#fern skeleton crew

[juliberrylive]

local space pirate adopts four! stay tuned for more 🏴‍☠️

[vidalharkness]

SKELETON CREW (2024) OFFICIAL TRAILER

[twinsunstars]

omega and the tantiss kids making their way to escape while the skeleton crew kids make their way across the galaxy, this is really the year of star wars kids being iconic

[azertyrobaz]

Skeleton Crew - Official Trailer

[movietimegirl]

December 3rd!

[winged-wolf-s-collection-of-arts]

pinned post! latest edit: April the 10th

Howdy!!! Call me whatever name you’ve heard. Any pronouns are fine!

I have an unreliable sleep schedule/forgetful/message notifications don’t show up- so if you need me uhh keep yelling until I notice? Aaahhh...

I put reblogs in a queue or schedule!! If I like an art post of your but don't reblog, don't worry, it'll be out in a week or so. Probably

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Tag list, ordered by most common to least common in each category. Starting with my personal tags, then general navigation tags.

Art tag: wolfys art (my art), 2022 artchive (specifically my art from 2022)

Cool art by pals: grand showcase of arts

Doc says something: wolf chats

All art month challenges: Just Here To Have Fun

Kiley and co stuff (commonwealth setting): little wastrels

NOTE the au is getting rebooted so old stuff is not canon.

second fallout au (island setting, custom location for an rp): badlands crew

My main story stuff, not fallout: Split Fates au

posts that vaguely relate to my ocs: jeanposting, jerposting

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Other aus- SCP Jailbreak!, museums monsters n marvels, voidspace crew, When Multiverses Collide, eternal spring

I kind of hit my story with a hammer and it shattered into a million pieces. oops

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Misc fandom tags: fallout, whump stuff, bg3, doctor who, ace attorney, hermitcraft, qsmp, warrior cats, good omens

Misc common tags: described (posts with image or video ID), michaelnordeman (his animal photography), birds, food

important tags: reblogging for future reference (general tips), promo (friends news), boost (donation posts), flashing, eyestrain, psa

"You have to reblog!" And similar phrases: rebait

Subcategories of tips tags: drawing tips, writing tips, fave (personal favourites), cooking tips, health tips, tech tips. (more to be added soon)

Note- these are not tagged reliably: ghouls, zombies, blood, skeletons, suggestive, insects, spiders, guns, drug use, smoking, all caps, partial nudity, death

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Characters that frequently appear are... ( updated 10 April, more descriptions to be added soon, please hold!)

Rabbit: A human-sized anthro rabbit! Light grey and white fur, green eyes. Usually in a grey suit with a green tie and gold scarf- or in white robes with gold jewelry. Sometimes drawn with long curved gold colored horns.

Wolfy: A cartoony anthro wolf, exactly five feet tall! Medium grey fur, has oval mirrors (with two shine marks) in place of eyes, and has grey and purple wings and a bird tail over his wolf tail. Always in a medium grey suit with a purple tie. Sometimes drawn with deerlike antlers.

Parsure: Looks like a blonde and light skinned human dude with dull blue eyes! He has shoulder-length hair with jagged bangs, and has a goatee and mustache. Always wears jeans, a white t shirt, red converse shoes, and a leather jacket. There's a large red bullseye on the back of the jacket. There's patches on the left sleeve: A red X symbol, and a night sky with a black stripe down the right side. On the right sleeve: A yellow axe symbol, and grey hexagon with a blue and orange background.

Jerome Drew (should be updated to Jerome Heulwen, I'll get to it soon), <- my main guy :D

Rev -(belongs to hollyrosecheeks),

Vince: A were-snow leopard! Um. Imagine a snow leopard, but with gold eyes.

Jodie: A were-pine-marten! Like a ferret but bigger, brown furred with white patches on the face and chest.

Kiley: (new oc, aaaah- I will redo my reference soon)

Jean: (probably) human dude with short brown hair! Wears a full mask that looks like a crow’s face. Usually wears a white shirt, grey vest and tie, grey slacks, and brown dress shoes. Sometimes wears a simple black jacket. Or a scarecrow's hat and black gloves.

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Psst if you have a spare dollar can you pass it along to my pal Fern!

Cashapp: cash.app/$AustinToach

PayPal: paypal.me/AustinStidham

Venmo: venmo.com/u/Austin-Toach

uh if you show me you've donate something I'll draw you a doodle-

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End of the post! Have a good day, wahoo

[sleepyowlwrites]

Also, I'mma gonna need sugar maple for everything. :3

@wild-selenite-caffine you also asked for this

Sugar Maple: What's the sweetest part of your story?

