#and he's course correcting

[discordiansamba]

He returns to the palace for the first time since he was nine in chains.

It's humiliating. Azula insists on parading him through the Caldera in a cage, chained and muzzled. Like they're an animal. Poor Prince Zuko, they hear people whisper. Possessed by a vengeful spirit and made into a monster. He used to be so gentle. How kind of Fire Lord Ozai to try and spare the boy's life for so long, in hopes that they might one day free him from the spirit's grip.

The muzzle does not stop errant flames from escaping, does not stop them growling and glaring down all who gawk at them. It's not helping their case, but they can't control themselves. They are more than just angry- they're furious. They can't tell where Prince Zuko ends and the dragon begins- there's not a difference between them in the moment.

(Azula stays far away from the cage.)

Father Fire Lord Ozai greets Azula with a hero's welcome. The mighty princess who at long last, took Ba Sing Se for the Fire Nation. The merciful princess, who spared the life of the dragon that took her brother's flesh and captured it instead. Azulon's get Fire Lord Ozai faces their cage- and they lunge at the bars. They can't help themselves. They'd like nothing more than to escape, and burn this new prison to the ground.

(Ozai flinches- the raging dragon is no longer confined to the body of a small child. They may be chained, but they are far more terrifying now.)

Ozai turns away, putting on a show. They are to be kept in the deepest cell of the capital prison, where the sun cannot reach them. They will keep him there until after the eclipse- if the darkness and the eclipse do not drive the dragon out, then they will be forced to finally put an end to the poor possessed prince's life. It would be a mercy at this point, Ozai says.

They languish in the small, cramped cell. No one ever enters it- they are too afraid of their flames. Food and water are shoved into a gap in the wall. The muzzle comes off, but they remain shackled. Too dangerous, they hear the guards mutter. I have a cousin that used to work at the Ember Island villa. They've seen what the prince can do.

(They would like to show them they can do a lot more.)

Then one day, out of the blue, they get a visitor.

They don't recognize them at first. All these humans look the same. They growl, letting smoke escape their mouth as a warning. They can bind them with chains, take them away from the sun, but they cannot take away their fire.

"Zuko?"

The growling abruptly stops- and Zuko untangles himself from the dragon for the first time in weeks. He stares up at the visitor with wide eyes, unable to understand why she's here.

"...Mai?"

[bunnieswithknives]

AGhghhh writing is so hard. Im struggling with the pages after this but these finalized enough that you shouldn't have to keep waiting for them

Next

[rox-of-iu]

to no ones surprise more of my special guy

[brennan-lee-mother]

You ever think about how the Rat Grinders represent what the Bad Kids could have turned out to be if they hadn’t found each other freshman year?

Fig, the depressed rocker, all performance

Riz, the highstrung control freak who never found Penny

Fabian, the asshole jock who looks down on dancers

Gorgug, the uncommunicative loner

Kristen, the chosen

Adaine, the unwilling participant in her rich evil family’s plots

Because I do, and now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go scream into my pillow

[jacqcrisis]

I like how in the first game, Aphrodite is like 'Mm Charon? Oh, cool, yeah, you bought my boon from the boatman and his nasty trash :/ As least he's a greedy weirdo, otherwise I couldn't make head or tails of him.'

And now she's all 'oh Charon! I love him. He's so tall and strong. Of course who wouldn't fantasize about him coming to your aid~'

I like to believe that this is because, as the goddess of love, she couldn't figure out a damn thing about Charon since he's in the underworld, and, canonically, the Olympians can't feel what's going on down there. But then she saw Hermes slobbering all over him at the post-game party, and after god knows how long with Charon and Hermes being topside and pining completely platonically over each other due to their separation, she's realized Charon is a prime cut of grade A Beef as she should have centuries ago.

I'm very proud of her.

[drdemonprince]

people who are obsessed with passing are gonna be the death of our community i swear

[melljam]

ptj found a way to explain gun’s bones being uncuttable, and it is quite literally just that him and shingen are built different lol

[no-distance-left-to-run]

ladies and gentlemen the battle of britpop is back on

[andthatsp1]

and if I say it looks like Charles considered going to congratulate Max before they pointed him in the other direction? 👀

[idontmindifuforgetme]

I complain about wanting male attention bc of my daddy issues and then when I get perceived in any sort of way by a man I’m like I’ve been doubly victimized …. This is the worst, most blasphemous thing to have ever happened to me ……. The nerve on you to think you can speak to me …………….

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

The Librarians S01E05 And the Apple of Discord.

[forecast0ctopus]

arthur (sopping wet, very confused, framed for murder) and merlin (probably having a heart attack, also very confused, got a law degree at some point?)

follow up to this because i just think its fun

[mythicraid]

not taking criticism or notes at this time

[mcmeasle]

now that we know jeans birthday technically

because of college registration etc for him to have been able to be on the team when he was 16 he actually would’ve been 15 for the first few months

not even in america for two years, still learning how to be fluent in english, not even old enough to drive and he was in college living a nightmare

[rocketbirdie]

Laid to rest by ten thousand arrows — the fall of Lao-Shan Lung

HE'S FINALLY DEAD.

This oversized infant has been tormenting me ever since his fateful introduction as the Wall Of All Time in rank G2. It's difficult enough to just scare him off, but for months now, I've had my sights set on outright slaying him.

I tried everything. Aerial style great sword to the face for 30 minutes straight. Max dragon attack striker lance dash spam into his gut. Hell, I even tried the infamous weaponless strategy, frantically hauling cannonballs back and forth, calculating every single ballista shot, carefully counting flinches. But alas, Lao-Shan Lung was simply too powerful for one scrawny little hunter. I was faced with the horrible realization, that if I wanted to take him down alone... I was going to have to play a ranged weapon. (GASP!)

Anyway yeah those guides ain't joking lol dragon pierce bow is ridiculously overpowered against this guy. It took me 2 tries because I've literally never used a bow before, but once I got the hang of it, it was a super easy hunt. Here's the set that netted me a 20 minute Lao kill with both fortresses at 100%:

Magnastar Wil (Max upgraded Valstrax bow), Valor style

Neset Armor (Ahtal-Ka), full set

The luckiest fucking talisman of my entire life, Expert +9 and Crit Element +4, no slots

Armor skills: TrueShot, Pierce Up, Crit Element, Critical Eye 3, Tremor Res

Items: Power Coating Lv.2, Element Coatings Lv.1 and Lv.2, and an unholy amount of mega dash juice

A LOT of patience to obtain all of the materials for the armor and weapon. Phew!

Altheos Incanonis (the max Alatreon bow) is technically better, but there is no way in hell I was going to grind G RANK ALATREON solo, fuck that. I got stupid lucky with the Valstrax grind and got 2 mantles and an orb on a single hunt, so I just ran with it; Magnastar is more than capable of getting the job done, even in the hands of a clueless melee main.

THE DREAM IS REAL!!!! WOOOOOO

[xbratouttahellx]

I’m past the point of horny and entering desperate, whining, needy territory