#the first one is Sufficiently Advanced Magic

[tossawary]

The two world building directions that appeal to me off the top of my head for a TF fusion (note: not a crossover):

Firstly, a "no magical supernatural elements, just the SPN characters in a fully TF universe" setup, where the Angels are loosely the equivalent of the Autobots and the Demons are loosely the equivalent of the Decepticons. (This would be one of those continuities where the characters soon figure out that while the Decepticons absolutely suck, the Autobots are faaaaar from the perfect "good guys".)

John and Mary Winchester's house was attacked by a Decepticon looking for the Allspark (or some other MacGuffin), which killed Mary, and sent John down a "aliens are real and the government is hiding them from us" (unfortunately correct belief) path which ruined Dean and Sam's childhood.

Sam was a baby and has zero memory of this, and so bailed on the "tinfoil hat conspiracist" lifestyle to go to university, while Dean has some memories of giant robots but he's never been able to decide whether they're real or not. John has stumbled on some alien tech shit that seems kind of legit, Dean has helped him with some illegal shit, but mostly Dean tries to keep his head down working as a mechanic under Bobby Singer.

Everything goes to shit when some Decepticons show up looking for the Allspark again, tearing apart Dean's workplace, and he has to go on the run. Autobot Castiel (with those brilliant blue eyes) shows up to fight back. Cue plot (and romance?) from there.

There is absolutely some scene where, even though Castiel has just saved Dean's life, Dean will not shut the fuck up about how it's embarrassing for him to be see in this tan-colored, office-worker-mobile. Until a pissed-off Castiel pitches Dean's ass out of the car onto the side of the road, so he can drive off to scan a sufficiently "sexy" vehicle, even though it doesn't blend in as well.

Secondly, there's a "as initially close to SPN canon as possible, the Angels just have transforming robots for vessels" setup. Which is a Crack AU, yeah, but could also be a Crack Treated Seriously AU.

After the first war between Angels, some Angel named Primus or Quintesson gets the bright idea to develop inorganic vessels for Angels using a combination of magic and advanced technology. Archangel Michael is so emotionally hungover and metaphysically exhausted from locking his brother in a cage in a pit in hell that he signs off on it. Fine, just go do it in space somewhere where the Humans won't see.

Alternatively, this project is the last thing that Archangel Gabriel greenlights before fucking off out of heaven.

Primus goes off and builds a space station that ultimately becomes the planet Cybertron, with a bunch of other Angels, borrowing some genius Humans from heaven for help sometimes. For some people, their heaven is also the Angels' sci-fi-esque, techno-magic giant mech R&D department; it's a very efficient system like that. Some of those Humans have a great fucking time, honestly.

This project is unexpectedly popular because 1) a lot of Angels generally agree that all physical forms are kind of disgusting, but the organic ones are extra gross, so these robot ones are better. 2) Humans are very weak. 30ft-tall transforming robots are actually much more capable and efficient when crushing Demons. 3) A lot of Angels actually feel bad for the Humans when taking Human vessels, so this sidesteps that issue for the Human lovers. 4) Robot vessels will also, hopefully, stop the Humanfuckers among them from making more Nephilim and shit like that.

Some of the Angels are like, "The Lord didn't say anything about giant robot vessels during the apocalypse???" But Michael has come around to the idea more and more over the years. He kind of likes the idea of curbstomping hell this way. Fuck those guys. If they want a real apocalyptic battle, they should step up their game.

Dean gets brought back from hell sooner, but it still takes Castiel a while to show up on Earth to meet him, because he took some damage and had to bring a new vessel all the way from Cybertron. And Castiel, an Angel of the Lord, shows up as a 30ft-tall transforming robot that can have magic laser guns for hands and runs on Angel grace. What the fuck. (Who can also transform into a copy of the Impala to "blend in". What the FUCK.)

Meanwhile, the Demons, who had previously been gloating over the fact that THEY had been developing new horrors (Croatoan virus, etc.) for the apocalypse while distant heaven remained seemingly complacent, are fucking reeling over the fact that their foes have apparently turned themselves into an army of extra divine Optimus Primes. "What the FUCK," says the yellow-eyed Demon, with a 10ft-long magic gun pointed at his squishy face.

That Angel called Primus time-travelled to the future, watched Evangelion, and was like, "Damn, this shit fucks." Which is going to be a problem for the Winchester brothers later, possibly, when Angels who hate humanity are throwing their weight around, but for right now, it's hell's problem.

Thirdly...

If you wanted to make this second AU into an actual crossover rather than a fusion AU, you could have it so the Angels were essentially the Quintessons (they even have matching multiple heads) and the robot vessels actually gained sentience / sapience. The Cybertronians had an uprising against their creators, which led to a more autonomous society, which unfortunately still had all of the shitty biases and functionist politics left over from their creators, which ultimately led to the Autobot and Decepticon war. TF continuity can be more or less intact: Optimus Prime and the other Cybertronians are just also the descendants of new inorganic species of partially angelic robots that rebelled against heaven.

Michael is STILL mad at the original Primus Angel about this catastrophic fuck-up. (And also Gabriel if Gabriel was the one who signed off on the project.) Lucifer is sooooo going to laugh at him for this later.

Thinking about "Transformers" AUs for non-TF fandoms again, specifically Human/Cybertronian pairings, and realized that the setup of "ancient, superpowered, non-human being fallen from the heavens and fighting an ancient, inescapable war between two factions concerning freedom and control" and "mechanic who wouldn't be opposed to fucking their car" almost perfectly fits Castiel and Dean Winchester from "Supernatural".

[lovelylovelyartist]

Reading Arcane Ascension Series again and uuuuuugh my children, my sweet sweet traumatized children, I just want to wrap each of the characters up in soft blankets and yell at any adult that tries to talk them into life threatening quest shit, "THEYRE 17, LET THEM BE KIDS FOR A LIL LONGER, FFS"

[vixensdungeon]

Alright, time to talk about one of the hot button issues in D&D today: skills, and how they've evolved over the 50-year lifespan of the game. We'll start, of course, from the beginning.

Dungeons & Dragons (1974)

So there actually isn't a skill system here. But the primordial origins are there, in the various neat little procedures of adventuring. Firstly there are languages. Humans know the "common tongue," which at this point isn't a single language, it just refers to the local Lingua Franca. I think all non-human player characters are assumed to be in 20% of other creatures who speak the language along with their own one. You also know an alignment language (Lawful, Chaotic, or Neutral), and one additional creature language for every point of Intelligence above 10.

NPC reactions. This is rolled on a simple 2d6 table for recruiting hirelings. Another 2d6 table is for monster reactions.

Surprise rolls. There are no stealth or perception skills, and adventurers are simply assumed to be sneaking around while in dungeons, with surprise rolled when monsters are encountered.

