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amphiptere-art · 1 year

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Sightless horizon

Might do art piece later. Takes place after being friends for a while.

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Blue Moon's hands twitched as he clawed at the doorway. There was Lord night's star. The deep dark thing plulsed with energy. It hadn't been the first time Blue Moon had seen it. And hopefully it would be the last.

Carefully he crawled into the space. Lord night's home was not made for ones of his size. Forcing him to crawl forward like some sort of lizard or cat prowling. He reached a hand forward and slowly cuped the black star. Enough to hold it by it's outer gravity but not enough to touch. It was too worrisomely corrupted for him to want to touch it.

Blue Moon!

He jumped. Allowed thud sounded through the area as he hit his head on the roof. He made various noises as he tried to scramble out of the tight space. But he had lost his bearings in the spook and had missed the door. Blue Moon scrambled forward attempting to make a full turn around the room so he wasn't trying to back out through the door. He stopped halfway in his action as his eyes met a burning blue.

Blue Moon? what? what are you?

There stood Lord night. Hands raised in a position of what was once a shout. Looking up at him in a growing panic. Blue Moon stood wrapped around the far side of the room behind the star. His long gangly body stretched against the wall. Position in a way that he looked as if he was some dragon guarding its treasure. But he knew very well how it looked like in his friend's eyes.

Shadow light! I did not mean-

Blue Moon was not able to finish his sentence as the black star quickly whipped into Lord night's hands. The dark shaded lunar quickly clutching onto it like a lifeline. His eyes burned a brighter color as his body and posture adjusted itself to what Blue Moon could guess was panic and anger.

What are you doing! I told you a thousand times! I am not letting this go! Leave!

Blue Moon could only stutter slightly as he tried to unwound himself. Lord night backing up as he exited the room. Clutching the black star closer and closer with each one of his steps.

Shadow light that demon thing will cause you harm. It's darkened state a clear alarm. Please let disappear. So your troubles may vanish. your life filled with cheer.

Talk normal! I don't understand you're weird gibberish!

Blue Moon reared slightly. They had been friends for a couple of years now. Sure he still had trouble understanding but Blue Moon thought he didn't have to try to resort to such talk anymore. Blue Moon licked his lips as he readied his servos. Skimming through programming he rarely used.

The the the s-tar. It-ss b-ad. L-iv a nor-nor-mal l-l-l-ife. Live live live it with cheer.

He gave his friend hopeful look. Hoping he got the words out of that jumbled mess. Lord night stood there in contemplation for a minute. Before furring his brows and backing up more. The star glowed darkly with power that was unused.

No. no. no. NO! You don't know what I went through! it's the only thing I have! This is what makes my life happy! This is what makes it worthwhile! I'm not letting this go! No! not ever!

The frown quickly returned to its place as Blue Moon heard those words. Why couldn't his friend not get it. Why can't he just explain it to him like normal people.

All the star was was a lifeline. And power to hold a life together that it shouldn't have been holding in the first place. He already used to destroy his world. In a dark attempt to do... something given the stars color. Trapping his evil brothers and accomplishes in a forest. Evil beast chasing them. There was no reason to keep it around anymore.

All it was was a power that could be taken. Blue Moon had *seen that power taken. Thousands and thousands of instances were his friend was killed, tortured, and had lost. Some of them have been saved, but some of them haven't. He wanted to save this one before it even happened. Get rid of the dark instrument so it could be of no use to the universe anymore.

Shadow Light, hear me. hear me! That thing is a curse. It holds no purpose other than keep back You're- You're- p-pa-in. Please. please. throw it away. It is your death. it is your pain.

No I don't want to hear it!

The Blue Moon froze. Taking a back by his friends shout. Blue Moon stared at his friend. They had started breathing harshly. The star almost void like in his hands. A darkened cloud started to take the room. Despite the anger on his face he had tears in his eyes.

I don't want to hear it! You don't care! You don't understand! You just want to steal it from me! I know your star is lost! You just want to use it against me!

Just like everyone else...

Blue Moon was taken aback by his friends accusation. He had told Lord night the same story he told everyone else. And now it was being used as evidence for a plot he never made. Blue Moon slowly crawled forwards. hopeing to give his friend consolence.

No no Shadow light. That is no such plan. That tail is false. A lie to-

Was this all just a lie!

No-

It is isn't it! Just something to make me lower my guard! Well I won't let that happen! Leave before I do something drastic!

Shadow light please-

I said leave!

A black magic surrounded him as Lord night used his star to try and banish him. He could only watch in panic as the world started the fade before it was abruptly pulled back. The force of the sudden double teleportation causing him to stumble as he re-entered the world. Blue Moon held his head as it pounded. Quietly hearing Lord nights sobbing take over the space. Before they abruptly stopped.

Blue Moon spared a glance at the room. He spotted Lord night. still clutching his star. The blackened cloud around him making him seem ghostly. Eyes locked on Blue Moon's visage.

They were both interrupted as a curious beep sounded itself. Blue Moon look up over his shoulder and spotted the perpetrator. That damn cube. The cube seemed to somewhat rejoice as he spotted him. Doing a quick little circle in the air before riding forward and disintegrating into particles.

Blue Moon recomposed himself and started to get up. Causing Lord night to flinch at the movement. Blue Moon watched in silent worry as his friends breathing hitched more. Eyes glancing down at his own star and flicking back up to his in a repeated motion.

I will leave. Once the world bends. And takes me back to where it begin..... Goodbye.. no light....

But with that Blue Moon left. Crawling out through the small door and out onto the steps that led to the small city below Lord Knight's Castle. He would stay there. hidden. Until the damn cube brought him back home.

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Here's something I thought about with Lord nights and Blue Moon's relationship.

At some point Blue Moon would try to hide the star. Whether in Lord nights own universe are in his own. I had this conversation pop up in my brain. And although I didn't want to do anything big with it. I did want to write it down.

I also wanted to talk about the thing that creates blue moons sporadic teleportation.

The cube has always been here but I started writing about it less because it didn't really do anything in the storys. It was just an object that allowed for Blue moons teleportation. But it does have a couple rules.

Whether or not Blue Moon teleported there on purpose or sporadically The cube has control of how much time he spends there. It also keeps him there. forcing him back in if he himself or another force tries to take him out. The shortest the time limit can be 3 hours. the longest being a whole week.

Another rule is the sporadically part. Blue Moon can be stuck in his own universe (unless he himself removes himself from it) for weeks or months before he's randomly teleported. Or it could be a day-to-day thing. Depends on the cube.

Do I know why the cube has his power.... No.

It has control over dimensional travel. It has chosen Blue Moon as it's host. It is semi-sentient (originally it was a vessel for askers and still kind of is). It is created from a time paradox. Similarly to The song of storms from legend of Zelda.

This is all it was when it was created. And this is a story I'm using to reintroduce it back into my Canon.

Lord night (shadow light/no light) belongs to @madcatdaderpydrawer-blog

Blue Moon belongs to me.

#red blue and black #story #trapped forever au #lord night #RBB Eclipse #blue moon #tsams au #sams au #tsams bloodmoon #tsams lunar #sams bloodmoon #sams lunar

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nosferatvpussy · 4 years

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distorted lullabies [chapter IV]

Word count: 4,113

Warnings: vulgar language

Pairing: Dracula x reader

AO3 link

Author’s note: Listen... I wrote this chapter this past week and I must say I'm not happy with it. My brain is mush due to work so that's all I could come up with. I wish I could've done better but I know if I delayed posting it I would never do it. Feedback would be greatly appreciated on this one (good or bad).

“Oh my fucking God.”

My day had started out fine. I had woken up in a surprisingly good mood considering it was Monday and then I ruined it.

With the exception of Count Dracula’s visit to my house, my weekend was pretty uneventful. Sunday was spent grocery shopping with Diana and reviewing cases to prepare myself for court sessions during the following week. Occupying myself with work was not only necessary but also served as a good distraction from the deal I had struck with the Count.

Being arrogant had its advantages in my line of work but after proposing a deal to a vampire, I was starting to think how quickly that arrogance could turn into vanity and plain stupidity. A deal from which I had yet to glimpse a way out of? Could I outsmart a centuries old vampire and wiggle out of that deal? On Saturday night I was pretty sure I could. Now… Not so much.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I muttered, receiving ugly looks from people on the tube.

My hand covered my mouth so I would stop cursing and to stop it from falling open.

Reconnaissance was part of any good lawyer’s job and that was what I had decided to do as my first course of action against Count Dracula. As soon as I had found a good spot to sit in the tube, I googled him by his title. All of the pages included the interesting moniker Vlad the Impaler followed by his actual name Vlad Dracula. That in itself was enough for a chill to run down my spine but each line I read managed to make it worse.

He was born in the Middle Ages, more precisely in 1431, which put him somewhere over five hundred years old. So, I had made a deal with someone overly experienced in the matters of life, which wasn’t ideal but could be remedied. But then I was met with medieval drawings depicting him dining amongst a field of impaled people. One particular page had supposed accounts from Ottomans and Saxons describing the atrocities committed by him. Boiling people alive, nailing hats to people’s skulls so they wouldn’t take it off, setting beggars and thieves on fire to “cleanse” Wallachia were just some of his various lovely bedtime stories. Those tales had elicited my first string of curses, which yes evoked the name of God in a blasphemous way but at that point I didn’t care if I offended a higher power or not.

Not only was he abhorrently vile, he was smart. Smart enough to send people infected with the plague to infiltrate enemy camps, using them as biological warfare and weakening enemy numbers. Not many people would have thought of such a tactic in the Middle Ages. Apparently the sight of the impaled people put on display around the city Targoviste was so repulsive that the Ottoman Empire simply retreated. And albeit having half or sometimes a quarter of the army of his opponents, he still managed to win several battles because of his cunning.

That was the part that made me curse several times as some sort of mantra. A ruthless and smart ruler that had been a monster long before he became a vampire, that was who I was up against. And he had five hundred years of practice under his belt. How nice for me.

My body took control as my mind raced and I got off at Canary Wharf station, making my way to the overly modern glass plated building where I worked.

The Middle Ages were a long time ago and it was a notoriously dark and violent time. Desperate times call for desperate measures, one could say. It should serve as a logical explanation to make myself feel better but the cold sweat on the palms of my hands was an obvious sign that it wasn’t working. I resorted to my earbuds and played one of my favourite songs to try calm myself but I was barely paying any attention to it. The noise inside my head was far louder.

I willed my brain to catch up with my body once the elevator doors opened to the 17th floor. Work, now , I told myself. I could think about how to escape the Count’s grip later.

Greeting my colleagues, I made my way to my desk at the far left of the office. We occupied half of the 17th floor while the other half was made up of a café and a small finance firm. Smelling croissants and fresh coffee, I placed my purse and briefcase on my chair and was already making a b-line for the café when Renfield peeked his head out of a meeting room and waved for me to join him.

I threw my earbuds over my shoulders so the string could hang from around my neck and stuck my phone on my trousers' back pocket. Renfield promptly closed the door as soon as I stepped inside. He splayed his arms over the doorway, blocking it. Eyes with dilated pupils watched me from behind thick glasses. Frowning, I looked out through the blurred glass walls that outlined the meeting room we were standing on. If he was about to reprehend me for something I’d done then at least I wouldn’t have to deal with the embarrassment of the whole office witnessing it.

Renfield had always been composed and taken great pride in his work and looks. For the past few days that stopped being true. Not only was he acting in a disturbing manner, he also appeared unwashed. His hair was greasy and a few strands stuck to his forehead. His suit had a stain on a lapel and he didn’t have a colourful handkerchief peeking out of his front pocket as he usually did. Overworked, I guessed, but never in all the years I knew him had I seen him this way. When I joined the firm as his intern, he let me write most of his opening and closing statements so I could learn and he would rehearse them on his office as I watched and explain why certain phrases should be changed to provide the necessary punch in court. He taught me the basics and all the clever little tricks one could use to dribble a prosecution. He was in the audience when I worked my first case alone in front of a judge. He was there when I won my first case and he took me out for a beer. And he was there when I lost for the first time and he took me out for whiskey. We still went out to celebrate whenever one of us won a case.

“Good morning, Y/N,” he rasped, barely sounding like himself. “Are the Mast-- the Count’s documents in your possession?”

The Master’s, that’s what he almost said. A little too late I remembered that Renfield was Dracula’s servant and automatically took a step back to put distance between us. The Count had arrived at London a week ago, which could explain my boss’ disheveled appearance.

“They’re at my desk.”

He nodded and licked his lips in a way that made me think of a lizard.

“And what did you think of him? Of Count Dracula?”

The lunatic gleam in Renfield’s eyes made my decision before I could think through it very much.

“He’s polite and handsome,” I said in the most neutral tone I could manage. “I’ll get the documents and bring them to you. Excuse me.”

