#can we agree on a tag? please?

[usuallyrated2stars]

More stuffs haha EP 17 NEVER HAPPENED BRO TRUST. I like the headcanon that OJ is a parental figure to Yinyang (not in an infantilization way but in an authority figure whom they've placed massive amounts of trust in kinda way), and I think OJ can make a mighty fine grilled cheese.

I also rewatched season 1 and WOAH do I love payjay. They are so awesome

[azulasnailtech]

[gunpowderdtim]

Have you ever wanted to listen to the fabled Port Mahon 2011 variant of Gunpowder Tim vs The Moon Kaiser? Well! Now you can, in slightly better quality than before!

Or at least, you can... if you go into the archive. Unfortunately, the whole thing is too large for tumblr to handle. You can find it here!

In the meanwhile, enjoy Tim Goes Crazy & Teatime With The Kaiser, because those will fit!!

not my best work in terms of audio editing, but the last time i tried for crisper vocals i accidentally deleted brian from the track entirely. that was in 2023. im a better man now. and i did not delete brian from the file.

Regardless! Enjoy!

[milolovesbmc]

I would block everyone on Falsettos tiktok making jokes about Whizzer's death/aids/both. But then I don't think there'd be anyone left... Falsettos tiktok really needs to hurry up and leave those behind

[ratcandy]

Big Huge Irritated Rant About The Latest COTL Update's Story Choices and the Implications

So the lore drop in the new Cult of the Lamb update, Unholy Alliance, pisses me off. The writer's confirmation of what that lore drop means pisses me off more.

Why? Because it's unnecessary recontextualization that was made pretty obviously in favor in one character in particular, and somehow in that process makes that very same character way less interesting. I think it's incredibly detrimental to the story and I will Explain Why in a second.

But before I do, I just want to put this out there: Prior to this update, my opinions on the Bishops and Narinder and that entire plotline were pretty neutral. I'm an NPC enjoyer, I spend my time thinking about that moth with two lines of dialogue. I did not previously have strong opinions on Narinder or Shamura outside of mild dislike for fandom treatment. So I'm not coming from a place of bias here (or at the very least I'm not trying to be). I genuinely, wholeheartedly, 100% believe this writing decision was unnecessary and the Wrong one to make, and I think it severely undercuts the original plotline because this was a retcon and one that sucks pretty bad.

Ok we're on the same page here? Ok awesome. Long rant ahead, and obvs spoilers for the Unholy Alliance update

So first, what the hell am I talking about? What part of the update do I not like? Let's clarify that first.

It's Shamura's dialogue. Like, all of it. For ease of understanding, here is all the dialogue I will be talking about:

"Ah... we gathered here, the four of us, a council of war and I the general. I have not forgot. I did not tell them that chains to bind a God must be forged of Godly matters. What matter of Gods? What matters of Gods? I have not forgot. The betrayal of kin, the breaking of spirits, blood spilled, his and ours. ...the sacrifice of what we had sacrificed so much for... ...shaped into shackles for our own brother. And our wounds always to weep. Such sharp claws..."

--

"He sought to break nature's own laws. Death was his, yet he placed his sacred duty in peril. His experiments... Experiments I encouraged. I am not... blameless. My soul, stained... yet I do not... Ah, The story. Yes the story... He wanted to open the doors between Life and Death, to... to allow their return. Those mere... mortals. Even though he knew their sacrifices, their faith, their fears sustain us. Death must be the end. Otherwise, what use would they have for Gods? They began to flock to him. What he promised, we could not match. He swelled with devotion... while we waned. Would he have let us perish? I could not take... the risk... the hunger... You are lucky there are none left to force such a choice on you. Hail, Lamb. Last God... lonely God... Ah... I feel... unburdened..."

And for fun, before anyone tells me I'm misinterpreting any of this or that it's left up to interpretation or is intentionally vague, Word of God (the writer of CoTL):

And it's this being Word of God that's spurred me into making this post to begin with. Because prior to this, I just seethed about this dialogue's implications in my server and hoped I was wrong. But now it's been confirmed what this means, and I'm . Disgruntled, to say the least!

