#[You have no stake in this battle. // anonymous]

[thebrimstonewitch]

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[chervbs]

undying devotion — a. ancunin

pairings: astarion ancunin x gn!reader

word count: 1.5k

synopsis: you have a very limited time to free everyone, including duke ravenguard, from the iron throne. It seems easy enough until you realize you may not make it out before gortash destroys the entire prison, and you along with it. and with your new but thriving relationship with your vampiric companion, you have more to lose than just your life.

warnings: angst, mega angst, main character death, spoilers for act 3 (specifically the iron throne quest), mentions of c*zador, resurrection, hurt/comfort, happy ending, maybe ooc astarion because I’m still getting used to writing these characters, lmk if I missed any!

a/n: hello my angels! I hope you all enjoy this short little angsty piece I came up with for everyones favorite vampire. anonymous requested some angst for astarion and I immediately thought of this moment that happened in my first playthrough of the game where the only person I couldn't get out of the iron throne was my tav. it was a scary moment until I remembered what my man withers was there for. the characters in the game don't actually have a reaction to tav not making it out so I came up with this. any feed back is greatly appreciated! <3

ao3 link

Of all the battles fought between the crash of the Nautiloid ship and now, the Iron Throne is proving to be potentially the most perilous.

The plan had seemed simple when you all waited for the submersible to dock the underwater prison. Get in, free as many prisoners as possible, and get out. Of course the creatures guarding the prison would be an obstacle, but your party had defeated a plethora of foes before, how difficult could this mission be?

You all shared the sentiment, until the projection of Lord Enver Gortash had made an appearance.

“Aren’t you the intrepid little adventurer?” The man’s smug voice startled everyone aboard, shoulders growing tense and glares growing fierce. “Digging and diving where you don’t belong. And I thought we were friends.”

Astarion watched as you squared your shoulders, looking the projection right in the eyes. “Fuck you, Gortash.” The corner of his mouth twitched in amusement, but it didn’t last.

Gortash made it clear that if you continued on your quest, he would destroy the Iron Throne, and you all with it.

You had glanced back, communicating with Astarion, Halsin, and Karlach silently. Each of you wonder if this is worth the stakes. Worth all of the lives that could be lost if you failed. Then you looked at your captain, Redhammer the Deviser, and nodded for him to dock the ship.

“That was a mistake.” Gortash scowled. “When the corpses start to wash up on the shore, remember–you could have prevented all of this.”

There wasn’t much time after you docked to accomplish what you came for, so the four of you climbed the ladder with swiftness. The moment you stepped down, your tadpole began to wriggle as a familiar voice spoke to you.

“Halt. You must act with haste. Duke Ravenguard is held within these walls. He must be extracted.” It was unmistakably Omeluum, the mindflayer you’d made friends with in the Underdark.

You knew there was no time for questions. “Tell me what to do.”

“Duke Ravenguard is held in the security wing. Be careful, there are many hazards. This structure is collapsing. Act with speed, act with efficiency. Good luck.”

Swords, arrows and spells were used to get you all through the prison with haste. The Sahugin guards were inconvenient, but not the priority. You only attacked when they were in your way, and dodged them the rest of the time.

Astarion and Halsin were able to make it to Duke Ravenguard, freeing and healing him while also taking down the obstacles sent by Mizora. The security was the closest to the center of the ship and the two men made quick work of the guards still lingering there.

You and Karlach had each taken separate wings, hoping to free as many people as you could. Karlach freed the few prisoners in her wing before she came across Omeluum. Once he was freed, he was able to teleport the two of them back onto the submersible.

It was only as you fought your way through yours that you regretted not bringing someone else with you. The wing you took held the most prisoners and it seemed as if every guard your companions didn’t defeat decided to flock to the area.

Time was running out and you knew it. Your tadpole wriggled again.

“You must return. The prison will be destroyed any moment now.” Omeluum warned. His voice was monotone as any other mind flayer, but you could sense veiled concern.

You took one last look at the crowd of Sahugin in front of you, your heart pounding in your chest. You lacked enough energy to be able to misty step back to the entrance, and there was no time to look for a useful scroll.

“Did everyone make it on board?” You asked, slashing the guards in front of you.

“Indeed.”

You sighed, tears welling. “Then tell them I’m sorry.”

Astarion was the last to climb aboard the submersible after Halsin. Water sprayed onto the platform as the structure began to give way. Halsin reached down to grab his forearms, pulling him the rest of the way. He’d just barely began to search for you within the ship when Karlach spoke up.

“Where’s Tav?” She asked shakily, as if she had already realized the answer.

Astarion’s eyes widened, as did everyone’s. “No.” He whispered, darting over to the window.

There was a split second before the explosion, the force of it rumbling within the water. “No!” He cried, knees buckling as he collapsed.

Karlach slapped a hand over her mouth, tears already falling from her eyes like a waterfall. Halsin bowed his head, sad eyes closing as Astarion lets out a heart wrenching scream.

It didn’t matter to him that his companions had never seen him so distraught, not even after he’d delivered the killing blow to Cazador. No, this pain was entirely different.

This pain was like having his heart ripped out, then his soul extracted then his body mutilated. Every part of him ached in a way he didn’t know he was capable of feeling. Though it shouldn’t surprise him. In the time since meeting, you’d taught him many things about himself. And even in death it seems he’s still learning from you.

Astarion was more silent than Karlach and Halsin had ever seen him. As they received their reward from the Wavemother and talked to Duke Ravenguard, Astarion dragged behind them, silent tears escaping consistently.

Only once they reached camp did Astarion seem to return to his mind, paying no attention to the surprised and concerned stares from everyone else. He was only focused on storming over to the camps undead resident.

Withers did not looked fazed nor surprised by the vampires rage, closing the tome he had been focused on the staring blankly.

“Bring them back.” He demanded, voice thick with emotion. “Bring Tav back.”

Astarion faintly heard a few gasps from the crowd that had gathered behind him, the rest of the party hearing of your death for the first time.

The creatures hollow, echoed voice responded. “There is a cost to do so.”

Astarion’s jaw clenched. “What is it?”

“A matter of coin.” Withers replied simply.

A pale hand reached back into his travel pack to pull out the pouch of coin Astarion had collected throughout your travels. He shoved it against the undead’s chest. “Here!” He snarled. “Take it! Take all the coin we have, I don’t care how much it takes.”

Withers calmly opened the pouch, peaking inside. “That won’t be necessary. This is more than enough.” He said, dropping the pouch to the ground. “I recommend keeping thy distance for a moment.”

Everybody took a step back besides Astarion, only until Karlach placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and pulled.

Withers lifted a bony hand, speaking his words like a prayer. “By doom and dusk, I strike thy name from the archives. Rise!”

There was a brief flash of light that had everyone shielding their eyes. In a matter of seconds, you appeared, stumbling like you’d been thrown back on earth. Which, to your credit, is what it felt like.

Your breaths were quick and heavy as they had been in your final moments, and you patted your body to ensure you really were alive.

There wasn’t much time for you to linger in your thoughts before you were essentially tackled, toned arms coming around you in a crushing embrace. As you heard the sound of weeping, you registered that it was your love who had lunged at you.

A choked sound escaped your lips before you could even realize you yourself had started to cry, arms wrapping around Astarion’s torso.

Through your foggy eyes, you could faintly see your other companions standing a few feet away, some wiping tears and others smiling somberly at you. But they were far from your mind at the moment.

You could only focus on the man in your arms, the both of you collapsing to the ground. “My love.” He whimpered out, surely leaving fingernail markings with how hard he was gripping you. “My little love, I thought you gone for good.”

A watery chuckle escaped, one of your hands coming to lace within the white curls of his hair. “I’m so sorry, Star. Never. I could never leave you.” You sobbed.

His embraced loosened, hands traveling to your face and pulling your forehead against his. His crimson gazed peered into yours, full of desperation. As if he would never be able to look into them again.

“I have never known pain,” He whispered to you hoarsely. “Like what I felt when that wretched place exploded.”

Your lips quivered with another onslaught of emotions. You placed your own palms against his cheeks, thumbs stroking the smooth, alabaster skin. “I never would have made it on time.” You sniffed. “I’m sorry I put you through that.”

He shook his head lightly, removing his forehead and replacing it with his lips instead. He pressed a kiss there, then to your cheek, and then a final one to your lips, lingering again as if it would be the last kiss you would ever share. You only separated once oxygen became a concern.

“The others are waiting.” You sniffed, though you made no move to leave his side.

“Let them.” Astarion said, a small, relieved grin growing on his face. And you did.

The rest of the world could wait until the end of time for you to part from your Star.”

[c0smiclatt3]

GEPARD LANDAU: HEAVY SLEEPER?

☾₊ ⊹ TAGS: sfw, fluff, first nightmare in gepard's bed woooo, reader is a heavy sleeper (gepard is not), true to canon world

wc: 844

Gepard Landau might be a little too alert for his own good.

Being the Captain of the Silvermane Guards it only makes sense that as part of his training his senses were sharpened even in his sleep: attuned to even the slight chance of an encroaching enemy. Every unnaturally rustling branch, the crunch of fresh snow, even the slight rise in heat of an extra mouth’s breath in the tent, he knew it all.

The unfortunate consequence was that it sent him jolting awake the first night you had a nightmare beside him.

Gepard was no stranger to a nightmare - he had Lynx, after all - and as grown as she was now she was still his little sister. But Serval had always been the one to be there with her during those early days of monsters under the bed, and her voice made for a much more soothing lullaby than his, so Serval was typically on nightmare duty. But with you it was different. The stakes were different. With you there was him - and only him.

When he lay beside you and felt your limbs jerk, twitch, your quiet whines and mumbled “no…”s in your rest, the quickening of your heartbeat, your hammering pulse as you fought your nightmare off, his eyelids snapped open and he acted almost on instinct. The moment he drew in his first waking breath he was already calling your name in a panic, sitting alert and at attention, whipping his head over to look at you.

To his relief, there you were: lying beside him and lit by the dim moonlight filtering through the curtains. All was quiet and all was well, save for your eyebrows knit together and your gentle groaning in your sleep as you writhed in the throes of your nightmare. He let out a sigh, throwing his head back and closing his eyes as he willed himself to relax. Everything was okay. You were safe.

When he felt his pulse calm, he craned his neck down closer to you. "Hey..." he whispers, the sheets shifting around you two, "hey..."