I closed the distance between us with more confidence than I felt. Nudging Renfield’s shoulder to the side so he would make way, I tried to grab the doorknob and then he was on me. He pinned me against a glass wall before I had a chance to push him back and his hand yanked my shirt’s collar down, exposing my neck.

“Ah! Ah!” he exclaimed loudly. “I knew it!”

I tried to fight him off, terrified of the crazed look on his bulging eyes, but he slammed me back on the glass. It trembled under my weight.

“ Why … you ?” Spittle landed on my face as he spoke and I cringed. “Why would he bestow such a gift on you?!”

Understanding dawned on me and for a second I stopped trying to escape. He was infuriated because Count Dracula had bitten me and not him, like some sort of drug addict that had his vice taken away.

“Let me go,” I said, summoning a calm semblance. “Ask him about it. It’s not like I offered him a drink.”

“No, not a drink. If he wanted just a drink he would have killed you. He’ll make you his bride. But I-- I have worked so hard, so so hard. I deserve it, I do, I do,” he was whimpering now and shaking his head to the sides like a child.

“I know, I know,” I cooed but I had tears on my eyes.

His hands wrapped around my neck and squeezed. My eyes instantly bugged out of my head and the tears flowed freely down my cheeks as I struggled. My hands found his face, trying to slap him or scratch him, anything that would get him off of me. I hit the glass wall with the back of my heel repeatedly to try to get someone’s attention outside. Air couldn’t reach my lungs anymore and my windpipe would probably collapse if he pressed harder. The pressure on my head was enormous. I could barely see and my face felt like it would explode at any second.

Several figures burst in the room. Two of them tried to pry Renfield off of me and the other three screamed for him to let me go. The crushing force on my neck ceased all of a sudden and I went down like a sack of potatoes, falling on my side as I gasped for air.

“Master! Master!” Renfield howled, struggling against his captors. “I was good, I was good! MASTER!”

A hacking cough seized me as I tried to will air into my lungs but failed to do so in the speed I needed. Slowly my vision returned and I saw Henry and Mallory kneeling next to me, trying to get me to sit up. Renfield’s deafening screams filled my ears.

“What happened?!” Mallory asked as Matthew, another colleague of mine, and a security guard tried to pin Renfield to the ground as he continued shouting.

“Not h-his fault,” I croaked, covering my neck with my hand. I would have a new bruise to match my bite now.

Mallory and Henry started talking about what they should do while I found myself trapped in Renfield’s demented eyes. He wasn’t in there, not anymore.

“A psychotic episode,” I whispered to Mallory. It hurt to talk. “Call medics, not the police. It’s not his fault.” Mallory and Henry exchanged a look and nodded.

More people filed into the room to gawk at the scene. Several more people gathered around me, trying to be helpful to the point where they started to resemble vultures and not good samaritans. I allowed myself to be coddled by these people while my mind ran amok.

My chest tightened as if the sorrow I felt hurt physically as well. The man I had looked up to as an outstanding lawyer, the man I inherited the poise and the commanding voice… was gone. Reduced to the likes of a mewling baby and a deranged man.

I hardly paid attention when paramedics arrived and took Renfield away but when a paramedic wanted to check my neck, I was pulled back to reality by the bond I had to Count Dracula.

“No,” I told him, one hand securing my shirt’s collar to my neck so it was covered. “I’m fine, really.”

“Miss, please. By what your colleagues described he nearly choked you to death.” His hands hovered on the air around me as a second silent request to let him look at the bruise.

I shook my head vehemently but tears were welling in my eyes again.

I wanted desperately to tell someone just then. To explain about Renfield and the bite on my neck that marked me as his . But I couldn’t. My voice wouldn’t leave my throat because that too had become his . Even if I was able to tell someone, I knew it wouldn’t be the right thing to do. Bitten by a vampire? Surely I would be thrown in the psychiatric ward as Renfield would.

“I can’t,” I said weakly before pushing him out of my way and running to the restroom.

London’s night lights kept me company as I worked overtime on the firm. After spending the rest of my day warding off preoccupied people, I decided that I would need to add extra hours of work. At home I would succumb to my bed’s embrace and wouldn’t get any work done.

My desk lamp was the only source of light coming from inside the office and it illuminated the papers spread haphazardly in front of me. I had attended court earlier that day only to request an adjournment to Judge Llewellyn, who scowled and immediately demanded I explain myself. Matthew, my colleague, accompanied me to speak on my behalf since my voice box wasn’t strong enough yet to project my words to a courtroom. When Matthew explained the ordeal to Llewellyn I had the satisfaction of seeing the judge’s face dismantle in embarrassment for questioning me so harshly. It didn’t matter how much satisfaction it brought me because at the end of the day my case was delayed which impacted the life of a very dedicated mother who was disputing custody of her children with her ex. Catching up on cases and preparing future statements was my way of rectifying it.

I scribbled on a post-it and stuck it to a page before putting that pile to the side. I still had three more cases to review, draw up a plea bargain and think of a way to escape Count Dracula. I was procrastinating the latter.

The elevator opened with a ding on the other side of the floor and I raised my head to see who could it be at this time of night. A silhouette stepped out, standing in the darkness for only a moment before the hall’s motion activated lights came on. At once I sunk in my chair.

“Renfield... Where are you?” Count Dracula pitched his velvet voice in a mock song as he strolled in the office.

My heartbeat shot up in response and I shrunk further, trusting the darkness to conceal me. He swiveled his head directly at me as if my fear had drawn him. The lights from the buildings outside only illuminated half of his face.

“Y/N,” he said. My name on his lips sent a shiver through my body. “Working in the dark, are we?” When no answer came from me, he clicked his tongue. “I can’t seem to get ahold of Renfield but I suppose you’ll do. My assets were supposed to have been released today. The bank said I need-” He had been strolling my way as he talked but he stopped abruptly, whiffing the air. “You’re scared. Of me?”

He resumed his pace slowly, almost dragging his steps. Just then, I truly understood the feeling of being stalked by a predator.

“Why… are you... scared?”

He quickened his pace suddenly and covered over half the distance between us in seconds. I jumped from my seat and backed up as I searched frantically for a way out. The back of my knees hit a desk and I had to reach my hands back to stop me from toppling over it. I let out a squeak as I tried to regain my footing but it was too late. Dracula towered over me, so close I could smell his cologne. My face was turned away from him so I wouldn’t have to meet his eyes. I had a feeling that if I did he would devour me whole.

“Tell me why,” a whisper. His breath smelled like copper. “I will not have you of all people cowering from me.”

“Renfield was committed to a psychiatric ward this morning,” I blurted.

“Your voice,” he said.

Another squeak escaped my mouth as he grabbed my face and forced me to look at him. I expected to be met with a monstrous face but it was just him. Familiar dark eyes and lush lips. His stare fell from mine to my neck and he furrowed his eyebrows. His bite was well concealed under my shirt but the ligature mark was just beneath my jaw and in plain sight.

“He attacked me,” I provided in my frail voice. “Because you bit me.”

He pulled his lips down. Anger or disapproval, I wasn’t sure.

“I see,” he muttered.

“Is that what will become of me?” I asked.

“I told you-- I would never make you a servant.”

“No. Will I become a monster like you? Will I be uncaring? Will I enslave people? Kill them, torture them?”

He squished my cheeks between his fingers with every word I spoke. Perhaps provoking him wasn't a smart choice but I wouldn't simply lower my head and accept my fate.

“Only if you wish," he replied.

“You won’t even try denying it?”

“If I did I would be a hypocrite. And you think you are without blame.”

“Me?! How am I to blame for anything?"

He loosened his grip on my face until he finally allowed his hand to rest on the side of my neck.

“Yes, you. You the lawyer that defends robbers, murderers and rapists. And you know what’s interesting? I haven’t found much guilt about it in your blood. And now you accuse me of such things with disgust in your face? That, my dear, is a hypocrite.”

I swallowed his vitriol and it burned on the way down. Suddenly I didn’t like being provoked as much as I liked doing so.

“You ruined Frank!” I blinked at using Renfield’s first name. “He went mental today! Never in his life--”

“He’s weak , always has been but you never saw it. One look. One look was what it took for him to practically kneel before me. You shouldn’t hold people like him in such high standards.”

“Doesn’t bloody matter, he’s my friend!" The threat of tears made my voice tremble and I caught hold of myself before they spilled. “I don’t suppose you understand what that means.”

The snarl on his face made me think he would kill me right there.

“I should kill Renfield for what he did,” he murmured, stare searing into me. “But you wouldn’t like that.”

“Why does it matter what I like, Impaler?”

His brows softened as comprehension crossed his face and his lips parted in a grin.

“That is why you’re afraid, isn’t it? My darling, that was my human life, you have no need to worry.”

“And you’ve been an angel since then?”

“Oh never.”

I shifted uncomfortably. I was still supporting myself with my hands on the table behind me, slightly tipping backwards so the Count didn’t crawl on top of me.

Did I see a monster when I looked at him? Quite honestly no, yet I knew I should. He had done horrible things and I only knew about the things history had kept record of. I had learnt over the years that people are complicated. I had never met one person that was fully good or bad. If I had to classify myself, I wouldn’t know. My entire job was one big gray area. I swiveled around the lines of good and bad, never fully committing to any of them because I was paid for it. That wasn’t to say I didn’t have my own moral compass outside of the law. Count Dracula however… I had yet to find out if he had any moral compass at all.

“Will Renfield get better?” I questioned.

“He might. It’s difficult to predict how my power can affect some individuals, but he will remain my servant, that much I know. And he won’t attack you again, I’ll make sure of it.”

“Let him go.”

“I will not. He's quite good at being a servant.”

Renfield’s shouting replayed on my head.

“Let him go and I’ll let you feed from me whenever you want,” I said, shocking myself with my words. “But know this, I will never be yours.”

“Another deal? Tempting.” He licked his lips and my stomach coiled. “So very tempting.”

He reached to my waist, digging his fingers in my skin and I held back a gasp.

“Take the deal,” I urged.

Excitement grew within me. I preferred to believe that that was due to the possibility of tricking the Count into another deal but the tingling scar on my neck told a different story. I closed my eyes trying to concentrate and take full control of my body but it wasn’t responsive to rational thought. If he took the deal then it meant freedom for Renfield. That’s where my mind should be, not the rush of pleasure I had felt three nights ago when Count Dracula had bitten me. But by God, that’s what I wanted. I wanted to feel it again, feel his teeth sinking into my flesh and the dreamlike daze that followed.

Dracula’s arm circled me and smashed my body to his in a single motion, causing the gasp I had been holding to escape my lips. His thumb caressed my jawline while his fingers teased the back of my neck. In the little light between us I saw his black eyes swimming in carmine red. My heartbeat quickened lower in me when his tongue snaked out once again to lick his lips. Suddenly his fingers found my scar and massaged it lightly, evoking a moan from me. I rose my hands to hold his shoulders as an attempt to balance myself.

I felt more than heard his laughter.

“Look at you," he said. As he spoke I caught a flash of long and jagged teeth before it was gone. “‘I’ll never be yours .’ Liar, liar.”

I collected myself and pushed him away when I realised he was mocking me. He didn't move at fist but when I pushed him again he stepped back of his own volition, still laughing.

“Are you taking the fucking deal or not?”

“No,” he enunciated the word slowly. “I like this game we’re playing and I don’t want it to be over just yet. As powerful as you think you are, you don’t have the power to control me with your blood. I’ve granted you enough as it is.”

“I wasn’t trying-”

“Don’t lie.”

I closed my hands in fists.

“Fine. Can you at least say you’re sorry?”

“For what?” He raised his eyebrows.

“For Renfield,” I snapped, as if it wasn’t obvious.

“Do you want me to lie to make you feel better?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I want you to do.”

“I wish Renfield hadn’t attacked you,” he said, sticking his hands on his pockets.

“That wasn’t the apology I was looking for.”

“I know.”

Why did I even want an apology? Was I desperate to find some semblance of regret on him? Desperate to find anything remotely good in him to justify my desire for him? I bit the insides of my cheeks to keep the tears away, hating myself for letting him affect me like that. My whole body desired him while I knew I should hate him for what he did to Renfield, for what he was doing to me. It made me feel like his plaything.

“Can you please leave? I have work to do.”

He nodded.

“I assume you’ll take over as my lawyer to assort my affairs.”

“Not like I have an option, is it?”

“Quite. I’ll leave you to it. See you Wednesday!"

He had already turned away, walking back to the elevator when I fully registered what he said.

“What happens on Wednesday?” I rose my voice to get his attention.

"I take you on a date," he answered over his shoulder.

I marched after him and stopped when I realised what I was doing. What could I possibly do or say to threaten a creature like him? I probably bothered him as much as soft wind did.

"I'm not going on a date with you after what happened today."

He slowly turned to face me again, a big grin on his face. A victorious grin. If he was winning, then I was on the losing side - of what, though?