And since I've started writing this post, there's been another addition made to further clarify parts of this. But I'm going to go over that addition more towards the end, because it also irritates me for separate reasons.

So, let's get this straight.

Prior to this update, the specifics of what happens between Narinder and the Bishops were pretty vague. We were told Narinder was "gluttonous in his ambition," per Shamura's previous dialogue, and that they "introduced him to ideas of change" but "Death cannot flow backward." Heket somewhat elaborates on this by saying he preached "heresy" and "noxious ideals" that would not be tolerated. Heket also notably refers to Narinder as a flat-out "monster." Narinder attacked his siblings and left them each with a big, symbolic wound. Then he was chained by the four of them, with Shamura the one to lead it (in their own words).

There's a lot of talk of betrayal, but before this update, it was unclear if the betrayal was meant to just be Narinder's experimenting with death (which even then was pretty heavily suggested to be resurrections) or the wounds inflicted upon his siblings. There's also a lot of talk of sacrifice, i.e. from Leshy if you kill Heket before him: "After everything we did. After everything we sacrificed. He will not be satiated."

Regardless, the picture this painted was of Narinder being this ambitious, evil, violent God that even his fellow Gods (Kallamar) feared and felt needed controlling. The idea that the wounds could have been in the nail in the coffin to this entire ordeal made sense; as they were obviously planned by Narinder to some extent (otherwise why be so intentional about who got what wound?) and a fair reaction to Being Mutilated would of course be to chain him.

Then of course there's the idea that the wounds were given while he was being chained and in self-defense, which only seems possible if you think Narinder could take on all four of his siblings at once like that and only manage to lose his claws in the ordeal (which was only revealed in this update to be something he's implied to have lost thru the relic). I thought this at first too, but realized it seems pretty impractical for that to have been the case if the wounds were also purposeful in who got what. I mean, sure, they could all be coincidentally symbolically appropriate for each Bishop, but I have doouuubts?

but now we're here, with this update, and all has been revealed.

And what's been revealed exactly?

Narinder's thing he was doing was indeed resurrections (we knew that)

Shamura encouraged him to do it (we also already knew this)

It seems like he did literally nothing else outside of that

His siblings got pissy about this because it made their domains purposeless and got all their followers to flock to him

"Would he let us perish? I could not take the risk" - Implies they literally did not even ask him

Shamura knew that in order to forge chains that could keep Narinder down, it would require a sacrifice of their bonds AND their flesh

They DID NOT tell the other Bishops this

Their wounds were requirements to chain him. They had to get the wounds they bear now in order to chain him. ONLY Shamura knew this. That means they allowed their siblings (and themself) to get attacked knowing full well what would happen. They may have even encouraged it, perhaps provoked Narinder into it, seeing as they knew the wounds were necessary to have him chained. (Or they just knew he would retaliate. Which, like. Yeah. They're condemning him after he went down a path they encouraged and, as far as we can tell, nothing else.)

And for... what?

In this version of the story, Narinder was experimenting with resurrections, and Shamura told him to keep doing that. Then he was successful, mortals turned to him, and his siblings (including Shamura, the one who told him to do it) got mad. That's it. That's their reasoning for chaining him. There's nothing else given. "Would they perish?" We have no idea. Is that how it works? Seems like Shamura doesn't know either. Or at the very least doesn't know if Narinder intended for that at all. Gives the vibe that literally no effort was made to talk to him and figure this out. They don't even really go down the "it puts nature out of balance!" path, which would at least have some merit, maybe. It's literally just "we are no longer sustained. What's the point of Gods in this world?" <- idk babe you had all the other ones slaughtered. So you tell me

And then Shamura just took it into their own hands, leading their siblings to their shared wounds (WITHOUT consulting them) and their inevitable destruction because of........... reasons, I guess. (I mean, if you think about it really hard, they probably also already knew what would happen following all this. With the lamb genocide and Narinder's resurfacing and etc. And they had their siblings wounded anyway. For no god damn reason)

And now why does this make me mad?

