#So she's just gonna give him options here 'cause he's being good so far and deserves some fun with his other half <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[rakiah]

i just want to to let you know that it was your art of vil with kid jack and leona with kid epel for that single parent leovil fic that really pulled me into leovil. i stumbled upon it by chance when scrolling through a vil blog and saw it reblogged and LOST MY DAMN MIND. particularly baby wolf jack. cause why am i now putting together an epic the musical/odyssey/illiad au for leovil?? (your art. your art is why) itll probably never escape my docs but. so far??

helen and penelope. cousins and princesses of sparta--their dads are brothers and co-ruled. penelope's mother was a water nymph (naiad, so freshwater) whereas helen was the daughter of zeus......soooo.....HEAR ME OUT!!!!!!

neige as helen. vil as penelope. now, i was originally gonna go the rkvl route, because that line in the challenge, when penelope tells the suitors she will marry whoever "can string her husbands old bow and shoot through 12 axes cleanly"--smth her husband odysseus was only able to do, well, a rkvl version of that could go SO HARD.

esp cause like, idk i could just give rook a random kingdom, cause yes, leona is a prince, but technically falena would be king. and i thought of making them menelaus (leona) and agamemnon (falena) with VIL as helen, i mean, come ON!!!!!! it would be SO GOOD!! but odysseus and penelope's story was just tugging at my heart, and i couldnt decide. until i realized that actually this is a fic and it doesnt have to be a 1 to 1 substitution, i can play around and do whatever i want.

(and jack as little wolf telemachus is everything. and neige as helen, both "fairest of them alls" and cursed via apple??? i love it)

sooooo. im thinking.

vil and neige are cousins, princes of. pyroxene? or maybe pyroxene would be made up of a few kingdoms....hmmmmm...idk yet. regardless, their parents' co-rule their kingdom. but neige is the actual heir of the throne. this could be because vil is technically illegitimate. eric had no wife, he just really wanted to be a dad. and so vil's mother, for purposes of this, is either a vampire or a water nymph, or some sort of enchantress, idk, but regardless, vil isnt going to inherit. (also read @pinkbeeps sympathy for the villain fic and lost my mind over it so, yeah, crewel is a vil dad, so at some point when vil and neige are 7 and 6 respectively, crewel and eric get together.)

meanwhile, sunset savannah was split by a civil war? or a revolt of some kind. leona and falena stop it, but part of the truce that is made is that falena cannot rule all of it. so the elephant graveyard half, and some surrounding land makes up what becomes leona's kingdom. why? idk.

then, when neige is like, 17, vil 18, and leona 20, its decided that neige should get married, so all the suitors from various kingdoms come. cause, heir to the throne. and fairest of them all. falena, who is now married himself and has cheka, suggests leona go, but leona isnt rlly looking to get married. falena bugs him abt it tho, and leona still isnt for the marriage thing but rationales that princes and infleuntial people from all over will be vying for neige's hand. leona can go, but not for purposes of throwing his hat in the ring, (neige is an heir and leona has a kingdom to take care of--neither of them would leave their respective homes) but rather, to make connections to better help his people.

and then he meets vil. guy is SMITTENNNNNNN from the get go, he's like, whoever was giving out the fairest of them all titles, did they like, not see you???? heLLO??????

vil is warming up to leona, but also, lets be real, vil has an insecurity abt being a backup, second option when it comes to neige. he would have been wary considering leona is here in technicality as a suitor for neige. but it becomes apparent leona was not here for that in acuality. cause leona, in true oddysseus fashion, does not even bring a wedding gift, guy was just here to network and then fell in love.

it goes as the story always does. neige's parents are worried abt the influx of suitors and wondering how to choose without angering one kingdom over the other. and leona is like, hey i got a solution, but if you want it, you gotta put in a good word for me with vil's parents, your brother and BIL, and you gotta convince them that its okay if vil marries. and theyre like DEAL.

leona proposes his solution--the oath made by all suitors to defend neige and whoever he chooses if a rival ever takes neige away. they would march against the offender and destroy their city.

neige's parents are like damn thats brilliant and then talk to eric and crewel. who put forth a test for leona to pass. he does.

they marry, leona's wedding gift to vil, the living olive tree bed he makes himself, and they have jack and epel, idk how, surrogates? adoption? not sure. but then, the apple, neige is taken away, and that oath comes back to bite leona in the ass. he pretends he's crazy to dodge the draft but baby jack gets tossed in front of the plough and leona saves them, and is forced to go to war etc etc. they win, and then it takes him FOREVERRRR to get home, and then--well we know how it goes!

wow. sorry for just. dumping this in your ask box. i was just trying to appreciate your art and i ended up dropping the au inspired by your art in here. oops

Alright, let’s process step by step cause this ask just made me go wild when I read it. /p

[deep breath]

First, thank you very much! 💕 It’s always a delight to know that more people are into leovil because of me 8D I feel like a priest in Age of Empires (big old ref here ha ha)

Second, your Epic/ Odysseus/ Illiad AU.

I was flabbergasted cause, a few days ago I saw a new leovil fic about Epic the Musical (yes, I do have an open tab of Ao3 on my phone with the leovil tag that I refresh almost every night. When I say I have an otp, I have an otp.) and, since the name rings vaguely a bell, I asked my theater kid friend about this Musical. I just wanted to listen to it before reading the fic and then, I understood Epic the Musical.

AND

YOU CAME.

:’D

I take that as a sign.

Thank you for sharing those thoughts, that was great! I wish you the best for your AU and hope you write it and maybe post it! Otherwise, it’s fine! No pressure of course, I’m already glad with your ask! x3

Anyway, here for you. I couldn’t help sketching those. They imposed themself. Literally.

Pretty sure Vil’d start to poison the suitors too.

[transientfrost]

As comforting as his hold on her hand was, it wouldn't stop Rei's eyes from rolling. She loved her twin brother, she truly did - but there was absolutely no denying Ren was fiercely protective of those he loved, herself included. So fiercely that it was sometimes a problem, and while Rei would never say Ren didn't have valid reasons for his fussing and fretting over her, he often took it to a whole separate level, even insisting she just 'didn't know what she was doing' after being told the opposite. Izayoi was right: The moment Ren found out she'd slipped out, they'd both hear about it for weeks on end, her for sneaking out, and him for supposedly 'enabling' her, despite the fact he'd had nothing to do with her choice.

Being out at night was dangerous and she should've stayed either at home or paces around outside the house at worst, but a walk just to clear her mind wasn't that bad of a choice in her opinion! She had her phone in her pocket, it wasn't like she was completely unfindable! Yet rather than say as much, when her lips parted next, it was to let out a long, drawn out, and soft sigh.

"He's gonna fuss anyway, so what's the harm done? Even if I stayed home, he'd fuss. So why not make the best of it now that I've run into you?" She'd be lying if she said she hadn't been thinking of leaving him a message, at the very least - Finding him out and about had eliminated that need, and, with a slight lean forward, Rei beamed a mischievous grin up to her partner. He would be fine on his own, just like she was, buuuut...~

"Whatcha need that for? Bet we could find a bunch of other things to do together instead - Ren's gonna be upset anyway, so let's run down to the park or something! You could tell me more about the stars, or I could sing for you... There's swings, too, remember? We could find something to do together instead of you having to punch some random jerk!" Except... Would he want to hear her sing so late? Hmmm, they were out in public... "We could find a ball or something if you promise to hold back on me this time-"

Izayoi would let her hand curl around his, complete with a small squeeze right back, even if his attention wouldn't turn to Rei herself for very long after that. He believed her when she said she hadn't come out specifically looking for him, but he knew Rei better than that. A part of her was probably hoping she found him just like this.

After all, she knew nights when the moon was at its brightest were often nights Izayoi couldn't get a good night's sleep. Walking the streets to see what else lurked was usually better than tossing and turning in bed anyway.

" Yeah, but when you've gotta pick in between keeping me company and spending the next few days trying to smooth down your brother's ruffled feathers? You know I would've been fine on my own, right? In fact, just lemme find a thug or two to beat some sense into out here and I'll be good to head back myself. "

" 'Cause if he catches you out here alone, even without me around, we're never gonna hear the end of his whining. No matter how much you prove to him you can definitely take care of yourself. "

[rabbitsrants]

What do you think of D.C.'s M26, do you think it was just a fire of pairs for us Shinran?

SPOILERS FOR MOVIE 26

i think, in total there are two significant shinran moments worth talking about

i enjoy certain elements of the first scene:

ran impulsively goes after a member of the black organization and puts herself in danger because he poses a threat to haibara. their fight is AMAZING, i love how ran dominates pinga despite him attacking her with a knife

something similar happens in the manga as well (chapter 434), so the writing for ran absolutely tracks here

chianti sees the fight and interferes by attempting to shoot ran - shinichi barely manages to save her in time

here's the thing: i absolutely hate the writers for often reducing ran to a damsel in distress in these movies, that's an issue i'll further analyze in a bit

with that being said, i don't mind shinichi saving ran in this scene. it's an impactful shinran moment, cause so far the writing is similar to the manga

the only difference between chapter 434 and this movie is the fact that shinichi actually sees what's happening and is able to actively protect ran. i don't have a problem with that, because that's what shinichi and ran do - they protect each other.

what i love even more is how shinichi decidedly urges ran to stay put, i think that's also very in character for him:

he wants ran nowhere near the black organization, for very specific reasons that i'll get into another post

so far, this is a well executed scene, right? it's a very realistic, high-stakes moment that we'd expect from the manga. so far, so good, right? RIGHT?!

no. cause this is where the movie writers fuck up:

W H A T

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! SHE ACTUALLY STAYS?! AND WHEN SHIN TELLS HER TO RUN, SHE RUNS?! WHAT?!

this is is supposed be ran??? no fucking way.

my girl is the definition of reckless and stubborn. she's not just the type of person who'll enter a burning house to save a girl she barely knows (chapter 174), she's also the type of person who refuses to waste a single second when human lives are at stake. no matter how much shinichi begs her to stay away.

chapter 640

and she does this in chapter 822 on the mystery train as well: shinichi yells at the detective boys, sonoko and ran, he tells them not to leave their room, no matter what. and ran repeatedly attempts to go against his instructions because she's worried about haibara, despite receiving a text message that she's okay, btw. ran's intuition tells her that something is wrong with haibara, so she's gonna fucking look for haibara!!!

i need the movie writers to understand that my girl is absolutely unhinged. she cares about other people very deeply, to the point where she's incapable of watching from the sidelines as they potentially get hurt

so how would i have written this moment? what would've been a more realistic version of this scene?

shinichi and ran get into an intense fight: shin desperately urges ran to stay put, she refuses to listen. and then there'd be two possible outcomes:

a) ran continues to go after pinga and dies in the process (remember, ran was fully prepared to die for haibara in chapter 434)

b) shinichi realizes that he can't stop ran and offers her a safer way to help. ran accepts and they work together as a team to get haibara back

why didn't the movie writers go for this approach? my theory: they don't want ran to take a bigger role in these movies, so option b) was a no-go for them. obviously it'd make even less sense for them to kill off ran, but like i already explained, there's no way ran would just give up on haibara in that moment

so why include this moment at all? what's the point of starting such a strong scene if you're not gonna progress the plot?

the point is ran being a damsel in distress.

which brings me to the second shinran moment in this movie:

ran goes after pinga again and he kicks her off the balcony, she's about to fall and get hurt

kuroda ends up saving her and shinichi feels inadequate

..............