“Oh but you are. Your deal clearly stated that I am to convince you that immortality is worth it. You didn’t express how I should do it. Therefore that end of the deal is mine to fulfill however I wish. ”

I groaned. Had I removed my brain at some point when I made that deal? I was used to being the winner inside courtrooms, and I had stupidly condemned myself by binding a contract between Count Dracula and I. As much as I would like to withdraw it, I didn't think he would be open to the idea. He had made it clear that he would make me a vampire whether I liked it or not. I had no choice but to abide by my own rules until I came up with a way out.

“I’d rather meet you," I said at last. "Where are we going?”

He smiled widely as he walked backwards, facing me.

“I’ll text you on Wednesday. Goodnight, darling.”

“Night, Dracula.”

Taglist: @festering-queen @mr-kisskiss-bangbang @thorin-smokin-shield @hoefordarkness @dreamer2381 @girlonfireice

#dracula fanfic #dracula 2020 #dracula netflix #dracula bbc fanfic #claes bang #claes bang fanfic #c #dracula bbc #dracula x reader #vampire fanfic #bbc dracula #distorted lullabies

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nathlomon · 5 years

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very rough concepts for apophistuck

so today ive been questioning over what planets there would be for the whole story n stuff. bc its not just hanging around but a buncha other stuff. so. yea. each so far has like 2 level varieties- the “architecture” levels w/built stuff n the “natural” ones which are just like the ecosystem around it. but there will be more.

(i accidentally turned this into somewhat of a narrative as i kept writing, sorryy)

Gaia

The “Earth” setting of the story. It has a very biology-based, natural setting. There are cave levels, eventually the player is brought to other ones where they fight prokaryotic beasts as they evolve in little-oxygen, volcanic Proto-Earth. Godzilla is available in this setting as the level progresses into the city. There they meet an enormous human congregation, panicked, in one of the final levels, where monsters flood the scenery. In the end of the world they are chased by a beast that resembles some sort of...Miasmad Jr.

Stygius

Stygius is a planet- well, not really a planet, but sort of like an underworld setting of Gaia, full of mountains and ghostly opponents. Hokmuto is unlocked upon completing the first level. Lots of large spiderlike beasts trot around shack-like structures and many slightly bigger that Miasmad Jr in Gaia. In some levels, there are no opponents though the focus is more on some sort of visual storytelling, talking about the story of many game aspects, one of the visions being of Solomon and Red fighting, as well as some sort of funeral pyre being offered to a giant monster as some sort of sacrifice. Some revelations are made about certain characters and the boss is like a giant aquatic beast dwelling inside a lake, resembling a fish-squid mix. As it dies, its body dissolves in the water into a mass of garbled graphics that resemble somewhat intelligible game glyphs.

Audacium

The entire world has a rather industrial look and organic robotics aesthetic. where horned grey abstractions of monsters climb on top of walls and attempt to attack the player, who is made incredibly small and whose attacks deal much lesser damage than usual for the first half of the planet’s levels, which are some of the hardest of the game. Upon completing them, the opposite happens and the player’s usual size doubles, as well as its attack power and health- but so do the enemies (...so the game doesn’t really change that much from normal). The colors of the assorted forms of the enemies seem to be sequential, with groups of enemies ranging from red, to orange, all the way until purple and a slightly-pinker purple, where the level layout starts to resemble more of a river platform thing more than anything. The boss resembles a large pink human/fish/salamander thing with a large rainbow-y trident for a weapon. It towered over the player and often opens its mouth to reveal a large robotic cannon that shoots lasers at the player. Upon defeat, the monster drops a small, black pixelated mass that can be picked up.

Secular

A planet that has plain-looking natural features that are like the surface of a moon, with opponents that look like half-alien lich beasts. It also contains levels that take place in what seem like space colony formations with mostly inorganic enemies, like traps that can be found around, like rockets and explosives. Every once in a while scientist-like figures with elk heads can be seen using giant syringes to take life from the player, with every wave of them being completed by a giant monster that resembles an upside-down rotting elk head which “walks” with its antlers and spits out swarms of blowflies. The final boss resembles a strange, lanky white form (somewhat like Not-Gezora) with a large featureless head, and at death it has an animation of it melting down into diminutive, spider-like animals.

Baroque

A world that is marked by nearly full darkness. What makes the natural levels even remotely visible are the impaled poles in the background, which contain horned, humanoid skulls with bright yellow lights radiating from its jaw gaps and eye sockets, like a jack-o-lantern. Enemies often resemble wormlike beasts that stay underground until they sense they player, which is when they attack. Multiple-headed bats are also other enemies seen in the natural levels, with a miniboss being eventually fought that resembles a beastly cleric. The final blows aren’t the ones that defeat it, but rather a giant sword that swings and decapitates it.

The other variety of levels involve colorful and unusually cheery church-like structures depicting stained glass art of morbid events, strangely enough. The level includes enemies such as greyish flying cherubim/seraphim and quadrupedal caprine monsters wearing what look like nun robes. The boss of that level is a large dark grey monster with messy white and black face markings and long, distorted purple horns with multi colored splotches. At death, a cutscene plays, and text that says “ORDER HAS BEEN VIOLATED BY YOUR GALL. THE MARK IN YOUR DISOBEDIENT FLESH SHOWS A PREMONITION OF YOUR DOOM.” Upon viewing this, Kaiju!Janavo becomes available as a player character.

Hiraeth

A stage where everything feels old, nostalgic, like eons ago- or was it something perhaps closer, more recent? The levels seem to resemble a castle with eagles and lizards decorating it. Worn, yellow papers with interrogation marks on them mark the walls, with enemies looking like ghostly formations made from cobwebs and tattered bags of straw, and haunted knight armor filled with what looks like a slime monster. In the end of each level there would be a chest that revealed to be a crablike mimic. After defeating it, the player receives some HP. Another level features what resembles a swamp with towering mangrove trees. The enemies resemble skeletal sea snakes and dryad-esque opossums, as well as six-winged parrots. At the end of the level, the player finds a hooded figure kneeling in the shallow water. When they notice its presence, the hood is lifted and a nearly unrecognizable face is visible, covered in wounds and a sorrowful look in its features. The screen turns black as to display text, that says “GONE FOR SO LONG. THE LOST SPAWN OF ATLAS. REUNITE.”. Upon that, the figure starts to weep, and tears begin to drop from its sprite. As it cries, the water level rises and it incentives the player to continue walking, as to end the world.

Dysphoria

A level that has its entire atmosphere drawn to a colorless and sharp aesthetic. Unlike the other levels, that contain a horizontal line as its route for the player to walk towards. one of Dysphoria’s level types involves having them climb a diagonal, upwards-facing mountain. For flying characters, the rise is relatively faster although they are vulnerable to airborne attacks like a pendulum-like mace that appears from the top of the screen and swings for a couple of seconds.

Enemies come crawling downwards the mountain and tend to resemble frozen, incredibly thin and bony wolves, which tend to every once in a while self-sacrifice by detonating themselves and sending bone shrapnel to deal gradual damage to the player. Other enemies involve vultures which open their mouths to throw spinning daggers. Upon reaching the summit, the mountain begins to break apart as something like an earthquake strikes the soil, pushing the player into platforms. There they meet one of the bosses- a beast that resembles a large dragon covered in quills, whose attacks are based off spitting a black fluid that immobilizes the player for melee offense, and also beam attacks that resemble fiery raindrops. No cutscene follows the defeat.

Another level features a scenario that resembles a courtroom, with multiple uniform, faceless entities as the jury, two horned creatures that seem covered in drapes as the parties and a judge that looked more like a strange sharklike beast. After the “trial” ends by the shark slamming a femur on the table as a gavel, the entire setting is attacked by batlike creatures with human skulls, one of the draped parties being mauled by the monsters, and a dark pink puddle of blood pooling under its dying body. One of the skullbats proceeds to impale its body with a trident coming from its mouth as a final blow. The screen, again turns to black and text saying “A MEMORY REVIVED, TO NEVER BRING JOY AGAIN”.

Lugubre

The final level. It’s almost completely natural in terms of level scenery, resembling some sort of haunted, bone-filled forest with frozen puddles of water on the ground. The enemies resemble mostly half-reptile, half-mammalian beasts with snarling teeth and drops that caused the game interface to become nearly invisible from darkness for around 30 seconds, only the player sprite being outlined white. As the level progresses, humanoid skulls with spider legs appear and use green lasers as ranged attacks. Another level features cobra-like beasts with centipede legs inside a flooded cave, which has a viperfish-mudskipper hybrid covered with spines and open wounds. When defeated, it soaks the ground in a dark red fluid, which starts to consume the level’s walls while phasing through all of the spectrum until it reaches pink, when the entire screen has become covered. Eventually black fish skeletons begin to pile up at the bottom of the level, slowly rising, and eventually the player is stuck in a mound of bones, without having an end-level route. After they get consumed by bones, the level ends.

When they move to the final level, the scenario resembles a rocky wasteland covered in inorganic parts and surrounded by glowing cyan lakes. There are barely any hostile enemies though NPCs can be viewed interacting with each other, like fishes getting snatched up by crows and carrion being consumed by bears. Eventually, the layout begins to become more aquatic, and it’s the stage where hostile characters begin to appear, which resemble intermediate stages of cetacean evolution and amphibians. They tend to attack the player with pink “acid fluid”. The level, after it becomes simply a far-away platform-jumping scene with water in between, starts to include fish. Passive, pink fish are seen jumping out in schools, only to splash back underwater again. Suddenly, a lightning bolt is seen zapping the fish mid-air and causes them to float around, with a lonely one falling back into the water.

The player finally is left to swim only, having to fight large mollusk monsters that have the average health of a miniboss. A particular one, which seems to resemble a large, plate-covered squid with lobster pincers, manages to drain away a large portion of the player character’s health, and when they find themselves trapped, the dropped fish returns as a large whale, striking itself against them and having them attach themselves to its sprite, as if somehow riding it. The two float around the air for around 8 seconds, which then is followed by the whale splashing back into the water and spraying water onto the player from its blowhole, restoring the health of all its characters. However, when it returns underwater, it dissolves into sea foam- leaving the player alone yet again.

The sprite of Warlock appears, half-turned into a shark. A black screen with text says “FROM THE WALLS YOU’VE SMASHED. THIS IS THE ONE THAT WILL BREAK YOUR NAILS”. The duel between Warlock and the player is tricky, as he moves extremely fast and is able to sacrifice local NPCS for health, as well as draining it from the player. His attacks are somewhat like a combo, managing to inflict lots of damage multiple times in a short timespan. Ranged attacks involves him glowing bright green and making a radius of boiling water around his body that deals damage. Easily he could bring half of the player’s monsters to less than 5 life bars during the fight.

And when he is finally defeated- he does not swim away or dissolve, but instead has his mouth open and from within, is revealed a much larger and intimidating marine beast, skin covered in deep wounds, blotches of pink and blue littering its hide, with two jaws, four sharp claws, and a sharp extendable fin. A black screen with text says “I’VE MANAGED TO TEAR DOWN AT YOU QUITE WELL, JANAVO. I CAN SENSE YOUR WEAKENING MUSCLES, YOUR MIND SHUTTING DOWN. NOW SOON I WILL DISPLAY YOUR CARCASS TO MY REIGN, YOUR BLOOD WILL MIX WITH MAERAH’S FOR OUR ULTIMATE FEAST!”

The player is locked to only utilize Janavo as a character, whose attacks seem to deal not a lot of damage to the scarred beast, and his move which involves lowering his damage from an attack by using his hood is rendered useless. Its attacks involve spraying dark purple ink at the player, temporarily disabling their attacks, and slashing at them with its claws. This combination of moves makes for a challenging and nearly impossible battle, together with taunting comments and imagery. The beast, once Janavo is at one life bar, makes one last comment, saying “HOW WEAK AND LAUGHABLE OF YOU TO SUCCUMB LIKE THIS. JUST LIKE YOU WERE MANY YEARS AGO, FRAIL AND SENSITIVE. HOW ABOUT YOU FINALLY RETURN TO SUCH A FORM AGAIN, AND LET’S END YOUR PATHETIC, PETTY EXISTENCE!”

And so it proceeds to charge a bright red beam and shoot it at his sprite, which was twitching, becoming thinner and smaller, until Janavo resembled nothing but a dry, shriveled husk worm contorted into a curled up shape, surrounded by a blue “mist”. A laugh comes from the killer monster, which proceeds to grow large tentacles from its scars which start to consume the screen, but when it least notices, they are all pulled back and torn from its body in a gory fashion. Then it is shown that the whale had ripped them off itself and was consuming them. It faces the screen and everything fades to black as it dialogues with the player.

“Dear. The blood of Atlas still flows through me. This is not the true fate of you. Remember the dueling behemoths that once managed to climb their way out. The two, who now offer their own lives to reverse this nightmare.”

