#wonder how he got the skull of the dragon

[howlsofbloodhounds]

You kind of know about Decussate (my Cross variant). The multiverse he originates from is known as Knight’s tale. A multiverse that is more heavily fantasy based. Dragons are the third race among humans and monsters.

With all the out of the way,

I just want to briefly introduce you to the main Killer of Knight’s tale.

Killer wears the skull of a dragon, a black cloak and wields the legendary sword, Excalibur.

Clipped out of his alternate universe’s reality. Became displaced by the multiverse for a short while but was rescued by Core Frisk, Dream, Ink and Color.

He’s not a bad or good guy. Just hangs around in the Delta Sanctuary (Omega Timeline equivalent). Is getting the help and therapy he needs.

Killer and Decussate do not get along in the slightest. Disgusted by how Decussate reminds him too much of Chara. Appalled by the Decussate’s connection with The Angel and dragons.

[ancha-aus]

DoubleNoot AU Drabble - Sleepover

Welcome back to another installment in the series about Corrupt, and the gang, learning the wonders of parenthood. Meanwhile Nightmare is just trying to settle and relax a bit after everything.

Last Time on DoubleNoot Adventures! Nightmare got to know the gang a little bit before sharing his first dinner with them. This is where he learned the truth that he had been in stone for 500 years instead of a much shorter time. It was a lot to take in but after a calm dinner Corrupt brought Nightmare to bed where he quickly fell asleep.

No edits or beta as always! You guys ready :D

*-------------------*

Corrupt lays in his dark room. his mind still a mess.

He glances to the side and cant help but smile. Nightmare is sound asleep and in his sleep has started to hug one of Corrupt's tendrils.

Corrupt hums as he watches the young skeleton sleep peacefully. He seems completely out as he holds the tentacle. Corrupt wonders if it is just the busy day which made him this tired, or if Corrupt brings him enough comfort to be able to sleep peacefully.

Corrupt shakes his skull. No need to let those silly ideas take root. Nightmare is just tired after everything today.

Corrupt doesn't blame Nightmare for being exhausted after their day. Corrupt himself still needs time to progress all that happened and what all of it means.

Not just for Nightmare but for Corrupt.

Waht it makes Corrupt.

Because Corrupt isn't even sure anymore.

Where... where does this leave him? How is he even still here?

Corrupt had beleived. He had believed for so long that he had been a newer version of Nightmare. Not better. Never better. Just different. New. Strange. That by eating the apple. Nightmare had became the very thing the villagers had feared.

He had become corrupt.

Corrupt had those memories. He knew what those villagers had done to him, well Nightmare that is. How those disgusting and miserable people had hurt a child to a breaking point.

To the point where Nightmare prefered to eat one of the apples then be forced to hurt even longer.

Corrupt always tried to get the Nightmare in his own dreams to eat the apple earlier. from the first time one of those people was mean or evne rude to nightmare Corrupt would try and convince him.

Hoping that maybe in his dreams he would be on time to safe him.

Did... did this mean he had been on time? That he had shaped in time after all.

Does... does this mean that his purpose hadn't been to spread negativity or to hurt those mortals. but to protect nightmare?

Corrupt wonders if Nightmare had any pick in his shape or looks... did Corrupt look the way he did just because Nightmare's negative emotions impacted the apple? Did he look like this because nightmare wanted to be protected? like one of his few stories where the princess is tugged away and protected by a fierce dragon? Did corrupt get this look because that is what the villagers had feared? That the magic took the form that would intimidate the villagers the most?

Corrupt jsut... doesn't have the answers.

But he likes the idea. that he was made and created with a purpose to protect.

To protect Nightmare. and later, to protect his mates.

If he sees it as protection as his purpose it makes his behaviour make more sense as well.

Why else woudl he search for an empty universe to convert into his private universe?

Why edit in a large castle? with all the wings and decore? including a large forest to hide it even more?

Later when his mates joined him. Him editing his place his world to fit their needs better. to make sure to indulge any of their interests and to make sure that any improvement ideas they had were implemented to the best of his abilities? which is near perfection.

He had been making a home.

Not just a hideout. a hidden lair. or even an imposing castle.

He had been working on a home this whole time.

First just for Nightmare. Well himself and Nightmare. to follow those stories. where the princess was tugged away in a tower and protected. but he made it grander with giving nightmare a whole castle. worthy of a prince to his own king of darkness and negativity.

And it just became the castle of his mates as well.

Corrupt groans as he rubs his face, his mind and thoguhts kept going back to the same idea nad concept. and to him it makes sense. He thinks that is the case... from what he knows so far. it makes sense to him...

He is still unsure where that leaves him now. Why is he still here if his purpose is completed? He kept nightmare save. Nightmare is healed. and Nightmare has a perfect home where he will be save.

wasn't that what was his goal? his mission?

A soft knock and Corrupt looks at the door. He waits a moment but Nightmare remains asleep and so he answers "come in."

The door creaks a little open and Killer pokes his skull in as he whispers "He comfy?"

Corrupt chuckles and nods "He is asleep."

Killer grins as he rushes in. Somehow jumping on top of the bed without even making it bounce. Killer coos "Look at little moondrop."

Corrupt glares at him "Don't wake him up." Corrupt glances anxiously at the young skeleton but Nightmare is still out.

A chuckle and Corrupt turns just to see that Dust had also somehow joined them without being obvious "Kid is out like a light."

Corrupt sighs "I know but i want him to sleep so please be careful and quiet." he stresses the last word.

He hears the door close and a moment later two more forms join him. Cross remains near the side of the bed as he stares enchanted at them. Horror is closer and hums "You don't need to worry. He will remain asleep."

Cross looks over curiously as he whispers "How can you be sure?" Corrupt would also like to know.

Horror chuckles as he nudges the tentacle a bit closer and Nightmare hums contently before he starts to knead the tendril like he did at dinner.

Horror chuckles again as he looks back "I may not know him... but i know kids. Kids crash hard after a busy day. He? Is not going to wake up until his tiny battery fully recharged."

Corrupt frowns "He doens't have a battery."

Horror blinks but Killer grins as he hangs over Corrupt's shoulder "It is just a way of speech. it means the kid is just exhausted and needs to sleep."

Dust nods as he lays in the bed with a sigh "Think I will join his plan. Kid got a 500 year nap and wants to sleep again? I get it."

Corrupt shoots his mates a look "don't bother him."

Dust looks amused from his place next to the tiny bundle of tentacles and skeleton "Not like your tendril will let us touch him anyway, motherhen."

Killer grins and nods "Bunny is right! You are very portective of him. There is nothing getting to him." he grins wider and lays down dramatically "Not even us."

Corrupt feels his glare disappear from his face. He is about to deny it but can't. because he had been keeping him close and trying to get his mates to back away.

Corrupt frowns as he looks to the side. He didn't... he doesn't think his mates would endanger him. it is just... "I apologise... I know you four won't hurt him it is..." he can't explain it.

Killer looks over confused before looking guilty as he leans clsoer "Hey. it is okay Moonlight. I didn't mean it like a dig or anything."

Horror nods "You just had him today. of course you are feeling portective." he looks amused.

Corrupt goes to nod before the actual words settle and he shoots Horror a look "How often do i have to tell you i wasn't pregnant."

Dust hums from his spot in their bed "Then what would you clal the situation?"

Corrupt huffs "I was just carrying him in my bbody until he was ready to leave it when healed." easy. Not at all like-

All four of his mates give him looks.

Corrupt realises just how that sounded.

Corrupt glares "I was just... sharing energy, magic and nutrients while he was still a part of me..." he frowns as he thinks it over. trying to find other words to explain "... I wasn't pregnant."

Dust and Killer both laugh as Hroror just rubs his shoulder "We know. But it is the closest and easiest thing to compare it too."

Cross speaks up "Not to forget... it is normal and natural process... I think... It is probably good for him right? To hear what he went through has like... natural equals?"

Corrupt stops and considers that. Would... Would Nightmare feel more normal to have what he had gone through compared to the natural start of most monsters?

Dust nods "True. We know he is a treespirit... and well... We know how those villagers treated you." he shrugs.

Corrupt frowns as he looks away "Not me actually.. .I didn't form until the apple was eaten, at least not fully. All the memories i thought were mine were his." he lets the information hang in the air. Let his mates make the right conclusions themselves.

For all that their nosey and observant behaviour can be annoying. what with them being convinced that Corrupt needs rest and needs to sleep. It is also ratehr useful. It means Corrupt doens't have to spell everything out to them for them to get the bigger picture and for them to make the needed connections.

Cross throws up his arms "Who bullies a baby like that?! because his magic isn't right?!" then he slaps both his ahnds over his mouth and glances down at Nightmare.

Who remains sound asleep. unbothered by the world. letting out sleepy purrs as he sleeps on.

Cross stares before looking in shock at Horror. Horror grins "See? out like a light."

Killer grins "like a tiny nightlight! I like that as nickname! That and moondrop. I think both fit him."

Dust nods "To sprinkle in together with his normal name. Make some positive associations."

"Thank you."

his four mates stare at him slightly confused. Killer smiles abit but remains confused "Waht do you mean moonlight?"

Corrupt watches them. watches his four dear mates. "Thank you. I know this was confusing and I am still not even sure what happened or why or how... but you four have eben welcoming and understanding. You all are willing to adept to welcome him into our home and life. Thank you." It means more to him than he can explain. The same feeling as their connecting magic had given him.

Killer looks embarrassed, same for Cross as they mutter about it being no problem and just being decent mates. Horror gives him a nuzzle and kiss before getting comfortable in his usual spot "He is important to you. you are our mate. so he is important to us." and he sighs before grabbing dust to pull him close to cuddle with.

Dust just remains limp like a ragdoll as he is pulled over. he shrugs at the compliment before getting comfrotable. Corrupt reminds himself he will need to still give Dust a special thanks for making Nightmare able to relax before dinner.

Killer pouts and pushes him on his back. Corrupt shoots him an unimpressed look "Killer. There is an actual child in the room. behave." because he knows his mate.

Killer pouts "please. that is so not my aim. but you need to sleep as well. So. get comfy!" and Killer lays against his side wiht a happy hum. pushing his soul right against Corrupt's side and into his goop.

Corrupt sighs but smiles as he helps Killer adjest his position to free up his soul again "Love. Careful. you know that too much pressure or too long pressure can harm you." and he never. NEVER wants to harm what is his.

Killer purrs and looks up at him adoring "Always taking such good care of us."

Dust hums sleepily "agree."

Cross joins them as well and sighs as he holds a tentacle close himself "the best."

Horror gives all of them a nuzzle and kiss before going back to laying on the edge of the bed as he holds dust close as prisoner in his arms "without a doubt."

corrupt feels his soul swell with emotions and just love for his mates. he makes sure to move the tendrils still free to interlock around all his mates. keep them close to him.

"I love you all."

Corrupt enjoys the answering 'me too's.

He loves them all so much.