Doors can be listened at and secret doors found, with simple d6 rolls.

There's also a chance of getting lost in the wilderness, which sort of implies a general ability to not do so in most situations.

And that's basically it! You can already see several different skills we know today forming in the primordial soup.

But you feel like something is missing, right? Ah, of course! We must take a little detour to

Greyhawk (1975)

Did you know that in the original game, the only classes were fighting man, magic-user, and cleric? That's right, the now classic thief would not be introduced until the first supplement! And with them came for the first time actual named skills.

Thieves could open locks, remove traps, listen for noise, move silently, pick pockets, and hide in shadows. Additionally they could read languages, treasure maps, and even magical scrolls at higher levels.

Now, these skills are only for thieves, so what are other characters to do? Well for most of them, nothing. It simply is not a fighter's job to pick pockets, or a cleric's job to open a lock. Certainly an item can be forcefully taken from an NPC, and a door bashed open, so they are not completely helpless in these tasks. But the thief simply excels at doing such things with superior ability and grace. And of course any character can hear noises behind doors, thieves are simply better at it. Moving silently and hiding are two slightly odd skills, as they overlap with surprise rolls but don't interact with them. It can be assumed that a thief moving silently can scout ahead and report back without actually encountering the monsters they find, and a hiding thief can let wandering monsters pass by even when there isn't sufficient cover (as only shadows are needed, other characters can obviously still hide behind cover if they are aware of the need to do so). Other characters can also climb using ropes and other tools, but won't be able to climb sheer surfaces unaided like thieves can, so again the thief can simply do something general in a superior manner.

There are many classes with their own skills to be found in various magazines, but I'm not going to dig through them. So let the totality of original D&D skills be the above.

Next time: we get Advanced

[dduane]

The first part of that last message got me curious -- given how long-running of a series YW is, how do you keep track of All That when writing a new entry? Copious amounts of notes? Re-reading the entire series backlog? Keeping a fully-functioning simulation of the entire YW universe running in your head with perfect accuracy? (only mostly joking with that last one)

And somewhat-relatedly, did you have any plan or idea when you started for how long YW would run? Or was it more of a "I'll keep writing about this universe until it stops churning out ideas," type of thing and that point just (very thankfully!) hasn't happened yet? I know for per-book purposes you're a proponent of outlining (I swear I'll try writing to one one day Q_Q) but do you also apply that to a series as a whole?

Let me take this backwards, as it may make more sense that way.

Particularly when doing series work, outlining is more vital than usual for me. (Which is saying a lot.) Some of the most basic reasons for this are laid out over here.

The simplest one, though, for series outlining, is logistical. Without having achieved a sense well in advance of what events (or effects of events) are going to be most formative or important (or both) for the characters in a series, you won't have allowed yourself time to think about them enough. And to fail to spend enough time on this is to cheat both yourself and the books in the series. (And your readership.)

If you're smart, you learn very early on that attempting to save time by shortchanging or omitting the planning stages is potentially profoundly destructive. You need to have a plan... and you need not to let anyone make you ashamed of needing one. Putting off your detailed character-interaction and event planning in the name of some magically occurring fit of inspiration, or theoretical bid toward creative spontaneity, will serve neither you nor your creation. You can throw "Hail Mary" passes all you like... but you'd better be damn sure there'll be someone in the end zone to receive. ...If not Herself.

...And just in case you're worried, your initial plans can be really loose! They don't have to jump out of your head full-formed like some local war goddess after somebody hits her dad in the head with an axe. The plan for the Middle Kingdoms books—after The Door Into Fire dumped me gasping by the side of the road and left me a few minutes to breathe—was nothing more than "Now that his boyfriend's finally upped the ante beyond all expectations, Freelorn finally gets off his feckless Would-Be Robin Hood shit and gets to work becoming king." I then spent the next decade thinking purposefully about how that was going to happen, and writing the second book in the series—while sufficiently working out the fine details of the climax (and beyond) to then be able to get busy executing the third book. Even though there was a change of publishers between the beginning of that series and the end of it, the basic dead-simple MK plan from a very early stage quickly became detailed and robust enough (because the series was short enough) to withstand the change. Not least because I'd been thinking about it in a general way since the early 1970s... and continue to do so, pretty much daily. The Door Into Starlight is still hanging fire...

YW has been a different story—quite literally—because the only plan extant at the start of things was, "Everybody slowly gets older (and slowly closer)." I always knew there were going to be more than the original three: there was way too much interesting ground to cover to just stop with those. (I've never yet succeeded in finding out who started the rumor that there were only going to be three books. Over time it's become one of those things you just shrug at and move on.)

(Adding a break here, because this does go on a bit. Caution: contains publishing skullduggery, plans ganging aft agley, approximate word counts, software recommendations, and value judgments.)

("Now wait just one minute. 'Feckless would-be Robin Hood shit'? Can she just say that??")

The circumstances surrounding the writing of Deep Wizardry and High Wizardry, though, made it plain to me that I was not going to be at the then-publisher (Dell) all that much longer. By the time HW came out, they were already starting to pull away from midlist books and authors in order to spend that part of the budget on best-sellers... so it became plain to me that attempting to construct a long arc with/at that publisher would have been folly. Because who could be sure what was going to happen next, and blow everything I'd built to smithereens?

Sure enough, when I finished A Wizard Abroad, Dell declined to pick it up (even though the books had been selling steadily and increasingly strongly in paperback). This annoying validation of my concerns—and my shiny new agent's—made it plain to me that further books in the series were going to need to be thematically driven, rather than mostly character-event-driven, and almost entirely capable of being taken as standalones. Any long arc was going to have to be one that could be suspended, or reworked, with little warning. Because what happens to you once, in publishing, doesn't at all mean you're immune to it after that.

It wasn't until the YW books were picked up by Harcourt in the mid-90s, with a strong editorial team behind them, that I felt confident enough to start building longer-arc material into the books, beginning with the arc that kicks off in The Wizard's Dilemma and more or less completes in Wizard's Holiday and Wizards At War. There is a secondary (and I assume, generally less obvious) arc that picks up material still unhandled in the "War Arc," and deals with it in A Wizard of Mars and Games Wizards Play. But plans for those stories' management were already nailed down in electrons as soon as 2001, because I had made some early choices about where I was going with the characters and their situations; and as new books came out, my editors agreed with me that the choices had been sound, and should remain.

I'll say this only because I've said it before: there is one piece of business planted in So You Want To Be A Wizard that has never been explicitly dealt with/followed up on in any of the books, and is at the core of YW #11. For the moment, it's safest merely to say that I do not willingly leave loose ends hanging. Beyond that, I'll leave you all to your own deductions.

