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rainbow-scarab · 10 months

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Hallownest Symbols, the Ancient Civilization, and the Pale King

Sooo. Since I made my post on Hallownest symbols I've had some new insights.

The Hallownest symbol, with its lined oval and three sets of wings, predates the kingdom as it was under the Pale King and White Lady. It can be found on arcane eggs.

Lemm, on arcane eggs: This civilisation may claim itself the first, but something else did exist within this place before Hallownest. Each egg offers a narrow glimpse into that forgotten age.

It's not just the arcane eggs though. The symbol can also be found in the Abyss, on the lighthouse. Sorta.

You see, the lighthouse isn't just one structure--it's two. It's an older, crumbling structure....and then the new shiny construction that the Pale King added on top.

And looking at the older structure, the platforms themselves have the Hallownest symbol on it. Oval with wings.

Another detail I've noticed in the Abyss is that this structure isn't the only one. It can be seen in the background around the void sea:

Just, further cementing the thought that the old crumbling building beneath the shiny new top is not a construction under the Pale King, but instead something quite ancient. Just one of many buildings, a conveniently tall structure for the Pale King to repurpose into a lighthouse.

So what does this mean?

Various sources in the game point to the Pale King having portrayed himself as the creator of Hallownest. Lemm, in his quote above. And some more examples:

Lore tablet in King's Pass: Higher beings, these words are for you alone. Beyond this point you enter the land of King and Creator. Step across this threshold and obey our laws. Bear witness to the last and only civilisation, the eternal Kingdom. Hallownest

Hunter's Journal, on wingmoulds: The bugs of Hallownest believed that their King created this world and everything in it. For what purpose, I wonder? Were his subjects companions, or toys, or children? Such a mind seems unknowable.

The developer notes in the game also indicate that the Pale King wanted to get rid of other gods:

The moth tribe were (perhaps) descended from Radiance. However, the King convinced them somehow to seal Radiance away. I guess so he could rule Hallownest with his singular vision, as a monarch/god with no other gods.

The dev notes are not canon and it's clear that they were never intended to be seen by others. But I think there's something to be said at least for him attempting a "singular vision". Uniting Hallownest under one rule, portraying himself as creator, creating a certain order. Some more quotes:

Bardoon: For quiet retreat did I climb up here, away from spitting creatures. Ormmph... Yes. High up. Away from simple minds, lost to light. Theirs is a different kind of unity. Rejection of the Wyrm's attempt at order.

Mask Maker, reacting to Ghost having King's Brand: No bug has ever laid claim to this whole. Even the beasts knew their limits and bound their realm at Nest's edge. It is the ancient caste that made attempt at such vast rule. Hallownest's ruin reflects well those fared attempts.

I believe Mask Maker is referring to the Ancient Civilization having attempted to rule over all of Hallownest. There's a possibility they're referring to Hallownest under the Pale King, as "ancient" does not necessarily mean what fans call the Ancient Civilization (and indeed most instances of the word "ancient" refer to Hallownest under the Pale King). But "attempts" being in the plural, I think Mask Maker intends to draw a parallel here between the two civilizations.

Speaking of King's Brand...

I believe now this is the best symbol of the Pale King we have. His original symbol.

As I noted in my first post on Hallownest symbols, the Hallownest seal seems the most associated with the Pale King when it has the crown on it. And the few actual depictions of him, in statues, idols, and shrines, all have his crown, but lack wings. Save for the glowing silhouette of him in Ogrim's dream battle, there are no depictions of him with wings. He may lack wings entirely, or have some form of artificial wings.

In fact, I find it quite interesting how you can pick up monarch wings as an item.

They are described by the game as being made of "ethereal matter". The game manual calls them "wings of a monarchfly". It's possible that the Pale King had such wings as seen here, not part of his original body, but made somehow.

And, just to look at the symbols again...

If one were to superimpose the old Hallownest Seal from the time of the Ancient Civilization on top of the King's Brand, you'd get the current Hallownest Seal. Oval Bug body, wings, crown, and tail.

So, what I'm thinking, the impression that I'm getting....

The Pale King came to Hallownest. He saw all the evidence of the Ancient Civilization, which had already fallen. He took on bug form (which may have happened before or after he saw the symbol and other evidence of the ancient civ, but I have to wonder if witnessing Hallownest's history and symbols influenced even this decision to become small). He, for reasons beyond the purpose of this post, decided he wanted to rule Hallownest as king and "creator" (which again may or may not have been part of his decision to be reborn).

He established his kingdom. He took on aspects of preexisting Hallownest, essentially claiming the legacy of the Ancient Civilization as his own. He took on bug form, and gave himself wings, to match this old image, as if it was always about him.

He established his palace in the Ancient Basin. He had access to the Abyss, mostly closed off from the rest of the populace. He studied the void. But the bugs of the Ancient Civilization had a different attitude about void, as indicated by Lemm in the Hunter's Journal entry on the void idol:

Inspired or mad, those ancient bugs. They devoted their worship to no lord, or power, or strength, but to the very darkness itself.

The Pale King instead was worshipped as a god by his people. He instead treated the void as something to control. He studied it. He tested it. He created void constructs to guard his palace. He used it, to stake the future of his entire kingdom on.

I could go on and on about this. And I intend to. But this is as far as I will go in this post, meant to be an update to my last post on symbols. But, I already have a long post I put together months ago, didn't post, and just have to update with new thoughts. So hopefully, I'll be expanding on all the implications here for Hallownest history soon enough.

#hollow knight #hollow knight theory #hallownest #ancient civilization #pale king

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doomsdaybby · 5 months

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chapter one: pre-soak. laundromat!steve au x fem!reader mini series. you can find the blurb here 🫶🏻

content/warnings: strangers to lovers, barely any plot (no twists or turns, just watch two cuties fall in love), no use of y/n, fluff, mutual pining, steve is such a sweetheart, soft!steve 🥹, steve being a lovesick puppy, reader is just a little mean, jealous!steve at points, ronance bc I love them, eventual smut (not this chapter), she/her pronouns and physical female descriptions used for reader character throughout.

word count: 2.9k

I do not proofread my work, so please be forgiving of any mistakes.

Suds N’ Sparks Laundromat. Spring 1989.

Steve Harrington works round the clock shifts for exactly four dollars an hour to make ends meet. From sunrise to sunset, his life was surrounded by flickering yellow lights (if you looked closely enough you could see the moths that had scuttled too close to the hot bulbs), emptied pockets of spilled quarters on countertops and the rhythmic mind-numbing rumble of washing machines that soon became white noise.

Steve had already run through exactly eight job positions in the last four years. Don’t ask him how, he seems to never make it stick. The conclusion drew to him a while back that he was the world’s biggest fuck up, and that’s the way it was supposed to be.

It wasn't all bad, he worked alone, the regulars were nice enough and the paycheck was on the surprisingly sunny side compared to Scoops Ahoy, Family Video, camp counseling, that one busboy position that lasted five minutes, and the paperboy, and… you get the point.

It was working well enough for him right now, covering the rent and bills for his and Robin’s shared apartment, and of course gas money, whilst saving him a little extra on the side for whatever his heart desired, and that was all he could ask for. Besides, there weren't many openings left in Hawkins for him to fall back on, almost every business manager the town had on offer had mindlessly sifted through Steve Harrington’s glistening -eye roll- resume since the fall of 1985 at one point or another.

He had to somehow make this one last longer than 8 months, his new year's resolution, or else Steve would surely have to pack up his shit and leave.

Though for right now, the laundromat put an undetermined stop in the infinite revolving door that was his employment track record, and it felt like a small sigh of relief that the customers actually seemed to like him. A lot.

Mrs Fletcher, who insisted on Steve calling her by her first name Helen (he never did), brought in exactly two baskets of laundry at precisely 5pm every Friday evening. Not a minute early, not a second late. Mrs Fletcher was a single woman in her mid to late 50’s, give or take, and was not resistant to the irresistible Harrington charm, despite Steve never uttering a single flirtatious syllable in her direction.

He was woefully made aware that she was single because she made an intentional point to mention it every. single. week. Divorced, husband left her in a bunch of debt yada yada blah blah. Whatever. You would think that he was joking, a tad on the dramatic side maybe, but Helen managed to slip it in there at one point or another during each conversation.

She actually lived on Maple Street, only a couple houses down from the Wheeler’s. Steve remembers her kind waves and cheery ‘Hello’s’ to him and Nancy during their highschool sweetheart days. But since word most certainly got around in Hawkins, once Jonathon Byers took his place linked hand in hand with his past burning flame, it wasn't difficult to put two and two together that the pair had split. So once Steve appeared at the closest local laundromat, Helen Fletcher was positively thrilled.

Steve was in the thick of his routinely one-sided chat with his admirer, elbows resting spread east and west on the counter and arms stretched out in front of him in closed palms, eyes beginning to glaze over since having swapped her one dollar note for four quarters almost twenty minutes ago. Though the shrill ting of the doorbell thankfully pulled him from the jumping record that were his strained, yet still polite, ‘uh huh’-s and ‘oh really’-s.

Robin stumbled through the door, a pull-string hamper hanging heavy by the crook of her elbow, Nancy linked snugly in the other. They both cheesed wide at Steve’s unfortunate current predicament, seemingly unaware of the disapproving grumbles and wary eyes of the few balding middle-aged men slouched on the wooden chairs opposite the rowdy dryers, newspapers held up to their brows.

Though they continued with grace, still very much knitted as one strutting hip to hip and sharing an all too knowing glance, one that only read trouble and hours of persistent teasing that Steve was bitterly well acquainted with. Robin slings the hamper onto the counter that sat at the very back wall with a leaded thud, requesting smaller change in favor of a one dollar bill outstretched in her hand, much like her new shoulder buddy, who is now non-discretely grumbling behind her teeth.

Robin notices, and turns to flash the older woman a pearly ear-to-ear grin, blinking her eyes as if to say ‘need something?’. Helen glowered, lips curled up in clear aggravation. Nancy disguises a poorly hidden grin behind a wipe of her mouth, and Robin’s off-putting aura worked its well-oiled charm as Mrs Fletcher went about her business. Seven days of rest, and Steve felt like he could breathe again. At least she took the hint?

“We did laundry two days ago” Steve looks disappointed, jaw falling somewhat slack.

“You’re so right. But, uhm, we had a problem” Robin’s lips downturn with a shred of guilt, albeit short lived, her left eye creasing under the lower lash in a semi-squint.

“Problem? What problem?”

Nancy’s cheeks are sucked in, rows of teeth biting the inside to stifle her giggling, accentuating her structured features. Though Steve couldn’t put his finger on what was so funny.

“We tried to make dinner. Dinner involved red wine. We drank some of it, it was good, and then we kindaspilledsaidredwineverywhere” She finished in a hurry at the conclusion, speaking incoherently from the corner of her mouth.

Now the ceaseless snickering made sense. They were not drunk by any means, but a little too merry and conversing an octave too high for the closing curtain of Steve’s shift. Ten hours of staring at the same four plant-lined poorly painted carolina blue walls was enough to make anyone go stir crazy. Though in the warmer months the breeze was admittedly very refreshing with the door wedged open, so that was a perk.

Steve tips out a hand to take the bag from Robin with a sigh, a deepening crease in his brow and not enough confidence in his chest to watch the two flounder and fidget with the washing machines.

