ thought Can as he continued to fight back against the man’s evil comments, raising his hand before he felt a familiar, larger one holding him back.

Without turning to look at him, Can allowed Tin to hold him back, barely struggling against the firm grip, but Tin couldn’t stop him from defending him verbally.

“Firstly, that was all a set up by an enemy trying to hurt the family. If you actually cared about the case as much as you said you supposedly did, you would’ve noticed he was never charged because he never actually did anything wrong. But no, people like you just like to gossip and make other people’s lives hell without a thought about what you’re doing to them. Do you know how hard he worked to be in the top 1% of the ‘22 IC business program? Do you know how many hours he’s slaved away at work? How many days he stays let to make sure everything is done and done perfectly? How even when he goes home he’ll stay up just to read the latest reports, or take advanced business English classes, or do more courses online just so he can do right by the company? No of course you don’t, because asshole scum like you are too busy judging people before actually getting to-“ Can ranted until Tin placed a hand over his mouth, dragging Can away from those two assholes before the situation could escalate more than it even had. The whole room having gone silent, all eyes on Tin and Can as Tin pulled him out the door.

When they were finally a safe distance away Tin stopped and turned to him, expression unreadable.

“I’m sorry Ai Tin, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I know you always tell me to behave myself at these kinds of things. And I tried, I promise, but they were talking shit about you and I’m sorry I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t help myself, I-“ said Can nervously before he was cut off by Tin.

“Shut up,” answered Tin before he leaned in to kiss him. Effectively trapping Can between his body and the brick wall, one hand clenched in Can’s collar the other landed by Can’s head.

Can blinked, surprised, when Tin finally pulled away.

“Wha... What was that for?” he asked, confused

“Thank you” Tin answered simply, moving to bury his head into the crook of Can’s neck. “I love you” he whispered into the soft skin he found there.

Can simply pulled his arms around the other man, hugging him close, safe and warm in his embrace.

[averagetransman]

Honestly this is a bad example because the artstyle in this short was just...so bad. A better example is Tul 'Juran:

She's literally Captain of the Guard of her father's keep and helps Rtas fight off some San'Shyuum invaders. As you can see, she's just like any male in appearance, except for the fact that she's shorter and her skin is a bit paler (most female Sangheili in the books are also described as such, which tells me that a lighter skintone and shorter stature are typical of female Sangheili).

As a bonus, here is her wielding an energy lance with Rtas in the foreground:

I was talking about how the Sangheili females look in canon, which in my opinion is way worse than "regular Sangheili but with titties and ass."

[In reference to this post] Ah, looking up the one canon example...

Yeesh, yeow, you were not kidding. The face is one of the most distinctive aspects of Sangheili, and they fucked it up!

I think, yeah, of the two “hyper-sexualized version that retains all the interesting bits of the original design” is way better than “smooshed into Generic Space Waif Species”

[blatherkatt]

Title: The Calm Is Terrifying When The Storm Is All You Know [Homestuck]

Prologue 1: Regarding Interplanetary Conflict Between Earth and Alternia

Summary: There were two kinds of trolls who went to Earth: rich shitheads with too much money and free time, and desperate assholes who couldn’t survive on Alternia, even with the best efforts of the young Condesce. Karkat hated the planet almost immediately, but with his home planet too dangerous for mutants, he really didn’t have any choice but to hide out on this weird little diurnal planet. At least he’d be safe. Or so he thought, right before blundering his way into an accidental friendship with the son of an anti-troll terrorist. 

(No-SBURB AU with many other fantastical elements in tact (i.e. flashstepping, trolls are still aliens, some characters have odd abilities, Becquerel remains a first guardian, etc.); main ship(s): Davekat and Rosemary, but romance isn’t necessarily the focus; Dirk =/= Bro, Roxy =/= Mom, etc. Slow burn, shifting perspectives. Buckle in, folks, this’ll be a long one.) 

Rating: M for mature themes, death, violence, intense scenes, etc. 

Warnings: Character death, blood, language (its a Homestuck fic what do you expect), abuse, some impressive mental gymnastics from Dave, also Bro is basically a terrorist like he really hates trolls; chapter-specific warnings will be provided as this fic’s kinda got a lot going on tbh - some parts will get REALLY intense

Author’s Note: FIRST - I’m so sorry for there being three prologues, I promise I’m posting them all on the same day as the first chapter to try and make up for that; this was the best way I felt to handle the exposition side of this story. The real story will be told in a different format than these bits. 

