#The Moon Is Following Us 1 Review

[dispatchdcu]

The Moon Is Following Us #1 Review

The Moon Is Following Us #1 Review #TheMoonIsFollowingUs #comics #comicbooks #news #art #info #NCBD #comicbooknews #previews #reviews #IMAGE #Amazon #imagecomics

Writer: Daniel Warren Johnson Artists: Daniel Warren Johnson & Riley Rossmo Colorist: Mike Spicer Cover Artists: Daniel Warren Johnson & Mike Spicer Publisher: Image Price: $3.99 Release Date: September 18, 2024 Sam and Duncan need a special weapon to rescue their six-year-old daughter, Penny. If they wait for Tash to arrive, they may miss Pigface. Should Sam and Duncan storm the fortress guarded…

[shiro41]

Fucking My Teacher- GOJO SATORU

Summmary: Fucking your sleeping teacher is bad enough but waking him up while doing it?

WARNINGS: Somnophilia, blowjob, degration, dirty talk, noncon(?), 1 slap, using of names (bitch, slut, etc.), teacher-student, breeding if you squint, belly buldge, virgin!reader, hint of size kink, yandere!reader

Note: this is an old work for my friend..thought might post something since it's valentines...yeah- im late.

The soft breaths that left his mouth quietly felt as you hovered your finger on his lips. The Ghostly touch of his delicate skin and rested face made your cheeks tint a rosy color.

His worn mask was nowhere to be seen and the usual black attire he wears often at school was replaced with a comfortable T-shirt and boxers that hugged the curve of his waist, exposing the plush of his muscular thighs and shaved legs.

The scent of his perfume lingered despite the newly changed clothes, it clung on his skin like glue and his tufts of white scattered around the fluff of his pillow.

Admist the darkness of his room that's illuminated by the natural light of the moon, you can still see the beauty of this man. Your featherlight touch continued to drag across from his delicate features to his hard muscles that peaked and teased you from the confines of his shirt.

Swallowing a thick load of saliva, you got up from your position before giving the defenseless man a kiss goodnight on his forehead, leaving as fast as a cool breeze with no evidence to trace about someone's presence other than your beloved.

A palpitating heart and cold fingers combine with heated cheeks and whirled stomach, the very thought of Satoru drives you to insanity full of desire and love for your snow white teacher.

The figment of Satoru telling you sweet nothings and holding you close to him more than just a platonic teacher-student relationship makes you drool at the thought. The ecstasy you always feel whenever Gojo's soft skin makes contact with your own, sending you to a state of Euphoria.

You've yearned for his attention, yearned for the feeling of the sweet flying butterflies that whirled in your stomach like a tornado and hungered for his affection.

The small bag containing minor objects that belonged to your teacher was a reminder of how much you love him, the stashed collection of things he has bought and gave on your abode served as a sign of your undying affection for your white haired teacher, Gojo.

The vivid image of his calm breathing from earlier synced with the thrust of your fingers, the audible squelching sound of your juice coated finger and the suppressed moans that dare escape your lips was a reminder how much you lust over your mentor.

Your legs shook with the way your pussy walls clenched against your fingers, sheets coated in white as you felt the Ecstasy of the orgasm. Gojo's unsuspecting faces and stolen photos scattered around your bed like reviewers, surrounding your pleasure filled figure as you continued to suck on your fingers, tongue swirling and unintentionally biting the skin.

The smell of your mentor's freshly washed underwear hitting your nose as you salivate with the idea of Satoru's length shoved down your throat, thrusting in a pace that would leave you in tears, leaking like a broken faucet underneath him.

Your restrained moans and small cries of Gojo's name that became a chant as your fingers slid in and out, stretching the overstimulated vagina that yearned for Gojo's dick.

The loud puffs and pants as you rode out your second orgasm for the night followed by a meek call of his name as your body collapsed from the intense session of masturbation, the bed creaking along the way.

You could feel the wetness in your abdomen, caused by the cum that seeped into the thick covers of your bed. The cloth that Stuck on your mouth was centimeters away from you, a visible wet patch from your saliva and stretched visage of your fingers going deep within your throat.

"Gojo..."

Although sensitive and tired, you pushed yourself to clean up after the mess of your pleasure filled session thinking about your teacher in a way so sinful the devil could not accept in hell.

Morning rolled around for you to attend school with your classmates, greeting Nobara with a bubbly persona and Itadori as you three chit chatted about certain things. Megumi was unfortunately sent to a mission to exorcist curses directly commanded by your teacher, Gojo.

Said man barged into the room with a grin, his towering figure spreading as he made himself welcome despite the late arrival. You found yourself in a reverie about your teacher's flexing fingers, finding them incredibly attractive with the way it curled and straightened with every movement.

You wondered what it would feel like to grip on your thighs and plunge it deep within your sweet pussy, maybe slap the folds and rub your aching clitoris.

The very thought of it makes you shudder and let out a breath, the shaky sigh and quiet rampaging imaginaries you've fantasized about your teacher made you rub your thighs together. How sinful, aroused in class fantasizing about Gojo who seemed to be oblivious—like any other students with you—about your undying lust and love.

"(Name)!"

With a sudden call of your name from his lips and the touch of his hands on your shoulder, the gasp that escaped you and the shiver of your whole body was evident to everybody. It was clear you weren't paying attention to their current topic, too busy undressing Gojo with your eyes.

"Are you alright? Something bothering you, hmm?"

"It's nothing, Gojo.."

"Oh come on, you can tell me! Is it a boyfriend?"

What a tease. Behind the black fabric of his blindfold was his blue eyes that will stare deep within your soul and you knew he was checking your well-being as of now behind his mask.

With an annoyed huff and furrowed brows, you pushed your teacher away to create a space. However, his hands caught your wrists and that alone made your heart skip a beat or two.

His touch was firm yet soft, almost securing you like a fragile package. His hands wrapped snugly around your wrists and you wondered if this is the equivalent of his touch when he's bedding a woman.

"G-get off me, stupid teacher! It's none of your business if I'm thinking of someone!"

You exclaimed, cheeks flushed with tints of pink and glare hotter than the hot summer air. Despite your mini tantrum, your mentor's teasing grin did not dissipate. Instead, it grew to a mischievous smirk that you knew won't end well.

Despite your mini tantrum, your mentor's teasing grin did not dissipate. Instead, it grew to a mischievous smirk that you knew won't end well.

You exclaimed, cheeks flushed with tints of pink and glare hotter than the hot summer air. Despite your mini tantrum, your mentor's teasing grin did not dissipate. Instead, it grew to a mischievous smirk that you knew won't end well.

"Care to tell us who?"

The day ended with teasing, Nobara and Itadori's curiosity seeped out of them like overflowing waters. Their arms would cling into the fabric of your uniform like leeches as Gojo's angelic voice sung like an angel from heaven in the background, adding salt to the wound he caused with his mischief.

At the comfort of your room, your stare lingered at the skin of your wrists. Gojo's touch still present despite the fact it's physically absent, love was an understatement to describe what you felt during that moment. It was rather blissful, satisfying.

addicting.

The late of the night didn't make your eyes shut with sleepiness, the overwhelming desire to fuck your teacher rivaled the drowsiness. At an ungodly hour, you've snuck once again at his humble abode with quiet steps and careful movements. The stealth of your figure could compare to a feline's; light and quick.

The familiar door that you've come to know as your beloved teacher's greeted you, blocking whatever is happening inside which you knew by heart. The soft jiggle of the doorknob and a disturbing creak didn't awaken the man who snored blissfully in his bed, covers a mess and position laid out similar to a starfish. The sight made the insides of your body shiver in a pleasant manner.

As per usual, you stared at his defenseless figure completely drinking up the sight of his relaxed state. Oh, how you wish you could just kiss those parted lips and silence the small snores that escape them, feel the flesh of his skin and cup the softness of his cheeks.

"Satoru..."

A breath, you found yourself straddling him. Hovering over his sleeping body with the familiar dancer performing in your eyes; Lust. His breaths harmonize with your heavy pants, touch featherlight against the thin fabric of his garments. Your eyes stayed focused on his covered ones, white lashes at rest that you want to kiss.

Morals and values were not in your book, so does resistance. With a soft bite of your lip, a deep breath and a quick pull, you knew it was too late to go back down and beg for whatever deity you believed in to forgive your sins.

With all its glory revealed your teacher's rested cock, you could feel the blood circulating at the area of your nose as you continued to strip the fabric off his sleeping figure. Slowly, intimately and sinfully.

"Fuck, you're built like god's favorite."

You whispered, softly fluffing his hair and a kiss on his forehead before you retracted and focused on the meaty length that settled in between his muscular thighs. You suppressed a moan, it was better than you pictured. All the pornography you watched late at night, wishing it was his engorged flesh plunging deep into your velvety walls was not comparable to the cock of Gojo Satoru.

The desire to touch and taste his dick was immense, thanking whatever exists above that this man turns off his infinity while asleep. Your pink muscle experimented around the area of his pink tip, swirling it like a lollipop and licking it like chocolate on a spoon. It wasn't as tasty as you expected, it didn't feel like it was supposed to be judging from the adult videos you've seen, however, the tingles and collywobbles confessed how you enjoy pleasing the sleeping man.

A small groan was let out, halting your movement to look over the man who's still thankfully asleep. One could not fathom how low and dirty you swooped in to taste and love this majestic human underneathe you. Diving deeper into the depths of his length, you've managed to suck the muscle that turned slightly stiff overtime.

The head was now slightly hitting your throat, choking and gagging at the thick muscle that snuggly fit in your stretched wet cavern.

You could've sworn the man woke up in a daze before succumbing to sleep a few times before you let go of his now saliva covered dick, liquid dripping on his thighs as his cock stood up like a proud man after your inexperienced performance. Of course, he deserved to be your first in everything.

"Satoru... you're so...mph.."

Staring yet again at his relaxed expression, completely unaware of your doings to his unconscious body. The wet patch on the thin fabric of your panties only grew larger by the minute, it sought to be touched and pleasured, alas, your hands were as busy as your mouth; giving Gojo an inexperienced blowjob in his sleep.

A sigh and a small stutter of your hips when you took off the wet underwear and touched the bundle of nerves that waited to be pleasured, the heat on your cheeks couldn't be any hotter with the way you touched yourself on top of your mentor. It was humiliating but that humiliation was overpowered by the desire and lust to fuck your teacher, have your cunt suck his penis dry of white substances. It made your spine shudder with excitement.

With a hungered lick and a few strokes on his stiff cock, you dare to lead the pulsating tip to your soft folds— teasing yourself with the sensation of his dick on the surface of your sopping vagina. How naughty of you to take advantage of your sleeping teacher, fucking yourself with his aroused member. The slight groans and shifts of his made your body run cold in a pleasant manner, the thrill of waking him up keeps your adrenaline going and heart in a pace of a running man's.

A rather low and restrained moan passed by the guards of your lips as your soaked private suck and ate his throbbing length without any problem with the exception of the discomfort of it stretching your inexperienced hole.

Of course, you believed he's the only man to deserve and experience your divine pussy and take your sacred virginity even when unconscious, the thought of another man's penis taking you makes you shiver in disgust. It was Gojo's and Gojo's only. No one else. So, when you finally settled and felt the burning fire that bloomed as your walls was forced to stretch to a foreign object inside you that's definitely thicker and longer than what your fingers could reach and curl, you softly bounced on his hips.

The feeling of his length softly entering and exiting your hole that morphed into the shape of him was more than heaven, it was paradise.

It felt addicting, it felt satisfying. All you could do was take it in, enjoy the pleasure that it gave despite the minor discomfort it gave and drink up the moments that are rarer than a diamond gem. Sharp intakes of air and soft whispers was all you could do, doing your best not to moan too loud and wake the sleeping man beneath you.

"Satoru, Satoru...! Haah...so good..!"

"I love you so much, I'd kill and die for you...your cock is so big..god!"

Gradually, your pace got quicker as your huffs became louder, almost evident to the cold air that surrounded your heated body. Hand on your mouth, screwing it shut tight and eyes teary with the way his dick thrusted in you as you bounced like a cowgirl on a bull's back. Your toes curled up on the sheets, the nails of your fingers digging on your skin to form small crescent moons and occasionally scratch the delicate flesh.

"Fuck...Satoru!"

"I'm.... I'm....fucking god!"

A silent scream and a stutter of your whole body, creamy and thick white semen overflowed from the inside of your cunt. Your vision faded to black as the earth seemingly stopped to witness your pleasure filled expression, inaudible whines and sobs as your teeth buried deep in your skin to silence the volume of your bliss.

The feeling of incredible strength of a fist tying your hair at the back of your head and a deep, sleepy chuckle made your blood run as cold as Russia's snow. Is this how a deer feels when exposed to headlights? You thought to yourself, stunned by the sudden awakening of your teacher.

"How's your experience so far, sweetheart?"

"G-gojo! It's uhm.."

The situation itself was unexplainable, the feelings you harboured for your mentor were unexplainable. Everything about your doings was unexplainable.

"Now, now, (name). I bet you've enjoyed everything that has happened so far. But, you do know everything you've done is wrong, don't you?"

Was he going to lecture you? That's the best thing that could happen as of now, you think. He's probably going to report you to the jujutsu headquarters or just send you to the police to repent your unforgivable sins. All this happening with his dick still inside, drenched with your dripping cum on the sides of your thighs and his to the sheets of his bed.

"Don't you deserve to be punished?"

The question sounded more like a statement, you felt his grip from behind your head tighten. His other hand is finding a way to your jaw that's dried with your own saliva from the session, ever so slightly pressing the smallest amount of strength that felt like a guard to keep your mouth from lapping anything that belongs to and is on him.

"How naughty of you, (Name)."

He whispered, sending spooky chills throughout your whole body. You waited for his next move, accepting whatever he will do to you like a good obedient girl that's been tamed by the fine hands of her teacher. You've already eaten the forbidden fruit, it was just a matter of time for you to face the consequences of your actions but you did not expect to be caught midway of committing it.

A surprised yelp and a jerk of your body left your soul flying to heaven as his hips rutted without a word, squelching noise audible to both of you as his balls came into contact with your skin. Hands flying to his shoulders for support as he continued without a word uttered for you to prepare, stuffing you with his meaty length vigorously.

"Ah-ah! Sat—Gojo! Please stop I'm sensitive!"

"What happened to 'Satoru', baby? Are you too shy to utter my name now?"

With your teacher's strength, he flipped the both of you. Now underneath him, you could see the oceanic spheres that danced with sinful lust and sadism that matched the smirk on his lips. His hand wrapped around your wrists rather tightly, almost making blood circulation stop in that particular area from the raw strength he possesses.

Hips continue to plunge deep inside you with the speed of a beast that makes the bed creak in a noisy manner as it hits the wall every time Gojo's cock disappears into your body.

"Ah! Satoru! Satoru! Satoru!"

You could only whine and sob, the intensity of your pussy being assaulted with his dick was better than earlier. He truly is an experienced man, making you cry out in pleasure as you willingly submit to be his whore of a student. Your legs are forced to be spread wide and dangle on his shoulders, having deeper access to hit every crevice of your heated walls.

From the Orgasm you had earlier and your teacher's intense pace and rough thrusts, your poor inexperienced vagina could only handle so much stimulation that it made you scream in ecstasy when you felt the gush of juices painting Gojo's length white, legs shaking from the shockwaves and seeing dots of white and black as your eyes rolled to the back of your head.

"Came already? But we are only just getting started."

"Ngh...Satoru I don't think—"

"You will. Whether you like it or not, you will be taking my dick like a desperate bitch you are. Are we clear?"

You could only respond with a single sob and cry, having no other choice but to take him in despite the overwhelming pleasures your body can't handle.

"Speak!"

A slap on your cheek.

"(Name), don't be a bitch now. Come on, speak and tell me your answer."

Vehement thrusts are what greeted you like no tomorrow, you felt the burning sensation of his harsh touch on your swollen cheek as his eyes glared down at you with a glowing fire of lust.

"Y-yes Satoru!"

You mustered, too fucked up to even form a single phrase. You could feel the wetness of your juices and Gojo's leaking from your hole that's been filled with yours and his rich, white semen. His length continued to assault you glistening pussy without a stop, a few groans and audible pants from him. The hand that acted as a restraint on your wrist continued to clutch them, now stronger than before as he's too indulged with the way your walls hugged his cock, morphing into the shape of it as if he's marking your insides.

"Fuck, you're a virgin aren't ya? This sweet pussy is mine to claim."

His hand that once restrained your arms slithered down your heated, pleasure filled body to the bundle of nerves that he's currently filling up. His index finger toyed with your clit and continued to form a circular motion that triggered a switch for you to automatically raise your hips from the soft surface of his bed and scream his name as you once again came from the added sensation of his hand.

"How pretty."

Diving to reach you, his slimy tongue lapped up the forming sweat and flowing tears on your cheek, tasting it like the last droplets of soda in a plastic can. His fingers continued to skillfully support his beast-like thrusts, occasionally pinching and slapping your vagina as if it were some skin on your arm. Your moans were no longer there, replaced with desperate whines, cries and hiccups.

"Take my cum and don't let it leak, got it? Not a single bit."

He murmured in your ear, biting the shell and wet it with his slithering tongue. A meek nod and a pathetic mustered yes from you before you felt yourself being carried like a newborn to Gojo's clothed chest, arms wrapped around your nude figure to secure your seat in his lap with his penis connecting you both in this ride.

If your screams weren't loud enough earlier, it definitely did now. You swore you saw the glass of unfinished water shake for a moment as your mentor jackhammered himself in you, constant sounds of slaps and squelches becoming background noises from the echoing gutteral moans from you and occasional groans and degration from your mentor.

"Ugh! Satoru! Fuck! Fuck me harder! There, there! Angh..there please!"

"Such a needy b-bitch, don't worry..Teacher's cum will fill you up any second now."

He purred, bouncing you up and down forcefully as he also plowed his pleasure stick as fast and wild as he could. You could see the crack on the bedframe and hear the quick creak of something being bent with the way he stuffed you full.

"Please! Please!"

Pathetically begging, you felt like a slut in need for a refill of his semen to energize you for the day. The world was now in a blurry mess, mixed with the tears and dizziness you're experiencing in sync thanks to your teacher's massive length. You could slightly see your stomach bulge every time his cock disappears, it scared you how long and thick it is to the point it started to get a little too intense for your liking but, you weren't one to complain and would rather save yourself from the advantage of your teacher exposing your sins to authorities or anyone he knows.

His fingers pried your mouth open, exposing your bleeding tongue that's been bitten minutes prior to his awakening. Your eyes widened as you felt the spit of his combine with yours inside your wet cavern being mixed with his tongue like a witch brewing a new potion. The open mouthed kiss didn't let you forget the arching of your back pressing against his torso, the fire that pooled in your abdomen similar to springs recoiling before it snapped in half.

The sudden stop of his thrust and the erotic moan from him made you realize he too, have cummed in sync with you. You felt his lips press at the side of your head whilst the grip of his hands on your waist and hips were the contrast of his soft gesture. You fear they'll bruise later or tomorrow, but that wasn't what concerned you the most in this situation.

The heavy breaths and pants was the only thing you could hear aside from the ringing of your head, feeling the gush of liquids on your pussy and the slow retract of his cum covered dick, witnessing how your stomach visibly deflated from emptiness. You were still high from the overstimulation the man have gave you, the amount of orgasm you managed to produce in one night without having to pass out midway, all of it has made you feel beyond tired and exhausted.

