#Em Lynas

[pricemarshfield]

ship traits and picrew!

tagged by @a-treides and guys i know i always say these are long and under the cut for that reason but i really couldn't shut the fuck up on this one so. you have been warned <3 i talked about 11 ocs and a couple of them have multiple partners

tav khoury & raphael (baldur's gate 3); so this is kind of a mix of "canon" end where she kills him and "bad end" where they actually get "together" (read: are insane).

height difference (i am So normal about how much taller his cambion form is than her (lie)) / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbtq+ (diveristy win! the worst two people in the world are bisexual) / family disapproves (i feel like their whole thing gives mephistopheles heartburn and that's before we get into the crown of karsus bit) / would die for each other / would kill for each other (and have <3) / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly (exhibitionist weirdos <3) / and they were roommates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing worldviews / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed (they don't talk about it) / relationship doubts / they have a song (they probably each write one bc they're bards and refuse to acknowledge the other's as anything other than copying, regardless of who wrote it first. raphael's is better but tav performs hers better, probably) / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests (do not let me get started on this one i'll explode.) / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala (the things these two have gotten up to in dark corners at fancy galas in my wips. good lird) / forehead touches / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps / sexual tension / can’t be together (if gale being cured of the orb didn't necessitate the crown tav would have been Crazy even in her canon end. her morals aren't That good. but unforch. she befriended gale first.) / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers (but only Barely. he kidnaps her when they first meet, she threatens to kill him, but both of them leave that initial conversation feeling largely positive about each other because they're weird.) / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets (her, not him. he's weirdly honest and that drives miss "never failed a deception check" insane) / love after loss (but worse!) / exes / declaration of love (only in bad end but my God does tav fucking go for it there) / flirting / love triangle (only barely. it's entirely dependent on One thing and there's not like an Ongoing Competition. tav's poly she just can't have both because it requires her to reject or lean into Bonkers worldviews) / destructive romance (it ain't called bad end because tav has a positive impact, i'll say that much) / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values (truly insane the degree to which this happened by accident. by the way) / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters (they're both bards. they get Poetic with it)

tav khoury & astarion (baldur's gate 3); just like above, a mix of "canon" end where they're freaks having their happily-ever-after and "bad end" where he ascends and uhh she doesn't like that to put it mildly. but not on moral reasons she dgaf about the seven thousand souls.

height difference (not as much. but still) / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbtq+ / family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other (and have!) / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly (to the dismay of their party) / and they were roommates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing worldviews / getting a pet (idgaf what the epilogue said. scratch and the owlbear are staying with tav) / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / relationship doubts (only insomuch as is canonical in act 2/early act 3) / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry (something horribly intimate about washing the blood out of your clothes after a battle with a fresh bitemark on your neck...) / same hobbies / cooking for each other (tav can't cook but she lets him bite her every night so it Counts) / big fancy gala (leveraging their reputation as heroes to get invites to things that they act wildly inappropriate at) / forehead touches / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps / sexual tension / can’t be together / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies (only in bad end) / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes (only in bad end) / declaration of love (graveyard scene killed me dead i must say) / flirting / love triangle (raphael psychically attacked me into it but alas. it remains) / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well (bad end) / happily ever after (canon end) / love letters

mari marino & karl bishop (undercover agent)

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbtq+ / family disapproves (don't let the fact that you were hired to spy on their dad and watched him get murdered keep you from finding your true love!) / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were roommates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing worldviews / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / relationship doubts (for at Least a couple years post-game. did you only date me to get better access to my father, are you in this for the money, are you only with me for revenge and there's a con i'm missing, etc etc. but eventually they're like oh dip this is real, nice) / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / forehead touches / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps / sexual tension / can’t be together / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

lyna mahariel & alistair theirin (dragon age: origins)

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbtq+ (idc what the game says that man is bisexual.) / family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were roommates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing worldviews / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / relationship doubts / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / forehead touches / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps / sexual tension / can’t be together / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

neria surana & leliana (dragon age: origins)

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbtq+ / family disapproves / would die for each other (and neria did!) / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were roommates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing worldviews (interestingly enough, leliana in dai is much more in line with neria's worldview in dao than they're aligned when they're both alive. neria's just very much a pragmatist in a way dao leliana Isn't) / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / relationship doubts / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / forehead touches / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps / sexual tension / can’t be together / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets (neria does Not tell leliana a warden has to die, and she Definitely doesn't tell her about the dark ritual she turned down) / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters (and if i say the locked box in dai is full of the letters leliana writes and can never send...)

kallian tabris & zevran arainai (dragon age: origins)

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbtq+ / family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were roommates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing worldviews / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / relationship doubts / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / forehead touches / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps / sexual tension / can’t be together / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

marian hawke & anders (dragon age 2) AND marian hawke & justice (dragon age 2)

anders; height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbtq+ / family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were roommates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing worldviews / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / relationship doubts / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / forehead touches / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps / sexual tension / can’t be together / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets (she is Still annoyed that he didn't tell her about the chantry, because she would still have been down if she knew) / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well (unfortunately. evelyn the incredibly pro-chantry pro-circle mage is Not letting proud kickstarter of the mage rebellion out of the fade given the choice between her and alistair. so) / happily ever after / love letters

justice; height difference (technically. bc he's in anders' body) / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbtq+ / family disapproves (at least a Little bit) / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were roommates / holding hands / secret relationship (hawke's friends will put up with a Lot but she's fairly certain this is pushing the envelope a tad too much, so) / opposing worldviews / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / relationship doubts / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / forehead touches / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps / sexual tension / can’t be together / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers (they Wildly misunderstood each other throughout acts 1 and act 2. it's between act 2 and 3 that they come to an Understanding and then More) / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy (a spirit doesn't covet, But--) / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

garrett hawke & anders (dragon age 2)