As captain, his duties often called for him to shake his soldiers awake. On the front lines, a gentle rise was a luxury they couldn't afford. He wasn't accustomed to having to wake anyone up peacefully, and so the way he handled you right now was like handling priceless china in his clumsy, battle-toughened hands. He draws a calloused finger gently over your cheek, tucking a stray lock of hair behind your ear. His voice is soft, softer than it's been in a long time. Soft like cooing baby his sister all those years ago. Soft like the snowfall kissing the ground on a Belobog morning.

"Are you okay...?" he whispers. Whether or not you could actually hear and comprehend his words was irrelevant. What mattered was that they soothed you - whether consciously or unconsciously. You twitch again. He frowns and strokes the pad of his thumb along your cheek. You still were sound asleep.

"Heavy sleeper, huh..." he whispers, hand resting on your face. Your twitching seems to have calmed a little, but your brows remain tugged towards each other, upturned. He gently runs his thumb in the space between them, smoothing over the wrinkles there until your face settles back into a peaceful expression. He nods, satisfied. "... There..." And there you were, lying by his side, breathing softly - so softly.

The life of a soldier was a tough one, the life of a captain arguably more so. What did a soldier die for? A nation; a planet, surely. But 'nations' were abstract and over time the cheering faces tended to blur into one anonymous mass: especially on those evenings he spent on long missions away from the city. On nights like those who were the faces he conjured up? When he stood over the bodies of his comrades, when his hands were stained in blood, who did he tell himself he was doing this for? The anonymous citizen? Was it always that easy?

No, the faces he dreamed of in those evenings were his loved ones: his sisters, his friends...

You lay by his side, blissfully unaware of your partner who had just coaxed you out from your nightmare, unaware of the panic you briefly put him through, unaware of the epiphany he arrived at as he realizes just why he had been as panicked as he was.

He lays his head on his pillow, head turned to look at your sleeping face. He rests his hand on your shoulder, gently brushing his thumb there. He presses his lips to your forehead. He looks down at you.

It's not like you would hear him anyway. His voice may not be the best, but he knew Serval's lullaby for Lynx by heart. The notes of the tune sound clumsily from his inexperienced lips, but he'll try. He'll try for you.

Your lips settle into a smile. He can't stop himself from feeling one creep onto his as well.

What does a soldier die for?

writing masterlist | bot masterlist

☾₊ ⊹AN : been a min since i've done some proper longer form writing here yaaaaay, i hope you liked it ~~ i've been writing a lot of bots lately but every once in a while i find the inspo to do sm longer form so please let me know if you like it too :)

[carnal-lnstinct]

Could you do a fic with 💘 realizing love with Vegeta on Namek with the 'enemies to I took care of you while injured to lovers' prompt? And have it be Vegeta who takes care of the reader and SFW? Please?

Vegeta | lovestruck

Anonymous asked: Hey! This is the Vegeta and injured reader on Namek anon, I forgot to add that I want the reader to be a normal human like Bulma and not a fighter, sorry! Thank you again! content: ( namek au, injured!human reader, established enemies/frenemies, wound patching, flirting, developing feelings ) warning: ( implied head injury, mentions of blood, reference needle / medical shot, referenced canon typical violence, referenced character deaths )

I just want to start a flame in your heart. - "I Just Want To Be The One You Love"

Gohan and Krillin had gone back and forth with the saiyan prince on who went into the healing tank first, Goku or you. Between the two of you, Goku had the most damage following the encounter with Ginyu, but yours were nothing to take lightly. You were human and by no means one able to manipulate ki like Krillin and the others, no treatment at all could be a slow and painful healing process even with the advanced alien medical supplies at hand. But Vegeta argued that Goku being the most useful should be the one to go first lest Frieza finally decides to return to catch you all short-handed and raise hell for all of you.

As you were slumped against the wall trying to stay on your feet, you finally spoke up. "N-No." Weighing the options before you, if you all wanted the chance to return home alive, then there was some truth in Vegeta's words. The tank was going to take longer to heal anyone, so Goku should be the one to heal up faster, as much as he can. "We'll need Goku, please let him heal in the tank. It's fine." Krillin seemed to hesitate but agreed, defeated with the stakes at hand. Goku was set up in the tank and the others were fitted in the battle armor provided by Vegeta for better protection against what remained. Krillin mentioned the elder namekian who surfaced their hidden power and suggested that he may be able to heal you as well. Though you were too weak to be moved and there was no guarantee that was an ability he had. Even being out in the open like that was risky with Frieza about. Krillin set out alone to check while Gohan went to stand guard, leaving you alone with your regrettably accepted ally and a healing Goku.

You managed to salvage what medical supplies you could and tried to balm and bandage yourself. Easing yourself into the only chair you started work on patching your swollen ankle. It burned like something was broken and hoped it looked worse than it actually was. No thanks to the stray energy blast you couldn't escape fast enough from. When you leaned over to inspect it, it felt like your eyes had crossed and the room spun in the opposite direction prompting you to sit back up, gathering your face in your hands with a soft whimper. You're not built for taking this kind of damage, it was a miracle for you to still be conscious after such an impact. Waiting for the ringing in your ears to subside, you took a deep breath and changed course, starting with your arm when the pair of white boots appeared in front of you.

You look to acknowledge the Saiyan Prince, seeing his mouth move and the words muffled in your ears as your head started to tilt over. He catches your head in both his hands making you look directly at him. It was hard for your eyes to stay focused on him, but you catch the wrinkle in his brow grow. Vegeta grumbles a few annoyed words to himself, pushing your chair closer to the wall so he could prop your head against it. Carefully guiding your head, he checks both your ears for signs of bleeding and then your nose. Lucky for you there was none, but he picked up on your dazed state watching you try to mend yourself and found the display pitiable. Second, of course, to his fellow saiyan currently in the recovery tank behind him.

"You earthlings have no idea what you've wandered into." Vegeta muttered contemptuously. What an earth woman of your power level was doing on the battlefield was the least of his concerns, but it had to be pointed out how stupid that was. Not that you caught his initial comment about your injuries to consciously respond. You and your fellows couldn't have picked a better time to come to this planet, he could do away with all his trifles in one place as soon as he gets his wish on the dragon balls. But unfortunately, he would have to rely on you all in one way or another until then.

You drifted in and out as Vegeta took over your patch-up, sharply snapping his gloved fingers in your face or, more harshly, pressing on painful spots to keep you alert so he knows you're not dying on him. Were you able to retreat from him you would. Despite what help he has been so far, it didn't compare to the damage he and his ally caused back on Earth and you're sure here on Namek too. But such thoughts carried a petty weight and it wouldn't save any of you now. Even for someone like him to take the time to help keep you alive, you managed to hold onto your consciousness a little longer. Annoyed, but alive to have that luxury.

"Thank you." You murmured genuinely through your daze, Vegeta lifting his eyes from his working hands to meet your gaze for only a moment. He sneered in response as he continued to work.

"I wouldn't thank me just yet, you know. This could be a complete waste of my time if your friends don't show up soon." He hints with a callous tone, a hard demeanor to maintain with such careful hands, and the white tips of his gloves smeared with blood from cleaning your wounds. But he is his nature, expecting a modest response to your gratitude was asking for much and you both knew you didn't have the energy to remark in kind. Doing this would also spare him the headache of the others fussing over your dead body if he just lets you die.

"For someone who worked for this Frieza person, you're a lot better than the others."

"Oh really, and what's that supposed to mean?"

What did you mean? Given the circumstances, Vegeta was more palatable than the rest of Frieza's henchmen you've encountered, for sure. The lesser of two evils, and all that. But maybe "better" was not the word you intended. Considering you've only known of his actions on Earth compared to his unprompted decision to help you was a little jarring, he was not what you expected. Your thoughts were all over your mind about it and body filled with too much pain to care about it too much. You give a weak shrug. "I guess... I dunno..." You want to fall asleep so badly. A tight pull on your bandages makes you wince, The Saiyan Prince chuckling to himself.

The last one to patch was up your sleeve, a wound the fabric wouldn't allow him to get to simply pushing it back. Moving through his efforts, Vegeta reached for the zipper of your flight suit and started to pull it down without a thought. Only when the sight of your revealed cleavage meets his gaze that he realizes what he's done and quickly zips you back up. You reopen your eyes and turn your gaze toward him, even your delayed reaction caught the sight of his wide eyes and flushing cheeks before he turned away from you.

Oh. So even the high and mighty Prince of Saiyans wasn't immune to an immodest moment. Honestly, if he had perverted intentions you wouldn't have noticed any in your state but a reaction that big couldn't be anything less of an innocent mistake. Still, to fluster the ruthless Vegeta with just the sight of your breasts hugged in your bra? It put a smile on your face, a soft giggle from behind your lips as you turn away with a light shade of flush in your own cheeks.

"W-What's so funny? I am patching your wounds, is all!" Vegeta quickly refutes any uncouth intent your mind may have conjured about him. His cheeks still glowing, but his scowl was certainly more feral. "Don't go implying any indecent behaviors from me or I'll leave you to struggle on your own, woman!"

"...(Y/n)." You corrected after laughing a little longer.

"What?"

"My name is (Y/n). Vegeta." He only grumped in response. You slightly adjust your posture and reach to undo your own zipper, Vegeta cautiously averting his gaze as you pulled it down just above your cleavage. The smothered sound of bubbles coming from the recovery tank reminds you that you are not alone, reeling in the temptation to fluster the Prince again. You were careful to remove your arm from your suit, then sunk back into your relaxed position.

"Did... Frieza tell you to come and kill our friends so he can have the dragon balls?" Your thoughts filtered out of your mouth without realizing it. Too late to take it back.

To your surprise, your freed arm is lifted back into his hands and you get a concise answer, "No."

"Oh...Then w-why you want'em?" You dared to ask feeling the frail hold on consciousness starts to slip away again. The cold touch of cleaning solution against your skin stops and Vegeta abruptly snatches his hands back.

"What's it to you?" He challenged. "I get my wish for immortality and the likes of you and even Frieza won't matter anymore. We're not going to be allies forever."

"Hmm...But you saw my boobs.." Thinking out loud again.

"I-!" Vegeta's face reddened in a mix of embarrassment and his own hot temper. He growled, then huffed weighing out his options. If he kills you now he loses all hope of getting his wish before Frieza. Instead, he stands up with a clenched fist and starts to pace back and forth. Your eyes follow him as much as you could before you were drifting off again. Vegeta lets you this time, restoring peace to himself. He stops in front of Goku's healing tank who appeared to be resting as well.