“You’re not angry?” Nancy taunts, almost expectant, with rounded eyes and fingers now laced with Robin’s as they turn to follow Steve to the large island of cheap wood and steel legs that stood point blank in the middle of the room, the swirling barrels of damp and drying laundry surrounding it.

“Ask me again tomorrow” he responds with an exhausted huff, a hint of a scoff. Steve empties out the soiled linens onto the countertop, surveying each garment to assess the damage.

“Jesus, did you guys rob the liquor store?”

Surely they had used more than one, maybe even more than two bottles of wine for whatever they decided promoted them to culinary artists for the evening. More snickering, though they both prodded and knocked one another at the hip. If Steve rolled his eyes any harder they would spin out of his head.

So Steve guided Robin and Nancy to the chairs opposite where he was shoving clothing one by one into the drum of the washing machine, eyeing them warily like toddlers in a playpen, wishing that they would quieten down before the disgruntled muttering of the elderly man at the other end of their row of chairs transitioned into uncensored hate speech.

Steve resorts to mumbling to himself about how they were going to eventually get him in big trouble having to defend them from their own big mouths, and the potential consequences of said unfiltered big mouths, one day or another. He reaches into the bottom of the hamper to pull out a mauve coloured table cloth, that was now three quarters a giant violet stain.

Steve is too tired for a Friday evening and he wished that the last forty-five minutes of his shift would wrap up as swiftly as it was for his two hysterical friends to fuck up a brand new table cloth. He grasps the material edge to edge in his fists, obscuring his view as he begins to walk forwards, ignoring the familiar ting-ing of the small bell above the janky door, as Robin and Nancy exchanged grimaces and mocking chastising in voices that were supposed to resemble Steve’s scoldings.

Though Steve doesn’t quite make it to the washer, instead crashing chest first into your towering and, for lack thereof a better word, foreboding laundry basket, thus by default, you. Your walkman clatters to the black and white tiled floor, Fleetwood Mac cassette striking loose to slide under an adjacent tumble-dryer with a grainy swish. The headphones dislodge from the plug-in, now hanging lopsided from your ears as your ass smacks to the ground, a dull painful shockwave radiating up your tailbone.

“Fuck!” a curse exclaimed in unison, and Steve is already hauling himself up off the floor, “Watch where you’re fuc-” a helping hand in front of your face before you can even finish your sentence, teeth clacking shut in silence at the unexpected assistance.

“Could say the same to you” Steve replied, back twinging as he lugs you up off the floor, “Sorry, it’s been a long day and-” he looks at you properly then, and absentmindedly squeezes your hand in kindness. You watch him expectantly, dusting off your flared jeans with your free hand, wincing something awful as you cup your lower back.

“Shit, shit” He starts quickly, eyes growing partly wide with urgence, forgetting that you were about to rip him a new asshole. “Are you okay?” his brows pinch to mirror yours, gaze flicking in a hurry from the pained expression on your face to the palm nursing right above your tailbone. It was genuine, his concern, you can hear it in his buttery tone.

“No,” you respond in a way that delivered meaner than you intended, before saying a little kinder, “That really fucking hurt”. You release a breath of a laugh, barely there but it could still be heard whilst Steve steadies you, hands still firmly clasped together. He’s warm, maybe too warm, skin soft and his hands are much larger than your own.

“Hey, didn’t you work at that ice cream place a couple years ago? At the mall? Obviously before it burned down and everything” You ask, eyes curious and voice blanketed in familiarity. Steve blinks at you, blindsided by how the now setting sun reflects in your gentle glassy stare, and you realize that you’re still holding hands.

“You flirted with me once, desperation must be your thing” you continued with a small chuckle when he didn't answer, a jab at yourself rather than him, the previous question more rhetorical and an obvious nose-dive attempt of a dialogue starter.

You release him lightly, and Steve becomes aware a little late when you eye him warily, brows pulling together in an uneasy crease, slightly taken aback by his silence. The patch of stillness was awkward, though it gave you a moment to survey him.

“He’s not much of a ladies man anymore” Robin chimes in with a jump from her seat, the saving grace to the now painfully uncomfortable atmosphere. Steve runs a hand down his face, partially catching his lower lids. Please, God, if you’re listening, just fucking kill me, he thought to himself.

You hum, and Steve’s cheeks dust the rosiest shade of pink when you give him a once over, though you’re leaning a little away from him now. His blue green long sleeved is bunched up to make a three quarter length, though his left has slipped down to his wrist now. Two shiny metal buttons are undone, a sliver of a white undershirt peeking through at the collar. There’s a faded spot of spilt laundry detergent splashed right where his heart sits.

Robin is never going to let him forget this moment for the rest of his life.

Steve was a very handsome guy, you couldn’t deny that. You even thought he was pretty cute the few times he served you raspberry ripple ice cream with sprinkles on top. The sailor outfit was a nice touch, though he clearly never got much action. You were lucky enough to audience some of his failed pick-up lines back then. Poor thing, his ego must have been so battered and bruised.

Your mouth curls at the corner fondly, “Uh, thankyou, by the way. For helping me up”.

“I should have watched where I was fucking going” Steve says, finishing off your earlier snipped jab, eyebrows hitting his hairline and dusting his hands off on his jeans. He dips his face away, but you can see the rippling of smile lines that adorn his cheeks.

“And yeah, yeah I worked at Scoops. You from around here?” Desperate to change the subject, the tips of his ears were flaring up. The regular A/C now didn’t feel like enough, he was hot with embarrassment. You're beginning to pick up the dropped laundry now with Nancy and Robin’s help, after setting your lonely headphones and busted walkman onto the counter. Steve also resumed his previous task.

“I’m from Roanoke, you know, just outside Fort Wayne?” Steve nods, still focused on the wine-stained linens. You continue, “My Dad lives out here, so I've been back and forth, more so the last couple years since I left high school”. Steve makes a mental note, no wonder he can’t quite place you.

“When’d you graduate?” he asks, and Robin winces though she doesn’t really know why. Steve glances up from Nancy’s soft blouse in his hands, running the fabric through his fingertips as he watches you.

“‘82” your nose wrinkles, quickly darting a pair of red underwear into the machine next to Steve. He pretends that he didn’t notice. You were older, even if it was just a couple years. Steve liked that.

“Why move out to Hawkins?” Nancy invades with interest, though you welcome the extra input with grace. It had been a while since anyone had shown this much interest in you. Your lips twist faintly in contemplation, not wanting to overshare whilst seeking their prolonged attention for as long as you could have it. Greedy, really. But it felt nice, normal.

“Change of pace. I like it here” you answer her question with honesty, which was accepted for what it was. Though none of them really understood why you would like Hawkins, almost everyone in the small town wanted to get out of there as fast as humanly possible.

Steve Harrington stayed later that shift, the extent of his fatigue and burning desire to collapse in bed numbed by this new infatuation. Maybe the reminder of having the weekend off was enough to ice the burn. You shared enough but too much considering the three before you were strangers, though not even an hour with them and you felt like you had known them for years.

You spoke mostly with Robin and Nancy, Steve chiming in here and there. His gaze was either trained on you or his fidgeting fingers the entire time it took for your laundry to wash and dry. The girls were giggling, and he managed to get a good look at how your under-eyes crinkle when you smiled, the inattentive purse of your lips when you just sat and listened, specks of mascara dusting underneath your lashes where you had been clumsy.

This might become a problem, he thought.

“See you around, sparky” You wave once your now pristine laundry was folded into the basket a whole ninety minutes after your crash to the floor, a natural charm laced in the flash of a closed mouth smile, a cordial wave to your new friendly acquaintances. Steve felt the air settle once you left, he blinked, his heart had skipped a couple beats. You’d forgotten your tape, your walkman, and your headphones.

Steve raises a hand from the counter, fingers twiddling kindly in your direction. The upturn of his mouth is completely unfeigned, and it makes his stomach twist and his legs feel unsteady.

Robin and Steve turn to look at eachother, hands on his hips and a couple beads of sweat stippling his hairline. She’s smiling, an evil thing with no malice behind it. Nancy's lower jaw is sitting loose, her lips parted, watching Steve as if the stars are aligning before her very eyes.

“Robs,” he deadpans, a warning. “Please. Don’t say anything” he feels the blood rushing to his cheeks, rubbing the back of his neck with clammy fingers.

Nancy and Robin crook their necks to peer at each other, Nancy’s bottom lip is firmly tucked into her top row of teeth, a grin spreading wide. Robin’s mouth is purely hanging open in amazement, and Steve braced himself for what was to come.

They both inhale and Steve screws his eyes closed with a steady inhale through the nose. Reels of kissing noises are thrown his way, the two women’s puckered lips and incessant snorting makes Steve want to crawl out of his skin. He can’t hear whatever raised-pitched fun they’re making of him, drowning it out as much as he is able whilst fishing the car keys from his pocket. Another perk of the job, considering the laundromat was twenty-four hours, he didn’t have to close.

“You guys are assholes” Steve remarks, but the glimmer of a smirk remains just the same.

thankyou for reading this if you made it to the end! 🫶🏻 pls reblog & comment if you like this! I haven’t written fully like this in a good while so i’m feeling pretty anxious. much love x

dividers by @inklore 🩷

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ellies-little-gun · 1 year

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When Ellie was designing her tattoo, she considered putting a butterfly in it. As a way to honor Sarah, the older sister she never got to meet but still loves. Wants a way to remember her, to keep her with her even though she's gone. She didn't, went with the moth instead. Told Joel it was symbolic of looking for the light, looking for the good, in every situation. Doesn't tell him about the butterfly at all. Definitely doesn't tell him that she didn't do the butterfly because she was scared of his reaction. Was unsure of whether he would want her honoring Sarah. After all, Ellie isn't family. Not my daughter and all that. She didn't think she could stand to hear him say it again. Because they haven't said what they are to each other and it's fine. What they have works and labels are fucking stupid anyway.

But one night, after a particularly horrible nightmare that she can't remember the details of when she wakes up, can only remember that she couldn't find Joel and she was alone in the inky darkness, she tells him. Wakes screaming and he comes to her, holds her close to his chest until she remembers who she is, where she is. He traces the leaves of her tattoo, on nights like this. She thinks it's a way for him to remind himself that she's here and alive and safe. That he couldn't save Sarah but he did save her.

And so she tells him, about the butterfly. About the memorial to a sister she never got to meet. A girl with a killer smile who was taken from the world too soon. About being scared Joel would be upset, because Sarah isn't anything to Ellie. Not really, but she still wants to honor her, wants to be one of the people that remember her. Joel gets all teary-eyed and she thinks she fucked up. Is just about to backtrack, to tell him she was kidding when he pulls her into his side, kisses her head.

Says I think that's a great idea, Kiddo.

And so they get matching tattoos. Monarch butterflies because they were Sarah's favorite. Joel gets his right over his heart. So he can hold Sarah close to his chest, like he did when she was a baby. Ellie gets hers on her left shoulder blade. Because she likes the idea of Sarah watching her back. Puts it on her left shoulder blade and not her right so she can keep Sarah near her heart too.

They go at different times to get them, because patrol rotations and whatnot. Ellie goes first, shows Joel the second he walks through the door. He gives it a nod and a looks real good Kiddo. When Joel gets home from getting his, she badgers him into showing her as soon as he walks in the door. She's shocked by what she sees when he moves his flannel out of the way. There's a monarch butterfly over his heart, Sarah written in loopy font underneath it. But there's a moth there too. The same moth Ellie has on her arm, Ellie's name written in blocky letters underneath it.