...Now. How do I keep track of all this stuff? (The urge to mutter "With great difficulty" and run off into the wings is strong. But never mind.) :)

The question's fair, as there's a million-plus words' worth of it in the series at the moment. ...Mostly my guide remains the books themselves, in ebook form (in their NME versions. If I need to, I refer back to the traditionally published versions as necessary). I normally have a general memory of where a given event happens or where a given issue comes up for handling. I then pull that copy of the ebook(s) in question, and do a search on various useful target phrases until I find what I'm after, and where it leads.

For new work, or stuff not yet committed to what passes for canon, I do have lots of notes. Some of them are actually out in public, at the currently-being-revised Errantry Concordance (though they're not in any form that anyone but me will recognize). Others are tucked away in the notes sections of pertinent Scrivener files—this being one of the most valuable things about Scrivener, as far as I'm concerned: the ability to store project notes in the project itself as opposed to "all over the damn place." Others yet are in my iPad, as either typing or dictation, and get transferred to other files/formats as necessary.

But the very first thing that happens, when a new work comes into train, is an outline. Sometimes a hilariously simple one, sometimes one with more detail in the middle than at the beginning or the end. Doesn't matter what shape it starts in. All notes, scraps, prose chunks, random thoughts, and midnight cogitations, get slotted into place in this until it's ready to be organized and sent off to an editor. And this outline—no matter how fragmentary or how polished—remains ready to hand at all times until I've finished with correcting the book's ARC and am looking at the release date.

And then I zip it up and put it away where I can find it later if I need to... because some other plan, still in the building stages, may need something in that one that never happened, but now has its chance. Because in YW, as everywhere else in my work, it's so often about the things that have always almost happened... until they do.

...Anyway: HTH!

[the-modern-typewriter]

Weapon. They needed a weapon. Unfortunately, all they could come up with was an ancient torchstick that wasn't even on fire.

They hefted up the torch anyway, heart trapped somewhere in their throat, and backed up another step.

Three of the undead lurched towards them. They had the swords, the bastards. They were probably actual fighters too, once, not little idiots who should have died before ever being dragged to this nightmare place.

Maybe they'd get lucky. Maybe the torch would be sufficiently stake-like.

Given the terrible slurping noises the protagonist had heard behind them as they scrambled out of the ancient temple, the screaming that went quiet, they didn't think they'd get lucky. Maybe it was karma.

"Careful now," came a voice. Less raspy, more silken, more alive - but not one that the protagonist recognised. "If you back up any further, you're going to tumble right off the cliff. And wouldn't that be a waste?"

The protagonist didn't dare glance behind them to check if it was true, but they couldn't stop their attention from flicking up.

The beautiful stranger lounged a top of the great door, hastily locked again, watching. They waggled their fingers in a 'hi'.

Maybe falling off a cliff wouldn't be so bad, given the alternative. The protagonist still didn't want to die. Stupidly, they didn't want to die.

The undead lunged for the protagonist's throat.

The protagonist swung the torch wildly. It impacted. It just...didn't do anything. It would have at least winded and doubled over an actual person. But the undead...

The stranger leapt down, landing cat-like in the fray. They had none of the frantic movements of some of the lesser undead; ravenous and rabid.

They clicked their tongue and the undead all stopped, eyeing the two of them warily. They skittered back from the stranger.

The stranger pulled the sword from their own belt and offered it, hilt first, to the protagonist.

"Duel wield?" they offered. "Bit more of a fair fight."

It wasn't remotely, but the protagonist would still take it, with trembling fingers.

The stranger smiled at them. all sharp teeth and searing crimson eyes. They bowed their head. Then they stepped smartly out of the way again and the undead once more advanced.

It went a little better with an actual sword. The three undead were - if not dead - no longer capable of mauling the protagonist's throat. It wasn't good enough.

The protagonist crumbled to their knees, gasping in pain. They clutched the sword loosely in their hand. They touched a hand to their shoulder. Bloodied. Burdened with teeth marks. Their vision swam.

The stranger stopped in front of them, still smiling.

The great door rumbled with the force of bodies slamming against it, trying to get out. The protagonist very much doubted anyone in there was still alive in the traditional sense.

"This is fitting," the stranger said, gesturing at them. "I like this."

Dizzy, the protagonist lurched off their knees and lunged again, as clumsy as the undead had been. They certainly couldn't just wait to die.

The stranger merely stepped aside and let the protagonist stagger a step, before swiping their legs out from beneath them.

The protagonist hit the ground hard. The sword clattered out of their hand. The stranger plucked it up, tucking it neatly back into their holster.

"Who are you?" the protagonist managed. They began to push themselves up again.

"You woke me up. In the temple."

The protagonist swore quietly. "Yeah - about that -"

"-I thought the prophesied one would be a better fighter. Less willing to spill their magical blood. You are them, aren't you?"

"No."

The stranger laughed softly, delighted, and grabbed the back of the protagonist's neck, like scruffing a misbehaving kitten. "You're pathetic." They sounded entirely too endeared by this fact. "Come on." They dragged the protagonist bodily away from the cliff edge, past the bodies of the undead, back towards the terrible, terrible door.

The protagonist thrashed.

Predictably, it did no good. In fact, it did the precise opposite as they left blood in the dirt and the three bloody undead began to heal before their eyes.

The stranger deposited them with startling gentleness on their knees again. They stroked their fingers through the protagonist's hair, taking a moment to calm them, all soothing noises and shushing sounds. The other arm hooked around the protagonist's throat, cradling them securely against them. Trapped.

The two of them looked at the door.

The protagonist could still hear the undead behind it. They wailed and clawed - nothing like the figure behind them.

The other undead kneeled in a circle around them and the stranger. The protagonist didn't like the way they looked at the stranger - like they were everything, like they were god. It was far more lucid than they had been before. They looked less zombie-like too. More real.

"Don't do this," the protagonist said into the silence. "Please don't do this."

They already knew what would happen if they touched their blood to that door again.

"Our people are hungry," the stranger replied. "They have spent so long in the dark and the slumber, waiting for you. You can't abandon them now. We can't abandon them now."

The protagonist shook their head. They wanted to say something daring and clever, but there was a whimper caught in their windpipe.

"It's not so bad." The stranger held them a little tighter. "You're going to help them. They won't be quite so brain dead once they've had a bit of you. They won't slaughter everyone."

"Just most people?" It came out choked.

"Depends entirely on if most people are willing to accept my rule, my saviour."

"I'm not - I didn't - I didn't want any of this."

A week ago, they hadn't even known.

"I know," the stranger murmured. "I know you didn't. Children of fate rarely do. That's why their hands must be forced by destiny."

"My hands were forced by cultists."

The stranger shrugged. "Destiny takes many forms."

"You killed them. Let them-"

"-My people were very hungry. Who was I to deny them? Besides." The stranger bowed their head, so their lips brushed the top of the protagonist's head. "They hurt you."

