#A weapon that shouldn't be yielded
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africthestrong · 2 years ago
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Decimaar Blade (Hugo)
Afric stares in shock as she stare at the infamous and dangerous Decimaar blade within her grasp. She can feel its power, its deadliness within its magical mist within her grasp. She looks to Hugo "...Hugo?"
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wateroflifefrommountains · 1 year ago
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On Cassandra Cain and "Good Damage": A reaction and a reflection of the character and the concept.
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Good damage is a term coined in an episode of Bojack Horseman and with the same title [Good Damage] and is a term referring to damage or trauma suffered which results in a positive outcome for the one who suffered said trauma. In the said episode of Bojack Horseman, Diane was trying to write a book based on the trauma she suffered. She was attempting to channel the pain and the bleakness of her life into a grim yet meaningful work of literature [her essays]. However, whenever she tries, it ends up terrible. The words are not right the atmosphere is not there and the pain isn't yielding any good. On the other hand, whenever she writes in a cheerful and upbeat manner, she makes a killing as the work is genuinely good. This confuses and hurts her. She feels like pain and suffering should amount to something and that there should be a pay-off to all the bullshit; however, she couldn't do it. The pain brought her nothing positive - it was not "Good Damage" - it was just damage. In the end, she realizes that damage is pain, damage is trauma, and while they COULD be sources of inspiration; they are, first and foremost, DAMAGE. She then writes in the bubbly and colorful manner she is good at and succeeds in it.
Cassandra Cain can be described as the poster child of this concept as the skills and the physique she has were all a product of abusive and outsight violent acts done upon her and her mother, Lady Shiva. Her damage is that she was abused as a kid by being deprived of verbal language, being shot and stabbed, and being made to kill. Her creation, and in turn, Shiva's damage was the trauma of being forced to bear the child of the man who murdered your sister after being ganged up and beaten yourself. The outcomes or fruits that make them "Good Damage" are the prodigious skill and foresight via body language reading of Cassandra Cain as well as a "freeing" of Shiva and her unmatched drive to be the strongest.
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However, what if her damage wasn't "Good Damage". If stories are constantly going to have her lose then so be it, but acknowledge that all the pain, blood, and abuse David Cain put Cassandra and, in extension, Shiva through were ultimately worthless and amounted to nothing. There was no "Good Damage" if all of that was only to produce an above-average ninja girl whose powers of observation and prediction can be learned, copied, and/or easily countered by other members of the Batfamily. If it can be learned some other way, then putting your own daughter through all of that was pointless. He did not make the perfect fighter, he made a broken girl. She chose to be a hero.
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Show us her struggle with getting to terms with that. Maybe explore Cassandra's sick and possibly naive notion that her father did make her the greatest weapon, her falling back to that idea whenever she remembers the pain and the pride she derives from that idea and the subsequent humility and shame in realizing that she was wrong both in her assumptions and her pride. Give us a thesis on why she shouldn't be hurt or disparaged because of this realization. Give her the spotlight and show her growth. Show buckling after realizing she wasn't even his success he was her father's failure, that all that trauma, all that blood, and all that pain, was useless in the grand scheme of things. It happened to her, it hurt her, and it made her believe she was an object - a weapon - but there was no light or success or breakthrough at the end of the said process - she just made one for herself. Not every story has a happy ending so you make a different story for yourself. A MISTAKE was inflicted upon her, that's it. Her heroism and her prowess did not stem from that, they came to be despite it. There is even some precedent to this as after Cassandra lost her edge and her body reading skills, it was Shiva who helped her regain them despite not suffering her lack of language skills [ at the cost of a deathmatch 1 year hence]. This means that her ability can be learned although it could be argued that it is limited to mother and daughter.
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Exploring "Good Damage" and the utter stupidity of it all through the lens of Cassandra Cain's character and lore would suffice. I'd never question her losses, her failures, and her seemingly inconsistent abilities. It would be pointless as she isn't the strongest or the most skilled or the most anything really; rather, she's just a person trying to do right to the world that didn't do the same to her. Her father failed, that's his flaw, and it doesn't apply to her. Her story stops being about the weapon that chose to be a hero or about how being the strongest doesn't mean winning; rather, it turns into being about moving forward despite being broken. The character would still be interesting albeit in a diminished manner as the mystique and allure of her being the best fighter is removed and her story becomes more mundane in the superhero world. Either that or it could conclude her career as a hero fulfilled and without guilt; close her story if it is not going anywhere. God knows she deserves it.
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I'll write a better essay soon, one that is more concise and with more sources. After some reflection, my problem isn't that she gets dogged every other fight when the book is not about her, but that the losses feel pointless. I get that the winner will always be the one the writer chooses and what the story demands; hence, if the story needs her to get out of the way, she's getting out of the way. But if ever the Gotham War progresses in a manner I'd like to read I'd want it to progress in a way that treats the character as a character and not as a set-piece. Even as a side character, I want to hear her thoughts, even by a bit. Her doubts, her fears, her concerns, anything. However, at this point, that might be asking too much though.
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aladaylessecondblog · 8 months ago
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Severed Destiny, pt. 9
"Now, what have we learned?"
Haj-deek took a deep breath.
"The spear is not a weapon--" and then, correcting herself, "The spear is not only a weapon. It is...an extension of my body and will. With it, I can both bring order and sow chaos. It is not an evil thing but in the hand of one meaning to do ill, it can become a symbol of evil."
"Very good," Vivec said, "A thing on its own is not evil. But imbued with and surrounded by it, it cannot help but become so. Good and evil leave their echoes upon mind and object alike."
Haj-deek had, as she'd had many times over the past weeks, a distinct feeling that Vivec was trying to say more than he was saying. Most of his lessons were like that, presented as one thing and coated in two more. Knowledge she'd take in and then unwrap to discover something else at the core...usually while eating or doing something else.
This, he said, was why he tried not to impart very much each day. "Wisdom takes thought, and thought takes time."
(Sometimes she was unsure how serious he was about things. Was he trying to be thorough in his teaching, or was he jerking her around? Maybe it was a combination of both...that thing he had given her, too, they did not speak of. He'd said she'd know when to use it, but how could he be certain of it?)
Weapon training was almost easy by comparison. She did best with her fists, but Vivec insisted on her becoming familiar with the spear and longsword as well. Her fists and a dagger were hardly enough, considering her lack of ability to maintain her own magicka. Alchemy could only carry her so far.
"Is that why you were able to...kill Nerevar?"
Such questions were ones Haj-Deek only ever asked when she was certain she was alone with Vivec.
Vivec was silent for a moment.
"Nerevar was grief-stricken," he said, "And so comforted by his queen, he did not notice my approach."
"So the story of robes and candles some of the books talk of...?"
"We made that part up ourselves. Consider in the future, if you are in a situation which may yield conspiracy theories and lurid accusations, it is good to have a hand in crafting at least one of them yourself."
Haj-deek thought for a moment before nodding.
"He intended fully to pray to Azura to gain some wisdom, and it seemed a likely enough thing to happen had I not..."
Her father's name almost slipped her lips at that point, but it didn't feel right to say the word.
"I remember hearing him say...Azura abandoned...me...us...whatever this is. When you'd all proceeded to the Heart, I mean."
"That is the very thing that I intended not to be," Vivec replied, "The sort of god who abandons those who need him most."
"And it worked...for a long time. But V...my father woke up."
"I think it would be best not to speak those words just yet. That he is what he is to you. But...yes. It did work. Regrettably we could not stop Tiber Septim, but...let me let you in on a secret of my own. We never thought that using the Numidium would go so well for him. It had a tendency to...well...kill those who used it."
"And cause dragon breaks."
"Dragon breaks. Laziness, more like." Vivec huffed, in a very ungodly way, "What an excuse."
"Laziness? Excuse?"
He suddenly sat up straight, and pivoted. "Do you feel ready to begin the trials of the Nerevarine?"
"I'm not sure I ever will," Haj-deek gave up on the subject as clearly Vivec wouldn't respond and settled for saying quietly, "But I guess I shouldn't waste too much time. Not that the training you give is wasting my time! It's just...."
"A reasonable point of view. Though I do wonder how long you would choose to stay, despite my...eccentricities."
"I don't know if I want to go north to the tribes just yet, or Red Mountain either, but...maybe there might be something else for me to do first."
Vivec seemed to brighten at that.
"Correct. To go to Red Mountain now would be disastrous...but I need not go on about that, you are bright enough to know the reasons even if your youth tells you that you may overcome them."
"So is there anything I might do first?" She wanted to leave the city for a little while, put to use these fighting skills Vivec had insisted she train herself in. What was the point of learning to fight if she wasn't going to actually fight anything?
"You can go to Tel Fyr," he replied, after a minute or so of consideration, "Your blood may be of interest to Divath Fyr - he is studying corprus, you see, and you are the first person to be born with it. And since you are clearly immune - he will want to study you."
"I don't want to be STUDIED!" Haj-deek burst out, "I'm not a test subject!"
"If you would let me finish--"
"No, I don't think I will. I'm not going to go get blood taken and...and who knows what else."
Vivec's face sunk into his palm for a moment. "Unfortunately he is the premier expert on corprus. I'm not asking you to take up residence in his tower. The opposite, actually. I want to see if your immunity may be passed on to others, and the only one who has the expertise to gauge that sort of thing is Divath Fyr. And...there's something else."
"What?"
"You wish to...correct certain things, yes?"
"...yes." She spoke with some hesitation, unsure of what he was getting at.
"Speak to the dwarf," Vivec replied, and noting the presence of someone in the far corner, lowered his voice as he went on, "In his corprusarium, the bowels of his tower, Divath Fyr tends the last living dwemer. This dwarf is...was...familiar with certain relations of yours. Go to Divath Fyr with the story that you are immune to corprus, and speak in secret to the dwarf."
"And you think that will help?"
"It is a lead. And the trip will be an excellent way to test the training you have received so far."
Haj-deek huffed slightly. The idea was a good one, and she hated having to admit it. Something of Nerevar kicked about in her head. Or maybe it was her own thoughts, or a combination of the two, or--regardless, she felt something, and that something was a grudging admission that Vivec was right. And he hated to think it.
"Fine," she replied, "I'll go."
"Excellent." Vivec brought his hands together, and when they saw the visitor was in fact Archcanon Saryoni come to ask some sort of question, he added, "Then go, with my blessing."
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It had not been terribly difficult, getting along in Vivec City. Certainly she had to mind her manners around the Ordinators, but Haj-deek felt a lifetime of holding her tongue and making nice in Ebonheart had prepared her very well indeed for the problem. She found herself doing little chores for the Temple - to soften them towards her, Vivec said. Privately she knew it was to establish a sort of cover for her among Temple faithful - see, the Nerevarine is a devotee! See her dedication to the Tribunal!
At the same time...
...it'll get back to HIM, and that'll make anything I want to do...harder than it already is...
He wouldn't give the time of day to someone dedicated to the Tribunal. She would be lucky to even get in the door.
After getting supplies together, she found herself needing to duck the same sleeper as had greeted her on arrival to the city. Haj-deek moved toward the Hlaalu Canton - and on rounding one of its corners tried to back away instantly on sight of who was walking along the opposite side.
Orvas Dren, flanked by a couple of his Camonna Tong guards, was walking down the pathway. He saw her immediately, and though momentarily surprised made right for her.
"And what might you be doing here? Did the lizards put you out now that you are old enough to shift for yourself?"
"No," Haj-deek crossed her arms, "Better odds of getting work here that doesn't...well, they don't really know about the--the argonians here, and that hindered me in--"
Orvas's eyes traveled ever so slightly down and for a moment Haj-deek had the uncomfortable feeling he was ogling her - until she realized the hand with the moon-and-star was frontmost and the ring itself was clearly visible. She saw his expression shifting in the time she watched his face - confusion, anger, thinking, then a sink back into his usual bland interest.
"Well, well, well, little Haj-deek, wearing the moon-and-star. But, that being the case," his tone darkened, "I should think you would be smarter than to put yourself under the Tribunal's power."
"I didn't have much of a choice," she replied quickly, "I left Ebonheart and one of the ordinators all but herded me into the city. Lord Vivec - ah - wants to direct me himself, I think."