Second - I’m just going to casually give a shoutout to @gayrapunzel and this magnificent post right here which helped inspire this fic in a very weird roundabout way (even tho i dont think I’m going to be able to recreate that moment in the fic itself much to my deep shame) and is also just generally one of my favorite things ever 

NEXT

[The following is a series of excerpts from various news articles, some from papers, some found online; some transcripts of radio broadcasts also provided]

4/10/1994

(Excerpt from a magazine)

Astronomers have reported very strange extraterrestrial movements as of late; strange objects that appear to be approaching Earth at great speed. “Maybe we’re finally meeting some aliens,” joked Oswald Harley, lead scientist at the Skaianet Observatory in New York. The currently unidentified bodies are expected to be visible from Earth within the week. Be sure to keep an eye on the sky!

4/13/1994

(Transcript of a news broadcast)

BREAKING NEWS

NEWS ANCHOR: “In what can only be seen as some sort of delayed cosmic April Fool’s day joke, what seems to be an actual alien spaceship has arrived over New York City only minutes ago.  We see here live footage of the event. Whatever life forms are on board the vessel have not yet tried to make contact, but we will” [static; rest of speech too garbled to make out]

[At this point, the transmission (as well as that of all other channels) was overridden]

ALIEN LIFE FORM: “Alright, shrimps, listen up. I’m the speaker for Her Imperial Condescension, here to deliver you the message of your new management.  This planet is now the property of Alternia. You glubbers can behave and we’ll maybe let some of you live, or you can try to pick a fight you got no chance in shell of winning. Bow before your new leaders, motherfuckers, and pray Her Imperial Condescension’s in a good mood.”

[Static; the transmission returns to the news station]

NEWS ANCHOR: “Are…are we back? Oh my God, is this - this is real? Um. Yes, so. You saw it here, folks, um. God, I can’t do this, I can’t -”

[At this point, the anchor walked off the set and the broadcast cut to commercials.]

06/12/1994

(translated transcript taken from a recorded exchange between Alternian soldiers)

THRESHECUTIONER UNIT LEADER: “Do you have the place surrounded yet?”

THRESHECUTIONER: “Hells yes we do, got the place all kinds of on lockdown. We are gonna blast the shit outta these humans and their silly hideaway, they won’t know what hit ‘em.”

TUL: “A simple ‘yes’ would have sufficed. Move in when ready.”

T: “Sir, yes, sir. Wait, shit, what was that?”

TUL: “What was what?”

T: “Somethin just moved really fast in my peripheral vision — shit, there it is again!”

[A muffled scream is heard]

T: “What the fuck, that was — oh my god, his head’s clean off, right through his armor, what the fuck —”

TUL: “Hey, what the fuck is happening down there?”

T: “I think we’re under attack — Humans? Humans are doing this?! Hey, stop standing around and blast those fuckers already, you assholes —”

[More screams]

T: “What the fuck, that’s a kid —”

[A gasp, followed by a thudding noise.]

TUL: “Resker? Resker!?! What the fuck is going on down there?! Answer me!”

[muffled noises for about thirty seconds, and then a new voice speaks]

???: [In English] “Alright, assholes. Let me make this really fucking clear. We are not some simpering weaklings ready to lay down and take this without a fight. So help me, I will personally hunt down your fucking leader and kill her myself.”

1: [In English] “Who the fuck is this?!”

???: [In English] “Strider.”

1: [In English] “Are you a human? What the fuck did you do to squad 13?!”

STRIDER: [In English] “Get the fuck off my planet.”

[sharp sound, apparently resulting from the destruction of the helmet used to communicate.]

(Transcript from human soldiers, arriving on scene to attempt to defend a small mall taken over by surviving humans)

COMMUNICATIONS: “Sir, someone’s hacking into our radio transmissions.”

MAJOR: “Fucking stop them, Jesus! Last thing we need is the trolls getting into those, too —”

COMMUNICATIONS: “I’m trying, sir! I’m not sure it’s trolls, though, actually — Shit, they’re in, they’re in!”

[Radio static]

???: “[garbled] yeah, I’m in! Hahaha, bitchin’! Hey, lil D, I got them, I got in to the military! Hey, hey dudes, don’t hang up on me, okay? I’m not a troll, I promise, but we could really use your help!”

MAJOR: “How did you get into this channel?”

???: “By virtue of being a fucking badass, is how! Hey, listen, though, okay, I’m Rachel Lalonde, me and my sis and D-Strides Big’n’small here are holed up at the mall with a bunch of other survivors, we’re armed, and we got a plan that we think’ll really put a damper in these invading bastards’ day, but we need your help, alright?”

MAJOR: “How do we know we can trust you?”

LALONDE: “Thats…probably a pretty fair question. Okay, listen, how bout we meet up in person so you can see we really are human, huh? You guys can pick the place, it’ll be just me and D-Stri. But we gotta move today, is the thing, so it’s gotta be quick!”

???: “C’mon, Ray, let me come too, I can help —”

STRIDER: “No. We need you here. Let Rachel finish talking.”

MAJOR: “…Let me get my superiors on the phone.”

