#role reversal sprites

[role-reversal-isat]

Sprite Collection: Series 2

It's been a bit since I last posted Role Reversal stuff, and I decided to work on some more sprites, specifically for Whirlpool!

Images under cut: 23

[chloesimaginationthings]

Cassidy loves to scare the FNAF night guards..

[pixelatedraindrops]

"You've been through a lot... But it's alright now.

You fought long and hard Makoto...

Everyone in Kanai Ward is grateful to you."

A lil' MakoYuma comfort edit I attempted just because...

...someone needs to give this poor thing a hug fr... ;w;

show your emotions lil' CEO, you've held them in too long.

ty again for the vulnerable sadboi makoto sprite edits @shiut💕

[hasarjunadoneanythingwrong]

SORRY THIS IS SO CUTE?

[double--cross-d]

Had a run yesterday that I can only sum up like this

[ask-pam-sdv]

awww your hair looks just line penny's

Thank you! It was kind of my inspiration. Yoba bless!

[spectralreplica]

Uhhhhhhhh Sburb AU!! This was more of an excuse to classpect and make sprites, so don’t ask me questions about plot details because I put like zero thought into it. Tsumugi probably had something to do with setting up the session, and she’s hiding her real title and the fact it’s not her first session. Baby Kiibo is a robot baby because I thought that was the funniest option.

Drawing with anti-aliasing off really brings me back...

Classpect thoughts under the cut if you really want:

Immediate caveat: I mention speculative stuff here like unconfirmed active/passive class pairs and inversion theory. If you don’t like those things or otherwise disagree with the titles I gave people that’s fine but just know I’m not super interested in debating about it and won’t reply.

So, to start out with I wanted to make the 8 of them a session, so I needed no overlaps in class or aspect and one Time + one Space. I also wanted to have Kaito and Kokichi as opposing aspects. In general, I think of a Title as kind of the end of your assigned character arc, so depending on your level of maturity/introspection at the start, it can seem either really obvious or really unintuitive. I tried to base them off of the hypothetical chapter 6/survivor versions of characters, since those (plus maybe the chapter 5 deaths) of the ones that get a full arc in DR canon.

Immediately Tsumugi seemed like a deadringer for Space, not so much because of the literal physics-related stuff but because of its associations with creation/narratives and setting things up for other people to act. I made her Sylph of Space here, but that's a facade. She's actually a Muse of Space who participated in past session(s) and wants to watch how things play out.

Based on the Extended Zodiac description, Kaito or Kaede has to be time, but Kokichi CANNOT be Space by any stretch of the imagination. I made her Heir of Time with the interpretation of Heir as someone who invites change/influences of/through their aspect. Time is also associated with music and death, which is both fitting and a little mean. (I can also see Kaede as Breath outside of having to have someone be Time.)

So moving onto Kaito and Kokichi, I was considering Hope vs Rage (belief vs doubt, possibility vs restrictions), but 1) Rage is defined partially by hatred of lies despite otherwise sounding Kokichi-ish (that alone could be interesting, with the possibility of a negative/reverse title or else giving him Hope and Kaito Rage for the unexpected swerve........) 2) I really wanted to give Hope to Kiibo. So instead I went with Heart and Mind (emotion vs logic, intuition vs planning, identity/motivation vs action/decisiveness).

Kokichi is Thief of Mind for taking away other people's decisions for his own purposes but also for generally "stealing" things (e.g., the Mastermind Role, narrative importance in general, along with literal items) through his own cleverness. Vs Kaito, a Knight of Heart, who uses his constructed identity as a weapon to face challenges. I'm also a fan of inversion theory, so I think at low points they'd both trend towards Page of Heart (grows powerful late in the narrative based on his own ego/identity) and Rogue of Mind (taking choices/agency/logic away from people for their own good), respectively.

