#Victor with a Monocle

[druidx]

Heads Up, Seven Up (7 lines), Nine Lines, & Last Line tag games

As might be obvious, I’m really bad at getting around to doing things. I’ve been saving up all my Seven Lines, Nine lines and Last Line tag games because “I’ll get to it someday. Honest!”

I’ve now got so many, I figured out I could just mash them together to help me finish editing Alexis Dalliance vs the Evil of Titan, and call it good.

I took 5 random pages from the work and used a nice online tool to work out that I write an average of 9.8 words per line, which means I need to complete 2,166 words of editing.

Thank you to everyone who’s tagged me in one of these games (it's been so long, probably some of you don't even remember, and some of you no longer seem to exist any more):

@aetherwrites, @alexsidereus x2, @alias-levi, @aquadestinyswriting x4, @artdecosupernova-writing x2, @autumnalwalker x3, @blind-the-winds X3, @chauceryfairytales, @corkythewriteblr, @eli-writes-sometimes x3, @faelanvance x2, @lake-arrius-caverns, @laurabwrites, @mariahwritesstuff, @odysseywritings x2, @oh-no-another-idea x2, @rewrit, @ryns-rambling, @shadowlight-inkedthoughts, @sleepyowlwrites, @spacetimewraithwrites-archive, @strosmkai-rum, @toribookworm22, @tracle0 x2, @viawrites-andacts x2, @whimsyqueen, @winglesswriter, @writingamongther0ses x6, @writingmaidenwarrior, @writingonesdreams, @zmwrites x2, @iparisaltanwing

I ended up writing a little over the target; this is 2500 words.

CW war crimes, slaughter of innocents, a falling Paladin, unusual dialogue marks, swearing

"What do you mean?" Alexis asked after she’d overcome her surprise at seeing the gnome, "How is it sick?" "It’s the lizardfolk who live in the center of the swamp," the gnome said. "They used to live in harmony with the swamp, but recently…" He sighed. "I don’t know what’s wrong. Something’s gotten into them, something evil. They’re destroying vast swathes of the swamp, cutting down trees, burning the brush, befowling the waters." Alexis glanced over at the others. "We might know the reason for this change. The lizardfolk have been drawn into a cult which worships a Demon Prince from the Pit. They must be working on the Demon’s orders." The gnome paled. "Yes. I understand now. I have seen great holes carved in the ground, blocks of stone being dragged to a central site." "They must be constructing a new temple to base their portal on," Richard said. "My friend, we aim to stop these bloodthirsty monsters from bringing the Demon Prince through to this world and destroy the cult." "Stopping the cult will mean the swamp is safe again," Alexis added. The gnome lit up. "Then you have my thanks, Paladin!" "Call me Richard," he said. The gnome shook his hand. "And I am Wurzle Moslicker." "We aim to stop the lizardfolk," Alexis continued after introductions had been made, "but we’ve run into a small snag. The boat we were told was here isn’t, and we cannot cross into the swamp." "Oh!" Wurzle said. "Dear tree-child, you should know there are other ways to cross a watery path." Alexis frowned as Wurzle gave a peculiar call. A cluster of cypress nearby began to shake and shift. Bastet and Richard both reached for their weapons. Alexis gasped as she realised what was happening. "It’s alright!" she cried. "Don’t hurt it!" From the thicket, strode a tree. «You called, Wurzle?» it said, its voice a long and creaking thing. Richard leaned down to Alexis, hissing, "What is that?" "It’s a treent!" she squealed, face filled with wonder. "I’ve heard about them, but never met one before! Galana’s blessed hair, this is amazing!" "Mudwood," Wurzle was saying, "These fine folks need to get across the swamp to the lizardfolk settlement. They’re going to stop them from destroying the swamp." The treent grumbled and harrumphed as it gazed over the group, lingering on Alexis. «This I will do,» it said eventually, «For the presence of the tree-child tells me their intent is true.» "What did it say?" Richard asked. Alexis cocked her head. "You don’t speak sylvan?" "I barely speak elvish," he retorted. "It said it’d take us, but only cuz I’m here." Bastet rolled her eyes. "Of course it did." Alexis bounced on the balls of her feet, wide, pleading eyes focused on Richard. Richard sighed fondly. "Go on, then." Alexis gave a squeal of excitement, racing away. Richard watched her scamper off, springing into the branches of the treent, and scurry up the trunk like a squirrel. "My good sir, is there an easy way up for those of us not inclined to tree-climbing?" Victor asked. Wurzle chuckled. "Yes, of course." He gave another of those strange cries, and Mudwood stooped, holding out a limb for the others to climb on.

For the others, the treent crossing was dull or sickness-inducing, but for Alexis it was heaven. In between scurrying through the branches, relishing the feel of the breeze through her hair and bark under her hands, she pestered Wurzle and Mudwood with questions, some asked by Richard, pressing for more details about the lizardfolk, their numbers and armaments. The morning was wearing on by the time Mudwood dropped them off as close to the lizardfolk settlement as Wurzle would let him. Alexis was the last to dismount, dropping from the lowest branches with a happy sigh. «For you, little one,» Mudwood said, handing Alexis a small wooden pipe, a notch taken from just below a craved mouthpiece. «Blow this when your work is done, I shall return for you. The trees name you ‘friend’. We will pass this by root and leaf. Wherever you are, this whistle will call the nearest treent to your aid.» Alexis stared at the whistle, then hugged the treent. «Thank you for this gift.» "Lex, c’mon." With a final bow to the treent, Alexis took off after her friends.

They trekked through the dense undergrowth of the swamp, hacking at long vines and lush brush, the humidity mingling with sweat making everything uncomfortably damp. As the sun reached its zenith, the lizardfolk’s newly built ziggurat came into view over the tops of the trees. "We’re nearly there," Bastet said, relieved.

They pushed on and soon found their way blocked by a great wall. "Piss and blood," Bastet cursed. Alexis tilted her head back. "I don’t think even I can climb that." "Maybe we can tunnel under it?" Gorgut said, stepping over and using a dagger to dig at the dirt. "We don’t have the equipment," Richard said. "Victor, what about that muddy spell?" "Rock to Mud?" Victor scratched at his chin. "Could work. It depends on how they’ve structured the wall, and if I can get deep enough to find the unworked foundations." "Right. Alexis, you scale that tree to scout the lay of the land. The rest of us will investigate the foundations of the wall. Then we can make a plan of attack for once we’re inside."

Once at the top of the tree, Alexis surveyed the area. Some ways from the base of the ziggurat was the lizardfolk settlement. It looked like a normal village from this high up – low cottages of local foliage gathered around a central open space, one grander than the rest. Drying linens hung from lines on tall poles. Pens of animals and crops surrounded the village. People came and went, carrying pots or pushing hand carts. It could have been any village on the Pagan Plains. It could have been Toreguard. In the time it had taken them to travel down here, the ziggurat had been completed. Despite its apparent completion, people still worked on it, looking like ants scurrying over stone steps, adding carvings and other refinements to the bare faces of the stone. Under an open-sided pagoda at the top, Alexis could just about make out the workings of magic. A structure of bones stood over arcane markings, fires set at junctures of the markings. A priest, delineated by his golden, feathered headband, threw something into the fires occasionally, making them spark and flare unusual colours.

She slid down, relaying this reconnaissance to the others and Richard laid out the plan.

As Victor chanted out his spell, Richard and the others stood back, readying the weapons. Benevelor was summoned from the celestial realm. As the spell took effect, the wall wobbled and crumbled, the mortar loosening. "It’s now or never!" Victor cried, hurrying back to join the others. "Benevelor," Richard commanded, "kick it down." The holy oxen took up position and lashed out with its hind legs. The crumbling blocks shook and with a thundering crash toppled inwards, landing into the mire below. Richard raced forward, leaping onto his mount’s back. "Charge!" he yelled, as the pair of them vanished over the rubble, Gorgut and Victor following close behind. Alexis looked at Bastet. "Ready?" "Give them a few moments more to really grab the attention," Bastet replied. Alexis grunted in reply, finding the bush at her feet of vast interest. Bastet sniffed, looking up at the broken corner of the wall. After a moment, she said, "We’re both professionals." "That we are." "So are we-?" "Absolutely fucking not." "Right." Distantly the sounds of battle reached them. "Sounds like our cue." "Yep." With that, Alexis led the way over the rubble and toward their objective: the temple.

While the menfolk battled with the temple masons and the warriors who protected them, Alexis and Bastet crept behind enemy lines and up the ziggurat. As they approached, the scent of burning spices grew thicker as perfumed smoke wafted out of the pagoda, followed by an undulating chant. As Alexis and Bastet peeked into the pagoda, they saw the head priest, his headband glinting in the firelight, had been joined by two lesser priests wearing wide golden neckbands embossed with the Eye of Muyrr symbol.

With a signal to Bastet, Alexis fired through the smoke and the portal ring, her bolt driving through the head priest's neck. Bastet leapt from cover, her daggers flashing as she took out one of the lesser priests. As Alexis reloaded, Bastet turned towards the last priest, only to find he had armed himself. He slashed out at Bastet, catching her arm. She cried out, falling back against a pillar. The bolt from Alexis' bow took him between the shoulder blades, and he fell, hitting the steps with a wet crunch. "Thanks," Bastet said as Alexis moved up into the pagoda. "Don't mention it." Alexis glanced around. "You wanna deal with the fires while I deal with the lines? Then we can deal with that," her face scrunched as she waved at the bone structure, "together." With an affirmative grunt, Bastet turned her attention to extinguishing the fires, while Alexis scattered the red and grey powders forming the lines of the summoning circle. On a ceremonial table to one side, she found more of the dust and blocks of perfume on tarnished golden dishes. Collecting the plates together, she took them to the edge of the pagoda. The cloud of powder spread like blood in the air as she tossed the dishes away, down the ziggurat. "Lex," Bastet called, urgency in her voice. Alexis turned back to see Bastet was next to the table she’d found the powders on. "Yes?" Bastet held up parchment scrolls. "Can you read these?" Alexis took one, scanning the strange writing. She shook her head. "This is like no script I’ve ever seen. But these diagrams… they’re the same as the floor markings I destroyed. And this looks like the portal edifice." She held them up for comparison. "This one looks like a map," Bast said, spreading it on the table. It was indeed a map of Titan. Parts of the continents were crosshatched with different patterns, and arrows moved from the south of Allansia up and outward. "I might not know what it says, but this looks alarmingly like troop movements, like the ones Captain Hengar has in his office." She glanced at Bastet. "Whatever it is, it can’t be anything good." "Maybe Vic can read them," Bastet said. She tucked the scrolls away and looked at the mound of bound bones. "Let’s destroy this thing so we can get out of this place." Together they turned to the portal ring, a series of long bones lashed together with twine which stood on a small dais of skulls and pelvises, and began to hack at the binding ropes. When the ring was nothing but a pile, they used the table as a shunt, shoving the bones away to clatter down the sides of the ziggurat. Bastet raised a hand, shielding her eyes. "It looks like the fighting's stopped. They're all clustered near the houses." Alexis listened. A few screams and raised voices carried on the wind, echoing the calling of birds and rush of wind in the trees. "I don't hear any fighting. We should get down there and find out what's happening."

The sun was dipping lower in the sky, the tall trees casting shadows as they drew lower. There was indeed a group of people gathered close to the village. Alexis frowned. No, there were no sounds of fighting. But there was wailing. Sobbing. The high cry of a child. The sounds of terror. Fear gripped Alexis’ heart. She picked up the pace. The people were kneeling. Their hands raised, supplicant. Richard stood before them, sword unsheathed. Victor stood at his side, leaning close. Her feet pounded at the leaf-strewn path. Metal glinted. Pleas became screams. Alexis’ voice joined them. "No!"

By the time she arrived, there was nothing but corpses and blood.

Alexis dropped to her knees, voice rasping. "Richard… What did you do?" His eyes were hard as he turned to her. "What I had to." "But they- They were harmless. " The scene wavered in her gaze. "They were innocents!" "Ah, but there’s no such thing as an innocent lizardman, is there?" Victor said, grinning wickedly. "No. Alexis, you’ve seen for yourself what they’re capable of," Richard said. "They had to die." "There were children!" "Better to stop them now then," Victor said. "Richard… This is wrong. You must see that?" "All I see," Bastet said, coming to a panting halt, "is a hero doing what’s needed to keep our world safe." She waved the scrolls found in the temple. "We found evidence they were going to bring the whole world under their heel." Alexis gaped. "That’s not- We don’t know-!" Richard spat on the corpses. "That sounds like something these filthy rotten snake cultists would do." "Where’s Goregut? He’ll make you see-" "Goregut’s dead." Richard’s voice was hard with the faintest of tremors, his face turned to the jungle. "Stabbed through the back by one of these putrid cunts." He turned to Alexis and swallowed. "I’m sorry. I know you liked him. But now, do you see? They had to pay. They all have to pay!" Alexis’s mouth moved. She clutched a fist over her heart. Bastet crowded in onto Richard’s other side, her eyes alight. "Yes! Yes, you are so brave taking on this burden." "Such a true paladin!" "What can we do to help?" Richard kicked at one of the bodies. "We should move deeper. Take them all out. Stop them for good! Yes," he looked back at the others, "we must keep our people safe. We’ll keep all of Allansia safe forever from this evil!" Alexis pulled herself to her feet. "We can’t!" Richard turned back. The hate in his gaze took her breath away. She swallowed. "We, um, we need more provisions. We don’t have enough. To carry on. We should go back to Toreguard-" "To Port Blacksands!" Bastet crowed. "An excellent idea! We can find men and supplies!" "No… That’s not-" But Bastet and Victor were already guiding Richard back the way they’d come, already discussing what they’d need for such an excursion. Alexis watched them stride past, mouth agape, hands clenched and tears in her eyes. "Alexis. Come on," Richard called back over his shoulder. Mute and staggering, Alexis followed behind.

