#savior's wake spoilers

[solns]

the music is so ominous but jakob made her an honorary member cuz they enjoy the scones and cookies 😭 tf that's adorable haha

[ceruark]

opening sequence

synopsis: you escaped to dreamflux reef thinking your captor wouldn’t be able to reach you, but your so-called savior lied to you. notes: yan! sunday x gn! reader. words: 1,424 cw: general yandere themes - brainwashing, and implied obsession, possessiveness, and abduction. disclaimer: major 2.2 story quest spoilers.

You spent nearly a year planning, making connections, figuring out who would keep quiet and who would tell on you in a heartbeat— nearly a year biding your time.

There was a booth in the corner of Dreamjolt Holstery that often went forgotten, so it was quite easy for messengers from the Dreamflux to overlook you when reporting to Gallagher. It wasn't hard to figure out what he was planning, and it was even easier to blackmail him using what you knew.

Take me to the Dreamflux, you demanded, or I'll damn us both.

He commanded Death to take you then and there. You disappeared without a trace, a few weeks before Robin did.

It was damn near impossible. But you'd done it. You'd gotten out.

The two months you've spent in Dreamflux Reef have been some of the best in recent memory. You spoke to strangers without worrying if you appeared too friendly with them. You roamed aimlessly, unconcerned with making it back to Dewlight Pavilion before a certain hour, or feeling the weight of a nightingale's unwavering gaze on your back.

For the first time since you met Sunday, you lived freely.

Hearing of the Astral Express's arrival only heightened your hopes. They never turned down a passenger, and if you asked to travel with them at the end of the Charmony Festival, you could get out of Penacony. You could escape his grasp for good.

The final step of your escape seemed all the more reachable when you heard through the grapevine that Gallagher was planning to lead the Express Crew to Dreamflux Reef. When you asked him if it was true, he confirmed it. When you begged him, for the umpteenth time, not to bring Sunday, he swore he wouldn't.

He lied.

The thing about being subjected to the gaze of the Harmony countless times is that, eventually, you become bound to it. In the Dreamscape, there was a constant tugging pressure in your head that reminded you your mind wasn't solely your own anymore, that reminded you of the person who had done this to you. The pressure would become more taught the further you wandered from him, a mental leash that ensured you stayed at his side.

The pressure dissipated completely once you arrived in the Dreamflux. You almost forgot what it felt like.

Almost.

You're sitting in a bar when it happens. You and the bartender watch, entertained, as a drunken Pepeshi guest attempts to play a game of Egyptian Ratscrew with other patrons who get him worked up just so he can bet higher and fatten the pot. He's just ran out of cards and is furiously yelling at the winner, a damning finger thrust in their face. You and the bartender laugh, and when you make eye contact with her, she winks at you.

You open your mouth to make a sly comment about the situation, but you choke on your words when a sharp pain stabs through your head. You double over, tumbling out of the barstool and onto the floor. The bartender and a few other guests run over to you, clamoring above you. Their words are static in your ears until the pain subsides.

Left in its wake is a familiar tugging sensation, far too loose for your liking.

Fear and adrenaline flood your veins. You shoot to your feet and push past them, your urgency enough to prevent them from trying to stop you. You rush toward the back of the building and shove at the back door that leads out into an alleyway.

You run for what feels like an eternity, but you don't feel the cord getting any tighter. If anything, it feels like it's getting even looser, and the mere thought terrifies you. You’ve changed directions several times now. How can he possibly be advancing on you?

In your frightened haze, you fail to recognize that there's a figure in your path, a figure that brightens at the sight of you.

You crash into them, sending you both tumbling to the ground.

"Sorry," you mumble, already getting to your feet. You don't have time to feel bad or make sure they're uninjured. You're ready to take off into a sprint again when a hand wraps around your wrist, and a melodic voice calls your name.

Your blood runs cold, and you slowly turn to face the woman sitting on the floor. Robin stares up at you in a mix of relief and worry.

"So you are here!" She exclaims excitedly, using her hold on you to bring herself to her feet. "I figured, after my own experience, that the same thing must have happened to you. Are you alright?"

Your throat goes dry. She doesn't know— she has no idea. Even if left unsaid, Sunday made it clear through implications that the worst of the Harmony would be reserved for if you ever said anything to Robin, so you never tried to. You don't have the heart to tarnish the adoration she has for him, anyways.

You force a smile. The thread unravels, growing slacker by the second. "I'm fine," you say, and you sound anything but it. You gently remove her hand from your wrist. "I have to go."

"Wait!" She catches you again by the shoulder, and urgency flares up in your stomach. You don't have much time left. "Can we talk? I could use a familiar face right now."

Your stomach sinks, and you place a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "Later," you lie, "I promise."

Your hand drops to your side. You turn away from her, unable to look at her crestfallen expression.

The tension releases. A chill runs down your spine, and your mind feels fuzzy.

It's too late.

Only Robin's voice could make the devil's name sound beautiful to your ears. You turn just in time to watch him return her hug, one hand coming up to hold the back of her head gently, the other rubbing soothing circles into her back as she starts to cry.

His golden eyes pierce you, pinning you in place.

You tear your gaze away from him and look at your feet. The ground swims beneath them, swirls of pink, orange, and yellow contaminating the edges of your vision. The bone-deep terror grows muted as the Harmony hums in your head. You're euphoric, nearly hysterical.

Sunday releases his sister and pulls at the thread connecting you. Drunkenly, you stumble toward him, closing the few feet of distance between you. Your arms come up around his neck, and his arms snake around your waist, pulling you impossibly close to him. He presses a kiss to the side of your face. His lips tickle your ear when he speaks.

"Tell me," he whispers. "Was your disappearance planned by Gallagher?"

You know better than to try and lie in this state. "No."

He hums. His hold on you tightens. You can hardly breathe. "Did you ask him to bring you here?"

"Yes," you choke out. You bury your face in his shoulder. You can't bear facing him right now.

He sighs and presses another kiss to your cheek. "Dearest, you know I only want what's best for you."

You do know, and that's what hurts the most. No matter what he does to you, and no matter how much you suffer, you know he only has good intentions. You know, undoubtedly, that he loves you. Somewhere, beneath the meticulousness and the paranoia, is the charming, sweet man you fell for.

A sob escapes you. Behind you, Robin coos, moved by what she believes to be a heartfelt reunion between her brother and his lover. Sunday shushes you and brings one hand up to your head. Gloved fingers card through your hair, a comforting gesture.

"It's alright, dove." He gently takes your head between his hands and removes it from his shoulder, looking you in the eyes. "You and I will have all eternity to make up for the lost time."

There's not a hint of cruelty in his face, but something fervent— almost manic— gleams in his eyes. Your voice trembles. "What?"

He closes his eyes and presses a tender kiss to your lips. When his eyelids flutter open, rings of pink and orange surround his pupils.

"Rest now." He says against your lips, and your limbs grow heavy. You lean into him, and one of his arms comes up to support your back. His fingers dig into your spine.

"When you wake, we shall be one."

[biblicallyaccuratecrow]

in stars and time "method actor" au braindump

the people have spoken! welcome to the method actor au! in which i took the theatre themes of isat and stretched them to their absolute limit!

the premise is that instead of saving vaugarde, the party + major side characters (the king and euphrasie) are an acting troop! and they're telling the story of the saviors through a play. Siffrin is playing The Traveller, and over time in rehearsals has really grown to like his castmates (even the one playing the king- he's actually quite sweet!).

it's the opening night! they're more than prepared for the show!

... until they aren't.

All it takes is a faulty prop from the fly tower, and suddenly siffrin is right back where they started the day before, waking up from a nap in the greenroom before the last rehearsal.

they're back at the beginning. they get a second chance.

after all, you only get one opening night, and siffrin is determined to make it perfect.

...all they need to do is make sure the show goes smoothly!

no stage hazards,

no missed lines,

no injuries,

no deaths,

no mistakes.

and if they have to play the hero to do it?

if the lines between them and their character have to blur so that their parts are perfect?

so be it.

the show must go on.

[notes below the cut!]

[spoilers for isat below!]

so yeah, siffrin takes the term "method acting" way too seriously. out of necessity, though. this is a performance, after all! they have to keep it together for the show, and the best way to do that for them is to embrace their role.

setting

still takes place in vaugarde! except yknow. the king isn't actually happening (yet), so instead of a group of saviors we have the acting group playing the saviors! a bit meta, but it works.

craft and the island still are a thing, and play a major part in the overarching story! this is still a time loop, after all!

all of this is taking place on a stage within dormont's house of change! Euphrasie sponsors, and was more than happy to be included for her very short role! The theatre there has been out of use for decades, but Euphrasie sees it fit to resurrect it just for this show!

The party:

Mirabelle is the playwright, having dreamed up a story like the books she loves to read but for the longest time being too afraid to put it down. Euphrasie encouraged her to go through with it, and they've been building the show ever since! she thinks she isn't a good actor, but she's actually very empathetic as the heroine, since she (secretly) based it off herself.

Isabeau was actually the first to audition- and the only one, at least in the first round. He came in last-minute, and after delivering a solid monologue (with a few puns slipped in), Mirabelle was eager to cast him! He actually loves costume design, but he doesn't dare to reveal this to the party, even if he occasionally spends hours in the House's storage room looking through pieces from older performances.

Odile was a surprising addition to the cast. She was interested in Vaugardian tradition, and figured the best way to learn was through the epicenter of vaugardian culture, at a house. She reccomended some plays to mirabelle from her travels, and after giving some pointers on mirabelle's early scripts decided to join in for the hell of it. She likes horror productions in particular, and contributed a lot to the concept of the king's time craft.

Siffrin was visiting the house, and came to see one of the plays... but got the time wrong and came in during a live-reading of the scripts early draft. he stood and watched for a bit before mirabelle noticed, and after a LOT of fumbling and apologies admitted that he loves theatre. Mirabelle practically dragged him in after that. Given that he didn't have anything else to do, he agreed. Despite claiming he's not much of an actor, much preferring to work on the set design, he's actually uncannily good...

The King is... just a guy, actually! very quiet, very reclusive, but after seeing one of mirabelle's casting calls came in and absolutely smashed the audition. he's been with the group ever since! he's pretty busy outside of the production, but he puts his all into his work! He and siffrin have a kind of kinship, given their shared elusive background and... white hair, i guess.

Bonnie is the younger sister of Nille, who worked on trade classes at dormonts house after the two left Bambouche together. Mirabelle needed someone to help make the sets, and Nille volunteered early on in the production, so long as she could bring Bonnie along. Initially Bonnie wasn't all that interested, but after hanging around the cast a bit grew curious. Siffrin caught them reading through one of the scripts and acting out the various parts on their own. After that, Mirabelle made the time to write in The Kid for Bonnie to have a role thats easiest for them! Fun fact- a lot of The Kid's lines are actually ad libs from Bonnie throughout the production. Mirabelle kept writing them into the script as a sort of inside joke.

Euphrasie is mostly the same! As the head housemaiden, she's had a bit of experience with public speaking and acting, and after seeing Mirabelle having such fun she allowed herself to be roped into a small role as The Head Housemaiden in the production.

the story...

Siffrin's first death is actually to a prop rock falling on top of them. When they wake up, they're back in the green room, waking up from a nap. Isa is out by the favor tree as usual, odile is buying food for the cast party, mira is pouring over her dating profiles disguised as her script, and bonnie is hanging out in the auditorium.

Of course, at the favor tree after the first death is loop. They immediately cast siffrin as the "new director", and from there basically acts much the same as in canon, though a lot of the "memories" are slight improvements to siffrin's acting or the set props.

so, despite all their preparation, the performance keeps getting interrupted in increasingly more and more bizarre ways. A strange array of stage accidents, usually resulting in siffrin's death. They initially suspect that the show is cursed (theyre not that far off), and start to dig into how that could happen. this is where the idea of wishcraft gets introduced. The King seems the most likely to be highjacking the show, but siffrin doesn't want to believe it.

As siffrin performs show after show, things start to get... weirder, somehow. Like the performance is becoming more real with each passing loop. This doesn't just extend to the set, but also to siffrin themself. The line between them and the traveller blurs. As they learn more about wishcraft and the forgotten island, they project this into the story and their performances, and even off set will take mannerisms from the traveller role and use them to brush off the party's concerns.

in later acts, the rest of the cast begins to blur with their own respective characters, to the point that siffrin starts to become irrationally aggressive towards the king, somehow believing him to be responsible. Loop does their best to keep siffrin's handle on reality in tact, but by act 4 they're essentially living out the play. there is no distinction between reality and mirabelle's script- it's all one thing. And the wish makes that true during the performances as well, in ways that even the party can notice- ghosts on the stage, reality warping because of props, even randomly improved sets and staging. The further siffrin descends, the stronger the wish's influence over the performance and their reality grows. by act 5, the wishcraft has transformed the house to reflect that of the play, and everyone to be their characters- or be frozen, as a captive audience. the rest happens similarly to how it does in canon.

the real crux of the issue, like in canon, is that siffrin made a wish. They love their cast, and they love their performance. They want it to stay like that. They want to stay with them. And so they wish at Dormont's favor tree. And it comes true, in the best way the universe can manage- by making it so that the performance never ends. The actual hazards of the set are real- Dormont's theatre is borderline decrepit- but once the wish craft begins to influence things, they become more serious.

i initially had the idea that maybe during the first loop the story becomes real, like what we see in canon, and siffrin is reacting to the actual characters as a literal actor, but i like the idea of the party playing their SASASA counterparts as more base/easily digestible protagonist versions of themselves more. plus like, the idea of it all being literally on a stage is too fun for me

the hilarious thing is, in my mind... the audience wouldn't know that wasnt the intention for the play. in their pov they saw this shit being acted out and not the absolute wacked out acid trip the party saw while on stage. it's an instant success, though the entire party agrees to never put on the show again.

thats about all i got so far? dunno if i'll actually write anything for this, and if i do it'll probably be a one shot or two. but if youre interested in more info abt the au, or just wanna chat about it, feel free!

until next time!