For everything? Breezy, you're so brazen, showing off how much work I'll put in for you.

City Story!

Personally, I think the sweetest parts are between Jet and Copper. Like, yeah, Jet and Rune’s emotionally charged moments are cool and Yarrow is a delight but the yearning and closeness between the brothers is something special. It makes me so happy to write them. Even with their differences they're just so supportive of each other and so loving and it's healing, I think. Next!

Youth Story!

I mean, we all know it's Nyks, right? Nyks is possibly the sweetest character I've ever written, and I write some pretty sweet ones. He's just the goodest boy! So wholesome. Next!

Summon Story!

I dunno. I think it's adorable that the sunshine child of the group is good friends with a possessed skeleton. It's just very funny to me. Is that sweet? You decide. Next!

Mercenary Story!

It's Tav interacting with anybody, but especially Shar and Marden. He's a good mentor to the youngest, oddly enough, and he's a good friend to the most reserved member of the crew, oddly enough. He's the hardened assassin's soft spot. It's sweet. Next!

Magick Story!

Besides Kyle and Mathias, the twin brothers of sugary goodness, I think it's either the developing friendship between Nathaniel, grumpy 12 year old, and Jessalyn, curious newcomer. He helps her figure out her magick, and she helps him feel listened to. It's very wholesome. And also we have the animals, the talking ones: Fern and Holly, the history cats, Tims, Lila, Corm, and Daisy, the library swallows, and Aristotle and Persimmon, the owls of indeterminate speciality. Next!

Rain Story!

Jemmi and Vern's friendship-crush thing is super adorable, but I think the enemies to friends thing between Jaino and Darsh is favorite. They both have to grow up so much because the world's problems just fall onto their shoulders and what they do with that responsibility and how they react to each other is super important and very sweet! I will not be taking criticism at this time. Next!

Anxiety Story!

It's Theo. Obviously. Best boy Theo. Next!

Thief Story!

Ivan and Caro's friendship that is very important, and no, I will not elaborate. Next!

Guild Story!

I think it's gonna end up being the Abisos siblings, who, for all their typical squabbling, love each other very much and are very close-knit. That or moments with Ondo, child (man) of wonder, or of the most unlikely friendships: Xiyun and Quental, Marz and Idrian. I dunno. Next!

(I have so many wips)

Train Story!

This wip has two characters. And like, okay. Other ones show up. But they're incredibly unpresent overall. Next!

Romance Story!

I suspect John and Edward's developing friendship or the younger crowd's friendships will win out, but I don't know because I haven't written anything. Next!

Dimension Story!

This wip is sad. It's sweet, but it's sad. Next!

Summer Story!

Jake's lessons with Gale are the focal point, and I hope they stand out the most. Next!

Apocalypse Story!

This wip also has two characters. When they get all emotionally vulnerable is my favorite, but when they banter is probably the sweetest. Next!

Death Story!

When Lawrence watches his grandchildren grow up. Next!

That's enough. Eep.

[thecleverqueer]

Random thoughts during The Mandalorian S3:E1 “The Apostate”

*******WARNING: SPOILERS*******

Last chance. Turn back now. No? You good!? You okay!? You sure!? Okay, then let’s get into this:

*Bo-Katan was right. They are absolutely a cult.

*Holy shit! TF with the giant ass crock in the river?!

*Um. If a massive reptile like that surfaced while I was in the middle of my weird cult baptism, I’d consider that a sign from whatever god or ancestors I worshipped that this shit just isn’t for me.

*Din coming in clutch for his cult.

*Crock guts all over the beach! Yes!

*So… Din and the Armorer are having EXACTLY THE SAME conversation that they had in The Book of Boba Fett… again. Because, oops! We did two whole ass episodes of the Mandalorian (which ironically had no Boba Fett despite him being the titular character) because we felt like the name “Boba Fett” couldn’t hold its own weight in fandom, and now folks are going to be lost and confused. Good work!

*Hmm… space whales… Wasn’t I JUST TALKING ABOUT SPACE WHALES!?!

*Is Din asleep at the wheel? He looks like he’s asleep at the wheel. Is it okay to sleep through hyperspace? Come on, Din.

*Wow. Nevarro has been glammed up!

*We have a tree full of Salacious Crumbs….

*Ooo! We have a street band!?! Holy shit! It’s like Mediterranean Europe!