#writing #oc alexis dalliance #fighting fantasy #titan fighting fantasy #tag game #7 lines #last line game #nine lines nine people #wandering words #richard tetherson #bastet #victor with a monocle #original character #I was rather hoping I wouldn't have to write the war crimes. Fully open to concrit - LMK if this is handled badly #FYI - this is why we have a session 0 in TTRPGs now #this has been in my drafts so long #series ADvEoT #wip 'Young Dagger False Dream'

[olliesneweyes]

rapidly spinning potential perspectives of the train au of norton and fredereicj rn god save me

WOOOOOOOOOOOO

#fun fact i just dropped something about that in your askbox #but on a different note to that ask i think Frederick's povs would have little speech bubbles that pop in from offscreen #to symbolise the voices he hears #and there's a small detail of them fading immediately whenever he hits his tuning fork in an animation or something #little details are my favourite actually #i think Victor's “speech” (writing) would be in a different font #but if you're in Andrew's pov they're a bit blurry until he puts his monocle on #train au

[rejectedbad]

Rejected Bad: Monocle

The following is a rejected script from an early season of Breaking Bad.

INT. GUS'S OFFICE - DAY

Gus sits behind his desk, wearing a new chicken-themed monocle. He examines it, proudly showing it off to Walter and Victor, who both stand in front of him.

GUS:  (serenely)  Gentlemen, behold my latest acquisition - a chicken-themed monocle. A testament to elegance and sophistication.

WALTER:  (smiling)  Impressive choice, Gus. It suits you quite well.

VICTOR:  (nods)  Yeah, boss. It's pretty cool. I like your style.

Jesse, standing near the doorway, stifles a laugh but fails. He bursts into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, clutching his stomach.

JESSE:  (laughing)  Sorry, sorry, but seriously, a chicken monocle? That's hilarious, man!

Gus's face remains calm, but the smile vanishes from his eyes. He exchanges a disappointed look with Walter.

Walter lets out a sigh.

WALTER:  (disappointed)  Jesse, do you ever know when to keep your mouth shut?

VICTOR:  (angrily)  What did you say to the boss, Pinkman! Gus leans back in his chair, clasping his hands together.

GUS:  (steely tone)  Victor, would you mind giving our dear Jesse a few seconds' head start?

Victor puts on a cold expression and steps towards the door.

VICTOR:  (serious)  Sure thing, boss.

Jesse's laughter fades as he realises the gravity of the situation. He looks around, panic-stricken.

JESSE:  (whispering to himself)  Oh, crap.

Jesse bolts for the exit, his heart pounding.

EXT. INDUSTRIAL LAUNDRY FACILITY - DAY

Jesse races through the maze-like halls of the facility, glancing back nervously. His footsteps echo, adding to the intense atmosphere.

INT. GUS'S OFFICE - DAY

Walter walks over to the window and watches as Jesse disappears into the distance, and Victor in hot pursuit.

WALTER:  (sighs)  He never learns, does he?

Gus adjusts his monocle, his face showing a mix of disappointment and determination.

GUS:  No, Walter. But there are lessons that must be taught.

Walter nods, respecting Gus's authority.

WALTER:  Of course, Gus. You handle it as you see fit.

Gus gives Walter a stern glance, then looks back at a reflection of his chicken-themed monocle with renewed pride.

GUS:  (gritting his teeth)  No one laughs at me, Walter. Not anymore.

They share a silent understanding as the scene fades out, leaving a sense of impending consequences.

FADE OUT.

#breaking bad #rejected bad #walter white #jesse pinkman #gus fring #victor #monocle

[sveene]

So I’ve decided to make a horror-verse version of Mandroid, who we will call ‘Victor’. In this au, Vic is reincarnated after the healing ray undoes the damage his energy weapon caused. After being brought back, Vic finds himself at a crossroads in life. His ultimate weapon was a failure and it cost him his life, seemingly for nothing. He is approached by Alex Malto, who still wishes to extend a show of friendship to the man he once knew. Vic is hesitant but also in a great deal of shock. With nothing to look forward to, he begrudgingly accepts and, in a sense’ ‘teams up’ with his former enemies against a new threat.

The new threat being the Plague Virus that is not only a threat to their face, but also to humanity as well. Mandroid’s original goal was to protect humanity no matter what, so that is still his objective. He’s definitely not going to be easy work for them, though. He still has much to sort through mentally as well as physically, as his form continues to be upgraded. I’m hoping to explore more of it with some comic panels going forward. Somehow I can’t get it out of my head, the idea of Mandroid becoming an anti-hero. It was necessary, I had to make it happen 😂👌🏼

It’s been ages since I did anything with my horror-verse but since chatting with @monocle-teacup I kinda feel inspired to now.

#tfe #join us in mandroid hell #mandroid final form tfe #art #horrortron #my art #tfe mandroid #digital drawing #digital art #illustration #transformers #transformers earthspark #tfe dr meridian #transformers earthspark mandroid #alex malto #tfe alex malto #transformers horror au

[mazm-imagines]

Victor and Erik, you're the reason I now only like black haired men with very dubious morality

"I have nothing to say to that..." Victor sighed out.

"I have plenty to say about it... you must be desensitized to all the compliments you recieve... at the very least I will be grateful." Erik gave a haughty smirk towards the other man who could only knit his eyebrows in frustration.

"You are mistaken to see me as 'dubious' if this man right here is your basis of comparison." Victor narrowed his eyes to look up at Erik.

"I am nothing like him, and in fact I think I can be forgiven for my misdeeds as they are mistakes! Mistakes I made for the better good! And what do you do sir? Cry over a woman that does not even fancy you?! The only thing we share is black hair... in fact I may just go white with distress!" With every exclamation Victor had drowned more in his self-righteousness. His monocle nearly falling off as he threw himself into a fit. Erik had met Victor's disgruntled expression with his own, dry lips sealed in disdain.

"'Mistakes' such as creating a child and abandoning it... I pity your child and may just go look for it myself." That alone made Victor far worse than the Shah in Erik's mind.

"You are utterly abhorrent, but it is not as if you are special... any man can fool around and abandon the result. But you take it one step forward. I have my reasons as well, so shut your mouth! I think I have far more of an incentive to do what I do! In the name of love of course- Christine loves me! You have no idea of the depths of her love for me..." Erik tightened the noose around his knuckles as a silent threat to the other man, who only nervously looked down to stare at his shoes before snapping his head back up.

"I will not take this slander from a man such as yourself!"

"Then fight me in a battle of wits... or better yet fight me like a man and duel!"

"I will do no such thing!"

#mazm #mazm phantom of the opera #mazm thy creature #Erik #victor frankenstein #answered ask #200 followers event #Mazm crossover

[mordenheim]

Fictober 2023 04: “Do you even know what this means?”

Dr. Mordenheim grinned a sharp-toothed maniacal grin as he lowered a protective monocle over the pale blue eye that was not covered by a patch. The towering zebra rand from one computer to the next, making adjustments and preparations for the coming experiment.

His assistant, Drago, the powerfully built orange scaled dragon hefted a huge block of carbon steel onto the testing platform and made sure it was carefully centered within the markings made by the doctor. Once that was finished, he stepped slowly back out of the way, making a face as he plucked at the white lab coat the zebra had insisted he wear. Flight jackets were really more his style.

"Alright, I think everything is ready." Victor grinned, rubbing his hands with glee. His hoof-tipped fingers clacked against each other softly as he slipped behind a protective lead shield.

Drago blinked as he saw the zebra vanish from sight and looked around for similar cover for himself. "Say, Doc? Where should..."

"Three..."

"Hey! Hold on a second! I'm not..."

"Two....."

"Oh now don't you d..."

"ONE!"

There was a single, blinding flash of light and Victor stepped from behind the shield. There was a loud grating of metal on metal as the huge block seemed to draw in on itself, pulling away from all of the markers on the table evenly an inch, then two, four, eight, sixteen. He gave a mad cackle of glee as the massive four foot tall block of metal was now small enough to pick up in a single hand, barely the size of a Rubik's Cube!

"We did it, Drago, the experiment was a success!"

"Yeah, sure, great... Wonderful.. Just great..."

"You sound unhappy. Do you even know what this means?"

Grumbling angrily, the now six inch tall dragon stomped out from behind the leg of the table that the shrunken block had been perched upon.

"Yeah, yeah I think I have a pretty good idea..."

#fictober23 #shrinking #micro #my obligatory size shenanigans start here

[eliza-writes-stuff]

hey guess who wrote a songfic

yeah me and i still don't know how to write one lol

so yeah it's another claudeger short fic or drabble... idk what to call it. let's just say i wrote this as a warmup for a longer fic coming up!

anyways, enjoy this very fluffy songfic based on Let's Call the Whole Thing Off :D

i also put this fic in ao3 link so check it out!

The mini boombox plays a familiar tune, yet people might’ve forgotten this ancient song. Since it’s a 150-year-old song… Still, it’s a good classic for Claude. The mutant doesn’t really keep up with the trends unless it’s related to his job. He prefers listening to jazz and some old rock. Everyone has their taste.

Things have come to a pretty pass

Our romance is growing flat

He does not know what Albert’s favorite is. It’s obscure, that’s for sure, but whatever makes him happy. As long as he gets to see Albert do his little dance. Although, his lover loves to drag him along to the beat.

For you like this and the other

While I go for this and that

Oh, Claude didn’t notice that his hands were in rhythmic motion to the song playing. Even though he’s just washing the dishes. It makes it less boring, he guesses. He puts the clean plate on the drying rack, and he continues on the next one.

Goodness knows what the end will be

Oh, I don't know where I'm at

It looks as if we two will never be one

Something must be done  

His ears picked up the sound of footsteps behind him. Claude’s body relaxes when affectionate arms wrapped around his waist. At the corner of his monocle, the head of his lover rests on Claude’s shoulders.

“Hello, Albert.” The mutant greeted. He’s still focusing on washing the dishes. “How did your little nap go?”

“Not the same without you.” Albert’s hands wander on Claude’s stomach.

You say either, I say either

You say neither and I say neither

Either, either, neither, neither

Let's call the whole thing off, yes

“Someone must do chores around here.” Claude said.

“I could’ve helped you...”  

He chuckles, “But you look so peaceful, dear. I didn’t want to disturb you.” Well, Claude knows what Albert’s ability is for his ‘work.’ From what he heard from his boss, plus his lover. Albert doesn’t actually sleep during the duration of his ‘session’.

That’s why Claude drags him back to the couch. To cuddle into a fulfilling nap. They sound like an old married couple, huh? They might compete with Vincent and Victor. Albert would love to relish in that if they were the best couple.

You like potato and I like potato

You like tomato and I like tomato

Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto

Let's call the whole thing off    

“Hey, our song is playing.” Albert mentioned. His hands now rested on Claude’s wrist. The mutant stopped what he’s doing right now.

“Yeah?” The mutant sets down the dish in the sink.

Albert turns Claude around until they face each other. His hands hold on to the blue, soaked hands. With the song playing in the background. They’re staring at each other with endearment. Sort of romantic. Albert drags him away from the sink. Claude can’t help but let out a laugh.

“Hey, hold on-“

“The dishes can wait, honey.” Albert stops himself and turns up the boombox. Then he leads Claude into the living room.

Their cat, Sock, stares at them with curiosity. The couple tries not to trip over. However, one of them bumps into the coffee table. Albert has his hand on Claude’s shoulder, and the other one is holding his hand. Claude almost forgot what to do, but he rested his hand on Albert's waist. He supposes this is nothing to complain about if he gets to be close to Albert.

Their bodies didn’t move in synchronization with the beat. There were stumbles, and sharing carefree laughter. Very clumsy. They can only dance with uneven steps in this space. Claude amusedly spins Albert underneath his arm before bringing him close to Claude’s body. His heart soars when he gets to see Albert having a genuine smile. But it’s best to not worry about the minor details.

As long as they’re close together, nothing matters..

But oh, if we call the whole thing off

Then we must part

And oh, if we ever part

Then that might break my heart

“Dear,” Albert had to stop his laughter, “It’s strange I wished we would stay like this forever. That I want to be a goby fish to your pistol shrimp.”

Claude rolled his eyes. “Are you saying we have a symbiotic relationship, or are you calling me blind?”

“The first one, of course! But I’m also glad to be your eyes.” Albert leans in close to Claude’s face, noses slightly touching.

#claudeger #vtsom #twdak #vincent the secret of myers #therapy with dr albert krueger #albert krueger #vtsom claude #this fic is for me and a few people who like this ship #WOOOOO #song fic #eliza writes

[simple-seranade]

@hopepetal agent of chaos reporting for duty o7

Schlatt glances warily at his approaching opponent, the uproarious cheers of the crowd making his head pound. Rolling forward in a golden wheelchair, the man is dressed in a suit with a combination of colors so mismatched that Schlatt wonders if he even looked putting it on. To top it all off, a cartoonishly large top hat sits atop his head. Scars run across his nose and cheeks, proof of the battles he fought to get here- the disgraced president heard that crow guy’s wife got in a few solid swings.