"Of course he would." Orvas huffed, "I imagine he will have you locked away in Baar Dau before too much longer has passed...re-education, that is his aim with most who dare to disobey his direction. You're fortunate I was in the city on business."
Haj-deek played along, and lied, "He's been training me, so I've had to pretend I actually want to be here. Around him. It's not that I believe what he says."
She wasn't sure how to phrase this, and from the way she saw Orvas's face working she felt she'd already tripped up.
"Well, you've always been intelligent in that way, you're quick minded. Learning the ways to fit in among those who don't have your best interests at heart. But there is something I'm curious about."
"What's that?"
"The ring. Did you already have it in Ebonheart? If you had gone to some forsaken place in a long pilgrimage to get it I'm certain you would have a different look about you. Sleep deprivation is a close bedfellow with anyone who takes a long journey and you look as if you have never been deprived of rest a day in your life."
"Well, I--"
"Perhaps you found it somewhere? Lifted it from the lizards who knew not what it means? Or you--"
"It was my mother's--" Haj-deek burst out and shut her mouth the next instant. Her eyes widened. he realized her mistake almost immediately, but definitely too late.
"Your mother's?"
Orvas's face went through a shifting series of expressions again. Surprise, thoughtfulness, and then focus as he went on, "The ring belonged to your mother? So she was the previous Nerevarine?"
The wheels were turning. He was working something out, she could see it from the way his eyes darted back and forth at nothing, but what?
"I--yes. Please, I have to get going," Haj-deek went on, "I'm...on my way to see Divath Fyr. A way of--proving my identity, you know, since I've--"
There was something sharp in Orvas's expression then, and another look like he was thinking deeply, or as deeply as one could when trying to be quick. "You've always been a healthy child. Go. Speak to your Telvanni wizard. But do remember I always have need for someone of your talents."
Orvas gave her an ironical sort of bow and an accompanying smirk then. He'd gotten enough out of her and it seemed to satisfy him, but why she couldn't figure out. She was too eager to get on, and hurried past him to finally exit Vivec City.
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Besides the expected attacks from wild cliffracers (Sunchaser had to be healed up from several, while trying to defend her) and other dangerous Vvardenfell fauna, and sneaking by various hideouts and caves, Haj-deek had only one incident of particular note on the five-day journey she took to Tel Fyr.
While passing Dren Plantation, she happened to pass an Argonian slave who promptly dropped one of the apparently heavy sacks he was carrying. When she stopped to help he thanked her and introduced himself as Hides-His-Foot, and she returned with her own name, which surprised him, but he said nothing more until she spoke up.
"I am sorry to see you in chains," she replied, "I would free you, if you could but tell me--"
It is our duty, Im-Kilaya's words, frequently spoken to her as a young child, echoed again in her head, To help those still shackled by slavery, in whatever way we can.
"Go free?" Hides-His-Foot shook his head emphatically, "No, I am old and could not make it on my own."
He would say no more to her, and as she watched him go she told herself she would be back. He couldn't go now, and where would she take him, anyway? Perhaps if she freed a few slaves during her journey some of the other Twin Lamps members might trust her enough to tell her where she could take older slaves like Hides-His-Foot.
The sea breeze persisted as she passed Telasero, and even at Molag Mar where she sold a bundle of cliffracer plumes for more food and to repair her spear and dagger, as well as buy a lengthy hooded cloak . She glanced only briefly at the slave market, hearing again what Im-Kilaya had said.
I will be back for you. All of you. I swear it, she thought. If I'm Lord Nerevar returned I can do whatever in oblivion I want, and what I want is the slaves freed.
(There was a tug in her chest, and whether it was Nerevar or the Hist she couldn't be sure. But something was definitely pleased by her declaration.
It was a struggle to make herself move on, but she managed it.
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Haj-deek turned north, and the land began to darken along with the animals. Past the Maesa-Shammus egg mine, a blight storm started to kick up, and Sunchaser wedged herself beneath the cloak to hide from the ashy winds, her beaked face protruding from the hood beside Haj-deek's, her usual high-pitched calls now completely silent as her wings hugged at shoulders. When the blighted kagouti and cliffracers began to appear she wouldn't emerge to help in the fight, merely tremble and kept her head down as if to avoid seeing them at all.
"It's alright, it's fine," she said, reaching up to try and pat at the beak by her ear, "I've got you."
If not for the map she'd have gotten entirely lost, and for a stretch she was afraid she had, but on having to hide from a couple passing Ashlanders Haj-deek realized the gathering of Dunmer she could dimly see through the red winds was the Erabinemsun camp.
Okay, so I'm close. Good. Good.
Her feet hurt, ash was everywhere, and she was ducking ashlander hunters but at least she was nearly to Tel Fyr. That was something.
Finally, she hit the shoreline. Thankfully, just as the blight storm was beginning to let up--and not wanting to waste the magicka, she removed the cloak, shoved it into one of her bags. After, of course, making sure there weren't any ashlanders watching her back or hiding nearby.
Sunchaser complained, but Haj-deek shrugged the cliffracer off. "Come on, I have to get in the water, you can fly that far."
She had learned to swim so early she couldn't fully remember when it had happened, and was almost pleased to dive into the water, even with the bags weighing her down and messing with her pace.
It was half an hour later that a waterlogged Haj-deek made it to the front door of Tel Fyr. She ducked behind a rock and changed from her damp armor into the darker clothes that still smelled faintly of skooma. Once she was changed Sunchaser took her perch up once again, and they entered the tower.
Five days, she thought, five days it had taken her, and finally she was here.
Haj-deek was greeted by a Dunmer woman who said, "Are you here to plunder the dungeon? Have you got corprus disease? Did you want to talk to Divayth Fyr?"
"No, sort of, and yes," Haj-deek answered all of her questions, and on receiving a strange look she went on with, "I didn't even know there were dungeons here. And I do have corprus, but I...don't, at the same time."
She lifted her right hand to show the moon-and-star, and said, "I'm the--newest Nerevarine."
"I see. Well. You'll be wanting to see Lord Fyr, then."
"I was told I should offer some blood," Haj-deek replied, shifting uncomfortably, "I hope he's not going to ask for any."
"I doubt he will bleed you like a vampire, but I won't tell you that he won't. He does surprise people now and then."
"He's up there, then?" Haj-deek gestured to the hole in the ceiling, and the dunmer woman nodded.
"I hope you know how to levitate, or you shan't be able to see him."
"Oh, I know, I just don't like to use the spell if I can help it. We Atronach signs have to be careful with our magicka supply, miss...?"
"Beyte Fyr," the woman replied.
"Nice to meet you, then. I'm...Haj-deek."
She cast the levitate spell and moved up, stumbling about lost for only a minute or so before literally running into Divath Fyr. She stumbled back, groaning in pain, and apologized quickly, "I'm so sorry, Lord Fyr, I--I'm not familiar with your tower."
Divath Fyr was fairly tall, and now she could see why it had hurt to run into him. He was wearing a full set of daedric armor - she'd only ever seen it in art! It was hard to imagine that it existed at all, given how rare it seemed to be. After allowing her a bit of gawking, he spoke up.
"Well! What a pleasure! A visitor! An entertaining diversion!"
It was more cheery than she expected, and it stunned her that Divath Fyr was that overtly friendly.
"Come to consult the great Divayth Fyr? You have the divine disease?" He seemed perfectly at ease, and all she could think was she was missing something. Telvanni weren't this friendly to outsiders, this wasn't how things worked.
"Well--well, yes...and no."
Divath's head tilted just slightly to one side. "I don't imagine you've come here before, which is the only way I've ever seen someone cured."
"No, I haven't," she replied, "That--that person you talk of, that you cured. That was my mother...and I guess I've inherited her immunity."
The wizard (she hesitated to think him one, with such armor on his person) leaned down a bit, and stared her directly in the eye, completely ignoring Sunchaser's fixing one of her eyes on him in turn. "You've no sores? No rashes, no memory loss, no strange intrusive thoughts?"
Haj-deek took a step back, a little unnerved by the stare Divath was giving her. "No. I've had the dreams, but...nothing more. No sores, no rashes, nothing. I've never even had so much as a sniffle."
"Strange...very strange. Of course I've heard of mothers passing their resistances to certain diseases, but corprus...this..."
"Lord Vivec suggested," she went on, hesitating to speak, "That I might give you a sample of my blood."
It was a disgusting idea, and she still would rather do anything but.
"An agreeable idea..." Divath seemed to be thinking on something, and went silent.
"I'm not cutting my hand if I can help it," she started quickly, "Even if it's just a trifling sort of cut and I don't lose much blood--"
"Oh, there's no need for that. You thought I take blood by way of a dagger? Unrefined, that. Inclined to infection...not that you would need to worry about that, but it is a concern for the rest of my patients. No, there's a tool I've invented that makes drawing blood much easier, and safer for the would-be donor. I simply stick a vein, and let your body pulse out the blood all on its own. Then heal it as you please. For my patients, I...install a permanent one, which makes studying their blood much easier."
"That's--" The idea of being bled was still gross, but the idea of not having to cut her finger like she was doing some sort of secret vow made it just a little bit less so. "I'll want to see how it works before I let you do anything, though."
"My oldest patient, he'll have a set of them handy. I've some things to tend to up here - you go and fetch the blood-drawing tools from him in the corprusarium, and I'll be more than happy to display how they work. But I warn you - do not attack my patients. They're mostly passive but some may attack you."
"I have a pet cliffracer," Haj-deek said, "There's nothing they can do to me that cliffracers haven't done worse."
That prompted a laugh. "Ah, to be young and arrogant again. Go on then, off with you. You've presented me with a very interesting prospect and I want to prepare for what I'm to see in your blood. Or not see."
Haj-deek moved off quickly, not really understand most of what he said next.
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The first person she met was the so-called "Warden" Vistha-Kai, an argonian.
"Ruheeva," she said speaking first the Jel greeting for a stranger, "I'm not a new patient, but...Divath Fyr says I have to talk to his 'oldest patient' to collect some blood-drawing tools. Which of them would that be?"
"You want the dwemer," Vistha-Kai said, "You cannot mistake him for anyone else. Yagrum Bagarn is his name, and he is in the bowels of the Corprusarium. Pass through the gate and go straight across to the next door. He rides in a four-legged cart. He's not as dangerous as the other corprus victims. I doubt he'll give you any trouble."
"Thank you." She paused, took a deep breath, and then looked up to Sunchaser. "Stay here. I don't want you getting in trouble for attacking them."
Sunchaser gave one of her cries.
"No. You could get hurt, and I--I don't want that to happen. Stay here." She reached up to gently tug the cliffracer forward, and set her down on the ground. Then she pulled out a chunk of dried fish she'd been carrying in one of the bags. "Here. Eat."
She looked up to Vistha-Kai.
"If you can help it..."
"You do not want her attacked. You need not worry, I believe we understand each other. Though...I would not tarry in speaking to Yagrum Bagarn, if you can avoid it. These are devilish, temperamental beasts at the best of times."
"I've had to fight so many on my way here, I can't say you're wrong." Haj-deek gave a brief laugh, and stepped through the door. She readied a healing spell, in preparation for the corprus patients. As she walked ahead, she saw one at the end of a stony corridor--and it made straight for her. She ducked off to the side of the path, waiting, ready to bolt past it once it got close enough.
But it didn't attack her.
The thing before her, enormously bloated and half-limping, dragging the more swelled of its two legs with a great effort--it stopped short of where she intended to let it get.
And just stared, groaning as it swayed in place. Its eyes focused on her but she felt something more from it - pain. It, no, HE, was in pain. But given the horrible state of his corprus infection, it only made sense.
Are you sure you want to make the attempt, if this is what he does? The thought drifted across her mind, whether hers or someone else's she wasn't sure. It was uncomfortable to the extreme. You want a father. They don't want to be like this. Kill him, and let them receive the only mercy they are now capable of accepting. Let their suffering end.
She shuffled around, but the corprus victim turned to keep his gaze locked on her. She half-expected it to chase after her, but it didn't, merely stood in place.