*Greef Karga is dressed to the nines, and he has TWO droids pulling his train. Jeeze, bruh! Class. Nice touch. Carl killing it!

*Greef: I thought you had completely your mission, but you’re still running around here with the same critter.

Din: It’s complicated.*

TRANSLATION: I met a “Jedi” named Ahsoka Tano that freaked out because Grogu had formed an attachment to me, and she refused to have anything to do with his training. She sent me on a wild goose chase across the galaxy to a mountain top in the middle of nowhere so that Grogu may reach out to other Jedi that may take on the task that she was unwilling to do. The kid was kidnapped by the remnants of the Empire, so I amassed a rag-tag team of bad ass lesbians plus Boba Fett to help me rescue him. It nearly went bad, but another Jedi named Luke Skywalker came, rescued us and took Grogu to some unknown forest planet. I went to see Grogu on that planet with Luke, and damn it if Ahsoka Tano wasn’t there… convincing Luke that training Grogu was a bad idea, so Grogu came back to me. Now here we are.

Yeah. That is complicated….. good job making that shit simple.

*Is that a bowl of strawberry Skittles on Greef Karga’s desk? Those look like Skittles. Skittles are now canon. Space whales and skittles… but no gays (scratch that: Gilroy gave us two gays because he’s got balls).

*Wild theory, but hear me out: Greef arguing with these pirates at the doorstep of the school are currently harboring the kids that are going to show up in “The Skeleton Crew”. Jude Law is in there right now lecturing them about something mildly relevant, but he’s not going to be revealed here. The pirates are going to chase Law and the kids out of town because of this interaction right here, and they’re going to get lost when they veer off the trade route somehow (probably via those stinking purrgil). This is the Mandalorian tie-in. Wait for it.

*Oop! Cara Dune mentioned. RIP… your actress was an idiot.

*He, uh, slick passed Grogu like a basket ball just now. WTF? That’s a baby!

*Ahhhh!!!!!

The Babu Frik species!!!!

HEY HEYYYYY!!!!

*Din (when Grogu starts grabbing at the Babu Frik dude): He’s young.

Bitch, he’s like, 50. WTF!?! He should absolutely know better than to snatch up another sentient being like that. Train your child better, my man!

*Oh Din, don’t teach Grogu to fly. He still poops his pants. This is the real reason Ahsoka noped out of his training. Grogu is still in pampers, and Ahsoka is a 45-year-old auntie that just wants stir unnecessary shit in the galaxy after sleeping for 8 hours a night.

*Woo!!! Space battle!!!!

*Din: (during said space battle) SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!

Grogu: *chuckling*

*WTF was that fern pirate guy even!?! Oh my god. He was totally a house fern; a walking, talking, sentient, humanoid house fern. That was your inspiration!?

*Holy Shit!! Bo’s ancestral castle! Yum! It’s got concrete walls, House Kryze banners, an ocean view, greenery, fancy statues and a throne. Yes, Bo! Yes!

*Oh no… Bo is brooding on her throne.

*Hmm. Oddly, she doesn’t have her throne blanket in this scene… which absolutely leads me to believe that she becomes so insufferable later in this season that her wife (I can’t tell you if it’s Koska or Ahsoka, but it’s one of them) kicks her out of the bedroom.

*Good to see that despite what appears to be a pretty nasty depressive episode Bo-Katan is in the midst of, she still a seething bitch. That’s my girl!

*I feel like not giving Bo-Katan some sort of comfort animal for her to stroke while she sat sodding on her throne was a missed opportunity (maybe one of those weird dog creatures that were eating the Mantell mix on Shili in TOTJ would have been cool). Opportunity missed, man.

*Mmm… her hatred… I feel her disdain for Din. Damn. She’s tempering her more violent tendencies though, so this gives me hope that she will indeed survive this season.

*Someone call Ahsoka…. Ahsoka has this way of making brains release serotonin and oxytocin with her presence. Have her fix Bo-Katan!

Final thoughts:

Hmm. Visually, it was beautifully done. Nice sound track. Clearly talented director. The writing was kind of hokey (which, I blame Andor for the fact that I even noticed… as Star Wars was always hokey until Tony Gilroy showed up), but it wasn’t absolutely terrible. I love Pedro Pascal. That goes without saying. Katee Sackhoff did a great job delivering Bo, but she’s done it for so long, I feel like she IS Bo. Still worried for my girl, but not nearly as much as before. Not a bad episode. I’m for it. Good. Good.