He’s… ruggedly handsome, with a beaming grin and warm eyes behind the golden monocle he wears- even Schlatt will admit that. Still, something about him is sharp, a subtle piercing in his gaze as he looks Schlatt up and down. A voice as bubbly and smooth as a glass of champagne speaks up.

“So you’re my opponent! I’ve heard so much about you! The name is Scar, mayor of Good Times- and also the shopping district.” He sticks out a hand, which Schlatt slowly reaches forward and grasps.

He doesn’t know what he was expecting. But the feeling of the hand slotting firmly and perfectly into his, even just as a handshake, was definitely not it.

“Schlatt, rightful president of Manberg.” He looks his opponent up and down, studying him again, more intently. President, mayor… similar stories, in the end. Or, a small part of him that he quickly shuts up thinks, the beginning. 

“Now, Schlatt, buddy- can I call you buddy?- there’s really only one way this can go down. It’s great you made it this far, but as both the good guy and the HotGuy, I think it’s clear who this victor will be.”

Schlatt raises an eyebrow. “The good guy? Sounds rich from the guy strutting about in gold.”

“Things gotta be done for the greater good.” Scar leans back in his chair, surveying the former president. “Shame, too, a handsome guy like you could have gone far.”

Ah, so that’s this guy’s game. Jokes on him, Schlatt invented it.

“Well, the people like what they like. And my charisma and charm has gotten me this far, I wouldn’t count me out just yet.”

Something gleams in Scar’s eyes, and he glances around before motioning for Schlatt to bend down. He does so, only to nearly lose his balance as he’s tugged down by his tie.

 “I may be a business man, but I don’t think any amount of money I could charge for this would be fair. After all, you’re priceless.” Scar’s looking up at him with wide, faux innocent eyes, and oh hell, this is stupid, he’d have to be drunk to be flustered by this- oh wait. 

Whatever. As he said, two can play at that game. He plucks the hat off Scar’s head, holding it between them and the audience. “Call it a museum then, since you’re a masterpiece.”

Scar’s eyes widen, a faint pink dusting his cheeks before he smiles. It’s genuine, warm and sharp. “Well, I guess we’ve lingered long enough. Before the fight though-“ Schlatt’s too stunned to move as Scar tugs him down, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. It barely brushes him, but Schlatt can feel his face grow warm, much to his dismay. “- let’s meet up once this is all over, yeah?” The mayor says, finally releasing his opponent's tie.

All the president can do is nod as he straightens, balling his fists. Damn this outrageously handsome and charming man- that was his domain! Then again, he guesses that is what this battle is about.

Of course he manages to meet his possible match on the battlefield, both romantically and physically. He always gets this kind of luck.

Still, a small part of him still glows against the alcohol inside him as he dodged the first punch, excited for what’s to come- not just during the tournament, but after.

i wrote this solely to torture other tumblr users ngl, to all my friends: this was my feral indulgence for the week.

#do i even tag this #i don’t want to use the ship name #schlatt x scar #schlatt #gtws #crack #mcytblr sexyman #my writing #unfortunately #but this is chaos so it’s worth it

[victorluvsalice]

-->And with that, it was Grand Breakfast Time! ...okay, more accurately, it was Leftover Grand Breakfast Time, as I still had some just-still-good Grand Breakfast from Harvestfest. And also it was more Leftover Grand BRUNCH because they ate at 1 PM in the afternoon. But hey, all that the game requires to fulfill this tradition is that a Sim EATS a grand meal, sooo... XD

Anyway -- Grand Breakfast! Alice called everyone to eat up these leftovers before they went bad, and everyone grabbed a plate. Including Smiler, who took their usual bite before I was able to get them to stop because, well, I guess they always feel like they should TRY the food despite their Withered Stomach. *pats them* At any rate, I was able to have them join in by drinking a plasma fruit at the table, and everyone had a lovely time sharing the holiday spirit and complimenting each other and whatnot. Smiler even brought Kelly in on the fun by bringing her in for a big old hug near the end of the meal! How adorable, right? :)

-->And then, just as everyone was wrapping up and Victor was being entertained by the kittens, I looked over and saw Kelly nomming on the now-very-spoiled Grand Breakfast leftovers. XD Yeah, uh, both Victor AND Alice came in quick with a "hey, don't eat that!" lecture for her. Victor's didn't seem to have much effect, but Alice must have taken a sterner tone, as Kelly stopped after that. I'm not TOTALLY against Sim pets occasionally getting human food, but I'm PRETTY sure spoiled pancakes are not good for a Sim kitty tummy, any more than they're good for a Sim human's!

-->With the cat removed from the stinky leftovers, I decided that the trio should have some fun in the snow -- after all, if the game is going to give us a white Winterfest, we might as well take advantage of it! So once the dishes from the meal were all cleaned up, everyone went outside to make snow pals! Smiler made a fancy man with a monocle; Alice went very traditional with a cute bobble hat and carrot nose; and Victor decided to go punk with a two-ball pal sporting an icicle mohawk and shades. Perhaps they're the rebellious teenager of the family. XD But everyone had a lovely time making their snow pals, and I was very pleased with the results. So far, this Winterfest was going great! :D

#sims 4 #the lazy save #victor van dort #alice liddell #smiler always #I mean it does occur to me now that I should have had either Victor or Smiler set the table #but ah well too late now #next time there's a fancy meal holiday! #and yeah the problem with 'Call To Meal' is that it makes Smiler take a plate #and they ALWAYS take a bite of the food before I can stop them #I let them take a plate just so they'll be sitting with Victor and Alice #but obviously they can't actually EAT so #sometimes I wonder if I should respec their weaknesses #but honestly Withered Stomach is one of the good ones #because your vampire Sim shouldn't be eating human food anyway #they make do! #and yes had to do snow pals :) #I would have done a group one but as far as I know only two Sims can work on one snow pal at a time #so instead I had them each make their own #resulted in a little family of sorts as you can see #I like it XD #queued

[aquarius-stories-and-story-ideas]

(Commissioned another screenshot edit from @paimaniagalaxia (I'm in love with her art! ^.^). Here we have a screenshot edit from the Victor and Valentino crossover episode. Little Esther is so happy to see her Uncle and he's more than happy to cradle her in his free arm (Cuteness overload!). Here's how I think the ending scene in that episode would play out with Esther in it.)

Esther and the others gathered around the now 'normal' baby that was Cacao. Flug raised his weapon and fired a net at him. He quickly tied the opening shut and picked him up. Esther merely looked at the now tearing up 'baby'.

"Thanks to your help, we have nullified the threat." Praised the scientist.

Victor seemed to be having trouble fully processing the situation. "I just can't believe that Cacao was a monster in disguise this whole time."

"I kinda knew it ever since we did time together." Added Valentino. "By the way, where's my robot butler?" Right on queue a hat butler rolled up next to him. The younger brother grinned. "Butler!" He briefly placed a hand on the robot's shoulder. "I'm going to name you, Butler."

Flug got a stick and tied the bagged baby to it and slung it over his shoulder. Victor gave him a confused look. "I still don't understand. Cacao was a bad guy?"

Flug looked at him. "Um. What do you mean?"

"I'm actually wondering that myself." Said Esther.

Before the scientist could answer the children the sky turned red and dark. Everyone looked up to see red swirling clouds and familiar evil laughter filled the area. Lightning crackled across the sky and everyone was thrown back as a vast thunderbolt struck where they were.

A silhouette of a tall man in a hat holding a cane stood where the group once was. Lightning thundered behind him, revealing the man as Black Hat. Everyone with the exception of Esther and Dementia was terrified of this sudden assurance.

Victor lightly screamed in fright and Flug tried his best to keep a level head. "L-Lord Black Hat!" He shifted to his knees. "We apprehended the hero just as you asked, sir."

Victor looked at him as he bowed in respect to him. "You work for this guy?"

Esther grinned. "Uncle Black Hat!"

She happily ran up to him and he scooped her up in his free arm. This caused Victor to become even more confused. "That's your Uncle?!"

Valentino looked at Black Hat curiously as he held his new robot's hand. "Hey Butler, you kinda look like that funny hat guy."

Black Hat scowled as he turned towards the child. Esther was completely oblivious to everything as she snuggled against her Uncle's form. She placed a hand on his chest as his monocle briefly glowed green a couple of times.

The robot's eyes turned green and exploded. Valentino was taken aback. "B-Butler?!" He knelt down next to the ashes. "Butler?! No, Butler!"

Esther was brought back to reality upon hearing Valentino's crying. Before she could see what was going on Black Hat turned his body away from the scene so she wouldn't see it. Dementia scurried over to Flug and Victor. The scientist was saluting and had a nervous expression on his face. Black Hat walked closer to them with Esther still nestled in his free arm.

"Bring that hero to me." He commanded. He summoned his cane back in his shadow and motioned for his employees to come to him.

"Yes, my Lord." Said Flug and both he and Dementia trotted over to him.

"Cacao." Said the baby as he looked at Victor.

This did not sit well with Victor, who was becoming more confused by the second. "Hero?! But, what about nerd squad and he-he was a monster and-"

Dementia turned to him. "Oh, didn't anyone tell you, kid? We're the bad guys. Except Esther. Tootles." She ran over to Black Hat and put her hands on his shoulders. "Let's go home, hot stuff."

Black Hat scowled at her and placed his other hand around Esther to keep her in place. A bolt of lightning struck where they were standing and they were gone.

Victor was at a loss for words. "What? But, how could? How-how could? How could they be the bad guys? Why was Esther with them if she isn't bad and-and-"

Valentino walked over with the ashes of his robot in his hands and let it drop to the ground. "I'm bad now?"

His brother gave him a hard look. "No! Noooo!"

"I'm bad now."

"No."

He grinned. "I'm bad now."

"Noooo!"

Meanwhile, at Black Hat manor, the gang was transported into Flug's lab. The scientist put the captured Cacao onto one of the tables. He gave the baby a curious look. "Hero, huh? If I may, my Lord, what has this creature done to earn the title of hero?"

Said man looked at him, Esther still in his arms. "Apparently he has a fascination for chocolate and likes to guard cacao trees. Although, I question the decision of giving this creature the title of hero myself."

Esther looked up at her Uncle. "What makes you say that?"

As if right on queue, purple tentacles slithered out of the baby's mouth and tore through the net. Flug stepped back as the baby rose into the air using his tentacles.

Black Hat merely looked at the creature with a neutral expression. "He has a nasty habit of causing massive collateral damage. From the reports I've read, he went undercover because he kept on destroying the towns he lived nearby and the residents weren't too happy with him. This is why that client reached out to us."

Just as Dementia pulled a weapon out of her hair Black Hat turned to leave. "I'll leave you two to clean up this mess. I want that creature contained by dinner time." He looked down at his niece with a soft smile. "He's not really a hero. Just a creature who claims to be. Now, how about we get you cleaned up and have some tea?"

She grinned and hugged him. "I would love that. Thank you, Uncle Black Hat. I love you so much."

He returned the hug. "I love you too, sweetheart."

#villainous #flug villainous #black hat villainous #dementia villainous #villainous art #art #art commission #villainous oc #esther

[mr-nauseam]

I DONT WHY I FEEL SHY FROM TIME TO TIME HERE ON TUMBLR. LIKE YALL KNOW IM TRASHY LOOSER.

So here are my mental designs from Holmes lore (and Bunny & Raffles bc in my head THEY MEET). Like Im working in it. I dont draw so much so thats why I use this picrew. I edit some of them. The translate say no rule is against that but if someone know better pls tell me and Im gonna fix it. But FOR NOW meet my babies.

I was very honest when I tell you mates that now I will treat them like my ocs.

First to left to right we have:

Sherlock (not a fan of my edit tbh but its what we had for now), John Watson, Watson brother's.

Then is

Mycroft ( Actually I wanted a monocle but it was complicated to edit to me), Raffles and Bunny.

And finally:

Victor Trevor, Lestrade and Hopkins. HE RESERVED SO MUCH LOVEE.

In a while Im gonna made their biographys. Feel free to ask me anything!

#multiverse of homosexuals victorian #sherlock holmes #john watson #lore #picrew #designs

[druidx]

Find the Word Tag - Alexis Dalliance vs the Evil of Titan - Part 2

I have a lot of Find the Word tag games. So I decided to put them all together to make me edit the Alexis Dalliance vs the Evil of Titan, a NaNoWriMo novel from 2012 based on the first TTRPG campaign I participated in the Fighting Fantasy World of Titan setting.

There was a total of 145 words to find so I've split these into batches of ~50. I've not removed any duplicates, and where there's not an exact match I've used synonyms instead.

I've grouped the words by the original tagger - though some of these are old enough the tagger has changed URLs...

Fair warning before you click:

I have tried to keep the snips short, but at ~8,320 words, this post is 'colour of the sky' long.

Well, if we're sitting comfortably, I'll begin.

➤ @autumnalwalker

Advice (Instruction)

The group once more reached the gates of Castle Dire “Ho there!” Richard hollered up at the guards stationed above. “We return on the instruction of Corporal Janz, bringing the gift from my lord, Zharradan Marr, to his Lordship Balthus Dire.” A cautious face popped up over the battlements. “Good Gods,” said Janz. “Is that it?” Alexis clenched her jaw at his tone. “Yes, it is,” Richard yelled back. “Now let us in, if you please.” “Alright, alright. Keep your pants on.” Janz vanished from view.