The screen returns to the death of Janavo and the husk is devoured by the whale. On his place, appears a strange, purple tauric creature which was labeled “Mialomon”. The scarred beast went at full speed to successfully devour and kill him, but 10 health bars were taken away as its body seemingly goes limp as if broken inside. Mialomon’s attacks are a heat beam and using his tail as a whip, which both seem to deal a moderate amount of damage yet he shows to have an extremely high level of defense, with every blow received draining around only a quarter of his life bar. With every hit he gives, the beast seems to be torn to shreds, with its scars becoming screaming mouths, and its movements becoming more frantic. When nothing but its heads, spine and ribs remain, Miamolon inserts its front legs on the top jaw and pushes them apart, splitting both heads in half, ending its existence and clouding itself in dark violet blood.

The whale appears again, and says “The pain has been vanquished, at last. Salvation has been reached. Now it can all sprout back again, fill itself with life and joy”. It opens its mouth, and from it, comes the revived sprite of Janavo, large and majestic again. The other characters are again accessible and soon the whale turns into some sort of mermaid. “I’ve missed you so much. The spawn of Atlas truly did save and reunite with its ophidian cavalier. I will never allow anyone to separate us again“. A pink sigil appears, and the game returns to the Godzilla: MoM home screen.

BONUS: Password Screen and More

The glyphs that can be seen at the death of Stygius’ boss can be used as an input. It will make so that the next time you (re)play the final level of Gaia featuring the human cluster, you will receive a cutscene that features Aloisio and his relations to both Earth and Stygius, and upon that, you will gain him as a playable character. Smaller in defense and size, he compensates it with high attack speed and strength.

By replaying the courtroom Dysphoria level, without setting in any code, by leaving the scene before watching the murder of the draped entity, the screen also turns to black. But the text instead says “A familiar yet so fresh scene you had to witness. Much like the manuscripts mention. Pain so sharp and tearful, like a talon slash to the eye. Not evaporating, not even when you try to close them. May warmth be in your heart, might by your side, and you will never shed blood tears again.” After that display, the player has a new playable character in the board- Sebastian.

By typing in “ENDOGENAS” as an input after finishing Lugubre, by replaying the game, Janavo’s sprite is shown to wear the carcass of the scarred beast as a lavish cloak.

#long post #lore

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fetus-cakes · 6 years

Text

Xenomorph biology

A conversation I had with @palavengarden about how the xenomoprhs from the Alien franchise reproduce, any additions are welcome

fair warning, xenomorphs reproduce by injecting their parasitic larva into live human beings and the whole franchise is very unsubtle about this being rape and forced pregnancy, so the discussion is about this topic

charlie: okay but so here is the thing i still dont understand tho even just doing the first 2 movies the queen lays an egg the egg lays penis vagina deepthroat rape crab the penis vagina deepthroat rape crab lays a smaller egg the smaller egg hatches into a tiny screaming snake which hatches AGAIN and then runs away then suddenly there is a 9 foot tall 15 foot long black monster that wants to eat humans then it takes a nap then if its on a planet instead of in space it wakes from its nap and eats everyone on the planet? builds a house in the warmest place available somehow a queen happens in all this fetus: ok think of it as an insect life cycle egg > larva > nymph > full grown adult likewise, xenomorphs only have one egg everything else is metamorphosis of the same body face rape crab BECOMES chest embryo charlie: no, cuz the rape crab dies after throat fucking you fetus: chest embryo leaves host body and BECOMES full grown adult no it doesn't die it's a shell it MOLTS like cicada shells or tarantula shells heck or a snake skin charlie: okay so egg hatch into a crab crab lives for literally 20 seconds then pukes its self down your throat? fetus: face rape crab is a discarded shell think of the embryo as being inside the crab the crab must stay attached to the face for a few hours to complete the transfer of the embryo charlie: i will resentfull accept this but still 2 more questions 1. why is it that the screamign snake inside the chest doesnt seem to eat anything? it just wants to curl up and take a nap while it grows bigger. the person usually keeps walkign around and just gets a little winded when it sits on their lung fetus: GOOD QUESTION charlie: 2. where does the queen happen in all this fetus: I HAVE ANSWER the embryo needs to stay inside because it's EATING this is where alien will get it's food and if it's a drone, all it will ever eat charlie: you would THINK so but no one seems to know they are chest bursted though the only time ive seen that seemed like maybe their insides were being eaten was in the avp book fetus: because they have been injected with what is basically painkillers charlie: everyone else justs seems fine fetus: this is why the transfer from crab to chest is delicate because the embryo is vulnerable it's to the embryos best interest to NOT be removed before it's ready charlie: the face crab is injecting painkillers or the screaming snake? fetus: face crab injects painkillers into HOST there is a period of time between transfer of embryo and embryo being ready to hatch that the host might be walking around it's for the embryos best interest to not be detected charlie: okay so... the face crab throat fucks you, and its just spitting crazy amoutns of pain killer down your gullet and once your insides are all the way numb and youre a little loopy it pukes the screaming snake into you and since your insides are fucked up with painkiller you dont feel it chomping down and can just continue about youre time, no issue walking and no numb tongue or throat until it breaks yoru sternum, which you CAN feel fetus: you got it charlie: dumb but fine fetus: painkillers are probably not strong enough to prevent someone from noticing their ribcage breaking charlie: i wish that it made your tongue and throat numb fetus: ok so; face rape crab grabs victim, sedates them, transfers embryo and pumps the victim's bloodstream full of anesthesia charlie: okay i accept that grumpily, but i accept it fetus: when transfer is finished the crab falls off and the victim might think they survived charlie: makes sense More or Less fetus: lol why so grumpy charlie: i still think the face crab looks like a whole different animal, not a cicada shell fetus: metamorphosis man ok so the QUEEN charlie: QUEENS AND DRONES PLEASE fetus: the queen is modeled after ants, bees and termites, so it's a similar process: certain larva are selected by the drones and given the equivalent of Royal Jelly so they'll grow up being able to reproduce like all larva have the POTENTIAL to become queens but only the ones introduced to royal jelly will all others become drones or warriors charlie: okay BUT i know a LOT about bees basically all bees a female with a small handful of stupid males fetus: xenomorphs are technically all females since they all have the potential to become Queens but I guess you could say drones and warriors are sexless and only queens are true females charlie: okay so in alien 2 the one single xenomorph did the whole facehugger THING and scurried away, as normal living in the vents or whatever why did it become a queen and who fucked it to get it to lay eggs? you need at least 2 and you need something to make a queen fetus: WAIT WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN I don't remember that charlie: so just one egg hatched and attached to the dad on the planet, right? and he got evacc'd to the town (or whatever that was) we know from experience that it probably chest bursted within a few hours and scurried into the vents so we should have had 1 drone just eating people unable to lay additional eggs fetus: drone probably went back to mother ship for more eggs it was within walking (driving) distance charlie: and like... carried them? and put them close to humans? fetus: yeah, why not? drones are ONLY concerned with taking care of eggs and queen charlie: then when that one hatched you have 2 drones hell, I'll bet this drone captured humans but them somewhere they couldn't escape and then put the eggs around them ensuring more births did they just by hand carry a shit ton of eggs to the colony until one of them coincidentally was a queen, or did they have to DO something? fetus: royal jelly charlie: okay where tho fetus: whatever the xenomorph equivalent is charlie: okay so in bees fetus: I dunno how they make xenomorph jelly, maybe it's a hormonal excretion drone #1 went and made more drones, until they had enough to make the royal jelly and made a queen charlie: okay fine i checked with the bee expert i remembered royal jelly wrong fetus: what did you think royal jelly did? charlie: no i know what it DOES but i was remembering ti as 'the queen spits out royal jelly, gives it to every single baby, but if she gives a LOT of it to one then it becomes a queen' but no, its something young bees make charlie: all of them so when a young bee hatches and wanders over to the nursery to take care of its sisters its spits a little royal jelly on all of them so yeah okay fine fetus: oh I was remembering royal jelly wrong too then I thought it was scarce charlie: 1 human gets face hugged, the xenomorph goes back to the eggs which it can probably smell on the wind, carries one close to humans, then when the baby hatches and hides in the vents he vomits a bunch of royal jelly in its mouth and it just doesnt stop growing until its a full queen fetus: there you go :D charlie: only possible if its a female xenomorph, though, because every bee you will ever see is always a female the males literally only exist to fuck yougn queens (and die doign it) the queen still couldnt lay eggs though theyd have to just hope that one of the eggs in that ship was male already fetus: oh? why not? charlie: male bees dont fuck the queen in their own hive, thats their mom they are supposed to go out and find virgin queens fetus: well what's to stop xenomorph from being like clownfish and changing their sex based on environmental factors? charlie: the virgin queen fucks one single time then uses that one single time to lay eggs forever fetus: heck, normally I peg aliens as being like whippet lizards: they have developed an entire reproductive cycle without males charlie: because clownfish dont have HIVES fetus: they have harems if I remember correctly though you're right, they DO something to avoid incest charlie: look i spent like 3 months learnign everything about bees and i came out afraid of bees, okay i wanna know what xenomorphs do fetus: HEY I'M LOVING THIS CONVERSATION MAN charlie: technically anyone from that ship would be part of the same 'hive' so they probably wouldnt fuck them though they may well not CARE fetus: THIS IS LITERALLY MY FAVOURITE TOPIC charlie: ;) lets see... okay so to do yours and it woudl make sense it would just be very alien (ha) egg is born, egg is female egg hatches, is female egg develops inside host, is female hatchest again as female a secondary adutl female spits on it, its a queen lays additional egg no sperm anywhere here but MAYBE maybe if the QUEEN spits on a baby it can become male? because the queen oughtta not be able to have any babies until shes fucked shes a virgin queen so maybe the first helper xenomorph catches a human, brings it to the nest holds the human in place THE QUEEN SPITS IN THE HUMAN then when the egg gets lain in the human it eats both human meat and queen spit the queen spit neutrtalizes the painkillers (hence why people in those weird tar traps always seem in pain, where people walkign aorudn with chest bursters seem fine) but the queen spit makes it be born male it fucks her (incest but whatever, aliens) NOW she can lay a million babies ofrever and they capture more humans to make more males thats why its usually a room with only like a handful of humans stuck in it, because you onyl need a couple males after that i think my only leftover complaint is that the babies grow too fast and also nothign seems to eat, a lot of them seem to just murder for fun rather than food fetus: YOU CRACKED THE CODE well, it's established in the first movie that at the very least, alien embryos inside humans drink their blood like a fetus would it's quote possible they eat their organs too so a gestating embryo will take a LOT of resources from its human host and this is actually true to life too: there are several insect, especially fly, species where the maggots will spend their entire time eating but the adults lack an actual digestive tract so alien embryos spend all the time inside the host eating charlie: i probably need to see 1 again, its been a couple years i think fetus: in Alien one, after John Hurt wakes up, he shows signs of pregnancy: he's hungry and nauseous and Ash says he looks anemic charlie: im just thinking about the guy thta chest bursted in 1, how he was walkign around and laughing and felt fine before he suddenly exploded which means to me that it didnt eat the heart or lungs, since he didnt spit up blood and probably slithered into his intenstines before chewing through and maybe going for his nutrient rich liver first its pretty BIG is the thing every bite could easily be fatal so it cant be biting anythign remotely important or he would just instantly die, or start coughing up blood, or lose the ability to walk oh, so i have to see 1 again fetus: I just made a theory; normally embryos would eat the entire host like wasp larva do but embryos are capable of sensing danger so when the embryo burst from John Hurts chest, it realized that it was surrounded by hostiles so it ran away instead of finishing eating him charlie: oh that could be! it would make sense like in Cubed she had hers in her chest for like... nearly a week fetus: because most chestbursters are born surrounded by drones and their hosts are immobilized but aliens are versatile creatures, so they're able to thrive even in less than ideal conditions heck, Alien 1 is probably the WORST case scenario for a drone: born away from the other eggs and the queen ooooh you're right queens have longer gestation period charlie: my strongest memory from 1 is that she put al lthat effort into blowing up the ship and it was getting hot and screaming and flashign lights and shes desperately running to the escape shuttle with her cat and once the place blows she realizes the xenomorph had curled up to take a nap in the only dark queiet place on the whole ship it didnt even seem that aggressive she put so much effort into killing it and its jsut like.. sleepy and slow moving like 'why you bulyl me' 'i am the baby' fetus: I KNOW!!!! I FUCKING LOVE THE FIRST MOVIE SO MUCH ALL THE PREGNANCY AND BABY IMAGERY USED FOR HORROR Alien 1 does a better job with pregnancy horror than a lot of horror movies featuring actual human babies or demon babies and you're so right little drone in Ripley's ship just wanted to nap btw do you mind if I put our alien biology lesson into one post? charlie: go for it! have all the fun 'please, im trying to psyche myslef up to becomeing a queen or something, im lonely, im the baby, let me nap' fetus: I'm still laughing that you said Ellen is bullying the alien bully the murderous parasite charlie: SHE IS HE WAS TAKIGN A NAP NOT BOTHERIGN NO ONE he wasnt even hungry at that moment! fetus: he was lonely the loneliest xenomorph charlie: partner says that he thinks the baby is a normal parasite and curls itself up in the stomach, eating your food, until its too large to fit, then bursts out the chest maybe the 'dick' that comes out of the facehugger is the 'head' of the xenomorph and it just drops the rest of the body once its ready to and the reason you cant remove a facehugger is the baby latches on with teeth and fucks you up if you try to pull it off fetus: there you go I was thinking it was more of a tongue than a dick but yeah charlie: okay so random though imagine if when the baby hatched otu of that one dudes chest? what if instead of screamign at it they had said 'so cute!' 'welcome little baby!' ''i love you!' let it crawl up their arm put it in a soft warm little baby bubble in the medical ward gave it snacks and head pets it loves them then you have a 200 pound gigantic xenomorph monster within a few horus somehow who loves you and aggressively protects them FROM SPACE PIRATES fetus: ok but that thing just killed warrant officer Ash wait no, Dallas? what was John Hurt's character name KANE ok so warrant officer Kane is dead and the crew just adopts his murder baby? we go from RIP Kane to Kane? don't know her charlie: well the baby didnt MEAN to hatch from his chest its a baby fetus: the chest was just in the way

#alien #xenomorph #long post #fetus talks #fetus talks to Charlie

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my-darkstrangeson · 6 years

Note

Idk if this has been asked already but I’d love to see the exact moment one of them realized he was gay for everyone else. -vaugelysassygrunt

word count 1436

TW a lil bit of violence, skip the second but if that squiks ya

a/n I hope you like this @vauglysassygrunt

It starts out slowly. One day, Logan is doing the usual desk work needed, filling out papers, signing this and stamping that, when a hand placed itself over the form he was in the middle of filling out, stopping his pen from it’s path. Startled, logan looks up to meet the deep brown eyes of his coworker and, he admits, his close friend.

