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ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral · 4 months

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It's time for today's Merlin au! This time featuring some Mergwenthur (mostly focused on Merthur today though, but I have some more prompts planned for Mergwenthur because I love their dynamic!) and Arthur's emotional trauma from growing up under Uther!

Also, the option that won the poll will be the post after this one!

I just want to say that this au idea is so random that I'm pretty sure it came to me in a fever dream, so bon appétit my friends! :D

In this au, set in season 5, a sorcerer working for Morgana sneaks into the castle and creates three dolls: one of Arthur, one of Gwen, and one of Merlin. We see in the show that puppets and dolls with a likeness to their target can be used in dark rituals, and that's what this sorcerer plans to do.

However, Camelot's guards manage to catch and apprehend the sorcerer (whose powers just mysteriously failed them when the guards attacked, and no one sees Merlin loitering in the servants' hallway nearby) before the sorcerer could bind the doll of Arthur to the king. So, the small dolls of Gwen and Merlin are bound to them, but Arthur's isn't.

After the sorcerer has been locked up, Arthur discovers the dolls in the sorcerer's belongings and has Gaius take a look at them. Gaius tells him that they can go ahead and destroy the doll of Arthur since it isn't bound to anyone, but they'll need to wait to destroy Gwen and Merlin's dolls, since they had already been bound with magic and now any damage done to the dolls would be done to either of them.

Arthur is, rightfully, horrified by this and, as gently as he could, placed the two dolls in a secret compartment hidden in a wall of his room. He locks the two dolls away, feeling relief that no magical harm could come to the two most important people in his life.

Meanwhile, Gaius tells Merlin and Gwen about the dolls and their temporary solution to lock them away. Merlin's kicking himself for not being able to stop the sorcerer sooner, but he soon gets to work helping Gaius look for a spell to break the bond between them and the dolls.

However, as the days go on and no solution comes up, the whole doll situation falls on the backburner as more magical situations happen that demand Gaius and Merlin's immediate attention, leaving the whole doll mess to fall to the wayside. They'd find a solution eventually, they reasoned, and their temporary solution of locking them away had worked perfectly so far, so they should focus on the more pressing matters at hand.

However, Arthur couldn't seem to quite get the dolls out of his head. The cursed objects that could take away the two most important people in his life were just sitting there! Arthur's fears about the dolls ran wild, so Arthur asked Gaius for information on those types of dolls. After all, they could more easily take precautions around the dolls if they knew more about them.

Gaius directs Arthur to a certain book in Geoffrey's library that he knew had several chapters dedicated to the magic dolls and their potential uses. Arthur thanked Gaius and, that night, dedicated himself to reading all about the dolls so he could better protect his loved ones.

Most of what Arthur read disgusted and terrified him, reading about horrifying methods of torture and execution using the dolls, which would transfer every sensation and emotion directed at them onto the person they were bound to. Eventually though, Arthur came to a shorter chapter about the positive uses of the dolls. He read about druids who had taken vows of silence using the dolls to convey their affections for their loved ones, and even powerful sorcerers using similar dolls to comfort their far-away families.

As much as Arthur tried to shove that idea violently from his mind, it became fixed in his thoughts like a fly in a spiderweb. A way for someone else to feel the full depths of his love without having to use words?

Arthur, for all of his faults, knew himself. He knew that he was not the best at conveying his emotions. Words, no matter how long he thought over them, always felt like pale reflections of the enormity of his emotions, especially in regards to his love for Gwen and Merlin. With Gwen, he often stumbled over his words, unsure of how to express the depths of his love for her, even three years into marriage. With Merlin, on the other hand, any of his attempts at affection inevitably devolved into banter and friendly name-calling, never being able to truly tell Merlin how much he meant to Arthur.

Could these dolls be the solution? Could he somehow use them to convey his feelings for his beloved Gwen and Merlin? Arthur found his eyes frequently drifting towards the secret compartment where he knew the dolls lay. Could he...

Eventually, the temptation became so strong that Arthur couldn't resist anymore. Surely, if he was gentle and careful, then everything would be fine, right? Either Merlin and Gwen would be able to feel Arthur love through the little dolls, or nothing would happen and Arthur would go about his day only slightly disappointed.

With his mind made up, Arthur checked the lock on his chamber's door to ensure that he would be alone, and made his way over to the secret compartment in his wall, unlocking it. Sitting inside, exactly where he left them, were the dolls of Merlin and Gwen.

Arthur quickly darted over to his window, where had a clear view of Merlin talking with Gwaine in the courtyard. If anything happened to Merlin because of the doll, he would know right away, and he could reassure himself that this little experiment of his wasn't doing any harm.

They were both small, with his hand being able to cover the entirety of either doll with the exception of its head. As carefully as Arthur could, he pulled each doll out of the wall and set them down gently on his desk, making sure to cushion the back of their heads as he set them down.

It wasn't until Arthur saw staring down at the dolls did he realize that the book never specified exactly how emotions were transferred. Sensations were easy enough, but it never said how to convey emotions themselves.

Well, Arthur reasoned with himself, it couldn't be that difficult. He gently picked up the doll that resembled Merlin (it even had a little jacket and a red scarf on it and everything) and held it in front of him. Arthur took a few moments to contemplate his next move, before landing on an acceptable strategy.

Willfully ignoring the voice in his head (which sounded remarkably similar to his father) that was berating Arthur for seeking comfort from these dolls like a little girl, Arthur brought the Merlin doll close to his chest and held it there, trying his best to simulate a hug. There, that was a good start!

Moving back over to the window, Arthur was relieved to see Merlin unharmed and still speaking with Gwaine with a large smile on his face, not showing any signs of pain or discomfort.

Emboldened and relieved with the knowledge that he wasn't causing any harm, Arthur next had to figure out if he was really sending his feeling through the doll, or if this was just a huge waste of Arthur's time.

Keeping his eyes trained on Merlin, Arthur brought the doll up to his face and pressed a gentle kiss onto its forehead. To his amazement, right as he had kissed the doll, Merlin suddenly stopped speaking looked rather confused, touching a hand to his forehead, as if trying to check to see if anything was there, while a blush rose on his cheeks.

Arthur could feel a huge grin break out on his face. It had worked! Merlin had felt the affection he had shown to the doll!

Arthur, cuddling the Merlin doll: Get cherished idiot! Get absolutely adored!

Merlin, wondering why the hell he feels someone hugging him: Huh, that's weird.

Over the course of the next week, Arthur experimented with different ways to convey his emotions to Gwen and Merlin through the dolls. He found that holding the dolls close and speaking to them, spilling out all of the words that he was so clumsy with when he was with Gwen or Merlin, worked the most effectively. However, just holding, cuddling, or kissing the dolls had much of the same effect.

Arthur could even see the different it made with Gwen and Merlin! Even though Arthur was too embarrassed to tell them about how he had taken to trying to express his feelings through the dolls, he could tell that both of them were happier and more affectionate with him!

Oh, it was all working out perfectly! Arthur could finally honestly express his love to Merlin and Gwen to its fullest extent, and they were happier in return (even if they didn't quite know why)!

And it was all well and good, up until Merlin was injured. Not by the doll, thank god, because Arthur would never forgive himself if something like that happened. No, it was during a routine hunt through the darkling woods, which of course had to be ruined by bandits.

Arthur had thought nothing of it at first, as it was a smaller and untrained group, but horror gripped him near the end of the fight as he turned around to see Merlin, coming out of hiding and totally unaware of the bandit's crossbow aimed at him. Arthur tries shouting for Merlin to move out of the way, but he's too late. Between one heartbeat and the next, there's suddenly a crossbow bolt sticking out of Merlin's back.

Arthur makes quick work of the four bandits standing between him and Merlin, and frantically starts trying to treat and bandage the wound on Merlin's back. The wound is deep, Arthur's panicking, and Merlin's already passed out. Luckily, the knight quickly finished off the rest of the bandits, and they ride as swiftly as they could back to Camelot so Merlin could be treated by Gaius.

Luckily, they were able to get Merlin to Gaius before Merlin lost too much blood or the wound became infected, so Gaius was able to treat Merlin's wound and give him a good prognosis. However, much to everyone's concern, Merlin still hadn't woken up, and Gaius couldn't guarantee when Merlin would wake up or fully recover.

While Gwen stayed by Merlin's side all night, Arthur couldn't bear the sight of Merlin, looking still and broken on a patient's cot. Perhaps that made Arthur weak, but he couldn't ever bear to see his loved ones in pain, knowing that there was nothing he could do to help.

Or... perhaps... there was something he could do to help. Merlin likely couldn't hear what was going on around him, but if he could feel it instead...

Arthur took Merlin's doll from its secret compartment as gently as his desperation would allow. Arthur was pretty sure that there were tears running down his face, but he couldn't bring himself to care about that at the moment.

With trembling hands, Arthur carefully held the doll to his chest, right over his heart. Arthur tries everything he can, from kissing the doll to just speaking to it, telling the little scrap of cloth and magic all of the things he adores about Merlin and how he cannot cope with the thought of losing him.

Everyone is relieved the next day when Merlin wakes up, still weak from his injury, but recovering nonetheless. But man, Merlin had some weird dreams while he was unconscious. He dreamed Arthur was a giant and was hugging him! Merlin tried to play it off for laughs to lighten the mood when Arthur visited him, but Arthur didn't seem to find it nearly as funny as Merlin and Gwen did. Instead, Arthur turned slightly pale at Merlin's words.