I'm taking back my birthright, Vegeta reflected. His destiny, so close to becoming tangible in his hands.

With another huff, somewhat calmer, Vegeta turns back to you. He approaches and flicks your nose to wake you back up. You blink a few times, vision struggling to focus on the Saiyan Prince and his familiar frown.

"What a pest. Don't go dying before your bald friend and the kid return." He warned, swiping up a needled syringe from the salvaged supplies and a small vile for pain management he found in his pacing.

"It's okay, Vege'... I won' leave you... If you're afraid..." You answered wearily, cracking a small smile. "Goku'll...save us when he arrives here." Vegeta rolls his eyes and filled the syringe with the liquid, promptly sticking it in your arm to give you a dose for your pain. A brief discomfort that like his bedside manners managed to recall your lucidity. Your other hand gently squeezed his wrist after he removed the needle, eyes seeming to wander before rolling into the back of your head as the nagging pains already started to dim. You let out a content moan, fingers slipping away from him as he moved to cast away the needle. He's really not so bad.

"Hey, I-If you're really...on our side for now...don't get my friends killed."

The Prince scoffed in response. A look of worry rose in your visage. You tilted your head in his direction. "Please... don't kill my friends."

You begged him, mercy asked of him before and denied for the thrill of slaughter. What made this any different when his destiny was on the line—What is one human's plea compared to the Namekians he took care of without hesitation or all those before who dropped dead at his feet? Your eyes softened on him, even heavy from exhaustion there was a twinkle in them that didn't go unnoticed. Drawing his focus into your gaze. "Please.."

Vegeta was unresponsive, staring over you from the gentle quiver of your pouted lips back up to your eyes. An anxious sensation ran through his chest, emptied it of its wholeness, and filled it with a bump of his heart warming the cage around it. Your hand reached for him again and his eyes appeared to widen as he impulsively withdrew from your reach, sneered at himself for doing so, and sharply turned away to hide his face from your eyes. He can't say why he retreated like that but somehow felt ridiculous for his unusual jumpiness.

"Stupid woman. They'll live as long as I need them to. You can imagine what happens after that." You blink slowly watching his backside, then close your eyes as the healing tank machinery and its bubbles filled the silence. A content hum vibrates behind your returned smile.

"You can buy me dinner."

[brostateexam]

A pervasive sense of fear has settled in at the highest levels of the Democratic Party over President Joe Biden’s reelection prospects, even among officeholders and strategists who had previously expressed confidence about the coming battle with Donald Trump.

All year, Democrats had been on a joyless and exhausting grind through the 2024 election. But now, nearly five months from the election, anxiety has morphed into palpable trepidation, according to more than a dozen party leaders and operatives. And the gap between what Democrats will say on TV or in print, and what they’ll text their friends, has only grown as worries have surged about Biden’s prospects.

“You don’t want to be that guy who is on the record saying we’re doomed, or the campaign’s bad or Biden’s making mistakes. Nobody wants to be that guy,” said a Democratic operative in close touch with the White House and granted anonymity to speak freely.

But Biden’s stubbornly poor polling and the stakes of the election “are creating the freakout,” he said.

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 37 – The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

I picked this up for my still-somewhat-theoretical bookclub with some friends, and honestly probably wouldn’t have looked at it otherwise. (The only previous work of Schwab I’d read was Vicious which I was, honestly, not particularly impress by.) So chalk one up for book clubs I suppose, because I’m incredibly happy I gave this a try.

The book follows the eponymous Adeline “Addie” LaRue, a peasant girl in late 17th century southern France who, desperately trying to escape marriage and a life limited to one tiny farming village, and just generally being a peasant, makes a deal with the devil. (Or primordial darkness. Or some ancient pagan god she learned about from the old witch living in the woods that comes standard with every peasant village – it’s somewhat vague, and doesn’t really matter regardless. He goes by Luc.) The deal is for her freedom – she will get to live life untethered and according to her own desires, until she is sick of it, and when she is, her soul will be his.

What this means is that she is a) immortal, and eternally 23 years old, and any change to her body reverts in a matter of moments, but also b) incapable of leaving a mark on the world. People literally forget her the moment she is out of their sight, any letters she writes fade before she finishes a word, she is quite literally incapable of saying her own name out loud and has to pick a pseudonym out of the air with each new interaction, and so on. Reality also conspires against her having more than she can carry on her person – stashes are discovered or accidentally destroyed by what seems like random chance.

The book’s divided more or less in half, with a singular narrative in 2014 New York where Addie has a meet cute with Henry – a 28 year old bohemian bookstore clerk whose made his own (much, much worse) deal with the devil, and as a happy unintended consequence is actually able to remember her – being intercut with flashback chapters telling the wider story of Addie’s three-hundred-year life, how she adapted to her blessing/curse and figured out how to have a life of something other than endlessly freezing and starving in Parisian gutters, and her relationships with Luc.

To lay my cards on the table – Henry is charming, and the book’s New York is fun and appealing, but the historical vignettes really do make the book and elevate it a bit beyond pleasant but forgettable fluff. Partially just because the nature of Addie’s anonymous immortality is so specific, the book has a lot of fun with how she learned to navigate and make the most of it. The utter misery she’d been stuck with and endured also grounds (..maybe not the right word, given the immortality, but you know what I mean) the generally pretty fluffy New York narrative a bit.

Also, given how much I loathe the whole ‘death is what makes life meaningful!’ cliche, I really do appreciate that even after spending however long buried in a snowbank in a Parisian slum perpetually one second away from freezing to death, Addie’s reaction to ‘would you make the same deal again?’ is ‘fuck you, I’m immortal!”.

The plot of the present day New York chapters...exists. If mostly as connective tissue for cute dates and descriptions of bars and art shows; this is really overwhelmingly a character piece, and after that the focus is still more on making specific scenes and vignettes vivid more than any sort of overarching drama. Which isn’t any sort of complaint, to be clear – adding action or high stakes politics or a cosmic battle between good and evil or anything else would have ruined this. The fact that the book keeps its stakes limited to a few specific souls is a huge point in its favour.

The novel’s organized around a romance (I mean, a love triangle, technically), though given the ending I’m not sure it technically qualifies for the weirdly specific criteria for a Romance Novel I’ve been yelled out about in the past. It’s not exactly the sort of love story that’s going to set the world on fire, anyway; though Henry was charming and sympathetic and inoffensive enough to effortlessly vault into my top tier of least annoying romance male love interests.

Luc I think I would have absolutely despised if either Addie had ended up buying into his bullshit or if the narration ever really tried to make you sympathize with him. As is, it’s incredibly to read him as actually sincerely falling sincerely in love with Addie at a certain point, and she basically never stops hating him to the point of going all unreliable narrator and always framing his actions as more Machiavellian and monstrous than they are. It’s great.

It’s not exactly surprising how studiously apolitical the book is, but it did still kind of strike me? Given the span of history involved, I mean – the French Revolution and World War One both intrude on the narrative exclusively as ‘bad news Addie gets out of Paris/Europe to evade’. The only active political stance she’s shown as taking in the entire modern era is returning to France during WW2 to be an anti-nazi spy out of a vague sort of patriotism.

On the one hand oh my god a version of this book that went ‘she’s queer and was alive at the time, so obviously Addie would have been at Stonewall’ would have just been, so so bad lol. But the part of me that loves drama and books that get internet hate campaigns dedicated to them does kind of wish the book had done a bit more with what she (immortal 23-year-old early modern bohemian aesthete runaway peasant girl) actually believes or thinks of the world.

Though the book’s restraint on involving historical events vanishes entirely in the cultural sphere – Beethoven makes an appearance, having sold his soul for artistic genius. I don’t mind this too much, honestly; Addie learning that even if she can’t leave a direct mark she can still inspire people and indirectly shape the world that way is a pretty central theme to the whole book, so it more or less fits. When she justifies why she considers her life worth living, the central element is beauty, she lives for songs and fine meals and paintings and books and films. The occasional intrusion of names I recognize just feels like it fits.

Speaking of: quite possibly my favourite bit of the book is how, at the beginning of each part, there’s a page with a sketch and an auctioneer’s description of a different piece of fine art that Addie had inspired over the course of her long life. Nothing much intelligent to say about them specifically, just that I adored the little touches it added.

Unfortunately, the ending of this was the weakest part of it by leaps and bounds. Just – it would have been damn near perfect, if it just ended two chapters before it did! As is, re contextualizing the entire book as an artifact that exists in universe just makes the entire thing make no sense at all (also, my god, can you imagine being Robbie or Henry’s family and reading how you’re portrayed in his ‘novel’?) But even beyond that, it felt like the book had reached a natural, nicely bittersweet ending, and then spent the last ten pages furiously trying to backtrack and make it as unambiguous and upbeat as possible. A damn shame.

Anyway, not a revelatory read or anything, but with that exception very fun and well-put together.

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Fics With Titles That Start With T (3) Masterlist

part one, part two

Take a Ride (ao3) - RosannaDrinksToForget

Summary: Dan likes to surprise Phil, especially with sex.

teddy bear (ao3) - sunshine_and_storm_clouds

Summary: Dan wakes up way too early. He really wants attention. Phil gives him attention.

tempe (ao3) - dizzy

Summary: Dan and Phil go on a case to Tempe.

Tequila and Lime (ao3) - SecretLlama_22

Summary: the Dan and Phil bartender AU, where Dan has a crush on his recently phlonded colleague.

terms of endearment by which to address you (ao3) - dbg_708

Summary: Dan notices him but doesn’t look up from his phone, Phil prefers it at this moment to the alternative.

He pours himself a cup of coffee, traverses their great divide by walking into and out of the ray of sunshine that blinds him if only for a moment.

The Anniversary (ao3) - Anonymous

Summary: It is fifteen years to the day since Dan's suicide attempt, and Phil endeavours to make the day as normal as possible.

the hoodie bow incident (ao3) - antiadvil

Summary: they were kissing.

the inherent romance of washing the sheets (ao3) - jonsaremembers

Summary: Laundry is a bit meditative when you know how to do it, Dan reflects as he sprays stain solution on the sheets.

the leather t-shirt (ao3) - classichysteria

Summary: phil hates the leather t-shirt

The Phat (ao3) - gaydreaming

Summary: When Dan and Phil find an abandoned cat on a late-night walk to Dominos, Dan insists that they aren't going to keep him. After all, they know nothing about taking care of a pet. Dan will have the self control to put his foot down when faced with both Phil's big eyes and the cat's, right? ...Right?