“Still filling out that paperwork?” Roman asks, and there’s a glint of trouble in his chocolate eyes. “I don’t know how you survive like this, trapped at a desk, taping away at your computer,” lazily, he drags a finger along the ceramic cup Logan uses to hold his pens and pencils, before quirking his eye back to Logan and lifting an eyebrow. “Wanna go have some fun? Y’know, while we have the chance?”

For a second, Logan considers the paperwork still left to do. He has no complaints about sitting her the rest of the night, accompanied by the scratch of his pencil and a cup of coffee, but… but something in romans mischievous glance, the way his tanned skin seems to glow in the yellow-gold light filtering in through the window, highlighting the gold dusting around his eyes, something tugs at his chest, soft but insistent. It’s pushing him, whispering go, and Logan can’t help himself, and he sets down his pens and follows Roman out the door.

___

The scene is chaos; bullets fly through the air, hitting concrete and shattering the glass that edges around the window he and Virgil have huddled under. With every shot Logan winces, watching as bullet holes pepper the office great just a moment ago held smiling faces and busy interns. Now the desk chairs are empty, the computers shattered. There are no bodies slumped over chairs or littering the ground, and that Logan can be thankful for.

“There’s at least three shooters,” Virgil whispers, gritting his teeth as he brushes shards of glass from his cheek. “I think I can get them.”

“What?” Logan exclaims. “Virgil, they’re actively firing at us. You wouldn’t be able to pull the trigger before they- they shot you!”

Despite the grim situation, Virgil smirks, and makes eye contact with Logan. Virgil’s eyes are ghostly grey, contrasting against the dark shadows under his eyes, and Logan is caught like a deer in headlights.

“Don’t you worry about me, specs.” He says, and than he springs up and into view of the open window. Logan wants to scream, to lunge at Virgil and pull him back down, but he knows the look in Virgil’s eyes. He knows the risks, he’s weighed them in his mind; he knows he’ll come out on top.

Virgil’s guns are in his hands before Logan can blink, and he shoots once, twice, in rapid succession. A bullet whizzes past his head, and Logan can see him wince as a line of red appears on his cheek. Another shot from the gun in Virgil’s outstretched hand, and the world falls quiet.

“Virgil, you’re hurt!” Logan says, standing up as soon as he knows the assault has ended. Virgil lifts a hand to his cheek, feeling where the bullet has only just missed him. Another inch, and he would have been dead.

The thought makes Logan sick, his stomach writhing just at the notion or Virgil being hurt. But Virgil is still smirking, his eyes still have that fire, and Logan is thankful that notion wasn’t reality.

“I told you not to worry.” Virgil says, placing a hand on logans shoulder, and Logan feels something in him melt.

___

“Patton, I told you, I’m fine,” Logan objects, before letting out a gigantic sneeze.

“You are most definitely not fine, Lo.” Patton says, as he bustles around the kitchen. “Now, go lay back down, I’m making you soup!”

Logan wants to grumble his objections, because his is fine, and he definitely is not lying about how fine he feels. Yes, his throat burns with every swallow, and he feels hot and cold and achey, and his brain feels like it’s staging a mutiny from his skull, but he has a job to do. But Patton shoots him a look that says you’d better lay down before I make you, abd even with the puppy dog eyes and baby blue apron tied around his waist he manages to look intimidating. So Logan settles for plopping down on his worn leather couch. Soon, (or maybe not that soon, his thoughts are so unfocused he can hardly tell) Patton sets a large bowl on the coffee table in front of him, accompanied by two cups.

“What’s this?” Logan asks, pulling the bowl towards him.

“”That,” Patton begins, taking a seat on the couch next to Logan, “is my mom’s famous chicken garlic soup, and these-“ he motions to the two cups- “are regular water and jello water.”

“Jello water?” Logan asks, a look of gestation on his face.

“It helps with the throat!” Patton smiles, and pushes the cup towards Logan. “It’s like drinking a cough drop. Try it!”

Logan takes a cautious sip, and finds that while he drink is incredible sweet, it does make his raw throat stop aching. The soup is much less saccharine, with large chunks of chicken and garlic floating around in a broth that smells like rosemary.

“Thank you, patton,” Logan says, after a few more bites of soup. “It was quite thoughtful of you to check up on me, and provide me with a meal.”

“Anything for my favorite hacker!” Patton exclaims cheerfully. “Now, what do want to watch? Pick something good, because I’m only letting you off this couch to go to bed.”

“There’s no need for you to stay longer, patton, you’ve done me enough kindness already.” Logan says. “And don’t you have a snake to feed?”

Patton lets out a giggle. “She’s a lizard Logan, and I got Ana to stop by and check on her.”

“Ana?”

“My sister,” Patton explains. “Well, one of them, at least.”

Logan is thoughtful for a moment. “You’ve never told me about your family.” He says after a second. He soup is nearly gone, and the warmth of it has soaked into his bones, soothing the ache that had settled there.

“You haven’t told me much about yours either,” patton says thoughtfully. “What if we swap facts? I’ll tell you something, you tell me something.”

They spend the next hour or so trading stories, recalling memories, some Logan hadn’t thought of in years. He tells Patton about his mother and her patched overalls, his father and the lab they would visit together, about the posters of stars he had memorized, about the sweet mint tea his mother always had a cup of and the smell of warm earth that radiated from the greenhouse in their backyard. Patton tells him about his four sisters and three brothers, the big, messy, warm house they all shared, about the summers spent swimming to the bottoms of lakes for salamanders and hunting for ripe pink huckleberries, about his moms short silver hair and his dads warm brown eyes.

Logan falls asleep on Patton’s shoulder, feeling content, and something else, something that made his chest swell with emotions, something makes him feel warm and safe.

___

The four of them are all piled into the large couch of romans living room, Star Wars: Episode IV playing in the wide tv screen. After both Roman and Virgil admitted they’ve never seen any of the Star Wars movies, and being a “nerd” (as Roman called him) Logan insisted they all get together and watch it. Now they sit, legs overlapping and bowls of popcorn and m&ms balancing on their laps, eyes wide and focused on the screen. Even Patton, who’s already seen the movie, is leaning forwards, following the action carefully.

Logan is sandwiched between Roman and Virgil, giving him a front row seat to their entertaining reactions. Seeing their faces change, smiling at the jokes, leaning forwards at the tense parts, it makes the movie a good thousand times more enjoyable.

On screen, Han Solo quips something sarcastic and Patton lets out a giggle, leaning closer into Virgil, pressing Virgil into Logan. At the same moment Roman rests his head against logan’s shoulder, and suddenly they’re all connected, nestled close together by choice and not lack of space.

And in that closeness, highlighted by the shine of the tv screen and underlined with the soft feeling that gathers inside of him, Logan has a realization.

@anxious-fangirl-121 @insultme-notmyfandoms @ryuity @romanasanders @spacevirgil @chaoticcharm-storm-posts @fluidityandgiggles @llamaavacado @somehowsnakesblog @thekeytohappiness-is-you @a-reference-of-sides @absentmindedproff @deathshadowrules @kaymischief25 @roxiusagi @myownhappilyeverafter @dragonheart905

#bodyguard au #roman sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #sanders sides #Thomas sanders #this is probably full of errors bc im on a trip rn oh well

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cyrelia-j · 6 years

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[Fic] Inside a Dream IV (Garak/Bashir)

Wanted to get a bit more dramatic with this but try and keep a bit of quicker pacing. Julian and Jack are such literature nerds.

Past Parts are Here:

Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3

Still AU but not really an AU set at the end of everything show/books. Angst, Drama, Romance, falling in love [again maybe] but lots of angst and bittersweetness to be had,

After Sarina's death and Julian's coma, Julian dreams. With the aid of a device provided by the other augments, Garak is able to bring that world to life. And then Jack shows up in the flesh, wanting "his" Julian back. Garak is forced to confront the truths he didn't want to face and decide if he's going to fight for him.

Brief note on other pairings: You can read Kelim into this (especially from the first 2 chapters- no decisions made on whether that avenue will be pursued) ALSO, past Julian/Jack Pack (Jack, Lauren, Sarina, Patrick in some form or another but nothing explicit) in this chapter more explicit Julian/Jack but I would still hold it to be in the past and garahir is the end game.

If I could be with you tonight

I would sing you to sleep

Never let them take the light behind your eyes

The killswitch… Garak sits outside in the garden watching the night blooms of the evening primrose. The seeds were a gift from Julian years ago. Julian had said that he was aware of the potential problems in introducing foreign species to a new world, but he didn’t think that would be a problem. The flowers were strong. They grew through the cracks in the sidewalk of old Earth, along railways and in deserts were there was no water. They were perennial and bloomed anew year after year, hardy plants always returning with their fragrant night flowers. But they weren’t invasive, yielding to other species when in competition for resources, allowing others to grow instead, fading into the background. Garak thought in a way they were a lot like the man who’d gifted them to him.

They flourished here though, and he watched the pale orange catching the moonlight. Jack had told them about far more than just the killswitch, though that was the issue which lay at the heart of what needed to be resolved. Jack was also able to explain the strange dreamworld that Julian’s mind was trapped in. It was an old place on Earth which no longer existed after the Third World War. It was genetic memory, Jack had said, but not Julian’s. It was Jack’s and Garak wasn’t sure that he particularly cared to hear any more on the how and the why of that. It was quite clear from the way that Jack spoke to him, from the way he stomped up and down the room demanding that they hurry up and “fix” his Julian what they were and might possibly still be to each other. As far as Garak was concerned Jack should have been the one to retrieve him then.

Why should Garak be the one to spend two years staring into the ashen face of a corpse? Clearly Julian has no shortage of paramours spanning the Alpha Quadrant who could come for the body as it were. It gives Garak some flash of memory of a state funeral he had attended once for a prominent legate. After the family was called to send off the beloved old bastard no less than three separate groups stepped forward unbeknownst to the other. Not only had it been a fiasco which Garak admittedly relished, it was an awful stain on the reputation of the Records Bureau. Had Garak known that he would be the one called in to waste his valuable skills on scaring a bunch of bureaucrats he wouldn’t have been nearly as amused as he was.

You already know the reason that it had to be you, Elim, his mind traitorously supplies. From Jack’s account, the three of them had nearly died themselves. In Jack’s case, it was only the shock of pulling his own eye out that severed the break that was going on in his mind. He was sure that Jack had been telling the truth when he said somewhat evasively that it was only a similar shock to the others that pulled them through though he refused to elaborate. By their absence, Garak imagines the price to have likely been much higher. Still, that doesn’t mean that he has to like it. The process was already taking its toll on him prior to Jack’s arrival and the revelation that Garak’s place here is merely as some hired necromancer to revive a Guls damned corpse so a crazy augment gets his lover back…

Not for the first time this evening, Garak is seriously contemplating dumping the lot of them. He has responsibilities here. He should already be in bed for the meetings he knows he’ll have to deal with tomorrow. The Castellan of the Cardassian Union hardly has the ability to stay up all night for one comatose human… especially a human who made it quite clear that their lives were off in two parallel directions never to intersect in such a fashion. But then Garak keeps coming back to the whys of Jack giving him the device. Once he was well there was no reason Jack couldn’t have come for Julian then. No, Jack was quite emphatic that Garak was the one meant to revive him, but the more he spoke, the more obvious it was that one still grasped sanity by a precious thread. Still, by all accounts, between the three augments there’s no reason that they couldn’t work out the science themselves.