[infiniterichesinalittleroom]

August

Dull August! Maiden of the sultry days, And Summer's latest born! When all the woods Grow dim with smoke, and smirch their lively green With haze of long-continued drought begot; When every field grows yellow, and a plague Of thirst dries up its herbage to the root, So that the cattle grow quite ribby-lean On woody stalks whose juices all are spent; When every fronded fern in mid-wood hid Grows sick and yellow with the jaundice heat, Whilst those on hill-sides glare with patchy red; When streamlets die upon the lichened rocks, And leave the bleaching pebbles shining bare, And every mussel shell agape and parched, And small snail-craft quite emptied of their crews; When not one angel-cloud is to be seen To image coolness and the coming rain, But all the air with stour and dust is filled, Through which the sun stares with a pallid face On which one long may look, and turn, and read Some prophecy of old with eyes undimmed; When every morn is fiery as the noon, And every eve is fiery as the morn, And every night a prison hot and dark, Where one doth sleep and dream of pleasant snow, And winter's icicles and blessed cold, But, soon awakes, with limbs uneasy cramped, And garments drenched, and stifled, panting breath; When life itself grows weary of its use, And mind is tarnished with the hue of things, And thoughts are sickened with o'erdàrkened food; When man uneasy strolls, a listless mome In museless misery, a wretch indeed— Say, fiery maiden, with the scorching eyes, What hast thou left to chain us to the earth? Ah, there are busy forms which, all unsought, Find yet a relish in thy scanty store. And, for that blooms are scarce, therefore the bee Wades knee-deep in the purple thistle tops, And shares their sweetness with the hungry wasp. Therefore the butterfly comes sailing down, And, heedless, lighting on a hummer's back, Soon tacks aloft in sudden strange alarm, Whilst bee and wasp quick scurry out of sight, And leave their treasures to the plodding ant. The beetle in the tree-top sits and sings His brassy tune with increase to the end, And one may peep and peer amongst the leaves, Yet see him not though still he sits aloft, And winds his reedy horn into the noon. Now many a sob is heard in thickets dim, Where little birds sit, pensive, on the spray, And muse mayhap on the delights of Spring; And many a chitmunk whistles out its fear, And jerks and darts along the panneled rails, Then stops, and watches with unwinking eyes Where you do stand, as motionless as death; But should you wag a finger through the air, Or move a-tiptoe o'er the crispy sod, 'Twill snudge away beneath the balsam brush, Quick lost and safe among the reddened spray. Now one may sit within a little vale, Close to the umbrage of some wood whose gums Give heavy odours to the heavy air, And watch the dusty crackers snap their wings, Whilst gangs of blue-flies fetch a buzzing teaze Of mad, uneasy whirlings overhead. Now one may mark the spider trim his web From bough to bough, and sorrow at the fate Of many a sapless fly quite picked and bare, Still hanging lifeless in the silken mesh, Or muse upon the maze of insect brede Which finds a home and feeds upon the leaves Till naught but fibre-skeletons are hung From branch to branch up to the highest twig. And many a curious pleasance may be seen And strange disport. Of such the wondrous glee The joinèd gnats have in their headlong flight; The wild'ring quest of horse-flies humming past In twos and threes, and the small cloud of wings Which mix and throng together in the sun. A num'rous kin dart shining o'er some pool Spared from the general wreck of water store, And from the lofty woods crow-blackbird trains Chuck o'er the barren leas with long-drawn flight. Far o'er the hills the grouse's feath'ry drum Beats quick and loud within a beechen copse, And, sometimes, when the heavy woods are still, A single tap upon a hemlock spire Dwells with the lonely glades in echoes deep. Then with the eve come sounds of varied note. The boys troop clam'ring to the woods, and curs Yelp sharply where the groundhog's lair is found. The horn has called the reapers from the fields, And, now, from cots half-hid by fruited trees, The homely strains of fiddle or of fife, Which distance sweetens with a needed art, Come dropping on the ear. And sometimes, too, If sparks are deemed sincere, and rustic love Run smooth, the merry milkmaids sing A fallow's length with pails at elbow slung, Or, while they thrust the draw-well dangler down, 'Gainst which the swains oppose their yielding strength, Laugh loud and long, or scold with mimicked heat. These find a pleasure in the waste of days, And strive against the mis'ry of the time With am'rous snares and artifice of love. Not less those faithful ones who look upon This weather-sorrow with sufficing joy— The old, who still would linger with their seed, And snatch a little comfort from the earth. Still would they gaze upon the simmering sun, And take the warmth into their aged bones, Nor cavil with the hindrances which stay. The lethal hour when death shall come and bend Their reverend heads into the restful grave. Hail August! Maiden of the sultry days, To thee I bring the measured meed of praise. For, though thou hast besmirched the day and night, And hid a wealth of glory from our sight, Thou still dost build in musing, pensive mood, Thy blissful idyls in the underwood. Thou still dost yield new beauties, fair and young, With many a form of grace as yet unsung, Which ripens o'er thy pathway and repays The toil and languor of the sultry days.