The next she encountered did nearly the same thing, with some difference. This victim was smaller, or at least not as bloated with corprus as the first had been, but he stared at her as she passed him just as the first one had. It seemed to shake, and then groan in some unseen agony. A moment later it coughed--sending a wretched looking (and smelling) black fluid from its mouth. She stopped--
It groaned, and lurched forward, clumsily grabbing at her, and she ran off before it could close a hand around anything. It wasn't until she rounded the next couple of corners that she realized she'd gotten turned around and had made a whole loop right back to where she was.
Another turn, ahead to the (correct) door this time, another set of victims, another set of sick eyes that fixed too keenly on her. It was almost worse than them attacking her, to have them simply watch. What was happening?
This is what he has done. He thinks it is helping them? He thinks this a gift? How can he not SEE?
Haj-deek wondered if her mother had thought the same thing.
On passing another corprus victim she thought, I have to make him see.
The absurdity of it made her laugh. Blood or not, who could make him do anything he didn't want to? For a moment she despaired of the thought - what made her think she could do anything about this? If her mother couldn't change his mind, how could she expect her own effort to be any different? And she hadn't even SEEN the man yet!
She saw another Dunmer woman, who seemed to take notice of her but said nothing as Haj-deek approached.
"Voryn?"
The voice was thick, muddled, like someone with a terrible cold or a tongue too thick but it was distinctly male.
"You're new here, aren't you?" the dunmer woman spoke, "My name is Uupse..."
"I'm here to see Yagrum Bagarn," she said quickly, "I...I was told Divath Fyr wanted to sample my blood, and that this...dwemer had the...the tools to get it out of me without injury."
She felt entirely wrong here, out of place. Everything felt sick here, even the air.
A heavy tk tk tk sounded off, and from out of the corner of her eye she saw a shadowed figure moving.
"No...my mind is playing tricks on me again...my weak eyes..."
Before her now appeared Yagrum Bagarn, bloated with corprus and entirely situated within what looked more like a contraption to give him spider's legs than anything else.
He stared at her, as the others had, but he had words to go along with the motion.
"I'm sorry, I thought for a moment you were someone else."
"You thought I was Voryn?"
Her father's name. Yes. And this dwemer, riddled with corprus, his mind blighted as all hell, had picked her face out just as Vivec had warned her might happen. Perhaps ten people in Morrowind that knew her face--her father's face.
"The resemblance is extraordinary," he said as he squinted at her, "Truly, I thought you...well. I heard you say you're here for the blood-collecting tools. I've got them here somewhere...Uupse. I hate to ask, but could I...have dinner a little earlier? I'll want to ask how this turns out with Divath Fyr and I know once I start speaking to him it'll last half the night and I won't want to eat."
Uupse nodded, and then looked to Haj-deek. "You--if you harm him, you will have ME to deal with."
"I won't!" she burst out, "I swear, I won't."
Uupse gave her a suspicious look, but moved away. Not until she was firmly out of earshot did Haj-deek speak to Yagrum again. And too eager for answers, she couldn't help but ask the most burning question in her mind at the moment.
"You knew my father?"
"Your FATHER!" Yagram burst out, and devolved very quickly into a fit of coughs that lasted a minute or two. "Now I know my senses fail me! Voryn has no--never had any children! And never a chance to do it, either!"
But after squinting at her a bit longer, his suspicion cleared.
"I suppose I MUST believe you," he said, "For that face - it is uncanny, how closely you resemble him. But I warn you, it is best not to spread such information around. You think those with corprus are treated poorly outside of Tel Fyr? You have seen nothing of what they would do to a natural daughter of one who blighted the land with the disease to begin with. Why are you really here, young one?"
"To see if there might be a way to..." Haj-deek gulped slightly, "To save him. Vivec said you knew him...well...before..."
"That I did. He was the first friend I ever made, your father. Brilliant man. Is that why you come to me? You want me to speak of him so you might know the man you will fell?"
"No, no, I--" she worked quickly, stumbling over nearly every word as if something were holding her back, "I--I want to--if it's possible, I want to fix him. Help him."
Another laugh. Another hacking cough.
"Excuse the laughter. How very like a Dagoth to tackle the impossible! But if anyone can help you, I can. Whatever you think you may get out of this..."
It was a spot of good news. It was something.
It was a start.
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dearchickadee · 1 year ago
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Not every divine creation can have a heart, and even less a heart that beats as erratically as a human's. A godthing shouldn't be any different, and yet the rhythm in your chest beats in half time. Equal part object, equal part shadow; the power within you not yours entirely to yield; that is the life of a holy weapon. One soul divided in two, a fragile circuit that creates an even stronger punch than one could alone. There on this earth is a creature that will always understand you, who will always be yours. She is a mirror, reflecting all your strengths, all your flaws, and all the things you never could be. This is a dangerous world, and the perilous duty isn't yours to uphold alone. The question, then, is this: will you emerge with a whole heart? Or, which piece of yourself will have to die for half a savior to live?
this template was beautiful so I made one for my girl Lark and @dulcesiabits' girl Qilan! Anyway I'm very glad to have an excuse to shove our little au into the world where there are TWO MCs. And they are. Connected. Forever. And yes their powers are stronger when they're holding hands <3 Thank u for letting me edit your girl I love her btw
template (@solasan) // insp // @shepherds-of-haven
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trashlie · 1 year ago
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ILY FP 239
Good grief I'm so out of practice, getting this thing going feels like pulling teeth, I'm so rusty!!! Bear with me if this one feels a little weirder than usual. I can't say I'm fully back to myself at this point but i'm not as out of it as I have been, so I might as well take advantage of this moment while I can! I really loved this episode and I still want to talk about it, and since it will be free this week, I want to get this one out of the way so this post will be available for those who are looking for it!
Honestly this is an episode I did NOT think we would be getting for a long time - but I've been saying that for a lot of these episodes, haven't I? lol But seriously, quimchee keeps giving us so much of what I've wanted but thought we'd have to wait til season 2 for!
Before I get distracted by the part of the episode that really occupied my brain, I'd like to touch on the opening. Dieter is the kind of character who I don't think would ordinarily talk behind someone's back, but clearly this is a special circumstance. He's rightfully concerned and worried about Nol and asking Nana for insight was not a bad move, even if it doesn't yield a lot of results. I was so, SO hoping in 238 that Dieter would remember what happened at the arcade, that SOMEONE would make a connection to that time that Nol acted SO out of character and weird (in their minds) so when Soushi mentioned the arcade I was CHEERING.
They are SO close and idk if Nana being cryptic made things worse or not. Soushi and Dieter seem to be under the impression that Yui is his mom, even though the news did report him as the illegitimate child. it's all so in the moment right now that perhaps they'll be able to connect the dots shortly - I just need them to keep in mind that connection to what happened at the arcade and realize that it wasn't seeing Kousuke that made him act like that. AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH
I really love how Yujing works, how she gets to people. She seems to possess an awareness that all people need to be approached differently, and how to make a lasting impression, a little dramatic flair - because let's be real, something dramatic is going to linger a little more, and for what she's leaving Nol with, a little lasting impression is really important. There's just something about how she presents this information - that despite his minor injury, Kousuke was roofied, and Yui was the one with him that morning; that he has some reason for wanting to talk to Nol even if he can't admit it yet; that a mother would want what's best for her son, so how was he roofied and denied treatment when he clearly wasn't even feeling well?
What matters is that Nol comes to the same conclusion we already have - and that he figures it out himself rather than be fed that information. Yujing doesn't know much about Nol, let alone his psyche, but we do, and we know that he believes the misfortune that befalls him is a punishment, is the result of his existence, that it's all because he only puts bad into the universe. But he needs to see that this is so much bigger than he thinks, that he has never been Yui's only victim or target.
If Yui will go to these extents that she would roofie her own son, what else is she capable of? And more importantly, he needs to see and really understand that it is more than just him. In his mind, Yui and Kousuke were a team ganging up on him to tear him apart for being the mistress' son, for existing when he shouldn't have, for posing as a potential threat to everything they want and cherish. To see that even Kousuke wasn't spare from Yui's crimes shows that this is something more than he expected, bigger than he has believed all along.
I talk a lot about how I need Nol to figure this out because he needs to understand that Kousuke, too, was a victim. That Kousuke was never truly part of that "team", that he was weaponized against Nol. I don't think that Nol is going to figure this out at that time, but it's a good first step. Understandably, Nol wants nothing to do with him, so the timing couldn't be worse. How is he going to accept and receive anything Kousuke has to say after everything he's done - and how he treated Nol at his absolute lowest point in his life? But it's still so very important that Nol learn how all of this came to be, why he could never reach Kousuke.
But also more than just for himself, this also connects back to Shinae. At this point in the story, Nol knows only of Shinae's involvement at the Kim formal, Yui was meddling and put her in danger. From what we can tell, he probably believes it's a result of caring about her. Because that's what happens - he starts to care about people and bad things happen to them.
I don't think he really knows the stipulations of Shinae's contract and he certainly doesn't know about the offer Yui made her. He doesn't know about what happened on Kousuke's birthday, something so wholly separate from him and his own interest. He doesn't know about the way Yui took immediate interest in Shinae and starting testing her and messing with her out of interest in the effect she has on Kousuke.
And likewise, he has no idea of the real lengths of Yui's threat. He doesn't realize Alyssa is in a prison and, in fact, believes she's living the dream she wanted. Objectively we know that Yui was taking an innocent girl and toying with her, making a game out of her, but *Nol himself doesn't know that*! He likely believes that his mother took her own life, and possibly as a result of something he might have said to her, where objectively we know that it was probably something more sinister than her making that choice. And honestly? There's SO much more! Kousuke's memory adds another potential person to her body count. The former CFO in Japan may not have died but he still lost his position and we have to be naive to believe his stroke was a mere coincidence.
We know this. Yujing knows this.
Kousuke is coming to know this.
It's time for Nol to realize this, too.
This alone may not be enough. I still want, badly, for Nol and Shinae to have a talk, where she can tell him about these things he doesn't know, to try to get through to him that the danger was never him but simply Yui's interest. Even had Nol never become her friend, she'd still be trying to play Shinae and use her on Kousuke and what happened at his apartment alone should show Nol that it wasn't about only him! Shinae has a habit of keeping things to herself but it's time to pull all of this into the open, in order to confront those feelings, in order to reach him the way she wants.
Yui will never give up on her.
And we've seen what happens to the people who keep Yui's interest.
I do hope, too, that Nol takes Yujing up on her offer and talks about his version of what happened that night. I don't know if her implication that Kousuke is coming to realize that Yui has meddled so much, has manipulated him and everything he believes, but I hope that reaches him in time, too. That everything Kousuke believes about Nol was heavily rooted in a falsified memory. But also it's important that he knows even without him telling her his side she will believe him. She is telling him that she knows! That she knows more than him!
GOD. IT'S SO BIG IT'S SUCH AN IMPORTANT BIG DEAL and I really need Nol to ruminate on this and let it all sink in because it is SO BIG AND IMPORTANT. This was NEVER about him - not the way he thinks, anyway. He thinks he's protecting Shinae if he can distance himself, if he can keep his feelings at bay, but all it will do is put them both at further risk, hurt both of them, and break their hearts. Part of Nol's desperate fear is that he doesn't know what the danger is, and thus how to prevent it.
But if he finally realizes that Yui is the danger?
He needs that realization.
And on the flipside, GOD, watching Kousuke go through that revelation... I know I've talked a lot about how I think Kousuke needs to crash and burn for the reformation he needs but now that we're here I DON'T WANT TO WITNESS IT, I DON'T WANT TO GO THROUGH THIS WITH HIM ;________; I know there are people who still loathe him no matter what but that's not me lol I have gone from hating this man to understanding the circumstances, to understanding how he got here and god watching him go through this is HELL.
Because something we can immediately glean is that Kousuke feels SO MUCH REGRET for these things now that he sees them in new light. That's what continues to set him apart from Yui - Kousuke doesn't attack people without reason, even if from someone else's point of view there doesn't seem to be reason, and this episode highlights that and how that mindset became something he adopted in the first place.
He comes from a family that, as far as we can tell, is probably prone to backstabbing and deceit. Perhaps Yui has internalized it more than anyone else and is the only one to hold this mentality, but she isn't entirely wrong when she tells Kousuke to be wary of people because many will only try to get close to him for his money, for his influence, to ride on his coattails or worse, to exploit and take advantage of him. We acknowledge that Kousuke is not well-developed in the sense that his sense of empathy is lacking, he doesn't have that real ability to understand people who are so unlike him, and he doesn't know how to have/handle healthy relationships between people - and like, it's not without reason. His strict schedule growing up played into this a lot, but a lot of it was further reinforced by the kinds of lessons Yui instilled in Kousuke. People will try to take what is ours.
