#they were called “daisy” instead of “guardian”

[sorryiliketoscreenshot]

[alexsgrimoire]

Beltane & May New Moon Ritual Script - 2024

Here's the script I put together for my coven's combined Beltane and New Moon ritual that I'm leading this weekend! There were some scheduling issues with the UU Church we meet at and this date was the only one that really worked, so we decided to combine both into one since they're both close to the date and have similar correspondences! If you're using the script, please tag me in it!

DO NOT INTERACT: TE/RFS, TE/HMS, SW/ERFS, TRAN/SMEDS, TRUS/CUM, TRANSPHOBIC, HOMOPHOBIC, EXCLUSIONISTS, CONSERVATIVE, NAZI, TRADWIVES, ANTI-BLM, ANTI-ASIAN, XENOPHOBIC, ABLEIST, ANTI-POP CULTURE PAGANISM

Meditation

Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Feel the air come in through your nose and out through your mouth. Take a moment to center yourself.

It’s a warm spring afternoon. The sky is cloudless as the Sun shines above, illuminating the prairie you stand in. The earth feels warm and tender underneath your bare feet. Wiggle your toes in the grass and feel the wildflowers in various colors tickle your toes and ankles. The fresh breeze smells of roses and honeysuckle, and birds chirp in nearby shrubs.

You spot a circle of people partaking in a dance before you. Colorful dresses and tunics flow in the wind, and flower crowns of daisies and daffodils sit on their heads. They cheer and sing, their voices floating on the wind. As you approach, those nearest you smile kindly and open their arms to allow you to join in. You enter and hold their hands, quickly feeling joy and warmth. You turn with them, the energy transferring from hand to hand.

Your hands release at the height of the energy, and you each dance independently. You use all the power you gathered to dance. Shaking your arms and legs, headbanging, spinning around, whatever brings you the most joy. You dance and dance until you’re worn out, then lie down in the grass and stare at the sky.

You regain your breath, breathing in and out deeply. As the Sun begins to set, the sky has turned from bright blue to shades of pink, purple, and orange. The Sun God starts to depart, taking the youthful energy of the day with Him. The Moon Goddess now enters, bringing the serenity of the night sky and stars. The people you danced with under the Sun lie on the ground with you, softly humming a hymn to welcome Her presence.

The Moon in Her New phase doesn’t shine as brightly as She does during her Full phase. Instead, she offers just a slice of light, letting the constellations and other celestial bodies take their time in the spotlight. Despite Her hidden figure, you can still feel Her energy, a soft feeling of abundance, protection, and love.

As you lie in the grass, think about what you wish to achieve in the coming weeks. What will be the best way to reach them, and what reward will lie in the end? The Moon will grant your wish as long as you put in the effort to achieve it. Don’t forget that you have the power to succeed, and She offers her assistance.

You gently close your eyes as you lie in the grass after setting your intentions. It is time for rest and recovery after a long day with the God and Goddess. You are safe from all danger, protected by those Above and Below. You drift off into a reverie, awaiting what the next day brings.

As we end this meditation, center yourself and take another deep breath. Feel your feet ground you as you return to this plane. Once you are ready, slowly open your eyes.

Chant & Calling the Quarters

We’ll sing “We Are a Circle” now. Feel free to stand, but don’t feel pressured to.

ALL: We are a circle within a circle, with no beginning and never-ending. (x3)

Form a circle deosil around the group with a wand (x1) to the pace of the chant.

Now, to call the quarters.

East/Air Quarter Caller: Guardians of the East, we call upon you to watch over the rights of our Kindred. Powers of knowledge and wisdom, guided by Air, we ask that you keep watch over us tonight within this circle. Let all who enter the circle under your guidance do so in Perfect Love and Perfect Trust. Hail and welcome!

Light the yellow candle.

ALL: Hail and welcome.

South/Fire Quarter Caller: Guardians of the South, we call upon you to watch over the rights of our Kindred. Powers of energy and will, guided by Fire, we ask that you keep watch over us tonight within this circle. Let all who enter the circle under your guidance do so in Perfect Love and Perfect Trust. Hail and welcome!

Light the red candle.

ALL: Hail and welcome.

West/Water Quarter Caller: Guardians of the West, we call upon you to watch over the rights of our Kindred. Powers of passion and emotion, guided by Water, we ask that you keep watch over us tonight within this circle. Let all who enter the circle under your guidance do so in Perfect Love and Perfect Trust. Hail and welcome!

Light the blue candle.

ALL: Hail and welcome.

North/Earth Quarter Caller: Guardians of the North, we call upon you to watch over the rights of our Kindred. Powers of endurance and strength, guided by Earth, we ask that you keep watch over us tonight within this circle. Let all who enter the circle under your guidance do so in Perfect Love and Perfect Trust. Hail and welcome!

Light the green candle.

ALL: Hail and welcome.

Center/Spirit Quarter Caller: Guardians of Above and Below, we call upon you to watch over the rights of our Kindred. Powers of grounding and balance, guided by Spirit, we ask that you keep watch over us tonight within this circle. Let all who enter the circle under your guidance do so in Perfect Love and Perfect Trust. Hail and welcome!

Light the white candle.

ALL: Hail and welcome.

The Story of Beltane & the May New Moon

Beltane, also known as May Day, Walpurgis Night, and Floralia, marks the halfway point between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. The name and festival Beltane are Gaelic in origin, which comes from the words “Bel,” meaning “bright,” and “Tene,” meaning fire, along with the God Belenus, who represents Fire. Beltane is considered the oldest holiday in Gaelic tradition, dating back to at least the 10th century. 

In modern Pagan practices, Beltane represents the Sacred Union between the Mother Goddess and Horned God, conceiving the Harvest Child. The phallic maypole and yonic wreath of flowers and ribbons represent their Rite. As such, Beltane has become a time for fertility and sexuality, and it’s also associated with creativity and love. Bonfires represent fertility, protection, and the longer days of summer, and crops, beauty, and creativity continue to grow.

Beltane is also associated with fairies of Gaelic lore, specifically the aos sí. The veil is thinnest at this time, much like at Samhain, allowing them to pass through. The aos sí were appeased with offerings of food and drink to prevent their troublesome natures and in hopes that they would grant wishes.

Along with Beltane, we also celebrate the New Moon of May tonight. The New Moon is a time for setting intentions, manifestations, and new beginnings. It’s the beginning of the lunar cycle, where the moon is absent from the sky, and the stars shine brighter. The Moon’s energy is at one of Her highest, and it’s the perfect time for spellwork.

The May New Moon is in Taurus, representing creativity, sensuality, and abundance. These values align perfectly with Beltane, creating the perfect storm for intentions in these realms. It’s time to focus on achieving long-lasting results, especially those concerning money. However, the Earth element of Taurus reminds us to stay grounded and practical.

With Beltane and the Taurus New Moon coinciding near each other, the energy is high, promoting growth both in nature and within you. Take this time to focus on the pleasures in life and the abundance around you.

Cone of Power

Now, for the Cone of Power. Stand if you’re able, with hands linked. Left hand under, right hand over. As we chant, visualize the energy swirling around us and channeling into the sky.

ALL: Goddess and God

Moon and Sun

We link hands

And become One

Repeat louder & faster until the energy is built, then call release.

The Maypole Dance

((AUTHOR'S NOTE: I specifically wrote this section to accompany the song "Bard Dance" from the Baldur's Gate 3 soundtrack and this dance pattern. You do not have to use this same source material, and I encourage you to give the ritual your own spin! I'm simply copying/pasting exactly how my script is written.))

As I mentioned earlier, dancing around the Maypole is a Beltane tradition that dates back to before the Middle Ages in Europe, and we’ll be bringing that tradition to life today! Everyone grab a ribbon from the Maypole, and I’ll get my metronome set up.

Set the metronome app for 112 BPM and wait until everyone has a ribbon.

We’re going to split into two groups, 1 and 2.

Count out groups 1 and 2 (every other person) and start the metronome.

This is the tempo we’ll be using for the dance, in counts of four: four beats per measure and four measures for each dance phase. I’ll count it out like this as we dance.

Count "1 2 3 4 / 2 2 3 4 / 3 2 3 4 / 4 2 3 4" along to the tempo.

For the dancing, group 1 will walk to the pole for two measures and then walk back out for two measures.

Give an example with measure counting.

Group 2 will now do the same.

Give an example with measure counting.

Then, we turn clockwise for four measures and counterclockwise for four. And then the dance repeats! Do we want to try it without music and then start with the music?

(IF TRYING WITHOUT MUSIC FIRST: Walk the group through one cycle of the dance, then play Bard Dance on Spotify for the full run time. Count out the measures during the dance.)

(IF STARTING WITH MUSIC: Set Bard Dance on Spotify and play/dance for the full run time. Count out the measures during the dance.)

Simple Feast

Take a moment to ground yourself after dancing, and take the time to think about how you engaged with your fellow dancers. Now is also a perfect time for refreshments, our cakes and ale! We have unleaded, ________________ provided by ________________, and leaded, ________________  provided by ________________. We also have ________________ for cakes, provided by ________________.

Pass around wafers, cups, and drinks.

May you never hunger.

ALL: May you never hunger.

May you never thirst.

ALL: May you never thirst.

Intentions & Bonfire

As this is the New Moon, we’ll set intentions, but this time on ribbons for a Beltane twist! If anyone would like a copy, I have a guide to ribbon colors and their meanings. Cut yourself a ribbon that connects to your intention for the coming weeks. ((AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ribbon color guide can be found here!))

Allow time for people to get/cut ribbons and grab pens.

Feel the ribbon in your hands. Think of what the color means to you and your goals for this lunar cycle phase. Imagine the ribbon tightly wound around a physical representation of your intention, a present of joy and success ready to be opened. When you're ready, write your intention on the ribbon and hold onto it for now.

Light the bonfire.

Bonfires are another Beltane tradition used as a method of protection and purification. Historically, Gaelic people walked livestock between two bonfires and sprinkled ashes over crops. The Fire element is also associated with new beginnings and transformation, which makes it the perfect method to activate intentions! As you toss your ribbon into the fire, visualize its Sacred power bringing your intention to life!

Let everyone toss ribbons into the bonfire.

Dismissing the Quarters & Farewell

Now, to wrap up and thank the quarters.

North/Earth Quarter Caller: Guardians of the North, powers of endurance and strength, guided by Earth, we thank you for watching over the rights of our Kindred. May you be forever blessed. Hail and farewell!

Extinguish the green candle.

ALL: Hail and farewell.

West/Water Quarter Caller: Guardians of the West, powers of passion and emotion, guided by Water, we thank you for watching over the rights of our Kindred. May you be forever blessed. Hail and farewell!

Extinguish the blue candle.

ALL: Hail and farewell.

South/Fire Quarter Caller: Guardians of the South, powers of energy and will, guided by Fire, we thank you for watching over the rights of our Kindred. May you be forever blessed. Hail and farewell!

Extinguish the red candle.

ALL: Hail and farewell.

East/Air Quarter Caller: Guardians of the East, powers of knowledge and wisdom, guided by Air, we thank you for watching over the rights of our Kindred. May you be forever blessed. Hail and farewell!

Extinguish the yellow candle.

ALL: Hail and farewell.

Center/Spirit Quarter Caller: Guardians of Above and Below, powers of grounding and balance, guided by Spirit, we thank you for watching over the rights of our Kindred. May you be forever blessed. Hail and farewell!

Extinguish the white candle.

ALL: Hail and farewell.

The Circle is open, yet the Circle remains as its magical power is drawn back into us. 

ALL: Merry meet, and Merry part and Merry meet again! So mote it be.

Bibliography

Amanda. Beltane. Pinterest, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/10696117858758902/. Accessed 4 May 2024.

Amanda. “New Moon Rituals for 2024: Anticipate New Spiritual Beginnings.” Thepeculiarbrunette.Com, 21 Mar. 2024, www.thepeculiarbrunette.com/new-moon/.

Arina. Ribbon Colors to Make Wishes at Beltane. 30 Apr. 2021. Tumblr, https://swm-grimoire.tumblr.com/post/649920725689466880/beltane-blessings-to-you-all-and-happy-midspring. Accessed 4 May 2024.

“Bard Dance.” Spotify, Larian Studios, https://open.spotify.com/track/4RyPvJk0n6DLCptEoe6PE7?si=164e9e8f768d41cf. Accessed 4 May 2024.

Beltane Correspondences. Pinterest, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/31666003614457079/. Accessed 4 May 2024.

Beltane. 26 Apr. 2024. Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/p/C6PA1mtrXD8/. Accessed 4 May 2024.

Beltane. Pinterest, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/AVkyPjJ1KAjMZ2BVc5oVO1WzroMTbntG-SAaAezJAzJLiPyQxGAUb-E/. Accessed 4 May 2024.

“Beltane.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Beltane. Accessed 4 May 2024.

“Beltane.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 May 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltane.

“Best Crystals for New Moon.” Village Rock Shop, www.villagerockshop.com/blog/crystals-for-new-moon/. Accessed 4 May 2024.

Cass. “May 2024 Witch Guide.” Tumblr, 29 Apr. 2024, greenwitchcrafts.tumblr.com/post/749095783179206656/may-flower-moon.

Cunningfolk, Alexis J. “Grounded Strength : The New Moon in Taurus - Worts + Cunning Apothecary: Intersectional Herbalism + Magickal Arts.” Worts + Cunning Apothecary | Intersectional Herbalism + Magickal Arts, Worts + Cunning Apothecary | Intersectional Herbalism + Magickal Arts, 24 May 2017, www.wortsandcunning.com/blog/grounded-strength-the-new-moon-in-taurus.

“A Detailed History of Beltane.” Beltane Fire Society, 25 Mar. 2015, beltane.org/a-detailed-history-of-beltane/.

Gladheart, Friday. The Practical Witch’s Almanac 2024. Microcosm Publishing, 2023.

Grant, Ember. The Second Book of Crystal Spells: More Magical Uses for Stones, Crystals, Minerals ... and Even Salt. Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd, 2016.

Hadas, Julia Halina. The Modern Witchcraft Book of Moon Magick: Your Complete Guide to Enhancing Your Magick with the Power of the Moon. Adams Media, 2024.

Howell, Aden. “Bard Dance – Borislav Slavov Baldur’s Gate 3 - Bard Dance, Flute Duet.” Musescore.Com, 18 Jan. 2024, musescore.com/user/37316127/scores/13632847.