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbtq+ / family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were roommates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing worldviews / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / relationship doubts / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other (garrett for anders, mostly) / big fancy gala / forehead touches / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps / sexual tension / can’t be together / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

rose hawke & merrill (dragon age 2)

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbtq+ / family disapproves (merrill's clan is um less than pleased that rose is a) a shem and b) enthusiastically supportive of merrill's blood magic) / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were roommates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing worldviews / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / relationship doubts (on merrill's end, from what i read of her Canonical lack of faith in human/elf relationships) / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies (rose is a deeply curious person who learns about magic as much as a non-mage in kirkwall can) / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / forehead touches / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps / sexual tension / can’t be together / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

rine hawke & isabela (dragon age 2)

height difference (rine is a short king butch <3 she is standing on a chair or something here) / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbtq+ / family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were roommates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing worldviews / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / relationship doubts (i would not describe isabela in act 2 as Very Secure in her relationship with Any hawke) / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests (rine liked pirates Well before the game) / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / forehead touches / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps / sexual tension / can’t be together / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

evelyn trevelyan & josephine montilyet (dragon age: inquisition)

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbtq+ / family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were roommates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing worldviews / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / relationship doubts / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / forehead touches / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps / sexual tension / can’t be together / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle (only Technically. shoutout to josephine's fiance whose name i forget for dropping that pretty damn quick) / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters

mahanon lavellan & cassandra pentaghast (dragon age: inquisition)

height difference / mutual pining / first kiss / wedding / in-jokes / lgbtq+ (she is bisexual To Me and he is bi and not cis) / family disapproves / would die for each other / would kill for each other / fake relationship / arranged wedding / cuddlers / pda friendly / and they were roommates / holding hands / secret relationship / opposing worldviews (similar Values, but VERY different ideas about how to go about that; he's far more radical than she is in terms of mage rights and chantry "reform") / getting a pet / have kids / want kids / grow old together / relationship failures / rests head on shoulder / share a bed / relationship doubts (i think whenever they butt heads about a Major ideological difference they have doubts, honestly) / they have a song / first date / sharing a blanket / mutual interests / study buddies / bathing together / crash into hello / accidental nudity / laundry / same hobbies / cooking for each other / big fancy gala / forehead touches / hair stroking / sitting on each other’s laps / sexual tension / can’t be together / battle couple / Friends to Lovers / Enemies to Lovers / Lovers to Enemies / keeping secrets / love after loss / exes / declaration of love / flirting / love triangle / destructive romance / envy / “I Don’t Want to Ruin Our Friendship” / shared values / slow burn / does not end well / happily ever after / love letters (she's a romantic, and he is happy to indulge)

[sunless-not-sinless]

yeah i love tism

trans

inclusionary

sexy

men

[eldritch-spouse]

Police is at my door, they have banned my from touching a pen due to creating a chaotic dumb duo. I plead guilty without guilt, let em humans deal with them

The Queen wanted to make a picture to keep with their hubby, but he was not cooperating, he wanted to copy every part of their act. He even got their mole tattooed, and almost got the tattoo artist killed.

The King and Queen sent this pic as a christmas frame, the King ate good Envy after that.

Flint's took a well deserved vacation after he saw that the Queen was exactly like the King, the Ring has been even more chaotic ever since.

=======

I love drawing Lyna so much, they are a good babe. And their outgoing evil gremling personality fits the best with Livius.

That wont stop me from making her my go to OC for any fanart my brain farts off.

Hah, that's pretty cute!

I like the way you made his horns do a heart shape on the top. <:7

He'll be purring a storm for the rest of the day, naturally.

[meowww-ffxiv]

For Valentione's Day, G'raha asked Mordred for a favor.

He would make some gifts for the people of the First, he said, and include them with the several letters he had written. Not just to Lyna this time, but to others in the Crystarium as well. Katliss, Chessamile, Bragi, the Zhuun masters, all of them.

"In working with the Students of Baldesion, I found myself nostalgic for the haven we have built together on the First," G'raha said. "I have put this off long enough, I think. Though I still do not know if I will dissuade their worries or burden them with more, I want them to know that I still remember them. And sorely miss them."

Mordred said of course. Of course! 🥺🥺🥺

So this was how he found out G'raha was like, Alisaie-caliber of not good with artistic cooking and stuff. Those sandwiches he made for him did always seem a little lopsided, which was their charm point, and the decidedly imperfect chocolates G'raha made shared in that.

But Mordred filled them up into little treat sacks, added extras per G'raha's recommendation based on who was getting what -- he really did remember each and every one of the Crystarium chiefs' preferences, as well as what gripes they usually had with him.

And Mordred said, "I used to loathe the Crystal Tower."

"Yes, you do dislike all things Allagan," G'raha agreed wryly.

"No, I loathed it in particular because it took you from me. The one friend I made free of the sorrow and bloodshed I sowed as the Defender of Eorzea. You were dear to me already, back then. And then you were gone."

G'raha's hands stilled. Mordred's continued to move, steadily, filling up the gift bags and tying them.

"Yet the sight of that radiant spire piercing the heavens in the First, it fills me with hope," Mordred said. "It fills me with-- with defiance, and more love for you and the city you helped build at its foot than you will ever know. You've done it. The wound inside me that was shaped like that tower is now the dearest visage of strength I have, when I close my eyes."

He tied the bags, each with a different color that G'raha had also picked out. Then the letters were stamped with ink of the same colors as the ribbons, so Mordred could tell which was which.

G'raha, for his part, wiped at his eyes and sniffled.

Mordred nudged the box of tissues over to his friend, then looked over the collection of multicolored gift bags before them with satisfaction. There was even a bright orange one, conspicuously if only slightly bigger than the others, for Feo Ul.

"They're going to throw everything they've got at a White Day gift for you, you know," Mordred remarked.

G'raha laughed. "And of course you will be telling them about White Day."

"Course I will."

