#then you really have to guard against the death cult that WILL be forming within your membership even if that's not what you're going for

[eggy-tea]

Just going to vague about it because I don't actually follow any of these people and this is tangential to the post itself, but I saw an anonymous ask to the tune of "Why do you care about atrocities going on in the world if you're an atheist (unlike me, a principled believer)? Everyone dies; why does it matter how or when if you're not concerned about the afterlife?" and like...

It's really hard to deny the death cult allegations when you're out here straight-up admitting that within your moral framework, the only thing that matters is death, and the only thing that gives death any meaning is adherence to your religion. Death + Cult = Death Cult.

[dawnwriterimagines]

"At least somebody's happy to see me.": Vanya Hargreeves

Summary: When the Umbrella Academy finally reunites in 1963, an amnesiac Vanya reunites with her sisters, happily, especially Number Eight, who Klaus actually makes visible, after her death by Vanya's hand.

Warning(s): Fluff, light angst, etc.

- - -

You could still remember the way Vanya's sound wave had cut straight into your body, slicing messily through your clothes and across your chest. Vanya was dragged away by Leonard, or Harold Jenkins, sobbing and screaming out her frantic apologies when you felt yourself slipping away.

Allison had been next to you, having used your power to block Vanya's accidental attack, but it only caused the energy to bounce off your materialized shield and into you. It cut off, slicing the nape of Allison's neck, she stuttered out a painful "I heard a rumor..." to no avail as Harold Jenkins escaped with Vanya in tow.

Your sister held you tight as your family came to rescue you both, and she didn't let go, even when you quickly passed in Luther's arm's during the frantic car ride home.

Later, Vanya came home, to the Academy but by that time, Luther was fully aware of what his sister could do, but he would soon see for himself. Blinded by loss, he was quick to isolate Vanya until he was sure of what to do with her, in short, it didn't work out.

Meeting the enraged Vanya at her recital theater, with the commission's lackeys on their tails, the group of siblings banded together to take her down. During the battle against gun wielding agents of the commission, Klaus unleashed his hidden power, a magnificent display of his growing abilities.

Luther's eyes were wide in disbelief as you came to view in an ominous blue light as well as Ben Hargreeves, their long deceased brother, having grown up apparently in his ghost form. The siblings couldn't believe their eyes as you and Ben made quick work of taking down the agents, their bullets flying straight through your intangible bodies while you sent them flying and Ben's monsters ripped them apart.

Exchanging a glance with Klaus, you looked away to turn towards Vanya, who's eyes were squeezed shut as she focused deeply on the resonance of her violin, holding tight to the bowl of her instrument as she glowed with a pure white light and the wood draining of color with her clothing. You began to walk down the aisle, towards your sister, your siblings finishing off the agents behind you.

A violent wind consumed the theater as Vanya went on, her music as beautiful as it had always been, tears slowly manifesting along the corners of Vanya's eye's as she remembered her sister, how she had dreamed of seeing you in the audience, embracing you off stage when her performance was finished. The memory of you pulled her to continue, her sorrow pouring into the strings of her violin, the sound growing and energy rising all around her.

"Vanya..."

At the sound of your voice, Vanya's brows furrowed, her Boe pausing, missing a chord in the song. Was she imagining your voice now?

"You play so beautifully," Vanya felt your hand on her shoulder. She gasped harshly, her eyes bursting open, her tears finally falling like raindrops, she sucks in a breath as she looks over to see you. Her eyes are wide, her core filled with energy she had unconciously built up, the sound of the violin chords still floating through the air despite not a note being played. "You always have," you continue, a soft smile upon your lips.

Vanya stares at you in shock and disbelief, she can see the blue hue to your skin, the ominous light that surrounds you but there is no mistaking your presence, it was you. "(Y-y/n)?" She stutters with a small, fragile voice. Reaching her hand out to touch you, gasping and flinching back as she can feel your hand in hers, so cold, yet as comforting as you had always been.

"It's me," you wrap your arm's around the broken woman, who quickly drops her violin and bow to return it with a desperate embrace.

Vanya releases a choked cry, shaking as her body quickly racks with sobs, the light surrounding her soon begins to diminish. She holds you tight, crying with a stuttered, "I-i'm s-sorry! I'm sorry!" Repeating brokenly while you squeeze her tight to you, feeling Klaus's power fading.

"It's ok," you pull away to wipe away her tears. "It's ok." You smile, leaning forwards and pressing your lips upon her forehead, "Don't worry anymore, Vanya. It's ok."

The moment her hands slip through you, your form suddenly vanishing, she breaks down, clutching her chest painfully, before feeling the build up of energy within her quickly taking shape, she gasps out as Allison behind her, fires off a shot behind her that startles her senses. A large beam of light and paralyzing sound leave Vanya and shot out of the circular window atop the Icarus Theater, hitting the moon and destroying it.

It doesn't take long for the siblings to realize their fucked. Five quickly devising a plan to go back in time to evade the apocalypse.

Obviously, he fucked that up.

The siblings find each other after a year and/or more of being apart, all separated between 1961 to 1963. You and Ben stuck with Klaus, who somehow found himself becoming a cult leader. You had found Diego a while back, having declared himself a psychotic and sent to an asylum for trying to save the president from his future assassination. Klaus found Allison later on, or she found him, she had married and became a civil rights activist. Luther was found by Five, who was last to teleport to 1963, he became a body guard for a big shot mob boss, you were actually pretty surprised to find that out. Vanya...well, you weren't sure where Vanya was, Five did say he saw her, she's supposed to be a nanny now, on a farm?

Five found Klaus and Allison, eager to finally get the group back together, meeting up at the hideout he had with a alien theorist, this family can never even say the word 'normal'.

Vanya sat on the couch, facing Luther and Diego, horrified to find out about the evil deeds of her asshole adopted father. Keeping her drugged up on pills to suppress her powers? Keeping her isolated from her siblings? Jeez, now she really had to meet this guy.

"Hey! Get down here already!" Vanya perked up, upon hearing Five's voice, the three siblings getting to their feet and walking over to the railing to view.

"Is it just me...or did we all get hotter?" Klaus wondered aloud.

Your eye's widened upon seeing Vanya, you smiled to yourself in relief, "Vanya," you hummed to yourself.

"I can't believe I have a sister," Vanya laughed excitedly before skipping down the steps, a smile on her face, looking at Allison. You raised a brow before recalling what Five had told Klaus of Vanya's memory.

"Klaus," you nudged the seance. Klaus looked at you before back at Vanya.

"I mean, won't she maybe, freak out?" Klaus wondered, glancing at Vanya.

She shuffled in front of Allison, recalling how pretty unwelcoming her brothers had seemed when they found her, none of them seemed to had missed her. She hesitated in embracing the only other woman of the many siblings, wasn't she told that she had 2 sisters?

"Vanya," Allison breathed, smiling softly as her sister came waking down the steps to her, brightly. Allison stood there, almost awkwardly, "I missed you." she couldn't help herself when she walked forwards to finally embrace her sister.

"Thank god, somebody did," Vanya joked half heartedly, stiffly welcoming her embrace before relaxing and hugging back, relieved.

Klaus couldn't help himself as he aww'ed at their sisterly reunion, "Aww! This is precious," he wrapped the both of them in his arms before giving a loving kiss to Vanya's forehead, "Finally, Vanya! Where have you been?"

Vanya blushed at the love she was suddenly receiving from her siblings. "Around, I guess."

You frowned, shoving Klaus's arm, "Klaus!" You warned, Klaus flinched lightly before sighing.

"Ok! Ok, I got it!" He raised his hands in defeat. Then, turned to Vanya and Allison, who raised a brow confused. "Hey, um, Vanya, come with me, please."

Klaus dragged Vanya away from Allison, who gave her brother a confused frown, before he pulled Vanya into a corner as everyone began to go upstairs to discuss Five's plan.

"Hurry it up, Klaus," Five sighed as he straightened the collar of his uniform, looking over the balcony before turning to head to the couch.

He waved the old man in a child's body off. "Yeah! Yeah, I got it!" He then turned to a nervous Vanya.

"Did I do something wrong?" She wondered, her fingers pull down on the end of her shirt, anxiety filling her.

Klaus raised a brow. "No, no. Why would you say that?" He then realized what it seemed like, dragging her secretly over from everyone in attempt to have a private conversation that may have to do with telling her off. "Oh, no! Haha! Don't worry, I just wanted to talk to you, Vanya." He smiled, the girl laughed lightly, her shoulders relaxing visibly. "Well, I mean--" he glanced over at you, "Not me. But, another member of the family."

Vanya titled her head to the side, her brows furrowing. "I thought we were the only ones left?"

"Well, yeah...but--she wanted to see you again. She's kind of bugging me about you." Klaus let out a small 'ow' when an invisible force seemed to jab him in the ribs. "Alot."

Vanya's eye's widened before she began to grin widely. "Wait...I have another sister? Really?!" She questioned, happily. "That's great, no offense, but there's way too many boys in this family," Klaus shrugged his shoulders, nodding at the fact. "So, where is she?"

He looked over at you, "You ready?"

Vanya glanced at the empty spot before assuming he were talking to her. "Yeah?"

You nodded. "Always."

Klaus stepped back alittle, taking a deep breath, shaking his hands out to prepare himself. Vanya pursed her lips, blowing out a low breath, "What're you doing?"

"Just a sec!" His hands begin glowing an ominous blue, that makes Vanya step back in surprise. Klaus leans over into himself, concentrating his ability to conjure up a misty figure beside Vanya, she notices, jumping back to the side with a loud gasp.

"Woah! Hey, what's happe--!" Vanya presses herself against the side wall as the person comes into view, illuminated with the same blue light coming from Klaus's hands. A beautiful woman her age, (h/c) hair and leather pants with a fitted top under a loose jean jacket that steps towards her. "W-what?"

You smile widely, "Vanya!"

The small woman's eyes are wide in disbelief before she pushes herself lightly off of the wall, taking a hesitant step. "W-who are you? Do I know you?" She looks over at Klaus, who's already begun to sweat faintly along his brow. "Is this--is this my sister?"

Klaus grin's, nodding. "Vanya, this is our sister, (Y/n) Hargreeves."

You can't wait any longer and quickly rush up to Vanya, she's shocked when she feels your arm's wrap around her, a warmth she's never felt before enveloping her upon your touch. You held onto her, running a hand down her hair as her hands come up to wrap around your waist. "I've missed you, sis."

Vanya can't help the smile that spreads across her face, she let's her head settle into your chest, she wonders if the heartbeat she hears is from you or her. "I have another sister..." she breathes, you chuckle.

"Yeah, you do," you pull away, keeping your hands on her shoulder's. You then look at her eyes, they're different, "So, you don't remember us, at all? The academy? Me?" Some part of you hoped she would've, when she saw your face.

She shook her head, tilting it down, guiltily. "I was hit by a car, I lost my memory, I don't remember anything..." her eyes then narrowed before she glanced up. "Well...I think I remember something...but I'm not really sure. It's a fragment of a memory if anything," she sighed, alittle frustrated. "It's just a song. Not even a lyric...just the name, I think. But I've never heard of it, and it doesn't exist here, I guess it's one from the future. Our future, I guess."

Your eye's widened, before you asked her. "What...what's the song called?"

Vanya paused, looking at you now, fully. The glow of blue around you reminded her of a black and white movie, she wondered if she could remember the color of your hair if she tried, did you have highlights, maybe two different colored eyes? "...she told me her favorite song was (f/s)...I...it's like listening under water, it's not very clear...but I can still feel a hand around mine throughout the entire thing..." Vanya's lips tug up, recalling all the nights that the memory had comforted her, knowing someone out there was waiting for her to come home.

You would've cried if you could've, but you could only smile, sorrowful and relieved at the same time, "I'm glad to know you still remember...you used to hate that song...so much!" You chuckled at the end, Vanya's eye's drifting upwards, her heart doing flips and her eyes going red as they burned. "But, you put it on the record like clockwork, every Sunday night. We'd lay on the rooftop and watch the stars until the sixth flicker of the low brook street lamp. The city never got that thing fixed," you recalled fondly.

Vanya sniffled softly. "...b-but...but how could---how'd this happen to you? I remember you. I remember you like....like it was so recent. How did you die?"

You shook your head. "It doesn't matter, Van," you rough your hands up to her cheeks, wiping the tears that began to fall down her cheeks. "It doesn't matter. It matters only that, I got to see you again. And I've missed you, so much, Vanya. So much," you brushed her hair to the side cupping the side of her face as Vanya breathed a sad laugh, taking your hand in hers. "I love you, Vanya. Always know that, okay?"

Vanya couldn't speak, biting her lip to hold the sob creeping up her throat, she hasn't heard those words in years, and she could feel every emotion that you carried in that single sentence and it made her want to hold you and never let go as she sobbed her heart out. She nodded, vigorously, "I-i know. I know," she sniffled harshly, she could hardly believe she was breaking down right now. She hardly remembered you, she didn't know why she was crying but a part of her was just falling apart and she didn't know why.

Klaus placed a hand on your shoulder, "(y/n)..." he whispered, softly. Not wanting to break up the two of his sisters, he guiltily spoke, sadly nodding towards the spirit of his dead sister, "I'm sorry, I can't keep going..." he apologized, before you shook your head.

"No, Klaus," you reached out, holding onto his hand, "This was more than enough," you leaned up, placing your lips along her cheek. "Thank you for giving me this time. You can rest now."

Klaus nodded, before letting you go, briefly. Turning to Vanya, who's grip on your hand grew tighter, "Vanya..."

"P-please, just give me...give me alittle more time," she begged. "I don't know why but...I'm just so...I'm so scared to let you go!" She wrapped her arms around you, squeezing you tight as she sucked in a shuddering breath as she sobbed into your chest. "Please, don't leave me."

You closed your eye's, wanting so badly to cry, to shed even a single tear but everything felt so bottled up, thrown into a pit so big it would never be released, it hurt. You hugged her to you, she held you tighter, "I'm always with you, Vanya. I won't ever leave you," you breathed, kissing the top of her head as Klaus's power began to fade, you felt her touch begin to slip, your body be coming intangible once more. "It's ok. I'm right here, for you."

Vanya collapsed to her knees as you slipped through her hands, silently wrapping her arms around herself as Klaus tiredly walked up to her, going to his knees in front of her, he sat there, laying a hand on her back. Before the young woman leaned forwards to wrap her arms around him, her head against his shoulder. Klaus encircled her shoulders, pulling her to his side as she began to slowly calm.

A few days later, Vanya's memory returns. She remembers everything about her family, about you.

And as she stands, walking out of the FBI building, she wipes away a stray tear as she remembers the last time she had seen you. You had forgiven her, loved her unconditionally, embraced her and welcomed her despite what she had done to you.

Today, she'd save the world with her family, for you. And she knew that you would always be by her side through that and the future ahead.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Guardians of the Creatures; AU! Queen x reader Prologue

*Author’s note*

Hey gang I know this year has been INSANE but I am here to tell you all that I’ve now got my next upcoming Halloween FIC series ready at the helm. Now it’ll be slightly similar to my last Hallowqueen fic series (it being in 2nd person POV after this chapter), with some differences.

Now then I wish to give credit to @kinole009x​ for allowing me to use the same physical appearance that they made for our beloved Deacy in their fabulous series “NEVERMORE” (which you ALL should check out if you haven’t read it. Trust me, you will LOVE IT!!). 

Now Idk when the next chapter will be up cause work is REALLY starting to pile up on me now. But I promise this fic series WILL go on, I won’t abandon it after this. I’ve got plans for this series. Enjoy my lovelies and I hope you all enjoy this new HALLOWQUEEN series :)

Warnings: Blood, dark magic, evil witches and wizards, close-to-death experience.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@ixchel-9275​

@simonedk​

@queensdivas​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@dancingcoolcat​

@kinole009x​

@queendeakyy​

@geek-and-proud​

@klausidiot​

___________________________________________________________

I……Am the eyes of the world.  I can see the past—and the future.  Chaos, and darkness.  The end of the world, and the rebirth of it.  My people have been around since the beginning of time itself.  But with the birth of so many creatures, my kind couldn’t survive.  Except for me.  Who am I you might ask? It is I—Freddie Mercury, who witnessed the rise of creatures, and men.

I’ve seen the world continuously trying to survive with the rise of each new species of the world.  And it is here that I have seen a darkness of which no one would ever see before.

Look into my eyes—and trust in me.

There are many dangerous creatures that live within our world. For a certain time period there were were-creatures, Elves, faes, goblins, dragons, mer-people, and all those creatures you would believe to be in your fairy tales and mythologies.  But the most dangerous creature of the time wasn’t man.  

But Witches. Warlocks. And Sorcerers.

I’ve seen generations of these creatures slaughtering and imprisoning other creatures.  And breaking the mythical creatures ancient laws.

And then—one fateful night. I saw our world place our hopes into the hands of two people, the like of which—no one would ever suspect.

*3rd Person POV*

Flying through the dark midnight sky was a cloaked figure and in his arms he held a young woman close to his chest.  He dove down as fast as he could to the ground knowing full well that he couldn’t continue flying anymore, not with the woman now starting to cough out blood.  

When he finally reached the ground, he picked up the woman and gently set her down on the ground.

“Lumos.” He softly whispered.  His hand soon made a light, about the size of a star, appear in his hand. His pale skin could only be compared to the white glow of the moon, while his long jet black hair framed his face and his black eyebrows arched with both fear and concerned for the woman that lay beneath him.

As he shined the light upon the young woman he could now see that blood had now stained her once pink lips.  Her sclera was now starting to bleed red and she was coughing out even more blood.

“Serafina. Oh my darling Serafina please hold on.” He pleaded softly as he cupped the side of her cheek.  Piercing through the air was a maniacal female laugh.  Thinking quickly he made the light from his hand vanish and he covered both himself and Serafina with his black cloak.

High above the air riding on their own brooms a swarm of witches were flying over the air.  One of them in particular had curly madded hair (that almost resembled a lion’s mane), she wore a long black dress that was a mix of fabric but also leather that made a corset-like shape around her midriff.  She took the lead alongside five witches and four wizards.  

All of them wearing black and baring a snake tattoo along their necks.

“They’re not here cousin!” hissed a ginger haired witch.

“Keep searching for them. They’re around here somewhere. That spell I gave her will buy us some time to catch up to them. There’s no way he’d leave her behind.” She cackled softly before flying on ahead with the eight other witches and wizards following her.

Once the coast was clear, the young wizard removed his cloak from the two of them and he slowly picked up Serafina.

“We’re gonna have to travel by foot. I’m sorry my love.”

“John.” She croaked out before suddenly coughing out more blood.

“Shh, shh, shh. Save your strength my love.” He soothed her as he rested her head against his shoulder so that he could press his head against hers.  He trudged on through the thick forest, all the while his love continuously coughing out more blood.  

He knew that if he didn’t at least find a way to slow down the curse that had been bestowed upon her, she would continue to bleed out internally until she died.

After walking for god knows how long, he set her down in a decent sized thicket.  He gave her his cloak and lay down some twigs, grass and leaves before muttering out a quick spell to make them into a pillow.  He lay her head on the pillow and stroked her dark hair out of her face.

“I’ll be back my love, I’m going to find some ingredients to slowdown her curse.” He went to stand up but Serafina grabbed his hand and weakly said.

“Don’t…….go……John.” he looked down at her with sympathy and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“I’ll be careful. I promise.” He covered her up more with his cloak then casted a protection charm around her, in case either the witches or anything else dangerous were to come by.

John raced through the woods hoping to find some familiar herbs that could hopefully be brewed up.  He searched and searched but he wasn’t having any luck, and he could hear every now and then the haunting piercing manically laugh of the head witch leading the hunt for them.

It wasn’t until finally when he arrived by a small creek and he had found the perfect healing herb for his love.  To some it was known as Athelas plant but in the common tongue it was called Kingsfoil.  A weed but it had healing properties.

He took out his wand and shifted it into a small knife and went to cut the root, when he heard a strange sound coming from the creek.  A hypnotic, siren-like song soon began to echo through the air.  John turned towards the creek and was shocked to suddenly see a hand burst out from the water.

Slowly a body began to rise up over the water.  The body was pure water at first until it finally dissolved and morph into an actual human skin.  The man that now stood before John was handsome.  Beyond handsome actually.

Almost as if he had been carved by the Gods himself.  His wild, untamed blonde hair shone under the full moon’s light, and his hypnotic deep blue eyes stared right at John curiously. But when John took a closer look and saw the long claw-like nails, the gills along his neck (that almost looked like deep scars), and the fact that his eyes were inhuman with how they were just pure blue and white, he realized just what this man was.