Jordan, Krystle. “Beltane Celebration: Fires, Faeries, & Love.” The Wholesome Witch, 10 Apr. 2021, www.thewholesomewitch.com/beltane-correspondence-guide/.

Kiernan, Anjou. The Ultimate Guide to the Witch’s Wheel of the Year: Rituals, Spells & Practices for Magical Sabbats, Holidays & Celebrations. Fair Winds, 2021.

Lowery, Heather. “Maypole Dance 1-Dance Steps-All the Way to Galway (Level 1).” YouTube, YouTube, 24 Apr. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=K54KrDlbwSU.

Luna, Bri. “New Moon in Taurus.” The Hoodwitch, The Hoodwitch, 24 May 2015, www.thehoodwitch.com/blog/2015/5/16/newmoon-in-taurus.

Mitchell, Krista. “Taurus New Moon Crystals.” Krista Mitchell, Krista Mitchell, 25 Oct. 2023, www.krista-mitchell.com/blog/taurusnewmooncrystals2018.

“New Moon in Taurus Set: Indulge Your Senses.” Sage Goddess, 8 June 2022, www.sagegoddess.com/product/new-moon-in-taurus-set/.

Russell, Davy. “The New Moon in Taurus.” DavyandTracy, 3 May 2024, davyandtracy.com/spirituality/new-moon-in-taurus/.

Shadow, Forest. Beltane Correspondences. 1 May 2023. Book of Shadows by Cybercat Designs, https://cybercatdesigns.com/blog/beltane-correspondences/. Accessed 4 May 2024.

Valkyrie. Beltane Correspondences. Pinterest, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/951385490022713178/. Accessed 4 May 2024.

Wigington, Patti. “The Origins of the Maypole Dance.” Learn Religions, Learn Religions, 25 June 2019, www.learnreligions.com/history-of-the-maypole-2561629.

Willow. “Beltane Correspondences.” Flying the Hedge, 25 Apr. 2019, www.flyingthehedge.com/2019/04/beltane-correspondences.html.

Willow. “Elemental Magic: A Complete Guide to Fire Folklore & Correspondences.” Flying the Hedge, 18 June 2020, www.flyingthehedge.com/2020/06/fire-folklore-correspondences.html.

Wright, Jennifer. “Beltane Correspondences.” PaganPages.Org, 1 May 2021, paganpages.org/emagazine/2021/05/01/beltane-correspondences-12/. 

[pkmnomegaverse]

Cut Fankids Round 5

Once again that time for the yearly fankid cull. But I like to lay them out in a list like this to make them easy to add back if I change my mind. The theme (which is usually always the theme) is it's kids I don't wanna design. So they're getting the axe.

- Tory Lund (Omega; 37) & Pierce Sego (Alpha) (TowerFallShipping)

Avarel Lund - Omega!Boy; 15 (Twin)  (one-night stand)

Alois Lund - Omega!Boy; 15 (Twin)  (one-night stand)

The drama here was funny (so perhaps still happens anyway, who knows), but also I really am pretty stumped on a design for these two or even just who they are as characters. I really like the Max/Tory twins and a design for Rayner wouldn't be too hard if I just did it (and he's the important one with a story so won't cut him) but these two really do exist just for drama with the parents and not because I like the fankids. So just gotta cut my losses. Tory/Rafe just end up mirroring Wally/Brendan a bit more now (since that’s why they have the same age gap as Wally/Brendan, meant them as a parallel) but instead of being able to overcome the hurdles of accident baby when they're young, forcing them to make their relationship serious, they just aren't able to make it work, despite trying.

- Eusine Mori (Beta; 46)   

Feng Mori - Alpha!Boy; 14  (Unofficially Adopted/Ward of Eusine)

This isn't a direct cut per se, more moving Feng's parents around to try and save him. He's a character with enough backing I feel even were I to cut him, I'd still think about him. It's mostly Eusine as his guardian I just don't see anymore. So he's now added to Will/Karen's fam as the adopted lil bro of that family. Which since he's always been meant to be a bit flamboyant looking once I design him, I feel like it would fit right in with those two. Something something a weird Faller child with a cursed doll/Pokemon is something Will and Karen can probably handle better than Eusine. Also I’ve been kinda wavering on this fam, not sure if I want to keep them (more it’s Yumi who’s the issue, I have no idea what to do with her but don’t wanna cut her yet) so perhaps this will help shake things up enough to help with that issue.

- Tracy Sketchit (Alpha) & Daisy [Rivers] Sketchit(Omega) (HandymanShipping)

Beatrice Sketchit - Omega!Girl

This is not this ship being cut, just the kid (who in my head I always call Beat-Rice which is not endearing her to me enough to ever actually design her). But what is happening here is while I thought I cracked the code on a ship for Misty…I didn’t. Not really feeling Misty/Lorelei at all anymore as a ship. But adore the kids I designed, especially Aurora, so she gets to be a Handyman kid now. But what’s that you say, she is very clearly designed as a Lorelei kid? Don’t worry about it, she just super stans Lorelei. Thus why she’s theming her team around her and kinda styles her hair to match Lorelei’s iconic hair spike. But since she always was meant to take after her aunts a lot, in that sense, switching Daisy to her mom works fine. And Misty’s entire fam has wild hair colors anyway so why not a surprise redhead. I suppose it’s possible if Beat-Rice revives herself and a good Lorelei ship comes to me, I might flip Aurora back to Lorelei. Could even flip her back to Misty once I figure out what’s going on there. But for now she’s chilling here.

Which on that note

-  Lorelei Gail (Omega; 50) & Misty Rivers (Beta; 43) (ChestShipping) 

Aurora Gail-Rivers - Omega!Girl 

Calla Gail-Rivers - Omega!Girl  

Not the kids being cut here, just the ship. I just…can’t see them as a couple. No matter how I try to twist things around to maybe make it work. Decided on the ship out of desperation and the knowledge it would lead to good fankid designs (which it did, cracked the code in that sense at least). As I mentioned, Aurora goes to Tracy/Daisy and Calla will stay with Misty. I’m still debating who the other parent is. If I’m feeling lazy might just use Rudy (and was who I threw up as a placeholder). Say he’s that rando guy Misty is on a date with in HGSS (since I’ve always kinda contemplated if I could figure out who that guy could be, could just use him since am gameverse. Is her “canon boyfriend” in gameverse afterall). So basically going back to my earlier route where Misty has a daughter with basically an “OC.”

Also in gen, I’m thinking about shuffling some other kids around to different parents (for those whose designs either would make sense or would only need slight tweaks). As a way to trim ships without actually losing kids I designed for said ships. But still debating those so would make that another post.

[teeldaa]

so i was looking up datamined content from early access and wanted to rant and talk about some of the changes Ketheric and Shar His story was changed twice!in both ea version he was a moon elf chosen of shar(he had nothing to do with Myrkul),in the first version Halsin accidentally killed Isobel and that pushed ketheric to release the shadow curse, nightsong was an avatar of shar

this is the original nightsong,a necromancer called "sevryn"(beta version of balthazar?!) had quest for the player to kill her with a dagger that absorbed her power,but if you saved her she could become a camp follower,here's some of her lines

"Shar is the Nightsinger, and I am her Nightsong." "I am her instrument, transforming the faithful into Shadows." "I drink their sorrow, their loss, their grief,then I vomit it back into the world." "I was captured, by Ketheric Thorm - Shar's chosen.He turned me into this creature." "I want to sing my own song, not Shar's, not Ketheric's!"

you can listen to her datamined voice lines here and here's a video about that version in the second version Ketheric turned away from Selûne when Isobel was still alive in that version it was Balthazar who killed isobel then framed Aylin as her murderer there was this isobel's line "I was dead, Aylin. For so long. It was Balthazar - he trapped my soul, he-" and Aylin's line "It is why I couldn't leave your body, even when they came. Balthazar and that Sharran witch told your father that I was to blame." and one Ketheric's line @ Aylin"You killed my daughter, then you stand before me and lie? I'll see you suffer tenfold what my Isobel did."(source) i think being recruitable kinda make sense for this version of Ketheric because he was being manipulated by Balthazar and Shar btw here's ketheric and isobel's datamined models(source)

so act 2 was all about the conflict between Selune and Shar and they just slapped myrkul in there last minute?! so Ketheric being a sharran and a chosen of absolute means shar was somehow supposed to involved with the absolute plot(that why shadowheart and her fellow sharran went and stole the artifact)

Daisy,The Urges,Orpheus and The Emperor Daisy was the early access version of dream visitor and every companion used to have their own unique daisy(everyone had the same dream except Astarion)"Down by The River"and"The Power"used to be about daisy there were "urges" in early access that wanted you to kill Daisy Orpheus was in the artefact but he wasn't chained up,he was supposed to be the one who helped you and shielded you from the absolute instead of the emperor.He probably had a way bigger role there is a misconception that original tav was meant to be a bhaalspawn which is straight up false,the dreams and the urges from early access only accrued if you used your illithid power (using them originally meant to have severe consequences) i know some people say daisy was supposed to be a manifestation of the tadpole that was trying to turn you and your party into mindflayers but i don't think it was ever confirmed what daisy or those urges were,i could be wrong but i remember it was datamined that both the Absolute and Orpheus used the Daisy persona...idk i know some people are gonna be like"dream guardian is better,Daisy was creepy/obviously evil"but Daisy only appeared if you used your illithid power,plus you could just reject them...or even kill them

as for the emperor,at first i thought he was just a replacement for Daisy and Orpheus but apparently no!i was watching Harbs Narbs talking about bg3's magic the gathering cards,when he saw the elder brain's card he said"could this be the emperor?"

Cazador and The Butcher …they basically cut everything...(source of datamined lines) so there was this character called "the Butcher"(who was one of the chosen/leader of absolute)who asked you to find his apprentice "Ohler" in Baldur's Gate's graveyard and bring him back a flask(?!),he was the leader of a skeleton faction(their faction was called TadpoledSkeleton)their concept art is still in bg3 artbook

i'm guessing this butcher guy was supposed to be the original Armored male elf chosen of myrkul?!ohler was caught by an ancient and powerful vampire called"the alluring"

you could side with the butcher and bring him back his flask,then he proposed to turn you into an undead,but if he allowed him to performe the ritual to turn you undead he also would try to make you his puppet. if you managed to break free of his control and you had to fight him. To kill him permanently you had to destroy his phylactery,otherwise he would resurrects every time. or you could side with Cazador,he wanted the butcher guy dead

btw i was looking at bg3 art book pdf i found these on cazador's page

is that what he originally was supposed to look like?!the scythe...ugh it looks so cool the other interesting thing is apparently other spawns were somehow okay/happy with their situation

the other thing i wanted to mention is i think Cazador was originally supposed to be a half elf,the language Cazador uses is Kozakuran,The Kozakurans were a human ethnicity The Creche vs The Cult of the Absolute (source) there was supposed to be a fight between the absolute cultist(led by Orin and the butcher)vs the creche(and some sort of team up between lathander priests and githyanki)

you could side with the absolute,they wanted to stop Kith'rak Voss from returning to Vlaakith,here's some of the butcher's lines

and orin's

and this orin badass moment,i'm still salty they cut this for the full release...

or you could side with Voss and helped him escape(i suggest you watch the source video,there's so much more there)

some other stuff there was some datamined stuff bout the city here and here i don't get it...why did they change so many good stuff,Ethel's nephew and hag coven,Raphael's original deals,Zevlor plot twist and...are all gone at first i thought they"cut"those content due to time restriction or resource constraints but that's clearly not the case,There is a clear change in direction,i think what they were originally going for was"choosing the lesser of two evils"then they decided to go with more generic route of good vs evil! bg3 was released in August 2023,larian was looking for beta testers for Acts 2 & 3 in july 2022 idk maybe if they didn't rewrite the companions to be less mean/evil and didn't add halsin and dark urge they could have finish the game?!

[tabuuatfacetroid]

What has happened to the Nintendo Realms?

Everything I could have possibly wanted. Finally, I have complete unadulterated power in my Hands, and the Realms are close to being mine, and when they are, they will be consumed by the depths of Subspace forever.

I supposed I have @motheratfacetroid and @dsatfacetroid to thank for my rebirth. After years of Master Hand and Crazy Hand domineering the Realms as if the so-called Guardians were their puppets, the overlords of supremacy within the Realms had gotten sick of the Hands' antics and decided to take the reins for themselves. They sieged Final Destination, laid waste to both of the Hands, and incidentally destroyed the Monolith Crystal within the heart of their fortress. That infernal crystal had kept me bound ever since my last conquest ended in failure, all because I foolishly believed I could rely on those same puppets to fulfill my vision... but their inadequacy was the chink in my plot. But with the crystal obliterated, I felt my strength regaining like never before. All those plans, all those dreams, all those vendettas I swore to enact were finally tangible once more, and I finally took vengeance on them: the Guardians, the Hands... All of them.

With the pathetic pantheon of the Realms weakened by Mother Brain, I enslaved both Master Hand and Crazy Hand to my Chains of Light once more, I began my conquest across the Realms with an army of Primids at my side. I started at the precious beacon of innocence and hope for the Realms... Mushroom Kingdom, and in the middle of Princess Peach's 30th Birthday Party, I succeeded in the unthinkable: I killed Mario. I smote him with my amber-blood dagger, trapping his soul inside to fuel my strength. Not even the purest of Green 1UP Mushrooms could save him. The retaliation that came thereafter was violent as I slew Rosalina, the Alpha Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong. A select few like the cowardices Luigi, Waluigi, and Princess Daisy managed to escape my blade... but it didn't matter. After I executed Princess Peach, I took her crown, the Relic of Super Mario Galaxy, and crushed the crown in my hands. With the Realm destabilized, I could permanently shroud it in darkness. The left over R.O.B.s I had helped set up a Subspace Bomb, which detonated in the center of Mushroom Kingdom.

It bores me to go over all the little details that followed afterwards, but my conquest only became tedious after that. The crumbling of Super Mario Galaxy sent a rippling warning to the other Realms of my arrival, which only made me move up my timeline instead of relishing every moment of their demise. The next to fall was Hyrule, as I slew the virtuous Zelda and that traitor Ganondorf, using the power of the Hands to extract the Triforce of Power and Wisdom from their souls and into my hands. In the center of Hyrule Castle I detonated another Subspace Bomb, one so powerful it consumed the entire Realm. Only Link and his despicable Master Sword—the Sword that Seals the Darkness—remains as that hero fights in the shadows. But even he cannot survive the depths of Subspace for long. As my shadow bugs hunted down the Ancient Guardians of Hyrule and consumed them, they became my new agents. It won't be long now until the Triforce of Courage, the third and final piece, is mine.