"Saint Valentione's Day in the Crystarium," G'raha mused, rubbing his chin. "Yes, I can see Katliss going all-out for such an excuse to spruce up the Mean and even the markets. Glynard would probably grumble about it, however. No doubt he thinks the red and pink aesthetics clash horribly with the Wandering Stairs."

"He liked the Starlight garlands I brought over," Mordred shrugged.

"The ones that you stole?"

"I didn't steal 'em!" Mordred protested indignantly. "They were already taken off the lampposts and everything! They were just going to be recycled anyway by being fed to-- to some herbivores. I rescued them. I recycled them."

"As you say," G'raha agreed mildly, though his eyes sparked with mirth. He grinned. "Then perhaps we should 'recycle' some of the Valentione decorations in Gridania this year as well? Moren will appreciate physical souvenirs, I'm sure of it."

"Deal," Mordred said immediately. "I'll hold off on delivering these till the day after, then, and have it be a huge pallet of gifts. I'm sure Feo Ul can squeeze me through."

[tzyuki]

you're now the ceo of the biggest label in kpop. you're going to debut a new group soon, and need to pick your members fast. put your mutuals in a group together and give them positions and roles :p there are no limits to your creativity, let's create the leaders of kpop!

OH EM GEEEE this is fun okay so (i don’t have much close moots so … this’ll be a small debut group)

﹙★﹚ @iulrma — ash — lead vocalist

ASH LOML !!! would def be lead vocalist. would go viral almost every week for smth she’s said.

﹙★﹚ @hyeki — lyna — leader and main dancer

I JS GET THOSE VIBES IDK WHY like lyna would be one of those kinda chaotic leaders, like a leader you can depend on for when you’re feeling down. would probably become viral for calling almost every idol their s/o.

﹙★﹚ @ox1-lovesick — sav — maknae and vocalist

DEF A MAKNAE I SEE IT AND DEF A VOCALIST probs one of those vocalist that’ll make the whole kpop industry gasp.

﹙★﹚ @luvyrin — rinrin — fotg and lead rapper

i see rinrin as a rapper who can serve on stage and then backstage she’s like babying a kitten, duality would make fans go crazy 🙏.

ty for the ask anon! i had fun!

[urszn]

﹏ ۪ 💌   ׂ  ׅ ꒱ ー HI ESSAY !! How are you doing .. 🙀⁉️ Hope you're doing good plus how was your trip? Was it good and Did you have fun !!

OH EM GEE ITS BILLY POCO LYNA POOKIE hiii im doing well, the trip was cool i went up to the mountains my brother kept kicking me but anyways how are youuuu

also do u want any specific emoji for ur tag?! or i can make it up 😈

[xentesramblings]

pinned post

hello! i'm Xen. i'm an adult and go by they/she. this is a blog for rambles about tes ocs!

links: -about: https://xentesramblings.tumblr.com/about -about the ocs: https://xentesramblings.tumblr.com/all -timelines: https://xentesramblings.tumblr.com/timelines individual character pages (as of yet unfinished but feel free to check em out anyways ig):

ahmigol | araereth | corven | elisar | erraire | harthei | i'shka | kalaved | kasabhi | kasaeen | kep | lyna | ma'darr | miresu | nuravee | raeseethus | reenixus | ri'zhar | slungus | sovosa | synphus | under-darkened-clouds | yamurul | za'rhar | zibam

[winningthesweepstakes]

D is for Dog by Em Lynas,  illustrated by Sara Ogilvie

D is for Dog by Em Lynas,  illustrated by Sara Ogilvie. Nosy Crow, c2023, 2024. 9798887771083 Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 4 Format: Hardcover picture book What did you like about the book?  An alphabet book for dog lovers. Lynas sets a jaunty, rollicking tone as she progresses from A to Z with a clear eye to the pluses and minuses of canine ownership. An intriguing…

[poligrafoserio]

Ilhas que os alarmistas climáticos disseram que em breve “desapareceriam” devido ao aumento do mar, cresceram em tamanho

Uma quantidade de terra equivalente à Ilha de Wight foi acrescentada às costas de 13.000 ilhas em todo o mundo apenas nos últimos 20 anos. Este facto fascinante de um aumento de 369,67 quilómetros quadrados foi recentemente descoberto por um grupo de cientistas chineses que analisaram registos de superfície e de satélite. No geral, a terra foi perdida durante a década de 1990, mas os cientistas descobriram que no período de estudo de três décadas até 2020 houve um aumento líquido de 157,21 km 2 . O estudo observou considerável variação natural tanto na erosão quanto na acreção. É claro que as descobertas abrem buracos no cartaz assustador dirigido pelos alarmistas, sugerindo que a subida do nível do mar causada pela utilização humana de hidrocarbonetos condenará muitas ilhas ao desaparecimento em breve sob a subida do nível do mar. Através de tácticas de intimidação tão frágeis, como vimos em muitos outros casos, são feitas tentativas desesperadas para aterrorizar as populações globais para que aceitem a insanidade da coletivização Net Zero.

Os cientistas disseram que os seus dados sugerem que a subida do nível do mar não tem sido uma causa generalizada de erosão nas costas das ilhas nas regiões estudadas. “Atualmente, é considerado um dos fatores que contribuem para a erosão costeira, mas não o predominante”, explicaram. Escusado será dizer que nada disto irá prender a atenção dos histéricos climáticos, tanto nos principais meios de comunicação social como na política. O Guardian estava em boa forma em Junho passado, afirmando que a subida dos oceanos irá extinguir mais do que a terra. “Isso matará línguas inteiras”, acrescentou, observando o efeito nas ilhas do Pacífico, como Tuvalu. As áreas da Terra que eram mais hospitaleiras para as pessoas e línguas estão agora a tornar-se as “menos hospitaleiras”.