And enter this child who speaks of a version of Rand that can't possibly exist, this child whom whispers and secrets have spoken of: Rand's other family. The other woman, the other son. From his young, inexperienced child mind and whatever it is Yui has told him - they're leeches, they are trying to take our places, they want to take your father they want to take our family they want to take what's ours - it's easy to see why Kousuke refused to let them in. In his mind, it was true - Nessa was the other woman who was destroying their family and trying to take what was theirs, and her son - their son! - was competition, could very rightly take his place.
And this isn't a lie! Nol could be considered an heir simply by virtue of being Rand's son.
So, honestly? It's easy to see, from Kousuke's point of view, why he was so starkly opposed to this other family from the get go, why he feared them and felt threatened by them. That sense of threat was instilled in him from such a young age that he never had a chance to see Nol as anything but, to consider the more mature and rational mentalities of "Rand is a grown man who made grown choices" and acknowledge his hand in everything.
But to young Kousuke, they were dangerous threats that were posed to ruin everything.
He was basically made to feel he could trust no one, not one single person.
So when young Nol comes to Kousuke at his lowest, the worst period of his life, Kousuke turns him away. And yes, he is incredibly cruel about that, I don't deny it. But from his perspective, I get it. He believed this kid was a threat, that his mother was a threat, that he was a dangerous child, even!
And now he sees how wrong it was, how he trusted someone who lead him astray, and because he trusted the wrong person, he has hurt people, ruined lives. Because it wasn't just Nol's life that he ruined, as we see. He has stood by when he could have offered help and denied it, out of suspicion and fear that the accusations were falsehoods, because he was told to always be wary of this, that he can't trust anyone, that everyone will try to take advantage of him and benefit off of his back.
Because he fails to believe these people who reached out to him at their lowest, he knows he is directly responsible for what befalls them. He is directly responsible for what Nol endures, for how cruel he is to him when he needs someone, when he's so afraid and so alone, so desperate! And he fails someone else in an equally dreadful way.
Who is the girl we see when Kousuke's memory switches, the girl bowing at the funeral?
We don't have a lot to go off of, but given Yujing and Kousuke's history, the piece she's working on that she's told Manli she thinks she'll like, and what little we know of Yujing's friend who was in a similar situation as Shinae, the current assumption that we've talked about on discord/reddit that I currently subscribe to is: the girl at the funeral is probably Manli, and maybe the person who she lost was a younger sister? Manli seems to be Yujing's age, who is closer to Hansuke's age than Kousuke is. We know Kousuke had a girlfriend in college, but because he graduated early and was younger than everyone, even started college as a minor, it's not likely he was dating one of his adult friends so.... is it possible that Manli had a sister near Kou's age who was introduced to him at one point? I don't think that part necessarily matters here, because what really matters is that we know: Manli, or someone, lost someone precious, and possibly because Kousuke did not step in to help.
At one point in time, Yujing must have thought highly of Kousuke - or at least of his influence and what he could do with it. In fact, this flashback really illuminates why Yujing can't stand him, why their relationship soured and why she treats him like she does. Like Nol, she resents that Kousuke never defies his family, that he puts his lofty goals ahead of everyone else.
Someone - probably Manli - went to Kousuke desperate for help, with accusations it seems that Kousuke refused to believe. And if they were accusations against his family - his mother - we can understand why he was hesitant to believe them: because everyone will try to take advantage of you, will try to deceive you, will say things to try to bring them down. In his mind, everyone is primed as a threat, and the accusations brought forth probably did sound incredibly ludicrous, because whoever it was who went to him was begging to be understood. Maybe they even knew that what they were accusing sounded that way, thus the desperation, the pleading.
"Only someone with a sick mind would even do that! It's impossible! And a dangerous accusation!"
More and more, that makes me think it has to be something that Yui or the Kims were involved in - who else has a sick enough mind to do something that, it sounds like, pushed someone to take their own life. The line about no one seeing it coming feels so much like that the victim kept quiet about what happened, that few others knew, and thus few others knew that Kousuke refused the help that maybe, just maybe, could have given her the vindication to not do something so agonizing.
The argument that Yujing and Kousuke had is scathing, but it demonstrates a lot about who they are and how Yujing perceives him - things we already know, but is nice to see further clarified. Kousuke is afraid to believe something that could be a misinterpretation, something that doesn't make sense, probably because the version of the accused doesn't line up with his reality, what he knows of people. I can't help but feel that Yui must've been involved, since Yujing makes that comment about "family comes first" and this episode rides on the back of Kousuke learning just what a sick mind Yui really has, just what kinds of extent she has gone to in order to control and manipulate him.
And because it's always felt like what happened at the formal, with the drugs, was some kind of trigger of a previous event for Kousuke, it makes me wonder if this was that incident. Someone (Manli?) comes to Kousuke for help. Maybe it was Yui, maybe it was the Kims, someone was involved. Maybe something happened to her sister? Some kind of sexual assault, something heinous and awful. She was roofied, she was taken advantage of, and they needed help. But Kousuke refused to act on it, because the accusations felt so preposterous he couldn't believe it - because he knows this is what people will do, they will try to tear down his family, will try to take advantage of him, they will lie to besmirch their names. And when no one believed her, when she was left to deal with the trauma of what happened, knowing that no one would believe her, that she had to live with the horror in her nightmares, she took her life. Yujing probably directly holds Kousuke responsible for never stepping in, for never using his influence to help, to investigate, for never believing them.
And it makes a lot of sense with what happened at the formal. This time, Kousuke (after a false start) believes them. This time he steps in and acts. This time he tries to save Shinae. (She really is his do-over for EVERYTHING isn't she?) In this manner, it also makes sense why Kousuke is so terrified for Yujing to meet Shinae and to convey this to her - because Shinae has been in that position before and who would understand this girl more than her, someone who is already uncomfortable around Kousuke, someone whose trust Kousuke is trying to earn. He doesn't want her to know about a time he failed so badly to help someone that it ended with that person's death. What would she think of him? How would she view him? And this is especially important because Shinae is the do-over. Because Kousuke needs to do better with her, to make up for his guilt about the times he has failed others in the past.
What sets Kousuke apart from Yui, though, is that Kousuke doesn't want to mindlessly hurt people. Those he has hurt he believed were in the wrong, were trying to leech off of him, were trying to take what is his, were trying to ruin their family reputation and pass allegations that could ruin them. But now he can look back and see the truth, realizes that he put his trust in the wrong person who lead him astray, who filled his head with falsehoods that he so desperately believed that he ended up destroying peoples' lives and he IS full of regret and self-loathing. He stands in the bathroom retching, reliving these failings, this haunting realization tearing him apart. There's something desperately depressing to me about the panel of him looking down at his face in the toilet and flushing it away, because we know how he feels, we know what he is reeling from.
Ultimately, Kousuke never intended to hurt innocent people. He never intended to be a bad person. Every time he hurt people, he thought he was defending himself, his family name. But he's learning how wrong that was, how he has all along put his trust in someone who never had his best interests at heart - who even DRUGGED HIM. He seems aware of the manipulation, that how he regarded Nol was all based on what she made him believe of him.
But he did. In the end, he hurt people who needed him. How different things could have been if he'd reached out to this desperate, scared boy who was left all alone in a foreign country with no one to turn to. How different things could have been if he had believed Yujing and her friend, if he had been able to step in and help.
A note I'd like to make here is that whatever happened to Yujing's friend, I'm certain it coincides with Nol's release from the mental institution. Yujing notes that Kousuke has changed, that he's not like the version of him they met years ago, and I wonder how much of this played into his refusal to believe them. They seemed familiar with a different Kousuke, one who maybe once might have helped, had Yui not reminded him what a threat everyone is, had Yui not reminded him of what he is meant to be working towards. Who was he, to put others first, when the Hiraharas were always to come first? Who was he, frolicking about and forgetting himself when Nol could swoop in at any moment and steal everything he'd worked so hard towards? Of course, because of how much that sense of threat was ingrained in Kousuke, maybe it wouldn't have played out any differently.
It just kills me that he can see it exactly that way - that these were people who desperately needed him and because he denied them, he made things so much worse for them. The guilt... no wonder he's locked in a bathroom stall retching like that. When Hansuke enters the stall and finds Kousuke just seated on the floor - a bathroom floor! Our man is hitting rock bottom. Who EVER imagined seeing Kousuke hugging a toilet, sitting on a public bathroom floor? He looks so pitiful, so small and pathetic and you know what my heart does break, because it's clear to me that Kousuke is still separate of Yui, that his regret and remorse sets him apart. Yes, it's very much too little, too late, but we also know how effective Yui's tactics have been thus far that this is the first time he's ever gotten suspicious, the first time he ever had an inkling something was wrong and could get tested.
How was he to know otherwise?
How was he to know that the only person he's ever been able to rely on was, in fact, the cause of everything?
GOD. IT KILLS ME IT JUST.... ALKKAFJKAKJFAJKAJFK ;___________;
Lives have literally been RUINED because he trusted the wrong person. How do you live with that? I'm so.... SO worried for his future.
Ngl i was so surprised that Kousuke still wanted to come back again, that he wants to try this again tomorrow, despite the fact that seeing Nol sent him into a panic attack, brought up all of the realizations of guilt and remorse that now ride on his shoulders. But.... idk I'm proud of him, too. It's clear he was worried about Nol, it's clear he wanted to see him and check on him and used the phone as that, but it's also clear that he is aware now of the terrible person he has been to Nol and that he was never in the right, that Nol was never the threat or danger he perceived him as - that just like he acknowledged in 212, it was always him, the cold man with his back turned.
I know it's not like their relationship can repair at this stage - that's much further along - but I hope Kousuke's persistence can at least benefit Nol, in some way. Even if it's just that the realization that even Kousuke is her victim, that no one has ever been safe from Yui, that it was always her, not him. He needs that much.
God this episode hurt it hurt SO MUCH like I can't even dig into the pain of those flashbacks because it's just so overwhelmingly painful. Nol went to him at his lowest moment, so desperate and afraid, and couldn't reach Kousuke or get through to him. Even at his most desperate, he was still seen as such a threat, that fear was so deeply ingrained in Kousuke. And for someone (Manli?) to lose someone precious to her because Kousuke didn't act, because he had the opportunity to step in and help and he didn't believe them.... it's no wonder Yujing has so much resentment towards him, why she can't stand this version of him.
just sobs
also i have been trying to write this all week long and did NOT proof this so I'm sorry if it sounds worse than usual i'm running on negative energy but I REALLY wanted to do a thought dump on this episode because GOD I HAVE BIG BIG EMOTIONS ABOUT IT
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dcviated · 3 months ago
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relationship building :: open
@cloudpools sent: 👂 to overhear my muse talking about yours. (( Wy hearing Nara. Who is she talking to? What is she saying? What verse is this even? lol
Jealousy is probably the most unbecoming thing ever. Especially or someone who wants to be guarded, in control of the situation. I mean, what is it, if not completely yielding that you care too much and lack trust and all that, right? Goddamn. Trust issues. Where does a weapon go feeling things like that? Between a death scythe and his meister, that should be tantamount shouldn't it?
Gahhh!!! Okay. Maybe it has to do with the path they've taken together. Maybe it's how being picked by her, and being used by her, was so special? Maybe that's why he's creeping outside the door, weighing in on the muffled conversation between Nara and some of the others that were inside. One that was, undeniably, about him. His name came up, he's sure of that.
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"This isn't weird." Wylan muffles to himself, denying every ounce of doubt he was currently experiencing within the cage of his mind. One that trapped within it so many other memories and treasures between himself and the other. "Not at all. I'm just... doing what I usually like to do."
People watching. Observing. He was, after all, one of the best scouts the academy had. So if you think about it a little bit, this is like... hey! It's scouting about himself! Just keeping up with rumors and what have you, isn't that the case? Isn't that actually considered wise? Best he's staying two steps ahead of the competition. Or, as it might be, two steps on top of something really great about himself.