The same story occurred with the Lylax System, Ivalice, Angel Land, and various alternates of a planet known as Earth. I admit, the power I faced when I came to most of these Realms was significant, but once their Guardian and their Relic was crushed, they bent to my will. There are a select few Realms that still evade my submission... the Realm of Pokémon and the Realm of Archanea and Valentia, to name a couple. But the most difficult I had faced after that was Dreamland. It is quite difficult to imagine that such a small, seemingly adorable, pink puff ball could cause so much damage. Kirby was my greatest threat yet... the power of the Star Rod enabled him abilities that could free the Hands. But once I captured his friends and smote Meta Knight and King Dedede, and took the demon's soul, Kirby was without allies any longer. Kirby escaped on a Warp Star, but with him no longer in Dreamland, that gave me the leverage I needed to consume Dreamland in eternal darkness, erupting the largest of Subspace Bombs in the center of Planet Popstar.

The grand conquest has been tiresome, but the consumption of the Realms, devouring the souls of the Guardians, and vanquishing the power of the Relics now leaves me eager to satiate my thirst for total control. I have decided to save the Metroid Realm for last, in gratitude for the inadvertent service of Mother Brain and Dark Samus of releasing me from my bonds. But when I am certain Kirby and Link are destroyed, then and only then will I begin my dominance of the last of the Realms.

And then all will fall under me.

All will fall under Tabuu.

[localcultivator]

K k so prompt mari is already in a relationship with Damian shes happy hes happy its adorable but dun dun dun Adrien finds out she's ladybug and tries to win her over it doesn't work but most of the class are rooting for him. Chloe is not she thinks he should respect that Marinette is happy with someone else and move on

Oh dear sweet anon, i have returned from war and I bring you this one shot, FINALLY FINISHED. it’s long, sorry. but pls enjoy. 

Marinette wanted to believe that today was going to be a good day. 

She had woken up early and was able to eat a full breakfast with her family, she was able to enjoy her walk to school and Damian was about to start his year abroad in Paris living with her family and going to school with her. 

Marinette had made plans to pick Damian up from the airport the next day, so she was walking on air. 

And then she got to school. 

Things had been... strained since Adrien and Marinette had revealed their identities to each other. Hawkmoth had been defeated and as the guardian, Marinette felt like it was time for her to know just exactly who her partner was. 

Finding out that it was Adrien seemed great at first! Someone she was already close to outside of the mask was also her partner in justice and had helped her save Paris many times. 

It only took Adrien 2 minutes to show Marinette that he didn’t feel the same as her. 

“My Lady! We can finally be together! Now that I know that My Lady is Marinette, I’m gonna sweep you off your feet! You’ll see, we were meant to be together. “

Marinette had tried to explain to Adrien multiple times that she wasn’t interested in him and that she was in a loving committed relationship with her boyfriend of 6 months, Damian, but Adrien wouldn’t take no for an answer. 

Marinette was hoping that with Damian transferring in, Adrien would finally get the hint that Marinette wasn’t interested. 

She arrived at her classroom, noticing that strangely the class seemed mostly full, like everyone had tried to get there early that day. It was... unsettling. 

As she walked to her seat, she noticed the bouquet of flowers, both of them. 

The first was kind of tacky, a dozen red roses with a big sparkly pink ribbon around them. It seemed to have shed glitter all over her desk and Marinette sighed to herself, thinking about the tedious cleanup she would have to endure from such a messy ribbon. 

The second however, was beautiful. An arrangement of white lilies, daisies and Marinette’s favorite flower, yellow marguerites. Sometimes known as Paris Daisies, Marinette had fallen in love with the simple beauty of the flowers. Only one person knew that these flowers meant to her, and that same person also knew Marinette had a small love for the language of flowers. 

White Lilies for My Love is Pure. 

Daisies for I Love You Truly

Yellow Marguerites for I Come Soon. 

She picked up the simple bouquet and smelled them, enjoying the soft scents and smiled to herself. Marinette looked around for Damian’s standard note but couldn’t find one, only seeing the note attached to the glitter bomb mess the other arrangement was. 

“Hey Girl, did you see the flowers Adrien got you? He must really like you to have gotten you roses!” Alya said, sliding up to Marinette who had yet to acknowledge the other flowers on her desk.  

“Alya, I’ve told you, I’m only interested in one guy, and it’s the guy that got me these flowers, knowing to even include my favorite in the arrangement. Those roses are beautiful, but you know I hate glitter, and pink isn’t even my favorite color. It’s green, has been for a while.” Marinette chimed back, picking up the roses finally to get them off her desk. The glitter shimmered in the light, leaving an even dusting on the note the flowers were on top of. 

Marinette wasted no time in disposing the flowers, not paying attention to the note, nor her classes reaction to her throwing the flowers away

She started to begin the laborious process of cleaning her desk off when Ms. Bustier came in, drawing the class's attention. 

“Class, Today we will be welcoming an exchange student from America. He will be with us for the next year to learn French culture and to learn alongside us! Please welcome in Damian Wayne from Gotham'' 

A boy entered the room, tall and handsome. He had dark hair, almost black and tan skin. His eyes were green, not unlike Adrien’s, however his held an air of mystery and a look of mischief. 

No one noticed Marinette freezing, stopping the cleaning of her desk at the announcement of the new student, but everyone noticed her practically flying out of her desk to hug him. 

“Damian! You said you weren’t coming until tomorrow! What are you doing here? You didn’t even tell me you were going to be coming. Were you the one to leave flowers on my desk?” Marinette rattled off her questions, still in the boy’s arms. 

Her words were a mix of french and english, only a few people getting the full scope of what Marinette was saying to Damian. Chloe, who knew english due to her mother, Alya who had learned english reading articles by Lois Lane and Clark Kent, and Adrien who knew it for business.  

“Angel, slow down, you’re speaking in both languages again. I wanted to surprise you so your parents and I planned for me to arrive this morning instead of tomorrow night. I did leave the bouquet, did you get the note with them? It was supposed to tell you to meet me at the Principal’s office, but I assume you were late again?” Damian looked at Marinette like she hung the moon, and more than a few of their classmates were wondering just who this boy was. And why was he calling Marinette Angel? 

“Ya Amar, I didn’t get a note with my flowers this time. What do you mean you left a note?” 

Adrien took this moment to ask the question on everyone’s mind, “My Lady, who is this guy, and why is he calling you Angel?” 

Marinette turned away from Damian, fully pulling out of his embrace. “This is Damian, my boyfriend. We’ve been dating for 8 months, so I’d hope he would have some cute nickname for me. I told you guys multiple times about him, but all of you never seemed to believe me. Damian started to get frustrated at your advances Adrien, so he’s decided to spend a year abroad here!” 

To say that the class was in shock was saying it lightly. Many of the students had just assumed that this boyfriend of hers was to make Adrien jealous. The only ones who had seemed to believe her were Chloe, Juleka and Luka. All three had met Damian previously to this, whether in person like Chloe or over a video call like the Couffaines. Alya’s face turned bright red while Adrien had gone pale, like he’d seen a ghost. 

“Ugh this is ridiculous. I can’t believe none of you believed Mari when she said she had a boyfriend! Anyway, Wayne, you better treat Mari right while you’re here or I’m calling Jon.” Chloe exclaimed to the class, wanting everyone to stop staring at her friend like some kind of freakshow. 

Damian just nodded his head in acknowledgment and started to pull Mari towards her desk. He noticed the glitter still on the desk and his eyes narrowed. “ Angel, do you need help cleaning off all of this glitter? It seems quite excessive.” His tone was cold, even as he had a gentle smile on his face directed at Marinette. 

“I hope that people in this class will be respectful of My and Marinette’s relationship. I’m quite committed to her, and would be happy to prove that to anyone who doubts my feelings for her, or hers for me.” 

The tension in the classroom was almost visible, some students with looks of shame and shock, other’s with small pleased smiles. The only one who hadn’t seemed to react yet was Adrien, still stuck in his shock over his lady actually being in a relationship. He finally seemed to acknowledge the world around him with Damian’s words but you could see the light in his eyes had dimmed significantly. 

Damian looked pleased, and as he helped Marinette clean off her desk for the day, he had a feeling no one would doubt his angel any more. 

[seas-storyarchive]

I'm not going to defend [this] post. I'm not going to call anyone out. That Post was made in a fit of anger when the show ended but I stored it in my drafts instead of posting it right away.

I know what kids can have more than one guardian. I know that families are wierd in general. Me, my sister and the last of the first cousins that was our age all grew up with the second cousins and everyone was confused about who was a first cousin and who was an aunt/uncle.

Anyway the twist that Webby is the clone didn't bother me, I watched Young Justice where Superboy has his clone of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor line.

But in the end, Superman and Boy say they are brothers. That was fine. However, that same twist with Ducktales didn't work out so well for me. I didn't like it. It was because of "Don't touch my dad!"

I wasn't a fan of that twist. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth. It feels tone deaf to me. Scrooge's actions towards Webby never struck me as Fatherly. It struck me as an uncle who was trying to make up for lost time with his family. Which is what he was in reference to Huey, Dewey and Louie (as well as Donald and eventually Della too).

Meanwhile, Webby has Beakley, her grandmother (though not by biological means, which is fine because it isn't always like that) who loved her without question. It just.. it felt so wrong.

I get that it's a reference to May and June being in the show and explaining how Webby and April were the same person and none of them are related to Daisy. It should have been handled better (with a supposed 4th season) or they should have dropped it all together and made it so she wasn't related to the McDucks. Like in DT87.

Maybe that would take out May and June in the process, but adding those two just felt like it was re-exploring some stuff that HDL had grown from.

I dunno.. to me it was just bad.

[joezworld]

Bismuth

Bismuth - a harmless metal when consumed by humans, is known to have significant hallucinatory effects when introduced to a mechanobiological system such as a locomotive. 

Due to its non-fuel state, non-intentional bismuth contamination is rare, but has been known to occur, especially in instances when impurities from lead refining, which include bismuth, are introduced to locomotive fuel sources such as open coal bins or wood piles. 

Introduction to diesel locomotives is more complicated, and typically involves being within close proximity to steam locomotive that is burning bismuth-contaminated fuels, at which point the aerosolized mineral can enter their air intake systems. In some cases, fuel contamination can occur, however most known instances of fuel contamination have involved intentional dosing of fuel stocks with either bismuth or bismuth-derived pharmaceuticals (BDP). 

The stomach-settling use of bismuth in humans has meant that most locomotive contaminations occur after a well meaning relative or friend introduces a BDP such as Pepto-Bismol into the locomotive’s fuel or water system. 

Of course, intentional/recreational ingestion is a known activity, however all reputable sources (J. Small Berries et al) indicate that the hallucinatory events are notable in their inconsistency. The resulting "bad trips" often deter repeat usage.

- An excerpt from: The ABCs of Locomotive Health Care (10th ed., 1984) - J. Bigbooté, J. Whorfin; Yoyodyne Publishing Laboratories, Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. 

------------------------

April, 2000

Nobody’s quite sure how the bismuth got into Sodor - presumably it arrived in the shipment of coal from the mainland. The railway bought coal from a broker in London, and their usual shipment of high-quality coal had been lost - quite literally, as nobody could find it -  and therefore the broker had scrambled to find more. A Polish metal refinery was found to have some surplus coal, and it was sent on without informing anyone on Sodor of the change. 

It arrived at Tidmouth docks on a cargo ship and was promptly sent out to the big stations across the network - Wellsworth, Knapford, Tidmouth, Barrow, and Crovan’s Gate. 

The coal trains ran late at night so as to not be in the way, and it meant that most engines would take on the new coal around midday, as the last of the old stocks in the coaling stages was used up. 

It took about an hour or so for the last of the old coal in the engine’s tenders to be used up if they were working hard. 

This meant that, as the engines rested in the yards after their noon trains, a lot of things started happening...

--

Tidmouth

Mid-sentence, Gordon’s eyes began to roll into the back of his smokebox. He was still speaking, but he slowly began to stop producing any intelligible sounds. His words turned into a mushy babel of slurred syllables and stuttering clicks as the men began frantically wondering if a locomotive could have a stroke. 

Nearby, Thomas giggled dreamily. The pretty pink unicorns that had suddenly appeared on his bufferbeam were prancing about in a most amusing fashion. 

---------

Crovan’s Gate

Percy had been undergoing a pressure test when his smoke started turning yellow. 

The men had dropped his fire and immediately began an inspection, but not before Wendell was totally enveloped in the thick yellow cloud.

Percy felt like his boiler was inflating and inflating, as though the pressure test would never stop. The men eventually stopped what they were doing as he began ranting and raving about being turned into a zeppelin. 

On the other side of the workshop, Wendell was speaking in hushed, manic tones to no-one. Whoever this “Lion” was seemed to be quite concerned for his wellbeing, even if he thought that they were overreacting. 

--------

Arlesburgh

The evil diesels were after him, he was sure of it. Look! There was one there! And another! And another! 

Well not today! Try and catch this example of Great Western Metal!

The men slowly backed away as Oliver ranted and raved at absolutely nothing. Duck and the Scottish twins watched from a safe distance, and decided not to get involved. 

-------

Barrow Sheds

James was past being concerned about the yellow smoke - the little pixies fluttering around his smokebox said that he didn’t have anything to worry about at all. 

Delta, sitting next to him in the cloud of yellow smoke, was much more concerned, but not about the smoke itself. 

"Jamie, something's wrong."

"What makes you say that?

"I can hear Jefferson Airplane.”

"What's Jefferson Airplane?"

"I don’t know."

-------

Barrow Yards

“Why are you not fixing this?! Don’t just stand there! DO SOMETHING YOU MEATBAGS!” Bear roared at the workmen from within the yellow cloud. He’d woken up deeply congested, and didn’t understand why they were saying he needed to be out of the cloud of yellow smoke - it wasn’t like he could breathe much to begin with, and Henry was in trouble and he clearly needed help and these men wouldn’t do anything!

“Holy shit Bear I can swim” Henry said from whatever la-la-land state he was in. 

“That’s nice dear, NOW ONE OF YOU FIX HIM OR I’LL KILL ALL YOU STARTING WITH THE WEAK ONES!”

On the other side of the yard, the men stared at the Hymek, which was bellowing and screaming at a staffing agency billboard on the side of the tracks while Henry belched yellow smoke over the both of them. 