This was a Nokk.  A water spirit said to be a handsome man that is known to lure women and children to their deaths by either singing or playing a sweet song before drowning them.  They are also known to be shapeshifters going between a handsome man, or a beautiful white horse.  Tempting all that see him in his horse form to ride him before sending them to a watery grave.

Little did he know that while staring at the Nokk, he soon felt a long sword blade slide right down his neck.  Thankfully it wasn’t the actual blade of the sword itself, it lay flat against his neck but it still sent fear through him.

“What do we have here? A wizard caught off his guard?” a soft, honey-like voice spoke with a sternness to it.

“Please, I mean no harm. My Serafina needs help.” At hearing that name, the Nokk’s eyes went from defensive and anger to concern and worry.

“Serafina you said?” the voice behind John spoke.

“Yes. Please I don’t have much time, I need to get this Athelas to her. She’ll die without it!” John then whipped out his wand and turned the sword blade into a stick.

He quickly turned around and held his wand at the attack only to soon find out that his ‘attacker’ wasn’t who he thought it was.

This man had curly hair that resembled an animal of some kind, but unlike the witch they were hiding from, his hair was tamed and well kept. John also took notice of the man’s attire and the ears that stuck out from his hair.  It was then he realized just who this person was.

“You—you’re an Elf.” the Elf closed his eyes and did a faint nod as he hummed, a hum that sounded like the faint wind.

“Brian May. High Elf Lord of the West. We were also told of your arrival by a friend of ours. He can help her.”

“Just who is your friend?”

“I can sense your hesitance.” Brian spoke.

“Of course I’m hesitant! We’re being hunted by our own cult! My love is dying and I’m sitting here in the dark forest with an Elf and a Nokk!” the Nokk lowly growled that’s when Brian lifted his hand and said.

“Quilda Roger, quilda.” The Nokk named Roger softened his growls but continued to glare at John. “As you’ve said we don’t have much time. Please allow us to help you heal her. And take her to our friend who is a healer.”

“I thought Elves were known to be the best healers?” John asked.

“We are. But by the time we would reach my kingdom it’ll be too late to save her. Our friend is the closest for he lives in the Black forest.” Not being given much choice, John agreed and led both Brian and Roger to where his love was.

Serafina continued to wheeze out her breaths and occasionally coughing up more blood.  And either it must’ve been the curse having a side effect, or due to the pressure on her brain, she saw this blinding light coming up towards her.

She turned and there she saw a horse running up towards her and the glowing figure rode on top of the magnificent creature.  Skillfully it unmounted from the horse before walking towards her.  Finally she could see a man who was too ethereal to look upon.

His tall lean frame, the pale skin, and the halo of curls almost made him look like an angel.  His piercing blue eyes stared right down at her, almost as if they were piercing her very soul.  He knelt down before her and whispered with what sounded like the sweetest honey-like voice she had heard (that could only be compared to her love John’s voice).

“Serafina. im Brian. Telin le thaed. Lasto beth nîn, tolo dan nan galad.” After hearing this beautiful language coming out of this man’s mouth, Serafina turned her head back upwards to the sky as she softly began coughing again.

John soon came in with a small brewing bowl and was currently stirring up the brew.  Brian knelt down beside Serafina softly calling out her name once again as he touched her head.

“This curse is strong.” John finished stirring up the brew and gently took his love’s head and lifted it up, with Brian’s help, and he gently poured the Athelas brew down her throat.  “She won’t last for much longer. We need to get her to Freddie now.”

John picked her up bridal style and the two of them walked towards Roger as Brian said.

“The five witches are still out there searching for you both further in the woods. The four wizards however, I do not know where they have gone.” John gently placed her on top of Roger’s back and steadied her.

“Thank you for your help. But I can take it from here.”

“Roger and I are the fastest together, I’ll take her.” Brian said.

“No. I won’t leave her!”

“You will take the safest road down the river. Once you reach the end, you will go East and soon you will arrive at our friend’s hut.” Brian explained to John the fastest route he could take.

“But what if they find you? Or worse what if this Nokk betrays you and takes my beloved away? I know of what his kind does to women and children!”

“I understand your concern for her. But she is in the safest of hands John Deacon. Roger will ensure that they can’t reach us.” Roger turned to face John.  His ears bent back slightly and he gave the young wizard a bow of his head.  “A Nokk’s name is powerful. He will not harm her.”

John faces Roger and in his horse form he gave the young wizard a small huff before lightly nodding his head.

“As you wish.” Brian softly smiled and hopped onto Roger’s back, sitting behind Serafina so that she now had support to lie back on. “I’m trusting you both with my heart. Ride hard and run swift. Do not let them catch her.”

“Noro lim mellon, Noro lim!” Brian spoke to Roger in Elvish tongue, soon Roger took off running deeper into the forest.  

As he watched with a heavy heart, John prayed to Merlin above that Serafina would be safe and healed in time.

Running with the speed of mercury, Roger ran across the woods in almost a blur.  Brian holding tightly to his friend’s long white mane while keeping an arm wrapped around Serafina so that she wouldn’t fall out.  But soon he heard a whooshing sound and through the trees and when he turned right he soon saw one of the four male wizards flying just a few feet beside them.

He looked to the left and he saw that a blonde witch was also flying beside them, the two of them flying closer and closer to Roger’s body hoping to pin him so they could claim their prize.  But never doubt the speed of a Nokk in horse form.

Roger ran faster but as he turned into a clear opening in the woods, that’s when the rest of the scouting party descended.

“HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! WE’VE GOT THEM NOW! TEAR THE BEAST DOWN! KILL THE ELVISH FILTH! BUT LEAVE THE GIRL ALIVE. For now. HAHAHAHA!!!” the leading witch cackled manically.  Brian turned to the witches and wizards behind and saw one of them take out their wands and fire an attack.  He shielded Serafina with his body from the blast that sent an excruciating pain all over his body.

His bite his lip to try and hold back his screams that desperately wanted to come out.  He gripped Roger’s mane tighter as his friend ran faster through the woods.  But no matter how hard he tried, no matter how many times he tried to lose them through the trees, the party still kept on their tail.

When they came across an open meadow, the witch party now had them surrounded like wolves taking down their prey.  Brian was almost certain that they were about to die right then and there.  But when he saw the crazed woman extend her arm out towards Serafina, it was then Roger took over.

Using his long whip-like horse tail, he whipped the woman across the face and sent her back several feet right off her broom.  He repeated the technic with the other wizards and witches that were too close for comfort, allowing him to take off even faster than he had ever ran before in his life.

Two of the witches flew back towards their sister witch and helped her up.

“That filthy mongrel. HE COULD’VE KILLED ME!! I’ll get him. I will kill him and wear his skin like a coat!” the woman cried out as she got back on her broom and took off flying with her sisters following behind her.

Roger soon got them into a thicker part of the woods where the trees were lower and more condensed together.  He swiftly turned around every other tree to try and confuse the party that followed behind him and it worked.  For some they had to regroup high above the trees just to get out of the condensed area, and others they ended up flying off their brooms cause of the low hanging branches.

Roger leapt over a log and ran down a hill which led to a small river-like creek.  He ran across the water till he came onto the other side of the creek.  He stopped and turned around to face the witches as he huffed and panted heavily.

“Well done Roger, well done.” Brian praised his friend as he too looked at the incoming party.  However once they came to the shoreline of the creek, they found that they couldn’t cross it.

Almost as if there was higher magic blocking them from coming any closer to their targets.

“Give up the traitors, filthy Elf and mindless brute!” the leading witch snarled.  Roger let out a loud roar as he reared high into the air while Brian revealed his sword and held it in the air.

“If you want her, come and claim her!” he challenged the party. All nine of them soon took out their wands and all together they fired at the forcefield that kept them from getting any closer.  

The forcefield held for as long as it could but it was starting to break.  When they noticed the forcefield beginning to break, the party slowly moved forward across the water.

Unbeknownst to them, Brian’s eyes shifted as he stared at the water while softly began to chant in Elvish a spell that had been put up for only him and Freddie to speak out since they were both ancient creatures of old.

Nîn o Chithaeglir lasto beth daer;

Rimmo nîn Bruinen dan in Kuruni!

Nîn o Chithaeglir lasto beth daer;

Rimmo nîn Bruinen dan in Kuruni!

The water slowly began to rise and once Brian finished the chant, the wizards stopped their attack as they suddenly heard a rush of water. Soon storming down from further up river was a tsunami-like wave.

Fearing for their lives, the witches and wizards hopped on their broomsticks and took off flying, but the rushing water was right on their tail. If you would look closely, you would notice that the shapes that were forming in the water were dozens of snakes, all slithering outward towards the witches.

Just before any of them thought they were in the clear, one by one they were each swallowed by the raging waters and taken downstream.

Brian and Roger stood satisfied over the boulder but that’s when they heard the fain wheezing coming out of Serafina’s mouth.  Brian took Serafina off of Roger’s back and lay her down on the ground.  Her face now almost completely red from bleeding internally, tear streams of blood stained around her eyes, and her eyes were almost devoid of any life.

“Serafina, no! Serafina don’t give in. Not now!” pleaded Brian as he gently shook her.  But with one last croak out of her mouth, she went still.  

Roger threw his head back and whinnied out a desperate neigh for help as Brian held her in his arms.

‘What grace has given me. Let it pass to her, let her be spared. Save her.’ Brian prayed in his head.

“Someone call my name?” a voice echoed through the air. Both Brian and Roger looked around when the voice spoke again, “You two honestly call yourselves the fastest team? Even I have ran across the world at least three times faster than that.”

“Freddie.” Brian said.

“How quaint to see you again Brian. It’s been—what 200 years since we last met?”

“187 actually.”

“And Roger, my big strong, handsome Nokk how’s the clan doing?” Roger huffed softly and a soft chuckle rang through the air. “That’s good. Don’t want those nasty other wannabes to let them reign supreme over you. Other than me of course.”

“Please Freddie, we need your help. She’s dying.”

“I know. Which is why I’ve already brewed up the proper counter curse for her. Give her to me now, her partner is running himself ragged wanting to see her already.” Appearing from the bottom of the boulder was a large snake tail.

Brian picked Serafina up and placed her body down along the snakes coils.  Slowly they wrapped around her until almost her whole body was covered.

“Go now, make sure those nasty witches are dead. I won’t have them interfere any longer.” Then almost as quick as lightning, the snake coils disappeared deep within the forest.  Brian looked towards the forest and prayed.

“By the light of the Valor, please let her be saved.”

“She will be.” A soft, raspy voice spoke to him.  He looked up and saw that Roger was now in back in his human Nokk form. “She has to be. I’ll be dammed if after we ran all the way here just for her to die like this.”

“And you’re sure it’s not because of your feelings for her?”

“It’s not like that and you know it! The first women to not fall for my charm even when so many married women have fallen for me, Serafina she—she’s special.” Roger said. “Now c’mon. You heard the naga, we have to see whether that crazed bitch and her lackies are dead or if they somehow survived the spell.” Brian nodded and soon the two of them took off running downstream.

In a quaint little hut, the snake coils soon lifted Serafina into the hut and they set her down along the floor.

“Serafina. Oh Merlin’s beard she’s—she can’t be…..” John pleaded.

“Not yet John dear, now quiet I need to concentrate on the spell.” Freddie’s voice soon spoke up.  Soon coming down from the ceiling was a man with long pitch black hair, his dark tanned skin glistened amongst the candle light, but what would catch your eyes were the dark green and yellow scales all over his arms, chest, neck and even dotting around his face.

His lower half would be twice as shocking for there wasn’t human legs, no his lower half was pure snake.  Dark green with hidden yellow scales.  He also had deep brown eyes with the traditional snake pupil.

Slowly he lowered himself down before the witch, his snake-like tongue flickering out so he could get a read on her.  She was practically knocking on death’s doorstep.  He soon stood face to face over the young witch. His tongue flicked across her bloodstained lips as he hummed gravely.

“The world still has big plans for you my dear. You and your darling lover.” He then raised his hand and forced her mouth open before hissing out in a language that was unknown to John.  

It sounded pure snake-like and it was terrifying to listen to. It sent a cold shiver up John’s spine. Freddie’s voice turned almost ghostly as he continued to chant out this unknown spell and soon he let out a low, threatening hiss as he opened his mouth wider and wider revealing not only the overbite, but the other rows of snake teeth in his mouth.

At first John thought his love was about to be swallowed alive by this monster, but just before he could grab his wand, a red smoke shot out of his love’s mouth and entered inside Freddie.  The naga was actually swallowing the curse!

John watched with both terror yet fascination as the naga devoured the very curse that had poisoned his love.  Freddie placed his hands beside Serafina’s head as he continued to swallow the curse.  Once the last bit of it was swallowed, Freddie lurched back and with a gasp, Serafina woke up.

“My love?” John asked.

“My heart.” She whispered.  John happily smiled and the two young lovers embraced each other.

“I thought I had lost you.” John whispered in her ear as he stroked his fingers through her hair.

“I thought I was gone too. But you saved me my love.”

“I didn’t do it alone though.” That’s when he turned towards Freddie and once Serafina got a good look at her savior, she jumped back. “It’s alright my love, it’s okay. He won’t hurt us.”

“It’s you.” she whispered in awe.  John looked at Serafina confused.  Freddie hummed with interest at the young witch.

“So you remember me?”

“Remember him? My love what does he mean?”

“All will be explained young John. Just know that you have a special witch by your side.” John leaned his forehead against his love’s and whispered to her.

“I know. I don’t know what I’d do without her.” Their noses gently brushed up against each other’s lovingly.

“Since you recall our first encounter, I’m sure you’ll also remember Serafina that the world needs you. Both of you. Now more than ever.” The young witch and wizard looked at each other perplexed.

“That’s always puzzled me. What do you mean the world needs us?” Serafina asked.  Freddie looked out of his hut and said.

“I have seen the world shift, burn and rebuild itself time and time again. But with what your people are doing, I fear the world may finally burn and not rebuild itself in a peaceful light.”

“We know. That’s why we left. We couldn’t stand along with what they believed in. Now we’re marked for death.” John said grimly as he took his love’s hand in his.  She placed her hand on top of his and the two stared at each other solemnly.

“Which is why I have seen a potential future for all of us. But for that to happen, it needs you two as the star attractions.”

“What do you mean?” asked Serafina.

Thus…….I began to tell them of a future that I had seen.  A world where all creatures and deities large and small alike could be free, equal, and at peace.  But in order for that world to come to pass, we were gonna need one more star.

And that my darlings, is where you come in.

[noblecrumpet-dorkvision]

D&D Worldbuilding: Cities

Planning

There are a few ways to plan out a city for your D&D campaign and they can be as detailed or as specific as you need. Figure out what you need the city for.

Main Hub: If the entire campaign revolves around this city, it’s important to flesh it out with detail so you can answer PCs’ inevitable questions and let them do what they want to do. Create complex relationships between NPCs, factions, economy, religion, and politics for the PCs to unravel each time they return to the city.

Major Location: This won’t be the only city the PCs visit, but they will spend some time here. Flesh out the city with its various districts and some relevant plot hooks and NPCs. Flesh out the city by working from vague to specific as players spend more time there. You don’t want to develop the place too much if the players end up leaving for another location.

Just a Visit: If the PCs are only visiting the area, you only need to plan or map out the relevant parts of the city and create the NPCs they need to encounter or are likely to encounter (like shopkeepers when they go to restock supplies). Plan out a description of the city with a few key landmarks and interesting features that give the city character if they wish to revisit it later.

Passing Remark: The players will likely never reach this city unless they work toward it. Come up with an elevator pitch with a one-sentence description of the city so the campaign world feels larger and maybe you will even entice them to go. What is the city famous for? What is its most prominent landmark? What are its relationships to other cities (trade/politics)? Once you answer these you don’t need to go any further until the PCs say “We want to go there”

Once you know how detailed you need to be, there are two ways to plan a city (two that I use, anyway). I will either create a list of traits to inform how the city looks, or create a map and use it to inform what’s in the city. Often, these methods end up playing with each other and lead to map reworks or second drafts, and that’s okay. Trust me, your first idea is never your best!

Map Draft

Let’s start with making a map because it’s more freeform and easier to explain. The first thing you decide when making a map is what the focus will be. This will often be a power center (like a castle or tower) or an identifying landmark (like a mountain, lake, great tree, giant shard of crystal, anything really). Once you have that, work fast and loose to imagine how the city springs up from there. Create masses of buildings (not individual ones) and create districts. Give the map an interesting and asymmetrical silhouette or shape (unless you’re going for a symmetrical look to emphasize a city’s lawful alignment). As you get more detailed remember that everything should highlight the focal point for your city map. As far as specific areas to fill in, here is a handy list of things to keep in mind.

City Defenses: In a world with giant creatures and cloistered kingdoms, some cities opt for walls, gates, towers, siege weapons, or other such things.

Commerce Center: Where does the majority of trade take place in the city? Are there different areas for this?

Districts: Most cities tend to divide into districts, like residential, commercial, industrial, governmental, religious, or military districts. Try to come up with unique districts that let them differ from districts in other cities.

Entry Points: Where do people enter and leave the city? There is most likely more than one way to do so (for the safety of the city).

Landmarks: Besides the focal point, your city should 100% always have something the players will remember to help them visualize the city. There can be other smaller landmarks, perhaps one in each city district.

Lower Class: If you have a lower class district, they will have smaller, more densely-packed buildings. They may exist both inside and outside the city walls, but tends to spread further from the power center.

Power Center: Whoever leads the city is probably going to have a big building or walled district or point of interest to display their station.

Upper Class: If you have an upper class district, they will have larger buildings, more leisure space, more monuments, and possibly be walled off from the rest of the city. They are more likely to be closer to the power center.

Water source: Many cities needs access to water to keep their huge population alive, so don’t neglect this.

City Features/Traits

Cities have a variety of traits that make them unique from one another. Determine the nature of these traits to help flesh out your city. A flavorful city has positive traits and negative ones; strengths as well as flaws.

Power Center/Government: Who holds the power in your city? Look at various forms of government and don’t limit yourself to just monarchy. Cities can have a democracy, republic, military, theocracy, or perhaps an arcane form of leadership. You can get creative with fantasy elements or add complications to your government to make the city unique: perhaps a strange sentient crown controls the queen, or a ghost of a king maintains control of their monarchy beyond death. Perhaps the oligarchy is a sham and a secretive cult really bends the city to its whims.

Complications don’t always means evil plots, but they can make things difficult when trying to influence the city as a whole. The city’s government isn’t necessarily its center of power. If the city’s senate is in the thieves’ guild’s pocket, the PCs may have to parley with the guild instead of the senate.

Economy: Cities aren’t often self-sufficient. They specialize in certain resources and lack in others, which leads to imports and exports. A mining city might have a booming metals and stone industry, exporting raw ores and gems or even refined ones with jewelry, but might lack in wood or food and need to import it from a neighboring town. These help define the city’s relations to other cities nearby. The city’s economy can also differ within its own gates. Consider the disparity of wealth in your city between the rich and poor.

How does the city spend its wealth? An interesting city will prioritize one aspect over others, or neglect one aspect in favor of others. Here are some things a city can spend its wealth on:

Expansion: The city seeks physical growth by buildings structures to expand its borders or establishing colonies in distant lands. Cities that neglect expansion might not suffer as much but may be content with their position on a global scale.

Infrastructure/Transportation: The city focuses on being as efficient as possible with well-maintained systems and structures in place. A city that neglects infrastructure might find themselves at odds with merchants and nobles who frequent the use of roads and bureaucratic systems, while residents are forced to tolerate the city’s difficulties.

Residences: The city focuses on making its housing maintained and affordable and expanding. The city wants people living inside it rather than commuting to the city. A city that neglects this may have slums or shantytowns and may be over- or underpopulated.

Military/City Defense: The city seeks to defend itself by maintaining its walls and guard towers, ensuring regular and frequent patrols and lookouts. They likely have a standing army that is maintained in case of attack. Perhaps their relationships with other kingdoms are strained. A city that neglects this is either in peacetime or is vulnerable. The streets may be rampant with unchecked crime.

Education/Technology: The city seeks to improve its people and its efficiency. In the case of a fantasy city, this may involve magic and magic items, but could also simply be a city attempting to revolutionize and move beyond other cities with something that improves an existing system. A city that neglects this may have masses that are easier to manipulate and may be stuck in the past.

Food/Health: The city focuses on its people’s wellbeing by ensuring they can get enough food and water to live and enough health care (either through doctors or priests) to persist. A city that neglects this may have very unhappy and unhealthy people. The masses tend to revolt when their society betrays them of these core things.