[love-toxin]

File 11 - Miguel O'Hara

plot: as much as it hurts, he knows you were meant to be together, even if you don't remember the man you once loved.

cws: miguel pov, fem!reader, atsv spoilers, smut mentions, interdimensional romance timelines, lovers -> strangers -> lovers, casual hookups, kids/pregnancy talk, angst + fluff, denial of feelings (man's got it so bad), mutual pining, character death mentions.

word count: 2.8k

Every morning he wakes up without you is torture.

Plain and simple. Torture. Pure, unadulterated torture that cripples his heart each morning he cracks open his eyes and finds the place beside him empty. It's cold even on the hottest nights, bristling the back of his neck no matter how much he sweats in the long summers. It's always been terrible–ever since that day that you, your daughter, and his whole world ceased to exist, Miguel hasn't truly found peace even in passing moments. Eating his favourite meal from the commissary to finding a breakthrough in his plans for the spiderverse, it just doesn't feel right.

And while he'd long gotten used to that feeling, the dull ache has soared into a sting now that he faces you each day he comes into work.

It's not "you" per se–not his version of you–but the you that stands in front of him each and every morning has your face, your smile, your laugh, your cheeky sense of humour, everything. You have everything. Everything except a memory of him, even a shred of it, because as much as he wants you to see him and throw yourself into his embrace, you have no memory of him. You don't see him as a husband, a father, a friend, you see him as Miguel–not to say that you don't also consider him your savior, which you certainly do. He rescued you from a dying dimension that some other hero screwed up, and broke his own rules in doing so because he just couldn't watch you die twice. He still can't bear watching it replay in his mind every time he falls asleep, that first time when he truly wished he had just died alongside both of you to spare himself the pain. To spare himself from hearing your screams and your daughter's terrified sobs as his world disappeared from within his very arms.

Somewhere in the back of his head, he wonders if there was a Miguel in your own dimension. If you loved him or were destined to love him, but you never got the chance to live out your life together. Maybe he was just a normal guy. Not a hero, not a spiderman, not anyone. Just some average joe with a crush on someone he never imagined he could actually settle down and have a family with. Maybe there was–and maybe nothing ever happened because he just simply can't have anything good last in his life.

That's why, despite how heavy that ring feels on his left hand, and how much his heart aches at knowing that you're right there, Miguel goes to bed every night alone. In the beginning he rebuffed you, shut down any ounce of flirtation, didn't even take it when you made lighthearted jokes or someone else did in your place. He can't go through those losses again, but more importantly he can't put you through those losses again. That dimension was one thing, but what he's built here can't be replaced or broken down. He's mapped out the avenues and deduced that if he pursues you, he loses. So instead of allowing himself those simple pleasures of being close to you, he pushed you away so frequently he could tell it was starting to wear on you. You wondered if you even belonged in the society, your delicate self with nothing but a wristband that still didn't always keep you from glitching on occasion.

But that all changed just a few months ago. It's still burned into his brain, that first time–his muscles still itching for the feeling to meet them again. The feeling of you.

It hadn't hit him until then just how long it'd been since he'd taken care of those needs. He'd spent so many long nights with the company of no one, or the satisfaction of nothing but his hand, that the promise of being with a woman again both frightened and exhilarated him. But it wasn't just any woman, because he's well worn out that mat, it was you. You who might not have remembered him, but you remembered the way you two always made love because it came to you so naturally. You pleased him like it was a second skin, did it without even trying and when you did try it was nothing short of heavenly. You were and are godlike in every which way, your body so soft he worries he'll cut you on his own hard, jagged frame, yet so pliable it's second nature to press your knees back to your shoulders and pipe you like you're a pretty little milking cow and he's a raging bull in heat. There's been times he genuinely couldn't help himself and just gave in to his desires to breed you, his cock straining for your deepest, most vulnerable spots that you gladly gave up the moment he begged to knock you up. Yes, begged–he was at your mercy even in his rawest moments, and he wouldn't have it any other way. Even if the conversations afterward were awkward and filled with cheap laughter as you both sobered up from your lustful haze.

God, you felt so good. Every occasion is better than the last–every chance to feel you pressed against his skin is nothing short of a blessing.

"Mr. Miguel?"

His hand twitches at the interruption of his thoughts, his cup tipping off the desk but stopping with a quick shot of his webs–luckily for him his instincts are still rather crisp, or else he'd be making a mockery of himself in front of the very object of his desires and spilling water all over his floating monitors.

"Mh? Yes?" He turns his head, and there you are in all your radiant glory. Pen tucked behind your ear, outfit of the day clean and prim, eyes sparkling as they always do even when you look at him with concern. How precious. It's just a cup.

"O-Oh, sorry! Nice catch," You add rather hastily before holding out a stack of files, each one labeled and organized by name just as he asked you to do since you started. "Here's the paperwork for the newbies. Do you want it anywhere specific, Mr. Miguel?"

"Set it on the counter there, I'll have Parker look it over. Might busy him and May for awhile." He grumbles that last part under his breath, finally turning around completely from his screens and rolling out his shoulders from hunching so much over them. Fully facing you now is a problem…it's always a problem with how tight this suit can be.

"Oh, you love her, don't even lie." Lie. Lie. Lie. For god's sakes, just lie.

"I tolerate her presence in my workspace."

"Isn't she just adorable, though? She gives me baby fever like mad–don't you feel it too?" One look at you, one shared glance is all it takes in that moment for him to crack.

"...Maybe. Just…a little bit, though." And you just grin. That big, dumb, pretty grin that has him turning away from you in a hurried bid to hide the restlessness stirring beneath his spandex.

That first time was barely memorable in clarity not because of your performance or his, but because you were both drunk out of your minds after Peter's birthday party and couldn't peel yourselves off of each other when he took you back home. You'd gotten on top of him, he'd tugged your dress off, you kissed and the rest was history–rough, drooling, heart-pounding history as you rode his lap and whispered things into his ear that to this day he wishes he had recorded. No precautions, no inhibitions, no worries about your lives as they would go on, just the two of you getting yourselves off and spilling out some foul compliments on the way there. How he loves the way your eyes roll back when you cum and how good his tongue feels inside you, how you want him to finish inside you, please Miguel-

"Don't forget to eat, Miguel. You're still human, you know–not just a worker bot." A pat on his shoulder, a whiff of your perfume, and you're gone again. A wisp of memory that mingles with the heated sweat trickling down his neck as he remembers what you looked like on your knees.

In reality, it's been more than that one time, more than twice or even three times. For a couple months now he's found comfort in you after hours, had his needs taken care of completely by the person that so embodies who he was in love with not so long ago. It's taken him awhile to accept it but he knows for sure that you are that person–you and her are one in the same, the only difference being that you haven't yet fallen for him and started your family together. Well, maybe you have, for all he knows. He can't get his hopes up….not quite yet, at least.

Could you be pregnant already? The idea passes over his head and the mere thought of it pools a heat into his lower stomach that he's quick to drown with a sip of water. It's possible, that's true, but…well, you've certainly forgone protection together a couple times after that first encounter. You could be. But if you are, he's got a whole world of problems coming his way. But it would make him so happy. So would Parker, he'd have a friend for Mayday to play with–but he has to shake it from his mind with total urgency, because that's not his purpose and it's not what he should be focusing on at all. You're a coworker and a fling. Nothing more. A piece of meat to sink his teeth into when he feels the urge, a bloodbag to drink from when you so graciously allow him to, an assistant to shut up and do the work he demands of you without question.

He's trying so hard to convince himself of that that he can barely keep his eyes on the screens. Because the moments where he feels you twitch around him and when he sinks his fangs into your throat during the heat of the moment don't nearly affect him as much as those other moments; the softer ones, the ones where he brushes some hair from your face and you laugh at his cheesy attempt at a joke, when you fall asleep in his arms and he cradles you close like he did when you were married, when he lays awake and ponders not taking you back to your room but keeping you under his arm all night. Warm. Safe. Here. Not just in his memories, but in real life.

Maybe if you did fall in love, and if you did get married, and if you had his child, he'd even get to see his precious Gabriella again. His life. His love. His fingers flicker towards the secure files on his hard drive without him even noticing, and in moments he has those videos up and playing like he hasn't watched them a thousand times over. Those darling smiles and that precious laughter…he would just die to hear it again in real life and not through his speakers, and who's to say it wouldn't happen? If he'd allow himself a moment to indulge, how could he be sure that you wouldn't have Gabi in your lives again if you tried for her? Would you even object if he told you the truth and showed you these videos as proof? You have such a kind heart, he'd struggle to believe you wouldn't offer to give him his dream if you knew it even existed.

But a better question is; is the fate of the spiderverse worth it? Would his act of subverting destiny again ruin even more lives than the ones in his own dimension? Is it worth…..no, it's not worth the risk.

With a sigh, Miguel closes the videos and, for the umpteenth time, hovers his fingers uselessly over the delete key. Those memories of you and her are all he has to cling to, but as always, he's reminded of the cost of dwelling too far on times he'll never get to relive. Gabi's gone, you are gone, and no matter how often he entertains it in his mind he'll never have the life he wants back. Ever. It's just not possible, and it's not fair to expect the sacrifices of every other hero in these dimensions while avoiding his own. He has to be a pillar of strength, even though it feels like he'll always be worthless as his hand lowers and he moves the files back into his storage. Gabi's voice crying out "Gotcha, papi!" on that last video as she smushes her dessert into his face, his gaze halting as he watches his past self and his daughter laughing while you hold the camera. You're so beautiful you transcend your own image; your mere presence is absolute beauty and the thought of you is as pure as the joy in those videos.

"She's adorable, too."

In a split-second, Miguel's head whips over his shoulder and he locks eyes with the one person who he swore he could never let see these videos–you. You, who clearly didn't leave when he thought you had, and had casually wandered up behind him completely unnoticed as he got wrapped up in the past. Like a man possessed, he throws his hand out to slam the pause command on the hologram and stop you from witnessing any more, because if you realize that it's you that's also in this scene, then…well, he has no idea what to do, then.

"Y-You weren't supposed to–puta madre–I thought you left, what're you doing sneaking around?" A twinge of guilt hits him at the rejection that dims your eyes, but you lighten up almost as fast and skirt around him to peer closer at the video, still paused on himself and his daughter propped up on his shoulders.

"Nothing. Is this your daughter?" You ask it so casually he almost falls victim to offense rising inside him, up until he reminds himself that the you he's talking to isn't Gabriella's mother. You have no recollection of her, and it…it's very difficult not to want to talk your ear off about her like she's still here, and he's still her papi.

"I…yes, this is–was–my daughter-"

"Gabriella?" Your eyes flick up towards the file name, something unusually placid about your gaze.

"Yes…Gabriella. Gabi."

The silence beckons him into anger, to turn to rage in the absence of a proper answer to this predicament. But instead of raising his voice and shouting you away, he waits and watches you watching the hologram because it isn't moving, but there's something there. Dare he consider that the depth of your gaze is because there's some flicker of recognition in your eyes? This video is, after all, from your perspective, so would it be so far-fetched to think that maybe you might be seeing yourself in that little girl that shares your smile?

"...Y'know, I miss people from my world, too." You finally turn your head to look up at him, your head full of clouds like always. "It's not all bad to reminisce, Miguel."

I know that. That's what he wants to say, how he wants to react; with a bitter amount of snark that would turn a lesser companion away. But for now, for once, he just shuts his mouth and turns his eyes away. He can't bear to meet your gaze no matter how much he wants to bask in it.

"Are you busy tonight?"

"I…I don't think I have plans." Those words choke themselves out of him by force but they don't turn you off. The heat on your skin, the furrow of your brow…somehow you're only dialed all the way up.

"Mmh. Sounds good. Let's hang out, yeah? I'll help you loosen up." You pat his shoulder with more impact this time, you actually mean it this time as you step down to take your leave. But you're not gone yet, you still linger for him to wish you were and weren't all at the same time. When you look at him, as conflicted as he feels, all he sees are stars in your eyes. "....Gabriella, right? It's a really cute name. I like it."

Maybe you know. You giggle just as sweetly as the you in that tape–maybe if you don't know, it's just as good. Regardless of who he was and who you were before all this, despite everything, he still has you. That's more than he could ask for in any world, and in any lifetime.

[azewritessillystuff]

~Liar, Liar, your soul on fire~

Aventurine angst (No comfort)

( Aventurine x gn reader )

Warnings: Reader is dead, Su1cidal thoughts, low self worth, overall angst, please tell me if I have to add more 💙

Small spoilers for the penacony quest 💙

Non-canon events, not proofread.

An: I feel angsty 🥺

“Welcome to this sad world.

“Kakavasha.”

“May the mother Gaiathra open her eyes three times to you.

“May your virtues be paraded and your schemes ever concealed.”

“Isn’t that ironic?” Aventurine asked you, his smile fading lightly, but still plastered on with practiced ease. His eyes, already usually looking like dark purple pools, seemed especially bottomless today.

In a place you can’t reach.

Surrounded by waters he only ever let you touch.

‘How sad you didn’t know that even the slightest touch send waves until the deepest level to him’

How sad you’d never know.

“I know you can’t answer, can you?” He laughed to himself, his carefully practiced expression fading before he managed another smile, blinking away any sorrow.

Hide away the tears that weaken you.

How stupid of him.

If Ratio saw him he’d call him idiotic.

Wait, no, why was he thinking of other people?

Yes, yes, when did he ever forget he was worth just 60 coins? 

Oh right.

It was with you.

You, who was the love of his life, who had never put him down, only lifted him up.

You, who loved him so much that you never questioned his fake laughs, his sudden disappearances, his questionable actions and habits.

You, who acted as if every gift he gave you was precious and unreplacable.

You, who’s every smile lifted him up to a place that he could only describe as priceless.

