#when he had to construct a plan of wiping the humanity out

[risuola]

You are the teacher and it so happens, that one day two little twins join your classes in the midst of the year. You heard before their arrival that they are odd and older teachers have been talking that their father is exceptionally young for a parent. And truth is, Suguru wasn't a fan of the idea of giving the girls under the care of a monkey, to have them share spaces and learn among the monkeys, but he was responsible enough to believe that education is something Mimiko and Nanako can benefit from. And if something wrong happens, he'll just—

[therocketeer0501]

IDW Starscream X Reader

Rendezvous Part 4

Warnings: none

You pack a few things to take to the lake with you as you plan to be out there until nightfall. There was no one to stop you from going on this little expedition of yours. You had left all of your friends behind when you and your ex had broken up. A new start in a new state. Of course your mother’s death had come around the same time you were looking for somewhere to go. The stars aligned and you ended up in nowhere Appalachia. You had tried to make friends here and get along with your new coworkers. Unfortunately, that had proven more difficult than you had expected. Making and keeping friends as an adult in an established area is hard. After you had piled all the necessities into your car, you gave one last look in the mirror. The unsightly scar on your forehead a glaring reminder that something awful had happened. You sigh as a heavy feeling weighs your shoulders down. It was time to find out exactly what.

“Those idiots! I told them to be careful around the falling ice! Those caves aren’t stable enough anymore!” Starscream slams a data pad against the wall next to Skywarp’s head. The other mech doesn’t flinch as if used to his brother’s outburst, shrugging and putting his hands up in surrender. “Listen I told em but they wouldn’t hear it and now one of us is going to have to report our losses to Megatron. Since you were in charge of this whole thing like you insisted…” Starscream didn’t let him finish. Shouldering past the purple mech to go accept the consequences of his most recent blunder.

The drive to the lake is uneventful and filled with dread. Turning onto that all too familiar dirt track, you notice that the snow was beginning to melt. Though winter was far from over, it was going to be hard to find any useful clues in the slush. You park and don your backpack and snow spikes. Slippery was an understatement. All you needed was to end up in the middle of that lake again. You shudder at the thought. Making your way around the lake, you notice a few things out of place. Broken tree branches, large gashes made in the ground partially covered in snow, and the oddest out of the bunch was the completely shattered boulders in the clearing nearby. When you were younger, you and your sibling used to come and play on these giant boulders. Now they look like they had been bulldozed. On closer inspection, some appear to have been melted. None of this made sense. If it was some new site for construction you’d see yellow tape right? Perhaps a few orange cones? You look up at the broken branches again. Something big came through here. Something impossibly big.

Wiping the energon off of his freshly split lip, Starscream skulks back to his habisuit. His wings droop tiredly behind him. He’s sick of this. Sick of Megatron’s temper. Sick of the incompetent fools he has to command. Sick of taking the blame. It’s as if his leader enjoys seeing him fail. Enjoys taking out his frustrations on him. As much ambition as he has, he can’t imagine a world where Megatron would willingly give up the power he has to the seeker. With a loud frustrated growl he throws the chair at his desk against the wall leaving a dent in the metal. Venting heavily he sends his fist into the wall next. Yelling his frustration to no one in particular. No one to listen because this is a brutal reminder that he’s alone. Always alone. As he leans his helm up against the wall, baring his denta in a grimace and shuttering his optics. His thoughts drift back to that little human. Reaching its tiny hand out to him. As if he were the only one that could fix them. He was the one who nearly froze them to death anyway. Of course it was his responsibility. Everything he touches ends up hurt. Pushing away from the wall he heads towards the exit. He wanted to be alone and he knew the perfect place.

It was nearly nightfall. Dusk had cast purple and pink light over the picturesque mountain lake you had been exploring all day. You sigh and put the notepad and pencil you had just been using to scribble on away. Nothing made sense and you feel like you had wasted a whole day trying to find something out. Kicking a rock as frustration pricks through you, you head back to your car defeated. That’s when you hear it. The distant whine of jet engines. Just as the sun dips below the horizon, plunging the lake in a deep inky blue. You turn towards the noise and reach for your flashlight. The sound was…familiar. You could swear it sounded just like how you remembered in your semiconscious state. You decide to hide amongst the destroyed rocks to see what was making that noise. What you saw made your heart nearly burst out of your chest.

[blueberrypancakesworld]

Rising of the moon and the revenant

Frollo x nuns! readers

warning : obsession, manipulation, drinking blood, murder happened (getting rid of a corpse), Frollo is a creep, no use of Y/n, fluff/comfort (as far as you can call it fluff)

Summary : The evening is over the night is here new prayers and the devil have laid on him. He wasn't punished he was promoted he got something he deserved for a long time. Her chaste heart doesn't know what shadow has fallen on her this night. Something that will become her dreadful nightmare.

info : The second chapter of the Frollo mini series i'm glad you liked the first part (thanks for any support) i had fun writing it and hope you enjoy reading it ;)

masterlist

Part.1, Part.3, Part.4, Part.5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Faith makes you strong. Faith can mean many things: faith in oneself, in one's family and friends, faith in humanity, in the king and queen of the throne. Or faith goes into the writings of the great philosophers who changed the world with their words, the deeds of heroes who made the world hold its breath.

Or it was the belief in heaven and hell in which both God and the devil ruled and reigned. They were places of infinite redemption and infinite pain.

On the clouds dressed in pure white singing with the angels and being at peace or in hell burning in the stages of hell, bleeding and being torn apart by demons, devils and other creatures that overcame human understanding and knowledge. But faith gives and takes. It can give you strength by simply praying or faith can take everything away if you go against God's plans.

But while God seemed to be everywhere in every life he had created, even the earth itself, the devil was all the darker. In the shadows, in the sins, in the sins of the seventh death, in the bodies of whores and drunken men. In the shadows of the streets pervaded by murder and lust.

The cats, bats, wolves and rats dark creatures who obeyed him who obeyed his demons who obeyed a revenant.

Revenants, the once living humans who could not help it until a certain time when they let sin into their hearts. The bite of evil was enough to poison people's hearts and make them scratch the inside of the coffin after their death.

Scratching and screaming could be heard until the revenants were dug up and set free or, better still, left to rot in the ground. But there was always someone who could escape from their coffin, a creature, a monster, a creature that had to be wiped out, a revenant like the ones in the church books. But it was just such a creature that got free, which Paris chose as his hunting ground for a while.

For a world of decades and centuries he saw the construction, the wars, the royal families rise and fall. Until his time came and he grew tired of it all...but there was one last thing he wanted to do.

He wanted a successor, he wanted a monster, a creature that would carry on his deeds with even greater bloodlust. A bloodlust that he had found in someone who would not be more perfect.

The judge Claude Frollo, a man of power and duty for the entire city. But above all, it was a man who represented the other side of his coin. He was the side of the living and the monster was the side of the dead.

He had been given many names, but when he gave him the kiss of death, his teeth drew blood and the poison of his own blood spilled into his youth, it was done and the dark shadows continued to move across the lands.

But now he had it, Frollo had it all back, he had life, he had strength and he had power. More power than he could ever have.

This bite of his faith that had been his back then when he had taken Quasimodo in because he was in awe of God, of the holy ones and still had something on the word of the Archdeacon. But now, when he had tasted the blood after coming home, something was completely different.

It was more aromatic and more intense than any alcohol or food he had ever tasted. Everything seemed more intense, the creaking of the wooden floorboards of his house all the louder, the sounds of the night ringing in his ears and his own voice strange.

It was unusual, like waking up from a trance after satisfying his bloodlust. ,,What fascinating powers the devil can give," he murmured and wanted to look at himself in the mirror in his room to see if he looked like the creature himself, but instead he backed away.

The mirror, the large gilded mirror, didn't show him...or didn't seem to show an image. Putting his hand to the cool material he saw only what his eyes saw he could look down and see that he was not a mass of bats but perhaps it was time, the record of the revenants was old but he must still have it somewhere.

,,Like years before by the power of blood" he whispered his thoughts to himself as he saw how he didn't look the same as two decades ago but the traces of age seemed to fade slightly as he searched through the books in the private library.

His eyes flew over the pages at a speed that almost made him dizzy everything seemed different and yet pleasantly different. It was the gift of the devil, the demon who had heard his prayers and voices...he had heard his demands for her.

His beloved, his nun, his one and only, whom he had craved and wanted ever since he had laid his eyes on her. It was natural that someone so good as he had been doing his duties and his job as judge of the city for decades was rewarded with things beyond materialistic coins and other objects.

It was his reward from the god of the underworld, the hell that controlled everything dark and negative, who heard him because God was already in his heart. ,,He wants me to bring you to me, to ruin your sins," he wandered on with his thoughts, not realizing how he was almost effortlessly emerging into the shadows of his house without realizing it.

It was a power he had yet to realize, a power he had yet to harness, a power he had yet to use after he had gained it through work and his righteousness. He continued to teleport through the house in the dark until the cold smell hit his nose.

The stable boy. He had killed him just as the Judge saw it as he walked out of his house into the shadows still not quite sure what his power was but when he saw the bath the body parts scattered in the straw and the dark red looking black without the moonlight he wrinkled his nose at the smell of what he had done. Well, I'll take care of that later, he thought, but left Snowbald in the stable and let his hand wander over the animal.

The stallion was warm and full of life he listened to the quiet heartbeat even though Snowbaldd realized that something was wrong and nudged him which made Frollo smile, ,,You felt it, didn't you?" he asked the animal who just snorted and waited to see if an owner would come up. But why go up at night when he could do something much better, when he could do what he could only do during the day...he could finally get to her.