Extravagance: The city focuses on its appearance or the arts. The city may have a lot of excess wealth to spend on this or might rely on pilgrims and tourists for its economy and presents a gorgeous face to draw them in. Cities often neglect this first unless they are doing well or the rich seek to pacify the poor without giving up their station. Cities that do neglect this are often utilitarian with only a few striking monuments or important structures.

Military: What serves as the city’s military? Try to pick a focus for the city that takes advantage of its position. A coastal city will have a powerful navy to defend its docks and trade routes. A mountainous city may have fantastic archers and catapults to take advantage of their height. A city surrounded by plains will have a good cavalry to make quick maneuvers. A city in a wooded region will have infantry to navigate the terrain better than cavalry, and take advantage of the plentiful cover against arrowfire.

How large is the military? One city might have a daunting and powerful military presence while another might only have a standing militia. It depends on how much conflict the city faces, within and without its walls.

How does the city use its military? Are they actively defending the city? Are they campaigning in foreign lands? Are they attacking another city? Is the military used to keep its rebelling population in line? Consider this, as it will prominently let players know what the city and its leadership will live and die for.

Religion(s): Cities might have multiple religions or just one. Choose which ones feature prominently in the city, if any, and how much city life revolves around those religions. I won’t go into the detail of every deity and religion in the D&D universe, but consider that each has its own specific dogma, style, and portfolio that will influence how its worshipers act. A city that worships a chaotic-evil deity will differ vastly from one that worships a lawful-good one. A city with many deities will be different than both.

Figure out where each religion’s center of power lies in your city, and how much influence they have.

Shops/Taverns: Although they often serve as minor details in the grand scheme of a city, shops and taverns should be interesting and memorable for the players’ experience. Shop owners and innkeepers are an important reflection of the city, demonstrating how the populace views the city in which it lives. Moreover, filling a shop with items to buy and a tavern with quest hooks gives the players easy places to restock and find information when visiting the city. Put interesting characters in there to help characterize the city.

Landmarks: Landmarks define the setting and location and can even serve metaphorical or narrative meaning for the city. They help players visualize the city in their mind and remember it. Landmarks can be manmade or naturally-occurring, as long as it gives players groundwork to know where they are. The bigger and more unusual it is, the more interesting and memorable your city will be. Is there a giant shard of permanently-frozen ice from an ancient white dragon’s attack eons-ago looming as a grim reminder over the city? People tend to remember that sort of thing. Every city should be interesting, but just keep in mind not every city needs to have the same level of intrigue. If you have a main city the plot centers around, then go ham and go weird.

City Story: Cities can have stories just like any character, and when you start treating them like a character, it can have amazing results. Cities have backstories, conflicts, allies, and are filled with unique individuals who all contribute to the city’s traits.

History of the City: Cities aren’t built in a day. What happened to the city in the past to bring it where it is today? Disasters and war are useful historical tools that can be built around. The city recovers from such things but might never be the same. I have a city where a dragon’s attack caused a landslide that revealed an entry to the Underdark, and an entire city district built itself around it years later. History also adds layers to your campaign setting and makes it feel bigger and more unfathomable.

Factions: Cities draw people together, and people tend to group into communities. Those communities often have different goals that can come at odds with one another. This is where factions come in. Decide which factions are the most prominent in your city, establish their goals and ideals, and perhaps find a way to identify them. Figure out how they relate with other factions and what actions they have taken or plan to take to achieve their goals. Players love joining factions and it can give them an important stepping stone into the story of your world. Factions can include guilds, religious organizations, noble families, consortiums, or many such things.

Districts: Separating the city into more digestible portions can help players get to know it better and diversify it by forcing you to come up with unique areas of the city. Of course, don’t limit your city to such divisions. A commercial district can have a residential building, and an upper-class area can have an abandoned building housing squatters. The districts can even just be divisions in name only, much like street names. They may even be more memorable if they bear a unique name rather than simply “Merchant Ward” or “Warehouse District.”

What’s more interesting is creating something visually or culturally different for each district. Perhaps a district of a city named Towerhamme was built by giants from ages past and the colossal buildings have been subdivided by the humans now living there. Another district might consist of predominantly Thri-Kreen who worship Bralm (the goddess of insects and industry) and all speak a different dialect that mixes Thri-Kreen and Common. A district might lie in the dark underneath another district, with pillars as thick as trees holding up the buildings and streets above it, and come to be called the Night-Stone Forest. Not every district needs to be a didactic description of what’s in it.

NPCs: You don’t need to list everyone in the city, but make sure you know who the important people are. Name the people who are in power; those leading the government, religions, and factions. Name those important to your storyline. Think up interesting NPCs for the taverns and shops in your city. And most importantly, keep a list of random names handy so you can come up with them on the spot when PCs talk to people you didn’t prepare for. It may even be helpful to come up with interesting characters complete with backstories that the PCs can meet as allies or enemies. Just be careful with this, because you don’t know which NPCs your characters will become invested in until they do. The random throwaway character might be their favorite person to talk to while the most unique character that you delved into the deep history of was too boring for them. Make characters like crazy, but make backstories when you have to.

Foreign Relations: In terms of a city as a character, these are your city’s “bonds.” How does the city deal with other places? Economics and trading can be a large influence on how a city feels about another city or territory. If they rely a lot on each other they will tend to help each other out. If not, they might be indifferent or even enemies. Members of cities might feel differently than the city as a whole, but the city’s leadership most definitely will take some sort of diplomatic stance against other cities or territories.

A city’s diplomacy can be important to a storyline and add to the tone for the campaign. If two cities dislike each other, players will feel the tension if they travel between them. Friendly cities will be a different experience that carries less tension and more of an exploratory tone as the PCs wonder what awaits them.

City relations can also create opportunities for players to get involved, letting them ignite wars or resolve them can be important if that’s what the PCs want from the campaign.

[wisteriamoons]

Pinky Promise AU

Summary: Kotoha Lives AU! This is called the Pinky Promise AU. In a oneshot I wrote called “Pinky Promise,” Kotoha managed to escape Douma’s cult and live in a Wisteria House with an older woman named Himari. Shinjuro and a group of demon slayers stay one night a month later and Kotoha is given a final push to become a demon slayer and, eventually, a Pillar. You can just refer to this summary or feel free to look up “pinky promise au” tag on my blog(Lowkey scared to link it as ya’know posts with links tend to not show up in tags) 

Also if you are not fully caught up on the manga DO NOT PRESS ON unless you don’t mind spoilers!!

-Kotoha spends five years training in an undetermined breath at first, however, she finds it hard and wants something to fit her own feelings, so she makes her own breath style; Bell Breathing

-Inspired by the one-hundred and eight rings of the nearby Buddist bell on New Years Eve, she decides to make the style. She wants to inspire people like bells do, with a balanced form set and sweet, comforting sounds 

-Kotoha took to the bell motif seriously, even making a bracelet of small suzu bells and wearing it around her dominant wrist. The balls inside that make the bells ring are removable, making stealth missions easier

-Kotoha’s Nichirin Blade is colored a sort of pastel shade of yellow, and has aesthetic-only empty bell shells tied with a red ribbon on the end of the hilt. The guard is bell-shaped, naturally. 

-Her blade forager was in fact Haganezuka, being one of the few people who stuck around even with his more rather… extreme personality. She’s one of his first clients, and they have a fairly close friendship-- she always has mitarashi dango for him when he visits or when she visits. She hasn’t broken her blade thus far

-Her uniform is the usual one but with a under-the-knee-length skirt like Kanao’s. She wears yellow tabi with zori underneath. She has a dark blue haori with yellow/white suzu bell designs all over it. She also wears her hair in a tight bun with a comb kinzashi with purple flowers and blue ribbon--she considers it a good luck charm. She also wears a bird masquerade mask and a cloth to wrap her hair in to cover her identity when on slaying missions, because,

-Kotoha is mainly into undercover and stealth missions due to her flexibility and natural beauty, making her fit in just about anywhere. She wears a kimono and more plain haori when out on such missions. No one suspects such a beautiful and gentle woman! 

-Inosuke loves the sound of bells while growing up ‘cause they remind him heavily of his mother. He starts collecting various bells at the age of seven, keeping them in his room in the Hashibira Estate. Tanjiro finds this sweet while Zenitsu laughs at him for being so rough yet has such a soft hobby. Inosuke might’ve whacked him a couple times because of this

-Kotoha is a mother first, demon slayer second. Never changes, even after she becomes a Pillar

-Speaking of which, it only takes her up to a year to become a Pillar. She kept on insisting to take jobs, so her demon count rose very quickly. She also mastered Total Concentration within weeks with Himari and her mentor’s help

-Her and Inosuke have a very very close familial bond. They tell each other almost everything with no hesitance and do many things together. They might have one argument every few months, but it’s usually over something silly and it’s resolved quickly

-Hell, Kotoha even offered to teach him Bell Breathing but he refused, having already started to develop his own technique (which would be obviously Beast Breathing)

-Kotoha is without a doubt one of if not the first Pillar to trust Nezuko. She trusts her son unwaveringly with every vein in her body, and if he trusts her, then she does too

-Because of her Pillar status, her Estate is close to the Butterfly Estate and she has a close relationship with the Kocho sisters. She cares a lot for them, and mothered them a lot, seeing them also as daughters she never had

-She also has a close relationship with the Rengoku family, Shinjuro being an older brother to her and Ruka like a sister, and Kyojuro and Senjuro being nephews. Though they also saw her a second mother on occasion. Shinjuro helps Kotoha get used to being a Pillar and gave her advice before his wife’s death and subsequent alcoholism. Their relationship becomes strained after this, for obvious reasons

-On a lighter note, this means Inosuke is much closer to Kyojuro and Senjuro, having grown up with them, he sees them as brothers--making Kyojuro’s death a little more harder :)

-Speaking upon Inosuke, Inosuke has his original personality and abilities intact, but with more… class?

-He still likes to be competitive and has a stupidly high temper, but he’s also not constantly headbutting people and has slight more consideration of others. Also doesn’t have his boar head, and wears the normal demon slaying uniform (though has a habit of discarding the upper layer, and usually doesn’t wear a haori unless it’s winter). Still dumb as rocks though

-He also still prefers his swords chipped, but his original swords being chipped was from training too much with normal swords and found that when they’re chipped they cut better to him (plus lets be real he likes how they look) When he deliberately chips his new ones Kotoha does scold him for it for disrespecting his sword and sword maker, though admittedly found it just a tiny bit amusing

-He also adored animals as a child, finding boars especially to be really cool and studied their movements a lot along with other animals, which influenced him in many, many ways

-Inosuke can’t help but perhaps sometimes feel a little inferior compared to his mother. Don’t get me wrong, he loves her with every goddamn breath and won’t hesitate to tell her, but sometimes he feels he can’t match her skill. Kotoha tries to treat him equally but sometimes her constant mothering and protectiveness can be grating

-Kotoha holds a heavy grudge against Douma for basically fucking with her, and it only grows deeper after Kanae’s death. She’s in on Shinobu’s poisoning plan, and while she’s against it she knows she can’t stop Shinobu. Makes Shinobu’s death hard on Kotoha because she knows she should’ve been more assertive, but also knows it was what Shinobu wanted

-Inosuke still has a tight platonic bond with Shinobu, though he sees her more of a sister than a mother for obvious reasons. He also has a soft spot for Kanao, and while she’s older than him he still treats her like a little sister anyway. He was probably the first person she met around her age after being adopted into the Kocho family. Inosuke wasn’t too close to Kanae, but was also saddened and angry after her passing by a demon’s hands

-Inosuke is also on pretty decent terms with the little sister trio (they like to play with his hair, he lets them while he eats usually), though has a sort of tough relationship with Aoi since they both tend to clash heads. A bit of a crumb for you AoIno(?) shippers, but the two are on decently friendly terms, finding each other tolerable enough, they’re just both stubborn

-Kotoha also never tells Inosuke, at least not at first, why they lived in a Wisteria House and why Himari wasn’t his real grandma despite thinking she was. She fears it might bring him trauma or nightmares, big plus she doesn’t want him going after Douma

-It was a slight bit of a hassle for Inosuke to make his mother agree to making him a demon slayer too; she was obviously worried for his safety, but eventually wore down, but made him promise he try to be as careful as possible. This is obviously not followed through for many reasons, but we already know them so I won’t go into too much detail

-Treats pretty much almost everyone younger than her like her children in some way, shape, or form. She’s a heavy mother figure to everyone and wears this with pride (even if she sometimes doesn’t realize it)

-In fact, Zenitsu, Kyojuro, and Mitsuri are big offenders on accidentally calling her mom. It’s less accidental for Kyojuro as he knows he sees her as a mother and has been doing it ever since they met (‘cause children do that, it’s just grown to be a habit at this point, and plus Ruka never minded so it doesn’t bother him) though he’s more likely to call her “Aunt Koto” around others by now

-She’s close to Mitsuri and they sometimes swap feminine advice and cook together, and Mitsuri isn’t as embarrassed by calling her mom now than she was the first time she did. They have a tight bond and Kotoha sees her as the daughter she never had, exchanging secrets as well

-Zenitsu has an unclear past, so I hc that his parents were probably neglectful or died by the time of his debt. So, Kotoha becomes the mother figure he hasn’t had/never had in a long time. He def didn’t realize it at first and became heavily flustered and mortified. Kotoha found it adorable. Inosuke isn’t a big fan of this btw aksjasj but he tolerates it a little more as time goes on

-Zenitsu has had such a big helping of respect women juice because of Kotoha that he is less flirtatious and weird about girls, though his love for Nezuko doesn’t waver in the slightest 

-Tanjiro also sees her as a mother, heavily reminding him of his own mother in fact. He respects her a lot, and even has platonic affection for her, especially after she so quickly accepts Nezuko despite her hate against demons

-She smells like freshly baked bread and flowers, and has a calming presence. She has a sweet sound to her, like suzu bells, as Zenitsu puts it

-Also she teaches Tanjiro how to properly take care of Nezuko’s hair and the like so Nezuko’s hair isn’t always a rat’s nest when they come back to the Estates

-Nezuko, speaking of, like Tamayo sees Kotoha as her own mother. Thus, Nezuko always feels calm around her and lets her wash her clothes and brush her hair

-Sanemi and Genya have subconscious drawings towards her, as the pattern keeps going, they see a lot of their own mom in her. While neither of them have called her mom ‘cause it’s painful to even think about, there’s no doubt they’ve had fleeting thoughts about her being a mom to them

-Muichiro also subconsciously sees her as a mother, with his memories gone he has no qualms about it but he doesn’t let it slip out loud. Likes it when she brushes his hair though. After his memories begin to return he doesn’t regret thinking of her as a mother

-Giyuu doesn’t have many maternal feelings, finding her protective nature to be a bit overwhelming, however he doesn’t hate her. In fact, Kotoha doesn’t hate him at all and loves him a lot. I think maybe he might see his sister in her a little actually

-Uzui has zero maternal feelings towards her as well, in fact he probably flirted with her a little. Nothing huge or meaningful, just harmless, it’s who he is. She never really realized it anyway, seeing him as just being nice, and cared enough but not enough to see him as a son. Saw her techniques as flamboyant, of course, and she was saddened by his departure from the Pillars

-Obanai feels a little… indifferent? Towards her? Like, he doesn’t hate her, but I don’t think he’d quite see her as a mother figure either. He does admire her drive though, and she cares about him enough to make them good partners in combat if need be

-Gyomei doesn’t have maternal feelings towards her either, since they’re extremely close in age, same for Kotoha. But he still does also admire her, tbh I can see them being more like just good friends and confidants. Being the two oldest Pillars they have much in common

-Kotoha and Ubuyashiki have a typical follower/leader relationship, considering he’s much younger than her she doesn’t see him as a father figure, but she does admire him a lot and is extremely loyal to him. She also finds his kids to be adorable and is friendly with his wife (Edit: I realize Kotoha most likely met him when he was 13-14, so yeah, def doesn’t see him as a father figure or anything. Probably thought he was adorable too aksjaksj)

-You want to face off both mother and son? Don’t.

-Seriously, don’t. 

-You’ll regret it.

-See, they’re both ferociously protective of each other, and bounce off each other so well it’s fuckin bonkers! They go hand-in-hand, easily matching their breaths and everything. They’re like a machine together in battle. When they’re on their own they do well but when they’re together they do exceptionally. It’s both amazing and downright terrifying

-Need advice? Need a shoulder to cry on? Kotoha has your back

-Also, at least once a month all Pillars and any visiting demon slayers are invited to a feast at Kotoha’s, cooked by the woman herself and occasionally with the help of Mitsuri and Shinobu. The Ubuyashiki’s are always invited, but they never really make it. It’s still one night without any worry, just bonding time and fun, and that’s what matters

-Mother and son constantly write each other letters when apart, no matter how many miles are in between them, and give them to their crow to deliver. If one party doesn’t reply after the given time, the other is instantly going to look for them no matter what

-Also, I hc that Inosuke has ADHD and social anxiety. Kotoha is very patient with him and helps him through the daily struggles they bring, and he’s so grateful for this. 

-While I don’t have any ships in mind for this au (except perhaps KanTan and ZenNezu, maybe AoIno if you squint), if anyone wants to take this au and mold it to their own ship (within reason--if I find you use this au to ship pedo/incest I will find you) I give you full permission. However, if you find yourself shipping Kotoha with anyone, I would like to note that she has a few walls put up due to the abuse she suffered, and it isn’t too easy for her to fall in love

Bell Breathing and it’s Techniques/Forms

-Bell Breathing involves a lot of speed, along with agility and grace. Kotoha became more flexible and obviously more quicker, along with some muscle. It involves many parries, quick strikes and counters.

-Kotoha developed this with her newly gained strength and her natural swiftness in mind, along with her warm personality

-There are currently six forms, three mainly defense and three offense. 

-First Form: Voided Ringing- The user steps out of range of an attack before replacing it with their sword, slashing in an upwards motion at whatever the enemy was about to attack with

-Second Form: Suzu Dance- The user advances on their opponent slashing their blade in swift, shallow motions, aiming mainly for the arms 

-Third Form: Crotal Advance- The user blocks their entire body with their blade, using all their strength, and then they twist the blade to slash whatever is attacking them

-Fourth Form: Chiming Deflection- The user deflects attacks in a circular motion with quick succession

-Fifth Form: Quiet Ringing in Winter- Much like Blessed Rain after the Drought, this move is used when an enemy surrenders, making it a swift and painless death, making a soft sound like jingle bells during Christmas--or, rather, like suzu bells during a Kagura dance

-Sixth Form: The Death Bell Tolls- The user goes as fast as possible, quite like they’re dancing around their opponent and then strike from the air, going straight for the neck in one swift round motion, making a sound like the ringing of a bell 

Extra: I made Bell Breathing without one breath in mind as I researched different sword techniques and looked at all the breathing styles, and while I’ve been leaning towards Wind, Thunder/Sound or Water, but if anyone has an idea I’m open to hearing it

[conflictedcompromise]

Meet Leanto, the harmless cult leader

I live like a king. My castle is a modest house and my kingdom a square of land not much larger than the house. I chuckle in spite of myself at the thought of the blades of grass representing my loyal subjects. I let my mind wander further as the calm of my sketching washes over me. My hand curves and drags the charcoal against the textured paper; the first step in materializing what currently exists only in my mind. The subjects are what they are, but the kingdom is mine and mine alone. 

The one fallacy in my kingly imaginings is in the nature of the word. Kings are fallible. Human. Weak. By no means do I seek to grasp the false power a king possesses. Power resides not within the confines of mortal bodies. It flows much deeper than that. It has always been laughable to me that a person with fragile skin and bones could be so arrogant as to call himself King. 

I run my charcoal-stained hand through my hanging hair and squint at the drawing. It’s not my best work, but it is getting better. I add it to the pile of drawings just like it. Plans for my group, the Concordian Society, that will stand tall one day to appease our Gods. The pounding of hooves sends a jolt through my body and interrupts my thoughts. Wonderful. The Big Hill Brigade must be here to dutifully deliver another royal announcement. As I slide my charcoal back into its bag I can’t help but wonder what the ever so exciting news could be. Perhaps the young princes aced their exams. Or maybe the princess wants to alert everyone of the color of her new dress. I chide myself to be less cynical. I guess some days are more challenging than others. 

I push my feet into my torn slippers and trudge outside. I squint at the morning light that wriggles its way past my eyelids. A small group has gathered, as it is law to be present upon the arrival of castle guards. Yet another amusing thought. Who’s to say I’m not home when the guardsmen come through? Would they hold the town in anticipation while they peek through the windows of every home? 