É claro que é uma bobagem emocional e boba do Guardianista, mas felizmente não parece se aplicar a Tuvalu. Um estudo recente descobriu que a massa terrestre das 101 ilhas de Tuvalu cresceu 2,9%. Os cientistas observaram que, apesar da subida do nível do mar, muitas linhas costeiras em Tuvalu e nos atóis vizinhos do Pacífico mantiveram relativa estabilidade, “sem alterações significativas”. Um reexame abrangente dos dados sobre 30 atóis do Pacífico e do Oceano Índico, com 709 ilhas, concluiu que nenhum deles tinha perdido terras. Além disso, acrescentaram os cientistas, existem dados que indicam que 47 ilhas de recife aumentaram de tamanho ou permaneceram estáveis ​​ao longo dos últimos 50 anos, “apesar de terem registado uma taxa de subida do nível do mar que excede a média global”.

As Maldivas são também um cartaz de susto para a subida do nível do mar, com o activista em busca de atenção Mark Lynas – aquele que afirma sem sentido que 99,9% dos cientistas concordam que os humanos causam todas ou a maior parte das alterações climáticas – a organizar uma reunião de gabinete subaquática do governo local em 2009. Acontece que as Maldivas são uma de uma série de áreas que registaram aumentos recentes na massa terrestre. Outras áreas incluem o arquipélago indonésio, ilhas ao longo da costa da península da Indochina e ilhas nos mares Vermelho e Mediterrâneo. Notavelmente, as águas costeiras da Península da Indochina tiveram o ganho mais substancial, com um aumento de 106,28 km 2 ao longo do período de 30 anos. Das 13.000 ilhas examinadas, os investigadores descobriram que apenas cerca de 12% tinham sofrido uma mudança significativa na linha costeira, com números quase iguais a experimentar movimentos em direção à terra (perda) ou em direção ao mar (ganho).

Os cientistas identificam muitas razões pelas quais as ilhas podem crescer em tamanho, apesar dos pequenos aumentos anuais do nível do mar observados em muitas partes do mundo. Observa-se que as costas das ilhas estão em constante mudança devido a factores como marés, ventos, hidrodinâmica próxima da costa e transporte de sedimentos. Nas ilhas habitadas, a acção humana, como a piscicultura e a recuperação de terras, pode ser importante.

É claro que a acção humana pode ter uma série de consequências indesejadas, nomeadamente a extracção de corais e a ruptura de barreiras naturais de água. Estados insulares como as Maldivas não têm demorado a apresentar-se para reivindicar “reparações climáticas” a cidadãos culpados do mundo desenvolvido. Mas o turismo aumentou dramaticamente o rendimento nas Maldivas para níveis de primeiro mundo, numa altura em que os habitantes locais extraíram corais em quantidades industriais para construir portos, aeroportos e empreendimentos turísticos. No processo, a diversidade da vida oceânica foi perdida e as ilhas estão muitas vezes menos protegidas das ondas de tempestade que podem fluir diretamente para a costa. Num ensaio recente , um grupo de cientistas e economistas acusou a mineração de corais de “resultar na degradação maciça de áreas rasas e planas de recifes, com importantes impactos negativos na protecção costeira”.

As descobertas chinesas são importantes para ajudar a destruir a afirmação de que muitas ilhas baixas irão simplesmente desaparecer sob as ondas num futuro próximo devido às alterações climáticas induzidas pelo homem. Eles mostram como as mudanças na costa são um processo persistente e contínuo que está sujeito a muitas influências naturais e humanas. A maioria das ilhas-modelo utilizadas para os sustos climáticos, como Tuvalu e as Maldivas, aumentaram de tamanho ultimamente e dificilmente são adequadas para despertar o medo de uma alegada “emergência” climática. A subida do nível do mar não é uma causa “predominante” das mudanças nas costas, observam os cientistas.

Artigo original:

[diariodumafenix]

Andei distante, aquela sensação de estar distante de tudo... como se tivesse um loop eterno de um vazio, fazer as coisas no automático a um ponto de nem saber mais quem eu sou, de gatilho em gatilho acordei, ao menos espero que sim... preciso e quero me encontrar no meu de toda essa bagunça, me sinto como alguém que foi atropelada por todos os acontecimentos da vida, como se tivesse parado no tempo, de repente vejo todos os meus monstros que deixei escondidos em uma caixa selada com 7 chaves e dentro de um cofre, saírem e brincarem com tudo que tenho escondido, um certo ar de ser indecifrável, mas ao menos tempo louca para que seja vista de verdade... já silenciei os gritos exobitantes que saltaram a minha mente e ecoaram na minha alma, já não suporto mais esconder todas essas dores, todos esses medos e segredos... Quero recomeçar comigo mesmo, mas parece ser impossível, esses fantasmas vivem me assombrando, pesadelo constante, acordada ou dormindo... Acho que ele me estragou e não tenho mais conserto.

-LynaE

[qudachuk]

A celebration of family; a guide to animal languages; Stonehenge spells; classroom crises; and dreams of becoming an alchemistD Is for Dog by Em Lynas, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie, Nosy Crow, £9.99A lovely, lollopy picture-book alphabet of dog preoccupations...

[pegaeae]

consider: zevran making huge meals and feeding a bunch of the homeless kids in antiva city and making sure they know they can count on him and come to him for help

[creamecream]

Stealing your partner’s hero clothes like 😜🤭

[flowers-of-tenebrae]

Finally got all the Regalia paint colours! Definitely not worth it haha.

[cinnabun-faerie]

I apparently watch G'raha cutscenes so much that I've had a dream about one of 'em. 😅

Last week, I had a dream of the cut-scene where we, the player meets Lyna and the Exarch. It was interesting. I wrote this all down the morning after it happened as I excitedly told the three friends that were also in the dream.

Okay, so, everything was pretty much the same except for some obvious differences. For example, I was in it. Not my in game character, by me. Real life me but in game graphics? I was even a miqo'te too. And three of my best friends were there. One was a fellow miqo'te and the other two were Elezen. I'mma call them Andi (miqo'te), Zafirah (tall elezen) and Rhiannon (shorter elezen).

We're just walking along the path, just chatting about how beautiful the place was. Rhiannon asks me where we are cause last she checked, we were all in the Source investigating why the Scions were dropping like flies. Apparently dream-Grey is all knowing and gives the perfect answer as well as a bit of a history lesson. But it ended up confusing them.