AGAIN, THERE'S NO PLOT PROGRESSION, THE ONLY POINT OF THIS SCENE IS TO MAKE HER LOOK WEAK

idk who this woman is but this ain't ran

HERE'S RAN FUCKING MOURI FOR Y'ALL

a woman who's consistently depicted as strong, fierce and very capable of protecting herself:

chapter 43

chapter 169

and that's not to say that shinichi doesn't worry about her sometimes, ofc he does:

chapter 493

but that doesn't take away from the fact that she's a fucking badass who can defend herself

and it's not just that she's capable of protecting herself, she protects shinichi too.

chapter 5

..........

it's like the movie writers read the manga, took note of moments where shinichi comes through for ran but completely forgot that it's mutual, they come through for each other:

chapter 389

chapter 1050

the movie staff doesn't get ran, they seem to have no idea how strong or caring she is and i hate how much it's hurting the fandom's perception of her

in conclusion:

visit the shinran library for more

[veilkeeper]

Here to give you one last big update on my Origins playthru and to say I finished the base game!!! (If that seemed fast it kinda was, I legit have not been able to put the game down in between my work shifts this week it was just that good.) But anyways! As far as the big stuff goes:

I had Emyr kill Loghain in the Landsmeet duel. For as much as I as the player can understand the logic of "recruiting someone strong to the wardens when you need as many hands as possible to help defead this archdemon" and might have gone that way, my warden Emyr was way past the point of forgiving him. If it hadn't been for the Alienage slaver issue, he'd have Maybe considered it. But the Alienage was his home as a child and his parents were still there, so that was the final straw for him. (That and the fact that he and Alistair were finally on really good terms and there's no way he was going to fuck that up in the final hour.)

We put Anora on the throne! I Do like what I've heard of king Alistair route, but I both didn't harden him (had no idea I Could even do that til way later lol) and Emyr wouldn't have ever forced that on Alistair to begin with. Not the kind of thing he'd be up to doing. I do feel bad for killing her dad in front of her after all that but y'know. Shit happens sometimes.

Lost my mind learning about the dark ritual with Morrigan tbh, was not expecting that even tho I should have knowing her lol. Emyr did do it with her, he was never gonna ask anyone else to do so and after all the hard work he'd rather not die if he can avoid it tbh! (I do wish the game gave you an option to yknow discuss it with your romance partner if they aren't Morrigan but alas that's what personal canon is for.) I didn't bring her along for the final fight tho after all that (prioritized the combat group I knew wouldnt die the entire way for me lol) and she was Not happy with Emyr. I'm so sorry girl I promise we'll make it up to you later.

Not related to choices, but I Did get a hilarious bug in the endgame of getting Alistair's romance bark whenever I switched to him in combat and it had me fuckin laughing cause I was like "did something happen while I wasn't watching that you want to tell me??"

Overall, Origins is going right besides FFXIV for one of the best games I've ever played, and I do not ever give that rating lightly considering how much XIV also means to me. Definitely one I'll be replaying in the future and will never stop thinking about ~

killing loghain with your own (proverbial) bare hands is a TIME HONOURED TRADITION!! i am personally a loghain fan but yeah *looks at the alienage* he did do that, it's true.

hardening in origins works really different. with leliana its pretty obvious when and how you do it, but for alistair it's a LOT subtler so i don't blame you for not being able to do it your first try. ftr, you CAN put an unhardened alistair on the throne (i do it with ren for character reasons), he's just a lot more reluctant and certain options aren't available.

ah the dark ritual. a cause for much controversy and one of my personal favourite plot points. the whole "man i wish we could talk about this with our LI" thing is something i've explored in fic/hc before because it is such a MAJOR oversight, but you know. the limitations of games.

alistair's big stupid crush on his bff continues to be real in my brain always, and now the game bugs are agreeing with me. amen.

i'm so glad you liked it!! origins is one of those games, in my experience, where you either fall right off it immediately or it alters your brain chemistry so thoroughly that you won't ever be the same. now onto awakenings, the ACTUAL best part of origins.

[kyistell]

I'm gonna force my texas headcanons on you yayy

My favorite personality is texas being transfem i actually forgot this one for a good bit but yeah i remembered it recently, i like to think the reason she doesn't figure out her dysphoria sooner is because partly she doesn't have that strong dysphoria and just thinks it's general insecurity that everyone has

I also imagine texas just not talking as a kid, i feel they just took a while to get it figured out i also imagine he had a weird voice for some reason

He has perception lens but doesn't use them because he doesn't like the look of them, another optional thing to my theory is that he might need them to drive but still doesn't and when someone finds his license says he needs his glasses they're just like "oh my god you could've killed me!"

He falls asleep right after work, for like 3-4 hours because of his sleep patterns (totally not me and school)

He crochets, i just gave him my one of my hobbies

Oooooo I love all of these :D

Transfem Texas is not something I would have thought of and yet it fits so well. Justa dumbass not realizing anything until someone gives a dare to wear a dress and of course Texas would never back down from a dare, so once the dress is on it’s like “…oh shit”

I mean Texases whole thing is guns soo…it would make sense if he was the quite kid, made fun of for his voice being weird and snapped…seems accurate

Blind as fuck Texas is hilarious, no one understands how this man has come so far without his glasses. The best shot in the StateHouse who actually uses guns consistently, best aim just in general for most things, I mean they don’t even ever see him stumble into stuff. Then they are on the road and get pulled over, Texas has someone grab his license for him and BAMB card says like “Yo ass so blind you couldn’t find a nuclear reactor if it wss right in front of ya” and everyone in the car is automatically terrified :D

Texas needs more hobbies than just ✨~Gun~✨ so him crocheting I can get behind. Same with the napping after work, cause let’s be honest here, there is no way that man is on a sleep schedule that is healthy enough to even PRETEND to be a sleep schedule XD

[elrondapologist]

RoP Episode 7 spoilers

Messy thoughts about what the-, and musing on theories

SO THAT WAS THE KISS. I need to admit I was disgusted more than a little looking at it xD. But Galadriel's face in the end kind of made up for that. But fr, Elrond. You had no other idea to give her lockpick unaware than to _kiss_ your future mother in law??? (Who is also apparently married, just with no husband in sight???) Can't deny it worked, but...

And... Did Arondir just... died? Like that? I was so hyped after the last scene that I kind of brushed aside in my mind and now I am like hum??? Did he? He can't just be forgotten like that, I love him :C. But many good scenes this episode. I highly enjoyed the siege, as it was both kind of nice to look at - you know, as far as killing everything in sight can be nice to look at - but also had this weight to it, the danger. I liked that we can see Elrond get more and more tired as the fight progresses. I expected problems with dwarves, and yeah, I got it... Although I am not sure how it happened that as Narvi said one dwarf, even with an axe and being a king, decimated an army?????? What? But like honestly generally what is happening there with the dwarves and Disa xD I sincerely hope no one touches her tho or I am going to riot! I liked the progression of Celebrimbor's plot. I was afraid that realising Sauron's deception will be end of his agency, that they will make him passive, but I love that he has his last stand. I soooooooooo winced at the whole finger situation cause what the actual-. I was at the same time like yes (fight him!) and no (aua). I also loved and despaired at the scene with Galadriel - it was the best possible option, Celebrimbor was giving all he had, and he was going into torture and anguish knowingly, willingly and head held high despite the fear. I didn't even know I needed Celebrimbor like that until I saw him. And the thing with Mirdania? I think her death, for that is kinda undeniable I am afraid, proved without a doubt she was not Celebrian - which is kind of a pity, I must admit. There was something there that could develop nicely, as well as it is the case with Adar = Maglor, which I also think is highly unlikely now, as Elrond did not acknowledge the possible connection in any way. But if I am mistaken, please let me now! Also, I applaud Elrond for not giving the ring for Galadriel's life. Despite the whole weird kissing scene xDDD. I liked to see him take his commander role seriously and as an orc said - holding his own better than expected (or sth according the lines xD). It is a win for nerds, I think. Lord Elrond "according to the lore" Peredhel. Leading a siege. Feel old yet? Anyway, the dwarves will come (when Durin finally usurps the throne, I am afraid) and Celebrimbor and Elrond will be totally fine because I am delusional :).

P.S Also, Gil Galad in an armour. In an armour. P.P.S There this whole slow motion scene in one place that has in a foreground just an elf running away from an orc. Slay, bro. I laughed, tho, not gonna lie. P.P.P.S The last stand of Gil Galad and Elrond's army was suprisingly... Not to use the word... There were really like ten elves left? From the whole army? I know they said orcs unnumbered them, but that took me by surprise. P.P.P.P.S I was happy that Gil Galad's armour was not very visibly that much different from the rest of the elves - you know, like some shows have this whole ass target point basically by giving the commanders extremely weird and visible armours. Shoot here. I like Gil Galad here, even if Elrond kind of outshined him xD.

[keep-the-wolves-close]

Steady Heart

Chapter 11: Meet Me in the Morning

* Pairing: Slow-burn Kayce Dutton x OFC Stella Daniels

* Rating: M? (Still figuring out the rating system) (might eventually be M anyhow)

* Warnings: language, death, shooting a bear

* Word count: 3,305ish

I would love to give credits to @dameronscopilot and @deanscroissant for being sounding boards for me during this whole process, giving outsider insight, being cheerleaders, and allowing me to screech at them about things that have happened during the writing process. I seriously couldn't have gotten this far without y'all

Author's note: I hope everyone is enjoying so far! I hope you love this chapter as well!