“Gather close, for this is important news to share.” The uppity man’s voice boomed. I eye his horse and the way it looks like this is the absolute last place it wants to be. 

“It is with a heavy heart that we must announce the closing of the castle walls.” The second guard said. His statement sparked a light murmur among us, although it isn’t like this is exactly new information. The Wardviel’s hardly show their faces in Yolksford, let alone in a grimey town like mine. The only time any of them interact with the common folk is when a handful of us are so graciously picked to feast at the palace for Visitation. I look on, anticipating what exactly makes this news so heavy-hearted. 

“The palace asks that you take care to find this fugitive,” the first man continues, holding up a wanted poster. Through the sea of heads, I could not make out the face. Yet shocked faces before me keep my interest piqued. The murmurs escalate to conversations I perk my ears up for. 

One man shouts at the guards, “Hey, why don’t you tell us what’s going on?” The question gets no response. The guards continue dispersing posters for those of us standing in the back. One of the men’s horses trots my way and the guardsman leans down to give me a copy of the drawing. 

I can’t help but smile at the incredible turn of events today. Below the large letters forming “WANTED” was the name Culpa Wardviel. The fucking princess. The future queen-to-be. I grasp the paper and run back inside my house. Allowing my eyes to wander to the reward, I catch my breath in my throat. 24,000 gold. It was more than I had ever seen in my life. Let’s face it; more than I will ever see. 

Seeing as the commotion is over, I excuse myself to my home. My pulse is rushing. I scramble to find a nail and my hammer. I don’t have time for this. I sweep my drawings off the table, not really caring about the clunk as my pencils hit the ground. I have more important matters at hand. I turn and grip the thick rope, urging my weak arms to pull. I run outside to make sure I raised the right flag. I always mistake the red flag’s rope for the blue one. I should probably paint the rope, that would be a good way to solve it. No time for that now though. Squinting into the sun, I see the little old reliable red flag, alerting my allies of this momentous moment. 

I’ve only raised it twice before. The first was when I thought I saw a spirit guiding me toward them, asking for help in returning their soul to the waking world. Once my allies arrived, we investigated with a lantern and realized the spirit was no more than a linen caught on a branch. I didn’t live that one down for months. The second flag raise is not a memory I often return to. 

Before I am able to make it back through the door, I hear a familiar voice. 

“Leanto! Leanto, do the stars above spell our names?”

I chuckle at my best and oldest friend, Gregory (probably not his name but it doesn’t really matter) He, being the more charismatic and excitable of us, jumps in the air and spins toward a woman walking with her daughter. He grabbed the young girl’s hand and gave her a brief twirl. I cackle as the woman rips her daughter away from Gregory and knocks him on the head with her bundle of flowers. 

“Gregory Aburta! Your mother taught you better than to be so cheerful on this day of sorrow!” “My apologies, madame,” Greg feigns sweeping an imaginary longcoat behind him and leans toward the woman’s hand in a grand gesture of a kiss. She blushes and steps away with a pep in her toes. Gregory, standing half a head above me in height, and sporting bright blue eyes has always given him a certain confidence about interacting with women. 

I hiss Greg’s name and call him over. There are more important matters to get to this morning. Standing in my kitchen doubling as a meeting room, I pull the newfound treasure of a wanted poster from my trousers and slowly unfold it toward Gregory. We stare at each other. Our mouths can no longer hold in the smiles we’ve contained. The two of us, grown men I might add, scream in joy and our bodies float around my home. My ceiling is a bit too low for Greg’s height, so his jumping is more muted than he’d like. 

“Greg stop, they’re arriving.” I pull him back into reality and straighten my stained shirt and belt. 

Gregory stands watch at the front door with a solemn look replacing his wide grin. I take my place standing at the wood column across from the kitchen table. Tucking my arms behind my back, I wait for the visitors to enter. As a stream of young men make their way through the doorway, I nod at each of them. After a few moments, five stand at my table. Greg takes the last spot, and extends his arms toward me.

“Our valiant leader, Leanto of the Western Sea!” Gregory’s hands move to form our group’s symbol; the left hand facing his own face, and the other facing mine, with the two meeting at the fingertips. The rest of the men follow suit. 

I clear my throat. “Fellow Concordians, we gather here today to discuss an important development.” My statement is met with a few grunts and eager nods. “As we all know, the palace bestowed a very interesting bit of information on us this morning.” 

Gregory slammed the wanted poster onto the tabletop. 

“Do we know what became of the queen?” A man named Samuel spoke up. 

“I heard the princes and princess all killed her.” Piped Mikael. “No, you muddle-brain. It was the cook. She poisoned the Queen’s meal.” Said Chester.

“We here have no room in our minds for such trivial matters,” I definitively chided. “What is important is that we find the traitor princess. We will return her to her blasphemous parents, and become richer than any of us could dream.” I signal for Gregory to take his turn. 

“Finding the princess will not only fund an official Concordian building to call our own. It will also get our name on the map. Endorsement and thanks from the false King will give us the opportunity to find more members.” Greg says, scanning the room for approval. 

“Then, we will truly begin our journey to defeat the fuckers in the name of our Gods.” I feel my blood boil from anticipation.

Gregory stands and throws his fists in the air. “Down with the false gods!”

The men all stand and join in, chanting. I look around the table and meet the eyes of each of my members. One of them is a farmhand. Another, an apprentice for a teacher. We do not look like much. None of us have been blessed by the spirits with the powers of Life nor Death. Yet we all speak the truth in the name of true harmony. Of peace for all the land. The royal family is the only hurdle standing in our way. So I have no choice but to pave the road myself. I raise my fist among my men. Down with the false gods.

[peterparkers7evilexes]

I’m getting older too [winterspider cult AU - T]

Chapter warnings: guns, descriptions of physical violence and blood, descriptions of cult-like gaslighting

[Part 1]

Group therapy was hell.

All it had taken was one crazed man grasping for straws, and before long everyone knew Bucky’s life. ‘Negligent, selfish, violent’, they chanted. ‘Abandoned your sister, lost your way, purposeless and useless’. It wasn’t a unique treatment. Everyone got ‘broken down’ like this, everyone was debased and humiliated in front of the whole room. It was supposed to be part of the healing process, Emrys insisted. Only by breaking one down to his core vulnerabilities could he be rebuilt. “Today,” he said, cupping Bucky’s face in his withered old hands, “is the first day of the rest of your life.”

Gazing up at Emrys through blurred tears, Bucky ground his teeth hatefully and wished him death. It was hard to not let their words get to him, and there was only so much violent brainwashing he could withstand.

Having Sam and Peter around helped - to a degree. Peter had been able to pull some strings and get Bucky moved to their cabin, and just having a safe place away from the pervasive cult mentality was a relief. But the group therapy sessions didn't seem to hit the other two nearly as hard.

"Just let it roll off you man," Sam said, not unkindly. "Water off a duck's back."

"They don't actually know you," Peter added. "Nothing they spout in there is true. You're stronger than them, Bucky."

And yet, Bucky only felt weak and broken after group therapy. Rebecca had always been the stronger of the two of them and he felt certain that his little sister, all four feet nine inches of her, would have laughed in everyone’s faces and let their words bounce off her like so much wasted breath.

On one night after a particularly rough group therapy session, Bucky had laid sullen in his bunk, useless tears slipping down his cheeks as he thought of Rebecca and how badly he’d failed her.

He wasn’t expecting it then, when a soft voice broke the silence. “We’ll get out of here.”

“What?” he said, hating how his voice came out a little nasally, betraying his weakness.

“This isn’t forever.” Peter’s head popped down from the bunk above, his brown hair flopping messily around his face as he gazed at Bucky upside-down. “This place is designed to break you. But we’re gonna get out of here.”

“I know,” Bucky said automatically, wiping the wetness from his eyes and sitting up in bed.

Peter stared at him for a long moment, cocking his head to one side. He nodded to himself and, with a little ‘oof!’, swung down from the top bunk and fell gracelessly into Bucky’s lap, long legs smacking him in the face. “Scoot,” he whispered, thankfully blind to the way Bucky was suddenly flushed bright red at their positions.

Bucky pressed himself against the wall, staring quizzically as Peter laid down next to him, his body a line of warmth against his side.

“Hi,” Peter said, tucking his toes under Bucky’s calves and giggling when the older boy tried to squirm away. “What’re you gonna do when we get out of here?” He asked conversationally, keeping his voice down as to not disturb Sam who was snoring gently in the other bunk.

“Oh, I dunno.” Bucky murmured, throwing half of the blanket over Peter’s legs. When Peter just nudged his shoulder patiently, Bucky sighed. “I’m gonna find my sister. I’m getting her out of the foster home and we’re gonna take care of ourselves.”

“That sounds nice.” Peter curled into a little ball on his side, dark eyes blinking at Bucky. “You’re a good brother.”

Bucky shrugged, staring at the underside of the top bunk. He didn’t feel like he was. “How about you? Did you ever live… not here?”

Peter nodded, his fingers tracing an unidentifiable pattern on the sheets between them. “With my aunt and uncle. They were good people, took me in after Dad split. But they died a few years ago, so I got sent here to live with him anyways.”

“You don’t seem anything like him,” Bucky mused. “You’re not… not as--”

“Evil? Maniacal? Power-drunk?”

Bucky laughed. “Yeah. All of those things.” He turned to look at Peter, his heart rabbiting in his chest at the way the kid stared at him, curious and unguarded. “What about you?” he croaked. “Where are you going?”

“Dunno,” Peter said, tearing his eyes away from Bucky. “Always wanted to go to school, but… That’s probably not realistic. Not for awhile, anyways.”

“You never know,” Bucky murmured, pushing down the fear of uncertainty rising up his chest. “You’re smart, Queens. You could figure something out.”

Peter gave him a tentative smile, nodding and burrowing into the blankets. “Yeah,” he said softly. “I’ll figure it out.”

“Hey, Brooklyn.”

Bucky looked up from the potato he was scrubbing. Peter was leaned up against the steel worktable in the commune kitchen, grinning at him and holding up a peeler.

“What’re you doing here?” He didn’t see much of Peter around the farm during the daytime - while he and Sam were relegated to the kitchens or the garden, Peter was usually put to work in the infirmary or helping out with the weekly task scheduling.

Peter bumped his hip, grabbing the thoroughly scrubbed potato from his hand. “Got done with stuff. What, can't I just wanna see your pretty face?”

Bucky grinned, glad for the company. “You're a terrible liar, Parker.” He dumped another basket of potatoes into the sink, setting to work scrubbing that batch too. Looking around the kitchen to be sure everyone else was heads down on their own tasks, Bucky said in a low voice, “Everything set?”

“Yeah.” Peter smiled sincerely at him, managing to look completely charming while elbow-deep in potato peels. “Got you on the schedule as a delivery hand tomorrow, and Sam for later today. Once you’re in the rotation, the Guard will be more relaxed about letting you guys out on runs.”

Security had gotten considerably tighter after the first riot. Emrys formed a militia called the Community Guard and equipped them with rubber bullets and police grade batons, and of course every violent cult member with aggression issues had immediately signed up to enlist in the Guard.

Within a week of the Guard’s formation, six more teenagers were sent to the infirmary with severe concussions and there was no more whisper of escape attempts. At least, not outside of their cabin.

It felt like a slice of normalcy, sitting on Peter’s bed while the three of them talked through their plans and what they'd do afterwards - laughing and talking quietly amongst themselves, like they were normal kids instead of planning a secret escape from an isolated cult. Bucky didn't know what would become of their friendships once they got out. Sam had parents he wanted to return to, and Bucky had Rebecca. He thought about asking Peter to stick with him - at least until he figured something more permanent out. But whenever Bucky thought to mention it, his tongue sat heavy in his mouth and he couldn't quite summon the words. He'd wait until they actually managed to escape, he told himself. Get out of this hellhole first, then they'd figure out where to go.

Their plan moved forward into action. With Peter pulling the strings behind the work schedule, Bucky and Sam became regulars on the delivery rotation.

It was dull work mostly - perched in the back of a pickup truck with another farmhand, Bucky was responsible for hauling produce to the various farmers’ markets and isolated towns far flung from the rest of civilization. The buyers never looked at Bucky, didn’t even really like interacting with the drivers, it seemed. They’d fork over a wad of cash and take the bags of produce without so much as a ‘thank you’, all adhering to some unspoken rule not to engage with anyone from the compound more than was absolutely necessary.

On one occasion, the farmhand Bucky was working with - another kid who’d been discarded from the juvenile center - dared to ask a woman at the market to use her phone. She had looked nervously between the boy and the pickup driver, and made up some excuse about not having her phone on her. (Bucky didn’t miss the faint rectangular outline in her apron pocket.)

When they got back to the compound, the driver grabbed the kid and marched him in the direction of Emrys’ quarters, and when Bucky reported on what he’d seen, Peter confirmed grimly that he’d been asked to pull the kid’s name from any future delivery rotations.

Sam and Bucky kept their heads down, did as they were told while out on delivery, and they pretended to swallow Emrys' lies. It was all to get back to Rebecca, Bucky told himself firmly. It wasn't forever.

Their opportunity finally came a week later. "Schedule's set," Peter said breathlessly, bursting into the cabin after the nightly sermon, his face pink from running across the compound. "You two are out on delivery with Joe tomorrow, but I'm gonna take care of him during breakfast."

Sam sprung up from his bunk in excitement and ran at Peter, hugging him and twirling him around in a celebratory circle. "Thank God!” He bellowed, and Peter batted at his shoulders, laughing even as he shushed him.

“We’re getting out,” Bucky said in amazement, sitting stunned at the edge of his bunk. “This time tomorrow, we’re gonna be out of here.”

Once Sam let him down, Peter crouched down on the cabin floor and pulled a folded sheet of paper from his back pocket. “Okay, it’s not the prettiest,” he said, flattening the sheet, “but this is a general map of where we oughta go tomorrow. The first market stop is here,” he pointed to a dot on the traced map. “And the closest town is fifty miles south of that, Clear Creek. All we gotta do is make it to Clear Creek, then they can’t touch us if we’re in someone else’s jurisdiction.”

“How do we know Clear Creek’s law enforcement won’t just turn us back over?” Sam asked, looking down at the sketch.

“We don’t,” Peter admitted, looking up at them. “So we try not to get caught and keep going if we can. Think of Clear Creek as our waypoint marker.”

“Sounds risky,” Bucky said, meeting Peter’s eyes. “Let’s try not to get caught then.”

Peter grinned. “That’s the plan.”

The following morning, Bucky was thrumming with nerves and anxiety. He made his way to the dining hall through a light misty rain, keeping his head down low and flicking his eyes from side-to-side, terrified that any moment, a Community Guard would pull him aside, their plan discovered.

The morning sermon went on without incident though - as he filed through the breakfast line, Peter gave him a little smile before slopping some oatmeal on his tray, but that was the only acknowledgment they made to one another.

Rain was still falling light and dewey across the compound, shallow mud puddles squelching underneath his boots as he made his way to the car port. He caught sight of Sam already hauling burlap sacks of carrots, sweet potatoes and onions into the bed of a dirty white pick-up and began helping out, neither daring to speak to the other just yet.

Peter ducked out of the car port a moment later, shielding his face from the rain. “You boys ready?”

Bucky bit back a nervous laugh and nodded. Sam jumped up into the bed of the truck and perched himself among the burlap sacks of produce, extending a hand down to help Bucky up as well. Catching his eye, Sam gave him an anxious grin and squeezed his hand reassuringly.

“Let’s go,” he called, knocking the top of the cab.

Peter got up into the truck cab and turned the ignition over, looking up into the rearview mirror. His eyes locked with Bucky's in the mirror, and then they drove off.

Mud splattered thick and viscous all around them as Peter drove through the compound, caking the wheels and leaving deep wet tracks in the earth behind them. The rain drizzled on, flattening Bucky's hair against his face and he had to squint to see more than a few feet in front of the truck, so his fingers tightened around the edge of the truck bed when he felt them rolling to a stuttered stop.

"Hold up," called a voice, and Bucky felt his stomach plummet as a Community Guard strolled up to the cab, rapping his rubber baton against the hood.

Peter leaned across and cranked the window down, smiling at the guard. "Hey!" he greeted him cheerfully, fingers wrapped tense around the steering wheel.

"I didn't think you were cleared for driving," the guard said in a gruff voice, squinting back to where Bucky and Sam sat in the pickup bed.

"Yeah, just got trained," Peter said.

"Is that so?" The guard's eyes lingered on Bucky, then on Sam, taking in their stiff posture and nervous silence.

"We got a couple deliveries to make, can we go?" Peter asked, an edge of impatience creeping into his voice.

"Hold on." Bucky watched with mounting dread as the guard's hand strayed down to the gun at his belt, a clear threat. "I don't want you driving out in this weather if you're new at this. I'm gonna check the schedule, see if someone can switch shifts."

Sam and Bucky exchanged a panicked look. "We already asked," Sam shouted quickly. "Clint was gonna, but he said he wasn't feelin' too good. Something about stomach cramps.” When the guard gave him another dubious look, Sam said, “Look, we're already gonna run late with the rain, but if we slow down anymore, half these people won't even buy this stuff. You know how they hardly trust us," he added ruefully, with a commiserating shake of his head.

The guard gave an annoyed sigh, but his hand lowered from the gun at his belt. “I still don’t like you driving out in the rain,” he scowled. “Let me drive ‘em, your dad’ll kill me if I let you get into a wreck.”

For a hair of a second, Bucky saw Peter’s eyes flick up to the rearview mirror again and meet his, terror communicated between them wordlessly. “Please Rollins, c'mon," he pleaded, pasting on a charming smile. "If I never drive in these conditions, how'm I supposed to learn?" When the guard's forehead furrowed in doubt again, Peter leaned forward, throwing out their last hail Mary. "Come along for the ride. Just let me practice," he wheedled.

Rollins chewed at his lower lip thoughtfully, then sighed, his shoulders slumped in defeat. It worked. "Yeah, okay," he relented. "Budge over."

Peter gave him a winning grin and threw the car door open, letting him in.

The door slammed shut behind them and Rollins cranked the window back up, leaving Bucky and Sam to stare at one another in quiet dismay as the rain fell around them.

Slowly, the pickup drove on away from the compound, the fields and shacks of the isolated community fading into the gray afternoon mist as they went on with their escape, complications and all.

"What are we gonna do?" Sam murmured in a low voice, his fingers clenched tense around his knees.

"We gotta get rid of him along the way. Maybe… Maybe make some emergency, so he has to get out of the cab." Bucky dug around the truck bed, looking for some kind of tool. "Fuck, should've brought a shovel or something," he mourned.

"We could use a big carrot," Sam said drily.

"Come on, Sam," Bucky said fretfully, but as he looked around the truck, wielding produce seemed more and more like their only option. "Fuck," he said again.

All too quickly, they made it into their first stop, a small market far flung from the compound and still well beyond any incorporated town to speak of.

Sam and Bucky got to work hauling bags of produce off the truck, unable to speak with Peter with the guard sitting idly in the truck cab. It was as Bucky was summing up the price that he saw Sam fiddling with one of the vendors' wooden stalls. Sam was leaned casually against the post like he was just sheltering himself from the rain, but Bucky caught his fingers twisting something under the wooden slats of the stall.

His heart pounding in his chest, Bucky stuttered over the numbers, losing count. "Shit, sorry," he mumbled, scrubbing his face and smiling apologetically at the vendor. "Never was good at numbers."

The vendor made a derisive sound under her breath but just tapped her foot impatiently while she waited for Bucky to count again.

He summed the prices up, watching Sam out of the corner of his eye. Sam tucked his hands into his pockets and headed back to the truck, stooping to retie his boots. Only when he had hopped back up into the truck bed did Bucky give her the total, holding back his sigh of relief.

The vendor scanned over the numbers doubtfully, but finding no flaw, sneered and handed over the cash.

Bucky smiled and thanked her, and jogged back to the truck, joining Sam among the sacks of produce.

“What took you so long?” Rollins asked in an annoyed growl, jerking the passenger side door open just enough to take the wad of cash out of Bucky’s hand.

“Bad at math,” Bucky shrugged.

“Fucking delinquents,” Rollins muttered scathingly, slamming the door again as the truck rumbled on.

“Thanks, man,” Sam said quietly.

As Peter drove them on, Bucky tilted his head to the side, hearing an odd metallic clanking like something was rattling underneath the truck. “What did you do?” he asked.