After Arthur left, Merlin and Gwen turn to each other and discuss why they think Arthur had reacted like that. They both agree that Arthur had been acting differently lately, but if anything, it was an improvement. Arthur had been more open to both giving and receiving affection with them, and he had been more open with sharing his emotions lately, being overall less of a complete prat.

So, this sudden closed off response was rather suspicious to both of them. After some discussion, they agree to search for an explanation for Arthur's strange shift in behavior. After some snooping around and looking between the gaps on the door to he servant's entrance to Arthur chambers, Merlin and Gwen saw something truly shocking.

Arthur had been removing the dolls that were bound to them to their hiding spot! Did he know how dangerous that was for the both of them! What was he even planning on doing with them?!

Many of their questions were answered, however, when Arthur started pressing kisses to the top of both doll's heads, and both Gwen and Merlin could feel the sensation of the kiss touching their heads. Oh. So that's what the whole doll situation was about, and why both of them were having sudden and unexplainable sensations and bursts of positive emotion.

It made a shocking amount of sense, especially considering how frustrated they knew Arthur could get at his lack of skills in communicating his feelings. Merlin and Gwen turned to each other, and decided to not confront Arthur about this just yet. They could let Arthur have this, and he'd tell them when he was ready.

For now, Arthur would have his peace.

And that's a wrap for this au! Honestly, this au idea was so unique that I don't even know where it came from, but there's a lot of different ways this au could go! One of my favorite ideas is that any injury the person gets is also reflected on the doll, so after Merlin or Gwen goes missing, Arthur obsessively checks the dolls to see if they're unhurt.

Anyways, I've got the au idea that won the poll (an au idea featuring Arthur being an idiot) planned for tomorrow or the next day, so I hope to see you all again soon!

And, as always, thank you for reading though my ramblings! :D

#merlin #bbc merlin #arthur pendragon #merlin bbc #merlin au #merlin prompts #merthur #mergwen #arwen #mergwenthur

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doyoulikethissong-poll · 4 months

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Commonly asked questions

How do I submit songs? Submissions are currently closed. When it opens up again, I'll post a message here stating rules and which specific info I require. If you don't supply that info along with the song, your message will be deleted.

I submitted a song when we were allowed. When will it appear? :) There's waaay over two thousand songs in my askbox. 😅 And I'm very slow at posting submitted songs because it takes an oddly more amount of time and energy than you'd think, that's why it's easier for me to go with the songs I already have. Please have a bit more patience, hopefully it'll be posted soon enough! 💖

I don't like the genres posted recently. 🤷‍♀️ I mean, you can tell me what genres there's a lack of and I'll try put more effort into adding more of them.

I don't like the poll options. 🤷‍♀️

Will there be an "Indifferent" option? No. People bitched and very rudely demanded it when the blog was new and it left a very sour taste. Also we're 250+ songs in, it's kinda meh to add it now, but I definitely understand why you want it because some songs are really hard to define if you feel anything at all about them. (also you know people would just click indifferent to see the results instead of listening to the song lol) If I were to ever add more options, it would be love/hate.

How do I vote on a song if I feel indifferent about it? Indifferent = don't like it ig. 🤷‍♀️ Remember, I'm not asking you if you LOVE!!!!!! the song, or if you want to buy it. Liking can be as good as only a "meh, it's ok / decent enough to run in the background". Disliking can be being indifferent instead of outright hating it, when it's so neutral to you that it doesn't give you any positive feelings. It is only a minute long clip that I'm asking you to form an opinion about after all; you can change your mind either way when you hear the full version. Sometimes songs have to grow on you!

How do you pick the songs used in the polls? Mostly like this:

I have a huge mp3 hoarding archive so the submitted songs are easier for me to pick if they're already in my possession. 😅 Songs that aren't in my collection (tagged as #new to admin :D lol. sometimes i search out songs specifically for the poll that are tagged this as well) requires a bit more effort to download/listen to/edit but i have discovered a couple of great new gems so don't think i don't appreciate them!

How do I search for a specific artist/song that you've posted? All artists are tagged a day or so after the song reveal. Don't forget to use the hashtag symbol when searching or tumblr will give you all sorts of odd results!!!! (or none at all, lol) Please also remember that tumblr finds simple easy tasks extremely difficult, so only search for an artist with the easiest type of spelling, like #beyonce instead of #beyoncé. All artists and songs are added to the Complete Song List once their showdown poll is finished, for a quick search of what's been posted.

The audio quality is too poor for my taste!! 😡 sad </3

This is just for you. 💖

Why are all the songs of such vast variating quality? ....i mean, you didn't think I've bought all the tens of thousands of songs in my music library, did you...? Pirating songs gives you variations of quality, hell even my own cd rips have variations. It's easier to get better quality files now than it was back in the days, kiddos, so yeah some songs in the archives needs to be updated with new files. I have some very ancient mp3's that are in really low sound, that i've instead downloaded newer versions of in better quality for the polls but y'all still give me shit about it because the artist have remastered the track to unrecognition or whatever so there's just no pleasing some people i guess lmao. 😂

Do you like all the songs you've posted? No, lol. All the songs that are in my archive are songs I've at least liked enough once upon a time to save them, even if I'm not actively listening to them much anymore. Everything tagged as #new to admin :D are new songs to me that I may or may not like, regardless if they're submitted or if I've scouted them out myself only for the polls. :) Songs that I hate so much that I can't stand them are very few, and I won't waste time on adding them!

Did you change the song in the poll?? No. Maybe you clicked on the wrong one if I posted them too close together or maybe (most likely) tumblr has screwed something up for you. Some songs don't even show at times because it's tumblr being tumblr, just wait it out for a few minutes and tumblr will eventually remember to play the audio. So far there's only one song that I had to re-upload because tumblr killed the file. I can change the clip to better audio or to another part of the same song, but I never replace it to a different one once it's out there for you to vote on, I don't see the point of doing that.

Why are some polls audio files and other video files? Again: tumblr being tumblr. They won't allow some songs to be uploaded as audio, but using them in videos is ok. I hate the audio-as-video format and it requires even more effort from me so I'm not doing it on purpose. :)

I don't remember if I've heard this song before or not. If you know you've heard it, like if you're a fan or a hater or the song has been constantly played on the radio, you know it. (this is why the phrasing has been changed again in the latest polls) If you don't remember it, or just vaguely, or just a specific tiny part used in a meme/tiktok video, choose first time. The only thing that matters is the yes or no, knowing it or not is just an added fun but don't take it too seriously. :) Look at it sort of like "old fan/casual listener/hater vs new listener".

The part of the song that you posted SUCKS!!!! You should have just posted this one specific famous part for people to vote yes! "don't post the actual song in this song poll" ...................................like, no. not gonna post just the meme-bits or the drops or the whatever. Yeah i saw all the comments how you all clicked dislike on "Out of Touch" because you voted before you got to the chorus 😂 That's an honest opinion about the song lol, because a song is more than just a catchy chorus or a big drop. But yeah, sometimes one verse of a song would've maybe been better to post instead of that other verse, I'm with you on that.

I queued this song to see what it is but it's still stated as being Anonymous for me! Reblogs, drafts and queues will only show you what's there at the time, like a screenshot. It won't update automatically. All your reblogs, drafts and queued posts from when the poll is active will only show up as Anonymous songs. Always go back to the original post to see the song reveal. If the info isn't there, then give me a day or two to update the post because most likely things are too busy irl. 💖

I voted wrong/voted before I recognized the song! Will you change my vote? No, I'm not recounting anything wth. 😅

I'm embarrassed. I like the song but I don't want others to know that I do. I promise you that nobody but you can see how you've voted. Not me or your mutuals. Only you see what you've voted on. It's ok to like bad songs, and it's ok to like good songs by bad people. Don't let others shame you for that.

How do I vote on this cover/remix that was posted instead of the original? If you feel like this version is close to the original that you like, vote yes. If you don't feel like this version does the original song justice, vote no, even if it hurts.

This song that I don't know samples another song that I do know. How do I vote? I don't consider samples being used as being the same song, so pick first time. Unlike covers/remixes, the original song that has been sampled might show up at a later time, if it hasn't already been on here before.

How does so many people not know this song!!? Everyone is not your age/not from your country and your experience is not universal. 🤷‍♀️ That being said, I too get wtf-moments sometimes because some songs really do get wacky results, so, yeah 😂

Have you ever thought about-- Yes.

I demand you give me a rickroll!!!!!! Ask things nicely instead of demanding things from me. (This is the most common demand I've gotten, sigh. Thanks to those of you who have at least asked nicely and/or with a sense of humour!)

Please do a rickroll? It's already been posted in a bonus poll. It might show up in a "real" poll in years from now if this poll blog is still active but as of now it was added to a tumblr meme post where it was better suited.

I'm gonna ignore that submissions are closed and send you song suggestions anyway!!!! They will be deleted because they're not asked for atm. Unless you're the artist. Exceptions can be made in that case. :)

This poll blog doesn't respect my requirement to know who the artists are before I listen to their songs because of my need - that is very important that everyone else needs to acknowledge and follow - to know if a person is of a good moral standing according to my own views!! 😡 There's other poll blogs better suited for you. Not everything online has to be adjusted to fit *your* particular needs. 🤷‍♀️ (YES i've actually gotten this demand way too often. Sigh.)

Why was my reblog hidden from the notes where I spew hatred over an artist?! You are censoring me!!!! Did you mention the artist by name, or other obvious spoilers? Don't post spoilers. 🤷‍♀️

You hid this other comment I made with no spoilers!!!!! Sometimes comments show in dashboard mode but not in app mode and vice versa, or not even in the notifications. Haven't we already established that tumblr finds easy stuff extremely difficult? Also, sometimes you and I don't share an opinion of what a spoiler means. To all of you who have claimed an artist's name isn't a spoiler, yeah it's kind of a big one. As for the artist mentioning their own name or the song title in the song, you only hear that once you listen to the clip. Knowing it before even clicking to play the music is a spoiler.