The ustulation was satisfied temporarily, deep within you knew this was not going to be the last you'll ever taste your teacher's dick and the start of you diving deeper into the obsession over your handsome, masked teacher.

Gojo's Azure gaze stayed glued into your hazed ones, still calming down from a draining activity. Was this all worth it? Of course it was, you've tasted your teacher in more ways than what you expected and you were beyond grateful for it, ignoring how humiliating and shameful it is for you to grasp it.

"As a Punishment, you will be sent to a mission three weeks worth of time with no assistance, whatsoever."

[theastrohub]

MASTERLIST 4 @theastrohub

the following includes an alphabetical + numerical directory for all of @theastrohub's formal astrology content. will be updated weekly.

readings

buy me a coffee

ko-fi

archive

copyright notice

ask rules

mission statement

my patreon (coming soon...)

afterhours @baestrology555

ASTEROIDS

love pt. 1

chiron and healing

nemesis and your opps

aphrodite [7th H]

ASTRO BASICS:

whole sign system 

understanding the north node + how to step into your power

Astro-Mystery Series

case study 1 + answer

case study 2 + answers

case study 3 + answers

BEAUTY

common beauty placements

CAREER astrology

career for your midheaven

job search using your midheaven ruler

DEGREE Theory

introduction

the degree on your ascendant + how to stand out

decans pt. 1 : cardinal signs

decans pt 2 : mutuable signs

decans pt 3 : fixed signs

FAME astrology: 

Pt 3: transits for sudden fame

Pt. 2: trendsetter placements

Pt. 1: inescapable fame

HOT TAKES: 

the difference between houses and signs

astrology is a fear mongering tool…

leos are what virgos wish they were

hot-takes 1

LIFESTYLE

your moon's ideal city

MEDIA

Baddies West Cast

PREDICTIVE ASTROLOGY:

Saturn in Pisces + Fame

PERSONA CHARTS:

persona chart

masterlist in progress

PSYCHOLOGY

indicators of genius

venus signs and their love language

generational curse breaker placements

astrology and art therapy

lilith in the signs and your real desires

POLITICS

world leaders and the 12th house

pluto in aquarius: age of revolution

trump's assassination + election predictions

Q&A's + Aspects: 

Jupiter in Sagittarius

Mercury in Virgo

mars in Gemini

empty houses

Lilith in the Signs

Stelliums

NorthNode

QUOTES:

# 1 + # 2 + # 3 + # 4 + # 5 + # 6 + #7

SUCCESS:

reviews: # 1, # 2,

SEX + 18+:

sextrology: high libido indicators

TWEETS & MEMES:

tweet # 1,

meme # 1 , # 2 , # 3 , # 4 , #5

OTHER:

banners + borders

© [2024] [astrobae astrology services]. All rights reserved.

[tin-wufborf]

Tin's Favorite Sterek Fics (Part 16)

Hi there, and welcome back to Tin's Favorite Sterek Fics! I'm sorry it's been so long between installments this time. I started a new job last Wednesday which I absolutely love and am so grateful for, but it's got me working more and longer days (but with much higher pay), so I have been exhausted. Just a heads up, I'm probably only going to manage these on a weekly basis for the foreseeable future unless my workload suddenly lessens for some reason (which I have been assured that it will not).

Thank you all so much for your continued support of this series. It means the world to me. As always, I hope you're all having a good a day as you can, if not a great one.

Smoochies and squeezies, my darlings!

List and links to previous/next part(s) below the cut.

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DISCLAIMER: This is me warning you all that some of the fics I've included in this list may cover explicit, dark, and/or "taboo" subject matters. I cannot express enough how little I care what anyone thinks about any of that; all I want is for you to use caution when reading anything I've listed here and to please review and heed whatever tags the authors have provided in order to keep yourselves safe. Your experience from this point on is your own responsibility, not mine and not the authors'.

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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20

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Que Dis-Tu? by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella) (G | 1/1 | 2,594)

“What, are you gonna tell me you know Russian next?!” Stiles demanded, flailing one arm, other hand still closed around the spine of his book.

“I do know Russian,” Derek confirmed, still looking confused.

Stiles dropped the book so he could flail both arms in the air. “Of course you do! Why wouldn’t you know Russian?!”

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Your Royal Assholeness by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella) (T | 1/1 | 3,327)

The second he walked in, Derek growled loudly and was beside him in an instant, reaching out to lightly touch his neck.

“Who did this?”

“What the hell is going on?” Stiles hissed in response.

“Your majesty.”

Stiles turned when the woman spoke, positive he’d misheard, but she was on one knee with her head bowed, and the wolves who’d all followed had done the same.

“Your what?” Stiles demanded, shocked, turning back to Derek.

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You Have Reached... by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella) (G | 1/1 | 5,074)

“Why did you listen to the voicemails?”

“I like hearing you talk,” Derek said.

There were many things Stiles had been expecting after asking that question. That answer hadn’t been one of them.

“Any time we ever spoke before, it was always about what next problem we were facing and needed to solve. The voicemails are just you... talking.”

“Oh.” Stiles had never considered that.

(SNYE - January 10th - Long Distance)

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In meeting his is born, In absence he has grown by lookingforatardis (T | 1/1 | 6,191)

The witch’s voice turned dark, powerful. Her head fell back as she chanted:

So it is written, so it becomes A debt for a debt A life for life, In the darkest of times With a mate by thy side In meeting he is born, in absence he has grown A son for a son, for the Highest Power, Her goddess the Moon draws balance once more With a love that endures. And so has been, and so it is, and so it will be.

- Or, A witch gives Derek a toddler after Stiles leaves Beacon Hills, and Derek definitely does not freak out about it and beg the Sheriff to call Stiles for help because he's his anchor (he definitely does)

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Choice by Omni (T | 1/1 | 8,613)

Derek knows what it feels like to not really have a choice, what it's like to be manipulated. He'd never take away someone's right to choose freely. The fear of even accidentally doing so is enough to hold him back from acting on his own feelings.

Stiles has never had a problem making his own choices, and fuck anyone who would try to tell him he can't.

(Or: Stiles gets bitten by a different alpha, but of course would prefer to have Derek as his alpha. And also just, you know, have Derek.)

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Wake Up Call by SylvieW (M | 3/3 | 10,084)

Derek has nightmares and now that Laura is gone there's no one to wake him up and comfort him.

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Yes is a World by jezziejay (M | 1/1 | 10,207)

When the nemeton casts a protection spell over Beacon Hills, Stiles can finally go to college. Derek thinks this might be a good thing.

In which Stiles falls in love and Derek learns a lot.

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Five Times Derek Heard Something He Wished He Hadn't, and the One Time He Did by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella) (T | 1/1 | 14,841)

“This place is hell,” Derek decided. “This place is absolutely hell.”

How was it possible he’d gone so many years of his life without hearing anything nearly as over the top as he had just visiting Stiles at school? This had to be some kind of record for the most disgusting things he’d ever overheard.

--

(I mean really, the title says it all lol)

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Sigh No More series by elementalv (3 works | T-M | 16,472)

1. Sigh No More (M | 1/1 | 5,532) Scott respects Stiles’ decision not to take the bite right up until the day he doesn’t. That night, with the help of his father, Stiles leaves Beacon Hills for good. Warnings: See the Notes section at the end for warnings and possible triggers. The AO3 options don't quite cover what I need. 2. The Cave (T | 1/1 | 6,415) Chris has no idea how to salvage what was intended to be a diplomatic mission with an unknown alpha. 3. Winter Winds (T | 1/1 | 4,525) He hadn’t taken any particular pleasure in killing Peter for once and for all, though he was glad he’d thought to ask Deaton about what to do to make sure Peter couldn’t come back. Lydia wasn’t exactly thrilled with the countermeasures, but since it meant she wouldn’t have to raise him from the dead ever again, she dealt with it by making Scott pay in small ways and large. He accepts her treatment of him without comment, knowing that a lot of the mess the town is in could have been avoided if he hadn’t been such a dickhead all those years ago. And really, he thinks, as he’s patrolling near the Nemeton, dickhead doesn’t even cover what he did to Stiles.

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The Sound of Silence by Asterekmess (Livinginfictions) (E | 6/6 | 17,279)

Everyone is so sure Derek is dead, but Stiles can't accept it. Not when there are so many loose ends.

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doesn't weigh me down at all by kellifer_fic (T | 2/2 | 17,657)

"Your brother is cool. What happened to you?"

"Har, har, hilarious," Stiles says as Scott grabs him in a head lock and rubs the top of his head. "He's going to hold this one over me for ages," Stiles sighs after a few minutes of the sounds of just their feet shuffling through the undergrowth.

"Could've been worse," Scott says.

"I guess so."

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Children of the Wild Ones by bellefire (M | 2/2 | 18,081)

One turned corner was all it took—a single split second decision. A death. Stiles could never decide if that turn had been a wrong one or a right one.

In which Stiles is turned, gets a pack and takes a roadtrip to Mexico with people he used to not even like but are now somehow family, but first: murder.

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discretion's not what i need to sell series by marinbel (3 works | T | 18,492)

Told in three parts, in three perspectives.

1. discretion's not what i need to sell (T | 1/1 | 2,024) Stiles raises an eyebrow. “So am I not correct then that I saw you leaving Allison’s place this morning? From her bedroom window?” His eyes give Scott a once-over. “I’m sure the healthy flush is just from the run, and no other activities. And- oh, hey, is that hickey on your throat also from the run? I didn’t know that could happen.” Scott’s jaw locks. Fuck. Stiles shoves his hands into his pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels. “Sorry, just curious. Since I thought you and Kira were still a thing, and all.” 2. one more confession (T | 1/1 | 7,395) He’s talking to someone on the phone. She hears him. “We’ll think of something. Don’t- hey, don’t worry about it. We’ll work it out. Okay? Okay. See you tomorrow, Babe.” The crack of light expands, Scott opening the door. He stops in his tracks when he catches Kira’s eyes blinking back at him. “Hey,” he says. “Hey,” Kira says back. “Who’s Babe?” “Hmm?” Scott goes, flipping the light off and coming back to bed, crawling under the covers and looping an arm around her waist. “You were on the phone with someone,” Kira says, like maybe saying it out loud will remind him of what he was just doing. “You said Babe. Who’s Babe?” . Alternatively, Kira finds out. 3. keep those tired eyes closed (T | 1/1 | 9,073) “You gotta let him go.” Derek watches him from the peripheral, dejected. He sees it just beyond his eyes, the ruminating and mind whirring and Derek says, “Hey. With me, breathe in.” He breathes in and Stiles follows along. “Breathe out,” they do so together, Derek saying on the exhale, “now let him go.” Stiles’ exhale is shakier but he gets through it. “I’m letting him go.” . Alternatively, Derek's trying his very best at being a supportive boyfriend.

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Falling Up by PalenDrome (nerherderette) (E | 1/1 | 18,522)

Of all the things Stiles imagined could happen, he never thought he’d end up packless.

*****

Derek picks up his coffee and drains it slowly. "My place is a twenty-minute drive from here. I could show you, if you'd like," he says once he finishes. His tone is studiedly casual, but Stiles knows what a big deal it is. It's an offer to re-establish a connection with a former pack member. To invite Stiles into the new sanctuary Derek created for himself.

Stiles looks at his empty cup. He thinks of the miles he's driven. Of the motels and hotels and cheap campsites he's crashed at, and tries to keep his desperation to have something familiar, of not feeling so goddamn lonely, from his voice.

"Yeah. I'd really like that," he says, and if his heartbeat does a little swoop, Derek's too polite to mention it.

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To Find You Again by nightlight9 (E | 1/1 | 23,788)

The man standing on his porch waiting for him is unmistakable even after six years. Though his hair has grown out longer and there’s a scraggly beard covering his once bare chin, the unexpected guest is undoubtably Stiles.

Derek swallows and tries to subtly catch a whiff of his scent. Then he swallows again when he smells nothing but the Colorado trees.

“Stiles?” His mouth is dry. "What are you doing here?”

Despite the bags under his eyes, Stiles’ smile is bright. “Hey, Derek. I-. It’s been a long time. Can I come in?”

That's all it takes. Derek opens the door.

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If These Ears Could Talk series by HappyJuicyfruit (11 works | G-M | 39,686)

Stiles is hard of hearing, that doesn’t stop him from running with wolves. Doesn’t stop him from dating one either.

1. Clueless (G | 1/1 | 4,748) After everything they’ve been through together, all Derek wants is for his pack to be connected with strong, thriving, pack bonds. And for the most part, its working. The pack is growing, healing, happy. He just needs to figure out why Stiles hates him so much. 2. Pack is Pack, No Matter How Far (T | 1/1 | 9,927) Derek tries to deal with his pack moving away for college. Stiles helps (a lot). 3. Come Light A Candle With Me (G | 1/1 | 1,804) Derek celebrates Hanukkah with Stiles. 4. Worrywolf (M | 1/1 | 5,470) After a few worrying text messages, Derek decides to go check on his boyfriend during midterm week. 5. Memories From You and From Me (G | 1/1 | 3,070) On the anniversary of his family's death, Derek tries to distance himself from the pack. Stiles doesn't let him. 6. It's My Party, I Can Yell If I Want To (G | 1/1 | 5,496) Derek has made a lot of mistakes in his life, and he has a lot of regrets. Currently, his biggest regret is forgetting his boyfriends birthday. 7. I Can Help With That (M | 1/1 | 3,277) “You can’t be the only hard of hearing person on the campus.” Stiles shrugged, “so?” “So, why don’t you make a club or something? You don’t really know anyone else hard of hearing, it could be really good.” “Did Derek Hale seriously just tell me to make a club?” 8. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do (G | 1/1 | 2,340) 8 years. Degrees, Master degrees, vet school, law school... It took 8 years, but finally, the Hale pack was together again in Beacon Hills. 9. As The Years Go By (I Just Love You More) (G | 1/1 | 1,811) It started with Becca, but it did not end with her. Or, how Derek and Stiles end up with a house full of kids. 10. Baby, I Was Born This Way (G | 1/1 | 1,051) He knew Stiles like the back of his hand. He knew that this silence wasn’t him. This stillness was unnatural. He’d been married to the man for twenty years. He had 8 kids with him. Stiles was a force of pure energy, he was a fighter to his core. It couldn’t end like this. 11. Oh, To Grow Old With You (G | 1/1 | 692) Derek yawned, looking out at his bird feeder as he waited for the kettle to boil. He would go out and refill it after breakfast. Do a morning walk around their territory. It would be a while before Stiles woke up, insomnia kept him up late most nights. And Derek’s bad back woke him up early. Werewolf healing didn’t fix everything, when you were old. Or, a very fluffy retirement.

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No Time Like the Future by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella) (T | 1/1 | 40,590)

It wasn’t until he was ten that the full explanation came to him, because every year when a group of kids turned ten, schools had a one-day course specifically about soulmates, what they meant, and why everyone had weird writing on their arms.

Derek remembered sitting in that all-day class, completely horrified, and absolutely devastated. The course leader made it sound like a good thing. Soulmates were the other half of your own being, they were the person you were supposed to love and cherish, who would understand every part of you, and all that other garbage nonsense. He was not here for this.

It wasn��t that Derek had any understanding of love—not romantic love, and certainly not at ten years old—but he read a lot of books and watched some shows and movies with his family, and love looked like something different in those environments. Love looked like a choice, like the meeting of people, and the getting to know them, and actively falling in love with a person because they were amazing and nice and just fit.

Soulmates didn’t sound like that.

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Nature Red In Tooth and Claw series by HaleHathNoFury (My_Trex_has_fleas) (4 works | T-E | 47,930)

1. Mockingbird Smile (E | 1/1 | 3,554) Kate has come to Beacon Hills to seduce Derek Hale and kill the Hale pack. Maybe she should have done some more research first. 2. Dirty Paws (T | 3/3 | 6,309) Every fairytale starts with a beginning. 3. In Our Town Of Halloween (E | 6/6 | 28,168) It's Halloween, the one night of the year the Hale wolves and their pack get to let it all hang out. Unfortunately for them, someone is on their trail and looking for revenge. What happens next will change everything. 4. Silver Bullet, Silver Arrow (E | 3/3 | 9,899) The Argents have come for vengeance. They're about to get what's coming for them.

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It Was a Wednesday by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella) (M | 2/2 | 80,129)

“What happened? Where are you? What’s that sound?”

Derek jumped, having momentarily forgotten Scott was on the phone with him because Stiles had started moving. He’d stalked over to the other side of the cave, still eying Derek warily and growling, then settled protectively over a mass of clothes, leaves and animal innards. It was probably where he was sleeping.

Lovely. No wonder he smelled like death.

“Stiles,” Derek said, answering Scott’s question. Or, one of them, at least.

“Stiles? What do you—Stiles is making that noise?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“How fast do you think you can make it to the south lot of the Preserve?”

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Pretty Little Wolf series by ItsMe_Basil (3 works | T-E | 88,628)

1. Pretty Little Wolf (E | 35/35 | 82,164 ) Derek has heard stories about the Spark -the kind of stories that would have his younger self cowering under the blankets. The kind of stories that had Derek stick close to the pack. But when Derek is in trouble, and the pack isnt around, Derek finds himself in the care of said Spark, and he finds out fairly quickly that he's not all he seems to be. Stiles, he finds out, isn't a villain at all. Derek's only heard one side of the story for four years, and now it's time for him to hear the other side from his mate. *-* "Pretty little wolf," he hummed, stepping closer and kneeling beside Derek. Even in his death fogged brain, he recognized the words spoken. The words that were tattooed along his hip bone. The man reached a hand out, long bony fingers brushing against Derek's jaw. That's when recognition dawned on him. He knew this boy -not personally, but he'd seen pictures. This was the Spark. The one Scott had warned him about since Derek had returned to Beacon Hills four years ago. His mate. "Fuck me," Derek gasped out, dropping his head on the step. "Let's get you better, first, shall we, Puppy?" The Spark hummed. 2. Pretty Little Wedding (M | 1/1| | 3,650) Its been two years since the Hale pack moved to Hood River, and Derek couldn't be happier with his life now. He has Stiles, his family, and a town that treats them like family. Its everything he could ever hope to have. Almost everything at least. 3. Pretty Little Niece (T | 1/1 | 2,814) Cora and Lydia have a baby, Stiles and Derek fight about having children of their own, and Stiles slowly warms up to being an uncle! Part 3 of the Pretty Little Wolf series! If you haven't read thd first I recommend you do so!! These are just little snippets into the Hale packs life after they leave Beacon Hills!

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[demonslayedher]

Today I went to the Zenshuuchuu-ten (Total Concentration Exhibition) for the Swordsmith Village and Hashira Training arcs today!

This is basically a chance for Ufotable to be like, "remember that cool thing we did?" and for we the fans to be like, "yup, sure do, that's why we're here."

It's not quite as extensive as other KnY events I've been to, and it doesn't particularly provide any new information, but it's fun to see some glimpses of the process from animation cells to finished clips. There's always a handful of fun displays to interact with, scrolls of character designs, and nice panels to display screenshots, especially centered around character arcs and impactful moments.

This time it was roughly as follows:

1. A room with large screen shots of Muzan the Upper Moons that appear in time with lines from the show and twangs of a biwa

2. A small room with a small swordsmithing game that they hurry everyone through. You need to strike the sword with just the right amount of force to get a ball into the middle of three slots, which I did, so I got handed a little piece of paper which is my certification as a master. I mentioned this to a friend afterword and her response was "of course you did."