The shock must show on her face because Joel shrugs and says couldn't have one of my girls without the other, could I?

And Ellie will deny it to the day she dies, but she cries just a little, when she hugs him. Because she's one of his girls.

#this ignores part two because I say so #but have another headcanon guys #does this count as a headcanon? I have no idea #I'm designing my first tattoo and this popped into my head #tlou headcanons #tlou #hbo tlou #ellie williams #joel miller #Z talks #Z writes #my thoughts #my post #my headcanons

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offtorivendell · 3 months

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The Weaver's Song

Disclaimer: well I thought I had time to edit this properly and tidy it up, but joke's on me, apparently the entirety of HOFAS has leaked in Portuguese over night. That'll teach me (haha, never) to leave something in my drafts for months. So this may or may not be correct, and YOU might know that, but I'm not going to read the whole thing until I have the original version.

If someone has already posted this theory, I'm sorry!

Spoilers: this contains information from ACOTAR, TOG and CC series books 1 and 2. Please do not discuss spoilers in the comments until after HOFAS has officially been published, or in the reblogs without warning (and ideally a read more option)!

This may be fanciful, but I think I may know what The Weaver was singing about in ACOMAF... it was a metaphor for Prythian history and Void travel.

“There were two sisters, they went playing, To see their father’s ships come sailing … And when they came unto the sea-brim The elder did push the younger in.”

Theia's two daughters, as @silverlinedeyes has posted before, she thinks the second daughter brought Truth-Teller back to Prythian through a rift - though was there a third, unknown sibling, as @wingedblooms and I have theorised?

Playing - playing music? Music as the universal magic/language? Urd’s music?

Whether or not they're also Fionn's daughters, if literal, the ships could be people travelling through the Void/Rift to Midgard… the Feyre, the Nesta, the Elain come to mind, except maybe the Selene, the Eos and the Helios?

The Haldren Sea sounds like it could have a rift/portal in it (similar imagery to the Court of Nightmares/Hewn City). Port/portal?

Did Helena push her younger sister into the rift, to make her return through the Void and save Prythian from the Asteri, per @silverlinedeyes?

If this was then case then Helena knowingly sacrificed herself.

“Sometimes she sank, and sometimes she swam, ’Til her corpse came to the miller’s dam.”

Did she travel through multiple worlds until she reached Prythian, similar to Aelin as the red star? Or was this after returning to Prythian and living her life she then travelled again across the murky realm?

Miller's dam - dam could be their mother? The Mother? Silba?

A dam is also a body of water. The Cauldron?

Miller is one of the oldest human professions - milling grains for bread.

Miller is also a type of moth - moth wings at the HOW library, with their Cauldron/bowl-type statues at the entrance?

What if the Void/Cauldron is the Miller, and Chaos/Cauldron's water is the Dam?

“But what did he do with her breastbone? He made him a viol to play on. What’d he do with her fingers so small? He made pegs to his viol withall.”

What if the Void/Cauldron is the earth, Chaos/Cauldron's water is the dam, and the Miller is the hypothetical third sibling?

How do the underground waterways and/or the pool of Starlight in the Spring Court fit in?

The viol is an instrument; is the language of the universe a song? This would support my idea that Singing is a language of the gods, and Sight/messages from the gods could be a form of Singing.

Breastbone, spells and bonds are threads, viol strings? Pegs tighten/tune the strings. Witchy and sorcery spell vibes, but also hello PUPPET VIBES. Who is/will the Cauldron using as a puppet?

“And what did he do with her nose-ridge? Unto his viol he made a bridge. What did he do with her veins so blue? He made strings to his viol thereto.”

Nose - smells, Azriel can smell the Elucien bond… because it's discordant (theory on the way)? Amren could smell Feysand’s bond, how?

Bridge - I saw the painting in my mind: the lovely fawn, blooming spring vibrant behind her. Standing before Death, shadows and terrors lurking over his shoulder. Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two. The only bridge of connection … that knife. Paint that when we get home. - ACOWAR, chapter 69. Truth-Teller connecting with the Starsword.

"A violin bridge is a maple piece that sits atop the violin and lifts the strings above the fingerboard in a way that allows you to play both single notes and double stops. It transmits the string vibrations to the soundbox (body of the violin)." It's a conduit. Could Carranam be relevant here?

Blue - Azriel's siphons, the veins in Elain's eyes in the tent scene when she Looked for the Suriel. Can she see the threads?

Viols have six strings - three brothers and three sisters?

“What did he do with her eyes so bright? On his viol he set at first light. What did he do with her tongue so rough? ’Twas the new till and it spoke enough.”

Eyes bright - like Elain's when she's in pain? Pain is a link to the divine, do her eyes go bright when she's using her magic?

Eyes at first light - Sight/Singing at dawn? Eos?

First light - firstlight?

To set at something, to go after it… with an instrument playing him through the Void? Someone is after the firstlight and will go after it. The Asteri and Bryce. Mystics? Elain?

Till - as in the soil/gardening? More likely a boat's till/tiller; did Theia's second daughter’s tongue become the rudder that allowed “the Miller” to steer his way through the water/Void/space between… Lightsingers? Mystics? And there were three ships named after Feyre, Nesta and Elain Archeron.

Mor speaks the truth, Elain speaks what she Sees.

“Then bespake the treble string, ‘O yonder is my father the king.’”

“Then bespake the second string, ‘O yonder sits my mother the queen.’”

“Then bespake the strings all three, ‘Yonder is my sister that drowned me.’”

The father/king and mother/queen have been separated, and are in different locations.

Different worlds?

Fionn/the father/king is in Prythian.

Theia/the mother/queen "sits" somewhere else… a hell/Hel realm? Sits on a throne?

The sister/Helena is in Midgard.

I really think that the Weaver was singing to nobody/Feyre about Prythian's ancient history, along with the crossover - and potential instructions on how to navigate the Void - all the way back in ACOMAF! When she just happened to be collecting a six pointed star sapphire ring (six strings?) for Rhys?

Will each sister become a magical, Singing tiller for the bat boys' wings (as rudders), guiding them through the Void? It gives a whole new depth of meaning to Papa Archeron's fleet going down in a storm!

This also fits for Vassien, with Lucien being the magical tiller and Vassa as the firebird. And even possibly More and Emerie, if her wings get healed, or she gets her own Pegasus! Could it parallel the way they had to fly through holes in the Wall back in the OT, before Hybern destroyed it with the Cauldron (which just happens to contain Void)?

Will they be the light in the dark?

SJM you wicked bloody genius, this cannot be a coincidence. 🙏🏻

PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO SPOIL HOFAS FOR OTHERS WITH DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE LEAKS!

#hosab spoilers #crescent city spoilers #maasverse #acotar cc tog crossover theory #hosab #crescent city theory #elain archeron #feyre archeron #nesta archeron #acotar #the weaver #the weaver's song #maasverse theory #pre hofas #acomaf

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joequiinn · 22 days

Text

Cirice | E.M. x Death!OC blurb

Eddie wakes up in the Upside Down, undead and trapped. A Reaper of Death begins to take a particular interest in the undead man who doesn’t belong...

[ for context: ramblings pt one | ramblings pt two ]

I make absolutely no promises that this will go anywhere because I am the slowest and most forgetful writer on the planet, but I thought maybe I would just post a lil blurb experimentally? Get some thoughts since I'm not very good at editing my own work? Also uuuh Death is an OC now instead of a reader insert because it became too complicated to write once I realized the scope of my ideas soooo... (@ali-r3n in case you were interested 👀)

Word Count: 1.2k

Can't you see that you're lost? Can't you see that you're lost without me?

Waking from the dead in the Upside Down was not on Eddie’s 1986 bingo card. Hell, if someone had suggested the concept of the Upside Down to him only a week ago, he would have looked at them like they were crazy. Places like this weren’t real. Shit like this didn’t happen. Especially not to Eddie Munson.

But this was very fucking real, and it did happen to Eddie Munson.

Eddie willingly ran into danger, into the arms of death for the sake of Hawkins, a town that never gave him anything, a town that came to hate his guts. This sacrifice was Eddie’s final act to save his friends, to save Hawkins. To save the damn world.

So, why the hell was he… alive?

Was he alive? Despite the obvious smattering of bites and lacerations that adorned his body, Eddie felt no pain, no lingering aches. It sure felt like his chest was rising and falling with breath, like he still had blood pumping through his veins. And yet… something felt very, very wrong. An unsettled air hung around Eddie, his mind wrapped up in an unidentifiable sense of dread. Something wasn’t right.

The Upside Down hadn’t been quite so frightening when he had friends by his side. But now, it felt colder, harsher, cavernous and empty. Every direction Eddie looked seemed like an endless dark, hissing and whispering with the promise of something evil. The Upside Down felt less like a sad replica of Hawkins and felt more like a dark, endless void.

Vulnerability washed over Eddie like a chill. As he took in his ominous surroundings, he felt like a small, lost boy, a child abandoned in a sick and dangerous world, helpless to find his way.

From where he was, presumably, left to rot by the demobats, Eddie carefully looked all around himself, afraid that he might see something terrible. Or worse, something terrible might see him. The Upside Down was void of any activity, any commotion, any life. It was haunting to see it oh so quiet.

Eddie looked down at himself, at his ripped up and tattered clothes. He could see his skin beneath the fabric absolutely littered with deep cuts, damaged and sure to scar terribly. He wondered how bad his face looked in comparison. Again, it struck Eddie as odd and deeply unsettling that he felt no pain. As he studied his hands, he realized just how ashen and washed out he looked - nearly the same color as the dead bodies he’d seen in shitty horror movies. An uncomfortable pang hit in his chest at that realization.

But he was breathing, he was still alive. He had to be, considering that he was consciously sitting here at this very moment. He had to be, right?

And yet, something within Eddie knew that he was no longer what he used to be.

-.-. .. .-. .. -.-. . -.-. .. .-. .. -.-. . -.-. .. .-. .. -.-. . -.-. .. .-. .. -.-. .

This place should not have existed. This pocket between worlds - this disruption to the cycle of life and death - went against all logic, even the flimsy logic of the afterlife. This tattered, disgusting, offensive mockery of the living world was strange and unbelievable - all creatures of the dead despised this place, were appalled by it.

But despite all that, Death was drawn like a moth to a flame.

This false world and its impossible wonders called to her as if in yearning; its sadness and misery spoke to her cravings. If she had a soul, it would feel a longing for this pathetic world.

Time passed differently for psychopomps. As beings beyond life and death, time was never relevant to their eternal existence. Psychopomps led the fallen to the afterlife, they hunted the living, they killed purely for the fun of it - what place did the passage of time have in any of that?

There were many Deaths of the same name, the same title. Perhaps they followed different paths, perhaps they had varying focuses, but the constant still remained - they were all Death. Of course, one might encounter variation - some referred to themselves as Reapers, others as Banshees, maybe Bone-Men, or even the Devil. But many had always been simply Death.

The particular psychopomp drawn to the world between worlds never referred to herself as anything other than Death. She never thought much on her existence, how she came into being, what her purpose was. She didn’t remember anything prior to this existence. She didn’t know if there was anything to remember. There were all sorts of legends scattered about the underworld and the afterlife, tales told by demons and reapers alike - there was a widely held, but not so far proven, belief that they were all something before becoming Death, but no one knew what exactly that something was.