And so there was a little conversation going on:

Me: Remember that catboy we met before?

Andi: That one in the tower? You wouldn't stop crying about him

Me: Yep! Well he's here

Zafirah: He's gonna get it when I see him. Making you cry like that!

And yet again, Dream-Grey explains that the cloaked man we're about to meet, the Exarch is actually catboy G'raha. But what gets me is she tells the girls not to mention this outside their group as it could mess with the timeline.

The next thing we hear is Lyna addressing us. asking us to halt and asking from where we hail. In normal fashion, my friends give our own typical answers. And to me, they're funny.

Rhiannon: Earth

Andi: Over there

Me: Our moms

Zafirah: I don't know, I just woke up

And just like the cutscene, she doesn't like our answers. So the four of us huddle together to try to scheme our way around her. But then a big sin eater attacks, but Lyna cuts it down in like a single hit. The three of my friends are kinda freaking out, but Dream-Grey is kinda like "Woah that just happened in front of my face."

And then the exarch comes. And our group is calm but we're still stand relatively close together. Rhiannon looks suspicious of him, Zafirah and Andi are glaring at him, and I'm just heart-eyes about him. Because honestly it wouldn't be me if I wasn't looking at him like he was the cutest man in the whole world.

And next thing that happens is he's moved closer to us, whispering that he'll take us to the Crystarium to discuss everything. And Rhiannon as our leader is just like "Alright cool, lead the way. But if this is a trap, know that we won't hesitate to hurt you".

And the dream just ends right there so abruptly. Kinda a bummer. Is it only me who's having dreams like this?

[lambs-rest]

Echoes of a Fallen Star

Track: Uta Yo - Kaho Nakamura (Spotify | YT)

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

The return to the Crystarium was one of relative silence and introspection. It didn’t last, once they entered the Exedra. Crafters, guards, labourers and healers all gathered in a crowd, each cluster resembling some sort of order as they milled about, eager to meet with the leaders of their professions. G’raha stood at the front of it all, watching, tension in his face. When he spotted them, he forced a smile.

“Dare I ask what’s going on?” Alphinaud said, keeping a wary eye on the people as they met off to the side. Perhaps Elidibus had made a second pass at the Crystarium?

“The vast majority of those gathered here are presently in the employ of the guard, or else one of facets…and no longer wish to be so.”

Granye had to double take at his words. “What? Why?”

She had dabbled in work at the Mean several times, and found it easy to do business with them. The pay was fair and the folks in charge had been friendly enough. And the guard. How could so many of them want to leave? Surely they knew that Lakeland was still in need of protecting, even without the threat of Vauthry and sin eaters?

G’raha looked at her tiredly. “We have the ‘Warrior of Light’ to thank for this. Apparently, he is quite the inspiration.”

Granye wrinkled her nose in disdain and folded her arms. “If they knew half the shite a ‘Warrior of Light’ goes through, none of ‘em would be so eager to leave their jobs.”

“We’ve managed to convince most of them to postpone their resignations until others can be found to take the vacant jobs. In principle, all are free to change vocation at any time – but a city does require a certain number people in these positions if it is expected to function.”

Of course. The fewer hands to made goods, the less there would be to trade. The fewer guards, the more inhospitable the surrounding lands. She had to wonder if it was all part of Elidibus’ grand scheme. Knowing full well how cunning Ascians were in general, she wouldn’t be surprised to find that the case.

But still, why was he so pressed to inspire them, and under the Warrior of Light mantle nonetheless? Elidibus was unlike his comrades, no matter what he told them to think. Maybe that’s why they were having such an impossible time figuring him out…

“It’s you! The Warrior of Darkness!”

She almost jumped at the sudden call that interrupted her thoughts. When she looked to find the speaker, she recognised the Galdjent in his red-cloaked Crystarium tabard, and his Hume friend in blue. Lyna noticed them peel from the Crystarium guards who were planning to resign, and Granye was not oblivious to the muted disappointed in her expression.

The duo approached her, Vonard nodding. “You understand, don’t you? Someone’s going to have to look after this place once you’re gone. We just want to be ready to do our bit when the time comes.”

Theyler nodded in agreement. “And not only here, but everywhere! Which is why we’ve got to get out there and lend a hand to those in need.”

It was hard, to look at their eager, well-meaning faces and feel the words well up inside her.

“I’m sorry, but I dinnae agree with ye.”

There was a moment of silence in their group. G’raha’s ears pricked, startled. Vonard and Theyler stared, shocked, disbelieving of what they heard. Granye’s face scrunched as she struggled to find the right words.

“I’s nae that folk dinnae need the help. But if everyone decides to become adventurers, what’s s’posed to happen to the folks left behind? The Crystarium’s only as safe as it is because o’ the guard. It only managed to rival Eulmore because o’ folk like the traders an’ crafters who suddenly want to leave. Someone like me can help with irregular threats, or the little things here an’ there – that’s how I started, really. But I started at all because I had no-one who counted on me to stay.”

She huffed and shook her head. “If yer set on it, fine. But I just hope yer nae doin’ this because ye want to be heroes. Crystarium folk wouldnae be free an’ safe if it wasnae fer guards like you lot. Guards, if I remember ye sayin’ just the other day on the road, that’re already too thin to run proper patrols. If ye just want to help folks, then take a good look at where yer really needed, an’ go from there.” Granye nodded her head over them, towards the resigning flock. “Ye ken the Crystarium better’n I do. Ye tell me what’ll happen if everyone who wants to leave does, all at once, right now.”

Thelyer glanced back, seeing the faces of men and women he knew and spoke to every day. He knew their roles, where they worked, who they were.