3. A room in two parts dedicated to Muichiro's arc in SSV, with a hazy curtain you pass through sort of like Muichiro gaining his memories, and a model of his sword backlit in turquoise

4. A room dedicated to Mitsuri's arc in SSV, including a model of her sword which curves all the way across the room, and a little Mitsuri whom you could challenge to arm wrestling. She beat me pretty easily.

5. A Genya room of screenshots, and models of both his short little sword and his gun. Forgot to mention that their lines were playing overheard in each room!

6. A Gyokko and Hantengu room. A Gyokko only appeared over a model of the vase if you took a photo with flash, and there was a little Hantengu figure to look for, and if you found it, they'd give you a piece of origami paper on your way out of the gallery (pretty much everybody found it, but it was tiny).

8. The dedicated to Nezuko's mastery was not in-your-face triumph, but instead had a TV screen playing the Nezuko tribute music video version of her song, with the lyrics as scattered across the grey walls as the stream-of-consciousness lyrics.

9. Right after that, the staff ushers you in to the Hashira meeting, as though you were late.

Next to the meeting taking place, there is a model of Tanjiro's new old sword.

8. After that is a room dedicated to Giyuu's back story. I liked the design of the hanging screenshots in this one. Although the overall image is "water" because of the blue, the water design with light cast on the floor, and water droplet sounds mixed in with Giyuu's lines, the half-and-half effect was perhaps not intentional, but it was there. When you turn back to look through this room, the hanging screenshots--memories of Sabito and Tsutako--are all black.

9. The rest is a room dedicated to the different stages of Hashira training, with 3-D displays like riceballs, paper airplanes, pancakes with honeycomb and a ribbon, a board with ropes and sword cut marks (yikes), scuffed wooden swords, and a boulder you could push on. Along the tops of these displays were some eyeballs scoping everything out...

10. After that they put you in a theater room with three wide screens and headphones. At the last Zenshuuchuuten they did a reedit of the Akaza and Rengoku fight across three screens, so I figured this would have has plunging into the Infinity Fortress. After a preview review of Hashira Training highlights and Muzan's walk, yup, sure enough things got explosive and they plunged us in via the big screen, including some extra disorientation by zooming really closely in on some moving shots, or having multiple things happen at once across the screens.

11. Then they funnel you into a place with a TV playing the announcement for the Infinity Castle movies. No new content or news.

12. After that, these things tend to have a bright and happy Kimetsu Academy room! You could take photos, but there was a chalkboard with the voice actors have let their signatures and messages for the fans. I appreciated how they seemed to reflect their characters in their comments and handwriting, to some extent (certainly not Matsuoka (Inosuke) or none of it would be legible, but Hayami (Shinobu) has very legible, handwriting, and Hanae (Tanjiro) has comments like "I hope you'll feel like GUWAAA and GAAAAA!"). You could not take photos of the signatures, but you could take a photo of Mitsuri's art and figment of her imagination who says disparaging things to her (despite how she wants her art to make the world happy?? Oh, the irony):

13. The gallery concludes with a hall eyecatch illustrations, and a hall of Ufotable staff art paying homage to their favorite characters and scenes. Always treat seeing things in Ufotable style, but with individual craft and taste!

14. After that, you buy things. This is where they get ya.

Kind of thankfully, it's late enough in the exhibition's run that they've already run out of a lot of the smaller items I was intrigued by, so I behaved myself. I got the t-shirts I was planning on (I love the simplicity of them so so much, and really had to resist getting the paper airplane one too), a Daki ribbon item leftover from the last exhibition (though what I really wanted was Daki shoelaces), and an official pamphlet of the event. My friend got a couple Osaka-only badges,but since she got doubles of Zenitsuup the Umeda Sky Building, she gave one to me.

I really love that "nanikore" ("what the...?") design. It's so simple, and if you don’t know KnY, you might think they're just silly little circus dudes. But people who know will be like, "!!!" and their day will be a little brighter for having seen it.

Gonna do a quick self-reblog now with some extra photos!

[littlejuicebox]

Hello Gina! Been loving your stories a lot specially Astarion talks in his sleep and My Sun, My Moon 1&2! which is why I wanna try if you can do a one shot of their 1st anniversary of marriage! 🤭 just wondering how it was for them, usually they say the 1st year is the toughest one but i wanna see how you see it 🤭 Many thanks!! i look forward to more stories!

Hello, my friend! <3

I really love this prompt! Marriage is hard and Astarion has his quirks that would def make him frustrating to Tav! Love isn't always sunshine and rainbows.

I took this in a slightly different direction, it's a reflection on their first major argument! Hope you like it. <3

Warnings/Tags: not edited or beta read / In-game spoilers, fluff/angst w comfort / married people having an argument / this follows my HC fics for redemption Astarion x Tav but I'm pretty sure it can be read as a OneShot

Word Count: 1.7K

-----

Astarion cannot concentrate on the blasted contract in front of him any longer. The delivery should have been here by now.

He only had a few hours before you returned from the Upper City and his entire plan for your first anniversary would be shot if the florists didn’t hurry the hells up.

“You said they would arrive by midday and now it’s nearly teatime, Pascal!” Astarion snaps at his steward, a middle-aged human with wide set eyes and a scar running horizontally along his nose bridge.

Pascal sits on the far end of Astarion’s office, reviewing a ledger. He slowly raises his eyes from the document to meet the petulant visage of his employer.

“That is what the florist told me, my Lord. But it is quite a large order. Fifty night-blooming plants and shrubs would likely take several carts, sir. It’s certainly possible they’ve run into delays along the way.” Pascal responds, his voice gentle but unbothered, as if he’s grown used to placating the moods of the vampire over the past year.

Astarion simply huffs in response, “We did not pay a premium for those ingrates to simply—“

He stops as his highly acute hearing catches the sound of wheels turning along the manor’s pebbled drive. By the raucous sound of it, there are several wagons making their way towards the home's entrance.

“Pascal, they're here. I will go greet them; round up the other servants and have them stop what they’re doing immediately. We will need all hands to make up for lost time.” Astarion says as he tosses the contract he’d been reviewing, leaving it with a large stack of papers scattered across his desk.

Several of those papers had the remnants of ink splotches and blood splatters from an hours-long drafting session he’d done on a business proposal the day prior. The goblet he'd been drinking from yesterday, dirtied with now-dried blood, sits haphazardly in the corner of the desk.

Astarion struggled to contain his natural propensity toward sloppiness. His mind often worked far too quickly for him to slow down and pay attention to trivial things like bloodstains and spilled ink.

However, after multiple gentle chastisements and one angry explosion from you, he’d managed to curb his disorganization to his office, which you accepted. The argument you two had, prior to coming to this arrangement, had truly terrified him.

The pale elf makes sure to grab the goblet and place it out in the foyer for the maid to grab; she had never been allowed to enter the master bedchambers or his office, for privacy. You two were responsible for keeping those areas tidy. Astarion did... almost nothing to his office, while you kept everything pristine in the bedroom.

Except for that one time before the argument. His mind wanders as he exits the office, reflecting on the memory that keeps him cleaning up his goblets.

-----

He could tell by your voice alone that you were angry. Furious, in fact. The sound ripped him away from the contractor agreement he'd been reviewing.

“Astarion! How many times do I have to ask you to not leave cups of blood in the bedchambers!” Your voice came booming down the hallway before you burst into the office, causing the door to slam into the wall with a loud thud. His eyes caught sight of the angry red splotches on your face, and then trailed down to your wedding dress, clutched in your shaking hand.

There was a large, crimson bloodstain smattered along the train. He almost fainted at the sight.

So many hours of his own work. Drenched in blood.

“I’d laid this out for the servants to frame today, and Scratch ran into the bedroom and knocked the goblet of blood — that you left there, completely full, by the way — off your nightstand and onto the dress!” You were waving the grown vehemently as you spoke, voice cracking toward the end.

Oh, his little love was infuriated. His gut sank at the thought.

The anger in your voice sounded entirely foreign, it was rare for you to speak in such a manner to anyone. But towards him? Never. You always spoke to him in soft, adoring tones and little whispers. The only time you truly raised your voice had been in bed, and he rather liked it then.

But this? He did not like this one bit. It made his undead heart thrum with anxiety.

“My love, I—“ He begins, his voice honeyed and smooth in the usual tone he used to appease you, but you cut him off.

“I’m sick of your excuses and your words, Astarion! I’m sick of cleaning up after you! I have asked you more than once to not bring blood into the bedroom and you've deliberately ignored me. And the one time I don’t remove the damned goblet from the bedchamber look what happened! I can’t keep—“

You were crying by then. Large, angry tears rolling in streams down your face as you swiped angrily at your eyes. That dress, and the hours of work he'd put into it, had been a testimony of his love to you. His actions had made your heart soar; seeing the gown ruined caused your heart to break entirely.

And Astarion's heart almost broke at the sight of his little love so distraught, but he had no words nor actions to soothe you.

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath; he watched as the patches of red faded from your cheeks. When you opened them, the sight scared him and when you spoke, he was terrified.

Your face was blank, unreadable. Your tone was resigned. In that moment, in the absence of any discernible emotion, he felt certain you were going to leave him.

Eight months into a marriage and he was already failing; he knew he hadn't been cut out for this.

“I am very patient with you, Astarion. We both knew this wouldn’t be easy… with well, everything. Your condition, navigating my newfound fame, easing back into normalcy when we both have our baggage... but I chose this. I chose you. I choose you every day. Over and over. A hundred times a day."

You paused, and your eyes flicked between his, searching for something.

“I just wish I felt like you were still choosing me, too.”

And then you were gone. You left the dress crumpled on the floor as you turned and walked away.

As he moved from his desk to pick the garment up from the ground, he heard you call for Scratch and exit the front door. The sun was out, he couldn't follow you. And even if he did, there would be nothing he could say to placate you. He needed to give you time and space and wait for you to come to him; it was something he’d learned over the past eight months. Although he hated it.

So, he stayed in his office, trying to work, and failing at that, too.

After a few more hours, it was time to head to bed. When he entered your shared bedroom, he realized the goblet you'd spoken about had splattered over the sheets and onto the carpet, as well. He removed the goblet from the bedroom and placed it in the foyer; and then he changed the sheets, which you usually did. He waited for you to come to bed, but you never showed. Hadn’t he given you enough time by now?

Eventually he traveled to the guest chambers, certain you must be there sulking, and when he attempted to enter the room, the door was locked. He knocked tentatively on the door.

"Tav, darling--"

"No. And don't you dare pick the lock, Astarion."

"Tav, my sweet, please--"

"Please, Astarion. Please just leave me alone."

He wanted to pick the lock. Wanted to break down the door. Wanted to hold you in his arms and whisper apologies in your ear until you forgave him. But you always told him that his actions spoke louder than his words; honeyed lamentations would not work on you. Another thing he’d learned this past eight months.

And then he thought of the dress, which he'd left draped across the sofa in his office.

While you slept, Astarion set to work. He could have outsourced the task, sure... but truthfully, he did not trust anyone else with the fine detailing work he had spent several hours doing with his own hands. He'd created the masterpiece himself, after all, so perhaps it was best he restores it himself.

He worked gently, and for several hours, scrubbing the blood out of the fine fabric. His time with Cazador had taught him many things, and unfortunately a skill he used more often than he liked happened to be removing bloodstains from nearly any fabric.

By the time the gown was restored, his hands were raw from hours immersed in the harsh combination of soaps, chemicals, and water. It was past noon when he finished; you had certainly risen by now, but you hadn't come looking for him.

Astarion asked Pascal to place the gown in the sunroom to dry and then resigned himself to his office, back to reviewing contracts.

It was several hours later when you knocked on the office door, eyes downcast and face remorseful.

He didn't say anything, he just simply opened his arms and you crossed into the office before folding yourself in his lap. A few moments of quiet passed between you.

"I saw what you did to the dress. It must have taken hours... thank you." You finally whispered as your face nestled into the side of his neck. Your hot breath tickled, and he hummed in acknowledgement.

"It did, darling. And the skin on my hands certainly is not happy about it," He starts, and your hand comes to his as you bring it closer to your face, examining the uncharacteristically cracked knuckles and reddened flesh, "But you are worth the effort. And more. I'm sorry about the cups, my love.”

You placed a kiss on his chapped knuckle. An acceptance of the apology. And then you turned to face him and pressed a soft, tentative peck on his lips that made his entire body melt into you. Before long you two wound up on the floor of his office, and he made sure to use his actions to ensure you knew just how much he cared about you. How much he chose you.

And every day since then, he'd been certain to no longer bring goblets in the bedroom, and always leave them sitting in the foyer for the maid regardless of what room he was in. A tiny daily action signifying his love for you.

[icanseethefuture333]

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[shepscapades]

Hiii I LOVEEEEE your DBC AU so much!!!!! You've given me a concerning level of brainrot =w= I just have question about the new part that just came out: why is Etho going crazy? Is it bc of the trauma? Or is it smth else?

HI thank you!!! <3 It’s been mentioned here and there (I think I talked about it in the Part 1 post), but it’s probably not a bad idea to recap every now and then for any new folks. (I then proceeded to write everything out more detail than I’ve ever talked about it before!) so hopefully this makes things a little more clear! Gbjdghkvjm

Etho, who was still trying to get used to a full range of emotions on top of his first life series, had a REALLY hard time with how Last Life ended— the adrenaline and fear of Death Games’ Survival of the Fittest and being pit against all of his friends is one thing, but something about his relationship with bdubs was so much more important to him, and he essentially blames himself for bdubs’ permanent death in the series. He vividly remembers (has recorded + logged the memories of) himself telling bdubs he wouldn’t give him a life unless he killed one of the other reds— remembers bdubs saying he’ll kill to earn the life, remembers him looking so earnest and determined, vividly remembers the moment the message rang out that Bdubs had gotten his kill, and the message that Grian had killed Bdubs shortly after.

Etho never quite forgave himself for being the self-perceived reason bdubs dies (after all, he should have just given bdubs the life if he really cared and wanted him to survive), and he takes this grief back with him as they return to Hermitcraft Season 8. As someone who’s very new to feelings of guilt and failure, you can imagine how hard he took this— reviewing the memories again and again, trying to understand why he made those decisions, realizing how selfish he is, comparing his “failure to protect bdubs” to when he was first assigned to Bdubs, when he sacrificed himself to keep Bdubs safe.

As the moon situation escalated and hermitcraft got increasingly busy, Etho couldn’t find it in himself to confront bdubs (maybe not seeing himself fit to deserve bdubs’ forgiveness, or fearing Bdubs’ disappointment or anger with him) and his fears and regrets kind of slowly ate away at him until it shut him down. It’s actually a recurring theme for Etho that, because of the damage he sustained from the creeper blast that caused his deviancy, his systems are actually kind of fragile when it comes to pushing them to their extremes. When he feels an extraordinary amount of overwhelming emotion, his thirium pump starts to work in overdrive, and thirium starts leaking from all of the places his shell is cracked— his face, his shoulder, and his arm.

So the idea is that, Etho returns to Season 8 trying to… more or less forget about what happened— except he can’t, he’s obsessed with what happened, and his emotions start to overwhelm him until thirium starts to leak and whatnot. But I think deviants are fairly used to “dismissing” warnings, as sometimes their thirium pump will skip, their temperature will rise, or other system updates may happen when they feel certain emotions, and Etho is so distracted (or. Trying to be distracted) that he doesn’t realize he’s dismissing Thirium Loss notifications until it’s too late. He begins to shut down with Last Life on his mind, and the system errors that follow are all garbled out.

This technically happens before the moon destroys the server, which means etho is offline, or broken, or what have you, when the server gets destroyed, and this is actually what truly glitches him out. When Xisuma and Doc try to reboot him at the beginning of season 9, Etho’s system is caught on a glitch: Etho had shut down thinking about last life, so his programming is trying to eliminate the threat who killed bdubs as an attempt to fix what happened (bdubs dying). Etho’s trying to eliminate grian (who isn’t a threat anymore, because this isn’t last life, last life was ages ago) but he’s not thinking straight and can’t process anything beyond the Desperation+Fear+Guilt. Since Grian’s not in the room, he goes for the next best thing: the person who might be able to tell him where Grian is: the server admin. Doc just gets in the way of Etho trying to get to Xisuma, so Etho “decommissions” Doc in an attempt to remove him from the equation.

So um. Yeah! That should be everything more or less explained… hopefully it also clears up some details you may or may not notice in the comics! Etho starts leaking thirium throughout the destruction comics, Etho goes for Xisuma first… Etho having memory flashbacks of Last Life. If anything is particularly confusing feel free to ask more questions! But it’s kinda nice to be able to write out how I’ve logic’d out all of this happening in my head hehe (i plan on posting the DBHC Etho playlist soon with a brief explanation of each song in Etho’s timeline, so hopefully that will help too!) :]

[s12e28]

AlCale Fanfiction Recommendations from a Crazy Person (Updating…)

For those who can accept anything.

All the works are from sotdae (솟대). I recommend reading in this order…!

I Don’t Love You (나는 당신을 사랑해지 않는다)

Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 2 (R18) • Epilogue (R18)

_

Of course it matters who the Young Master Shield dates! The mere rumor of the Rowoon Empire losing their Moon, their Silver Light, to a lover from a foreign power is already causing an uproar in the nobles’ conference—what more if the citizens caught wind? All the development in post-war stability will be for naught… unless…

“…What is it, Your Majesty?”

“Will you go out with me?”

“Are you crazy?”

If problems can be solved with bigger problems, then scandals can be solved with even bigger scandals.

Alver and Cale fake-date for political reasons. It progresses exactly how you’d expect it to.

_

Beautifully written. The author was able to excellently capture how two of the most calculating bastards would get together in their own special way.

Plot and Dialogue : S-Tier

_

Real Person Can Sue You

Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 2 (R18)

_

‘Why would he do something so stupid? He was so rich that additional income didn’t mean anything, and the honor he could lose was endless.’

OR

The one where Cale picks up a strange hobby after everything’s settled down.

_

If ancient Mesopotamia could churn out fanfiction for their local heroes Gilgamesh and Enkidu, then who’s to say Rowoon won’t have the same for their beloved Sun and Moon? Anyways, I dub this the “fujo cale fanfic”. It was a very funny unhinged premise, but still.

Plot and Dialogue : S-Tier

_

Hand (손)

Oneshot

_

There’s nothing in the hands of Rowoon’s newly crowned King that Cale desires.

Alver knows this.

And really, it’s not a bad thing at all.

“When you could read love in my eyes, did you think I couldn’t read love in yours?”

_

Well, I thought this was really… the character interpretation… I can see it in canon. Cale sat Alver on the throne because he knows that by then, the other’s number one priority will always be Rowoon. The second that priority wavers, Cale will definitely beat the King back to his senses. Don’t be distracted by useless emotions and focus. It was bittersweet, but the ending was really good. Alcale is real…

Plot and Dialogue: S-Tier

_

Bum of the Governor’s Family (관찰사댁의 한량이 되었다)

Part 1 • Part 2

(I’m not doing it any justice—but basically the title is a parody of the original work. Maybe a more literal translation of the title would be “I Became The Bum Bride of the Governor’s Household” because of 관찰사댁의. Also 한량이 is the more ancient term equivalent for “Slacker” with use dating back to the 900’s Goryeo Dynasty—so just imagine that setting and time period.)