No wonder he never belonged there.

He laughed again, bitterly, his hand creeping up to clutch his watch on his wrist tightly, looking down to hide his tears that he failed to keep.

He couldn’t show you his tears. 

He couldn’t.

Why does he deserve to cry for a loss he deserved?

“Forgive me…” he whispered under his breath, his voice cracking as he clutched his wrist tighter, trying to pretend it was your warm hand in his, comforting him, about to wake him up from this nightmare. “Please…” he blinked back more tears, biting his lips so hard it hurt.

But the pain in his chest didn’t let him notice it.

Please, please, if the mother Gaiathra had truly favored him.

Please, please, please bring him back to you.

Kill him, rip his flesh from his bones, let him suffocate in the vacuum of outer space, let him feel your pain.

Please.

Please.

It would hurt so much less than knowing he was living whilst you were gone.

All the pain in the world, let him take it, just let Aventurine see you again.

He was utterly pathetic, wasn’t he? Begging to the Aeons he had always cursed, praying to the gods he had never believed in.

Go on, you think it too, right? You do right? Then please tell him.

Wake up and slap his face, scar his body, kick him until he was bleeding a river of blood.

But please don’t leave him.

The world can’t be this cruel.

You told him that, right?

“Do you think demon’s are real?”

“Thats silly, Aven, the world may like to beat you down and stuff, but its not that bad.

Afterall, the world let us have each other, right?”

Liar, liar, beautiful, perfect liar.

You were just like everything in Aventurine’s cursed life.

You promised him happiness. Companionship. Reason. Purpose.

Love.

Then you left him alone, alone, alone again.

Just when he thought he had found a savior to his sins.

A light in his darkness.

A joy in his misery.

A truth to his fake. 

Turns out you were just another big lie.

But please, please, he’d believe that lie again. He’d preach it, he’d praise it, he’d let himself be swallowed whole in the illusion again.

So tell it to him again please.

“I love you, Aventurine. Don’t doubt that silly.” 

[the-bitter-ocean]

(MAJOR 2HATS/ A6SE + SASASAP TRUE END SPOILERS under the cut) ICAC au writing drabbles based on @tealgoat and @eurydice-pens awesome fanart they both did of my au In Cycles and Cessation!

{{ You wake up in Dormont.}}

{{….!!!!}}

{{The sun is so bright you can hardly register it as real. }}

{{Everyone is roaming around happily without a care in the world.}}

{{ You’re sitting on the bench outside the storefront.}}

{{ The papers are in your hands again. }}

{{One of the villagers approach you. They wave and smile happily. }}

“Good luck against stopping the King, Mirabelle! We know you and the saviors will prevail!”

{{ You smile and wave back. }}

{{You ignore how your hands are shaking. }}

{{You grip the papers tightly. You crumple it into a ball and toss it. }}

{{ You get up from your seat and run.}}

{{Past the change god statue. }}

{{Past all the villagers who adore you when they have no good reason to. }}

{{You don’t bother greeting any of your party members either.}}

{{You need to be alone.}}

{{You go into the forest clearing and practically collapse unto the ground.}}

{{You start to cry.}}

{{You pray and pray and pray and pray for this to be over. }}

{{You cant do this anymore! }}

{{You curl up on the ground and scream. }}

{{You don’t want to do this again! The first time you ever beat the king- finally something new happened in your short pitiful existence and it couldn’t save you!}}

{{You tug on your curls until you feel a dull pain at the sides of your head.}}

{{ The power of friendship couldn’t save you! You weren’t chosen! You weren’t special! }}

{{You wish for someone to help you escape!}}

{{You can’t bare to die again. To watch your friends get hurt again. To see everyone frozen- your home permanently cursed to stagnation! }}

{{You wish for someone to understand you!}}

{{The loops were lonely and scary. You had no one to talk to who knew what you were going through!}}

{{And the minute you thought.. t-thought that maybe you found hope it was taken from you! Why? Why why why-}}

{{You wish you could change into someone who could actually save your home!!!}}

{{You…!}}

{{…?!}}

{{ You stare at the moon shaped object in your hands. }}

{{ You look around confused as to who or what gave you this form of divine intervention- if it would even work at all to begin with.}}

{{….}}

{{You’re in no position to reject it or be skeptical. }}

{{ You’re helpless. }}

{{ You can only do so much on your own before everything falls apart. }}

{{ You hold the crescent close to your chest. }}

{{ You thought it would burn you but it’s surprisingly soothing. }}

{{Siffrin talked about the item that’s currently in your hands a long time ago.}}

{{You didn’t get it half the time but you listened anyway because it made him happy. }}

{{…..}}

{{The moon will never be as bright as the sun. }}

{{It’s only capable of reflecting the light and warmth from the suns rays. }}

{{It has nothing to shine with on its own. }}

{{…It suits you.}}

{{ You slowly bring the crescent to your mouth and devour it whole. }}

{{ You. Feel. A. Tug. On. Your. Heart. And. You-}}

[lockewrites]

Durge!Reader being comforted by Halsin

Reader (gender not specified) x Halsin || SFW-ish (slightly violent) || 2390 words AO3

From anon on Tumblr: I feel like theres a real lack of Halsin/durge fics, specifically him helping her after denying to kill, and I think you’d be amazing for this!!

SPOILERS FOR DURGE IN ACT II - wrote the scene Larian denied us with Halsin as our LI :3

You lie on your bedroll, the stars hidden behind the cloth of your tent, the air within suddenly feeling as though it’s not enough to breathe. Sitting up, a wave of nausea roils through you, bile eating away at the back of your throat; each breath in creates a ripple in your gut. You crawl out of your tent, desperate for the open air; your movements are slow as you push to your feet, fearing your stomach will empty itself.

This sensation is certainly not a stranger; you’ve felt it a number of times since waking from the illithid pod. 

The campfire has long since died, and with it is the absence of your companions, each lost in a trance or dreams. You’re grateful for the solitude; they’re aware of your… general situation, or at least as much of it as you know yourself, but they needn’t see you in such a state. 

Your eyes flicker to Halsin’s tent; the druid had quickly drawn your interest upon joining the party. It began solely as a physical attraction; the sheer size certainly was enticing, and his Wild Shape, that very nature spoke to the feral instincts inside you. But his gentle temperament despite the power he holds, both physical and arcane, is an enigma to you, and him extending that soft touch to you, someone who certainly does not deserve it… the interest had quickly shifted to something deeper. 

And for reasons you still couldn’t fathom, it’d been reciprocated. 

Without realizing, you find yourself having approached his tent, your hand reaching to open it. 

“He believes you’ve relieved the weight of his worries, returning him to himself.”

You spin to find a despicable creature standing behind you; decaying skin stretched taut over sharp bones, beady red eyes looking past you at Halsin’s tent. Sceleritas Fel. 

“Such delusions, to think you a savior. As though you aren’t the heaviest burden to wrap around his neck, until he breathes his last, losing himself forever.”

Your mouth pulls into a sneer, and you take a step to block his view.

“You could do so much better, Milady,” the butler says, shaking his head. 

“Back off, you rotten gremlin,” you hiss, your fists clenching. “You won’t touch him.”

He holds his hands up, unphased by your words. “I won’t lay so much as a talon on the elf.” His pointed teeth show in his malicious smile. “I wouldn’t rob you of that delight.”

A sharp pain beats through your head as you stare the creature down; the evidence apparent in your expression. 

“Your clever mind is penning tragedy as we speak,” he remarks, pointing at you. “Your repressed Urge yearns to kill.” His voice drips with something akin to desire. “And kill you will. Tonight, the moment you close your eyes, your favorite person will be brutalized.”

“But I love him.” Your words are quiet, yet they startle you, spilling from your lips of their accord. Are you surprised by the admission? So early in your journey? Or is it that you don’t know whether you’re truly capable of such a thing?

“We all kill what we love most, in time,” Sceleritas replies. “He is so beneath you; his very presence infects the air with a sickeningly sweet stench. His pure heart would be better served floating in a jar.”

With each utterance, bile crawls further and further up to your throat. 

“Halsin believes I’m stronger than this,” you mutter, more to yourself. “He won’t come to harm by my hand. I haven’t even yet told him how I feel.”

“Why not whisper it while you twist a knife?” He smirks. “Or have a love confession be the final words between you.” Sceleritas leans toward you. “It is my duty to ensure you are making the right decisions, Master. There was much disappointment at your reluctance to kill the little Moonmaiden.” 

Your glare sharpens, suspicion growing and nearly pulling a snarl from your chest.

“You could kill this one deliberately,” he explains. “I’m sure it will be considered a great show of goodwill. The tithe could still be yours.”

The pain stabs through your head again, forcing your eyes shut as you grimace. Your instinct gnaws at your mind, and your Urge claws and screams beneath your skin. 

Forcing your eyes open, you speak through clenched teeth. “Perhaps I sate the Urge by killing you.”

“Oh, my dear Lady.” He shakes his head and smiles. “It’s been many a time I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing your malice personally. But my death means little to your father and the Urge.”

The thought of his death at your hand would be satisfying, but you feel the honesty in his words; it would be far too shallow a victory to quiet the Urge.

“I won’t do it.” Your nails threaten to break the skin of your palms. “I will keep him safe. From you. And from me.” 

He tilts his head. “I do not doubt you will act with the decorum befitting one of your rank.” His head dips, giving a bow just as his body glows an eerie red. “Good night, sweet Lady.” 

His body disappears in a moment, leaving you alone with your back to Halsin’s tent. With a deep breath, you will your jaw and fists to relax; the lingering pain offering a bit of comfort as you wrack your mind on what to do. 

You turn, reaching up to open the flap of Halsin’s tent, leaving a dark spot where your fingers touch. A metallic tinge spills into your nose, and you look down to see your hands streaked with blood, spilling from half-moon wounds in the middle of your palm. Without thinking, you run your tongue across your skin, the taste sending a shiver down your spine as your breath wavers. 

Your movements freeze, the Urge rising in your chest, desperate to taste blood spilled from a body you crave.

“No,” you whisper to yourself, as though simply speaking would placate it. “Not Halsin.”

You dare to step through, finding Halsin lying on his bedroll, still deep in his trance, unaware of the looming threat to his life. Kneeling beside him, your bloodied hands hover above his throat; it would be so easy to spill his life with a simple slice of your dagger. 

“Stop,” you plead to yourself, to your hands. 

They move to his shoulders and give him a shake. “Halsin,” you utter, hoping to not wake the others. He doesn’t react. “Halsin!”

He wakes with a start, sitting up and gripping your arms in concern. “What’s wrong?”

Your lips part, but you struggle to find the words. 

Halsin’s hands move to your wrists, turning them to view your still-bleeding hands.

“Speak to me,” he pleads, looking at you with fear and concern, visible even in the dark.

“You’re in danger,” you breathe, not entirely confident your words are loud enough for him to hear. 

His brow furrows. “From what?”

“Me.”

His mouth opens, and you half-expect a lighthearted remark, but perhaps your severe gaze makes him hesitate. Halsin’s grasp slides to rest on either side of your face, his warmth filling you and quelling the nausea still tainting your stomach. 

“Whatever is going on,” he begins, his thumbs brushing away tears that you hadn’t known spilled, “we will get through it, but I need to know what’s happening.”

You blink, his image going in and out of focus. “I… My… My mind isn’t my own,” you cry.

Each word given steals more and more of your energy, leaving your body on the cusp of failing; your vision grows tunneled and red as a headache splits through your skull, the pain unlike anything you’ve experienced before. 

You feel the last of your consciousness slipping, but you must get out what has your heart in a vice grip. You slip from Halsin’s touch, stumbling backward against the tent’s flaps.

“It wants to kill you, and I… I don’t know what to do. I can’t lose you.”

He leans toward you. “You won’t lose me,” Halsin promises. “Our time together has only begun.” He interrupts himself with a heavy sigh. “You’ve shared a touch of your troubles with me, but this is far beyond anything you’ve said. To hold such a burden alone will destroy you. You could have confided in me.”

“I’m…” Even with the absence of any of your strength, you somehow draw further back; your vision becomes nothing more than a blur, the world spinning beneath you, and your throat burns with bile. “I’m sor—” You collapse into the dirt. 

Whatever time that’s passed is lost to you, waking near the dead campfire with your hands bound behind your back and any semblance of control over your Urge gone. Your body thrashes, your wrists twisting and pulling against the rope, its flesh tearing into your own. 

“Calm yourself,” Halsin orders, his voice sounding authoritative, as if speaking to one of his druids. “My magic cannot penetrate what plagues you. You, your will, will conquer this.”

Your mouth tastes of iron; vile desires gather on your tongue, the Urge itself commanding your body. You try to focus on Halsin, your eyes pleading that he sees you’re trying, even if not successful.

“I know you are still in there.” 

His words are soft, sweet… they sicken the Urge. 

You lurch forward, your teeth seeking to clamp down on any piece of Halsin, wanting to tear the meat from his bones, devouring him raw. 

He doesn’t flinch, but his jaw sets. “I’ve handled the most feral of animals. Your fangs are no threat to me.”

The response sends the Urge over the edge, your limbs pulling with all of your strength, no regard given for any injuries caused by their own actions. The rope breaks through your raw skin, blood soaking the binds.

“Easy, my heart,” Halsin says. “Your strength is greater than this curse, and I will grant you my own alongside. You will not suffer this alone.”

You hold his promise in your chest, hoping it blooms bright enough to allow you to express your gratitude. You try to speak, but all that escapes is a harsh growl that tears through your throat.

“A growl means little from a trapped beast,” he remarks. “But you can escape this. I will see you free of this affliction.”

Tears that feel like acid fill your eyes, and you can’t tell whether it’s frustration and anger from the Urge or fear and dread from you. Your body is beaten inside and out, exhaustion’s hands wrapped around your throat. Still, it fights against your bindings, even as your consciousness slips back into the dark. 