Unfortunately, this self-absorbed manner of rationalization blinds him to the fact that Nara has, at this moment, made herself known. Standing outside the door and looking at her weapon rather crossly. Wylan snaps out of his daze, the smirk on his face falling off to reveal a... smaller smirk underneath. Not quite a bigger one this time, folks.
"Have you been standing here this whole time? Really, Wylan?"
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"Huhu. Dang. So what gave me away? This was a learning exercise. I'm pretty stealthy, so if you think about it- my eavesdropping was all for--"
"Eavesdropping? You were- ARE late and we've been waiting for you!! And the longer you stay out here the more you're embarrassing me! So please, get inside so the meeting can start, understand?"
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"....oh."
Whoops.
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qtipper · 1 year ago
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"a talking worm? why yes, what else am I?"
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Name: Worm-ler
Pronouns: he / it
Age: ???
Role: Mascot
Personality: Hmm, how would a worm act? a small, spiteful, judgemental and polite little creature. pretty damn strong for a worm. (he can yield weapons.)
when I say he eats everything, he eats everything. give him a chair, he'll eat that. give him a whole cabin, he'll also eat that, only if you ask nice enough.
short, short-tempered, short-term memory loss. he will not remember you for the hell of it. unless you're someone prominent to him, maybe he will!
don't provoke him, you won't see the end of it.
Likes: dirt, nature, fruits, rotten fruits, weaponry, popping out of quite literally nowhere, slithering into places he shouldn't be in.
Dislikes: you (moderately), bread, frogs, mirrors, getting into fights, being patronized, wood – it gives him splinters.
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rubyprototype · 2 months ago
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Who wants to talk about the way he refers to himself as a weapon in his theme ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
He barely views himself as . Uhm. Human, for lack of a better term. It's all 'power, strength, etc" with him. If he's not on top he shouldn't exist. He's a failure.
I also loveeee how he says "all will yield to the Phantom Ruby's power" is he being genuine here? Does he not view it as his? An extension of himself? He hypes himself up in the same cutscene,. HAH. Oh my gosh. I realize something* Is he acting neutral in front of Eggman? Who knows! I wish I could speak to the script writers, I'd love to know the thought process behind every single line 🥹
There's so much to him! So much to dig into...
* His line of "only a being with my power of will could activate it" is very fun, as the avatar player, who is presented as being a weak and terrified character, could activate the prototype. Do you think that weighs on him? Someone so... pathetic. Could activate it? Does that make him weak? Does that make the avatar strong? How must he feel, knowing that he so easily misjudged someone who would get in his way..
I'm in love with him (/srs) I need to slam my head against the wall.
[infinite selfshippers DNI please]
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the-bar-sinister · 6 months ago
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A Struggle Between Men (761 words) by thesavagesabretooth
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The captain of Lum's stormtroopers stood in front of its prince and bowed.
"You're looking to beg a favor," Mendou observed, glancing up at him.
Megane nodded deeply before he came up from the bow. "I'm that obvious."
"You are," Mendou agreed, smirking. "Go on and ask, then."
Megane wasn't sure why he was embarrassed– of course it would be obvious that he wanted to ask something if he began this way. Stil, he rubbed the back of his neck. He and Mendou were friends, even if Mendou's dignity and grace wouldn't let him state it outright. He shouldn't be this embarrassed to be a favor, even considering the distance in station between them.
"Well," he began, "You know I have an interest in military tactics and weapons."
Mendou nodded.
"But I think I've gotten as far as I can only learning from books, and I don't have any real space to train at my parents house."
Megane wasn't sure exactly what solution he expected Mendou to offer, if any. Use of the training grounds at the Mendou estate? A personal trainer?
Mendou smiled the dazzling smile that made all the girls in class swoon.
"Say no more," he said, holding up a hand. "Report to the Mendou estate after school, and I'll help you with your training. If that's to your liking."
Megane felt himself caught up short by the offer. He certainly hadn't expected it. On the one hand. Mendou was an exceptional martial artist and had been receiving military training since he was young. He'd be a great tutor. 
On the other hand, there was something faintly humiliating about being trained by his own classmate.
Still, he'd swallowed his pride enough to ask, hadn't he? And this had been this answer.
He pushed up his glasses, and nodded quietly.
--
The shocking clack-snap of wooden practice blades knocking together filled the air, along with the sound of the Mendou private army drilling in the distance. Megane had been training officially for a week now, and despite being pleased with how far he'd already come, it was still irritating how obviously superior Mendou's skill was.
"I'm still surprised how much you were able to learn just from books," Mendou said, as he forced Megane back with a flurry of blows.
Megane gave ground reluctantly backing up, as he kept pace. "I told you, I'm a good learner. Fast, too."
"I've noticed. And you're not in bad shape." Mendou's smirk was distracting. Megane couldn't tell if he was complimenting him sincerely, or just trying to get under his skin and throw him off. He was getting under his skin, but maybe not for the reason Mendou would assume.
It worked anyway. Megane felt his bare back press up against the bark of a tree Mendou had been pressing him towards, and he had to acknowledge that he was flustered. 
Megane put his hands up and dropped the bo-ken as Mendou pressed the wooden blade of his to Megane's throat.
"I yield," he admitted, taking a breath. Mendou's– Shutaro's– bare, sweaty chest was inches away from his own. The scion was shorter than Megane, and less broad, but there was something intimidating and intense in him nonetheless, with his dark eyes fiery, and his black hair askew with their efforts.
"Good, you know when you're beaten," Shutaro grinned.
Megane grinned back, feeling his glasses slide down his nose. "I'll surpass you one day."
"Will you now?" 
Shutaro moved quick as a jungle cat, and grabbed Megane's waistband, pulling him closer. He had just enough time to realize that Shutaro absolutely had meant his flustering words as flirtation before he pressed his lips roughly to Megane's.
It was a tough, sweaty kiss, all breath and biting and tongue. It was a kiss that didn't have anything to do with softness of women, or the idolatry of Lum. It was rude, and masculine and aggressive, and still Megane flushed furiously as he scrambled to find some place on Shutaro to put his hands. He settled for around his waist, nails digging in.
Like their swordplay training it was a struggle between men, and Megane refused to back down, attempting to give as good as he got.
When they parted, breathless, Megane stared at him, heart beating in his chest as powerful as when their swords clashed. He rubbed his jaw, unsure of what to say.
Shutaro wiped his mouth off with the back of his arm and grinned at him, one hand still lingering on Megane's chest. "Consider that an incentive to keep trying."
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beneggolent · 1 year ago
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shame them! shame them! / accepting / @mightiestbanana
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⚠️ stole my banana and tried to wield it as a weapon against me when I tried to steal it back
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     Can it be blamed for its coding any more than he can be blamed for his extreme banana attachment? You shouldn't be waggling anything around in front of their optic like that, Master Kohga, every unit knows this. Standard case of concept://fucking around and finding out: it's not his banana anymore!
     ( It's not exactly fit for consumption, anyway. The fruit has been pulverised concept://to shit all from its tightened grip and many swings. He's free to try reclaiming the remaining goo; they still won't be yielding without a fight! )
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aurumfracturado · 1 year ago
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A Deformity.
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The darkness is overwhelming, my torchlight yielding before it. At least Karstan and Erion are with me; I would feel extremely lonely without them. We've been traveling for a day now, and I already feel far from home. I'd rather be with my wife in front of the fire, watching a delicious piece of meat sizz|le. But well, this is what we have to do for now.
With the lads, we're not entirely sure what we're searching for. Chief Fael sent us into the forest to find a creature that has been attacking travelers attempting to reach Kanska. I'm a bit scared; I've fought before, but it's not something I enjoy doing, at least not for now. We keep on walking.
The moonlight illuminates a clearing, the first I've seen clearly in a while, and I feel somewhat safer. We're chatting with the lads, and Karstan tells me he'll soon travel to Dimbaar to get married. His smile is pleasant, and I don't think he realizes he closes his eyes completely when he does it.
We've been searching, but we haven't found anything other than well-trodden paths, a wide, continuous trail that passes through the clearing. It's strange; this isn't the conventional route through the forest. Perhaps some traders use it to steer clear of the main road, which can sometimes be dangerous. Anyway, we'll rest for a while. I ask Erion to start chopping wood for a fire. We need some warmth; the night is chilling my bones, and we also need light.
After a while, Erion ignites the fire, and finally, we can rest. Sometimes, I wonder why we didn't seek help from the King to send soldiers. We shouldn't have to tackle such dangerous problems ourselves. We haven't trained enough for this. The fire further illuminates the clearing, and it's truly beautiful. I'm surprised I haven't noticed it before. Fireflies resonate and glow near the trees, and there are some silver-colored flowers on the ground. I'll pick one for my wife and another for my armor.
As we sit around the fire, basking in its warmth and the beauty of the clearing, a sudden rustling in the nearby underbrush startles us. We jump to our feet, weapons at the ready, our hearts racing. Out of the darkness emerges a monstrous creature, its features obscured by the shadows, but its towering height is unmistakable, nearly as tall as a tree. The creature appears to be a grotesque fusion of twisted vines and thorns, or so it seems at first glance. Upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that it's not vegetation but rather human skin that covers its form. Instead of arms, it possesses long, sinuous tentacles that writhe ominously in the night.
With a bone-chilling screech, the deformity launches itself towards us, its sinuous appendages slashing through the air with a grotesque grace. We muster our courage and fight with all our might, but the creature's tenacity and unrelenting assaults make it a formidable adversary. Karstan's lightning-fast reflexes save him from a deadly swipe by a hair's breadth, while Erion's arrows struggle to penetrate its tough, bark-like dermis.
As for me, fear courses through my veins, but I know I must stand my ground. I raise my sword, striking at the creature's twisted form. The deformity inmediately retaliates with a ferocious blow that pushes me and Karstan away but ensnares him within its twisted arm. My friend's screams reverberate in my ears, instilling a fear unlike any I had ever felt before. I watch as red stains the ground when the creature discards him as if he were nothing. Erion, consumed by fury, hurls himself recklessly at the abomination. The blow he receives is seared into my memory—the golden-haired head of my companion soaring through the air against the silver moon and landing before me. His eyes lock with mine until I witness his soul departing.
I freeze for a moment, watching as the creature seizes my companions and thrusts them into a cavity atop its body. With one hand, I grip my sword tightly, and with the other, I clasp the flower on my armor. I gaze at it briefly, then look ahead and hurl myself forward.
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darkmaga-returns · 2 months ago
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Have the Zionists been committing nuclear terrorism for decades?
Kevin Barrett
Oct 18, 2024
Rumble link Bitchute link
Dr. Bruce Baird discusses Israel and its nuclear weapons, including allegations by Joe Vialls and others that the Zionists have used several low-yield low-radiation nukes in various false flags and deniable attacks beginning as early as the 1980s.
Extract from the interview:
We're at a moment in history when it's probably more timely than ever to talk about the Israeli nuclear program and the recklessness of the Zionists. We know how insanely over the top they are in so many ways,being the number one suspects in the Kennedy assassinations and 9/11, among so many other things. If there's any country on Earth that shouldn't be trusted with nuclear weapons, it would be the so-called State of Israel. And yet there they are, and they're committing genocide. and threatening all kinds of terrible things to various parties, including Iran. People in the Israeli government have talked about using nuclear weapons against the civilians of Gaza, against the civilians of Lebanon, and obviously, of course, against Iran. So what are the details about the Israeli nuclear program? Bruce Beard, you've been investigating this for a while. So just tell us a little something about your background before we get into the Israeli nuclear program.
Okay, my original career, I was a chemical engineer. And I did that for like five years, but then I decided that I wanted to be an historian, a professor of history. I went back to graduate school, got a PhD in history, and I taught history for a while. And so I still consider myself an historian, even though I have this sort of technical background...
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ideas-on-paper · 5 months ago
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Monster Hunter Tri Diary, Part 11: Exploring the Sandy Plains
For previous entries, search for #monster hunter tri diary
Disclaimer: Text is paraphrased from my localization and might slightly deviate from the English version.