Turning away from his house, he looked around him, his neighborhood was a little further away from the common people anyway, from the rich only a few streets away, he was relatively alone. No one would see him, not even if he walked with the darkness, he knew exactly where he had to go. Where she lived. Where she slept.

Focusing on her location and a blink of an eye later he found her in the darkness neither it seemed like a simple shift but it was longer but before you realize it and the tingle appeared it was over. ,,Fascinating," he murmured and continued through the darkness, running and teleporting further and further, spared even by the light of the moon.

He was the darkness, he was the horror, he was now the evil Paris had to fear and he would use his new power to get it. His figure flitted through the night, sneaking from the streets to the alleys and houses until he arrived at the attic apartment below, where there was a flower store, pretty and colorful by day and dark by night. But he knew that she lived upstairs under the roof with the iron balcony that gave her a view of the cathedral.

Standing below, he concentrated on the balcony, knowing that he was coming up there. Concentrating again on the dark, he dissolved for a moment into the dark shadows and arrived at the top of the balcony. Looking behind him, he had to suppress a grin as he realized how strong he was, how good he would be, how powerful he was.

But his attention went to the room when he heard her heartbeat he was quiet she seemed to be sleeping maybe dreaming but most of all he didn't notice her when he went into her room and emerged from the darkness behind her curtains. ,,So innocent...blood-rich...heartfelt...so desired" Frollo mumbled as he saw her nun's robe folded on the chair but not the rosary that went to her bed a simple but sufficient for her he saw that she was holding something under the covers.

She was lying on her side, her eyes closed and her hair visible, which was usually hidden under the dark fabric. Feeling this newness in him, he wanted her even more than before, this time he wanted her completely from her body to her mind to her blood and her soul. He wanted her completely for himself.

Leaning over her, he placed his deathly cold hand on her cheek for the first time. He touched an angel for the first time, he seemed to feel the holy scripture, what he always wanted.

He had faith in his hand, the heaven he prayed for, he had her. Moving over her cheek he slowly traced the shape of her lips came closer to her his body moved to her bed quietly inaudible.

She slept in her sweet head, probably things were going on that would soon be filled by him. She smelled sweet not surrounded by incense or the scent of wax from the candles, no old beeb sides no she smelled sweet when she was not surrounded by the house of god. It was a sweet smell that radiated from her heart.

It was beguilingly captivating and he wanted it he seemed to want to hold it in his hands felt his fangs forming like when he had attacked the stable boy.

He could have her here and now, he could take her here and now, and yet as he came closer to her neck his hand held her even if she was asleep and didn't notice him, he wouldn't allow a disturbance. It would be easy to take her, to bite her, to drink the sweetness that attracted him next to her.

He came closer to her neck, his teeth scraping the skin, drawing blood slightly, but then he felt a sting. His hand, which had lifted the blanket, revealed her beautiful body adorned with a light white nightgown.

Her body so accessible he would have wanted to know when she was standing how she looked moving slightly back and forth in the moonlight when the wind blew around her.

But as beautiful as she was, the feel in his hand as he gripped her hand was real, it was something like it reminded him of his old life as if he had lived in this new existence forever.

Incredulous, he pulled himself back into the shadowed window and looked down at his hand in disbelief, a burn mark was visible but already healing. The rosary flashed through his mind as he approached her again and saw with a consumed smile that bared his sweet teeth that he was healing away from her.

In her hand was the rose cross, his gift of holiness before he engaged with the devil, it was pure irony. ,,You didn't know, dear?" he asked the sleeping woman and let his hands wander over her body once more, coming closer to her but shaking himself from the rosary, it was uncomfortable, it still seemed to burn slightly but it taught him lessons like a little boy, he had to start to understand it all.

Before he left her with a kiss on her lips, holding back his desire and unable to taste it, he would. He disappeared from her room, the street and the houses and went back to his own house.

He disappeared from the dark into his home again and spent the last hours of the night reading and writing things down in books and writings.

The hours went by and it seemed as if everything was passing all the more quickly, as if all life was passing all the more quickly. He was still lying in his room when the rooster's cry and the people's voices slowly became louder and more present.

,,The people are waking up again without knowing what has happened," he murmured as he looked out, his eyes having to adjust a little to the brightness, but as he held his hand in the light, not knowing whether it would burn or crumble to dust, it was extinguishable.

It was much warmer than usual on a late spring day but he could stand it as he didn't have to go outside that often. But something came to his mind when he saw the town guards patrolling and taking up their positions again, the stable boy.

The light one who happened to be lying brutally murdered with him, ,,It's a tragedy such a young life someone must be held responsible...search the wagons of the traveling people, search the bars and strengthen the guards in the poor parts of the city...I want honesty!" he told the commander of the city guard and saw that the blond felt sorry and uncomfortable as they stood in front of the judge's stable.

Froll had waited a few moments before running to the guard post, out of breath and shaken, he had told them what had happened, fearing for himself and his horse that someone was after him.

It was a simple matter for the guard to take the body and only a few hours later his stable looked like a new stable boy had been found and Phoebus was dealing with the case.

Once again his position of power proved to bring him more than just influence it was his control over the entire city. But he didn't have control over it much to his chagrin because after still having to deal with all the paperwork of his job he got on Snowball and rode to the church knowing she was gone knowing she came to the church from her job at the orphanage to help out where she could.

The church he called into his head on the stairs it was only hours ago was almost unbelievable if he didn't feel the bites himself. As he left Snowball and stepped into the church, a shudder came over him.

It was fear, discomfort and danger that told him he shouldn't be here it was completely different and yet....there she stood by the candles feeling them so that the people could mourn their dead.

He walked over to her, leaning on the benches and pillars every now and then when his body stopped in fear, the gazes of the angels and holy figures seemed to judge him. It was a shock, but she was his angel when he came to her, she revealed herself to him and came over to him.

But as soon as he came to him, he saw her wearing a second layer of fabric around her neck, ,,Good morning my dear, I hope you slept well...if I may, you look a little tired," he said and pointed to the bench to sit down, which she did, folding her hands in her lap.

He saw her pondering as her gaze went over the colors and finally to him, even though she always lowered her gaze, almost not noticing how formal and from she was.

Before she finally admitted, ,,Yes, I had a nightmare, nothing serious it seemed like shadows were plaguing me," she admitted and clasped her rosary that hung around her neck tighter around the expensive materials and prayed in silence.

It was the same tool that healed him from her and perhaps this was good for a moment, ,,I think the food at my place will give you a good night's sleep, can I expect you tonight?" he asked and slowly rose from the bench again, not only did he feel the fear leave him but his desire for his new food was gone and he had to strike again.

He saw the young nun stand up, let go of her rosary and move slightly, answering him with a ,,I'll be there at eight o'clock, Judge Frollo." She set a time that suited him, so he had plenty of time to prepare everything and feast on a new victim, blaming it on another accident or fugitive.

He turned away with a nod and said to her last, ,,Shadows are only shadows my dear they always surround us" before he left her back in the church and hurried out of the sacred building faster than he wanted to and was glad to be back with Snowbald on whom he mounted and took the reins.

The sun is getting too hot, he thought and ran his hand over his forehead as he looked up at the sky and steered his stallion back towards his house.

His new body had advantages, very good advantages, advantages that made him even more of what he was meant to be. The judge of the world a world full of sins.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@oceansrose2002 , @aliensthegreat , @siwucha , @sweet-lil-truffla

[dailydemonspotlight]

Nyami Nyami - Day 82

Race: Dragon

Alignment: Light-Chaos

July 30th, 2024

A lot of religions put great importance on rivers. This is for hopefully obvious reasons, especially if you've taken an 8th grade history class, as sources of water, and especially rivers, are where many civilizations sprout- water is an incredibly important part of life, and rivers give way to several things, whether it be watering for crops or trade routes to access the rest of the world. However, none put as much importance on rivers as several African religions- whether it be the centerpiece of Egyptian mythology being the Nile, to a major deity of the Yoruba people being the river orisha Oshun, or even today's Demon of the Day, an incredibly important god to the Tonga people- the god of the river Zambezi, Nyami Nyami.

Alternatively spelt Nyaminyami, a corruption/pet name of the original 'Nyama yamaninga ninga,' this snake has some big shoes to fill, being one of the central gods of its religion, and one with iconography everywhere. As a deity representing the fourth largest river in all of Africa, and one that is incredibly important to the Tonga people, a people-group who arrived and settled around it at roughly 300 CE, Nyami Nyami is a big deal. Commonly depicted as a large snake or sea serpent whose length is beyond estimation, this god provides sustenance and survival to the Tonga people, being in control of the river it presides over, Zambezi. As the snake swims by, the river would stain red in his wake, though this wasn't a bad omen- no, it was far from it.

In times of struggle, the serpent would rise from its home deep under the waves and allow its people to cut from its skin to feast, giving way to the meaning of its name- 'pieces of meat-' before heading back under into the watery depths. As the controller of the eb an flow of the river, he would ensure that the crops were watered and that the people he watched over were thriving, and he did this for hundreds of years... until when the white man arrived. He went into hiding, though still controlled the river, and assisted from afar until 1955, when a dam was beginning to be planned overlooking the river. As the river had began to rise and his home was trapped under the waves, he was already getting annoyed, but the dam was the final straw.

After all, during the time of its construction, as legends go, his wife had visited downstream, and was now trapped behind it. This, alongside everything else- him being forced into hiding, and his home's submersal- finally inspired his wrath. The construction of the dam was famously hit by disaster after disaster, to the point many people say it may be cursed- even as recent as 2023, a wall collapsed inside. During the planning phase in 1950, a massive hurricane hit the river, causing it to swell by 7 meters, and once it was over, the entire flood plain was covered in animal carcasses. The survey team sent to check out the mess were then wiped out utterly by a sudden landslide. This unprecedented event was even stranger than just that, though- the cyclone that had whipped the river so high was from the Indian ocean, far beyond the landlocked African river. However, this was only the beginning of Nyami Nyami's wrath, showing how powerful the serpent was in his inconsolable rage of humanity's interference in both his and his people's lives.