Why have you turned off replies? I want to say things without reblogging!! I mean 🤷‍♀️ I'm sure you know why. Replies and anons have been turned off from the very beginning. The few times replies actually have been turned on, it's been stated as such and been very temporarily, like when we've discussed music in some post.

Turn on anon!!! I'm to shy to say thing off-anon! I mostly reply to things privately, or this blog would be nothing but q&a. Anons are off for a reason. Abuse and death threats are to be associated with the sender's account for all to see. I'm always nice to nice people so there's no need to worry about sending me questions or tagging me in things. :) 💖

I demand you to-- Pay me. :)

Shut up and take the abuse thrown at you personally because you're just a poll blog! You are aware that the poll blogs on tumblr aren't actually run by bots, right? Don't be an obnoxious twat. (and ughh yes, this too has been said to me several times. Sigh.)

I want you to add this song I want RIGHT NOW and/or i WANT these other options added now! Rich people can always break all the rules, just like irl. Just give me the $$$$ 😘

I don't like this song because I don't understand the language. Please only post English songs. Ok well, I mean, you can always learn other languages. 🤷‍♀️ Just like how I learned English.

If anyone feels targeted by these last questions without me meaning to, I'm sorry. These actually are the most common questions and comments and demands I've gotten in my askbox. Especially when the blog was new and people Demanded Their Rights to have me adjust everything to suit them. Don't feel like you can't state your thoughts in reblogs or in messages because as long as you're not being rude to me, my attitude on some answers isn't targeted at you, only at them. 💖 Remember to just have fun with the polls and hopefully you and/or your mutuals discover new music!

#qna

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sass-squat · 1 year

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Part 5 of the Linked Universe Winged Au! In the last poll you guys all voted for him so here he is, Wild!

<<< Previous Next >>>

As always, there has to be a silly little bird fact to start off with so did you know that the American Kestrel is the smallest falcon in North America and only weighs about 3-6 ounces which is the equivalent of 34 pennies? This fact isn't actually important lore wise for this headcanon, but it did remind me of the one post where someone discovered that BoTW Link weighs approximately 8.5 apples.

Anyways, as you may have guessed, Wild is heavily based on the American Kestrel because of their beautiful plumage and their unique behaviors and characteristics.

An example of one of these behaviors is that American Kestrels are known for capitalizing on favorable soaring conditions, such as mountain updrafts and thermals while traveling. In this headcanon, Wild shows this characteristic primarily through his use of Revali's Gale and his tendency to make fires in order to more easily take flight. While his methods are incredibly effective, they do also tend to scare the rest of the group the first time he does them. After all, it's not everyday you see someone make a fire and then run headfirst into it just to take off.

While this specific habit of his may appear to just be a funny little quirk that he just does because he's WILD, it's actually a result of his near death experience with Guardians. The scars on his face and body may be clearly visible to everyone around him, but the damage done to his wings is actually far less noticeable. His various injuries and scars actually have a major impact on his ability to take off and effect his stamina needed to maintain flight for long periods of time. Because of this, he tends to use the aforementioned methods to aid his flight or oftentimes simply chooses to leap off high surfaces and glide rather than attempt to take flight.

However, despite having difficulties with the initial takeoff and his struggles to maintain flight for long periods of time, he's actually very adept and capable of fighting in the air. The way he fights allows him to deliver sharp, agile, and accurate killing blows to his enemies in a way that others describe as, "Witnessing time seemingly slowing down for everyone but him." In other words, he's a real force to be reckoned in once he's finally airborne.

Anyways, there's more I could explain but that's all for now folks! As always, kudos to all those who read all that lore dump and thank you again for always being so kind and supportive! All your words of encouragement always inspire me to worker harder! Thank you all and please feel free to reach out with any questions or requests for who or what you would like to see next!

P.S. After much encouragement I did recently make a TikTok account where I'll try to be posting regularly! Feel free to check it and my Twitter out at sass_squat3! Thank you all again for your support! :D

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foundtherightwords · 5 months

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The Hollow Heart - Chapter 1

Pairing: Hellcheer, Gothic AU

Summary: To escape her mother's control and the stifling society of Gilded Age New York, heiress Christabel Cunningham impulsively marries Henry Creel, a charming and seductive stranger, and accompanies him to his remote mansion on the West Coast. There, as Henry grows cold and cruel, Christabel must uncover her husband's sinister secret before it's too late. But can she trust Kas, her husband's enigmatic assistant, who seems to be her only ally in this strange place, or is Kas's loyalty to his master stronger than his attraction to Christabel?

A/N: This was inspired by the moodboard for "Vecna's Bride" by @a-strange-inkling. I saw the title and the Gothic imagery and my imagination just ran wild.

I changed the names to differentiate them from my Regency AU and better fit the Gothic vibe, so Chrissy is now Christabel (after the poem by Coleridge; the fic title and chapter titles are also quotes from the poem) and Eddie is Kas, because I took some inspiration from the D&D lore of Vecna and Kas (big thanks to @waterfallsilverberrywrites for helping me with that!) When I did a poll, the consensus was that Eddie's Gothic name should be Edmund, but... I prefer Kas :P (I already have plans to use Edmund for another AU.)

Chapter warnings: none (but Eddie doesn't appear in this chapter yet... please bear with me)

Chapter word count: 3.9k

Chapter 1 - At the Old Oak Tree

Christabel ran.

In the distance, she could hear the shouts and cheers of the hunting party, the excited barking of the dogs, and the occasional gunshots, cracking sharply in the crisp autumn air. She was not far enough. Lifting her heavy wool skirt above her knees, she pushed deeper into the bushes. The dead leaves from years past formed a soft carpet under her feet, muffling the sound of her steps, while the leaves of this year, despite having turned all shades of gold and crimson on the trees, had not yet fallen, so she need not worry about being discovered from their crunch underfoot. She hoped the party was not headed this way. After all her endeavors to snatch a moment alone, she intended to savor it to its fullest.

Christabel Cunningham hadn't had many opportunities to be alone in her twenty-three years on Earth. The only daughter of a wealthy New York businessman, she had been since birth surrounded by nurses and governesses and servants, who took care of her under the watchful eyes of her mother. Her father had died, quite suddenly, of a heart attack, when Christabel was only a child. Christabel did not miss him. To her, he was but a dim, distant figure, always away on business trips, or holed up in his study when at home, hiding from his wife, leaving Christabel to bear the brunt of her mother's nagging. The sole mark he'd left on Christabel's life was her name, given to her by him in a fit of romanticism, much to the disapproval of Mrs. Cunningham, who preferred classic names like Elizabeth or Catherine or Amelia. His death didn't leave much of a void behind.

Her mother, an ambitious and exacting woman, embittered by her failure to have a son and by becoming a widow so young, had poured all her affection and thwarted dreams upon her daughter, smothering the girl with them. She dictated everything Christabel wore and ate and read and play, and all the friends Christabel made and all the parties Christabel attended had to be approved by her. And so Christabel had grown up with her books and her dolls, lonely but never alone.

In truth, she hadn't been allowed to attend a lot of parties. As she grew up and learned more about her father's will, Christabel discovered a more mercenary side to what she'd once thought was her mother's overprotectiveness. As the trustee of her daughter's inheritance, Mrs. Cunningham could enjoy a lavish lifestyle, a townhouse on Fifth Avenue, a summer cottage in Newport, the latest fashion in her wardrobe and the most luxurious dishes on her table. But as soon as Christabel was married, she would be in charge of her own fortune, and Mrs. Cunningham would be left with half of what she was used to. Christabel believed that to prevent this, her mother would have locked her away forever, like Rapunzel in her tower.

But social standing has its advantages. Afraid of the wagging tongues of the town, the whispers behind closed doors that she was keeping her daughter from society to hold on to her money, Mrs. Cunningham had reluctantly allowed Christabel to make her debut when she came of age. Since then, her days had been filled with balls and theater trips in the winter, tennis matches and yacht races in the summer, giggling friends and fawning suitors, still under the watchful eyes of her mother. It was tedious, but Christabel had endured it because it was better than staying at home, surrounding by the dark walls of her room and feeling her mother's disapproving stare on her at all times. Besides, that was what was expected of all the debutantes. Smile, dance, flirt, ride, sketch or sing a little, play a little piano, speak a bit of French, a bit of German, be amusing but not sarcastic, be vivacious but not feisty, be modest but not withdrawn, and hopefully make an advantageous match, and then have daughters and watch them go through the same thing, over and over again.

Christabel knew she would not break free of this cycle. Her whole life she had been taught to do what she was told, to never question, to never put a foot out of line. But as her own, feeble form of rebellion, she made it a point to refuse every proposal she'd ever received—and there had been plenty of them. With her delicate features, dewy skin, wide blue eyes, and strawberry blonde hair, Christabel always turned heads in every room she walked in. It was true that her nose was slightly upturned and her front teeth were slightly crooked, but these flaws were seen as charming, not defective. And if her manners were at times rather listless and uninterested, well, her inheritance could more than make up for it. So a lot of men had fallen in love with her, or at least with her beauty, or with her money, and had proposed, but she had refused them all.