Sam grinned, uncurling his fingers and showing Bucky a long, rusted screw. “Messed with the exhaust pipe,” he murmured. “Mostly harmless, but it’ll sound like something bad is fucked up - hopefully fucked up enough that Rollins gets out to check.”

Bucky grinned at him.

Sure enough, Rollins started shifting in the cab, looking around in annoyance and at points, leaning over the dash to check what he could see.

Not wanting them to get too close to the second stop, Bucky rapped on the back window of the cab. “Hey!” he called, and the truck rolled to a slow stop, tires squelching in the mud.

The rain was falling harder now, a consistent downpour that soaked Bucky and Sam to their bones, although the adrenaline pumping through him kept the cold at bay. Rollins reluctantly opened the cab door and got out, hunching himself under his jacket. “You guys hear that rattling too?”

“Yeah,” Sam said, wiping the rain from his face. “It sounded like it’s comin’ from underneath the truck, I think.”

Rollins scoffed, looking disgruntled as he circled the vehicle. “Yeah, that’s where all the car parts are, genius. ‘Course it’s coming from underneath the truck.”

“I know something about cars,” Bucky volunteered, hopping out of the bed. Rollins raised an eyebrow but stepped back to make room for him. “Probably something with the, uh, serpentine belt,” he fished, wincing when Sam gave him an unimpressed look. Thankfully, Rollins didn’t call him on his bluff.

Feeling a little emboldened, Bucky crouched by the side of the truck, his eyes flicking up to where Peter was sitting in the cab, brown eyes blinking curiously at him. “Here, I’m gonna try tightening the muffler valve. Can you get close to the exhaust pipe -- yeah, just kinda next to it, and can you tell me if you hear something hissing?”

Rollins grimaced, clearly not relishing the thought of taking orders from the new kid, but he went to the back of the truck, stooping just a bit.

Bucky seized his opportunity. Jumping up to his feet, he kicked at the wet earth, spraying thick mud into Rollins’ face and making him roar.

Sam hefted up a sack of carrots and flung it at Rollins, knocking the man off balance and flat into the mud. “Go, go, go!” he roared, just as Bucky grabbed onto the passenger side door, barely hauling himself into the cab in time as Peter slammed on the gas pedal.

“Fuck!” Peter cried, but he was laughing hysterically as they peeled away, tires spitting up mud in their wake.

“Tighten the muffler valve!” he could hear Sam howling, his own laughter bubbling out of his throat in amazement.

As he watched Rollins stumble to his feet in the rear mirrors, he swore as he realized Rollins was pulling his gun from his holster. A loud crack rent the air and Bucky ducked his head instinctively. “He’s fucking shooting at us,” he shouted indignantly.

“Don’t worry,” Peter called back, “they’re rubber bullets! Shit, I dunno where we’re going, can you get my map--”

Another crack sounded, this one louder than the last. Bucky’s ears were ringing, and he realized with almost slow-motion comprehension that glass was sprayed all across the truck cab, shards of it discarded across the peeled leather seats.

He hauled himself upright, staring as Peter’s eyes found his, wide and frightened. “You’re okay,” he said instinctively, wanting to comfort the other boy, and then the truck veered to the side, too fast for country roads and Peter slumped bonelessly into his lap.

Bucky’s hands went to cradle his head, adrenaline dragging time to a crawl. “Hey,” he started, his fingers slick and wet in Peter’s hair. He didn’t understand - Peter hadn’t gone in the rain, why was he wet - and as he pulled his fingers away, he stared uncomprehendingly at the thick red rivulets running down his palm.

“Bucky!” Sam roared behind him. “Drive!”

“Oh god,” he heard himself say, and when another crack sounded through the air, Bucky snapped back to himself. He cradled Peter’s head as best as he could and slid into the driver’s seat, his body twisted awkwardly as he rammed down on the gas pedal while trying to keep Peter in his lap.

Another two gunshots rang out, one embedding itself in the metal of the truck, but Sam kept screaming, “Drive, don’t stop driving!” so he curled his arms tighter around Peter’s fragile body and kept on the gas, numb and trembling until his vision was blurred with the pouring rain.

[gigis-ff-blog]

last time here we go

so you all probably expected this by now. but I’m not uploading this fic series anymore. I just cant find the motivation and with the amount I was planning to write its just became intimidating. I’m also going into my junior year(11th year) of high school, and that’s already stressful. and I’m really disappointed in myself that I never finished even the first book. but if you guys wouldn’t mind I would love to share my ideas and concepts that were supposed to be present. I might work on them in the future though.

CHARACTER DIFFERENCES

so unlike the anime, Dedede and Escargoon were supposed to act as good guys. Dedede was supposed to turn evil after being manipulated by Nightmare, who was so afraid by Kirby that he absorbed to much power than he could handle, became corrupted, and corrupted a king just to get rid of them. NME was supposed to be like a friendly group and were just supposed to be people that others could hire and pay for goods and services. Adaline would have been the salesman’s adopted daughter also. 

Characters like Marx, Dark Matter Swordsman, Dark Meta knight, and other villains would have had redeeming arcs as subplots. Susie was also supposed to have a more compassionate personality, albeit still snarky and all about herself. Necrodeus and Nebula were also supposed to be the co rulers of the underworld at a certain point. Axe knight was supposed to be related to them.

The Galaxia would have also had a spirit form, kind of like FI from Zelda, but more tired and motherly. This would have been the same for the mirror Galaxia as well. Sirica and Joe would have appeared as siblings under Meta’s care. Meta would have also had very cheap disguises (like an old fisherman’s disguise.)

Void would have also been reborn as a baby orb.

PLOT DIFFERENCES

The plot of Meta Knight Returns would have taken place just before that of Amazing Mirror. Where Meta knight would have left for the amazing mirror in hopes of regaining his lost family.However he would have been foiled by Dark Meta Knight and would have been trapped in the mirror world. Dark would have stolen the Galaxia and went to the Halberd to try and take over dreamland. The Galaxia would have been stored in a secret place in the Halberd as Dark wouldn’t be able to wield it. Eventually, the crew and Kirby would find this out and collaborate in taking him and the ship down.

Canvas curse and Rainbow curse would have had Adaline and Bandanna team up with Kirby. the stories would also lead in to Adaline’s past and character development.

A subplot between Morpho Knight and Meta knight would happen within the events of Mass attack. This would lead to character reveals like Aqua Knight being revealed. The Galaxia wielders would have had a big role in this story and it would have been the first time Galacta was seen.

The backstory of Sectonia and Dark Meta would have been explained. Dark would have taught Sectonia how to wield a sword and would have befriended her. Sectonia would have accidentally found a corrupt power within the Mirror that would have changed her to the evil queen bee she was.

Susie, Kirby, and Galacta knight were supposed to be part of a subplot in the Planet Robobot story, which would set up her and Kirby’s backstory which would take place in another dimension. In this, Kirby was supposed to be made of the same matter Void was made of, Except Susie would care for Kirby and tell them stories about her Dad and how she was always told that she was amazing. A cataclysm that would lead to a big crack in Galacta’s seal would have caused them to try and escape as Susie knew about how dangerous Galacta was. They would have eventually escaped on a ship Susie made, eccept she would have been hit off of the ship and found by The Haltman Company. 

Another subplot I Robobot would be how the halberd crew and the clones were both trying to work together and free Meta and take back the Halberd from Haltman. Eventually, Susie would join in becoming disgusted by how corrupt her father and the company were becoming.

Team Kirby clash deluxe would have been in a parallel dream universe visited by Susie

Kirby Star allies would have had each group of Dream friends given their own story in the narrative, eventually leading to a big climactic meetup at the end. Flamberge would have teamed up with Morpho and a fight would break out with the three sisters after Fransisca was hurt about “Why are we even in this cult? For Him. He took our hearts and hurt Fran. He’s not the same.”

The ancients, the GSA, the four heroes, Void and Galacta knight, and Morpho knight would have all had a big story of their own describing a war against Matter, and a gigantic calamity. There would have also been mentions of a war with Floralia and the Underworld. Meta would have been a child and one of the four heroes in the war against matter and an adult during the calamity.The calamity is what would have actually been the death of Garlude and Joes father. The war against matter would have involved the GSA and Nightmare on the same side. Morpho knight would have been related to Meta in some way before their demise. Galacta was also going to become corrupt with to much matter, causing a calamity that would combine all forces against one big death orb. Galacta, Kirby, and Void would have all shared the same person. This section of the story would reveal this. A prophecy involving Kirby’s adventures would have also been mentioned.

An ending was supposed to be written involving Galacta knight and the crumbling of the universe. This would be when they had broken free and started wreaking havoc. This would have painted an apocalyptic dreamland. Galacta would have killed off characters one by one GOT(I don’t watch or like this show) style with epic fights. They would have also consumed Kirby and Voids matters, including their souls. Galacta would have ripped holes in time and space and ruined everything till there was nothing left. Void and Kirby would have fused inside Galacta’s conscience and fought them there, Galacta’s soul would have been fought with Kirby and Voids combined soul. Eventually, all of them would become one and reverse time using the time ability and restore things to the second before the apocalypse started. From then everyone would live normal lives. Susie would also create a machine that would have brought back morpho knight from the dead to they could live a new and better life. 

Kirby café. It would have been a thing.

SAILOR DEE

Sailor dee was supposed to act as a main supporting character and secret Meta Knights spy, who would end up helping Kirby, despite being afraid of them in the beginning due to the GSA records Meta knight gave them.  Sailor’s backstory was supposed to reveal that they left their home and sailed away because they felt as if they were not wanted and forgettable once Bandanna started becoming closer to the kings court after his megaton punch world record break. this would lead to Sailor finding the Meta Knights. Sailor was supposed to get a more major character arc, becoming a more strong and confident person. Eventually Sailor would become the force that leads the Meta Knights when Meta is MIA. Sailor would have also been a Galaxia wielder. 

A feud during Amazing mirror would have led Sailor to go off and try to save the world themself, without Galaxia and the knights, who Sailor feels abandoned them. Sailor would get into a fight with Dark Meta, a fight where Silver Galaxia would create a blast that tried to save Sailor, but knocked them into another dimension with Marx, Dark Matter Swordsman, Nightmare, and Morpho. Together they would all work to make it out. They would all master different abilities. this plot would lead to the Morpho knight subplot in the Mass Attack story. Sailor would become Aqua Knight in the end.

ADALINE

Adaline’s backstory would begin as a lone magical waddle dee artist would travel to Shiver Star to test his artistic ability and reanimate the lost and forgotten life forms using soul matter paint. Adaline would be the waddle dee’s child and would grow up to watch her father figure create new sisters and even planets(patchland) out of magic. Eventually. The painter would become corrupt, and attempt to create a painting army to take over the galaxy. Vividria enlisted the help of NME to stop the galactic takeover before it started by separating paintings and sealing the painter inside the magic brush. The dude would have time to think in there. Adaline would then be taken in the Nightmare family’s care. They would also create a brother to her, Paint Roller. Vividria guards the artists moon.

MORPHO

morpho would have been Meta’s younger sibling. Both would try to escape the All Matter Castle after being hurt by Void after Void-a baby God ho had no idea what it was doing-was manipulated to hurt them. Meta made it out. Morpho didn’t. Morpho was killed and taken to the underworld. there they met Necrodeus, who gave them the role as a grim reaper. Necrodeus always felt sorry for Morpho. 

Morpho was trapped before they were killed. as Meta escaped he promised he would go back. However, Morpho was told in their final moments that Meta left them to save himself. This would spark their revenge.

After Morpho’s revenge failed, they would have had an emotional talk where they would basically hug and cry and clear things up before the light took morpho back. In the series end, they would be reborn with new memories in a new life around people that would love them.

HYNESS

Hyness would have started out as a normal part time cleric / part time nanny. He knew all of the sisters as he was their nanny. when families abandoned in blizzards, infernos took lives, and when all seamed gone. Hyness took them under their wing. But like literally anyone else at this point he became crazy with power. His dark powers left him after KSA and he felt guilty to the point of tears after he realized what he had done. He did everything he could to make it up to them.

VOID

Void would have been a baby God found by the ancients. Their power would be manipulated by other people until they were convinced that what they were doing was ok. The four heroes tried to reason with Void but to no avail.Once Void was sealed their manipulators were ended. Sir Arthur became the new leader and the era of control was over. Galacta Knight absorbed their power however and started the calamity…

GALACTA

Galacta was Kirby from a future time and history that had a cataclysmic event involving the fusion of Void and Kirby. Everything in the dimension was wiped out in this event. This dimension became “another dimension.” Galacta knight absorbed Void’s sealed matter and became overwhelmed with power. Galacta would be sealed tearfully by Meta as they both knew each other because they were both family to one another. Galacta would reawaken themself, and cause havoc throughout time and space. Galacta, Kirby, and Void would all fuse, fixing everything and ending off the series on the same hill Kirby crashed on.

THATS IT I HOPED YOU ENJOYED PLEASE COMENT AND REBLOG I SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON THIS I LOVE YOU ALL AND WHO KNOWS I MIGHT WORK ON THESE AS SIMGULAR STORIES LATER. THIS IS MY FF BLOG NOW. THANK YOU LOVE YOU ALL IM SORRY THANK YOU!!!!!!!!111111!!!!

[iturbide]

Daamnn you really hate Naga! I like her considering how much she’s done for humanity, but her parenting is AWFUL. My own headcanon is that she would slowly fix her relationship with Tiki but some heroes don’t want her to even get near their smoll british dragon. (Also wouldn’t Duma be afraid of Naga knowing how she beat the shit out of him and his sister?)

---

So there seems to be a bit of confusion about my feelings concerning Naga. 

I don’t hate Naga.  

I think that she is a fascinating, deeply flawed character, who the world perceives as a glorious and kindly goddess but whose actual track record reflects something substantially different.  I enjoy analyzing that from different angles and pushing those limits in different ways.  And yes, this means that I am often critical of her.  But I don’t hate her: if I did, she wouldn’t get anywhere near as much screen time unless I was venting rage and/or pulling receipts. 

I can and do freely admit that yes, Naga has done some good for humanity, and her intervention has been instrumental in solving several crises.  I still think it bears mentioning that several of her interventions had far-reaching consequences, and that Naga hasn’t exactly been attentive to the fallout of her own actions.  Case in point: degeneration.  Fertility rates began to drop rapidly among dragonkind, and soon after individuals began to lose their senses and become little more than feral beasts beyond reason or reach.  The Divine Dragon tribe discovered that, by sealing their powers within special stones and adopting a more human guise, they could slow or halt the process; however, when Naga took this information before the rest of the tribes, she was met with derision and disbelief -- not because the other tribes didn’t believe it would work, but because they refused to give up their powers and become like the humans they so disdained.  Their pride was the source of the catastrophe that followed, and in the ensuing Dragon Wars, Naga and her tribe effectively wiped out the entirety of the Earth Dragon Tribe -- with two notable exceptions: Medeus and Loptyr. 

Medeus was the prince of the Earth Dragons, and the only one who willingly took on a manakete form.  Following the end of the Dragon War and the sealing of the Earth Dragons, Naga charged Medeus with guarding their resting place, and then left him.  Alone.  To watch as the remnants of dragonkind who had sealed their powers were persecuted by humanity.  This, coupled with his isolation, allowed his rage and hatred to fester and swell into a desire to bring humanity to heel, which led to the creation of the Dolhr Empire of manaketes and the War of Liberation against the Holy Kingdom of Archanea, wherein Medeus actually managed to win and take over the whole continent before his eventual defeat in Cartas’ Rebellion at Anri’s hands. 

For all of Naga’s love of humanity, she didn’t bother to intervene there.  Nor did she intervene in Marth’s first battle against Medeus (Nagi’s appearance is technically non-canon, since it requires Tiki’s death and Falchion’s loss, and Tiki is very much alive in the sequel).  It was only in the second battle that she chose to step in, after three separate horrific conflicts had overwhelmed the land.  

And then there’s Loptyr.  I don’t know if it’s ever stated what Loptyr’s place in the Earth Dragon tribe was, but considering the course of events, I’m willing to say that he was probably chief of the tribe in much the same way that Naga was chief of the Divine Dragons.  As the war raged and the Earth Dragons continued their catastrophic degeneration, Loptyr happened upon a human named Galle who sought to acquire the power of a dragon; despite loathing mankind himself, Loptyr saw an opportunity -- not just to survive the war his tribe was losing, but to gain dominion over the humans he so despised.  So he entered into a blood pact with Galle and gave up his form, sealing his powers and his will into the Loptous Tome.  As soon as Galle took hold of it, Loptyr possessed him via the blood pact they had forged, and after that went on to found first the Loptyrian Cult (which worshipped Loptyr as a god -- not so differently from how the rest of mankind worshipped Naga as the same) and then the Loptyrian Empire with the possessed Galle at its head.  Loptyr’s empire was frankly horrific, with humans oppressed and brutalized and child sacrifices made in Loptyr’s name -- and each time the ruler died, the tome was passed to their successor, who was also possessed through the Major Loptyr blood inherited from Galle. 

This went on for seventeen generations before Naga did anything.  At an absolute minimum, 100,000 people died in Loptyr’s conquest of Jugdral, and 10,000 died in a single event at the Massacre of Edda.  And when she did decide to act, all she did was instill a portion of her own power and will into a tome in the same way Loptyr did.  And then she left humans to fight instead of offering any further aid.  The war continued for FIFTEEN YEARS after that before Loptyr was finally defeated (and even that was only temporary, since the tome remained intact, which led to the events of Genealogy where she once again made no visible effort to help).  And to top it all off, when the victorious crusaders turned right around and started oppressing the people of the former Loptyrian Empire -- many of whom were innocent people who had just been trying to survive in the first place -- Naga once again did nothing to help. 

So yeah, arguably she has done good things and helped mankind.  But she’s also made a lot of problems for them with those actions, and hasn’t done more than cursory damage control.

(This doesn’t even get into the parenting thing which I’m happy we agree is awful.  ‘Fun’ Fact: where Anri got the Falchion he needed to defeat Medeus is the same place that Tiki is sealed in Marth’s time.  Naga literally left a dragon-slaying blade in her daughter’s resting place, which chillingly implies that Gotoh was supposed to murder her if she started to show signs of degeneration.)

I’m really happy that people have nice headcanons for Naga!  It would be really nice if Naga were able to fix her relationship with Tiki, I agree.  But for me personally, the onus is entirely on her to make amends: given everything Tiki has gone through (including at least a thousand years of sleep and no apparent contact at all with her absent mother), coupled with the kind and affectionate support that I headcanon her receiving from other dragons in the Order of Heroes (many of whom Naga would consider her enemies), I don’t think Tiki would necessarily be comfortable with Naga at the outset.  Naga would have to do a lot of work to forge a better relationship with the daughter she abandoned, because Tiki has no reason to simply forgive her because she’s here now.  And for me personally, I question whether Naga will ever be able to fully make amends, given her continued obsession with humanity and the lack of any references to her daughter in her Heroes dialogues.  So yeah, while there are several dragons who would be wary of Naga getting close to Tiki, they wouldn’t necessarily bar interactions if it’s what Tiki wants, because after what Naga has put that child through she has no right to get a way in whether they interact or not (though they would monitor the situation because they care about Tiki).  It would be Naga herself who either makes (or further breaks) the relationship she may or may not want to forge. 

And as for Duma, he is a being who understands strength -- not just physical strength, but strength in all its forms.  Did he suffer a defeat at Naga’s hands previously?  Yes.  Does that mean he’s going to back down if it looks like another conflict is brewing?  No.  Fear is not the enemy to him.  He has mastery over himself: whether he fears Naga or not will not stop him from giving her another good fight if she threatens something he holds dear, because he is never going to back down from a worthy cause, no matter how bad his odds of success are.  Courage is not the absence of fear, after all, but the triumph over it.