Quest: Secret of the Crystal Bones
Since we're going on an expedition to a desert now, I packed 3 Cool Drinks. (3 instead of 5 because the Guild graciously supplies us with 2 Cool Drinks; once again scrounging what I can, since I don't have to buy them if I take the free ones. And if you don't use all of them, you can even stock up your own supplies a little! :-) ) In addition, I donned my leather armor again for some gathering bonuses.
I chose to eat Grainy Wheat + Cudgel Onion this time, and despite both ingredients being fresh, that apparently tasted absolutely disgusting. So now, my max health has been reduced. Eh... But hey, at least I still got Felyne Woodsman and a boost to Thunder resistance! :-)
This time, our client is an archaeologist who claims that hunters are mocking his studies about Crystal Bones, which according to him are important to learn more about "the life of old and the mysteries of today". First off, I can assure you I would never mock you - I'm the kind of person who drinks up any MH lore content I can find. I wonder what exactly he means by "the life of old" and "mysteries of today" - I think I remember from the artbooks that there are some extinct monster species (most of which are based on scrapped designs), so does he intend to study them and how they evolved? (However, bones from prehistoric animals turn into fossils, not crystal; though perhaps, the bones of the MH creatures contain some substance that causes them to turn into crystal instead?)
Still, I wonder where this "hunters are dimwits" bias is coming from, given the biologist said something similar. You certainly need some brains to hunt monsters, as you can't defeat them by randomly flailing at them. (If you tried, you wouldn't survive very long.)
And here we are: The Sandy Plains! One of my favorite desert areas in the whole series, for both the soundtrack and the overall design. I just love how the first areas (1-5) are more savanna-like, and it transitions into a desert further out (8-10).
This is also where we encounter our first Veggie Elder, who kinda aimlessly wanders around in the base camp. (I wonder if he got lost?) He gives me some random stuff, including a tuna bait; I probably shouldn't overload myself before gathering anything though.
Veggie Elder, giving me the tuna bait: "Take good care of it, you hear?" Yeah, yeah, old man, I hear you! (I wonder what's so special about a tuna bait, though...)
Btw, the increased Thunder resistance actually comes with a visual effect: I've got something like a green aura surrounding my character now. Kinda cool!
Moving on to area 1, and... OH GOD, it's Rhenoplos! Yep, I certainly remember you guys. (More specifically, I remember the many times you knocked me down when I was just doing my own business.)
Rhenoplos monster info: "Extremely territorial herbivores with poor vision but accute hearing." So they're basically rhinos, I take it. (Rhinos also can't see very well, but they have excellent hearing and sense of smell.)
Note to self: Do NOT hit Rhenoplos on the head; your weapon will just bounce off. Instead, get around them and attack their rear.
LOL, the Rhenoplos ran into a rock! xD Just randomly happened after I dodged its attack; didn't even plan that. (But that's probably what their description means by "they often collide into boulders".)
Rhenoplos Scalp: "A sturdy part of the skull that yields, shall we say, dashing results?" Heh... I see what you did there! ;-)
I've never seen a Gluehopper before. I think I've seen it listed among the required materials for some equipment though, so I better hold on to it.
Gluehopper description: "This bug's expectorations make for a strong adhesive that can bond any materials." Makes sense why they would use it for crafting, then.
There are some Giggis in area 7 (I killed 3, so I only need one more for the subquest), as well as some Kelbi. (Kinda surprising that Kelbi thrive in savanna environments too.) Also, there's a fishing spot, but I’m not sure if my tuna bait is going to be very useful here. Besides, I've got more important things to do right now.
Btw, thank God you don't have to use Hot Drinks in the caves anymore; I would always forget this in MH1/Freedom Unite since it felt so unusual. xD (The 1st Gen had no snow areas, so the Hot Drinks were exclusively used in caves.)
I got some Nitroshrooms from a gathering spot as well. Definitely gonna hold onto those so I can cultivate them later, which is gonna be really handy to make Barrel Bombs/gunpowder.
Still, despite this, I don't see a single mining spot around here. Well, guess we'll have to go deeper into the cave...
And into the everlasting darkness we go - I'm definitely gonna need a torch to explore area 6 (which, thanks to my wise foresight, I forgot to take from the supply box). Still, I really want to get the extra supplies from the subquest as well, so I'll just see if I run into a Giggi while blindly stumbling through the darkness.
Alright, I did manage to kill one Giggi for the subquest, so I'm gonna get out of here and pick up the torch and some other supplies at the base camp; BRB.
Okay, so this cave is absolutely hardcore: You've got Giggi and Bnahabra near the entrance, and Melynx further inside - no matter where you go, it's absolute hell. The Melynx snatched some items from me, but thankfully, I still had a Felvine I gathered before so I didn't lose anything more valuable. One of them made off with my tuna bait, though. (So much for "taking good care of it". xD)
Finally I managed to find some mining spots where I could get my Crystal Bones - I was beginning to believe I might actually fail the quest. xD And you bet I'm not gonna go anywhere near the Melynx right now - I'm not losing my quest items right after getting my hands on them.
Since I have time left to gather some other stuff now, I went back to where I entered the cave and picked up some Choice Mushrooms. They’re not worth that much money, but a penny saved is a penny earned.
As always when you explore a new area in Monster Hunter, there is so much stuff to gather, and so little inventory space... I'm gonna skip the gathering spots in area 5 since they don't have any interesting items and move on to area 9.
What the--?! Just when I was peacefully gathering some Cactus Flowers, a swarm of nasty Delex attacked me. Why can't you troublemakers just pass by and be on your way? I've done nothing to you!
You know, viewed from afar, the Delex look like dolphins in a sea of sand. They move exactly like dolphins do, leaping out of the sand as if it was water! (I gotta say, I love the design concept Capcom has going on here: On one hand, we have the actual ocean in Moga, and on the other, an ocean of sand in Loc Lac. Awesome!)
I followed the Altaroth in area 8 to the gathering spot, getting some Might Seeds from their shinies (which is nice since Might Seeds are kinda expensive to cultivate). Also got some more Waterblock Seeds and Monster Fluid from them.
The gathering spot where the Altaroth go also yields Fire Herbs. So now, I can cultivate both ingredients needed for gunpowder!
The monster info for the Delex says they retreat if other Delex are killed. Thought I would try this out in area 10, but nope - despite killing one of them, they continue to annoy me the same as before. You know what? I'm just gonna leave these bullies to themselves.
I gathered all of my courage together and jumped down the bottomless chasm leading into area 11 (pretending I didn’t know there was no fall damage in MH). Found some additional mining spots there to get some more Crystal Bones from. I technically don’t need them for the quest, but they are gonna be good for extra cash! :-)
Was the connection to area 7 a one-way route in 3U as well? I can't precisely remember, but I don't think so. (Maybe they changed that to make it less of a hassle to get to area 11.)
Anyway, back to the base camp we go. Just before I left, I grabbed a Cool Drink for the one I used from the box as well as an Old Pickaxe. As I said: Scrounge anything you can. ;-)
Quest: No guts, no glory
I actually threw my whetstones out to have some more inventory space. Also, I exchanged my Cool Drinks for Hot Drinks, since we're going out into the desert at nighttime now.
As a dish, I picked a Plumpkin + Drybutter (both fresh). That apparently tasted boring, but at least I got Felyne Woodsman.
Btw, I love how the English quest name is essentially a proverb taken literally. xD
Our client is a caravan leader explaining to us that Delex attacking in packs are devious (yep, can confirm that one), but their guts make for good field rations. So I guess the guy got stuck somewhere near the Sandy Plains and now wants me to help him out by killing the Delex pestering his caravan as well as restocking his supplies. Fair enough, I suppose.
The quest description also contains a great example of a MH universe-specific idiom: If I remember correctly, the Caravaneer once said "what the Diablos?" instead of "what the devil/hell?" in MH4U (implying that a Diablos is these people's equivalent of the devil, which is… understandable xD); in a similar spirit, the caravan leader says slaying the Delex is like "killing two Vespoids with one stone". It might just be my localization though since he literally uses the phrase "kill two Vespoids with one swatter" (derived from "kill two flies with one swatter", meaning the same thing as killing two birds with one stone), which makes it funnier since, y'know, Vespoids are overgrown insects. xD Still, really cool if the translators are adding this kind of flavor for each individual language!
I left the Cool Drinks and Paintballs in the box for now (I won't need Cool Drinks at night, and there are no big monsters around), but I plan to pick them up once I get back to deliver the items for the quest.
What I did take, however, were the Sonic Bombs from the supply. If only I could stash them away for later... (You can't buy them and need Screamer Sacs to combine them, which you don't have much of this early on, so they're quite valuable.) However, killing Cephalos without Sonic Bombs was already enough of a hassle in MH1, and Delex are way more nimble and harder to catch, so I'm probably going to put those to their intended use.
On my way through area 4, I picked some stuff from the mining spots, including a Golden Bone. Going by the description, it's literally a bone made of gold. I mean, bones made of crystal are already wild enough, but bones made of solid gold? How the hell did those come into existence? (The best explanation I can come up with is that they're from some kind of ore/metal ingesting monster; Lao-Shan Lung, for instance, is said to feed on ore, and depending on the region where it lives, its scales can be colored differently, caused by the concentration of minerals and other substances in the rocks. So maybe for some ore-eating monsters, the ingested metal is deposited in the bones rather than the scales.)
Moving on to area 9, and I definitely wasn't wrong: The Delex are way harder to hit than Cephalos (especially if you're using a Great Sword).
To make matters even more difficult, Monster Guts seem to be a quite rare carve from Delex - at least it feels like that after I got 5 Sharpened Fangs and exactly 1 Monster Guts from 6 Delex.
So the Delex do leave the area after all if you slay their buddies - however, you have to kill a few for them to get frightened. Looks like they're leaving for area 10 right now, so let's go after them.
I threw my second (and last) Sonic Bomb juuust right to get 10 Delex out of the sand at once! xD Wohoo! (However, I only managed to kill one, since they were pretty quick to get back into the sand.)
We've got that subquest in the bag, but I’ll definitely need to kill more than just 8 Delex for 3 Monster Guts. Can you please give me my Monster Guts already?
Just when I finally got the third Monster Guts, the Delex decide to leave once again. Phew... I actually thought I might run out of whetstones, since I solely had to rely on the two mini whetstones from the box; I would've been pretty screwed if this went on for longer. ^^' Still, everything worked out fine in the end; let's gather some extra stuff for cash and then get out of here.
At night, area 11 is unusually deserted - like, there aren't any monsters there, not even a single Jaggi. Okay, then - makes it easier for me to mine some Crystal Bones. I'm gonna go back to the base camp real quick to gather some more in area 6 as well.
I finally found out how you can gather while holding a torch! What you have to do is NOT select the pickaxe/bugnet from the item menu; at spots where the icon pops up, you simply have to press the gather button and hold R (with the Classic Pro Controller at least).
Ugh, of course the Melynx are still there... You know what, I'm gonna leave area 6, go all the way around to area 5, and then enter area 6 from the other side so they don't spot me.
And I got a new item from one of the mining spots: Icethaw Pellets! Yet another one of those elemental berries. (Though I wonder what they're doing inside a rock formation; are those even still edible?)
Got my first Ice Crystals as well! These caves have to be pretty cool for them to not melt, though. (I have a feeling Capcom might have planned that you have to use Hot Drinks in the caves like in the older games, but they decided against it; in that case, thank you, Capcom - thank you from the bottom of my heart!)
Snuck up on that one mining spot near the Melynx reeeally carefully, filched the last few items right under their nose, and then bolted off. Wouldn't want the Melynx to get any ideas about snatching our hard-earned Monster Guts, would we?
Back to the base camp we go, and as I said, I grabbed myself some free Cool Drinks and Paintballs from the box. Take what you can while you can! ;-)
Village Talk
Item seller: "I love Sonic Bombs. Sometimes I throw them just to listen to them." Oookay... The item lady has some weird preferences, I suppose. (Where did she get the Sonic Bombs, though? They're certainly not for sale in her shop. Do you love them so much that you don't wanna sell them to me?!)