_

A white hand like snow stretched out in front of Alver’s eyes.

“Take it, Your Highness. Then I’ll give you the world.”

The sweetest temptation.

Alver took its hand.

_

Oriental AU. Characteristics of secondary-sex and pheromones, but not necessarily omegaverse. If you’re a fan of Kingmaker Cale, then this one’s for you. Cunning til the end, while it does roughly follow the plot of the original—there are still some moments that will make you go: ah!

Plot and Dialogue: S-tier

_

Love Potion (사랑의 묘약)

Oneshot

_

There lay an empty a glass plate, its previous contents reduced to mere crumbs of sugar.

Funny thing is, apparently one of them had… a love potion!?

“Your Majesty, if you’re in love with me right now, give me a week’s vacation.”

“Well, the potion’s effects only last for three days…”

“Tch. Then three days.”

Alver smiled faintly.

“Young Master Cale, if you’re in love with me right now, please review this budget report.”

_

It was funny how they couldn’t tell who took the love potion. Whatever they felt has always been, in their own definition, love. A very sweet story.

Plot and Dialogue: S-tier

_

Jane

Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 (R18)

WARNING: The content of this story may not be suitable for those who are sensitive to: Rape, Adultery, Self-Harm, Blackmail (incest), Graphic descriptions of Death/Murder (infants, toddlers).

Please read with caution.

-

“Don’t call me, I won’t answer.”

“Then how do I catch you?”

Cale, who was inclined against the bedside, smiled brightly. He leaned his red head against the window, long hair flowing down and mixing with the moonlight.

“How can you catch me?”

_

If you can handle the heavy themes listed in the warning, then PLEASE give “Jane” a chance. No words can describe the emotional rollercoaster that was this story. Every description was as vivid as it was jarring. The downwards slope came gradually, but when it got steep—it felt impossible to turn back. For you as a reader, and for them as characters. Think about if Alver and Cale’s usual tacit agreement with each other took a twisted turn. I can guarantee none of what you’re thinking of now could prepare you for this fic.

Plot and Dialogue: SSS-Tier

_

copycat

Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4 • Part 5 (R18) • Part 6 (R18) • Part 7 (R18) • Part 8 • Part 9

_

Basically LCF if it were the Sci-Fi genre. No excerpt, there are too many incredible parts. Heads up for scientists on steroids instead of mages, advanced AI robots instead of dragons, cyborgs instead of necromancers, and sick eugenicist AI White Star. Give it a read if you’re a fan of rich world building!

Plot and Dialogue: SSS-Tier

_

[spade-riddles]

“I gave so many signs” - While we anticipate the final eras tour show may come with a surprise, let’s rewind on some of the anons, messages and gifts we’ve had here that point toward dates in December and when the clock strikes midnight after 12/12, Taylor’s birthday.

🎃

Notably, arrived and left us 12 messages. The further two were additions to the story.

“The entirety of the story I came to tell is within my previous 12 messages.”

“Closer to that final time you will duck under the edge of the pedestal and drown in the waves of grief and relief in equal measure.”

“Because once that curtain draws, things will never be the same again.” Final eras show?

🌋

First message arrives, on the 12th!

“friday the 13th. a daunting day for some, a day to be brave for others. i am in between.” Taylor’s birthday this year falls on Friday the 13th.

“the moon will be a waxing gibbous. just barely surpassing the first quarter. 58% illumination” the moon is at 58% illumination waxing gibbous on the final eras show 12/08.

“straight? what’s straight? a line can be straight, or a street… but the heart of a human being?” from A Streetcar Named Desire, premiered in December 1947 on broadway.

“my true love gave to me … eight maids a-milking” the eighth day of the twelve days of christmas…

🫚

“1 2, 3 4 steps back” could point to 12/7 or 12/12 but with the follow up lines “Like candles on a snack.” “And until the clock strikes midnight” and the addition of the word “tenfold” to this riddle makes me think we are multiplying numbers for 12/12, when the clock strikes midnight that night for her birthday.

“9, 10, the final act ends” we’ve talked about this running on different calendars, such as the Roman calendar which would make December the 10th month.

“Or must one await cazimi” Mercury is cazimi as of 12/05.

🎁

Gift anon’s last message “as when the neighbour holds the lamp,
to witness her Goodbye— “ arrived exactly 8 months before 12/12.

The “For now, she slumbers” book that gift anon was seemingly pointing us to was also published 2/26, this could be a reach but it’s interesting that 2+6 and 2x6 equal the final eras show date 12/08.

Also random note while reviewing; has anyone following the mass movement theory picked up that this riddler came with “two things can be true” before Fletcher released “two things can be true” and Kelsey Ballerini released “two things” with the same line – both announced AFTER we received this riddle and both tied to a heavily speculated on and secretive queer relationship. I have only just realised this!

Going anon, specifically the scissor emojis.

Spade, still going, going, going? 📝✂️🤰🏾

10/14 = 24 (12/12)

Spade, still going, going, going? 💵📝✂️👋

10/25 = 35, 35th birthday.

Spade, still going, going, going? 📄✂️📌

11/01 = another 12

Spade, still going, going, going? 🏈📌✂️

11/13 = 24 again, do you see the pattern? I think someone was telling us to pin the date for 12/12 🤔

There are so many more variations of twelves everywhere too, review the riddles and i’m sure you will see them. Has December been in front of our faces the whole time? I love numerology!

Good work, riddler friend!

[self-spaghettification]

Looks like we’re getting a lot of crazy things in 6x05

which,

1. Considering the potential title “Moonless Night”, 6x05 will possibly be including Rayla being hurt or moon being otherwise metaphorically swallowed, (paralleling s3 swallowing/corruption of the sun’s power),

2. Considering episode 5 follows an episode titled “The Starscraper,” in 6x05 Aaravos is potentially freed at the end of 4 or during 5 and potentially possesses Callum which will lead to all sorts of trouble

3. Considering the connection of a scene between soren and viren with “until 6x05” and all the hints that the most impactful scenes between soren and viren were yet to come…. it seems likely that in 6x05 Soren and Viren will have a very emotionally charged moment together, also possibly with Claudia. Maybe with a confrontation of some kind, also involving the moon?

Let’s delve into this more though—As this potential title has ignited a spark to finally set ablaze and reveal the idea that has been percolating in my mind for months.

Moonless Night (and Why I Believe the Moon is Metaphorically Going to Be Swallowed) A S6 Speculative Meta

with arc1-arc2 parallels, norse mythology examination, reflections analysis and more

As far as I can see, the clue most directly points to Moonless Night. (Edit: which ended up being right!) And there are other reasons I’m on board.

I already went insane over this so let’s get started

A. S3-S6 Parallels

So, I’m a big fan of across arc season parallels as they’ve existed very overtly S1-S4 from the first moment, as well as some other things which in many ways are setup and reestablishment of dynamics (Rayla hesitating and breaking from her duty twice to help/see Callum instead, Harrow and Ezran respectively attempt to break free from the past but they have to acknowledge it, etc) as well as persistently in S2-S5:

and, it seems, *possibly* S3 to S6–

1. If we get another plot against Ezran that’s not a joke (as it is in s4 and many throwaway lines and jokes in tdp come back to bite us)—+“This coming season will test Ezran's pacifist instincts”

2. If Viren returns, something like this—

in contrast to the “I’m sorry it had to happen this way”/“No you’re not.”/“No, I’m not.” because Viren cannot doubt Ezran would be genuinely sorry

Viren would say I know because he gets it now, the new hesitant, less certain version who also feels bad for all he has done, but he wouldn’t have before.

SO… 3. If the Moon were to get metaphorically/literally swallowed on some level in S6, it would parallel 3x07, Hearts of Cinder.

Corruption via Aaravos’s…child.

which, coincidently, brings me to my next point!

B. Norse Mythology

I’ve briefly discussed this before here, but let’s review:

Aaravos’s similarities to Loki

Source: Twitter

But while we’re on Loki’s similarities to Aaravos, let’s consider what his other children are up to during Ragnarok, the end of the world in Norse Mythology, which seems fitting considering all the foreshadowing of what chaos Aaravos has wreaked in the past (Xadia) and present (Lux Aurea) and even future (ominous wording in the reflections) when given the chance.

Loki’s children during Ragnarok:

World Serpent — rises up from the depths, encircles the world and causes great waves and destruction (“The seas churned” 👀)

Hel — From the underworld, “leading an army of the dead, she marches against the gods, uniting with her brothers and other forces of chaos. This culminating battle signifies the cyclical nature of Norse myths; an end that's also a beginning.” [1] Speaking of which, sounds familiar, right? In Ripples:

“While one may say it ends with a sunrise, [beginning] another will insist it ends at nightfall. [end]”

“With its impact came a long and terrible night: The earth bled! The seas churned! The sun and moon hid for weeks behind the sky’s screaming storm!”

“And when the long, dark night had finally passed—for the sun must always rise, mustn’t it?—they gazed out upon an unfamiliar landscape.”

Fenrir— He was gagged with a sword and was destined to lie bound to a rock until the Ragnarök (Doomsday), when he will break his bonds and fall upon the gods. According to one version of the myth, Fenrir will devour the sun, and in the Ragnarök he will fight against the chief god Odin and swallow him. [2]

It’s interesting how Fenrir has even more parallels than Loki to Aaravos here. Trapped by a blade, chained against rocks like Prometheus (one of Aaravos’s primary inspirations) was when his liver (modern heart) was eaten every day, and when he’s freed all hell breaks loose, including swallowing people (see Zym and Aditi) and the sun. But was it him with the sun? Or…..

There’s something there about killing a god and being killed in return and making the stars fall and all the damage Claudia has suffered thus far, but anyway.

That’s right, Fenrir has two children, one who swallows the sun, and one who swallows the moon. During Ragnarok, while, also, the sea shakes. Ahem, back to this:

“With its impact came a long and terrible night: The earth bled! The seas churned! The sun and moon hid for weeks behind the sky’s screaming storm!”

So… earth blood?

Check… churning seas?

World Serpent — rises up from the depths, encircles the world and causes great waves and destruction

Check… sun and moon gone?

Check.

So, what do we do with this information?

C. Interpretation

So Aaravos with two children, one who swallows the sun, one the moon.

Swallowing the Moon

-Involving a Child

1. Most literally: Aaravos has that… homonculus child, which takes and poisons the power of the sun. Maybe we’re getting another of those? I’m honestly scared for what that actually means like is he having another kid for that because 😭

2. What I favor- a metaphor— If you can consider Claudia Aaravos’s child, well, child in law isn’t that far off for the sake of this theory I think it’s possible they team up and somehow metaphorically swallow the moon like Viren and Aaravos did in S3. ….Just taking the moon, corrupting it and using its power— like they did with the Sunfire power— to make troops invisible in their effort to conquer xadia part two (2!) (although this is probably like the nth time that Aaravos has attempted his plan.)

-not involving a child

3. it could also just be disrupting the moon nexus in some way. Aaravos tends to break reflections in one way or another, from mirrors to ripples.

in Ripples he talks about how he dislikes how the stars look down on their perfect reflection (the sea of cast out)

@parroset has written an excellent meta elaborating further on it here, but essentially, he breaks reflections. A reflection is key to the moon nexus, that lake is the moon nexus because it so perfectly reflects the moon. So… there’s something to that. And it would have to come in handy manipulating the veil between life and death.

4. Taking Luna Tenebris’s power in a flashback.

I’ve talked about why I think we’re finally getting Luna Tenebris content before here, but essentially we already got all the dragons in the 4 corners of the map via flashback or interaction, and now only she is left. A flashback on what really went down that day would be perfectly in line with us learning more about Aaravos’s past, perhaps interaction with Kim'dael as well as, hopefully, blood magic—and dark, star, and deep magic. It also fits in with swallowing the moon’s power, as she was a Moon Archdragon. Moonless night. This also ties back to the blood moon cult because they harvest the power of the moon to begin with.

Last but not least and most obvious and exciting to many,

5. Rayla= “Moon girlfriend.” Callum is already being targeted, and likely some terrible thing is going to happen to him up with the rating being up, creators crying over this episode and calling it “heartbreaking” and all of that, so swallowing the moon could be symbolism for her dying or something equally terrible (so he’s forced to exploit dark magic/Aaravos to save her.)

This also ties back to this being the episode following the star scraper and the theory that Callum is a Trojan horse and, once he’s there, all the shit is going down. Maybe Rayla gets in the way and tries to sacrifice herself. I wouldn’t be surprised. or maybe it’s an intentional harm so that Callum has to bring her back… who knows?

It is for you to think about as you see fit.

@beautifulterriblequeen also wrote about other possibilities for the Moonless night here!

D. Symbolism & Misc.

Now let’s talk about the other symbolic evidence pointing to the swallowing of the moon.

The first thing that got me hooked on this theory was actually this page, which we see Viren flipping through, and then in Callum’s sketchbook.

I already analyzed the markings surrounding Aaravos’s signature symbol, but I also found the eclipse and crescent moon especially interesting considering how important the eclipse motif has been in the series and uniquely tied to Aaravos.

Thus far I figured the moon also had to be significant right it also almost seemed to me as if both the sun and moon had a bite taken out of them.

Then, we have the Reflections.

After Darkness

“The writhing, tainted darkness of Lux Aurea’s night sky spread infinitely above him, the stars all swallowed up inside it.”

Ripples

“While one may say it ends with a sunrise, another will insist it ends at nightfall. ” (swallowed sun) (falling stars)

“With its impact came a long and terrible night/And in that endless dark the humans despaired. The humans huddled together, scarcely daring to breathe, awaiting the rise of the sun.”

which, side note- sol regem saying the sun will never rise again for me, karim saying the sun is setting on their kingdom, and aaravos telling viren that the sun will rise and he will not like augh.

Then there’s the more literal interpretations of swallowing the moon and or sun along with the stars - Consider

1, Aaravos is giant

2, Star eating sword

3, Star devourer dragons

And, let’s go back to the crescent.

Waxing Crescents are associated with growing power, which would also be fitting for Aaravos gaining power, possibly a literal powerup.

Let’s also consider what new moons mean- considering the possible name, moonless night, and all the swallowing of the moon, and starting a new cycle, new moons are certainly significant, right? Moonless night- A fresh start. Could be something!

In summary, I believe the moon will be metaphorically swallowed in S6 in one way or another.

I hope you enjoyed, and thank you for reading my thoughts! Please feel free to share any insights or reactions of your own!

[blackcat419]

Rewriting HotD: Plot breakdown of Fire and Blood the Dance of the Dragons

Part 2: 129 A.C. to the fall of Kings Landing in 130 A.C.

Part 1 Here

The following is an in depth plot breakdown of F&B where character moments, plot beats, difference in sources, and missing details will all be analyzed and possible solutions proposed. The timeline will start in 101 A.C. with the first great council as where the seeds of the dance were thoroughly sowed and watered to the death of Jaehaera in 133 A.C.

This is the first part of my rewriting HotD series. The next part will talk more about character arcs and expanding on them using the enneagram as a jumping off point.

Page numbers will be cited from my copy of fire and blood the 2022 Trade Paperback Tie-in Edition.

Legend

Bold for the year

Italic for character moments

Blue for Orwyle’s account

Purple for Munkun’s A True Telling

Green for Septon Eustace’s The Reign of King Viserys

Red for Mushroom’s The Testimony of Mushroom

Orange for rumors that have no source

Pink for minor sources where their credibility and bias will be discussed when they come up

(Parenthesis) will be used when I deem it necessary to comment on the story either about the plot or how the fandom views the story.

[brackets] will be used for when I want to add real world historical context.

Where Gyldayn does not identify which source he is using or which sources disagree with eachother, it will be assumed that all sources agree with each other.

Source Bias is discussed in Part 1

Because the war is barely three years, months and other year dividers will be used when mentioned.

129 A.C. The 3rd day of the 3rd moon

Viserys' dead body is discovered by a serving man who immediately informs Alicent. Eustace points out that the serving man went straight to Alicent without raising an alarm showing the green's planning for when Viserys dies. Pg 392 Mushroom says that Alicent poisoned Viserys though he was not in Kingslanding at the time. Pg 392

Alicent and Criston confirm Viserys is dead, seal his room and guard it so rumors won't spread, and the small council meets in Alicent's room. Pg 392-3

Munkun accounts the council in his book drawing from Orwyle's confessions and many other sources. (Remember Orwyle will try to make himself look as good as possible to avoid execution). Orwyle reviews the customs and tasks after a king's death but Otto interrupts saying they need to discuss succession. Munkun, and thus Orwyle as well, says Orwyle said objected and supported Rhaenyra while Mushroom and Eustace say Beesbury was the only one supporting Rhaenyra. Pg 394-5 (Perhaps Beesbury was the main supporter for Rhaenyra and Orwyle moved from supporting Rhaenyra to Aegon to avoid punishment)

The argument for Rhaenyra supported by Lord Beesbury and maybe Orwyle: Viserys chose Rhaenyra as his heir and refused to change his mind, hundreds of lords and landed Knights swore to defend her in 105 A.C., and taking the throne for Aegon would lead to war. Pg. 395-6

The argument for Aegon. Tyland Lannister: many lords who swore oaths in 105 A.C. are now dead and their children did not swear oaths to Rhaenyra. Jasper Wylde: Jaehaerys chose Baelon over Rhaenys in 92 A.C. and the council of 101 A.C. chose Viserys over Laenor (deriving his claim through his mother), and Andal law of sons before daughters. Otto and Alicent: Daemon will kill Otto, Alicent, and Alicent's children Aegon, Aemond, Daeron, Helaena, and Helaena's children. Criston: Rhaenyra's heir is a bastard and the red keep will become a brothel of depravity. Pg. 395-6

Orwyle tells us that Beesbury was seized at the command of Otto and placed in the black cell where he died of a chill. Eustace says Criston slit Beesbury's throat. While Mushroom says Criston defenestrated Beesbury and he died impales on the iron spikes in the moat. Pg 396

The green council plans Aegon's coronation makes sure no news of Viserys' death will get out, and the men swear a blood oath. Pg 397

---

Otto: Is the first to initiate the talks of the coup and is concerned about his and his family's lives.

Jasper Wylde: focuses on laws and traditions

Tyland Lannister: Focuses on personal oaths

Lord Beesbury: Following the previous monarch's wishes.

Criston Cole: Focuses on Rhaenyra breaking codes of honor.

Alicent: Focuses on laws and the lives of her family. According to Mushroom, she said, "Perhaps the whore will die in Childbirth". Pg 397

Larys Strong: doesn't participate in the debate but suggests swearing the blood oath.