-------

Wellsworth

The rails had turned to jelly some time ago. The crossties had begun speaking in the language of the beast. The sky was a deep blood-gray, and the clouds wept for their lost raindrops. The engine watched as his smoke curled away into letters of an unknown alphabet. He was concerned as to how the menaces had managed this, but he wasn’t going to let them win by acknowledging that anything was wrong. 

If he concentrated hard enough, he could just make out the signal aspects behind a curtain of iridescent sounds. That was a little bit too dangerous in his opinion, and he resolved to inform the twins that their pranks should not involve signals. 

Across the yard, Bill, Ben, and BoCo watched in horror as Edward puffed out of the yard. His pupils were two different sizes, his tongue lolled out of his mouth, he was mumbling and chittering in an indescribable fashion, and his smoke was thick and turning a worrying shade of yellow. 

But he was still pulling his train as though nothing was wrong. 

-------

Farquhar

The apocalyptic wasteland spread out on all sides. The sun burned and burned until the land was scorched to a godforsaken ash. The river Els was filled with blood. Roving gangs of madmen patrolled the ruins - their war machines littered with the bones of their victims.

Mad Tobias the Brown, last of the North Shed, protector of the Anopha Stone, keeper of the soul of Saint Pedroc, guardian of the survivors, rattled through the wastes with his precious cargo of human lives.

A cry rose up from his faithful warrior bride Henrietta as she sighted a roving gang approach from the south. Their war wagon was the converted husk of an old railcar that he once called a friend, but that was long ago. Now she was merely a convenient vessel for the beasts.

The war music sounded in the distance, and he set off - a confrontation was inadvisable with his charges aboard. His smoke scudded off to one side in the stiff wind as he charged - he would have to pass them at the old loop if he wished to be avoid being trapped in the Stone Mountain, and speed was key to avoid their wicked bone hand-and-a-halves.

As he approached, he bellowed a warning cry to intimate his foe. The corpse of the railcar stared back at him in a rictus grin, but its crew recoiled - as one should when facing off against him.

-

Daisy and her crew watched in amazement as Toby and Henrietta, wreathed in sickly yellow smoke, roared towards them with the midday workmen's train. They screamed through the passing loop and disappeared into the distance, incomprehensible epithets trailing in their wake.

-

Inside his cab, Toby's driver had long since given up trying to stop his engine, and was now trying to reign him in so that he didn’t come off the tracks before the fireman could finish dumping the fire.

-

Inside Henrietta, the guard pulled back on the handbrake so hard that the lever came off in his hand. It didn't work.

Terrified workmen bashed at the radio with their lunch pails, trying to make the Norwegian Death Metal stop playing, but it was no use. The radio kept bellowing out tunes even after its faceplate was smashed in, and began to get even louder.

-

Toby was eventually brought to a stop near the Kyndley family's home, but Mad Tobias the Brown didn't stop yelling until the last of the coal ash was cleared from his smoke box three hours later.

------------------

It took most of the day for the bismuth to work itself out of everyone's systems. Nobody at the railroad was quite sure what was wrong, but considering the dull yellow smoke, it was easy to guess that the coal was bad.

The broker was summoned to the island, and when he admitted that the coal was from a random colliery in Poland instead of the high quality American anthracite that the railroad had paid for, he was quickly sent packing - along with the coal!

A new coal merchant was found, and an emergency supply was bought locally to cover the gap, bringing the saga to an end.

Nobody likes to talk about it - except Daisy, who has no trouble mentioning the tale of Mad Tobias the Brown whenever she wants to bring Toby down a peg!

[peach-the-owl]

Hi! Hope you are having a great month! If possible can I make a request with a Godling (Godlings from The Witcher) Reader who travel with the Mighty Nein. How would having such a 'powerful' being (child-like) effect their relationship. Also, just as a guilty pleasure how would Lucien react to them-knowing their 'other' self raised/cared for them?

Since there isn’t much seen about godlings a few things will probably be a little more on the headcanon-y side of what I think they’re capable of. Hope you all enjoy regardless 😁

Godlings

Mighty Nein & Godling!Reader

Jester

Her childlike nature was what originally drew your attention to her, enjoying the little pranks she’d pull on unsuspecting folks you watched from a distance at first but drew in curiouser by the day. You were first discovered by the archfey that lingered near her who also liked to stay hidden, making a few rude comments when he practically shoved you into the open for her to see. When you got to know her better, you and Jester spent a lot of time singing songs together or causing absolute chaos, although you certainly were no follower to the "Traveler" and didn’t plan on it anytime soon. You were her new secret friend, always hiding yourself when another member of her party would come along. When you grew comfortable enough you finally decided you would join your friend on her adventures, much to Jester's delight. Everyone else was surprised by your sudden presence in the group, little was known to them about godlings aside from normally living in burrows, you argued that you were just a bird of a different feather.

Nott/Veth

The goblin reeked of an old crone's curse, you making that statement very clear when you hobble out of your burrow, scaring a few people in the group which you appropriately laughed at. At first they thought you could help break the curse on Nott, and while you did have means of breaking curses, this one in particular was cleverly crafted making it near impossible to break aside from the crone who placed it. You agreed to help them locate the witch seeing as you had nothing better to do and they promised food. Nott found you to be quite adorable with those big eyes and tended to be very motherly around you, now you could argue that you were much older then her but you weren’t going to pass up on this kind of free affection. When the curse was lifted you still decided to stick around wanting to see what all this trouble had been about. Newly freed from her curse, Veth still acted as a motherly figure towards you as she had before, and honestly you rather liked it sticking with her and blessing that good life be given to her family.

Caleb

Godlings were secretive and shy by nature yet kind and helpful so long as you gain their trust or you’ve peaked their interest, and Caleb was a very interesting man to you being almost as secretive as you were. When you made your presence known he was shocked to see such a rare being of once presumable myth approach him, but he also didn’t want to lose an opportunity to learn about your kind in more detail. You made a deal, you'd come along with him and he'd get to know everything he wanted about your kind so long as you got to learn more about him and play with the friendly little kitty he had with him. You were a lot more mature then Caleb expected hearing how godlings normally enjoy mischief and merriment, you told him you did like doing all those things but that didn’t mean you couldn’t be serious too. He learned more about you just by watching you interact with everything around you over you simply telling him different facts about yourself, and grew to really appreciate you more because of it. You grew appreciation and learned a lot about him through his interactions too, the stories he told did help some for context on certain things but you much preferred this visual over verbal learning.

Caduceus

You'd been a guardian for the Clay family and their home for generations, providing protection and care where you could, being given food and tools for your burrow as thanks by them. They were respectable folk, caring for the nature of the woods as much as you did. When the strange blight started plaguing your wooded home you did everything in your power to help push it back, but there was something unnatural about it that even you couldn’t hold it off forever. It got so bad that it overtook your burrow, forcing you out, thankfully the Clays were happy to house you, so while most of them left in search of a cure you stayed back with Caduceus still doing what you could to try taming or at least keeping back the plague. When adventurers came along you acted on the defence at first, being calmed by Caduceus to get a better grip of the situation. They were all surprised to see such a rare and normally secretive being like yourself be so comfortable and open once you'd dropped the defensive act, even more so when you asked if you could join them on their travels. Your home needed help, but it certainly wasn’t going to get any if you just sat there and did nothing, you managed to slow the growth of the strange blight hoping it’ll grant enough time for you to locate the cure you needed.

Fjord

Godlings were known to live in more wooded or boggy areas so finding one living by the sea was a rarer sight then your kind themselves were. You liked the sounds of the waves they were calming and you had many pretty seashells to do with as you wished. When you first met Fjord it was because he mistook your sandy burrow as an animals den, boy was he wrong and the reaction he had when you popped out scaring the daylights out of him was priceless. You smelled great opportunity for mischief from this, popping out of nowhere to scare the poor half-orc when he least expected it until one time when you had you realized the ship you snuck onto to scare him was now sailing across the sea, meaning you were now stuck here. Sure you knew how to swim but you had limits to yourself and would never be able to find your way back to shore. With less places to hide you were almost forced to interact with the crew, which Fjord learned made you rather uncomfortable but since you didn’t mind his presence he decided to pull you off to the side and have a privet conversation. Through this conversation you learned a little more about Fjord and started to grow respect for the guy, promising to stop scaring him so much, but not completely give up on it much to his dismay.

Beau

The Cobalt Soul had research on all sorts of creatures and different species that lived throughout all of Exandria, one of the few things they had little to no information on however were the rare and elusive creatures called godlings. They were beings said to have great power but were usual docile unless provoked, they were so rare some thought them to be only creatures of myth. Beau herself used to think nothing much of them until they were assigned to investigate a home that was "haunted" where she met you. Seeing your big bright eyes and pale blue skin was enough for her to see that you were in fact no myth but the real deal. Itching to get more information and payment for ridding the house of its "ghost" problem Beau was determined to befriend you, problem was she could be a bit aggressive and you were a bit more shy then she’d like. However with enough time and patients she was eventually able to lure you out and convince you to leave the home, promising if you came with her she’d be all the protection you’d need. You still didn’t fully trust her but you liked her confident attitude and her more childish side when she was willing to show it.

Yasha

Big, tough and silent, to you the woman was very intimidating, but she was picking the flowers all wrong so you’d have to suck it up and confront her about it. You march your way over to her and freeze when she turns to look at you, she looked confused by your appearance perhaps she didn’t know what you were but what did that matter right now. You start to scold her over her flower picking and to your surprise she apologizes, offering you one as a sorry, you puff out your cheeks and decline telling her that it was sloppily picked, and if she really wanted to say sorry she’d need to learn how to pluck flowers properly next time. To make sure she wouldn’t ruin the poor flowers again you show her the proper procedure to plucking them, when you were done she offered you a daisy, this one having been picked properly you accept and watch as she leaves. You lived life as normal only to one day see the same woman had returned she looked saddened as she plucked up some flowers, you carefully make your way over seeing she was using the technique you taught her. You sit in front of her and just watch until she finally notices you, you first saw recognition for in her eyes, guess she remembered you, but past that you could see pain, like she’d just lost someone important to her. Now that you thought about it she had a similar look to herself when you first met but this was different, it was recent. You pluck up and offer her a forget-me-not which she slowly takes from you and stores away into a little book, the two of you sit there in a silence of understanding before she eventually leaves again, you never even knew her name.

Molly

He discovered you on accident when the circus set up their show tent right over your burrow and you relentlessly caused problems for them. He felt bad for ruining your home so he asked if you’d like to come run away with the circus instead. You were hesitant at first, but his childish nature was oddly alluring and you’d fit right in with all the other crazy colourful characters so you figured why not. He didn’t quite know what you were and he didn’t really care, the two of you enjoying yourselves and causing mischief wherever you went. When the circus disbanded you were saddened because this was now the second home you lost although this group of adventurers were quite the delight in and of themselves. Still all good things come to an end, and losing Molly was the last straw, not only did these Iron Shepherds take away your friend but they kidnapped innocents and one of them actually ate children. All this infuriated you, and once those who had been enslaved were free people saw just how terrifyingly powerful an angered godling could be when the Sour Nest was reduced to nothing but rubble in the blink of an eye.

Bonus:

Lucien

He was almost jealous that the imposter inhabiting his body at the time had befriended such a powerful and mysterious creature. Knowledge on your kind was almost nonexistent, even the Somnovem had little information, this furthered Lucien’s curiosity and uncertainty. He knew his limits but not yours and from what he’d heard this group you were with talk about you could turn from docile to very dangerous if pushed the wrong way. This could spell bad news for his plans if what they said was true, but could also be a useful asset if on his side. Now all he had to do was figure out how to regain your favour…

[the-melting-world]

The Empress | Side B: “I Will Be Blessed”

I want to give a special dedication to my amazing friend and partner in crime Ligia Nunes @ligiawrites​ ​. This installment of The Empress is a major turning point in Kip’s journey. The opening scene was strongly inspired by the Strength throne art created by Ligia a while back (located at the end of the fic). I don’t think this moment would have ever existed if had it not been for that throne. So thank you, Ligia for continuing to inspire so much of my storytelling.

***

~ In which a humble gardener stops resisting…

The Trio Appearances: Kipling | Khleo | Ozy

Arcana LI appearances: Asra | Nadia | Muriel 

Track Origins: “I Will Be Blessed” by Ben Howard

Not sure if this is the right track? The full album can be found here: The Empress

cw: none

~ 2.2k words

 Kipling opens a Door that takes her and Asra to Strength’s Gate.

Kipling and Asra crowded around a golden throne in the middle of a flowering vale. The magicians’ fingers were already grazing the surface of the elaborate throne, trying to capture the shape of every groove, the curl of each engraved leaf glinting under the midday sun. 

“Was this here the last time you came through this realm?” Asra asked as he crouched down in order to study the finer stalks of wheat fanning out from the base. 

“No,” Kip replied airily, her focus still mostly absorbed by the face of a lion staring out at her from the backrest. Its features were half concealed by depictions of broad leaves and delicate flora.

If it hadn’t been for the boisterous game of catch and chase between the three familiars in the background, Kipling and Asra might have never been able to snap out of whatever spell the throne had over them.

Taro, Faust and Abaco kicked up an assortment of purple and orange wildflowers during their romp. The ring of flowers remained suspended in the air for much longer than normal before they languidly drifted back down to the earth.

Kipling wondered how much longer she and Asra would have to wait for Khleo or Strength to arrive. Only thing was certain – she didn’t want to walk away from this throne. And, she noticed, neither did Asra.

“There is a body that belongs in that seat, but it is not my own.”

Kipling and Asra straightened up and spun abruptly to come face to face with the guardian of the realm. The Major Arcana was just as beautiful and terrifying as Kipling remembered. This time Strength had settled on her sphinx form, her face an impossible fusion of female and feline.

The Arcana was well past the seven foot mark, glowing, and draped in fabrics whose color constantly shifted between red wine and raw berries. Whatever words Kip had for the celestial being died on her lips. Asra, who had more experience conversing with the Arcana, took Kipling’s hand and addressed Strength directly.

“Thank you for permitting us into your realm. I’m Asra Alnazar and this is my partner, Kipling Bronne.”

Without moving her mouth, Strength said, “I know who you are, Small Magician. And I know why both of you are here.”

When she didn’t elaborate, Kipling found her voice and asked, “What did you mean earlier when you mentioned the throne?”

Strength fixed the gardener with her predatory gaze. “I meant what I said, Small Empress. It does not belong to me.”

Kipling’s heart began to race. She squeezed Asra’s hand. “Then who does it belong to?”

“Who else?” Strength cocked her head to the side. “The cub you call Khleo.”