"When I throw stones, I also want to throw iron or machalite ore. Weird..." Maybe that's because all share the same icon? xD
"Sometimes, there are monster bones that are too big for S and too small for M. So many objects, so few adjectives…" So whether a bone belongs to the "S" or "M" category is determined by some kind of common measurements, I take it? (Seems like the tolerance limit is a topic of debate, though. xD)
In today's episode of MH food lore, we learn that Salty Milk was created by a careless servant who added salt to milk instead of sugar, which ended up tasting surprisingly well. Lucky for the servant, I suppose. xD
The Wandering Cook is a big fan of Mosswine meat (confirming my suspicion that Moss Pork comes indeed from the Mosswine). He says it's delicious, especially the feet, which taste best with bean puree according to him. He does note, however, that you have to give it a good wash so you don't end up with more moss than meat. Well, I guess it's called "Mosswine" for a reason. xD
The cook describes the Twinshroom as a "strange mushroom" growing in pairs; both are identical in color and shape, impossible to tell apart and inseparable. So, they're not just Twinshrooms, they're conjoined Twinshrooms.
Also, we finally learn what an Escargogo is: It's an "unusual snail" that spins inside its shell for its whole life, so "the world is practically spinning around it!" (I wonder if "You Spin Me Round" is playing on a loop inside there. xD) Given it's classified as seafood, I assume it's a sea snail, and the name seems to be derived from "escargot", the French word for snail. (Also, Escargogo is the title of a French children's book, apparently? xD)
According to the description of the Rhenoplos armor pieces, it's commonly used in mining and resource prospecting (primarily ore and water). So I guess it's just the workwear of miners from the MH universe. (I can't imagine it's very comfortable to wear that all day though. xD)
Also, I get the impression it's primarily used by workers from Loc Lac, since the description of the greaves says it's "often used to mine resources for city development". ("City" being synonymous with Loc Lac in Tri.) Would make sense, since Rhenoplos are a local species and the materials thus easy to come by.
Oh no, the terrible pun disease is spreading further! While arguing that bowguns are both handy and elegant, the Outfitter used an idiom literally meaning that they're not a "shot in the oven" (the English equivalent of which would be "a lead balloon"). I'm not sure what she says in English here, but it did make me chuckle. xD
I've sent the fleet out to hunt for the first time now. If I remember correctly, it's really just a way to farm materials from smaller monsters so you don't have to bother to do it yourself all the time, but let's see what they bring back.
Guild Sweetheart: "Are you enjoying yourself? I was super busy around here. Manicure, napping... I even carried the piglet from the farm into the village. We played the whole day! Then manicure again." Yep, relaxing effectively is a super though job. I can imagine you needed another manicure after playing all day with the Poogie though... xD
Alright, so now that we're done with the Sandy Plains quests, I'm going to do some free hunting in the Moga Woods next. (Conveniently, we've got a Ludroth breeding in the north and a herbivore breeding in the south, so I can get both some extra paddles and the Super-sized Dung I need.) See ya then! :-)
To be continued
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pantachorei · 6 months ago
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@spurhill asked: boothill spook The way the building rumbled could resemble an earthquake; debris crumbling from the ceiling and lights hissing loudly with their strain to stay alight. A loud gunshot rings in the floors above, then several more. Automated weapons firing quickly, noise traveling from one end of the upper floor to another. Closer. Yelling and shooting, another shake in the building and the ceiling above cracks, yielding under it's abuse and dropping a group of men down onto the floor below. Stray bullets lodge into the walls and some shoot through as the Ranger scrambles up and continues his running. The others weren't sturdy like him, couldn't recover as fast, and it earned him a lead. He'd gotten what he'd come for, but it was not without price. The door to the conference room is rammed open and eyes widen as they make visual contact with ones he knew well.
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This wasn't the time -- he shouldn't be here! His feet don't stop moving and he's quick to yank Ratio along, shoving him into the nearest empty room he could find. "Shh!" Was all he had time for before he continued on, a spray of bullets zipping past the doorway, followed by the men on his heels.
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the   rumbling   was   cause   for   concern,   but   not   enough   to   see   the   scholar   in   a   rush   to   leave.   rather,   he   was   collecting   his   things   to   make   an   orderly   exit   when   the   din   seemed   to   be   growing   closer   and   closer.   it   was   just   fine   by   him;   these   ipc   meetings   were   not   something   he   could   claim   to   be   fond   of.
he   had   been   about   to   exit   that   room   anyhow   when   the   doors   slammed   open,   though   even   ratio   was   left   staring   wide-eyed   when   faced   with   none   other   than   his   partner.   yanked   along,   there   was   little   he   could   do   but   accept   that   he   was   half   drawn   into   whatever   was   going   on,   and   no   time   to   even   glare   at   the   ranger   for   it,   either. 
instead,   his   brows   furrowed   and   his   nose   wrinkled   in   disapproval   as   he   was   effectively   shushed,   and   the   cowboy   soon   disappeared   again.   after   that,   he   was   left   pinching   the   bridge   of   his   nose   and   making   a   slightly   more   swift   exit,   provided   the   gunfire   kept   moving   away   from   his   location.
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a   few   hours   later,   he   made   sure   to   at   least   send   some   texts   to   check   in   on   the   other.
[   txt   ]   Are   you   quite   finished   with   your   demolition   run? [   txt   ]   I   assume   you're   still   in   one   piece?
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temperedgods · 10 months ago
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Part 1 Chapter 7
I'm pretty sure that last week or the week before I mentioned it being close to the end. Well this starts on pg 92 and the end is around pg 160. Probably shouldn't have said it. But this part I like, really begins to tie in the rest of the world from the little adventure that's been going on. Also the bard is very much being the bard here.
The ride was long enough for everyone to get in some sleep, despite the rough road conditions. While the city of Cherryville was quite beautiful, especially during this time of year with all of the trees blooming, it would have to wait for later as the caravan pulled down into an unnaturally foggy valley filled with dragon bones and an intimidating stone tower.
The caravan stopped and everyone stumbled out of their rides. Lawrence ordered the drivers to stay back as Charlie quickly gave them some autographs. The group marched to the front door of the tower, two stone dragons guarding each monstrous wooden door of the tower.
Lawrence casually handed Morgan a heavy caliber pistol.
“You know I don’t like using guns.” Morgan quipped.
“You know I wouldn’t give it to you unless it was important.”
Morgan took the gun and readied it.
Joseph also had a gun, a heavy caliber revolver.
“Joseph, you have a gun?” Jordan asked.
“Of course I have a gun! Sometimes magic doesn’t cut it! Let's kill this guy so I can get back to my cube.”
“Could you get the door for us Joseph?” Lawrence asked him.
“Right right, stand back and let me take care of this.”
Joseph didn’t use something like a fireball to obliterate the door or perhaps rot to  disintegrate it but rather a simple heavy force spell that shattered the door into fine splinters. Without missing a beat all of them stepped forward and began firing into the tower, at a dragon with Naturius on its back.
The dragon had bright white scales and intense magma red eyes that glowed even in bright daylight. Its huge wings were held tightly behind its back and four fingered claws that could rip a house apart without resistance.
The hail of gunfire did nothing to the dragon as Naturius laughed behind its magic shield.
“Glad you all could come and see my official coronation as I, King Naturius, clean this land of the living.” Naturius snapped his fingers. “Mufon, men, take care of them, I have work to do.”
Naturius looked terrible. He’d been shot multiple times in the past day and previously slashed in the face by a dagger. But clerics had done their best to heal him before this encounter. Despite this he looked even worse than all of the sleep deprived members of the group.
His men and his serpent dragon descended upon the group, however Joseph wasn’t having this. With an interesting spell that reloaded all of their weapons, and a fireball, the group gained an upper hand. But this slaying of the serpent dragon and The Dismayed yielded Naturius time to escape with his new dragon, smashing through the top of the tower and flying out into the distance.
The dust settling the group looked upon the pile of corpses they had created.
“I do not like having killed an endangered species.” Lucan mumbled.
“Not getting any disagreements here my friend.” Morgan acknowledged.
Morgan crouched down by Mufon and said a small prayer, hoping that the dragon would be judged nicely by Grimbergen and Ikos.
It was here when everything that has occurred in the past two days finally caught up to everyone. Gunfire, the encounter with possibly the last vampire in existence, the mind breaking spells that said their friends were actually ready to cut their skin off, the multiple deities certainly angered, came to a head right here in a cursed tower.
Lucan stared hard into the distance while Kracak wondered how she even made it this far.
Jordan almost crumpled onto the stony floor if not saved by Malan and Riley, as they all had realized the multiple times of near death experiences.
Lawrence considered for a moment that maybe it was time for retirement.
Morgan closed the eyes of the lifeless Mufon and pulled the talisman out of his pocket. He raised the talisman high into the air, pointing at the stone statue of the other dragon. 
“Great dragon of Lunaren I call for your aid!” He yelled as his voice echoed through the tower. Everyone felt a stir in the tower.
“We are in desperate times and the followers of the goddess of darkness. Those who scurry through the night, who raise themselves to the light of the moon, we call for your aid now!” The stir turned to a tremble.
“For those who cannot fight for themselves, blinded by the light of day, we need YOU!”
The trembling stopped, then the statue erupted, throwing stone and dust everywhere revealing the dragon who slept within it.
Its scales were matte black, almost absorbing light. Wings extending out and ocean blue eyes that could light a whole room.
Morgan stared directly into the dragon’s gaze and it spoke to him telepathically.
“I am Corlyx, champion of Lunaren. I thank you for releasing me and I ask what my orders are.” Kracak rose and addressed the dragon.
“I am a follower of Lunaren and I am blessed to be in the presence of her champion.”
Corlyx angled her head.
“Then why is this follower of Polotos the one who summoned me?”
“I uh, actually haven’t really followed her in some time.” Morgan muttered.
“Wonderful! I shall show you the ways of Lunaren.”
“Sure, but we need you to deal with your half-sibling. Was here about 5 minutes ago and split with the guy who summoned them.”
“Of course it’s always Garrick who is stirring up trouble! I will help you in stopping him but I believe there are some others outside that I sensed as I was unleashed from my tomb.”
Morgan raised an eyebrow and turned to the group.
“Giant dragon says there are some people outside.”
“Are they friendly?” Charlie asked after finishing a nip of rum he had in a flask.
“Don’t know but they haven’t come inside so who’s to say?”
Morgan quickly realized Jordan had collapsed and rushed over to see them being tended to by Malan. Riley was also helping by giving her something to lay back on.
“Jordan, all of us really, have been running on fumes.” Malan explained. “I think they’ll be fine but it’s time we got a proper rest that’s not on a train or the back of a military vehicle.”
Morgan nodded to the affirmative and got back up to go investigate their visitors.
Save for Malan, Riley and Jordan, the group opened the door to see who was there. A cohort of violet robed individuals stood outside, the drivers looking on in confusion.
“Aw shit it’s them.” Joseph said glumly. He stepped forward and raised his voice. “Look guys we’re on a bit of a timetable here so if we could get moving we can get back to saving the world or whatever.”
The individuals responded by raising their right hands to eye level. Each hand cast a yellow beam that hit Joseph, dropping him and taking a tumble down the steps.
“Joseph!” Morgan yelled, being stopped in their place by another spell. Standing motionless, all of them unable to cast or raise weapons, the figure in the middle pulled his hood down.
It was Luther Armsworth, the head member of the council of mages. The others revealed themselves as the other members of the council.
“Your actions have not gone unnoticed by us and the crown, spellcasters. Your presence is demanded by the king, immediately.” Luther announced. He snapped his fingers and a door between their plane and that of Ykasha formed. He and the council members went through the portal and pulled the frozen group through with them.
No one directly watched but they heard Riley trying to quickly follow behind before the door rudely closed in front of him.
Riley barked indignantly and dispelled his bound quarterstaff. He turned and saw Joseph slowly getting up. He rushed over to help him get on his feet.
Joseph rubbed his head and groaned at the bruises he got from taking the tumble down the steps. He looked to Riley, who smiled his big dog smile. He patted Riley on the head
“Thanks bud. If you'll excuse me I have some murdering, er, business, to attend to with the mage’s council.”
Joseph looked straight up and flew high into the sky. Riley watched on as the wizard flew out of sight before seeing Malan and Jordan come out from the tower.
“Where did they go?” Malan asked Riley. He barked unsure, not knowing where the rest were taken. Jordan rubbed their head and answered.
“I think I heard Luther from the mage council. So probably the capital?”