The dam's construction, while seen as unilaterally good by most involved in planning, involved the displacement of the Tonga people away from the basin of the river so the dam could function- the place they had lived for years, raised so many families within, had been stripped away for the purpose of building a massive source of energy for colonizers. This, rightfully so, was seen by many of the Tonga people as unjust, and as the dam had begun construction, they called upon Nyami Nyami again.

Later on in 1955, on Christmas Eve, yet another unprecedented event struck the country- a massive flash flood that hadn't happened before or since completely broke the foundations being built, wiping out several people and halting progress for days. However, when construction persisted, yet another flood struck in 1956, and finally, in 1958, one last one hit the river, a massive rainstorm turned flash flood that was purported to only happen once every 10,000 years! The flood caused several explosions to ring out throughout the dam, leading to yet more lives being lost. Eventually, though, the dam was finished. Nyami Nyami's wrath had failed, ultimately, but the damages were many, as over 80 people had lost their lives. Hence, this is why you never piss off a river deity.

Now, in terms of SMT representation, it's an incredibly faithful design to the many Nyami Nyami statues erected around the river, a coiled snake with a fish's head. While I somewhat wish we got to see the great serpent depicted in the myths surrounding Nyami Nyami, this is a great pick for his design in general, as it's literally just a blue-tinted version of the exact statues one may see depicting this serpent. Overall, Nyami Nyami is an excellent design for a river god who tried to protect a displaced tribe of people during their darkest hour, and though he failed, we really do have to acknowledge how wild it was that several once-in-a-lifetime events hit the dam in such short succession. Nyami Nyami's wrath must not go understated.

[goodlucktai]

i’ve got my eye on you

tmnt 2k12 pairing: don & mikey word count: 2k title borrowed from say yes to heaven by lana del ray

read on ao3

x

“Mikey?” Donnie says, hovering in the doorway uncertainly. “Can I talk to you?”

Mikey looks up from the dough he’s kneading with round eyes, more bewildered than anything. No one ever asks if they can talk to Mikey. His presence in his family’s lives is like sunlight falling on the planet, warm and touching everything and taken for granted. They can always talk to Mikey.

So Don’s question is a weird one, but Mikey doesn’t mention it.

“Pull up some counter, Dee,” he offers instead, patting at the one square foot of the surface that isn’t covered in flour. His fingers leave little clouds behind. “I’m almost done.”

Donnie props his hip against the island and leans there to watch his little brother work. Mikey’s ADHD is textbook in a lot of ways, unpredictable in many others; it’s definitely been a fun learning curve for his family. Don did a lot of research. He’s read that generally people with Mikey’s disorder tend to struggle with tasks like cooking, that it can be an outright Herculean task remembering to eat or even just mustering the energy to feed themselves.

But Mikey loves his kitchen. He gravitates towards it in all his different moods. It gives his pinballing thoughts and restless hands something constructive to focus on with a clear and present reward at the end.

Right now he seems pleased with the dough and gathers it up in a neat little ball before transferring it to a greased mixing bowl and covering it tightly with plastic wrap. When the bowl has been safely stored in the fridge to proof, Donnie joins Mikey in wiping down the counter, mostly for something to do with his hands.

Something’s baking in the oven. Music is playing on Mikey’s phone across the room, acoustic and downbeat and soothing. This room is where everyone in their entire extended family comes to feel safe, even if they don’t know or won’t admit it.

“So listen,” Don finally says. “About earlier. During the race?”

A grin splits Mikey’s face, likely remembering all the fun he had. They’d been looking forward to the ninja race for weeks, ever since Leo first floated the idea.

Leo has come a long way as sensei. It was hard at first, finding his feet, acclimating to this additional burden piled on top of all the ones he already had to carry, but maybe not as hard as it should have been. Leo has always been more of a second parent than a sibling to the rest of them. He’s always been the one they ran to first, even when Splinter was alive; the boy who had to grow up too fast, the one who tried his dad’s oversized jacket on over and over through the years until one day he was surprised to find he had outgrown it.

All this to say—Leo can always tell when his little siblings and pseudo-siblings are due for a break. He poured hours into planning this event, all for his tiny clan of six, and it really showed. The race was part relay, part scavenger hunt, stretching for miles back and forth across Manhattan.

They drew cards out of a bucket to decide pairs, divvying up into three teams of two. When Casey drew the card that matched Mikey’s, he lit up with a manic grin and whipped his head around, a reaction Donnie wasn’t expecting.

“Oh hell yeah!” the human whooped, lifting both hands over his head for a double high-five. “We’re gonna make this night our bitch!”

“Language!” Leo barked, scandalized, like they each hadn’t already heard—and said—a lot worse.

Mikey, for his part, slapped his palms against Casey’s, giggling madly. Donnie looked between the two of them with a frown forming on his face. He had the distinct feeling that he missed something. They all tended to live out of each other’s pockets anymore, trauma-bonding at its worst. Its best? Whatever. If Mikey and Casey were buddies, Donnie would know.

They were both adrenaline junkies, sure. They both liked going fast, living on the edge. As a ninja clan, that was sort of the norm anyway.

But Mikey in particular could outrun anyone in his family any day of the week. Nothing moved fast enough for him. They tried to keep up with him, but sometimes he got too far ahead. He wanted to walk on his hands to feel the grit of asphalt on his palms and the blood rush to his head, or spin in circles in front of the stove while the water boiled, or cartwheel during katas because morning meditation ran too long and his full quota of focus was all used up.

Understimulated, touch-starved, eager for attention, desperate for—something.

Donnie just didn’t realize how desperate until he and Leo crossed paths with Casey and Mikey halfway through the race. From the rooftop, Donnie could see that the token the other boys were gunning for was on the opposite side of the BQE—across five lanes, up on the massive signage structure towering above the expressway. They were on the wrong side when they spotted it.

Smugly, Donnie thought, Tough luck—they’ll have to find a way around. That’s gonna cost them some time.

And then Mikey flew over the guardrail, sprinting straight out into traffic.

Donnie’s heart jumped up into his throat and stayed there.

He was rooted to the spot, like someone watching a train barrel down the tracks toward an inevitable collision. His body forgot how to breathe.

It took his little brother all of fifty seconds to dodge box trucks and SUVs like it was a children’s game, to a chorus of blaring horns from drivers that did not slow down. An eighteen-wheeler missed him by a foot.

Mikey scaled the structure, retrieved the token, and shoved it into the pocket of his over-sized hoodie. Then he waved both arms back at Casey, and pointed down at the guardrail immediately behind him, clearly indicating that they should regroup underneath the overpass. They both disappeared from view on their respective sides of the freeway, off to the next leg of the scavenger hunt.

Don just stood there numbly watching cars go by until Leo doubled back for him.

Raphael and April won the race by all of four minutes—and with it bragging rights to last the next two months, unfortunately for everyone else—but Mikey was in high spirits the whole way home anyway, bouncing with every step. Their brothers must have assumed it was those endorphins from a full night of high-speed play doing their job.

Leo rubbed the top of Mikey’s head with his knuckles fondly, and Raph said something like, “God, you just don’t slow down, do ya?” because they had no idea. They didn’t see it.

Donnie trailed silently at the back of the group, heart pounding so hard he could feel it in his throat, his eyes, his hands. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from Mikey, afraid of what might happen if he let his guard down for even a second, replaying that scene on the expressway over and over and over. It took him hours to muster the courage to finally approach his baby brother in the kitchen.

And now they’re standing here together, and Mikey is humming under his breath, hands beginning to tap restlessly on the countertop. Donnie’s going to lose him in a matter of minutes. Trying to think of a delicate way to say it is getting him nowhere. He takes a page out of Raph’s book and just barrels in.

“I saw you run across the BQE for a token,” he blurts.

Mike tilts his head the way Icky does when she hears something she doesn’t understand. On one hand, he doesn’t deny he did it. On the other, more alarming hand, he also looks blatantly confused about why Donnie thinks it’s worth a discussion.

“We had to get the tokens to win,” Mikey points out, like Don isn’t the one who helped Leo with the rules and regulations.

Clenching his fists, and then folding his arms so Mikey can’t see his fists are clenched, Donnie says, “You wanted to win that bad, Mike?”

He can’t stop seeing the speeding cars; the smear of headlights in the dark; Mikey weaving his way across the lanes, his figure tiny and almost indistinguishable from the rooftop where Don was watching.

Donnie’s remarkable imagination provided the additional details: the way displaced air would have sucked at Mikey’s clothes at each near miss. The sting of the hot asphalt under his feet. The passing lights lighting up his face in fits and bursts, for seconds at a time, and maybe something distracted him—maybe there was a piece of glass or metal on the road and it cut him or he tripped—maybe a reckless driver merged lanes without warning—maybe, maybe, maybe one of a hundred things happened and Mikey was captured or maimed or killed, ripped away from his family because of a stupid, needless risk he took during a game.  

They’ve been dragged through war, outer space, time travel. They’ve all been hurt before, in big ways and small ones. It's just. It’s different this time, because it was a game.

Maybe Donnie should be angry at Casey for enabling this behavior. Casey may not be their brother by blood but he’s their brother by every other known metric science has to offer and he should have dragged Mikey off the expressway by the hood of his stupid pink sweatshirt and lit into him for being so reckless the way Leo, April, Raph and Donnie all would have.