Stella sat quietly with Tate, waiting for him to be able to see his mom. The doctors were explaining things to the family about Monica’s prognosis and the outlook of her motor function. Tate would go in and visit afterward.

Motion at the corner of the hallway grabbed her attention. John came around the bend only to be stopped short at the sight of his grandson and ranch hand sitting there. His heart stopped and he struggled to catch his breath. “Tate? Stella? What are you doing here?”

“I’m babysitting until they’re ready for Tate here to visit his mom.”

Tate objected. “Hey I’m not a baby!”

Stella and John shared a laugh. “Okay, I’m sitting with Tate until they’re ready for him.” She leaned toward the boy, “was that better?”

Tate nodded. “Yes. I like that a lot more.”

John smirked as he watched the scene play out in front of him.

Stella gave her attention to her boss. “What’re you doing here, sir?”

“Just a check up for that previous subject you heard about.”

She raised a suspicious eyebrow. A feeling familiar to her from 15 years prior clenched in her stomach. It made her feel like she was 11 years old sitting in the hospital waiting for Ryan to show up. “Everything good?”

“Yeah. I was given an A plus on my record. I’m gonna go in and see what’s going on.”

She gave her boss a nonchalant salute and relaxed back in her chair. Tate started to fidget next to her. “What’s going on, bud?”

“I wanna see my mom.”

“We’ll be able to go in soon, okay? Gotta wait for the go ahead.” Her phone buzzed in her pocket.

Where the fuck are you

A heavy sigh escaped her lips at the angry text from Rip. The hand with her phone dropped into her lap. She placed her glasses on top of her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was tired of looking at things in focus.

“Aunt Stella? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, buddy. Just annoyed.”

“What happened?”

“Ah, just someone being a jerk. That’s all.”

“You want me to take care of ‘em?”

Stella laughed. “No it’s okay. I can handle even the worst of bullies. Thank you though.”

The door opened next to them. Kayce poked his head out and called for his son to come into the room. He glanced back out at Stella, still leaning on the door, and could see the tension rolling through her. Her glasses on top of her head gave it away. “Hey Stell, you good?”

She stood and took a few steps over to Kayce. She held out her phone with the text from Rip ready to display. “I was supposed to be there early this morning. It’s all hands on deck to find that bear.”

Kayce’s face dropped. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve been fine with Tate here.”

“Kayce you know me. I have a penchant for helping people. And I’m currently aggravated at the other option. So fuck him.”

He straightened himself and stepped out into the hallway. “Listen, I’ve caused enough hell for you the last few days. You go. I’m gonna send Tate home with my dad anyhow. It’ll make things easier to take care of Monica the first couple days.”

“What’s the outlook by the way?”

“Not exactly great, but not life threatening anymore. Just gonna be a long road from here.”

“You guys got this, I believe in you.” She looked into the room and locked eyes with Monica. “I’m gonna go say hi to her and then I’ll head out to my doom.”

Stella let a soft smile fall into place when she walked across the threshold. “Hey you.” Monica gave a side smile back.

“Thank you for helping Kayce with Tate. And for making sure he brushed his teeth.”

Stella looked at Tate jokingly. “You ratted me out!”

“Oh I’ve heard all about it in the last five minutes.” Monica chuckled weakly.

Both of the grandfathers in the room watched the women silently joke and felt a sense of peace. Kayce smiled softly from the door.

“Well, I just wanted to tell you that I’m sure you’re gonna get better in no time, and that whatever help you guys need, don’t hesitate to ask me. I’m here for whatever y’all need.”

“Thank you, Stella. Really.”

“Of course miss ma’am. You get better now, ya hear?” Monica nodded in response. Stella turned to face the men. “Now I’ve got an appointment with a foreman and a bear. Both angry, but in different ways.”

She chuckled at their faces and made her way out. She almost got to the corner of the hallway before she heard Kayce shout be careful. Smiling over her shoulder Stella shouted back, “Never cowboy!”

Her shoulders tensed while she put her car in park. Looking through her windshield, she witnessed Rip stomp a trail to her. ‘Get ready for the bitching now.’ Her eyes rolled and she got out of the car with a huff leaving everything in there.

“Where the fuck have you been?! I told you early this morning! It’s almost noon!”

“Rip,” she let out a harsh huff, "I had something important that needed to be taken care of.”

“Oh really? And what was so important that you had to fall back on your word? I told you all hands on deck.”

“You know, I really don’t have to tell you. Just because you’re my boss, doesn’t mean my personal life is your business.”

“When it interferes with your performance, it is my business.”

“Oh go tell it on the mountain somewhere else.” Stella rolled her eyes and walked to the barn to get Abigail.

Rip watched her stalk away to the barn. His blood pressure rose to the stratosphere. This girl was giving him a hell of a time and was being too stubborn to learn. Lloyd chuckled from his left.

“She’s sure giving you one hell of a run for your money, ain’t she?”

“She’s being hardheaded and refuses to acknowledge the problem. She won’t listen, Lloyd.”

Lloyd’s bushy eyebrows pulled together in a frown. “What brought all this on?”

Rip looked around to make sure no one was within earshot. “I’m getting tired of burying Kayce’s secrets, and I don’t want her to end up being one of the secrets I have to put in the ground.”

Lloyd’s face hardened. “You and I both know that boy would sacrifice himself if it meant she came out safe. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her.”

“Can we be so sure? He’s a changed man now, and isn’t just the wild eyed boy we remember him as.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t let any harm come to her. If anything, there would be more to bury from him stopping them.”

Rip remained silent and still, thinking. He knew that Stella and Kayce had become a package deal at this point, but he just wanted what was best for her. He didn’t want Kayce to be the reason her back broke from carrying the weight of troubles he brought on.

“I can see the wheels spinning. You know you can’t be aggressive with trying to get her to understand. She bucks back twice as hard.” Rip knew that. Everyone knew that. “Maybe your temper that she’s not listening is getting the better of you?” Lloyd suggested. “I think you two are more similar than either of you would like to admit.”

He nodded at Lloyd and looked at the ground. Stella had spent plenty of time around him in her very impressionable teenage years. It would make sense that she had picked up some of his mannerisms. “Which makes sense for why she’s responding the way she is.”

“Why's that?”

“Because I would do the same thing.” Rip admitted.

Lloyd smirked under his mustache. Rip would learn one of these days. He was getting closer. Lloyd hoped that the foreman and the woman of the gang could iron out the wrinkles soon.

When Stella crossed the threshold Abigail was standing in the cross ties. Ryan moved around the mare fixing her saddle the way Stella always had it set. Stella cleared her throat.

Her brother whipped his head to where she was standing with her arms crossed. He admitted quickly, “we fucked up this morning.”

“So did I. He’s double pissed then.” She rolled her eyes and took a few strides forward grabbing Abigail’s reins and unhooked her from the cross ties. Stella felt Ryan’s presence come up behind her. She looked over her shoulder at him and asked, “so what did y’all do?”

“We all forgot a rifle, Jimmy’s horse spooked and he almost got eaten, Walker and I had to rope the bear and run it off.”

Her eyes widened. “Jesus Christ. Well he’s making me go with him now. So wish me luck.” Rip bellowed her name from outside the barn. “I’m gonna need it.” Ryan squeezed her shoulder. She gracefully stepped into her saddle. As she ascended she felt her brother’s hand immediately grab her foot like when she was younger to help her hike it over. She smiled fondly at the muscle memory. Stella gently nudged her hips forward causing Abigail to walk out the door.

Stella ducked her head when they went through the door. It was a large barn door, it was plenty high enough. She could never break the habit from the smaller door at one of the first ranches she and Ryan had been at. That ranch had been a much smaller operation than the Dutton legacy.

Rip waited on Stella up on his gelding. Oddly patient. Something had changed in his demeanor and it gave Stella whiplash. He asked, “ready to go?”

Her face scrunched and she pulled her head back, suspicious. “Uh, yeah. You got the rifle?”

“You heard, huh?”

“Yeah. Glad it didn’t turn out worse. I’ve got a rope and my knife. You want me to get my pistol from my car?”

“Nah I’ve got the rifle. It’s all we’ll need.”

“Let’s go then.” She nudged Abigail into motion.

“Be careful Stella!” She heard Ryan yell at her.

She smirked over her shoulder for the second time that day. “Never Ry!”

Both Rip and Stella had been silent for 30 minutes. It would take a good chunk of time to get out to the far pasture Walker had run it off in. Rip rode ahead of her, but never far enough to be out of hearing distance. Stella knew he hoped to run into the bear first to keep her away from it.

“So,” she called out and Rip slowed his gelding to a walk for her to catch up. “We’re caught up in another bear problem. Seems to be a theme here.”

“Yeah, one we gotta break after today.” His answer was short. He had to remember that he was still upset with her.

Stella bit her bottom lip and took the leap. “I’m sorry.” She could feel his gaze on her. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. “I just don’t understand why you’re so angry about a friendship that’s been over half my life at this point.”

“It’s not the friendship I’m worried about, Stella. It’s your safety. Kayce has been different since he came back from the service. Unhinged almost.”

“But here’s the thing Rip… he’s always been a little unhinged. Monica and myself are the ones that help ground him.”

“But it’s not your responsibility to ground him.”

Stella broke and chanced to look at him. Her shoulders dropped. “I know it’s not, but I’m not gonna sit by and watch someone I care about destroy themselves.” They were coming up on a cliff. She gave Abigail direction to stop. “You know me. I’m a helper. And I’d follow him to hell and back.”

“Sometimes to a fault, Stella-belle. And I wish he would stop going there with you following.”

The trees became silent. It was like every noise around them stopped. It weighed heavily on Stella’s shoulders and made the air thick and hard to breathe. Her forehead crinkled in uncertainty. Looking to Rip for silent direction, eyes wide with concern. Typically when the forest went silent, it was time to leave. That’s what everyone in the bunkhouse had taught her growing up. It meant your invitation had been revoked and something weird or dangerous was about to happen.