Kip stepped forward. “Tell me where she is.”

“Kipling.” 

Asra’s hand came down on her shoulder.

“She’s not here,” Strength said flatly. Then she walked past both of them and made herself comfortable on the throne. “I’m keeping this seat warm for her in the meantime. You must understand, Small Empress. I can only protect my cubs from the nest. When they leave, things are out of my control.”

“Is Khleo in danger?” Kip asked, wishing she didn’t sound so desperate.

Strength did not mock her for it. In fact, her expression appeared sympathetic. As sympathetic as a werelion could hope to look.

“Danger is a strong word.” Strength gave a wistful sigh. “The cub is being kept in a cage. Perhaps not one with metal bars and padded locks, but a cage all the same. Under such circumstances, she is more of a danger to herself than anything else.”

Kipling closed her eyes and took back her hand from Asra. He watched in concern as she hugged herself and swayed on her feet.

Not Khleo. Not her Khleo. 

“It’s my fault,” Kipling croaked. “I always tried to blame it on Ozy, but that’s because it was easier. That way I didn’t need to face what I had done.”

Asra reached for her again. “No, you can’t do this to yourself, Kip.”

“But she is correct, Small Magician.” Strength interjected. “The Small Empress helped put my lion cub where they currently are.”

Kipling’s knees gave out as she choked on a sob. Asra caught her before she could completely stumble.

“Stop it!” 

He hadn’t meant to shout at a Major Arcana, but he couldn’t keep watching Kip beat herself up.

“Strength,” Kipling made eye contact with the Major Arcana as she leaned on Asra for support, “tell me how I can help Khleo. What can I do to set her free?”

“Now you’re asking the right questions.” Some manner of a grin stretched across the werelion’s maw. “Ultimately it is up to Khleo to set herself free, but these things, as you know, cannot be done alone.”

She stood up, her face sobering right before she rested her paws on Kip’s shoulders.

“The beast in Khleo has fought. She has done nothing but fight since she walked through that Door that you opened all those years ago.”

Kip couldn’t stop the tears from snaking down her face. But she wouldn’t dare look away from Strength now.

“Khleo has fought and fought and fought. As exhausted as she is, she doesn’t know how to stop. And she will go on fighting until she can’t anymore. The body I gave her is both a blessing and a curse.” Strength sighed and let her paws drop from Kip’s shoulders. “I’ve done all I can, but the cub is stubborn and will not hear me.”

She drifted away from Asra and Kipling. The wildflowers in her path bowed to her and blazed gold.

“Something tells me that Khleo will listen to you. I took away their magic so that they may live, but that does not mean they have lost their command over the Doors. It may not look the same for them as it does for you, but…. They just need someone to show them the way.”

By this time, Taro and Abaco were back on Kipling’s shoulders and Faust had reunited with Asra. 

“Finish your training, Small Empress. Then seek out your Patron.”

Strength waved her arm. A Door appeared.

“Now go.”

Kipling and Asra walked away from the throne towards the portal. On the way, Kip stopped and rested the tips of her fingers on Strength’s wrist. The Arcana looked down on the gardener. Kipling didn’t say anything. She just stroked the light coating of fur and gazed up into the eyes of the sphinx.

Strength let go of another heavy breath, lacing it with a purr.

“Your friend. All she wants is to be free. To rest.”

Kip wished she was tall enough to catch the sun-lit tears before they streaked down Strength’s whiskers. 

“She deserves it.”

***

Back at the Palace, Kipling found Ozy meditating in the gardens. She had come alone this time. The familiars had gone inside with Asra when they returned from Strength’s realm.

Instead of disturbing Ozy, Kipling walked over, sat down and joined him. She fell into the trance quicker than usual. As if Ozy’s disciplined presence had served as a catalyst.

Kipling wasn’t sure how long she and Ozy sat there under the weeping willows with their legs crossed, their palms face up, relaxed and resting on the peaks of their knees. Their breaths were independent of each other. Each one entered deep and left with ease. Each thought floated in uninvited and drifted off unnoticed. 

Despite the coverage of the silky willows, Kipling felt the sun on her, giving the shapes that danced behind her eyelids a peculiar glow.

By the time Ozy’s voice called Kipling back, there were more warm tears hugging her freckled cheeks.

“You went to go see Khleo on your own. Without me.”

Ozy didn’t sound angry, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t.

“I had to,” Kip said, her voice surprisingly steady despite the emotions that the trip had brought to the surface. The more the trance of the meditation wore off, the harder she cried. She wished she could take a breath in order to tell Ozy that they were tears of relief rather than pain. She would see Khleo again. She was meant to help them. Strength herself said she needed Kipling’s help. 

Kipling felt like a weight had been lifted from her heart. When she dried what she could of her tears and looked up at Ozy, she found that she could focus on him completely. Her heart was still being pulled in other directions, but not as strongly as before.

Kipling allowed Ozy to help her onto her feet. 

“What did Strength say?” Ozy asked, his tone implying that he knew Khleo wasn’t there. His words briefly brought back images of daisies materializing spontaneously in the shape of a Door.

“She saved Khleo’s life by taking away their magic.”

Ozy confirmed with a gentle nod. “Right. She blessed Khleo’s body with accelerated healing and more strength than the average human, but they won’t ever be able to open another Door. What else did the Arcana say?”

“She said that Khleo needs to rest.”

Ozy made a thoughtful sound, his hazel eyes turning to the sky. “That’s what she told me too.”

Kipling reached up and lightly pulled on his ghost lock. “I’m ready to talk, Ozy,” she said it with a smile. “About everything.”

Ozy brought his attention back to Kipling. She was surprised to see that same hesitation on his face that he wore when he first arrived. As if he was expecting a rejection. 

Kip felt her confidence slip as she wrung her hands and fought to maintain eye contact.

“Before we help Khleo, there’s a lot we still have to do first. For one, I need to apologize to you.” She closed her eyes and inhaled a meditative breath before going on. “Ozy, I didn’t want to leave you on the island that day, but I was so disgusted with myself. I had felt like that all year. No matter how much I wanted to, I just couldn’t own up to what I did… to your face.” Her eyes burned, but she opened them anyway and forced herself to look at Ozy and the telling scar over the bridge of his nose. 

“Every time I looked at you, I told myself that everything was my fault. I was the reason Khleo was gone.”

Ozy shook his head and set his jaw. Before Kip could blink, she was holding onto him and he to her. It came somewhat as a shock, this being the most affection they had allowed themselves to show each other since before Khleo’s accident.

“Everything happened like it was supposed to, coz,” Ozy reassured her. But his voice was shaking, his hand trembled as he massaged his fingers into her curls and coils. He was remembering the pain, Kip could tell. And it made her remember too. How much she had pushed Ozy away in the beginning. How she punished him for something that was her fault too. She remembered the year between the accident and leaving for Vesuvia when she refused to let him back in. No matter how much Ozy begged and begged.

Everything happened like it was supposed to.

“No one’s supposed to be alone for ten years!” Kipling sobbed. “But I didn’t know, Ozy. I swear I didn’t know.”

Ozy’s voice regained some of its usual lightness. “Oh no, don’t you dare try to take the blame for that. I knew what I was signing up for. Remember that, Kipling. I put myself down there. Not you.”

Kip hugged him harder. “But I was the one who hurt you. I forced you to make that choice. Family isn’t supposed to do that to each other!”

Ozy pulled back just enough to lift Kip’s chin. “You’re right. Family shouldn’t do that. But you know what else?” He smiled softly. “Family forgives.” He reigned her in against his chest, this time bringing his face to the crown of her head. He breathed in those nostalgic notes of shea butter, coconut oil, and sea salt. Ozy closed his eyes and imagined he was kissing the sugar white shores of his youth. He imagined himself kissing every painful unsavory memory goodbye.

“Now can we be a family again?” He asked, his face still buried in Kip’s hair. “Please? I need to put everything behind me... but I cannot until you let go of all this guilt. Trust me, you don’t need it anymore, Kip. You can let it go.”

And then Kipling… she broke. Water and thunderous sobs poured out of her like she was the sky. Ozy didn’t walk away from the downpour. If anything he held Kipling closer. She had so much water in her, it seemed. As if that sea where they were all were born had been with her this whole time. Kipling had brought it with her to Vesuvia, but pushed it deep, deep down and locked it away.

Ozy let himself be the stone well to catch all of Kipling’s rain. Though he had spent all that time surrounded by water and knowledge, in many ways, it had left him feeling very empty. Oz’mandias knew that as long as he had Kipling, he would never need to know that emptiness again.

[silverhyenaart]

Alright, I'm fairly new to the "Reader Insert" style of writing, but I thought I'd give it a try. So, I have yet to do a little sketch of Lester (I did draw his two brothers,) However, I did have this idea for a sick-fic, where Lester finds the reader on the side of the road. Now, I wrote this with a female reader in mind but please feel free to imagine it any way you see fit.

Roadside Attraction Part #1

No one would ever argue that the tiny, reclusive town of Ambrose was a quiet place. The occasional group of tourists or stranded motorists made for some excitement, but there hadn't been any new visitors in over a month.

A crooked smile crossed Lester's face as his old truck ambled along the backroads.The morning was still plenty young. Bo was more than likely sleeping off a night of one too many beers. Vincent was surely working on The House of Wax's next great masterpiece in his basement studio lair. That left Lester to do what he loved. Gather up the roadkill! However... the youngest Sinclair was about to get more than he ever could have bargained for.

"Still plenty cool outside, huh Daisy?" Lester muttered, scratching at his flannel shirt pocket, "hopefully we git some meat befer the sun ruins it."

He was answered by a curious chiding as the tiny raccoon in his pocket peaked out.

There were so many things besides the animal carcasses on the side of the road. And while yes, half of a deer that had yet to be tainted by maggots and Louisiana heat was indeed a fine prize to return home with, Lester had also found the occasional wad of cash, various coins, jewelry, and his personal favorite, the woodland creatures that he'd take home and foster. (Always making them promise that they'd stay away from the roads before releasing them back into the wild.)

But instead of the usual gorey animal corpse splattered in the road or abandoned wrecked vehicle, Lester saw what was unmistakably a human body in the ditch near a heavily wooded stretch of road. Your body!

The brakes of the rickety old truck screeched on the pavement. Quickly, Lester put the truck in reverse, stopping as close to your prone form as possible. There was no telling how long you'd been left out there in the Louisiana backwoods, but it was obvious that you'd been severely mistreated before being dumped out here. In fact, one could have easily written you off as dead. Bruised, dried blood caking in places, old, sour vomit in the grass near your mouth, and your wrists bound behind your back tightly with course rope.

"Well Daisy, ain't sure there's nothin' more ta do then give 'er ta Vinny," Lester mused, quietly as he examined what he thought was your corpse, "Poor thing, won't do no good no how bringin' er to the pit. Sure Vinny'll fix 'er up real nice."

When his hand touched your hip to turn you over for a better look, that's when a weak moan escaped your chapped lips and your eye cracked open. Lester jumped back a little in surprise. You were still alive! Albeit in dreadful shape. But breathing nevertheless.

"Hey... hey there now. This ain't no place fer a nice young lady like ya ta be," Lester said, reaching for the Bowie knife on his belt.

Upon seeing the glint of steel in the morning light, your unfocused eyes widened in fear. With your entire body feeling like a led weight, struggling was impossible. After spending an entire day out here in your already terrible condition, just moving made you feel like your already empty stomach was going to purge once more.

Then the ropes binding your wrists snapped, giving your painfully raw skin welcome relief. Dirty yet gentle hands helped you to your feet. While it was difficult to focus, you could tell that your rather smelly but kind-hearted guardian angel was one of those backwoods redneck sorts. If anything, his accent alone gave it away.

"That's it now, com'n, sweat pea, I-I'ma take ya somewhere safe."

Lester helped you to his truck's passenger side, letting you lean heavily against him. He smiled, having been unable to recall the last time he'd had a woman of any sort willingly be this close to him. Usually it was his big brother who got the pretty ladies.

"Y-you can jus' call me Lester, now, darlin'," your rescuer continued.

As Lester guided you toward his beat up old pickup and opened up the passenger side door, you could feel your already upset stomach doing flip flops. You stumbled a little, clinging to this man as though he were your only remaining life line... and then your body betrayed you.

You trembled, eyes wide with horror, able to make out that you'd just thrown up all over your savior. Before you could squeak out an apology, you were doubled over as more bile forced itself out of your already sore throat, leaving a sour taste in your mouth.

"W-well now, sweat pea, better ta git it out now..." shrugged Lester, taking a red handkerchief out of his back pocket and handing it to you.

Even after you'd accidentally barfed all over him, this man was still taking care of you. Once you were cleaned up a little, Lester grabbed a very messy towel out of his truck and wiped himself off. Daisy peaked out of his pocket, quickly retreating back to safety when you let out a low groan.

"S-sorry m-mister..." you rasped, nearly staggering to the ground you were so weak.

"I-it's alright. You ain't hurtin' no one... jus' git it out," Lester said, "That's it, now."

He hesitated at first, then began to gently rub your back and hold your hair out of the way. You couldn't lie to yourself, it felt good. The first bit of tenderness you've been shown in a long time.

Once you were through purging your painfully empty stomach, Lester gave you some lukewarm water from a questionable looking plastic bottle and helped you into the passenger seat. It wasn't until he closed the door that your tired eyes noticed that there was no way to open it from the inside nor was there any means to roll down the window.

Was this man actually helping you or taking this opportunity to kidnap you? At this point, you were too sick and exhausted to care.

Another crooked grin crossed Lester's face as he scratched his little raccoon's head. After settling into the driver's seat, he checked on you again before the old truck's engine rumbled to life.

"Don'cha worry none, sweat pea. I'ma take ya home a-an' gitcha somethin' ta make ya feel better. "

Home... you didn't have one anymore. Slowly, you nodded your head, leaning against the dirty window before closing your eyes.

* * *

Yes, I love the idea that Lester takes care of orphaned baby woodland critters he finds on the side of the road. A lovely individual in the discord group I'm in suggested it and told me to roll with it so I did! (Daisy seemed like the perfect cute redneck name so there's that!)

I do plan to make more parts and post the whole thing to my AO3. The stinky roadkill man deserves love! He also strikes me as the friendliest of the three Sinclair brothers.