“Let your mind rest,” he says. “Your body will soon follow.”

Again, you don’t know how long you’re out, but at some point, you come to. You feel sticky, your clothes clinging to your sweat-slicked skin; your head still pounds, and your stomach still turns, but your mind is once again your own. As your vision clears, you let out a sigh of relief; Halsin remains in front of you, mercifully unharmed.

His gaze holds yours, searching for you. And he finds you. 

Rising to his feet, he steps behind you and cuts your binds; your freed arms settle in your lap, the muscles screaming, and your wrists and hands caked in dried blood. Tentative, you flex your fingers, the maroon stain cracking and falling from your skin.

Halsin returns in front of you and sits back down. His expression is relieved, but as the seconds pass, it shifts to something far more serious. 

“I am overjoyed to have you back,” he begins, “but we need to discuss what happened.”

Your head drops, shame filling you. With a deep breath, you let everything out: divulging the severity of your Dark Urge, how often it haunts your thoughts and dreams, the little creature that calls himself your butler, your mysterious father you’re supposed to please.

Those hazel eyes are hard, his brows pinched; Halsin is deep in his thoughts, sifting through the heavy truth you’ve just shared. And all you can do is sit and wait, anxiety boiling within as you await his response. Will he claim you too dangerous to live? An unnatural being, something that disrupts the world’s balance? Perhaps simply cast you out, banish you from the camp as he’s unable to bring himself to end you? 

Your hands are suddenly gifted his warmth, his own gently caressing yours. He dips a rag in a bowl of water beside him and begins cleaning your wounds, his touch impossibly gentle.

“In all my years, I’ve not come across anything quite like this,” he finally speaks. “But I stand by my words. You will not lose me. And I will not let you lose yourself to this Urge.”

He puts the rag aside and casts a healing spell; the golden glow fills the space between you, and the torn skin pulls back together. Your wrists still ache, still feel some remnant of the deep injuries, but it’s barely more than a pinprick to you. 

His hands remain on yours, but you feel disgusted and have to fight the temptation to pull away. You should be left to rot, ended now to protect everyone around, to protect him.

“I’m a monster,” you mutter, unable to meet his gaze. “I’ve taken countless lives. I don’t even know the depth of my crimes. I’m an abomination now, and I know… I just know I was fully embracing this Dark Urge before I lost my memories.” Your throat feels as though it’s being stabbed. “You should end me.”

Your head is guided up, his thumb under your chin and forcing you to look at him.

“The Urge is a monster,” he argues. “You, the person you are now, is utterly incredible. And having learned just how hard a battle you face with this evil, I am in awe.”

The tears fall from your cheeks, and while you still don’t believe you deserve a single utterance he’s given, you’re grateful beyond what words could express.

Halsin wipes them away, and his hands remain along your jaw. 

“We will free you from this abomination,” he swears, “and your mind, your heart, your soul, will be entirely yours. And you will see just how extraordinary you are.”

[yikesmary]

all fics are fluff unless stated otherwise. this will be constantly updated as i post a fic.

buy me a kofi?

REQUESTS: open / closed

taglist is now closed!

updated: nov 8th, 2024

choi seungcheol / s.coups

series: ↪ fake dating roommates one two three four — summary: in which choi seungcheol becomes your roommate and fake boyfriend in one fell swoop. and you still don’t know how it happened.

one shots: ↪  pregnancy cravings — summary: where being pregnant comes with its struggles, and one of them just so happens to be the random pregnancy cravings. so, in the middle of the night, you try to sneak out and go to the convenience store nearby and buy something to satisfy your craving. however, your husband wakes up and insists to accompany you—even if he’s barely awake.  

↪ finally   — summary: in a last-ditch effort to study before your big final exam, you barricade yourself in your apartment in order to study as much as you can. on the day of your last exam, your boyfriend, seungcheol, finally sees you and comes with gifts.

↪ boyfriend duties — summary: after a night out with your friends, your boyfriend, seungcheol tries to take care of a drunk you. as he is helping you get ready for bed, you start mumbling about an interesting topic

↪ untitled (ANGST) — summary: the only thing I can tell you without giving out any spoilers: I am truly sorry for what I've done

↪ ruined birthday surprise — summary: in which you try your hardest to surprise cheol.

↪ options — summary: where cheol tries his best to make sure your pregnancy cravings are satisfied—by buying what seems to be the whole convenience store

yoon jeonghan none for now

hong jisoo / joshua ↪ clockwork (ANGST) — summary: where it wasn’t supposed to be like this. but it did.

wen junhui / jun none for now

kwon soonyoung / hoshi ↪ savior — summary: where you save soonyoung from a horrible, wild beast. spoiler: it's a spider

jeon wonwoo ↪ book boyfriend — summary: who needs a fictional boyfriend when your real boyfriend was even better than the movies?

↪  cat dad — summary: whenever you go to your boyfriend, wonwoo's, house, his cat mimi. and he's totally not jealous because of this.

↪ bedtime routine — summary:  where you loved times like these with your boyfriend, wonwoo.

↪ marriage — summary: where wonwoo’s nightmare is coming true. (contrary to the title, this one shot is lighthearted)

↪ birthday surprise — summary:  where you and nari try to make breakfast and a cake before wonwoo wakes up… if only your daughter knew what the word “surprise” meant.

↪ moving on (ft. mingyu) — summary: in which giving up on kim mingyu seems to be the only solution, and jeon wonwoo is right there to help you out.

lee jihoon / woozi none for now

lee seokmin / dk none for now

kim mingyu ↪ puppy parents — summary: where your golden retriever has the tendency to bring you things she has an interest in— sticks, frisbees that obviously don’t belong to you, and even the occasional bird. but this time, your dog brings… a man? and not just any man, only the most beautiful man you’ve ever met. maybe your dog is onto something…

↪ husband duties — summary: where mingyu is the best support system for your pregnancy.

↪ drunk giant —  summary: in which you have to figure out how to transfer your drunk boyfriend to the bedroom without causing major bodily harm. and he’s not making it easy for you.

↪ shave —  summary: with your boyfriend’s comeback approaching, mingyu asks you to help with shaving.

↪ (not) a date night —  summary: sometimes it was hard dating an idol because of their busy schedules. after missing a date and being mia, mingyu tries to make it up to you.

↪ moving on (ft. wonwoo) — summary: in which giving up on kim mingyu seems to be the only solution, and jeon wonwoo is right there to help you out.

↪ hypnotized — summary: where you've got seventeen's mingyu hypnotized, and he doesn't mind it one bit.

xu minghao ↪ artblock — summary: trying to finish a commission, you find yourself stuck in what to paint. thankfully your boyfriend knows exactly what to do in order to help you get your inspiration back.

boo seungkwan none for now

hansol vernon chwe / vernon none for now

lee chan / dino none for now

[zombiigrll]

Can I request a Carl x male reader set after 7x1 where reader comforts Carl about what happened and maybe they plan to infiltrate the sanctuary together and when Negan insults Carl, reader comforts him again after he's left alexandria?

──────────────────────────────────────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

TO THE MOON AND BACK. ⋆｡°✩ carl grimes x male!reader .ᐟ WORD COUNT .ᐟ ⭑ 3.7K ꩜ .ᐟ WARNINGS ⭑ angst + fluff, spoilers for the walking dead 7x1-7x7, swearing, kissing, gore, flashbacks, use of y/n! .ᐟ SUMMARY .ᐟ ⭑ after the lineup, you and carl were determined to get back at negan. so, you decided to make a trip to the sanctuary together. ꩜ .ᐟ A/N .ᐟ ⭑ thank you for the request anon! and im so sorry i know i definetly changed some things about this prompt </3 i was having a difficult time with how to write the exact prompt. i hope you still like it! (EDIT) oh my god. im SO SORRY. i didn't read that you specifically requested a male reader </3 i went through and tried to get all of the things i put fem pronouns and stuff on changed i'm sorry if some of it is still wrong!! this is so embarassing help me...

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────────────────────────────────────────

you and carl both had the same determination of getting rid of negan after the lineup happened. negan had killed two of your friends, two people who had saved you a numerous amount of times.

and negan had also mutilated your face. not on purpose, but you just so happened to be a little too close to abraham when he was being murdered, resulting in your cheek getting torn open.

but, of course, nobody was fond of the idea of two teenagers going out to kill some guy who's murdered hundreds of people himself.

so you'd have to make a plan that no one else would know of.

you met up late at night in carls room while everyone else was deep in sleep.

"so, how're we going to do this?" you had brought a notebook and pencil to his house in case you needed to write the plan down.

"the saviors are going to come to our place weekly, right? that includes going to hilltop." he draws down some sort of map on the paper, labeling things as he explains. "if we plan this right, we could head to the hilltop around the same time the moving trucks are there. we can sneak into the back of one of the vehicles."

you nod as he explains, biting your bottom lip nervously. "and what if we don't get there at the right time?"

"we can ask the people at hilltop when the last time the saviors came was. if it was a week ago, we can wait around. if it was recently, we plan for the future."

you nod again, this time more confidently. "alright."

"are you okay with this?" carl notices your uncomfortable and nervous appearance, putting a comforting hand on your knee. "if you want, i can go by myself-"

"no. i'm going with." you cut him off swiftly. "i'm not letting you do this by yourself. i want to help you."

"...alright." he smiles softly at you. "we're gonna do this together, then. like we always have."

...

its safe to say you didn't get much sleep that night, even sleeping with carl. you kept tossing and turning thinking of all the possible things that could happen.

and by the time carl went to wake you up, you were already up.

"y/n.." he softly spoke, tapping your shoulder before realizing your eyes are already open. "you're already awake?"

"mm.." you nodded before turning your body to face him properly. "i'm nervous."

he brings up a hand to move a strand of hair behind your ear. "i know. i am too. it'll be okay."

you lean your face into his palm while you put your hand over his. "when are we leaving?"

"soon. i already have our bags packed, we just have to get changed." he smiles down comfortingly at you.

you give him a quick kiss on the cheek before standing up and stretching, walking over to your wardrobe to grab some clothes.

"you sure you still want to do this?" carl questions, standing up shortly after to get ready.

"i'm sure. and even if i wasnt, i'm not gonna let you do this by yourself."

he shoots you a quick smile before grabbing his clothes and changing.

the two of you finished getting changed, and now it was just a matter of getting out of alexandria unnoticed. a couple people were out on runs to get stuff for negan, so you guys had a good chance of getting out no trouble.

carl held your hand as he guided you to the front gates, helping you up and down the gate to make sure you didn't fall.

you guys successfully got past the gate unnoticed, dropping down with a slight 'hmph' sound as your feet hit the ground.

there was a car right outside of alexandria. did you or carl really know how to drive?

no.

but, that didn't stop you guys. you knew the basics, and it was the fastest possible way to hilltop in time.

carl looked at you, then back at the car, walking over to it swiftly. you followed quickly behind him and stepped into the passengers seat.

he started up the car and started driving.

"i think this is how we're going to die." you joked, putting your seatbelt on and holding onto the grab handle.

carl laughs with a nod. "we'll be fine."

...

that went wrong, fast.

well, you guys did end up being fine. but apparently all of these years of carl seeing walkers, it was a shock to see one while he was driving a car.

did he run into it on purpose to try and impress you? or was it genuinely an accident?

"holy shit, carl!" you yelled, gripping harder than before on the grab handle and pulling your seatbelt tighter in fear as he slams onto the breaks.

"fuck, sorry. sorry." he spoke breathily, setting the car into park. "...sorry."

you let go of the handle and unbuckled yourself, letting out a deep sigh. "it's... it's fine. do you know where we are right now at least?"

"mhm. hilltop should be right over there." he points in the direction of hilltop as he unbuckles as well, stepping out of the car.

you gather your things out of the car and begin walking with carl following behind you.

the two of you were walking for a bit, your legs getting more and more tired and your guys' moods plummeted after losing the car. but suddenly, you hear carl call out.

"hey, y/n."

"what?" you turn around and tilt your head at him, walking closer to him to see what he's found.

two sets of rollerskates.

"oh, are you kidding?!" you exclaimed with a bright smile, kneeling down next to him. "i haven't been on rollerskates since, like, my 6th birthday!"

he pulls out both of the pairs, handing you one. "i hope this makes up for my shitty driving?"

"absolutely."

...

the rest of the journey to hilltop was honestly... fun.

you and carl were hand-in-hand on rollerskates, skating like you were deers on ice.

"woah, slow down! you're pulling me!" carl laughed, accidentally sliding in front of you.

"oh, come on. just go faster then!" you chuckled, moving him back to your side.

as he turns to face forward again, he stops. "we're here. i think the saviors are here too." he whispers, pointing at one of the trucks by the entrance.

you silently nod as he moves you guys behind a tree. you quickly take off your skates and set them into the grass before putting your regular shoes on.

"are you ready?" carl asks lowly, interlocking your fingers together.

"mhm." you look up at him nervously, your anxiety showing through your interlocked hand shaking.

"hey.." he brings up his free hand up to your cheek. "we're gonna be okay. nothing is going to happen to you, not while i'm with you."

you smile up at him, quickly glancing at his lips before looking back into his eyes. carl lets out a quick chuckle before kissing you lightly.

as he breaks away from the kiss, he smiles at you again. "let's go."

...

an hour had passed.

an entire hour of sitting in the back of a moving truck, staying as silent as possible as you held a pistol in your hand. you took deep breaths with your eyes closed and head leaning back onto the walls of the truck.

and you were quickly taken out of your daze at the feeling of the car breaking and the sound of the car parking.

you gave carl a surprised and nervous look before looking back toward the entrance of the back, noticing a man opening it up and looking at the loot.

carl quickly pointed his gun up, firing at the men. you followed after by standing up alongside him and pointing your not-so-intimidating pistol up, helping shoot more of the saviors away.

carl pushes a bit past you and points his gun. "stay back! drop your weapons."

you step forward to his side, pointing your pistol towards the saviors out of carls view.