Thoughts of a derelict Crystarium flashed through his mind: gleaming crystal sheets missing from their panes, shattered. Unkempt plants, running wild from the plots at Sweetsieve and the Hortorium. Broken gates of the Rookery, swinging open on rusted hinges…

“…Where I’m from, adventurer’s are so common, there’s even a guild that spans three states for em. Think of an area from the Greatwood to Kholusia! But I’ll tell ye right now, I’ve never found a place as peaceful and safe as the Crystarium, and it isnae heroes or adventurers who make it so.” She leaned to one side, brows pushing together when she saw their dampened spirits.

“I ken i’s nae what ye want to hear, ‘specially from me.” Granye offered. “But believe me when I say the Crystarium’s nae the only place where people suddenly want to leave. I’s easy to look at a place like Sullen or Wright an’ think one good deed can make things better. Sometimes it can. But a town or a city’s nothin’ without good folk to keep it safe and runnin’.”

She reached out and clapped the now brooding Vonard on the shoulder, prompting him to look at her. “Look. Give it a shot. I willnae say it’s a terrible life. But if it dinnae work out, dinnae force yerselves to keep on it. Think about comin’ back, or even settlin’ down somewhere else ye really feel like yer needed there.” Granye looked from Vonard down to Theyler and smiled. “I will say, yer already smarter’n me when I started.”

The Hume shared a look with his friend. “How?”

“Yer headin’ off together. Ye ken how long it took me to find this lot?” she laughed, thumbing at the Scions at her back. “Four years. An’ they found me! Travellin’ alone sucks, an’ it’s dangerous. Keep each other safe, an’ dinnae get upset over little disagreements. Talk through it, an’ fer the love of yer freshly returned night sky, do not go into suspicious ruins. Especially ones that lead into mountains or caves or underground! Ye find all sorts of weird shite in those, an’ rarely anythin’ good!” She held her chin thoughtfully. “What else… Be nice to the locals, and dinnae be afraid to ask fer help if yer lost or hurt. An’ if somethin’ gives ye the heebie jeebies, listen to yerself and steer clear. If I had a gil fer every time I thought ‘Oh, just a quick peek!’ before gettin’ into all sorts of shite, I’d be rich enough to buy the whole bloody marketplace out.”

Alphinaud snorted, earning Granye’s stare. “Ye got any better advice, Alphie?” she challenged.

“Hmm… Find a healer if you can. Having an ally to help your stay on your feet in a fight is invaluable, wouldn’t you say, Granye?” he promptly cheekily.

Granye reached over and wrapped her arm around him in a gentle headlock. “Aye, aye, yer a wonderful healer, ye little menace. I’d be dead five times over if not fer yer shields.”

“Always ask about local legends.” Thancred offered suddenly, ignoring Alphinaud’s flailing. “You’ll find there’s often a grain of truth to them, but you have to use your wits to decide if that truth it in your favour, or against you.”

Alisaie raised a finger. “I might add; don’t slack on your training. You may have put aside the Crystarium guard routine, but the wild beasts beyond Lakeland can come in particularly ferocious forms that such a regimen will hardly have prepared you for. Oh, and if you must crack your coinpurse at Mord Souq, pick the Everburning Bounty, trust me.”

Granye let go of Alphie and shuddered at the memory of Rhon Ron’s stall.

Urianger lowered his arm from his head. “…The fae are tricksome beings. With pixies, think not as though thou art negotiating with an adult, but a child. Treat them kindly, and bring to them gifts shouldst thou require their aid. Colourful glass and shimmering insect wings are much favoured.”

Ryne could only offer a shrug when the two slowly looked at her, bracing for another sudden outpouring of wisdom. “I can only say to know your limits, and rest when you need to.”

Vonard and Theyler looked at each other once again, before the Galdjent spoke. “All of you, thank you. We’ll remember what you’ve told us – every word.” he added, pointedly looking at Granye.

They stood tall and made the Crystarium salute one final time before they turned and left, saying a brief farewell to Lyna as their commander.

G’raha sighed. “I thank you for giving them such a valuable farewell. It pains me to be unable to back their decision in such a situation.”

“Ye have yer own responsibilities, robin.” Granye soothed. “Ye need them here. Hardly makes sense fer ye to wave them off with a big ol’ grin.” She looked out behind them watching the duo head to the stairs leading to the Landing. “…I do hope they have a good go at it, really.”

Thancred nodded at her. “You know, I feel like we learned more about your days before joining the Scions right now than you’ve ever shared with us.”

Granye made a face. “There’s just nae much to tell, really. It was bloody miserable. Find a bar, drink some grog, play a song, pass out in me room, or a stack o’ hay if it was really bad.”

“What brought you to Gridania, then?” Alisaie asked.

“That’s right. I had nearly forgotten we three shared a carriage to the city.” Alphinaud laughed. “It seems so long ago…”

As Alphinaud’s voice faded, another sound rose in their ears. A strange rumbling, crackling noise, high above them in the sky, like a storm, thought I was a perfectly clear blue, sunny day.

Until, suddenly, it wasn’t.

All lifted their heads skyward as darkness rolled over the sky. Churning, silken dark grey clouds swept over the Crystarium in a wave, blotting out the sun, drowning them all in the darkness of a storm. A flash of lightning arced from the nexus of the swirling mass of clouds, snapping over them with a tremendous crash. Granye expected rain to suddenly come pouring down…not a pinprick of golden light to swell and grow and split the clouds open like a vortex. Not for screaming streaks of fiery light to fall from the heavens and rocket over their heads and into the horizon, the light from their passage bouncing and shimmering off the many-faceted front of the Crystal Tower.

She froze, staring up at the sight with wide eyes and an open mouth.

She remembered this.

Had the very same vision not come to her, some four years ago, when she rode in the back of the very carriage Alphinaud mentioned seconds earlier? The sparkling comets that streaked out like fireworks, reaching every corner of the sky, plummeting to earth like-

“…The Final Days…”

Could it really have been…? Did she see that calamitous event, years and years ago, when the world in her mind was still only as big as the Allied States?

The world grew darker still, with only the harsh orange glow from above to light the frightened faces of those below, tainting the blue crystal domes and Tower with a haze of warm light. The people were frightened, frantic, cowering and shaking.