[supercasey]

Dumb thoughts on the Child Avatars AU

I dunno, just some dumb ideas I’ve had since I started talking about the AU online/brainstorming about it. (Putting it under a readmore for everyone’s sake)

The “Daisy kidnaps Jon” situation in this AU is Daisy riding her bike to Simon Fairchild’s mansion, holding a water-gun up to both Mike and Jon’s heads, and ordering them to ride with her to the grocery store to buy soda and hang out at a nearby playground for the day. Cue Elias flipping tf out when Jon isn’t at Simon’s place when he goes to pick him up later, Simon being half asleep because he was napping while the kids hung out, and Mike getting soaked by Daisy before he agrees to go with her, and since this happens in, like, late fall or early winter, he gets pneumonia afterwards and can’t hang out for awhile, leading to the kids jokingly saying he’s dead. Btw the only reason the trio was found is because Basira was invited after they made it to the park, and she convinced Daisy to let the boys go home. Daisy literally only kidnapped them because she wanted to play with someone.

Also the Buried!Daisy arc is Daisy getting eaten by a Buried controlled sandbox and Jon jumping in after her. The rest of the kids, who thankfully witnessed this, spent the next three hours digging for them, with Breekon & Hope eventually joining in to help since they were in the area. Daisy and Jon form a trauma bond afterwards and are now best friends.

Jon keeps getting marked by shit and it’s stressing Elias out because hE’S NOT READY FOR THE WATCHER’S CROWN YET!!! He needs more time to prepare, but his son is literally getting marked faster than fucking Sonic.

Speaking of Sonic, seeing as the “Console Wars” (Sega vs Nintendo) are happening during this time period, the kids take the rivalry Very Seriously. The biggest arguments are had between Sasha, Daisy, Julia, and Mike, who are all on Team Sega, and Jon, Martin, Tim, and Danny, who are all on Team Nintendo.

Sasha, close to tears she’s so angry: “Sega DO what NintenDON’T, Tim!!!”

When Martin was born, he only had one thick clump of curly hair that was white, but as he’s grown older and entered the Lonely multiple times, more of his hair has begun to turn white. As of the time of the AU “starting” (so when he’s 8 years old), he looks like he has white highlights in his hair.

Trevor isn’t a fully-fledged Hunt avatar yet, but the girls more or less are, so if you’ve ever watched Wolf Children, that’s pretty much the situation Trevor is currently trapped in. His daughters keeping changing into wolf pups and running wild as he frantically tries to hide their powers from anyone who isn’t Gerry.

(All of the kids secretly know already, even Basira.)

Basira is pretty much the only “normal” kid of the avatar children, save MAYBE for Tim, but he’s been deeply marked by the circus and has a few tiny powers (think S3 Jon as he was figuring out some of his powers, but wasn’t a full-on Archivist just yet).

The season 1 gang (including Danny) are the closest group of friends in the AU, save for Daisy and Basira’s friendship, and they hang out a lot at each other’s homes on the weekends.

Adelard usually brings Jane with him for his “trips” away from the institute, so it’s not unusual for her to be gone for long periods of time. But she always sends postcards and gifts to the institute for everyone!

Helen is three years old, so theoretically she should be able to talk, but she rarely does so, preferring to communicate via giggles and laughter. Only Jon, the Stoker brothers, and Michael can understand her, and they take turns translating for everyone else.

Whenever she’s brought to the institute, Helen takes to toddling around after Jon and Martin, giggling up a storm the whole time. Jon finds it a bit annoying while Martin is endlessly amused by her antics.

A list of the guardian’s/adult’s ages before I fucking forget (as of when the AU “starts” in 1994): Gertrude Robinson - 62, Elias Bouchard “Jonah Magnus” - 51 (200+), Peter Lukas - 55, Simon Fairchild - 83 (300+), Gerard “Gerry” Keay - 30, Michael Shelley - 32, Alfred Grifter - Unknown, Adelard Dekker - 48, Nikola Orsinov - 30ish (100+), Annabelle Cane - 34 (Unknown), Trevor Herbert - 47, Agnes Montague - 25ish (60+), Jude Perry - 35, Jared Hopworth - 29, The Admiral - 10.

The “good” parents all keep trying to set up some kind of PTA meeting so they can actually talk about how to raise these supernatural kids properly, but it keeps going horribly wrong; last time they tried, Alfred Grifter and his band showed up and nearly made Simon go deaf, so no one wants to initiate the next attempt at a meeting.

Tbh, at this point the Fear rituals are more successful than Elias’s shitty attempts at forming a PTA.

At some point in the AU Gerry, Michael, and Trevor all pitch in to buy a decently big house together, which leads to some serious Shenanigans now that Melanie is around Michael and Trevor’s kids/wards... let’s just say there’s gonna be a lot of knife related accidents.

Gerry taught Melanie how to fight when he took her in and it is the single worst decision he’s ever made in his short, goth life, even if he’ll never admit it. Melanie can now beat the shit out of everyone but Julia and Daisy, and it’s pure chaos every time. Tim puts up a decent fight, but he’s been spoiled on easy wins over his brother all his life. Jon tries and fails to so much as push her. Martin runs away crying before Melanie even throws the first punch. Needless to say, the other kids are very cautious about playing with Melanie now.

None of the kids have an education of any kind except for Mike. I’m serious; the only kid who’s decently educated is being raised by Foxy Grandpa Off His Shits McGee! Julia and Daisy have had some public education but not much, Elias refuses to do anything but home-school Jon yet he sucks shit at math, Tim and Danny don’t even know what a school fucking looks like, Melanie and Jane were too young to go to school when they became avatars, Martin has only recently been allowed near other kids so fuck public school (Peter can do math but Nothing Else), Annabelle fucking forgot to give Sasha any kind of an education outside of Web stuff, and Helen is still a very small child. None of these kids have gone to school for more than a few years at most and dear g-d is that gonna suck for them later down the line.

As a result of this, Basira has taught the other kids a few things when she’s come over and insisted on playing “school” with everyone, but she’s still just a kid and can’t always get them to pay attention during her lessons.

Because of this Rosie, Gerry, Michael, and Gertrude have all started making an effort to more or less home-school all of the kids, which has gone... well enough, I suppose. However, things have recently taken a weird turn since Jon keeps giving everyone the answers to assignments/tests via telepathy.

Jon: Whoa, you can make tea all by yourself, Martin!? Martin: Yeah, I’ve been doing it by myself since I was a toddler. I can also do laundry, mop floors, vacuum, and cook a few things, too! Tim: Wow, that’s really cool, Martin! I wish I could do stuff like that. Gertrude, off to the side: *Gives Peter a horrified look* I’m sorry, but did Martin just say he’s been making tea on his own since he was a toddler? Peter:  ╮(╯ _╰ )╭  Unfortunately, I’m severely depressed.

Yeeeeeeeah, Martin’s in a similar childhood situation to his canon one, but at least there are people actually willing to help him out of it in this universe. Also, Peter will clean himself up at some point here, he’s just still dealing with more or less disowning himself from his family and learning hoe to not be so lonely.

Speaking Of Which, the Lukas family are pretty big antagonists in this AU, primarily through Peter’s mother (I’ll come up with a name for her later if I can’t find it on the wiki), who is trying to kidnap Martin and more or less feed him to the Lonely so Peter will get over his “childish feelings” and return to being her favorite child.

And yes, she DOES accidentally kidnap Jon instead at some point... this kid can literally not avoid getting kidnapped.

I like to think Mike and Julia are really good friends in this AU, being the closest in age and all. They hang out a lot since their dads are both so chill and won’t get upset about it, the two of them mostly just playing video games, watching movies, and biking around their respective neighborhoods together.

(Also they may or may not be responsible for a statement that involves a woman seeing a “flying wolf” passing over London... they’ve yet to confess to it, but Elias is dead certain they’re behind the incident.)

The worms incident is 100% Jane’s secret worm collection getting fucking loose... she was keeping them in the walls “for safe keeping” and No One Fucking Knew, not even Elias, until Jon saw a spider, punched the wall, and Revealed them.

Jon and Tim got their scars because Jane lost control of the worms and they burrowed into the kids. Cue a very panicked 999 call from someone in the institute and Child Services almost getting involved, but Elias managed to cover it up.

Afterwards, Jon is incredibly self-conscious about his worm scars, but Martin tells him “now we both have freckles!” and it honestly makes him feel a little better about the whole thing.

Also Adelard makes an effort to track down a child psychologist/counselor with institute ties so he can get Jane some therapy/help controlling her powers. He loves her to the moon and back, and he’s terrified of her getting traumatized by what she accidentally did.

During the incident, a Notthem gets loose from Artifact Storage and attacks Sasha, but seeing as Sasha is of the Web and the Notthem is connected to a Web artifact, it only manages to really hurt her, but thankfully not kill her. She ends up hospitalized for a few weeks, but comes out fine later on. The table mysteriously disappears afterwards, and no one knows if it was Gertrude or Annabelle’s doing, but either way, the kids never have to deal with a Notthem again.

At some point I wanna get into Jon’s paranoia in season 2 for this AU, but I’m considering changing it from being because of the Jane Prentiss issue to be because of Mr. Spider almost killing him. I dunno how exactly it’ll play out, but I think it has a lot of potential!

Okay, before I end this post full of weird rambling ideas for the AU, I wanna make a list of the powers that the kids have at the time of the story “starting”/the ones they develop down the line because Jonny Sims himself said that all avatars have different powers, and I really wanna infodump on my thoughts for the kids!

Current powers of Jonathan Sims-Bouchard: Can simply know things whenever he wants to (so long as the Eye lets him, but the Eye sometimes keeps him from knowing anything he isn’t mature enough to handle), can compel people to tell him things (the other kids are better at resisting it, and so are other people touched by the Eye), can survive on very little food if he’s fed mostly statements/other people’s trauma, can non-consensually feel the pain and emotions of the people around him, has some weak telepathy powers, and he can subconsciously summon tape recorders.

Future powers of Jonathan Sims-Bouchard: Increased healing abilities, can know most anything if he tries, ability to resist other Eye avatars’ compulsions, can survive purely off of statements/other people’s trauma, can choose whether or not to feel the pain and emotions of the people around him, has much stronger telepathy powers than before, can force himself into people’s minds and read their thoughts, and he can summon tape recorders at will (though some still show up without his knowledge sometimes).

Current powers of Martin Blackwood-Lukas: Can disappear into the Fog for several hours at a time (he cannot be seen by anyone but other Lonely avatars while in the fog), can summon clouds of fog that he can momentarily hide things in (including people), can “banish” most anyone into the fog, and has “Sea Captain Eyes” (he knows where the Tundra is at all times, and can lead someone to it without a map or compass).

Future powers of Martin Blackwood-Lukas: Can change his hair color at will (only to red, white, and a mix of the two colors), can see much better in the Fog and can find anyone he’s pushed into it, can more or less teleport using the Fog, and he has what’s more or less a pocket dimension of fog for storage/hiding his friends from danger (think the inside of Gems in Steven Universe).

Current powers of Tim Stoker-Orsinov: Can make small bipedal toys “come to life” for a few minutes at a time (they can’t talk or communicate; only move around and perform small tasks/dances), can tell when a Notthem is masquerading as someone else, is supernaturally talented at gymnastics, and can dance alongside the creatures of the Stranger without being fully corrupted by them.

Future powers of Tim Stoker-Orsinov: Better control over the powers he already has as well as a high tolerance for the Spiral.

Current powers of Danny Stoker-Orsinov: Can order around creatures of the Stranger against their will, can tell when a Notthem is masquerading as someone else, can dance alongside the creatures of the Stranger without being fully corrupted by them, is supernaturally talented at gymnastics, and can change his voice to anything he likes (not always intentionally, though).

Future powers of Danny Stoker-Orsinov: Can more or less “teleport” to other circus locations by walking into theaters, can now change his voice to whatever he likes with his knowledge and consent, can take over as the Stranger’s ringmaster if necessary, can trigger a mesmerizing dance whenever he’d like, and has a high tolerance for the Spiral.

Current powers of Sasha James-Cane: Can communicate with spiders and have them send messages to other Web avatars, can read minds if she tries really hard, can “trap“ other entities in large webs that she can summon (takes a lot of energy), and she has Spider-Man-like abilities (can walk on walls and ceilings, can carry much more than her weight should allow, etc).

Future powers of Sasha James-Cane: Can now read minds without too much effort, can navigate almost any area that’s being controlled/influenced by the Web, can create webs without nearly as much effort as before, can transform her body to have more arms, legs, and eyes, and she now has venomous fangs (which can thankfully be controlled and/or hidden).

Current powers of Alice “Daisy” Tonner: Can turn into a wolf at will/when she’s especially emotional, can smell blood from several miles away, and has supernatural senses/physical abilities.

Future powers of Alice “Daisy” Tonner: Can now track most any monster she’s hunting once she gets at least one good look at them, can communicate with other Hunters via howling, and can navigate the Buried if needed (though this is very triggering for her and will cause her to pass out afterwards).

Current powers of Julia Montauk: Can turn into a wolf at will/when she’s especially emotional, can smell blood from several miles away, has supernatural senses/physical abilities, can track most any monster if she knows their name, can communicate with other Hunters via howling, and she can shift into a bipedal werewolf when she feels like she’s in danger.

Future powers of Julia Montauk: All of her previous powers have drastically improved, plus she has better control of them now.

Current powers of Basira Hussain: She has common fucking sense, something almost none of the other children have.

Future powers of Basira Hussain: She common sense AND she has a werewolf GF now. :) ((No dating for the babies, not until they’re at least teenagers))

Current powers of Melanie King-Grifter: Can listen to Grifter’s Bone without being damaged in any way, the music of Grifter’s Bone makes her powers exemplified for a period of time after she listens to it, the smell of blood triggers her to become violent, she can summon sharp weapons (knives, swords, etc) from thin air, and she can see a red aura around other people who have been marked by the Slaughter.

Future powers of Melanie King-Grifter: She has much better control of her abilities now, she can perform Grifter’s Bone songs for people and keep them from dying/going feral, and she can now also summon other weapons from thin air (guns, baseball bats, etc).

Current powers of Oliver Banks: Can see people’s deaths a week in advance via his dreams, he sees dark tentacles around people who are going to die soon, can see but not talk to ghosts, and he can smell death on anyone who’s undead/controlling other people’s bodies.

Future powers of Oliver Banks: Can raise the dead and control them to do his bidding (takes a lot of energy), can speak cat (not End related; Admiral related), and he can cause people to die within the week if he touches them in his dreams.

Current powers of Georgie Barker: Can see a “death countdown” over people who are going to die within the next thirty days, doesn’t feel any fear whatsoever, can see but not talk to ghosts, and she sees a dark sludge staining the clothes of people who have been marked by the End.