"we only want negan." he continued, his gaze fixated all around the yard. "he killed my friends. no one else needs to die."

right after carl announced that, a familiar whistling was heard, catching both of your guys' attention instantly.

"damn." negan laughs, staring at the two of you with a smirk plastered along his face. "romeo and.. romeo? isn't that adorable." his gaze fixates onto carl, and he points at the giant gun in his hands that was aimed right towards him. "did you pick that gun 'cause it looks cool? you totally did, right?"

negan sets lucille in front of him, leaning onto her as he looks at both of you with a squint. "y'know, i'm gonna be honest, you kids scare the shit outta me."

just as you were about to open your mouth to say something to him, a man runs into carl to pin him down, which also in result pushed you over.

"carl!" you yelled, attempting to get up. but before you could, you saw a couple saviors pointing their guns toward you.

"back off!" negan yells, holding his hand up toward the cluster of saviors and dwight. "dwight. is that any way to treat our new guests?"

that sentence mad your heart drop. when you noticed the guns being set down, you got up and quickly moved over to help carl.

"are you okay?" you asked carl, practically in a whisper as you helped him up. he nods and readjusts his hat, glaring back up at negan, which you joined in on.

this only made negan grin wider.

"well, come on, kids! let me show you around."

...

negan had given you and carl the tour. it wasn't pretty.

he made the sanctuary seem like some amazing, beautiful place, but all you saw was misery.

carl raised an eyebrow at negan as you three entered a room that had a large bed and two chairs facing each other. "are all of those women actually your--"

"wives? yeah." negan cut off. "always wanted to screw a whole bunch of women. i mean, why settle for just one? a bit.. different in your case, but my point still stands." negan jokingly points a finger at you, which you responded in a silent death-stare. "why follow the same old rules? why not make life better?"

negan steps over to one of the chairs and sits, signaling for carl to come over. "speaking of.. sit."

carl instantly nods and walks over, leaving you standing by the doorframe. you look at negan confused.

"you can go sit on the bed." negan grins at you and points to the edge of the bed. you comply and sit down, looking at whats happening with negan and carls interaction. "now.. let's get started."

"started on what?" carl asks, crossing his arms and glaring up at negan.

"i want to get to know you a little better, carl. you and him."

"why?"

"work it out. you're smart." he glares almost mockingly back at carl as he speaks. "in fact, i'm gonna tell you just how smart you are, in case you don't already know."

negan continues going on his speech, looking at you and carl as he speaks. "see, i'd expect kids your age to be moping around, not doing a damn thing, except crying about missing the prom. but you two? you go on a mission. you find me, kill four of my men together, and you're smart enough to know i'm not gonna let this slide."

as negan chuckles, you begin feeling your body shaking, memories of the lineup rolling back through your mind.

"ah, i can't.. i can't do it." negan speaks through his laughs. "it's like talking to a birthday present. you got to take that crap off your face. i wanna see what grandma got me."

you start to stand up to face negan properly. "he doesn't have to do shit-"

"four men!" he yells, standing up to look down at you. "four. men. you really want to piss me off, girl? 'cause i can make you take yours off, too. so i can see what lucille did to you when she was bashing your good friend abrahams head in-"

"fine." carl cuts negan off, his voice raised but slightly shaking. you look over at him with a saddened look, pressing your lip in between your teeth. carl sighs and begins taking the bandage off, and negan waves you away to go sit back down on the bed.

negan laughs ecstatically as he sits back down, watching carl take his bandage off. "almost there..."

carl sets the bandage down next to him, looking down at his hands.

"get that hair out of your face. let me see."

carl moves his hair behind his ear and faces negan, which only makes him laugh harder.

"christ! that is disgusting!" negan mocks, which makes you feel your stomach drop in anger and sympathy for carl. "no wonder you cover that up. have you seen it? i mean, have you looked in a mirror? that is gross as hell. i can see your socket." negan continues to laugh, but then he notices carl crying.

"carl.." you whisper. all you wanted right now was to go over there and help him, but you couldn't. you already pissed off negan, if you did something else who knows what he'd do to you or carl?

"...damn. look, i just.." negans voice softens into a more sympathetic tone, which surprised you. "it's easy to forget that you're.. just a kid."

carl looks away from negan and wipes away his tears, but without realizing, he turned away to face you instead. you saw his tears and his eye, which he always hid from you since the day it happened. his eyebrows raised when he realized who he was looking at, and he quickly turned back away.

"i didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything. i.." he sighs. "i was just screwing around."

before anyone could say anything else, there was a knock at the door, which made you and carl flinch.

"come in."

a man came in holding lucille very carefully, looking nervous. he explained that negan had left lucille down by the trucks.

"seriously? i never do that." negan laughs, standing up to grab his bat. "i guess two teens firing at my men is a bit of a distraction."

the savior quickly leaves and just as he shuts the door, negan sits back down and continues. "all jokes aside, you look rad as hell. i wouldn't cover that shit up. and, i mean, apparently it's a hit with the ladies." he points to you with a smirk. "but i swear to you, no one is going to screw with you looking like that."

negans expression quickly changes to one of curiosity. "what do you like to do for fun? you like music?" carl squints his eyes at negan confused. "i want you to sing me a song."

"...what?" carl raises his eyebrow, his body language softening.

"yeah. you two mowed down four of my men, i want something in return for that. sing me a song."

carl blinks rapidly in thought, confused and slightly scared. "i.. i can't think of any-"

"bullshit!" negan yells, standing up with lucille in hand, leaning down to carl. "what'd your mom sing to you? what'd your dad play in the car? start singing."

"okay, okay." carl sighs, looking over at you for comfort. "...okay."

carl looks down at his lap, messing with his fingers. negan walks over to the bed with lucille, listening to carl singing.

"you make me happy when skies are grey-"

carl is quickly interrupted when negan swings his bat right onto the bed, right next to your side. you flinch, staring at the fresh rips on the mattress and then back at negan, eyes widened and your chest moving up and down from your rapid breaths.

"do not let me distract you, young man." negan glances at carl, then back at you. "and you, don't flinch."

how the fuck were you supposed to not flinch? your life was in danger, your mind racing to that night. this was basically how you got your cheek mutilated in the first place, too.

carl continued singing, and negan continued swinging near you. you tried your best not to flinch, but instead of flinching, you were crying and hyperventilating. your heart felt like it was pounding and your brain felt like it was exploding.

and after what felt like a million years, it was over.

"that's pretty good." negan said after his final swing, pulling up lucille and walking over to carl. "lucille loves being sung to. it's about the only thing she loves more than bashing in brains. weird, huh?"

you began spacing out, tears rolling down your silent face as you had horrific flashbacks to that night.

. flashback .

once negan had landed his bat right in front of abraham, your heart sank. he was sitting right besides you, and now you were forced to watch and experience his brutal death.

negan took his first swing right to the middle of abrahams skull.

"woo! takin' it like a champ." negan spoke, laughing at abraham as he sat there still, glaring into negans eyes.

"suck. my. nuts." abraham spoke his final words, which only uttered more laughs out of negan.

and negan took another swing, but this time, you flinched harder. and you got closer. and you felt a harsh pain shoot through the side of your face, and something crimson dripping down onto your lap. you brought your hand up with wide eyes, looking at the blood drenching your palms, then back up at everyone. your eyes wandered over to carl, who was staring at you with wide eyes as well.

he couldn't do anything, you couldn't do anything, and abraham was still being murdered at your side.

all you could do was cry, watching abraham while your vision was fogged up by your tears.

.

"..y/n?" carl shook you by your shoulders, getting you out of your daze.

right. you were still at the sanctuary.

"negan is trying to.. show us something." carl told you, nodding his head in the direction of negan, who was standing by the doorframe.

all you did was blankly nod, standing up from the bed.

"are we ready?" negan laughed, making a signal with his hands for the two of you to hurry up.

you quickly walked over to negan with carl by your side and negan began taking you to the railing, looking down at a man sitting down near a furnace with a crowd around him.

...

you barely remember what had happened for the rest of your time at sanctuary. you're sure you blocked most of it out.

you could vaguely remember negan showing you and carl a man getting the side of his face ironed off, and negan making you hold lucille as they did so.

and when you got back to alexandria with negan, carl had made you stay in his room until everything was over. you begged him to let you stay with him, that you were scared you were going to lose him, but he wouldn't budge. in the end, he locked you in his room.

"fuck, carl! please.." you cried trying to catch up with him.

"sorry. i love you." he said before closing the door.

you stayed laying in his bed, crying yourself to sleep.

you felt as if you were being dramatic. i mean, carl was facing more of the repercussions than you were. you were worried about him. his recklessness scared you, even if you were reckless yourself. he'd do anything for you, including spending the rest of the day with negan while you laid in bed despite everything negan had done that day and in general.

and the day passed. negan had left, and carl came back into his room.

you were still awake, back on the mattress as you stared at his ceiling. but as you heard the door open, you shot up. you quickly stepped off of the bed and ran over to him, hugging him tightly. your head was on his chest and one of your hands laid on the back of his head, the other around his neck. he quickly returned the hug.

"i'm sorry." he whispered into the crook of your neck.

you took your head off of his chest and up to look him in the eye, bringing your hands up to hold his face. "don't be sorry." you said with a half smile.

when you looked up to face him, he moved his face away. specifically, to the side where you couldn't see his eye.

"hey.." you readjusted your hand to move his face back to you. "don't look away."

"but, my eye-"

"what about it?" you laughed, pinching your eyebrows together.

"you haven't seen it since today. i, uh.. didn't think you'd want to see me like this."

"are you kidding?" you tilted your head, laying your arms to drape over his shoulders as you looked at him lovingly.

carl opens his mouth, as if he was about to say something to retort your comment, but before he could, you leaned in to kiss him. you brought one of your hands up again to hold his face as you leaned into the kiss. as you moved away, you smiled warmly at him.

"i love you.. to the moon and back." you laughed, tears in your eyes as you admired the boy in front of you.

carl laughed with you, hands on your waist as he smiled down at you. "i love you too." he brings up his hand to run his fingers through your hair as he speaks. "but.. how're you doing?"

"i'm.. i'm okay." you nodded reassuringly. "i'm better now that you're back here with me."

"are you, uh.. mad that the plan didn't work out?"

"it might not have worked out the way we wanted it to, but now we know the layout of the sanctuary and where it is." you reminded him. "it worked out, just differently. we'll figure all of this out again. together. right?"

carl nods, his smile returning to his face with a nod. "...yeah. together, like we always have."

─────────────────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────────────────────

[jwirecs]

RECOMMENDED SEVENTEEN FICS OF JULY 2023💖

hello, hello! here are my recs for seventeen for july! hopefully these beautiful stories get more recognition as well as the writers 💝

** anything in parentheses and bolded are my thoughts that can be disregarded if needed **

🔞smut || 💔angst || 💕fluff || ✅completed || 🔄ongoing || 💯favorite

Admire Me (Like I Do For You) || @wheeboo💕✅

↳ in which seungcheol shows you his tattoos. 

Dimple || @icyminghao💕✅

↳ you can’t sleep, so you try touching seungcheol’s dimple just for the fun of it (spoiler: he loves it)

Shave || @yikesmary💕✅💯

↳ with your boyfriend’s comeback approaching, mingyu asks you to help with shaving.

The Stars And You || @wheeboo💕✅

↳ in which you bring the stars to your boyfriend for his birthday. (to this author, i am so sorry, but 90% of the fics that i have read from you so far, most of them are on this list. keep doing what youre doing please. i love them)

Try Me || @cheolhub🔞✅

↳ you push your sweet boyfriend a little too far when you threaten to fuck his business partner at dinner. he decides to show both you and mingyu who you belong to. (oh lord, heaven have mercy.)

Ukiyo || @wheeboo💕💔✅

↳ in which you and minghao spend the day together.

Wonwoo's Tasty Cereal (And Milk) || @twogyuu💕✅

↳ You've been eating cereal wrong your entire life. Wonwoo and your niece are going to fix that.

Fake Dating Roommates || @yikesmary💕🔄💯💯

↳ in which choi seungcheol becomes your roommate and fake boyfriend in one fell swoop. and you still don't know how it happened.

Seventeen As Fake Dating Scenarios || @bluehoodiewoozi💕✅

↳ (title says it all and i am out here fulfilling my delulu side of my brain. doing great out here im telling you)

Baby, All I Really Want Is Your Attention || @viastro💕✅

↳ you and mingyu have been academic rivals since the beginning of your high school career. having always aimed for the #1 spot, mingyu would beat you without even needing to study. now dedicating all your time into studying at the local library, you find yourself wondering who keeps neatly packing your things and waking you up each time you fall asleep while studying. (hes so soft, i cant)

Catnaps || @wheeboo💕✅

↳ in which you volunteer at the local cat shelter with your crush.

Dating Seventeen (Hyung Line) || @wqnwoos💕✅

↳ (out here filling my delulu brain. also seungcheol does radiate sugar daddy tho, ngl)

Fix You || @smileysuh🔞💕💔✅💯💯

↳ “As a member of 53V3NT33N, I have two different states of mind coded into me, aggression and admiration. To love something, to admire it, is to feel aggressive when it’s questioned, to want to control it, if even for a little while- it’s the need to consume it, endlessly, as my fans consume and control me as an automaton. Even though I’m a member of a group, there’s a distance. Automatons can never truly motivate each other because our motivations are based on external human needs, it’s built into us- We can see when humans need us, and we do what we can to fix that need… I know you need me, the way I’ve needed you since I got here.” (god, yall dont even know how much i freaking love their fics. like bro, ily)

Gamers Do it Better || @sluttyminghao🔞✅💯

↳ (listen, just hear me out. tag teamed by the two lord saviors of svt's hhu. i really need like a threesome au/tag or something i swear.)