Because, honestly, in and of itself, there's not anything necessarily wrong with this added context. It's not contradicting anything in the main game. Shamura knowing what was needed makes sense, after all.

But it's... unnecessary. It screws up the motives and makes them more shallow, less nuanced, more... petty. Making gods petty is cool and all, I love doing that honestly, but in this case it just feels like a waste of potential.

But beyond all that. But most importantly.

This entire recontextualization of events REEKS of being made specifically to absolve Narinder.

I mean, come on. He's made out to be the victim, here. Shamura knew what he would do, knew what he would become, and knew exactly what would happen to their siblings if they sought to chain him (without doing so much as talking to him beforehand), and yet they encouraged it.

All blame is being shifted on Shamura. All Narinder did specifically against his siblings was inflict the wounds, which at this point seems to be hinted as self defense or a retaliation against threat or insult (assuming he was provoked into attacking, somehow). Because the wounds were part of the process.

And almost equally irritating, this seeks to arbitrarily absolve Leshy, Kallamar, and Heket as well, as they had no idea what the plan was and were just strung along. Which is just kinda worse, right? As far as they are aware, Narinder did just randomly attack them for no reason, and this wasn't foreseen, and surely couldn't have been stopped. All because Shamura didn't tell them any of it.

Shamura is being made into the big bad. Shamura is at fault for everything, for all of it. Narinder is a victim of Shamura encouraging him down a path they later condemn him for, their siblings are victims of Shamura and Narinder both (the latter of which could have been resolved at any point prior), and now any possible intrigue about Narinder being this big bad guy who tore apart his siblings due to his own ambition getting the best of him is ERASED.

It's GONE. All in favor of making him more sympathetic.

And sure, about a million different excuses could be made for Shamura, or could be used to headcanon whatever you want about exactly what happened. But with what we're given right now, just from the source, no attempt as made to stop Narinder before it got to this point. It is literally suggested they didn't even talk to him.

"Maybe they were too scared" - For the other three, maybe. Shamura is the eldest and clearly the most respected one, by Narinder as well (he holds some amount of respect for them even STILL. After EVERYTHING). They at any point could have stopped this.

"Narinder could still have been a bad guy outside of the attacks" - Sure, but we're given little to nothing on that front. In the old dialogue, literally all that's mentioned is the resurrection stuff and the wounds. Shamura is the one who said his ambition made a glutton of him, by the way. And hell, this isn't even touching the very real possibility that all of the Bishops (Narinder included!) are unreliable as hell.

"But Kallamar feared him even before his chaining, that suggests he was still a bad guy beforehand" - Sure, it could! But that's about all we get! And hell, in this new update, Kallamar's fears are fucked with, too. He states:

"Once, long ago, Followers would worship at my altar just to glimpse the beauty of my temple… of course, it could not last forever. Perhaps my siblings did not understand this, but I have always known. It did not make me less afraid. Cowardly Kallamar, ha…"

Here, it seems Kallamar's fears have been changed to be more about the decline of his temple and the loss of his followers, which was happening because of Narinder. He refers to Narinder's plans as "foolish" as opposed to... idk, horrifying, or threatening, or whatever. He also fully takes on the 'cowardly' title, giving the impression that his fears were somehow unfounded, which wouldn't make a lick of sense if Narinder indeed sucked ass outside of the wounds.

Not to mention he "didn't want to hear it" when Shamura "revealed the plan," but we know because of Shamura that they didn't mention anything about the wounds, so Kallamar didn't want to hear that they... had to chain Narinder? That's literally all he could've been told about the plan. Why wouldn't he want to chain Narinder if he was scared of him up until that point?? Doesn't make any sense!!! EDIT AFTER I POSTED: On reconsideration this might just be referring the lamb genocide plan, but that's hardly better, because now this update absolves Narinder, Leshy, AND Kallamar by making them blameless in everything (both Leshy and Kallamar expressed not fully understanding the plan for the slaughter or, in this case, not wanting part in it). What's up with THAT. Why is Shamura getting the blame for LITERALLY EVERYTHING.