by Charles Mair

[boomgers]

Pase lo que pase, no se rindan… “Skeleton Crew: Viaje A Lo Desconocido”

La serie sigue el viaje de cuatro niños, KB, Neel, Fern y Wim, quienes hacen un misterioso descubrimiento en su aparentemente seguro planeta, y luego se pierden en una galaxia extraña y peligrosa.

Encontrar su rumbo a casa, y toparse con aliados y enemigos inesperados, será una aventura mayor de lo que jamás imaginaron.

Estreno: 3 de diciembre de 2024 en Disney+.

La serie cuenta con las actuaciones de Jude Law, Ravi Cabot Conyers, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Kyriana Kratter, Robert Timothy Smith, Tunde Adebimpe, Kerry Condon, Nick Frost, entre otros.

[ulkaralakbarova]

The story of the Buckman family and friends, attempting to bring up their children. They suffer/enjoy all the events that occur: estranged relatives, the ‘black sheep’ of the family, the eccentrics, the skeletons in the closet, and the rebellious teenagers. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Gil Buckman: Steve Martin Karen Buckman: Mary Steenburgen Helen Buckman Lampkin Bowman: Dianne Wiest Frank Buckman: Jason Robards Nathan Huffner: Rick Moranis Larry Buckman: Tom Hulce Julie Buckman-Lampkin Higgins: Martha Plimpton Tod Higgins: Keanu Reeves Susan Buckman: Harley Jane Kozak Garry Buckman-Lampkin: Joaquin Phoenix David Brodsky: Dennis Dugan Marilyn Buckman: Eileen Ryan Grandma: Helen Shaw Kevin Buckman: Jasen Fisher George Bowman: Paul Linke Taylor Buckman: Alisan Porter Justin Buckman: Zachary La Voy Patty Huffner: Ivyann Schwan Cool Buckman: Alex Burrall Stan: Lowell Ganz Dean at College: Rance Howard Young Gil Buckman: Max Elliott Slade Lou: Clint Howard Fotomat Clerk: Lamont Lofton Amy: Erika Rafuls Matt: Jordan Kessler Eddie: Billy Cohen Barbara Rice: Isabel Cooley Opposing Coach: Walter von Huene Kid in Classroom (uncredited): Howie Dorough Doctor Lucas: Greg Gerard Kevin Buckman – Age 21: Paul Keeley Student 1 at College: Claudio Jacobellis Umpire: W. Bruce O’Donoghue Student 2 at Collage: Hillary Matthews Screaming Co-ed: Sherry Ferguson Track Official: Todd Hallowell Young Frank Buckman: Richard Kuhlman Nurse at Hospital: Charmin Lee Film Crew: Story: Ron Howard Director of Photography: Donald McAlpine Story: Babaloo Mandel Story: Lowell Ganz Unit Production Manager: Joseph M. Caracciolo Editor: Daniel P. Hanley Editor: Mike Hill Producer: Brian Grazer Costume Design: Ruth Morley Production Design: Todd Hallowell Songs: Randy Newman Casting: Jane Jenkins Casting: Janet Hirshenson Stunt Coordinator: Artie Malesci First Assistant Director: Joe Napolitano Second Assistant Director: Tony Adler Art Direction: Christopher Nowak Set Decoration: Nina Ramsey Assistant Art Director: Beth Kuhn Set Dresser: William A. Cimino Set Dresser: Linda Marais Set Dresser: Nicklas Farrantello Camera Operator: Tom Priestley Jr. First Assistant Camera: Gary Muller Steadicam Operator: Robert Ulland Still Photographer: Phillip V. Caruso Camera Trainee: Mollie S. Mallinger Sound Mixer: Richard S. Church Boom Operator: Glen Gauthier Music Editor: Dan Carlin Sr. Supervising Sound Editor: Anthony J. Ciccolini III Supervising ADR Editor: Michael Jacobi Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Rick Dior Script Supervisor: Cynthia Streit Unit Publicist: Andrew Lipschultz Makeup Artist: Fern Buchner Makeup Artist: Peter Wrona Jr. Makeup Artist: Frank Griffin Hairstylist: Linda Trainoff Hairstylist: Romaine Greene Hairstylist: Donna Battersby Greene Location Manager: Peggy Coleman Negative Cutter: Ray Sabo Color Timer: Bob Hagans Color Timer: Dale Caldwell Movie Reviews: Peter McGinn: Parenthood is a great movie, and has aged well after 30 years have passed. The writing team included the writers who also gave us two other movies I like: City Slickers and Fever Pitch. Parenthood accomplishes in general what the movie Rain Man did for my wife and me. It reminded us of our autistic daughter And made us laugh at stuff that frustrated us in “real life.“ Similarly Parenthood touches upon a lot of hotspots in the parenting experience and helps us laugh at them. Their is a fine Ensemble cast. I particularly like KianU Reeves as Tod, who seems like an inappropriate boyfriend for the daughter but who proves to be valuable in mentoring their disaffected son. There are many memorable situations but one line my wife and I often quote even after all these years occurs when the other son Larry is pushed out of a still moving vehicle by people he owes money to. His father, played straight by Jason Robards, asked who they were. Tod replies that they were just some friends. The memorable line by Robards�� character is, “Friends. Friends slow down; they even stop.” The movie is full of good one-liners, as well as more in-depth sources of humor. You must ...