Hits Different || @hellohannie💕💔✅

↳ it was no secret that you had dated many people in your past. when you were with them, you believed you loved them and they loved you. when you broke up, you realized that they didn't truly love you. but you still believed that love was real. then, you met lee chan. when he broke up with you, you started to question if love truly did exist after all. (i need me some more dino fics cause i barely come across any)

Loving Him Was Red || @boowanie💕💔✅💯

↳ After the café you were part-timing at suddenly closes, you were left unemployed and broke as you tried your best to look for a new job. But when your best friend suggests an alternative way of earning money, you suddenly find yourself falling for a certain Jeon Wonwoo.

Pup Code || @beefboyandbabygirl🔞💕✅💯💯💯

↳ mingyu doesn't have crushes. he likes avril lavigne and sometimes he fucks pretty girls. but you seem to stir something in him that no one else can. without the trusty girl code, mingyu makes his own code to help you fall in love with him. (yall need to read this one. like read it cause i lowkey can imagine him making up his own code ngl. man has no self control sometimes)

Crossing Boundaries || @wonusite🔞💕✅

↳ Seungcheol has always demanded that all of his employees keep professional boundaries, but it frustrates him that his son’s nanny is a little too good at keeping things professional. 

Happy (First) Fathers' Day || @icyminghao💕✅

↳ it’s fathers’ day, but you seem to be more fixated on an event for your newborn daughter, much to mingyu’s dismay.

Made With Love || @icyminghao💕✅

↳ joshua wakes up to quite the commotion, and you’re not by his side.

The Cake In the Back || @toruro🔞💕✅

↳ cheol is a regular at your bakery, and it's all because his son loves the banana bread you make—at least that's what he tells himself. it also doesn't hurt that you're cute. and polite. and totally someone he'd like to fuck.

Roommates With Benefits || @shuaflix🔞💕✅

↳ initially, wonwoo doesn’t think much about your incessant requests to play on his xbox. however, when what was supposed to be a two-hour visit to his place stretches out for two weeks, he starts to think you’re overstaying your welcome.

The Secrets Kept From Roommates || @cheolism🔞💕✅

↳ you are hiding a secret from mingyu. little do you know that he's hiding one from you too.

Broken Pieces || @bluehoodiewoozi💕💔✅💯💯💯

↳ Your friend broke your soulmate's heart, leaving you to pick up the pieces of both his and your own heart. (stop my heart, i cant)

Right? Right. || @bluehoodiewoozi💕💔✅

↳ Your soulmate mark might be broken, but at least he will always be there for you.

Do check out all of the other seventeen fics that i have reblogged as well!!

** if there is any fics that you guys would like to recommend, please do! i am slowly running out of fics to read **

[nadas-dirthalen]

Veilguard Theorycrafting Thursdays: The Evanuris & Their Lyrium War

Welcome, one and all! While I count down to Veilguard's Halloween release, I'm going to dissect one tinfoil hat theory I have per week.

This week: I think the Evanuris were waging war over lyrium, and I think that in their desire to Blight the world, they killed the only one standing in their way - Mythal.

Elaboration, brainstorming, and sources below the cut! Be warned: this post is LONG.

SPOILERS for the Trespasser DLC, Tevinter Nights, and all Dragon Age games so far, INCLUDING VEILGUARD PROMOTIONAL CONTENT.

"The First of My People:" from Earth and Sky

Before I talk about what the Evanuris became, it's important to lay out my theories about how they came to be. So, to start, let's talk about Elgar'nan, first of the gods, and what the wiki says about his origins:

He was the first of the elven gods, born of the sun and the earth.

Now, to understand the deeper meaning I glean from that sentence alone, I want to talk about how the ancient elves view "the sun" and "the earth," and how neither of these things are as simple as they sound.

First, we can talk about Skyhold: literally the place where the sky was held back, where Solas first created the Veil. With this translation, we can understand that to the ancient elves, the sky and the Fade are interchangeable terms.

From what we can glean from the wiki, we can assume that the elven word 'elgar' means 'spirit.' The word for 'sun' is incredibly similar: 'elgara.'

Therefore, I conclude that the sun and the Fade are the same. One part of Elgar'nan comes from the Fade, in my interpretation. As do all elvhen: I interpret it to mean spirit-essence or spirit-people, suggesting the elvhen are spirits given shape (versus the elven, ostensibly their descendants).

In the Vir Dirthara, you find this codex:

The pages of this book—memory?—show a solemn group of elves in an ampitheater of living wood, entire trees grown into seats and stairs for the listeners to recline on. Two other elves and a spirit of learning are speaking in turn on ways to bend the properties of the material world when casting spells. At the end, the spirit, with the air of a senior lecturer, floats forward and booms in a surprisingly deep voice. "The unchanging world is delicate: spells of power invite disaster and annihilation. The unchanging world is stubborn: the pull of the earth fiercely resists making fire run like water or stone rise like mist. The unchanging world rings with its own harmony. Listen with fearless hearts, and great works will unfold."

Note how these words are being used. The unchanging world is a reference to the waking world, what would become our side of the Veil. But in that world, there is a pull of the earth. This references the deep earth, and its own magic: the magic of the Titans.

Therefore, Elgar'nan is one part "earth" and one part "sun" or "sky." One part Fade, one part Titan magic. In my interpretation? One part lyrium.

I believe Elgar'nan and Mythal, first of the Evanuris, are spirits who became corporeal, somehow involving the magic of Titans. Even though Mythal is said to have risen from the sea, I believe Elgar'nan and Mythal both began their existence spontaneously. They made themselves corporeal, and would go on to create more together. (More on that in a different post!)

From lyrium they came; to lyrium they all would fall.

Mythal and the Titans

Before we go into the Evanuris waging war on one another, we must understand their relationship to lyrium in the first place. How did they go from their own domain to underground, and what laid the groundwork for this infighting?

In the light of the veilfire, the runes seem to shift, coiling and uncoiling like snakes. A thunderous voice shatters the stillness, shouting: "Hail Mythal, adjudicator and savior! She has struck down the pillars of the earth and rendered their demesne unto the People! Praise her name forever!"

If you've done the Descent DLC, the Inquisitor will go on to say, "The runes say the Evanuris fought the Titans. They mined their bodies for lyrium and... something else. It's not clear."

Personally, I'm not sure when Mythal and the Evanuris first began slaying titans. Maybe this precipitated their own corporeal origins. Maybe she and Elgar'nan became corporeal using the bodies of the slain.

What is clear is this: their demesne was given to the People. What is the Titans' property? All we know is that lyrium is their lifeblood. Other than territory underground, this is all that could be given to the People. (More on my thoughts on this and the origin of the other Evanuris in a later week, I promise.)

The Evanuris and Lyrium

For now, one theory I have is that the Evanuris then created unliving servants from lyrium. We see this in another Vir Dirthara codex.

The pages of this book—memory?—show a narrow plateau on top of a mountain, Two armored figures—one in gold, one in black—are fighting in the snow. Steel flickers so fast the air hums. Blood dots the ground. They do not stop for breath. The one in black makes no sound as a blade parts his throat. "Mythal, in her wisdom, interceded in an argument between Elgar'nan and Falon'Din. With clever words, she convinced them to settle their grievance through a battle of their champions. Elgar'nan and Falon'Din agreed, and set their champions against each other rather than declare war among the gods. May those knights long be remembered, and Mythal's wisdom be praised."

These things aren't human! They bleed, but don't breathe. They never stop fighting. This duel lasts 100 years.

But we know that the Evanuris' handling of the Titans and lyrium did not end there.

For a moment, the scent of blood fills the air, and there is a vivid image of green vines growing and enveloping a sphere of fire. The vision grows dark. An aeon seems to pass. Then the runes crackle, as if filled with an angry energy. A new vision appears: elves collapsing caverns, sealing the Deep Roads with stone and magic. Terror, heart-pounding, ice-cold, as the last of the spells is cast. A voice whispers: "What the Evanuris in their greed could unleash would end us all. Let this place be forgotten. Let no one wake its anger. The People must rise before their false gods destroy them all."

The Hubris of Andruil and the Origin of the Blight

Let me be clear. I think there is so much more to Mythal's murder than "Andruil and Falon'din were greedy and upset." But I do know that Andruil and Falon'din are both cited in Inquisition, from various sources, as being greedy and willing to push boundaries in order to further their own gain.

First, we have Andruil: goddess not of the hunt, as the Dalish believe, but of sacrifice, according to Solas in the Temple of Mythal.

One day Andruil grew tired of hunting mortal men and beasts. She began stalking the Forgotten Ones, wicked things that thrive in the abyss. Yet even a god should not linger there, and each time she entered the Void, Andruil suffered longer and longer periods of madness after returning. Andruil put on armor made of the Void, and all forgot her true face. She made weapons of darkness, and plague ate her lands. She howled things meant to be forgotten, and the other gods became fearful Andruil would hunt them in turn.

We know that blight disease is sometimes referred to as a "plague." We also know that prolonged lyrium use causes mutations in mages. We also know that red lyrium is Blighted lyrium - the blood of a Blighted Titan.

We also know that regular lyrium can, at the very least, empower a templar's anti-magic abilities. And we know what Mythal did to Andruil for her frequent trips to the Void.

[Andruil] howled things meant to be forgotten, and the other gods became fearful Andruil would hunt them in turn. So Mythal spread rumors of a monstrous creature and took the form of a great serpent, waiting for Andruil at the base of a mountain. When Andruil came, Mythal sprang on the hunter. They fought for three day and nights, Andruil slashing deep gouges in the serpent's hide. But Mythal's magic sapped Andruil's strength, and stole her knowledge of how to find the Void. After this, the great hunter could never make her way back to the abyss, and peace returned.

The moment I found out that memories are stored in lyrium, I had strong feelings about this codex. Especially since Solas, once absorbing Mythal's power at the end of Inquisition, gains the ability to use dwarven magic (turning people to stone with a thought). My interpretation is that Mythal has always been able to use this magic, for whatever reason, and was able to take Andruil's memories from her, storing those memories somewhere else. (There's a whole other theory branching from that, but it is not for this post.)

Point being: Mythal actively worked to prevent the other Evanuris from delving too deep into lyrium/Stone magic/the Void.

And it would be her downfall.

The Lone Voice of Reason, Doomed

Given the Evanuris' relationship to lyrium and the Titans, it would only be a matter of time before their desire to amass power would bring them too far, past the point of no return.

This would drive them to murdering Mythal, but not right away.

First, we can see countless examples of Evanuris greed leading up to Mythal's murder. Ghilan'nain created monsters of all shapes and sizes before the Evanuris raised her to godhood in fear. In Horror of Hormak, we gain a little insight into this process: a laboratory in the Deep Roads, an awful briny fluid, and a yellow-green lyrium crystal powering everything, which is then used to collapse the strange mountain above the laboratory, destroying it.

Later, Ghilan'nain encourages one of Dirthamen's followers to take a winged shape reserved for the gods, presumably a dragon. This sends Mythal into such quick anger that she turns this person to Elgar'nan for judgement, knowing his judgement is violent and cannot be trusted.

Second, Solas talking about Falon'Din in the Temple of Mythal makes me think that Falon'Din attempted a very similar rebellion, only to meet a similar failure.

INQUISITOR: Do you know any legends? SOLAS: It is said Falon’Din’s appetite for adulation was so great, he began wars to amass more worshippers. The blood of those who wouldn’t bow low filled lakes as wide as oceans. Mythal rallied the gods, once the shadow of Falon’Din’s hunger stretched across her own people. It was almost too late. Falon’Din only surrendered when his brethren bloodied him in his own temple. INQUISITOR: Did ancient elves believe all their gods so terrifying? SOLAS: Yes. I believe they did.

For a time, the Evanuris were on Mythal's side - at least when others were watching. I think, more likely, no one wanted to be publicly associated with failed rebellions.

Taken together, I conclude that the elven gods were quietly trying to rebel against Mythal for a long time, and would only succeed when they all worked together.

We know from the Veilguard trailer that the elven gods are all Blighted. This suggests to me that they all united on their desire to exploit lyrium and spread the Blight.

What Does This Mean for Veilguard?

Well! I'm a bit late in writing this all down, so the Veilguard Release Trailer has already hit a lot of my talking points. BUT. Tinfoil hat on, this is what I could see:

Ghilan'nain and Elgar'nan are both Blighted. I'm guessing Elgar'nan's dragon form is also Blighted, and this will have implications for Solas/the Dread Wolf form.

I think the original valasslin used by the Evanuris were inked in lyrium, and since Solas' spell to remove them still works on a present-day Inquisitor, I wonder if some lyrium component is still involved -- and if it is, I imagine some of the Dalish might be puppetted by the Evanuris in DA:tV.

We know at least one Titan is Blighted, because of the existence and spread of red lyrium in DA:I. I'm thinking we see this not only spread, but mutate, due to the differently-appearing darkspawn in DA:tV and the existence of altered darkspawn in the short story Horror of Hormak.

We know Weisshaupt is supposedly dealing with its own "problems," and can also be seen with red lyrium in that one map trailer for DA:tV.

I think something is going to happen to everyone presently affected by lyrium. Vivienne and Solas both say that even regular lyrium permanently affects a mage who consumes it.

I think Mythal/Flemeth/Morrigan is going to tell us the intricacies of the lyrium war, as well as reveal secrets about lyrium's uses.

So... YEAH! If you got this far, thank you for reading this much. Let me know if you agree, or if I've missed anything important!

Happy 70 days 'til Veilguard, my dudes.

[punderdome]

Infernal Jurisprudence: Chapter 1

Summary: It had been centuries since a specific soul captured Raphael’s attention so completely. The devil coveted her body and soul and sought to ensnare her in a contract at any cost. It wouldn’t be long before her desperation set in, and a cat would capture a Little Mouse within his claws. And that, love, was that.