Anyway, my point is

This was a story decision made to make Narinder sympathetic. It's so blatant. And it's so, so irritating. It gets rid of so many potential cool flaws of Narinder and replaces it with "Actually, Shamura was the bad guy the whole time! Huzzah!"

And honestly, had the entire game come out like this to begin with, released at the start how it is right now, I don't think I'd care this much. But being added now, as an afterthought, after the fandom and devs alike have grown to favor Narinder above all others, it just...

It reeks of favoritism. It smells of revising the story to make Narinder more likeable. It's just erasure.

And for what. Like, I don't want to be That Guy, but I cannot help but notice that one of two nonbinary characters (outside of the Lamb/Goat themselves) is being this heavily demonized in favor of absolving a Man of his crimes. What's, uh. What's up with that.

Oh, and that addition by the writer I mentioned was made while I was writing this.

This was made after Jojo was questioned whether this was a retcon as to who caused the wounds, as this whole thing could also certainly be read as Shamura being the one to directly wound their siblings (which I didn't think was the case, but still).

"I don't know if they thought it would be so severe" - How do I put this in a nice way. This feels like a weaseling out answer. This feels like giving Shamura an out only after being questioned on this writing choice. How could they possibly not know how severe it would be. This spider is Knowledge. This spider has Foresight of some kind. And how do you not know what they thought. You are the Writer. If you want to clarify something like this you gotta say it with your full chest.

Not to mention a good portion of the fandom probably won't even see these tweets, so this context is all missing from the story presented in the game. This is Tacked On Context on top of already Tacked On Context. It's unnecessary retconning all the way down.

Anyway. I realize the fandom at large will not care about this, because (and I mean this in the nicest way I can manage) the Narinder favoritism in this fandom is already impenetrable, but for me personally? This retconning that was so clearly done out of that favoritism?

It ruined Narinder's character for me. More than the fandom possibly could have. I mean, if it's fanon, it can be ignored. But this was canonized. Because Narinder is the dev team's favorite guy.

And I can't stand it.

[anneapocalypse]

At the end of the day you can use "Varric is an unreliable narrator" to overwrite literally any part of DA2 that you don't like. Like you can say, "Oh of COURSE Varric isn't actually against mage freedom! He just said that he objected to Hawke freeing the mages because Cassandra was interrogating him." And sure, I can't prove to you that he isn't lying about that. I can't prove to you that Varric isn't lying about anything. I can't prove to you that the entirety of Inquisition isn't also Varric making things up because he did also write a book about that and we hear Cassandra reading it in the end credits. At the end of the day if you want to you can basically wipe out Varric's entire character as presented to us and say, "Actually he was lying! He's really this."

But at a certain point you do also have to acknowledge that the frame narrative is a storytelling device that's meant to enhance the story, not like... erase it. Or at least I prefer to acknowledge that, because going too far the other way basically guts the story of all meaning. If Varric is a character we are meant to engage with on any level--and I think it's clear from his prominence in the franchise that he is!--then at least some of what we see him say and do needs to be able to meaningfully interpreted, even if we second-guess him, even if we can pick out half-truths here and there, even if we cross-check our interpretations against how he behaves in other parts of canon.

Like at least some of what we're given about Varric has to be meaningful to his character, or why even bother, I guess is what I'm saying.

[the-blossica-fan]

If we're gonna go for five years or more, I want every event released in December to be horror.

Listen we already have two, 1.2 "A Nightmare At Green Lake" and 2.1 "Route 77: Haunted Highway", it's becoming a thing

I'd love for Reverse to just have this absolutely out of place trend of a horror event every December so you're like "???? This is December"

They don't even release them in October in CN

Why are you such a silly failure BP?