129 A.C. The 4th day of the 3rd moon

Aemond and Helaena are informed of Aegon's impending coronation. Pg. 397-8

Munkun says Aegon is found at his revels. Mushroom says Criston found him in a Flea Bottom rat pit watching children fight and a girl blowing him. (Mushroom was not in Kingslanding at this time). Eustace says Aegon was with a paramour, the daughter of a wealthy merchant he took good care of. Aegon at first doesn't want the throne and Criston convinces him he must. Pg 398

The commander of the City watch and two of his seven captains are removed for being sympathetic to Rhaenyra. Luthor Largent is promoted to Commander and Gwayne Hightower is named second in command. Pg 398

Tyland becomes master of coin and splits the treasury into fourths sending one part to the Iron Bank of Braavos, one to Casterly Rock, and the last to Oldtown. The last part was saved to use for bribes. gifts, and hiring sellswords. Pg. 398-9

---

Aemond: said "Is Aegon king?... or must we kneel and kiss the old whore's cunny?" Pg. 397

Helaena: said "He is not in my bed, you may be sure. Feel free to search beneath the blankets." Pg. 398

Aegon: According to mushroom Aegon is pretty horrible but remember Mushroom is biased against Aegon and prone to adding in cruelty and depravity. Eustace paints Aegon as disinterested in the throne with him saying "My sister is heir, not me,... What sort of brother steals his sister's birthright?" he's only convinced when told that Rhaenyra will need to kill him and his family. Pg 398

Criston Cole: convinces Aegon to take the throne by telling him his family will be killed. Pg 398

Otto: is prudent and places Gwayne on the city watch to keep an eye on the commander. Pg 398

129 A.C. The 6th day of the 3rd moon

The green council examines the council of 101 A.C. to identify which lords are most likely to support Aegon. Pg 399

Borros Baratheon is deemed swayable from supporting Rhaenyra and Aemond is sent to win his support. Pg 399-400

The Starry Sept sends message asking about missing courtiers held in the dungeons of the red keep. Pg 400

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Aemond: Blusters at the suggestion he could fail to storms end. Pg 400

Otto: wants to spend more time planning for Aegon's coronation and alliances despite people noticing the missing coutiers. Pg 400

Alicent: wants to have Aegon's coronation now because people are noticing missing coutiers. Pg 400

Aegon: "Am I king or no?... If I am King then crown me" Pg 400

129 A.C. The 9th day of the 3rd moon

Steffon Darklyn defects and leaves Kingslanding in the night with his squire, two stewards, and four guardsmen. One of the stewards was entrusted to lock away the crown of Jaehaerys and Viserys but took it with him. Pg 401

129 A.C. The 10th day of the 3rd moon

Viserys' death and Aegon's succession as king is announced. Orwyle sends ravens, the silent sisters prepare Viserys' body, and riders announce it to the common folk. Some common folk cheer, others call out "Long live the queen", but most stay silent. Pg 400

The dragon pit is chosen for its ability to seat many and be defended. Criston crowns Aegon with Aegon the conqueror's crown. Alicent crowns Helaena with her own crown. Pg 400-1

Munkun and thus Orwyle tell us a hundred thousand small folk attended while Mushroom says the benches were half full (40 thousand as the dragon pit sits 80 thousand) Pg 401-2

Munkun says Aegon was escorted to Sunfyre, flew with him thrice around the city, then landed in the red keep to mount the iron throne. Pg 401

129 A.C. The 13th day of the 3rd moon

Rhaenyra goes into premature labor hearing the news of Visery's death and Aegon's coronation. Mushroom says she cursed the child and it was a still born girl with a hole where her heart should of been and a stubby scaley tail. Pg 402-3

129 A.C. The 14th day of the 3rd moon

Rhaenyra names the baby Visenya and coveins the black council. They discuss the dragon advantage the blacks have in numbers but Rhaenyra is wary of that as she is recovering from childbirth and does not want to risk her sons' lives. Daemon agrees and says they need to win over the lords first. Pg 403-6

Daemon leaves for Harrenhal to enforce their control of the Riverlords. Pg 407

Corlys closes off the gullet with a blockade and Rhaenys patrols the blockade to deture dragon fights. Pg 407

Jacaerys and Lucerys offer to ride their dragons to deliver messages to persuade the lords and also show they're Targaryens, not Strongs. Mushroom says Corlys corrected the boys with affection. Pg 407-8

Jace and Luke swear on the seven pointed star to only be messangers and to not fight. Jace flies for the Eryie, then White Harbor, and finishing with Winterfell. Luke flies to Stormsend with the council thinking it the easiest one to sway. Pg 408

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Rhaenyra: "She was my only daughter, and they killed her. They stole my crown and murdered my daughter, and they shall answer forit." Pg. 403 Worries for her sons fighting with their dragons.

Corlys: "Mayhaps the seven have preserved me for this one last fight" Pg 403

Rhaenys: described as fierce and fearless as she had been at 22. Pg 403-4 Focuses on the dragon number advantage over the greens.

Rhaena: was given one of Syrax's eggs and sleeps with it every night and prays for a dragon to match her sister's. Pg 405 (Rhaena yearns to be like her sister, to be what a targaryen is)

Laenor: Seasmoke is described as being his pride and passion pg 405

Daemon: "we must fight this war with words before we go to battle" Pg 406

Jacaerys and Lucerys: Offers to fly and deliver the messages to the lords showing bravery but also that they want to show they're Targaryens and not bastards.

Jeoffrey: wants to fly with his brothers but is forbidden because he's only eleven.

129 A.C. 15th day of the 3rd moon

Rhaenyra's coronation is held the next day and Steffon Darklyn arrives with the conciliator's crown. Daemon crowns Rhaenyra. Pg 408

Orwyle suggest that he visit Rhaenyra to persuade her that her cause is hopeless. Aegon accuses him of being a black supporter but Eustace says Alicent and Helaena persuade him to follow Orwyle's suggestion.

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Daemon: places the crown on Rhaenyra's head, similar to what he did with Viserys. Pg 308

Rhaenrya: Offers her siblings amnisty if they surrender to her and follows it up with reaffirming that the kinslayer is the most cursed. Pg 408-9

Aegon: Rash in wanting Rhaneyra and Daemon killed as quickly as possible.

Alicent and Helaena: influence Aegon away from his rash decision.

129 A.C. Unknown day after 16th of the 3rd moon Rhaenyra

Orwyle leaves for Dragon stone with Arryk Cargyll, Gwayne Hightower, Septon Eustace, and many septons and scribes to deliver King Aegon's terms. Munkun describes the terms as generous with Aegon confirming Rhaenyra's possession of Dragonstone, Jace as her heir to Dragonstone, Luke as heir to Driftmark, Aegon the younger and Viserys would be given places of honor, and pardons granted to lords who supported her. Pg 409

Rhaenyra questions Orwyle, Munkun says Orwyle gave a speak sighting Andal law and the council of 101 while Mushroom says he stuttered and wet himself. Pg 409-10

Rhaenyra strips Orwyle of his chain of office and gives it to her Maester Gerardys. Pg 410

Farwell my brother the song tells us Arryk and Erryk Cargyll trying to convince the other to leave and join their side, when they fail they exchange declarations of love for each other. Pg 410 Most likely a romanticized account of the brothers.

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Rhaenyra: Questioning Owryle why he's going against Viserys' wishes for her to be queen.

129 A.C. Unknown day after 16th of the 3rd moon Daemon

Simon Strong turns over Harrenhal to Daemon without a fight. Pg 412

Daemon takes Harrenhal without bloodshed. Pg 413

The knights, men-at-arms, and peasants quickly declare for Rhaenyra because they remember her during her progress in the Riverlands. The lords Frey, Blackwood, Mootons, Pipers, Rootes, Daeerys, Mallisters, and the Vance declare for Rhaenyra. Pg 414-5

Lord Grover Tully wants to declare for Aegon but his grandson Elmo Tully locks him in his room and the castle bars its gates. pg 414

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Alys Rivers: She is a wet nurse at Harrenhal and looks young. Munkun and Eustace say she is Lyonel Strong's bastard. Mushroom says she is much older. Munkun says she's a serving woman who dabbles in potions and spells. Eustace says she is a woods witch. Mushroom says she is an enchantress who bathed in blood to preserve her youth [A reference to Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian countess accused of murdering peasant and noble girls to bathe in their blood. Modern authors argue that the accusations were politically motivated instead of based in fact because of her large amount of wealth and land. Mathias II the HRE and King of Hungary also owed her a massive debt which was canceled when she was arrested.] Pg 413

129 A.C. Unknown day after 16th of the 3rd moon Jacaerys

Jacaerys flies to the Eyrie and gains Lady Jeyne's allegiance in exchange for a dragon. He secures white harbor by betrothing Jeoffrey to Lord Manderly's youngest daughter. Finally, Jace secures Winterfell with the pact of ice of fire where Cregan's son and heir would marry Jace's firstborn daughter. Pg 414-8

Munkun says Jace and Cregan got along with Jace reminding Cregan of his dead brother. Eustace says that Jace tried to sway him to the faith of the seven. Mushroom says that Jace slept with Cregan's bastard sister Sara Snow and the next day she claimed they were married to calm Cregan's wrath (this implies that they might not have been married at all. Perhaps a shrewd political move by Sara if she is real?) Mushroom also says Vermax laid a clutch of eggs in the crypts of Winterfell. 416-7

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Lady Jeyne Arryn: The Maiden of the veil has not married. She took the seat at age three and fought thrice to keep her seat. Munkun tells us that Jeyne sided with Rhaenyra because they are both women and kin. He also has Jeyne saying 'I misslike feeling powerless'. Eustace brings up rumors of her being a lesbian but dismisses them (a common theme of Eustace's). Mushroom says she was sex-crazed and had Jace give her oral to win her over (If sex crazed why not marry to avoid any obvious bastards?) Pg 414-5

Lord Desmond Manderly: Shrewd man using the previous promise of Viserra's betrothal to his house to get a royal marriage. Pg 415-6

Lord Cregan Stark: We know he chaffed at his Uncle's regency and overthrew him. Munkun tells us he is brotherly to Jace because Jace reminds him of his dead younger brother. Mushroom says Cregan held Sara's honor in high regard and was wroth at Jace for supposedly soiling her. So family orientated and honorable? But also ambitious that he imprisoned his uncle and his cousins? Cregan doesn't have a clear character to me.

129 A.C. Unknown day after 16th of the 3rd moon Storm's End

Aemond makes a marriage alliance with Borros Baratheon by marrying one of his daughters, but not Maris. Mushroom says he kissed each daughter before choosing. Pg 418-9

From the accounts of multiple witnesses at Storm's End Aemond taunted Luke and Borros was flushed either in embarrassment or vanity. Mushroom says he was drunk and Eustace says he was fearful. Borros dismisses Luke saying he will not ally with Rhaenyra. Aemond wants to fight Luke but is stopped by Borros. Aemond is then provoked to hunt Luke by Maris Baratheon taunting him. Pg 419-21

Aemond chases Luke during a storm which slows Luke. Storm's End's Watchmen say they saw a blast of fire and a shriek but did not see the fight clearly. Arrax's head and neck washed up on the shore three days later. Munkun says Luke died with Arrax. Mushroom says Luke's corpse washed up and Aemon'd cut out his eye to present to Maris. Rumors say Luke survived and lost all memory or that Vhagar swallowed him whole. Pg 421-2

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Lord Borros Baratheon: Is fickle, loves his daughters, and wants a son. Pg 418-9 Sources at Storm's End say he could have been vain. This is reinforced by Borros wanting a marriage alliance and being insulted to 'be called like a dog' by Rhaenyra. Pg 420

Aemond: threatens Luke with taunts about his bastardy and calls Rhaenyra a whore. Is provoked into attacking Luke by having his masculinity taunted. Was mad enough or reckless enough to commit kin slaying. Pg 420-1

Luke: maintains his cool under Aemond's taunts and threats. Pg 420

129 A.C. After Luke's Death

Aemond returns to Kingslanding and is scolded by both Alicent and Otto. Aegon holds a feist for Aemond. Pg 422

Rhaenyra collapses when she learns of Luke's death. Jeoffrey tries to fly off to attack Aemond with only Corlys and Rhaenys stopping him. Daemon sends Rhaenyra a letter saying 'an eye for an eye, a son for a son' (Interesting choice as the first part 'an eye for an eye' was never fulfilled, Luke never lost an eye for taking Aemond's) Pg 422

(The book says that Daemon had allies even on the green council)

Daemon reaches out to 'a pale stranger' (Mysaria most likely) who finds Cheese, a castle ratcatcher, and Blood, a former goldcloak who lost his title after beating a sexworker to death. Cheese leads them into the tower of the hand because Maegor's holdfast was too secure with only one way in and out. (We know Aegon and Helaena are staying in Maegor's Holdfast but we don't know where Aemond is. Daemon would know Maegor's Holdfast only has one entrance.) Pg 424

Blood and Cheese slip into Alicent's room, kill her bedmaid, and tie her up to wait for Helaena. (Blood and Cheese know Helaena visits Alicent so either Cheese knows this or Daemon told them.). Blood kill's Helaena's guard and cheese snatches Maelor from her. They tell Helaena they are debt collectors and to choose which son she wants to lose. Helaena offers up her own life instead but they refuse. Cheese tells Helaena to pick before Blood rapes Jaehaera and they kill them all. Helaena reluctantly picks Maelor, Cheese taunts Maelor saying his mom wants him dead, and Blood beheads Jaehaerys. Blood and Cheese leave with Jaehaerys' head. Pg 424-5

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Otto and Alicent: Both scold Aemond for his rash actions. Alicent pleads to the mother for mercy while Otto admonishes Aemond for being so blind. Pg 422

Jeoffrey: Swears an oath of vengeance and wants to fight Aemond. Pg 422

Daemon: Turns to such a violent act when learning of Luke's death. an escalation of his reaction to when he feels powerless? Pg 422

Helaena: Keeps her cool when faced with Blood and Cheese having killed her guard, killed Alicent's bedmaid, and taken her youngest son. Offers herself up instead of her son and only when she is told its a son or all of them die does she name Maelor while weeping. Pg 425

129 A.C. 2 days after Jaehaery's death

Blood is caught trying to flee with Jaehaerys' head and confesses it was Mysaria and Daemon who gave him the job. Pg 425

129 A.C. 15 days after Jaehaery's death

Blood dies after 13 days of torture. pg 425

Mushroom says Alicent wanted Larys to learn Blood's true name so she could bathe in his wife and kid's blood. [another Elizabeth Bathory reference] pg 425

Luthor Largent (put a pin in this) and his gold cloaks fail to find Cheese and Mysaria. Pg 425

Aegon orders every rat catcher to be hanged and Otto brings in 100 cats to replace them. Pg 427

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Helaena: Over taken with grief, stops eating, bathing, or leaving her chamber. Can't look at Maelor without crying. And her and Aegon stop sharing a bed. Pg 427

Aegon: Orders masse execution to ensure his son's murderer is killed. He rages, drinks, and rages. Pg 427

129 A.C. The Riverlands The Battle of the Burning Mill

Daemon and Lord Samwell Blackwood force the Brackens to surrender. Ser Amos Bracken (Heir to Stone Hedge) slew Lord Samwell Blackwood and was killed by an arrow from Alysanne Blackwood. Pg 428-29

129 A.C. Kingslanding, Criston as Hand

Otto redoubles efforts to win over the Lords swearing to Rhaenyra, but Aegon sees his efforts as cowardly. Pg 429

House Tyrell remains neutral with the Hightowers and the Redwynes swearing for Aegon and the Beesburies, Costayne, Mullendore, Tarly, Rowan, and Grimm swearing for Rhaenyra. Pg 430

Otto seeks an Alliance with the Triarchy but it takes too long for Aegon's liking leading to Aegon to remove Otto as hand and replace him with Criston Cole. Pg 430-1

Criston kills the lords in the dungeons and mounts the heads of those still loyal to Rhaenyra over the city's gate. 431-2

The entire green council has to persuade Aegon not to fly to Dragonstone to avenge Jaehaerys. Criston instead sends Arryk Cargyll to kill Rhaenyra disguised as his twin Erryk. Pg. 432

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Aegon: According to Eustace, Aegon tells Otto "Thrones are won with swords, not quills. Spill blood, not ink." Showing his eagerness to fight. Munkun says that the fall of Harrenhall and the Battle of the Burning Mill made Aegon fearful of his position. Pg 430. He feels stressed from losing allies to Rhaenyra and is mad at Otto for not acting quicker Pg 430. He also removes Otto as hand for Criston. Pg 431. Desperate to avenge Jaehaerys. Pg 432

Otto: Focused on diplomatically winning over the Lords.

Alicent: Spoke in defense of Otto as hand

Criston: "It is not for you to plead for support from your lords, like a beggar pleading for alms… You are the lawful king of Westeros, and those who deny it are traitors. It is past time they learned the price of treason" Pg 431. Quick to act in Aegon's favor and remove his enemies.

129 A.C. The deaths of the Cargyll Twins

Munkun says Arryk left just to slay Rhaenyra while Mushroom says he was sent to slay Jace and Jeoff. Pg 433. The singers say that they exchanged vows of love before fighting. Pg 433. Munkun says the fighting lasted almost an hour and woke many. Pg 433 Mushroom says the battle was short and no declarations of love were said. Pg 433. Both brothers died. 433-4

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Arryk Cargyll: Eustace tells us he visited the sept to pray for forgiveness while following the king's orders. Pg 432-3 Mushroom says Arryk was more of a soldier who carried out his orders and fought his brother to the death.

Erryk Cargyll: Mushroom says he died of a gut wound four days after battling his brother, cursing his name. Pg 433

129 A.C. Rook's Rest

Criston marches to take Rosby and Stokeworth to prove their loyalty to Aegon by supplying men to Criston's army. Criston takes Duskendale by surprise, sacks the city, burns the ships, and beheads the lord Duskendale. The Duskendale soldiers were given the choice of switching sides or dying. Criston sieges Rook's Rest and the lord sends a letter to Rhaenyra asking for assistance. Pg 434

Nine days later, Rhaenys and Meyles arrive at Rook's Rest. Criston first has crossbow men and scorpions attack before Aegon and Aemond attack on their dragons. Rhaenys stays to fight and the three dragons crash to the ground together. Fire engulfs the dragons and when it goes out only Vhagar rises. Both Meleys and Rhaenys die. Sunfyre and Aegon are alive but both badly injured. Pg 435-6

The lord of Rook's Rest head is taken back and mounted in kingslanding and Meleys' head is carried through the cities and awes the crowd into silence. Pg 436 Eustace says thousands fled before Alicent ordered the gates closed. Pg 436

Aegon sleeps every nine of ten hours and is prayed over and tended to. Criston and Alicent both visit him but Helaena does not. Pg 436-7

Sunfyre remains at Rook's rest feeding on the dead and later has sheep and calves delivered. Pg 437

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Rhaenyra: Munkun says Rhaenyra was reluctant to attack out of fear of becoming a kingslayer, Eustace says she had a mother's heart and did not want to risk her sons' lives. Mushroom says Rhaenyra was too grief-stricken to engage in Council meetings. 434-5

Criston: expected Rhaenys to show up and planned on it using Aegon and Aemond to ambush her. This shows his intelligence and battle intellect. He also sits with Aegon while he is in a coma alongside Alicent showing his love and care for him.

Rhaenys: The book makes a point of her not turning and running implying she might have been able to escape and chose to stay and fight showing bravery.

Alicent: Sits by Aegon's side while he is in his coma showing her love for him.

Helaena: does not visit Aego because she is too lost in grief.

129 A.C. Prince Regent

Aemond becomes regent and calls himself Protector of the Realm (A reference to Oliver Cromwell) and Prince Regent. Pg 437

Criston warns Aemond about the gathering forces in the north and the vale. Pg 437

Ormund Hightower faces guerilla war tactics and sends for Aemond's help. Pg 437-8

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Aemond: about the crown "It looks better on me than it ever did on him" and Eustace says he did not need to be told twice that he was regent. Pg 437 Aemond is overly confident in his own strength, viewing Rhaenyra on dragon stone and the enemy in the reach as no real threat compared to Daemon. Pg 438

129 A.C. Dragon Stone, Fallout after Rhaeny's death

Corlys blames Rhaenyra for Rhaenys death saying she should have gone or sent her sons. Pg 439

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Corlys: Blames Rhaenyra for sending Rhaenys and not sending her sons with her

Rhaenyra: Sent Rhaenys instead of herself and forbid Jace and Jeoff to follow. Calls her living sons "my strength and my consolation." Pg 439

Jace and Jeoff: wanted to fly with Rhaenys to Rooks rest.