Rip hopped down off his gelding and quickly tied him to a tree. Pulling out the rifle, he walked forward. His head tracked back and forth on a swivel, keeping an eye out in almost every direction. Stella wasn’t about to get off of her mode of fast transportation. Abigail was solid through nearly everything, but Stella didn’t want to take the chance of losing her way out if the bear came around and decided to get funky. Stella slowly walked Abigail behind Rip. Alarmed at every noise that broke the eerie dead air.

A cracking branch caught their attention. They looked to the left and the bear they were looking for ran through some skinny trees growling. It knew they were there and it was letting them know it wasn’t happy about it. Rip pulled up the rifle to aim at the rogue bear. Stella made Abigail stand. It felt like the mare was dancing on her tiptoes. The bear ran farther to the right and let out another warning growl as it trotted along.

Abigail and Stella tracked the bear, but both whipped their heads in the direction of the cliff. Rip started to charge after the bear. “Wait! Shh!” Rip stopped short at her warning. There were noises coming from over the side. Stella and Rip locked eyes, worry took over them both. In motion that looked like a choreographed dance Stella swung down off of her horse, sure to keep the reins tight in her grasp.

They rushed up the hill and around the corner to the cliff side searching for where the commotion of mumbling voices was coming from. Stella let Abigail stand ground tied and they came to the cliff's edge and saw a couple hanging onto the side of the cliff face for dear life.

“You’ve gotta be fuckin’ kidding me.” Rip let out an exasperated sigh. “Stella, get your rope!” He ordered.

She took off to Abigail. In the background she could hear Rip shouting directions to the couple and asking questions to keep them distracted. She took the loose end of her lasso and tied it to Abigail’s saddle horn tight.

“Stella, tie it and bring the other end over here!”

“Already on it!” She ran back over to Rip and carefully leaned over the edge of the cliff face. Abigail followed, close enough so the rope would reach the couple, but a good distance away from the edge.

“Okay okay! Look at me! Calmly wrap this around you one at a time!” She started to lower the rope. When it reached them, they started to scramble to get it wrapped around both of them.

“No no one at a time!” Rip hollered. The woman slipped and grabbed onto her partner’s legs. She was struggling to hold on.

Stella could hear Abigail struggling in the background to hold the weight of both people.

Rip yelled again. “That’s too heavy! We can’t pull both of you up at the same time! Explain to him we can’t fuckin’ lift both of you!”

The couple screamed and flailed around. Within seconds they witnessed the woman lose her grip and fall to her death. Stella screamed. “No!” The man looked up at her and Rip. He sobbed, destroyed at losing his loved one. Stella flung the rope toward him. “Please put this under your arms.” She pleaded with him, motioning what she wanted him to do.

“Hey! Grab this with both hands!” Rip yelled. The man continued to sob and looked below him to the forest floor. Rip called out again. “Listen to me! Grab it with both hands!”

The man took one last look at the pair and let go. Stella’s stomach dropped. She and Rip fell back against the ground. Her mouth opened in shock and disbelief. There was a jerk from the back of her jacket and she flew back from the cliff face and landed against the tree next to her.

“I don’t need you to fall either, Jesus!” Rip exclaimed.

“Fuck what do we do?” Stella asked breathlessly.

A frighteningly close bellow came from behind them. Abigail whinnied and squealed before she bolted. To their dismay, the bear had found them with all the noise. The bear stomped a few times and then charged. Stella scrambled backward past the tree and the rifle. She passed it off to Rip’s searching hand. He wasn’t taking his eyes off that bear. Rip grabbed the rifle with lightning speed, took a knee and let a shot ring out; hitting the bear square in the forehead. Their huffing and puffing loud the alarming hush that fell over the forest.

“What do we do?” Stella asked in a high pitch. Her heart pounded in her chest so hard she thought it would fly out.

They found their horses banded together not too far from where they had left Rip’s bay. They got on and galloped back to the ranch. They came through the main gate from the opening to the pastures and ground to a halt by the round pen. Rip dismounted and looked up at Stella as he handed her his reins.

“You stay here. I gotta make a couple calls. Don’t say anything to anyone.” He pulled out his phone and called Jamie first. He didn’t pick up, but Rip left him a voicemail. He proceeded to make his way to the barn leaving Stella there in silent fear.

Once he was in the barn he called John, who also didn’t pick up. Another voicemail would have to suffice. “Sorry to bother you again sir, but we need the sheriff out here asap. So when you get this, give me a call will you?” He hung up and went to the bunkhouse.

It sounded lively inside. Walker could be heard strumming and singing, and the other men of the house talked animatedly to each other. When he crossed into the house, he saw Tate sitting at the table and Beth in a chair at the end.

She turned and looked over her shoulder pleased to see him. “Looks like you brought the music festival to me!”

He stared at her, conflicted. Ryan noticed his sister wasn’t with him and he stood from the back of the room.

Ryan took in the distraught look on Rip’s usually emotionless face. His stomach sank. “Where’s Stella? Is she okay?”

“Everything is fine Ryan. Your sister included. Go back to what y’all were doing. I need to borrow her for a little bit longer.” Rip directed and immediately turned on his heel to leave.

Stella jumped at every noise the ranch made, thinking that someone was coming up on her. She wasn’t sure how the events of today were going to unfold, and she really wasn’t enjoying being stuck in this position to find out.

Rip came from around a different corner and it startled her. Her hand flew to her chest. “My god, I can’t stop jumping.”

“Everything will be okay Stella, but I need you to stay with me and stay calm. We’re gonna get this figured out.” He reached out for his reins. “C’mon. Let’s get these horses put up and come with me to the lodge. You’ll be staying here tonight.”

She slipped down off of Abigail and followed in his shadow to the barn.

[bxtonpxss]

SHIPPING INFO. answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog.

what’s your OTP for your muse(s)?

Neya & Thor are the only two applicable options here when it comes to things outside platonic/familial relationships. Opacho is 5 and Jack is also just a baby, but she's like best frienemies with Faolan. I know when you hear OTP its usually referring to romance but I'm super big on platonic relationships being OTPs!

That being said Neya x chemistry, she's not overly complex but Neya is a kind-hearted and deeply supportive type of character who despite often being in situations where she's in way over her head, is willing to persevere and overcome whatever obstacle that may be, especially when it involves people she cares about! If our characters build a relationship through our writing then I will never say no to it! This also applies to Thor! They have a good relationship built through us writing together and/or chatting about stuff via messages I'll never say no.

what are you willing to RP when it comes to shipping?

Pretty much anything, except you know the obvious and universal no no's.

how large does the age gap have to be to make it uncomfortable?

Hoo boy ok. So, Neya, for her era (and the author even states this in the manga) at 16 she's considered an adult. On that alone I'd do 2 years younger and 4 years older cause I'm just trying to think of how it'd be from her time period. Now, this ONLY applies specifically for [main verse || itsuwaribito] when she's in her canon universe or some other feudal-era settings. I understand she's still 16 and other people don't vibe with that, I don't force anything on people (at least not intentionally, if you ever feel like I write something that makes you uncomfortable please tell me!) and romance is never my first or main priority, I like crushes/gradual friends to dating/lovers etc when writing anyway. This also obvi needs to be discussed first cause duh. Also, I'm fine with like 'x character looks 16/17 but is actually 100+ years old' (I’m an Inuyasha girly uwu, so we love a good demon/immortal s/o pairing).

For the verse where she's stuck in the future, [verse || under a rock] she is by modern-day laws legally underage. I'd go for 2 at most maybe 3 years older, 1 year younger. For the sub-main verse set at the end of the series with her running her village [verse || nanushi] she's canonically an adult there so I can deal with 10 years older or whatever and when it comes to the monsters/demons/immortal characters, so long as both parties are consenting adults it's cool!

Thor's a talking rodent. He's adult age and would be considered a young adult by human standards I suppose. So as long as the other creature is adult-aged it wouldn't matter to him. I can't put too much thought into this one, trying to make the math make sense is gonna hurt my brain, but obviously NO child-age creatures.

are you selective when shipping?

Can't really say, like excluding Coschu x Surgechu, which happened gradually through jubilantsparks and I's constant gushing about our chus via DMs I've never really shipped seriously with anyone else before so I can't really give an honest opinion about it *kanye shrug*

how far do steamy moments have to go before they’re considered NSFW?

When they start undressing and getting real handsy, but none of that will ever be happening here so no need to worry!

Who are other muses you ship your muse with?

For Thor, specifically in his Lt. Surge Raichu verse (affectionately shortened to Surgechu) I shipped him with jubilantsparks' Fem!Pikachu OC Elysia who had a Cosplay Pikachu verse (affectionately shortened to Coschu). Coschu x Surgechu was fun and I miss them :') Also, Thor and Elysia in general were my favorite platonic OTP that could have easily become romantic cause they loved and cared for each other so much as best friends who could have just as easily become something more if they wanted to </3

NeRiya with Jade's Iriya . We've had many discussions about this enemies-to-friends/maybe more slow burn/redemption arc for Iriya. I cherish it deeply and Iriya deserved better than what he got in canon ; n ;

does one have to ask to ship with you?

Hmm, not really? I have a very chill and go-with-the-flow type of mindset when it comes to building relationships and shipping in general. The more our characters interact, get to know each other and the closer they become the better! If there's ever a certain aspect of their relationship you wanna discuss with me privately or plot, then just shoot me a message!

Also, I never assume anything so if you're invested off the rip in wanting to pursue the ship beyond them being friends then once again just message me. I'm here to have fun and write with folks, so go for it I will most likely never say no lmao. Crushes on Neya or Thor are also 100% ok, even if it's one-sided I have no problems with it, you don't even gotta ask me for that.

how often do you like to ship?

I've only had two (2) actual ships during my entire time here on this site. I have a bad case of anxiety brain when it actually comes to shipping and I never wanna assume or push anyone into doing anything so it's rare I ever approach. I'll just sit and vibe and settle with my time in the friendzone while making up scenarios in my head like the dork I am.

are you multiship?

Ok, after getting some answers on what multishipping is from an RP standpoint, I want to say yes I am. I'd have no issues with having multiple ship partners. Every character interaction is like in their own separate universes so like I can't understand limiting myself as a single ship. This is subject to change but like I said, I barely have any shipping experience.

are you ship obsessed or ship more-or-less?