"You hurt me. Your people-"

"I wouldn't have let them get too rough. I just wanted to see what you could do. I don't think anyone expected you to escape the temple and seal the doors again in the first place. Lucky I was around!"

Lucky was not the word that the protagonist would have used.

"Just reach out a hand," the stranger murmured. "And all this can be over. You will be a hero."

"To the undead."

"To what is yours. To what you belong to."

Maybe it made no difference in the grand scheme of apocalypse, but the protagonist didn't reach out a hand that time. They expected the stranger to bark out an order, for the undead to wrench their palm forward and bleed them like the cultists had. A lamb on an altar.

The silence stretched.

The stranger couldn't make them.

The realisation struck the protagonist heady, impossibly light-headed with hope. They didn't understand why, or how, or much of any of the horror. But if the stranger could make them, they would have already done so.

The protagonist laughed. Wild. Delirious. Their head tipped back against the stranger's chest.

"They suffer in there," the stranger said. Less amused. More quiet. "They are trapped. Help them."

"No."

"This is what you were made for. Promised for."

"Then maybe," the protagonist said, "destiny should have asked for my opinion first."

"Please," the stranger said, and the protagonist didn't know what to do with that. "Please."

It didn't make sense. None of it made sense. That begging wasn't how the story went, was it? Ancient evil didn't beg.

"No," the protagonist said, a little softer. "Sorry."

The stranger let go.

The protagonist crumbled, gasping, on the door stop.

"Then I suppose." The stranger stepped up to the door, pressing a longing hand against the stone. "We're doing this the hard way."

[transmutationisms]

being reductive here but i do think the covid pandemic has & continues to expose a very specific strain of techno-optimistic or utopian thinking wrt medical technologies in particular---this idea that you can simply solve a massive socio-technical problem (disease spread) through a solely technical intervention that thus requires no input or cooperation from the average person besides a vague sort of 'pro-science' stance. you see this first with the crowd who thought the 'post-vaccine world' was one in which things ought to immediately 'get back to normal' but you also see it with those who seem to believe that eg a risky recreational event (parties, bars, &c) would be magically transformed in a binary manner into a wholly 'safe' one if only people were to wear masks. in this sort of politics there is no real understanding of risk as being along a spectrum or varying according to numerous factors including people's social behaviours; instead it is a technical problem solved instantly by a singular technical intervention. there's no need then to engage in larger and messier conversations about things like capitalist de/valuation of biopower, or disabled people's right or ability to participate in society. you sidestep the whole issue because you have applied the right technical means to simply dispense with the political problem. obligatory i wear masks when i have to be in public and i am boosted and blah blah but i'm under no illusion this means i can't get or spread covid (or other diseases). but more to my point here, i think this mode of thinking has dangerous consequences for all manner of social theorising that's simply answered with a lazy appeal to technological 'development' or advance---assumed to be something we can magic away if we throw enough money at pharma companies or weapons manufacturers or whoever else. what this ultimately does is stifle political consciousness and bolster the power and epistemological authority granted to institutions tasked with producing and protecting hegemonic forms. and my point here is not 'anti-science' or techno-pessimistic either; again, i am profoundly grateful for many a technological intervention into my life and i will continue to avail myself of them, including medtech. however the fantasy that problems of political and social forms and arrangements can be solved by sufficiently advanced technology is both foolish and dangerous.

[elodieunderglass]

Delicious in Dungeon and Weasel Heart in Defiance are wonderful (as is the Sharpe story; my inner teenage crush on Sgt Harper was immediately rekindled).

My ask is a silly one. I'm writing a story where a spell/knot of spells/magical algorithm briefly posessess a weasel. That's actually pretty normal in my setting -- but normal doesn't make a good story. The spells should dissipate after their task is done; instead of fading away it retains the weasel-shape and weasel-spirit (not the weasel itself; it goes home just fine) and becomes Something Else. (Her name is "I.")

The ask: what advice would Bee offer to the newly enweaseled? (Provided she's willing to advise without hire, of course. Don't want to cause any issues with the union.)

(In reference to the absurd crop of daemon AUs I’ve randomly written this year, and Bee the least weasel from Weasel Heart / His Delicious Materials)

Thank you so much! I love this!

Bee does have a secret weakness for silly and trashy fiction, according to a joke scene in HDM that I’ll never probably be able to fit in anywhere, so she would be super into The Assassins of Thasalon by Lois McMaster Bujold. This is part of the Penric and Desdemona series, in which wild demons (scraps of elemental chaos) sometimes possess animals and imprint on them, picking up their intelligence; after passing through human hosts they become humanised. In the setting, a person who catches a sufficiently advanced/humanised demon becomes a sorcerer and can do chaos magic. In Assassins the characters meet someone who has taken on a wild new weasel demon. So her first advice would be to passionately insist that your weasel ought to pick up this story, because it’s Representation. She would REALLY like to be part of a mustelid book club. Would “I” like to be in the book club with her -

(This is where she slightly diverges from her human, who, to Bee’s annoyance, in the belief that it would help him avoid a conversation, has claimed in front of witnesses that he “couldn’t read.”)

For more advice she offers VERY reasonable retainer! daily rates payable in advance.

[labelleizzy]

You have to understand what is happening on a mythic level, okay? What we have here is a relatively rare phenomenon: advance warning of an imposed culture change. It is critical to understand what the people who are going to be in charge believe to be true.

As you read this, remember mighty Achilles had a heel.

Everyone has a heroic self, and among the leadermen a coming they are strong and smart and capable; unafraid and fearless, they know better than anyone else how things should be done. The heroic challenge - they have been unjustly prevented from setting things right by a thorny poison wall. Through heroic exertion - generally the use of violence, trickery, and expendable companions - victory is achieved. The wall is severed and the hero prevails. The hero is rewarded with buxom adoration, many children, some degree of material success and the regard of the lesser, non-heroic people.

For thorny poison wall, understand laws, regulation, and the acknowledgement of universal human rights.

Within the myth, the hero in confidently invincible. Outside of the myth, confidence does not guarantee success. This can be quite a shock to the system. It is important to push back. The hero may still kill their opponents, but eventually someone will get him. Even immortals die from time to time; it's the rebirth thing that saves their ass.

Why is it so important to this hero to control fertility is because on a very deep primal level they understand it's their only route to divinity. As much as they value innovative accomplishment - and heroes by definition are surrounded by novelty, they are always the first in a strange land - they cannot through their own efforts ascend to being any greater than they are. Women, specifically via the provision of children, make heroes into better men, at a minimum, and via sufficiently obedient behaviors, into the closest to Godhood as they're going to get.