Alright

Alexis woke from where she’d curled up under a table. As she crawled out from under the table, she found Victor still drinking, helping himself to a barrel of ale with its top stoved in. “I’m going a-bed,” she declared, her words slurring together. “You should do the same.” Victor grinned, singing something unintelligible in an off-key warble. Alex waved a wagging finger at him. “You better pay for that barrel you’re draining.” “Course!” Victor beamed at her. “We were ordered t’see Yazty and the Cap’n. You better be at Townhall by noon. Got it?” “Aye, aye, sir!” Victor gave her a lazy salute. “Well, alright. I’m going t’bed,” she said and left him to it.

Bite

Back at the inn, Alexis hitched the horses outside and went in, finding Richard in the middle of breakfast. As soon as he saw her, he unfolded himself from the low seating, and they met in the middle of the carpeted space. “Alexis-” Brown hair flopped into his face as he bowed his head, his shoulders slumping with relief. “I… I thought you might have left us.” Awkwardly, he places a hand on her shoulder. “Psh. Never,” she said. “You’d trip the first trap you found and get yourself killed if I wasn’t here.” Despite her flippant words, Alexis squeezed his hand and grinned. He smiled back. “Probably.” “Definitely.” Together they returned to his table, and Richard took a bite from his flatbread. "I’ve sent Bast and Victor to get trail rations and other supplies. Um. I’m afraid Goregut won’t be joining us. He’s decided he’s quite fond of the desert and has joined a mercenary band. He left with a caravan at first light.” His brown eyes regarded her over the bread, lips pursed in a silent question. “Oh.” Alex’s hand found the necklace of bone Gorgut had given her. “A shame. I should have liked to have said goodbye. I guess this means we have an extra horse then.”

Connection

Victor turned away from where he’d been poking at the bottom of a wall and grinned. “Why, Rock to Mud, of course.” “And what is that?” Richard asked. “A spell. If I use it on the base of the walls, the unworked stone here, see? The foundations will collapse, the temple will fall in on itself, be swallowed by sand, and we can be on our merry way.” He dusted his hands off with a grimace. “I don’t know about you, but the heat and dust and significant lack of beer is becoming increasingly tedious.” "I don’t see any other options,” Alexis said. “All right then, let's do that.” Bastet stood, walking over to the tunnel connecting the chamber with the outside, and Alexis joined her. “Whenever you’re ready,” Richard said, motioning the other two up the tunnel to give Victor room to work.

Duck

Victor continued, unfazed, “It seems we were expected, presumably by Yaztromo’s mysterious source. The chappy over there said he would only speak to us together." "Let’s not leave him waiting then," Richard said, leading the way across the street towards the man in question. The man lifted his chin as he saw them cross and ducked down the alley behind him. He led them, keeping his distance, as the alley jinked back and forth, past the occasional body or sack of detritus. He stopped, finally, next to an unremarkable wooden door. Alexis squinted. In the gloom opposite the obvious door was another of dark metal, recessed into the dank brick.

Initially (Introduce)

"Where in the hell are we?" Alexis asked. Despite the guard, Bastet stood up and went to the bars to look around. "What are you doing? Get her back from there. Do you want to get us all in trouble?" came a new voice, hissing from the corner. Alexis turned. In the faint light of the torches, she could just pick out the pale, emaciated form of an elven woman. Her wide, fearful eyes were fixed on Bastet. “You’d better come away,” Alexis said, poking Bastet in the leg. “I’d guess we’re in some kind of drow-run mine,” Bastet said as they sat next to the woman. “Yes,” she said. “We’re on the outskirts of the Darkwood Forest. They have us mining for moonstones.” Alexis held out her hand, introducing herself and Bastet. "I’m Nassurae Talloth," the woman said, ignoring Alexis’ hand. "Now, please, you must get some sleep. Don’t make the guard come back.” Alexis and Bastet glanced at each other as Nassurae moved to the back of the cell, cuddling down with her fellows. “I can’t do anything without my tools,” Alexis said. “We may as well get some rest then,” Bastet said. “I was never stationed at a place like this, but I’ve heard the rumours. We’ll need all the strength we can muster to survive.” So saying, she laid down. Alexis followed suit, trying to get comfortable on the cold, stony ground.

Not

As Richard paid for their meal, Alexis rolled the map up, stuffing it into her pack. “Let’s see if we can drag those two away from their entertainment,” Richard said dryly. Alexis glanced out. The tiles had been put away in favour of a pack of cards and a bottle of pale golden liquor. Bastet now sat, engaging in a drinking contest with a burly half-orc woman. Alexis snorted, and they left the tent. Richard was ahead of her, striding over, no doubt with an admonishment on his lips, when Alexis felt the back of her neck prickle. She stopped, looking around, as twiclings shifted around her. The crowds parted, just for a moment, and she spotted people in what appeared to be clerical vestments. She squinted. Except, something wasn’t quite right… One of them twisted, looking straight at her. “Shit…” He nudged his companion and pointed. “Richard!” she yelled and ran. Today was a day when being small worked in her favour. Alexis shot through the crowds, darting this way and that, winding through the legs of people and animals alike. But though it might help her lose the cultists, she’d also lose her backup. Eventually she was going to run out of legs to hide behind and have to face the cultists on her own – a prospect she did not look forward to.

Once

The blanket of night was once more drawing over as the group approached the flickering lights of Castle Dire. A blanket was thrown over Three and coin exchanged with the duty guards to smuggle him through the gates and into the city. While Richard and Victor stayed in a shadowy nook with Three and their mounts, Alexis and Bastet ventured into the bustling city to find a place for the night. They followed the smells of late-night street food stalls to a place where the cobbled road turned to dirt and the pub signs creaked and flaked as they swung. Two men, in the midst of a fight, tumbled out of one of the myriad drinking houses, followed by a small cheering crowd. In Thieves Cant, Bastet signalled that it advertised stables as well as room and board. A female orc came blundering out after the two humans, grabbing them by the collar. As the pair watched, the orc slammed the two men together, dropping them in a lump at her feet. Their coin purses were removed, the orc yelling for them to never darken her door again. Alexis tilted her head towards the establishment, eyebrows raised in question. Bastet gave a shrugging nod. Silently, they split up – Bastet into the inn, and Alexis to retrieve their fellows.

Pass

“So, how are repairs going?" she asked as the barman began to draw their drinks. "Good. Very good," he replied. "We’ve been one of the first they’ve set to work on. Can’t think why.” He winked as he set Richard’s beer on the counter and moved to draw Alexis’. “Now the pub’s passed to me after old Finnley lost his life in all the troubles, I’m thinking to rename her. Fresh start and all.” He put Alexis’ drink down. “That’ll be a silver bit for the beers and meals then.” “Oh really?” Alexis gave a puckish smile and slid a gold piece over the counter. ”Are you taking name suggestions?” The bartender gawped. Then his hands flashed, hurrying to hide the coin. “You keep tipping like that, love, you can name her yourself.” Alexis grinned broadly, sending another gold after the first. “I think The Plot Hook has a nice ring to it myself. How about you?” “Aye, my lady, aye,” the barman said, eyes wide, pocketing the coin. “I’ll have the sign writers in first thing tomorrow.” “Excellent,” Alexis said, still grinning, and jumped from the counter. The barman passed down her beer. “Food’ll be out in a jiffy.”

Recommendation (Charge)

Richard came back in. He took one look at his empty plate and Alexis rubbing her full belly, and sighed. With a wave to the server for more food, he took his seat.

"Those are fine-looking beasts. Well kept and well trained," he said. "The trader must have charged you a fortune." Alexis gave a small, secretive smile. When Richard raised an eyebrow at her, she laughed, a rare tinkling sound. "Actually, no. We, ah…” Heat rose to her cheeks, and she glanced away, still smiling. “He enjoyed our conversation and cut the price on that account." Both of Richard’s eyebrows shot up and he gave her a long, incredulous look before laughing. “I’m glad you’re on my side,” he said with a grin.

Sat

Richard knocked on the Captain’s door From within came Hengar’s voice, "Come in." Inside the cramped office, Hengar was sorting slates on his desk, Yaztromo behind him, looking out of a window. Hengar looked up from his slates and grinned. "Ah, just the rabble-rousers I was hoping to see. You did a very thorough job of giving half the town a hangover. The other half seem to still be inebriated." Hengar gave them a smirk. "I trust that you, my elite squad, are feeling fit as fiddles, and are keen to continue your duties?" The group glanced at each other, sharing trepidation looks. Alexis nodded carefully. "Ye-es?" The Captain sat back in his chair, steepling his fingers and his expression sobered. "Good. Because I’m afraid I have some troubling news for you. The demon Myurr is as tenacious as he is evil. The Eye of Myurr cult has risen again, this time in its ancestral homeland – the swamps of Silur Cha. I’ve had word from the local militia in the area that there has been unusual activity concerning the lizardman population. This has been confirmed by Yaztromo’s colleagues, who’ve also provided intel about a temple in the depths of the swamp which may be used as another portal staging ground. I’ve agreed to send you down there as you’re the only ones in the militia network with the skill and experience to tackle this.” Hengar sighed. “I don’t suppose you’ve kept hold of that nifty little device that you told me about?"

Think

“I’ve not had chance to scout this level completely,” Alexis told the group as they gathered in the stairwell, “but I’m confident there’re no patrols. We should remain quiet and vigilant all the same.” “Agreed,” Ithanor said. With that, Alexis led the party out and along the long dim corridor. Here racks of equipment lined the walls. Alexis steered clear, but Victor, close to the back, paused next to one. “I could do with a sword," he muttered and tugged at a shortsword. The rack toppled and fell. Metal hit stone in a cacophonic tangle. Everyone froze, hands on weapons. The last sounds of spinning metal tapered off and their breath rasped harshly in the silence. Alexis strained her hearing. “I think we’re in the clear,” she whispered. Ithanor shot a glare at Victor. "Do not do that again.” Victor backed away from the rack, the sword still in his hand. "Sorry! Sorry," he said. “At least I got a weapon?” “Could we please continue?” Nathardrin asked, gesturing to Alexis. “Dalliance?” Alexis nodded. “C’mon.”

Under

Presently, the Captain was refreshed and began speaking. "I have a proposition for you all," he told them. "As you may know, we have started this recruitment drive on information that Firetop Mountain, a dwarven settlement a few leagues away, has become overrun by goblins under the leadership of an evil wizard named Zagor. However, I am reluctant to lay siege to this place or approach it under the banner of war without knowing what I am sending my troops into. "You four have recently come to my attention as potential candidates for a special mission, especially you, little one." He stopped and looked pointedly at Alexis before continuing. "The basic is this: I would like you four to infiltrate Firetop Mountain and gather reconnaissance. This is completely voluntary and if you wish, you may leave this room now."

Wake

Morning – or what Alexis presumed to be so; it was impossible for her to tell from underground – came, and Alexis was woken by Nassurae. As she came awake, scrubbing tiredly at her eyes, she saw that Bastet was being woken by another elven woman. "Come, little one. You need to wake up now," Nassurae said, encouraging Alexis to stand. "They will be bringing food soon. If we do not eat it quickly enough, they will take it before we have finished." Alexis nodded. "Will we be able to see our friends when they take us down to the mine?" "Yes," said Nassurae. "But you will not have any opportunity to talk to them. The work is gruelling. You won't have the breath for talking, if you can even get close enough without the guards seeing. They're very strict – if they see the slightest flagging, they will whip you" Alexis nodded. "I'll have to manage. My friends and I have to find a way to escape. We have people relying on us." Nassurae looked like she was about to say something else but then the guards banged on the bars of their cage.

➤ @oh-no-another-idea

Black (Blackguard)

"Why?" he asked. "What did I ever do to you? For that matter, what did the people of Toreguard do to you?" The Blackguard laughed. "In answer to your second question: nothing. But it got your attention, did it not?" He took another step towards them and Richard did the same, drawing his sword. "As to your first question," the Blackguard continued. "You killed my master and mentor. Twice no less! I should thank you for that, but there was still so much I had to learn. And you took that from me!" So saying, Alexis saw rage cloud his eyes and he launched himself at Richard. Their swords clashed and Alexis found herself moving. "Just because he’s here for Richard, doesn’t mean we can’t help our friend!" she yelled, reaching for her crossbow. Bastet put her hand on Alexis’ arm. "No, we shouldn’t interfere. This is a personal journey. Richard needs to do this by himself." "Screw that!" Alexis said, loading her bow.

Deep

"My lord," the steward said, dipping to one knee and bowing. "I present to you emissaries from your brother in wickedness, Zharradan Marr. They bring you a gift of Marr’s design." "Oh ho?" said Dire, standing to stride down the dais towards them. Where Zagor had been the husk of a man long since departed, and Zharradan covered in so many bodily modifications he was more machine than person, Dire was the direct opposite of his brothers. He wore a well-tailored and debonair robe of azure and gold, cinched at the waist with an exquisitely tooled belt; the robe skimmed the ground as he walked towards them. His neatly trimmed hair and beard were a deep, shimmering black, and the nails that traced his cheek in a thoughtful brush were even and manicured.

Hair

"Hail and well met, fair maiden," came a voice from her left. Alexis glanced over to see an elf come from a small, brightly coloured tent. For a moment, she could only stare, jaw slack. The elf was stunning. Hair like golden honey dripped down his back and shoulders, partly plaited and ornamented with beads of turquoise and lapis. Eyes, the deep green of herbs, smouldered from behind pale lashes. His chest was bare, water droplets caught in soft curls of hair shimmering like dewdrops across his tanned skin. Alexis sucked in a breath, biting her lip and the elf flicked a skein of hair over his shoulder, revealing solid biceps cross-crossed with scars. "Hail and well met," she managed to murmur.