And his family is complete and close and all safe. and Corrupt is going to enjoy every second he has with them.

*------------------------------*

Next part.

[1800naveen]

Spoilers?? (Mentions of major character deaths)

Greenies can joke about Rhaenyra's death all they want but it's one of the coolest ways someone can die in a song of ice and fire and as a Targaryen.

If you aren't aware of how Rhaenyra dies, she is cut at her breast which alerts Sunfyre and he (she?) doses Rhaenyra in dragon fire before devouring her.

That is metal as fuck.

That's a dragon rider's death. That's a Targaryen death right there.

"Rhaenyra Targaryen had time to raise her head toward the sky and shriek out one last curse upon her half-brother before Sunfyre’s jaws closed round her, tearing off her arm and shoulder."

SHE WAS BEING BURNED ALIVE BUT SHE CURSED OUT AEGON ONE LAST TIME! SHE DIED NOT A COWARD BUT A QUEEN WITH HER HEAD HELD HIGH. I wonder what she said to him.

And you want to know how Aegon died?

He got poisoned.

"A cold wind was blowing. As the litter set off, the king closed the curtains against the chill. Inside, as always, was a flagon of sweet Arbor red, Aegon’s favorite wine. The king availed himself of a small cup as the litter crossed the yard."

"Ser Gyles and the litter bearers had no notion aught was amiss until they reached the sept, and the curtains did not open. “We are here, Your Grace,” the knight said. No answer came, but only silence. When a second query and a third produced the same, Ser Gyles Belgrave threw back the curtains, and found the king dead upon his cushions."

“There was blood upon his lips,” the knight said. “Elsewise he might have been sleeping.”

Poison is considered to be a woman's weapon. Aegon who usurped his sister's throne because she was a woman, died by a woman's weapon. Gotta love the irony. There are theories that Corlys or Larys poisoned him, what do you think? I think Corlys did it.

"Aegon was a good king!"

"Septon Eustace tells us that a “strange euphoria” took hold of King’s Landing; Mushroom simply says that “half the city was drunk.” The corpse of King Aegon II was consigned to the flames, in the hopes that all the ills and hatreds of his reign might be burned away with his remains. Thousands climbed Aegon’s High Hill to hear Prince Aegon proclaim that peace was at hand."

Mfs was getting turnt the fuck up when they found out that he died. They could finally be at peace after his reign. Yeah, don't say Aegon is a good king when this quote exists.

And Aegon and Sunfyre don't have the most powerful bond. A good example would be Daemon and Caraxes, Dany and her children too.

That answer was no answer, plainly. “Not Silverwing,” His Grace declared. “I will have a new Sunfyre, prouder and fiercer than the last.”

Sunfyre in the afterlife hearing that:

Your dragon died due to the shit you put them through and you want to get a new one? Damn, at least mourn or something. The dragons deserve so much better.

Everyone on team black died cool or interesting ass deaths. Rhaenys taking on two dragons and not even fleeing when she realized that she wouldn't win the battle, Jace and Luke dying alongside their dragons like a Targaryen and being buried in the sea like a Velaryon, Daemon leaping off Caraxes and driving Dark Sister into Aemond's eye; the eye that Luke took out.

Team green?

Otto got beheaded, Aemond looking up at terror when Daemon made him Dark Sister's place holder, Criston Cole getting arrows in him by the winter wolves who declared that no one will sing songs of him and his head was put on a spear, Daeron Tentsbane dying in a tent fire, and Alicent was driven mad after the dance, regretting her choices and hating the color green. Dark sister and Vhagar's skull were retrieved but they left Aemond's skeleton down there. They buried what was left of Rhaenyra but didn't do shit from him.

Helaena will not be mentioned because she didn't deserve any of this, the same for Jaehaerys, Maelor, and Jaehaera.

"Sunfyre ate!" Yes, Sunfyre did eat Rhaenyra. You want a cookie for reminding us?

"Sunfyre, it is said, did not seem at first to take any interest in the offering, until Broome pricked the queen’s breast with his dagger. The smell of blood roused the dragon, who sniffed at Her Grace, then bathed her in a blast of flame."

Sunfyre was nearing death, animals will stop eating when they near death (does it count for a dragon?).

Anyways, remember that Rhaenyra and Daemon's bloodline prevailed and gave us Daenerys, the current Baratheons, the current Martells, Brienne (through Duncan), Jon Snow (not yet to be confirmed in the books). And Aegon's line was brought to an end.

WHEN YOU USURP, YOUR LINE SHALL END! Maegor and Aegon: usurping the throne and having their line ended because of it.

"The choice is his, but he shall have no children. My sister’s line must end.”

Should've specified which sister.

Now enjoy some art of the rightful queen and her king (consort):

🎨: Jotasaraiva! So good, power couple.

🎨: Daewithmon! (Tried to make out the credits below but it's down there)

🎨: Chillyravenart!

@paparinka, give them a follow if you like the art!

DON'T TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY, I LIKE TO YAP🙏🏾

[kingkatsuki]

omg arranged marriage with dragon king bakugo 😱 imagine you’re a princess from far far away and you’ve heard of the brutality of the dragon king, known for his skills in battle and showing no mercy. You don’t want to be betrothed to such a brute from the dragon lands! you enjoy the crisp air, the twinkling streams and your silken garments. You’re quite spoilt really with your silky hair and soft skin, draped in the finest of fabrics. Such a contrast to katsuki when you meet him at first. Hair coarse and spiked, skin hardened like leather, brash voice and abrasive personality, not a speck of manners to be seen. And their clothing?? leather, furs, dragon skin and skulls; showing off their chiselled forms, how could anyone live like this? with the humid air and suffocating heat. You smile, in politeness only. And he despises you. You’re such a pretty little thing, so fragile.. yet such a fucking brat. You’ve had it so easy, never had to claw your way to the top, fight tooth and nail to survive, so peaceful in your ivory tower. and something something idek I got carried away!!

- 🎀

You were the most prized possession from your Kingdom, but Bakugou would’ve rather taken riches or land to form an allegiance, this just seems like a burden.

He sets an area up for you in his Kingdom, gives you everything you desire to live comfortably and it’s like he just leaves you to it. Makes no effort to say good morning or goodnight, doesn’t eat with you, spend time with you, wash with you or even lay with you at night. Despite the fact that you’re now bonded— it’s about as loveless as an arrangement like this can get.

You suppose you should be thankful, glad that he’s not living up to his reputation by claiming you as his each night or throwing you around, staking his mark and claim on you— but for some reason you’re not.

You spend your days reading, arranging the flowers that your maids bring you each week as they brighten up the dreary, cold four walls you spend most of your time inside. The only times you leave them is to wander around the grounds, admiring the plants that grow here. The flowers made for harsher conditions compared to your homeland, the ones thriving where yours wouldn’t survive.

It’s not until one afternoon that Mina is bringing you in a fresh bouquet to replace the ones beginning to wilt, asking her to leave the petals so you can flatten and seal them in the pages of your books. Your fingertips tracing the new stems as she helps you clip their thorns and you ask where she picked them.

“Oh, I didn’t pick them.” She smiles knowingly, as you look at her in confusion. If she didn’t pick them who did?

“The King noticed how much you loved flowers in your homeland,” She smiles, “He brings these back each week from his hunts, picked especially for you.”

You wonder why a man so cold, so brash would waste his time picking flowers for you when it’s so far from what you picture him to be. Nothing like the stories that circulated your Kingdom about a callous, cruel leader.

“He’s not all bad, you know,” Mina places a warm hand on your shoulder as she leaves you to arrange the stems inside the vase.

“How did he even know I liked flowers?”

“He saw you walking the grounds and picking out flowers. He actually asked Kirishima to try and plant some more for you too, the flowers from your climate would never survive here so he was discussing perhaps a greenhouse.”

“Why would he do that for me when he hates me?” Raising a brow in confusion as you smoothed your fingers over the pointed leaves.

“It might not seem like it, but he does care.” Mina smiled as she exited your room.

And this is the first evening where you actually desire to leave your room, walking the halls in search of your husband—

[irisintheafterglow]

uhh uhh uhh uhh meeting enemy frat!suguru at a greek life halloween party

cw: swearing, drinking and alcohol, creepy dude at beginning

"look, i'm not interested in whatever weird shit you concocted. so, get lost," you spit at the ugly, intoxicated, ogre-looking airhead trying to give you a shot of heavens know what. he'd been trying to get into your pants since you crossed the threshold and you were having none of it. your sorority sisters, unfortunately, were nowhere to be found and you were left to glare at the stumbling goliath slowly backing you into a musty corner. "i don't want you, asshole, so stop trying to get with me."

"c'mon, lighten up a little. it's a fuckin' halloween party; why are you here if you're not getting shitfaced?" your nose wrinkles at his sheer audacity. you attempt to make a break for the door when his overworked biceps suddenly block your eyeline, trapping you against the wall. body odor and whiskey leak into your nostrils and you swallow down the bile that rises in your throat. "where the hell are you going? do you even know who i am?"

"you're gonna be six feet under if you don't leave them the fuck alone," comes a dangerously low voice somewhere behind your harasser. "get back to whatever shithole you crawled out of."

"don't be such a downer, geto," the guy drawls over his shoulder and his casual nature makes you physically recoil. "i'm just tryna get them to take a shot or two with me, that's all." before you can process it, the shot glass is snatched from the asshole's hand and downed in a blink. the man, who you assume is geto, glares even sharper daggers than you, and your heart does an unwanted little flutter. the gesture seemingly didn't get through the other bro's thick skull as he whirls around, offended. "hey, what the fuck was that?"

"lay off of 'em. don't be more trouble than you're worth." the guy hesitates for the briefest second and is just as quickly shoved to the side, landing on the floor with a satisfying thud. he groans and you inhale a deep breath of stale party atmosphere, pushing off the wall and beelining to the nearest source of fresh air. you vaguely sense someone following behind you and don't bother looking until you're shivering against the chilly october air. "you alright?"

"sure," you deadpan, "if i ignore the fact that i almost got roofied a minute ago." you cross your arms and plop into the nearest deck chair, uncomfortably eyeing a nearby couple getting a little too intimate for being in public. the guy who helped you stands next to you at a respectful distance, following your gaze to the people practically eating each other's faces.

"oi, get a fucking room," he barks and they flinch, scurrying into the house to find some empty room to bang in. "better?"

"yeah," you mutter, still uneasy about why he followed you out in the first place. "thanks for helping me, in there."

"don't mention it. it's a wonder how many frats still let him come to parties considering how easily he scares sorority girls away," he says blankly and you take a second to shamelessly analyze his appearance. long, dark hair was tied back into a loose bun and stray strands framed a mesmerizingly sharp jawline. unlike most of the guys inside, he actually was wearing a shirt, a simple sweatshirt with his frat's letters embroidered across the front. you couldn't see what the letters were, but you guessed he was probably part of a related frat by how willingly he stepped in to help you. to combat the autumn air, you figured, he also wore a flannel that had a dragon printed on the back panel. "you sure you're okay?"