When you say but that's gender essentialism, let me clarify that that's exactly the point. The existential threat inherent in independent women is the disruption of the heroic path to divinity. They may say it is a mission from God, but in fact, it is a mission to be God.

And how do we defeat would be Gods? We don't believe in them. We certainly don't treat them with the fear and dread they desire. There is no respect or veneration due. That thorny, poison wall will hold. They that hold it may bleed, but the wall will hold. It may get cut but as long as one thorn remains, it will grow back. Regulations and laws are written in blood. They are sacred words in their own way. But they must, like all magic words, be used, guarded, and protected.

You may not live long, with what's coming. But in myth, you live forever. Their way of being a hero is not the only way. And somebody has to save our ass.

If you were waiting on a call, this is it.

(author requests anonymity)

[renguro]

My first dunmeshi OC, Pickpen who is very precious and close to my heart I'm really not certain what to type here other than uh explodes x1000 look at him if you think i haven't been putting out enough canon content it's his damn fault

(adventurers bible style profile writings under the cut if you wanna know more about him also you can ask--)

Raised within the confines of the dungeon, Pick has adapted to become an intensely clever and self-sufficient young man. Through a combination of actions to look trustworthy, and then breaking the favor he curries without the other person even realizing it, he lies and cheats his way through every interaction to get exactly what he wants. Though his actions make him look two-faced, this half-foot would argue it’s all for the sake of survival, and that he just happens to be better at it than everyone else. Though half-foots using magic is nearly unheard of, Pick is an extremely advanced magic user, weaving illusions to be somewhere one moment, and gone the next. Just how did he acquire these abilities…?

True Name: Pickpen Roys Age: 15 years old Race/Gender: Half-foot / Male Birthplace: Northern Central Continent Family: Father (deceased), Mother (deceased) Physique: Roughly 95cm / BMI 20 Likes: Everything he hasn’t had Dislikes: Rabbit, Mushrooms

[comicaurora]

I know you done content on hard versus soft magic systems but what is your opinion on crunchy versus smooth?

I will use atla to explain.

Season one The power system is well defined but basic Air Water Earth Fire. Simple to understand very straightforward (smooth)

By the end of the legend of Korra, you have several sub-categories and completely new categories as well (crunchy)

ah, a greebled magic system

I like complicated "crunchy" yet rigidly-defined magic systems, because they give the creator a lot of stuff to play with while also giving them constraints to operate in that dictate a lot of what can and can't happen with the plot. The danger, of course, is in introducing a form of magic that actually makes no sense, or something that devalues other elements of the system because its impact wasn't fully reasoned out, or carving off a part of an existing magic chunk and making it inaccessible for unjustified reasons.

I also feel like sometimes the extra crunch of a magic system can betray a lack of creativity on the part of the creator - having to invent entirely new magics instead of considering new applications for the old ones.

Bloodbending? Lightning-bending as an advanced firebending technique? Combustion Man as a unique one-off assassin? That armless waterbender lady with a completely new martial arts style? Zaheer using airbending to kill the Earth Queen? Dope new applications of existing concepts that make the magic system feel large, fluid and powerful. These are extensions of existing concepts that feel logical, or at least understandable.

Airbenders Who Abandon All Earthly Connections Can Levitate Now? Weird and kind of retroactively disruptive that it never came up before.

By The Way Lavabending Is Its Own Special Weird Thing Now Like Metalbending Was? Feels like we needed to invent a reason for this sidelined character to matter.

There's a risk to carving off too many chunks of a magic system, I think. Avatar started simple: everything the heroes could do or figure out was an extension of first principles. Lightning is kinda like weird pure fire, so lightning-bending made sense as an advanced firebending technique with a big risk of blowing up in your face. Bloodbending is literally something any waterbender can do once they realize it's possible - the horror of it is that it's a forbidden technique that becomes impossibly easy just by knowing about it. Toph figuring out metalbending by virtue of having a completely unique and incredibly granular sense for the earth around her ALSO worked, because (a) "metal can't be bent" has been firmly established several times and is clearly common knowledge, and (b) she was clearly the first person who'd ever had that combination of skill and disability and she was building her style from the ground up.

By the Korra timeline, however, we start running into things like lavabending, which should absolutely not be its own weird thing. It's just rock. We've already seen Kyoshi bend lava. If I recall correctly, the show doesn't sufficiently explain why lavabending is a weird separate thing from earthbending, making it feel like a logical component of the earthbending powerset is being arbitrarily gated just to make an otherwise disregarded character Slightly Important by being able to do it.

Stuff like that makes the magic system feel less internally solid. "Why CAN'T this magic do [thing]" is an extremely important question for a worldbuilder to be able to answer, and an overly greebled and partitioned magic system often can't explain why magic X and magic Y are totally separate. Skills and techniques and personal preferences among casters are fine to explain why something may or may not be possible for someone, but "what magic can and can't do and WHY" is something that I think should be as firmly, logically coherent as possible.

[fallen-knight]

My sci-fi nerd ass trying to make sense of the Zonai and extrapolate their history from the crumbs of lore we were given:

Yeah, I believe the Zonai came from outer space, fight me. >:)

I'm currently working on a TotK rewrite fic (working title: The Dragons Ascent) that incorporates this idea, and if I don't share my thoughts in the meantime I will literally explode, so here's a (very rough) timeline of events, and many worldbuilding headcanons and theories of varying degrees of canon compliance.

In the Beginning - The Zonai are a magically and technologically advanced civilization living among the stars, their origins shrouded in mystery. All is well for their species, until a group of artificers create the first secret stones, relics channeling immense power, in an effort to unlock their species' full potential. Unfortunately, the Zonai are playing with powers they don't fully understand, and horrors of cosmic proportions ensue…

The Secret Stones - When it's discovered that consuming a secret stone will transform one into an immortal dragon, a being that constantly sheds magical energy while mindlessly pursuing their last conscious thought without regard for lesser beings, and there's no known way to reverse the process, draconification is forbidden and knowledge of it suppressed. The secret stones are seized by the Zonai rulers and worn by their trusted allies as a display of power, with further official research shifted to focus on their less drastic amplification properties when worn outside the body.

The Draconification War - Inevitably, war breaks out over the power of the stones. Hundreds are draconified in a mad scramble for power and enlightenment, as many believe the dragons to be their species' ultimate form, not caring that they sacrifice their minds in the process. Others sacrifice themselves purposefully, their dragon forms guided by the last sole thought to destroy their enemies, an eternal kamikaze. The world is devastated by warring dragons and empowered Zonai alike, the mindless conflict leading to near-global extinction.