129 A.C. Late in the Year

Jace sends Jeoffrey to fly to Gulltown. Rhaena accompanies Jeoffrey with three dragon eggs. He reaches out to the Prince of Pentos to foster Aegon the Younger and Viserys. Reconcils with Corlys by making him Hand of the Queen. Pg 439-40

Baela remains on dragon stone and wishes to wed Jace. Munkun says Jace wanted to wait until after the war to wed Baela while Mushroom said he was already wed to Saera Snow.

Mushroom says he told Jace to look for dragon seeds.

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Jace: Takes charge by fulfilling promises and ensuring the safety of his brothers and step sister. Reluctant to wed Baela either waiting till the war ends or because he was already wed to Saera.

Jeoffrey: Reluctant to go to the Vale and only concedes when told he will defend the Vale with his dragon. Pg 439-40

Rhaena: prays daily over the three dragon eggs. Pg 440

Baela: wished to fight beside Jace and marry him as soon as possible

129 A.C. The Red Sowing

Jace offers anyone who can claim a dragon will be granted lands, riches, knighthood, sons made nobles, and daughters married to lords. Many seeds and non seeds attempt to claim dragons. Pg 441-2

Munkun says 16 men died and thrice that number was burned including Stephon Darklyn the lord commander of the queen's guard, Lord Gorman Massey, and Silver Denys and his sons. Pg 442

Hugh claims Vermithor, Ulf claims silverwing, and Addam claims Seasmoke. Pg 442

Corlys brings Addam and Alyn to the sowing with their mother Marilda of Hull claiming them sons of Laenor. Eustace and Munkun say they were Laenor's sons while Mushroom claims them to be Corly's sons Pg 443

Corlys and Jace petition Rhaenyra to make Addam and Alyn true born Pg 444 (Even though Jeoffrey is still alive, he is betrothed to a Manderly and cannot marry Rhaena so Corlys seeks to have Addam made true born so he can have both his blood and name secure driftmark)

Alyn attempts to claim Grey Ghost and Sheepstealer but fails and is burned by Sheepstealer. Pg 445

Nettles claims Sheepstealer by bringing him sheep every morning to gain his trust. Munkun says her name is Nettles, Mushroom says Netty (sounds like a nickname)

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Hugh: Called Hugh Hammer and hard Hugh

Ulf: called Ulf the White and Ulf the Sot

Corlys: Brings either his bastard sons or grandsons to the sowing and later petitions for them to be made trueborn

Jacaerys: joins Corlys' to petition that Addam and Alyn be made trueborn

Rhaenys: Mushroom says she has the fiery temperament of most Targaryens and would not take kindly to her husband's fathering bastards. Pg 444

Nettles: Claims Sheepstealer by winning his trust. Is described as foul mouth and fearless.

End of 129 A.C.

Aegon and Viserys are attacked on the Gay Abandoned by the Triarchy. Aegon manages to escape on Stormcloud but the dragon dies and Viserys hides his dragon egg and disguises himself as a ship-boy only to be found out soon after. Pg 446-7

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Aegon the younger: Flies his dragon back to dragon stone, Mushroom says he was trembling like a leaf and reeked of piss.

Viserys: Described as clever for hiding his egg and dressing as a ship-boy.

130 A.C. First Moon 5th day

Sharako Lohar of Lys takes the Velaryon fleet by surprise by attacking them with the sun on their back. Another sect of the army takes Spicetown and by morning the town is burning and troops are at High Tide. Pg 447

Jacaerys attacks on Vermax, the men of the free city don't fear him as they faced Daemon on Caraxes before. The dragon seeds show up and turn the tide of battle.

Some say Vermax died with an arrow through his eye like Meraxes. Another says Vermax was pierced by a hook and due to his own speed, the hook tore through his belly. Survivors of the battle say Vermax crashed into a ship and sank with it while Jace held onto driftwood only to be shot with dozens of cross-bolt arrows. Pg 448 (I'd say the second rumor account and the survivor account can be believed as they are recounting what just happened after the battle)

Spicetown is brutally sacked and never rebuilt [This might be eluding to the sacking of Carthage and the tale of it never being rebuilt but historically important cities like Spicetown would be rebuilt on top of the ashes because these cities are invaluable places.] Hightide, Corlys' treasure, and his servants are burned and killed. Viserys is believed dead. Pg 448-50

The free cities lose 62 ships, and the majority of the surviving ships are commanded by Lysenie leading Tyrosh and Myr to accuse Sharako of holding his men back, leading to the Daughter's war and the resolution of the Triarchy. Pg 448

Ulf and Hugh drunk to celebrate their victory. Nettles does not share in the celebration. Addam seeks out Corlys but we do not know why. Pg 450

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Jacaerys: Leads the charge on dragon back.

Aegon the Younger: Blames himself for not saving Viserys.

Corlys: says "if this be victory, I pray I never win another."

Hugh: drinks to celebrate and says "We are knights now, truly." Pg 450

Ulf: drinks to celebrate and says "Fie on that. We should be Lords." Pg 450

Nettles: fought bravely but returned with a soot covered and tear stricken. Pg 450

130 A.C. First Moon 19th Day

Daeron saves Ormound Hightower from defeat during the battle of the honey wine and is knighted by him. Pg 540-1

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Daeron: Gentle and soft-spoken. Modest when named 'Daeron the Daring' saying victory should belong to Tessarion.

130 A.C. After the Battle of the Gullet

Aemond plans to attack the Riverlands with the Lannister army and Criston Cole. Pg 452

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Rhaenyra: Hardened by Jace's death, she wants to rain fire and blood on Aegon II Pg 451

Aemond: wants to act immediately and not wait for Daeron, Aegon, or the Stormlands. Pg 452

Criston and Tyland: Prefer the bold action Pg 452

Orwyle, Jasper, and Alicent: Urge caution and waiting. Pg 452

130 A.C. less than 17 days later

Daemon gets word from 'his friends in Kings Landing' (So Mysaria or someone else) that Aemond is marching on Harrenhal. He sends out a murder of ravens from Harrenhal. Pg 453

Jason Lannister tries to push the crossing at Red Fork but fails thrice and is killed by a squire later knighted as 'Pate 'Lionslayer' of Longleaf. On the fourth attack, led by Lord Adrian Tarbeck, the Westerman attacked by slipping upstream and sneaking behind Lord Vance's line. The Westerman cross the red fork. Pg 453

The Ironborn attack Lannisport, sacking the city, and kidnapping Jason Lannister's Mistress and bastard daughters. Pg 453

Lord Mooton takes the garrison at Rook's rest by surprise and tries to kill Sunfyre only to find him and his guards fit for a fight. Lord Mooton is killed by Sunfyre and his body is found 14 days later but Sunfyre is nowhere to be seen with no trail, suggesting he flew away. Pg 454

Daemon evades Aemond and his host to meet up with Rhaenyra to circle above Kingslanding. Small folks flee the city and riots break out in fleabottom. Pg 454-6

Alicent takes charge during the siege, orders the goldcloaks to the walls, closes the gates of the castle and city, and sends riders to retrieve Aemond. Pg 456

The goldcloaks turn to Daemon, Luthor Largent (most likely the spy for Daemond) kill Gwayne Hightower, and opens the gates to Corlys' men. Pg 456

13 Hightower men hold out in the river gate for almost 8 hours before being overrun, the remaining loyalist fled or bent the knee to Rhaenyra. Pg 457

Daemon, Nettles, Hugh, and Ulf take the city before ensuring its safe for Rhaenyra to enter. Pg 457

Alicent tries to convince Rhaenyra to call a great council, but Rhaenyra says they both know how it would rule (presumably in favor of Aegon even though Rhaenyra has more of an advantage now). Alicent is threatened with fire or yield and surrenders the city to Rhaenyra. Pg 457

Helaena is found locked in her bedroom (perhaps her own doing or for her safety?) and Aegon is not found in his chambers. Aegon and Helaena's kids, Jaehaera and Maelor, also fled with two kingsguards. Alicent does not know or does not tell where they went. Pg 457-9

Rhaenyra takes the iron throne and has everyone in the red keep brought before her to swear loyalty. Eustace says the ceremony lasted through the night and when Rhaenyra rose from the throne, her hands and legs dripped blood. Pg 459

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Daemon: says "Past time" When he learns Aemond is marching to attack.

Gwayn Hightower: tries to signal the alarm when the gold cloaks turn and remain loyal and defiant till his death. Pg 456

Alicent Hightower: Attempts to call a great council after Kingslanding is taken. Even after surrendering, stays defiant.

Rhaenyra: Refuses the great council claiming they know how it would rule.

[bajistadiamond]

Yuu and the Magical Power of Songs

Yuu Singer, 🎶💎Ramshackle💎🎶 (This is Halloween) Halloween - Part 1

Halloween… one of the biggest holidays in the world; filled with a lot of joy and fun, but also hiding a lot of darkness. Yuu hoped it would be as normal as she could be in a place as extravagant as Twisted Wonderland.

And yes, at first it was… except for the part where Yuu wanted to hit Crowley to a pulp with a frying pan for almost leaving him out of the event organization meetings.

Each dorm had its theme and area specified for the event; and while Malleus initially wanted to use the Ramshackle area, Yuu wanted to prepare something of his own.

The entire Ramshackle dormitory (Yuu already had a new name and even a representative figure, he just wanted to make the presentation and inauguration at the right time) had been transformed to look like a mix of all the sagas of the Uncharted video game.

Fortunately for Yuu, somehow without explanation or logic Uncharted existed on TW under another name.

The bedroom became the ruins of a Victorian mansion with torn pirate flags and skeletons dressed as pirates. With the help of his magic, ghosts and Idia for special effects he was able to achieve an area with a golden sacphage with a sign that said "Do you dare to open it?". Inside was the seal of the bedroom in the hands of a very realistic plastic corpse. When you opened the sarcophagus and took the seal, skull-like zombie-like monsters and hairy beasts would appear and chase you into a room with two doors. A door took you to a winter area that had a grayish tree with blue veins connected to a blue amber sphere. The other sent you to a desert with fountains and marble statues with floating pyramids. Both areas were more for selfies than anything else; Then you walked out of the building to see the scene of a plane crash, an abandoned train, and boxes with the Shoreline logo. And finally, next to the entrance tree, a statue of Sir Francis Drake.

Yuu doesn't know how, but somehow everything came together nicely.

Yuu's outfit was that of Nathan Drake and Grim, transformed into a human beast thanks to a potion, dressed as Sullivan.

Yuu smiled as he looked in the mirror with the costume ready for him.

There was only one day left until the entire event began and the doors of NRC opened to the public.

"Nhya! Henchman, hurry up!" Grim shouted from below. The other delegates had already arrived to review the final details.

Yuu sighed before adjusting his belt a little and leaving the room.

"I hope everything turns out well." The brunette thought as he went down the stairs. … … …

Little did Yuu know that: Halloween + NRC = Chaos

Yuu certainly shouldn't be surprised at what a disaster the open days turned out to be.

What leaves the white-haired man speechless is that it all started with a photo… with a fucking photo!

Yuu knew that he had a decent amount of followers on MagiCam (having the "voice of the gods" already gives you a very high status in Twisted Wonderland society) and thanks to that he has made a couple of very good contracts for his account banking with the help of Vil as his instructor in the world of reflectors.

But hey… who knew that a photo of Yuu and Grim in their Halloween costumes and the three Ramshackle ghosts would cause visitors to become "MagiCam Monsters".

Now all the NRC students are elated with the parade on the last night of the event.

The floats decorated with the theme of each dorm came out of the warehouse where they kept the black carriages near the coliseum.

"It was a long time ago, much longer than you think." Yuu narrated in an enigmatic voice. "In a place that you have perhaps seen in your dreams." People felt a chill run through them. "And the story I will tell for you, the world of endless parties happened." Leaders and sub-leaders began to laugh macabrely. "Maybe you've wondered about the history of the holidays." The magic made the entire NRC look much creepier under the glow of the full moon. "Pay attention, because this is now beginning." Yuu finished saying before the streetlights went out and only the pumpkin lanterns remained lit that made the pupils of all the students shine. Yuu led the parade as the music started to play… it was sinister, mysterious and lively.

Boys and girls of every age~

Wouldn't you like to see something strange?~

The light came to life in flashes that blinded the visitors for a second; All the students danced on the floats, each one to their own chaotic and crazy rhythm. The hair hid Yuu's eyes, so only a big smile was visible as he sang. For the NRC visitors it was fortunate that the event was not canceled by the crazy people at MagiCam; It was lucky to see the youngest person in TW with "the voice of the gods".

Come with us and you will see~

This, our town of Halloween~

The spectators most sensitive to magic felt that a mermaid was singing; luring them into a perverse and dark world. Yuu jumped almost 2 meters; doing cartwheels in the air and walking as if he were the king of the world among his companions.

This is Halloween, this is Halloween~

Pumpkins scream in the dead of night~

The pumpkins seemed to have come to life; the pumpkins seemed to sing and jumped on the dry grass, the will-o'-the-wisp appeared dancing between the trees and the crows flew laughing while dropping feathers.

This is Halloween, everybody make a scene~

Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright~

From their floats Deuce, Jack, Ortho and Sebek threw candy and confetti while Grim, Ace and Epel threw rolls of toilet paper and bags filled with fake blood. Everyone was laughing like crazy horror movie villains and having a great time. The visitors also laughed with amusement at the little scares caused by Yuu's magic.

It's our town, everybody scream~

In this town of Halloween~

Ghosts were also part of the show; appearing from the ground where there were tombstones, passing through and flying over the visitors. In turn, Yuu surfed on an army of spiders made of magic and the horses on the floats, which were painted with chemical-free neon paint, became more skeletal and spooky.

I am the one hiding under your bed~

Yuu climbed onto Scarabia's float and hugged Kalim and Jamil by the shoulders, who smiled and howled at the moon.

Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red~

Jamil smiled, he danced like he had never done before. He felt so free, so wild, and it was all thanks to Yuu. "How handsome he looks." Viper thought, as he saw the prefect of Ramshackle, who smiled at the dark-haired man and dragged him with him. Kalim looked mischievously at the first year and Jamil as they jumped onto the Heartslabyul float; he was very sure that the two of them and Ruggie would make a very romantic threesome.

I am the one hiding under your stairs~

Riddle danced sublimely with his cane as he greeted everyone. Trey mischievously came up behind him and gave him a little scare. Riddle looked at him with a pout. "He spends too much time with Floyd." The redhead thought because the habits of the most annoying of the Leechs were infecting his childhood friend.

Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair~

Trey looked at Riddle with tender eyes before removing his black veil and giving him a quick kiss. Riddle blushes like a strawberry while Trey laughs like crazy; they both started dancing as if they were at a gala. Cater was more than happy to have photos of the moment.

This is Halloween, this is Halloween~

Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!~

Bats and crows circling over the NRC castle. Yuu jumped with Jamil from the float onto the pavement of Main Street. The first year snapped his fingers and the statues of the Big 7 began to dance to the music.

In this town we call home~

Everyone hail to the pumpkin song~

Jade and Floyd smiled like predators, giving candy to the minors and taking photos with those they wanted. The ribbons and scraps of fabric from their suits floated as if they had a mind of their own.

In this town, don't we love it now?~

Everybody's waiting for the next surprise~

Azul, to no one's surprise, was already making plans to extend the Halloween specials at Mostro Lounge for another week. "I need to talk to the mayor about tariffs on exotic products." The one with glasses thought before throwing his hat into the air and Yuu's magic made it explode into jelly beans.

Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can~

Idia couldn't describe in words the feeling he got from being dressed up. He felt like the brave hero of the stories he and Ortho read. "You look so normal Nii-san." Ortho told him, trying not to laugh.

Something's waiting now to pounce, and how you'll… ~

The eldest of the Shroud brothers crossed his arms, but nothing took him out of his moment as a brave knight… or so he thought.

Scream!

Yuu's scream almost made Idia fall; Ortho laughed and was grateful to have his cameras in recording mode.

This is Halloween~

Red and black~

Lilia sang, appearing head first among the visitors, who were scared and then laughed. Sebek despite initial reluctance, was having fun. It had taken him time and he still had to learn, but being more tolerant was paying off.

Slimy green~

Silver looked at Sebek, and couldn't help but feel proud of how he had managed to make friends. Ace approached the green-haired man to point out a group that seemed to come from Noble Bell College. The two laughed before approaching said group and scaring them.

Aren't you scared?~

"Although… maybe those friendships are corrupting him." Silver thought, watching as Sebek laughed out loud while Ace chased the group that came from NBC as if they were monsters.

Well, that's just fine~

Then the silver knight of Diasomnia remembered that it was his father who suggested that Sebek have friends. "It's not my problem." Silver thought, shrugging his shoulders and continuing the song.

Say it once, say it twice~

Take a chance and roll the dice~

Vil danced with his characteristic poise and grace; many were fainting or having runny noses when they saw the actor's captivating gaze and his tongue running over the fake quotes of his costume. Neige, who was incognito among the visitors, bit his lips, resisting the urge to kidnap Vil.

Ride with the moon in the dead of night~

Epel will never admit to Vil, but he felt very handsome in the suit, although perhaps that was already obvious considering he was dancing with Rook while they pointed at the moon. Yuu also pointed at the moon, causing it to turn crimson.

Everybody scream, everybody scream~

In our town of Halloween!~

Yuu stopped for a moment to take in his surroundings; He concentrated a little and took control of everyone. All the NRC students followed the choreography with enthusiasm.

I am the clown with the tear-away face~ Idia said before removing the pumpkin from his head.

Here in a flash and gone without a trace~ Floyd sang with his sharp smile.

I am the “who” when you call, “Who's there?” ~ Malleus, who had walked with his head bowed, began to sing.

I am the wind blowing through your hair~ Prince Draconia raised his head; His eyes were shining and smoke came from his lips.

I am the shadow on the moon at night~ Grim sang as he transformed into his monstrous version.

Filling your dreams to the brim with fright~ Jack, using Vil's modeling lessons, walked as if on a catwalk while making the gesture of passing his saber across his neck.

This is Halloween, this is Halloween~

Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!~

Halloween! Halloween!~

Yuu and Jamil boarded Savanaclaw's float. The one with white hair was euphoric, it had been a long time since "the voice of the gods" no longer tired him but filled him with energy.

Tender lumplings everywhere~

Leona and Ruggie were putting on a great show; The beastmen threw their steel and gold sabers into the air to retrieve them and start a fight on the galleon-shaped float. Scarabia and Ramshackle smiled at each other before taking a saber.

Life's no fun without a good scare~

It looked like Leona was going to win the duel, but Jamil and Yuu joined the hyena beast boy. The lion couldn't say anything, because nothing in life was fair, so he decided to try to kick their butts.

That's our job, but we're not mean~

In our town of Halloween~

The teachers and director watched the entire parade from a box. They were enjoying delicious sangria provided by Sam while also enjoying the song; None of them could deny that they wanted to be part of the parade.

In this town~

Don't we love it now?~

Everyone's waiting for the next surprise~

Yuu, accompanied by Ruggie and Jamil, escaped from the pirate Leona, and went to the center of the parade. The floats stopped and were ready to give the grand finale.