"yeah, i'm good. a little cold, is all," you admit, grimacing at the goosebumps running over your arms. without another word leaving your mouth, he shrugs off the flannel and tosses it into your lap. you wrap it around your shoulders and catch him watching you, the tiniest smirk painting his pretty mouth when you pull it tighter against you. it's warm and smells like expensive cologne. "you're a real gentleman, you know that?"

"so i've been told," he replies and you huff an exasperated breath. "i swiped this for you on my way out, too. it's sealed, but i can grab you another one if you're still skeptical." he hands you a lukewarm bottle of water and, true to his word, requires a little bit of effort to break the seal around the cap. you take a few sips and your mind finally starts to process what happened. "feel a little better?"

"definitely. thank you, is it geto?"

"call me suguru." fuck, that's hot. he's hot.

"thank you, then, suguru. can i ask why you're being so nice when you don't even know me?"

"just making sure everyone's having fun and being safe so no one calls the cops." your response falls from your lips faster than you can stop it.

"nothing else?" his attention flicks to you and he chuckles in amusement at your boldness.

"and, i think you look nice in your costume," he murmurs and you'd be lying if you said it didn't make your heartrate increase. "that what you wanted to hear?"

"mhmm, thank you." the giddy excitement wears off and you check the time on your phone. "i should probably be getting back home."

"you got a ride?"

"i'll go find one of my pledge sisters that are also partied out," you shrug, praying that someone was sober enough to get you back safely.

"you mind if i call you a cab? i don't feel comfortable sending you off in some rando's car."

"technically, you're a rando," you point out, and he raises his hands in surrender. "but, sure, as long as you walk me out."

"i was already planning on it," he affirms and extends a hand, helping you out of the cold metal chair. his palm is warm, safe, and strong, nothing like the grabby ones that were begging for your body all night. suguru waits with you on the lawn until the cab arrives and opens the door for you as you slip into the second row. before you can close the door, he reaches over you and hands the driver a stack of bills that has the old man's eyes widening to the size of tennis balls. "get them home safely, please."

"what are you doing?"

"doing the next best thing besides driving you home myself. i didn't think you'd be comfortable doing that, given the progression of the evening." you're stunned into silence by his genuine chivalry and nearly forget to give him his flannel back. when you go to pull it off, however, he stops you with a gentle hand on your shoulder. "keep it, for now. i'll get it back at some point."

"alright," you concede, wrapping it around you like a safety blanket. "thank you for everything."

"of course. get home safe, yeah?"

"i will. thank you, suguru."

you wake up in the morning on the couch in the sorority house's living room, still in the same clothes from the night prior. your head pounded like it was getting repeatedly slammed with a mallet, but you were barely able to remember the events leading up to crashing at home. you look down and the flannel around your body reaffirms that suguru was, in fact, real and not just a drunk hallucination. you're in the middle of smiling giddily to yourself when one of your sisters screeches to a halt in the hallway behind you.

"good morni-"

"what the fuck are you wearing?" she asks with all the seriousness as if someone had died.

"yeah, i know i look like shit. is anyone in the shower-"

"no, stupid. that flannel, where did you get it?"

"some guy helped me get home last night and he let me borrow it; why are you being so weird?" you stumble to the kitchen and pour yourself a glass of water. your sister watches you from over the counter like you'd grown four heads. "hello? why are you looking at me like that?"

"you do realize where that flannel is from, right?"

"no...?"

"your little buddy from last night is from those assholes at theta phi fuckhead, babe." you nearly drop your glass in shock. there's no way. he couldn't have been from those dipshits, could he? "there's a reason we're not supposed to talk with them, 'cause they're dangerous and unruly."

"but this one, he-"

"doesn't matter. don't let anyone else see you with that on, or they'll have a fit." she sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose between two fingers. "shower is free, so go get dressed and change your clothes."

as you strip off the flannel, a small piece of paper drops from one of the pockets. the message written on it has you gripping the edge of the counter for support.

you look cute in my clothes. (XXX) XXX-XXX if you wanna wear 'em more often

-s. geto

if you enjoy my writing and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee on my ko-fi! you can also check out my full masterlist here :)

[lediz-watches]

Oxventure

Because dammit, I need to smile today and no one makes me smile more than these people.

Oxventure is an amazing group of people that play tabletop roleplaying games on youtube and spotify. They are Chaotic Good in the best way possible.

And I think we all need more chaotic good in our lives today.

Okay, first off, I must show my colours: I have been watching their parent channel Outside Xbox almost since it began, and they are actually why I got a Youtube Premium account (Youtube, you owe these people more than 2/3rds of my subscription). They are my background noise. So obviously I'm biased, but this post is about the Oxventure channel and why I love it.

Lately, they've been marketing themselves as an actual play channel, technically rivalling Critical Role, but I don't like to think of them like that. To me, Oxventure is more storytelling improv that happens to use tabletop mechanics as a prop. And the reason that's an important distinction is because Oxventure is at its best when it's being silly.

So. Some background.

Oxventure is, in alphabetical order, Andy, Ellen, Jane, Johnny, Luke, and Mike, and a host of guests when they feel the need. It began as a one-off milestone celebration on Outside Xbox where everyone but Mike (he had a Car Thing) played Dungeons and Dragons--most of them for literally the first time--on camera. Since then, it has expanded into its own channel with six series of varying prominence and many one-shots.

If you want to see them at their most condensed and I would argue truest form, I recommend DnD but everyone is a Kobold.

Their shows can run the full gambit from silly (the kobold shows) to high adventure (Oxventure Blades in the Dark) to wholesome (Tea-Time Adventures) to absurd (DnD but it's Pokemon) to emotional body-slams (Oxventure Deadlands) to quietly creepy (Oxventure Wyrdwood). But at its core, whatever series you're watching, Oxventure is about friends gathering together to have fun as they make their way in a world that seems a bit insane.

The original game/series/what have you is The Oxventurers Guild, which remains my favourite. Their motto (seen in Latin above) is "Everyone Should Have Thought Of Everything", meaning that they have a habit of just diving into things without thinking and then being shocked Pikachus when the consequences arrive.

The characters (and world) are a mess, but the thing that was most wonderful is that the group were learning how to play DnD on screen. They screwed up the rules, they lost dice, they forgot about feats... a running gag is that Mike, playing a paladin, has only the loosest concept of his own abilities and will randomly read his character sheet to discover something that would have been useful last session. Meanwhile Ellen made arguably the most powerful character, with what should have been one of the most powerful spells, and yet was the first knocked out in their PVP session because of a few unlucky rolls.

Johnny is an amazing first-time DM, too, because they just... let the group play. They run with the rules until the rules stop being fun. And that's what makes Oxventure so enjoyable for me.

I remember trying to watch a few Actual Plays after the first episode of Oxventure, and I can remember the exact moment I checked out. It was when a player made a joke, and the DM gave her a very direct Look and firmly informed her that if she didn't immediately take it back, there would be mechanical consequences.

Compare and contrast Johnny, whose attempt to show the Oxventurers Actions Have Consequences nearly ended with a bunch of evil skeletons realising that actually, they didn't realise how hard it was to avoid evil consequences so maybe they should cut the players some slack and stop giving such horrible consequence - wait! No! Bad bosses no make skeletons behave!

(We love the Sixty Skeletons, Flaming Skull Foreman, and Skeleton Donkey) (don't ask) (it only kind of makes sense in context)

But that's not all on Johnny - a lot of it comes down to the beautiful muppets that are the original players, and specifically Andy, Jane, and Mike, who have been a chaotic force of good online since they joined together to form Outside Xbox in 2009.

These three, and by extension all of Oxventure, are a little silly, always snarky, incredibly good at what they do but always beset by terrible luck and worse technology. They are also incredibly well-meaning (and hilarious) even when they're actively trying to be horrible (unrelated to this post but PLEASE watch their Hitman videos for further proof of this). And that carries through to their characters, who can be card carrying evil and yet still care so deeply about their friends that you can't help but love them.

An example of their chaotic competence is in an episode of their latest series Wyrdwood. There was a short of Johnny and Producer Zack talking about how Wyrdwood is a very creepy series starring the human equivalent of the Muppets, which is so true, but I would like to draw attention to a specific moment to prove my point:

In this particular episode, Johnny has created a truly terrifying scenario: trapped in mist with music playing beyond their hearing, the team are being picked off one by one despite specific measures to the contrary, until the characters played by the Oxbox trio are alone in oppressive danger. Things look dire. They know they're in trouble and helpless. It's only a matter of time before they're all gone.

They promptly spend the next five minutes flailing, yelling at each other, completely ruin Johnny's nefarious trap, locate their friends, and set themselves up to win the whole day while seemingly focussed entirely on figuring out which of them should be blamed for screwing up.

Even Johnny doesn't seem to know whether to be offended their whole scary vibe was just destroyed or impressed by how effortless the trio made it look, and I feel like that's the correct response.

And I think that's what I love about this series, and these people. They give me a kind of... exasperated hope for all of us.

I have to admit, when I first heard about Wyrdwood and saw the art, I was worried, because I thought Oxventure were going serious. But then, only a few minutes into the first episode, Jane uttered the immortal words 'Luck Pervert' to describe Luke's newest character and I knew we'd be fine.

These people are silly. They tell silly stories.

But they are stories about love, and friendship, and trying even against impossible odds, and making tough choices, and growing as people. All while you and the world around you are a complete mess and everything seems insane. You can still be better, and make the world better, even if it seems like you're just making more of a mess right now.

You watch, and you cringe, and you sigh and call them all 'absolute muppets', and then you cheer as they come up with some insane plan that shouldn't work and yet always, somehow, without rhyme, reason, or explanation... works.

They are silly, and they are heartfelt, and I suspect I will binge-watch the entire channel all over again this Christmas break.

Because while the Oxventurers' motto may be "Everyone should have thought of everything", the fact is no one has. So just go with what you've got.

And it might work out okay.

[missmoonysweetluna]

Hello Mx Riri!

How would the skeletons react to a partner that has tattoos?

:)

Hey hey! Hope you have a wonderful day.

I'm gonna assume you're asking for all 8, so I'll throw this under a cut. Thanks for asking!

Sans doesn't have much of an opinion on tattoos. Humans put ink under their skin to have drawings on their body? Cool, but that's gotta hurt with all the needles. His favorite types of tattoos are pun-related.

Papyrus LOVES tattoos. He thinks they're INCREDIBLE!! Of course, he doesn't know that they're put on with needles, and when he finds out about that, he bursts into tears. His sweetest datemate, poked with needles for art?! It takes quite a bit of time to reassure him that it doesn't hurt forever. Tattoos that get his attention are ones with flames or dragons or (of course) skulls!

Blue likes tattoos! He knows that it hurts to get them, though, so he's apprehensive if you're interested in getting one, be it your first or fiftieth. At the end of the day, though, he knows that it's your choice and he won't try to push you either way. Celestial or sleeve tattoos are his favorite ones to look at.