The Philver Scream (ao3) - UnorthodoxSavvy

Summary: While Dan's career in the FBI is taking off, Phil is left behind to pick up the pieces of his life after his brother's death. However, he finds himself plagued by strange nightmares that he can't explain. Soon, people around him start dying. Can Dan and Phil's partnership survive the mounting body count?

the quiet of our home (ao3) - wednesday_ukiru

Summary: A quiet Saturday morning in the Howell-Lester residence.

The Stake are High, the Water's Rough, But this Love is Ours. (ao3) - trancelover99

Summary: During an alien takeover of Earth, Dan and Phil have been teamed up to be battle partners against the invaders. The duo doesn't exactly get along for a number of reasons, particularly Phil's timid and shy nature and Dan's stoic and demeaning attitude. But when a hoard of aliens kidnaps Phil, Dan has no choice but to go after him. Will he succeed? Or die trying?

The Stress, The Glory and The Afterglow (ao3) - easybubby

Summary: It's 2024. Dan and Phil are overworked and slipping into old habits. The only difference between now and 10 years ago is that their relationship now comes first and they will do anything to protect it, even if they have to spend time apart. They treasure one wild night before they vow to keep their distance for a while.

the wagtail and the lovers (ao3) - buskingalbatross

Summary: On the Isle of Man in spring, a little pied wagtail is building its nest. Tradition says that it needs a few good luck charms to successfully raise its young.

The Winner Takes it in the Ass (ao3) - danisnotonfire

Summary: Dan gets his second request for his shuffleboard win

The X-Philes (ao3) - UnorthodoxSavvy

Summary: Phil is a psychic. Dan is a detective. When Phil is visited by the ghost of his brother, he knows something isn't right. Can he and Dan solve the case, or will they become the next victims?

They fade to nothing when I look at him (ao3) - phasamtasie

Summary: Dan and Phil go sledging.

thinking of new ways to do each other (ao3) - manchesterau

Summary: The stream ends but their night isn't over just yet.

This Love (ao3) - ForeverJustAnEmoKidAtHeart

Summary: Dan cannot wait until he's reunited with Phil in LA after two months apart, but the reunion doesn't go as he planned.

time enough (ao3) - dizzy

Summary: Dan and Phil make camp at an actual camp.

'tis the damn season (ao3) - pasteldanhowells

Summary: Dan is the coffee shop regular at the shop Phil just started working at. Phil quickly learns that Dan is a bit of a Grinch who refuses to try the shops' holiday drinks, or anything new really. Phil's determined to change Dan's mind about the holiday drinks.

to be known so deeply (ao3) - kissthemisfits

Summary: Seasons change, summer ends.

To be loved (ao3) - Thedemonqueen

Summary: Dan knows Phil insisted they’re together. Dan knows Phil loves him. But it doesn’t stop Dan from feeling dirty when he wants to touch Phil.

to let the light in (ao3) - cityofphanchester

Summary: Searching for a fresh start after a decade of dead ends in London, Dan becomes obsessed with a storytelling show on Rossendale Radio and a voice that hasn't been broadcast in years.

to love somebody the way i love you (ao3) - howell_slide

Summary: Dan and Phil return home from the hospital, and Dan’s Going Through It emotionally.

Too much? (ao3) - GayFandomNerd

Summary: A conversation about how much they’ve been sharing with their fans

true rat and relaxation time (ao3) - trashcanfromgallifrey

Summary: Two gays on holiday, inspired by their recent video.

Two Man Team (ao3) - Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan)

Summary: This is the story of two struggling friends who after many trials and tribulations find their way back to each other and build the life they've always dreamed of.

Or how Phil changed his life by talking to random strangers on the internet.

two wolves (ao3) - possumdnp

Summary: They're in the middle of a meeting, and Phil seems to be trying to tell him something. But what?

(or, Dan accidentally wears a certain novelty wolf t-shirt to an online meeting with their tour team.)

[naddpod-encounter-tourney]

Option 1:

Enemy: High King Durretar, Ancient Blue Dragon of the Sapphire Scale

Episode: C3 E27: King of Dragons

Time: 48:48-2:11:35 (battle stops at 2:03:55 but initiative ends at the later time)

Finish: Princess Shiverblight

Notes: On 3, regicide! The level 8 party decides to fight an ancient dragon on their own when only one of them manages to long rest beforehand. The mechanics of this encounter include dragon riding and are so goddam cool. It's also incredibly visual and one of Murph's best uses of lair actions to date.

Propaganda: (anonymous) CMON ITS KING OF DRAGONS. SO SICK. genuinely from the bottom of my heart the most exciting, interesting, and cool encounter I've ever seen. Rad as hell both mechanically and plot wise. SHIVERBLIGHT SWEEP!!

MY SUPERBOWL OF DND FIGHTS!!!!! TRULY SO ICONIC AND FUN!!!! COMBAT OF ALL TIME

I mean, come on! It was a giant fucking sky battle on the backs of dragons, unbelievably cinematic, lots of close calls, princess shiver blight, nothing comes fucking close!

Princess Shiverblight MVP

you know.

it's just so sick and scary

Option 2:

Enemy: Lord Ultrus and the Order of the Runny Eye

Episode: C3 E44: Trial by Steel and C3 E45: Lord Ultrus

Time: 1:04:08 (44) - 1:42:08 (45)

Finish: Hardwon (traps Ultrus in the Kingshammer)

Notes: Hardwon starts the battle with a Battlemaster ability. Jaina and Calder finally get involved in a fight (from inside the helm!!). Callie joins them inside the helm, and Ultrus and the cultists keep swapping who is inside the helm and who is outside the helm. Hardwon has a real Hardwon moment of standing alone, facing down a god (or a giant who made a deal with a god and has the powers of a god, who was responsible for the death of his best friend). Sol does some shenanigans and kind of keeps missing but is also impossible to hit. Kenna keeps saving lives. I cannot actually describe in words the moment where Hardwon regains the Kingshammer, casts Spirit Guardians, and an army joins them, as we get to finally see Cobb's final moments and the memory that was stored in the hammer. Jake is playing 2 PCs wonderfully. Also: "Hardwon! Catch!"

Propaganda: (anonymous) Not only is the battlefield dynamic and engaging (having Ultrus and his cronies switching between battlefields, making it effectively two battles at once) it also has narrative emotional stakes and big character moments (Old Cobb’s last words to Hardwon).

(also this post)

The concurrent battles in the material plane and in the demiplane, Ultrus's ability to switch between the two so everyone got to fight both him and the warlock goons, the extra abilities stolen from the trapped prisoners, the mechanics for breaking out of the helm, HARDWON AND JAINA AND THE DWARF DADDIES

god i know so many people will add this one but i love it so much. the way they jump back and forth between the Trial by Steel and the fight inside the helm is SO GOOD. i still have goosebumps from Jaina throwing the queenshammer through the barrier and Hardwon catching it. also the stakes were SO HIGH it was FANTASTIC. 10/10 combat

HUGE!!!! ITS HUGE!!!!! omg where to even start with this. the rolls alone feels INSANE AGSHAJDJSKD. JAINA AND CALDER. THE MOMENT WITH THE KINGSHAMMER. CALDER SUCCESSFULLY TACKLING ULTRUS. HARDWON GETTING A 30 TO PUT HIM IN THE HAMMER. THE SPIRIT GUARDIANS???????? I CRIED

truly the epitome of murph encounters! two different battles waging at the same time, with different combat styles (one big enemy vs lots of weaker baddies) in different planes, that then switch so everyone gets to fight in every situation. great group of PCs and NPCs that make excellent choices (shoutout to jake for playing two characters at once!), tons of emotional beats, and a very satisfying narrative closure to the arc. gotta love it

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Hi!

It’s me again! A quick question in lieu of the last one about Jin. (Sorry if it was confusing)

Maybe it’s cos I’m a newish babyish Army, but can you explain the wide dichotomy between how Armys, Fearnuts & Lilies are taking the MHJ court results compared to how everyone else is? Didn’t MHJ win the injunction? What happens next?

Thanks,

An implosion-era baby Army.

***

(I’ve gotten quite a few anonymous asks about Jin recently so I’m not sure which is yours… If you’d like me to still answer it, please send a clarifying ask with more details that you sent it, such as using the same signage you’re using here.)

What you’re seeing from ARMYs and the other HYBE fandoms you mentioned, but especially ARMYs, is cope.

It’s pretty easy to spot after a while of seeing how k-pop stans selectively apply reason, or examine bias and their own motives. K-pop is the land of make-believe after all.

Frankly, NewJeans’ fans aren’t much better, but at least following the injunction results, they have more clarity in all the ways HYBE is wrong and Min Heejin is right, and so, more vindicating claims.

At least for now. The criminal investigation is still ongoing and Korean police are notoriously partial towards conglomerates somehow even more than the courts are. Which means leaving the facts of the matter aside, it’s already more of an uphill battle for Min Heejin from here on out. Given the embarrassing loss HYBE has suffered this past week, it’s possible they work to leave nothing to chance with the criminal case and apply pressure on the police where they can, ahead of time. And I say that because that’s just how conglomerates move in Korea.

It’s a bit fascinating how things have ended up this way, but HYBE has played their hand so badly that they now have almost as much to lose as Min Heejin. Which ups the stakes.

And that’s why another option of how things play out, is that they might attempt to leapfrog the criminal trial process altogether by voting to remove MHJ during the June 10th general meeting. It would technically violate the injunction and guarantee dragging out this mess till the end of the year given it will result in countersuits from MHJ, but it will help HYBE save face to their sycophants including ARMYs and other self-righteously aggrieved HYBE fandoms.

I suspect the impact to NewJeans will only be more horrific than it’s already been, unfortunately. ARMYs seem to have become personally invested in the perceived demise of NewJeans and success of Le Sserafim and ILLIT, and there’s no world in which that’s a good thing for any of those three groups.

The next couple comebacks for all HYBE’s girl groups (including even Fromis 9 going off the funeral wreaths) will be fraught with intense infighting, scandal and pocket-watching from the aggrieved fandoms. Basically, Tokkis can expect the sticky unease of being the only child endowed with a flush trust fund from your paternal grandmother, stuck in the middle of your parents’ nasty divorce.

It’s just bad vibes, and immature adults over-motivated to be malicious and cruel.

BTS meanwhile, (starting with Jin) will be fine. Le Sserafim’s next comeback will be a banger, as will ILLIT’s, and NewJeans will absolutely kill it at Tokyo Dome with Supernatural.