The Zonai Refugees - Their homeworld now a barren wasteland haunted by draconic husks and polluted by magical fallout, the surviving Zonai escape in a fleet of ships fueled by soul energy from their dead. They mark their faces with tears in remembrance, using the remaining secret stones as engine power, in collective agreement after the horrors they've witnessed that no more dragons will be born. Ages pass as they wander the void, adapting to their new way of life as self-sufficient nomads. Inevitably, though, they run low on soul energy fuel, their technology begins to fail, and they are forced to descend on the nearest world.

The Descent - The Zonai come down from the heavens (aka crash from outer space) onto Hyrule in three great ships, paralleling the Golden Goddesses of myth. This event leads the native Hyruleans to worship them as descendants of their gods, and the Zonai use this to their advantage as they regain their footing and explore the newly discovered land. From the ships, the last of their fleet, come the warrior tribe of Boars, the scholar tribe of Owls, and the royal tribe of Dragons, who each travel to central Hyrule to regroup.

The (Re)Founding of Hyrule - The native Hyrulians have been recovering from an apocalypse of their own that left their societies in a primitive state (AKA a timeline crash… but that's a theory post for another time). Seeing these apparent demigods as powerful potential allies for the future, Sonia's ancestor, a priestess and queen of the Hylian people, allies with the Zonai rulers, exchanging protection and knowledge for the Zonai's offerings in kind.

Into the Sky - Despite the Hyrulians' welcome, the Zonai aren't content to be bound to the strange, primitive land, and seek to return to their spacefaring existence. As they scout the sky above the Great Plateau aboard their flying machines, they discover a cloud barrier, hiding the middle and upper atmosphere of Hyrule from the lower - and above it, the remains of an ancient island group, spoken of in the oldest Hylian legends as the birthplace of their people. The islands once known as Skyloft are abandoned and eroded, no longer stable, but they offer a platform for those who seek to return to the stars - and once enhanced by antigravity tech, they become the Great Sky Island. The Zonai quickly branch out, finding other abandoned islands raised by Hylia in an era long past, and raising even more of their own. Storehouses, forges, and observatories alike are lifted into the sky by their own godlike powers.

Into the Depths - Seeking to replenish their energy and rebuild their ships, the Zonai first turn to luminous stones found on the surface of Hyrule, but the soul energy they contain is too weak for their needs. While exploring around the crashed ships that have sunk into the Depths, however, they discover a metamorphic ore that has distilled the essence of Luminous Stone into a powerful energy source. Going further into the Depths, they enlist the help of their new allies among the people of Hyrule to mine and process the ore they discover, and share the wonders they can create with it in return. To them, stripping these resources bare and disturbing the dead are but a small price to pay for progress…

The Labyrinths - As the Hylian civilization experiences exponential growth thanks to the new technology, the Zonai assign top-secret construction crews to build concealing structures - labyrinths, or Lomei - over the crash sites of their three ships, to hide the bulk of their knowledge. The top sections of the Lomei are lifted into the sky once the remaining usable tech has been brought into them from the Depths, and a low-gravity field is created around these skybound platforms to facilitate rebuilding - and launching - the ships from atop them. Evil Spirit armor, discovered in the Depths, is stored in the lower part of the labyrinths, and the old ships' construct intelligences - the so-called rulers of Boars, Owls, and Dragons - are assigned to keep the true purpose of the Lomei a secret from any unauthorized beings, using the armor as a red herring if need be.

The First King of Hyrule - To strengthen the alliance between their people, Zonai prince Rauru marries Sonia, heir to the Hylian throne. Previous male rulers of Hyrule in this era were regarded as prince consorts, due to their lack of divine powers compared to their queens, but Rauru's light powers and demigod status elevate him to the official position of first king of Hyrule. Alongside Sonia, he works tirelessly to create Shrines of Light, sealing demons and protecting the land.

The Three Dragons - The Springs of Power, Wisdom, and Courage have traditionally been protected by oracles named after the half-forgotten gods of old. Three Zonai are elevated to the roles after their elemental powers manifest at the springs. Taking the titles of Dinraal, Naydra, and Farosh, they swear to protect the land as long as they live. When they learn that the Zonai plan to return to the stars, they refuse to leave their new land and gods, and commit the forbidden act of draconification, their last thoughts to watch over and guard Hyrule forever.

The Return to the Stars - Using the low-gravity sky Lomei as launch platforms, the remaining Zonai - all but Rauru and Mineru, the chosen guardians of their legacy - take off for space in secret. Their sudden disappearance and Rauru's reluctance to speak on the subject fuel heavy speculation, with the spiritually inclined claiming they returned to the Sacred Realm, and the more cynical Hyruleans believing they must have gone to their deaths.

The Imprisoning War - Not all Hyruleans are happy about the Zonai's sudden appearance and far-reaching meddling. The independent Gerudo are wary of the Hylian-Zonai expansion and attempted assimilation of their territory, and their king Ganondorf uses their concerns to his advantage. Lured by the whispers of an ancient evil, he leads dissenters in secret attacks on Hyrule, his eyes on the power of the Secret Stones. When he finally acquires one, the power consumes him, and the noble ambitions he once held are lost in the destruction that ensues. The majority of the Gerudo distance themselves from their mad king - some holding out in desert strongholds, while others see an alliance with Hyrule as the only way to stop him. With the new Gerudo chief joining the other peoples of Hyrule, the Sages are formed, and fight the Demon King and his army until Rauru manages to imprison him.

The Aftermath - With Rauru locked in an imprisoning seal, Mineru reduced to a spirit, and Zelda having undergone draconification, the remaining Sages draw on the power of their secret stones to send the Zonai Temple of Time skyward, and aid the hero to come. In the place where it once stood, a new Hylian Temple of Time will later be constructed, resembling its predecessor from the Era of Myth. Hylian survivors create glyphs around the Light Dragon's tears and leave records of their history in the back of the Forgotten Temple, then move the Mother Goddess statue to conceal the entrance.

The Ancient Hero - After Rauru and Mineru are gone, one Zonai still lives in Hyrule, their existence a secret to everybody. A warrior of the Tribe of Boars, they sleep in a hidden stasis chamber for thousands of years, until Sheikah researchers investigating the ruins discover and awaken them. This last Zonai will go on to wield the Master Sword alongside Sonia and Rauru's heir, four champions, and the mechanical Sheikah army, and help defeat the Calamity born of Ganondorf's seeping hatred. Their deeds will be immortalized in a legendary tapestry, while their aspect lingers on, even after death...

And that's the gist of it! I have so many thoughts about this game and its lore, trying to get them organized has taken a lot out of me. But I'd love to engage in any and all discussion, and hey, if you've read this far, hear your own thoughts on the Zonai mystery too.

[shadowgast-recs-weekly]

Science Fiction: A Shadowgast Rec List

This week, we have science fiction! Check under the cut for 7 fics that include a lot of space and other sci-fi tropes, and don't forget to comment and kudos if you like them!