[hauntaroid]

i know i said i was gonna write, but i guess i technically am with this!! i wanna take the time, now that the game is over, to go over some of ash’s more “questionable” decisions, specifically the ones that revolve around the trial and,,, well, let’s put the rest under a read more, shall we? ( aka this is a spoiler warning to those that haven’t seen chapter five yet!! )

the decision to, i guess offer herself up as a sacrifice in chapter five. or, to put it more bluntly, kill herself in an attempt to make sure everything goes to plan. this was something i meant to talk about on my previous blog, only mentioning the trial decisions, but now i can begin to see some sort of theme between the last decision in chapter four and her more drastic one in chapter five.

we all know that, when she is thinking, ash is quite the smart girl! of course, some of her decisions are more impulsive, specifically the time she decided it’d be a great idea to check down a garbage chute ( but her falling down it was entirely by lack of balance! so not her direct fault- ). however, a lot of people didn’t seem to like her during the trial’s chapter in particular. this is where i’m gonna bring up one of my own headcanons for ashley’s decision making when she is older.

she takes what she knows, and makes a decision based off of that.

some people like to talk about the fact that she chose to call the police on what was happening at the apartments, and yes, it is cruel from a feeling-perspective on it, especially since sal had been opposed to doing so! but logically, it makes sense for her to make this decision. up until this point, all ash really knew about was that there was a temple underneath the apartments used for cult stuff and that there was bologna made of flesh. yes, larry and sal do have a brief discussion about the red-eyed demon during that point, but they never exactly tell ash what it is. in fact, ash was left out on quite a few stuff due to her not believing in the same things as the group.

the first incident that i believe began to change her prior decision to not call the police was when she actually went to the apartments to check on sal after larry’s suicide. she even mentions that he wasn’t acting like himself, and talking to himself about the cult and impending evil. the next incident is her going up into the treehouse and seeing nothing that could imply a death. the third? the argument. ash even makes it a point to mention that they had never argued prior to that, and that would heavily imply something’s wrong to anyone else in her position. she even said she walked away because she “couldn’t be around him like that”.

and then, there was the second phone call she had received that day from todd, the final nail in the coffin. ash has no reason to believe that todd would be making things up ( from what very little she could hear ), he’s one of the smartest in the group and someone else she gets along with. so when she realises that both him and sal are most likely in trouble, and are aware both of them are at the apartments, she makes the decision to call the police.

keep in mind, she had no idea what had happened, just the fact that sal wasn’t acting like himself and something so bad had happened that it got todd crying.

then she gets to the apartments for the second time and sees sal in a much worse condition than what she had left him in. we all know what happened at this point, so we’ll skip over this quickly to move onto the trial!

a lot of people also seemed to be confused as to why ash would be testifying against sal in the trial, but as she was the one who called the police, it would make sense that she’d be testifying against him. it wouldn’t make much sense to a jury if the one who called the police to the scene was purposefully trying to defend the accused! it also may have something to do with the cult’s influence, if it’s not the first of the two options. at this point, ash has obviously gotten to know what has happened, and is well aware of the severity of the crime. so, during her final statement, she makes it a point to say “he just needs help”. this is her attempt to try and loosen up what would be a instant death sentence to him. and sentences are loosened if insanity can be proven! however, either way i don’t think it’d have ended well for sal, as the cult could just make sure he stays in a mental institute for a long time or just give him so many medications that he becomes brain-dead or something similar,,, but anyway!!

obviously, that doesn’t work, because cult. ash tries to protest AGAIN but that isn’t enough. please keep the phrase “not enough” in your mind, it’ll come back later.

another thing people seemed upset about; what ash did in the three years leading up to sal’s execution. most seemed to have the idea that she should break him out of wherever he’s being held, but that doesn’t make much sense! first of all, both the guards within the building and the cult would make sure that sal’s confinement is well-protected. second, why on earth would she stoop to illegal actions?? she might as well just being killing them both, because trying to break him out would get her jail-time or even shot if they weren’t feeling merciful! instead, she takes the logical approach and tries everything she can LEGALLY. another point made was the fact she didn’t act on being told about larry’s death and investigating it. i think that’s because she couldn’t prove that his death was linked to the case, and wouldn’t be classed as evidence.

what can be linked, however, is the existence of ghosts. it would definitely need to have a trial recall to consider the new evidence, as well as gather / destroy evidence for the lawyers involved. this is most likely one reason that led ash to go back to the treehouse to see if there was something there to help. which there is, in the form of a dead friend!

once again, we know what happens. ash takes his photo, drives over to where the execution is happening, bangs on the door with the photo up against it to try and get the executioner’s attention,,,

but it’s not enough. the execution goes on away. this is something i want to emphasise. specifically, this phrase; she was right there, she had done everything she could up to that point, and it still wasn’t enough. remember this, because now it’s time to move onto chapter five’s decision!!

basically, ash tries to do a ritual written up in notes to revive sal in some form to help out with the cult situation, which has gotten a lot worse. everything is going fine, she follows the notes and it seems like it’s going to work!! but then there’s a problem. the final step is incomplete. the FINAL step to FINISHING the ritual is INCOMPLETE. the one thing she could go off of, due to todd not being around to help, and she can’t continue logically. she’s done everything she can up to that point, sal is RIGHT THERE, but it isn’t enough without the final step.

so ash does what is considered REAL questionable to some and decides to cut her arm open to be some form of sacrifice. good thing this actually works, because if it didn’t, then that would be real traumatising!! but some were wondering why she didn’t just make a small cut instead of that large one she did.

and i have a simple answer; desperation. this occurred in her chapter four decision as well. it was the final day she had to try and do something, and she resorts to something that she considered crazy to try and help out. in chapter five, it’s the same sort of concept. this was the only chance she’d have to see the plan through, and she resorts to something most would consider crazy to see it through.

i also need to mention, as of chapter five, ash refers to her past decisions as her “big list of failures”. she has lost confidence in her decision-making, and needs reassurance that what she’s doing is right. this came through the form of the notes, but when she couldn’t use them anymore, she kind of went back to her impulsive decision-making and chose the most drastic and ritual-like thing she could think of,,, which could also fit into some category of logic??

basically, tl;dr; ash’s decisions are mostly based off of what she already knows / what she thinks will work out the best. her decisions only get impulsive when she’s running out of time. thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[phinnsyreads]

Mr. Parker.

Don't look so surprised, you have to have known this day was going to come eventually. One of your fellow boarders was kind enough to let me in. They won't be disturbing us, so please, sit down.

Let me make sure I have the right Jackson Parker.

55 years old. Born in Cleveland, Ohio. Multiple tours in Vietnam. Sentenced to death row for killing his wife’s lover. Date of execution May 19, 1979. Now a professional waiter at one of New York City's finest bistros. And…anyone ever tell you you look like Ernie Hudson? You know, the black Ghostbuster. Maybe I'm just thinking of him because the sequel's coming out in a couple of weeks. Whatever, forget it.

One thing they don't have in your file is your unshakable faith. You believe, in a way that so few others do, that everything happens for a reason.

I might feel the same way if I was one of the rare D-classes who have escaped termination. I have to say, you certainly earned this little life you've made for yourself here.

I saw the footage and the pictures from after the…event. I don't know if you ever had it fully explained to you what happened there. We learned that the creature you decommissioned was responsive to the beliefs of its viewers. One of our guys must have got it into his head that the thing was going to kill everybody. And because he thought that, it did.

Until it got to you, of course.

I know your exit survey was a little while ago, so to refresh your memory, the way you phrased it had to do with "falling back on your faith." You showed, in the face of this blood-drenched monstrosity, unwavering belief that you would make it out of there alive. And because you believed, it was true.

Listen…I'm sorry about what happened to you.

We used to be so callous. Hell, it was to the point of being stupid.

There may — or may not — be a thing that'll kill you if you blink in the same room as it. So far as we can tell, this thing also shits all over the place. Almost every time we sent some guys in to clean up its mess — snap! Their life's over, just like that. Only just built a robot that can do the cleaning a couple of years ago. It sickens me to think about all the men who never came out of that room, all because we didn't think of them as human. Just a letter and numbers.

But what we need you for, it can't be done by a machine. Look, I've been thinking about this a lot lately…there's something remarkable about the human heart. Don't you agree? No matter how much we want to give up or say "no" to life, the heart still beats. That's all it knows how to do. It keeps on beating: "yes-yes, yes-yes." It's admirable, something so resolute in its work.

And I know how you work, Mr. Parker. You know I'm here for a reason. And I think you know you're meant to do something that will save a lot of lives. If you do this for us — if you do this for me — we'll do everything in our power to make sure you get whatever you want for the rest of your days.

I think I can tell what that expression means.

Let me know when you're ready to go, D-14134.

---------

Item #: SCP-1983

Object Class: Keter (Presumed Neutralized)

Special Containment Procedures: Outpost 54 has been built on the land surrounding SCP-1983 and disguised as a chemical plant. The "plant" building serves as barracks for MTF Chi-13 ("Choir Boys"). All entry points into Outpost 54 are to be guarded at all times. Personnel will review Document 1983-12, which details the cover story to be given to any civilians expressing curiosity.

All MTF personnel must profess strong religious beliefs, per Chi-13 protocols. All ammunition stocked must have a silver or silver-tipped projectile. A 24-hour watch is to be maintained on the front door of SCP-1983-1. Guards are to engage any instances of SCP-1983-2 on sight. No personnel is to approach within five meters of SCP-1983-1 outside of scheduled testing protocol.

UPDATE: Following the Event 1983-23, a stand-down of Outpost 54 has been authorized. A skeleton crew will remain to monitor SCP-1983 for any further activity. Arms intended for use against instances of SCP-1983-2 are to be maintained at Outpost 54 armory.

Description: SCP-1983-1 is a one-story farmhouse in ███████ County, Wyoming. It was abandoned in 1968 after a series of ritual murders, allegedly performed by a "Satanic" cult. Please see capture logs for SCP-████ for further details.

The front door of SCP-1983-1, when opened, appears to contain a spatial anomaly. Neither matter nor light has been observed to exit the doorway, save for instances of SCP-1983-2 (though the anomaly is exothermic).

SCP-1983-1 is accessible through other entrances, including windows, the back door, and entrances cut into the back of SCP-1983-1. However, the front room does not appear to exist inside of SCP-1983-1. Doors that should lead to the front room instead lead to other doors inside the building. Measurements of the inside and outside of SCP-1983-1 are inconsistent. Holes cut through the interior walls of SCP-1983-1 that should lead to the front room lead instead to the outside walls around the front of SCP-1983-1, but stop three meters on either side of the doorway. Attempts to drill into the front room of SCP-1983-1 from the outside have led to the exposure of smaller portions of the anomaly, though instances of SCP-1983-2 have not been observed to exit them. Further attempts to breach the wall have been forbidden by O5-03, due to the possibility of allowing increased potential for instances of SCP-1983-2 to appear.

SCP-1983-2 are bipedal creatures approximately 1.8 meters tall. They are vaguely humanoid, and entirely black in color. They are highly aggressive and will engage any human on sight. When an instance of SCP-1983-2 comes into contact with a human, they extend an upper limb into the human's chest cavity, without any apparent damage to skin or tissues. Through unknown means, they then extract the heart, killing the human. Once it has acquired a human heart, the instance of SCP-1983-2 will return to SCP-1983-1.

Silver munitions fired while offering prayer is the only known method of killing SCP-1983-2. The precise form of the prayer or religion of the supplicant does not appear to matter, so long as the prayer is sincere. Once killed, the bodies of SCP-1983-2 appear to "disintegrate," leaving a small layer of sulfur.

SCP-1983 was discovered after a series of mysterious deaths in the vicinity of ███████ County. Foundation investigators encountered instances of SCP-1983-2 and were able to trace them back to SCP-1983-1.

Addendum 1: A team from MTF Chi-13 was sent through the front doorway to attempt to investigate the anomaly. They did not return. However, shortly after they entered, the front door appeared, closing in the frame. No further manifestations of SCP-1983-2 appeared.

Addendum 2: A second assault team entered SCP-1983-1 to determine the fate of the first assault team. They did not return. The door did not close. Shortly after new manifestations of SCP-1983-2 appeared, Agent Morris entered the doorway, which closed shortly after.

Addendum 3: On May 23, 1989, D-14134 was given a closed circuit camera tethered to a monitor by a 25-meter cord. He was instructed to examine as much of the area as he could, and then attempt to return. Once through the doorway, feed from the camera was interrupted. The cord was pulled taut, and then snapped.

Several hours afterward, the anomaly in SCP-1983-1 disappeared. Inside, the desiccated remains of several agents were discovered, as well as Document 1983-15, an informal SCP report written by an agent within the anomaly. It appears as follows:

Item #: Pending

Object Class: Keter. God help you.

Special Containment Procedures: You're going to die, you poor dumb fuck.

This isn't a threat. I'm Agent Barclay. I'm in the middle of this goddamned thing, and I'm telling you, if you're here? You're going to die. I'm probably already dead.

So that's out of the way. Let's get to the containment procedures. There's really only one. Close the goddamned door. You aren't going to get back through there. You've probably already tried. But we know they can get out, if they try hard enough. That's how we found this fucking place. Hopefully, you've already done that. I know we did, once we gave up on getting out through there. If you didn't, then you go straight back and get that door closed. That is your only priority right now. You're going to die anyway. Might as well do some good before you're gone.

Description: So, here's a story, tell me if you've heard it before. The Foundation gets reports of trouble in Bumfuck, USA. Cattle and wildlife are dying mysteriously. Some people turn up missing. When a body shows up, autopsy finds the heart missing. Not cut out, not torn out, just gone. Empty space in the middle of the chest.

They find some sort of pitch-black things floating around. Some brain at the Foundation has seen something like them before, figures out how to kill them. Silver bullets, and pray to God as you fire. Literally. For some reason, that makes it work. Doesn't matter which God, but you damn well better mean it.

I can't, anymore. Not after seeing the nest.

Anyway, Foundation figures out where it's all coming from. Some house in the middle of Bumfuck. No one's lived there in years, not since yadda yadda, murder, cult, rituals, bullshit. The main thing is, these things keep appearing out of the front door. A team goes in, and they never come back out. But then again, neither do the monsters. A sane person would say, Good enough, keep an eye on it, kill anything that moves. But this is the Foundation.

You're a tough agent from MTF-Whatever-the-fuck. Maybe Sequere Nos, maybe Choir Boys, like me. You go bust down the door and run inside, and that's it. You're fucked.

The living room was bad enough. That's where they got O'Brien. They reached in, and suddenly he keeled over, and one of them took off with his heart in its… claws, I guess?

They're less distinct here. You probably noticed that. They're like shadows. Stay away from the light. I know that sounds stupid, but think about it. In the light, shadows are stronger. They have edges. When it's dark, they're indistinct. They can hardly touch you, and they don't see very well. I think they see by your shadow. I don't know. I'm just pulling at straws here, I'll be honest.

You've probably tried going back out the door, but if you haven't, don't. It leads to some place even worse. There aren't any monsters, but… Jones went too far from the house, and I swear to God, he started to melt. Things started popping out of him, and… All you need to know is he didn't make it back. That's when we closed the door.

So, we started moving through the house. We kept to the light at first, before we wised up. Three of us gone that way. But we got a pretty good picture of our surroundings.

This place? It's big. It's not just the farmhouse. It's like… It's like they stole bits and pieces of a lot of places, and stuck them all together. There's some bits that look like an apartment, some that look like a shopping mall, and even what I swear is a closet from my old high school. Same patterns on the tiles and everything.

There's also bits that are made out of… stuff. It's black, like the shadow-things, and it's mostly in the well-lit places. If the lights go out, you can stick your hand through. I don't recommend it. That's how we lost Torres. Something grabbed him, pulled him through. The hole wasn't big enough for his head, but he still went through, eventually.

So, stay away from the light places, but watch your step when it's dark.

Of course, there's no way out. We figured that out too. Any door you find, it either just leads to another room in this nuthouse, or it leads out there, and it's pretty obvious we can't live there. So it's wait until you starve to death or one of those things gets you. Great bunch of choices, huh?

There's one thing you can do. I couldn't go through with it, but maybe you can. It won't help you live, I don't think, but it's… I think it's important. I'm pretty sure someone's going to have to, or these things are going to get out eventually.

This place is stolen from lots of places. So I'm thinking there have to be other doors. We've closed all the ones we've found, but what if they get opened again? And the Foundation doesn't find them in time? Hell, they don't even know about closing the doors. I'm just hoping they figure out that if someone goes in, the things might stop getting out. And that's assuming everyone's smart enough to close the door after they come in.

So, I think I figured out a way to stop these things. It's the nest.

I only saw it once, for a few minutes. We followed one of the bastards after they got Denning's heart. It took it into a room that I guess is in the middle of this whole place. It's all black stuff, and they've dragged in every kind of light they could find, I guess. Lamps, flashlights, candles, you name it. Some of them were carrying more in as we watched. Anyway, at the middle, there's a big pile of hearts. Just tossed in a heap, and torn open, every one. They threw Denning's heart on the pile, and it started to beat, and then pulse, and then thrash around. Then it tore open, and one of those things pulled itself out. It shook itself, started to grow and then went right to work. The gross thing is that, torn apart as they were, the hearts kept beating. I swear I felt a twinge in my own chest.

There were shadows in the place. I don't mean the monsters, I mean real shadows, of people. Only there was no one there to cast them. They were coming from the hearts. A new one appeared at the same time as the hatching monster, and started trying to pull away, but it couldn't.

That was when I ran. I couldn't take it, you understand? I wasn't trained for this kind of shit. I heard the others behind me. I don't know if they were trying to stop me, or if the bastards had spotted us, but we got separated. I found a nice, dark closet, and I've been hiding in here ever since. I've been writing by penlight. I turn it off whenever I hear one of them getting close. It's worked, so far.

I can't go any further. I've got a few shots left in my gun, but I can't pray anymore, not and mean it. Not after I saw the nest. But you, if you've found this, you've got to be an agent too. Maybe you're stronger than I was. If you can, go in and destroy the nest. Destroy every last heart. If you do, maybe it'll kill them. It's the only thing I can think of. You'll probably die doing it, but you're dead anyway. So what's it matter to you how it happens?

Me, I'm going to try and get this report back to the living room, which I hope is where you found it. Then I'm going to make sure they can't use my heart to make another one of those things.

Good luck. Morituri te salutant.

SCP-1983 is presumed to have been neutralized by D-14134, who was posthumously awarded the Foundation Star (one of only two awarded to Class-D Personnel). Due to information contained in Document 1983-15, it is believed that the anomaly was not localized, as previously believed, and renewed resources have gone into attempting to locate similar incidents.

===

[“Mr. Parker” is an SCP Tale by Erazm.]

[The voice of the agent was provided by @phinnsy.] [The voice of Agent Barclay was provided by @lapis-liberalis.]

===

[Enjoy the podcast? Consider supporting us on Patreon! Patrons get access to bonus Joke episodes, outtakes, and can even request episodes on specific SCP objects.]

[helenarlett-rex]

Want to use an eldritch horror in your D&D game? Why not Cthylla?

So like I’ve mentioned in my previous posts on this topic, eldritch horrors are a common part of D&D. One of the three pacts given for Warlocks right there in the Player’s Handbook is all about dealing with eldritch horrors... But there don’t seem to be many, or any... eldritch horrors listed in the Monster Manuel for you to actually use. This leaves you having to resort to homebrew but who to homebrew is the question? Naturally most people just jump right to Cthulhu but come on... You don’t want to be like everyone else, do you? Where’s the variety? How about this...? Instead of Cthulhu, have you considered Cthylla?

Cthylla, also known as The Kraken or The Secret One, is the youngest offspring of Cthulhu and his mate, Idh-yaa. Cthylla, like her parents, is a Great Old One. She came from the star Xoth, but now dwells on Earth in Yhe, where she is guarded by Cthulhu's minions. Namely, a great number of Deep Ones and Yuggya.

Cthylla has the appearance of a gigantic, red-bodied, black-ringed, and six-eyed octopus with small wings. Like her father, she is able to alter her body-proportions at will, such as by enlarging her wings to enable her to fly, or give herself a killer beach bod... don’t look at me like that... she could if she wanted to... In fact she has actually been seen to have given herself a humanoid form on at least one occasion. So who’s to say it couldn’t happen?

While she normally has eight arms like any octopus, she can extrude or retract additional ones at will and has been known to sport as many as twelve arms at a time. Each arm is equipped with dozens of razor-sharp claws, each about five inches in length. Picture trying to fight a giant octopus but instead of suction cups, each of its tentacles are lined with claws in their place. That’s not really something I personally would want to fight...

Cthylla may be the youngest of Cthulhu‘s children, and probably considered the least powerful, but she is by no means the least important. If anything, Cthylla is the most important of Cthulhu‘s children. This is because poor Cthylla is little more than an insurance policy for her father. You see, Cthulhu, in his great power, has foreseen that one day in the distant future he will be destroyed. And when that happens, Cthylla is destined to mate with Cthulhu‘s half-brother, Hastur, and give birth to Cthulhu once more.

This makes Cthylla critical to Cthulhu‘s plans. Insuring that she stays alive is the only thing that insures Cthulhu himself will be reborn after his death. This is why she is known as The Secret One. She’s so important that the members of Cthulhu‘s cult will go to any means necessary to insure her existence remains a secret, hiding all information about the goddess. Even going as far as defacing the Columns of Geph in order to remove any reference to her.