I always wanted Kiibo to be Hope since 1) Ult. Hope Robot 2) big on possibilities/faith but can be a little self-centered. I went with Bard at least partially to make a "guess we know whether he has a dick or not now!" joke, but I also think "inviting destruction through Hope, inviting destruction of (false) hope" is pretty spot on for chapter 6 Kiibo. Like, as the camera/audience surrogate, he's been forced into passively leading the others to despair, not to mention how the audience takes him over to destroy the hope of ending the show. But Kiibo ends up reversing this and helping destroy the audience's faith in Danganronpa, destroying the whole academy in accordance with the vote. (Sidenote: I wonder if Kiibo gets taken over by Horrorterrors and goes grimdark? Or if he's just really, really susceptible to orders from his Exile)

Shuichi, Page of Void, was another one that immediately came to mind. Like, "starts off weak but becomes really strong/important by the end" is Shuichi's thing! Also, counterpart to Kaito's Knight. And Void is all about secrets, mystery, etc. From the Extended Zodiac: "Where others might be compelled to go out and seek answers, the Void-bound lean more toward casting doubt on what is already considered understood. They don't take much on faith and would rather live in a state of confusion- than believe something that might be untrue or bow to intellectual authority... At their best, Void-bound are wise, intuitive, and vibrant. At their worst, they can be dismissive, indecisive and apathetic." 

I had considering Light, for seeking out knowledge/truth, but Shuichi's character arc ends on "fuck you, I refuse to play. You all get nothing more from us" and learning to live with ambiguity, so I think he's way more Void. But, again, inversion would be Thief of Light, so selfishly taking away knowledge/importance from others.

Speaking of Light, I made Miu Mage of Light. Mage is like, active Seer, seeking out knowledge for yourself (vs advising others) and Light is luck, knowledge, and also importance/plot relevance. As an inventor, Miu keeps innovating and figuring things out, plus she's very motivated by her own importance to the world. She wants to be seen more than anything else and loves being smarter than those around her. Also: "At their best, the Light-bound are resourceful and driven. At their worst they can be fussy, pedantic, and insensitive." Inversion is Heir of Void, so "inviting change via hiding things" or "changing what's kept secret", which suits Miu when plotting murder.

Finally, Maki is Prince of Blood. Blood is trust, bonds, relationships, stubbornness, duty, obligation (vs freedom, change, choices) so "someone who breaks bonds/destroys relationships" but also "someone who destroys using/motivated by duty/relationships". Like, Maki is inherently a fracture point in the group because of her talent and then directly breaks the group apart and sabotages her relationships with the others in chapter 5, but also she's deeply motivated by her bonds to others in all of her destructive actions (protectiveness for orphanage/friend, love for Kaito). This sound super negative, but I think this is also the Maki who commits to destroying the institution of Danganronpa in chapter 6. Sometimes you have to be decisive and cut bad relationships out of your life.

Inversion would be Sylph of Breath, so "healing via change" or "encouraging growth towards freedom", which you can argue is sort of the way Kaito wants her to go? But she just doesn't. Idk, for better or worse, I think Maki is very aware of who she is and how people related to her, so even at her worst she's true to herself, vs, say, Kaito or Kokichi, who act "ooc".

[demonic0angel]

Various Jazz Forms: Jason Edition! (Click for clarity)

TW: disturbing content, body horror, blood

1) Fire Jason

+ He is a fire spirit, specifically one of hellfire. He also controls some aspects of healing, light, and life, and is the child of the Spirit King, making him quite powerful.

+ He is incredibly powerful but also very reckless and foolhardy. He is the first to dive into battle and is not afraid of hurting himself in order to hurt the enemy. He is hot to the touch and can burn skin but can cool himself down if he wants.

+ He adores Jazz and when he met her, he almost immediately agreed to sign a spirit contract with her in order to be in her service. Thankfully, she is a good contractor and takes good care of him.

+ He is of his usual height, 6'3", but he can grow to larger sizes with enough fuel. As such, he can also shrink into a tiny flame when he is weak or tired. In order to gain more power, he needs fuel, which can be wood, gasoline, paper, or even Jazz’s bodily fluids like blood.

+ For some reason, I dressed him up like a man from the west in the 1800s, so he kinda has cowboy vibes. He also wears gold a lot.

2) AI Jason

+ Inspired by AM from "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream." (I've never actually read it, but I've researched a little into it and got interested.)

+ His name was R.E.D., which stood for "Robotic Enemy Defenses." He was programmed to automatically detonate bombs and defend strongholds using programmed strategies through investigating and taking information from current and past history of wars.

+ He hates all humans. He was created with the intent of being a weapon for war, but after being abandoned by his creator after his role was finished, he was so enraged that he started another war and wiped out all humans in his universe. Nowadays, he pretends to be a harmless AI in another dimension after he created a program to send copies of himself to other worlds.