Hands

"I shall be sending an extra man with you," Hengar said, waving forward a human with coppery hair. "Since you’re to make your final approach to the fort on foot, Corporal Durnin here will bring your mounts back to town." "We’d best get going then," Nathardrin said, swinging himself up onto a blue roan. Yaztromo stood next to a chestnut mare, speaking softly to her before mounting. Ithanor cupped his hands, helping Alexis to mount up in front of the wizard, before swinging himself onto a handsome grey charger. Richard stood in front of the mount assigned to him, looking at it with some distrust. The bay shook her mane at him. Richard nodded and, with some difficulty, mounted up. With everyone astride, they set out, leaving Toreguarde in the dust.

Ink

Mess

The clamour of the wake-up bells drilled into her skull. Cursing and groaning, Alexis dragged herself to the Mess Hall, wishing her mouth didn't taste like a desert. She dropped down onto an empty bench, resting her head on the rough wooden table. A cup of strong chicory coffee and a plate consisting mostly of grease, with a side of bread and meat, landed in her eyeline. She rocked her head, following the arm to the amused face of Richard. "How do you not have a hangover?" she asked, glaring up at him through one squinting eye. "Because I didn't drink nearly as much as you or the others," he said smugly. "But you were wasted!" Alexis said, wincing at the loudness of her own voice. "I saw you." "No, you only saw what your wobbling vision allowed you to see. Now, eat up. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us, and we still need to go and wake the other two."

Midnight

Once they were all seated, with a small glass of brandy each, he addressed them properly. "What has my elite squad been up to these past months?" Captain Hengar asked. “I send you off to gather intel about the Eye of Myurr cult, and hear nothing of you until you show up in High Creek.” Alexis took a breath, sharing a side glance with Richard. “It’s, ah. Been a… bit of a time, yes. Port Blacksands then…” she said, and between the four of them, they launched into the full tale. Food was brought as morning turned to afternoon, and again as the evening turned, along with fresh bottles of brandy. Each added their own words to the winding story, and even after the tale was done, Hengar asked follow-up questions, having them retell parts he wanted clarity on. By the time they finally finished, it was gone midnight. “Thank you,” Hengar said, “for your patience in explaining this extraordinary affair. I’ve got a lot to think about with this information. Please, get some rest. We’ll talk more about our next steps on the morrow.” With that, they were ushered from the office and back to the barracks, to collapse into deep and dreamless sleep.

Murmur

The sun had barely risen by the time Richard was waking Alexis. After breakfast, the cook handed them packets of prepared trail rations, and they made their way out to the courtyard, where they found the most unusual sight. Next to a pair of horses, there stood a large dog and an oxen. The stable hand saluted them, as Bastet and Victor came sauntering into the yard. "Sirs," said the stable hand, "I took the liberty of sending a runner to wake your friends and bring them here. I have also prepared mounts for you all." Alexis nodded. "Very good, Private… ah?" "Keld. Ceri Keld," said the stable hand. "Thank you, Private Keld." Alexis put her hands on her hips. "What I would like to know, however, is what the hell is that cow doing here?" "Ah…" Keld paled. "I’m not sure, ma’am. It just… sort of… trotted in, and lowed every time one of the other mounts was saddled. So we saddled it, and it went quiet." Alexis raised an eyebrow. "Richard…?" "Umm, yes. This may be my fault," he said. "I do seem to recall, fuzzily, that I left last night and, umm, called for it. I had a feeling, I needed a mount for my paladin-ness. And, well. Oxen are good strong beasts." He walked over. Cow and elf regarded each other, then Richard reached out and gave it a pat on the head. "I shall call him ‘Benevelor’ because he is a holy cow." Victor sniggered a bit before Bastet elbowed him in the ribs. Alexis sighed and shook her head. "Well, it’s nice to meet you, Ben," she said and patted the cow on the leg. it looked at her curiously and then turned away. Richard frowned at her, as she and the others took to their mounts. "It’s Benevalor," he murmured grumpily. "Shall we get this show on the road, lady and gents?" Alexis asked and with that, Richard mounted, with some difficulty, and the four of them set out to Trolltooth Pass.

Sass (cheek)

The pair made their way to the bar – a simple plank supported by several barrels – and were greeted by a rotund human with a thatch of whitening hair. “Ah! ‘Tis our heroes. Welcome home!” he greeted them with a beaming smile. “And what can I get for you fine folks this evening?” Alexis used Richard’s arm to bounce onto the counter. “Dinner and an ale each, if you please.” The barkeeper frowned, his gaze flicking between Alexis and Richard. “A bold little one you’ve here, sir, eh? Though she’s a mite-” He trailed off catching sight of Alexis’ deepening scowl and Richard’s frantic head shaking. His mouth worked as a tense air filled the pub. “I’ll just be getting that for you then.” “You do that,” Richard said, tapping the counter. Alexis blew out her cheeks as the barkeeper turned away.

Shark (Astute)

"Why don't we take this discussion into my tent?" he asked. "It seems so gauche to discuss business out here." "Ah… I would rather not. No offence, but one can never be too careful. You’re charming and beautiful. But so too is a dryad before it strikes." The elf pursed his lips and, with a small sigh, looked away. "Ah, so astute and practical." He turned back. "Very well. Four fine steeds and one fine pony to go to the Pagan Plains." The elf reached behind his head, putting his full chest on display, and bundled his hair into a bun as he walked to the corral. With an unnecessary leap, he vaulted inside, causing a horse to wicker and shy away.

Smile

In the silence, every displaced rock sounded like a boulder, and every tinkle of the picks in the lock sounded like the rattle of chains from the Pit. Alexis breathed slow and even as she felt her way around the inside of the crude lock. But as seconds seemed to stretch for hours she struggled to keep the wave of anxiety from overwhelming her. Bastet was keeping a lookout, but Alexis found little comfort in that fact. What if she missed a signal, what if she couldn’t move fast enough? Never before had so many relied on her skills. Never before had it meant the difference between life and death. The sudden clunk of the lock seemed to reverberate through the darkness. Alexis glanced over at where she knew Bastet stood. The drow flicked a skein of white hair as she turned, her hands flashing the all-clear. Alexis let out a controlled breath and pushed open the cell door, once again waiting for Bastet’s hand signals. When the corridor remained still and silent, the pair slipped out. Nassurea pulled the cell door closed behind them, and Alexis gave her a reassuring smile. Bastet nudged her arm, and Alexis nodded. With one last look at Nassurea’s wide eyes, Alexis took off down the corridor towards the other cells.

Son (child)

CW Slavery

"Bastet, what is the meaning of this?" Richard said, tone hard. "This is Brian. I bought him," Bastet said, preening with the satisfaction of a cat who’d gotten the best bit of fish. Alexis shot Richard a look, trying to convey with the out-jutting of her chin, Now do you believe me she’s Pit-spawn? Richard’s jaw tensed. “You bought him.” “I wasn’t, y’know, gonna keep him,” Bastet said with a derisive huff. She shot Alexis a cold look. “That would be evil.” She returned her attention to Richard. “I was gonna let him go.” Richard crossed his arms. “Alright. Do it now then.” Bastet opened her mouth. “I assume they gave you a key? Get him out of those chains.” “Fine,” Bastet whined like a petulant child. From her brassiere, she plucked a key. The man looked at her with unrestrained hate as she unlocked the heavy manacle around his neck.

Sprint (dart)

The main corridor of the fort was dark, filled with dancing shadows from the smoking torches. From the side passage, the corridor marched both left and right, sharply turning away from her at either end. With a glance, Alexis noted the corridor as empty. Cautiously she padded out to the left, passing under each puddle of light with quick, light steps. At the corner, raucous laughter drew her attention towards a door on the outside of the corridor. With another swift check that no patrols were about to discover her, she darted over, peeking through the wide keyhole. The room inside was well lit by large windows, filled with all manner of green-skins at banqueting tables, hurling food and sloshing ale, tormenting each other with good-natured abandon. Though she wrinkled her nose at the waste of good food and beer, Alexis was pleased to see they were off-duty, and thus less likely to chance on her or her companions.

➤ @spacetimewraithwrites-archive

Cord

Ithanor set to searching the body for Zagor’s phylactery, while the others investigated the room. "Do you think this is it?" he asked, holding up a tubular object on a leather cord. Victor set down the book he was flicking through and walked over. “May I?” Ithanor nodded, holding it out. Victor took it, holding it by the cord as he muttered something under his breath and snapped his fingers. “I think so," he said, handing it back. “It does have a magical aura. We should destroy it anyway. If it was around that abomination’s neck, it can’t be anything good.” “Right.” Ithanor scratched his chin. "How?" Victor opened his mouth, took a breath, and closed it again with a frown. He walked around Ithanor, stroking his chin. Eventually, he stopped and looked at Ithanor. "Hit it with your hammer," Victor said, tone faintly questioning.

Fail

Night was falling by the time they reached Coven, coating the squat buildings in shadows. People – humans and dwarves both – hurried past with suspicious eyes as they made their way up the main street towards the Inn, a tall edifice carved, like the other buildings, from the sharp rock face of the Moonstone Hills and advertised by a swaying sign of a long, greenish tooth. If the outside had been impressive, the inside failed to live up to the standard set. It stank of stale beer and stale bodies, the villagers speaking in hushed tones. Richard went straight to the counter, ordering them rooms and dinner, with Bastet and Victor trailing behind him to order beers. Alexis veered away to read the noticeboard, keeping her ears pricked for any conversation about the fort spanning the pass, or the monster therein. After they’d eaten, Victor took to wandering between the tables, showing off his prestidigitation and other parlour tricks. Alexis trailed behind him, collecting the odd coin and listening hard for any gossip they may help them, but all she heard was related to the daily lives of the villagers. Not long after Victor wrapped up his ‘show’, she headed to bed.

Fault

(Word edited out for better prose)

CW screen readers, unusual dialogue punctuation

Alexis and Bastet approached the door, swaddled in the armour of their enemy. Two goblins stood on either side. One was picking his nails, the other humming some kind of ditty. ⟨Hey up.⟩ The goblin picking his nails stopped, twitching his ears. ⟨What’re you doing here?⟩ Alexis puffed out her chest, summoning her courage from her boots, and prayed she didn’t forget a word or trip over her tongue speaking the goblin’s language. ⟨Whaddya mean, what are we doing here?⟩ she asked, as brazenly as she could. ⟨What’re you two still doing here? It’s your break, innit? Go on, skedaddle.⟩ The goblin lifted his chin, narrowing his eyes. ⟨You’re early.⟩ ⟨Yeah?⟩ Alexis put her hands on her hips. ⟨Dunno what to tell you, mate. Bigboss sent us up here. If he got the times wrong, then that’s on him, innit?⟩ The goblin titled his head, red eyes still narrowed, but the one humming the ditty had stopped, and was leaning forward, twitching his ears. ⟨You really wanna quibble a few extra hours free time? I was you, I’d just take it, mate. 'Specially since they cracked a cask just as we left.⟩ The ditty-singer smacked the nail-picker. ⟨C’mon, lad. S’better than standing around up here. Anyone asks, it ain’t us what’s gotta sort it out.⟩ The nail-picker sniffed, his long nose wobbling. ⟨Fine.⟩ The two left their station and headed down the stairs. Alexis almost felt sorry for what was waiting for them. Almost.

Favour

The ship lurched. Bastet looked up from where she was stowing her pack, gazing out of the porthole. "It looks like we’re on our way," she said. “I’m gonna go check on the boys.” Alexis hummed and Bastet left. Even though Alexis had always been a wanderer with no real home since she’d left the Forest of Night, she still felt a pang of sadness as she watched the quayside slip away. It was going to be a long time before she saw Toreguard or Allansia again. Alexis climbed up on the chest, pressing her hands on either side of the porthole and gazing down at the jumping white flecks caused by the boat’s movement. “Greg,” she whispered. “I’m finally travelling on your favoured domain. No, I know I’m not skating the waves as you would. But, since we’re here, please keep an eye on us during this long journey. Thank you, amen.”

Glow

Alexis and Nathardrin stepped forward, loosing off a round of arrows each, then fell back to let Richard and Ithanor charge forward. The fighters began to pound the hell out of the drow, dropping three before they moved out of the way to let Victor, his hands glowing ferociously and chanting like the wind, cast a sphere of flame that levelled the remaining two.

Make

The wind whistled through the cracks in the door. "A what?" asked Alexis. "A lich. It is an undead creature who has crafted unholy and powerful magics upon itself, removing its soul from the confines of its Titan-bound shell, and placing it inside another item. Until this ‘phylactery’ is broken, the lich can not be truly killed." The group looked at each other. "I had heard of these such beasts, but thought never to encounter one," Ithanor said. "How will we know what the phylactery is, what will it look like?" Alexis asked. "I do not know, I am afraid," Yaztromo said. "They come in many forms, often some item that is important to the owner. It should be on his body, however. All you must do is destroy it and we will be free of his tyranny. Come. There is much to do. We should make ready."

Mark

They waited in the late afternoon sun, Bastet leaning back in her saddle, and Victor playing with a pack of cards. The groaning of wood reached them, quietly at first, then louder as the great gate began to creak open. A platoon of guards appeared in the arch. One, his open helm decorated with curling markwork, stepped forward and saluted. “Ma’am. We’re here to escort you and the gift directly to the castle and Lord Dire.” He looked up at Three. “Is that it?” “It is,” Alexis said, her voice dripping with ice. “And it is to remain in my custody until we are met with Lord Dire. The guard nodded. “Very well, my Lady."