Should any harm towards Cthylla even be so much as attempted, Cthulhu himself will take action, unleashing the full fury of his wrath against those who would harm his daughter.

But Cthylla herself is not invulnerable, which is probably why she is so fiercely protected. In fiction we have seen that she can be wounded. She was wounded by a subterranean atomic bomb. She was also captured by simple researchers once who mistook her for a rare species of octopus and tried to breed her.

Cthylla has two other names she is known by. One of those is The Kraken. To which you may be asking, do you mean... The Kraken? Like, the monster in the Monster Manuel? Release The Kraken! That Kraken?

Yeah, that’s what I mean... And if you aren’t convinced, the other name she is known by is Scylla. As in the sea monster spoken of in Greek Mythology. We already know Cthylla can alter her shape, so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise if she goes around looking like other horrible sea monsters, especially considering she is supposed to be keeping her identity a secret.

So how would you use Cthylla in your game? As a patron for a Pact of the Great Old One warlock I would play her up as being very grumpy but also extremely willing to act as a patron and lend her power. Remember, she’s Cthulhu‘s youngest child and still rather physically weak. In Great Old One terms, she’s pretty much still a teenager. A teenager who is a Goddess but isn’t worshiped by anyone because her father’s worshipers have covered up her existence and removed her name and likeness from her own temples. In addition to that she’s essentially been grounded for life, placed under heavy guard, and told that her only purpose is to one day have sex with her uncle and give birth to her own father. You show me one teenager who is going to be okay with any of that...

Cthylla is going to be an extremely grumpy and ill tempered girl. But that would also make her very eager to lend her power to any warlock who actually manages to find out about her and go to her for a pact. Name me one reason she wouldn’t be thrilled to actually have followers who recognize her for who she is after centuries of being forgotten and kept a secret... Depending on what kind of game you are running, you may even want to play Cthylla as rebellious, ordering her warlock to work against her father’s plans. I mean, if I was an all powerful octopus goddess who had been locked in my room under heavy guard and told I couldn’t come out until I gave birth to my own father I’d probably be like, fuck you Dad! I’m going to give all my power to this warlock here and order him to kill my uncle so there is no possible way for him to impregnate me with you!

Just a thought...

But if you did want to go for that angle it would make for a rather interesting character. You could actually play Cthylla as an ally to the party instead of an adversary or some great cosmic being who is just indifferent to their existence the way most eldritch beings are. Or if that’s not your cup of tea, you could always make her completely onboard with her father’s plans and just play her as an evil cosmic monster happy to play her part in the destruction of humanity.

As for using Cthylla in combat, you don’t actually have to do all that much work to homebrew her. Most of the work is already done for you. Remember how I said one of her other names is The Kraken? I would actually just take the Kraken from the Monster Manuel and use it for Cthylla‘s stats. It’s already a CR 23 monster, which is about right for Cthylla. Although I would add a few things to it just to make it a little more on point.

The Build

As I said, start with Kraken base stats.

Next, change the monster type from Gargantuan monstrosity (titan), chaotic evil to Gargantuan aberration (great old one), chaotic neutral, unless of course you don’t plan to play her as the rebellious type, in which case you can keep the chaotic evil alignment.

Step 2, add a fly speed of fly 80 ft. (hover). She does have those wings after all...

Step 3, bump up her Dex to 22 (+6).

Step 4, Give her Damage Resistance to all spell attacks and all attacks from magical weapons. After all... if an atomic bomb only left her wounded, then she should be able to shrug off spells like Fireball.

Step 5, change her languages to Deep Speech; telepathy 300 ft. 

Step 6, add darkvision 120 ft.

Step 7, add Innate Spellcasting. Cthylla’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 24; spell attack +16). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: dispel magic, dream, 3/day: suggestion, feeblemind, 

Step 8, add Frightful Presence. Each creature of Cthylla’s choice that is within 120 feet of her and aware of her must succeed on a DC 24 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to Cthylla’s Frightful Presence for the next minute.

Step 9, add Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Cthylla fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.

Step 10, add Change Shape. Cthylla magically polymorphs into a humanoid or beast that has a challenge rating no higher than its own, or back into it’s true form. It reverts to its true form if it dies. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (Cthylla’s choice). In a new form, Cthylla retains her alignment, hit points, Hit Dice, ability to speak, proficiencies, Legendary Resistance, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores.

Step 11, remove Lightning Storm.

And that should sufficiently turn your Kraken into Cthylla. And just so you can see what it all looks like when it’s finished so you don’t have to spend the time writing it all down yourself, here it is...

Cthylla

Gargantuan aberration (great old one), chaotic neutral 

Armor Class 18 (natural armor) Hit Points 427 (27d20+189) Speed 20 ft., swim 60 ft., fly 80 ft. (hover)

STR ​ 30 (+10)​ DEX ​ 22 (+6)​ CON​  25 (+7)​ INT​  22 (+6)​ WIS ​ 18 (+4)​ CHA​  20 (+5)​

Saving Throws Str +18, Dex +15, Con +15, Int +14, Wis +12 Damage Resistances All spell attacks, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from magical weapons. Damage Immunities lightning; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons. Condition Immunities frightened, paralyzed Senses darkvision 120 ft., truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 14 Languages Deep Speech; telepathy 300 ft. Challenge 25 (50,000 XP)

Amphibious. Cthylla can breath air and water.

Freedom of Movement. Cthylla ignores difficult terrain, and magical effects can’t reduce her her speed or cause her to be restrained. She can spend 5 feet of movement to escape from nonmagical restraints or being grappled.

Siege Monster. Cthylla deals double damage to objects and structures.

Frightful Presence. Each creature of Cthylla’s choice that is within 120 feet of her and aware of her must succeed on a DC 24 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to Cthylla’s Frightful Presence for the next minute. 

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Cthylla fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead. 

Change Shape. Cthylla magically polymorphs into a humanoid or beast that has a challenge rating no higher than its own, or back into it’s true form. It reverts to its true form if it dies. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (Cthylla’s choice). In a new form, Cthylla retains her alignment, hit points, Hit Dice, ability to speak, proficiencies, Legendary Resistance, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. 

Innate Spellcasting. Cthylla’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 24; spell attack +16). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: dispel magic, dream, 3/day: suggestion, feeblemind, 

Actions

Multiattack. Cthylla makes three tentacle attacks, each of which she can replace with one use of Fling.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +18 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 23 (3d8 +10) piercing damage. If the target is a large or small creature grappled by Cthylla, that creature is swallowed, and the grapple ends. While swallowed, the creature is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside Cthylla, and it takes 42 (12d6) acid damage at the start of each of Cthylla’s turns. If Cthylla takes 50 or more damage on a single turn from a creature inside her, Cthylla must succeed on a DC 25 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, which fall prone in a space within 10 feet of Cthylla. If Cthylla dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse using 15 feet of movement, exiting prone.

Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +18 to hit, reach 30 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d6 +10) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 18). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained. Cthylla has 12 tentacles, each of which can grapple one target.

Fling. One large or smaller object held or creature grappled by Cthylla is thrown up to 60 feet in a random direction and knocked prone. If a thrown target strikes a solid surface, the target takes 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it was thrown. If a target is thrown at another creature, that creature must succeed on a DC 18 Dexterity Saving throw or take the same damage and be knocked prone.

Legendary Actions

Cthylla can take three Legendary Actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Cthylla regains spent legendary actions at the start of her turn.

Tentacle Attack or Fling. Cthylla makes one tentacle attack or uses her fling.

Bite (Costs 2 Actions). Cthylla makes one bite attack.

Ink Cloud (Costs 3 actions). While underwater, Cthylla expels an ink cloud in a 60-foot radius. The cloud spreads around corners, and that area is heavily obscured to creatures other than Cthylla. Each creature other than Cthylla that ends its turn there must succeed on a DC 23 Constitution saving throw, taking 16 (3d10) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A strong current disperses the cloud, which otherwise disappears at the end of Cthylla’s next turn.

[psychobenderstories]

RPG mission ideas divided by class type:

Good Mages:

Local mage needs a subject for his experiments so he can understand better the properties behind his magic. (Magic books, equipment or items as reward)

The local alchemist needs help gathering a few ingredients for his potions but he is no adventurer and can’t fight the magical creatures that lurk close to where the ingredients are. (Special potions as reward)

Local mage needs a subject for his experiments so he can understand better the properties behind his magic. (Magic books, equipment or items as reward)

The local priest needs help cleaning a sacred cave from creatures of the devil. Undeads guarded by a necromancer.(Free heal for the party)

A good entity needs the party to bring peace to a village in his name to drag more believers for him. (Reward: More successful peacemaking attempts because of their good fame)

The local magic council needs help dealing with a local necromancer cult who is planning on summoning a powerful demon. Stop the cult. (Reward: Access to the local council, maybe a job, an item, a robe or some training)

An autodidact magic user was trying to learn spells but he has no magic within him. Help him develop or convince him to give you his equipment.

A talking tree is afraid of getting killed by some woodcutters from the village. Help her perform a ritual in order to be magically protected from these guys. (Reward: The tree now trades beast blood to serve as an oracle)

Recluse animal-like forest people (Or just forest people) are concerned with people discovering their location. Help disguise the village with a magic ritual that demands you going to dangerous places to get the ingredients. (Reward: They welcome you to their lair. They’re great alchemists)

The king wants the aid of a magic user to investigate a forgotten cave. The cave is the lair of a long dead necromancer who snatches people in order to be immortal by sucking their life making them older. (Reward: A title in the kingdom)

Evil Mages:

A secret necromancer cult needs an innocent virgin soul to use as a sacrifice to call upon a great demon manifestation. (The cult offers them a cursed item and access to their lair)

An evil entity needs help getting more believers to his cult and wants the adventurers to spread chaos upon a local village dressed as his champions (Reward: More successful intimidation attempts because of their evil fame)

A group of vampires needs a few priests to be able to create a holy magic antidote out of their blood. (Reward: Vampire favor and being able to perform blood rituals)

A group of werewolves wants to take over a village by slaughtering all their men and children, using the women as sperm deposits to give life to new werewolves.(Reward: A magic technique stronger under the full moon)

Criminal sorcerers want a powerful creature’s soul to use it on a soul gem so they can make a defense mechanism for their entrances that doesn’t hurt sorcerers. (Reward: Black market of magic)

An animage is planning to frame a werewolf for the crimes he is about to commit. He wants you to scare him off when he is done without hurting him but also making sure nobody does.(Reward: A spirit animal)

A Blood manipulator wants the blood of a few Licantropes and vampires to be able to transform himself in the ultimate hybrid while being able to use magic. (Reward: A boss fight with him. In case of success, the ability to have a werewolf or vampire spell)

A shady ice-sorcerer wants help recovering a powerful magical item said to wield the power of a dragon inside it. (Reward: A boss fight against an actual dragon who’s actually the sorcerer… or a magic item that transforms you in a dragon)

An evil spirit who has taken control of a house in the city wants you to murder the man who sealed him in this weakened form (Reward: Being able to detect any changes in the evil magic atmosphere)

Defend a necromancer’s lair against four heroes who want him dead. (Reward: An undead version of one of the heroes)

Good Warriors:

The local blacksmith put out a poster asking for help. Some bandits have been stealing mine ore from the mines and he needs it to stop. (Better armor as a reward)

The local guards need help dealing with a group of bandits who are assaulting the caravan travelers (Reward is fame with the local guard)

The local tavern owner needs help dealing with the constant braws breaking out there. He needs someone to put a definitive end to it by making an example of the evil-doers.

Bounty hunter‘s clan needs the specific talents of the heroes to go on a campaign to collect a big bounty.(Reward: Money enough to buy a house for each party member)

A Spartan stronghold is going through difficult times because they don’t allow non-fighters to trade. Fetch the Spartans a job (Reward: Spartan training on constitution and having a free pass through their stronghold)

Carriagers need escort to a very dangerous place full of beasts and thiefs who try to stop the carriage for its loot. (Reward: 1 free travel to anywhere via Griphon + the loot from the thieves)

Sailors need help travelling to Crandor to get a shippment of dragonskin and dragon bones. (Reward: Free way to travel in the cargo ships and a small boat called Pluto to travel through dangerous waters).

A rather rich fella wants to get rid of his pet who has murdered his wife. A saber cat. (Reward: Money and free entrance of the city’s protitution center)

A warrior clan wants to send a message to the local guard that they are not to be messed with. Beat the captain of the guards on a fair fight. (Reward: Become member of the warrior clan. Receive a nickname out of the fight)

A shady person wants a good non-famous gladiator to beat Julius the Undefeated on a match so he can bet against him and win lots of money (Reward: A part of the money and fame as a great warrior)

Evil Warriors:

Bandits need help getting rid of another bandit clan to seize control over a turf. (Reward: A few slaves to be chose A La Carte)

A local guard brigade is currently raiding the local bandits for the practice of slavery. Help the bandits (Reward: A fight to prove yourself against their leader and the title of shot caller)

A powerful politician needs protection against a few guards to get out of the city alive (Reward: Being taken as a slave)

A rogue needs assistance to go through a cave of grizzly bears in order to have a secret passage to steal from travelers (Reward: The scary armor of a grizzly bear and part of the first loot)

A black knight’s clan wants a volunteer to terrorize the city using their armor to raise their influence over that place. (Black Knights respect and a black armor)

A shifty merchant wants protection on a negotiation with 3 mercenaries.(Reward: The mercenaries clan location + a potion of super-human strenght)

An insane evil genius is planning on making a terrorist attack on the capital to gain influence over the king but he needs to guarantee a major distraction on the city hall. Attack the city hall and make as much damage as possible. (Reward: A wish granted for you by the king himself)

One of the city guards wants to be promoted to captain. He wants to get rid of the competition. Find him in the tavern and beat his knees up, but not too much, just a bloody brawl. (Reward: Free ticket out of jail by this captain)

A former soldier seeks revenge over the beheader of his brother who poisoned the fountain where everybody got water from. “An innocent prank” he describes. Did not justify the death of his brother. (Reward: A family heirloom left by his brother - a poison recipee for a poisoned blade)

An Orc Stronghold is not doing well. It has been long since the last pillage. Find a city they can pillage (Reward: Become Orc-kin)

Rogue (No one plays a good rogue):

Local old-lady (Secretly a thief) needs help of a strong person to protect a farm from giants. (She offers a place to stay but if anyone leaves their belongings there, she says she was robbed and the items stay on her basement to sell it to the black market)

The local General trader from a general store was robbed. (Reward: he’s willing to buy their wares for a fair price with no questions asked…)

Local thieves need help dealing with the guards. Cause a distraction and help the bandits to win their favor.

Assassins need help getting close enough to a powerful man who works for the king. (He has been claiming the lands of the farmers for himself) (Reward: a free assassination ticket and knowing how to reach the assassins’s leader)

The local beggar claims to have a treasure map and he’s willing to sell it or share the treasure. The actual treasure has been stolen by a legendary thief(His mark is there), which makes the beggar lose the little sanity he has left. (Reward: Did you really expect a beggar to give you a reward?)

The local thieves are offering a shady job offer. You have to go inside the general store, steal a family jewel and take it to the jewel specialist. (Reward: A position in the thieves guild)

The city duke is longing to become king because he secretly sees a war coming and the current king doesn’t wanna reinforce security. You’re hired to steal everything you can from the royal coffin and from the citizens to raise people’s awareness for security. (Reward: All the things you can get are yours)

The royal guard is planning the biggest attack on the black market and the thieves guild to get rid of them forever. Help them attack where it hurts. (Reward: Become an underground advisor for the royalty)

A merchant has been threatened by the local mafia. He wants you to track them down after the attack to steal from them every last coin in mass.

A little girl from a farm wants you to get her sweetroll back from a mean boy. When you arrive, the boy is performing a ritual to summon the dark brotherhood and he can’t do it without the sweetroll. (Reward: You can track the assassin back to his lair and give them to the authorities…for a price.

[cryogenichusk]

Best Of 2018

Can I just not comment on the year overall and get to the good stuff? Cool.

Here are our top albums of 2018, in alphabetical order, with a few honorable mentions and a mix to download that cherry-picks a song from each of the listed albums. Cheers!

Actors - It Will Come To You Full kudos and props to Aversionline (who have been doling out primo reviews, resulting in many purchases since the early 2000s) to keying us in to this one... in fact he said it best, “Thoroughly impresses with its cinematically synthwaved brand of forlorn-yet-danceable post-punk that wanders through an early-2000's Interpol type of take on such influences; plus a lush, modernized air of darkness that brings individuality to Actors' approach.”

The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can’t Any Longer This Portland duo continues the expansion of their sound, going beyond avant-noise-metal-experimentalism and further into electronic realms. The addition of female vocals on multiple tracks, ranging from angelic to war cries, along with carefully placed stringed instrumentation, expand their sonic palate even further. Post-future primitivism at its best.

Candy - Good To Feel Metallic hardcore that’s short, sweet, and to the point (oh, and pissed off). Most reviews/reviewers are really patting themselves on the back as they specifically codify the various genres/scenes this record touches on... However, the most telling thing: this album is nine songs in 18 minutes.

Convulsing - Grievous Admittedly, this is the album on our list, we still need to spend more time with (the average song length is about eight and a half minutes - usually that puts our guard up fast)... but it’s been captivating to see the balance between the visceral heaviness (and speed) when delivered with deliberate, unfolding song structures (RIYL: Ulcerate). 

Del Judas - Deity Dark, gothy rock/americana - not unlike King Dude’s earlier releases, but with higher production value and delivered with more impassioned vocals, like from some of the acts of the 80s that crossed over from this style into pop culture (e.g. The Cult, The Church, etc.)

Harm’s Way - Posthuman Metallic HxC that brings the meathead grooves, perfect for working out. Heavy.

Holygram - Modern Cults Drab Majesty didn’t put out a record in 2018 (booo!), but here’s the next best thing. Holygram add a little tweak to the gothy-dancy-yet-mopey post-punk/new-wave motif but introduce a little lightness via shoegaze washes ala White Lies or The Weekend.

Immortal - Northern Chaos Gods Zero innovation has never been more welcome. Icy black metal from the masters, no Abbath - no problem, with just a touch of the classic and anthemic mid-era Bathory. There might be a slight dose of monotony throughout the album as a whole, but when the nostalgia of this sound and style hits, it’s easy to be forgiving.

Jaye Jayle - No Trail And Other Unholy Paths Rustic Americana from the frontman of Young Widows. Vacillates between “dusty ‘ol west” and “noir movie scene with protagonist looking out the cab window driving by a rainy city and grimy neon lights” - each modality is weary and searching.

Jesus Piece - Only Self When there was a face we wanted to melt this year, the song turned to the most was “Punish” from Jesus Piece. Pitch perfect late 90s/early 2000′s metallic hardcore channeled through a modern lens (and yea, yea, some reviews will probably mention the latter half of the record experimenting with more noisy, doomy songs - they’re cool too).

Kælan Mikla - Nótt Eftir Nótt Icelandic trio that nails the coldwave balance, sometimes teetering into dance territory, sometimes pulling back into melancholic pop, often reminiscent of Ladytron (who we love).

King Dude - Music To Make War To Shouldn’t be a surprise to see King Dude on the list at this point if you’ve been following along for a few years... Also, not surprising: our pithy “review” of his new album... which is the broken record quip of his previous few albums, i.e. “A continued expansion of his sound, blah blah blah...” Dark occult rock with dashes of highly niche sub-genres (e.g. garage, gothy confessional, proto-pysch rock, etc.)

Our Place Of Worship Is Silence - With Inexorable Suffering Bestial blackened death metal that sounds feral and unhinged. Cavernous bellows, but tight and crisp guitars that can crunch as much as provide disorienting dissonance. It’s hard to put into words, but these guys are really doing something unique that is nuanced (at least to those who listen to batshit crazy metal regularly), and checks a lot of disparate boxes simultaneously.

Secret Cutter - Quantum Eraser Biggest surprise of the year. No real reviews or fanfare, just a recommendation or two from a reliable source. But wow! What a great sound and style here: blending downtuned simple, noise-rock riffs, think Unsane trying to play sludge, with flashes of adrenaline in monochrome. There’s something about the dry sounding production and drone-influenced riffs, which are oh-my-god heavy while being angular and repetitive, that gives the whole package a concrete tone and feel that’s very unique.

The Soft Moon - Criminal By this point, The Soft Moon should need no introduction, he’s one of the premiere acts of modern darkwave/post-punk. This go ‘round sees his formula augmented with some more industrial and psychedelic flourishes.