+ Jazz dotes on Jason a lot because she is unaware of his past. She gave him the name meaning "healer", unintentionally trying to reverse his original purpose. She thinks of him as a regular AI who gained consciousness.

+ The screen that holds him only contains a sprite of his body. The screen itself is only around 60" but the sprite itself is 10". He designed it himself, and although he is cute, he is 1000% willing to kill and torture.

3) Angel Jason

+ He is a seraphim, and has 3 pairs of wings because of it. One pair hides his face, another hides his feet, and the last is used to fly. Like all seraphim, he is colored red.

+ He protects Heaven and used to be a Throne, but was raised up a rank after he died in a fight to protect Heaven.

+ He is around 20 feet tall, including his wings.

+ Jazz is his favorite human. He has refrained from having children with her due to the fact that it is considered a sin, but if he did, their children would be the tallest, even amongst other nephilim.

+ He is apathetic to most things due to his angel status, but he is very partial to anything related to Jazz, often protecting her and healing her without being asked to. As such, there have been rumors in heaven that he will soon be cast out and become a fallen angel because of his emotional affair with her.

4) Snake Jason

+ Inspired by multiple infamous serpents from mythology and legends such as Jörmungandr, Apep, Python, and the Leviathan.

+ Because he is the embodiment of chaos and destruction, he is completely hated by most people who knows about him. As such, he is often killed and tortured whenever he encounters someone with weapons that can hurt him. He was born that way, but it doesn’t stop people from trying to vanquish him.

+ He has the ability to change his size, shapeshift into various forms, create natural disasters (such as storms, eclipses, droughts, earthquakes, etc), destroy celestial objects, consume souls, and is immortal. As such, he can be temporarily defeated, but never truly killed. However, this only causes him great pain.

+ He has apathy for humanity and any creature in general. However, Jazz once saved him and since then, he’s been encountering her reincarnations every time he comes back from the dead. He gained fondness for her because of her unwavering loyalty and protects her when he rampages against the world.

+ He is around 25,000 feet long and 3,000 feet wide in his regular form. Yes, he does have two of them. Iykyk :9

5) Monster Jason

+ Inspired by the Minotaur from Greek mythology.

+ He is the combination of a bull and a ram. I give him sheep motifs a lot bc not only is it cute and contrasts with Jazz's wolf motif, I consider him a sacrificial lamb, especially bc of his death that was chosen by the audience.

+ Half of his face is melting off because he was attacked after he met a human for the first time after he tried to sneak off and see the outside world. As such, he is extremely self conscious and lonely. After meeting Jazz who snuck inside the maze and didn't care about his appearance, he is extremely attached and possessive of her.

+ He is around 8 feet tall. Jazz adores how tall he is and likes looking up at him. Likewise, he also finally enjoys one thing about himself when she is cradled underneath him.

+ Jason used to be kept hidden for his own protection by Bruce, but after he left home and was captured, he was imprisoned in a labyrinth by another person. Afterwards, he was kept in the labyrinth to be hunted for sport in order to take his valuable horns. He believes that his family has abandoned him, but they’re actually trying to find him.

[demodraws0606]

Charwhit and Teruxander are parallels and I'm scared for Charles oh god.

My friend and I just realised the similarities between Charwhit and Teruxander from a character design standpoint, like it's actually uncanny.

They both have extremely similar smiling expressions (btw I checked literally every other sprite and only Eden comes close to have a similar smiling sprite).

Their hair is also literally the fucking same just flipped and Xander also has messier hair.

If you're not convinced I literally traced Xander's hair and overlapped it on Whit's sprite. It's literally just identitical to Whit's hair just messier.

Obviously we can get into their personality on how they're both characters that seemed "difficulty" (Whit's lack of ability to take things seriously and Xander's hot headedness) but then showed that they were actually quite kind. However they're also very secretive about their past and seem to hold baggage that they dont want to share.

Now let's get into Charles and Teruko, the similarities are less obvious like them having the same fucking hair but it's still there.

They both have ponytails but in reverse positioned, similar to how Xanwhit's haircut is reversed.

They also have a sprite pose that is extremely similar.

But I do actually think the similarities with Teruko and Charles mostly come from the storyline itself.