[theveryconfusedartistsart-blog]

Sorry, I do talk about Flowisk too!

In fact, here, you can have some

(Both from the headcanons ask game)

Oh, and they do ask for a lower stakes rematch against Az (rematch of PFF) and end up winning again because as much Az might get annoyed at Frisk for "distracting him" there's no rule against flirting in battle, it's not Frisk's fault that Asriel finds them too cute to focus lol.

(Honestly, this goes for a lot of their dynamic, consisting of silly games, competitions or bets. Each time, Asriel is desperate to win and Frisk is never taking it too seriously, just here for the fun of chase and for Asriel's “adorable” (to Frisk) reaction when Frisk probably wins, yet again by distracting him, somehow. Don't get me wrong, I know that in canon, Friskriel’s dynamic is too high stakes and too violent to classify as a cute romantic rivals type thing, but after the end, I’m pretty sure it could definitely change into that. Just like, Asriel Dreemurr was reformed but not tamed, Friskriel’s dynamic is healthy now but that doesn't mean it has to lose it's bite. They both can enjoy a non-serious fight and thus enjoy each other’s company. Not that that's all Friskriel is either of course but they're not the focus of this headcanon, now, are they?)

_________

for Frisk (Caring and bright, like MK, but certainly not a goody two shoes by any means. Down for chaos and trouble, you mess with Frisk and they mess back, and that's just what Az likes about them. They forgave him when he didn't forgive himself, saved him when he still believes he doesn't deserve to be. (Though Frisk uses it constantly to win arguments and the like... Or Frisk is always allowed to pick the first movie on movie night because "no murder" privileges, Frisk gets the last cookie because "no murder" privileges, Frisk gets to ride shotgun because "no murder" privileges, and if there's a limited supply of something, Frisk gets the first pick, once again cos' no murder privileges.)

Who... understands about the presence of Chara and about the resets. And well...I often think about Chara and their "best friends", that one person they see as an equal above all else. But, well, Asriel has his own issues and he has his own best friends to feel weirdly intense about. In the underground, he idolizes Chara as that person...the exception to all the noise, the one person he feels that he can still care about, a potential partner in crime. And I think post pacifist, he kinda latches onto Frisk in the same way, at least to start with. In this case, it's paired with a crush but it doesn't have to be, for example with Chara, it evidently wasn't.),

______

He'll give gifts anonymously, hide his face away so Frisk doesn't see him blush at them, downplay or backtrack on compliments (or just mumble them), make excuses for caring actions, can be very clingy but never in public(and if you ever see him on Frisk's shoulders, it's just because it's easier than the pot, not cause he wants to be near Frisk or anything, or sometimes it's "Frisk paid me" liar). He's not a little weenie who "cares" about people, it's just because.... uh...

You know, general tsundere stuff.

And (apart from the blushing thing) this isn't just specific to his crush on Frisk but to every relationship he has. He has a reputation to maintain, he doesn't want to be teased, he always wanted to be "strong", to be seen as a "big kid" and that still goes now even if he's done trying to impress Chara or act cool for their sake. (Now, honestly, I think he might be trying to impress Frisk and MK, even though Frisk doesn't care and actually likes the fact that he's kind of a dork and MK is... actually pretty easily impressed, in fact, and is probably more annoyed when Asriel is mean, partially in an attempt to be "cool" and "tough" and "uncaring".)

Yeah! Flowisk!

Yeeesss! These are so cute! I've got nothing to add, so I'm just gonna slap tags on this and share it. 💖🌻

Also adding this too!

Is Daisy by Zedd ft. Julia Michaels on your song list? It's a very big one for me.

[kirfuffel]

Fire's Edge

4,223 words Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Naruto (Anime & Manga) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Uchiha Shisui, Nibi | Two-tails | Matatabi, Killer Bee (Naruto), Omoi (Naruto), Karui (Naruto) Additional Tags: Implied/Referenced Character Death, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence Summary: The Third Ninja War is waning and Shisui— a battlefield created jinchuriki— finds himself working as arms for hire to keep himself fed as a MIA shinobi. But no matter how good he is at what he does, this latest mission’s stakes are higher than he thinks.

0-0-0

This was going to be a tough one.

Not because Shisui was worried about getting his catch. He’d done that already. He’d found his target pretty easily, while the man had been making a run for the border of the Land of Lightning. He had the man tied up and ready to go— alive, as per instructions. And thank god, because he was twice Shisui’s size and Shisui did not have the fortitude right now to drag a dead body all the way to the drop off point.

I’m stating my position on this again, Shisui-kun, Matatabi chided. Taking this mission was a mistake. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll back out now.

We’re almost there. Besides, the pay is good for a fast catch. Things are a bit tight right now, we could use the money.

Hm.

Shisui chuckled. Come on. Don’t you want to see how your old village is doing?

No.

Okay, okay. I’m sorry.

Matatabi huffed. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

With that, her consciousness settled somewhere warm in the back of Shisui’s mind. Shisui pressed his lips together, but decided to let it go. He scooted a little closer to the fire, the warmth making him shiver. He looked over to where his prisoner was sleeping, bound at the wrists and ankles.

The bounty listed this as a low-ranking missing-nin, someone who couldn’t cut it as a shinobi and decided to make a run for it instead of serving their time. Shisui had heard about the Hidden Cloud’s mandatory service before, but to spend their money on catching AWOL genin seemed a little pointless— especially during the death throes of this awful war. He supposed that was why they weren’t paying their own hunter-nin to go after him.

Which meant the Hidden Cloud must be paying their hunter-nin good money, because Shisui was no cheap labor himself— not usually, at least. The war was at its end, after all (theoretically.) With the threat of peace coming for their livelihood, more and more bounty hunters were popping up out of the smaller villages as they surrendered or their militaries were assimilated into the Five Great Nations. Shisui was a cut above any of these small town thugs and could take on big time jobs, but he had to balance his success with his anonymity. He had to avoid making too much of a name for himself. Word traveled fast even across enemy lines and Shisui was still a wanted man.

And unlike his current target, Shisui was not wanted alive.

By any side.

Despite how lightly he teased her, Matatabi had a point. The Hidden Cloud was likely livid they lost one of their tailed-beasts in the midst of battle. Shisui hadn’t met Matatabi’s old jinchuriki and she did not talk about her often, but he could tell by the sound of Matatabi’s voice and the warmth that radiated in his stomach when she talked about her that the Two-Tails had possessed a… fondness for her old partner.

A deep itch started on Shisui’s shoulder and radiated all the way down his back. He gave a small frustrated grunt, scratching at the seal that was imprinted on his back. It had been a hack job, done by an inexperienced medic-nin in an effort to get the Two-Tails while it was still weak enough to seal alone. Shisui had been the only one around. It was him or letting the Two-Tails go, to be captured by enemy shinobi or worse, allowed to return to full strength and wreak havoc yet again— this time too close to the Hidden Leaf for Shisui to stand for.

Shisui missed home, sometimes. But he knew in his heart that returning a jinchuriki would mean turning over a weapon of mass destruction to the Uchiha and— no matter how much it hurt him— he could not give his clan any more leverage to go through with their foolish coup. He just had to hope that someday, the talks of peace would make their way inside the Hidden Leaf and encourage them to look inward for justice.

Shisui sighed. There was no point in getting all fussed about it again. He’d made his choice. Now he was living with it. It was going to be a long, sleepless night, but in the morning, he’d be in the Hidden Cloud. He’d turn in his target, get paid his bounty, and get out of dodge before anyone suspected a thing.

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

Shisui approached the red, looming gates leading up into the mountains — the entrance to the Hidden Cloud. As he stepped up, however, he was suddenly stopped by two… children.

“Hold it right there!” One of them shouted at him. She was half his size, with fiery red-hair and golden eyes. She pointed a short sword at him, snapping, “State your business! Now!”

Shisui held back a laugh, holding up his hands. “Whoa, whoa. I’m here on business. I’ve got a delivery to make to the Council of the Hidden Cloud. Maybe you could—“

“What kind of delivery!”

Shisui pointed behind him.

The little girl peered around him. She narrowed her eyes and looked back at Shisui. “And?”

“I was asked to bring him here. So I am.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

Shisui waved the question off. “Nothing. He’s just under a little genjutsu, that’s all. It’s easier than convincing him to come back on his own, right?”

The other child came up behind her, looking over her shoulder. He was a young boy with blond hair and what appeared to be a lollipop hanging from the side of his mouth. He frowned.

“Prove you’re not lying!” The little girl shouted, advancing on him.

“Whoa, hey now. How am I supposed to do that?”

“You tell me! You’re the intruder!”

“Hey, hey! What’s all this, what’s all the noise? All this yelling, my concentration destroys! Yea, yea!”

Shisui’s eyes snapped up, as a hulking man came swinging down off the mountain side. He swung over the red gates like monkey bars, landing right next to the little kids with a thud! “What’s the dealio, kiddie-os?”

The little girl pointed at Shisui with her sword. “This guy says he’s gotta deliver this other guy to the Council or something! But he won’t prove it!”

“Simmer down, Karui, let the MC get a looksie.” The man stepped up to Shisui, leaning down to meet his eyes. The sunlight glimmered in his sunglasses, right above the tattoos of bullhorns on his cheek.

That’s Killer B— the Raikage’s brother. Matatabi informed him. You best be careful. He comes off foolish, but his strength is nothing to snicker at. He is the host of the Eight-Tails, Gyuuki.

Shisui’s stomach dropped, but he stood his ground.

Killer B took a look around Shisui at the man tied up behind him. He snapped his fingers. “Oh shit! Yeah, I know this face! You got his ass, record pace, oh yeah!”

Shisui let his breath go subtly. “I’m glad to be satisfactory! Now, I was told I’d be able to find someone here to guide me to the Council. Is that… you?”

Killer B grimaced and waved his hand in a vague circle. “Yeah… I guess. I don’t want to go through the whole song and dance, I don’t even wanna give those stuffy hacks a chance to—“

Killer B’s face brightened. He grabbed Shisui around the shoulders. “I got an idea! How about you let me take this guy off your hands, and then my two best protégés will take you right to the Council?”

“I… don’t know about that. I was told to make the delivery in person—“

“No worries, no worries, mate! I’ll just write a little note, put my name on it, and it’ll all be good!" B whipped out a small notebook and a pencil, scribbling something down. "Besides, my kids’ll vouch for you, won’t you, kids?”