[bouwrites]

Those Warm and Halcyon Days: Chapter 49

Gifts From the Spirits

Ao3.

First, Previous, Next.

Story under read-more.

The next island on the list is Immram. General Kaia, rescued from the camp on Míor Mór and stone-facedly marching towards battle, takes a detachment of Brigid soldiers to the southern Imperial camp, leaving the northern Immram camp to Petra, her retainers, and the Fódlander group.

Míor Mór being the largest island, and now completely free from Imperial control, plus the king fully at their backs now means that they have enough soldiers even to split their force like this. Granted, they can only pull it off because of the Empire’s skeleton crew presence here, but they can pull it off.

They have to keep their momentum. Following the victories on Scylla and Míor Mór, the plan is to keep going as quickly as their own stamina lets them to boot the Adrestian Empire out of Brigid in one fell swoop.

But Immram is… different from the other islands. The first and most obvious clue is how the air seems to get thicker as they approach. Veery’s fur rises on end, and his skin crawls. Sadi openly shivers as well, and even Hoarvug makes a face as they glide through the water.

“What in the world…?” Lysithea murmurs, frowning at the approaching landmass. Dorothea likewise fidgets uneasily.

This is a land of magic. There is no mistaking it. Even those not sensitive to it are reacting now. The power, the magic, is so heavy in the air here that it’s hard to breathe. Until now, the magic pervading Brigid always saturates, but doesn’t oppress like it does in the Holy Tomb back at Garreg Mach.

This? This is worse. This is difficult to move under, difficult to comprehend. It’s dominating life in a way that Veery’s brain can’t handle. He can’t be sure if it’s because he’s used to such scarcity in Albinea, but it’s like the land itself is demanding vigor.

And Immram reflects that.

Beyond the jagged, rocky coasts so unlike the pristine sand of the last two islands is a dense, dense jungle thicker than Veery can imagine will sustain life. Surely, if everything grows too close to each other, one will outcompete another and only the victor will remain. No shrubs can grow too close to a tree’s roots, because the tree steals all the sunlight and soil from it.

Yet that isn’t the case here. Here, trees are growing on top of each other, tangling with each other. Roots and branches, vines, shrubs, ferns, and grasses all grow on and around each other. Veery can even see plants that don’t touch the earth at all! Their roots are entirely tangled up in the canopy with other plants, and it gets no thinner down towards the ground like it should. It’s just a massive, gnarled, uncontained wall of green.

“Much of Immram is inaccessible, even to us,” Petra says. “It’s one of the larger islands in Brigid but has one of the lowest populations because the jungle is too dense to navigate.”

“Because of the magic here,” Lysithea says.

It’s not really a question. That much is obvious to everyone, probably even to the utterly unmagical, like Leonie.

“Yes,” says Petra. “Immram is sacred to the spirits of Brigid. They bring great life, and so we do not try to cut through the jungle to make space. It is left to the spirits to tend.”