Stretch, like Sans, is pretty neutral on tattoos. They're nice, but he doesn't really mind either way. If you do have them, he'll spend a lot of his time asking about the stories behind each one. His favorite tattoos are cultural ones. They show your pride in who you are.

Red thinks tattoos are extremely hot. His favorite thing about them is tracing the ink with his phalanges (or, you know, tongue or teeth). If he's serious enough about you, he'll definitely try to convince you to get one of his name.

Edge thinks tattoos are TOTALLY BADASS. So what if it hurts? Pain is temporary! Ink is forever! Edge's favorite types of tattoos are ones made in honor or in memory of someone.

Grimm finds tattoos attractive, but that's about as much as you'll get out of him. He doesn't explain it, but he does like them. His favorites are small ones, especially if they've got meanings behind them.

Spooky isn't much for tattoos, but something as small as that would never be a deal-breaker for him. He supports all of your decisions, even if he doesn't understand them!

[sleepyqweeb189]

Trigger warning: Drugging, blood, drowning, body horror(both in writing and picture).

Alexa body acke so much her right . Saint Vanilla magic was really powerful, but whatever magic he was using... it's not the same as Pure Vanilla she knew from the game...

Alexa has been walking for a while, not knowing where to go. Her feet hurt, she's hungry, only eating one bite of poptart she had, she didn't have much to sense of direction and only kept going. She wanted to cry. Tears fell down her face as she cried. Alexa got tired of walking and decided to take a small nap... she hopes that this is all just a dream...

The next morning...

Alexa felt the sun on her face. She weakly got up and noticed that she was still in the forest. Alexa sighed and got back to wandering somewhere... After a while, Alexa stumbled across a pink fabric near a river. She wonders where the fabric came from, but it might help with her burn on get right wrist. Alexa tied the ribbon around her wrist in hopes it would help. Alexa got back on her journey, and she didn't notice her clothes slowly changed on its own. By the time Alexa got to a boat, she slowly got in before noticing that her clothes changed into a dress or what locals wear in the hollyberry kingdom. Then, she remembered that she might be near the Hollybarry kingdom! Maybe Hollybarry will help! Alexa remembered how to paddle a boat and strear it, but she was scared of falling in as she doesnt know how to swim. Alexa slowly paddles her way to the Kingdom and feels so happy. But when she got close and was busy trying to get out without messing or ripping the dress, she felt herself being grabbed and thrown onto the deck. She didn't have time to process what was happening before she was picked up by the shoulder and forced to stand up.

"STATE NAME AND YOUR BUSINESS IN THE HOLLYBERRY KINGDOM?!" The guard holding her yelled and demanded.

"U-um im... Blue Cherry...? A-and I'm just visiting a f-friend..?" Alexa was scared and tried to lie about her name.

The guards put her down and allowed her in. Alexa eyes widen in shock from how beautiful the kingdom looks from the game. She looked around and talked to some nice ladies and men. Alexa can feel her bisexuality showing a bit whenever she sees a beautiful lady and man. Alexa explores a bit more, but she is hungry... she was surviving on a poptart with a small bite each day. Alexa saw a really good treat through a window and couldn't help but stare at it. Alexa kept staring at the window and didn't notice someone coming behind her.

"I can buy for you if you want. Hollybarry wouldn't want to see anyone to starve." A male voice spoke.

Alexa turned around and saw Wildberry! Alexa wanted to decline, but she nodded. She was too hungry. Wildberry and Alexa ate together, well, mostly Alexa. Alexa had 3 slices of cake, more than Alexa ate in her life when it comes to cake. Alexa didn't notice Wildberry holding his gomlet like he was ready to use it. Alexa ate with glee and finished her plate.

"Thank you so much, sir. I should be going soon." Alexa got up and continued walking.

Alexa was able to find an inn for a day free. Alexa was super happy when she lay down in bed and fell asleep almost instantly. Alexa woke up in the middle of the night to loud banging. Alexa was scared and ran to open the door, thinking it was an emergency. But Alexa was pushed back and picked up by the neck.

"H-help! Someone help!" Alexa screamed in fear as she begged for help.

"Quiet. Her majesty will be here soon..." Wildberry said.

Alexa has kept struggling and was able to see Wildberry. His look changed... to her, Wildberry looks like a bad guy. I saw what looks like Hollybarry, but... different. She looked scary, and Alexa wondered if that's a real dragon skull. Hollybarry walks towards alexa and Wildberry.

"Ah~ you're the girl Saint Vanilla was talking about. You do look rather odd for a cookie. I suggest you calm with us calmly..." Dragonberry suggested calmy.

Alexa didn't want to listen. Why should she listen? Her room was barged in. Wildberry is close to choking her. But... what choice does she have? She is not very athletic or strong... she is just average. Alexa nodded at Dragonberry command.

"Oh good! What a good child you are! But just to make sure... Guard, inject her." Dragonberry command.

Alexa saw the needle and started to freak out. Alexa started beg and beg to be good, beg to not run. But they guard holding the needle didn't listen. Alexa doesn't like needles but hates needles that have a substance that she doesn't know about...

Wildberry holds Alexa still while the other guard injects the needle in her thoat. Alexa screamed and cried in pain. Alexa tried to calm down cause she knew her freaking out wouldn't help. The needle existed her neck. Alexa slowly felt her body grow tired. The last thing she saw was Dragonberry smiling.

Alexa groaned. Alexa slowly picked herself up but immediately stumbled and fell back down. Alexa probably thinks that she just disoriented.

"Welcome dearie, nice to see you awake! Her majesty asked me for some blood samples! Now i may ask for you to come with me?" A nice cookie lady asked.

Alexa did her best to stand up and follow the nice cookie lady. Alexa had to sit down as the lady cookie took some of her blood. The lady cookie looked surprised that Alexa's blood wasn't Jam. The cookie lady walked Alexa back into her cell. Alexa was scared. She wants to go home... why can't this just be a dream-

"Being all sssssad won't help." A rough voice spoke.

Alexa looked over and saw Pitaya cookie. Alexa was surprised to see him there. Alexa looked over and tried to talk to him, but he didn't say anything else. Alexa gave up after a bit. A couple of days went by. Alexa would be taken to a room, her blood would be taken, then back into her cell. Alexa was given twice as much food as Pitaya cookie. Alexa probably thought that since Wildberry did report how much she ate. Alexa saves her food and makes sure to hide it. Late at night, Alexa does give her leftovers to Pitaya. He doesn't take it, but he takes it when Alexa is sleeping. Alexa was slowly planning an escape. She has to get to her own home. Alexa would do this late at nignt whem they took Pitaya for questioning. Alexa sucked in her gut and squeezed out of the bars. Once Alexa got out, Alexa took a second to stop feeling dizzy. Getting her head out the bars were the hardest and hurt the most. Once alexa felt better, she got up and started to look her way out. Alexa looked through some empty room to find anything useful. All that Alexa could find was some band-aid and a scalpel. Alexa was able to find the main room to see Pitaya and Dragonberry talking, well mostly Dragonberry talking and Pitaya ignoring her. Alexa stayed in the shadows. Alexa stays quiet and slowly walks towards Dragonberry. Alexa took a second before sprinting toward Dragonberry and attempted to take her Soul Jam. If Alexa noticed anything from the Beast Yeast play through of Cookie run, then she knew that the Soul Jam might stop or delay the destruction. But... Alexa only heard Dragonberry laugh. Dragonberry grabbed Alexa from her back and threw her hard against some table where they had some harsh and some unknown chemicals. Alexa screamed and cried loudly in pain. Alexa head hit harshly against the wall. It will make others wonder why Alexa hasn't fainted instantly. The broken glass that holds some of the chemicals has stabbed through one of her hands, parts of her back, some in her feet, and the biggest ones were in her both her arm. Alexa felt the effects of being thrown to the wall. Alexa attempted to get up, but it was hard.

(WARNING: BLOOD, BIT OF BODY HORROR)

Alexa can feel her head bleeding and felt her tears start streaming down. Alexa could taste some of the unknown chemicals that entered her mouth but only a little bit.

"Geez... you ruined our stuff. You know that took a very long time, you little brat." Dragonberry spoke with such venom.

Alexa kept trying to get up, but she was in too much pain. Alexa can see Dragonberry get closer. Suddenly, Dragonberry was pushed to the wall. Dragonberry looks over to see steam coming out of Pitaya mouth. Alexa noticed Pitaya nodding at Alexa. Alexa didn't waste time when Dragonberry was distracted. The guards only focused on Dragonberry and Pitaya. When Dragonberry quickly got up and turned to face Alexa, she found her gone. Dragonberry looked up and saw the door opened.

"Oh... she wants to play Cat and Mouse..? That adorable... After her..." Dragonberry command.

A lot of guards ran out of the room and chacing after Alexa. Alexa hid in a small spot. She hears them run past her. Alexa sighed and waited a bit after they left. Alexa got up after the cost was clear. Alexa whines in pain as her feet are still in pain, if not more. The glass dug itself deeper into her feet. Alexa was able to get outside in the back. Not noticing someone watching her... following her bloodly steps... Alexa was able to get to a boat and climb in, but before she even grabbed the paddle, she was suddenly lifted up by the back of her outfit.

"Well, well, looks like this Cat and Mouse Chase has to come to an end-" Dragonberry didn't finish her sentence when she felt sudden pain in her head.

Alexa started pulling on Dragonberry hair.

Alexa wasn't athletic, but she did have a good grip. Dragonberry groaned in pain when she felt Alexa's tight grip on her hair. After a bit of Dragonberry trying to pull Alexa off, Alexa suddenly let go and kicked Dragonberry under the chin, hoping she would be let go. Dragonberry only laughed at Alexa. Dragonberry didn't need Alexa anymore since she had enough blood from Alexa. Alexa was thrown far and deep into the water.

Alexa tried to swim to the surface but couldn't. Alexa didn't want to die. She tried to gasp for air but the water... tasted like soda. Alexa unknowingly started to try and drink the water, not noticing she was drowning herself. The chemicals. Alexa didn't feel herself slowly sinking into the water. Until something grabbed her and made her sink deeper...

"Coooo..."

Creator of this au: @cuppajj

[ashesandhackles]

Goblet of Fire Reread (Part 2)

Chapter 17,18,19, 20,21,22,23

"It struck him how very tall all of them were" Harry thinking this about the champions one moment and then being angry at being called "a little boy". Accurate teenage boy behavior.

Snape stepping in to stop Karkaroff and Maxime insulting Dumbledore by insulting Harry instead, "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules" XD

Fleur really cares about the honour of representing her school.

Hints of Barty Snr under Imperius: both in his behaviour + imagery (skull like appearance in the darkness)

Violet, the witch painting went up to Fat Lady to gossip. We shall hear of this friendship again in HBP.