Once this Lady of Death began exploring the impossible pocket between worlds, she found herself pondering her existence a little more often. Considering that this strange place shouldn’t have existed in the first place, it made her wonder what other paradoxical things could happen, what other unfeasible things could be true. Death wasn’t the only one drawn to this place, of course, as a variety of other harbingers of death also began to visit this uncanny mimicry of the living world. However, she did find it to be a remarkably good place to think, something that she didn’t exactly get many opportunities for - no, as a reaper, there was little time to pause and be left alone with one's own thoughts.

Death found herself often visiting this Undead World, as she took to calling it, taking the opportunities to contemplate the cycles of life and death, of infinite life and infinite death. And once she began to visit the Undead World, Death found it to be utterly fascinating.

First came the boy. A tormented child, trapped in the throes of unknown dangers, suffering day and night at the hands of demons beyond his greatest nightmares. Unfortunately, he got out.

Next came the girl, not quite a woman, undergoing absolute agony upon her arrival to the Undead World. Death hadn’t seen her in quite some time, so who’s to say whether she lived or died.

Perhaps that was why Death kept returning - between its many stretches of quiet, the Undead World would momentarily come back to life with utter chaos and woe before quieting down yet again.

Those moments of chaos, however, were mouthwatering.

Recently, the latest bit of excitement to come to the Undead World was absolutely fascinating - a whole party of mortals entered the world willingly, found their way into this place that had no right to exist. When that happened, it was almost as if the Undead World sent out a signal, calling out to Death to announce the latest arrivals. She wasn’t the only demonic creature to pay the world a visit, desperate to see the torment that would unfold.

And yes, it was glorious, the violence, the mortal foolishness and determination. Of course, curiosity came when it appeared that the mortals defeated the creatures that dwelled in the Undead World.

What did mortals want with a forsaken world like this? Why come willingly, why fight the native creatures of this disgusting place? The lives of mortals were an amusement to behold; humans were full of surprises, and Death relished in it.

She shouldn’t have cared why the humans came, shouldn’t have even paused to consider the circumstances. But the curiosity was overwhelming, her need to know almost consuming, so vastly out of character for her.

And then, she found her potential answer in a body left behind, a body that appeared dead, but wasn’t quite so...

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x oc #stranger things #eddie x death #will this fic go anywhere or will i simply abandon it :)#em

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genshingorlsrevengeance · 7 months

Note

The Raifu’s of team Defy

Reacting to there S/O heroically sacrificing themselves for the sake of completing the mission

(GFL) AK-12, AN-94, AK-15, and RPK-16 react to their S/O sacrificing themselves

Thanks to rewatching the OG Mobile Suit Gundam there's a song stuck in my head as I write this.YES MY SWEET, YES MY SWEETEEEST, I WANNA GET BACK WHERE YOU WEEEEREEEE

12 remained still as she detected the life signs from S/O had stopped transmitting to her.

Her glowing pink eyes did not falter, her mask obscuring her mouth. On the outside, it looked like she didn't even react.

She turned to the rest of Task Force DEFY and simply gave a single order.

(AK-12) "S/O bought us time. We're leaving."

The moment the squad escapes the area, she takes off her mask as she closes her eyes.

Her emotional modules turn on once again, but her mouth remains completely neutral, her usual lackadaisy smile completely absent.

She says nothing the entire trip back to base. When she reports to the commander, she simply says:

(AK-12) "I hope the mission info S/O retrieved was worth it, Commander."

Not even bothering to salute, she leaves for DEFY's dorm.

If asked about S/O, 12 simply says they got unlucky in a monotone voice. However, she is usually seen visiting the memorial hall where S/O's name is written alone, her eyes opened.

94 closes her eyes when she could no longer detect S/O's life signature.

She believes it was her fault not being able to save them, seeing as she was the inferior model.

After the mission was reported a success, she looked even colder than usual, simply staring at the floor of the Black Hawk, saying absolutely nothing, even to AK-12.

When she is alone, she does not cry, but she quietly stares at S/O's quarters, her hand on the door.

(AN-94) "...If only I could have been designed better..."

She says absolutely nothing about S/O after their funeral. If anyone attempts to speak to her about them, she will excuse herself or not respond at all.

She seldom shows any interest in anything anymore, her only priority to follow the orders of AK-12 and ensure Task Force DEFY's success.

Just as her S/O would have done.

15 exhales through her nose and blankly states:

(AK-15) "...Zero readings from S/O. They're gone."

She never had a gentle expression, but somehow it grows impossibly colder and more rigid.

(AK-15) "Idiot..."

With no further comment, she departs with DEFY and enters sleep mode the moment they return.

She did not even attend their funeral, stating that it was a waste of time.

15 had not shown that much emotion until meeting S/O, where she was at least a little interested in learning more about humans and the world itself.

Now, she had zero reason in doing so. All of it was a waste of time after all, with human lives being so fragile.

But if one were to look near her bed, she still keeps the picture of her and S/O together close by.

16's expression became somber the moment she saw S/O's vitals flatline.

(RPK-16) "...Like a moth to a flame after all. Pity."

When 16 returns to base, she looks at the arctic skies, silently contemplating to herself.

(RPK-16) "Humans are interesting creatures, aren't they? They simply think everything will be fine once they give up everything for the good of the others. Yet they don't seem to think about what happens to said others."

She doesn't change all that much after S/O's death. After all, human lives were so much more fragile than a T-Doll's.

Yet it in a way, it was tragically beautiful. They have such a short life, and try to do everything they can in that timeframe.

That fact only convinces her that she should try to speak to every human she can.

But she will never forget the one human that captured her heart the most.

And just like a human would, she would continue to live and remember those that have fallen.

#girls' frontline imagines #girls' frontline x reader #girls' frontline headcanons #ak 12 x reader #an 94 x reader #ak 15 x reader #rpk 16 x reader #ak 12 gfl #an 94 gfl #ak 15 gfl #rpk 16 gfl

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illumiera · 5 months

Text

today, I'm possessed with the Sudden Urge to ramble about my Miraak's Dibella worship.

I think the Moth would have been an important deity to the Atmorans—Queen of Heaven, goddess of beauty, art, music, pleasure, romantic love, and in my headcanon, language, prophecy to some extent, rebirth, and all that is lovely in creation. to them, and to many modern worshippers in Tamriel, she is the one who painted the sunsets, the one who made the afterlives beautiful, restful places, and the one who brings the land to life in spring.

imagine you're a young boy named Mimir, and wherever you go, you're surrounded by song. you were born in spring, when the land begins to thaw—Dibella's time, when the leanness of winter begins to ease. imagine you face death one day, falling into a frozen river, and you vaguely remember being saved by someone so lovely, it could only have been Dibella herself, or so you think. you wake up warm and dry at the outskirts of your village, and you live another day.

imagine you're a young man without a name. well, the cult stripped 'Mimir' away from you and address you only as yuvonhadrozaal sen (golden-braided one) or dovaar (dragonkind-servant or dragonkind-slave), and it'll be a few years yet before you're given a mask and named Miraak. you wear a veil that covers your face, and to show anybody that face would be to sentence the two of you to death.

so what do you do? not far from Bromjunaar, there's a hidden grove where Dibella's worshippers go to play and sing and pray and dance. you steal a lute, sneak out of the temple, and for a few hours by moonlight, you get to hear the sound of your own voice singing of things that aren't the might of the dragons. your fingers are quick to remember the songs your mother once taught you on her own lute. when dawn is close, you bury your stolen lute and sneak back, knowing that for a few brief hours, you were free.

when you're named Miraak, there's no time for singing. you belong to the dragons now, whole and entire, and can worship no other—but you're a rebel at heart, so you continue to braid your hair and have the belt of your robes fashioned into the shape of a moth.

a woman with the wings of a dragon saves you from death and visits you in your dreams. she looks a lot like the statue you've carved of Dibella, the one you keep in the breast pocket of your robes at all times, but the woman you call Kundruniik, light-bringer, is an ardent follower of Mara, the Wolf-Mother. nonetheless, in your dreams, the two of you sit beneath the heavens hung with a thousand stars, in a meadow that looks to be in eternal spring, and you wonder if your goddess had a hand in any of it.

four thousand years later, it's another spring. you die, because Hermaeus Mora wouldn't have allowed your story to end any other way—but the Last Dragonborn, Kundruniik, your light-bringer, Elentari, has different plans. it's spring, and you return to life just as Dibella is returning Nirn to life. the heavens you get to stand beneath are the realest thing you've seen in four ages of the world.

in short, I think Dibella means a lot to Miraak. more than Kyne, even. no wonder I call him Mothraak...

#miraak #dibella #miraak x ldb #skyrim #i fear no fate (for you are my fate)#lollygagging with lumi #you can tell my concept of dibella is inspired by persephone #all of this is to say that i think miraak would LOVE a moth cloak.

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elemit · 3 months

Text

A Gift, A Curse

A story in which we discover just how damned an ascended vampire can be, and just how far you will go to save the spawn you loved.

Read in full on AO3

dead dove/not beta read

fic warnings: Abuse, Angst, Biting, Blood and Gore, Blood Drinking, Bondage, Dom/sub, Dubious Consent, Food Restriction, Hate Sex, Horror, Mental Coercion, Mind Control, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rough Sex, Sexual Coercion, Torture, Total Power Exchange, Trauma, Vampire Bites

Chapter 25: Shadows

You have become a shadow in your own home.

You exist. For now, that has to be enough. You know that the days are slipping by from the passing glow and fade of sun around the edges of the heavy red curtains on the windows. When wine doesn’t offer enough escape, you find yourself turning to the endless shelves of books in the house. You used to be the type who favoured blades over books, but now the pages that you lose yourself in are worth more to you than any weapon. They are a shield against the darkness that surrounds you, and gods know you could use the protection.

You still hate being alone. Astarion is gone more days than he is here. You can’t help but wonder how much the incident with the Fist has disrupted his plans for the council. If he’s worried, he never shows it. And if the stacks of correspondences that arrive for him daily are anything to go by, there are still plenty of people out there who want to remain in his good books.

Even when Astarion is around, he sometimes tires of your constant company, commanding you to wait in mindless silence in your bedchamber until he wishes to see you again. To avoid this fate, you begin to follow him less, although it pains you to do so.

You know you should stay away from the west wing, that den of Flaming Fist and New Watch, lest the sunlight burns you, or some other Fist discovers your secret, but you find yourself drawn to it like a moth to a flame. The bustling noises, and the energetic buzz of people hard at work, are proof of a world that is still thriving beyond the stone walls of your living tomb.

So you have taken to venturing into this hive of activity, keeping to the places that the sun cannot reach even with the curtains thrown back and the windows flung open. You haunt the alcoves and the inner corridors, stepping lightly from one shaded spot to the next. You only go directly after you have drunk, so you need not fear your hunger getting the better of you. When you find a place in the half-gloom, obscured from the view of the flurry of living beings around you, you sit, read, and absorb the tumult with a feeling close to joy.

You never try to speak to anyone. You do not crave communication. Besides, it would be useless, tongue-bound as you are. You only wish to know that you are not entirely alone.

You are sat like this, in a dark alcove, reading, lost in an imaginary world, when a voice interrupts you.

“A good one, is it?”

The voice is so painfully cheerful it makes you wince. You look up into the youthful face of a human man - a boy, really - wearing the uniform of a Flaming Fist. He grins at you.