[chenziee]

Consequences (of words spoken thoughtlessly)

Witten for the Surgeon of Death - A Trafalgar Law Zine!

I've had this idea in my head for like 5 years or something before I finally got the incentive to finally write it xD I hope you enjoy reading~ 🤍

After sales are live so you can still get your zine rigth here!

[ READ ON AO3 | KO-FI ]

—————

Law didn’t expect to come out of Dressrosa alive. No matter how many miracles the Straw Hat Pirates had worked over the years, Law knew that going against Doflamingo was nothing short of a suicide mission.

Don’t get him wrong, it wasn’t that he wanted to die. But there honestly aren’t many roads to take when your arm gets cut off and your whole vision is filled with pink feathers and the gold-plated barrel of a gun aimed straight at your face.

In that moment, Law had accepted death.

He wasn’t going to go without a fight but he didn’t particularly mind getting killed if he could piss Doflamingo off while at it. If his plan didn’t work, so be it. He was sure Straw Hat would finish the job even without Law’s help—and if he didn’t, well…

Then they would both be dead regardless.

And so, when he told Cavendish and Nico Robin to leave him behind on the Flower Hill below the Royal Palace to await their victory—or demise—, he thought nothing of it.

In retrospect, however, his half-delirious words may have been the gravest mistake of his entire life.

“Here you go, Torao.”

Law blinked, looking away from where he was changing the bandages on his thigh to instead stare blankly at the steaming cup of tea that was now sitting on the table next to him—placed there by a hand that immediately scattered into flower petals and disappeared.

"I didn't ask for tea," Law said slowly, a frown on his face that only deepened when he raised his eyes to look at Nico Robin. 

The woman was gazing back at him with an expression so soft and understanding that Law felt like he was five again, crying to his mother about his Stealth Black figure's broken arm. But Law wasn't five anymore. He didn't hurt any of his toys after performing clumsy surgeries on them. And Nico Robin certainly wasn't his mother.

"It's herbal. Improves mood and helps with recovery," she said with a gentle smile.

Law only stared back at her.

—————

Unfortunately, despite Law's hopes and wishes, the tea incident was only the start of it. Over the course of the next few days, Law was subjected to countless events of "here you go" and "wait, let me get that for you". Law would be lying if he said it wasn't driving him just a little insane.

No, Robo-ya, he was perfectly capable of carrying Kikoku himself.

No, Nose-ya, he didn't need or want his wanted poster framed. (The photo wasn't all that great, not to mention without his Warlord status and after overthrowing Doflamingo, they were all bound to get new bounties any day now.)

And no, Kyros-ya, he didn't want to 'talk about it'. Whatever 'it' meant.

At least Roronoa had the basic human decency to ask if he wanted any sake. Which was the one offer Law did accept without question because after everything, he honestly needed a damn drink of five.

It was only when Straw Hat woke up that it seemed like this… issue was over. While everyone scrambled to get away from Fujitora and his marines, no one even paused at Law’s presence, no one had the time to worry about his wellbeing—aside from his very awkward talk with Sengoku—and that was how he liked it.

But, unfortunately… it didn’t last very long.

“Law-dono!” Kin’emon called as he approached Law in his quiet corner aboard the Yontamaria.

"Kin." Law nodded in greeting. "What is it?"

"Are you enjoying the party?" Kin'emon asked… before casually placing a plate of food in front of Law.

Law took a deep breath and closed his eyes, counting to five in his mind. As if he was physically incapable of going to get his own food.

Not to mention there were umeboshi on the plate. Disgusting things.

Deciding not to comment on the unsolicited food delivery, Law sighed. "No," he said simply. "Parties aren't really my thing."

"I see." Kin'emon hummed. "Might this cheer you up?" Kin'emon reached inside his kimono, pulling out something small and bright red before handing it to Law.

For a moment, Law only stared at the thing sitting on his palm blankly, trying to wrap his head around it. Was this for real?