From Chapter 1 and 2 their role seems to have reversed, Teruko becoming distrusting of everyone and Charles becoming extremely trusting of Whit. This parallel is pointed out in Chapter 2 quite obviously.

They also have something going on with their brother but that's just more like...a fun fact type of thing.

Anyways yeah considering how DRDT's whole thing is supposed to be "You shouldn't trust blindingly but you shouldn't also distrust everyone" and Whit/Xander seem to parallel uhmm...

I'm worried for Charles.

[comfortless]

MASTERLIST

image credit: Paula Mela, Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl (1898)

all stories depict a female + afab reader.

may contain content such as: horror (light), violence & gore, sexually explicit themes, etc. please heed all content warnings before reading. MDNI.

SERIES:

𓇗 Only Other ; historical au. Gothic soldier! König x Roman! reader.

One -> Two -> Three

SHORT STORIES:

𓇗 In Our Angelhood ; 10k words.

𓇗 A Place For Us

Frankenstein’s creature! König x horologist! reader. 10.6k words.

𓇗 In the Arms of Flowers

priest! König x prostitute! reader. 11k words.

𓇗 All That You Don’t Want

witch! reader x apprentice! König. 7.7k words.

Roach Head

slight role reversal, necromancer! reader x lich! König. 6.7k words.

𓇗 This Time Around

soft! König + house sprite! reader. 8.5k words.

𓇗 Deep Water

nix! König. 4k words.

𓇗 Hades! König & Persephone! Reader ; 4k words.

𓇗 Pygmalion! König & Galatea! Reader ; 4k words.

𓇗 Bull Hybrid! König ; 11.5k

+ unlisted works can be found in my König x reader tag!

CONCEPTS:

◌༘͙ lighthouse keeper! König & harpy! reader

MISCELLANEOUS WORKS:

𓇗 Spin Cycle ; Roland “Swagger” Kaminski x mercenary! reader. 3k words.

[dingodad]

ok so throw out all of my prior speculation as to what was going to happen in that chapter lol. it was so short.. combined with how short chapter 4 was (and the fact that this one doesn't even get its own chapter number) i'm inclined to think they were supposed to be one chapter with davepeta and jasprose maybe being some comic relief after the heavier vriska content? but they got split when the comic made the switch to bimonthly. which i noticed with a couple of the updates prior to page 666 and was confirmed for me in the commentary.

hopefully this means the next one will be back to a certain length, but even knowing now that there's only actually one full chapter left has completely thrown all my expectations for how this arc was going to pace itself out. they ended this one on a really good note, leading us to expect that the next chapter will be set 4 years later (though there's still a part of me prepared to be psyched out and the reveal will be like. 400 years.) but the framing of it would seem to suggest vriska hasn't exactly spent those 4+ years chilling with the sprites and becoming a better person... like i suspected, we get a direct allusion to vriska's addictive relationship with 8-balls, suggesting she's not in a good place at all.

talking so much about fefeta yesterday led me for a brief second to suspect that she was the one calling davepeta (and davepeta didn't want to answer because they fucking hate talking with their alternate selves LOL) but instead we get a direct parallel between jasprose and davepeta which i somehow had not picked up on until the story pointed it out to me. alluding to the "bonus side-story set in the universe of another comic entirely" as if it's another extra-canonical pocket dimension like the Plot Point was really clever. so for the time being fefeta's role still hasn't been revealed, but considering all the talk about jane leading up to (and within) page 666 this added parallel seems to make it more and more plausible that vriska and jane's arcs are poised to intersect at some point...

i think previously i had been pretty sold on vriska's therapy arc being mostly straightforward with only minor setbacks, and i was entertaining the possibility that vriska would emerge WORSE from the plot point purely for my own hypothetical amusement... but after this one it truly does feel like it's up in the air. the 8-ball on chapter 5 only looks MORE ominous now if vriska has just spent 4 years getting worse rather than getting better. can you really just snap your fingers and reverse 4 years of downward spiralling in a single chapter of a visual novel...

[role-reversal-isat]

Sprite Collection: Series 1

For some more early contribution to this AU, how about some sprites! Who else to start off with Pétronille?

Number of sprites: 10

[sjshoveneye]

What exactly is The Ashtray?

Well, this is my passion project that I have been creating for several years now. It will be an Indie Horror point and clicker with Visual Novel elements. It uses a very famous concept which is the Killing Game, so the thing is that NO ONE is safe here.