Karui huffed, snatching the note from B. She sheathed her sword and crossed her arms.

The little boy didn’t say anything.

Shisui quickly looked between Karui and B. “I really would rather—“

“That’s the spirit!” Killer B snatched the rope out of Shisui’s hands and slapped him on the back. “Go on ahead, I got this from here! Just follow these kids up the mountain, no fear!”

“I—!”

But before Shisui could protest any more, Killer B hoisted their missing-nin up onto his shoulder and bounded back off up into the mountains. He tried not to let out a groan of frustration. He might have just gotten kill-snatched.

I think you should take this as a sign and quit while you’re ahead, Shisui-kun.

C’mon. We’ve gotten this far.

Hm.

Look, these kids are harmless. If I get into any trouble, I’ll pop them under a little genjutsu and we’ll skedaddle. Easy does it.

Don’t be so sure. These mountains are treacherous to outsiders and crawling with Hidden Cloud shinobi. It will only get worse the closer you get to the village.

Don’t worry about me. My Body Flicker technique is faster than anyone’s. I’ll be fine.

It’s not you I’m worried about—

“Hey!”

Shisui snapped back to the present when a pair of fingers were snapped in front of him.

“Lemme guess,” Karui jabbed. “You can’t use chakra to walk up walls?”

Of course he could but he had… obscured a bit on his background when taking this job. He shrugged with a smile. “Sorry— Karui, was it?”

“That’s Karui-san to you.”

“Yes ma’am, Karui-san.”

She jerked her head. “Come on then. It’s a long walk for civilians.”

Shisui followed these two kids as they began their trek up the mountains. Karui had not been lying. It was definitely a long walk up many steep stairs. The longer they walked, the thinner the air became and the denser the clouds became around them, until it began to look like they were in a fog. Karui trekked on ahead of them, however, kicking a rock up the stairs. The boy hung back behind her, almost walking beside him.

Shisui bent down a little. “So is she always so intense?”

The boy looked at him out of the corner of his eye, but didn’t respond.

Shisui laughed a little. “Not much for conversation, huh?”

The boy shook his head. If Shisui had to guess, the boy had to be around five years old— way too young to be guarding the village gates. The girl was probably older, but not by much. The Hidden Cloud must have been strapped for shinobi—

Don’t underestimate B. Matatabi warned. If you had tried anything, you’d be dangling by your neck off these cliff sides.

So lemme guess. You know these kids?

Matatabi didn’t answer.

After what seemed like forever, they broke through the clouds and the stairs finally plateaued, announcing their arrival into the Hidden Cloud proper. The many plazas and beautiful glass buildings built into the mountain side were all connected with stone walkways and steel bridges. However, the clouds obscured how far the village really went— making it look like some of the bridges walked right into the ether.

“Come on, keep up!” Karui yelled. She turned around with a sneer. “If you get lost, you might walk right off the edge of a cliff.”

“Oh yikes. We better keep up then, right—?” Shisui lead, but the boy did not take the bait. Shisui cleared his throat. “Y’know, I had a friend who had a brother about your age.”

The boy didn’t respond.

“He was a lot more talkative than you. You couldn’t stop him from talking, actually.”

“What, kinda like you?” Karui snapped.

“Something like that!” Shisui laughed. “How much longer, Karui-san?”

“Why? Are your legs getting tired?”

“A little bit, yeah. It was a long walk here.”

“Well lucky you, the council building is right over there.” Karui pointed to the building looming in the clouds to their right. “So stop whinging, we’re practically there.”

And so they were. Karui lead them all inside and up yet another few flights of stairs, until they reached a long hallway leading to an impressive set of doors with the kanji for “Clouds” written upon them in gold paint.

“You stay here.” Karui commanded, pointing at a bench. “I’ll go in and tell them what’s going on.”

Shisui gave her a salute. “Tell them Suishi sent you.”

“Yeah, yeah, Sushi sent me. Omoi, you watch this guy and make sure he doesn’t try anything funny.” With that, Karui grabbed the door handle and — using her whole body weight— swung it open just enough to get through. She heaved it shut behind her.

This left Shisui and the younger boy alone together.

Shisui tapped his fingers against the wall. “So. Omoi, is it?”

The boy looked up at him.

Shisui forced a little laugh. “‘Karui’ and ‘Omoi’, huh? You two must’ve been a package deal at the baby store, huh?”

Omoi frowned. He pulled the lollipop out of his mouth. “You aren’t from around here, are you?”

“Oh, so you can talk! No, no. I’m not from around here. But it’s a nice place, maybe I’ll—“

“I need to ask you a question and you need to answer it fast.”

“Uh, sure. Shoot.”

“What did you do to Yugito?”

“Who-gito?”

The doors burst open and dozens of shinobi spilled out— from the hallways on either side, from the ceiling, from the walls. They swarmed Shisui like attacking dogs, brandishing knives, swords, sealing scrolls. Shisui had a breath to form a single hand seal.

But that’s all he needed.

Body Flicker!

Shisui vanished from the onslaught, feeling the rush as blades passed over his head and clashed against each other. He ran, flitting in and out around ninja as they came at him. As he dodged through a hissing maze of wires bursting from a sealing scroll, he flashed another set of hand seals.

Doppelganger Technique!

In a puff of white smoke, dozens of shadows of Shisui burst onto the battlefield and scattered, all running for the only exit Shisui knew of. As he flickered through these mere shadows, he saw a shinobi running in the opposite direction— holding Omoi. Shinobi were parting around the fleeing ninja like water and they were pulling far ahead. So Shisui switched tactics, sending his clones far out away from him and following closely behind Omoi’s savior in short bursts— just enough to keep inside the hole behind them, but not close enough they could feel him.

But then bolts of lightning shot through the hallway in front of him, shattering the thick windows around him and halting him in his tracks. He jumped back and turned to face the horde behind him— but they were no longer advancing. The wall of shinobi stood behind him, all still poised to attack, but… they were standing still.

Shisui whipped back around.

In front of him stood a hulking man, skin dark and ruddy, blonde hair pushed back behind his forehead protector. Wisps of lightning still crackled across his boulder muscles, even as he straightened up.

Shisui-kun! Jump!

What?!

Jump! I’ll catch you!

Shisui made a dash for the shattered window, his feet clattering against the broken glass. Then the hair stood up on the back of his neck and he flung himself to the side, just narrowly avoiding the devastating blow that zapped past his ear. He scrabbled back, his Sharingan flickering around the battlefield. Then— in a breath’s moment— he saw the man, coated in a veil of lightning, come charging at him fist drawn back.

Even his Body Flicker would be too slow.

S-Susanoo!

With a burst of bright green chakra, a skeletal rib cage burst from the ground around Shisui, rushing up to defend him— but not fast enough. With a crack like a splitting tree, the tip of Susanoo’s rib snapped.

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

The ringing in his ears grew closer and closer, until it seemed to fill his head. The world slowly came back into focus around him and his body seemed to settle back down into reality. Shisui’s entire body ached, like he’d been thrown down a cliffside. His limbs were still tingling, full of a dull static from the tips of his fingers to the bottom of his toes. Whatever lightning-style he’d been hit with, it had been extraordinary. He was lucky he wasn’t dead— perhaps calculatedly so.

Shisui struggled to sit up. His arms felt like they were on a delay and slightly off from the rest of his body. He swayed to catch his balance as he fully sat up. He took a look at his arm and he saw bright pink lines scribbling down his pale, clammy skin.

They’re lightning scars. They’ll fade.

Shisui jolted with relief. Matatabi! You’re still here!

Of course I am. You’d be dead if I weren’t.

I thought for sure you’d be—

I know. I am as surprised as you, Shisui-kun.

Shisui sighed. I really messed up, Matatabi. I’m sorry I came back here.

Don’t be too hard on yourself. It… could have been worse.

What happened?

You met A— the current Raikage. You were never going to be a match for him. You are very, very lucky. If he wanted you dead, you would be.

Then why am I…

Shisui looked around him. He was trapped, that much was certain. The grey stone around him was cold. The bars in front of him were thick and solid. There was a damp smell in the air and it was humid. There was the sound of running water, echoing somewhere in the distance.

You… wouldn’t happen to know where we are, would you?

If I had to guess, we’re in a sealing temple within the Hidden Cloud. There are several, meant to hold a tailed beast if their jinchuriki fails. I could not say which one.

That’s more than I know. Any chance you’ve got enough chakra left to bust us out of here? I think I’m tapped out.

I’m afraid not. Something must be siphoning off my chakra.

“Hey, hey! Look who’s awake!”

Shisui winced as the voice echoed loudly through his cell. He looked over and saw Killer B waving from the other side.

“Welcome back, kid!” B turned around and crossed his legs. He slapped his thighs. “I bet you’ve got questions, yeah?”

“I… a couple, I guess.” His voice was hoarse. He tried to get up, but didn’t make it very far. He sat back down hard.

“I’d keep your backside rock-side, if I were you. My brother’s Lightning Straight ain’t something most bounce back from. Wish I’d been there to see how you managed that one.”

“Mm-hm…” Shisui rubbed his eyes. “Where am I?”

“Jail, my guy! You’ve made yourself a right mess, no try! You’ve got balls up the walls to come back here!”

“I… ugh…”

“Hey, hey, don’t get too down. We’d have tracked you down anyway, you saved us a lot of time, ‘ey. Not many people could’ve gone toe-to-toe with Yugito, much less taken her out. You’ve pissed off a lot of people.”

“Who?”

“Don’t play dumb now, boy. You’ve already fucked up.”

“I…”

Yugito was my former jinchuriki. She was taken out by a man with yellow hair and a long coat. I don’t know how, but I didn’t see him coming. She was gone before I knew what had hit us.

Shisui’s stomach dropped.

“Talking with the Two-Tails, boy?”

“I… y-yes. How did you—”

“So you’re at least on speaking terms, that’s good to hear.” B leaned forward. “So. If it wasn’t you, then who?”

“We… we don’t know. They hit her from behind. Somehow.” Shisui tried again to get up, but failed. “What…what’s going to happen now?”

“Now? Now we’re at a bit of an impasse, a bit of a block. Where we go from here is on you, so let’s talk.”

“What do you mean?”

“Welp, there’s a few things you gotta know, a couple things to get you up to speed. We got you on lock, but there’s a way to get freed! But not without a catch.” B tapped his shoulder, where there was a dark black tattoo of the kanji for ‘Iron’. “You see this seal? It’s better than yours, y’feel me? We’ve gotten your seal modded up, so it’s attached to yours truly!”