Future powers of Georgie Barker: Can bring people back to life for a minute or so by touching them (think Pushing Daisies type powers), can speak cat (not End related; Admiral is best cat dad), and she can communicate with ghosts much better now.

Current powers of Jane Prentiss-Dekker: Can summon bugs of most kinds from her mouth and under her fingernails, can communicate with bugs, and can fight off most diseases without any trouble.

Future powers of Jane Prentiss-Dekker: Can now completely control bugs via a hive mind effect, can summon bugs from anywhere on her body, has much stronger healing abilities than Jon, and she can see invisible bugs crawling on the skin of those who the Corruption wants her to get rid of (it’s hard for her not to give in to it’s desires).

Current powers of Mike Crew-Fairchild: Can levitate/fly at will, can summon clouds of any kind (rain, thunder, snow, etc) in any conditions, has much higher resistance to the weather/temperature, and he can “banish” people into the Vast at will.

Future powers of Mike Crew-Fairchild: Same as before, but with slightly better control than he had as a teenager.

Current powers for Helen Richardson-Shelley: Can change the world around her to be more like the Spiral (adding more doors, changing the colors of things, causing hallucinations, etc), can change any door into a doorway into the Spiral, and she can amplify her voice (very hard to control as a baby).

Future powers for Helen Richardson-Shelley: Can now summon doors that lead to the Spiral from thin air, has much better control over her powers and abilities than before, can morph her body to be longer and sharper at will, and she can “banish” people into the endless hallways of the Spiral.

((Holy shit, that took awhile))

Anyways, here’s a playlist I made for the AU, feel free to scream at me for my very weird taste in music: Pinky Swear That You Won’t Go Changing

[miss-emilia-cavill]

Something Unneeded, Something Unwanted, SOULMATE AU Henry Cavill & OFC CHAPTER ONE

It was taking everything that I had not to rush into the arms of my soulmate. He knew what he was doing to me- his face wore a happy smile as he twirled the red string- that fucking red string- that connected our hearts together, trying to get me to come up to him.

 But as I resisted, the happiness on his face melted away to confusement at my stubbornness.

 I knew what he must’ve been thinking- not everyone had a soulmate; those kind of romances were cherished and celebrated. So why was I protesting him?

 He gave the string another hard tug- this one so strong that it nearly pulled me from my chair and running towards him. Instead I fumbled for my backpack, my fingers searching for what I needed most at the moment. The four seconds it took me to locate my Swiss army knife seemed like hours to me.

 As I flicked the knife open, fear flickered onto his face; I took my part of the red string. And while looking him in the eye, I did it.

 I cut our connection.

 I grunted as the feeling of being kicked in the heart pounded from my chest. I dared to look up and the sight of him with a pained look on his face- the sight of him choking back tears almost broke my heart. I stood abruptly, shouldering my backpack and shrugging my coat on before I began to make my way towards the doors.

 “Henry? Are you alright?” I heard Joey asking my now ex- soulmate as I was almost at the doors.

 “My soulmate-” Fuck, he was crying. Oh dear god, I hated it when people would cry. I never knew what to do when people would start crying.

 I took out phone out from my pocket to check the time.

 11:49 AM

 I glanced behind me- seeing only a crowd of excited cosplayers, I replaced my hood with my top hat and slipped my backpack off my shoulder to dig around as I scanned my badge and left the San Diego Convention Center. I quickly located my hidden blade and slipped it onto my left arm, flexing my arm a little bit as I paused to hunt through my backpack once more.

 All the while, the strange feeling of being watched never went away. I looked around and I noticed a woman in a badass pantsuit, who appeared to be tailing me. A scoff later and I expertly melted into the crowd, seemingly leaving no trace of me behind or anywhere.

 My soulmate is Henry Cavill, THE Henry Cavill, I thought as I came to the crosswalk. I remembered watching interviews of him talking about his two passions- gaming and daydreaming about his soulmate.

 “To me, she’s just the most perfect girl in the world,” he practically swooned on one late night talk show. “I wonder if she’ll like Kal? Oh god, I hope so! But does she have any other pets? What’s her favorite color? Does she act? Does she enjoy gaming? What does she do for a living? Does she want children? Is she a MCU fan or a DC fan? Is her hair a complete mess of curls when she wakes up in the morning?”

 To answer those question, yes, I did have other pets- a horse named Star Daisy, two guinea pigs named Midnight and Snowflake, a pit bull named Ropey and a mastiff named Tennis.

 My favorite colors are blue and pink.

 Yes, I do act in local community productions.

 My favorite video games are the Assassin’s Creed franchise.

 I’m work in the costume department in theatre productions.

 Yes, I do want children.

 I swing both ways as far, as both franchises go.

 My hair gets so impossibly frizzy with curls when I wake up.

 I crossed the street, head held high and shoulders square as the sight of my fellow assassins and Templars made me grin.

 “Wow, looks like you guys are early!” I called out in a teasing tone of voice as my fellow assassins and Templars came into view. A loud chorus of “Elena!” met my ears as everyone crowded around me, greeting me happily with hugs.

 “Your Jacob is so dope!” my friend KC greeted me with a giant hug which resulted in my face squished in between her breasts.

 “Oh my gawd girl, right back at you; your Arno is dope!” I parroted back at her with a high pitched squeal.

 “Nice vest! Upgrade?” Cassie asked me, flicking her hood down to grin fully at me.

 “Working with lining is suck a pain!” I whined in response. “Anyways, I keep needing to size everything down!”

 Everyone knew what my comment was aimed towards; I had a case of anorexia so severe that I needed to wear a nasogastric feeding tube.

 “Anyways, how was the Witcher panel?” Emma asked me, quickly changing the subject.

 “The what now?” I couldn’t help but blink owlishly at her.

 “The Witcher panel,” she clarified. “Ohmygwad speaking of which but apparently, Henry Cavill saw his soulmate in the audience!”

 I suddenly felt sick to my stomach.

 “Lucky man,” I mumbled, turning my attention to my hidden blade, where I began to pop the concealed bladed in and out of its sheath. I could practically feel their eyes meeting one another. “Alright, who’s ready to get this party started?”

 TAGLIST

@cavillimagines​

@mistress-of-ward​

@laketaj24​

@littlefreya​

@zodiyack​

@tillthelandslide​

@viking-raider​

@guardian-of-the-imagination​

@cavillanche​

[tonystarkbingo]

TSB Discord Party 3 Prompt Summary Game

How to play: we all took turns throwing in three prompts, and then everyone turned those prompts into a fanfic blurb or summary.

phone, blanket, "nope" - suggested by @rebelmeg

@fightingforcreativity - "Tony put your phone away," came a sleepy voice from beside Tony. Because Steve wanted, needed to sleep for a few hours now, he finally had given up on being nice to his newly wed spouse. "Nope" 'That is a war declaration!', the blond thought and decided to do the one thing Tony had told him the genius hated. Steve tucked the blankets away and hooked them.

@rebelmeg - The thud of the phone hitting the floor clinched it for Tony. "Nope." Today was going to be a bad day. Curling up further under the blanket, he decided to dedicate his immediate future to a nap, and to hell with everything else. "Nope. No adulting today. Nope."

@jamesbuckystark - "Nope. Can't today." Tony says and hangs up the phone. He crawls back under the blanket fort where Morgan is waiting for him. It's Daddy/Daughter Day

@somesortofitalianroast - Bucky was bundled up in a blanket on the couch with some hot chocolate. He checked his phone, and saw that it was snowing outside. “Nope,” he said to himself, “not going for a walk.”

@darthbloodorange - Steve pulls the blankets further over his head. "No." 

Tony laughs at the images his husband made, wrapped up in their blankets. "Steve, you can't just ignore a call from the Secretary of Defence." He says. 

"Well, I am." comes a grumble from within the blankets. 

"Steve" He wheezes. "That's not very Captain America of you" 

"Don't care. I'm on vacation. Don't want to. Nope."

apples, cats, Science - suggested by @fightingforcreativity

@saganarojanaolt - "Unlike most cats, Alpine was well behaved. Except when there was something in his place by the window. It didn't matter what it was, if it was there it got dropped. Spices for cooking, flowers to liven up the place, apples to ripen, science books to study, didn't matter. It got summarily pushed off. So Alpine could take his rightful place. "

@menatiera - Cats were known to dislike citrus fruit. So Tony wouldn't have been surprised to find out Bucky's cat disliking oranges and such. Instead, Alpine decided that he absolutely hates apples with furious passion. Tony obviously needs Science to answer why. And if he gets to spend some more time with Bucky while conducting experiments with his cats, well, that's just a happy coincidence.

@rebelmeg - Dum-E was very excited. It wasn't every day Ton-E let a Kit-E into the lab, and today there were two Kit-E's. One of them was chewing on Bruc-E's airpods, but Dum-E knew that was okay. Ton-E liked to tease Bruc-E about his bad apples.

@jamesbuckystark - There was a flash, and now instead of Rhodey, Bruce, Peter, and Harley in the lab with him, there are two cats and two apples, all with unimpressed eyes looking at him. "This is not magic! It's science, I swear!" Tony pleads. "I'll fix this!"

@somesortofitalianroast - Tony was working in his lab, cranking out music, when two things happened: Alpine jumped up on his work bench, and Dum-E somehow got a hold of an apple, which he promptly threw at Tony. Hilarious ensues.

@darthbloodorange - Steve looks down at the mess of apples on the lab floor and sighs. He knew better than to ask at this point, but he does anyway. "Why?" "Science!" Tony says, as if it should be obvious. Socrates knocks another apple from down from the shelf, watching as it lends on the floor with a wet crunch. "See!"

dragon, hotel, blue - suggested by @saganarojanaolt

@jamesbuckystark - Rhodey blinks his eyes. In front of him is a hotel with a red dragon standing in front. "Do you have the courage to wear the Blue Tunic of Valor and save the prince?" It rumbles. Rhodey looks up. In the penthouse is Tony, dressed in a beautiful gown.

@menatiera - Being turned into a dragon is generally not a horrible thing. Dragons are cool, majestic and all that. Even if blue is not really Tony's color, he could say at least ten other things from the top of his head to happen to him that would be worse than having his color scheme messed up in a magical animal transformation. Still. Being turned into a dragon in the middle of the hotel lobby on his honeymoon is still rude.

@rebelmeg - "Pepper, there is a dragon in my hotel room. No, you did not mishear me. Yes, Pepper, there is a dragon in my hotel room. NO, I DIDN'T DO IT! ...at least, I don't think I did... Pepper, stop shouting. Pepper. Pepper. Pepper. Oh, for the love-- PEPPER! Hi. Yes, I'm shouting, and so are you! Are too. Are too. Are-- hey! Just because I regularly play with things I shouldn't doesn't mean the gigantic lizard with pretty blue scales is automatically my fault! No, don't call Stephen. Pepper. Pepper, no, he'll just get all uppity like he does, you know how I-- DAMN IT, PEPPER."

@gavilansblog - His room in the Blue Dragon Hotel wasn't blue. It was an off-white beige color. Also, it had no dragons. Well, that was just rude, Tony thought, staring at the nondescript fruit bowl print over the bed. The least a Blue Dragon Hotel could do is have, y'know, a blue dragon. Tony sat down on the bed, then jumped up with a yelp as something nudged the backs of his legs. He turned and looked in completed befuddlement as a blue snout poked out from under the bed, followed by a very definitely draconic little body. Well, that did explain the name.

@somesortofitalianroast - “Pepper. Did you really make reservations at the Blue Dragon Hotel?” 

“Yes, Tony. I did. Why?” 

“Because it’s an RV park, not a 5-star hotel.”

@darthbloodorange - (Iron Man Noir!) Tony sits down on the edge his hotel bed with a huff. He pulls the large, blue scale out of his travel bag, turning over it in his hands. It had been months now, but Tony wasn't about to give up on the search for the dragon that saved his teams life. (Dragon!Steve?)

enlightment, postcard, chocolate - suggested by @menatiera

@jamesbuckystark - Tony got some interesting mail today... from Victor von Doom. He got a postcard and a chocolate heart. BE DOOM'S "Well this is a time of enlightenment," he muses

@menatiera - 'Willy Wonka is behind the dementor attacks because he wants to sell more chocolate.' Well. Postcards are usually not the format for these kind of enlightments to go, especially not postcards without names to them. Tony turns the paper in his hand, deep in thought, then mentally shrugs, because why not? It's not the weirdest thing he's heard. And he can relieve his nerdy days while investigating for clues in a fictional book series for proof or denial of this statement.

@rebelmeg - "riddle me this, jarvis," tony said as he turned over the postcard in his hand. "how precisely did someone manage to make an actual postcard out of chocolate and send it through the mail intact?" 

"perhaps you should bite it and find out." jarvis replied pertly.

with a roll of his eyes, tony had to tell the idiot side of his brain to sit down and shut up. "y'know j, i think you might be spending too much time around harley." 

"blasphemy. i'm a perfectly enlightened being that needs no outside interference to contribute to my sass." 

tony choked on his bite of postcard.

@somesortofitalianroast - It wasn’t any day that Steve got a postcard in the mail. Especially not one that was addressed to him and didn’t get bundled up with the rest of his fan mail. This postcard was completely blank, except what appeared to be a chess move, but he wasn’t sure. The front of the postcard had a picture of a chocolate store in Ukraine with the tagline “find chocolate enlightenment in Kyiv.”

@darthbloodorange - It's no secret that out of all of them Tony was the Chocolate hoarder. While Tony is away on a business trip the Avengers raid Tony's chocolate stores. But while searching for chocolate they find some enlightening postcards, postcards that reveal a more better kept secret between Tony and Steve.

Dreams, Wheel, and Dynamite - suggested by @jamesbuckystark

@rebelmeg - "just think, rhodey. a huge wheel of fireworks and dynamite. it's what dreams are made of!" tony's eyes were wide, sparkling with mania, and rhodey was justifiably concerned. "tony, i don't think you should watch mythbusters anymore."

@somesortofitalianroast - In his dream, he was in a tour bus. He was watching the band, some playing cards, some reading, some sleeping, but no one seemed to notice him. The movement of the wheels of the bus was hypnotic, as was the guitarist gently strumming on an acoustic guitar. The singer, half asleep with a book, started singing along. He couldn’t make out most of the words, but he seemed to be singing about dynamite. Interesting choice for a lullaby, but Steve wasn’t complaining. The singer looked right at him, paused in his singing. “You should wake up now.”