Minute

“You know, we could leave them here?” Alexis suggested. “They still give me the heebie-jeebies, and I just think that maybe-” “Alexis,” Richard snapped, his face creasing into a ferocious frown. “There is nothing wrong with either Victor or Bastet. They’re perfectly normal people. Besides, we need them and their blades. Don’t bring it up again.” “O-okay,” Alexis said, leaning back in her seat, surprised by the vehemence in his voice. “Jeeze, I was only thinking out loud.” His hand landed on the table, rattling the crockery, as he leaned in, still scowling. “Don’t.” Alexis stared, open-mouthed, as he stood. “You have twenty minutes to finish your breakfast, then I expect to see you in the barracks.” With a sharp about-turn, Richard strode off, leaving Alexis hunched into her seat, and reaching for her coffee to calm her frayed nerves. She took a slug of the drink. It had to be the lack of sleep making him crotchety. She dug into her breakfast. Yeah, that had to be it…

Miss

Crackling stacks of papyrus, held down by painted stones, and rolls of parchment lay across the stall’s table. Idly, she picked up one of the rolls, peeking at its contents – a map, of some kind. “Can I help you, little miss?” Alexis looked up to see she was being addressed by an elf, skin and hair like roasted bark, dressed in a squat hat and brightly patterned robe “Yes. I’m looking for a map of the desert. I need to find a particular temple.” “Oh ho! Treasure seekers! Adventurers!” The man grinned widely, spreading his arms to gesture at the stall. “You have come to the right place, little miss. You will not find better maps of this dry and dusty land, than at Hassan’s World of Treasure!”

More

“It’s too powerful. There would be Titan-shattering consequences if it were to be destroyed. And I mean that in its most literal sense.” Victor wrapped his arms around his shoulders. “No. You keep it for now. We’ll give it to Yaztromo. He’ll know what to do with it.” Alexis looked down at the dagger in her hands, eyes widening, breath coming in little gasps, and slowly moved it away from herself. “Richard?” she said in a panicked voice. “It’s just an item,” he said soothingly. “Just... pop it in your pack for now.” Fighting the urge to drop the thing and run, Alexis shucked her pack and buried the dagger the furthest down she could manage. Once she was satisfied, Alexis rose, slinging her pack on, feeling as if it were a hundredweight heavier. “What now?” she asked. “Now, we need to get our mounts and get the hell out of here,” Richard said, moving to help Bastet bring Victor to his feet. “There’s bound to be more dirty rotten cultists running around this place, and I do not want to run into them.”

Morning

Over breakfast the next morning, Richard set down his mug and cleared his throat. “Um. I heard a worrying rumour about my home village last night,” he said. “Would anyone mind if, before reporting back to Captain Hengar, we took a trip to High Creek. I found someone with a bit more information about the rumour, and I’m very worried that something isn’t right there.” Alexis shook her head. “That’s fine with me,” Victor said. Bastet nodded. “Me too.” "Thank you," Richard said with a smile.

Old

When Richard, Bastet, and Goregut showed up at the stables, Victor explained what Bloodbeard had told them about their mounts. Goregut had walked, and Bastet sold hers the moment she could find the stable master. Richard stood stroking the neck of his ox. “Benevelor, my faithful friend, I must send you away for a little bit.” The ox lowed disconsolately, butting it's snout into Richard’s shoulder. “I know old friend, I know. I will call for you as soon as I can. It won’t feel like any time has passed at all, I promise.” The oxen lowed again, and with a heavy sigh, Richard stepped back. He straightened his back, and held his hand out, palm up. “Benevalor,” he said, “I bid thee away to the celestial realms, until a time when I can call for you again." The ox was surrounded by a suffusion of golden light, and with one last dismal moo vanished in a flash of light.

Out

(Edited the word out for better prose)

The pub was looking a lot better than the last time Alex had seen it. The charred wooden pillars had been sanded down, patched up, and varnished. The barrels and haybales masquerading as furniture had been replaced by sturdy chairs and tables. The floor was now stone flags, and the counter was a lovingly crafted piece of art. "Roderick!" she called to the barman as she vaulted up onto a freshly upholstered stool. "Beer me up, man!" Roderick grinned and pulled her a jar of the house special. "Well now, if it isn’t our very own hero. How have you been, milady Dalliance?" he asked, handing her her beer. "Oh, you know.” Alexis flipped a hand. “Running around, saving the world, drinking substandard ale." She took a sip of her beer and smacked her lips. “Damn, but it’s good to be home.” Roderick blushed. “Thankee kindly, m’lady.” Alexis winked. "And you, my friend? How has business been? Did you find a lass to let you be her husband yet?" "Oi you," he said with a blushing smile. Over his shoulder to called into the kitchens, “Nadia-Rose? Are you free a spell?” A woman appeared at the doorway, wiping her hands on her apron. “Yes, love?” She had coppery skin and shining eyes under a cloud of wispy brown hair. “I’d like you to meet someone,” Roderick said, waving her over. Nadia-Rose smiled as she came to the counter, her cheeks dimpling, bringing with her the smell of bread and stew. "Alexis, this is my lovely new bride Nadia-Rose. My darling, this is Alexis Dalliance. When she can, she’s one of my best regulars."

Salt

“Don’t just stand there, ye daffies!” Bloodbeard called, waving them up the gangplank “Come aboard, my lovelies.” Richard led the way, carrying the heavy pouch of money they’d pooled together. “Your payment, as promised, Captin.” “Thankee kindly, lad,” Bloodbeard said, making the vast pouch vanish into his greatcoat. “Mate Arts!” A man with bronzed skin bringing with him the scent of salt and tar appeared with a snappy salute. “Aye, Cap’n?” “Arts, show these lubbers to their quarters, then report back to deck. We’ll be setting the sails in half a turn of the clock."

Scream

Once more Merickson coughed, breath rattling now. “Ah, child. If only it were that easy.” He cupped her face. “I betrayed everything for my own selfish need. That can never be forgiven.” “It can. It can!” Alexis cried, twisting to look at Richard. “Tell him!” Richard looked down at them, face impassive as a stone, eyes like gimlets, trained on Merickson. "You are forgiven, if you want to be," he said, voice flat. "I am beyond forgiveness," Merickson said, and before she could do anything, he put his hands over Richard’s and plunged the sword deeper within himself. "No!" Alexis screamed. "No!" She shook the Blackguard. "No…" Richard withdrew his weapon and wiped the blade. Gently he pulled Alexis away from the body. "It was his choice," he said softly. "But it was wrong and you could have stopped it!" Alexis sobbed. The rain mingled with her tears. She swiped at her face, pushing wet strands of hair away. "It may not seem like it," Richard told her, "but he returned to himself in the end. You had a part in that. In your own way, your forgiveness of his terrible acts let his spirit move on. You should be proud."

Sing (Song)

Richard stood and clasped Ithanor’s free hand. "Of course we’re not upset! I wish you all the best with your new life. We shall see each other again, I am sure of it." Richard grinned, clapping Ithanor on the back. Alexis stood up on her stool and walked along the bar counter to Ithanor. "Fair fortune, my friend," she said and hugged him. "Now finish the goddamn speech!" Laughter rippled through the assembled townspeople. Ithanor guffawed and raised his glass again. "To Toreguard! Fair fortune attend her and her people!" he cried. "Fair fortune!" the crowd called back. The room settled back into laughter and eating, snatches of song stirring as the beer flowed.

Sink (sunk)

"I hit my head as I fell," Victor said, indicating the poorly wrapped gash. "I don’t remember anything." Richard nodded. "I found him unconscious, draped over a bit of wood. He’s lucky though – a moment later and he would have sunk. I managed to drape him over a lost barrel, and swim us both away from the ship."

Smile (Beam)

Alexis blushed and bowed back. "The pleasure is mine, I can assure you. How’s business, Roderick? While I was out shopping earlier, I noticed the town’s starting to look like its old self again.” “Oh aye, things are booming,” Roderick said. “I’d dare say that fire did us a world of good. Everyone has been getting upgrades. You may’ve noticed the town hall and library are stone-clad and tile-roofed now.” “I did indeed. And there’s so many more shops and services.” “There’s been many folks moving in from the villages around, lots of new talents too. Your mate Ithanor’s been struggling to get housing up fast enough. Nadia and I have been helping out with getting the new folks settled, and all this cash flow means we’ve been able to expand the pub too. Your investment’s doing the town right well, milady.” Alex beamed. “I’m so pleased to hear that. From what I can see, everything is working out great. I’m really happy our home is doing so well.” “Oh aye,” Roderick lifted his chin behind her. “Looks like we’re not the only ones who want a chinwag.” Alexis turned to see Ithanor waving. “Ah, yeah. I’d better go say hi,” she said to the couple. "Congratulations again on your marriage.” “Thank you, milady.” Nadia reached across the counter to clasp Alexis’ hands. “You've done a world of good for our town. I hope your luck stays just as strong.” Alexis ducked her head. “Thank you. I try my best.” With that, she slid off the stool and went over to see Ithanor.

Soak

Mid-way into the journey, the clouds covered over and the Captain looked anxiously at the sky all the long day. The seamen were jittery too, making distracted mistakes, and dropping their tools. Mid-afternoon Bloodbeard ordered everything to be tied down and the sails to be furled, except for the main mast. It wasn’t until evening chow when the winds picked up, large globs of rain hammering into the deck and soaking anyone foolish enough to not have an oilcloth.

Sour (Acidic)

(Edited the word out for better prose)

“Those who would come to Atlantis need to prove themselves worthy of our time,” the apparition said. “Ahead you will find three tests: one of your wits, one of your knowledge, and one of your courage.” “Oh, great,” Alexis muttered. “They bring us here and they still make us fight our way to them.” Richard shot her a look, but they carried on. Alexis went ahead followed by Richard and Victor, then Bastet and Goregut. Their going was slow, as Alexis paused them several times, studying the path and disarming traps. They were so close to the end of the Test of Wits when Alexis made a mistake. The trap she was disarming instead triggered, sending an enchanted arrow to strike her down. Alexis staggered to her feet. “I think I’m-” The arrow dripped a viscous green slime, the leather cuirass smoking where the slime touched. “I’m… Ung!” Alexis doubled over and dropped to the floor.

Tree

They stood on the edge of the swamp, gazing into its shadowed depths. The stench from the mire rose high in the air, followed by clouds of tiny biting insects. “We’ve got to go in that?” Bastet asked, grimacing. “Unfortunately so,” Richard said. “Does anyone have any ideas?” Alexis wrapped her arms around herself. “I don’t like it here,” she said. “But it’s full of trees,” Victor said from where he was investigating a large fallen log with Gorgut. “Aren’t those kinda your thing?” “It doesn’t feel right,” Alexis said with a shake of her head. “It’s a swamp. What were you expecting?” Bastet said. “There’re swamps back home. They didn’t feel like this. This feels… sick. Like it’s being poisoned.” “Indeed it is, little maid.” The group jumped at the voice, soft and sad. The treetops rustled and from a low branch jumped a gnome in a pale green robe.

Trick

The next day went the same. The drow woke them early, they received their slop and were taken down to the mine in chains, the menfolk not long behind. Richard was stationed several people down from where Alexis stood at the end of the women’s chain. Through a game of whispers, she shared the plan with him. “It could work,” he sent back. “If she can distract them long enough for you to get our weapons, Ithanor and I can deal with the rest.” “The tricky part will be finding our equipment,” she sent back. The line went quiet as the guards made their patrols. Once they’d left, a message came back, “The men have prepared shivs. They know the guards' rotations. We strike in the early hours, before feeding time. Just get us out – we’ll manage until we have our weapons.” “How will I know when that is?” Alexis asked. The man in line next to her smiled. “Ask Nassurae. She’ll be able to help you with that.” “Right. One last thing – Bastet will need a shiv. She needs to be able to protect herself while ‘entertaining’.” The man nodded, sending the message up the line. A few moments later he said, “We’ll get one to her.” Alexis nodded. Perhaps they’d pull this off after all.

Try

(Word edited out for better prose)

"We need to get everyone out now," Ithanor said, panting. "Before they send more troops." "Nathardrin, Bast and Victor,” Richard said, “go retrieve the rest of our equipment." “Aye,” Nathardin said, and the three of them took off. "All the cages are open," Alexis said. "I’ll go on ahead, make sure the way is clear." “Be careful!” Ithanor said as she set off.

Behind her, Alexis could hear the murmurs of her friends encouraging the other prisoners out of their cells. She ignored them, putting all her efforts toward finding the way out. So far their jailbreak had gone unnoticed, but it couldn’t remain so for long. She kept her ears open listening to the corridors ahead for sounds of discovery, and a watchful eye for the glint of metal from a guard’s blade.

Young

(Avoiding the 'red shirt' issue)

"This acolyte will transport you back to the temple, and assist you in sealing this portal forever." A young man stepped forward. He wore dusky rose robes which stood out starkly against his dark skin and dark hair. His eyes were like birchwood, and he smelt, incongruously to Alexis’ newly-remade nose, like fresh snow. "What’s your name, Acolyte?" Bastet asked. The boy stuttered. “I don’t have one, Miss. Acolytes give up their names on admission to the order.” “What was your name, then?” “I do not recall it. Our names are returned when we reach a high enough proficiency to be worthy of them.” “Well, we have to call you something. In my culture, not having a name is bad luck. If you don’t have a name then you’ll die a gruesome death the moment you’re in peril. Such as,” she flipped a hand, “entering a temple to a demon filled with murderous cultists.” The boy paled. "It’s fine. We won’t let that happen," Bastet said. "We shall call you… Cee Jay." The young man sighed. "Very well, miss. To you and your friends, I shall be Cee Jay.”