When Mrs. Cunningham found out about these refusals, Christabel always had a believable reason to convince her mother of her decision—the family had an unpleasant reputation, their fortunes were not equal, or the boy himself did not have a promising enough prospect. Mrs. Cunningham was appeased, for a while, but after two seasons and Christabel remained unmarried, she began to grow uneasy and warned her daughter of the perils of spinsterhood.

To all her admonishment, Christabel said nothing. It wasn't that she wanted to be an old maid for the rest of her life, far from it. But unlike other young women, who dreamed of marriage as a celebration of love or even as a way to further their social connections, Christabel saw it as a means to freedom. And none of the men in her circle could give her that freedom she so thirsted. They all grew from the same stocks, the same root. If she married one of them, she would move in the same circle, lead the same life, beating a tired circle from Manhattan to Newport and back again, perhaps with the occasional trip to Europe, but still seeing the same faces, doing the same thing as everybody else, and never be free of her mother.

For that summer season, Christabel had tried to convince her mother to go to London or Paris, or, if they had to stay, then she was secretly hoping—as hateful as it sounded—to catch the eyes of a European aristocrat, many of whom were flocking to America in search of an heiress to restore their family fortune. Europe would be the ultimate escape. However, her mother disliked traveling, and although Christabel's inheritance was sizeable, it was not large enough to draw the attention of an impoverish earl or baronet.

At least her mother had accepted Mrs. Carver's invitation to their summer mansion in Tuxedo Park for two weeks of English-style country party. There were to be riding and shooting and picnics in the woods, all culminating in a costume ball on All Hallows' Eve. They had just come back from Newport, worn out and looking forward to some quiet days to recover before the winter season, so Christabel had been afraid her mother would refuse, knowing her dislike of the outdoors. But an invitation to the exclusive Tuxedo Park was hard to come by, and when Mrs. Cunningham learned the party was thrown for Mrs. Carver's eldest, Jason, who had just come back from Yale, nothing could have kept her away.

Jason Carver. Christabel sighed. All the debutantes were in love with him, though to Christabel, he had always been just a good friend, nothing more. She'd never imagined he would set his sight on her, not when he was always surrounded by so many other girls. So it had come as a complete shock when, after a dinner party at the Carvers' mansion, Jason had asked to speak to her alone in the gazebo overlooking Tuxedo Lake. There, while the moonlight rippled over the water, turning the surface of the lake into a broken mirror, he had taken Christabel's hands in his and, tremblingly, haltingly, asked her to marry him.

For the first time, Christabel had hesitated.

Jason was one of her few childhood friends her mother had approved of, as the Carvers' Manhattan residence was not far from the Cunninghams'. He had always been kind and attentive to her, and unlike some men, she knew he cared not a jot for her inheritance, since the Carvers was one of the richest and most prominent families in the city. A marriage between her and Jason would send her mother to Heaven.

That was the problem, of course. Christabel never wanted to do anything her mother wished.

"If we are to marry, can we live here?" she'd asked. It sounded as though she had accepted him already, but she didn't care. She looked around at the untamed parkland of the mansion, with the woods surrounding it on all sides and the sparkling lake in the distance. It may not be far enough from her mother, but it would be something.

"Of course!" Jason had said, squeezing her hands. "We'll come here for the summer, and—"

"No, you mistook me. I don't mean for the summer. I mean permanently."

Jason had laughed at that, thinking it was a joke. "We can't possibly live here! I have my business in town, and there's nobody here for half of the year anyway. Why would you want to live here?"

Christabel had tried to say that she wanted to live in Tuxedo Park precisely because there was nobody there for half of the year, but one look at Jason and she knew he wouldn't understand. Nobody would.

"I'm sorry, I can't," she'd said and withdrawn her hands.

She'd half-hoped Jason would try to get her to change her mind, that he would say they could live anywhere as long as they were together, but he had only shaken his head, said, "It's not meant to be then," bowed, and gone back inside, leaving her alone on the shore of that moonlit lake. Of course. No amount of love could be enough to compel a man to throw away his whole life like that, and even if he had made the offer, she couldn't possibly have accepted such a sacrifice. Perhaps it was for the best.

Still, that hadn't stopped things from being rather tense and awkward between them when they set out for the hunt that morning. Christabel had never enjoyed hunting, but she jumped at any chance to be outdoors, to be able to walk and run and move freely without being criticized for not acting ladylike enough. And another reason—her mother, having no interest in hunting and riding, always stayed behind on such occasions. That morning, though, Christabel could feel Jason's mournful eyes on her whenever she turned. She'd only wanted to be alone with her thoughts, but it was difficult when she was surrounded by the hunting party with their guns and dogs and servants. It was only when they came across a flock of partridges and the others' attention was diverted that she managed to slip into the woods.

Now, as she walked through the trees, Christabel pondered her situation. Would it be so bad, being married to Jason? It would at least let her be mistress of her own life... except that life would still be tied to another's. No, if she simply wanted to claim her inheritance, she would've married the first man that proposed and had done with it. This regret was simply because she had started to feel anxious about her future. Could she go on like this until her mother died? Could she live as a spinster, becoming brittle and bitter in her old age, facing the pity and contempt of others? Christabel felt the old, helpless anger toward her father blaze up inside her once more when she thought about the predicament he'd placed her in. What was the use of ensuring no one could touch her inheritance, if she had to saddle herself to a man to claim it?

She passed through the line of trees and came to a clearing on the side of a hill, gently sloping toward a small glen, where an old oak tree spread its cape of gold leaves over a murmuring brook. It seemed something straight out of a Washington Irving story—all that was missing was a covered bridge. Tucking her skirt into the top of her gaiters, Christabel threw her arms over her head and sprinted down the slope, letting the cool air fill her lungs and clear her head.

Near the bottom of the slope, her skirt slipped out of the gaiters and tangled around her legs. Her ankles twisted under her and sent her tumbling down. She rolled head over heels the last few feet before skidding to a stop right by the oak. Luckily, the hill wasn't steep, and her fall had been more embarrassing than painful. She cursed under her breath. When they received Mrs. Carver's invitation, Christabel had begged and begged her mother to let her have a split skirt for the occasion so she could move about with more ease and perhaps even learn to ride a bicycle, as some of her friends had, but Mrs. Cunningham had insisted that her old riding habit, with its long trailing skirt, would do just fine. Christabel shouldn't do much walking or moving about anyway, Mrs. Cunningham had argued. Men wouldn't be interested in overly energetic girls. And as for riding a bicycle, showing off her legs in those newfangled bloomers, like some common hoyden? Forget about it.

"Are you all right, miss?" a voice said somewhere over her head.

Christabel looked up and saw a pair of blue eyes. A man had stepped out from the other side of the oak tree and was looking down at her. She suddenly became aware that she was sprawled on the ground with her skirt hiked up over her knees. She bolted up and pulled her skirt down, face burning crimson.

"Yes, yes, I'm perfectly fine, thank you," she sputtered, struggling to her feet.

Her ankle turned painfully. The man reached out a hand to help her. His grip was firm and strong.

"Thank you." Christabel peered at him more closely. He was dressed for a day out in tweed and stout boots, but with a walking stick, not a gun. "Are you with the Carver hunting party?" she asked, for she did not remember seeing him. He was a little older than Jason and her circle of friends, in his late twenties or early thirties perhaps, tall, with a fine-boned, elegant-looking face. But what startled her the most was his eyes, as clear and blue as the sky above, fixed upon her with an expression of fascination and interest quite unlike anything she'd received from her suitors. She reached a self-conscious hand to her hair, trying to dislodge any dry leaf that may have gotten stuck there.

"Carver? No, no, I'm a guest of Dr. Brenner."

Christabel's eyebrows shot up. Dr. Brenner was an eccentric who had inherited one of the largest fortunes in New York, but rather than continuing to run the family business, he had devoted his time to studies of the occult and other esoteric sciences. Unlike most of the residents of Tuxedo Park, who only kept their mansions here as holiday homes, he lived in a cottage deep in the woods year round, engaging in all sorts of obscure experiments, never interacting much with his neighbors. They tolerated him out of respect for his family name; some saw him as a harmless old fool and even invited him to some of their parties to show him off to their out-of-town friends, much like the ornamental hermits that the English aristocrats of old often kept on their grounds. Unfortunately, the Carvers were not one of these open-minded people, so Christabel had never met Dr. Brenner. She had to admit that she sometimes felt envious of him and the male privileges that allowed him to give up his family business, but not his wealth, and pursue his true passion. Alas, no such luck for her.

And here was this man, claiming to be a guest of the mysterious doctor! Her curiosity was pique immediately.

"Are you?" she asked, with interest. "I didn't know he ever invited anyone here. You must be a man of science or some sort of scholar, for him to allow you to encroach on his solitude. What is your business with him?" Then she colored again, realizing how intrusive her question was. Usually she never allowed herself to behave so casually with a gentleman, but there was something about this man that freed her from the confines of propriety. Or perhaps it was the scene around them, the wild woods and the open sky that had no use for etiquette. Still, the habits of upbringing were hard to shake off, so she cast her eyes downward and murmured, "I beg your pardon. I didn't mean to pry."

"Not at all," the man said with a friendly smile. "As a matter of fact, my family came from this area before it was developed, and Dr. Brenner is helping me to research our history. I'm just looking for the ruins of their village."

"Oh. That sounds very interesting."

"And if there's anyone who must be pardoned," the man continued, "it should be me, for I have been so presumptuous in talking to you without so much as an introduction. You must allow me to make amends, Miss—"

"Cunningham. Christabel Cunningham," she said.

