#the unbidden

[theironwarsmith]

"The war was going poorly for us. These alien machines; the 'Harrowing' we called them but gods know what they called themselves, were slaughtering our fleets and burning our worlds. We put up a good fight, like we did against the Qin'Xarar Consortium but the Harrowing pushed us back further and further, not even Earth was spared.

I saw those pyres, the ancient cities of my homeworld ignited by those genocidal toasters. Billions dead. They terraformed Earth into one giant machine city. No birds, trees nor, hell, even grass was built over. One giant power generator of a city. Almost airless too.

We, the survivors that is, fled into the depths of space. Some fled to the remaining colonies, others to other alien empires. Organic aliens that is, most of us survivors distrust AI nowadays.

However, it wasn't long after the Fall of Earth that the machines sent a message to whatever passed for leadership. A white peace it said, they were halting their relentless advance. No explanation, just a message. Of course, it was happily accepted and we began to peace our lives back together, the few hundred thousand that we now were.

It seemed odd that they suddenly stopped but it wasn't long until we found out why. Somewhere across the galaxy, an extradimensional rift had formed and creatures, known as the Unbidden, seemingly made of energy had begun to pour through, intent on devouring us. So we did what we always do, readied our weapons, begun building more ships and prepared to put up another good fight. Our last we thought.

It was then we hear that even the machines were suffering loses to these beings. Known fleets of theirs that had utterly destroyed our greatest fleets were being scattered, with a huge battle being fought at a wormhole exit deep in their own territory. We didn't know whether to cheer or to cry. What chance did we have if they were losing? We hoped the bots would be destroyed, or they'd destroy each other.

We, the organics remaining in the galaxy, banded together and held the hyperspace routes, wormholes and even the gateways of damned near half the galaxy against the extra dimensional threat. Held them at bay. It didn't take long for us to work out that kinetic and explosive weapons worked better against them than the energy weapons we has become used to, so we began our slow counter attack.

However, the Harrowing had worked that out long before us. Our scouts, well sentinels really, spotted colossal ships of Harrowing design firing incredibly accurate kinetic rounds in battles far behind the frontline we had established and they were carving a path towards the rift with brutal efficiency. They systemically destroyed the Anchors that these beings used to tether themselves to our plane of existence, even fighting alongside a small fleet of those Qin'Xarar.

The Battle of the Rift was started by us organics, when our fleets managed to calculate and fight a route through the Unbidden's territory to it. We began trying to destroy the creatures and the rift, it was a tremendous struggle. We were losing ships every few minutes, disintegration is a horrible sight. Just when things were at their darkest, when hope was about to fail, the Harrowing fleets arrived.

In a few short years, they had quadrupled the number of ships they had when fighting us. Their Titans were a sight to behold, glittering noticeably in the void. They open fire, a storm of kinetic slugs and missiles shredding the Unbidden and damaging the rift. It broke them. The rift was sealed that day and the Harrowing disappeared without a word.

Of course, we didn't know those robots had taken half the galaxy in the wake of the Unbidden's demise."

Excerpt of interrogation of Terran survivor 1056837. Subject exterminated.

So I've been playing Stellaris, as a genocidal machine race. It is pretty fun.

[poorlydrawninstarsandtime]

really specific hangups

[ids in alt]

[snail-friend]

Billy being a child and impressionable this, Billy being sweet and kind that, Billy the little lad etc etc. We know he's kind and pure hearted and has a no kill policy but CONSIDER

Give me the Billy Batson who will lie through his teeth and bite the hand that feeds in a feral survival instinct haze where it doesn't matter if you're an ally or an enemy, if you get too close to his personal life he will do whatever he has to to trick you into leaving him alone.

Billy who will trick you. Billy who WILL convince you the sky is green and the grass is blue if it means you don't get to know his secrets. Billy who is street smart and capable and strong and vicious when needed without losing his moral compass

[bogglle]

cuddles

[felsicveins]

Oh he's not trying

[ghostcouncil]

hidden lord :)

[totalswagisland]

a classic

[shoesallinaline]

Yes Bertie, please tell me more about how Jeeves is sort-of like your wife and how you would do “all sorts of other things” to help him feel appreciated. Be specific.

[porcelaintoybox23]

Describing Honkai Star Rail characters based on the fandom’s tweets I’ve run into incidentally (not an exhaustive list)

(Typical) shonen waifu

Lesbian

Yae Miko

Future incel terrorist

Racist

Honkai Al Haitham

Not a g00mer Makima

Elderly Edgelord

Blade if his trauma made him funny

Ferdinand von Aegir

Chaeya’s love child specifically their mental issues

[morporkian-cryptid]

So I'm rereading Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series, and, well...

I was today years old when I realised that the song "Hiver" in Steeleye Span's album Wintersmith (an album written about that series, which came out in 2013, which I discovered nearly a decade ago and which I have listened to enough time to know entirely by heart), was not, in fact, titled after the French word for "winter", as I had believed for the better part of a fucking decade, but after the Hiver, the main antagonist of the second Tiffany Aching book, which I have read a number of time and should have really recognized because the song's lyrics are almost word for word the hiver's speech in the novel.

Anyway, I shall now turn in my Discworld fan badge and then go shovel a hole in the snow and bury myself in it.

[leighsartworks216]

Necromancy that decays the caster. Their fingers start greying and rotting, always cold, skin sloughing off until they've nothing bones left, hidden by gloves. The stench of rot follows wherever they go. Flies hover around them. They have to pick out maggots before they become consumed - not that they can even feel the wriggling beasts anymore.

Their face sinks in, their eyes fall deeper within their skull, dark shadows accentuation every hollow orifice, waiting to be revealed by slowly rotting skin. Their muscles ache as they atrophy and stop working. Their hair is thin and losing color. It is not long before their eyes become milky white, staring at nothing. Teeth fall out, hair falls out, their skin has patches where the skin is decaying and falling away. The more spells they cast, the closer they become to being the dead they raise.

[blujayonthewing]

[muzzlemouths]

🔮 Crystal Ball- What kind of future does your OC want to have? What would they do to make it real?

About dftr sun and moon vuv

The future they want is the past they once had. 

Their life had been simple, but they wouldn’t have given it up for anything. Creating and exchanging crafts with each other, playing in the river, stopping (and starting) food fights in the dining hall, walking through nature to study every branch, every funny shaped rock, every bird that soared overhead. Singing songs in the morning. Telling ghost stories at night. Skits and campfires and making memories. Teaching the kids everything they could, and learning from them, too. 

It was by no means perfect, no life ever is, but it was all they had — and they loved every minute. They would have been happy to stay like this for the rest of their lives.

What would they do to make it real?

Anything.

They would hide themselves away for a decade, watching from afar as life continued on without them. They would pay dearly for a crime they did not commit. They would let themselves fall into ruin. They would speak with the animals if only to ease the loneliness for just a few minutes. They would dirty their hands. They would become the monsters that their campfire stories foretold. They would risk everything to make the hurt stop, to quiet the grief that has haunted them for years.

They would kill for it.

[emotinalsupportturtle]

Does anyone think of that moment when Tony and Cameron are literally in bed and he’s so upset about Declan leaving and she says “I knew you and Declan weren’t going to work out you’re too similar”

like leave Cameron alone and go fuck that old man Tony. We know you want to

[gophergal]

sniper tries to twerk and you just hear a wobbly piece of sheet metal