And that’s when Garak shuts his eyes and has a waking dream of Julian’s mouth nearly meeting his in that terribly human action before stopping, before those eyes had looked at him with that pitiful apology. Nothing makes sense. None of it and he was painfully honest with Parmak. He can’t do this anymore. Whatever stupid game this is, he can’t be a part of it. Garak frowns. As the wind blows the delicate primrose shakes with it. He isn’t yours, Elim. He never was. Whatever you dreamed between the two of you on the station however many decades ago it was now, that’s all that it was. You might as well chalk it up to the delusions of a mind at rest, of a lonely consciousness desperate for something to cling to in your solitude. These flowers are the only tangible blossoms to bloom from your foolish fantasies.

Garak reaches out to pluck one then pauses. He was going to place it beside Julian’s bedside but it’s a sentiment that he still finds beneath him. You’re pathetic, Elim. Courting the unconscious body of another’s lover, and in such an overwrought human way at that; you’ve grown too soft. He walks towards the back door then stop himself, sensing someone coming. It’s an irrational action, he tells himself. This is his house after all, and he’s hardly the ex spy skulking around a repurposed space station. Nonetheless, Garak slips back into the shadows behind the stone wall next to the house. Julian had said to him once that Garak was the only one truly capable of approaching him undetected. Garak thought little of such an observation at the time. He was trained to be silent, to leave no footprint. It wasn’t until the truth of Julian’s augmented status came to light that Garak realized just what an accomplishment it was at that.

It would seem that Jack cannot sense him either as he walks out looking down at something in the palm of his hand. Garak’s left eye catches a flash of silver as Jack walks to that wooden bench. He stops, listening likely even for a breath. But Garak leaves none in the night air loud with the sound of rushing wind and insects making their chirruping mating calls. He remains ensconced in the darkness though he doesn’t doubt that were Jack to know to search for him, that single augmented eye would still easily seek him out from the shadows. But Jack doesn’t know to look for him and Jack seems to be unusually occupied as he does something with the device that nearly causes Garak to give himself away when he starts in surprise.

It’s Julian standing there. Not the Julian from the dream world, lost and confused, but a Julian that appears more the old Starfleet officer that Garak once knew.

Julian has that same exasperated expression that he used to wear when Garak would say something especially outlandish. That’s not what catches Garak’s attention the most prominently, however. No, what stands out the most is the matter of Julian’s age. He appears much as he had when they parted ways on Deep Space Nine. Garak isn’t quite sure it is then what he’s actually witnessing. Some sort of toy? A recording? Fortunately for him, that little slip goes unnoticed because Jack’s attention is solely fixated on the figure in front of him like he’s looking at one of the electromagnet specters that humans call “ghosts”. He appears solid, however, much like the Julian from the mobile projections into the room. But if he’s a mobile projection then why doesn’t he appear as his actual age? Ah, vanity, doctor, do you still see yourself as that young man?..

“You can’t keep doing this to yourself, Jack,” Garak hears Julian say, bound in a fast embrace as that sentence is muffled into Jack’s shoulder. Garak watches the arms come up, come back, a few moments of breathing and he’s cursing himself for his inability to let things lie. Whatever this is, he doesn’t particularly want to witness it.

“I can and I will and that just goes to show you who the better augment is since you gave up, rolled over, played dead and I… I’m not gonna let you do that hm.”

“Jack-”

“The lizard, the lizard man, that’s the prince, right? Should’ve been a frog but you always liked to mix your myths so… So that’s the key, that’s what you want right? That’s the bait, that’s the little bell to bring the cat out from under the couch, isn’t it hm?” There’s a strange pause to that moment, as Jack once more returns to the matter of Garak’s alleged unique ability to pull Julian from whatever mental trauma he’s suffered.

“Please tell me that you didn’t leave Mrs. Norris by herself,” Julian says looking at him concerned, taking a step back. Jack huffs indignantly.

“Lauren has it. The hellbeast likes her better but you knew that when you got her. You knew she didn’t like me, knew she liked to scratch at my pants, disappeared to two eyes looking looking what if I…” Jack had taken a few steps moving in a circle like some strange old timepiece Julian had shown him a picture of once. He called it a cuckoo clock explaining that they were a popular conversation piece (curious term, Garak had always thought) and that the mechanisms would prompt the little figures on the hour to pop out of a little door and spin around with a chime or some other indicator sound. He never quite understood the visual until now that Jack walks almost manically like a little bit of that timepiece from an old wooden machine.

“That’s it! Should’ve thought of it earlier... The cat’s the key… no, the play’s the thing and you’re playing with me, Mercutio!”

“Jack,” Julian says softly, Jack stopping upright at the soft call of his name. Julian takes his hand, the intimate gesture rather turning Garak’s stomach. It has far more meaning to him when Julian’s thumbs circle around the maniacal augment’s hands. “I’m proud of you for coming here yourself. You know I miss you-”

“But you can’t you can’t, you can and you will and you’re mine and I…” Jack takes a deep breath, the soft tap of his vibrating foot to the stone. “I can’t do it without you. We can’t do it without you and you’ve rested long enough.”

“Jack…” forehead to forehead and the wind carries the sound well enough that Garak can close his eyes. “I can’t come back to you. I don’t… I don’t even know why I’m alive right now but if this is the price for the rest of you can live I… I don’t mind sleeping awhile.”

“I reached out to you, Alice. I told you to take my hand and not fall down the damn rabbit hole.”

“Ah, but here I am,” said with that touch of self-effacing Julian humor. “Sous une lumière blafarde… Court, danse et se tord sans raison La Vie…” Garak hears a laugh, not understanding those words. Jack does. Garak can hear it when he answers.

“You don’t belong in the darkness, Julian,” he says oddly steady.

“I’m where I belong, Jack.”

“Right,” a snort. “How doth the little crocodile improve his shining tail, and pour the waters of the Nile on every golden scale?”

“This isn’t about him,” Julian growls. “You know that. I told you that a long time ago when they joined the lot of us.”

“It’s always about him. Let us come to a common term, let us worship no one except our God.”

“You don’t need to blaspheme to make your point.”

“Aha! The translation is blasphemy! You said it, there, I said it was and you said it wasn’t and now you turn it on your head mmhmm devil’s advocate, Fie thou dishonest satan!”

Guls, how has Julian spent so many years with that? And Garak is sure it has to be at least that long. It was likely since the first time they met as much as Julian had gone on about how much the man exasperated him. But it wasn’t just Jack, Garak recalls, it was all of them. Section 31 had done some experimental procedure Jack had said which bound the five of them together as a failsafe. It’s how Julian has that genetic memory of Jack’s ancestors. It’s how they were able to attack all of them at once. It was a dead man’s switch as they said in human culture; an apt term that Garak has grown rather fond of. The main System is dead and they should be too but they escaped. Some perhaps more than others and Garak has heard plenty to decide that he’s done playing these games with the humans and he’s going to-

“I love you Jack,” said simply and Garak breathes in deeply thoroughly irritated at such garish human sentiment.

“You loved him first and you love him more and when he brings you back I’m going to kill him.”

“No you won’t, Jack.”

“You’re coming back with me, you’re coming back with me!” the stomp of a foot, some other scuffling noise. “I didn’t… I didn’t come here… all the way out here… I… you know that I wouldn’t… not alone… I wouldn’t come here alone and come back alone, from childhood’s hour I have not been as others were!”

“I know… I know, love but I… I’m tired Jack. I can’t do this anymore. I don’t have the strength for it and you and the others you don’t need me. You don’t… not like that I promise you. It’s the last of the connection still trying to force us all back together but I would never leave if I didn’t think you could handle it. Don’t you see? They’ve had us locked in that… that boxed Eden so long but I…”

“The cloud that took the form…”

“There’s no demon, Jack. I promise.”

“I wasn’t talking about me, hm... I was… I was… you say his name in your sleep and I used to think you were awake mocking me but not you, foolish virgin.”

“Jack…”

“And he is the demon bridegroom! So then let us hear the confession of an old friend in hell”

“You don’t need to keep on about him. You’re getting fixated again and you’re fixating on nonsense because he and I can never be together as I’ve told you more than once, Jack!” More stomping, more scuffling, and Garak looks to see Jack’s frantic agitated pacing before he comes to stop yelling into the sky like a man possessed. The entire conversation has deserted him and right now he doesn’t have any answers.

“Will no one rid me of this meddlesome lizard?!” Jack bellows. Julian walks up to him stopping, strangely seeming to shift to the older Julian, but not tired, not defeated, strong, standing tall.

“I won’t let you hurt him.”

“Are you going to come back from the land of the dead to stop me? Hm? Then stifle yourself!”

“Maybe I will,” Julian says with that quiet resolution that makes Garak smile in spite of himself.

“You come back and I kill him.”

“And if I don’t you kill him twice as hard,” Julian finishes with a soft laugh as if they’ve had this conversation more than once. Such morbid gallows humor, you’ve refined. I knew you had potential, my dear. “Get some sleep, Jack. Things will be better in the morning and you’ll know the right thing to do.” Ah, well that’s reassuring, Garak thinks as that seems to mean something to the two actors in the garden sharing more human nuzzling, grooming each other like two primates in the wild. Garak closes his eyes, still, silent, counting up the way he used to do in the closet when it was dark to steady himself and the walls started closing in. The darkness itself poses no threat but he’s also made use of that technique for entering that deep state where his presence blinks out.

He’s only dimly aware of the footsteps as Jack strides past murmuring softly “off with his head.” He’s only dimly aware of a lot of things really, the entire conversation neatly tilting everything upside down in his Julian world view. But first things first, he needs to get that mobile emitter away from Jack.

It’s time that Garak talks to the real Julian.

One day I'll lose this fight

As we fade in the dark

Just remember you will always burn as bright

-My Chemical Romance “The Light Inside your Eyes”

Note: Julian and Jack quote from Baudelaire “The End of the Day” from “Fleurs du Mal”, Lewis Carroll “The Crocodile”, Shakespeare “Twelfth Night”, Poe “Alone”, and Rimbaud “First Delirium” from “A Season in Hell”

(Part 5 is now HERE)

#star trek ds9 #star trek deep space nine #ds9 fanfic #post canon cardassia #Garak/Bashir #garashir #Julian Bashir #Elim Garak #ds9 jack #angst #romance #fanfic #update #cyrelia-j

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atamascolily · 7 years

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An incomplete review of the Star Wars EU/Legends canon

I never thought I would say this, but I'm actually very thankful there will never be another Star Wars EU/Legends book in the old - now non-canon - universe. I've been revisiting those books recently as part of my recent Star Wars kick, and let me tell you, I stopped reading them just at the right time - when Vector Prime came out and they killed Chewie off. It's all downhill from there.

Anyway, the Legends universe is a hot mess, but for me, the five Thrawn Books by Timothy Zahn - Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, Specter of the Past, and Vision of the Future - are amazing and totally canon in my heart for pretty much everything. Everything else is pretty much "meh" except for a few books that evoke some late '90s nostalgia (because really this blog is all about late '90s nostalgia).

So in my head, Luke and Mara Jade are happily married, and so are Han and Leia; their three children, Jacen, Jaina and Anakin, are all happy-go-lucky teenagers who can use the Force with their besties - Tenel Ka of the Hapes Cluster, Chewie's nephew Lowbaccha, and Tahiri Veila - and getting kidnapped/saving the galaxy every few months. The New Republic is alive and going strong on Coruscant (which never gets invaded by aliens from outside the galaxy), Luke runs the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV; the remnants of the Empire are scattered and disorganized and sue for peace with the New Republic and Captain Pelleaon finally gets the retirement he deserves. It's really great.

But let's face it, I read just about all of the books published prior to 1999 because I was a Star Wars geek and that's just what you did in the late '90s. (They were New York Times best-sellers so I know I wasn't the only one.) In general, I love the art on the books because it looks just like movie posters for films that were never made and that's exactly what I wanted.