"A paper crane," he said, voice void of any emotion.

"Indeed. My wife often makes them for people; they carry good fortune, honour, and longevity. You may even make a wish upon them," Kin'emon explained proudly.

Luck and longevity, huh? Law thought to himself—and suddenly, he understood why everyone was acting this way around him.

He was too tired to deal with this shit.

“Oh! Kin’emon! Law-dono!”

Briefly, Law wondered whether he shouldn’t have just let Joker kill him.

Sadly, he couldn’t go back in time so he only sighed deeply, throwing an impatient, long-suffering look at the second samurai approaching them. What was his name? Kanjuro?

“This is perfect, I was just thinking I may have something for you, Law-dono,” Kanjuro announced, gulping down the cabbage roll in his hand before he pulled out his katana-like brush and started scribbling on the floor.

“Of course you do. Fucking everyone has something for me lately,” Law grumbled, but went largely ignored. Not that he expected any less.

It only took a moment for Kanjuro to finish with a satisfied huff. Raising one hand in front of his face in a mock-ninjutsu move, he called out, “Come forth, Kumamaru!”

Law’s eyebrows shot up to the top of his head while he watched this white… pathetic blob peel itself off the ground and stand on two shaky legs. It was barely the size of Law’s hand and so poorly drawn that Law honestly couldn’t tell what it was even supposed to be.

“Kumamaru?” Kin’emon repeated slowly. “Is this creature a bear?”

“Ku… kuma…” the thing said weakly in response, already out of breath.

“Indeed it is!” Kanjuro said proudly. “Luffy-dono told me you love cute white bears, so I thought Kumamaru would help you feel comfortable!”

Law took a sharp intake of breath, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. “Straw Hat-ya,” he groaned, full of annoyance. Just because the idiot got so fixated on Bepo’s very existence as if he didn’t have a talking tanuki on his own crew…

“Law-dono, are you alright?” Kanjuro asked, sounding so worried that Law had to bite his cheek to not snap at him.

“Just awesome,” he hissed instead.

He couldn’t wait to get the hell off this goddamned ship and back to his crew.

And he hated to admit that the longer he looked at the terribly drawn aberration… the cuter it became.

He really hated his life.

—————

Law didn’t think it possible but somehow, the situation got even worse the first night they spent on Zou, the night when Nekomamushi declared yet another party in celebration of the country’s saviours.

There Law was, minding his own damn business and chatting with Bepo and Jean Bart, when Straw Hat Luffy himself barrelled his way to them, carrying an armful of meat so large he couldn’t possibly see where he was going. Even before he stopped right over Law, the surgeon was already praying for patience.

“Torao! Hi!” Straw Hat greeted, and Law could just hear the wide grin on his face.

Before he could so much as open his mouth to reply, however, the mountain of meat was dropped in his lap. “What the—” 

“For you. You need some meat, that will help you get better,” Straw Hat announced, nodding in agreement with his own statement.

Law groaned. “I don’t need meat and I’m perfectly fine, Straw Hat-ya. Can you people stop this already?”

Straw Hat tilted his head to the side, regarding Law for a moment. “Of course you need meat, everyone needs meat,” he said slowly, as if he was explaining a simple problem to a child.

“That’s not true and also not the point—”

“Also, you’ve been really out of it since we kicked Mingo’s ass.” Straw Hat interrupted him. “If we leave you alone, you’re just gonna sulk by yourself.” He crossed his arms over his chest when he finished, a small pout on his lips as he stared Law down.

And Law…

Law couldn’t fucking belive it.

He really just got scolded by Straw Hat.

Unbelievable.

Before Law managed to gather his wits enough to at least close his mouth—he wasn’t sure at what point it fell open—Straw Hat was gone and the goddamned pile of meat in Law’s lap became several pieces smaller.

Seriously, what did Straw Hat even come to do and why?

“Captain? Are you… okay?” Bepo tried carefully.

“Bepo, can you do me a favour?” Law asked instead of replying.