Notes: This is a relatively short prequel to the Fine Print, where Raphael schemes to ensnare Tav. Should be readable without reading the Fine Print first. Note that this fic is going to contain a ton of BG3 spoilers - so you know, don’t read it if you don’t want to be spoiled. Or do. I don’t control you.

[AO3]

Chapter 1: The Mouse

Raphael had closed thousands upon thousands of contracts for boons in exchange for mortal souls.  Mortals were so often fragile and desperate, and it was such a delectable combination that always leads to a favorable negotiation.  He savored the smell of nervous sweat and the motions of trembling.  Other times, the mortals viewed the deal for their soul like a joke.  Raphael would sit across from them in his human guise, with a smile that even reached his eyes as he watched the signatures dance upon the scrolls.

The devil would feed on their sins as they fell deeper into his traps.  Greed was a standard flavor of sin, occurring so often that the souls that bore it felt more like a commodity.  Some souls were envious and left a void in their wake, leaving one hungrier after the meal.  Lust was heady and sweet with an underlying bitterness and shame.  Wrath was the spice of pepper that led to deep burning consequences like blood and gallows.  Pride was Raphael’s favorite sin to sup.  Pride was complex and often unique with underlying flavors of other dishes that were unique to each mortal.

So many mortal souls.  So simple.  So easy.

Raphael sought Faerun for desperate souls.  A powerful soul would command a higher price point.  Along the Chionthar, he found the type of souls that he favored.  There was an entire collection of desperate fools needing a savior.

He was a savior.  That was for certain.

Raphael grinned as he surveyed his prey.  A sorceress with scales.  A dominating Gith.  A discarded wizard.  A cleric absent memory.  A masquerading vampling.  A warlock pacted to one of Zariel’s assets.  A burning Tiefling.

He watched them silently, delighted by the haul that he could soon collect.  They were all desperate and infected.  Beyond existing as mere currency for his Infernal machinations, all of the band of infected had power.  Power enough to collect a Crown that Raphael had been coveting for millennia.

Raphael was a patient devil.  He would show himself when the time was right and true fear had taken root within their addled minds.  

He happily watched through the scrying mirror as the Gith argued with the sorceress of the need to find a creche.  The poorly-concealed Sharran cleric held the only power keeping them from their Illithid fates.  The runed dodecahedron hummed and glowed and kept their souls intact while tucked tightly within her supplies.

It was oh, so convenient that he, the great Raphael, held the very weapon that could free the captive Githyanki inside the Astral Prism.  So very convenient, indeed.

His wrists with Infernal chains were bound

Mother Gith’s son, equipped to destroy the Illithid

Trapped within an Astral Prism now found

That Vlaakith once she herself hid.

Raphael could sense the rising anxiety amongst the band of adventurers, as the Druid grove proved to be a hindrance rather than a help.  The sorceress was poisoned by an overeager apprentice healer, but all managed to survive the encounter.  He could taste the rising desperation as the options started to disappear.

It was time to make his entrance from stage right.

Little mice and rats and squirrels (and one unruly frog) had few places to run on a nearby broken bridge.  Raphael straightened his doublet and snapped, appearing before his adventurers in a flurry of embers with the scent of cherries following him.

The sorceress eyed him curiously.  She was pale with patches of silvery white dragon scales adorning her upper forehead and cheekbones.  Brunette curls were pinned back behind her head and trailing down her back.  Her green eyes gleamed at him, and her pleasant mouth twisted into a light smile.

“Hello, pleased to make your acquaintance,” she said calmly, offering her hand in greeting.  Raphael found the deviation from his script displeasing.

The cambion cleared his throat.  “Pleased to make your acquaintance,” he lifted her hand and kissed the back of it gently, trying to regain control of the scene.

He gave her a gentle smile before beginning his lines.  “My, my, what manner of place is this?” Raphael offered smoothly.

The sorceress laughed.  “Somewhere in Faerun between Baldur’s Gate and Elturel,” she offered easily.  Raphael’s eyes narrowed.  This was his scene.

“Is it a path to redemption, or a road to damnation?” Raphael gave a grand gesture of uncertainty in their path forward.  “Hard to say, for your journey is just beginning.”  Raphael gave his characteristic grin.

The sorceress smirked at him.  “The mindflayer tadpoles would suggest a path to redemption,” she laughed sarcastically.  Raphael bristled at the way she was mocking him.

He absolutely should flay her.  He should take her back to the House of Hope, strip her down and-

Raphael pushed down his feelings, though he was aware how beautiful the silver-scaled sorceress was.  “What would suit the occasion?  The words to a lullaby perhaps?  The mouse smiled brightly: it outfoxed the cat!  Then down came the claw-” he was rudely interrupted by a sorceress.

“And that, love, was that,” she finished easily.

“They do know how to write them in Cormyr don’t they?” Raphael waited for her agreement.

“I prefer the lullabies from the dales,” the sorceress responded.  “They have a wider variety of animals in their verse.  More chickens and cattle and pigs.”

He absolutely could not let this beautiful sorceress continue to disrupt his scene.

Raphael dramatically bowed.  “I am Raphael, very much at your service, my dear.”

“Tav,” she responded quickly.  He raised an eyebrow.  ‘Tav’ was so undignified, it had to be shortened for a much more appropriate name.  

“This quaint little scene is decidedly much too middle-of-nowhere for my tastes.  Come.” Raphael invited with a snap of embers.

His adventurers had arrived at the House of Hope, a grand feast awaiting them.  The Warlock and the burning Tiefling responded with panic.  The Sharran and the Gith were thoroughly confused.  The vampling and wizard stood concerned.

The sorceress, Tav, was unimpressed.  She went to the feast table and immediately started to load a plate.  Raphael’s eyes narrowed.  What was she doing?

He cleared his throat.  “There, middle-of-somewhere,” he recited.  Tav was buttering a piece of bread before putting it onto her plate with other fruits and vegetables from Toril.  The sorceress seemed entirely uninterested in the conversation as she sat down at the table and started to eat.

Raphael addressed the discarded wizard.  “The House of Hope, where the tired come to rest, and the famished come to feast - lavishly,” he glared at the adventurer blatantly ignoring him.  She was cutting a piece of Durinbold cheese from a wheel on the table.

Raphael motioned to the table where the sorceress sat, indulging her appetites.  “Go on.  Partake. Enjoy your supper,” he invited with a broad grin.  “After all, it might just be your last.”

The devil grinned, waiting to see what most of the adventurers would do.  Most of the adventurers stood still, except for Tav,  who seemed to be feasting without concern, unlike the shock and fear from her companions.

The sorceress placed her fork on her plate with a light tink.  “You may as well show them what you truly are,” she challenged, lightly dabbing at her beautiful mouth with the napkin she had grabbed from her lap.

Raphael tried not to sneer at the gluttonous creature before him.  “Well, far be it from me to disappoint.”  He shed his human guise, appearing before the adventurers in his cambion form.  The sorceress Tav only smirked at him as he shook off the lingering flames from the transformation.

Raphael stared at Tav where she sat at his table.  “What’s better than a devil you don’t know?”  He chuckled lightly to himself, “a devil you do.”  The sorceress sat unmoved by his speech.

There was growing concern within the adventuring group.  “Shit, a cambion,” the fiery Tiefling spit angrily.  All of them were filled with unease.  All but one.  The sorceress.

Their visages were set in fear quite alight,

Contracts should not be too hard to press.

All of them destined to a horrible plight.

All afraid except for one sorceress.

Tav.

She cocked her head and watched him continue his speech.  “Am I a friend?  Potentially.  An adversary?  Conceivably.  But a savior?  That’s for certain,” he delivered with a smug grin, just as he rehearsed.  She continued to watch him silently with a slight smile on her face, no longer interrupting his performance with her off script lines.

“What makes you think we need saving?” the wizard challenged.  Raphael raised his hands and motioned easily towards their heads.

“You’re in deep over your tadpooled heads,” Raphael challenged, once again looking at where the sorceress sat.  She had taken up eating her meal again, observing the conversation but not contributing to it.

“One skull, two tenants and-” Raphael started, motioning to the wizard.

“You are the only solution to our problem,” the sorceress, Tav, blurted out in perfect Infernal.  “Obviously.”

Raphael had to swallow down his surprise that a human with draconic heritage spoke the language of the Hells.  Tav took a swallow from a goblet of wine, looking down at her plate again, as if she was debating whether to pick up her fork and continue eating.

Her companions all turned towards her after she finished her quip in the Devil’s tongue.  Raphael cracked a smile, gathering crucial information that none of them had realized of her linguistic prowess.

“You realize I could fix it all like that?” Raphael snapped and a lick of flame sputtered from his claws.

“Of course you could,” Tav answered.  She placed her napkin on her plate and stood, brushing out her robes.  “Though I doubt you would do it for free.”

She gazed above him at his portrait - one of Raphael’s finest, showing his command over Hellfire and the horizons of Avernus.

Tav walked in front of her companions and stood before him.  His jaw clenched at her continued acts of defiance.

“Go ahead, exhaust every possibility until none are left.”  He had practiced the last section several times and was frustrated at her continued insistence on going off script.  “I will be waiting,” he growled menacingly.

He snapped and returned the sorceress’s companions to Prime Material.

Tav smiled at him.  “Thank you for your hospitality, Raphael,” she continued in Infernal.  He snapped again and sent that foul creature back to whence she had come.

He took a deep breath.  Tav lingered in his mind.  She was quite beautiful, especially for a mortal.  She had known what he was as soon as they met while her companions remained unaware.

Who was she?

Raphael sighed in frustration.  He would need to learn more about this Little Mouse.

[luckylarvae]

RED GIANT, CHAPTER ONE

Heya, so this is an ISAT loop fanfic I’ve been thinking about writing for a while, called “Red Giant”. Heavy spoiler warning for In Stars and Time by the way as well as SASASA. For context this story takes place at the end of SASASA. This is my first time really writing in literature format, and my first fanfic thing as a whole, so it's going to be really rough at first but I hope as this progresses I get to improve. Hope this is at least mildly entertaining! Let’s just see how this goes, and constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

“This is our chance! Our chance to end everything once and for all!!” 

  Mirabelle stands in front of the king, mid battle and looks back at you. Finally something changed, something changed!!! You move out of the way as fast as you can, as Mirabelle powers you up. After all these constant, never changing loops you can finally be free, finally escape this eternal purgatory you’ve found yourself in and finally end everything! After having to suffer through this hell, of playing an actor who dies onstage over and over and over again, there's finally an end in sight, just, one, more, attack!!  You raise your arm up, you summon all the craft energy you have, every single little bit of strength you have, and throw it at the king, and a bright flash of white completely overwhelmes the room. 

When you open your eyes, the room is no longer surrounded by stands of hair, no longer dark with the presence of the king. It is white, clean, empty. Your party and you stand in shock for a moment. Did you really do it? After all this time?

“Did… did we do it?”

“...He’s gone.. We did it?”

“Sif, we did it! He’s gone! The King is gone!!! Hahahaha!!!”

Isabeau and the others smile at you. Isabeau, your friend, your comedy partner… your

“But…”

Before you can say something, Bonnie blurts and and shouts

“Holy CRAB THAT WAS SCARY!!! WE DID IT? WE DID IT!!!!”

The little sibling of the group, the one who kept you all going…

Odile perks up and says “Haha… hahahahahaha!!! Oh, it was close for a second there!!!!”

The women who understands you the best, observant to a fault

“Oh, Oh, what a relief…!”

The Savior of Vaugarde, the reason you are all here…

“Sif, Sif, Siffrin!!!” It’s over! We won!!!”

“... We won…?”

The fighter, no no Isabeau continues to beam “We won, Sif!!!!! The country’s okay, everything’s gonna be okay now!!!”

We, won?

We, WON???????

You won, you won you won you won you won!!!! Tears start to well up from your eyes and you you wipe them away.

Mirabelle looks at you and says “Oh Siffrin… It’ll be okay Siffrin. We prevailed. We’ll all be able to go back home!”

Isabeau looks at Mirabeele and responds: “I can’t wait to tell my old job friends that I’ve helped save the country!”

Bonnie jumps and says “I gotta go back home and see if my sister’s okay!!”

Odile sighs “Finally, I’ll be able to go back to my research.”

It’s over, it’s finally over. Finally, the adventure is over. Mirabelle can go back to her house of change, finally Bonnie can reunite with their sister, finally Isabeau can pursue his dreams of being a fashion designer, finally Odile can continue her research. Finally, you can go… home? You can go… home. 

Home

You start to taste sugar on your tongue

Mirabells puts her hands together in gratitude “ See Siffrin? We’ll all be fine now. There’s nothing to worry about anymo–”

You vision shakes for a bit. You can feel your heart being tugged. No, no, nononono NO!!! NOT NOW!

You feel and your entire being gets thrusted back. You see you and your party rapidly repeat the actions you had just done. You see yourself launching your craft energy at the king, your friends look at you as you get the key, first try, You see yourself, walking into the castle, and then-

You find yourself with your vision black, body… sprawled out? You wake up, in the middle of a field. The shades of the grass in an almost circular pattern, with trees shaped the same. You feel the wind pass by over you, something you have not felt in a long, long time.

A familiar voice cries out to you 

“Ah, Siffrin!!! Huh? Siffrin, were you… were you… TAKING A NAP????!???!”

“I.. I supposed thats… Yes you’re right! I should follow your lead on this one! We’d better get some sleep while we can! Since tomorrow…”

Your heart sinks to the bottom of your chest, fear and terror gripping every single muscle of your body.

“We’ll have to fight against the king!”

…

You fall into a haze.

You had done it

Everything was perfect

YOU HAD DONE IT

You defeated the king, you cried in front of your friends, YOU SAVED VAUGARDE-

But it wasn’t enough

It was never enough was it?

You were never supposed to get out

You are forever trapped in, in a hell of your making.

With these puppets

With you, as the eternal actor

You can’t take it anymore.