“Wh… huh?”

“Listen up, listen up, I’m telling you, son! You and I, fit and fly, are linked now, yea! Where I go, you go, day by day, hey!”

“Wh… wh…” Shisui shook his head. “Wait, so… we’re tied together now? By our seals?”

“By your seal, yeah. So if you try anything funny or tricky, yours will pop right off real sicky. Gonna be a helluva bad end for you then, friend.”

Can they do that?

I don’t know, but I would not put it past them. I would not test it just yet.

“So… how far is the tether?”

“That’s for me to know, and you to find out, kiddo.” B waved his hand around. “But that ain’t the only thing you gotta do, the only catch, I’m telling you. There’s more to the deal, y’feel?”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re a jinchuriki now, of the Two-Tailed Beast. The Hidden Cloud’s Beast, of which we’d like to keep. So you and me, we’re a lot alike, because I’m the Eight-Tails host, no trick, no syke!”

“The Eight-Tails…” Shisui said, like he didn’t already know.

“Hey, hey, surely Two-Tails has said something about me by now, yea? I’m the Killer B, we go way back, me and she!”

“She’s mentioned you, yes.” Shisui pressed his lips together. Then he said, “I… I can’t be loyal to the Hidden Cloud.”

“We ain’t asking that. But until we’ve got a better way to pry that kitty cat out of you, you ain’t going nowhere fast. So you might as well sit back and re-lax.”

“So… I just sit here? Or do we just sit here?”

“Neither, kiddo! We ain’t savages! If you’re gonna be our Two-Tails host, you’ll need some establishes! Something nicer than this!”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s find out, yeah?” B stood up, picking up the familiar bag by his side. He shoved a hand in his pocket and dug around, fishing out a key and jamming it into the lock on the door. He kicked it open with a screech.

Shisui tried again to stand up, his legs finally feeling steadier beneath him. He wobbled back to his feet, only to be nearly knocked back off them when B tossed the bag into his hands.

“All your stuff is still there, you’ll find, plus your mission payment, in kind. Your mission was a success, your target was met, so the Cloud paid their debt!”

“Oh… that’s… nice. I guess.”

“For sure! Now you good to talk, but you good to walk?”

“I… I think so.”

“For sure, for sure. Let’s get a move on then!”

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

“Here we go, here we are! Your new digs, kid.”

Shisui looked around. The room had definitely been recently repurposed— a lot of miscellaneous items and furniture had been pushed to the walls to make room for a fluffy looking futon and a bedside lamp. Pretty bare-bones, but definitely more than Shisui had had some nights.

”It ain’t no five-star resort, but I wasn’t expecting guests.” B nudged him with a cheeky smile. “We’ll go shopping tomorrow.”

Shisui forced a smile. “You don’t have to do that. This is fine.”

“Nicer than jail, huh?”

Shisui nodded.

B patted him on the back. “Don’t you worry about that anymore. Besides. My bro is paying for your upgrades, so you can have whatever you want.”

“Thank you, that’s… nice of him.”

“Yeah, don’t get too used to it. Brother’s a hard-ass most of the time. You’ll find that out once you start training to get your tailed beast form under control.”

Little do they know.

And the littler they know the better, Shisui-kun.

“Anyway. You can put your bag down wherevs, bathroom’s down the hall across from the kids, and I’ll see you at dinner in 40 minner.”

“Thank you, B-sama—“ Shisui stopped, then asked, “Kids? You have children?”

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t sound so surprised! I may look youthful in my age, but I’m responsible, yey! You met my fun-sized protégés, you bet, but I guess I ain’t introduced you all formal yet.” B turned over his shoulder, shouting, “Yo! Karui! Omoi! Get in here!”

After a brief moment of silence, the two kids appeared in the doorway, Karui standing directly in front of Omoi.

B pointed to each of them, stating, “This one’s Karui, this one’s Omoi. They’re my kids, one girl, one boy!”

Shisui smiled tightly. “We… we have met, haven’t we? I’m… I’m Shisui. I hope we can all get along.”

Karui scoffed. “Fat chance.”

B nudged her with his knee. “Hey, hey, watch it, mini-me. We’ve gotta work together all harmoniously.”

Karui rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Come on, Omoi. We are going to go pick up dinner.”

Omoi didn’t say anything. Karui grabbed him by the sleeve and dragged him behind her as she stomped off.

This… might not go well.

Give them time. This is a new change for them too. You’re a big boy, Shisui-kun. Be patient.

I will.

[writingquestionsanswered]

missunderstood-with-ideas asked: I'm outlining my story and realized that even though I have a goal (MC wants to escape a cult with his kids) but I seem to have no like Climax? There is no huge big bad fight that my character fights, it just seems to be a lot of rising action and rising tension and then my character dies (since it’s written in 1st pov the story ends with them) I don't want to change that ending cuz it make sense for the character to die at the end but its just not making story sense right now. I also don't really have like an obstacle? And why they haven't escaped yet. I just can't seem to think of reasons why the characters keep going back to the cult when they have many opportunities to escape.

(Ask edited for length...)

It helps to start by looking where you're at:

Conflict: MC and his kids are stuck in a cult Antagonist: cult/cult leaders MC's goal: to escape cult with kids Stakes: freedom, safety and well being of kids and dad

Obstacles: first, there's not just one obstacle. Your story's antagonist (or antagonistic force) should create many obstacles your protagonist must overcome on their way to the goal. This struggle to overcome obstacles creates the action of the story, and the triumph or sometimes failure to overcome obstacles helps create tension. So, to figure out the obstacles, you first have to think about your antagonist's goal. What is their opposition to the protagonist? Clearly they want the protagonist and his kids to stay in the cult, but why? Why is it so important to them that they create the obstacles to make it harder for them to leave? What's at stake for the antagonist? (What's the best they can hope for if they succeed in getting the protagonist and his kids to stay, what's the worst that will happen if they fail to get them to stay?) What kinds of security might they have prevent people from escaping? How might they pursue someone who is trying to escape? These result in obstacles the MC must overcome.

Climax: The climax of your story is when the protagonist faces off against the antagonistic force once and for all. This doesn't have to be a literal battle or physical fight of any kind. It can be the final, biggest obstacle that must be overcome. It can be escaping once and for all after being caught following the first escape. It can be facing off against the cult leaders in court. The climax is simply the final victory over the antagonist, the moment where the MC digs deep and finds a way to triumph once and for all.

As far as why the characters haven't escaped up to this point, most of the time it's because they don't yet want to escape. They don't realize they're in a cult or in danger, or they try to rationalize what they're going through due to whatever brainwashing has occurred. Usually when they try to escape it's because something has happened that causes them to "see the light" and realize something is wrong.

Happy writing! ETA:

Anonymous added: there are many good documentaries on different platforms and even more books about cults and why leaving is so hard. The obstacle is usually mental. Leaving everything you've been taught and the people you love behind is hard. Many return because they have nothing outside, so surviving is hard. Also missing loved ones can be a big part in returning. Youtube has a wealth of information too by the way. Many people on there talk about their cult experiences.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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[antihibikase2]

The rumor of a ghost duelist persists among the streets of Nimbasa City.

His blue cape turns into an inky black in the field of battle, his sole red eye illuminating his silhouette. With a duel disk shaped like a crescent moon, he whistles a haunting melody as he makes his next move- and strikes his next target.

Rumor has it that he not only steals the coveted Number cards, cards of mysterious origin that bring out the true nature of each duelist,

but also their soul; perhaps as punishment for making a deal with the devil.

This was Piper truly leaving his mark on the Unova region- the shroud of anonymity was a small price to pay in exchange for the sight of the world being brought down to their knees, quivering in fear as the rumor grows.

It was a cause for pride when this leads to a professional duelist seeking him out, instead of the other way around- and one with a Number card, no less.

Number 7: Lucky Straight.

Light attribute, fairy-type.

A strange choice for pro duelist Grimsley, who specialized in monsters that are the opposite- creatures of the darkness, zombies and fiends.

But, he was also a well-known gambler, a risk-taker who left the fate of duels all up to luck; perhaps this mismatched choice was simply proof of that.

"Hey, you," Grimsley calls out to him; the mark of the number forms on the back of his hand, glowing a bright gold. "I'm not necessarily caught up to what the kids are talking about nowadays-"

They find themselves at the rooftop of Nimbasa City's shopping mall, overseeing the hustle and bustle of the night life.

Smiles and laughter, bright lights and sounds.

Piper could only imagine The Diviner's lonely gaze and trembling voice as he watched from the glass tower.

"But you're the rumored ghost, aren't you? The guy who steals souls, and the hunter of numbers."

"And what of it?" His voice is haughty- but he didn't care. "Have you come here to surrender yours before you're targeted? Pro duelist Grimsley is rumored to be a coward, you know."

"That's true," Grimsley bitterly chuckles, taking a coin out of his pocket. "A coward who abandoned his past- and his family, along with it. A guy that leaves it all up to fate, so it's easier to absolve himself of responsibility."

Piper whips out the keychain from his belt, just as Grimsley prepares one of his popular coin tosses- a sight the media never seems to tired of.

"But you know what? This coward's going toe to toe with this strange ghost everyone's scared of."

"For your own safety?"

"Oh no, far from it," Another chuckle, just as forced as the last one. "What this card does is nothing sort of a miracle- its pros outweigh the cons, and I'm willing to gamble everything and and anything to keep it. However,"

He tosses his coin, and it takes shape of his duel disk, attaching into his arm with ease.

"That melody you whistle. I'm going to need to know where you found that."

Oh?

Suddenly, Piper feels the chill of the night breeze brushing on his skin, giving him goosebumps.

"See, that thing you're humming- I know you know it's from nowhere big. Just a simple song,"

He takes out his D Gazer.

"But, you see, that song is my brother's-"

As Grimsley places his D Gazer, Piper realizes his eyes are a familiar shade of indigo. "

-and wherever he is right now, I know you had something to do with his disappearance."

Piper doesn't reply.

His own duel disk takes form as the tattoo of Team Plasma forms around his eye- and he ditches his red glasses, just this once.

Pushing down the growing panic, he focuses solely on the duel with Grimsley's soul at stake- nevermind the image of Slater hating him forever forming in his head.

He was abducted because he was weak. He was weak because he was abandoned.

Grimsley is at fault then, isn't he?

That makes it all the easier to fan the flames.