“The book, I mean. It’s a good one?”

You stare at him, frozen. When was the last time someone spoke to you with good will? Someone new? Someone free?

“Never been much one for reading, me,” he continues. “My sister loves it, though. Reckon she’s read more books in t’ past year than most read in a lifetime.”

He seems to have finally noticed your utter lack of response. His grin stays in place, but his brow furrows slightly as if he’s just remembered himself.

“I’m Lucas, by the way. What’s your name?”

You purse your lips in something that isn’t quite a smile and give a small shrug.

“Cat got your tongue, eh? Ah, well. Worse parts of you to lose. I should know.” He reaches down, beaming, and knocks on his left shin, which emits a hollow clunk. You raise your eyebrows at his enthusiasm. He seems to take it as encouragement.

“Great, ent it? I told everyone at the Mermaid that I lost it in t’ Battle of Baldur’s Gate and now I get free drinks all the time.” Then he continues in a lower voice, “Don’t tell anyone, but I actually lost it on the journey here. Horse bloody fell on me. Total nightmare. Still, got to look on the bright side, don’t you?”

You blink incredulously. Somehow, he is still talking.

“Anyway, best get back, supposed to be on duty. Get lost in this bloody house all the damn time. Good to meet you, o’ silent lady of the books.”

He crumples into an inelegant bow, then lopes off down the corridor. You are left entirely too bewildered to get back into your book.

#astarion smut #astarion x reader #bg3 fanfiction #astarion x you #astarion x tav #bg3 astarion #astarion #bg3 spoilers #astarion romance #a gift a curse #astarion fanfic #baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate iii #baldurs gate astarion #long fic

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reds-skull · 4 months

Text

Not Alive, Nor Dead

[PREV PART] [AO3]

This is (probably) the shortest chapter I've ever posted. Just didn't feel right to start another day.

Also my brain is actually melting from uni work please save me

Someone is screaming his name. A voice, loud and muted, clear and rough.

Ghost groans. Colors burst behind his eyelids.

“SIMON RILEY”

He opens his eyes. The world is a mess of fog and stardust. Ladder-like patterns swirl around him.

“Reaper…” he whispers.

“GET UP”

Ghost tries to take control over his shaking limbs. Pain flashes like lightning down his arms, as he slowly pushes himself off the ground.

He looks up at his Reaper, frowning. The realm… it’s… different.

Little moths inhabit the Reaper’s domain, flying around the patterns it creates, landing on its shoulders.

“What happened?” Ghost’s voice quivers.

His Reaper lowers its head to watch him closely, “I WARNED YOU OF THIS. YOU REFUSED TO LISTEN. BARE WITNESS TO THE RAMIFICATIONS OF YOUR ACTIONS.”

Moths startle as his Reaper gestures around them.

“YOU LET THE REVENANT OF DESTRUCTION JOIN YOUR VOID, SIMON RILEY.”

Ghost’s head is thumping a rapid rhythm, and he struggles to comprehend, “what does that mean?”

The Reaper’s eyes glow red, the air around him chills.

“IT MEANS HE HAS REIGN OVER YOUR LIMBO. HE, AND ONLY HE, IS ABLE TO SLAUGHTER YOU THERE.”

The moths swarm around the raging being, their fire casting terrifying shadows over bioluminescent skin.

“FEAR NOT, SIMON RILEY. YOU HAVE STOLEN SOMETHING FROM THE REAPER OF DESTRUCTION AS WELL.”

The world around them starts collapsing, Ghost hypnotized by the Reaper’s eyes, 6 red dwarves exploding in the never-ending universe.

“YOU STOLE LIGHT.

A SWORD AND A SHIELD.

I WILL KEEP YOU ALIVE

FOR NOW

DO NOT FAIL ME, REVENANT.”

Someone is calling his name. A voice, warm and soft, desperate and calming.

“-Simon!”

He hums. Something is feeling his shoulders, neck, lips… the touch is warm, it pulls him back to sleep.

“-Please, please… wake up…”

It sounds so achingly like home. Flames ignite in his chest, and Simon smiles, “Johnny…”

“-Oh Reapers above, thank god!-”

Simon drifts away again, following a lilting voice to a dreamless sleep.

Ghost feels weightless. Almost like he’s still sleeping.

“How far until the safe house?”

Someone sighs, “3 clicks.”

There’s a hand on his left arm, he notes.

“Bloody hell… we’re too exposed with 2 fuckin’ corpses floating around us.”

“Don’t call them that, hermano… what if they’re really-”

“They’re not dead.” the other person grounds, “Soap wouldn’t be able to drag himself that far otherwise-”

Soap. Johnny. JOHNNY.

Ghost snaps his eyes open, taking the (moving?) night sky for half a second, before snarling and thrashing around.

“Bloody-!” The hand on him retreats, and Ghost drops to the ground with a gasp.

The pain that shoots through his entire body momentarily blinds him. “Fuckin’ hell…” he mutters through clenched teeth.

“Ghost?! Shit, are you okay?” his eyes finally focus on the figures in front of him.

Gaz is crouching, one hand hesitantly reaching for him, the other on a prone person, floating midair just like Ghost was up until a few seconds ago.

Rudy pops up behind him, relief obvious on his features, “are you injured, Fantasma?”

“Where’s-” Ghost hissed as he lifts from the ground, Rudy rushing to support his back, “where’s Johnny?”

Gaz steps to the side, bringing the floating man closer.

“He… hasn’t woken up since we found him.” Garrick gently moves Soap down to the dirt, “only injury I could find on him is this…”

Gaz lifts Soap’s left arm, streaks of black covering his entire forearm, as if someone clawed at it.

Ghost lowers his head, breathing heavily. Limbo, Johnny, his victims scrambling to take his fire-

“YOU STOLE LIGHT.”

“It’s my fault.” Ghost covers his eyes with a trembling hand, “I sent him to Limbo… he was too far to reach… I-” his breaths come out quicker and quicker, “he’s not gonna-”

“He will be alright, Ghost.” Gaz firmly says, “when we found you, you were together. Soap got all the way from the compound to you before passing out.” he sounds so sure, Ghost can’t tell if he’s trying to convince himself as well.

Ghost removes his hand to look at Garrick, who offers him a hand, “c’mon. Rudy knows a safe house not too far from here, maybe the others made it out as well.”

He takes the hand, lifting easily off the dry earth. Rudy supports him when Ghost almost falls back down, his touch cool compared to Las Almas’ air.

Ghost bares his teeth, muttering, “what happened?”

“After you and Soap destroyed the entire compound?” Rudy takes some of his weight as they start walking, “Graves and his Shadows appeared behind us. They tried to capture us.”

“Rounding us up like fuckin’ cattle” Gaz growls.

Ghost groans as his leg gives out, Garrick instantly reaching to help him up, “how did you escape?”

Guilt paints Gaz’s face, “Price ordered me to get you two. I tried to take him with me, but… he refused.” Gaz tilts his head down, hiding his eyes under his baseball cap, “I found Alejandro and Rudy on the way. I was too late.”

Rudy clicks his tongue, “you did what you could, hermano. Ale was pushing me away. Pandejo always tries to save me first…”

A heavy weight in his chest pulls at his insides. “Any… casualties?”

The two men supporting him are silent for a few seconds, “we don’t know.”

They remain quiet as they continue to make their way to Alejandro’s safe house. Ghost’s mind is a cacophony of screams, each thought competing for attention.

Could Graves really kill several dozen of trained revenant operators? How could Ghost not see it, why didn’t he follow his gut for once, and cut off the snake’s head before it could bite?

A voice shouts louder than the rest, mourning his teammates, his friends. Johnny.

He grits his teeth and pushes on.

Ghost has almost forgotten true despair. How lucky he is, life has a way to always remind him.

The safe house’s windows are dark when their little group reaches it. Gaz and Ghost look at Rudy, whose face sours the closer they get to the small building.

Ghost can’t see any tire tracks, footprints, anything to suggest any human has been present in the last couple of days.

“Ale set up some pressure plates at the front doors”, Rudy murmurs, voice lifeless as their surroundings, “I’ll… go take care of that.”

The Vaquero walks ahead, steps more assured than his spirit. Ghost takes the moment to glance at Johnny. He hasn’t moved an inch since Ghost woke up. According to Gaz, he found them over 3 hours ago.

Ghost shoves away the thoughts, that yell that he will never wake up. That it’s all his fault.

The latter are not wrong. He just can’t think about that right now, not without losing what little composure he gained.

Gaz tries to give him a reassuring smile, and Ghost sharply nods in return. He doesn’t know what he would’ve done if they didn’t find them, if Ghost woke up and all he had was an unconscious Johnny by his side, baring the mark of his violence.

Rudy waves at them, signaling the way in is safe. Ghost collects his thoughts and drowns them under the physical pain of walking. At least it makes for a great distraction.

“Nobody was here, Rudy.”

Gaz left Johnny on a moth-eaten couch, now standing in the eerily quiet hallway, watching Rudy rush from room to room, attempting to find any signs of life.

Ghost let himself down next to his Sergeant, when his legs started shaking so much he couldn’t stand anymore. Pain still pulses down his limbs with every heartbeat, and Ghost tries to focus on that instead of Johnny��s weak exhales.

Rudy eventually stops, returning to the room they’re all in, eyes tired beyond his years, breath fogging the air more than usual. He looks like he’s barely hanging on at this point. Ghost is sure they all do.

Ghost takes stock of their situation - all Los Vaqueros missing, the Captain, Commander Karim and Keller, status unknown. Location, unknown. Laswell, possibly collaborating on the betrayal. Shepherd, highly likely, not confirmed.

Graves, turned hostile.

Gaz is tired, he’s been using his powers for hours now. Even if it’s a small task, arms start hurting after you just hold a glass of water after several hours.

Rodolfo… he’s not in any state to fight, exhausted and shaken from the whole affair.

Johnny’s broken. To what extent, only time will tell.

“We can’t make any moves at our current state”, Ghost tries to sound as commanding as he usually does, “we need to rest and recharge. Take turns on lookout, in case anyone tailed us, hostile or not.”

Garrick nods, returning a “yes sir”, but Rudy stares at him for a few moments, conflicted. Eventually he sighs, looking away and heading towards what seems like a storage room.

He comes back out with a pile of blankets and pillows, calling Gaz over to take a pair, and giving Ghost two.

“For Jabón.” he explains as he walks to one of the windows, dragging a chair behind him, “I’ll take first watch. Rest easy, hermanos.”

Ghost feels the blankets for a moment, finding the softer one and wrapping it around Johnny’s still form, with gentleness that is outside his nature. He lifts Soap’s head to slide a pillow underneath, and pauses.

Johnny’s face is lax, unmoving and emotionless, in a way that is so unnatural, Ghost keeps waiting for the moment he opens his eyes, announcing the whole thing as the world’s worst prank.

He takes Johnny’s left arm in his, examining what Limbo left for him as a memory. Fingerprints wrap around his skin, cool to the touch when Ghost brushes over it.

Ghost then remembers Graves’ daft monologue, when shock and rage prevented him from truly processing what he heard.

“I’ve always wondered just how strong Soap is… after the carnage he left in Verdansk”

He caresses charred hands, their flame extinguished. Like water trickling down his spine, the pieces that make up Soap’s Reaping fall together.

There was never an explosion in a factory, was there, he wants to ask Johnny.