But Casey has his own reasons for doing what he does—a dead mom, an alcoholic father, a little sister CPS took away—and if he were a regular, neurotypical, well-adjusted teenager, he never would have put on his painted mask in the first place. He never would have fallen into Donnie’s family.

Casey would have been the one to run into traffic if Mikey hadn't beaten him to it.

Like recognizes like. That’s why they were thrilled to be on each other’s team. They’re both chasing something. They both have too much going on inside their heads to ever just be still.

And Mikey is always all smiles, always the first to offer his siblings a hug or a shoulder to lean on or a safe place to hide from the rest of the world and something sweet to eat in the meantime. Mikey, who hasn’t cried in front of his brothers once since the night their father died, who hasn’t come into Donnie’s lab after a nightmare in even longer than that. He smiles and plays and supports everyone and gives them reasons to run and shout and vent frustrations and groan in exasperation and laugh until they get sick.

No one has to ask the sun to shine, it just does that. And it will until it runs out of fuel, some five billion years from now. The star death was always going to be inevitable. Constant output, finite resources. Nuclear fusion that will hopefully last for as long as it needs to, but not forever.

The sun will get tired one day, and then it’s not going to shine anymore.

“Dee?” Mikey says loudly, in a tone that makes it sound like he’s been saying it over and over. Donnie blinks and he’s back in the kitchen, and Mikey is in front of him, more than a bit confused, more than a bit worried, but here and safe and whole.

Not even a scratch. If Don hadn’t seen it, he never would have known it happened.

He unfolds his arms and opens them. He doesn’t need to say anything for his little twin to spring forward, their plastrons colliding with a solid knock that would have winded a human person. The counters are clean but Mikey is still covered in flour and so Don is covered in flour now, too, and it’s wafting to the floor in tiny cloudbursts every time they move.

It’s the kind of mess Splinter would have made them stop and clean up. But it’s not hurting anything to let the kitchen be a little messy. And it’s Mikey’s kitchen. It’s the one place in the world where what he says goes.

He winds his smaller arms around Donnie’s shell and squeezes as tight as he can. Smushes his cheek against Don’s shoulder because he isn’t tall enough to hook his chin over it the way he’d probably like to. He’s warm and he smells like butter and baked bread and summer and boy. He’s survived every single thing he’s ever done.

Donnie closes his eyes and tries to replace the lights he can still see on the freeway with the ones here at home.  

“Can I be on your team next time?” he says.

“Hell yeah, let’s do it,” Mikey agrees instantly. His voice is shaped so much like a toothy grin that Don can see it without looking. Mike doesn’t even know why he’s promising it, just that Donnie needs him to. “We’ll do a clean sweep, nobody’ll know what hit ‘em. B Team’s the Best Team, baby!”

He’s everything warm and light and safe about Donnie’s whole world, and he doesn’t seem to understand how dark every day would be without him. He doesn’t know what he would be taking from his family if he took himself away.

Donatello’s other siblings are self-destructive in obvious ways. Michelangelo, who is loud and obnoxious and has never known a secret he could keep for longer than a day, is somehow more subtle about it.

But now Donnie sees it. He knows what to look for.

[blueikeproductions]

Once the mightiest weapon at the Decepticons’ disposal, after the loss of the Allspark in Witwicky (but before the birth of Twitch & Phoenix’s Terrans), the Constructicons were among the few Decepticons to switch sides alongside Megatron.

The Constructicons joined Grapple’s unit in reconstruction efforts alongside humans after the Great War concluded on Earth, finding when given the choice, they preferred CONstruction over DEstruction.

This wouldn’t last as Mandroid required troops and likeminded brilliance for his plans, and begrudgingly accepted he needed some Transformers to do so. Using his Arachnamechs, equipped with Megatron’s old Robo Smasher protocols, he managed to reprogram the Constructicons to serve him. While loyal, Mandroid finds himself butting heads with Hook over creative differences. Together they managed to build Mandroid’s crown jewel in his efforts to rid Earth of the Transformers: GigaZarak.

Devastator served as a consistent enforcer for Mandroid, secretly enjoying getting to return to demolition of the Autobots. His most notable roles were being equipped with excavated relics like the Resonance Blaster to destroy the Terrans & Autobots, and a botched scheme that almost saw Mandroid’s remaining son Ethan die in the hospital he was recovering from.

On top of Devastator’s usual brute strength, he has a unique Arachnamech partner named Scorpulator, that can Transform into an equippable arm cannon.

—

Sky Lynx was the proudest and egotistical of the Autobots during the Great War on Earth. He took down the last of the Decepticons’ super weapons, the Griffin, which was buried in some plains outside Witwicky.

Unlike his G1 self, this Sky Lynx isn’t space fairing, so no one could simply climb aboard and blast off to Cybertron. Instead, Sky Lynx Scanned a jumbo jet, and took a job at the Witwicky airport to ferry passengers. He likes being useful, but like Winston from the 90’s Mummy movie, he yearns for adventure and glory like the old days. He gets this chance when the Robbie & Grahm’s Terrans appear before him at his hanger to stop his old rival, the Griffin, that Mandroid and the Constructicons reactivated to wipe out the Autobots, loading it with relic weapons Mandroid had been collecting.

After defeating the Griffin once more, Sky Lynx later on helps Devastator, Ethan Meridian and the kids hold back Terratronus when Starscream uses her to crush Witwicky.

[noforkingclue]

Hey, how are you. First of all i hope you're having a happy holidays. Secondly i saw that you had opened requests again. If it's okay may i please request a Dark!Professor x mutant!reader request where the reader manages to escape from Charles and goes on the run, Charles uses Cerebro to find the reader and he does and goes to where the reader is. He then causes an incident which distracts the reader from keeping him out but that split second he uses his telepathy to control the reader and maybe uses his telepathy to make the reader sleep (or mind control them to go with him to waiting transportation. ,(Or what ever idea you like) before taking them back to the mansion where he would ensure that you don't ever think about escaping again.

If this idea make you feel uncomfortable then that's okay, I do hope I'm not coming across as being bossy or rude.

Have a great day/night :) happy holidays

Note: requests are currently closed

Thank you so much for the request! This request doesn't make me uncomfortable at all.

I hope you like the fic!

Title: Changing Minds

Warnings: dark fic, mind manipulation, forcibly changing memories

Everything tag list: @greenrevolutionary, @byebyebreezywrites, @spngingerbread21, @layazul, @lov3vivian, @simonsbluee

You had always been so wonderfully strong. Strong enough to resist Charles for so long. Charles looked down at your sleeping figure and stroked your cheek with the back of his hand. You didn’t flinch away at his touch when you would’ve done so in the past. At the same time, you didn’t lean into it either which was what Charles craved.

It amazed him how you had managed to slip through his carefully constructed net. To leave your safe, warm home and venture out into a place where humans were so willing to discriminate against you. You were protected in Charles’ arms and yet you constantly resisted him.

It had taken him a while to hunt you down, not nearly as quickly as he would’ve liked. He had the school to run and he also didn’t want to go charging in without a plan. Too soon and you’d be too guarded, too long and he ran the risk of losing you forever. Still, eventually you got too comfortable (sooner than Charles was expecting) and that’s when he struck.

You looked so peaceful on your bed, Charles lying next to you. He curled up and rested his head on your chest, closing his eyes at the rise and fall of your chest calmed him down. He hadn’t been sleeping well since you ran away and it was a relief to finally know you were safe. It felt good to have you back, to once against hold you in his arms.

Although this raised a point that Charles had been avoiding.

He raised his head so he was hovering just above you. He could feel you breath ghost over his skin and he gently pressed his lips against yours. He had been resisting doing this for so long, determined not to change any part of you. He hated doing this to you. The look of betrayal on your face when you realised what he might’ve done was almost enough to make him stop doing it. However, this time there was no putting it off.

He raised a hand and pressed it against your forehead. He closed his eyes at all the happy memories you had when you were away from him. His hand shook and he closed his eyes tightly as your true feelings came to the surface. He just wanted to protect you, was that really so bad? If you had just listened to him, listened and didn’t resist, then he wouldn’t have to do this.

Carefully he implemented himself in your memories. Fast and panicked driving became leisurely road trips. Staying in dingy, run down motels became staying in luxurious five star hotels. All the aching loneliness you felt while being on your own melted away as he placed himself in your memories. All the thoughts of running away from him and the fear you felt for him was wiped from your memory.

Charles really didn’t want to change any part of you but to keep you safe and by his side he would alter the whole world.

[garblixdligzoog]

[CONNECTED. LOCATION: SARRAGUS-6, ZERO'S CRATER.]

-nally found you on this planet. Tell me, what do you know about these... "Civilizations?"

All civilizations in the Universe have a tech rating called the "Civilization Tech Scale" or CTS. Ranging from 1 to 10.

CTS-1 is your basic underdeveloped civilization, weapons like bows and arrows, swords etc. from neolithic to medieval.

CTS-2 is steampower, electricity, etc. Gunpowder guns like flintlocks and muskets are the main weapons.

Aah, I miss the days of ships sailing around, I used to sink about 200 a day because I got bored...

CTS-3 is where earth is currently at. Electrical devices and vehicles are made. Mediocre space travel with costly rockets, primitive robotics. Nanobots are being researched for medical purposes.

CTS-4 is where robotics reach human-like movement, prosthetics are capable of moving more human-like as well. Primitive laser weapons are being worked on. Space travel is less costly with prototype spaceships.

Prototype...? Why does that sound familiar? Maybe it's something to do with Project NEO...

Project what?

Classified information, comrade.

CTS-5 Is where laser weaponry is somewhat understandable. Fully automated mechs are capable of war, though very costly. Space travel is still expensive, few spaceships are given to rich folk. Nanobots are medically available.