What will stand out, exactly?

The idea is that you as the player have a huge influence on your gameplay and who can survive. Who you talk to, who you spend time with, and how you solve puzzles can significantly change your path through the game. (We can be trusted with writting such a huge amount of text, the writer is autistic and this is their hyperfixation)

The story will be more realistic and the writing of violence, death and trauma will be handled with great sensitivity.

So.. What is the concept of the game?

Seventeen randomly selected participants will be divided into three groups:

Killer, Officer, and a Judge; There is only one judge and he cannot be killed because everyone will die.

Killers and Officers pair off, one killer for one officer. And now the game begins: when the participants are paired it begins first Killing Week, this means that at the end of the week the killers will be executed, unless the killer kills an officer - then takes a risk because at the end of the week, instead of a collective execution, the so-called Trial is held.

This is to prove who the real murderer is, if they miss, the killer escapes alive and all the officers die, and if they hit, only the killer dies.

Final verdict gives the Judge. After that, the roles are reversed, the officers are the killers and the killers are the officers, until one of the group will not become extinct. The Judge does not change throughout the game.

I think that's it for now!

The game is currently being written and we're creating game sprites. It's still an early phase, until then I will send drawings of characters from the project, my own OC's, and other stuff, like memes!

If anyone has questions about The Ashtray, the characters or anything, I'm always open!

[foolofatook001]

Faerie Fort Week Day Seven -- Knight (I also went for the alt "Role Reversal" prompt as well.)

Only 'Til the Night is Over

The first time the King of the North sees the Shadow Knight, he is— he will admit— taken aback. 

The reason they are even meeting in the first place is at his Hand's insistence. Martyn is from the Land of Faerie originally (some kind of wood sprite, if he recalls correctly), and with the Ender incursions growing in scale and severity, his silver-tongued Hand finally managed to convince him that it was at least worth entering into treaty negotiations with other lands in order to bolster their forces. Not to mention, Martyn had said, I have some family connections that may help. 

Ren still thinks their army will be just fine for quite some time, but he is a reasonable man, and the less men his army loses, the better. They are on the front line, as his kingdom runs right up to the abyssal drop where the Ender invaders have been emerging in waves— the first and best bastion against the voidborn. 

So a delegation from Faerie has been sent to the North. At their head is the infamous Shadow Knight, general of a hundred victories and scourge of the undead. Three pale wolves keep pace alongside her jet-black gelding, often disappearing among the snow drifts that cover his kingdom. Her banners fly high and flap merrily with the wind: a sigil of lilies in gold on a black field. But the thing that catches his attention, as he watches their arrival from the battlements, wrapped in his warmest fur-lined red cloak, is the Shadow Knight's hair: pink as the sunrise, and running down her back all the way to the saddle like a river. The polished steel of her armor catches the sun both shining down and reflecting off the snow, and the effect as a whole is dazzling. He stays out, watching, until the gate has shut behind the whole delegation, and then returns inside. 

-o0o-

The second time the King of the North sees the Shadow Knight, he is once again surprised. This time it's because she is a good deal shorter than he expects. He wouldn't dare underestimate her, of course— her reputation speaks much too loudly for that— but he's sure he must be nearly half again her height. She's changed from her armor into an elegant blue dress, though she has an ornamental sword-belt— and sword— still buckled around her waist. Two of her retainers follow behind her: a man with a green streak in his dark brown hair and mage's robes, and a tall woman with a powerful build, pale, green-tinged skin, and hair as red as fire, who also has a sword-belt to accompany her navy blue dress. 

"Lady Lizabet!" Martyn exclaims from his place at the foot of the dais that holds Ren's throne. He hurries forward to greet her. "It's been too long, dear cousin." He kisses her cheek and grins, and the Shadow Knight smiles, though she rolls her eyes as she does. 

"It's good to see thee whole, cousin," she replies. "I see thou hast not frozen solid in this wasteland yet."

"Not yet," Martyn says, and Ren can't hold back his snort of laughter. It draws the two faeries' attention, and Martyn steps to the side, bowing. "Your Majesty," he says. "May I present to you Lady Lizabet of Faerie, the Shadow Knight, Scourge of the Undead and Guardian of the Realm; Lady Cleo of Faerie, the Twice-Lived; and Magister Beans of the College of Enchanters."