STRIDER: “There’s no time. We need to meet up in an hour at most.”

MAJOR: “……………Very well. In front of the Levi’s, then. Just you two.”

LALONDE: “You got it, dude! We’re gonna own the FUCK outta these trolls. Gonna send them scrambling away with their tails between their legs.”

11/11/1994

(Letter sent secretly to human troops)

“Okay, okay first of all I hope you’re fucking happy how much work I had to put into learning to write in your language for this, sorry if my spelling is bad or something or whatever but listen, I know this is going to sound like the most obvious trap ever, but I SWEAR it isn’t. I’m a troll, no, don’t throw the letter away, sit your ass right back down. I’m a troll, a follower of the teachings of one we call the Signless, which is going to mean approximately jack all to you I know but what that means is that basically I’m on your side, as are a bunch of other trolls with me. We’re rebels, some working to sabotage from within, but some (like me) are prepared to actually physically help you guys, we can upgrade your weapons and tech and shit a bit so you have a better chance of keeping up enough to drag this out as long as possible.

We need a few sweeps, see, before we can ensure that we can protect you guys. There’s a new heir to the throne, but she’s not old enough to challenge the Condesce yet. When she does, though, she’s already said she plans on ending this war and seeking peace with you humans. She likes the way your planet looks a lot, as well as your people, and she’s big on protecting shit and blah blah blah, the point is, we can help you, but you gotta let us first.

I’ve enclosed our coordinates on the back of this letter. We’ll be waiting there. Please don’t shoot us.”

11/21/1998

(Entry of the diary of Rachel Lalonde)

“Shit, those trolls are not giving up. I’m exhausted, and I look like a dang balloon, I mean cripes, how many kids are even in there?

Worst possible timing, too. I should be out fighting, but I’m stuck inside with kid number two on the way.

Speaking of kid number one, though, Dirk’s three years old today. Be nice if his father could be assed to try to celebrate, but whatever. I kinda worry a little that maybe we only started this family out of spite, like as a way to flip off Her Imperial Whatsit by continuing on our species or whatever. Shoulda thought it through a little more. I mean, Christ, I’m 21 and I’m on kid number two, talk about your bad fucking ideas.

I worry that Derek doesn’t even love me the way I love him, honestly. I’m not sure he really loves anyone, to be truthful, but like. He might just be gay?? I ain’t got the guts to bring that up with him, though, he’d probably run me through right there if I tried to suggest it, but. Still. Then again, after losing his lil bro earlier this year, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.  

God, I can’t believe he’s gone, still. RIP, Davey. :(

Eurgh, worst part of getting knocked up again is having to lay off the booze, though. I’m twenty one, in a soul-crushing war trying to save all of humanity, and I can’t even drink. Such bullshit, man.

Happy birthday, Dirk. Love ya. Hope your little bro or sis hurries the fuck up so I can walk without looking like an incoming iceberg.”

4/13/2000

(Translated transmission sent out to all trolls at 0413 hours GMT)

ALERT: ALL FIGHTERS ARE TO CEASE IMMEDIATELY AND REPORT TO THE NEAREST SHIP.  LEAVE ANY SKIRMISHES AT ONCE.

(Translated transmission sent out to all trolls at 0612 hours GMT)

ALERT: THE EMPRESS HAS FALLEN. ALL HAIL HER NEW IMPERIAL CONDESCENSION, FEFERI PEIXES. MAY HER RULE BE LONG AND BOUNTIFUL.

(Transmission to humans from rebel troll party to their human contacts at the UN)

TROLL REBEL LEADER: We did it!!! Congratulations, motherfuckers, the old hag’s dead! Feferi’s ready to talk to you whenever, she says. Just let us know!

6/12/2000

(excerpts from front page Newspaper article)

INTERPLANETARY PEACE OFFICIAL

The UN officially announced that peace negotiations with Her Imperial Condescension were a success, today.  The young Alternian Empress has promised that she has no intention of attempting to conquer Earth, and hopes to undo much of the wrongs her predecessor caused both to Earth and other planets. She has also stated that she hopes that communications between Alternia and Earth can begin in earnest, and would like to someday be allies and trading partners.

Those who fought against the Alternian invasion are to be honored in coming days. Foremost among those to be honored are the increasingly notorious triad of Derek Strider and Rachel and Ramona Lalonde, who became quite infamous over radio stations as a result of their own hodgepodge resistance, formed the same year the invasion began. The youngest of the three (Derek and Rachel, now 22 and 23, respectively) were in high school when the invasion came out. Despite this, they have been incredibly successful in their heroic efforts to protect the planet.  Rachel Lalonde, when given the news, responded cheerfully that she is glad to be able to spend more time on “taking care of all these dang kids I have running around.” Ramona Lalonde and Derek Strider were unavailable for comment.