Random thoughts on said EU/Legends canon cut below, for length:

-Ben Kenobi's last appearance to Luke in the Legends AU: "You're not the last of the old Jedi... but the first of the new." (TAKE THAT, DISNEY EPISODE 8!) -Awesome things from the Thrawn books: Mara Jade - check. Talon Karrde - check. Art as a major form of military strategy - check. Secret commando ninjas - check. Leia's title as "Lady Vader" - check. Borsk Fey'lya -check. Camaas Document macguffin-thingy- check. Ysalamiri - lizards that block the Force - check. Vornskrs - Force-sensitive predators - check. Insane Jedi master- check. Lots of clones - check. Lawful Evil Imperials - check. Mara fulfilling her orders to the Emperor in the most badass way possible in The Last Command - check, PLEASE. -Jacen, Jaina and Anakin Solo forEVER! -Also, Coruscant and New Republic forever!! -Shadows of the Empire: WTF, Xizor/Leia sex pollen (okay, pheromones) seduction scene???; Dash Rendar is a Han Solo expy, you're not fooling anyone. -Truce at Bakura: wow, Ssi-ruuvi are full of Fridge Horror, powering their tech with human life force; maybe the Imperials aren't so bad after all; Luke and Gaeriel have no chemistry and also her entire religion is against the Jedi on principle, and she's not interested in changing it for you, Luke, sorry; of course Dev dies after his redemption arc; watching the force-ghost of Anakin Skywalker try to talk to Leia is amazing, because Leia is so not interested in his shit. -The Courtship of Princess Leia: I love the Hapes cluster, but man Han buying a planet in a card game and kidnapping Leia with the Hapan Gun of Command (pretty much what it sounds like) is NOT OKAY; Teneniel Djo is awesome and so is Dathomir in general. Isolder is okay once he gets over Leia, which takes most of the book. Also on the cover on one edition, Leia looks like Sarah from Labyrinth during that dream sequence with Jareth - what? On the other, she's wearing her Endor outfit, as are Han and Luke and there's a Rancor there, too for no good reason that I can recall. -Jedi Academy Trilogy: Yay getting to see the Kessel spice mines; I'm not so into the Sun Crusher and the Maw Installation, but Qwi Xux and Wedge Antilles are adoreable together, poor Admiral Daala and Imperial sexism (yet another reason Tarkin is an asshole); yay for a Jedi Academy on Yavin IV; Kyp Durron seriously needs to chill, Luke's in a coma for a lot of the series, Exar Kun is not as clever as he thinks himself. -I, Jedi: I'm supposed to like you, Corran Horn, and I'm just not interested and your narrative voice is kinda annoying.... Just sayin'. -The Crystal Star: super weird and trippy, Han and Leia's kids are kidnapped by "The Empire Reborn", which is as dark and terrible as it sounds, Crystal Star explodes, do not read. -The Black Fleet Crisis: super dark and trippy, especially the Yevethan culture; reveal that Luke's mother was one of the Fallanassi - pacifist Jedi who hid when the Empire was formed - only it turns out to be a huge macguffin, which is too bad. -Children of the Jedi: EVEN TRIPPIER AND DARKER THAN THE CRYSTAL STAR, HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE; Luke gets a love interest who's a Force ghost trapped in a ship's computer; sacrifice, body-swapping, creepy song motifs. -Darksaber: Hutts try to build a Death Star, what can possibly go wrong? Luke's new Jedi girlfriend can't live without her force powers when she loses them, so she leaves him. -Planet of Twilight: Luke goes chasing off after Callista and they don't get back together, so that's good. Also dark and trippy. -The New Rebellion: SUPER DARK AND TRIPPY, LOTS OF MASS MURDER, NOT A FAN. Thank goodness for Mara Jade and Talon Karrde showing up with ysalamiri to turn the force off so Leia can shoot the Evil Dark Jedi behind it all with a blaster. I can't believe I read this. -Ambush at Corellia/Assault on Selonia/Showndown at Centerpoint: also weird and trippy. Han has an evil identical cousin. Luke has to go back and ask Gaeriel for help (she's married now and it's awkward). Lando tries to marry for money and after some awkwardness ends up with Tendra Risant, who is awesome. Lots of things blow up. Kids save the day at the last minute. -I only read one of the Junior Jedi Knights series, Lyric's World, about young Anakin Solo and his friend Tahiri, taking some time off from their Jedi studies to help a friend metamorphose into a new life stage, and I remember it being really charming, despite the inevitable intelligent secret animal sidekick. I later learned that Anakin and Tahiri were kinda an item and then it went horribly wrong in New Jedi Order so I'm glad I didn't read that. -Young Jedi Knights: yay young adult Star Wars novels from the '90s; I stopped reading after Diversity Alliance, but these were fun - especially Tenel Ka, who was a badass, and I quietly shipped her and Jacen (and then that ALSO ended badly in later books - why can't we have nice things?) Especially good in my memory: Shadow Academy (trying not to get corrupted to the dark side at an academy for Dark Jedi), Lightsabers (Tenel Ka has to deal with losing a hand during a training accident); Diversity Alliance (aliens get pissed off at human dominion in the New Republic government but decide that killing the humans off is the only way to achieve justice).

We're not going to even go into all the stuff that happens post-Vector Prime, because it is truly awful. Go look it up if you're curious.

I did read a few stand-alone books this week, though:

-The later Zahn novels lack the spark and vigor I remember from the Thrawn books. Scoundrels couldn't keep my interest. Allegiance and Choices of One feel very weird to me because Luke and Mara manage to work together without actually meeting each other. Survivor's Quest ought to have been good except somehow Luke and Mara encountering the Outbound Flight expedition was BORING and it shouldn't have been. It's not clear if reading the follow-up novel set during the Old Republic era - titled Outbound Flight - will help with this. -Also, I dislike the retconning so that Mara and Luke make references to Naboo and the Trade Federation, which they didn't do in earlier books, and also Thrawn's major motivation for everything is getting the galaxy ready for the impending invasion of the Yuuzhan Vong in New Jedi Order, which I just - really don't like, especially since NJO was pretty awful. -Also, there are an awful lot of Jedi healing trances in Survivor's Quest, which are only tolerable because the code word that Luke and Mara use to snap each other out of it is "I love you". D'aww. -Also, perhaps this is just me reading too much fanfic, but would it hurt to have at least an allusion to the fact that Luke and Mara have sex on occasion - in addition to snuggling and having Force mind-meld sessions? I'm not asking for porn, mind you, but just anything beyond platonic Force buddies would have been good. -Kenobi, by John Jackson Miller was another, relatively recent Legends book that ought to have been good. I mean, it's Obi-wan Kenobi hanging out on Tatooine, dealing with Tusken Raiders and moisture farmers - I eat that sort of fanfiction up - but although there were some good bits, it just really didn't work for me. -Those handy timelines in the front - listing every single book and how it fits into the convoluted chronology - is really helpful, though! The only thing that would make it better would be to add authors and dates. But that is what the Internet is for, I guess.

Conclusions and Follow-Up Questions to Research:

-Wow, the '90s were an interesting time. -Bantam Spectra line of EU novels: mostly good, some weirdness. Del Rey line: ARGHHHHH. -Wow, there are a lot more Star Wars books out there then I remember. -Wow, Mara Jade is awesome. -I have a lot of strong opinions on the subject. -Since they stopped putting out Legends novels as of April 2014, I never have to care about keeping up with canon or anything I don't like about this universe ever again. -Has fanfiction spoiled me for the "real" thing? Or is it just a failure of the published works to address the topics I'm REALLY interested in? -Is the Disney EU canon any better? (My guess, given how I feel overall about the direction of the recent movies: probably not for me, but maybe worth checking out.)

#star wars #book reviews #star wars feels #star wars legends #'90s nostalgia

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worldoftheskeptic · 8 years

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Verses

Note: I’m going to add something called Universe Alternates to slightly modified verses, where a verse is the same except for one thing. Say it’s my main verse, but set in the current year. That would be tagged, v: the firehouse, ua: modern. A verse modified for DC comics would be tagged, ua: dcu

Main Timeline Verses

v: the firehouse

The main verse. This takes place at any time during Peter’s career as a Ghostbuster. Mid/post movie verse.

v: he turned out to be a lizard

A between movies verse. Peter hosts World of the Psychic and suppresses his skepticism against his better judgement.

v: smells like college

A pre-movie verse. Venkman ends up roommates with Egon and/or Ray, etc. in college. Hijinks ensue.

v: new girls

Default verse for interacting with muses from Ghostbusters 2016. If you’d rather not interact in this verse, please specify.

Main future verse. Post 2016 movie. Buckle up, kids, it’s lengthy exposition time.

The Ghostbusters kept doing their thing for years after dealing with Gozer (and Tiamat). Until all hell broke loose. A mysterious lab accident that released all of the busted ghosts from their holding chamber ended up getting Egon killed in the process.

Ray and Winston (and others) were out on an assignment, and Peter had finally gotten a date with Dana, so when the ghosts were released, Egon was alone to deal with them all, and with broken technology everywhere, it wasn’t an easy battle to fight. Egon was able to contact the other Ghostbusters, but since Peter was in the easiest situation to get out of, he ended up getting there first. With Peter’s help, Egon was able to get the ECU functional again, but the surge of electricity required to do so ended up killing him.

The rest of the Ghostbusters arrived on the scene to find Dana panicked outside of the firehouse. They went inside to find Peter attempting to revive Egon. Ray immediately rushed to help, dismantling one of their packs to use like a defibrillator. When he attempted to jump start Egon’s heart again, his soul manifested itself as a ghost and took over Dana.

The Ghostbusters were able to say their last goodbyes to their friend before he left Dana’s body, but something strange happened in the process. Part of Egon’s soul stayed inside of Dana. She started to remember things she’d never experienced, and retained much of Egon’s knowledge of the Ghostbusters’ equipment.

Egon’s death lead to the end of the Ghostbusters, and each member parted ways. Ray became a taxi driver, Winston bought a funeral home, and Peter took on an alias and began debunking ghost stories, determined to never let what happened to Egon happen to anyone else.

With Dana’s newfound obsession with Ghost busting technology, she and Peter got into repeated arguments until they were forced to go their separate ways as well. Later Dana took on an apprentice, Jillian Holtzmann.

Peter continued debunking ghost sightings until Ghostbusters was practically erased from history. But New York remembered. When he learned that a new team had cropped up, he made it his mission to tear them down, but at the same time, he was curious. He wanted to know if they’d really achieved what he and the others had done thirty years before. He prompted them to release their captured ghost, and nearly died from the resulting fall from their second story window. When he got out of the hospital, he didn’t press charges. Instead, he decided to keep watching the New Ghostbusters. Perhaps one day his expertise could be needed.

Events in this verse subject to revision depending on what is agreed to by both partners.

v: a game changer (Martin Heiss Verse)

Martin grew up in the 50s and 60s, afraid to come out as gay, but inspired by the civil rights movements and changing culture which surrounded him.

He was naturally soft spoken, and even reclusive, but what was mistaken for a shy nature didn’t keep him from speaking his mind as he grew into a young man.

He studied sociology and psychology in college, with a particular fascination for myths and legends of different cultures, but he never believed them. A combination of a religious upbringing, the disappearance of his grandfather, and the fear of being kicked out on the street by his parents made him skeptical of things that couldn’t be proven by empirical evidence.

From his middle age onward, Heiss became a well known sociologist, and eventually earned his keep as a paranormal debunker. This allowed him his seat on the Council For Logic and Data, from which he worked his way up to chairman. By then he was known to be openly gay, and even better known for his odd sense of fashion. And then he met the Ghostbusters.

Alternate Timeline Verses

v: incorporated

The Ghostbusters are looking to expand their company, and in addition to adding a Chicago branch, they’ve hired four new trainees with a lot to offer. Who knows, maybe they’ll be the New York branch someday, if the boys ever retire.

v: let’s do the time warp (again)

Ghostbusters 101 verse. Will update with the comics.

Unfortunately, a mishap with the interdinensional portal has caused the Ghostbusters’ universe to merge with well, the other Ghostbusters’ universe. They’ll get it sorted out eventually, but for now, the teams founded in 1984 and 2016 have come together to kick some ghost.

v: time slips

Another Ghostbusters 2016 verse, but with a younger Venkman. Venkman and the rest of the Ghostbusters stayed in limbo longer than they had thought. It’s thirty years later and a new team of Ghostbusters has cropped up in New York. Based on the events in Volume 5 of IDW Ghostbusters.

v: seven sermons to the dead

Peter Venkman and the rest of the Ghostbusters have been committed to the psychiatric ward, but this time the mayor’s aid won’t come clean. Trapped, and with no one to believe them, (no one with a key anyway) the Ghostbusters are separated with the hope that their delusions will subside with less exposure to the others.

Vigo’s plan to possess Oscar succeeds, but it will be several years before he is able to carry out his plan for world domination while Janosz raises him as his son. Will the Ghostbusters escape in time to stop him?

Historical

v: ESP expert

Surprisingly enough, aging paranormal expert Peter Venkman is employed by the US military during World War II to investigate unnatural phenomenon in battle ravaged Germany. (Can apply to other wars/places as well, WWII is default. Based on the movie Monuments Men.)

v: won’t be missed

A young medic finds more than he bargained for overseas when he finds he’s capable of communicating with the dead. (MASH/Another historical verse)

v: a preacher and a con-man

Set between the 1930s and 1960s, Peter Venkman is a lapsed Catholic priest still trying to make a living at preaching after a quiet excommunication from the Catholic church because an “exorcism” he performed was discovered to be a fake. He’s still famous for the exorcism and makes good money giving advice for supernatural ailments and leaving town before anyone can discover he’s a liar (and an atheist).