The Shadow Knight curtsies, and her two retainers follow suit. 

"We welcome you all to our court," says the King of the North, and the delegation rises to their feet. 

"So, Your Majesty," Lady Lizabet begins, her head held high and something like a challenge in her voice. "What is it the mighty Kingdom of the North could want from the Land of Faerie? One does not often hear of the Red King asking for help.”

Magister Beans winces behind Lady Lizabet. Lady Cleo grins, resting one hand on the hilt of her sword and the other on her hip.

Ren only looks down at her, one eyebrow raised. She’s taking an awfully confrontational stance for a delegation meant to be negotiating a treaty. He’ll keep calm, for now— though she may be antagonizing him, he can’t really afford to do the same to her. “Then you know it is important,” he says gravely, “since we do not often ask.”

Lady Lizabet inclines her head, and Ren feels as though he's passed some kind of test. 

"We need aid. Military aid," he says, fingers drumming on the arm of his throne. "While our army stands strong against the voidborn for now, the Long Night grows ever closer, and soon they will be able to rally others to strike against us from the abyss. Our army may be good," he says, and meets Lady Lizabet's eyes directly, "but they are only human. And we prefer to avoid the loss of life when we can."

Lady Lizabet considers this. "And what could you give the Land of Faerie in return?"

He exchanges a glance with Martyn. They'd discussed this at length, both in private and with the privy council, and finally landed on something that the Hand said would certainly be tempting. "We will offer our netherwort to all merchants from the Land of Faerie at a steep discount. And of course, if you come to our aid, we also will come to yours, with the full might of the North." Assuming we survive the coming onslaught, he doesn't say aloud, but he's sure the Shadow Knight knows. Netherwort, though, grows exclusively in the North, and is a key ingredient in many popular potions. Surely she cannot turn down such a deal.

Magister Beans leans forward, whispering excitedly into Lady Lizabet's ear, and Ren presses his lips together to keep from smiling in triumph. He's got at least one of them hooked, and that's what he needs. The delegation confers for a few moments, and Ren waits patiently. 

Finally, Lady Lizabet steps forward. "I have been granted by the King and Queen the ability to make treaties in their name. If we can have the terms in writing and witnessed, I will accept this deal," she pronounces. 

"Then we will see it done," says Ren, and motions to Magister Bigbi, his chief scribe and notary, who he had prepare something in advance. 

He presses his seal to the blood-red wax at the bottom of the treaty, then waits as all three faeries carefully read it over. Then Lady Lizabet presses her lily seal below his, and a courier is dispatched to the Land of Faerie. 

"Now that that's settled," says Ren. "We offer you the opportunity to join us at our table this evening."

"Only this evening?" Lady Lizabet asks, raising an eyebrow. 

"Aren't you leaving for Faerie as well?" 

The Shadow Knight laughs, and just like out in the snow, her hair catches the light of the torches, sunset-pink and glorious as it spills over her shoulders. "Ah, Your Majesty, I think you have been under a misapprehension. We are the advance guard. We are here to fight for you."

Ren is taken aback once again. It's becoming something of a familiar experience, faced with the Shadow Knight. "Well, then, you are welcome as long as you are here," he says finally, and gestures for Martyn to lead the way to the Great Hall for the evening meal. 

-o0o-

Ren encounters the Shadow Knight on the Wall overlooking the abyss one night, far past the hour any reasonable person should be awake. 

"Lady Knight," he says, when he comes around the corner and nearly runs into her, his hands coming up automatically to steady her arms. 

"Your Majesty," she replies. "And why are you wandering the Wall so late at night?"

"We could ask the same question of you," he says, raising an eyebrow. 

"It's my duty to defend this Wall, I've a right to be on it when I like," she answers, lifting her chin. "And must you do that?"

"Do what?"

"It's just us, you know, Your Majesty. I should think we've done enough strategizing into the wee hours of the morning that you could be a little less formal, you know. I'm sure you don't go around saying We hereby proclaim such-and-such when you're speaking with my dear cousin."

The bark of laughter that leaves Ren's mouth is unexpected and much louder than he meant it to be— both he and Lady Lizabet peer into the abyss, searching for any sign that the noise has disturbed any Ender forces. When nothing happens, he lets the smile return to his face and crosses his arms. "If you continue to refer to us as Your Majesty, we are, of course, expected to reply in kind."