I really really love Hermione's insight into Ron's feelings here, because the implication here is that she noticed that he doesn't talk about it. "He's always shunted to the side when people see you, and he puts up with it, never mentions it" and how she contextualises it with how he feels around his brothers. She has an understanding and kindness about this that is very sweet.

Fleur flirting with Cedric while some creepy paunchy man watching her. Damn, what it must be like to be sexualised every moment of your life and what harmful ideas have you internalised?

Harry noting that Fleur was part Veela to tell Ron only to remember The Great Tragedy that Ron isn't speaking to him.

weighing of wands chapter to set up the priori Incantentem at end of book, to remind us of Harry's connection with Voldemort's wand.

Hermione trying to force Harry and Ron to talk to each other, poor thing. I can really feel her anxiety building over this and she is so impatient, "you miss him, he misses you". Hermione on Ronarry agenda. She even tries to sneakily make him meet Ron in Three Broomsticks and then Harry cottons on. And then her getting irritated, Harry having to resist the urge to poke Ron is peak trio content.

Harry getting cheered up by the fact that Cho wasn't wearing a support Cedric badge. Also, it's a nice shade to her character - she is nice. She recognises the badges for what it is and doesn't take part in it.

his face breaks into the first smile in days cos of Sirius and Sirius redirecting attention away from himself and focusing on Harry - "never mind me, how are you?" Harry is so vulnerable with him that he talks about Ron with him.

Sirius' respect for Moody is very interesting, he displays more of this in Padfoot Returns chapter where he talks about how Moody captured DEs and not killed them. I believe @leogichidaa and @artemisia-black have had a tumblr discussion on this.

Ron doesn't come up to bed after Harry lashes out at him for interrupting his conversation with Sirius. Poor bean - wondering how things got this bad between him and Harry.

BCJ is so chilling on reread- essentially admits that he is keeping track of real Moody via the Foe Glass. "I'm not really in trouble until I see the whites of their eyes. That's when I open my trunk."

BCJ talking about Maxime and Karkaroff but also himself - 'They want to win. They want to beat Dumbledore. They'd like to prove he's only human'. And he laughs.

Ron catches Harry's eyes, but Harry is too resentful to care. Ron trying, in his own awkward way, to let Harry know that he is on Harry's side again.

Harry not needing to hear Ron apologise to forgive him. Clearly Hermione feels the same as I do, because she burst into tears, hugs them both and goes off to cry alone LOL

I saw this tumblr post about how Fleur dealt with the dragon was the most compassionate one - trying to put it to sleep - that she and Charlie would get along cos of it. Cute hc.

Pigwidgeon falling 12 feet down before flying with the letter is so funny. Also how cute that Harry's letter to Sirius had a "blow by blow" account of how exactly he swerved, circled and dodged the Horntail. Sirius would have found that very endearing.

LOL at Dean drawing Cedric with his head on fire for party banners. (apart from drawings of Harry dodging Horntail)

Harry calling out Hermione for bending of rules is so cute. When she says, "he is supposed to work out the egg on his own" when Lee picks up the egg, and Harry reminds her in undertone that he was supposed to work out the dragon alone too, and she "grins guiltily"

I am very disappointed in Dobby, whose political consciousness that shone and drove the plot of CoS is done to "acceptable" levels of radicalism. He tried to save Harry, explicitly against harry's wishes, because of his idea that Harry is a symbol of hope to the "enslaved dregs of the magical society, who are treated as vermin" and that defeat of Voldemort ensured that his kind are treated better. (he is still endearing, but speaks to the message of the books - he can be radical but cannot question the existing institution too much)

Winky's loyalty to Crouch is treated as pitiable, while Hermione's overzealousness with some gentle ribbing because JKR seems to find it endearing. We will probably get into white saviorism later, because I have THOUGHTS.

Ron and Harry sword fighting with fake wands, which are tin parrot and rubber haddock respectively, is hilarious. (Ron's parrot got the haddock's head)

Cedric telling Hufflepuffs to leave Harry alone. Looks like he was so grateful for Harry's tip, he steps in on the bullying.

Cho's words about who she is going to the ball with echoing with each step Harry took. Peak teenage experience. End of the world your crush has been asked out by someone else.

so funny that Ron keeps trying to ask Hermione who she is going to the ball with at unexpected times to surprise her into answering

love that Hermione was simultaneously appalled by fake-Moody making Malfoy a ferret while also not above referencing that incident to get Malfoy off her back. ("twitchy little ferret, aren't you Malfoy")

Ron notices Hermione's teeth is no longer the same. And Hermione is all sly and mischievous about the fact that she let Madam Pomphrey carry on a bit.

ok this is such a cute description: Hermione sitting to watch Ron and Harry's chess match which had recklessly brave pawns and a violent bishop

Dobby gets socks as presents from both Ron and Harry (reminder Ron also puts socks over his dead body) and Ron's Christmas jumper.

Dumbledore referencing Room of requirement. (he makes a joke that makes Harry snort and Percy frown- I guess he thinks the joke isn't appropriate for international magical cooperation?)

Parvati goes off with a Beauxbaton boy because Harry wasn't paying attention to her. She also lead him while dancing -so much so he felt like a show dog. Love how alpha she is xD

Percy glances at Harry about "hitch with Goblet of Fire" : indication of his coming arc where he doesn't believe Harry. (Also, while Percy is socialising with Bagman, he chooses to sit with Harry and Ron, which is indicative of how awkward he feels i think)

Snape and Karkaroff's conversation will get referenced in Prince's Tale, where Dumbledore grants him -"i think we sort too soon".

the image of Maxime storming away with fairies parting bushes is a very striking.

Chapter 24, 25, 26,27,28

Hermione drops key family history for Harry without either of them realising it: she used Fleamont Potter's Sleakazy's. Also at the implication that Harry asked about her hair LMAO.

Ron and Hermione reaching an unspoken agreement about sidestepping the big fight which involved FEELINGS.

the unicorn preferring a girl's touch is tied around the myth of pure creatures comfortable with "pure souls". I am really not sure how to read the gender politics of this book using this aspect of mythology.

lol, at Parvati being very "cool" towards Harry since the ball. Her retort actually makes him reflect - "perhaps I should have paid her more attention" and then, "ah well, she had a good time anyway". Honestly, stan Parvati.

Harry's so suspicious of Bagman offering him help, and rightly so. I love him putting Bagman on backfoot with his questions.

really curious about goblins and their hierarchy in the wizarding world. they are the marginalised who "fight back".

Rosmerta looking at James Potter, "who used to make her laugh"'s son yelling at a reporter in the middle of her pub XD

Love that Gryffindors get food related passwords like "banana fritters" and poor Ravenclaws have to solve a riddle every time they need to get in.

Where is the fanart of Snape with long grey nightshirt? Where?

Snape shutting Filch up when (in his mind) Moody came in, BCJ using Moody's distrust to check his office. Excellent stuff. My favourite part of the scene is Snape angrily declares Dumbledore's trust in him, and BCJ reminds him of "spots that don't come off". And Snape clutches his Dark Mark (and immediately hates himself for doing it xD)

Okay, Snape conceding power to Moody in this scene is so interesting. When Snape tries to look for Harry, BCJ makes him back off by saying "meaning Dumbledore is very interested to know who's got it in for the boy!" and Snape answers in a forced calm.

the tension between Snape and fake Moody can be cut through with a knife. Love how menacing the scene makes Moody, with Rowling using visual pictures of Moody's scars in the darkness

Lmao, Neville sending Professor Flitwick flying across room in class. And the description of "Professor Flitwick went whizzing resignedly past them" when the trio are talking. The implication that Flitwick just let Neville do his thing… XD

Hermione answering Harry's grim dark joke seriously. Nerd XD so much so the next time she takes Harry's joke seriously, he had to tell her that he is joking lol.

Harry goes off food when he is stressed or upset: a hangover from Dursley days when punishment is "no food".

"Your Wheezy, sir, your wheezy - the thing Harry Potter sir will miss the most!" LOL. The way this book is designed for Ronarry feels.

Merpeople have pet Grindylows. (also the chief is a woman)

Harry actually tries to yank the spear away from merman when they refused to help him, and hits Krum when Krum failed to realise that his shark teeth would hurt Hermione. My little feral boy.

Percy, "who looked very white", splashing out to meet Ron <3

Poor Krum - he is trying to engage Hermione and she is too busy either asking Harry about his task or cheering him for his marks to listen.

I love how much Harry gets so cheered by Sirius' letters. And even as he is tense that Sirius would get caught, he enters Potions classroom happy XD

'Scarlet woman'. It speaks to the generation Molly comes from that she has these ideas, and that Ron has noticed and picked it up.

Hermione, being also aware that Ron's regard for her is less than platonic, "determinedly avoiding Ron's eyes" when she mentions Viktor did invite her. (Also funny that Hermione is trying to puzzle out how Rita heard her, and Ron is like, "nvm, what did you say about Viktor's invitation?" lol)

@urupotterwrote a nice meta about how Snape was deliberately provoking Harry (after harry moves tables) to read his mind. Right when Harry angrily looks up, Snape's eyes bore into him to check if he had broken into his office.

Sirius made them climb a mountain for half an hour lol. He believes in outdoorsy kids.

Sirius having a fuller face, and looking like he is taking care of himself when Harry met him at the fire - but now he is back in his prison robes, his hair is longer and he is thin again. When Sirius broke into the fire, he was clearly at a place where he could hide better and take care of himself. He is living off rats.

And he notices the anxiety on Harry;s face and explains why he is here (he is very good at reading harry's face and just answering his thoughts. He does it again later in the scene). He is worried about how fishy things look, and it is clear one of the reasons of his lack of care for himself is hyperfixating on Harry's safety and circumstances surrounding the tournament. (he also moves a lot when he is thinking - it's part of why he makes for such a strong scene presence. There is either note of how he takes space, or his eyes)

Sirius backs Hermione here about Barty Crouch Snr's treatment of Winky ("if you want to know what a man's like.."). This is important for Hermione's complicated feelings about him in the next book. He was the only adult on her side - even Hagrid, who she counted on, didn't agree with her.

Sirius projecting all his family issues over Barty Crouch Jnr.

Sirius' description of Azkaban is just extremely solitary and drenched in death, and suffering. He can see and hear things that are near his cell or out of the window (he could see Dementors burying who he thought was BCJ outside the fortress). Speaks to the immense violation Barty Crouch Snr has committed by sending him there without a trial. (There is also the fact that Azkaban is horrible, and no one deserves it)

Snuffles, enuff said. He also allows them each to pat them on his head before they leave. how cute.

"If he thought we are standing in way of his career"..ah, seeds of Percy arc of OOTP. Hermione believes in him while Ron doesnt lol.

I haven't mentioned in my notes because it would get too long - but Sirius' exposition about the First War, I think, is important for the atmosphere that leads to friends turning on each other.

also, I really love the note of Sirius, as always, admiring the morals of Mad Eye Moody for trying to bring Death Eaters alive, versus his condemnation of Barty Crouch Snr's methods. This shade of him - combined with the fact that he would have absolutely killed Peter after Jily death if he had the chance, or even the previous book. @artemisia-black wrote about her interpretation of it in this meta.