Ghost Verses

v: college buddies

Peter was killed in college when a car hit him on a walk back to his dorm. Ever since, he’s haunted his roommate, Egon Spengler. Years later, he caused the “accidental” meeting of Ray Stantz and Egon when he tripped the latter, causing him to drop his books and skin his knee in front of Ray. Venkman later appeared to them in ghost form, remarking that he “knew they would get along.”

v: through the window

Martin Heiss definitely died from that fall from the second story of the Chinese takeout place. The thing is, now he’s a class IV, full torso apparition, and he’s a bit focused, that meaning that for some reason, he’s now stuck in the firehouse he inhabited in life. These days, he enjoys his retirement from life by messing up the Ghostbusters’ smartphones and startling Erin out of her wits.

v: a full life

Peter Venkman has died a natural death after many years of being a pain in everyone’s ass. He thought he’d escaped this plane of existence for good, but for some reason, he’s come back. There’s some unfinished business to take care of. But what?

Alternate Universes

v: no ghost

A catch all for any verse where Peter isn’t a Ghostbuster or ghosts don’t exist. Peter probably works as a psychologist in either research or patient care. Will probably be accompanied with v: tbd until I figure out specifics for the interaction. Then I will switch to a specific verse.

v: realish

The Real Ghostbusters verse. All TRG canon applies.

v: more precious than gold

Peter is a single father to his daughter Aurelia. He has sole custody after a messy divorce.

v: goddamneded

A Blues Brothers verse. Peter works as their publicist, or their “hype man” as he calls it.

v: unfortunate souls

Think Disney villains. Martin Heiss has never been good a day in his life. An aging professional criminal posing as a debunker with a certain dramatic flair, he seeks to release ghosts onto New York and gain power over the city. This is definitely going to backfire.

v: fear and loathing (in Gillikin)

Wicked verse. Mostly musical based, some book influences. Martin Heiss is a Gillikinese man with a short temper and a sharp tongue.

v: we’re ready to believe you

A Men In Black verse. It turns out Melanie Ortiz works for more than one government agency. The Ghostbusters actually do run into alien ghosts in Area 51, as well as the MIB. Apparently the world is ready for ghosts, but not quite ready for aliens. At least Egon gets to play with some new toys, if he doesn’t get neuralized first.

v: not quite psychic

Superhero verse. The Ghostbusters are a team of mercenaries for hire who specifically target supervillains (they have to work within the law, after all). Usually they are under government employ, but occasionally work for private companies if they have the cash. Their name comes from their powers, which all have to do with ghosts or the supernatural.

Peter is an empath and a limited clairvoyant, with the ability to read emotions and auras, influence others with his own emotions, and read future and past events by touching objects and people associated with them. His visions are often unclear and focus more on the emotions tied to the events than the events themselves.

Peter’s emotional influence can be quite powerful, working other people or animals into a rage, and then using his natural manipulative abilities to sic them on other people. He can be somewhat of a psychic vampire, attracted to people specifically because of their emotional energy. Ray is optimistic and positive, a trait Peter draws on when he needs to. Egon, being non-emotional, Peter uses to help balance himself out. Peter is not capable of real mind control, but many of his detractors believe he is, and controls the other Ghostbusters with that.

v: BPRD

Peter is a BPRD agent and psychic with expertise in psychology and parapsychology. He’s usually employed in diplomatic ventures with faeries, ghosts, or other beings capable of “reasonable” communication. His seances are known to be much less formal than usual.

v: certified psychologist

Peter is a psychologist employed by Arkham Asylum battling a mental illness of his own. He’s been able to keep it under wraps before, so why would now be any different?

v: walkman on the moon

verse established with chariotsofthegodsman. Peter is the captain of Ecto-1, a trade ship that travels the cosmos. He co-owns the trading company with Ray, Egon, and Winston. Venkman hired William Palmer as an engineer when several of them didn’t show up for the job, and he’s quickly earned his place as Peter’s unofficial translator and guide.

v: cute deflections

House M.D. AU. Peter Venkman is employed as a clinical psychologist at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital after being fired from his job as a research psychologist at Columbia University. Though he enjoys patient care more than research, he is still wary of working with severely traumatized patients due to his own insecurities. He prefers the humanistic approach to psychology, however, he often favors cognitive-behavioral tactics with patients and is not above keeping a bowl of candy on his desk to encourage positive association with patients.

v: thin gray line

Apocalypse AU. Gozer and his sister Tiamat have taken over this dimension. It now serves as a boxing ring for their never ending rivalry and the Ghostbusters are caught in the middle of it. Takes place in the ‘90s.

#verses #ooc #mobile navigation

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metfell · 8 years

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jesus christ idk whats been up lately but ive been wanting to go to sleep at 9:00 lately also heres some more headcanons about my ocs:

safin’s hair is dyed, it used to be black

chrys was formed around 2000-3000 years ago after an ancient titan died and was compressed until all the carbon from his body was converted into diamond, then, when a huge surge of magic erupted through the shifting of tectonic plates, chrys was formed and released into the world

Nym used to be human, and ended up switching places with a succubus on accident

there are a few various types of supernatural creatues in the world i havnt mentioned yet:

both avians and harpies

avians are often confused for angels

but angels have an ethereal radiance about them with wings the size you see in paintings

avians on the otherhand have wings of various types of birds, and have MASSIVE wingspans because humans are hard to lift, even with hollow bones.

actual merpeople and not hellspawn sirens trapped in chronic pain

centaurs, cervitaurs, minotaurs, etc.

nagas and gorgons

dragons are less common, but draconics are basically a bipedal dragon the size of a normal person

they are often seen as “lizard people”

they are very good in positions of high power, and so many live and work for various governments

“lizard people infiltrated our government” “bitch im a draconic not some fuckin’ snake thats super offensive

faeries are more popular in areas around ireland and northern europe in general, and there are around 75+ types of faeries discovered so far

most people are born “magic-blind”, and it is much like being color blind where you cannot see certain types of magic. of course many people can see a few types of magic, but its usually only the types of magic with no visual effects or physical forms/features

magic users are all over human television and media and humanity doesnt even realize it

for instance, robin williams was a skilled magic user

jk rowling is not a magic user, but has special vision allowing her to see the magic world around her

#ocs #i love worldbuilding can u tell #text

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magmasliveblogs · 5 years

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interlude

aaaaaaaaand im back with the 13th chapter! nothing much to say this time so to the recap: last chapter pisces and the guards met once again! this time erin saved pisces from execution by withdrawing her testimony.

ooo a new chapter title! i assume since its an interlude we shall not be following erin the [innkeeper]

It took her a long time to clean up all the broken wood. It was just as well she needed fuel for the fire in the kitchen, but it was still a pain to pick up all the splinters. Especially when one got stuck in her hands. But she’d done it, and now it is late.

The night is cool. In her inn, Erin Solstice sleeps.

It’s been a rough day. She dreams about disappearing skeletons and obnoxious mages. She dreams about dragons that breathe fire and Goblins, and about giant lizards eating pasta. She sleeps.

However, countless miles away something else is happening.

ooooooo something else is happening! i wonder what?

It is at the brink of dawn in this part of the world. Still, many remain awake. They have not slept for hours. And some remain standing despite their exhaustion. Their places are set. Their energies are necessary for the countless glowing diagrams burning bright on the floor.

The onlookers wait in silence as the man in the center continues to chant. His voice is wavering; cracked from the strain of talking for so long. But his faltering words are imbued with a deeper echo that speaks of magic and power beyond mortality. He is exhausted, but his task is nearly done.

The spell is completed.

It’s not a clap of thunder. It’s not the boom of space time being rent. Rather, it is a whisper. And in the same way, light does not flash, but an invisible breeze blows and they are suddenly there.

Humans.

Young men and women. They appear in mid-motion, some sitting, some lying down. Many more appear mid-step or looking up from their smartphones in bewilderment. And as bewilderment fades, surprise remains.

wait, smartphones? smartphones? SMARTPHONES? these are more earthlings! i guess we know they are being summoned

“What?”

“Where am I?”

“What’s happening?”

Some of the summoned humans cry out in fear. Others try to run in their panic, but find their legs won’t cooperate with them. A few stare around the room, noting the magic runes by their feet, the robed men and mages clustered together, and the watching aristocracy. They observe in silence.

The leader in robes raised his arms and fell upon his knees. He raised his tear-stained face to the heavens as he cried out.

“The Great Heroes of Prophecy are here! We are saved!”

The other robed men around him raise their voices in cries of relief as the mages sag, exhausted, to the floor. Meanwhile the nobility murmur and regard the summoned with calculating eyes.

The humans draw together in fear. But there is no escape for them, and no threat towards them. For now, anyways. They are confused, chosen, summoned, trapped. And they are not the only ones.

i think these mages got their ancient tomes mixed up, modern day earth is not a good place to gather heroes!

The night is old, and dawn is only an hour away. The countryside is full of chirping crickets, owls, the sounds of insects buzzing, and so on. Or at least, on a normal night it would be. Right now all is silent. Unnaturally silent.

An old man stands outside his home, sword drawn. The night is dark, and by all rights he should be in his home enjoying his dinner. But he’s heard something outside, and he’s gone to investigate. This far out in the countryside he can’t rely on militia patrols to keep him safe.

If it’s a monster of course he’ll run. On the other hand, if it’s a lone Goblin or a sneak thief trying to steal from him he’ll run them off. The old man’s levels in the [Swordsman] class aren’t high, but he’s more than strong enough to defend himself. Still, he’s no fool. If there’s any real danger he’ll hide in his sturdy home and report it to the adventurer’s guild the next day.

“Who’s there?”

He calls into the night and hopes for no reply. But he can sense it…them. Something is standing just out of his sight. His hand is tight on his sword.

And slowly, they approach.

Children. That’s the first thing the old man thinks. They are children.

But then, he is old. They are young, true, but still grown. Still, he cannot help but think they are children because of how they look. Lost, afraid, and terribly alone despite their numbers.

Still, they are human and clearly no threat, so he relaxes and calls out to them.

“Oh, are you young’uns lost? Come in, come in. The weather’s far too terrible to be out at a time like this.”

The old man sheathes his sword and opens his door invitingly. But none of the children move. They just stare at him. And slowly, he realizes something is wrong as well.

Their clothes are strange. In all his years the old man has never seen such odd attire. But more than that, they seem…different. He regrets sheathing his sword. Are they some unnatural creatures masquerading as humans? But no, they are human. He senses that instinctively. But why don’t they move?

Their expressions are so terrified the old man knows something is wrong. The hair on his neck tries to stand up. Is it demons? Monsters? But they are staring at him. Is there something wrong with him?

One points a trembling finger at the old man. No; at his belt.

“Is that a sword?”

well it seems the ritual isnt all that good, as its summoning across the world. though this does mean erins teleportation spell gone wrong cover story is technically correct

And a few, a few simply wander in carelessly.

—-

A young woman pauses mid-step. Her hair is matted with sweat, and bound in a ponytail. An ipod is in her hand, but she pauses the blasting music and stares around. Fifteen armed men and a demon wreathed in fire stop their battle and stare back.

uh hold on, wait, demon? why is a demon just being casually mentioned here?!

Two twins laugh and turn the corner. The boy tosses his smartphone up as his twin sister scolds him in case he drops it. His hand freezes. The phone shatters on the smooth marble floor of the throne room. A king looks up. Frowns. The royal guards stationed around the room draw their swords at once and charge at the bewildered duo.

this king is about to have a wild day, or these two earthlings are about to die a very sudden and confusing death

A girl laughs as they drag her from her cell. She is shoved forwards, and trips into something hard and flat. She looks up and sees the adventurer staring down at her. He moves his armor-covered body and helps her up. A woman leans over the counter in the adventurer’s guild and others look around. Some are heroes, some are those who seek heroes. Her wardens are gone. She is free.

this girl? she is never mentioned again, though there is a short fanfic about her! here is a link

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19IxTw4XxDlbVaj8U9ZF0loTrDGcQ7L32HLRuQZ9CelQ/edit?usp=

Rain falls upon the world. Just for a brief moment. A passing shower of souls. But where they land ripples spread. They are not legends, and nor do they have any special powers save for those all humans have. But they are living. They are alive. And with their arrival, the world shifts.

The night is late. Erin sleeps. She rests her head on a smooth wooden table in an inn sitting on a hill in a plain full of grass. Around her is silence. In her dreams she drools a bit and mumbles about pasta.

She is lonely. But she is no longer alone.

well erin is no longer our only earthling obviously, though i wonder how long it will take her to meet another?

this is the end of the interlude! will erin meet any of these people? will the twins survive? will anyone read the fanfic? will we learn more about the demon? find out more as the story develops!

see you tomorrow peoples, if i havent posted anything within 48 hours ive been teleported to another world, bereft of believers and slowing dying of unbelief.

#chrono

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