"What an unusual and beautiful name." The man looked into the distance. "The lovely lady, Christabel, whom her father loves so well. What makes her in the wood so late, a furlong from the castle gate?" he recited in his rich, musical voice whose reverberation seemed to reach Christabel's very core.

She laughed to hide her blush. "A very fitting quote. Only it's not so very late, and while the Carver mansion is grand, it is far from a castle," she said. "And I'm simply taking a walk, not praying for my betrothed. In fact"—the noise from the hunting party had ceased, and she realized it must be nearly time for luncheon—"I'm just heading back now."

"And alas, I am no Geraldine," the man said. "But may I accompany you anyway?" He extended an arm toward her.

Christabel hesitated, thinking what her mother would say about walking in the woods with a stranger. But surely, there was no harm in it. The hunting party was not so far away, and she could always tell the truth—that she had gotten hurt, and this man was helping her. She took the proffered arm, and they started walking toward the Carver mansion, not following the route Christabel had, but taking the longer way, along the lakeshore, Christabel hobbling to keep up with the man's long strides. There was a dull ache in her ankle, but she bit her tongue, not wanting to complain.

"I see that you are an admirer of Coleridge, like my father," Christabel said.

"Your father must be a man of great taste then."

Her smile disappeared. "I wouldn't know. He died when I was very little." She caught herself again. Why was she telling this man, whom she met not five minutes ago and whose name she still didn't know, all these things about herself?

"Oh, I am so very sorry." The man took off his cap, revealing longish blonde hair that fell over his forehead in soft curls. His eyes were full of sympathy. "I know how difficult it is, losing one's parents. My own parents—" His voice hitched. "They died when I was very young as well. An earthquake, in San Francisco."

Christabel's heart panged with sympathy. "That must be horrible."

Those brilliant blue eyes dimmed for a moment. "It was."

"So you live in San Francisco?"

"I do, yes."

"What is it like?" she asked eagerly. Outside of Newport and occasionally the Catskills, she had never been anywhere. She had never even left the state of New York.

Before the man could answer, she put her weight on the sore ankle by mistake and let out an involuntary yelp. He turned to her, all solicitous concern. "Have you hurt yourself in the fall?" he asked.

"I must have," she replied reluctantly.

Tucking his cap into a pocket, he knelt down, took her ankle in his hand, and gently turned it this way and that. "Does this hurt?"

"Only a little," she said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, that won't do." He put one arm around her and the other under her knees, scooping her up easily as though she weighed no more than a feather. "I should have noticed sooner," he said. "I'm sorry."

"It's quite all right." Christabel was feeling a little dazed. None of her suitors had ever picked her up like that—indeed, none of them ever touched so much as the hem of her skirt without asking for permission first. She found that she didn't mind being handled, didn't mind the lack of permission-seeking. Nestling against his chest, she glanced shyly up at her gallant rescuer. Despite his slender frame, he was carrying her across the uneven terrain with no effort at all. The sun was shining upon his blonde hair, turning it into a gold helmet, and his blue eyes sparkled as he smiled down at her. She was glad they were taking the longer route.

But all too soon, the shingled walls of the Carver mansion appeared behind the trees, and the hunting party came into view. Christabel was afraid her rescuer would put her down the moment they came upon the others, but if anything, his hold around her seemed to tighten.

"There you are, Christabel," Jason said, stepping forward. "We were about to send out a search party—" His countenance changed upon seeing her in the arms of the stranger. "What happened?"

"Miss Cunningham had a bit of an accident," the man said. "I happened to come across her and took the liberty of escorting her home."

"How fortunate," Jason said, his voice icy. He all but yanked Christabel out of the other man's arms, as though she was a child, or worse, a doll, a toy to be fought over.

"I'm perfectly all right, Jason," Christabel said, fighting to put her feet on the ground. "It's just a sprain."

Jason relented and put her down. Christabel turned to her rescuer, who was replacing his cap on his hat, preparing to go. "Thank you so much," she said. "I hope I haven't delayed you from your quest."

"It was my pleasure. It's not every day a beautiful lady fell from the sky and landed at your feet, is it?"

She couldn't stop a smile from spreading across her face. "I still don't know your name."

"Haven't I told you?" He looked confused.

Christabel frowned, trying to recall. "No, I don't think so."

"Ah." He tipped his cap at her. "Henry Creel, pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Will I see you again, Mr. Creel?"

He flashed her another of his dazzling smiles. "You can count upon it." Then, with a bow in the general direction of the hunting party, who was staring at him, he turned and disappeared into the woods.

Chapter 2

As usual, if you want to be tagged, drop me a line! Any likes/reblogs/comments will be greatly appreciated, thank you!

#hellcheer #hellcheer fic #hellcheer au #eddissy #eddie x chrissy #eddie munson #chrissy cunningham #henry creel #joseph quinn #joseph quinn fic #kas!eddie #vampire!eddie munson

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thenerdyindividual · 2 years

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Want stories featuring queer characters in fantasy, science fiction, or horror settings, where being queer is central to the character but not the only thing they have going on? Let me introduce you to my list of podcasts!

To start we have Welcome to Night Vale. You’ve likely heard of it thanks to the tumblr sexy man poll, or if you’re old school tumblr like I am. It’s a classic for a reason, it kicked off the fiction podcast renaissance and was queer from the jump.

Welcome to Night Vale is an episodic podcast taking the form of radio broadcasts from a strange desert town called Night Vale that appears to be in a parallel universe to ours. It follows the bizarre occurrences within the town and the oppressive government’s clumsy attempts to cover them up.

How is it queer? The show also follows the personal life of radio show host Cecil Palmer who met new-to-town scientist Carlos, and “fell in love instantly”. Not only are they now married, they’ve adopted a child together.

Alice Isn’t Dead

From the creators of Welcome to Night Vale, Alice Isn’t Dead is a horror fiction podcast that follows Keisha, a woman who became a long haul truck driver to go in search of the wife (Alice) she thought was dead, but discovered was alive. In the process she uncovers monsters lurking among us and a massive government conspiracy trying to hide the truth.

How is it queer? As stated, the inciting incident is that Keisha discovers that her wife is secretly alive.

Dimension 20: Fantasy High

A dungeons and dragons actual play show. This season is set in a 1980s John Hughes-esque fantasy high school called the Arthur Aguefort Adventuring Academy. It follows six high schoolers starting their first day of freshman year as they form their adventuring party and try to uncover the mystery of why girls at their school keep going missing.

How is it queer? Kristen Applebees is the cleric of the party, and most of her arc in the first season is based in the struggle between honoring her religious upbringing and the god that gave her her magic, and realizing she’s a lesbian. Fig Faeth (the bard of the group) does not have a romance arc in this season, however in season 2 she does end up in a romantic relationship with another woman, and much of her arc in that relationship is based around the insecurities hidden behind her rock and roll persona. Riz Gukgak (the rogue of the group) does not use the term asexual on screen, however it is clear in a conversation in season 2 where he discusses feeling awkward about not being horny when all his other friends are. He was later confirmed as asexual by dungeon master Brennan Lee Mulligan.

Dimension 20: The Unsleeping City

Another story with the same players as Fantasy High. This story takes place in a fantastical New York City where the waking world intersects with the world of dream and magic. The story follows six adventurers as they struggle to keep the two worlds in balance with each other, and prevent the big bad from ruining the world of dreams forever. It’s Brennan’s love letter to New York.

How is it queer? Pete Conlan (the sorcerer of the group) is a bit of a dirt bag drug dealer who is struggling to learn to take on the responsibility of being the voice for the dreams. He is also a trans man. His awakening into the magical New York occurs because his dad attempts to deadname him, and he uses his magic powers to fill his dad’s mouth with bubbles and blast him away.

Not Another D&D Podcast Campaign 1

This is another dungeons and dragons actual play set in a more traditional D&D world. It follows the story of three adventurers living in the shadows of the saviors of Bahumia that came before them. Only to realize one of those saviors might not have retired, and is up to no good. They will have to save Bahumia from one of its saviors.

How is it queer? Beverly Toegold The Fifth (Paladin of the group) is the fantasy equivalent of a Boy Scout and ends up in a romantic relationship with another boy from his troop. (They’re both meant to be 16 by the end of the campaign I believe.) Moonshine Cybin (the Druid of the group) is just generally horny for everyone and anyone that impresses her, but she does also spend her last night before the final battle hooking up with Hardwon’s (the third party member) sister in law.

Not Another D&D Podcast Campaign 2

This story is set in the world of Eldermourne which delves heavily into the aesthetic of gothic horror. It follows three adventurers as they go in search of a missing witch that will help them protect Eldermourne from the conflicting factions of gods and religious extremists each trying to take the world and remake it in the way that suits them.

How is it queer? A major thrust of the story is that Fia Boginya (the wizard and cleric multiclass of the group) once saved her dear friend Irina from execution, but they end up needing Irina’s magic to protect the world. The party goes in search of her, and Fia admits to having always been in love with Irina, even when they were just children.

The Adventure Zone: Balance

Another D&D actual play. This one is set in a fantasy world that draws heavily on both fantasy and other aesthetics. The three adventurers encounter an extremely powerful and destructive magical object, and manage to capture it. In doing so they are inducted into the organization called the Bureau of Balance, and are sent on missions to recover the other objects of power that have been scattered across the land. There is more to the characters than even they know.

How is it queer? Taako the Wizard (one of the adventurers) ends up in a romantic relationship with the Grim Reaper who in this world is a man. There is also a romantic relationship between two women who are also members of the Bureau of Balance that hangs out in the background of the story. A trans woman is also prevalent in the story, but explaining anything else about her reveals major spoilers for the campaign, but trust me she is narratively important.