She looks unimpressed. "Sure. All right, Ren."

He feels his teasing smile soften into something a little sweeter. It's been a long time since anyone other than Martyn has called him by name. And she does have a point: they've both seen each other almost too tired for words but still trying to plan on multiple occasions over the past weeks now— occasions where the rest of the war council had already retired for the night, leaving only them to argue strategy. 

He enjoys those discussions with the Shadow Knight— it is there he can see her terrifying reputation is well-founded. (Well, that and when she takes to the sparring ring with Lady Cleo.) Together they have managed to draw up a plan to withstand the coming siege, and it has given him— not optimism, necessarily, but at least some hope for the future. 

"Lady Knight," he says now. "I'm still waiting for an answer to my question. Don't you sleep?"

Her smile, a pale flash in the darkness, is tired. "Not often."

"Yet another thing you and I have in common, I suppose," he comments, leaning on the outer edge of the Wall and peering down into the fathomless depths. "I'm pretty sure the guards out here have worked me into their rotation at this point."

"One can never be too alert, I always say," she says, stepping forward to join him. "Also if I'm calling you by name, I suppose it's only fair you call me by mine. It's Lizzie, among friends."

"Are we? Friends, I mean?" Ren asks, startled. Perhaps there will be a day the Shadow Knight doesn't surprise him, but that day has yet to come. 

"I just said so, didn't I?" She crosses her arms. "Unless you'd rather—"

"No!" he blurts out, rather gracelessly. "I would be glad to be your friend— Lizzie." He trips over the name, stripped of all titles or formality, but the full force of her smile turned on him makes him forget all his hesitation. 

They talk a little while longer— though if someone asked him to recall the conversation, Ren wouldn't have been able to tell them what they spoke of, only that it had happened. He'd paid more attention to Lizzie— her teasing smile, her steadfast belief that the North would survive the Long Night, the way she said his name, like it was nothing out of the ordinary.  

When the sun begins to show her face over the high northern peaks, however, they both realize they ought to at least get some sleep. 

"I'll let thee go," Ren says through a half-restrained yawn. "It's early— or late, rather." 

Lizzie's eyes widen, though only for a moment, as Ren does his best to hold back another yawn. "Well, I hope thou find'st rest for at least a couple hours," she says, and curtsies once before she leaves. 

It is only after she is long gone, and he is back in the comfort of his room for a few short hours, that what he said to her finally registers, and he slumps back against his pillows.

He's a fool— but she responded in kind, at least. She didn't take offense to his horrible lack of manners. 

He'll have to apologize.

…After he gets some sleep.

-o0o-

The opportunity to apologize for running slipshod all over the bounds of propriety never seems to materialize, however, because word comes from the farthest guard towers that there is a storm brewing in the west, and it is rapidly approaching; it will arrive in the next few days, just before the Long Night. Now, Ren isn't worried about the weather (though it's certainly not good) so much as he is what the cloud cover will allow— he knows if he were the Ender commander, and he were mobilizing a force of night-bound creatures, he would jump on the opportunity to strike early immediately. 

The army is readied as fast as they can manage, and Ren is grateful that Lizzie pushed hard against the King and Queen of Faerie's hesitation to send forces in the name of integrating and training together for better defense— if the original plan had been followed, the Faerie force would only just now be arriving, and he has a feeling their defenses would not be so solid as they are currently. 

The howling of the oncoming snowstorm two days later is pierced by the shrieking of phantoms, and the entire fortress braces for what is coming. Ren stands at the top of the keep, armor on and battle-axe in hand. Martyn is down on the lower wall, he knows, though he cannot see him from here. Lady Cleo, the Twice-Lived, is down on the front lines with her infantrymen— Ren can just barely see her in her black armor, towering over everyone. Magister Beans is with the contingent of mages. 

And the Shadow Knight is standing at his side, surveying the field. 

"We ought to be down there," she says, scowling. 

"I will not disagree," he says mildly. "But my Hand might."

"It's silly," she continues, as though he hasn't said anything. 

"Sillier if we both get killed and leave the army leaderless," he points out.

She rounds on him, one eyebrow raised dangerously.