@27dragons - Tony was usually much more careful around dynamite than Pepper gave him credit for. Sure, he sometimes played it fast and loose with safety, but actual dynamite was no laughing matter. So it absolutely was not his fault that the charge blew early, before he had a chance to get back behind the protective barrier, he would like that understood. But regardless of whose fault it was, he had a concussion, a ringing in his ears that wouldn't go away, and every time he drifted off to sleep he was having the most peculiar dreams -- or rather, dream: a single dream, over and over, of a giant wheel covered with beautiful blue-steel eyes that stared at him in shock. "I think," he told Pepper when she came to check him out of the hospital, "that I've met my guardian angel."

@jamesbuckystark - "I had the weirdest dream," Tony rubs his head. "I was a contender on Wheel of Fortune, and Pat Sajek told me I didn't win even though the phrase was 'Made from dynamite and daisies.' And I knew what the phrase was!"

@darthbloodorange - Tony is sure he was having a bad dream when he walks into his lab to find Steve fastening explosives to the wheels of his motorcycle. "Wheels shouldn't need dynamite to turn!" Tony cries, throwing his hands into the air. "I can't believe you're making me say this but Steve, this is too dangerous. That's too much firepower, you're going to be blown into space!"

"Well, I've always dreamt of being an astronaut." Steve says, grinning.

varenyky, U2, dancing - suggested by @somesortofitalianroast

@jamesbuckystark - "Is this what all galas are like?" Bucky asks, eyes wide. "No," Tony examines his nails. "U2 never plays a set for galas. They only dance at the Christmas ones, and I have never seen varenyky on the buffet table."

@rebelmeg - tony wiggled his booty as he danced around the kitchen, singing along to U2 and putting frozen pierogis on a plate.

"shaking what your mama gave you?" nat asked as she came into the room, smiling as he waggled his eyebrows at her. 

"you betcha. want a pierogi?" he rattled the frozen dumplings on the plate. "gonna microwave some." 

natasha's eyes narrowed, then she was storming across the room and seizing the plate. "i am absolutely not letting you eat that." 

tony whined as she dumped them right in the garbage. "my lunch!" 

"if you want varenyky, i will make you some. you will not eat that trash." 

tony was still pouting over the garbage can. "but i'm hungry." 

"come on," natasha grabbed his sleeve and tugged him over. "i'll teach you how and it'll go fast." 

or, how tony and nat bonded over pierogis while dancing to U2

@darthbloodorange - (College AU) It was 4AM. He knew they knew they were probably get into loads of trouble. Any moment now Security would be knocking on their door with a noise complaint. But Tony couldn't care less, he's hasn't been so happy in a long time. He was dancing with Steve in the kitchen to U2, cooking varenyky.

[poorlytunedukulele]

Day 12 - Roses and Thorns

The Black Garden is stunning in more ways than one.  It’s gorgeous, if just slightly alien.  It makes sense, Azra supposes.  This place was not crafted with an eye for Human ideals of beauty.  Or perhaps Humans were not properly raised to enjoy this place.

In any case, it is still beautiful.  There is greenery everywhere.  The fertile plains of flowers give way in the distance to untamed crags.  The air is clean and sweet, with hardly a breeze to rustle the plants.

The plants rustle anyway. Azra stares down at the rolling hills and watches.  The ripples in the flowers form patterns, ones that she recognizes.   She’s seen those same patterns time and again on the trembling surface of Radiolaria.  They echo and split and combine with themselves in an eternal dance.

If that weren’t odd enough, the sky isn’t the right color.  It’s not quite a color at all.  Instead of Rayleigh-scattered blues and purples, it’s the rainbow-edged gray of sun refracted through water.

And the light is weird.  Spark takes a spectral analysis and finds not only that it’s not from Sol, but the wavelengths present couldn’t be produced by the simple blackbody radiation of any star. It lends itself to the otherworldliness of this place.  Azra can’t tell if anything is the actual color it is, or if the light casts different hues.  Her green gear should blend in with the plants, but it doesn’t.

The ground follows the worrying trend.  Though Azra knows it should be rich, full of Carbon and Nitrogen and Phosphorus, the scans Spark takes are all contradictory.  She can smell the decaying organics, feel the loam between her fingers, but when viewed with a cold, hard eye, the illusion falls apart.  There are things that are not beetles and ants crawling through the dirt.

Azra dusts the soil from her fingers and turns her attention to the flowers.  They’re absolutely everywhere.  They’re unlike quite any she’s seen on Earth (or Venus or Io, for that matter).  But they’re not some alien plant, spawned for different conditions, they’re flowers. Red-petaled, black-throated, with stems and leaves-

And thorns, Azra learns. She draws her hand back and watches in fascination as a drop of blood wells from the thick pad of her thumb. She sticks the offended finger in her mouth, but the wound is already closed.  The pain fades quickly, but the iron tang on her tongue persists.

With a shrug, Guardian and Ghost leave behind the intensive scanning.  All it will tell them is that this place is not what it seems, and they already know that.  It’s the Black Garden.  Besides, for all the Warlocks back in the City would kill for data, Azra is not here to study this place; she’s here to scout it.

She stows her helmet and gloves, picks a mountain peak on the horizon, and sets off.

She’s not stupid.  She leaves a trail of beacons behind her. Spark hovers high above, keeping watch for any wandering Vex.  He takes video of the flowers rippling in the nonexistent breeze, noting how the patterns change in the wake of his Guardian’s passage.  He charts the imperceptibly slow movements of the unfamiliar planets in the sky.

They make their way through the flower-fields, across straight pathways of Vex bronze (unpowered, disconnected), over a few small canals and down into and across some larger ones. The fields quickly become monotonous. The mountains in the distance don’t appear to be getting any closer.

Then they come to someplace interesting.

Azra skirts a stone ridge and comes across a cavern in the rock face- more like a crevice.  It seems out-of-place, too real.  Like a broken bit of scenery, a tear in the curtain.  She takes a few steps inside and finds the space lit by an odd fungus that glows like foxfire.

Spark had pinged radar, giving them a vague map of the terrain for miles.  But outside of the Vex-heavy areas, away from the center where the Heart had been killed, the Garden is incredibly boring.  Rolling hill after rolling hill, canal after canal.  This is something new, something worthy of exploration.

She is prepared to mark the walls and make cave-maps to keep track of the branching pathways, but the tunnel only has one channel.  It twists, dips, and climbs, but offers no alternate avenues to choose from.  The walls are the same whitish granite-looking stone, but in the dark and illuminated by the eerie light of the fungus, they look green and slick.

She’s lost track of how long it’s been-

No.

Azra stops dead in her tracks.  Some part of her urges her to brush off the creeping discomfort and keep going, but she knows that part isn’t real.  She has spent far too long wandering Vex installations, fell too far in the Vault, suffered too much in her climb back out to not know her own thoughts.  Azra Jax does not lose track of time easily.

Or rather, she has, so deeply and keenly, that she holds on with an iron grip.

But she’s lost it now. Though she can start counting seconds and stringing together her thoughts like a chain of daisies, it won’t matter.  The difference between zero times and one time is infinite- the needle has already skipped the track.  Azra feels a very familiar nausea roiling in her stomach.

Let’s go, Spark thinks, and Azra turns to- only to realize she has no idea which direction she’d come from.  It’s as if all of her object permanence has been stripped away- both tunnels (or the same tunnel from different directions) look equally unfamiliar.  She is struck with the odd terror that nothing exists outside of her gaze, that the world is in some superposition, collapsing into reality only when she observes it.  That she’ll turn away from one pathway only for it to be replaced by another when she’s not looking.

You’re having a panic attack, Spark says.

She is.  Her hands are shaking and her heart pounds loud in her ears. It’s so loud it drowns out everything else- or perhaps there is simply nothing left in the universe that makes sound.

Breathe, her Ghost commands.  Focus on that and it will get better.

Even though she knows with absolute certainty that it won’t work (that’s how it always is, panic trumps logic every time), she breathes.  She closes her eyes and focuses on how her Light echoes off of the walls.

Then-

You are lost.  For a brief infinity, you know nothing but this fact.  This is not where you belong.  

Eventually knowledge drips down to you and you drink it like sweet fructose- you are here, in the vascular tissue of some giant plant.  The plant is the universe, or perhaps just the City.  You’ve gone adrift from your place and it is vital you find your way back to it. The knowledge that you belong somewhere, that there is a hole tailor-made for your soul, is comforting.  It makes it all the more urgent that you find your home.

You wander with a restless, frantic energy.  This would be so much easier if you knew where you should go but you’ve forgotten what you are.  Are you a petal, bright and alluring, communicating with minds unlike your own through scent and color and shape?  Or a piece of the stem, maybe, straining in tension to keep the plant vertical?  Perhaps you are a seed, ungrown potential waiting to spring forth.

No, you are the thorn. Hadn’t people always called you sharp? And that is your purpose- to cause harm. Deal damage to any that seek to affect what you guard.  You kill Fallen and Vex and Hive and Cabal alike.  That is all you do, kill in the sake of preservation.

Azra stops, tasting the old doubts on her tongue like cloying corn syrup.  It would be very easy to agree.  Some part of her wants to (and this part is her, she knows).  

But Spark touches her thoughts, worried, and she knows better.  She knows herself.  She has been shaken to her core many times, stripped bare from all of her comforts, broken down and down until the universe found something unbreakable in her.  She knows this self-defeating worry, she has traced it back to its roots and torn it out.

She knows that things are not so simple.  She does kill, and not just to protect, but she does so much more than that. She dances and laughs and learns. She not here in the Garden to kill every threat, but to scout, take the shape of the land and listen to its sounds and know it.  If she is indeed a thorn, then she is also the phloem that delivers nutrients and information.  She is the roots that test the ground below, the leaves that spread in search of sunlight.

And she knows this, deep down in her core: she is more than the sum of her parts.  She is more than what she has done and what has been done to her.

You are dead, a voice whispers.  A dead thing walking through a place of life.  A migraine is building behind her eyes.  The sweet scent on the air has turned into the rich tang of rotting fruit.  And still she has no idea which way is out.  Her feet have carried her even further, but the walls remain unremarkable.  Perhaps there is no ‘out’ anymore.

No.  This is not like Earth or Venus or Mars.  This is like the Vault of Glass.  To adapt to this place is to be lost to it.  Azra has to subvert herself, gather her willpower and demand the world change to suit her needs instead of the other way around.

She turns back and forces the word backwards to have meaning.  Simple directions will be her way out of this.  Her Light burns like a star.

Suddenly, the mouth of the cave yawns before her.  She steps out, squinting as her eyes adjust.  The not-sunlight is very bright in comparison to the fungus glow.  The air is just as stagnant, however.  The flowers glitter with a recent rainfall.

She notices immediately that her beacons are gone.  Maybe she’ll find a few broken shells on her way back, but their radio signals have fallen silent, leaving her adrift with no GPS.  For a gut-wrenching moment, the scenery is unfamiliar.

Then Azra laughs, loud and long.  The sound echoes and echoes and echoes until the air rings with it and the flowers ripple to its pattern.  It’s going to take a lot more than that to get her lost now that she’s learned.  She turns in the direction she instinctually knows the gate is in and fixes a feature on the horizon in her head.

Listen. I know logically that Day 8 was prompting for Black Garden stuff and today really suits Shin Malphur/Jaren Ward/Dredgen Yor's story. But listen. I do what I want. You can't stop me.

AO3 Link

[agl03]

Hey! You are saying that we got a whole loaf of bread instead of a breadcrumb for the secret child theory. Maybe I’m slow but what hint exactly did we get? We know where fitz is but I’m not sure what else we got to hint at the child theory

Anonymous said:  Isn't it like Jemma to name a biological implant, though? I really am not sensing BBG vibes after this episode.

Anonymous said:  Jemma saying that chip was adorable and that it and her are inseparable was the absolute weirdest wording. I had to do a rewind to make sure I didn't just miss the reveal of bbg and thats what Jemma was talking about. I'm so excited for answers and more payoff. Also hoping we get some more daisy sousa scenes next week, because I am all in with them now lol

Anonymous said:  Yeah so this biological implant transfered her feelings from her daughter (adorable, inseparable) to Diana and I, again, will not accept any less

Anonymous said:  Jemma said “diana won’t matter anyway” or something like that then deke looked at her kinda shocked and stuff and then she tried to change the subject.

Anonymous said:  I think Diana is the child’s name and even tho elizabeth said she named it after her ring it could still be her child’s name, also, deke did not say anything when he herd it but he made a surprised face and look at her weird and that scene where jemma said she won’t matter anyway so idk. Also deke might not know his moms name

Hi Everyone!

HERE is the big response I did last night RE Diana and BBG.  

The reason I feel this was a huge nod to the Secret Child theory is while Fitzsimmons do have a penchant for naming their creations I don’t see Jemma talking about or being that attached to a thing in her neck.  Especially enough to use words like adorable and inseparable as inseparable is a big word for Fitzsimmons as a couple.  And adorable is exactly how Jemma would describe her child.  She called her Grandson a Delight.  And I believe before this last mission they were indeed inseparable and one of the hardest thing she ever had to do was leave her for this final mission.

My belief is that she sees Diana as Fitz and their Daughter’s protector and some of her feelings for them might be being channeled into it as well.  Making her very fond of it.  Diana is what stands between them and the baddies, especially if she gets captured.

For me I got even more confirmation from my Husband as he just watched and was like “there is your kid theory dear”.  And he is what you would call the casual fan who looks at none of the spoilers his wifey seeks out and I purposely hold back a few theories from him just to gauge his reaction to them as they happen.  He’s been listening to the Secret Kid theory since Season 6 ended and then more this week as it was um lets go with borrowed by some other sites.  

Even after a number of asks later and time to think it over.  I am still in the Diana is not their Daughters name camp, I just feel like Diana is indeed the tech guardian so perhaps the Daughters name is close to it or even starts with one of the letters.  If Diana had been Deke’s mothers name he would have reached more and he did know it because he offered to tell Jemma about her in Season 5 and Jemma said they less they know the better.  

I think Deke was a bit taken aback about how calm Nana and Enoch are with the whole this time machine we are riding in is now being held together with Duck Tape, can jump at any moment, and could blow a hole in the space time if even the slightest thing goes wrong.  

Finally, they have building up a huge secret that Jemma has been keeping, something she is desperate to keep from the others.  So desperate she is willing to let herself forget until the mission is done.  Fitz in danger yes is part of it but a piece of tech being the big reveal, nope not on this show.  That Secret Child Bomb is going to drop and its going to drop soon.  I will die on this hill.