The Adventure Zone: Amnesty

This is another actual play show, but it uses the Monster of the Week system that was created using shows like Scooby Doo, X-Files, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It is set in the fictional town of Kepler, West Virginia and the Monongahela National Forest. Cryptids are real and they all hang out in Kepler. Three friends band together to stop monsters with ill intent from destroying the town, and learn more about the world that parallels theirs. It is Dungeon Master Griffin McElroy’s love letter to the West Virginia town he and his brothers grew up in.

How is it queer? Aubrey Little is the magic user of the group and identifies as bisexual. She ends up in a romantic relationship with a vampire girl in town.

Campaign Skyjacks

It is another role playing game actual play. I’m not entirely clear on what system they are using, as a lot of it is the creation of the game master. It is set in a fantasy world where crossing the oceans has become too treacherous, so pirates, privateers, and sailors alike have all taken to the sky in airships. The story follows four crew members of the ship the Uhuru as they try to make the ship profitable all while trying to hide from the rest of the crew that the captain has long since died and the doctor has been puppet-ing his corpse for weeks now.

How is it queer? I am still in the early stages of the podcast so there may be more queer characters later, but off the bat there is Gable who is the quarter master of the ship. Gable is non-binary.

These are not the only podcasts that fit the bill, but these are the ones I listen to. I’d also like to give a special mention to most other seasons of Dimension 20. There are a ton more, and you’re likely to get at least one queer character per season. However, I wanted to keep it to things you could find for free. Fantasy High and The Unsleeping City are both free on YouTube, but all other Dimension 20 seasons are on the streaming service dropout tv (which I do recommend getting because they do a lot of other good shows too.)

Feel free to add more shows in your reblogs!

#dimension 20 #fantasy high #welcome to night vale #the unsleeping city #tuc #wtnv #naddpod #bahumia #eldermourne #taz #the adventure zone #the adventure zone amnesty #taz amnesty #taz balance #skyjacks #the adventure zone balance #alice isn't dead

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the-24-7-lawlu-library · 6 months

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Poll Vote Fluff

Sorry everyone for being late. Was fighting a mean headache. I hope you all had a great weekend and wish you a wonderful week <3

A Legend about True Love by Katia_Anyway (G)

The Prince of the Kingdom, Luffy, has spent his whole life locked up in the Castle, his Grandfather the King insisting that the world outside was too dangerous. But the Prince is curious and adventurous, he wants to go explore, even if that means having to sneak out alone. But once outside, he gets lost, and needs the help of a very beautiful Witch named Trafalgar Law.

No Stranger to Crazy by Purplehairedwonder (G)

The Straw Hats arrive on an island to discover not only that the Hearts are already there, but there is also a winter festival happening. Law doesn’t have the best memories with winter islands or festivals, so Luffy is determined to make some good ones with him.

You can calm me down by Sakuya_Serenity_Kira (G)

After Luffy has beaten Kaido devastatingly, his fighting spirit is unbroken. He wants, he needs more. In this intoxication, he loses control of his new abilities. Can someone stop him? But who? And how? After all, Luffy is now. . . a god.

A Sinner's Pledge by bimarian (T)

This one little incident this morning just reminded him of the promise that he wanted to make and of the letter that he said he would have to eventually write. The Surgeon takes a moment to glance between his sleeping fiancé and the papers on his lap before he finally writes a greeting on the scented paper. ‘Hey, Ace-ya.’ In which Luffy wakes up from a nightmare—and Law finally writes a letter to make one little promise to Ace.

Midnight by Chenziee (T)

Luffy really wanted to celebrate the end of the year with his friends and family but with his arm injured, strict orders of no partying, and his roommate on his heels, it got really damn hard to sneak out.

Are You Bananas by Plume8now (G)

Usopp gives Luffy an idea, and now, Luffy can't get it off his mind. Of course, he won't wait until tomorrow to do it. And nothing can stop Monkey D. Luffy.

The Mysterious Case of the Hiccups. by ClementineJuicebox, SailorHeichou (G)

-hic- The first hiccup that started it all.

Show me what love is all about by aloas (T)

If Law didn’t know how useless Luffy is when it comes to making plans, he would be complimenting Luffy’s mastermind for always knowing just the right way or the right time to catch Law unguarded. But Law knows that is not the case. So, he curses at the universe. Or fate. Or whatever deity out there that is constantly plotting for Luffy to find Law. (Or the one where Law learns a thing or two about love.)

Answer the Question by Heart_Core (T)

Law’s birthday celebration hadn’t gone the way Luffy expected too, but he was grateful nonetheless.

Our Hearts, Made Whole in Each Other by Purplehairedwonder (G)

Luffy cupped Law’s cheek with his hand, softly grazing his thumb over a yellowing bruise. “Torao is so pretty,” he said quietly, a note of awe in his voice. Law flushed. “Torao’s heart is beating so fast.” “Yeah,” Law agreed, swallowing. “It is.” Luffy’s, despite a few flutters, was beating steadily in Law’s chest. Law, on the other hand, felt pinned to the spot, one hand holding Kikoku and the other in Luffy’s grip. “You should stay.” Law blinked. “What?” “You should stay,” Luffy repeated. “On the Sunny. With me." Written for 10 Days of LawLu 2023 Day 10: Confessions.

Always See the Daylight by Purplehairedwonder (G)

“Why did you want to see my room?” Law asked, both curious and a bit apprehensive at what the response might be. “Because it’s yours!” Luffy said immediately, sitting up quickly. Luffy looked as though the answer had been obvious. For Law, however, that explained exactly nothing. “What—” Luffy looked around, his expression softening in a way that made Law fidgety. “It’s very Torao,” he decided. Written for LawLu Week 2022. Day 5 Prompt: Captain's quarters

Coming Home (To Breathe Again, To Start Again) by Purplehairedwonder (G)

Law had a… complicated relationship with the concept of home. But here on the beach of Wano with Luffy looking at him with such fondness that Law wanted to squirm, he thought that maybe home could be another person.

-Mod Raiya

#lawlu #lulaw #monkey d luffy #trafalgar law #law x luffy #fluff #royalty au #marriage proposal #Fantasy au #winter festival #post wano #first kiss #canon divergence #nightmares #getting together #new year's eve #Modern au

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los-ninos-tortugas · 5 months

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"Captain's Log...

"... Stardate... unknown. And for that matter I'll note that our current location is also undetermined. That being said, 'Toto, I have a feeling we're not in the Delta Quadrant anymore.'

We appear to have arrived in a trans-dimensional crossroads of sorts. A pocket dimension. Perhaps alarmingly, our arrival here is by no accident.

Sensor readings couldn't make heads or tails of this place, so Commanders Chakotay and Tuvok, as well as Ensign Kim, and Mr. Neelix were sent on an away mission to discreetly gather data. It would seem that during their exploration they discovered the being who claims to be responsible for all this. He calls himself, Masaccio, a humanoid-terrapin. The second we've ever seen since we met Donatello.

Unfortunately, Donatello doesn't recognize him in the slightest.

However, the away team also reports that in addition to this Masaccio character, there are also dozens of other humanoid-terrapins, some apparently equally confused as we are, and some who appear to be completely at ease with the situation.

To have this much power.... To be able to pull this many people from across dimensions into one space. I can't help but wonder if he is some errant Q, but he seems much more... juvenile than any of the Q continuum we've encountered before.

According to Chakotay, those who have been gathered here are meant to be contestants in some sort of competition, a friendly one at that. He suggested that we play along, that the path of least resistance will get us back on our journey Earth much more quickly. We're still severely lacking in data, but for now I'm inclined to agree. Though I have advised the crew to be cautious. Currently, I'm unsure if Masaccio is aware of Voyager's presence, or of just how many of us there are. I believe his interest is only in others like himself.

For now, we're keeping a low profile, and only select crew members are permitted to leave the ship. Among those is Donatello.

As I said before, there are dozens of people like him here, and there is a non-zero chance that his family might have been brought here as well. If there will be one good thing to come out of this unlikely situation, I would hope for that reunion.

...

I have to admit, I'll miss him. Of course, I made a promise to him to get him home, and I intend to keep that promise. Though, I would be lying if I said we haven't all grown fond of him. Perhaps no one more than Sam and Naomi. If it does happen, it will be a bittersweet farewell.

As of right now, Donatello is exploring. I sent Commander Tuvok and Ensign Wildman as his chaperones, but knowing Donatello I'm not sure how long that will last before he manages to give them the slip. I can hope. Even so, they've all been instructed to keep open comm links. I've also assigned Commander Chakotay, Neelix, Ensign Kim, and Seven of Nine on rotating shifts to gather further data and establish points of contact on the ground.

I will of course continue to provide supplemental log reports as the true nature of our situation becomes more evident. For now though, as they say, 'Let the games begin.'

Janeway, out."

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Soooooooo, "Set a Course for Home" is in the TMNT story comp! (polls are @tmntstorycomp :D) this is the first comp I've ever participated in so I'm super excited. So to celebrate here's a quick little propaganda blurb (is this how you do propaganda? oh well). I'm probably gonna try to have little propaganda updates like this mixed in with regular one-shot updates, though I'm still deciding whether or not to put the prop chapters up on ao3 at the same time as the regular ones.

But anyway :D

#tmnt story comp #tmnt competition #set a course for home #rottmnt #rottmnt competitions #tmntstorycomp #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt crossover #star trek voyager #star trek crossover #rottmnt donnie #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt au #katnip writes

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ewesless · 5 months

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Goof Up Poll #1

Who left their chocolate chips for baking cookies with on the counter top when the dishwasher was running and melted 1/3 or more of the bag?