CTS-6 is when Space travel and Laser weaponry is perfected, and space travel is publicly available. Slow, but effective. FTL drives are being researched in this era. Power armor is being researched.

CTS-7 is where Gars is at. Basic forcefields, FTL drives and power armor are available. Robotics are perfected further for surgical precision. First aid kits are fitted with medicinal nanopaste for fast healing. Neurosurgery is now extended to nerves.

Gnarpians? Like that one ship we found in Roswell?

Ugh, why did you take the offer of running as a rep for S.P.E.C again?

Because an infiltrator destroyed Area 51 with a self-destructive ship. We had to move to Saath desert because of that.

Right... Let's continue.

CTS-8 is the natural limit for most if not all civilizations, where nanobots are both capable of construction and medicinal purposes. Planet-destroying weapons are possible, but very costly. Breaking the limit of this civilization tier is near-impossible. Very few civilizations are here.

CTS-9 is the penultimate technological advancement. People are starting to harness stars for power, understanding the fabric of the cosmos and learning to unravel it's secrets is being worked on, mass teleportation is readily available for fleets, nanofabrication has reached it's peak with food, water, basic needs. Most things that complicate simple tasks are obsolete. Consciousness can be uploaded to massive machines. Only one civilization was able to reach this state.

The Ancients or "Idonin", were wiped out for an unknown reason. Maybe Zaagra had something to do with it...

You keep mentioning this... "Zaagra". Who is he?

It's not on a need to know basis, Sergo. Like that project... Knee yolk?

CTS-10 is the peak of civilization and technology itself. Space and time are nothing to them, they have transcended beyond these coils and are considered gods among men. Hunger, thirst, bodily needs are a thing of the past. and they are capable of copying their own consciousness into small USB-like devices. And are capable of weaving new bodies for them to live in. As such, they are effectively immortal as long as they have backups of their own consciousness.

And that is basically it, Sergo. All you need to know about technological tiers. Gathering information on alien species is... Difficult. But I'll find some weaknesses.

Right, comrade... But I have a few questions.

I'm all ears.

Why are you hiding? Is there something you're afraid of?

I'm afraid of nothing. Rather, I got numb... I'm just hiding from a certain someone, they do not need to interfere.

Your plan to merge yourself with the entirety of- ...You truly are crazy. Speaking of. What are you gonna do with Argus Blackbone's manor? There are overseer cultists running rampant.

Argus? You mean general Argus? He hasn't been around lately. I just want to see what they do with that merged Overseer before I do anything.

Although I am detecting high amounts of Dark Energy coming from gars... I thought I would never see another Antheris incident again...

Reminds me of the time me and my companion fought against Az-

Comrade, why is your communicator active? Zomeone iz liztening?

Really now? I must've bumped it when I went to get my hot cho-

[DISCONNECTED]

[yami268]

To Build a Love Nest

Summary: The gang finds Xelloss building a house.

A/N: Hey @xellychan040! I'm your @slayersweek Secret Santa this year and I went with a fic plus illustration of Xellina with unconventional courting. I hope you enjoy it!

To Build a Love Nest

Lina stretched her arms over her head as she and the others strolled through the outskirts of town. It had been a couple of days since they arrived there, and after some rest, they were ready to leave. But before that, they were looking for Xelloss who happened to be with them at the time. Recently, he seemed to be acting strange, more so than usual. He had been looking at architectural books and had been seen with the local carpenter recently. Luckily, the same carpenter told them that he had been heading into the forest. So now they were trying to find him. But they weren’t prepared for what they saw when they made it to where he was.

There, amid a clearing, was what appeared to be a building site. It was easy to assume so since there was a pile of construction wood along with the foundation and flooring. Xelloss was also there, hammering away at a wall frame. The sheer sight of seeing him do something so out of character made them speechless, to say the least.

“Xelloss, what are you doing?” Lina finally asked despite guessing the obvious answer anyway.

“Oh, building a house.”

“We can see that.” Zelgadis crossed his arms as he stared at him. “We would like to know why you are building a house.”

He stopped hammering for a moment before turning to the group. “I’m planning on courting Miss Lina with it. Though the rest of you are welcome as well.”

Hearing that, they all became very flabbergasted, Lina most of all. It was obvious that he did have a distinct attraction to her, albeit a peculiar one. But for him to build a house just to court her seemed unconventional, even for him. In any case, he was hammering away at the wall frame while they remained silent.

After a while, Amelia spoke up, “Mister Xelloss, if you don’t mind me asking, why are you trying to court Miss Lina with a house?”

“Well, you see…” He stopped again and turned to the group. “I was at a library looking for information on how humans traditionally court each other. I did ask one of the assistants there and he must have misheard me because he came back with a book on birds’ instead. Not wanting to correct him, I decided to get the book and read it. I then learned certain species build nests for their mating rituals. And well, it seemed to be the most practical…”

“… Xelloss, you’re ridiculous.” Zelgadis pinched the bridge of his nose.

Rubbing his chin, Gourry said, “I don’t know. I would build a house for someone I really like.” No one was surprised by this.

In the midst of her self-agonizing embarrassment, Lina clenched everything, even her teeth. Of course he would go with the most absurd way to court someone. Not that she wouldn’t want to be with him. If she were honest, she did find him appealing in his own way. Still, this was too much by normal standards.

Feeling that she should at least indulge in his antics, she let out a sigh and looked up at him. “So, Xelloss, what made you choose this place for our house?”

“Well, I remembered that you said you’d like to live in this kind of town.” He then wiped the metaphorical sweat from his brow. “Also, I considered other factors, such as property value, accessibility, view-.”

Waving her hands, she said, “Okay! I get it.” She remained silent for a moment, now scratching her head. “But… What if I change my mind and want to live somewhere else?”

He stopped hammering for a moment, thinking about it himself. “I guess I could teleport it to where you wanted to be. Though depending on its size at the moment and distance, it will take a lot of energy to do so.”

“Hold on, how big are you planning on making it?” Amelia asked, tilting her head a bit.

“Well…” Xelloss stopped and moved closer over to them. Then, he materialized a piece of folded paper in his hand. He started to unfold it as the others watched intensely. Once it was fully unfurled, he continued, “I had planned on starting with a small living area at first. Though this will be the final product.”

Seeing the entire house plan, all of them gawked. There was a small cottage, but it sat between two larger houses. In fact, they were pretty much mansion-sized. There were also plans for a deluxe kitchen, a grand dining room, a library wing, a garden, and other things. It was certainly something that fitted well into a certain sorceress’ extravagant tastes.

Lina’s mouth twitched as the others stared at her judgingly. After a while, Zelgadis sighed. “So, when do you plan on getting it done?”

As he folded up the plans, Xelloss answered, “I think I can manage to get the cottage done in a couple of months by myself. The rest of it…” He then scratched his head. “I estimate a few years or so. Within a decade at best… Perhaps I should find help.”

It was at this point that she found herself getting uncomfortable again. She wasn’t going to lie that she would like that kind of place, but a part of her felt guilty. He certainly put a lot of thought into this. Though if she was honest, this was too much, especially just to be with her. After sighing again, she said, “Xelloss, you don’t need to do this.”

“Oh? I thought you would like a nice place to live. Should I stop and destroy it then?” He turned to her, raising an eyebrow.

“No!” Lina waved her arms frantically. She then placed a hand on her forehead, rubbing it. “What I mean is that you shouldn’t go this far just to go out with someone. I’d be happy if you asked me with no grand gesture involved. So, you can at least postpone building this thing until I’m ready to settle down. Okay?”

Tilting his head, he stayed silent as he thought it over. After a while, he nodded. “I suppose it can wait until then.”

She felt herself filled with relief. Ceipheed knows that would be more excessive than she was willing to deal with. But that didn’t last long when he asked, “So does that mean you’re willing to be with me?”

“Uhhhhh… Oh look at the time! We should be heading off now, right guys?!” Pointing off in the distance, Lina started to head off. Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia looked at her suspiciously while Xelloss stood there bewildered.

“Welp,” Zelgadis said as he glanced over at him, “Looks like you’ve got your answer.”

“Oh but on the contrary, she didn’t say no.” He turned to him while flashing his usual cocky smile. With that, he teleported right next to Lina, quickly sneaking in a kiss on her cheek. She went bright red before pushing him away. While she was yelling about how he shouldn’t be so sly, the others followed after them.

“Just so you know…” Amelia said as she looked over at Zelgadis with a faint blush, “I don’t expect anyone to build me a house.”

“Yea, you already have a palace,” he retorted, not noticing her puffed-up cheeks.

Crossing his arms, Gourry closed his eyes. “Well, I would still build a house for someone I like.” And once again, no one was surprised.

[legend-the-dumb-jock]

One thing I will never userstand is humans and their need for revenge. Take Evan here. He seemed a nice guy and all. A contributor to his community. But all it takes is just to make one person made and they summon me. Like many the request was simple “I want him to hate himself every time he looks in the mirror”. Haha isn’t that what I’m good at? My standard fee of a soul and I was gone to Evan. Hairy and toned. Everything that a lot of men wanted. But you know I had big plans for Evan. Huge even. And it was time thag I got to work. Over the next few days Evan found it hard to not eat as his hunger intensified every day. And when he tried to not eat I went ahead and made him gain a few pounds of weight he could never lose. Before I knew it Evan was eating non stop. Drinking non stop. He couldn’t help himself. Then like so many others he was going to need some mass to help move that growing body around so naturslly his back bean to expand and widen. Arms bulking up and legs thickening. Soon he looked like he spent hours in the gym every day even when he never stepped foot inside one. I slid that self riteousness and demand for respect down on the scale and moved up the self reliance and lack of self discipline up. It wasn’t any time at all before he was a loud obnoxious bafoon. I turned his community that loved him against him. And I still wasn’t done as I started making more hairy grow across his body. Giving him devolved features. Giving him the look of something that he found absolutely disgusting. I took away his business and placed him at the bottom of another local construction company. Making sure that everyone would only see him fit to lift and grunt like an animal he was meant to be. Then the sweat came and all the more natural for him at this point. Soon it was as if Evan never was that man people respected. In his place I left Evan in front of a mirror. Constantly wiping sweat from his hairy engorged body. Leaving him to stare at his absolute worst nightmare. One that he would live everyday from here on out.