The life, the heat, the presence of the place… it’s the exact opposite of Albinea. It makes Veery nervous.

They make landfall on the northern coast. Because Immram is so dense, the only Imperial presence is in a camp in the south and a temple up here in the north. According to Petra, who, unlike Veery, is familiar with Brigid’s particular form of religion, it’s not really a temple in the same sense that Fódlanders will interpret it.

In Fódlan, the religion centers around worship of the goddess. In Brigid, it’s not like that at all. If anything, it’s most similar to Veery’s religion, insomuch as Veery considers acknowledging the gods as a religion. The spirits are there, and Brigid’s religion revolves around communicating with them. In that sense, it’s not too different from speaking to the goddess. But there’s no worship like in Fódlan. The relationship is more on even ground, built on actual respect.

At least, from the outside. Veery is the first to admit that he doesn’t understand this religion any more than he does Fódlan’s. He does know, however, that it’s intimately linked to Brigid’s magic, and practitioners of that magic, who commune regularly with spirits, sometimes make the trip to Immram.

Some stay here for a while, some bring patients here, where the magical energies and spirits are strongest, and that all leads to this temple, as far as Veery understands it, being something more akin to a library and hospital in one, where people come to heal, and where practitioners come to learn, than a place of worship.

Though Brigid lacks the quick mending of Fódlan’s Faith magic, so does Albinea. That doesn’t stop Albinea from being a raiding nation, dependent on fighting, nor does it mean Albinean seers or these shamans here in Brigid should be overlooked. Veery suspects he can learn a great deal from them. He speaks with Yrsa a grand total of once, after all, and he learns a great deal from her – if mostly through Caub.

Everyone needs healers, even the faithless. Faithless healing relies more on medicine, for obvious reasons, but with magic serving as a supplement at best, Veery finds their medicine is a step or two above Fódlan’s. At least, Albinea’s is. He won’t be surprised if the same holds true here, despite Brigid’s less… aggressive culture.

Veery considers it a good mark on his character that the only part of this that he’s looking forward to is getting the chance to explore this temple. It is a sacred site, though, so when he’s not fighting the Empire in it, he should at least try to have a native guide to make sure he doesn’t wander somewhere he shouldn’t be.

Having a guide will help him learn more, anyway. The biggest question is whether he’ll find anyone there who knows the temple and healing that also speaks Common and is willing to help him.

Dorothea hugs his arm as they sail, in a similar position as they were last time on approach to Míor Mór, and Veery doesn’t need to be able to listen to her heart to know that she’s as excited as he is to enter one of Brigid’s effective hospitals.

To think, at one point, neither of them even consider that they can become healers. In fact, both are quite convinced that it’s impossible. Now, they’re chomping at the bit to learn something new and become that much better. Sometime after they get back to Fódlan, Veery needs to remember to thank Professor Byleth for pushing him into it. It’s… actually one of the better things he learns, which is saying a lot, he thinks. Useful, too.

Speaking of learning about healing, Celica has quite a few of her own tips to share. Veery gets a little tingle in his chest at the thought of learning practices from before the great extinction, even if he keeps that theory to himself.

Of particular note is what Veery can only describe as Faith healing, that is, the mending of wounds in miraculous fashion which seems thus far to be exclusive to Fódlan, but in Albinean style. (Celica calls it “White Magic” but after she calls Nosferatu “Black Magic” it soon becomes clear that in Celica’s time, magic is classified by effect rather than how it’s cast. Which is good for memory, but not so much for theory.)

Veery doesn’t use Albinean magic because hurting himself is counter-intuitive to survival, but that injury can, mostly, be healed by magic, so using the much more energy-efficient Albinean style to heal means that two skilled healers working together can go on nearly in perpetuity, keeping their patients and each other healthy throughout the procedure.

They’ll be sore like they can’t believe after it’s all over, but if they’re tough enough to take it, it’s a perfectly feasible strategy.

Veery wonders if Caub will be willing to try that. He probably will. Caub likes trying new things like that. The bigger question is if Veery is willing to do that. He doesn’t like Albinean magic for a reason, after all.

Either way, Veery is strangely excited, even with how the oppressive atmosphere and dense jungle looms over him.

The heat, however, does manage to mar Veery’s excitement. After they land on Immram and set off on a narrow, half-overgrown trail that funnels them, to Veery’s nerves’ great dismay, in single file (The only comfort in walking blindly like sheep after only the person directly ahead of them is that the jungle is so thick, they cannot possibly be attacked from the sides. Veery needs merely to watch his step so he does not follow Kieran off of a cliff. The view is nice, too. Kieran is still cute.), Veery is sharply reminded just how effectively plant growth holds heat in.