Okay, I'm going to do something a little different with this one. Drabbles! I mean, definitely vote your vote, but hear me out?

Why Solomon? He's a disaster in the kitchen, but he also is going to add some cayenne and powdered goji berries for a kick and healthy superfood twist. SOMEHOW the bag of chocolate chips melted and turnes into a solid brick. Oh well chocolate melts and evenly distributes, right? Especially with a torch! It also adds a delightfully, extra crunchy texture to the thick, flavorful crust (I'm woefully unimaginative compared to the Magic Master Chef :( These abominations would be safely removed by a stab happy, hazardous materials disposal specialist named Raphael.

Why Simeon? He's canonically a cute, old, out of touch ditz and enjoys cooking thoughtful recipes for his housemates. He would definitely keep some sweet snacky stuff like mini packs of M&M's or other hard shelled candies like Reese's Pieces as pick me ups and for Packed Lunches. So he would have a batch with cinnamon chips or butterscotch chips too. Apart from being specialized for the palate of the recipient he would put them in adorable bags with personalized labels written in his elegant script. Leviathan framed his tag, begged the others for theirs as rare memorabilia collectables and Mammon sold him his at a steep price...which he paid for on the spot. 6/7 SECURED. When he learned that Beel ate his which was devastating he demanded Beel regurgitate it OR ELSE. Fear the taste of his spicy newt chip dust fingers!!

Why Luke? Poor kid doesn't have his emotional regulation under control yet :( (I say as an old fart who doesn't either) He would be upset and also discover that the baking powder was expired and that the flour was contaminated by Solomon making his cursed pancakes so this was actually a blessing in disguise? Feeling unnerved but lucky he'd go to the store (with ??? as his chaperone, but I think he shops alone too?) and while there he would have a nice distraction by seeing inspiration for cupcakes or other little baked goods for next time. When he gets home he gets back into his groove and bakes a great batch of cookies! He calls his comfort friends and after a vent session he feels better and they suggest baking together. "How about Snickerdoodles?" He likes thick and chewy big ol' bakery style cookies.

Why Diavolo? There was a chat where he was part of a sleep away exchange at HoL (Lucifer wouldn't let him room with him 😓) and when he baked he had eggshells in it. He mistook salt for sugar and made perfectly spherical cookies in Nightbringer (they pair well with Demonus.) Diavolo's Salty Balls if Barbatos wasn't lurking nearby he would not think twice about eating the forbidden raw cookie dough and will pay the price for it tomorrow. If Barbatos was observing/teaching he would all of a sudden discover that his errors or mistakes would be magically fixed (Because sometimes Barbatos CANNOT ABIDE Diavolo making or learning from mistakes. He just can't help himself sometimes either, like a compulsion 😔) He likes crisp chocolate chip cookies, which is fortunate because that was exactly what he got.

Okay this one I have been waiting for. I am no better than the plot writers with Lucifer 😂

Why Barbatos? Barbatos does not have a dishwasher machine (he is the dishwasher) even as of OM (it was mentioned in a Sweets Masters chat that I forgot the name of 🥲) so imagine with me if you will that he was not aware that they radiate heat outside of the machine, not just in your face when you open it before the drying cycle is finished...

He has been enjoying THE HELL out of his new dishwasher this week. He's in a good mood, the Little D staff are miraculously well behaved despite now having 2+ hours freed up from no longer washing dishes by hand. Hm... (give them more breaks, please. Rest and recess is good for productivity, workplace rapport and emotional health.)

Today the Young Master's treat shall be his own recipe for Decadent Devildom Chocolate Chip Cookies.

While the ingredients are warming to room temperature he does the dirty dishes that were brought in shamefacedly by Little D no. 4 that he had hidden in the library while he was binge reading...5 days worth of them. That's forgivable because he now has an excuse to run his beautiful, large scale industrial dishwasher again! What he doesn't realize though is that it would heat the countertop. It melted his butter and chocolate chips.

Not missing a beat he melts the chocolate down in a double boiler and chills it in the refrigerator on a baking sheet (They had a refrigerator already. One mention is in the Barbatos chat that I forgot the name of with Diavolo's Opaque Mysterious Refrigerated Container) while it chills and the butter warms *properly* on a unheated surface. He goes and monitors Diavolo, anticipates that he may need to scold him. Surprisingly Diavolo is ahead of schedule! Inspection of the Little D's reveals that they have performed well above standard (because as stated R and R is goodddd) Wow....all is going well today!

The result is Chunky Chopped Chocolate Chip Cookies! Milk and Cookies for everyone to reward them for their hard work and a sweet happy ending!

Edit: Proofread your insomnia writing 6x. Better yet read it out loud! Or else you will be like me and gnash your teeth over forgotten words, disorganized sentence structure and typoes that you're still finding the next day and too tired to fully fix.

I love my super fun run on sentences and adjective overkill 😂 They make me oddly happy.

#useless poll #obey me #obey me nightbringer #obey me diavolo #obey me barbatos #obey me solomon #obey me luke #obey me simeon #useless writing

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distractionactivated · 3 months

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Results are IN!

So what's up with my flat?

Well, I made it deliberately hard for you - all of those features were real features that I have really encountered in a terraced house of this type.

A) 🍳🚿50% of you voted for the kitchen shower! We viewed a flat with this glaring flaw two days before viewing our current place and were astonished to discover that we actually had standards

B) 🔥only 2.8% of you voted possibly-working fireplace with chimney. A house I lived in some years ago had this - we never used it (it would've needed a sweep, and who knows where to find a chimney sweep in 2019?) - but we did have to shove a cushion in a plastic bag up there to stop the constant draught.

D) 🚪30.6% of you voted for the secret passage! This was actually in the same house as the fireplace, in which me and my housemate shared a closet. Insert jokes here.

Which means that the correct answer is C - 🪜🕸️ the basement! Well done to the 16.7% of you who got it.

This thing is Not Good.

At the top, there's a pile of junk, including an abandoned pair of boots and some cryptic numbers scrawled on the inner door. The air stinks of mould, and that cardboard box is clearly more mould than box. There's a couple of modern recycling bags at the bottom, as though someone chucked them in without realising it was stairs and then went 'fuck going and retrieving them.'

The business, meanwhile, as 45.5% of you correctly intuited, was a pet shop. So we assume that there are budgie ghosts down there, as well as what my friend intended to say would be a hamster colony but was autocorrected to colonel. So the hamster colonel is there now.

However...

I was going to do a poll about this one but folks I've genuinely run out of ways to misdirect you, so I'm gonna tell you straight up: there is also an attic. This is in some ways not surprising, since we have one of those blank hatches on the landing that can be seen from below, but I expected it to be either sealed, or like most attics: a dark, cobwebby, maybe mouldy mess of bare beams and insulations.

No. It looks, from the little I can see (I am not tall enough to even get my phone properly up there from the only chair we have that can hold my weight), like a full loft conversion that was only abandoned prior to putting in the access. There is a small amount of mould on one wall (dealable with), a double-glazed skylight, and only a very small amount of builder's debris.

Needless to say, we intend to acquire a ladder.

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ankoku-teion · 1 month

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I’m one of your mutuals, I voted on the poll, so it’s slightly unfair that I get a second vote. That being said, I like all 3 of them a lot, my personal favourite is Lily. While I love a reference to any bit of Greek mythology, especially Cassandra, her fate was quite tragic (Not that Lilith’s fate was sweet either, but still). I can really understand your attachment to your first D&D character though, even though I haven’t played (also, it’s quite telling that your first character was a woman [I assume]). But in my personal opinion, the other options should better. It’s still only your decision in the end.

Attention Anon

Sarah was my first character who was a woman. I played 3 other male characters before her.

Yarny. - a halfling bard, in late middle age who loved stories and collected folklore from everywhere he went. He was my first ever.

Red - a middle aged dwarven merchant who got side-tracked and wound up on a quest when he was supposed to be returning home.

And a young elf shadow sorcerer who's name I can't remember.

But Yarny and the elf were both DMPCs because I was running the campaign, so I didn't really get to play them.

Sarah was different. I was playing on a discord server with strangers because my friends weren't available for real DnD. So I was able to put time and energy into fleshing her out.

She was a warlock/fighter who grew up on the streets, had a complicated friendship with a guardsman, and was forcibly adopted by an abusive drunk who just wanted her for free labour.

Turns out the man who adopted her is a fence who traffics in stolen goods, antiques, and questionable magic items.

One day she accidentally knocks over this valuable ancient pot and smashes it, unleashing an ancient devil that was trapped inside. The devil was weakened by it's long confinement so it latched onto her. She unknowingly made a deal with it and it granted her warlock powers in exchange for living in her head.

So now she has a grouchy, hateful, resentful voice in the back of her mind constantly passing commentary on everything she does, criticising and gaslighting her, telling her everyone wants to use her and nobody else can ever love her. The thing is, it also gives her solid advice that keeps her alive and safe. And she's too young and naive to tell the difference.

The devil is called Malthus and he's very much a metaphor for my depression, among other things.

Sarah herself is saddled with a lot of repression, and while Malthus constantly shits on her, he's also the one pushing her to try new things. Mostly so he can live vicariously through her, and then guilt her for it. The two have a complex, toxic, co-dependent relationship.

Most of this was not deliberate at the time, but something I created by accident and only discovered by playing the character.

Playing her on that server was the first time I was ever gendered as a woman because the other people couldn't tell me apart from my character. I realised immediately that being called she/her didnt upset me the way I thought it probably should have, and I made the conscious decision not to correct them, and accepted the pronouns. That was way back, like 5 years ago. And I still play with some of the same people.