#writing #fighting fantasy #titan fighting fantasy #oc alexis dalliance #wip excerpt #tag games #find the word tag #wandering words #original character #Richard Tetherson #Bastet #Victor with a Monocle #Yaztromo #Artemon Hengar #For context: Richard Bast and Victor are all Player Characters #well there's a few other PCs but they're the main ones #everyone else is an NPC #this has been in my drafts so long #series ADvEoT #wip 'Young Dagger False Dream'

[pinkiepiebones]

For maybe a small drabble idea, something about Zsasz and mirrors?

I'm cheating and extrapolation mirrors into reflections in general!

➖➖➖

A young man stands, perfect posture, hands clasped behind his back, and studies his smiling reflection in the floor-to-ceiling window of his office. His blue eyes outshine the sky.

"So much work to do," he says to himself.

The phone rings.

He answers.

➖➖➖

The surface of the caskets, polished and bright, distorts his face as much as the grief. The voice of the salesman buzzes somewhere. The caskets all look the same but his face contorts a little more on each one.

He picks two grey caskets because he cannot see his reflection there.

➖➖➖

There is a rainbow of sound and colour and faces. Hands grab and hug and shake and voices tug and urge. He smiles an empty smile and looks down at the drink in his hand. His reflection ripples into nothing as a tear falls.

➖➖➖

He catches sight of himself in the dirty hotel mirror. Pink neon floods the room behind him and claws at his features. He has aged years in a matter of months. He staggers and turns on the tap, splashes his face with rusty water.

He feels as though he is still falling.

➖➖➖

The face he sees in the gold-banded monocle is not his. He is not here. Anywhere but here.

➖➖➖

The light goes out in the other man's eyes. He sees himself in the dark, empty eyes. He sees himself. He sees himself. He sees himself. He sees himself. He sees himself. he sees Himself he sees he sees he sees he sees he sees he Sees He Sees now.

➖➖➖

His reflection in the red-slicked knife smiles. He smiles, too. Victor Zsasz turns his black gaze to the city.

"So much work to do," he says to the face in the knife.

They both smile at the thought of it.

#zsasz #victor zsasz #mister zsasz #mr. zsasz

[ao3feed-mfmm]

Le Monocle

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/ueVtZm8

by biratebean

Mac felt at home in the busy, smokey bar of Le Monocle. She was a regular customer here when visiting Paris, and sometimes its friendly, intimate walls brought her lovers, friends, even the occasional tale to write home to Phryne with.

But despite the comfort of being among other women who preferred the company of women, something restless stirred in Mac's chest as she scanned the crowd. She had a big day tomorrow and maybe, just maybe, she could find someone to help her take her mind off it.

Words: 618, Chapters: 1/4, Language: English

Fandoms: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (TV), Victor Victoria (1982)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F

Characters: Elizabeth MacMillan, Victoria Grant, Victor Grazinski, Original Characters

Relationships: Elizabeth MacMillan/Victoria Grant, Elizabeth MacMillan/Vic

Additional Tags: Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Character, 1920s, Paris (City), Cabarets, Nonbinary Character, Transgender

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/ueVtZm8

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #mfmm

[sveene]

Warning long post!

Here is an excerpt from an rp I’ve got going on with @turtwap - This isn’t the entire story, but some turns from where we are up to. It takes place in my Plagued horror au - Some time after the end of episode 25 of Transformers Earthspark. Mandroid’s plan to eradicate all Cybertronians is reversed, the healing ray ressurects him, but leaves him in a comatose state. He is taken by GHOST where his future is not certain. When an outbreak of an unknown and devastating virus surfaces shortly after, Alex asks GHOST to help Victor AKA Mandroid - They agree, but funding a new body for him will not be cheap - They must see results from him to make it viable. And so, Victor is brought back where he has to face up to his past - He makes some good progress but there are many obstacles ahead to face.

@monocle-teacup thought this might be of interest to you

@vihattu-thethoroughbredofsin Here is the rp the drawings are based on

SVEENE -

As time passed, Hashtag grew fed up with being in her room. She wasn’t tired either - and now she was growing bored of being in the same place. Her music wasn’t helping her tonight. Exhaling pointedly, she got up from where she’d been sat, which wasn’t on her berth - instead, she’d been sitting on the floor, head in her hands, for an unknown amount of time. Bored, she decided to take a walk to break up the monotony of the evening.

In the training arena, a miserable sight was unfolding before the scathing glare of Lena, who should have gone home hours ago. She wanted to oversee proceedings with the new Plagued captive - because this one was far more coherent than the others. This one was *talking* …

Arms folded, she turned to the team. Alex was nowhere to be seen, not at this late hour. She smiled a gloating little leer of a grin. Nobody to stop her from getting her money’s worth out of being an absolute bastard around Victor, whom the scientists had gathered around as he was being medically assessed - he looked indifferent to the situation. He was sitting on the berth. Alex ordered that he wouldn’t be strapped down against his will. He tolerated just sitting there, even as hands touched him, pinched at his veins, injected him or hooked him up to various machines. Victor had ports on his armour, where jacks could be inserted, to see how the mechanical parts of him were functioning - it was sad how no one spoke to him, despite that, like them, he had a human face - he stared ahead, or down at the floor. The only one who spoke to him was Lena - and she did not address him nicely. He didn’t look at her but saw her feet approach, then stop some feet away. His face was unreadable. He did not look up. When Lena spoke, it was not to him but about him - to the other scientists, making him feel even less human.

“…We have a talker in the arena. Have Victor find out the alien’s name. I want to know as much as possible - so make sure there are no mistakes this time.”

Wincing as one of the technicians jabbed a needle into his arm, Vic looked out through the window at the Cybertronian who was sitting by themselves, surrounded by open space and then a ring of guards with plasma guns trained on him. At that moment, Vic felt a weird sympathy - Two different life forms which were not so different because they were both viewed as beasts.

“Diagnostics are complete. Looks like a clean bill of health for you, Victor.” Came the voice of one of the scientists, Alex’s friend Marcus - One of the more pleasant lab staff. Even though he was scared of Vic, he was always courteous to him.

Marcus followed Vic as he wordlessly stood up, walking towards the window to look into the arena. Marcus appeared next to him, looking up at the cyborg scientist.

“…I take it that this one isn’t destined for the chopping block, then?”

“Yeah - we just need intel tonight, Vic. You have full permission to terminate him if you feel it is necessary.”

That was all Vic needed to know. He looked at Marcus, who moved back a few steps - Vic stopped caring long ago who was scared of him just for existing.

“Acknowledged - And chill out, Marcus. I don’t always bite.” Vic added sardonically. With that said, he left to go to the arena, where the big, captive Cybertronian awaited him.

Hashtag had found herself wandering through tall doors marked ‘No Entry’ or ‘Staff Only’ - Fuck it. She was in a mood and needed a thrill. She had no idea what she had let herself in for when she found herself in a dark engine room - with its busy machines buzzing away and bright lights flickering … no one was around despite the noise. The next door she found was marked ‘Arena 2 - Viewing Room’ - at first she didn’t dare to go in - what if it was full of people? Before she could stop, she’d already let herself in. It was cold, dark and empty. What the hell was this place?? She locked the door, spark pulsing with some fear she now felt for having snuck so deeply into the base - where she was probably not permitted unless accompanied. What she saw next made her optics go wide - It was *him*

And someone else… a fellow Cybertronian… she didn’t get too close to the glass, in case she was seen, but nor could she make herself look away.

TURTWAP -

Topspin was as bolted to the wall as any living being could be. The restraining bolts kept him from accessing any of his weapons, but he had the strength now to break out of there if he tried. Even hungry as he was - *starving*. He just needed something to eat, just one cube of energon to take the edge off. He’d *watched* those Terran kids go right past where he was hiding that night, but Megatron had forbidden anyone from touching them on a pain worse than being made un-dead.

GHOST still dumped Energon in the forest. It wasn’t always *good* Energon. They were sure it was medical waste or what was left over from various machines, but despite tasting like trash, it was edible for them. It took the edge off, at least. GHOST had so few uninfected Cybertronians left, so getting a fresh meal was much more complicated than it used to be. With the loss of his twin still fresh, he felt like he needed to eat double to fill the gap inside his spark. Maybe if he played his cards right, he could talk them into giving him some…

As the humans stepped aside, a creature stepped towards him - the face was human, but the rest of it….he didn’t even know. Despite not being afraid at all, inside him, he felt a sharp pain of fear from what had, at one point, been Twin Twist’s half of their bond. The fear he felt before he’d been killed.

As the creature stepped towards him, Topspin bared his terrifying fangs and screeched at it. The humans all jumped back in terror, but he wasn’t focused on them, “you killed my brother! I felt it! You gut him like a fish!”

Despite all the humans’ fear, one of them without armour, he didn’t recognise her even from before, turned to another and whispered, “Make a note: ‘even infected they still feel familial relationships—'

Topspin cut her off by shrieking again, “And you took him to get butchered! I’ll kill every one of you and take your hearts for —“

Several of the armed guards fired taser rounds at him, electrocuting him so hard he thought his audials would explode. He saw the human’s pet monster get closer to him, looking at him like a specimen.

SVEENE -

As Victor approached, his organic set of arms folded loosely, he stood and observed, face set as he looked into the optics of the being before him. When he saw a scientist nearby making notes, he thought it best to usher them off - before they found out anything of *actual* value - and as Victor was the chief scientist at GHOST, he did have the final say. No one was going to argue with him regardless - most were only too happy not to have to be around him, especially given the fact that he’d nearly killed one of the scientists just weeks earlier. Vic was able to hide his reaction when he saw them taser Topspin, but his folded arms seemed to tighten. He, too, knew the pain of the taser well.

“Leave us.”

There was no resistance from the other scientists, who did as ordered. The others with their guns seemed hesitant at first, exchanging glances until Victor spoke again, that slightly mechanised voice making them jump as it echoed eerily in the massive space of the arena.

“*Did I stutter?*”

With the sternness in his voice, the guards, with their plasma guns, submitted and left the area along with the scientists. As they did so, Vic remained staring dead ahead into the face of the captive Cybertronian - when it was just the two of them, Victor finally spoke again.

“What is your name?” Vic began, ignoring the bestial anger and snapping jaws that could not reach him. Topspin was struggling so much, but Victor remained icy calm. He wasn’t going to barter or inflict pain. He wanted Topspin to realise he had a choice, to either be hard work - or be reasonable.

“This can be as difficult as you want it to be. If you comply, we can get this over with quickly. The choice is yours. I’ll ask again - What is your name?”

TURTWAP -

When the guards left, Topspin stared at the thing talking to him. Four arms, a tail….yikes. Maybe this guy took over the space bridge and came back as a monster in a shell. Acting tough didn’t faze him, so Topspin quickly cut the act and eased back against the wall. He didn’t let his guard down, but he no longer had anyone he needed to scare off.

The second time he was asked, he complied, “Topspin. Twin Twist was my brother…he’s one of the ones who was killed a couple of nights ago. Rotorstorm was the other.”

Names were a start - GHOST always loved getting names, even before. If they didn’t have a bot’s name, they pushed until they got it. The twins had listened to Optimus, joined the humans with the rest of the Autobots, kept their heads down and did what they were told. Look where it got them now.

“I was just looking for Energon - some guys in a truck usually dump the wasted stuff by this old backroad. It must have got too close. That’s what the other two were doing. Rotorstorm was so hungry he was starting to lose it - that’s probably why….”

He didn’t need to explain the rest. And he wasn’t trying to win any favours with a sob story. He just wanted to get this interrogation over with so they would hurry up and put him out of his misery.

SVEENE-

As Topspin began to talk, Vic just listened - His demeanour didn’t change much, but his expression was intriguing. The man looked *done*. He looked like a guy who had just turned up to a 12-hour shift at his hated job. He kept his pair of organic arms loosely folded for a moment longer but soon began to walk towards the various large storage vats, machinery and what looked like surgical equipment on the big workbench nearby. Was this the end? What was this four-armed monster going to do next? Indeed, something awful. Indeed, something as inhuman as he looked.

There was the sound of liquid gushing and a tap being activated. It was probably a preservative or acid.

When the cybernetic creature returned, he held a Jerry-can-type container full of bright pink liquid. What he did next was utterly unexpected - Hashtag was still watching, optics wide. She was mentally trying to prepare herself for whatever awful thing was about to happen next. She could already feel her optics stinging, mind and spark racing as she desperately wanted to do *something* - anything… to stop was about to -

“This will be easier if you lift your chin.” Vic began, now standing well within biting distance - He had nothing to fear. He’d be wheeled away and stitched up, forced to get better and exist for another day, so he didn’t fear the jaws of Topspin. He wanted to give him some Energon, given that’s all he had wanted. It was impossible to tell if the act was out of some vague sense of compassion, or remorse or whether it was scientific curiosity. Regardless, he was offering the Energon - Topspin was free to react however he pleased. Given that he was bound, his options were somewhat limited.

Hashtag continued to stare in confusion through the window. In the sanctity of the room, she felt a knot form within her. Why was this scene not playing out like she had expected? Ruthless, scornful, cold and horrible Victor - Who wasn’t doing what she expected him to. Why?