“Hear… Feel… Think…”

Ice gripped her veins suddenly. Those words…that slow, echoing feminine voice. Hydaelyn.

But why? Why, after all this time, here, on the First-!?

“I-I hear a voice!”

“You too? B-But, why does it feel like it’s inside my head?”

Voices in the crowd reached her ears, and Granye whipped her head toward them in horror before she spun to her friends, fear gripping her tight. “Do ye all-?”

Alisaie’s slow nod was all she needed. They were all hearing Her.

“What’s She doin’!?” Granye hissed, looking back up at the sky. Her first instinct was to grab them and run – to stuff them in the deepest pits of the Tower and shield them from Her influence.

“Did I not tell you, my friends!?”

Granye shuddered, turning slowly, eyes settling on the familiar stolen form that confidently strode into the Exedra. Elidibus made his return amidst the end of the world, still wearing Ardbert’s face and speaking those awful, wrong words in his voice. She wondered spitefully, as she glared at him, and a low whine built in her ears, if he had gone to such lengths to steal such an intangible aspect of Ardbert’s being as his voice, just to get under her skin.

The whine built into a pressure, crushing down on her senses until she was forced to shut her eyes and grimace against it. Only when she felt Ryne’s hand on hers, and heard her concerned, quietened voice, did Granye open her eyes.

And the sky….was clear. The comets were gone, and the blackened clouds, vanished.

“What you hear is the voice of Light itself, and it has blessed you with its power! Welcome to the fold!”

Ardbert’s mangled voice spouting those words poisoned her ears, and the murmurs of the bewildered and excited crowd rose higher, as Granye lowered her gaze back from the sky. Elidibus was leaving, his back turned from the crowd, no doubt planning to get himself out of their sight before he teleported away. Again, as before under the boughs of the Greatwood, Granye felt consumed with the urge to stop him.

This time, she allowed it to drive her steps forward, to carry her into a run across the stone floor, skirting the distracted citizens.

“Wait.”

Her first attempt fell on deaf ears, flat and hoarse.

“Wait!”

Though her voice lifted, surely to his ears that time, he continued to the stairs.

“Seven hells, I said wait!”

Her fingers caught the crook of his arm, halting him dead with one foot on the stairs and the other still on the floor. Barely had her touch landed before he reacted, pulling his arm free and twisting it out of her grasp. The move came so violently and abruptly that Granye stepped back, her hand hovering outstretched as Elidibus turned on her, his eyes sharp and cold and furious. She could only hold such a stare for a moment before she lowered her eyes and her hand. Too intense. It was much too intense to pretend she could face such a stare, such a hateful response to so small a touch.

Even if someone had seen and it had imperilled his scheme, he could not have helped himself from behaving so extremely. Her touch was poison, draining the life from even that which was eternal.

“…Why’re ye suddenly doin’ Her dirty work for Her?”

Elidibus narrowed his eyes at her. “Emet-Selch may have entertained your questions, but I shall not.”

The Scions had reached them by then, attempting not to attract attention from the crowd but close enough to listen, and to act if need be.

“But it was yer doin’.” she pressed. “Why…that?”

She managed to look at him, and his ire had quelled enough to recover his impassive attitude – enough to give her an answer, and to search her confused eyes for one of his own. She knew the truth. Suspected it, at least, about the connection of the falling stars and their fragmented souls. All she wanted was confirmation.

“It is the most convenient illusion apt to awaken what little remains of the power that once resided in such sundered souls. A power which you and yours call the Echo.”

Elidibus fancied he could see the gears in her head turning – the revelation dawning over her face like a new morning.

“You think it a rarity, but the name with which you refer to it is more accurate than you can comprehend. An echo indeed; of a symphony. It is a mere fraction of what men, in their completeness, once possessed. Even those among you who tower over others in the gift have only the faintest trace of it. But though sundered and forgotten, through death and mocking rebirth…it has persisted. A whisper of our past, burned into your very aether – along with the sight of our end.”

Something he said had struck her, evidently. The way she leaned back from him, finally, and looked down at the floor, how her eyebrows pinched and her eyes flickered here and there, as if visually piecing something together.

“Through the rekindling of memory, I have awoken the ability – just as Hydaelyn is wont to do when she has need of new minions.”

She slowly lifted her head. He could see the question on her lips…but he would entertain her no more. The darkness enveloped Elidibus, tendrils from the blackness at his back creeping around his discreetly and absorbing his form into the shadows.

-~-~-~-~-~-

Hear… Think… Feel…

White-gold eyes flew open with a start.

Lahabrea stared up at the ceiling of the inn room with gasping breaths, his hands crushing the blanket he’d dozed off atop in their grip.

He closed his eyes firmly, silently chastising himself. He wasn’t even directly confronted with Her at the Glacier, and he was having nightmares about Her! Such weakness…

Lahabrea inhaled, calming his breaths before sitting out and getting off the bed. He’d been thoroughly exhausted after moving Gaia’s luggage into her new room. To be sure, so was she. He would vividly remember the struggle to push the cart up the ramp, and the distant cheers they’d heard once they reached the top.

Why Glynard and some of his patrons had been watching them from the Wandering Stairs, he would never understand.

Gaia had collapsed back on one of the beds in her room, and Lahabrea had tottered off, exhausted, to his, both of them eager to rest.

The room was dark, he realised as he stood up and made his way across to the kitchen side. He really hadn’t meant to sleep all afternoon. Granye wasn’t back, which meant there was probably some new crisis or another in the Greatwood they were dealing with. He blearily stared at the fruit bowl on the counter before picking up an apple and meandering his way back up to the desk.

Maybe it was a straggler sin eater causing a ruckus, or the Children of the Everlasting Dark? He lifted the apple to his mouth, about to take a bite, when a streak of light rocketed past the open window and stopped him dead. His eyes panned over to the left and he lowered the fruit, slowly and cautiously approaching the window.