Sadly Sarah had to be retired, it's a happy ending tho. Her fiancé was kidnapped and she left on a quest to go save him. They eventually settled down and had 3 kids.

One of my current characters is her granddaughter, Saccharine. 😋

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catreginae · 10 months

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Thou Shalt Not Fall: Dungeon Crawl

Warriors gets to actually explore a dungeon for the first time and he's not impressed. His determination to speed up the process leads Warriors to discover new things about himself. I got some ideas for this chapter from nitroish! It also won a tumblr poll, so it goes up now! Surprise!

[Previous] - [Next]

View the Master Post here!

If there was one thing that Warriors was thankful for, it was that he didn't have to deal with dungeons at home. That wasn't to say that the war was a pleasant alternative but at least the fate of Hyrule didn't depend on his ability to transverse an ancient, decrepit temple because he was pretty sure his skill set wasn't exactly suitable for it.

He was more than happy to let the others lead the way, now that he was physically able to explore one with them. Apparently, letting the others lead the way actually meant studying the architecture while the group studied the room and debated on how to solve the puzzle if the solution wasn't immediately obvious to the veterans. He liked a good problem that needed to be solved – that was the basis of strategies. However, Warriors just found that he wasn't that interested in the puzzles the dungeon had to offer.

"Not a dungeon guy, are you?" Wild asked suddenly, breaking Warriors away from his one-sided staring contest with a wall.

"Nah. Some confusing fort layouts, maybe, but nothing on this scale. What about you?"

"I had shrines, and mobile fortresses called the divine beasts. They required me to think outside the box sometimes but the shrines are more like... a couple of rooms of a temple at most. The divine beasts were like a small temple, I guess? Either way, this is a lot bigger."

Well, at least he wasn't entirely alone in feeling at least a little bit out of place.

"Oh, we're moving on."

Warriors followed the group into a new room that was rectangular shaped, with a locked door to his left, some sort of indentation in the wall in front, though it was too high up for him to see what that was all about, and a regular door with a regular handle to his right. There were no monsters in the room to speak of.

Legend was busy looking at the map.

"Our key is up there. In the indentation."

"You sure?"

"The compass says so."

Warriors tuned out their conversation to turn his attention to the locked door. Maybe they could skip the key entirely if he could just destroy the door. However, he began to doubt himself when he realized that the door was thick metal and the door had an internal lock. He had superhuman strength but there was a limit as to what he could do with it. He could try to break it, but he didn't exactly feel like breaking a bone if he was right about the door being too thick. He wanted to be able to get through at least one dungeon without breaking a bone. His track record wasn't great so far.

"To get back there, we would have to go through three more rooms and then the way up would be in the fourth," Legend mumbled. "I don't think there's any treasure chests in those three rooms and nothing that looks like a miniboss room. If we got that chest now, we could skip all those rooms."

"Wild, Warriors, I think you two would be our best shot. We don't have a hookshot or clawshot target, so that's out of the question. I think it's down to Wild being able to climb up or Warriors being able to jump," Four said.

Wild wasn't the kind to say no when he somebody told him to go climb something, so he all but ran to the wall, running his hands over the texture. After a moment, he turned around and shook his head. "It's too smooth for me to climb. I'm pretty good but this is like the walls in the shrines. Somebody thought ahead."

"Wars?"

He eyed the distance. He was pretty sure that it was too high for him to jump, even with his vampire powers. It wouldn't be a problem if he had more of the same kind of powers that the real vampires had because they could walk on walls and ceilings like they were floors. Or fly. If he could just do one of those things, he could get the key and they would be one step closer to getting the fuck out there.

His gaze caught Time's.

"You can do it."

Warriors wasn't sure if Time knew he was thinking about the wall crawl, or if he really did think he could jump that high. Regardless, he wasn't going to learn anything if he didn't at least try to jump and see how high he could get. Maybe somebody had something that could cover the gap.

"Here goes nothing," Warriors muttered, mostly to himself, as he pushed his fangs out and retreated to the back wall to give himself a running start. He counted down to three in his head, then ran as fast as he could towards the wall.

He jumped.

And didn't get anywhere near the top. He got maybe three quarters of the way there before he found himself bracing his hands and feet against the wall as he started to slide down.

No no no no.

He gritted his teeth, letting himself hiss under his breath. He wasn't going to lose his progress. Warriors was going to get to the top so they could all leave the damn temple and he could get on with his day. He wasn't going to sit through through four more rooms just to get the key when it was right there mocking him.

Suddenly he stopped sliding, staying completely planted in the middle of the wall with nothing holding him there. Somebody below him gasped.

Was this it? Was this really it? Could he actually have more vampire powers than he thought?

Warriors removed one hand and when he stayed where he was, he removed the other. His feet remained where they were at, planted flat against the wall. He let out a breath he didn't know he was even holding.

More confident, he stood up, ignoring the strange change in perspective. Instead, he chose to focus on his feet, focusing on walking and tuning out everything around him. Before he knew it, he could see the chest, so he quickly stepped over to it and opened it up before any higher being decided to change their mind about giving him more powers. With the key in hand, he walked back to the edge of the platform and jumped down to meet the others, ignoring the pain shooting up his legs but the pain wasn't agonizing so he figured they weren’t broken. He was too excited to let the pain sour his mood.

"Wars! That was soooo cool!" Wind exclaimed as Legend swiped the key out of his hands. He could tell by the look on the veteran's face that he was also curious about what he just saw but he was also just eager to move on. Finally, they were picking up the pace. "What was that?"

"We'll talk later. Let's just focus on the dungeon first," Warriors answered as the door was opened and everybody began to file into the next room.

After another hour of exploring, they killed some giant skeletal creature and Legend was the proud owner of a whip, which was all well and good considering he never quite took his eyes off of Sky's whip. He was testing it out just a few feet away from their campsite but he clearly needed some more practice with it. Sky was with him, his own whip in hand as he gave Legend some tips.

Warriors was debating on whether he was going to hunt or beg Wild to have some bottled blood. He wasn't sure if his exhaustion had anything to do with the powers he just discovered but he hated feeling tired when the sun was just starting to set. That was supposed to be his awake time!

"Hey, you can sleep after you explain yourself."

"I thought you were playing with your new toy."

"It's story time now."

Warriors sat up a little straighter when he realized that everybody was looking at him. He took a breath and collected himself.

"The vampires call it wall crawling. They can walk on any solid surface by ‘sticking’ to the surface, essentially. They don’t need it on the ground obviously but they can walk up walls and stand on ceilings. It's something I knew they could do but I thought that being half vampire meant that I wouldn't be able to do it."

"That's so much better than my climbing skills."

"Nah, your climbing skills are actually pretty impressive. You're the only the Hylian I know who could climb such steep surfaces with little to no gear," Warriors said. "Vampires use magic whereas you are just full of skill and the determination to get where you want to go."

Wild beamed.

"Wars, have you thought that you couldn't possibly have more powers than the strength and speed this whole time?" Hyrule asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Warriors nodded. "They tried to get me to do the same things they were doing, for a quite a while, but I struggled to do any of it. There was no sign that I had anything other than the strength and speed. I just gave up and figured it wasn't meant to be. I'm not even very good at magic in the first place. All I had before turning was my focus spirit, but that just enhances my muscles and my ability to hone in on a weakness."

"Being physically able to do magic is only part of how magic works. If you are physically able, and learned how to do it, most of the fight is intention. You kept telling yourself that you couldn't, so you basically made sure that you wouldn't be able to. Whatever you were feeling today while you were doing it, keep that with you and think about it every time you want to do it."

The captain could only blink at Hyrule. He was the most skilled with magic so Warriors knew he should take his words to heart, but it was also something he just had to give himself a moment to process.

It didn't help that the vampires couldn't exactly explain how to do it either, not that he blamed them. It came naturally to them, so it must have felt like they were trying to teach somebody how to breathe. Even the most basic abilities, like the ability to retract his fangs hadn’t come naturally to him. He supposed that in hindsight, he should have been able to see that just because it didn't come naturally didn't mean that those powers were completely inaccessible. He was just too frustrated at the time, much like he was getting frustrated just thinking about it again.

It was irritating that he just gave up like that. He had no plans to use his powers back then, even if he could use them, simply because he hated the fact that he was a vampire at all. However, it just wasn't like him to have given up so easily.

His frustration must have been palpable because Hyrule raised his hands in front of him. "Wars-"

"It wasn't anything you said," Warriors replied, running a hand through his hair. "I'm just overthinking something..."

Thankfully, he didn't have to think about the memories anymore because he was joined by Wind, who came bursting into his personal space to access his ear. "When you start using your new power to prank somebody, let me know. I want in."

Oh.

OOOH.

Fun fact about this chapter: some of it was written while I was struggle with The Past: Teaching Old Vampires New Trick. I think I finished this one before I finished The Past arc, so I really made sure to make Warriors doubt himself and his powers in The Past so he could get mad at himself here. This story is still largely episodic but is still sequential in nature as far as the current timeline goes, so I do my best to make sure previous events or discoveries kind of inform the collective knowledge of the chain. I can move chapters up and down fairly easily but I still have to make sure the collective knowledge still makes sense. I feel like this is a big moment so I will definitely have to do a thorough review of all unpublished and still in progress chapters to see if this power is actually useful in other circumstances. It feels like I'm playing chess against myself sometimes.

#catreginae: thou shalt not fall #linked universe #linkeduniverse #my writing

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