Soap killed Konchar, he got his revenge. The cost, the citizens of Verdansk.

Johnny is more destructive than any of them could imagine. Ghost looks back at every time he watched his Sergeant using his powers, how hesitant he was of them, almost scared.

He wasn’t afraid to be too weak. He feared he was too strong, terrified of hurting, of hands made for senseless violence.

Hands akin to his own.

Ghost doesn’t sleep. His heart does not calm, his mind doesn’t quiet down. He watches the sun rise, grey skies casting soft light over the barren rooms of the safe house, Rudy long fallen asleep in his watch.

A new day greets Ghost, alone.

The hurt gotta hurt for the comfort to be good.

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lovingherrscher · 10 months

Text

Taenia memoriae

Ft: Dazai Osamu x Reader.

Notes: Happy birthday, my dear love. This is an old work of mine, I decided to translate it for this year bc I lack the time and I'm still working on another fic for him.

Taenia memoriae means "Ribbon of memories"

Warnings: Mentioning of suicide, breaking the 4th wall, slightly angsty. This may come off hard to understand without these following medias:

Puella Magi Madoka Magica - Rebellion

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Saikoroshi-hen.

Other keywords: talking to yourself, isekai.

Best with: Taenia memoriae - Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

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

"Please see me again and then, if you dislike me, say so plainly. The flames in my breast were lighted by you; it is up to you to extinguish them. I can't put them out by my unaided efforts. If we meet, if we can only meet, I know that I shall be saved."

-The Setting Sun - Dazai Osamu.

You seal the letter with wax and put it in the drawer, where other letters suffer the same fate. Once written, forever sealed away.

"Now ain't that a waste?"

"Mind your own business. He wouldn't reply them anyway."

With that said, you stood up, stretching a little before glancing at the clock, only to realize it's been three hours since you sat down. Shouldn't you be preparing for dinner? Nah. You ate a little too much at lunch so you can skip dinner anyways.

You are an ordinary person to say, except for the fact that you are a little well, "deluded", at least that's how the world sees you. But no one can forbid you from dreaming, right~? Yet from the world's perspective, you are anything but a sane person. A human being ought to love another human being, then get married, have children, like any other 'normal' human being. But in your case, you had faintly realized that you do not belong in this world. You don't have any connections to it it or whatsoever, like a living ghost wandering.

You love someone who isn't real, to the point you're not only head over heels for him, but you worship him like a god. You once said that you deems yourself very much alike to that Akemi Homura girl. Met someone, and that person completely changed your life upside down. And you will do anything for that person's sake. Even if it means burning down the world.

To you, he's like a drug you can never get enough of. You never know when is it that he captured your heart, all you know was that the moment you realize this, he had you wrapped around his fingers already. You know that this man will be the death of you, but you still chase him like the moth chasing flame anyways. The flame of love started out flickering like a small candle, and by time it gets stronger, to the point it's like a monster lurking around, waiting to strike you down. Yet you accept it nonetheless, for he had became your shining beacon of hope.

There were times you dreamed of him, dreams where you two can finally unite. You know that you and him are like a lost child who keeps crying, waiting for someone to soothe them, to pick them up and take them back to a place they can call home. Your souls are like shattered glass that's being kept together with mere glue and duct tape, unstable and can be broken again any minute now. And you, you have a strong belief that you two are the only one who can heal each other. Or perhaps you two are just licking your own wounds?

"Y'know, sometimes I think you might be someone who got their ass whopped and isekai-ed here."

"Speak some decent human language, would you?"

"C'mon, I'm just playing with you! Don't do such a scary face!"

"Glad that I was able to scare the shit outta you."

"Motherfucker... I wish I could wipe that shit-eating grin out your face..."

You simply smiled at them and put on your headphones. Let's see, what should you listen to today~? Ah yes, it's gonna be his character song. You've been missing his sweet voice after all.

"If I can’t even grasp the meaning of life,

then I’ll say to this worthless night, goodbye.

But even though I think so… I’m still here."

This line reminds you of yourself. You've had countless thoughts about being able to rest in peace from the moment you awared that you've been living a life of shame. The thought of being dead haunts you like a ghost, it keeps whispering to you day or night, sleeping or awaken. But you can't just do whatever it said, because you are one hell of a coward. You're scared of pain. You don't want to bother others. For that you've become a living ghost wandering this world. What a twisted joke coming from fate.

That night when you almost took your own life, he had appeared and gripped your arm. It's natural to say that thanks to him, you had reborn, for the truth that since the day you two met, you've changed so drastically you can merely recognize yourself. And that moment was when you decided you'd give him your life. Until this body of yours wilt away, you shall forever be with him, and offer everything you have to him.

You've gone crazy for love, that's what people say. But to you, it's crazily beautiful. So you'll show the world how great your love is right this moment.

"Ah... The breeze feels so good here."

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

You don't know when did you fell asleep, and all of the sudden you felt an arm wrapping around your waist. You jolted up, looking at the person. It was none other than Dazai, Dazai Osamu. This fluffy chocolate hair, this bandaged hand, and that mesmerizing face you've been looking at all over and over again. You can't stop tears from streaming down your face as you tackle him to a rib-crushing hug, forgetting the fact that he was still sound asleep.

"Ouch! Can you wake me up more gentle next time? Maybe with a kiss~?"

He was going to go on, but the scene of you crying as you cling onto him tightly like this caused his smile to vanish. Instead of fooling around like everyday, he returns the hug and pat your head gently. No words needed as you two kept clinging onto each other for that familiar warmth you longed so dearly.

It took you a lot of time to finally calm down. Dazai decided to break the silence, "What's wrong, (y/n)?"

"I had a sickening dream."

"A dream where I was dead?"

"No. Worse. I saw that I was in a world where you aren't real to begin with, yet I still love you with all my heart and soul nonetheless, and that torments me. I was so close to you, yet so far. Even if our souls are connected, wouldn't it be meaningless if we can't touch nor feel each other's warmth?"

"And then... I killed myself. Hoping that I'll finally be able to see you.", your voice was hoarse, it almost feels like you're going to burst out in tears again.

"It must have been hard for you...", he mutters quietly. It felt like his arms around you squeezed tighter in a brief moments. Does that mean... Your dream was real..?

"Say that you love me, Osamu."

"I love you. I really love you."

"Thank you..."

Your lips met. His lips and embrace feels so soft and warm. They feel like 'home'. And that brings your soul to ease. His hands felt a little rough and calloused, probably from holding guns, presumably from when he was a mafioso, yet to you, they feel softer than any kind of silk, and so gentle, as if he's treating a glass doll.

Love. That's the pinnacle of emotions. Warmer than hope, deeper than despair, that's what love is.

"You know..."

"Yes?"

"In my dream, you were a writer, but you were also a detective, and you even existed as a character in a game."

Dazai became quiet upon the words. "Writer, huh...", you know that he was reminiscing of his deceased friend, who dreamed of becoming a writer, where he can write novels in a room that look out to the sea. He was delving into his own memories, about those days he was still drinking at Lupin with that friend. That was the only place he can drop the facade and expose his true self.

"I don't think that was a dream..." you mutter inaudibly, as you lean your head against his chest, holding him close to you.

#yoha writes #dazai x reader #bungou stray dogs #dazai fluff #bsd dazai #bsd x reader #bsd x you #bsd x y/n #dazai imagines #bsd imagines #bungou stray dogs x reader #bungo stray dogs dazai #dazai osamu x reader #4th wall break

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flightfoot · 4 months

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Any angsty ladynoir fics that don't have the conflict centered around the other heroes? I know this is pretty specific lol

...okay so I'm not sure what you mean exactly, most angsty ladynoir fics don't center the conflict around other heroes? Off the top of my head I can think of two major kinds of fic that should fit the bill: Ladynoir enemies au and "Chat gets injured/killed and Ladybug's very upset about it" fics. Though there are others, of course.

I (Wish I) Knew You by @buggachat

University has been hard on Marinette. Making new friends and maintaining her grades is a lot easier said than done when she has to disappear at odd times to fight akumas. She's struggling, and with Alya away with family and Adrien painfully out of reach, she's never felt lonelier. If only she could talk to someone who really understood her struggles... but it's not like Chat Noir would know anything about loneliness. Right?

---

call it even by @anna-scribbles and @sha-nwa

After a year of dating, there is one thing Marinette knows for certain: it's her and Adrien against the world. Through it all, Adrien is kind, patient, and endlessly understanding—even as she tries her best to keep her secret superhero identity hidden from him along with the rest of the world.

Nothing could ruin it, not even the supervillains of Paris: Hawkmoth and Chat Noir.

(adrinette dating // ladynoir enemies au)

---

Nothing Else Matters by LiquefiedStars

Marinette couldn’t figure out Chat Noir. He was supposed to be her partner, but instead ended up working for Hawk Moth. Still, her heart betrayed her and when a strong connection forms between them, Ladybug goes to Chat looking for answers, finding out more than she bargained for.

---

A Little Fall Of Rain by Druwho

Unable to transform in time, Marinette sacrifices her life to save Adrien from an assassin. With the help of the Kwamis, Adrien is able to bring her back to life, but it comes at a price. One that Adrien alone must pay. Now, Adrien is forced to keep even more secrets. The fact that Marinette is alive and that she has been his Lady all long. More than ever, they must defeat Hawkmoth. Only then can Marinette return to her life.

---

Ghost of You by its_just_lori

It finally happened. The akuma attacked at the wrong time. They weren't prepared. For the first time, there was a casualty. Someone was killed. Marinette doesn't care that her identity was exposed to the world; she can't stop blaming herself for what happened. If only she'd been ready... if only she'd done more... There's nothing for Adrien to say. There's nothing he can do other than stay by her side and help her through this pain.

---

The Son of my Enemy by Saccha

Cat Noir never wanted to be a villain, but he doesn't have a choice. Ladybug wishes she could save him. A reverse love square, villain!Cat Noir AU.

I hope these satisfy you! All of them are complete.