House elves should be "seen, not heard" philosophy, where they have internalised that anything showing discontent from where they are is undesirable.

Hermione pulling a Blinky episode here XD if the worldbuilding wasn't so shitty, I would actually enjoy a critique of Hermione's impatience here because it is very in line with steam of young activists finding roadblocks within the very people they want to help.

Chekhov's gun: the eagle owl Harry observes flying over Hagrid's hut - the same owl we see in Harry's dream with Voldemort later.

Maxime is apparently trying to make up to Hagrid - she watches Hagrid's class and even tries to engage him in a conversation prior to this. Maybe she feels sorry about how the story about Hagrid's mother come out in the Prophet and wants to bond? What did Maxime face because of her parentage?

Ron being upset that the gold he paid Harry back with vanished, and how he hates being poor and how both Harry and Hermione don't know what to say: Hermione tries to cheer him up by saying she will get him a Niffler for Christmas, how cute.

harry regularly sending Sirius food and little notes with them. I CANT. they have my heart, they are everything.

love that Fleur and Cedric are apparently friendly enough that she keeps going on about underground tunnels to him, and how Fleur beams at Harry when he comes.

Harry and Cedric being jocks, and how they are less than happy with the state of the Quidditch pitch lol.

Dumbledore uses the Patronus to summon Hagrid. A known method of communication between the Order. ("a ghostly bird")

love the dynamic of Fred and George arguing: George seems to be the more cautious one of the two, saying putting something like that in writing is blackmail, while Fred is like, "You're not going to complain once we get the pay off, would you?" But the moment Ron asks what's up with them, George backs Fred and sends the letter himself.

I also really loved the moment of the trio confronting the twins. It was hilarious. it shows all their priorities - both Fred and Ron with confrontational and surprised, "what are you doing here?" and Harry and George on defensive, "sending letter?" and both Fred and Hermione with a suspicious, "What, at this time?"

Hermione still uncomfortable with the idea of breaking laws: "This isnt some silly school rule, it's the law". Given where they all end up in DH (honestly even OOTP), this is interesting. She even advises Ron to reach out to Percy to stop whatever the twins are doing, and Ron's like, "Are you mad? He would probably do a Crouch and turn them in!" XD

Harry being annoyed at Sirius being an Overbearing Dad XD "Who is he, to lecture me after all the stuff he did at school?"

Chekhov's gun: insect buzzing somewhere behind the curtain. Rita Skeeter.

Also seeing Crouch Snr struggle against the Imperius put on him by Voldemort tells us how incredible it is that Harry throws it off in the graveyard

Harry connecting the magic of Pensieve with the diary through means of his experience. Could be a cool worldbuilding detail if we want to think about how Tom preserved his "memory" in the diary, along with it being a container for his soul.

important to understand how Voldemort operates: he alone knows who works for him, and others get exposed to each other via shared jobs or connections. This adds to what Sirius says in Padfoot returns chapter.

Mulciber specialised in the Imperius, as per Karkaroff's testimony. Could he have done something in similar vein to Mary MacDonald? It could also be talked of as a "laugh" since students do find Moody's control of the spider in Unforgivables class darkly funny.

"He is no more a Death Eater than I am": Dumbledore's vouching of Snape is strong. I would love a fic that explores Snape and Dumbledore's equation in First War, and how Dumbledore sees bits of himself in a young man who also thinks he is brilliant, and wants power, but ends up hurting the person he loves in his blindness.

The trial essentially feels like a gladiator ring, with the accused chained to the chair. (Of course, Bagman doesnt get chained to the chair due to the relative popularity with the jury)

Ah, BCJ. His reaction here depends on how you read his involvement with Longbottoms - whether he actually did it, or whether he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Of course, the book, with Cruciatus scene with spider, heavily suggest that he was indeed guilty. So, it is interesting to see his terror here - he is genuinely terrified of going to Azkaban, but he is also using his genuine terror to appeal to his parents, to get out and be free. (He does similar things throughout the book - use his real dislike of Malfoys, Snape but misdirect you about his motivations). It's a nice manipulative streak.

"You're no son of mine!" "Take them away, and may they rot there." I need a Crouch family deep dive, because it is essentially a version of Walburga burning her son's name off after he ran away. which is: "I want to pretend you don't even exist."

a very astute reader pointed out on reddit how Moody is not present for the Longbottoms trial (and his eyes were intact on both trials before). So the hc is that Bellatrix took out Moody's eye and he was recovering in the hospital at the time.

[sepublic]

Finished S1 of Castlevania Nocturne! I gotta say, that one vampire wife of the Marquis who kept his head around was the funniest character in the entire show so far.

In all seriousness, Alucard!!! I was wondering when he'd show up and by the time he did, I'd completely forgotten and thought it was Olrox who saved Richter from Drolta! Speaking of Drolta, she dresses very similar to the Succubus from Symphony of the Night, and even has a similar attack where she spreads out her wings, and sharp tendrils emerge from them; Plus with Alucard being the one to kill her, I'm just gonna treat her as the Succubus. RIP Queen you were a good one.

Does anyone else think Emmanuel is Shaft? He looks like Shaft, he's an evil priest, he's working for an evil vampire, him being human makes him necessary to pull souls from hell. That forgemaster contraption kinda reminds me of that weird orb-thing his ghost fights with in Symphony of the Night...

Speaking of that! Olrox muses on the demon that Emmanuel made a deal with to create that machine, and because of its creator, it's indestructible. Could this be pointing towards Galamoth as the final enemy of the show; He's the hardest boss of Symphony of the Night, Alucard has just shown up, and the two technically fought in... Kid Dracula. Where he was also the final boss for Alucard. The demon might just be Death, but then he's described as an elemental spirit.

I'm also curious as to how Edouard's story will turn out! Between him and Jacques and the Night Creature with a suspicious amount of mouths (as Bathory noted), the show seems to be going back to the whole idea of Night Creatures remembering their humanity and being rehabilitated. Which just begs the question of what happened to Isaac's kingdom of Styria, meant to be a place for Night Creatures to heal? Will we see that come back for Edouard? Isaac was once a slave himself, just as Annette was, so seeing all three come together would be wonderful! It's poetic, as Night Creatures are literally dehumanized slaves, so seeing Isaac, as well as Edouard (someone who helped liberate slaves) resonate with them works.

I wonder if we'll see the Moth Princess from Bloodlines; She's the penultimate boss, and Bathory had her starring role in that game. She looks human enough, but she's probably a vampire, so it'd be easy to adapt her as another lieutenant, especially in the wake of Drolta's death.

DAYUM Olrox and Mizrak! Firstly I'm glad they made Olrox turn into a green reptile monster like in the games... I was joking about the more comfortable place to meet being a bed, but holy shit it actually happened. I love all the references to Olrox's game lore, like his skulls and floating around... Here's hoping we get to see him dramatically unfold his legs in a chair, and then stand up!

I had a lot of fun; Richter was great, Maria was adorable and she is my precious child and I love her so much!!! I love her turtle and I hope we get to see her summon a whole-ass dragon as her most powerful spell, something like that.

I wonder how Emmanuel will go from here, if he's meant to be Shaft; Will he dive into full villainy, or will he be like Isaac, in that his show counterpart will have a happier ending? As Tera said, Emmanuel got his ram; Could it lead to him developing a messiah complex, thinking God rewarded him for his faith? Or will he know better? If he's Shaft, I better see him throw some... *snrk*... balls.

And did anyone else find the Night Creatures in this season to be particularly horny? Like that one moth girl who looks like a monsterfucker's OC, I mean I'm not complaining! Is this just a creative decision by the animators or does Emmanuel have anything he wants to share with the class... It all started with Abel it seems.

AND JUSTE!!! I managed to guess it; The white hair always made me wonder how Juste might be adapted, hypothetically, so it seems the show just portrays him as an old man for that! When he took Richter's whip, I had my suspicions and made the hair connection, it was wonderful... And they referenced Lydie and Maxim!!! Unfortunately it was yet another tragic ending for a Belmont... Man, what happened to the previous season's ending suggesting a happier route, only for us to go back to a "Last of the Belmonts" situation??? At least we got a Sypha shout out!

One more thing I just remembered; Annette's favorite color is Green. I believe that's a reference to her sometimes being depicted with a green dress in the source material? And in-universe, might reference Edouard... I love the connection between Annette's manipulation of metal, and her whole thing of banishing the demonic machine; Here's hoping she gets to pull it off!

All in all, I'm excited to see how things go in the second season! Which will really suck waiting for, but that's the price for quality I'm afraid. Ethical quality at least. But I gotta wait, what other choice do I have? Here's looking forward to how Alucard interacts with yet another Belmont... When Richter almost drank, I could just SEE him become Trevor again and I bet Alucard felt a chill down his spine for some reason.

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week ?

Superman #19 - Speaking as someone who has huge gaps in their Legion knowledge, I loved Time Trapper's boast to Superman that the two of them are eternal and will wage war until the end of existence. And when he lowered his hood at the end and revealed himself as Doomsday I actually cackled. Of course, who else could endure until the end of time? And Doomsday's evolution ability actually works with how the Time Trapper (as I understand) has very vague powers and actually shifts (you might even say evolves) with how time changes. Alright Williamson, for the first time since I read DoS you've got me interested and excited for a Doomsday story. Doomsday talking about Superman's immortality harkens back to the Knight Terrors tie-in, if this is something Williamson has had on his mind for a while, optimistically he has something to say about it. Atomic Skull is confirmed to have reverted to being a bad guy, signaling what I expect to be an editorial push to undo the majority of the "redemptions" we've seen villains undergo recently. I bet Livewire reverts when "Superwoman" starts getting more attention and press than she does. Lex will presumably revert after getting his memories back to synergize with the movie. Mora on art is a beauty, this is probably the most enjoyable the book has been since Campbell stopped being the regular artist.

Absolute Wonder Woman #1 - Great first issue. Thompson proved she knows what the core of Wonder Woman is via that scene with baby Diana first scolding, then kissing, the baby dragon/demon after it tried to cook her. Sherman's art evokes this gothic atmosphere that suits a Wondy raised in hell perfectly. My favorite portion was the flashback to Circe raising Diana as her daughter. Seeing that spread of how their home evolved as Diana grew up hit hard for some reason, and I'm eager to uncover the mystery of what happened with the Amazons, why were they exiled, why was Diana spared, etc. However the modern day portion was weak. The Harbingers seem like generic evil monsters, at first I wondered if that was the Absolute Center given it was a floating island that spewed out dinos. We'll see what Thompson has planned for them, but they didn't immediately grab my interest the way the Party Animals over in Batman did. Credit to Thompson however, unlike Snyder she actually showed Diana struggle and did a better job of portraying this Wondy as a hero who is on the backfoot while Snyder had Batman blow through thugs as easily as his mainline counterpart.