The Schwarzschild Solution by dawl_and_dapple (13650, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

A series of meetings between Caleb and Essek across the galaxy.

Reccer says: Loved the build between them and the picture of the universe they live in

A Tapestry of Stars by Cinderstorm (127981, Not Rated) Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn, Rape/Non-con, Dubcon/Consensual Non Consent, Domestic Abuse, WIP

Caleb and Essek end up in a political arranged marriage - in space!

Reccer says: There's so much politics and intrigue and feelings!

into the desert of your pitiless faith by burningdarkfire (24913, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Essek is a newly-arrived ambassador in Rexxentrum, Beauregard is his assigned cultural liaison, and Caleb is the consecuted soul at the back of his mind. Empires and Dynasties do not serve: they consume. (A Memory called Empire AU)

Reccer says: So lyrical, and fascinating - you don't need to be familiar with A Memory Called Empire to read it, but reading this fic might make you want to read the novel, and that's a double win in my opinion.

calling occupants of interplanetary craft by principessa (1273, General) Reccer's Content Notes: None

Essek Thelyss, the sole Vulcan on the USS Eden Horizon, would quite like to be left to his experiments, and for the rest of the crew to stop calling his intellectual discussions with Commander Widogast 'weird science flirt lunch dates.'

Reccer says: It's a lot of fun!

you must first invent the universe by renquise (3466, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

The Mighty Nein are getting ready for a big fight. Caleb can't seem to sleep while they wait, so he ends up talking with the ship instead.

Reccer says: Absolutely fascinating world building!!

such a constellation by Chrome (6362, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Exhausted and disillusioned with Starfleet in the aftermath of the destruction of Romulus and the loss of his friend, Romulan maybe-spy Essek Thelyss, Caleb Widogast retires to his parent's farm in Germany with the intent to view the stars through a telescope from now on. But an unexpected arrival changes everything, and Caleb discovers that the wider universe may not quite be done with him yet.

Reccer says: This is a fabulous fusion that encapsulates the wizards so perfectly in a different story. Worth every second of the read!

Sufficiently Advanced Magic by SaltCore (5880, General) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Have you ever wondered what would happen if Caleb and Essek met Spock, Captain Kirk and the protagonists of the Locked Tomb series? No? Me neither, but I sure am glad I found out!

Reccer says: For one, the origin story of this fic is uniquely wholesome - it came to be as a result of all three pairs reaching the finale of a shipping tumblr poll, to extend an olive branch and honour the ships' place in their fandoms' hearts. Secondly, it's SO funny. There's humour in every little detail and it gives me a Douglas Adams vibe. The characters' voices in their POVs are distinct and endearing too. I keep returning to it when I need my spirits lifted.

Aeor is for Lovers is an 18+ Shadowgast Discord server. The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. All fics, unless otherwise specified, will primarily feature Shadowgast. Have any questions about what this is? Check out the FAQ! Next week, we’ll be back with Established Relationships!

[kwali21]

Sahara

Species : Red fox Gender : Female Age : 26 Rank : Knight

PROCEDE WITH CAUTION

Glyph user, domain of interest seem to be weapon making and some elemental manipulation (see the "Glyph magic" chapter below for further details). Extend of fighting and glyph capabilities are unknown, as she flee when encountered. Used as an information gatherer.

Glyph magic

Glyph appear as magic circle from wich one command is given. They are extremely versitale, as the command, born from gathered knowledge, can be almost anything.

To create one (for example : make a hammer) everything must be known : what it is, how it's made, what's the weight, size, materials, how does surface react when impact with it… It can take days to months to create a single one and if the possessed knowledge is'nt sufficient, the user won't be able to write down a glyph. Given that, glyph user have, usually, 1 or 2 domains of interest in wich they train (weapon making, elemental manipulation, healing…), having 90% of they're create seal in those domain, the 10% left are in fields that support the principal interest or go in completely different directions, the best have been known to have up to 300 hundred different glyph. The resulting creation aren't lasting if separate from the caster (to continue with the hammer example, it will disappear in under a minute if knock out of the user's hand).

Advance glyph manipulators are capable of : -Conjuring glyph where they are looking, up to 20 meters away from them. -Convergence : the use of two glyph simultaneously, creating a new effect; again knowledge must be possess as they must understand how the glyphs react when put together.

End of report.

Sahara have been with the cult for almost half of her life. She lived her 14 first year in smuggler's sanctuary, a place quite infamous, the name being pretty explicit. Useless to say that when you take a preteen, that only know the life of street orphan, out of this type of place, you got yourself quite a loyal follower. She didn't even know how to read before joigning in (not a good thing for a glyph user, as they are true knowledge hoarder).

When discover in her usual mission for the cult, she flee immediately and is quite good at scampering, meaning that no space riders as ever truly fought her. It is probably for the best as she will react with extreme aggression if feeling corner. In this case (almost) nothing is above her, clawing, biting, throwing dust in the eyes, pulling adversary to take friendly fire... She will be fighting with a "kill or be killed" mentality, an habit she kept from the sanctuary.

The sand rose at her belt was her only possession back at the sanctuary, it is extremely precious to her. In term of character she is calm and never raise her voice, she is also a deeply lonely individual, who crave companionship but remain extremely caution and distant from other (again due to her childhood in the sanctuary). The cult save her in a way, but in the long run it does not give her the much needed solace. Prayer, missions and red smoke kept her from thinking too much about it, but it doesn't fix the problem, only let it fester.

AU belong to @onyxonline

[fairytale-poll]

ROUND 1C, MATCH 14 OUT OF 16!

Propaganda Under the Cut:

Spinderella:

They are Cinderella Spiderman style. She chose to keep her powers after midnight so now she no longer has the ability to fall in love. 🥺

Cinderella:

Alright so, background: Girl Genius is a steampunk webcomic; they fill their hiatuses with mini arcs, one of them was a Cinderella parody, and despite being *checks notes* almost 15 years old and only like 20 pages, it stays living in my mind rent free. Half because it's deeply hilarious and half because it was the first real crumb towards the ot3 (I'm not crazy, the signs do point to it being endgame I swear) The Propaganda: - both love interests get to be the prince (constant bickering ensues) - they host a combination ball/science fair (because they are all mad scientists, obviously) - Cinderella reverse engineers her fairy godmother's magic wand ("any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from science!" "what's with the quotation marks? who said that?" "me!") - it ends with her taking over the kingdom with a giant mecha army. truly the perfect fairytale ending It starts here: https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081121 but if you want an image the best one is probably: https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081215

[ckret2]

I MAY HAVE just had a Ford kin moment reading your latest chapter. I legitimately read Bill saying "magics not real" and my first thought was "huh I wonder why he believes that. Maybe something about the semantics of the definition? or the context?" It SOMEHOW did not occur to me that sometimes Bill lies and is a liar. At this rate I am going to forget he's a triangle next. Great chapter by the way!