#ask #ml fanfic rec #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #ladynoir #miraculous ladybug

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rustytrident · 1 year

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hey, you! yes, you! listen up. since the demon bros (minus satan) were angels, does that mean that their true demon form is different than other demons' true demon forms?

because hear me out. we have never seen any of their truest forms – or, the non humanoid to some extent, demon forms – so it could be anything, right? and while i adore the idea that they look like their familiars when completely turned, i can't help but think that maybe they look a bit more,,, angelic? in a sense?

according to the bible (and the very much needed "fear not" from every angel ever), true angel forms are terrifying. absolutely monstrous in a sense, they make humans still in their spots, run, look away. they make you want to not look, because looks don't matter. it's the message they bear that is of importance (and whatever the fuck else they represent, i never cared enough to look into the old testament).

demons, on the other hand – they're supposed to be the exact opposite, right? true demon form must, by its association to true angelic form and the relationship of angels and demons as a whole, make you want to look at the being in front of you with everything you have left in you. i mean, it's canon that demons practice seductive speech and aren't against seducing humans into pretty much anything, so demon forms must be analogous to the needs and practices of a demon, right? so, they make you want to look, no matter how monstrous they are, right?

kinda like a moth to the flame. right?

the brothers, however, already had a true form – they had their angelic form as former angels and residents of the celestial realm! then, when they fell, did it go away? or did it merge with their true demon form they acquired upon their fall?

i say it's the latter. and not because of anything else other than the fact that this is my internal world of fictional demon men and i will imagine it as i please, but for the sake of proving my point, i will now (hopefully) convince you that I'm right!

let's take lucifer for exaple:

creds for the images to the obey me wiki

starting from his head, we can see that his halo has been replaced by horns; expected, boring, cliche – NEXT! his collar is the same, turtleneck with some extravagant outer jacket (cape??) collar around it. now that's what I'm talking about! his shoulders are accessorised by golden feathers in both forms, and his wings are the same, just smaller (and i think it's clarified why somewhere in the game but i won't say anything just in case i made that up too). he has something gold and loosely hanging on his right hip in both pictures while his jacket (cape??) remains long and flowy.

and you'll probably say "well, user rustytrident, that's just one brother off the bunch. you haven't proven shit" and i will reply "I'm too lazy to go into every brother, but I'll delve into asmo just for you" and send you a flying kiss.

why asmo, you may ask? well, because asmo is the avatar of lust. if anything, his form would be the most different one appearance wise, since the beauty standards must be very different between realms; on the one up above, you need to wear more. show your part in the kingdom of the skies, the reign of god, united with your brothers and sisters in every way. on the one down below, you're nothing but damned. you need to show your individual colours, what exactly you are because that shows your heritage and position, and that saves your ass from death, on most occasions.

so here is asmo:

creds for the images go, again, to the obey me wiki

he's completely different, right? absolutely changed, his big, full of movement outfit replaced by skin tight clothes with completely different textures and compositions. and if you thought that, you're absolutely right. only, i can't read. so this sign can't stop me.

again, horns and halo blah blah we get it. collar is the same. turtle neck, again, with the cut off shoulders on both outfits. the little gold thing he has wrapping around him in his angel outfit has transformed into a symbol of his familiars – both starting from the right shoulder and going down to his waist. his wrists have accessories on them and he has tried to retain some of the movement in his demon form by mimicking the tail of a scorpion. would it be me reaching if i said that the gold thing around his left leg on the first image (what even IS that) has been replaced by the little belt strap pant leg thing on his right leg in the second pic? probably. but i said it anyway :)).

so where did that lead us? why are we even here? in the rare case that anything i just told you counts as "evidence", it wouldn't prove anything, anyway. you can believe what you want, and i will do the same, and we will continue our lives following the same principles we have been following for years, so why are we both here, right now?

well, dear friend, wise people often say it is not the destination that matters, but the journey and the friendships you form during it. you listened to me ramble about demon men in a video game, and i, in return, kept you company on your lonesome travels. i think that's the start of a wonderful friendship, don't you think?

as my gift to you before i leave, i will, if you allow me to, conclude my thoughts. true demon form, in the brothers' case, must bear some sort of similarity to their true angel form. i don't believe it's some sexier, leather-ier, skin tight-ier version of true angel, but rather the combination of what was and what would be. if they were humans that got turned into demons then yes, this theory wouldn't work out, but the pure psychedelia their true angel form carries with it is enough to stain their true demon form's allure.

so, when the demon bros get angry, upset, when they release themselves from the chains of the homo sapien and allow the form of the pure power that flows inside them to take over – would anyone be able to handle it? unless you, yourself, are extremely powerful, chances are that no, you wouldn't be able to.

and it's not because they would strike you down, thus ending your existence once and for all that you would die, oh no. it's because your being, no matter your nature or the realm you come from, wouldn't be able to handle the sight before you. two voices will be screaming inside you: one asking to run back and the other to run forward – until you're perfectly still, unmoving, simply looking at the creature standing in front of you. it's their pure nature that would end you, just their existence and nothing else. the voices in your head will only stop when your heart gives out, and, trust me, it would do so very soon.

the only one who doesn't have that element about him is satan. isn't it ironic, how the avatar of the most violent sin's true demon form looks like nothing short of the safest haven you've seen (compared to his brothers, always)? it's no coincidence that his familiars are unicorns. ever wondered why?

huuu, that was a lot, huh? you doing alright? I'm done talking, so you can continue your journey, don't you worry. if you have any questions or want to come back and convince me otherwise, i would love to have you again. till then, i will await for another visit of yours, with a cup of tea. what do you say?

be careful on your travels, and good luck.

#obey me #obey me shall we date #lucifer obey me #mammon obey me #obey me leviathan #satan obey me #obey me asmodeus #beelzebub obey me #belphegor obey me #sing me a song // the song of our glory

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endy-boi · 7 months

Text

Guide to the Dragon World Spoilers

got my hand on the guide from my local library!!!

this was not good for my sleep schedule lol, but i got some stuff anyways

if you don't have access to it, feel free to dm me for an mp4 of me scrolling through it or hopefully an epub whenever i get around to making one.

VV spoilers under the cut VV

here are my notes (disorganized but technically in order):

the scorching bit left some to be desired, which is helpful for me lol cause i wanna write in something for that.

up to date maps!!!! in color!!!! with all the towns!!!! FINALLY!! i had to search for some to save and COULD NOT find up to date ones, so this is GREAT.

the art of all the queens is GREAT love that. i will admit it took me a while to figure out who moorhen was, cause apparently all the mudwings look the same?????????? might just be me, but my first thought was that clay was wearing some flowers which i loved. anyways ignoring that in favour of hc. :3

more info on the mudwing troops was ver nice, glad that's there will def integrate those roles into my stuff.

they somehow managed to make coral seem EVEN MORE empty lol. like she has only gotten worse from the books.

the aquatic section was..... a lot less detailed than i might have guessed. this could turn out to be a good thing tho, cause it's easier to have a lotta different glowy patterns and also plenty of room for HCs on the language.

lil bit upset at how FEW annotations there were from glory in the rainwing section. coulda gotten away with a LOT more detail too

SO GLAD there is a rainwing color guide that i don't have to pull off the wiki. now i can ignore it accurately!!

i guess. tui. tried????? with the rainwing history section???? like she just kinda canonized the instant flip in society with one queen after one really bad war. i could go on about how long it would take to flip a society upside down like that, but i'll leave that to someone else i guess.

apparently nightwings are all the same color, soooo uhhhhh, fuck that one.

still no mention of seers having any unique visual features, so still runnin on HC for that one.

mastermind exchange was meh. very underwhelming for a confrontation with the dragon that did all that. having "glory would not" moments rn.

thorn is bigger than that

sandwings deserve more detail, so imma just ignore that desc.

once again, icewings should be more colors. (it's happening to every tribe like cmon!)

minks sculpture :3!!!

i guess the fragment of the rankings wall gives us some more examples of written draconic?

with how the animus vault of the icewings was described i was kinda hoping for a bit more in that section. the descriptions for the items are pretty much just the notes underneath them, along with a bit of stuff already in the books.

glad to hear more from the icewings that are allowed to have friends!! (socialist icewings >:3)

i liked hearing abt scarlets history a bit more.

silkwings can be any color????? cmon now all the others are so limited. and not black? nahhh. silkwings are butterflies/moths. more to ignore!

mention of flamesilk in the "legend of the hive" bit leads me to believe that beetlewings also had flamesilk, which i dunno was already mentioned.

the instant flip to belladonna was. uh. interesting. i'm beginning to wonder how much time passed between those letters and how old belladonna was... she reminds me a lot of fierceteeth tbh.

and that's it! i was really hoping for some more general notes at the end after all the tribes were discussed, but there weren't any. still, bit more info here so i'll run with some and ignore more!

#end.txt #wof #wings of fire #a guide to the dragon world #got whiplash reading this cause i couldn't remember what was canon or not lmao #that was fun #anyways #enjoy the ramblings #and if you want to read it yourself feel free to message me

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motheatencrow · 1 year

Text

BUG GAME MASTERPOST (AS OF NOV. 2022)

heyhey! this isnt actually anything "official"! i just thought i’d make this for fun and to also spread around bug video games that others, who like the silly little critters as well, might enjoy!

(remember that this is as of nov. 29 2022 so if any game unreleased game on here is now released, it may have been after the date that this was made)

there will be 3 categories: released games, games to be released/are being developed, and honorable mentions

under the released games, i will also be stating if i have finished the game, played them, or simply heard of them (can range from "i have the game wishlisted", "owned but not played", literally only heard of it, etc.)

these bug games will also only list games where most invertebrates are the main focus of the game

other than that, i will be doing the following if possible!:

- i will be providing brief comments for what i think of each game (this is my opinion of each game!! everyone has their own tastes and its alright if you dont agree with what i say! and in no way is my comments for each game professional/an attempt to critique the game in any way ksfhskjd)

- what the gameplay is like (sort of. im not really good at explaining LMAO)

- where you can find these games (game websites may be linked if available instead!)

visual warnings for this post: gif/image heavy, bright imagery click here for the text-only version!

let's begin!

released games

hollow knight - website; finished - a challenging metroidvania! i personally found this game really fun though i did have to take breaks from the game due to some difficult fights and events lsfhdskj. its definitely the type of game thats fun to replay and see how much you've improved since first playing it! i also think the world building, implied lore, and characters are really well done! (i highly enjoy reading people's analysis posts of this game jksdfkj)

overall, i suggest this game if you enjoy challenging fights and platformers, creative characters, games with deep lore, and/or emotional osts!

bug fables - website; finished - i am emotionally attached to the blue moth. anyways! bug fables is a paper mario rpg inspired game (used to be called paper bugs actually!) and it has charming characters and a good story! this game has a very fun ost and you definitely fall in love with the characters as you learn more and more about them. i find the sidequests very much worth doing and also really fun as it makes you go around and interact with a lot of the npcs in the game! you'll end up seeing that a lot of them have unique personalities and are loveable in their own right :] !!

i suggest the game if you like rpgs, bright characters and settings, bubbly osts, and/or perhaps even learning a dark secret or 2?

bugsnax - website; finished - silly game about catching and eating bug-shaped foods! or food-shaped bugs? food bugs!!!! the horrors. all the bugsnax designs are super fun and some of them are challenging to catch which i think makes the game pretty fun! there's also a bunch of ways that u could catch a bugsnak, its just up to what you can think of! the horrors. the characters are also pretty loveable and they have really neat stories and getting to know them can change the course of the game (just the ending really actually)

highly suggest the game if you enjoy being a little creative with how you perform a task/solving puzzles, characters that are more than what they seem, and silly creative creature designs!

creepy castle - available on steam; played - i have yet to finish this game! but from what i've played, its pretty fun exploring around, reading lore tidbits, and doing the duel minigames! it has a neat retro style and you can change the colors/gui settings if i remember correctly!

i suggest the game if you like rpgs, pixelated style games, and/or minigames!

webbed - website; finished - super cute spider game about saving your bf, swinging around on and crafting webs, and making new friends! did i also mention that youre a spider that shoots lasers from their eyes? webbed is a really charming game that can be completed in just a few hours, even with all the bonus/side things that you can do!

i suggest it if you like pixelated style games, are a completionist, want a shorter game, or just want to be a silly little laser spider!

apico - website; finished - a relaxing game about keeping bees and restoring bee populations! recently they've added an update where you can help repopulate solitary bees and butterflies, and there's a bunch more content that they're planning to develop and release!! the characters have silly bee pun names and have neat dialogue! (they also have pronouns next to their names when you talk to them <3) bee management is not super demanding and with some mods, you can enhance your experience in the game. personally, i have not played with mods, i really enjoy the base game alone! you can also build pretty bases, listen to the relaxing ost, or trap yourself in menu hell!