Zatanna: BDTH #5 - I enjoyed it as an Elseworld take and thus wasn't too bothered by her dad being evil here. Tamaki's writing was solid albeit nothing exceptional, the real star was Javier Rodriguez. His art is what made this book fantastic! Would love to read a sequel that explored Zatanna with her daddy issues resolved up against a new threat. Glad to see Diana show up at the end to recruit Zee alongside the expected Batman cameo, anything that shows Zee and Di having a long history of friendship makes me happy.

Nightwing #119 - Was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly Watters shifted everything from the lighter tone of Taylor to his own darker style. Dick flooded Bludhaven with money in Taylor's run, which made it more attractive to criminals, which of course also brought in supercriminals. Watters has a good handle on Nightwing's voice, "anyhow time for jail" made me laugh. Jokes are there but he also writes Dick as serious and, when he needs to be, downright scary. Soy's art is great, he's long been a favorite of mine and I both his portrayal of Bludhaven as well as his designs for the villains.

Incredible Hulk #18 - My token Marvel book of the week! Earls' art is improving imo, and the section where Hulk tries to rip Banner out of himself was grotesque, man I love Klein's art. Hmmm, is the One Below All still protecting Hulk somehow? Or is this something else keeping Eldest from taking control of Hulk?

[themaskstayson]

"Arise now, ye Tarnished. Ye dead, who yet live. The call of long-lost grace speaks to us all." - Narrator (Elden Ring)

"The oath you awoke with is some faded instinct. What does it even stand for?" - Narrator (Baldur's Gate 3)

Decided to combine my two favorite things (Elden Ring and Baldur's Gate 3) and bring my current tarnished, Faith, to Faerûn.

Maybe I'll write some more silly stuff than just what is below.

It'll be pretty funny to have a tarnished so ready to unalive everything on sight to have party members telling them you gotta chill.

Faith: See, I told you everyone around us will want to kill us! She pulled a branch with poison on me!

Shadowheart: Okay... You got me there, but maybe telling everyone we have Mind Flayer tadpoles in our skulls is a bad idea.

Gale would have a blast learning about the Land Between.

Gale: You're telling me your people were banished from your world and this Golden Order you were fighting for?

Faith: Yup.

Gale: And then you were brought back to the Land Between, but the very order they exiled you, just to restore order by fighting countless of enemies without rest?

Faith: I mean... My plan was to burn it all down because I became maidenless again...

Lae'zel would enjoy the tales of all the battles the tarnished been through. Maybe not so much the dragons, but knowing you can learn dragon spells might appeal to her dragon girl heart.

Lae'zel: You would hunt these dragons and kill them?!

Faith: Yeah but then I can consume their hearts and use their power! Rot was very useful against Bloody Finger Invaders.

Oh man, for the tarnished to use their own spells instead of D&D would also be so much fun. Wyll talked about how he could do all these amazing things before he got nerfed and Faith would reminisce with him.

Faith: Ah, I remember when I was able to use the flame of frenzy... I wonder if I can get that back at some point and how effective it would be against your kind.

Wyll: What did that do?

Faith: Fire of madness would spur out of my eyes and kill the tarnish with ease. A heresy spell from the three fingers but... Those invaders were so annoying.

Wyll: That's terrifying...

Faith: You just told me about opening a gateway to the darkness between stars and anyone in it would suffer unknowable horrors...

Karlach and Astarion I'm not too sure what those interactions would be like.

Astarion would do this normal thing with Faith's I honestly don't see Faith to be okay with being fed upon but I don't think Astarion would be stupid enough to trust her to not kill him. He would hit on her and it would go over her head completely.

Faith would probably want to kill Karlach and someone else would need to step in and tell Faith and Wyll that they're idiots and Karlach is clearly a tiefling. Probably Shadowheart tbh.

Faith is from my coop game with friends. They're is a Confessor (thus the name lol) and basically I just wanted to do faith based spells with some sword and shield game play since my first tarnished was a pure intelligence mage. But I might lean more into the Confessor lore build for funsies since there are 4 of us playing at a given time. I guess Faith's pronouns are they/she depending on my mood.

It only seemed right to make them a paladin in BG3. Vengeance makes sense for a tarnished trying to bring back Golden Order and Oathbreaker if I decide to to the Lorrd of the Frenzied Flame ending.

They're also a dark urge cause blood thirst and amnesia.

I poured many hours into Elden Ring and barely knew the lore, but I think it'll be a fun crossover to think and maybe write about. And I'm getting too many ideas, gonna have to go full self-indulgent with this one... And take more photos lol

[we-do-bones-bracket]

Who did bones the best?

here are the finalized brackets! the tournament will be split into two brackets. the finalists of both will go up against each other to determine the winner. characters who were the most popular during submissions will join in round 2

rules & guidelines

about spoilers

matches under cut!

Abraham "Brom Bones" van Brunt (Headless: A Sleepy Hollow Story) vs. Skull (One Piece)

Laudna (Critical Role) vs. Sese Kitsugai (Len'en Project)

Benny (Halloweentown) vs. Enki Ankarian (Fear & Hunger)

Stalhorse (The Legend of Zelda) vs. Skeleton Horse (Minecraft)

Skeleton Mob (Minecraft) vs. Stallord (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)

Ryuk (Death Note) vs. Sam Day Break (Paradise Killer)

Adalman (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime) vs. Hero's Shade/Hero's Spirit (The Legend of Zelda)

Sir Daniel Fortesque (MediEvil) vs. Skeletor (He-Man)

The Forgotten (Binding of Isaac) vs. Countess Ariadne de Winter (Til Death Do Us Bard)

Kel'thuzad (Warcraft) vs. Christopher Flores (Wayward Children)

The Lich King/Arthas Menethil (Warcraft) vs. Bones (Johannes Cabal the Necromancer)

Toro Muerto (The Book of Life) vs. Yodomi Arakawa (Skeleton Double)

Immortan Joe (Mad Max Fury Road) vs. Laika (Laika: Aged Through Blood)

Clinkz (DOTA 2) vs. Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck (Bleach)

Ianthe Tridantarius (The Locked Tomb) vs. Zenon Zogratis (Black Clover)

Palamedes Sextus (The Locked Tomb) vs. Ketheric Thorm (Baldur's Gate 3)

Ruth Fleming (Nerdy Prudes Must Die) vs. Dr. Bones Cookie (Cookie Run)

Misetani Box (Dai Dark) vs. Frank (Generation Loss)

Shimada Death (Dai Dark) vs. Bone (Warriors)

Kurloz Makara (Homestuck) vs. Mamà Imelda (Coco)

Jake English (Homestuck) vs. Hector (Coco)

SkullBaluchimon (Digimon) vs. Skullgreymon (Digimon)

SkullKnightmon (Digimon) vs. Jolly Roger

Cubone (Pokémon) vs. Ryme (Pokémon Scarlet and Violet)

Skeletal Dragon (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim) vs. Boneknapper (How to Train Your Dragon)

Shinnok (Mortal Kombat) vs. Hector (Castlevania)

Lady Micte (Maya and the Three) vs. Conway (Kentucky Route Zero)

Veralidaine "Daine" Sarrasi (The Immortal Quartet) vs. Pious Augustus (Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem)

Zélie Adebola (Children of Blood and Bone) vs. SkekMal the Hunter (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance)

The Hound (RWBY) vs. Nuckelavee (RWBY)

Nina Zenik (Six of Crows) vs. Undertaker (Black Butler)

Yorick (Hamlet) vs. Pale Rider (Persona)

Skelita Calaveras (Monster High) vs. Hell Biker (Persona)

Nico Di Angelo (Percy Jackson) vs. Bone Ravage (Fortnite)

Death (Discworld) vs. Mort (Hello from the Hallowoods)

Acererak (Dungeons & Dragons) vs. Skid (Spooky Month)

Boneyard (Dungeons & Dragons) vs. Lord Hater (Wonder Over Yonder)

Necrodeus (Kirby Mass Attack) vs. Jack Skellington (The Nightmare Before Christmas)

Skelly (Hades) vs. Nagash (Warhammer Fantasy Battle)

Lady Bone Demon (Lego Monkie Kid) vs. Dry Bowser (Mario)

King (The Owl House) vs. Dry Bones (Mario)

Dyre Ode/Dyre Owed (Friends at the Table) vs. The Children of the Hydra's Teeth (Jason and the Argonauts (1963))

Qiu Congxue (Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know) vs. Death (The Arcana)

Kimimaro Kaguya (Naruto) vs. Gold Skull (The Sexy Brutale)

Death the Kid (Soul Eater) vs. Keyes (Fairy Tail)

Skull Knight (Berserk) vs. Director Bones (DC Comics) Bone (One Punch Man)

Lord Death Man (DC Comics) vs. Mister Bones (DC Comics)

Death (Horrible Histories) vs. Ebisu (Dorohedoro)

Skeleton (I Spy Spooky Mansion) vs. Skullomania/Saburo Nishikoyama (Street Fighter EX)

Skull Man (Mega Man) vs. SkullMan.exe (Mega Man)

A Real Magic Skeleton (OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes) vs. Skully (Scary Godmother)

Marquis (Parahumans) vs. Morgo (Little Misfortune)

Señor Huseo (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) vs. Brian Laborn/Grue (Parahumans)

Grim (The Grim Adventures) vs. Pluto (Library of Ruina)

Queen Rohaan (Watermelon) vs. Kamen Raider Genm/Kuroto Dan (Kamen Rider Ex-Aid)

Fone Bone (Bone) vs. Smiley Bone (Bone) vs. Phonciple P. "Phoney" Bone (Bone)

[burnwater13]

Grogu sitting in the pram while the Jawas escape in the Sandcrawler, while watching the Mandalorian (out of frame). Image from The Mandalorian, Season 1, Episode 2, The Child. Calendar by DataWorks.

Grogu wasn’t sure why he worried about Din Djarin. The Mandalorian was fine. He did these big dramatic things that looked really scary and made Grogu sit at the edge of his seat, or at least hold on to the edge of the floaty chair, but then the Mandalorian would stick the landing, stop the bad person, capture the huge out of control critter, or whatever, and be fine. Just fine. 

Grogu wasn’t fine. He frowned. He fretted. He wondered if this was the last time he’d see or hear from his protector. He didn’t know how far was too far if he used the Force to help. He didn’t want to draw even more attention to them. And then, the times the Mandalorian actually got hurt, like on Arvala-7, Grogu would try to heal the bounty hunter, because he couldn’t have the human collapsing and being unable to travel, but nope, Din ‘I don’t do simple first aid’ Djarin would just push him away or put him in the floaty chair. That wasn’t pleasant at all. 

Grogu wondered if the Mandalorian had been that way since birth or if he’d grown to be that way over time. Some people just wouldn’t except help. They had to do everything themselves and if it didn’t work, well, they’d just start up and do it all over again and hope it all ended differently. 