February 21st, 2021 10:21pm chris stutz bodywrecker

[halos-top-alien-model]

Sangheili Bracket Round 1 Match 5

More info below:

Nizat 'Kvarosee:

Debuted in Halo: Silent Storm

Born August 23, 2470 on Suban - one of Sanghelios' moons - Nizat would join the Covenant military prior to the Human-Covenant war, claiming he had served around one hundred years before the war began in 2525 (sources seem contradictory on his age / service time). At the onset of the war, he was in command of the Pious Rampage and the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience, with the Minor Minister of Artifact Survey attached as a ceremonial magistrate. Tasked with the destruction of humanity, he would target numerous planets before March 2526, when he was contacted by the United Rebel Front for an alliance. While it was a divine order that humanity be wiped out, he nonetheless saw this as an opportunity to gain intel on more human worlds - especially as the human rebels informed him of and offered to help eliminate the Spartan-IIs. It had been Spartan-IIs that had destroyed two of his ships and they were now hoping to destroy the entirety of his fleet at Biko. Nizat would attack Biko with this in mind, but just as he was glassing the planet, Spartans that slipped away would destroy most of his fleet's supply convoy, stopping his fleet's advance in human space. Upon learning that the Spartans had obtained a Covenant star map, he correctly deduced that they would next target the Covenant supply world of Zhoist rather than the capital ship of High Charity. He would meet them there to hunt them down and stop their raid, with 'Szatulai being slain in the process. The Battle of Zhoist would end with the destruction of Zhoist's Ten Cities, the planet's Ring of Mighty Abundance, and the under-construction Hammer of Faith - all with the Spartans evading capture or demise, valuable intel on their abilities and armor becoming lost with further destruction across Nizat's fleet. The Minor Minister threatened Nizat over this defeat, resulting in his steward - Tam 'Lakosee - to kill him and Nizat to incinerate the body and lie to the Hierarchs about the cause of death to protect Tam.

Called back to High Charity, Nizat makes an attempt to explain where he went wrong and what other shipmasters could learn from these encounters - most notably identifying ONI as the most dangerous asset of humanity and proposing a plan to trick and destroy them. However, his plan is rejected, so he steals the bait he needs for his plan and flees in his ship. Reaching the planet Netherop / N'ba, he soon learns that the Fleet of Swift Justice is after him and intends to pin him between themselves and a hostile human fleet nearby, but he out-maneuvers them and lands on the planet's surface. He engages the forces on the planet, facing difficulty in getting the humans to "steal" his tracking bait, all while Silent Shadow assassins and the same Spartans that bested him before are at his back. Unfortunately, the Silent Shadow would catch up with him, but they would end up only stripping him of his armor and leaving him and those loyal to him marooned on the planet. Sometime after this, Nizat would christen himself as "Worldmaster", stalking the similarly stranded Lieutenant Commander Amalea Petrov and claiming to his men that she was a gift from the gods. Meanwhile, off-world, the Prophet of Truth would cover up the true events that occurred on Netherop and declared the area cursed so that none would attempt to rescue Nizat. Additionally, orbital mines would be deployed around the planet.

For the next 33 years, Nizat would wage war against Petrov's forces (for some reason in contradiction to his previous views on her), discovering Precursor technology and using it to create Sanctum Hide and the Divine Hand, as well as other supplies to keep his followers alive. Among these followers were now also the Silent Shadow Meduz 'Ra'ashai, sent behind to enforce Nizat's exile. Over time, Nizat would grow more and more fanatical, while everyone else save for Tam grew more disillusioned with him and the harsh Netherop life. During these three decades, Nizat would prevent to separate UNSC rescue missions and lose a number of his followers until they were down to six by 2559. Then, things would change as the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam arrived in search of a weapon to end Cortana's new tyranny - Spartan Vale following behind him. Nizat would spare Thel's landing team but not Vale's, before he realized the lack of fighting between them. He would create a tunnel to capture the two human civilians Vale brought with her, but only succeeded in taking one. On the journey back, Thel and his remaining stranded allies would catch up and attempt to negotiate. Nizat would first hear him out, only to react in denial that the Covenant was a lie and the galaxy had changed, launching into hostiles. However, a sudden explosion would make him realize that Vale had used the Arbiter as a diversion to sneak past him and reach the Divine Hand. After he believed he had dealt with the Arbiter, he would retreat to go deal with the invading humans, only to have his numbers reduced to just himself and Tam - 'Ra'ashai defecting to the Arbiter's side - and a mandible torn off. Tam would negotiate with Thel and Vale, helping them with the Divine Hand in exchange for mercy for Nizat, but this would quickly go sideways as the Banished and Forerunner ships arrived. As the Arbiter attempted to deal with his enemies, Tam would take hold of the weapon and cause all of the ships in orbit be destroyed, with some Banished surviving to pose a threat to everyone stranded. Nizat and Tam would be abandoned in their temple as the Divine Hand was taken from them, with it the "blessings" turning to ruin. However, Nizat would not come to find this out, as Tam decided to put his dear leader and friend out of his misery.

Rtas 'Vadum:

Debuted in Halo 2

Born on Sept. 21, 2487, Rtas would explore his keep's shoreline as a child - nearly dying at ten years old in one exploration gone wrong - and graduated with honors from a top war college. By Sept. 2554, he would serve as a commander to all the SpecOps units in the Fleet of Particular Justice. During the Battle of Installation 04, he and a team that included his second in command - Bero 'Kusovai - would be sent to investigate a possible human boarding on the agricultural support ship Infinite Succor. However, they would not find humans there, but the Flood parasite. While the outbreak would be contained, Rtas would be the sole survivor - and lost left mandibles in the process. Following this, he would be reassigned to to command all SpecOps from High Charity.

A little time would pass before Rtas would be assigned to lead a mission against a heretic faction, his former Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee joining them as the newly appointed Arbiter. An attack against the base of operations would ensue, only for Rtas to once again detect the stench of the Flood. Complicating things further was that the Heretic Leader locked himself behind an unbreakable barrier while a harsh storm was on the horizon. The Arbiter would volunteer to conduct a risky plan to draw out the Heretic Leader solo, with Rtas deciding to leave with him his blade as help. The two would not see each other again until later at High Charity, where Rtas argued with the Prophet of Truth over the changing of the Honor Guard and the Prophet undermining Rtas' attempt to save the Prophet of Regret. Another reunion would take place on Installation 05 - specifically the Quarantine Zone - where Rtas and his SpecOps forces would aid the Arbiter in reaching the Sacred Icon necessary to activate the Halo. However, following this mission, the Hierarchs would order the execution of all Sangheili, beginning the Great Schism. As civil war erupted, Rtas would reunite with Thel once again and assist him in reaching a Scarab to break into the ring's control room, although Rtas would then split to achieve another goal - taking control of the Shadow of Intent. Now leading the fledgling Fleet of Retribution, Rtas would conduct a campaign to quarantine and sterilize the Flood-infected High Charity and Halo, only for a single cruiser to escape and head to Earth.

Rtas and parts of his fleet would follow it, joining the Battle of Voi in the process. Knowing more than anyone else the threat of the Flood spreading, he was prepared to glass all of Earth, but was talked into only glassing the portion of the continent the Flood had landed on. On his ship, he and other notable figures of the war would receive a message from Cortana warning that a Gravemind had taken over High Charity and was heading to Earth, with the Ark at the other side of Voi's portal being the only way to stop it. Rtas was eager to take his forces - alongside the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn - to go on the offensive against the Covenant and Flood at the Ark. His fleet would engage the Covenant in the skies, being confident despite being outnumbered three to one, declaring the iconic line: "Then it is an even fight." Unfortunately, while the battle was going well and Rtas prepared to destroy the Citadel, the Flood-infested High Charity appeared to knock his ship off course, temporarily taking it out of action. Once the threat of the Covenant activating the entire Halo Array was finished, Rtas would gather all the human and Sangheili forces and take them back to Earth, while the Arbiter, Master Chief, Sergeant Johnson, and 343 Guilty Spark stayed behind with the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn to finish off the Flood for good. Once the war was finally over, Rtas would return to Earth again to attend a memorial ceremony, although he would stay on his ship in orbit while the Arbiter attended in person. 

At some point later in the year 2553, Shadow of Intent would respond to a distress signal at Rahnelo. By this point, Rtas had recruited Bladmaster Vul 'Soran and Unggoy Ranger Stolt as his advisors, the former serving as his second in command. At Rahnelo, Rtas would learn of the existence of a Prelate intent on taking out the Sangheili and allow the female warrior Tul 'Juran to join in the hunt for him in defiance of tradition against female military service. They would pursue the Prelate to Duraan, only to fall into a trap and be boarded. After fending off the attack and capturing the Prelate, where he learned of greater plans forged by the Minister of Preparation as well as the Prelate's hatred of Rtas personally for supposedly causing the deaths of his family on High Charity. Rtas would still speak amicably with the Prelate, singing for him and theorizing that the Minister deceived the Prelate on when his family had died, sowing the seeds for the Prelate's later turn. Yet before that, when Rtas took a small team to confront the Minister and destroy his prototype Halo weapon, the Prelate would briefly betray them. This betrayal would be short-lived, as the Prelate would then sacrifice himself to take out both the Minister and the weapon while Rtas escaped alive. Once the mission was over, Rtas would speak with the Arbiter regarding changing the Swords of Sanghelios' restrictions on female enlistment due to Tul. Afterward, Rtas resolved to locate the survivors of the San'Shyuum species, in order to ensure the ones good-hearted like the Prelate would be treated fairly.