Bepo frowned a little but nodded regardless. “What is it?”

“Kill me. Just fucking kill me right now.”

“I—I don’t think I can do that,” Bepo said before his head dropped. “Sorry.”

Law sighed. It was worth a shot.

[scopophobia-polaris]

The fact I have to boot up totk AGAIN, honest to God yall after I make this one fuckass post it is au only I am not doing zelda discourse no more

[httpslvr]

oh my GOD can we please stop fighting abt hankcon n father/son shit cuz its always like the same two arguements

theyre canonly friends, best friends if u rlly wanna push it, so lets js have them be those two guy friends who know WAY too much abt each othet to b normal? maybe? please? ive read so many fics where theyre like that its so funny

[cloudbends]

IM ACTUALLY IN TEARS . WERE GETTING THERE

[chussyracing]

what's up with all the videos with flashing effects and loud music and glitching pictures in the f1 tag these days??

[cobys-trans-agenda]

every interaction with bdubs in grian’s episode is incredible. they’re just flirting. its just beautiful

[hannahwashington]

why do they keep releasing pictures of this guy 😭 whether he was actually the shooter or not all it's doing is humanising the guy. people were rallying behind a guy who was essentially a concept and force bc of how unidentifiable he was but now that there's a face there's a figurehead and THAT'S dangerous.

[acourtofquestions]

Kingdom of Ash Chapter 49🚨

He had just been crowned the khagan's Heir. With Nesryn as his potential bride. Potential, to Aelin's amusement, because Nesryn herself wasn't so keen on being empress of the mightiest empire in the world.

But what Sartaq had said— Elide blurted, "You mean to not go to Terrasen?" Aelin kept still, her fingers curling at her sides.

"Terrasen needs aid," Rowan said, his face the portrait of steely calm as he surveyed their new allies and old friends.

"And yet Terrasen has not called for it," Hasar countered, utterly unfazed by the wall of Fae warriors glowering at her. Exactly the sort of person Aelin had hoped she'd be when she wrote to her all those months ago.

Chaol cleared his throat. Gods above, Chaol was walking again. And married to Yrene Towers, who had healed him.

A thread in a tapestry. That's what it had felt like the night she'd left the gold for Yrene in Innish. Like pulling a thread in a tapestry, and seeing just how far and wide it went.

All the way to the southern continent, it seemed. And it had rippled back with an army and a healed, happy friend. Or as happy as any of them might be at the moment.

Aelin glanced sidelong to Rowan. Found him already staring at her. We'll convince them to go to Terrasen, her mate said silently.

"It's back," he panted, gaping at Nesryn. "For days now, I swore I felt something, noted changes, but today it just all came back."

Nesyn angled her head, her curtain of dark hair sliding over an armored shoulder. "Who…"

Borte squeezed the young man's arm. "Falkan. It's Falkan, Nesryn." Prince Sartaq stalked to Nesryn's side, graceful as any Fae warrior. "How." But the young man had turned toward Aelin, eyes narrowing. As if trying to place her.

Then he said, "The assassin from the market in Xandria."

Aelin arched a brow. "Hopefully, the horse I stole didn't belong to you." A cough from Fenrys. Aelin threw the warrior a grin over her shoulder.

"I was always young," Falkan muttered. "I just didn't look it." His gray eyes again found Aelin's. "I gave you a piece of Spidersilk."

For a heartbeat, the then and the now blended and wobbled. "The merchant," Aelin murmured. She'd last seen him in the Red Desert-looking twenty years older. "You sold your youth to a stygian spider."

"You two know each other?" Nesryn gaped.

"The threads of fate weave together in strange ways," Falkan said, then smiled at Aelin. "I never got your name."

Hasar chuckled from the other side of the desk. "You already know it, shifter."

Before Falkan could figure it out, Fenrys stepped forward. "Shifter?"

But Nesryn said, "And Lysandra's uncle." Aelin slumped into the chair beside Chaol's.