SDLHFLK Bill claims to be a trapezoid and everyone wonders which corner is actually a very tiny 4th side before remembering that sometimes he just lies recreationally. Calling that a Ford kin moment is so funny/accurate.

But actually: yeah, you're supposed to think that!! I wanted you to briefly take him at face value, and wonder: what's his definition of "magic" for him to say it's not real, is this an "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" deal, does he know too much about the true inner workings of magic to call it that word anymore? What do we know now about Bill that we didn't know before, that he exists in a world where chanting bad Latin raises corpses into zombies and he can say "what's happening here isn't magic"?

But also he lies. In three days he might say "computers are magic, kid!" and expect you to take him just as seriously.

I think truth is malleable to him. Most of the things he says live in the fuzzy space between honest and dishonest, and even he doesn't settle on which they are unless he says something later on that retroactively establishes the level of (dis)honesty of the thing he said earlier. His idea of reality isn't steel-hard facts but soft mushy clay, and he squishes it around with his words not based on what he thinks is true but based on what feels right.

"Magic isn't real" means "magic isn't the proper mental framework through which to examine the current phenomenon or phenomena like it, therefore right now I am dispensing of it as an option to ensure that we examine the situation exclusively with non-magical tools," and also means "magic literally isn't real, you're mistaking other things for magic," but also magic literally IS real and Bill's just fucking around, unless magic isn't real and I'm the one fucking around by calling Bill's claim into question. The ambiguity goes all the way down, my friend. Magic is subjective; what is magic? Can you define it? Maybe Bill and the invisible narrative voice just have different definitions.

I think that while he said "magic isn't real" Bill believed magic wasn't real, but he probably changed his mind within thirty seconds. It's really easy to sound confident in a lie when you buy your own bull.

[belit0]

PLEASE Izuna 1? But can I make a special request that he not use any degrading language (ie bitch, slut, and the like) and instead more nice/praise like pet names?

IT TOOK ME A LONG TIME BUT FINALLY, HERE I AM!

1)Izuna: Keep moaning my name like that.

NSFW PROMPTS!

He knows it must be taking a terrible amount of willpower for (Y/N) to hold on at this moment, not to close her legs and hide between the sheets, to pretend nothing happened. It's her obedience that turns him on so much, how she tries her best to please him, to make him happy, to give him what he wants.

Izuna can't keep his mouth from between her legs, torturing her abused clit over and over again with a tongue that won't rest, having already made her come about three times by bringing out his talent.

The Uchiha believes all his years of bouncing between woman and woman trained him for this, preparing him for the moment when he genuinely wants to please the girl of his dreams, that one he chose to spend the rest of his life with. (Y/N) doesn't know it yet, but she has him in a choke hold, completely smitten and unable to think of anyone but her, ruling his mind and motivating him to be better.

He refuses to believe a woman finally conquered his heart, but the feelings he has for her are undeniable, making him experience a warmth in his chest he has never felt before.

The first few dates, contrary to what had always happened with other girls, were harmless, with no sex, and normal outings. It was a month before he dared to kiss her, and a few more before even mentioning suggestive advances.

When he started bragging about his otherworldly pussy-eating powers, she simply scoffed, laughing at him and thinking it was all empty promises. Izuna became determined to prove she had no idea who she was dealing with, and this very night, he decided to fuck her for the first time. After a romantic dinner and mood setting, he laid her on the bed approximately an hour ago, not letting her up and making her come over and over again.

He still used nothing but his tongue, not even needing his fingers, and (Y/N) showed concern after each orgasm for the integrity of his jaw. She offered to switch places, claiming to have understood his point and acknowledging the magic of his mouth, but the Uchiha brought her back down by dragging her legs towards him and attacking again.

"You're such a good girl, getting all wet for me. You're all mine, aren't you?"

Izuna asks as he wipes his chin, having achieved her fourth orgasm with nothing but his jaw. He rises from the bed and surveys his work. (Y/N) tries to catch her breath in rapid gasps, her chest rising and falling in agitation, legs spread and surrendered to the side of her body with no strength to move them.

The girl nods her head but does not provide a verbal response, and the Uchiha is not satisfied, "Say it, (Y/N). I want to hear you, now." He can see her bite her lips, and knows she's embarrassed to admit what the two have known since the moment they met. Both of them were devoted to each other when their eyes first connected, and even as strangers, there was an unseen force drawing them together. She belonged to him, as much as he belonged to her.

"I'm yours, Izuna."

"That's my pretty girl. Now quiet, love, I want to hear how preciously wet you are for me, it's intoxicating." He demands while undressing, having denied her any touch of his body until she was sufficiently ready for him.

He climbs over her form, and leads (Y/N)'s exhausted legs to wrap around his waist. The girl follows his silent instructions smoothly, yielding to his will and ready to be used as he desires.

Before the main course, he gently slides his fingers along the outside of her cunt, brushing with a terrible stillness against her clitoris, triggering a reaction of hypersensitivity. He kisses her before she can moan, stifling the sounds with his lips, swallowing every exclamation of pleasure to hear the noises happening between her legs.

He knows she's embarrassed, but it drives Izuna crazy to have evidence of the effect he generates in her body.

His fingers rapidly stroke that spot, double digits making her see stars as Izuna steals her breath with kisses, and as she is about to finish for the fifth time, the Uchiha moves his hand out of the way to replace it with his cock.

They both moan simultaneously, and he allows her to scream out to the four winds as he assaults her neck with wet kisses, his tongue leaving a wet trail from her earlobe to her nipples.

"Shit… keep moaning my name like that, such a good, beautiful girl." He keeps a slow pace, letting her get used to the overstimulation and allowing her used clit a rest. (Y/N) receives and gives everything she has to offer for Izuna to continue until he decides enough is enough, to the point when he determines to cum.

It doesn't appear to be soon; I can tell you that much.

"Make no doubt about it, pretty one. I am going to use you as I need, but you've been so good, you get to decide how. So, tell me, how do you want it, my love?"

"Slo-ow first...fa-ast when you need!" She slowly gets used to the sensation, and her body gradually relaxes, molding itself to Izuna and no longer feeling extremely sensitive. She knows once he realizes this, he will eventually pick up the pace he wants, fucking her brutally and the way he likes it.

Her pussy is going to be exhausted, red, and swollen, but her man will take such good care of her after this, she doesn't even care.

The Uchiha follows her instructions, and when he notices (Y/N) no longer has trouble cooperating with the stimulation, he progressively increases thrusting, forgetting her pleasure to seek his own. She surrenders to his choice and allows the use of her body in achieving the peak Izuna wishes to reach.

"I told you, pretty girl, you have no idea who you're dealing with."