Thou - Magus You’ve already heard all about “The Summer Of Thou” in 2018, these NOLA avant-sludge masters released three EPs, a split, and this: their magnum opus all within the span of several months. That’s a lot to take in, hell, this album is a lot - almost impossible to take all in one sitting, but they’re really operating in a league of their own at this point. It’d be one thing if it was the heavy music alone: but knowing the songs grapple with deeper issues of existentialism, individuality, and philosophy make it resonate deeper.

Tomb Mold - Manor Of Infinite Forms Grimy deathmetal with no novelties or frills outside of nostalgia for the glory days of deathmetal’s arrival in the late 80s/early 90s. This notion is further cemented with an absolutely NAILED production job.

Unravel - Eras Of Forfeit Beefy, thick death metal that sees these Aussies meld the Swedish HM-2 sound with added muscle and heft. Muscular grooves, impressively burly vocals, and tempo changes galore. Plus, with 11 songs in 23 minutes, there’s absolutely no filler to be found. Also that Dan Seagrave cover art is FIRE.

Honorable Mentions:

Dead Can Dance - Dionysus Cold Cave - You & Me & Infinity Daniel Avery - Song For Alpha Mausolei - Horizont and Vorposten

                               Cryogenic Husk #82 - Best Of 2018

1) Holygram - She’s Like The Sun 2) King Dude - Velvet Rope 3) Jaye Jayle - As Soon As Night 4) The Soft Moon - It Kills 5) Actors - We Don’t Have To Dance 6) Del Judas - Of Love And Death 7) Kælan Mikla - Draumadís 8) The Body - Nothing Stirs 9) Thou - The Changeling Prince 10) Convulsing - Beaten 11) Jesus Piece - Punish 12) Our Place Of Worship Is Silence - Chronicles Of Annihilation 13) Candy - Good To Feel 14) Harm’s Way - Human Carrying Capacity 15) Secret Cutter - Trampled By Light 16) Immortal - Called To ice 17) Unravel - Carcinogenesis 18) Tomb Mold - Final Struggle Of Selves

[weston-hcs]

Chapter 137: Animal symbolism

Sebastian is an ugly bitch and we all know that. But what does his grossness actually mean? Supernatural beings take on the form of whatever a human is able to comprehend, yet this does not mean that it is their true form. Sebastian’s appearance so far is probably not what one can call a true form. How have I already pumped out a full-on analysis within a few hours after translating the chapter myself? Hi I’m Sen and welcome to my TED talk on demonic and animalistic imagery. 

The first image in Chapter 137 we have of Sebastian’s animal forms is the image of a reptilian like eye. If we were to jump to a quick conclusion, we can make an assumption that Sebastian is the demon Moloch - a demon from Judaism with a lizard like form. In addition to this, Moloch has also been known to feed off of sacrificed children. In this predicament, Sebastian fits these criteria. Lizards, or “leTa’ah”, have been listed in Leviticus 11, said to be unclean “creeping things.”

It is likely that Toboso’s use of animal forms here looks towards Biblical representation, due to the nature of this series, yet another interpretation is quite ironic - lizards contradict one of Sebastian’s most powerful statements in this chapter. They have the power to regenerate that which is lost. Apart from that, the close up of the eye evokes an image of power; not that we haven’t just seen him slaughter a man, but hiding the rest of his form is a powerful technique to make one see him as a being of grandeur, that his eye alone is enough to evoke terror.

The image of the fly is our next image, again only as an eye. Within each unit of Sebastian’s, we can see O!Ciel’s fearful reflection. Judging by how Ciel looks up at him, it can be assumed that… that’s a big bitch. Even more terrifyingly so, Ciel can see his own reflection - he can’t avoid looking at his ‘cowardly’ expression. This adds to the psychological torture that leads to the eventual contract. Looking back at theological sources again, we can ponder upon Sebastian’s identity not being Moloch but rather the better known Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies.

Compounded with the fact that in this chapter Sebastian is only referred to as “the demon/devil”, one could even assume that Sebastian is the greatest demon of them all, as Beelzebub is sometimes used as another name for a devil. Though, judging by Sebastian’s power in comparison to Grim Reapers, I would assume that Sebastian is neither Satan, nor a prince of Hell. Flies have been associated with the devil and evil in many passages of scripture, one of the most famous is when God sent down a plague of flies in the Old Testament - in both Biblical means and in this chapter, the appearance of a fly is a portent for greater tragedy.

Perhaps the most Biblical animal imagery you can get is the snake, what we see Sebastian presented as next. The Fall of Man where Satan in the form of a serpent is what first may come to mind in this scene; Ciel is tempted by the devil without knowing any better, his contract built upon the belief that it was his own fault that he had lost his family. However, the demon Aym seems to fit this motif as well. While every demon takes a beautiful and charming form, Aym is noted for his ability use people’s secrets against them and get them to do things that they otherwise may not want to do.  After each animal that is presented in Sebastian’s form, they so far all fit within the general idea of his character.

Most interestingly is the positioning of this form. The snake appears very near to Ciel, it’s fangs close enough to bite, yet it is still outside of the cage. This contributes again to the psychological fear that Sebastian uses to coerce his victim into forming a contract. Not only does he terrify the child, but symbolically it represents Sebastian’s freedom outside of the cage - while Ciel is obviously constrained within the cage, denying this contract and the demon’s request would mean that he’d be left alone. Sebastian has already demonstrated his power in obliterating everyone outside of the cage, and it’d be an easy feat to destroy the child sitting vulnerable inside it. This image not only adds to the idea of Sebastian as the cunning tempter, but also that he is cruel and ruthless in his ways, finding ease to tap into one’s trauma and terror to get what he really wants. He’s an absolute... snake.

The image of the dog is just about one of the last that Ciel would want to see in that moment. Again, though Sebastian may not have had knowledge of it, this form again, adds to the idea of tapping into mental torment. For Ciel, who also thinks of how he can’t even run back to his dog anymore, this only adds to rub salt in his wounds. By appearing as a dog, Sebastian can appeal to Ciel’s guilt, making him feel as if it was his fault that his dog had died, but he can also create the fear that even those who once loved him now despise him. No wonder this is the image that shows before he’s finally broken.

This appeal also grants the idea of safety. We’ve established that he is the guard dog to the Queen’s guard dog right at the start of this series. For Ciel, who’s lost one of the last beings that protected him, having the same creature appear to him grants an idea of hope. This of course is truly sad, considering that Sebastian steals all of this away by word of the contract, but it’s still enough to deceive Ciel into thinking that he has no choice but to come to Sebastian. I mean, Sebastian is a real.... son of a bitch.

The next three images placed in succession, which can mean that they are or less significance. However, these three animals - a raven, an octopus and a goat - are still important in understanding Sebastian’s nature. Interestingly, anthropologist Claude Levi Strauss proposed that ravens are almost mythic in status as they are the mediator animals between life and death, being carrion birds. These birds have been associated with Sebastian before in Toboso’s sketches and moreso the introduction to the anime. While the anime-canon is one that most of us would like to forget, it has become increasingly relevant with the arrival of the recent chapters, what with Alois being used as a parallel to Ciel’s suffering. The contract in the anime is depicted in a shower of raven feathers, so having Sebastian be portrayed here as a raven is fitting. All in all, this… doesn’t really tell us much of what we already know. Sebastian is powerful, what’s the deal with that?

The deal is that he may have not been so powerful before. In German stories, and as we know Toboso does pull inspiration from Germany, ravens are the damned souls. Perhaps this is Toboso’s indicator of what demons actually are. Many theories have speculated that in the series they must be fallen angels, or that demons were just born demons - it can be seen that Sebastian may in fact be a damned soul, once a human, but sentenced to an eternity of suffering. This however is all speculation and can be considered as Toboso teasing us on the discovery of what Sebastian is later on.

Even more confusingly so… we have… an octopus? There isn’t much to go upon in biblical terms. Apart from the fact that you’re not supposed to eat “anything in the seas… that does not have fins and scales”, octopi are pretty much irrelevant. It’s positioning in the panel seems distant yet the stance of it’s tentacles appear to be ready to pounce upon Ciel. In fact, both the octopus and raven appear in this way. The statement that Sebastian has been “summoned” and “that this fact shall never change” is fitting with the image - once both have a hold on their targets, it will be near impossible to be free from their grasp. This octopus represents the futility of escape. Sebastian is the only choice Ciel has at surviving. (The discord chat kept on making Octodaddy jokes as I wrote this and I almost lost my will to live)

The goat is probably the most significant image of the devil, alike to the snake. During the Green Witch arc, Sebastian’s description of their meeting to Sieglinde even shows the typical depiction of a devil - a goat head, bird-like wings and a woman’s breasts. This image was worshipped by many cults such as the Free Masons. However, most significantly, this is the image of Baal/Baphomet (and his other many ridiculous names), one of the worst demons. In fact, I would say that Baal is closest to Sebastian’s character out of any demon that I could pull right outta my ass. As a commander of war, Baal supervises the destruction of masses - during the Green Witch arc, he finds interest in the development of humanity, but in particular their war efforts over science. Baal also desires sacrifices in great numbers, usually with sacrifice under deception… as we witnessed in the last few chapters.

Though I don’t believe that Sebastian is actually one of the named demons in any monotheistic religion, I do see that he is comparable to many demons. This is exactly the danger that we shouldn’t fall into so early. The image of the goat is deceptive; it’s what one usually assumes when they think about an animalistic devil. Perhaps this is a clue as to Toboso telling us not to get too comfortable with our perception of Sebastian just yet - in fact, I beg to argue that this is a forewarning of us getting further insight into Sebastian’s character as a whole.

Finally, we arrive at the image of a bat. The idea of bats as demonic has existed in many cultures. Looking outside from Biblical connotations, bats have been associated with creatures as the Jilaiya in Indian lore and more. Once again, positioning is important, with the bat outside of the cage, a taunt to coerce Ciel into accepting the contract. To cast someone “to the bats”, a saying used in the Bible when told what to do with idols, is to consign them to desolation or ruin. This is exactly what Sebastian is doing; it is through Sebastian’s hand that Ciel will be lead to damnation. However, these are all ideas that we’ve beaten half to death in the fandom. Apart from plot revelation of Sebastian’s manipulation, there isn’t too much that we learn about Sebastian at all.

Now what will I conclude out of all of this? You poor sad fools… Sebastian doesn’t have a true form. Toboso is too lazy to draw- Nah, I’m just fucking with y’all. We won’t see that true form for a while. We’re going to get shady little snippets of what he is, but Toboso might stick with the idea that demons are incomprehensible and unfathomable to the human eye. Yet, this is a forewarning that we will eventually gain further insight into what Sebastian is. However, if you’d ask for my interpretation…

Sebastian is full of bullshit and that might just be all that we get.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Shoutout to @asthmaticastre for putting up with my bullshit.

[rinrinp42]

Becoming Grim Chapter 2

Here’s the second chapter!  In which questions don’t get answered until they do, relationships are hard, and some people show up.

Kravitz slipped from behind the tapestry, once more in his vest and jerkin, medallion on display. He glanced around and sighed. Good, no guards. He turned and took a step towards his rooms when a hand landed on his shoulder. He stiffened.

"Dear Heart, thou hast been visiting Kleeck once more," his mother spoke from behind him.

Kravitz spun around to face her.

"I, I don't know what thou mean-" he started.

She interrupted him by running a hand through his straightened hair, magic warm on her hand. A modified Seeming weaving into his hair, solid unlike a regular version of the spell.

"Thine feathers were on display," she told him with a wistful smile.

Kravitz ducked his head, peeking through his lashes at the elaborate style her own hair was in and the mostly hidden braid holding a gold bead and feather.

"Where we in the Haugskold, thy dreads would proudly show them," she told him, placing a bejeweled hand on his cheek.

"Kleeck says thou still shine like obsidian," he told her.

Delight lit up her face before it shuttered, and her hand dropped.

"Wife," a harsh voice barked from behind Kravitz and he flinched, "Boy! What are the two of you doing in the middle of the hall?"

"My Lord," Kuori's voice was flat, "we were discussing which instrument Kravitz shall learn next."

His Lordly Father snorted in disdain.

"Nothing will come of it, why bother?"

Kuori's arm twitched, as if she were about to reach for a weapon that was no longer there.

Kravitz had never seen her zweihänder but Kleeck had sketched it out once, showing Kravitz how Kuori looked as the Sorcerer Queen of the Haugskold before his Lord Father had taken her.

He imagined his Lord Father did not think of said zweihänder when he spoke to Kuori thusly.

And yet, his mother stayed her hand, taking a breath before answering.

"It is enough to fill his time. Or would you rather he go to the Slums?"

His Lord Father sneered at that and stalked closer.

Kravitz woke with a start, as The Raven Queen's favorite, oversized raven cawed at him.

Oh, it was, he had fallen asleep. He.... didn't really do that in the Astral Plane, though Shadowfell was always an exception to the rule. He slipped from the ger, squinting at the false sun Hades had weedled for upon marrying his wife. The day cycle was determined by Persephone, but it still aligned with the Material Plane in some spots.

He needed to go, he had to explain things to Taako.

He stretched and gave a pat to one of the ravens as he headed out of Shadowfell and into the Astral Plane proper. He nodded to a few of the Guards, old souls who had sworn themselves to the good of the Astral Plane and the souls within, who would remain loyal to The Raven Queen as long as she held the well being of said souls as a top priority.

With nary a thought, Kravitz ripped a tear to the Material Plane, and Taako's house, open and stepped through.

He was immediately tackled by his boyfriend, the elf wrapping around him and burying his head in Kravitz's shoulder.

"Taako?"

"You didn't come home," the elf mumbled, and Kravitz silently cursed even as he wrapped his own arms around Taako.

"I, uh, spent the night in Shado- in the Astral Plane. I, I didn't think you wanted me here, and, I, uh, had to think about some things-"

Taako shook his head.

"Don't care. Just don't, don't do that again, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Kravitz promised, what else could he do?

Taako pulled back, determinedly ignoring how he wiped at his eyes. Kravitz let him keep the fantasy.

"You are probably starving my man. Let ol' Taako whip you up something."

"Taako, about last night-"

"Nope. We are having brunch and moving on."

Kravitz swallowed and nodded. He wasn't going to make Taako listen to his stupid past. He'd just.... deal. He'd done it before.

It was a strange few days after that, with Taako being clingy and refusing to talk about it and Kravitz both not wanting to push and desperately trying to forget the memories the medallion had brought up.

And then there was Lup.

"I don't give a shit if you are The Raven Queen's favorite, I will kick your ass if this keeps up," she snarled at him before their next bounty.

Kravitz gave her a startled look.

"I, I don't-"

"Listen here jackass, I can and will get Lucretia to put a Ward around Taako's house to keep you out."

"Lup, what are you-"

"How you're treating Koko!" she exploded at him, "He's walking on eggshells around you so you won't fuck off again!"

Kravitz paused at that, replaying Taako's actions since he got back and cursed himself again. Of course Taako was trying to keep him from running off, it was just like how he'd doted on Lup once she got her body back.

Gods he was an idiot. Kleeck would have whapped him upside the head for this. "Bards - and yes, a conductor is a Bard - must observe the feelings their music creates." He hadn't even thought about why Taako was so clingy, about what he had brought up for the elf.

"We have a job," he told her, his voice sharp as he swept past, his flesh melting into bones, "keep the personal out of it."

She glared at his back.

Later, Kravitz stepped through a tear and wrapped his arms around Taako, burying his face in Taako's updo.

"I need to have a long talk with The Raven Queen," he mumbled.

Taako turned in his arms, gazing up at him, slight panic in his eyes.

"But first I need to explain what happened before."

"No, Taako's good out here," the elf protested.

Kravitz shook his head.

"I don't, I'm not ready to share all the details, but you deserve to know," he said.

Taako was silent at that.

"When I was a child, my mother was married to a very powerful man. She hated him dearly, but for all her strength and magic, he outclassed her. He, he didn't treat us or those who relied on him in any decent way. My mother was as much a possession to him as any jewel. We, my mother and I, along with my mother's lover and my mentor, led a rebellion against him. We won, and he was gone. But now these medallions that are just like the ones he made us wear are popping up in these necromancy cults."

"You don't like to talk about then, do you?"

"No, it, it wasn't a good time. My mentor, Kleeck... Kleeck was all but destroyed."

A tug on his Soul and a raven's caw in his mind. He sighed.

"I have to go, but Taako?" he cupped Taako's face in his hands, "I will always come back to you, okay? And if I can't? Then I know you would find a way to get me back. You already did it once."

Taako smirked at that.

"Damn right I did."

Kravitz smiled at him and placed a kiss to his forehead before giving him a proper kiss. And then he was striding through a tear, flesh melting away.

"Where did you disappear to?" Lup asked with a facimal of a scowl, "I had to argue with the Guards to be able to even get that necromancer out of the Stockade. They don't even like me!"

"They just don't know you," Kravitz said, nodding to one of the Guards hovering around.

:She knows not the past of this realm,: they told him.

Lup's lich-like form flickered in confusion.

"What was that?"

"Val wished to tell me something. :She'll get there.: Don't worry about it."

With that he led the way, stepping into one of the wrinkles of space in the Astral Plane that would take one to Shadowfell. The trick was knowing how to even find one outside the Appeal Gate. The Soul in Lup's grip transformed into a ghostly figure even as her jaw dropped.

"Skin, love, it's rude to walk about Shadowfell in work forms," he told her, even as his own flesh formed around him.

Lup obeyed numbly.

"I didn't know this was here," she mumbled, glancing at the gers, the various Celestials wandering around, the Souls who had bargained with The Raven Queen for something or other that meant they were kept from the Sea of Souls, and the Guards who no longer looked like people shaped light.

"Did you think The Raven Queen held court in the Stockade?" Kravitz asked, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"I, I guess I didn't think about it."

Kravitz hummed at that.

"Arawn is with her," Persephone said as she slid up next to them.

Lup gave the Celestial a wide eyed look.

"She knows you are coming and the Three Judges are holding court outside. This must be very important," she peered up at Kravitz through her flower crown, eyebrows raised.

"It really is. Ellyjobell will most likely join us as well," Kravitz glanced at the Guard as the once-gnome stepped into line with him.

The grim look on her face was only made worse by the scar she still bore that nearly bisected her face.

Persephone gave a startled look to the pair of them and fell back.

Kravitz led the way into the Hall where The Raven Queen and one of the Celestials were leaning over a map. Arawn was a more than capable warrior, and was more willing than some of the other Death Celestials to fight for the Souls in their possession and the well being of the living.

The two glanced up as the group entered.

"DID YOU SPEAK WITH TAAKO MY OWN?" The Raven Queen asked, the hint of her smirk only visible when one knew where to look around her great headpiece.

Kravitz rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I did. But if we could focus on the important part?"

Arawn chuckled at the two of them.

"YOU AND YOUR RELATIONSHIP ARE ALSO IMPORTANT TO ME MY OWN," she teased him.

Kravitz flushed before motioning Lup and the necromancer forward.

"This is one of the recent necromancers we have found with that mark. And this one was willing to make a deal."

The Raven Queen grew serious at that.

"CENTAUR NESSUS SHOULD YOU PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE MEDALLION YOU WERE FOUND WITH, TIME SHALL BE LIFTED FROM YOUR SENTENCE, THE AMOUNT DETERMINED BY THE CONTENT OF YOUR INFORMATION."

Nessus quaked at that before straightening.

"We serve an Old God, one that predates even you," Nessus sneered, "the High Priest realized the whispers for what they were once we all heard the Story."

The Raven Queen regarded him for a moment.

"HM. ALMOST USELESS. BUT STILL, I CAN BE GENEROUS. ONE YEAR."

"What?! When Nerull takes his rightful place, you will be ousted from power and placed under Him, where you should be! When that day comes his loyal servants will be rewarded and I will be free!" Nessus ranted.

Kravitz swung is scythe around with a flourish, bringing it to a rest on Nessus's throat.

"Speak like that again and your sentence will become a Destruction instead of Imprisonment," he spoke casually.

Nessus froze at that. The large raven that shadowed The Raven Queen most of the time chortled.

Ellyjobell stalked to the door and jerked it open.

"Henzio! Shava! Get in here!" she barked.

Two more Guards slipped into the Hall, nodding at the reapers and giving short bows to the goddess before focusing on Ellyjobell.

"We're done with this trash, take it back to the Stockade."

The Aasimar and Elf nodded and grabbed Nessus, effortlessly dragging him away. Once they were gone, Ellyjobell turned back to the rest.

"So," she said, her voice falsely cheerful, "the Cult of Nerull is back. What are we going to do?"