That didn’t really make sense to Grogu. If something didn’t work the first time maybe you needed to try something different. Just hoping it would change without doing anything new or different seemed pretty absurd. He didn’t think the Mandalorian was an absurd person on most occasions, but he did think that going after that mudhorn for the Jawas had been absurd. Of course going after the Jawas the way he had wasn’t really the clearest thinking either. Of course, none of that was a patch on using his flight pack to fly into the mouth of a Krayt dragon. Hmmm. Maybe the Mandalorian was an absurd person? 

That probably depended on how you measured his actions. Grogu measured the bounty hunter’s actions against a modified Jedi scale he had set up when he was a youngling. His scale was named after the  Jedi Masters he had studied under from least absurd to most absurd. Generally speaking Din Djarin hovered somewhere between Anakin Skywalker and Master Kenobi. 

The Mandalorian didn’t lose things, other than Grogu, as often as Master Kenobi lost his cloak and lightsabers, but he did like the odds on a lot of stuff that seemed impossible and that pushed him closer to Anakin Skywalker in many ways. 

Randomly jump from a moving vehicle? Check.

Get mad at people for just being themselves or following their culture? Check.

Making friends with people who Jedi or Mandalorians simply shouldn’t know? Check. Check. Both Skywalker and Master Kenobi did that. 

Being obsessed about ships and their speed? Check.

Hating sand but going to sandy places? Check.

All that reflecting made Grogu consider that perhaps Din Djarin was just willing to take absurd risks to help someone. Just Consider how many times he forgave Greef Karga for all of his nonsense. Grogu knew that Master Kenobi was the same way. He’d helped Anakin so many times, but Grogu was pretty sure that Anakin didn’t really see it that way. Uff. 

So there he was. Sitting in his floating chair. His ‘pram’. Like he was a baby or something. Watching and waiting for the next risk to play out. He tried not to bite his nails. The Mandalorian had told him it was an unsightly habit. Grogu figured he was just jealous. Din Djarin wore gloves all the time. Who knew what his nails looked like. They might be hot mess or simply delightful and painted with mythosaur skulls, or maybe little stars, or feathers, or shriek hawk claws? But, he was probably protecting them from damage and that was not a problem Grogu had to deal with at all. 

Since he was still training the Mandalorian on how to understand the native language of his people and culture, Grogu couldn’t call out any advice or suggest alternative plans. He could just watch and hope that no matter what happened he was able to use the Force soon enough and effectively enough to make a difference. He was never going to live down the time he wasn’t able to stop the Mandalorian from following him into a small pond. 

Din Djarin hadn’t realized that Grogu was using the Force to float at a specific height in the deep water. His protector took one step into the water and found himself neck deep and his feed stuck in the muddy bottom. Of course Grogu helped him get out, but not before they were both covered in mud. It had taken a long time to clean that shiny beskar armor that day. 

Grogu hoped this wasn’t going to be a repeat of that day. It was much easier to deal with a surly Mandalorian who needed some healing, than one who decided to take the opportunity to show you all the ins and outs of cleaning and polishing armor. All of the armor. Even the helmet. Oh, Grogu was blindfolded for that, but still, polishing armor is boring at best of times and that was not the best of times. Not by a long shot.

[drksanctuary]

Nicobaster: Soulmates/games

For day two I did a collaboration with @thomas-life and we did a combination of both prompts:

And a hastily written and edited little excerpt for ya:

Alabaster sifts through the last of what must've been 30 decks of Mythomagic cards.

"Ah! Found him.! Aevin Lackluster: Master Spellcaster. Edition 4. From the Medieyval Myth campaign. He was and perhaps still is my favorite from that series. A lot of the other editions didn't have actual characters...so it was exciting at the time." Alabaster shrugs non-chalantly but his eyes are practically beaming at the card. As if he's holding a literal piece of his childhood self. And Maybe he is.

Nico grins at him from his seat on the floor. He's hunched over his own mess of cards, looking much like a dragon guarding its hoard of treasure. Cards haphazardly spill out from under his legs emphasizing just how many he has... Alabaster briefly wonders where he had he been keeping them all.

"Not a bad card," Nico agrees, "but he's nothing compared to Myra Darkweave, Necromancer Queen, also from Edition 4." Nico holds up one of the cards, and turns it to face Alabaster. She holds a skull in one hand. Her crown is either silver or bone, and around her neck is a familiar green necklace.

Alabaster examines it. Myra’s picture is one that mostly displays Purple,red and black. But the small splash of green stands out.

“Huh, May I?” He reaches out to take the card.

Nico holds it out for Alabaster to take and feigns scandalized gasp, "You don't have her card? how can you call yourself a fan?"

Alabaster plucks the card from Nico's fingers, careful not to bend or rip it.

"She never came up in the packs I had." He says, shaking his head. "I could only get what I could steal"

Nico continues smirking at him.

Al rolls his eyes. "So annoying" he says. /but attractive/ he thinks.

Nico snorts and starts picking through his cards, organizing them by...color? Alabaster raises an eyebrow at the choice, but seeing as in order to play they'd have to shuffle them anyway he supposes its as good a way as any.

Nico speaks without looking at him, that insufferable smug look refusing to leave his face, "I got a lot of my cards in the Lotus hotel." The smirk drops a little but come back full force a moment later, "I won them by beating the older kids" he snickers, "they were so mad getting bean by a 10 year old...its one of my greatest accomplishments." He preens.

"So you've always been this maddening?" Alabaster quips, as he compares their favorite cards side by side. Imagining Nico as a 10 year old sends shivers down his spine...shivers of dread. They'd probably have hated eachother.

Or perhaps they'dve been friendly Rivals. Alabaster remembers himself at 12.../nah probably enemies actually/. He chuckles to himself and diverts his attention back to the cards and Myra’s green necklace. The pattern and design of it is unmistakable. He looks over to Aevin's card to see that he is wearing that same green necklace.

"D'you...." Alabaster considers. He doesn't remember the lore concerning that particular item. Which is maddening considering he usually knows these things offhand. Was it part of some group?

"Look at this" Al continues. "They both have the same necklace... I can't recall what it signifies... do you know what it's for?"

Nico pauses in his organizing to look at the cards, beautiful dark eyes focusing under thick eyelashes. Alabaster bites the inside of his lip to recenter himself, so he doesn't just start staring at Nico Di Angelo like a looney.

"I think I remember that it was some sort of gift?" Nico shrugs, "or a prize?" Or was it a prized-posession? Nico hates being dyslexic, but honestly he was also 10 when he tried to read it so his memory might be faulty.

Alabaster hums. "I see. Well!" He whips out his trusty enchanted glasses that help him read. "Maybe I can look it up."

He pulls out an mythomagic handbook that is so worn that Nico might've mistaken it for an ancient artifact.

He flips through tissue thin pages. "Ah, here we are" Aevin's necklace was made by him, he carved protection runes on the back of the pendant to keep the wearer safe. (Plus 5 defense and plus 2 evasion). So it's a protection necklace...but why is it..." Alabaster’s eyes travel to a small fact box on the side of the page. "When he got married he gifted it to his beloved wife...Myra Darkweave. Who gave him her bracelet in exchange. To solidify them as soulmates through the ages..."

Alabaster looks over to Nico. /what a coincidence/ he thinks. That those two are their favorites...

@them-awesome-rarepairs please accept our late submission 😅 thank you!!!

[tweeksandturns]

So...

Scar Impulse and Gem were trying to get Grian to work on the back of his base, but Grian didn't want to, so he grabbed ahold of scars adhd (talked about seeing the tunnel-bore) and the two of them went there. Scar and Grian pressed a button too many times, and it blew itself up.

Doc was angry (of course, he had the rights) so he got back at them by, 1. breaking Grians nether portal so it was one sideways block, and 2. getting wither skulls to float in Scarland.

Neither side did much after this for a while, but eventually, Doc got a purple crown and put it on a Zombie in front of Mumbos base.

Grian, under the assumption that anyone with a purple crown would be Mumbo's best friend, Killed the zombie for the crown. He didn't know that Doc had made a redstone contraption so that when that zombie died, it blew up the entrance to Mumbos base.

Grian physically, spiritually, and emotionally didn't know how to fix that, but Mumbo more or less found it funny.

During this time, Zedaph was trying to find a dragon egg, and had gained some information that Grian had a ton (from duplicating them), so He went to Grian for it. Grian built an elaborate treasure hunt for the egg Zedaph wanted, and at one point, got Zedaph to blow up a wall in docs base (a wall that Zedaph didn't replace) in order to find the next clue.

Grian and Scar(Read: Poultryman and Hotguy) entered the perimeter, and created their own redstone contraption that spawned thousands of chickens into the perimeter (and also unintentionally moved the ender dragon because that area was chunk-loaded I think).

Doc got kinda angry, and Teleported the chickens into Grian's base, which let the chickens roam free anywhere they could. At some point, I think it was proxy honestly, Mumbo got involved. Doc, in his angry, created an insane dragon egg duplicator and dumped all of the eggs onto the three of their bases. (THIS MAY HAVE BEEN AFTER THE ENTIRE BUTTERCUP THING, I DO NOT REMEMBER)

Mumbo, Scar, and Grian team up, and call themselves the buttercups, because buttercups are poisonous to goats (albeit the fact that Doc is a butterfly now, not a goat). They build some camps on the edge of the Perimeter, and Grian writes "Live Laugh Love" on Docs walls. Doc HATES this, and Ren (I don't know when they teamed) builds a secret area underneath the Buttercups camp so that they could hear whatever the Buttercups were planning.

The buttercups plan to put another motivational quote on the perimeter, and Doc outs him and Ren, and the two sides decide, "You know what. Robots." and get their robots to fight for them. The buttercups buttercupbot explodes, and dies, but gets rid of the goat's ability to move.

Ren and Doc, have a backup plan though, and the two of them get on the butterflies that Doc built, and speed toward Grians and Scar's bases. Mumbo, Grian, and Scar stop them luckily, but it was kind of close. Doc and Ren lose for then, but Doc doesnt stand down.

Doc builds an intercom that plays his voice (and that also caused tango to leave because the range was scuffed for a bit) and he also got rid of the "Live Laugh Love" sign replacing it with "GOAT: Grind, optimize, automate, thrive."

He also puts a large target on the button half of it, with 4 target blocks in the middle.

Scar gets the wonderful idea of "Why don't we fly into the target blocks" and so he and Grian do. Neither of them thought that that would actually set off the target blocks, but it does (because apparently, players are projectiles) and the Redstone sets off a little animation that Doc made and blows up the buttercups base.

Doc left to go on vacation before this, but Grian and Scar made a new Base in the form of a Cherry bonsai in the flowerpot they made for the buttercupbot. Nothing has happened since that we know of.

(SOMEONE PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I MADE ANY MISTAKES, THIS MESSAGE HAD A LOWER THAN 100 CHARACTERS LEFT, OUT OF 4000 ON DISCORD)