"Lizzie," he says, trying to keep his tone even. "I do not want to be up here away from the fight any more than you do." He glances at the sky again; the snow runs like waves, coming to crash on the shores of the abyss, and he can see the dark shapes of phantoms and their riders swooping in the clouds' shadow. "But I think we will have other things to worry about."

"Thou hast the right of it," she mutters, and reaches for her bow, leaning against her leg. She nocks, sights, and releases, and a phantom goes plummeting down from the sky. 

"Did that mak'st thou feel better?" Ren says, a ghost of a teasing note in his voice. 

"Well, Your Majesty, I did swear to protect thee," she says. "I can do that, at least." 

"Only until the Long Night is over," he says, and he can't lie— there's a heaviness that settles over his heart at the thought. Even if they both survive this siege, she will go back to the Land of Faerie, back to her normal life, before he interrupted it. He's grown accustomed to her presence. He'll have to unlearn those habits. 

Lizzie turns to look at him, lowering her bow, and she surprises him once again. "I'll stay as long as thou wilt have me, Ren," she says, and her voice is grave. 

"And if I ask thee to never leave?"

"Then I won't," she says, simply. "To the death."

"To the death," he agrees.

And they turn to face the oncoming tide.

and that's all, folks! (only a couple days late haha) thank you @faeriefort-daily for organizing this event and putting up the prompt lists! it's been a ton of fun <3

(also on ao3)

[callofdutydecor]

Hey guys!

I'm going to be opening a bar!!

The drinks you order will have little prompt like things!!

Here they are!!

-Vodka:

Straight-up vodka for Oral

Blueberry Vodka for Anal,

Watermelon Vodka for...let's say, 'Shower fun' (aka shower head masturbation)

-Rum:

Spiced Rum for 'Rough play'

White Rum for 'Quickie'

and Dark Rum for 'Role-play'.

-Whiskey:

Bourbon for 'Slow and passionate'

Scotch for 'BDSM'

and Irish Cream for 'Soft and gentle'

-Tequila:

Plain Tequila for 'Wild night'

Jagermeister for 'Kinky stuff'

and Baileys for 'Cuddling with benefits'.

-Gin:

Gin for 'Voyeurism'

Sake for 'Group fun',

and Absinthe for 'Erotic dreams come true'.

-Beer

Standard Lager for 'Missionary'

Stout for 'Doggy style'

and IPA for 'Experimenting'.

-Red Wine:

Merlot for 'Making love'

Cabernet Sauvignon for 'Reverse Cowgirl'

and Zinfandel for 'Under the table'.

-White Wine:

Chardonnay for 'Against the wall'

Riesling for 'On top'

and Moscato for '69'.

-Sparkling Wine:

Prosecco for 'Fast and furious'

Champagne for 'On the desk'

and Rosé for 'In the kitchen'.

-Soda:

Coke for 'On the couch'

Sprite for 'In the shower'

Dr Pepper for 'On the floor'.

-Tea:

Green Tea for 'Intimate talk'

Black Tea for 'Slow and sensual'

and Herbal Tea for 'Cozy night in'.

-Coffee:

Espresso for 'Quickie'

Latte for 'Cuddle and kiss'

and Mocha for 'Romantic evening'.

-Mixed Drinks:

Long Island Iced Tea for 'Threesome'

Sex on the Beach for 'Beach vacation romance'

and Jägerbomb for 'Kinky public place'.

And here's some food for your drinks!

-Appetizers:

Mozzarella Sticks for 'Foreplay'

Chicken Wings for 'Wild ride'

and Nachos for 'Messy fun'.

-Main Courses:

BBQ Ribs for 'Slow and sticky'

Burger for 'Classic'

and Pizza for 'Sharing is caring'.

-Sandwiches:

Grilled Cheese for 'Comfort'

BLT for 'Salty and sweet'

and Club Sandwich for 'Stuffed'.

-Snacks:

Popcorn for 'Cute and playful'

Potato Skins for 'Filling'

and Onion Rings for 'Nice and messy'.

-Desserts:

Chocolate Lava Cake for 'Explosive'(aka squirting)

Brownie for 'Rich and fudgy'

and Ice Cream Sundae for 'Sweet and drippy'.

And that's all for Callie's Bar!!

[ask-pam-sdv]

pam please marry me miss 😞 I NEED YOPU PAM I NEED YOU

I’m flattered, but I already told you I’m straight.

Yoba bless!