Rowan laid a hand on her shoulder, and when she looked up, she found him near laughter.

"What's so funny, exactly?" she hissed.

Rowan smirked. "That for once, you are the one who gets knocked on your ass by a surprise."

Aelin stuck out her tongue. Borte grinned, and Aelin winked at the girl.

But Falkan said to Aelin and her companions, "You know my niece."

"Lysandra is my friend, and Lady of Caraverre," Aelin said. "She is not with us," she added upon Falkan's hopeful glance toward the tent flaps. "She's in the North."

Not their considerable beauty, but their size, their pointed ears, their weapons and elongated canines. Aelin whispered conspiratorially to the girl, "Make them roll over before you offer them a treat."

Lorcan glared, but Fenrys shifted in a flash, the enormous white wolf filling the space.

Hasar swore, Sartag backing away a step, but Borte beamed. "You are all truly Fae, then." Gavriel, ever the gallant knight, sketched a bow. Lorcan, the bastard, just crossed his arms.

Yet Rowan smiled at Borte. "Indeed we are."

Borte whirled to Aelin. "Then you are Aelin Galathynius. You look just how Nesryn said." Aelin grinned at Nesryn, the woman leaning against Sartaq's side. "I hope you only said horrible things about me."

"Only the worst," Nesryn said with dead flatness, though her mouth twitched.

But Falkan whispered, "The queen," and fell to his knees.

Hasar laughed. "He never showed that sort of awe when he met us."

Sartaq lifted his brows. "You told him to turn into a rat and scuttle away."

Aelin hoisted up Falkan by the shoulder. "I can't have my friend's uncle kneeling on the ground, can I?"

"You said you were an assassin." Falkan's eyes were so wide the whites around them gleamed. "You stole horses from the Lord of Xandria—"

"Yes, yes," Aelin said, waving a hand. "It's a long story, and we're in the middle of a war council, so..."

"Piss off?" Falkan finished

Aelin laughed, but glanced to Nesryn and Sartaq. The former jerked her chin to Falkan. "He's become our spy of sorts. He joins us in these meetings." Aelin nodded, then winked at the shifter. "I suppose you didn't need me to slay that stygian spider after all."

But Falkan tensed, his attention going to Nesryn and Sartaq, to Borte, still gawking at the Fae males. "Do they know?"

Aelin had a feeling she'd need to sit down again. Chaol indeed patted the chair beside him, earning a chuckle from Yrene. Doing herself a favor, Aelin indeed sat, Rowan taking up his place behind her, both of his hands coming to rest on her shoulders. His thumb ran along the nape of her neck, then drifted over the mating marks again scarring one side thanks to the seawater they'd used to seal them. But as her muscles soothed beneath that loving touch, her soul with it, her breath remained tight.

It didn't get any better when Nesryn said, "The stygian spiders are Valg."

Silence.

"We encountered their kin, the kharankui, deep in the Dagul Fells. They came into this world through a temporary crack between realms, and remained afterward to guard the entrance, should it ever reappear."

"This cannot end well," Fenrys muttered. Elide hummed her agreement.

"They feed on dreams and years and life," Falkan said, a hand on his own chest. "As my friends have said the Valg do."

Aelin had seen Valg princes drain a human of every last drop of youth and vigor and leave only a dried corpse behind. She wouldn't put it past the spiders to have a similar gift.

"What does this mean for the war?" Rowan asked, his thumbs still stroking Aelin's neck.

"Will they join Erawan's forces is the better question," Lorcan challenged with a face like stone.

"They do not answer to Erawan," Nesryn said quietly, and Aelin knew. Knew from the look Chaol gave her, the sympathy and fear, knew in her bones before Nesryn even finished.

"The stygian spiders, the kharankui, answer to their Valg queen. The only Valg queen. To Maeve."

[gnomey22]

Failtopia text posts

My first day on Tumblr, still trying to figure out how any part of this place works, and I’m already brainrotting over the Miis

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