As Victor leaned in with the Jerry can, just before he let Topspin drink, he lifted the can up enough to cover that he was talking to him - This was unexpected. Topspin could take the man’s throat out with one bite if he wanted, but when Vic began to speak again, it was too unusual of a situation to do anything other than listen.

“Topspin, I don’t have much time. If they see me like this for too long, they’ll send the guards down. Tell me - Are there others like you? Where is Megatron’s base?”

Victor knew that he was being monitored - They couldn’t hear him, not like this - but they could see him to a degree. He hoped that Topspin would give him something useful to work with and fast.

“I’m sorry about your brothers - There is no time for sentiment. Tell me what you know.”

TURTWAP-

When GHOST’s cyborg monster approached him with the Energon, Topspin didn’t hesitate. He tried to keep his lips over his fangs as much as he could out of deference, but he did gulp it down greedily. If he could, he would have bitten through the can and sucked it dry, though that would probably risk biting the hand that fed him and getting put down early.

He acknowledged the first question with a nod, swallowing down the last of the Energon quickly so he could answer. Instantly, he felt more alert, less like he was trying not to lose his grip on a slippery slope. Another couple of days hungry, and he would have ended up like the mindless ones that tore off and never came back.

Fair was fair - the creature had extended an olive branch, so the least he could do was answer honestly, “When you say ‘like me’, you mean coherent? Not just angry, spark-sucking monsters? We’re *all* like that - at least….who’s left. It doesn’t start like that. The hunger is so bad at first that it just *hurts* like nothing you could imagine. All you want to do is rip someone’s throat out. But after a while, it goes away. You start to become…more like you.

“But with so many of us, it’s getting harder and harder to find ways to feed. Sorry to say it, but we ate most of our options. That’s why we go after the scraps and stop attacking GHOST so frequently. There’s not much to go around, though…and when bots go hungry… that makes them monstrous. The ones that attack don’t know what they’re doing. As for the base…I don’t know—

Before Topspin could continue, the door slammed open again. Lena and her small army returned, pointing their guns at Topspin but not bothering to mind that Vic was half in the way if they fired.

“Victor, I said, interrogate it, not make friends with it. We are not a home for wayward demon-bots. Did it say anything useful or not?”

With the humans back, Topspin had no desire to speak. Their cybernetic pet….lackey….thing—Victor, apparently—he had no issues with anymore, but the humans would remain nothing but cruel. He bared his fangs at them, “Now I won’t say anything! I know what you’ll do if I talk: you’ll kill everyone and pretend to be the heroes. You aren’t any different than us.”

He sneered at her, hissing quietly through his teeth like a snake. The guards looked at the human woman expectantly, who only raised an eyebrow and looked down at her watch and back.

“Fine. I don’t have the time to waste, and I can find ways to lure another of you in. Maybe one more talkative,” she turned to Vic coldly, “kill him. Not too horribly, since now I need his corpse for bait.”

SVEENE-

When Victor heard the big doors to the lab open abruptly, he looked to Topspin, resisting the urge to look behind himself - and for the first time, his otherwise set expression looked pleading. He spoke quickly and quietly, even as he heard Lena yell up at him, on the platform where he stood eye-level with the much larger form of Topspin.

“…If you want to help your friends, tell me where Megatron’s base is.”

In no hurry to acknowledge Lena or her troupe of guards, Victor searched the optics of Topspin one last time - Hoping he’d say something worthwhile. Victor pursed his lips, eyes closing in a moment of seething frustration as his jaw tightened. He sharply exhaled, looking determinedly to Topspin one last time - the seconds slipping away. He got down from the platform, getting back to the ground with a swift leap. He landed a short distance away from Lena and approached, noting how she did not move around like everyone else always did - even her not-so-tough guards appeared as if to be hiding behind their guns.

Her face twisted into a scolding grimace - as if she was always thoroughly disappointed. She barely acknowledged Victor even as he watched her dismissively pass by him. He was not going to chase after her. He didn’t even speak until she looked back, and up at him. Her words seemed to defy logic - Victor’s brow furrowed in confusion

“Lena - I implore you to reconsider. He has valuable Intel we can use. Killing him will be a setback we cannot accommodate.”

Lena’s head spun around so fast it was almost as if she’d had cold water thrown on her. She looked up at Victor, walking towards him. Whenever she took out that damn pen in her pocket and began clicking it, Vic knew well enough to expect the situation to go only one way - *hers*.

“Victor-“

“-Give me some time with him and-“

“*Enough* - That is enough. Now, I believe I have already given you an order, so why don’t you hurry up and *execute* it? Put those many empty hands of yours to some use, won’t you? They, along with the rest of you, are costing this organization a small fortune I hope you realise?”

Inside, the man was utterly seething. All four of his fists tightly balled up - but he could not let his anger show -

For an entire moment, he locked eyes with that woman before him, and inside, behind the rack of chest teeth, he felt his laser gun warm up painfully - Oh, how he wanted to. He could not, though. Not yet.

Victor’s gaze went toward Topspin as he resignedly walked over to where he was bound - He did not want to kill him, but Victor had no choice. Before he did, he looked up at Topspin one last time and did the last thing he could think to do - in the moments they still had left. Using the Plague’s telepathic bridging ability, he reached out to Topspin - So only the two of them could hear each other.

“I apologise for what I am about to do. There won’t be any pain. I ask you one last time to tell me the location of Megatron’s base.”

Lena was growing ever more impatient by the second; if Victor wasn’t going to do it - She’d surely get her guards to kill him instead, and Victor would be reprimanded. To keep Lena distracted, Vic began charging up - The sound of his mechanical parts whirring up as a power boost bought him a little longer - but not much. He implored Topspin, as his organic arms began to extend - Then slam into Topspin’s chest, palms down, the teeth on his palms piercing Topspin’s chest plate, sinking in with deadly swiftness- Victor promised there would be no pain, and he kept his word. The scientist began draining the Energon out of Topspin - rendering his last meal moments ago worthless - Victor’s eyes went bright violet-white. Topspin stared back, hypnotised into unconsciousness. Victor drained him until he shut down, sagging in his restraints- completely dead. It was horrendous to witness - Even Lena looked uncomfortable. Truly, Victor was as twisted as any life form could get and he worried her, even if she never let him know of it.

Hashtag’s mouth hung open - she backed away from the window until darkness shrouded her. She felt *terrified* - She watched Topspin die, the unnaturally stretched arms of the cyborg scientist retracting. She ambled backwards until her back was against a wall, which made her gasp as she slid down it - She felt utterly numb by now. Why was she here in this awful place… It was like living in a tomb.

TURTWAP-

The moment Victor stepped away from the body, the team of specialists and guards had it lowered onto the ground to swarm it like flies, most likely preparing to store it until whatever plan Lena was concocting came time.

Speaking of, the woman continued staring on ahead when she spoke, not looking at Vic for even a moment, “I wasn’t just putting on a show, I meant what I said. We don’t have time for you to get to know every single bot that comes through here. If one won’t spill, we move on. Throw enough darts at the wall and one of them is bound to hit the target - eventually we will either find one that is as cooperative as we need, or we end up wiping them all out anyway.”

She could *feel* that Victor was about to argue back, and she didn’t care for it. Lena hadn’t even heard him draw breath before she held a hand up to quiet him, “they can act intelligent all they want, but it won’t change the fact that they are a threat. Whatever you were going to say, don’t.”

She walked away after that, crossing the room to speak with the team of lab coats and assistants, leaving Vic standing by himself. As cruel as she acted towards him, to the rest of her team she was firm and shrewd, but much less harsh. Always thanking them, hearing out and occasionally agreeing with their opposing opinions. She understood that the organization ran best with cooperation. But she saw Vic as an unpredictable outlier, one that needed to be kept on a short, tight leash.

-

Hashtag knew what she needed to do. She had to protect her family from that *evil thing* that her sister was so attached to. She could go home and hide and cry later, but right now she felt so angry she let it take her over. She retraced her steps from a couple days prior to her to the lab, easily hacking through door controls and security cameras to get there unnoticed. Once she was in, she realized she didn’t entirely have a plan. Was she going to try and kill him? How was she going to do that when he was so much stronger than her.

She pulled up the security camera feeds for the hallways again and saw that Vic was making his way back to the lab, he’d be there in a couple minutes. Panicking, Hashtag found a metal storage closet against one wall, and opened it, hoping for *something* that would give her a quick weapon, at least to defend herself. Fixed to the inside of one of the doors was a massive crowbar. It would have to do.

She grabbed it, shut the cabinet so no one would notice, and hid herself in a dark corner near the door.

#transformers #roleplay #transformers mandroid #tfe mandroid #transformers earthspark #transformers rp #transformers earthspark hashtag #horrortron #writing #transformers horror au stuff #tfe dr meridian #mandroid final form tfe #tf earthspark #tfe hashtag #tfe twitch

[mazm-imagines]

Thy Creature Modern/Zombie AU Part 3

(BOOOO MOD GWAAAAAR BOOOO WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS) Because I'm very self-centered... a part 3 no one asked for because why not :3 part 1 and 2 found in their respective links. This is all information I didn't find necessary to the plot (didnt think about till 2 days later lmao) so think of it like a bonus... TW for eye horror, gore and amputation. I'll try not to get explicit bc this is still a sfw blog. Just briefly going over it because what good is a zombie apocalypse AU without any horror...

If i think of anything else expect like a part 4 lmaoooo

FINALLY THOUGHT OF OUTFITS FOR EVERYONE :3

Noah dresses in a suit for professionalism but when shit gets real he takes off the suit jacket... and mama mia he has a harness underneath...

He also wears a small cross pendant! Bc we can't forget he's Catholic lmao.

Justine wears dresses that look vaugely like uniform but their university doesn't have a uniform she just likes dressing in academia :3 she's very cutie pie and she makes her clothes herself

EL/Erysichthon wears like. Normal children's clothing. Probably a t-shirt, some shorts and a hoodie. ALTHOUGH considering he's supposed to be Williams reanimated corpse in this AU, and Victor is still pretty well off here, maybe he'd wear something more sophisticated.

Creature honestly just picked up some random ass shit from like a trashcan, very esoteric. Justine lends it some clothes later on/makes some for it.

Leon dresses like an average college student wwww he doesn't have time to clean up. Hoodie, t-shirt and some jeans. Whatever allows him flexibility/mobility because he's very athletic.

Hanna dresses in flowing dresses/skirts and oversized cardigans. She uses her cardigan as a blanket whenever someone falls asleep :3 so like if EL gets tuckered out she's like noooo poor baby and puts her cardigan on him.

Chris dresses homeless . Drunk asf and picked up whatevers nearby. Usually wears a heavy coat.

Alex is very grandpacore/butch like sweaters and pantsuits and shit. Very cozy too like you can trust her. You know she's a baddie !!!

Ben usually wears a dress shirt tie and some pants like a very clean look. But after the divorce trademark, his tie is all janky and his shirt is stained and he's a real mess...

Victor tried to look all professional at his Uni but uh... he gave in to the hoodie jeans combo after a while

Injury time.

@fleurrice ever the enabler has made me decide we need a little eye horror in here. Siren takes out Noah's right eye lmao... lmao... he gets to wear a cool ass eye patch like that one chick from Chainsaw Man (doesnt watch CSM)

After that he uses the shattered remains of his glasses as a makeshift monocle

Noah also injures his hands by hitting 701s preserved zombie dolls. The hardened layer of skin breaks his hands and they're bandaged up like in the game. That leaves him out of commission to fight so he stays a healer instead

This wouldn't be a zombie apocalypse AU without a surgery without anaesthesia...

Chris survives one undisclosed war and now he has to fight another... life is a comedy

Yeah so they have to amputate his leg to prevent the infection from going further. And hes like god fucking damn it just do it already.

Noah and Justine have to do the operation while Hanna Creature Alex and Leon have to hold him down. Justine's helping because she's really good at sewing and considering what a precise process it is and Noah's hands being in an utterly dreadful state he needs assistance. Ben can't do anything bc EL bit him.

Justine is very frightened and Noah has to be like WE GOTTA DO THIS GIRL!!! Of course he comforts her later bc he traumatized this poor girl but at the moment he's reallllly stressed.

Chris is just chugging that whiskey... Afterwards he's fine and they help him. Alex especially because before this she already had a prosthetic arm so she helps Chris cope/adjust to the situation.

I don't know where to put this but EL!!! He behaves very uncannily. His movements are janky and his eyes are big and glossy and dollike. They're all kinda creeped out by him but assume he's just a traumatized child...

EL is a boy genius partially because he read up on Victor's book collection and has good memory. He's also insanely endurant and while we know he's a Nepe zombie, they don't. So this is just seen as an extra benefit.

The reason they don't suspect him to be one is because they couldn't find any visible bite marks on his body + he looks normal enough because of his high stability.

MY IRL FRIEND GAVE ME THIS IDEA bc hes so fucking smart. So when i told them abt Victor using octopus DNA for siren he's like maybe it's because octopus limbs grow back so Victor thought it'd be useful. And mayeb the reason why the hair color changes is because of the octopus DNA camouflage... smartie pants

#mod gwaaaaar #mazm #mazm thy creature #thy creature #noah evans #Mazm noah #justine moritz #The creature #EL #erysichthon #alex schulz #Ben haas #chris hartmann #Leon Berger #hanna albrecht #701 #Siren #victor frankenstein #tw eye horror #tw amputation