i suggest the game if you want something that's more laidback (though there is a bit of management), like reading silly dialogue blurbs, want to have a calming ost to listen to, or just wanna do some beekeeping! (proceeds also go to charities that help repopulate native bee populations!)

grounded - website; played - grounded is an open world survival sandbox game (theres also a literal sandbox in the game) where you're a teen that's been shrunken down and must survive in the backyard while finding a way to bring yourself back to your original size. the game actually got a full release in back in september and i have yet to play it because my partner has not been able to play kfhskj. but we have played when it was in early access and it was super fun! there are giant spiders in the game but there's an accessibility setting that allows you to make the spiders more blobby in case you have arachnophobia! other than that it's really fun to go running around the game screaming and crying because the giant mosquito is about to 2-shot you. the base building is also pretty fun with a variety of materials you can make your base from as well as decor. there's also a variety of weapons and armors to choose from and create a build to optimally destroy bugs that are not so friendly. you can also tame some of the passive creatures and become extremely overprotective of them. (im not speaking from experience [lying]) there's actually a storyline to follow as well that helps encourage exploration and progression in the game!

i recommend the game if you enjoy open world sandbox survival games, being scared out of your mind when something you didnt see gets aggro'd on you, making neat bases, and/or strategizing and making builds to suit your playstyle! (i also highly recommend playing with friends!)

space moth dx - available on steam; played - an arcade-like shoot-em-up bullet hell where you play a moth shooting lasers at other laser shooting bugs! this is actually a fairly tough game if you're not familiar with these types of games. i personally have not gotten that far and have yet to play it again kslfhkjs but i think the art is super neat and the gameplay is pretty fun!

i recommend it if you enjoy bullet hells where you literally don't see anything But bullets (there is also space moth: lunar edition!)

bug academy - available on steam and switch; played - a pretty fun physics puzzle game where you control a swarm of bugs! there are different levels with different objectives and a star-based score depending on how well you do in each one! the only reason i havent finished this game is because im a completionist for it and got stuck on a level i have yet to get 3 stars on ksjfhkj. if you ever get this game, i highly recommend playing with a controller!

i suggest this game if you like puzzles, timed/stopwatch levels, trying to see how far you can chuck something, destroying buildings by chucking items, crying when you knock over your tower on accident, and/or being a silly bug swarm

crustacean nations - available on steam and itch.io; finished - woah moth!!! a game about crabs???? yeah they're getting a spot on this list, they're sea bugs to me. but anyways! crustacean nations is a fairly short game with only 3 levels (if i remember correctly) and a sandbox mode. you're essentially commanding a kingdom of crabs and you must defend your sand castle while destroying the other crab sand castles. there's also a pit where you can sacrifice crabs and summon a Big One. it doesn't take too much strategy to win each level but you still need to think about it a bit!

i suggest it if u want to play a brief n short army-building game! with crabs!

kill it with fire - website; finished - a silly game about exterminating spiders. as you progress through the game you get a bunch of new weapons to um. delete spiders with. there's also a bunch of challenges you can do and achievements to get! i've completely 100%'d the game just because it's kinda fun trying to do the challenges and collect all the achievements. the ending is also. a little messed up.

i suggest the game if you're a bit of a completionist, don't like spiders for some reason (i think theyre pretty neat), want to have a stress-relief game (or would it be stress inducing??), or want to see how goofy it gets

social moth - available on steam; heard of - a lot of my mutuals talk about and adore this game! i have not played it yet but it's wishlisted! here's a copy n pasted excerpt from the steam page: "Social Moth is a narrative platformer where you play as a small moth contending with social anxiety. Set in a close-knit community on the forest floor, the game allows the player to explore themes of mental health, relationships, and finding a sense of belonging."

i think i can suggest this game if you have social anxiety/want to understand social anxiety while also playing a puzzle platformer with an endearing art style and characters!

buggos - available on steam; heard of - ive had this game wishlisted for a while! here's a copy and pasted excerpt from the steam page: "Buggos is an RTS Auto Battler where you evolve your army into the perfect bug fighting force. You control a young hive mind bent on world domination, and your swarm will mostly listen to your every beck and call. Guide your swarm’s evolutionary path and breed your best bugs for world domination!"

i think i can suggest this game if you like the idea of world domination and slaughter, want a bug army building game, or enjoy pixelated style games.

i commissioned some bees - available on steam; heard of - did you know there's 10 of these games plus an advent edition?? these games are essentially just where's waldo bee edition and multiply those by like 1000. i've had this game wishlisted for a while but it hasnt been a priority pft. here's an excerpt from the steam page!: "The brief was simple. I commissioned artists to create a fantasy world, and hide as many bees as they can inside it. Now it’s your job to find them all! With 10 art pieces to choose from, and 1000+ bees, you will have a lot of searching to do."

bee simulator - website; heard of - i own the game but havent played it yet. the most ive done is watch markiplier play it hfkjsd. here's an excerpt from the epic games page: "The hive awakens as the sun's first rays warm the horizon. It's time to test your wings, receive orders from the Queen and begin your first mission. And that's just the start of your adventures. Humans want to cut down the tree that holds your hive, so your fate – and that of the whole swarm – rests on your tiny shoulders!" i think this game is more of an educational game aimed towards families and children but who knows! maybe some of you will enjoy it too?

i think i can recommend this game if you like bees :) and doing minigames/tasks/challenges!

black widow: recharged - website; heard of - an arcade shooter where you play a spider! i own this game but havent played it yet. here's an excerpt from the site: "Aim for a high score in the old school arcade mode and earn bragging rights with your name at the top of the leaderboard. Or test your skills and rank on the boards in one of 30 intensely creative challenges, which twist the gameplay in new and exciting ways. Collect cash from downed enemies to charge a powerful web blast, or pick up one of a dozen new power-ups including explosive blasts, spread-shots, and fear, trapping all enemies in your web. Every mode and level is playable in local co-op mode with a friend."

centipede recharged - website; heard of - i've played centipede in an actual arcade but it was not this specific game so i dont know if the experience is around the same. (i own it but havent played it) centipede recharged is similar to black widow: recharged in terms of an arcade shooter as well as the description given

empires of the undergrowth - website; played - an army building game about ants! in the "main zone", you're an experimental ant species that seems to be able to take on traits of many other ant species. you play levels as real-life ant species and try to grow your colony and complete objectives that are given to you. the rewards you get from these levels are used to upgrade your lab species and after completing a set of levels, you'll be given a challenge using the lab species. i havent completed this game due to being stuck on one of the challenge levels fhksjd but i think its kind of fun

i suggest this game if you like army building games (similar to starcraft or warhammer) and the idea of making a huge ant colony and competing against other colonies

yoku's island express - available on steam; heard of - there's actually a lot more places where you can purchase yoku's island express (epic games, switch, gog, etc.) but their website is down so i decided to resort to linking the steam page. i currently own the game but have not played it! it's a game about you being a tiny postman exploring around islands, delivering packages, while also making new friends and saving the islands where you reside. it's a pinball platformer adventure game and it seems really cute and fun to play!

earthtongue - available on steam and itch.io; heard of - this game actually just got recommended to me after this was posted! earthtongue is a game where you watch over a world inhabited by fungi and bugs. here's an excerpt about the game!: "You will spend most of your time watching life grow and eat each other to survive. Your subtle nudges will be required to maintain the balance of this world, but it can handle itself much of the time. Player given goals are limited, aside from maximizing the health of your ecosystem. You may choose to try to create a fungal garden to your liking. You may try your best to breed as many beetles as you can. You might use those beetles instead as food stock for the mantises. You might instead just peacefully watch the story of Earthtongue unfold on its own."

stonefly - website; heard of - stonefly is an adventure game where you control a bug-shaped mech! here's an excerpt from the site: "Harness the wind and soar through the wilderness of Stonefly, a chill and tranquil action-adventure game about self-discovery, legacy, and belonging. Glide your mech strategically among beautiful flora and dangerous fauna, confronting hungry bugs, adventures, and memorable characters."

to be released/in development games

hollow knight: silksong - website - the game that the hk fandom says doesn't exist and is actually a collective fever dream (it is 100% a real game, we're all just very excited for it to come out! /srs) the game is going to be like hollow knight (a challenging metroidvania) but this time the player plays as a new protagonist, who was a character in the first game, hornet! this game will have a new world to explore, new mechanics to master, new faces to meet, and much more.

bugaboo pocket - website - a really cute pixelated game about raising bugs! an excerpt from the site: "Bugaboo Pocket is a digital pet game where you raise bugs from egg to adult. How you care for your pet influences their personality and impacts the ecology around them. Inspired by real bugs!"

another crab's treasure - website - a game where you play as a hermit crab! you use trash in your surroundings as your shell and each "shell" provides a different effect that affects how you play the game! an excerpt from the site: "Another Crab’s Treasure is a soulslike adventure set in a crumbling underwater world. As Kril the hermit crab, you’ll need to wear the trash around you as shells to withstand attacks from enemies many times your size. Embark on an epic treasure hunt to buy back your repossessed shell, and discover the dark secrets behind the polluted ocean." (i recommend checking out their tiktok, some of the posts there are extremely funny)

dewdrop dynasty - steam page - a pixelated style metroidvania where you play as a gunslinging bee who lost their wings and finds themselves trapped in an unknown place. you'll meet interesting characters, challenging enemies, and also learn new skills and mechanics as you play the game. goodgis, dewdrop dynasty's dev, also posts a bunch of videos on youtube regarding game development tips and devlogs. (that's how my partner knew about the game and introduced it to me) a fun and charming game that will have mysteries to discover!

i am a caterpillar - dev's twitter - a game where you play as a caterpillar!: unbothered. slimey. thriving. in your moss. squelched up. wriggling. an excerpt from one of the dev's tweets!: "Become the squidgy lil' caterpillar you've always wanted to be, on a quest to stop your own metamorphosis. Crawl & wriggle all over anything in your path and explore the canopy."

a webbing journey - website - a cute 3D game where you play as a spider! you'll explore the world, making webs and slinging around on them. you'll also meet some friendly faces to talk to and do quests for them! an excerpt from the site: " You control a little spider equipped with all the typical spider abilities and a little bit more as you travel through various stunning islands searching for the most exotic flowers for your spider date. Along your journey you meet other spiders and animals who provide additional side stories and quests which challenge your spider abilities."

invertipets - dev's site / toyhou.se - a petsite game being made by @shadybugdev where you take care of bugs and bug-like pets! there's not much on it publicly available yet other than some pet concepts (which can be viewed through the toyhouse link!) but it's something to look out for! (the picture provided is some of the pets and their possible morphs!)

honorable mentions

an isopod game(?) being made by riley neville (part of sbuggames/made webbed) - this "game" has not actually been announced to be a game that will be published but it looks neat!

a worm game(?) being made by riley neville - same thing as the previous one!

all the games in my bug game collection on itch.io! (if i added all the ones in here i would be making this post forever. but please please check them out!!)

woah its the end!

that should be all i know! most of these games, if not all, are made by indie devs so i highly suggest checking them out and supporting them if you can!

thanks so much for reading and i hope i've helped you find a new bug game to pick up and enjoy! (or to wait for!) <3

#image heavy #gif heavy #bright colors #i will be making a version where it's text only for the people who may not be able to read this one!!!#man this took a while but im proud of it :)

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