More-or-less! As stated above I don't really ask or approach first for ships soooo if it happens it happens. I'm down for shipping off of chemistry through a gradually built relationship!

what is your favorite ship in your current fandom?

ooh chile I'm in a bunch of fandoms lol so I'll just go with the fandoms for my muses specifically. For Pkmn it'll always be ShinHika/Paul x Dawn/ Ikarishipping. Pokeani can pry that dynamic from my cold dead hands.

I like all the potential pairings within Utsuho's group, but that'd be too much to list. Gin x Kin, Neya x Uzume, Neya x Hikae, Hikae x Iwashi.

For SK I was a sucker for Hao x Tamao back in the day. It still could've been cute if Takei didn't turn Tamao into Anna 2.0. I find her whole personality shift weird.

finally, how does one ship with you?

Just write with me! I don't care how many asks or threads we end up having. I cannot reiterate how much I adore relationship building in writing. We write enough threads together and our characters grow to like each other or something I'm 100% down to clown! Also, If you don't suffer from perpetual cold feet like me, just shoot me an IM and let's talk about it! Easy peasy, promise I don't bite!

Nabbed from: @gamenu initially, but I've been seeing other moots do it too! Tagging: @sillymuses, @lostusagis, @museguided, @despairforme, + anyone who sees this!

[nehswritesstuffs]

So, um, it's time for Nehs to go off again on One Piece bc my gears are turning thanks to Lore Piece being solid as per usual. Spoilers for chapter 1097 are under the cut, as well as talk of some of the basis of Crocomom, a fanon theory I do not ascribe to but don't necessarily dismiss, so if you do dismiss it then don't read I guess.

Okay, um... so I've been kind of thinking that Bonney isn't really twenty-four years old for a while and something more like a middle schooler (10-14), but this chapter to me sort of soft-confirmed it, as well as set things up for this other crazy-ass fucking thing I didn't think was even possible.

'Cause the end of the chapter puts things fourteen years ago, right? No mention so far of a kid despite Ginny's enthusiasm to get into Kuma's pants. Oda would have mentioned a kid, especially if it was already ten years old. Kuma is too cute to have been a dad and NOT gotten a moment with his baby. (LORD ALMIGHTY why is Kuma so adorable in this edition of Lore Piece I just wanna smush his cheeks and tell him he's doing a fantastic job at caring for his flock and being a rebel.) This means that Bonney is one of a few things:

Kuma and Ginny's daughter they had after rescuing her, giving her a different family name to distance her from the Buccaneer race, ala Ace going by Portgas

Ginny's rescued relative we don't know exists yet

Kuma's adoptive daughter that he takes in bc she looks hauntingly like Ginny

Ginny's daughter from things happening while she was kidnapped

Ginny's clone in the Clone Trooper sense, taken and prematurely aged

Ginny's clone in the Boba Fett sense, taken w/o being aged

No matter how you shake it, unless Bonney is some until-now-unknown child waiting to be rescued, all of these options point to her actually being somewhere around tween/young teen in actuality but presenting like an adult in order to get taken seriously. The anti-eyebrow piercing would even play into that, being a potential way for a kid to prove they're so big and tough and able to run with the big kids take me with you Shanks I'm no anchor. So, we're getting to her true origins soon, also where Vegapunk comes into play, whether he is a cause or a secret-keeper or whatever.

Now, remember how I said something about Crocomom? As it turns out, I feel like if we get any confirmation for the trans!Crocodile fan theory, it's gonna be within the next two or three chapters. Why? I think Croc is potentially connected to whomever captured Ginny. Iva, being their fabulous self, is not above using their power to disorient opponents. While this could mean that Crocodile is a cis man but got temporarily femme'd and turned back after humiliation, it also leaves open the possibility for Iva putting Croc through permanent HRT for either punishment purposes (so unwitting ftm not changing you back candy you've been bad now go learn a lesson) or for negotiation purposes (already afab ftm but give us our Ginny back and I can make you grow a dick and lose your tit fat). While I don't think that Crocodile was necessarily designed to be transgender from the beginning, I also feel like Oda has to know about the Crocomom/trans!Croc fanon and he is specifically the kind of author who just shrugs and goes with shit fans make up. That's how he got almost all, if not every single, birthday for the cast, so why not this twist? Like, I wasn't sold on it the first time I encountered this theory, but like I said: I never discounted it because we never know what's going on in Oda's brain. He really gave us a good potential set up here, so it'd be weird if he didn't use it.

(I still think that Crocomom specifically is a long shot since Luffy's five at this point, so unless Dragon is going to potentially wage war on his ex/babymama and neither of them mention Luffy, it leaves even more parts of the puzzle that don't quite fit (and Croc wouldn't already be ftm bc that's a lost chance at a new character design, which we all know Oda is shit at resisting). There's a lot of them that already don't fit to me, but that's neither here nor there. I'm just concerned that even if we do have ftm!Crocodile thanks to Iva's Devil Fruit, that a lack of Crocomom would mean that One Piece has its own version of the Blaise Zabini Debacle in the works (apologies for bringing HP into it but it's true) and we as a fandom are better than that.)

OR I COULD BE WRONG ABOUT ALL OF THIS AND GINNY WAS CAPTURED BY MARINES, GIVING HER TO VEGAPUNK FOR EXPERIMENTS, WHICH WOULD LEAD INTO OTHER STUFF but yeah

None of this theorizing I think could have been possible, like, ten/fifteen years ago, because part of me feels like Oda has been putting his foot down a lot based on what it is we've been getting. Some stuff could have, yeah, been sort of meddled with by the editors/SJ at this point, but it feels like he's been able to get away with a lot more than he did before. Being such an important asset can do that.

...but yeah, if none of this happens (or is at least more firmly kickstarted) by chapter 1100, chances are that we're not getting it.

[calamitaswrath]

Cal Lucia plays Fire Emblem Path of Radiance: Chapter 11

Oh, that chapter title definitely isn't ominous

Ranulf picking a diguise that definitely won't draw attention to him. But I guess if you got cat ears and a tail, your options are kinda limited

A peaceful port town in Crimea. Considering the opening view of this chapter, it most likely won't stay that way for long

Soren's judgment of this town. . . woof. Def something that resonates

Oho, we're getting another hint of something deeper going on with Soren!

Several months at sea?! That sounds a suspicious lot like multiple boat maps. Unless we're making landfall somewhere along the way, that is. . . the map thus far has left the south-western lands suspiciously empty thus far.

Well then, let's check the base conversations:

The first one with the generic guy does make a good point: to the average citizen, it really doesn't make that much of a difference who's on the throne. The king's gonna do his kinging either way, and they don't really notice a difference. 'Course, this being a FE villain, there's probably gonna be something that's gonna make Ashnard still by far the worse choice, but for now, it is a valid argument. The racism on the other hand, not so much.

. . .You know, the design for that guy in that three star conversation really made it seem like we just ran into a bandit. But it's really just somebody gifting Ike a sword, huh?

Elincia's getting to take a look at the city. Neat little character building moment, but it really is just a little one.

Kieran continues to be one of the Most Guys Ever

Aww, Brom's a sweet guy

Hmm, Nephenee's isn't really getting into her characterization all that much yet. . . well, I hope that gets rectified later

It was that I realized that you can just save scum bonus exp level-ups, because now I'm doing that, hah. I had about 1500 bexp left, after all

Ike telling Elinica that all he really needs are his sword and his cape, and that he can sleep everywhere with his cape. There has to be fanart of that.

That's reason enough for Elincia to flirt with him? I mean, it's understandable enough, but I think he's really not receptive to this.

Ah, Daein's here. Figures they'd show up sooner or later.

God. . . how long has it been since I've seen a Fire Emblem game actually involve the general populace like that? Like, sure, in-universe it sucks cause of the racism, but it makes for some good storytelling. Develops Ike and Ranulf's chemistry, gives an actual view of the conflict that doesn't just concern itself with the nobles and war leaders. . . it's good!

And now I understand why the militia leader in that base conversation looked like a generic bandit. He's an enemy in this map. But, I already know that I get bonus exp here for sparing the militia, so that's what I'll do

Now we're really in the part where I need to pick and chose who to deploy. . . I ended up "shelving" Rhys, Ilyana, Volke and Mordecai. Shame about Rhys, since he's one of the original mercenaries, but I really want to level Mist.

A guy named Zihark on the map, hm. How to best recruit him. . . okay, looked it up. Gotta have Lethe talk with him, since Mordecai's not getting deployed. With how beast forms work, that should actually be doable.

Ohh, Nasir! That's the guy from the first pirate map!

Ah. The Black Knight's here. I already heard about him just chilling in a house during a map. . . thankfully, the game was kind enough to give me a rough idea of where he is.

The militia's not actually moving unless I get into their range, hm? That's convenient. Still leaves the issue of getting to Zihark, but it's a start.

Urrrrrgh, I just barely missed out on visiting on of the houses 'cause one of the thieves got there first. It apparently however only had Elwind, so I'm not resetting for that.

Oh shit, the boss moves.

Oh shit, the boss is an archer.

Oh shit, I left Marcia in his range.

Oh good, she survived the attack.

Oh shit, there was a sword knight left in her range.

. . .Starting again!

Okay, on my second go around on this map, I managed to send Titania to the middle house before the thief got there. Elwind's not that important, but at lesat I got it.

Jill! I was wondering of these wyvern riders just off-screen, but I guess their boss being lazy explains that. Jill's a character I heard about though. I think she has or forms a connection with Mist?

Well, that boss was pretty graceful about being killed.

. . .And there's the Black Knight. Who just so happened with in the space where I had put Lethe. Guess what I'm doing?

Rngh. Can't kill the boss, or the Black Knight will spawn. Can't recruit Zihark, or one of the milita guys will get aggro'd. Though.

. . .Some mistakes were made. Lethe has Zihark rescued, bot now she's completely boxed in by militia units. Ike is too far away from the exit point to end the map without some shenanigans. Now let's see if I can pull those off. . .

Nope, I can't. Starting again. Again.

Okay, it took a ton of maneouvering, but I managed to get Zihark out of enemy range without killing any of the milita, made sure the Black Knight spawns without anybody in his range, got the boss literally cornered. . . let's bring this home.

AND IKE GOT A LEVEL-UP IN EVERY STAT???

Finally made, it urgh. . . that was tougher than it seemed at first.

Uhh, Ranulf is taking on the Black Knight, complete with an in-engine battle? How's he getting out of that one?