Shadow of Intent would be involved in a few events between the years of 2553 and 2558, including an operation against pirates in a Joint Occupation Zone and being stalked by three ONI prowlers that would then be destroyed under unclear circumstances. By Nov. 2559, Rtas would still be pursuing the San'Shyuum and therefore unable to assist the Arbiter in a trip to Netherop, but it is unclear if he was caught up in the Created conflict earlier and if his mission was known and allowed by Cortana.

[phoenixcatch7]

Totk end game/post credit spoilers

Me during the final blow and final cutscenes:

^ Link finally getting to beat up the guy that (caused the last century of problems, nearly killed hyrule, wiped out his friends and family, poisoned his friends homes,) took zelda.

^ me. The final dungeon (?) and battle was so so so good and I got to plunge my sword into ganons human body which I will admit I have missed. He tried to flurry rush me!! Failed but still. Rude. I styled on his soon-to-be corpse to show how it was done.

^ girls when the credits roll

^ girls when the credits finish and they see their favourite sage dying after showing her successors her favourite view and passing on the torch to the next generation ten thousand years late but assured a bright future free of suffering, oblivious to the curse of demise trapping hyrule in an eternal loop and link having to stand there and know better and then it cuts to the collapsed construct outside the temple.

^ girls internally when the door knocks and they've got to act normal about it for two minutes.

Notes about the fights:

The gloom shroud/Phantom ganon waiting outside was a pussy as always. Dropped his bow which I appreciated. The white moblin on the other side got shoved off onto his remains. Good build up to the main event.

The demon army was straight out of skyward sword, less satisfying given the lack of physical progress and implied time limit but it was still a fun treat. Didn't get to use any of my fun things though, and the sages made up for their lack of tactical usefulness and REFUSING TO LET ME USE THEIR ABILITIES and BLOCKING MY VIEW and INTERRUPTING MY ATTACKS by their sheer damage output, they deal with several monsters while I was busy. Then they immediately got pulled away by the temple bosses, which kind of dampened the mood. Bye, I guess.

Ganon was literally sitting in a malice hot tub. Straight up marinating in that hot tub like he was a washed up celebrity taking a fake candid photo at a blow out party he hosted at his oversized Beverly hills mansion months before he had to sell it.

Getting to fight rehydrated ganon was so cool! I will admit the way he built up the fight did something for me, the animators did a phenomenal job giving him a weight and power. I wanted to smash his smug face in so bad.

He was strong! Every hit from him knocked link over! But with his shield up it didn't do any damage, so I drew first blood! I always find that very important when fighting bosses XD. I actually had the biggest trouble with his sword, that thing was almost hilariously small on him and blended into the... Everything around link. When he switched to his club it went from worryingly hard to hilariously easy, I flurried literally every attack and didn't get a scratch! I was wary when he got his spear out but I'd gotten into a rhythm and took him out!

The demon king transformation was incredible! When that health bar just kept going I was so excited XD!! It's a fantastic trope/gimmick, love it every time! And the sages came back! And were somehow EVEN MORE HINDERING. He duplicated and everyone split up to fight one, which meant they were running all over the place. Unlike their vows these guys are fully opaque, and when three out of five are many times bigger than link it blocked out a significant portion of the battlefield, when I needed maximum vision to see and dodge the many shadowy ganons flitting in and out of view. I had a plan, I should have been able to pull it off beautifully - yunobo was closest so ram him into the nearest ganon to create distance to reach sidon and water blast through the forming line of ganons, climb mineru for a bullet time and fill everything with explosives.

What did not happen was all of that. I ended up taking the most damage by far in that portion of the fight. Instead of being a cool fight, a useful set of abilities or even an annoying but ignorable gimmick, the sages were active hindrances that blocked me at every turn, side rammed me with attacks aimed at the enemy, hid attacks aimed at me, and escaped my every attempt to reach them like their au was trained for that instead. The only success was reaching mineru to bullet time back flip from her, and by that point I was frustrated enough to use a significant portion of my ancient arrows. If I'd been using the vows I would have deactivated them barely a minute in and taken my chances with the phantoms! It was ridiculous! It was a relief when they got blasted away and it shouldn't have been!

But OH that TRANSFORMATION. I'd heard rumours of the dragon ganon, my own lack of blocking the totk spoiler tag being entirely my own fault, but it was still a shock to see him do what zelda had done, this time laughing manically, gladly willing to throw away even his mind and soul in pursuit of an ever foggy idea of power. (I can only assume he'd never actually seen a dragon before, and had only heard the myths surrounding then, because those guys are NOT designed for combat lol.) The fact that he went laughing as zelda went in pain and tears really cemented how far both were willing to go but how differently they saw it.

That evil dragon aesthetic was IMPECCABLE. 10/10 off the charts. The horns!! The eyes! The explosion! Forcing his way up through the castle with link trapped helplessly in a tooth! The giant claw emerging! The messed up dragon theme!!

And then ZELDA, my beautiful darling!!! I love her so much, even blind and empty, even gone and sleeping her dragon knew what to do against the thing she had been turned into to fight against. Oh she was BEAUTIFUL and so gentle with link, catching him on her fluffy head, she was so small in comparison! And link was absolutely tiny!!! Tiny boy!! She might not have known what to do herself, but she was pressed as close as she could get the whole time, darting about like a minnow in a pond compared to ganons barracuda thrashing. The sunset in the sky just made the whole thing look phenomenal.

The use of like like - esque stones instead of the calamitys eyes was inspired! The eyes would have been too much the same, and the introduction of likes trained us instinctively to hit the rock orb things as weak points. Unfortunately being that high up in the air and being so small comparatively meant judging distance was very hard, I wasted a lot of ancient and bomb arrows trying to hit them. It was only until the stone opened up (sir... Why did you put that BACK on your head?! Hide it in your body like the rest of the sane dragons!) that I realised you could land on him. In my defence he looked entirely comprised of gloom, which has spent the past month sucking my life out on contact so...

I was SO lucky to have my hero outfit on, ie the dyed travellers tunic and cap of the wild, it made every cutscene so cinematic! Sure felt like a zelda game! I took so many screenshots XD.

The final cutscenes though... I've been so worried about getting zelda back to human since I got the master sword glyph in eldin. I've been so, so determined to get her back. I would have done so side quests to do so - since she was a separate quest to defeating ganon I thought impa would give me the instructions! I was fully prepared to have to put in another ten hours or so and then fight ganon again to get the true ending!

And then Sonia and Rauru showed up again like 'that's our DAUGHTER' and gave link the power to rewind time over ten THOUSAND YEARS and turn her dragon soul back to a human ToT. And then they took links arm!! I was so mad! Give him his arm back?! Where did the flesh one even come from it got turned into a blackened lump on a pg screen! They can't even show blood! That arm was fully gone! You said yourself it was beyond - ohhhh they reversed time on his arm too. What is with Rauru and non consensual arm replacement?? I was a part zonai hybrid! The last piece of an extinct species! I could levitate and reverse time! Give me!! my arm back!!!

But Sonia finally got to meet link like she'd wanted and they got their closure after millenia and they said goodbye ToT.

And then link CAUGHT zelda. They landed in the pond he had all that time ago at the beginning, and he swam them to shore, and zelda woke UP and came HOME and SURVIVED after she'd lost all hope for herself and she got to come HOME 😭 (see pictures above for reference). And they SHOULD HAVE HUGGED NINTENDO, THEY SHOULD HAVE HUGGED.

I was crying so hard I literally couldn't see the screen ToT. I had to keep blinking and sniffling and I just SOBBED when the credits rolled. Wailing into the tissues. And then mineru and the sages! Dangit, not my favourite sage! Dangit, let me keep ONE zonai thing?? Thankfully I didn't burst into tears again but it got CLOSE.

All in all? 10/10 incredible showstopping unbelievable never been done before perfect amazing. Everything down to the camera angles were perfection made physical (or virtual). Just NEVER make me have to fight with the sages again.

[v0idund3rth3v3il]

“Rice and Liver”

Eyeless Jack x reader(gender not specified)

Warnings: organs, blood, gore, descriptions of awful smelling things.

Type: Fluff(?), platonic

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You opened up your fridge, it smelled of rotten corpse, there laid a plate of kidneys that had been individually plastic wrapped.

It was the only thing in there, because for one, your food will stench of kidneys, two you had to clean your fridge, kidneys or no kidneys your fridge needed a wipe down.

You took the plate and place it by the cutting board on your counter, there you unwrapped the kidneys and diced them. Taking out a pan and vegetable oil, you started to cook the now diced bodily organs. Hopefully Jack liked cooked kidneys, you’ve only seen him eat them raw.

You then started to prepare the rice, then adding it to the pot to cook.

The back door slid open, a man in a blue mask peeked inside, then sighed in relief when he saw you.

“I was worried I might’ve entered the wrong house.” He closed the door behind him, he was drenched in mud and blood.

“What the hell happened? You look like a mess.” You gestured towards the filth on him.

“Had a snack on the way here, he put up one hell of a fight.” He then smelt it, the organs, he began to salivate, “What’cha cooking?”

“Liver and rice, but, I don’t know how you feel about cooked liver, nor human food.” You replied, stirring the rice.

He shrugged, “I only tried human food a few times, everything tasted bland.”