The big seven could catch you in the back~

The crescendo of the song began to make an appearance. People couldn't stop dancing and laughing at the mischief of the atmosphere... All the students looked at the floor as they stomped their feet.

And scream like a banshee~

In unison, they raise their heads abruptly and shake, making a quick backward movement, bringing their hands to their mouths to simulate a scream. Then, with jerky movements, each dormitory leader opened his arms and carried them in a wide circle upward; the color magic of his dorms swirled in his hands.

Make you jump out of your skin~

Ace, Deuce, Jack, Epel, Ortho, Sebek and Grim danced in a circle, with small jumps, as if they were doing a ritual to call the spirits. Meanwhile, the sub-leaders stepped back sharply, feigning surprise, and each one in a different posture, as if they had seen something terrifying.

This is Halloween, everybody scream~

Won't ya please make way for a very special people?~

Everyone followed Yuu, making exaggerated movements, stomping their feet and opening their mouths as if they were screaming. Then everyone dispersed, each student going to their dorm representative. Since Yuu and Grim's statue had not been added yet, the white-haired one represented their statue.

Our Great Seven, Monarchs of the Pumpkin Patch ~

The light illuminates the statues (and Yuu); Each student, with soft and slow movements with their arms, bowed towards their idols

Everyone, hail the Pumpkin Kings and Queens now! ~

Each student looked reverently at the statues, as if they could see the seven great ones alive. Yuu lifted Grim from his bow and hugged him, then looked at the others mischievously.

This is Halloween, this is Halloween~

Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!~

Everyone left their bow to dance like crazy, waving their hands as if they were scaring something away, shaking their feet or simply moving their cloaks. Halloween really was NRC's time of year.

In this town we call home~

Everyone hail to the pumpkin song~

Ruggie looked at Yuu mischievously while Jamil looked at him longingly. Yuu looked at them and winked at them. "Gods, I really have to talk to them about us." He thought as he sang the last verses of the song.

La, la, la ~ (Halloween! Halloween!)

La-la-la, la, la ~ (Halloween! Halloween!)

La-la-la, la, la ~ (Halloween! Halloween!)

La-la-la, la-la-la, hey! ~

The NRC student body fell to their knees from exhaustion, but still laughing. They had their hearts racing. The spectators began to applaud excitedly; Seriously, the best Halloween festival Night Raven College has ever seen. "Happy Halloween." All the first years exclaimed, still laughing like villains…

" When you look in the mirror tonight, make sure you are the only person in the reflection "

Notes: While the song would be perfect for the "Nightmare Before Christmas" Halloween event, I want to use another song for that event (also, it would be very cliché). @selenacrest​ made me a request before publishing this so I will open part 2 in a few days.

[iced-cofi]

I kinda just wanna write game reviews here sometimes. *Ahem*

It's pretty damn rare that you find a piece of media like this throughout the course of your life.

One that elegantly, carefully, and lovingly traverses infinite despair in an infinitely more hopeful way. One that shows you that no true problem can be solved in a single day. One that teaches of the compassion in our hearts, for those around us and the world we all live in.

And, for me, one that teaches that in the face of despair, fear, and sadness, beauty can also be found, and that no matter how pointless it can seem, fighting, trying, and persistence is how we can push through the end of the world. And now matter how all encompassing it may seem, the end is never truly the end. It's just a new beginning.

I am, of course, referring to...

Before I continue, I must clarify, as I did in my ACT review, this will feature spoilers, and moreso than almost any other game I've played, you simply must play this blind if you can.

Ok, a brief, completely spoiler free review. *Ahem again*

Outer Wilds is a beautiful, relaxing yet occasionally stressful first person space exploration game, in which the only currency you collect through the game is knowledge. The solar system is your own journey through the puzzle box the devs made. The music is beautiful and touching, the visuals are distinct yet simple, and the story is like nothing else. The only genuine 10/10 I can give. It's brilliant.

Ok, I will now put a funny picture, this is your opportunity to leave spoiler free.

3

2

1

Ok now time for the real gamers to chat.

This game. This fucking game. It reaches deep to the innermost part of my mind and soul and shows me a more accurate depiction of the human experience than any other game, and it don't even got humans.

It is the absolute definition of existential optimism, and I think it's refreshing, and borderline spiritual.

And this fact is helped because the way you get to the end is entirely up to you. Every single person who plays this game will play it differently. Everyone follows what they find amazing and interesting, and everyone finds what they think is, and they fly and crash and die and laugh and love every moment they spend in this dark, enrapturing galaxy.

The combination of nostalgic foresty landscapes, crumbling planets, shoddy craftsmanship, and banjo laden melancholy music make for a uniquely sentimental game, which allows you to connect with what theyve done.

I mean fuck some of the coolest ideas for planets and worlds I've ever seen.

Brittle Hollow and it's crumbling deadly surface, and infinitely heavy black hole at the center

Dark Bramble, always enshrouded in fog and mystery, endlessly repeating dangerous, vine coated voids filled with the most terrifying creatures in the known universe

The Hourglass Twins, the most clearly time based astral body of all, as two planets pirouette through the sky, trading impossible amounts of sand due to a shift in gravity

And of course, the Quantum Moon, a blend of all other planets with an ethereal, eternally shifting vibe layered thickly on top.

It's brilliant, and scary, and add layers and layers to your story.

And the characters and all so clearly defined, with interests and dreams and hopes. Reibeck hates space but is obsessed with the Nomai technology and history, so he can't help but explore. Feldspar and his sporadic attitude and wealth of courage allowing him to explore anywhere, as long as it's got beasties. And of course, the one, the only, the best o Outer Wilds character, Gabbro!

This chill as mother fucker got trapped in the same time loope as you, and is simply to chill and content to give a single fucking shit, while still helping where he can with advice and knowledge. It's awesome, and he also teaches you how to speed up your death with meditation, so that's... Cool.

And of fucking course I gotta talk about the music.

It's hypnotic. It permeates your body and makes you happy and sad and lonely and any other thing you can imagine, while still fitting the game, and any individual story moment. It's brilliant.

Like, listen to this shit.

And what about this???

And how about this, which is from the dlc, which i will write about in another review when I'm not exhausted!!

I gotta say, this isn't a review in the way I'd like it to be, cause I'm tired, but fuck me play this game it's amazing and the music and visuals and every piece is just... Oh my God.

I hope you enjoyed reading this delirious mish mash of words I wanted to say about a game I really love.

No joke, 10/10

Would crash into the sun again.

Thanks!!

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking down the Comics: Writing a legend, building a history.

Today we aren't reviewing an issue of Moon Knight. Today we are going to talk about something important.

So who wrote Moon Knight?

"Easy!", you might say. "Doug Moench!"

Sure. But you'd be surprised to find that it's not as much as you'd think.

Doug Moench wrote issues 1-15, 17-26, 28-33.

He returns in 1998 for a 4 issue mini seires Vol 3 "Resurrection Wars" which revives Marc Spector, who had been killed off in the previous volume.

He continues in 1999 with Vol 4, another 4 issue mini series "High Strangers/Strangeness" which won an award for favorite limited series.

He also wrote werewolf by Night, which gave us the first iteration of Moon Knight. An instantly popular character that made appearances in other comics like "The Hulk" before he was given his own comic.

He had time to work on the designs with Bill Sienkiewicz. They built up the weapons, the costume, the cab, and the copter.

He also built up the side characters of Gena, Gena's two boys, Crawley, Frenchie, Detective Flint, and Marlene.

He set the ground rules:

Moon Knight system is Jewish.

Marc, Jake, and Steven are a part of a system and are not one man pretending to be someone else

Jake is the one that is friendly and loves being with the people.

Steven is posh, collected, and takes care of things.

Marc is the one with experience, has the skills needed to get things done, and holds all the pain.

They are former Mercenaries who did terrible things and have deep guilt.

Khonshu resurrected them to act as Moon Knight

They strive to protect any who would come to them for help that perhaps might not get it elsewhere

I would even argue that he was building up to the fact that Moon Knight himself was his own form of alter but it has since been glossed over and replaced with the idea that Marc is most often the one under the mask.

Pretty simple rules to follow to make it a Moon Knight comics, but you'd be surprised what some writers have done with it.

These comics were written long before DID was acknowledged and the different forms of PTSD and Dissociation were defined.

And yet, here we stand with a traumazied man from Chicago slowly working through a freshly cognizant system and trying to figure out how three (four) people can work together towards not just a life, but life as a superhero who wants to help people.

Further more, an odd thing happened in this.

We had a comic that often focused more on mental health than on super powers, heroics, or villains.

More often than not, we watched Marc, Jake, and Steven struggle with themselves and one another. We watched stories unfold from the villain's point of view, often just being ordinary people pushed too far by a system that failed them.

More so, we watched Moon Knight sympathise with these villains.

How often he let them walk away or he let them kill their abusers, wondering if he was doing wrong himself.

How can he help when sometimes the help he offers is not what is needed?

We even watched him fail. We saw him lose his temper and cause damage. We saw him curl into a ball and break. We saw him get lost in his own nightmares and dissociative fuges.

Moench stepped forward and often handled current events with raw emotion. We saw his characters cry over the loss of public iconic figures. We watched people struggling as they returned from war. We saw child abuse and poverty. We watched economic struggles with classism and we watched people struggle to deal with grief.

We even watched them deal with antisemitism over and over again. How many times were the victims of his stories Jewish and trying to survive in America? What about the story that took place with the mass shooting in the Synagoug? We heard stories of Generational trauma as elders struggled with survival after the Holocaust.

Moon Knight was a unique comic unlike any other I've ever come across. For it's time and for it's topics at the time. What's more, this comic continued.

It was no 'special of the week' comic and spanned multiple years as they grew.

What do we know about Moench? Who did he write this comic for?

The Moon Knight in the Were Wolf by Night certainly didn't have all this depth. He was just a man dressed in silver, fighting a monster and ultimately choosing the side of the monster.

Moench himself was from Chicago. He knew what it was like to live in the city and see the fall of factories and hard times on the streets. We know he witnessed the times of Vietnam veterans being forgotten and abused. He witnessed a lot of changes happening in the world and the places he was writing about.

He wrote about what spoke to him and what he saw around him.

And in his stories, there often were no clear heroes, winners, or villains.

But there was one issue that he chose to add into this comic that was already filled with so many things that other comics avoided.

Moon Knight wasn't written as Jewish in that one shot cameo. He wasn't written with DID either, but I'll get to that.

There are interviews of Doug admitting that "I didn't say, 'I'm going to sit down and create a Jewish character.'"

In fact, he picked a name and later found out it was a Jewish name. This made him do research. Not just into Judaism, but into the areas that Marc Spector fought in and where his family came from.

Do you have any idea how many writers of that time and our current time simply slap the label of "Jewish" on a character and refuse to actually look into what makes them Jewish?

I can't say how much he researched and how much he got wrong or right, but I do know that when he did choose to dive into topics that touched on certain issues, he handled them with a grace that is often overlooked.

The writer that came after Moench? Alan Zelenetz, a former Jewish day school principal from Brooklyn.

Zelenetz had been acting as an editor for a bit before he took a look at Moench's early start.

And it was in Issue 37 and 38 where we get the real backstory of Marc Spector. A man running from his Rabbi father.

Marc now became the son of an Orthodox Rabbi who had been forced to flee Czechoslovakia after the Nazi invasion.

Here, we get the story of Marc running to the Marines. Running to the mercenaries, and running from home. Perhaps even, running from G-d.

Zelenetz wanted to lean into the Jewish past and Jewish story. He explored themes of using a holy book to create a villain while playing with Jewish myths. He also explored Antisemitism without toning it down or hiding it under comic bookish villainy. He portrayed Moon Knight facing white supremacist vandalizing a Jewish Cemetery. He showed Moon Knight saving the Torah from a Synagogue fire. He also showed a strained relationship and the question of Moon Knight finding his own relationship in what he does with his father's views.

Alan Zelenetz edited/wrote shorts for issues 18, 21–22, 27, 32, Then wrote the whole story for issues 36–38.

Zelenetz voiced that he was looking to add some Jewish representation into his workforce and perhaps into the comic industry at the time. Considering his background, perhaps he was the only one at the time that had the proper knowledge to play with things the way that he did in the story of Elias Spector's death and Marc Spector's pain.

He did not stick around with Moon Knight for long after. Though, he admits that he wanted to play with the fact that Khonshu was an Egyptian god and Marc was from such a Jewish background. I am sad we didn't get to see that story.

After that, Moon Knight's original 1980s run was finished. The question of what to do with Moon Knight, where to take him, and who would take up the mantle of writing him now lay in the hands of Marvel.

Many failed after this. They failed to keep the heart of what Moon Knight stood for and who Moon Knight was. His Jewishness was forgotten and his mental health became a joke.

Not to say all of them failed. There are a few shining stars that gleamed in the darkness and I like to think that it was these moments that kept Moon Knight going all these years.

Moench didn't set out to write a story about mental health, and yet his approach is the most real I've seen. Hardly a shining picture of perfect representation, there is still something there in watching the character almost seem to push back against the unintended desire to push him into a corner.

No matter how often Jake and Steven and Moon Knight were seen as Marc pretending to be someone else, there was always ALWAYS that correction. Always that push back.

Call it the writer's curse of characters misbehaving and taking on a life of their own, but perhaps there was something more there. Perhaps he felt the weight of time and cry of the suppressed and overlooked.

So many of his stories danced the line of "I can't say it because it will get edited out by the big wigs at Marvel, but if you would just look... Just look over here for just a moment..."

And years upon years later, a writer did see the whispers there and said "I see the story of pain. I see the cry of mental health." Lemire told the story that Moench couldn't and from that, we are still pushing forward with McKay.

And more, perhaps we will see the Jewish story that hides in all that also get a spotlight again.

In the era of big battles, cross-over events, explosions, and super villains cackling about domination... I still look back at Stained Glass Scarlet, The Druid, the Music Box, And Colloquy.

As I finish the original 1980s run, I brace myself to dive into what comes next.

I think I'm trying to find where and how the original run ventured so far into the dark and insulting territory it did and the journey back into a revival that now means so much to so many.

In a way, perhaps it mirrors a journey into our own mental health. How easy it is to become lost in what everyone around you tells you that you are and how you are supposed to be until your own doubt sets in to drown you. Perhaps it is the journey of Moon Knight's character emerging from this to find a path to healing that is what kept us here so long.

[destinygoldenstar]

Dragons Rising Season 2 Part 2 - Is It Good Or Nah?

YEAH I KNOW I'M LATE.

I delayed my viewing for a couple of reasons:

Digital Circus Episode 3 was coming at the same time and I was ecstatic for that. It was so worth it.

I was waiting to watch these with my GF, who is also a fan of the show. Since Dragons Rising started, we've been watching it together. But then numerous delays happened for us. What those delays were I'm keeping private. So don't ask.

But we FINALLY watched it! And we managed to watch the season in one sitting this time!

Last time it took us two to finish it cause we got cut short.

But if y'all seen my review for Part 1, you know I loved it. I actively LOST MY VOICE at the end watching it and screaming.

So you BET I was excited for Part 2 to see the follow up of this season's story and for it to live up to the hype!

So... did it?

...

... ... ...

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

No. It didn't.

Don't get me wrong, this is NOT a bottom tier season. Not by any means.

And there is one really, REALLY good thing about this part.

But overall, with what Part 1 set up, this was such a disappointing follow up. So... idk what the overall take is. I've been avoiding my Ninjago feed for spoilers. But I am in the category of not liking it very much.

After such a dark, intense, BRUTAL first part that raised the stakes that you FELT, this part...

...has our characters taking place in a fun tournament.

I'm sorry what?

Now, don't get me wrong, I flipping LOVE Tournament Of Elements. One of the best seasons of the show to this day.

But this was completely subverting my expectations, and NOT in a good way. And I think the main criticism of this part is that this wants to replicate Tournament Of Elements SO BADLY. But there is NO FOUNDATION to justify this being ANYTHING like Tournament Of Elements in the first place, so it falls apart.

Ras and his clan's plan was to use a spell to resurrect the Forbidden Five using human sacrifices. So they could control these folks and their power. Why are they doing this? Well Ras explains why and that's spoiler territory, so hold onto it for a second. It's real interesting.

In the first Part, they only succeeded at getting ONE out of their prison, sacrificing Kai in the process. With the Blood Moon gone for a millennium, their plan is fumbled and they have to regroup to come up with a new plan to obtain their goals.

So what the antagonists of this story want is to sacrifice others to revive foes for their plot of *SPOILERS*. That is what is set up for this story.

NEVER, did it say ANYWHERE, that they needed Elemental Powers of any kind to obtain their goals. It was NOT relevant to this plot.

And that's what this Tournament does. You lose a match, you get your powers taken away by *Insert Power Absorbing Artifact Here*, and the winner gets everybody's powers. JUST LIKE ANOTHER TOURNAMENT ARC.

Except in THAT arc, their powers were relevant to the villain's goals, it was established why, and it was a HUGE stake that they lose their powers because not only do you lose, but you also become a slave.

I mean in this one there's the mechanic of the victors of these battles obtaining the loser's powers to carry on in the tournament. That's a cool mechanic I guess. It's underutilized as all Cursed Realm, but it's a cool idea.

Other than that, A TOURNAMENT ARC OF FUN AND GAMES DOES NOT FIT IN THIS SEASON'S STORY. PERIOD.

Also doesn't help that in this tournament, it's very well established that there is a good guy team and a bad guy team. While the NPCs get next to no screen time to have any sort of stake in this game. And they do nothing to shake that up. The only time they do is with characters NOT competing. But we'll get to that later.

In Tournament of Elements, yeah, we had our good guy alliance of the ninja, but the other competitors around them WEREN'T evil. "You're not my enemy, Chen is" And all that. They were just a bunch of naive self reliant bozos who needed to learn unity. They were relevant to the story. But not because they were bad guys.

I'm sorry I'm comparing this to another season so much, but I think it's warranted. Especially when I'm trying to find a way to explain my criticism in a way that (hopefully) makes sense.

I also just flat out DO NOT understand the rules of this tournament at all.

They literally SAY AT THE BEGINNING that giving the victor all the elemental powers is a STUPID IDEA BECAUSE THE VICTOR MIGHT BE EVIL AND DESTROY THE WORLD.

But they completely ignore warning with "Nah, but I'm in charge here, so I wouldn't let that happen!"

Guess what happens.

How does everybody adjust to these new powers real quickly? How does no one get corrupted with all that power? That's a thing that can happen in the Ninjago universe, we've seen it multiple times.

Why is everybody completely okay with betting their powers for the tournament? Not a single person is objecting?

Why did the ninja not originally get invited? Why did the bad guys not want them there? They're some of the most LEGENDARY Pokémon-I mean Elemental Masters in the Merged Realms.

What happens to the expelled people? Do they just get to keep their powers because it's never said they take their powers away when disqualified.

So does that mean everyone can just leave and they lose nothing?

So who cares if the ninja aren't invited/are at stake of being expelled. They don't lose their powers as a consequence of expulsion. They can just leave. And they lose nothing. It's actually so much better than competing.

JUST LEAVE.

Apparently you can win a race to avoid expulsion. Okay. Cool...

Where was this rule when the slug guy got expelled? (I don't remember his name I'm sorry) It was never brought up and Mr. "Follow The Rules" was RIGHT THERE to bring it up!

Who. The Cursed Realm. Is allowing these people to use outside power mechanics?!?!