Sephiran! Did not expect to see him again this soon. I already lightly spoiled myself and heared that he's someone important, but I still don't know in what capacity. But also let's be honest, it was pretty clear that he'd be someone important

That red-haired guy, Norris, is spewing some big talk for a guy that has all the look of a generic chapter boss. But, paying onto traitors as traitors deserve is a neat thing to include

Ah hey, Giffca is actually doing something! Gonna be honest, based on his luck, my first impression is that he might be an antagonist, but I'm still not sure

Huh? What are he and Ranulf talking about a watchdog?

Ah! First glance of Ashnard! And he's talking about a medallion. And here I thought that Mist's medallion isn't important.

We got a mole in our ranks. Is that Volke, or. . .?

I think the most surprising reveal about Sephiran being prime minister of Begnion is that that political position exists in Tellius at all.

And now we're on the boat. Boat map time.

[anticomedygarden]

Trick, or treat?!

hi, lovely anon!

i may have mentioned before that i like to write isolated scenes of characters losing it when i'm going through shit to let off steam, so here is a piece of one of those that no one will ever see in full, modified into a one shot

-

Throughout his Gran's speech, Henry's hands became more and more sweaty, eventually getting to the point where he had to concentrate to keep them from slipping out of each other's grasp. It wasn't just the nerves; London had been on the receiving end of a massive heat wave - global warming, of course - and temperatures had breached 35 degrees Celsius for the first time that summer. It was no doubt deliberate - calling people together at unusual and uncomfortable places and all that - but if Mary thought discomfort would make him more pliable, she was sorely mistaken.

And that's what Henry was afraid of.

Because when his grandmother beckoned him up to the podium to give his speech, the speech so heavy in imperialistic and colonial ideals it would have made Philip uncomfortable, Henry found he couldn't do it. He made his way to the podium alright, but looking out into the faces he was supposedly responsible for, many of which were decked out in so many colored stripes and 'History, huh?' shirts one would think it was still June, he physically could not force himself to open his mouth and give this speech.

Thank you, Your Majesty. It is with great honor that I stand here today in front of such a wonderful people with the soul of our nation's history behind me.

Five years ago, he would have spoken the words laid out for him mechanically, filled with disgust for himself, because he thought that was his only option. Five years ago, he was so far in the closet, he didn't know which way was out.

Five years ago, he thought Alex hated him.

Things change, and he didn't have to take the Crown any longer.

He opened his mouth.

-

The moment Henry stepped on stage, Alex knew something was wrong.

It was 4:30 in the morning in New York, and Alex was watching the BBC broadcast of the royal speeches at the Tower of London. He couldn't give two shits about what the queen had to say, but he wanted to see Henry, and Henry looked like hell.

Just two nights before, Alex had traced and kissed and licked muscles over and over again until they fell flat, relaxed and strung out. Now, those muscles were rock hard, visibly straining against his suit, and only getting tenser the longer the queen spoke.

TV Henry stepped up to the podium and glanced down at the paper in front of him, then looked back up to give a speech Alex would never forget.

"Good morning, London," he began. For a second, he glanced down at the podium, and for a second, Alex thought everything was fine, that Henry was just gonna read off the script. Then he shook his head. "The speech prepared for me today is lovely, really. Kudos to whoever wrote it." Off to the side, Mary's eyes took on a hard expression. She didn't look mad, exactly; she would never let the public see her emote, but seen clearly wasn't happy. "But that's not my problem with it. You see, this speech weaves a beautiful tapestry of my family's history. A history that, when looked at with any kind of humane lens, is riddled with horrors, not least of which is actual genocide."

Alex's mouth dropped open. "Holy shit," he muttered, clutching the chain around his neck through his ratty pajama shirt. "Oh my god, he's gonna get assassinated."

Poor bleary David looked up at Alex then, but the brown haired man couldn't tear his eyes off the TV, not even when his phone started ringing.

Henry continued. "It's not like you even have to look very far to find it, not when this country is still actively involved in world affairs it has no business being involved in, or when I by myself am worth €25 million, and we have over 270,000 homeless people in the UK." He laughed, sending a shock through Alex's body, causing him to jump.

"Holy fuck, that's my boyfriend," he said into the empty living room. Then, louder, "That's my boyfriend." He was so fucking proud. (Worried, exponentially so, but also so proud.)

When Henry looked back at the crowd, his eyes were a bit manic. With a heavy hand, he slapped the podium and thrust an arm back, gesturing behind him at the Tower. "Look at that! I am literally standing in front of years of brutal colonialism, funded by jewels that aren't even ours! And it's right there! All in there."

Mary was still standing there, except now she was looking at a spot beyond the camera's sight line. Alex hoped to god it wasn't security. It was probably security.

It was okay, though, because Henry's arms were back down at his sides, although he was breathing heavily. "I apologize."

Alex breathed out a sigh, unsure if it relieved or disappointed.

"That's not quite true. Much of what we stole is in museums."

"Oh my god." For the first time in their relationship, Henry was the one fucking up a public appearance, and Alex was absolutely terrified for him.

On their call the night before, he'd mentioned something about the queen being worse than normal and making life generally miserable at the palace, but never in a million years did Alex anticipate Henry doing this.

"For now, I've got nothing left to say, which is probably a good thing since many of you are eyeing me quite distastefully, including my own security." He turned and got halfway off the podium before turning back around, holding up a fist, and saying, "Stay proud, London!" Then he left, disappearing out of the TV screen.

Alex didn't stay to see what happened next, instead scrambling for his phone. His thumb hesitated when he got to his contacts. Should he call Zahra, who could get him on a plane in the next half hour? Or Henry, who needed him?

He called Henry, obviousky. "Holy shit, sweetheart-"

"Alex, oh my god," Henry interrupted. "I'm coming home."

"Really?" Alex said, pausing on the stairs. Henry was still supposed to have two weeks left in London. "I was gonna come to you."

"No, I'm coming home," he said firmly. "Shaan said I can be on a flight within the hour. I'm not staying any longer than I have to."

"Okay. Cool. Hey, just out of curiosity, and feel free not to answer, but does this mean you've decided about abdicating?"

Henry laughed humorlessly. "I don't think I have a choice anymore."

"You always have a choice, sweetheart." Though Alex had to admit, it did not feel like it right now.

"Yeah." Alex heard a ragged breath on the other end of the line. "Alright. I think it's a yes. Right now. But we'll have to talk about it."

"Okay." Alex took a deep breath. "Okay. I love you."

"I love you, too. I'll see you in a few hours."

"See you, too."

He hung up and sat down heavily on the stairs, elbows on his knees and staring dumbly at the floor.

Holy shit.

[richardsphere]

Leverage Redemption Log: The Jackal Job

Name unlikely to refer to an actual jackal, an animal that is one of the most common aliases for fictional phantom-thief types (probably slightly after "cat" and before "fox" but i dont have any hard data) --- Episode starts, nice old lady is wondering why a man, presumably her son, or one of those court-apointed guardians is stealing her stuff. Fuck its going to be about Elderly Abuse.

As of right now, its not entirely clear as to wether he is an asshole who is exploiting a dementing relative, legitimately trying to take care of her but struggling financially because fuck the economy is just never gonna recover from the multiple financial collapses we've suffered or outright gasslighting her into believing she is suffering dementia. 2/3 options would make him evil and this is leverage so im not holding out hope for him being misunderstood. so like, probably evil with maybe a 2.5% chance of a "he's trying his best and just really shit at showing it". But yeah, this is leverage. He's a baddie, question is just if he's exploiting his mom, or feigning a relation so he can go to the judge and say "she's so far gone, she doesnt recognise her son (who i definitlly am)" --- Episode starts: Breanna is forced to do community service cause she was caught stealing something. (this is our "juror number 6" plot for Breanna.) Take your time, slow down, pay attention to details. Well nice to see Sophie give the crux of this episode away in her first 3 lines of the episode. and she just picked Breanna's pocket. She's an old thief. (wonder if she and Archie ever hung out...) Sophie spots the ring, then the Astonomers by Vermeer and realises instantly that she knows this woman. (also, does the son know that is the genuine Vermeer he's gonna sell, or does he think its one of those gift-store Mona Lisa's? Cause if he doesn't, he's in for the worst deal of a century) --- Alzheimer's... Well guess im going to be feeling a lot less witty writing this log then most. Thats not something i'd like to joke about too much. Ok, Hinkley is not his son, he's a professional guardian. --- just a side-note that we'd better end this episode with at least an alusion to Breanna having hacked whatever servers are tracking her community service, cause she's kind of about to build up a truancy on that stuff. Like i know that "caring for an elderly or disabled person" is the type of stuff that could be court appointed community service, but this was not the task she was court appointed

Sophie is pulling the "im your replacement" card. Jackal picks up quickly. --- Ok the team is all here now, You're being stupid. She's here because she fell in love with the mark, (who is probably but not guaranteed to be her power of attorney). Her last con was a failure or at least not a known success. Looking for the one thing that she stole that was never returned isnt gonna solve anything because she isnt known to have stolen it. --- Ok the little Edie con is working? Basically a violin-sale but Parker is the Violin. Breanna has experience with elderly Alzheimers patients (grandma) We're doing Leverage Crew-ified Flashbacks again... (this is gonna hurt on an emotional level)

Oh i can see where the twist is gonna happen: Josephine was the mark (bars real owner=safe's real owner=safe combination knower)... And Jo, former bar-owner, fled the country alongside her to escape her gangster ex and started a coffee shop in this town. Oops, Breanna just all-but confirmed the first half of my suspicions (which this early in the episode, means im wrong) --- Harry has a little conductors hat amongst his stuff... Oh look at that, he just said the judge gets first pick of his stolen goods... the judge has the gun (and a heck of a scandal it'd be if a judge was found in posession of stolen goods... and a stolen gun belonging to a founding father at that...) Lovely work on the tiny mirror-box (that she definitly hadnt arranged to be there in advance), Elbow bruises. (chances she didnt "donate" the gun cause it was used in the murder of a london gangster named Earl increasing rapidly) --- The painting, find the painting. "prefect never lasts forever"

they had a daughter.

and all was fine until the papertrail caught up to them. (the daughter... She might be our way out) --- get the judge (noted antiques lover) to overhear that the Turlington Pistol was amongst her posessions, divide and conquer. the money was in the car. (i was a bit suspicious when Jo said "its got a couple hundred worth of tips" when they were running away. But i justified it as her being too good a citisen to steal from Earl) --- Tip for showrunners: If you want to start a comercial block on a cliffhanger, dont have it be an attempted murder of our still-alive narrator. It sort of undermines the tense suspension.

so she shot earl (unsuprising.) Back in the modern day we're headed for a warehouse and Jackal is lifts the gun so we can frame Sophie for stealing the gun so they can steal a fake back from Sophie.