He knew the sight that greeted him well. The soot-black roiling clouds, the burning light in the sky, spitting comets over the world.

But why would Hydaelyn be prompting such an image now, when the First had only just been saved from the Light? Surely the First was not so swiftly and so dangerously imperilled by the return of night?

Lahabrea’s face crumpled with discomfort. He could feel pressure rapidly building in his ears and hear a whine, rising in pitch until it was all he could hear…and then it all stopped at once, and the scene of the Final Days melted away like snow before his eyes.

The apple fell from his hand, bouncing on the floor and rolling away as Lahabrea sprinted to the door and pulled it open, causing it to rattle on its sturdy hinges. The Master of Suites called out to him as he ran, the door to their room left open carelessly in his wake.

There was only one explanation for the starshower that ended so suddenly. Visions of such images were usually imparted or invited upon individuals – a private moment in the mind. Real, tangible events of comets falling from the heavens did not end so quickly.

Which meant it was an illusion. And there was only one person left with the strength to conjure such a thing on such a magnitude.

He ran towards the Exedra, towards the crowd he could see in the distance. Surely that was a sign! Surely that would lead him to-!

Lahabrea skidded to a stop before he even entered the Exedra proper. He didn’t need to take a step further to see the achingly familiar darkness, swirling around the figure of a man upon the steps leading to the aetheryte plaza.

A man that was gone before he could even open his mouth to shout the Emissary’s name.

He could have howled for the injustice of it all. Of course he was moments too late to call out to Elidibus. Of course she was left there, standing dumbly in the Emissary’s wake, so clearly having spoken to him before his exit.

His hands curled into tight fists, shaking, his chest rising and falling with his breaths, and his anger.

It was with a clenched jaw and a ferrous scowl that he turned and marched back to his room.

They knew Zenos had reclaimed his flesh, and that Elidibus had been unaccounted for. More than that, Granye’s odd behaviour in the morning told him all he needed to know – she was keeping him in the dark. From a logical standpoint, it was to be expected. Emet-Selch had bucked the trend and ingratiated himself in her routine, and Lahabrea had been lucky enough to have arrived to see the Architect introduce himself to the Scions.

How far that had gotten him…

The Manager watched him return, walk past the desk silently and return to his room, quietly shutting the door. When inside, Lahabrea stood there, numb, his eyes falling upon the abandoned red apple that sat on the floor, innocently out of place. His expression twisted.

Emet had said it to him often enough that he’d made no bother to contact Elidibus and tell him he was alive and with their enemy. Lahabrea would be lying if he said he didn’t know why.

Elidibus…was not as he once was. None of them were, really, but with Elidibus the change was on a deeper, fundamental level, and neither Lahabrea nor Emet-Selch had any idea how the Emissary would take Lahabrea’s stunted state of being…

Lahabrea bent over and picked up the apple, rinsing it clean before biting into the flesh, eating the fruit before it bruised from the drop.

He couldn’t afford to think about the fear of what Elidibus might do. Instead, he clung to his own anger at Granye, for what she did do. He thought about how to bring it up with her, what he would say – if he should say anything at all!

By the time he tossed the apple core in the bin, he had decided. He would say nothing, He would pretend he was ignorant of the Emissary’s presence on the First, and when next Granye had to leave him unsupervised, he would leave. If he took the Grani, it would be almost impossible for them to catch up to him in a timely manner. He would find Elidibus and he would…

He would what? Beg not to be penned in some place for his own safety? Beg not to be assigned another supervisor in his even weaker state? He was nothing when put beside another member of the Convocation – even the fragments raised to their seat. He could do nothing to help the cause.

Lahabrea found his hands curled into a fist yet again as he leaned over the sink and stare into the basin. His mind ran in a circle of anger and despair at his own weakness. Around and around and around until-

Until the door opened, and he turned to see her, standing in the doorway as she closed the door, her every move subdued and slow.

Granye’s mind was a mess. From the moment Elidibus’ words clicked, and Urianger’s later expansions on the Echo’s true nature in their private meeting in the Ocular, she was stuck on why?

Why, if the power resided within them all, was she the one to take on so much? Why did she have to be the Source’s only ‘Warrior of Light’? Of course there were those with the Echo – Arenvald and Krile, and even Fordola with her artificial Resonant – who fought and struggled on the front lines.

But how many of them had stained their hands with the blood of ancients? Of mad wyrms and madder still men, who dreamed of gods and power and a wonderful death?

Why had she been the one to throw away a life of blissful ignorance and peace, for one of war and suffering? And unlike Ardbert, she had done it alone, without a group of friends who could stand by her side at every hurdle, through every fight without risk of losing their minds.

There were others in of the Source who were of better character than her – consistently brave, skilled leaders with morals and firm beliefs. So why was she the only one to be forced down such an excruciating road, forced to deal the killing blow, always?

She took off her bow and leaned it on the dresser.

“You cannot hide me from him.”

Granye stilled under Lahabrea’s snarl.

“You cannot keep me separated from my brethren!”

‘I know’, was what she wanted to say. But her lips would not move, and her mouth was dry.

“How long did you think you could obfuscate the fact that he was here?” Lahabrea hissed, coming to stand at the bottom of the steps, to glare and seethe with unexpected anger at her lack of words.

When Granye turned her head to look at him, his next string of outraged words evaporated. Her expression was dead. Exhaustion seeped into every part of her face, except her eyes. She stared at him with as much intensity as he did her. Her eyes were angry and hurt. Had she the strength to voice the questioning accusation that burned most hotly on her tongue, Lahabrea might’ve heard her ask him why he never told her the truth about the Echo, and Hydaelyn’s call.

But Granye knew, that Lahabrea would never answer her. He never answered questions about the truth of their world, especially not when she wanted to know. He would never tell her why he refrained from correcting their assumptions, only scoffed at them for it.

He would never impart their pathetic mortal minds with more knowledge than he deemed they were due.

As she stared him down, he read it in her eyes.

‘How do you like being the ignorant mortal?’

——————————

<- Previous | Next ->