“Do you think the dragon would take us there? It would take a while for those guys to drive us there.”
“Wouldn’t hurt to ask.”
Malan turned back and approached Corlyx.
“Ah, a follower of Mikaela. Yours and mine are quite good friends.” Corlyx announced telepathically to Malan.
“I’m glad to hear that. Could we get a lift from you? Morgan, the one who freed you, just got snatched up by some creepy old guy and his sycophants who are taking them to the capital, Gregora.”
Corlyx dipped her head down to Malan’s level.
“I believe I could help with this request.”
Riley had seen this as a perfect opportunity. He bolted straight to Corlyx and gave her a head pat. Malan giggled at the sight.
“An Anthu. It has been a long time since I have met one of these powerful warriors.” “And he’ll also be going with us too. Also my friend Jordan too.”
Corlyx looked over to Jordan, still gathering their breath.
“I can sense you two-” “Yeah more than friends, I know.”
Corlyx raised her head and extended out a large claw. The 3 hopped on and the dragon exited through the same hole Garrick and Naturius had done so earlier.
The group was spat out in front of the king’s court. Luther ushered them out of the doorway as the rest of the mages took another door to their chambers that sat on the opposite side of the king’s castle.
The hall was royally furnished, exotic wood from Atrocostas with fancy designs carved or burned into their surfaces with expert cut jewels and shiny metal adorning it. 
The king, Gregory the 8th, sat idly on his throne. Rather than in a cape, gilded silks, and a scepter, Gregory had on sports wear of tan shorts and a light blue breathable t-shirt. He had been quickly informed of this meeting and could not get time to get his fashion brigade to get him changed in time.
“You have been called here today for your paramilitary actions on Talmin soil, wanton destruction of ancient sites, and chaos within our most vital port city.” Luther announced.
“Paramilitary?” Charlie yelled “Wanton destruction? Look pal I don’t know what you see through your crystal ball but we were trying to stop that shit from happening. I just shot a dragon who breathes thunderstorms on the college and you think we’re the bad guys?!”
Luther saw the druid and the celebrity Charlie was.
“I do not take answers from Druids, or has beens.” Luther sneered.
Charlie took one step forward and began to draw his saber before Lucan and Morgan held him back.
“Luther!” The king announced, echoing through the court. Luther slowly turned to his highness. “This is not your interrogation. I asked you to bring them here and that is all. You will excuse yourself back to your council and I will debrief you afterwards. Do I make myself clear?” Luther cursed under his breath.
“I understand clearly.” Luther answered and then marched out of the court. The giant wooden door chattering as he slammed the door shut.
The king stood up from his throne and walked down the steps. He investigated each of them before finally walking forward again and reached out for a hug from Lawrence. “It has been so long my friend!” He announced in a much cheerful voice. Lawrence stepped up and returned the hug.
“I must plan another hunt for us to go on in the near future. Our last trek through the Giant’s Pass was wonderful!”
“It sure was Greg.”
“I do apologize for the Mages. We hadn’t gotten word that Northwin was already aiding you, I only got that information a minute before you arrived. If I had known that I would have had them airlift you here instead of taking that path through Ykasha.”
“We had already taken the path once. It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
“Nonsense I will make sure that they’re informed of this blunder in communication. And one thing they didn’t communicate with me is why you have been taking these actions. So, what has been going on Lawrence?”
“The Dismayed are here again Greg.”
Greg took a deep and long sigh. A few years wore on his already creased face.
“I was hoping this was just improper communication about some training you were doing. Not some cult trying to bring the end of the world, your bread and butter.”
Lawrence nodded along.
“I will contact Northwin and they will give you all the resources you need to stop them. And Lawrence, when you are finished with this, I would like for you to really consider having your operations under the purview of the crown. So we don’t have issues like this again. I will extend this offer to your, uh, recruits.”
Greg gestured towards the rest of the group.
“Please see yourself out as I have a match to finish. Take care of yourselves. And it is good to see you’re alive Charlie”
Lucan opened the door and they followed a path pointed out by the King’s guard. They were a collection of soldiers and spellcasters, some of the few combatants not on the Northwin payroll.
The giant gates of the castle opened and revealed the sprawling metropolis of Gregora. The castle and the mage’s council looked quaint amongst the steel highrises and brownstones that littered the city.
Joseph landed in front of the group shortly after they emerged from the castle
“Hey guys, gonna go kill the mage’s council, wanna see?”
“Absolutely!” Charlie yelped. Lawrence grabbed him by the shoulder.
“No, no murdering the mages Joseph. We have things figured out and you aren’t going to ruin those plans, Joseph.” Lawrence announced.
Joseph grumbled and remembered what else he had to say.
“Right the two clerics and the cute dog took Corlyx and they should be here any moment now. See, right there.” Joseph pointed in the sky as the entire city looked up and saw a giant black dragon fly over the city and land in an open lot.
The group rushed to the parking lot and heard car alarms go off from Corlyx’s heavy landing.
She had already dropped her 3 passengers off as they waited for their friends to regroup. Morgan greeted Jordan and Riley with a large hug between them.
“Are you alright?” Morgan asked Jordan.
“I’m fine, just still feeling exhausted. What about you, are you okay?”
“Yeah the mages didn’t roughen us up or anything. Joseph is feeling back to his usual self, albeit very angry at the council.”
“I would imagine.” Morgan pulled in for another hug and as he did so he looked to Malan. He mouthed ‘thank you’ to her as she smiled back. 
He pulled away and looked up to their dragon friend casually observing the city.
“Christon looks much different than when I saw it last.” She said to the group telepathically.
Except Lawrence and her three recent passengers, the group was confused.
“Right, Corylyx hadn’t known the name was changed with Gregory 1st. She’s been asleep long enough it was still run by the Christopher lineage.” Malan explained.
“Wow.” Charlie exclaimed. 
Corlyx quickly turned to him.
“Another champion in my sight. The one of the natural form, Janall. I am blessed by your presence.”
“Well it is always nice to meet another champion. There is Lawrence here who holds the title of the Mikaela bloodline. He’s a bit of a wet blanket but you're quite the sight to behold.”
Lawrence shot daggers at Charlie.
“We have many hunts under the moonlight and love the creatures who find solace in the nightlight.” Lucan raised an eyebrow and whispered to Kracak.
“I think Charlie is trying to flirt with the dragon.”
Kracak cracked up in laughter at the realization.
“Okay Charlie!” Morgan spoke up. “I believe you and Corlyx will have a lot of time later to speak about the night. But for now we probably need to find a place for you to stay while we get final preparations underway.”
“Ooh!” Joseph yelped. “I got a guy who can help with that.” Morgan turned.
“You do?”
“Of course I do, let me give him a call.”
Joseph prepared a 2 way message spell with some rolled up paper and copper wire. After a moment he got his contact to pick up.
“Yo what’s up?” 
“Yeah I can imagine. Listen, I have a bit of a problem with storing a dragon, could you help with that? One of the ones from the tower out by Cherryville.”
“Really? You want that?” Joseph stood for a moment pondering the barter. “Alright fine you can have it.”
“Fine whatever, see ya.” Joseph hung up.
“Alright he’ll help out, but it’s only me, the dragon, and Morgan that goes to this exchange.”
“We can get a place to stay while you go out!” Charlie replied. “I know a nice bed and breakfast that can lodge all of us.”
Without thinking Charlie began walking away towards his place with the rest following.
Joseph turned to Morgan and let him in on the situation, but only just barely.
“You’re way out of your depth with what’s about to happen, let me do the talking.”
He looked up to Corlyx.
“Take your friend and just follow me to where we need to go, okay Corlyx? It should be pretty quick.”
Corlyx nodded and knelt to give Morgan a ride.
After a quick ride out in the middle of nowhere Joseph stopped at a ravine with two people waiting at the top. The group landed and saw a human in a silver robe with a well kept goatee, jet black hair, and intimidating green eyes. With him was a Halcyon, an offshoot of the guardians of Ykasha who came to the world of Omnus for a much different life. Her skin was a pinkish violet, a long tail, silver hair that complimented her companion’s robe, and disarming light blue eyes.
“So, the one who summoned Lunaren’s dragon was a paladin?” The man announced.
“Sure did, now can you help us out with the dragon?”
“Sure. This is a freebie but I can give your dragon a bit of a boost in battle as well, given she’s about to throw down with her half brother I would assume they’re evenly matched.”
Joseph eyed him.
“Why give us this?”
“Because I am a caring person Joseph, why else? Maybe I wanna see those Dismayed creeps get what’s coming to them.”
Joseph never mentioned The Dismayed once.
“Fine, here.” Joseph held out a small canvas bag and was quickly snatched and stuffed inside the man’s pocket.
“Do you have the object that summoned the dragon?”
Morgan shook his head yes and pulled out the talisman. The man whistled.
“Wow, didn’t know that’s what that was for. I always thought it was some old trinket. Well anyways.”
The man held a scroll in one hand and casted with his other. A dark fog emerged from his hand and entered the talisman.
“There you go, now you can store your dragon in there for future use rather than holding it inside a giant stone statue. I will give a warning, that thing is now under a lot of pressure so don’t drop it or the world will probably, almost definitely, cease to exist.” Morgan’s eyes widened as he carefully slid it back into his pocket. The Halcyon chuckled at his reaction.
“Well, it hasn’t been a pleasure Joseph. Don’t ever contact me again.” “Oh you know I will. Morgan, let’s go.”
Morgan eyed the man as he turned away. The Halcyon gave him a wink and turned away with him.
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crucifixi · 1 year ago
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hit me up with one of the hurt / comfort prompts for birdy - dealer's choice, of course ! // cosmacy
⠀⠀⠀HURT-TO-COMFORT ACTION PROMPTS
@cosmacy
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ [ SAVIOR ] + [ GUIDE ]
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The hideout of their pursuers was dimly lit, the air thick with tension. Birdy had stumbled upon something they shouldn't have, and now their life depended on escape.
As Wolfwood burst into the hideout, his eyes scanned the room looking for the angel. The bandits froze, momentarily stunned by his sudden appearance. Without wasting a second, he unsheathed the Punisher and swung it with deadly precision.
The Punisher's barrels roared, unleashing a hailstorm of bullets that tore through the air. The bandits scattered in panic, desperately seeking cover. With each pull of the trigger, Wolfwood aimed at his targets, sending them sprawling to the ground. The acrid smell of gunpowder filled the air as chaos erupted around them.
Some of the bandits, emboldened by their numbers, lunged at Wolfwood with crude weapons. With swift movements, he dodged their attacks, countering with calculated strikes from the Punisher's hilt. Bones cracked, and bodies crumpled under the force of his blows.
Suddenly the sound of a door being kicked open echoed through the room, instead of the bandits with was the undertaker himself! He was panting with a face with pure irritation and underlying mix of concern. Before Birdy to say anything to the undertaker, Wolfwood didn’t skip a beat to help the angel up and out of the room.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ — — —
Together, they navigated the labyrinthine corridors of the hideout. Behind them, the fallen bandits began to regain their senses, their groans and shouts echoing through the narrow halls. The chase was on, and time was running out. Wolfwood's footsteps grew heavier, his breaths labored, but he refused to yield.
Birdy's legs burned with every step, a sharp pain reminding them of the injury they had sustained earlier. But they couldn't afford to slow down. Their survival depended on finding an escape route.
Gasping for breath, the angel leaned against a wall, their vision blurred. Blood stained their clothes, and every step sent a jolt of pain through their body. But there was no time to rest. The hideout was a labyrinth of corridors and rooms, a twisted maze designed to disorient intruders.
"Take the next left... then two rights... there should be a door... but be careful, there might be guards."
Wolfwood nodded, their eyes focused and alert. They moved with a lethal grace, following Birdy's instructions. Wolfwood gave the angel his arm as support as they stumbled along. The sound of their pursuers grew louder, fueling their desperation. Birdy fought to maintain consciousness.
Finally, the two reached a locked door, the last barrier to freedom. Birdy's hands trembled as they explained the procedure to Wolfwood.
"The code is... 3-2-1-4... Now, turn the handle slowly... and be ready for anything."
Wolfwood's fingers danced across the keypad, entering the code flawlessly. The door clicked open, revealing a moonlit alleyway.
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