Ok not so much a fake (they didnt have time to prep one) as just placing a made in china sticker on the real and genuine article. (amazingly simple act of brilliance)

Parker's reputation is worth its weight in gold. (a personal favour from someone who started this season by stealing 8 Rembrandts in a single night in multiple museums across the entire United States, is worth a lot compared to a contract with a small-time purveyor of stolen goods. Whodathunk?)

Oh they did pull an entire switch with the gun. (honestly, after the little Made In China sticker reveal, the fact they pulled a genuine switch with a store-bought replica instead of a simple sticker-sleight-of-hand is suddenly quite disapointing, especially as we know the fence was on their side anyways.)

Im going to be honest and say that the Jo acress doesnt have the most convincing elderly wig. (also they kept the plushie) ---

[iguessitsjustme]

Be My Favorite - Episode 9 Thoughts

Am I watching this on Friday this week? On the day it airs? On time? Who am I? 

-Every week, I’m grateful for the previously on because I’ve blocked it from my memory and need to be reminded. 

-I still like the opening song. This hasn’t changed. No one is surprised. I say this each week. Krist actually has a nice voice.

-Unrelated to the show, but I’m gonna kill the bar next to my apartment. What the fuck is this beat? Need to pause until they move on to the next song that doesn’t distract me from the show. 

-Glad Kawi is quitting drinking. He doesn’t seem to be able to do it in moderation so quitting and sobriety is probably the best option for him. But that poses an interesting question in how the time travel affects him. In the future, he was an alcoholic and couldn’t stop. But in the present, he can easily quit. How does that work?

-Pear, my precious angel child. I love you. 

-I hate Pear’s mother. It took 3 seconds of Pisaeng’s explanation. A child isn’t something that you can just abandon cause you didn’t feel like it anymore. That’s not how that fucking works. You tell her Pear!

-I actually disagree with Pisaeng here. It’s ultimately Kawi’s decision whether or not he performs with the band and Pisaeng can’t make that choice for him. And then making Kawi choose between him or the band is like making Kawi choose between his future and his love life. I know Pisaeng wasn’t serious about it but it still rubbed me the wrong way. 

-What the fuck is this peer pressure to drink? It’s 2023 and people should know better. 

-Poor Pisaeng. He’s gonna get alcohol poisoning. 

-Hold up. Why the FUCK am I not eating my cake right now while I watch this? What’s wrong with me?

-I hate Pear’s dad too. Neither parent cares about the well-being of their child. He forced his forgiveness into his child and didn’t let her properly heal. Pear, darling, I love you so much. 

-Drunk Pisaeng is adorable. 

-So Kawi has charged his phone for a ride but hasn’t called Pear back even though she called multiple times. I would have at least checked in. One call, I’d text. Two calls, I’d call. Is she okay?

-This is an interesting change. This time Pisaeng got drunk and kissed Kawi. Don’t think I didn’t notice that little flip flop there. 

-Oh wait. He was denied. Lol. 

-Oh lord not Not seeing it. The absolute worst person on the planet. He should go fuck himself. Why the fuck is he calling Pear to report on Pisaeng and Kawi. Does he think outing them is gonna get him anything? It better fucking not. The only thing he should be getting is a swift kick in the ass.

-“You might not be able to resist your desire” what is this? A MAME show?

-Is this communication? Honest to god communication? In a Jittirain show?

-These assholes should mind the business that pays them. How the fuck is this their business in any way. I will NEVER forgive anyone for outing people. Ever. Especially Not who is outing his “friends” so he can have a chance with Pear. That’s completely fucked up.

-Pear deserves better than this show. Kawi sacrificed her happy future for his. Although how happy could she have been if she was marrying and extremely closeted Pisaeng. 

-Kwan, girl, Not? I mean we been knew you loved him. But seriously? He sucks. If he ends up with Pear, I’ll riot.

-Not, I hope Pear bitchslaps you. That’s all I want from Not.

-Kawi, tell me, how is breaking up with Pisaeng going to make anything better? Seriously. No really and truly. The issue isn’t that you’re with him. It’s that you didn’t talk to Pear first. Just give her some time. The rest of the issues? Not. All Not. Launch him into the sun and y’all will be good to go. 

-Pisaeng, you’re so right. Hold hands and go through it together. 

-Pear is a good person and I love her.

-That’s right! Reject him! Make him cry! I hope he cries.

-I probably enjoyed this episode more than any of the others so far! Now I just need this show to get rid of Not and I’ll be happy. 

[maintitle]

4, 13, and 18 for the dragon age ask game?

Thank you so much for indulging my need to talk Dragon Age! But oh I'm definitely gonna put number 4 under a read more because I don't know how to answer it without it getting long-winded and story-like. I'll cover that one last.

13. What's one of the things you've seen confirmed so far that you're a fan of?

Oh, a lot actually! The only gripes I have with the game at the moment are some gameplay details, and if I'm being fully honest I care very little for gameplay if the story is good, I'm a bad gamer like that I guess.

I guess the number one thing was the reveal in the Q&A that the Inquisition dialogue wheel is coming back. I prefer a silent protagonist, but considering it would be unreasonable to expect that, I think the Inquisition wheel is the closest to it we can get. I know folks like the DA2 wheel, and while the sarcasm option was fun, I always feel a bit pigeonholed with the good/nuetral or sarcastic/bad wheel, it limits my options to me. I think the Inquisition wheel adding so many tone and emotional responses really allowed me to make a more complete character that's mine, and really that's what I'm looking for. Roleplay, good characters, good writing and a scope where decisions impact the world. So I'm sold!

18. Which aspect of fandom are you most looking forward to? (e.g. reading/writing fic, the bounty of gorgeous art, getting to know new people, etc.)

Honestly I'm just excited to not see it dead. This has been a very quiet fan base for a really long time, and while that's sometimes nice (there's a lot of folks flooding into the space that are really toxic atm), having excitement and new perspectives available is always both healthy and engaging for a setting.

4. What does your worldstate look like going into DAV?

Origins: A dalish male rogue Grey Warden named Vehra Mahariel, tired and blighted and so very young, becomes a pragmatic man who is willing to be morally grey to fund and run the cause, but will not move morally on the big issues. He managed to save the Dalish and cure the Werewolves, he saved the mages at the Circle Tower, and he put Harrowmont on the throne because at the end of the day he was both the most trustworthy to stick to his word and most willing to aid the effort. Conner was saved by the Circle thanks to waiting for Redcliffe until the last move and the Urn was found and he was cured.

The decision was ultimately made to marry Alistair to Anora, and put them on the throne. Peace had to be brokered, and this was the best chance the nation had. Alistair was not hardened however, and Anora was there to make up for his softer side. Vehra was in love with Morrigan, and had no qualms about the decision to have a baby with her, and was ultimately only hurt that he couldn't go with her.

During his time as the Commander Of The Grey, he was ultimately successful in re-establishing the Wardens, and ruled with a careful pragmatism that did not abandon the people. He was, however, shady when threatened, and thus proved he could not rule. He saved Amaranthine and his keep with no issues, but ultimately did not kill the Architect because of the implications of Darkspawn possibly being made sentient. After leaving Amaranthine over disputes with the Wardens, he managed to track down Morrigan and follow her to raise their child until such a time as he had to find a cure for the Calling. Vehra was ultimately a child robbed of his innocence, a sickly man who was forced to give up his world for a group that ultimately denied him despite every tough decision and difficult choice that was hefted upon him. In the end, he found his family, but ultimately always looks to the horizon for what was lost, and what little of his future he can save.

You can read his journeys here.

DA2: Champion Lyla Hawke was a female mage who was largely sarcastic, but that sarcasm largely hid how raw and idealistic she was, a coping mechanism largely causes by years of her family not really taking to her trying to protect them, her brother's aggressiveness and her sister's death. When she arrived in Kirkwall she did a lot of smuggling to save her family from the debts they accrued getting in. She protected mages wherever she could even in her early years her early years, and ultimately used the money she got from the Deep Roads expedition to gain back her family crest and protect herself from the Templars. It was the least the expedition could do after it nearly killed her brother and took him away from his Mother. He survived because of this guy Anders, who was a bit weird when she turned her down but like whatever his goals seemed cool.

Suddenly thrust into a deeply complicated political chess game between the city of Kirkwall, it's Qunari guests and some terrible woman at the Chantry. She worked her ass off to keep the peace, but ultimately was doomed from the start. After the loss of her Mother the city went to hell, and ultimately had to choose between the Qunari leaving peacefully and losing a friend, and she chose the friend. It was a whole situation.

Still stuck in the throes of politics, she found herself the only person protecting the mages from the Templars and Meredith, who now essentially ruled the city. Since she got Feynriel out of the city she'd been trying to save who she could, but it was ultimately a doomed effort. She would've been open to extreme action in order to allow mage freedom, but that guy Anders who was her friend decided that community action and union was NOT a fundamental cornerstone of rebellion, and blew up the chantry, essentially dooming many mages from being saved in the opening of a vast Right Of Annulment. She was angry enough that he trusted nobody and acted on his own, but when Sebastien threatened to start an exalted march on Kirkwall if Anders didn't die, the choice was made. Her friend had to die. The mages were saved, or as saved as they could be.

She went into hiding with Merrill, her lover. They were madly in love with each other, but love wasn't always enough. A mirror stood between the two, and always would. Hawke tried to make it work, and to Merrill's credit, she did too, but ultimately the past would beckon her back. Corypheas, a spectre of her past whom she thought was dead, threatened the world. She ultimately had to choose between continuing the fight against him and saving both the Wardens and the one person who could truly stop him, and thus chose to sacrifice herself. Her story is tragedy, someone who wanted to help but ultimately always was thwarted.

You can read her stories here.

Inquisition: Inquisitor Hissera Adaar was a female Tal-Vashoth Warrior who stumbled into the role of the Herald Of Andraste role through the nearly a decade of Mercenary Work she did. An exhausted optimist, she was incredibly empathetic, but also a seasoned enough tactician to be able to make tough decisions. While she was never comfortable with being called the Herald and was very open about denying it, the spread of the Inquisition and her skill at both politics and commanding armies did little to downplay the legend. Avoiding the hangman's noose nearly entirely also added to the image of divine mercy, much to her chagrine.