"Slater," A mad grin forms on Piper's face. "Hey, you're watching, aren't you? Then I'll make sure to teach your good-for-nothing brother a lesson."

[dertaglichedan]

Dems in full-blown ‘freakout’ over Biden

A pervasive sense of fear has settled in at the highest levels of the Democratic Party over President Joe Biden’s reelection prospects, even among officeholders and strategists who had previously expressed confidence about the coming battle with Donald Trump.

All year, Democrats had been on a joyless and exhausting grind through the 2024 election. But now, nearly five months from the election, anxiety has morphed into palpable trepidation, according to more than a dozen party leaders and operatives. And the gap between what Democrats will say on TV or in print, and what they’ll text their friends, has only grown as worries have surged about Biden’s prospects.

“You don’t want to be that guy who is on the record saying we’re doomed, or the campaign’s bad or Biden’s making mistakes. Nobody wants to be that guy,” said a Democratic operative in close touch with the White House and granted anonymity to speak freely.

But Biden’s stubbornly poor polling and the stakes of the election “are creating the freakout,” he said.

***You know it's bad if Politico is reporting on it..

[baccarat44]

Unraveling the Thrill: Online Baccarat - Your Ticket to Elegance and Excitement

So, you're in pursuit of a casino game that exudes elegance, offers tantalizing suspense, and involves a bit of strategy? Look no further! Enter the world of online baccarat, where James Bond meets the thrill of the casino floor. We're here to dive deep into the art of online baccarat, breaking it down for you in a manner that will make you feel like an expert in no time. Think of this journey as mastering the tango, but in the realm of cards.

Baccarat 101: What's the Deal?

Let's begin with the basics. บาคาร่าเว็บตรง is a card game that epitomizes sophistication. It's often associated with the well-dressed elite and the posh casinos of Monte Carlo. However, thanks to the digital age, it's now accessible to anyone with an internet connection and a desire for excitement.

The Aim of the Game: Baccarat is a battle of wits between the Player and the Banker. Your job is to bet on the outcome of the game – will it be a win for the Player, the Banker, or a Tie?

Card Values: Cards 2 through 9 have face value, aces count as 1, and 10s and face cards have a value of zero.

Scoring: The aim is to get as close to 9 as possible. If the total value of your cards exceeds 9, you drop the tens digit. For example, if you have a 7 and an 8, the total is 15, but your score is 5.

Betting Options: You can bet on the Player, the Banker, or a Tie. Each bet has its odds, with the Banker's bet being a favorite.

The Magic of Online Baccarat

Online baccarat captures the essence of the traditional game while adding a layer of convenience and accessibility that makes it perfect for modern players.

Accessibility: Picture this - you, in your pajamas, enjoying a glass of wine, and placing bets with a few clicks. Online baccarat brings the thrill to your living room.

Variety: Online casinos offer various versions of baccarat, catering to different preferences. Mini-baccarat, Punto Banco, and Chemin de Fer are just a few of the variations you can explore.

Low Stakes to High Rollers: Whether you're a casual player or a high roller, online baccarat accommodates all budgets. You can start with small bets and work your way up as you gain confidence.

Realistic Experience: With high-quality graphics and live dealer options, online baccarat replicates the casino ambiance. It's as close to the real deal as it gets without leaving your home.

Strategies: The Art of Baccarat

Baccarat isn't just a game of luck; there's an element of strategy involved. Think of it as a chess match, with each move requiring careful consideration.

The Martingale System: A popular strategy, the Martingale system involves doubling your bet after each loss. This method aims to recoup your losses when you eventually win. But beware, it can be risky.

The Paroli System: This strategy takes the opposite approach, doubling your bet after each win. It's considered less risky but can still lead to significant gains.

Pattern Spotting: Some players swear by tracking patterns and trends in baccarat games. They believe that recognizing trends can help predict the outcome.

Banker's Bet: Statistically, the Banker's bet has a lower house edge, making it a favorite among seasoned players.

Money Management: One of the golden rules of any casino game is managing your bankroll. Set limits, stick to them, and never bet more than you can afford to lose.

Online Baccarat vs. Traditional Baccarat

To truly appreciate the merits of online baccarat, let's compare it to the traditional, land-based version.

Convenience: The most evident advantage of online baccarat is the convenience factor. You can play from your couch, your favorite coffee shop, or even during a dull office meeting (just kidding!).

Privacy: Online play affords you the luxury of anonymity. You don't need to worry about the judgmental glances from fellow players if you're still learning the ropes.

Variety of Games: While land-based casinos might offer one or two variations of baccarat, online casinos spoil you for choice with numerous options.

Bonuses and Promotions: Online casinos often provide enticing bonuses and promotions, which can significantly boost your bankroll.

Live Dealer Interaction: Online casinos offer the unique experience of playing with a live dealer. It's like having the charm of a traditional casino right in your home.

House Edge: Online casinos typically have a lower house edge, which means better odds for players.

The Thrill of the Squeeze

In the world of baccarat, there's a moment that creates suspense like no other – the squeeze. It's the card revelation, the climax of the game, and it's a thrilling experience.

Squeeze Ritual: When a player bets a substantial sum on the Player or Banker, a ritualistic squeeze of the cards begins. It's akin to the moment a magician reveals their most prized trick.

Slow Reveal: The squeeze involves slowly revealing the cards' values. It's a tantalizingly slow process, keeping players on the edge of their seats.

Bated Breath: As the cards are peeled away, players and spectators hold their breath, hoping for the outcome they've bet on.

Emotional Rollercoaster: The squeeze is a rollercoaster of emotions - the anticipation, the rush, and the final revelation.

Baccarat and Pop Culture

Baccarat isn't just a game; it's made its way into the world of pop culture, leaving its mark on movies, books, and more. It's the game of choice for characters who exude class and sophistication.

James Bond: Our favorite secret agent, James Bond, is no stranger to baccarat. In Ian Fleming's original novels and several films, Bond is seen sipping a martini and engaging in high-stakes baccarat battles.

Literature: Baccarat has appeared in numerous novels, adding an element of intrigue and elegance to the storyline.

Movies: Beyond James Bond, baccarat has graced the silver screen in various other films. It's often used to depict high society or high-stakes scenarios.

Celebrity Endorsements: A slew of celebrities and public figures have professed their love for baccarat, adding to its allure.

Online Baccarat - A Social Experience

Online baccarat may be a solitary endeavor, but it doesn't mean you have to play in isolation. Many online casinos have introduced live dealer games that replicate the camaraderie of the casino floor.

Live Dealers: These charismatic individuals deal the cards and interact with players, adding a social aspect to the game.

Chat Feature: Most online baccarat games offer a chat feature, allowing you to converse with fellow players. It's a great way to share your excitement, strategies, or even just exchange pleasantries.

Multiplayer Games: Some online baccarat variations allow multiple players to join a single game, fostering a sense of community.

Tournaments: Online baccarat tournaments are becoming increasingly popular, offering a competitive and social experience.

The Future of Online Baccarat

The world of online baccarat is continuously evolving. Here are a few trends and possibilities to keep an eye on:

Virtual Reality (VR) Baccarat: Imagine stepping into a virtual casino, interacting with other players, and experiencing the game as if you were there. VR baccarat is on the horizon.

Blockchain and Cryptocurrency: The use of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies is making its way into the online gambling world, providing more security and transparency for players.

Enhanced Live Dealer Games: Expect even more realistic and interactive live dealer baccarat experiences in the future.

Mobile Gaming: As more players switch to mobile devices, online casinos are adapting, ensuring seamless baccarat gameplay on smartphones and tablets.

Final Thoughts

Online baccarat is more than just a card game; it's a journey into elegance, excitement, and a touch of strategy. With the convenience of online play, an array of variations, and the allure of the squeeze, it's a game that captures the essence of the casino world. Whether you're in your pajamas or your tuxedo, online baccarat is your ticket to a thrilling adventure that can rival even the most glamorous land-based casinos. So, why not give it a spin? After all, as James Bond would say, "The name's Baccarat. Online Baccarat."

Enjoy the game, and may the cards be ever in your favor!

[theenchantedecho]

The Unspeakable Weight: The Ministry’s Tug of War with the Dark Arts

"The Enchanted Echo" - Marauders Era (1970-1980s)

Politics Section

By Vincent Mysterio

As I sit at my aged oak desk, the flickering glow of candlelight casting shadows on parchment, I'm overtaken by the sheer gravitas of the predicament we as a society find ourselves ensnared in. The dark magic that lurks in the corners of our daily lives isn't just a figment of alarmist imagination; it is an increasingly palpable reality, reaching its tendrils into our hearths, schools, and most troublingly, the pillars of our governance.

Given the dread name He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, this dark force seems almost spectral, yet its effects are all too corporeal. At a time when even a child's laughter is stifled by an air of uncertainty, we find ourselves looking towards the Ministry of Magic for guidance, for safety—yet what we receive is a cocktail of hesitancy and dubious choices.

The Tightrope of Governance

In recent months, confidential sources within the Ministry have spoken to me of a governmental body teetering on the edge, trying to balance the urgency to act against dark forces with the preservation of civil liberties we hold dear. However, the reports that have filtered through the grapevine are far from reassuring. Whispers of unauthorised magical surveillance, prolonged detentions without formal charges, and unforgiving interrogations paint a dire picture. To quote an anonymous Ministry official, "The air is so thick with suspicion, you could cut it with a wand."

The Price of Security

This brings us to a deeply moral quagmire. Are we, as a society deeply rooted in traditions of freedom and self-governance, willing to sacrifice those very principles upon the altar of what is increasingly seeming like an illusory sense of security? Remember the cautionary tale of 1936, when the Ministry’s attempt to internally regulate the use of dark spells led to a spate of false imprisonments and a general air of mistrust?

The Road Ahead

It's crucial now, more than ever, for the Ministry to recalibrate its compass. Ad hoc measures and reactionary politics have no place in a society that’s facing a threat as calculated and malevolent as this. According to Archibald Hastings, Professor of Political Magic at the Wizarding University of Edinburgh, "What we need is a plan, not a patchwork of makeshift solutions. The Ministry must act, yes, but with forethought and above all, honour."

The Final Reckoning

In the battle for the soul of our society, the stakes have never been higher. If we waver in our resolve, if we are willing to trade our very essence for a fleeting respite, we hand the dark forces a victory more resounding than any they could win by wand or curse. In this struggle that has seeped into the very marrow of our magical community, losing our principles—our identity—could well be the costliest defeat of all.