Pain throbs through your body, it almost feels as your guts are spilling out, something you’ve felt countless times at the hands of the king

But you only find yourself crying instead.

You don’t want to do this anymore, no more loops, PLEASE FOR WHATEVER GOD YOU’VE FORGOTTON’S SAKE, FOR THE UNIVERSE’S SAKE YOU CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!

You give up.

 And just lie there.

 Mirabelle leaves you behind.

 Time pases.

 It is the next day. They try to get you to move, their fake fingers and ther fake pleads and their FAKE tears.

 They leave you alone, and go to die in the fight against the king.

You feel nothing.

A few loops go by

No more, no more no more no morenomorenomore

At the start of the new loop, you look at the wish tree. This damn tree. You plead in front of it. You don’t care anymore, you don't care for this superficial life with these superficial friends. You plead, crying, god, not anymore!! 

LET IT BE OVER, LET ME OUT!! PLEASE, UNIVERSE, SAVE ME, HELP ME!!!! Someone… Anyone, help me!!! PLEASE!!!!!!

And the universe answered.

You watch as a leaf falls down, and glows ever brighter. It morphs from a leaf, to a flame, to a bright shining star. It falls down growing bigger and bigger until it falls down into your hands. It feels… warm… welcoming.

You feel… safe

For the first time in a while. As you look down on it, you feel one command in your head

Eat

And you do.

You feel warm in your chest. 

What happened? You aren’t exactly sure, but maybe things will be… different? You aren’t really sure why you did that, you probably shouldn’t eat random star things that float down in front of you. You sigh, and start to talk away from the tree. You start to walk away and–

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

It feels as though you’ve been directly stabbed by a red hot dagger, splicing apart your body. You look down, and see that in place of your normal cloak is a giant, glowing star-shaped hole. Your cloak begins to burn into ash, and you collapse into the ground. The pain is unbearable, you fall onto the ground, clutching your chest in pain. You look at your skin, and what should be your regular light shade of skin, is a black abyss with tiny glints of light within.

Your “friends” rush towards you, as they probably heard from all the screaming you’ve done when this started. The Housemaiden shakes your shoulders,

“SIFFRIN, WHAT’S WRONG?!?!? WHAT’S HAPPENING TO YOU, OH CHANGE-”

Before you can respond, A blinding pain strikes out from within your skull, You thoughts cloud, you can’t quite process what is happening. This is most definitely the worst headache you’ve ever experienced, it feels almost as your head is about to burst.

And then it does.

You find yourself in a black void. You don’t know where you are. You feel... Different. The structure of your body has... Changed? You look down upon yourself, and instead of the body you’re oh so familiar with, it's wrong. You build, the shade you are, the giant star on your chest. Something has gone wrong. Your head feels weightless, and as you reach towards your head,       you can’t really exactly feel where your face begins and ends.

But worst of all, something else changed. Something far worse, something terrible. Something far more important.

You can feel that your personality has been permanently changed.

[the0retically]

The Suckening #7 The Pulse of the City:

Just my thoughts, spoilers below :)

- Cumpire lore let’s go?????

- GOD THE INTRO EVERY TIME JUST SLAPS I LOVE IT

- “If you don’t call me the suckener, I’ll…KILL YOU!” Charlie pleaseeee

- Oh god the pheasant and the old people, I forgot about them

- “I think he feels guilty for not feeling guilty” shilo you’re so interesting

- “Oh? Still covered in blood” “are you just trying to make things worse?”

- Shilo please be safe, this officer isn’t good get out of there!!!! Prince Edward as the savior???? WHAT???? NO NO NO NO

- HE COLLAPSES?? Feigns unconsciousness???? Shilo please you’re alone with a follower of Edward twilight

- God fuck Edward twilight

- OH! The officer contacted Deacon though! That’s good

- DEACON ARE YOU PART OF EDWARDS THING??? NOOOO

- Deacon semi papa of shilo!! Wooo!!!!

- Arthur!!!!!!! Dude you don’t even know where the twins are uh oh

- But hey Arthur is able to follow the tracks of the bus!!

- Spirits touch????? Arthur????

- Ooooh the audio coming in from the fight is so well done

- HAHAHA ARTHUR PLEASE!!!!! “He’s pretty stoic but he looks horrified by what was said”

- They really just keep bullying Grizz to use spirits touch on the pheasant pleaseee

- “Something is Wrong with this pheasant, it’s not you, but something is Wrong”

- Oh god he takes the pheasant with him

- “I’m coming for you baby boy. Sorry about the other baby boy, but you’re in a sewer and I’m scared of sewers.” GRIZZ OH MY GOD

- “It’s all in a bad state deputy, but just close your eyes.” Deacon please do not hurt Shilo, he trusts you

- Arthur and Grefgore night in!

- Oh no, Grefgore please be ok

- “Hi…..my boy” “hi my boy! :D” oh I love them

- Grefgore don’t leave!!!!!!! The sun is about to rise!!

- Arthur???? You’re leaving?

- And hi to deacon?? Arthur?? 👀👀

- I love Grefgore he’s so fun. He’s just the most himbo someone can be

- What are they doing with the demons and the fangs?? This is So Strange

- “What are you wearing? Demon clothes?” “I’m naked, I wake up naked” “Oh God” HAH OH NO EMIZEL

- “Do you want to kill him? Cause that’ll kill him. ‘Nice cock man’ and you kick his head off” oh my god??

- Oh god Charlie this is a horrible image, “a twisted fashion studio” oh god, Charlie please this is horrifying

- “Their very demeanor scratches my brain” Grizz I’m with you but also Vex is terrifying

- “Do you want to be the guy on the table Grizz?” Oh no, ok but pop off Grizz good voice acting

- “I will be your mommy :)” oh god

- Charlie, Charlie please this now a for sure a horror campaign

- My eyes are just wide, WHAT ARE THEY CONSTRUCTING HUH???????

- Charlie is too good at being a deranged villain

- “He has had no reason to look for you, yeah, yeah he’s in his work right now” my stomach just fell, why is that so scary

- Like goodness Props to Charlie the suckening has me way more scared than bitb ever did, like I love and adore bitb so much and there were moments where I was terrified but there’s something about this that is so haunting. I can just see it in my head so clearly and it’s so freaky

- They never expect Emizel to come back!!

- Oh god but please emizel don’t die again already

- Love how Grizz is just simping for Vex because me too

- “They’re two dogs in me and they’re fucking” WILLIAM WISP IS THAT YOU??

- God I love how Grizz and bizly and just speaking as the ghouls during this fight Charlie is just like “…what?? What are you even saying right now”

- Emizel please just get out of there they’re both already your enemy you don’t need one to hate you more because then they’re going to target Your twin so PLEASE JUST LEAVE

- They’re just singing the climb now oh my god iconic

- Emizel just lying to Viv about how he’s a real boy and doesn’t burn in the sun “but we saw you burn” “it was an illusion, I’m a magician”

- “Vex have you-“ “YES I KNOW!” I love them, they’re fun

- “And you turn around away from her” emizel oh my god

- “You cannot use your twin name and not mean it” honestly based

- I ALMOST SPAT MY WATER OUT OH MY GOD “your name is shameashmai”

- “I’m not letting you guys do this again” “no I’m having all the fun in the world right now”

- DOES EMIZEL LOSE HIS RIBS???? OH GOD

- VEX IS FLESH AND VIV IS BONES????? HAUNTING SO SO SCARY

- “Enjoy the ribs, I’m gonna head out” “what do you mean you’re gonna head out??”

- “Can I prepare an action to kill myself?” “He hasn’t taken his glasses off yet so we’re still ok!” “It’s just me as a dm thinking about splitting the dice pool for movement and killing yourself” I’ve never laughed this hard holy shit “as soon as I see this thing I want to run and kill myself”

- “Bizly give me the scariest animal you can think of” “….peacock, no” “FUCK OFF!”

- PLEASE HE JUST KILLED HIMSELF IN FRONT OF THEM OH MY GOD?? AND HES BEEN NAKED THIS WHOLE TIME

- “One of mine or one of yours” sooooo Viv and Vex have some stake in the fangs and the demons, but what does that mean??

- SHILO TIME! Please be ok

- Why is shilo healed and ok, this isn’t real it can’t be, Charlie is too smiley right now, he sounds way too happy

- Fucking Edward twilight oh my god why is he like this

- THEYRE BLOOD BONDED????? OH NO I cannot believe this

- Grizz is just loving this encounter

- Why is this so sexual I hate this, Edward twilight please stop why are you crawling up the sheets to shilo???? This is so—I cannot

- Deacon! You’re here!

- God why is Edward like this, Charlie really just locks in as him it’s insane

- Oh god shilo has to tell Edward about emizel oh no

- Shilo tripped no!!

- The wallpaper is Edward in the phone oh my god

- I do love shilo and deacon’s relationship though, he seems to genuinely care for shilo and I just love them

- Back with Viv and Vex! Oh god

- Ok thank god he’s just leaving

- “William wisp mode” emizel cosplaying as William is so funny like Grizz called it, that’s exactly what he looks like

- GREFGORE FOUND SHILO!!!!!!!! AWWWWWW LETS GOOOOOO

- HE FOUND EMIZEL TOO!!

- I love Grefgore so much

- Arthur just left them? Ok the boys gotta find him

- What is happening to emizel and shilo? Why do they have pain? WHAT?? It’s the Edward twilight smoulder??? Huh??? Charlie WHAT?

- SOMETHING TWISTED IN LA?? What did Edward do?

- A full day good god

- Arthur’s just on a plane omg

- ITS AFFECTING ARTHUR TOO???

- Absolute bat shit episode I loved it

[startagainaprologue]

Hi I've been following you for a while because I love your art style, but I have no idea what In Stars And Time is and I wanted to ask you. I could just google it but considering the contents of your blog I thought you might enjoy the opportunity to talk about it :)

AWAAHH...THANK U SO MUCH ANON this is very sweet i think..

UWEH im gonnaaa . go with spoiler free here? in case ur interested at all!! and so i dont type out a full essay.

but!! isat is!! a little rpg game about timeloops!

you play as Siffrin. the rogue of your party, the traveler! Along with you is Mirabelle, the housemaiden and the savior of Vaugarde (the country the game takes place in), Isabeau, your defender! your fighter! Odile, your researcher! and Bonnie. the kid! who brought them here!

It is the day before the last day of your journey to save Vaugarde. A man, "The King", has been slowly freezing the country in time. and Mirabelle was the one blessed to be immune to the curse, so she had gone on a journey to gather the orbs to reopen the House of Change that he has taken residence in, meeting the party along the way. You, Siffrin, talk with them, and talk to some of the people in the town as well. And you make a wish at the favor tree! You make a wish.. and then head to the nearby clocktower to sleep over with your friends. You wake up in the morning. Today is the day you're all going to beat The King!

You proceed to be promptly crushed by a rock on the first floor.

But you wake up! Back where you were yesterday! Back in the grass taking a nap. Everythings the same for the most part. Aside from the voice ringing in your head telling you to head to the favor tree, who turns out to be.. Loop! the star! your guide! and they tell you that youre in a timeloop! Where you decide, of course, to not tell any of the others! you can help them now!

and so, you head back into the house, again and again. you get stronger, while your party members always end up where they were before. again and again. its fine though! youre getting stronger atleast.

all you need to do is beat the king!

all you need to do is beat the king! and everyone can go home.

[fekatsitra]

Kagurabachi 58 Spoiler

Ohhh boy, Hakazono be COOKING, amirite??? The writing and story are solid gold, the characters are loveable dorks, and everything are simply *chef kiss* But let's put that aside because recent chapter wakes me up faster than my morning coffee could cause like, What. The. FUDGE?!?!?!?

Samura, dude, DUDE! YOUR MISGUIDED GUILT/SAVIOR COMPLEX AIN'T JUSTIFYING SHET, MAN! WHAT THE HELL?! Spare the youngsters and kill only the swordbearers because they're evil BUT LIKE?!?!? COLLUDING WITH THE HISHAKU?!?!? THE VERY SAME GROUP WHO SENT THEIR MEN TO KILL THOSE YOUNGSTERS?!?!?! SET YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT, LIKE WHAT THE HECK?!?!?!?! I know Samura's blind but is DEAF AS WELL!?! Uruha said it himself, if they die, then who knows who'll wield the enchanted blades! At least, in the hands of the original wielders, they can make sure evil people don't use it for evil deeds *cough* Sojo *cough* AND YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO CALLOUT THE BLOOD ON CHIHIRO WHEN THE POOR BOY WAS SACRIFICING HIS BODY AGAINST THOSE THOUSANDS OF CRANES AND GETTING SLICED AND DICED, WELL OF COURSE HE'D REEK OF BLOOD, CHIHIRO'S BEEN BATHING IN HIS OWN BLOOD FROM HIS PREVIOUS FIGHT WITH HIRUHIKO!!!

Sure, Chihiro had his own fair of killing, but Hiyuki said it herself, Chihiro only kills evildoers- YES, HE'S GOT BLOOD IN HIS HANDS BUT IF SAMURA DEEM CHIHIRO EVIL FOR THAT THEN OH MY GOD YOU PRETENTIOUS AXXHOLE GOTTA BE MESSED UP IN THE HEAD

AND URUHA DESERVE BETTER THAN GETTING OFFED BY HIS OWN MENTOR, He finally gain the will to live and felt responsible not to let his squad's sacrifice be in vain, the very same "youngster" who died because of the Hishaku attack, and SAMURA?! YOU SERIOUSLY SIDING WITH THEM BECAUSE YOUR CAUSE TO KILL THE SWORDBEARERS ARE MORE IMPORTANT?!?!?!

Kokugoku Steam Squad were the last thing Uruha thought and now he's joining them so soon... aaaaa- seriously, Uruha deserves better...

This gonna add to more trauma for Hakuri and Chihiro, huh... boy, they're not giving these kids any break, like, I want to strangle Samura so bad