THE GONG IS OUT IN THE OPEN AND VERY BLATANTLY BEING USED.

THEY EVEN SAY THIS AIN'T ALLOWED, BUT NO ONE CALLS IT OUT AS CHEATING.

It would make sense if BOTH host characters were in on it considering the twist later, but ONE OF THEM IS NOT. SO THAT EXCUSE FALLS APART.

I. AM. SO. FSM-DARN. CONFUSED.

Seriously, this plot device is the single biggest problem of this entire Part, and it drags a whole lot down.

They say that the bad guys getting what they want can destroy the Source Dragons, I.E, THE BIG BANG THAT MADE THE UNIVERSE. That's a pretty big stake, right?

Well I never felt like that was the stake because the whole season we waste time in this tournament nonsense. They even SAY they don't need to win. They just need to find the culprit behind who murdered the Matriarchs. So why are you competing? JUST LEAVE.

YOU LOSE NOTHING. YOU RISK LESS.

The first part did such an EXCELLENT job at establishing the DREAD of the Blood Moon. Lloyd's visions and how scared he is of what was to come. The dragons themselves being horrified of the Blood Moon. Getting Bonzle to safety. The training to prepare for the Blood Moon. It was all building up to this Blood Moon being a stressful, nightmare enducing moment. AND IT DELIVERED IN BEING THAT WHEN IT FINALLY HAPPENED.

It was DREADFUL when the first of the Forbidden Five came out.

But at the climax of this part, I felt nothing.

The pacing is also really atrocious here. I want to take back my pacing criticism from the last Part. It takes FOUR episodes for the Tournament to even get started. (Tournament of Elements took TWO btw). There's a point where a challenge isn't even finished by the end of an episode, and they have to spend the next episode with another part of it to wrap it up. THIS IS AN EPISODE, RIGHT? And then the final battle is ONE episode. ONE.

Cool. I missed Skybound's pacing. /s

There's other examples, but that's spoiler territory so hang on.

Cole and Zane also do next to nothing in this Part. Zane has been done dirty since the last Tournament of Elements and this was NO redemption. Then he does nothing.

Cole has a bit more to do, but his role could've easily gone to any character and nothing would've changed. It's just "Oh this thing used to be my moms! I'll use it for its elemental powers"

Which apparently you can store elemental powers in mechs???

Add that to Ninjago Lore Plot Holes.

(My GF's sibling told me to make an essay about Ninjago's Lore. And... just the idea gives me a headache. Maybe if I get enough demands I'll take on the challenge. Idk.)

And that's it.

Also when did Geo leave the Monastery? That was off screen. No explanation. You don't wanna stay with your boyfriend? I thought that was your whole character thing.

If you wanna have Geo in the story and have him NOT revolve around Cole, GREAT. But it needs to be about SOMETHING. That's all I'm saying.

But I still love these characters, and they're all still themselves, so that's great.

Wyldfyre ESPECIALLY is really growing on me. I swear she's getting higher and higher on my tier list with every installment. I'm THIS CLOSE to putting her in the "WE STAN IN THIS HOUSE" Tier.

Keep being your delightful chaotic self, sweetie! We love you for it!

Anyway that's all I can get into without getting into SPOILERS. So this is where I put the bar.

OH HEY, REMEMBER THAT KAI GOT SACRIFICED AND IS NOW TRAPPED IN HELL?

That was, A BIG THING, right?

Dude got thrown into an inter-dimensional prison without his consent and is stuck there for a millennium.

With Bonzle of course.

There's also four other evil masterminds living there that could KILL HIM.

THIS IS BAD, RIGHT? THIS IS REAL BAD.

Bonzle's a spell. A skeleton. She's fine. She can last a millennium if she's careful. Kai is a MORTAL. BRO'S GONNA DIE IN THERE.

I wonder how he's gonna get out of this one and how he's gonna manage in there. I wonder what he's gonna do in there-

Nothing.

We get one scene where they walk around. And it's so short. That's it. No other establishment of this prison.

Then they discover that Kai snuck in some of Riyu's dragon scales so they can... communicate with him...?

Despite this being an INTERDIMENSIONAL PRISON.

WHAT?

You've been here for HOW LONG and you didn't realize you had scales stuck on your sleeve?

Riyu can modify POWERS. When was it established he was telepathic? Unless I'm stupid and forgetting.

Also, this shouldn't work anyway. IT'S AN INTERDIMENSIOAL PRISON.

That's it. That's everything Kai related. And Bonzle who?

I also don't like how people brush off losing Kai the way they did.

Yeah we get TOLD Wyldfyre is much more aggressive with her training than usual and she's trying to live up to Kai. But that's one scene. And honestly, she's not acting much different from how she usually acts.

And Nya briefly says a couple of times "I miss my brother". But that's it.

THEY DO NOTHING ABOUT IT. GUYS, YOUR FAMILY MEMBER IS STUCK IN AN INTERDIMENSIONAL PRISON AND COULD DIE IN THERE.

And you're just gonna NOT worry about it?

It would make sense if this whole Tournament plot was a scheme related to opening the portal again and getting Kai back and that's why they're doing this. But no.

If they thought Kai was dead. I'd get it. But they blatantly state otherwise. So clearly they don't think he's dead.

IF HE'S ALIVE, WHY WON'T ANYONE TRY AND HELP HIM?!

Some family you people are.

Oh and Kai just comes back anyway. Yay.

Glad one of the highest stake consequences of the first part meant ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

Poor Kai. He just walked through hell and the moment he gets out he gets slammed to the ground by another high stake fight.

Bro. Take a nice long nap when you get home. You deserve it.

ALSO THE FORBIDDEN FIVE ALL ESCAPE.

I thought you needed sacrifices to do that? Now they can just leave willy nilly? Okay sure...

They don't make an impression, at least in this season. They retreat. So next season we'll probably get more of them.

But what about the one that got out in the first part?

Yeah... I really hated how they handled him.

Isn't this dude supposed to be, HELLA INTIMMIDATING?

That's why Ras had to put a shock collar on him to keep him under control. That's also the sole reason why he's pissy at Ras later.

I am NEVER convinced that this guy is a threat.

AND HE WON THE TOURNAMENT. AND I THINK HE'S NOT A THREAT.

How do you manage that?!

EVERY. SINGLE. ROUND. WITH HIM. Includes CHEATING from other characters in order to let him win.

The Nya round? Rigged game to let him win. She would've beat him had it not been for that.

The Lloyd round? Rigged game to let him win due to disqualification. He would've beat him had it not been for that.

The Sora round? Rigged game to let him win. She would've beat him had it not been for that-YOU GET IT.

How am I supposed to believe this dude is a super huge intimidating force when he not only gets defeated at the end by a trophy, but has to have the rules be TWISTED in his favor to let him win? By OTHER character's work?

Is he an author's darling to Blek? I think it's that. I think Blek just has him as a writers pet in his story. (Should I apologize to Priya?)

Also let's talk about the saddest excuse for a twist villain ever. Blek.

SO, funny story while we were watching this season.

There's a murder mystery plotline on who killed the Matriarch Dragon that Arin needs to solve throughout the season.

Me and my GF made a bet.

I said "Okay, all the other suspects would be WAY TOO OBVIOUS to be the culprits. Ras and his whole gang are in the tournament as well without killing dragons as an established motive. They did the 'host is the villain' last time and the guy is mustache twirling and WyldFyre called it. The Seatrix is a raging psycho." (Who, btw, has ABSOLUTELY NO BUSINESS being in this story. She served nothing. She accomplished nothing.) "And they introduce this sweet childhood friend character of Arin's who suddenly not an elemental power?! IT'S FRAK. THAT'S THE DRAGON KILLER."

So we made a bet that if I was right and it was him, we'd get Mexican Takeout.

And if I was WRONG, she had to choose what was for dinner and I was convinced she was gonna make me eat bugs.

Um... suffice to say, I LOST THE BET.

But she got me Mexican food anyway. I love her. <3

The secret murderer of the Matriarch Dragons and the villains behind the whole operation was...

...the villains from the last part.

WELL DUH. THAT'S THE MOST PREDICTABLE THING IN THE WORLD.

OH AND THE HOST WAS IN ON IT TOO. (One of them at least)

(Wait didn't we do that already?)

Tournament of Elements KNEW that was such a predictable twist, so they didn't even make it a twist. It's revealed in Episode 2. Chen is evil. Got it. The situation there wasn't trying to reveal this to the audience, but rather the other characters who were oblivious.

This was trying to fool the audience. And it did not work.

HE'S A MUSTACHE TWIRLING DUDE IN BLACK AND GREY. OF COURSE HE WAS IN ON IT AND RIGGED THE GAMES FOR RAS.

He also gets NO time to actually BE a villain. He gets outed. He whines. Then he gets ditched. That's it.

This is such a bad twist.

Like, I think Miles Axelrod got more screen time to be outed as a villain tbh. (That's exaggerating and not entirely true)

We got a good laugh out of WyldFyre's menu prank though.

You're doing amazing, sweetie!

I kinda wish I was right and it was Frak. That would've been such a devastating twist and added to the more morally grey subtext they had going on. They didn't even have to break his character for him to be the killer, it could've just been either "He was manipulated and following orders" or "It was an accident and he didn't know the consequences".

Especially since it's revealed Frak naively joined Ras's clan not knowing what was actually going on. And it would've made his redemption later that much more bittersweet. Maybe he would've tried to apologize for the murder but fail knowing nothing could undo it.

Even without that though, I like Frak. He's just a really sweet naive guy living out his dreams and got swept up in the wrong crowd. But he ends up valuing his morals over power. That's nice. I like that.

Again, I think him being the killer would've really escalated his character to eleven, BUT I will take what we got cause what we got was neat.

I also like Robi. He's just a really fun, well intended (if a bit stupid) guy who values entertainment and chaos. He's a delight on screen.

Also his interactions with WyldFyre are really cute and wholesome.

Wyldfyre getting a love interest was NOT on my Bingo Board. I headcanoned her as AroAce for awhile. And now that got shot down.

BOO MY HEADCANONS WERE SHOT DOWN, 0/10 GARBAGE. /j

But hey. He's way more entertaining than Skylar. And they're cute. So who cares that they threw in this hetero-relationship quota?

If I had a nickel for every time a fire-based character in Ninjago got a love interest that was a family member to the evil mastermind of a tournament, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice, right?

There's one thing I don't like about him though. And that's that him NOT being involved with the villain's scheme creates all kinds of plot holes.

In one episode the ninja get framed for assault on Cinder. Which is against the rules.

BUT LIKE, Robi said he SAW IT ON CAMERA.

IF HE DID, HE WOULD SEE THAT NO FINGER WAS LAID ON CINDER AND THEY WERE INNOCENT.

ALSO, THERE ARE SIX WITNESSES.

If it was JUST Blek and Robi wasn't there, then I'd get it. But no. Robi believes this too.

MY GUY, ARE YOU HALLUCINATING?

FSM, I was so angry at that.

And it's SUCH UNECESSARY drama too because it does NOTHING. There ended up being NO consequences.

We could've not had this and used this screen time for something else, like...

OH YEAH, JAY.

So, uh... last time we saw Jay he was at the Administration as an associate with memory loss.

Here, we see him again, and RAS FOUND HIM AND MADE HIM JOIN THEM.

I'M SORRY, WHAT?!?!

I don't know what the majority take is on this. But I don't hate this idea. I think it's actually a really cool idea of Jay with amnesia being told lies about his identity and siding with the villains as a result. It's a cool idea.

The problem?

This transition happened OFF SCREEN.

HOW DID RAS EVEN FIND HIM?! WHAT?!?!?

Okay, well this is the first time the ninja have seen him!

THE LONG AWAITED MOMENT. HOW IS THIS GONNA PLAY OUT?

Uh... he fights Nya in a match, doesn't remember her, loses the match, and then gets exiled.

And then they never bring him up again.

For a plotline and moment that had been set up since Season 1, this is beyond disappointing of a scene.

Especially for Nya. Girliepop was looking for her husband since day one of Merge. It was her FEAR that he would forget her. And she lives that fear.

To be fair, she DOES try to go after him. But they convince her not to and that the tournament was more important. Okay. Fair.

But like, Zane was already out of the game so you could've sent him after Jay, idk...

And then Nya just I guess forgets about it. Which is very OOC. Especially for Dragons Rising Nya.

I will say I hope Season 3 brings Jay more justice because right now Jay stans are probably starving to death in the cellar. And just got fed rotten flesh instead of an actual meal.

Jay's not my favorite, but I definitely feel you.

Uh... Cinder was there. I didn't care for him in the First Part, and here he does way less. So yeah moving on.

Jordana's little redemption was nice and I understood the buildup, & her interactions with Sora were sweet. (Lesbians anyone?) What I didn't really get was her being possessed by a demon.

I knew she was possessed, but I thought it was Ras's master.

But no, it's one of the Forbidden Five's souls that got transferred to her body during the Blood Moon...

...which makes no sense because it was never established this was something that could've happened.

Maybe I'm being an absolute dumbass and missing some things. That's possible. I missed some things last time too that someone cleared up for me. (Thanks btw.) But I'm watching these WITH someone who is far more observant than me on a lot of things. And we BOTH were confused as we'll get out.

Oh, and there's something else.

WU CAUSED THE MERGE.

...

Okay, I'm 90% sure Wu is dead. But that's another topic.

I have NO IDEA how Wu causing the Merge was even possible. But he did it. And he kept this all a secret and made it someone else's problem.

Just like last time this happened.

And the time before that.

And the time before that.

And the time before that.

And-

OH MY GOD WU, STOP. JUST FLIPPING STOP IT ALREADY.

YOU'VE PULLED THIS SORT OF TRASH ON EVERYONE SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE SHOW AND EVERY SINGLE TIME IT'S LEAD TO DISASTERUS CONSEQUENCES.

AND IN YOUR THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF LIFE, YOU STILL NEVER LEARNED THE LESSON.

EVEN WHEN YOU'RE DEAD. YOU'RE STILL PULLING THIS.

OH MY GOD. LIKE. OH. MY. GOD.

I know it's a hot take but I've said it before. I don't like Wu. I never did. I start to hate him MORE AND MORE with each passing season. It's crazy.

HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO TEACH YOU THIS LESSON, OLD MAN?!

BRO DIDN'T EVEN APOLOGIZE. HE JUST CONFIRMED IT AND DIPPED.

I CAN'T EVEN ESCAPE HIM WHEN HE'S DEAD.

So yeah that's my thoughts on that.

Okay, enough negatives. Didn't I say there was something I REALLY liked about this Part?

Let's get into that.

Arin.

HOLY FIRST SPINJISU MASTER, ARIN.

He was the single best thing in this part. And quite possibly of this season as a whole.

Season 1 was Sora's origin story.

Season 2 was Arin's origin story.

But there's something even greater than that.

Sora got a heroes origin story.

Arin got a VILLAINS origin story.

Yep.

WHAT DID I SAY BEFORE?

"The Evil Arin Theory Is Brilliant. Too bad it'll never happen because this is a kids show and thus they wouldn't do that to one of their protagonists."

Well. I will be damned. I WAS WRONG.

THEY ACTUALLY DID IT.

Like, I saw it coming, but I was still surprised they went that route.

See, I saw the build up there.

Arin is the only ninja on the entire team without any powers, in a world where powers are the PEAK of being a hero.

Everyone who is an Elemental Master was chosen by destiny and/or family lineage. If you aren't an Elemental Master, TOUGH LUCK.

Arin was so interesting because despite not having powers, he STILL chose to take the role as a ninja and train under Lloyd. Even when the entire world system didn't work for people like him and was setting him up for failure.

(Hello autism metaphor my old friend...)

One would think through power of love and friendship and through hard work and perseverance and determination and passion, he would overcome the odds and become a very valuable ninja!

But... no.

He couldn't succeed.

The universe would not let him succeed. It wasn't in the stars.

His dream was never meant to come true.

He's destined for failure.

Even when approaching the ninja about his setbacks, they don't even really try to work around the issue. They just say "Eh, you're fine the way you are kid, we still love you. Anyway why don't you do this sideline job that the rest of us can doon our own just as effectively if not more so?"

I'm autistic in a school life that hated my guts. And let me tell you. I HAVE BEEN THERE.

The buildup was all there for Arin to learn certain things and made perfect sense.

His BEST FRIEND deceived him and refused to believe in him. And he is SO UPSET at the betrayal.

But you also can't hate Sora for it because of WHY she did it. And I feel SO BAD for her as a result.

She did this morally AWFUL BETRAYAL to a strong friendship. BUT it led to the best possible outcome for them at the heat of the moment, and it led to HER having the best results she could've.

She WON. But at what cost? The cost of putting a knife in your friend's back so deep that you can't heal the scar? EVER?

His childhood friend, who was working with the villain, having a lesson that works for Arin and helps him succeed. By telling him to defy the world's logic instead of flowing with it. Which is so strange because IT'S NOT WRONG.

Ras is a sociopath and has done many, MANY horrible things. No denying that. But he also has good intentions of wanting to undo the Merge and reunite everyone. His methods of viewing the world actually become beneficial. It's... strange.

It's strange because Ninjago has always been this black and white show. Good guys. Bad guys. Boom.

It's RARE you will find a character that is morally grey in this show.

So it is SO STRANGE to me to have a conflict that's becoming so morally ambiguous in a world that used to be so basic and altruistic. But it's done in a way that feels so natural.

I can safely say without hating on them, THE NINJA ARE NOT COMPLETELY GOOD INFLUENCES. THEY'RE FAILING.

I'm used to Total Drama being a morally grey show. Everyone there is screwed up in the head. Morality is OUT THE WINDOW.

But NINJAGO?! Yeah this is some wild stuff.

Ras is still a bad person. No one's arguing about that.

Arin ISN'T. He's a kind dude! He wants to do the right thing! He just has these other priorities that are very sympathetic and understandable! He's a kid in a system that is failing him and he wants to be validated!

Despite Arin turning at the end, he's NOT evil for it.

And I think that is SO MUCH MORE INTRIGUING about it than him turning straight up evil. And I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY ACTUALLY WENT THIS ROUTE.

He doesn't fully trust Ras. He knows Ras is a garbage person and a dangerous terrorist. It's not like he's completely agreeing to being a terrorist as well. He's just looking out for himself and his own interests and wants, and Ras is the one that can help with that. I like that.

I want to make that clear for anyone confused in assuming Arin is believing the terrorist and everything he says. No he's not. He refused to believe Ras multiple times, and had to get PROVEN multiple times that Ras was telling the truth. And even THEN. He still knows this guy is dangerous and evil.

Also I love the kid flashbacks with Arin and his parents being detectives, OMG...

So yeah. Ninjago went there. WE HAVE A VILLAIN PROTAGONIST.

Or at least a protagonist that is morally grey.

I NEVER imagined they would EVER go this route. And I am VERY much an Arin stan now, and I am SO INTRIGUED by what they do with this.

Even if they fumble up this plotline badly in the future, I am still going to be praising the balls they had to do it ALONE.

Sora and Arin are becoming a Vi and Jinx.

Hopefully they have a better ending than that though...

So yeah, this Part did ONE plotline super well, and very little else lived up to the hype. Disappointed.

If you were to ask me to rank these, Part 1 of this season is an S tier. Part 2 is a very low C tier, bordering a D. So I GUESS that translates to a B??? Yeah we'll go with B tier.

This is one of those seasons that's all over the place overall.