Adaar's first priority was ending the mage/templar war, and that started with the liberation of the mages in southern Thedas. It was the Inquisitor that gave them the first true taste of freedom. The experience, however, was a harrowing one, as she was forced to face a future she had to prevent. Politics became more complicated, but with the careful aid of Josephine's guiding hand, she brokered a peace between the lovers Briala and Empress Celene. It was the best option for all the citizens of Orlais, she though... and ultimately she was a hopeless romantic. Knowing the importance of the Wardens, she empowered Stroud to lead the Orlesian Wardens. During the attack of Corypheaus forces, she was respectul of the temple but ultimately trusted in Morrigan's judgement to drink from the well, despite the consequences.

After the defeat of Corypheaus, the Inquisitor empowered a newly softened Leliana to bring a kinder, if more firm, future to the Chantry as the Divine. Resources were put forth to follow the tracks of Solas, leading ultimately to a meeting between the two where she swore to change his mind. When the world called for the Inquisition to put down their swords, she fulfilled a promise from long ago and did so, leaving just a small group of allies to chase Solas. In the intervening years, she moved to her lover Josephine's home and remained a public figure only just enough to help her family, but largely retired from public view. In the shadows, however, she spent what time she wasn't needed to track Solas running with the Red Jennies, as her blood ultimately could not allow her to sit still.

You can read more about her story here.

thank you so much for your patience if you actually read all of this, and I'm so sorry.

[blkkizzat]

Hey! Indian reader here again, I'm glad you're having a great time here!!

I remember going to Agra on a trip a couple years back. Taj Mehl was amazing to see. And the history behind it is quite interesting. It was supposed to be a gift from the King of Agra to his queen though I don't remember much of the history. One part I do remember (though it's very gruesome yet romantic in a weird way) is that the king ordered that the hands of all the artisans and anyone who worked on the site would be cut off so that they wouldn't be able to create something like the palace again 😭

One tip I have is that you make sure you're not overpaying for the stuff you buy here, considering people WILL overcharge you when they realize you're a tourist. And to wear clothing which covers you up in public because short clothes are usually looked down upon here and for your own safety too depending on where you are 💔

Other than that I also recommend buying spices to take back with you if you're into spicy food!! Indian spices are extremely flavorful and vast in variety but quite expensive in other countries

Hey!! I just got back! It was an amazing trip! Your country is so beautiful. The air quality in some cities was tearing my allergies up but other than that and trying to cross the street when there isnt a traffic light in sight, I had such a great time! I never thought I could be a vegetarian but so much good non meat curries and other options there. I liked Indian food before going but loved all the new dishes I tried too! Although I don't think I will ever find a Dal Makhani or Chana Masala as good as I did at The 1944 Hocco Kitchen in Ahmedabad here in the states. I didn't even like the Dal I had on the trip up until that point it was so rich, smooth and buttery (they cooked theirs for 36hrs). Also getting to try traditional Gujarati cuisine was awesome!

The Dhokla was so good with the chutneys they'd give us as snacks. Plus I thought Japan had the best service, India takes it to a new level! I never been to restaurants where waiters are literally sprinting to your table to make sure you dont serve yourself. I only wanted a bit more curry once but I felt so bad this waiter almost tripped rushing over to me I let him put on two more scoops! Also feels like I'm back home and my grandma is making my plates cause if they see a dish nearly done and that you finished yours they will just scoop the rest into your plate. Even the fast food places (omg the paneer burger and aloo tiki burger at mcdonalds and butter chicken chalupa at taco bell were to DIE for) were far superior to what we have here and they have much more sustainable practices. I swear I gained 5lbs from all the food lmfao!! I'm used to eating either one meal or two small ones a day and my program was feeding us 3 full meals so I had to skip some at times LOL it was too much food!!

The traffic is WILD in India but its so cool to see. I don't think I would ever get used to crossing the street without feeling like I was gonna die though lmfaooo. Also omg being able to Uber a Tuk Tuk was awesome! Although there was a few times me and my friends thought we would see the pearly gates lmfaoooo. I heard that about the Taj artisans too! The tour guide we had was so knowledgable (he was a former pharmacist who went back to school to learn medival indian history as he wanted to be a tour guide instead). He told us it was because after his favored wife died (I think he said it was because she was the only one to give him children successfully) he lost his mind a bit and was locked away by one of his sons after building the Taj (Very sad too as all his sons fought and all but one survived to take over the throne). Oh yes, haha our tour consultant who travelled with us the entire time would haggle for us if we wanted something. He would actually give us a range then tell us to walk down the block then he would start haggling lol. Loved him so much, he really looked out for us!

But omg yeah I noticed that people dress pretty modestly which is wild to me considering how hot it is there but they are used to it but I was dying haha. It was 100 degrees and people were in jackets and jean pants lol. Thankfully I brought long cotton and linen dresses and skirts and was able to buy some flowly loose linen pants and brought lots of electrolyte packets. But even in the hotel (we stayed at the 5 star Hyatt Regency in Ahemedabad) that was pretty internationally catered (omg the best pasta outside of italy I swear I was so surprised haha) there were Indian men intensely staring at me and my friend wearing tight leggings to breakfast even though they came down to our ankles and we had a long sleeve shirt on too. I got on the elevator to run back up to my room for something I forgot and these guys on the elevator were so creepy. They didnt say anything but I could feel them glaring down my back. I'm glad we knew better than to wear them outside but I thought it be okay just in the hotel. That didn't sour my experience though I did meet a lot of very nice and respectful Indian men as well. Two of them (who were pretty cute tbh) helped me with my luggage on the elevator as I was leaving since I had to buy an entire new luggage for all the stuff I bought lol. Yes!! While in Delhi we went to the spice market. We took a cycle rickshaw there. We went to a tourist spice shop there though cause they seal it up well for travel and actually have premixed spice packets you can buy which makes it easier (although im sure much more expensive). I bought a ton of spices and teas haha spent like 20k rupees there lmfaooo. Mostly went so ham there cause my mom used to live in India (her 3rd husband was Indian) and she wanted me to bring her back alot of teas and spices. I got her like 4 different kinds of chai. I'm kinda sad we left right before Holi!!!! I always wanted to experience Holi!!! But since its today (or yesterday lol) and today is the first day of classes back our school had to make sure we were back for classes.

Here’s some more pics!

[amoirsetpacis]

★ --;; Vash puffs out a gust of a sigh as the door closes behind them. It's such a familiar rhythm that at first he doesn't even think about it, Wolfwood trailing behind him, their footsteps in tandem as heavy boots and well-worn soles cross the floorboards. If his mind weren't still reeling, it would be easy to pretend like the years since the last time this scene had played out weren't as long as they had been.

"Maybe I can get a refund on the room? Had a couple more nights booked before the steamer heads out. S'not ideal hunkerin' down on it instead, but we'd be able to hole up there until it departs, at least."

Or maybe they could find some odd job that needs doing, or someone in the caravan would be in need of a couple of body guards. It's probably one of his least favourite gigs, what with the way the seemingly endless parade of trucks and cars and buggies could be. Chatting up folks on the deck of the steamer was always far preferable to cramming into the bed of a dusty truck getting face-fulls of debris. For now, trying to get some of his money back seems like their best option.

It only takes a few moments after the final stair creaks under Vash's foot for a child to pop his head up over the counter, next to the woman still engrossed in whatever's being broadcast. It's not the girls or the news or some new report on the hunt for him, so he pays it no mind.

"Mr. Vash!" he pipes up, all but launching himself over the counter. "Why've you got your bag with you? Mom said you just showed up last night! You can't be leavin' already! You promised last time, remember?"

As if Vash were any good at keeping promises-- this kid doesn't need to know that, though. "Aw, I'm not leavin' town just yet, Liam, don't worry," he half-laughs, hand coming down on top of the wild brown mop in front of him. The smile on his face isn't quite fake, but it's hard for it to be entirely genuine given the circumstances. "Just gotta figure out some cash for the steamer, s'all. Ended up needin' another ticket for my partner, here."

At some point during the conversation, the woman behind the counter had finally turned- the mother in question. "Here?" she blinks, glancing around. "They waitin' outside for ya', or somethin'? You rolled in by your lonesome-- s'not all that early, but you sure you got enough sleep?"

The only tell Vash gives is his hair-ruffling slowly coming to a stop, the briefest of pauses before he answered. To anyone else, it would probably look entirely natural. "Ah, my bad. You're prob'ly right, Nina. Must'a' been more tired than I thought," he smiles. This time it only barely reaches his eyes. "Said he'd show up today, I meant. He's gonna be waitin' for me out near the port."

At this point, even though Liam's still hovering around his knees, Vash still drifts towards the counter. His voice is steady, despite the roaring in his ears and each and every one of his senses being attuned to Wolfwood just behind him, and for that he's grateful. "Listen, Nina, you know I hate ta' ask anything of you, but it'd be real nice of you to help me out here, since I won't be usin' the room and all. The place is packed 'cause of the steamer rollin' through, so would you mind doin' me a favor... ?"

He still doesn't know exactly where they are. Couldn't figure out the town, and was a little too worked up to actually pause and look at any of the faded brochures downstairs near the front desk. They're north of December, and he's trying to piece together the world map of this place in his brain again with little success.

A lot's changed since he died. Wolfwood's not sure if he's ready to see that, but he has no choice now.

"Fine," he mumbles into Vash's shoulder. It takes another few moments for him to finally peel himself away so Vash can finish getting dressed, because part of him worries he might fade away if he's not touching him. Like Vash is the only thing anchoring him to the world.

He does come back in, though, to help him with his coat like he had done so many times before in these past months. The material is worn, warm under his palms. Wolfwood fastens the clasps and buttons together silently.

Another few minutes, and they're finally leaving. Wolfwood's got the Punisher slung over his back, two fingers hooked into the straps. This is so familiar, walking with Vash like this. And still, it's so different. They're back to running across the desert again.

"Could dig through my shit 'n' see if I can scrounge anythin' up for a second ticket," Wolfwood says. "But they probably left us with nothin'."

Physical currency wasn't a thing back in Spirale, and they don't have their phones. So he probably is just flat broke again.