Jack found himself a seat at the table, his leg bouncing, “ Although, there was these spicy noodles I tried that tasted alright.”

Everything was ready, you grabbed two bowls, you poured rice in one, then both rice and kidneys in the other.

You grabbed silverware for the both of you, you doubted he would use it anyway.

You then placed his bowl and silverware in front of him. You sat down, setting your bowl and silverware in front of you.

As predicted, he wasted no time grabbing handfuls of food and shoving it under his mask and into his mouth.

You flinched, but said nothing as you ate your own food.

Soon, both of you were finished.

Now it was time to discuss the missions plan.

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Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this!

Reblogs and constructive criticism are welcome!

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[darthluffy]

So I’m playing through Horizon: Forbidden West for the 3rd time… and I really think Far Zenith was a mistake. Not just in universe(cause obviously) but as an inclusion in the game. Part of what I loved about Zero Dawn was that the end of the world wasn’t intentional. Sure Ted’s a dick but he didn’t mean for that to happen. It was a glitch that caused the HORUS line to go rogue and a culmination of events that meant they had no way to immediately react. Far Zenith feels like the opposite of that, a group of self-obsessed billionaires who do nothing but cause problems for their own personal benefit. Very hateable but they always felt empty to me.

The main reason I end up thinking they were a mistake though is that I believe there was much more interesting option. The AIs created by humanity before and during Zero Dawn. We see Zero Dawn’s progression but it’s not like the rest of the world would sit by and watch everything end without trying to stop it. And I think a logical method to attempt would’ve been taking as many powerful AIs(Vast Silver and CYAN level AIs) as possible, and forcing them to evolve by battling each other over and over until they had one that could break through the swarm’s firewalls. A self-contained program that runs continuously, trying to force a breakthrough to happen, in a hidden base underneath Metallurgic’s old headquarters in… Denver. Of course it fails, they don’t evolve quick enough, and with the swarm approaching everyone flees. But the program keeps running, for hundreds of years, the AIs battling and destroying themselves only to be rebooted and do it all over again. The end result would be something like Nemesis, but created accidentally out of humans attempt to survive. Then you could have the real fun begin, because eventually time takes it’s effect and enough system’s fail that the AI can take control of the program and start reaching out. Over time they find someone that has happened to find a Focus and begin speaking with them, learning what has happened to the world, and that person leads a team to Denver to free their caged god. The group breaks into Nora lands, take hostages to keep the Nora away as they excavate the ruins, before retreating out of the Nora lands with their prize. In short, they’re the group that kills Rost’s daughter. The group flees all the way across the Forbidden West, all they way to San Fransisco, where the AI intends to gain access to Ted’s Omega clearance to take control of GAIA, but Rost catches up with them outside the tomb and finishes off the AI’s human allies. Forced to adapt the AI instead send the Mysterious Signal that corrupts GAIA’s subordinate functions, hoping to wipe out humanity that way. When that doesn’t work they decide to rebuild GAIA, using basically the same plan as Far Zenith. But now I think you have an enemy that is more interesting, and would ultimately set up the final enemy for a third game, a fully evolved Hephastus after the events of the final battle(they’d play out similar).

The funny thing is how little needs to change in the game. Everything with Beta can happen almost exactly the same. You add datapoints from both Roth’s and the people he’s hunting perspectives to give context. The Odyssey actually explodes leaving the system and the AI constructs a probe to search the wreckage and return with Apollo. Most plot points still happen, just with a very different enemy. Sylan’s goals may need to have been adjusted a little but the broad stroke of creating an army to serve as a distraction remains. And I think the end result is a much more interesting enemy for Forbidden West, a personal connection to the enemy through Roth as opposed to Elisabet, and clearing the slate for Hephastus to take the stage as the ultimate enemy of the third game.

[unboundprompts]

I'm so new to Writeblr I didn't realize it was standard to like... reply to prompts in an ask box? Please correct me if I'm wrong though cause I'm still trying to figure out how this place works ;-; I tried to challenge myself to get this done in under 30 again so it's rough ;; Random Prompt #30 "The 'Failed' Experiement"

The Magean was sweating bullets, the exertion of the Magik the circle had completed catching up to him. In the Circle were twelve other High Magean’s, bounded by two’s were six of The Lost, and one High Lady Priestess. Despite linking their Leys, all looked ashen, even the Dark Ones. It was as though their own life force had been drained from their bodies, maybe even their souls.

Was that possible?

No one had done a Magikal experiment this intense, not since the days of Legend when the Races were Constructed during the War of Champions. 

Had they succeeded?

Had they created new life?

Had they successfully pulled the Leys to create the next step in their society’s collective evolution?

Were their Gods successfully tricked?

After generations of banishment from the Outside, would they finally have the means necessary to take control of the Planet as was rightfully theirs?

He wiped the sweat from his brow, looking in the center of the circle at their test subject. Aghast, he stepped back. Skin peeled off the victim, its flesh sloughing off its bones. Chunks of meat clung to the skeleton, and the acrid smell of necrosis permeated the air. The creature’s eyes glowed an unnatural yellow, the eyes melting from its sockets. 

It looked around and released a gurgling screech. Its cry echoed around the domed ceiling, piercing the ears of everyone in the room. 

The Lord High Priestess stood straight, the only person in the room seemingly unaffected by the monstrosity now standing before them. “Bind it,” she commanded, “It will stay alive until The Queen has decided otherwise.” She stepped down from her dias, ready to leave the room. 

“My Lady,” One of the Mageans called out to her, “Surely you cannot expect us to allow this… this thing to live any longer than absolutely necessary? The experiment… this is a failure!”

The Priestess raised an eyebrow, “And what makes you so certain this is a failure?” She looked the creature up and down, now bound in various weaves of various magik, and smirked, “It may not be what we were trying to do persay… but it may still have its uses.” 

The Magean shuddered, “My lady-”

“Should you question me again, child, you may end up sharing the same fate as this wretch,” she said darkly. “Unless you think you know better The Queen herself? Than one of the Samnae? Perhaps you should be punished for such blasphemy.” 

The underling swallowed visibly, skin becoming even paler if possible. 

“That’s a good boy.” The Priestess said, “Now maintain the circle, all of you.” 

The Queen entered the highest room of the Obelisk, composed and regal, despite the deafening screams echoing around the chamber. She smiled, sinisterly, as she looked at the scene before her. Though her initial hopes for this experiment was not brought to fruition, she still had some hopes for what they could achieve. The being, creature… whatever it was now, she didn't know. But she was certain it used to be human. 

And it was perfect. 

This would do quite well for her and her husband’s plans.

Quite well indeed.

Super interesting omg

(And to be honest I'm not sure what the standard is. I don't mind you responding as a reblog, though, if that is what you prefer to do. I'm just happy to receive responses lol)

[grislyintentions]

|| HC- Primal Constructs, Heavenly Principles, Tsaritsa's Trauma ||

King Deshret's technology bears similarities with the technology of Khaenri'ah in that they were created to fulfill specific purposes ranging from farming to sentinels. Though their "make and model" is different, they require similar components ie: Restitution modules, self perpetuating/self learning traits, the capability for modifications and improvements, the need for a compatible 'core' that is capable of containing and producing energy output.

It is unclear which came into creation/was invented first but I like to think that part of the forbidden knowledge that King Deshret acquired was partially born from the access to/inspiration of ancient Khaenri'ah technology. From which he made modifications and put into motion plans that incur heavy costs.

I believe that the primal constructs (prospector, repulsor and reshaper) were originally intended to serve as guards (area survey) but also as equipment for heavy duty excavation as there exist in the tunnels many valuable resources like sand grease pupa (which can be sold and repurposed into something else). The reshaper breaks open the tunnels, the repulsor and prospector eliminate any monsters and beasts that the constructs encounter. [In Candace's AU verse, they will be used for these intended purposes]

Now what does all of this have to do with Heavenly Principles being invoked?

As Genshin is created initially by a chinese development company, there are some concepts that are rooted in chinese culture (eg: adepti). Borrowing what I know from chinese media and mythology, the "Heavenly Principles" are a set of laws enforced to keep the natural order of the world in balance. Anyone found going against said principles, humans and gods alike, are punished severely. Gods can be banished to earth or even killed depending on the weight of their crimes. As children, we are brought up with the superstition to never exhibit any form of disrespect against gods for fear of incurring divine wrath. There have been stories told about how the anger of the gods can cause floods, diseases, calamity and topple nations alike. But with recent times, the attitudes and perspectives towards deities and gods are starting to change. The concept of gods not being perfect and that humans have the power to take control over their own fates is prevalent. Don't these themes sound familiar to references of Celestia, Orobaxi's death and the Cataclysm? To summarise: It wasn't just the disrespect towards the gods that caused the invokement of the Heavenly Principles. It was the act of attempting to dismantle the natural order of the world due to acts of hubris (Ref: Rhinedottir being the catalyst for the emergence of these monsters, Khaenri'ah and their rapid development of technology as well as independence from living under the rule of any archons + the indifference of celestia towards mortals > As we have seen in archons like Ei and Zhongli, though they extend care and empathy towards mortals, there is in itself a disconnect/inability to relate to mortal experiences despite their capacity to feel for them. What difference would it make to Celestia to wipe out a whole nation? When, in their perspective, it is as simple as removing the 'root' of a problem? Why would they stop to relate and think about the pain and agony mortals will experience, if they are so far removed from humanity?

I think, this is what deeply traumatised the Tsaritsa enough that she had to close herself off from feeling. According to Childe, she was someone who was too gentle/kind. To know that Celestia cared not for people or even gods like herself must have been agonising. It must have felt like betrayal. And what better way to make them care, than to bring some of that pain to them directly by piercing through the heavens?]