A jungle this dense? It’s worse than Garreg Mach’s sauna. Veery enters the sauna a total of one time during his stay at Garreg Mach – Lorenz’ fault – and swiftly vows to do so never again. And that is during an actual winter, or at least Fódlan’s best approximation of it, which is still dangerous, not this farce of a winter that Brigid has.

Veery suffers the march, though, because he wants to see the temple. And he is not disappointed.

The temple is an impressive circular tower. So impressive that, if it’s true that no jungle is cut away for it, it surprises Veery that it is this large. Half-reclaimed by the jungle, with plush moss blanketing it in full and vines in every nook, some even piercing the stone itself, Veery thinks that it should be collapsed by now. The jungle must be holding up the walls just as much as the stone is, at this point.

That’s not to say that it’s in disrepair, though. While it’s clearly a part of the jungle, it’s also clearly regularly cleaned and patched up. Human hands guide the growth here. They do not impede it, if possible, but they do all they can to ensure that the structure of the building remains sound.

It’s kind of pretty, in that overgrown ruin kind of way. It’s the kind of place Veery would hide away in, a temporary shelter as he’s on his way this way or that. Except maybe it’s a little large for that, but it’s just as practical as napping atop the Goddess Tower at Garreg Mach.

…Although, Veery never does do that. He would, though.

Regardless, he shifts when they get close, and then the climb begins.

Just like in the castle on Míor Mór, no one from Brigid makes a move to stop them. They just keep moving almost as if they are not there, and swiftly disappear before the fighting can break out. Not that there is much fighting.

Veery does more healing than fighting in this tower, and most of that is in the rooms where native people are recovering from their ailments. At no point on their sweep of the tower do they encounter Imperial soldiers in large enough numbers that those on the front line of their march, Petra, Acis, Vanora, and Lysithea, do not take them out so swiftly that the rest of their group so much as needs to ready their weapons.

In fact, Veery has half a mind to just shift back. His thick winter coat is torturous enough in this heat that if he’s not actually going to be fighting, he’d rather be in his other form.

He doesn’t. He’s not stupid enough to shift back on an active battlefield without good reason, even if the battlefield is a bit of a joke. But he’s tempted.

Cramped in the sweltering tower, Veery pads along the short circular pathway and pokes his head into room after room. On occasion, he, Dorothea, or Caub will stop to heal someone they find in those rooms, but for the most part they save their magic.

“I never imagined I would return here…” Celica murmurs as they continue the march. Her eyes are transfixed on the stone, looking past the overgrowth, and Veery wonders if she knows this place from when it was built.

If that’s true, then this tower likely predates Brigid. It would explain why it’s as large as it is, if the people of Brigid don’t clear space on this island. But is it truly that old, or is it simply similar to something Celica recognizes?

Petra might know, but Veery doesn’t think he’ll ask. He definitely won’t while she’s still cutting through the Empire ahead of them.

They’re nearing the top. It’s thankfully nothing like Conand Tower, where the climb itself is so long and exhausting that simply sitting up there is a feasible strategy for tiring an enemy. Instead, it’s only five floors. Still impressive, especially considering where it is, but not a pain to climb.

Here on the fourth floor, though, Veery takes a moment to inspect a room off the main hallway to ensure there are no Imperial soldiers occupying it.

There is. Just one. He readies his spear, so Caub uses his Freeze spell. Veery makes the defenseless man’s death quick.

The room is much like all the others. Sparse but for the supplies in a corner and a small decoration or two. Most of the color in the room is from the green mosses and branches that work in from outside. Aside from a small protrusion from one wall, some kind of featureless platform with no discernable purpose, which Veery sees a few times before in other areas of the tower, the only thing of note in the room is a single prisoner.

Well, if they’re locked up, they’re probably on Petra’s side. There is a person of interest here who hasn’t been found yet – a powerful shaman named Ambrose. Veery tilts his head and sniffs curiously at the man chained to the wall, hands bound with palms flat together – the way to bind a mage, or at least a Fódlander one – who looks back at Veery with a composure and curiosity that doesn’t fit his position.

The man has the same dark skin as most Brigidans, but more importantly has such a myriad of tattoos visible across his face and bare torso that there is no doubt in Veery’s mind of who this is. Veery may not know Brigidan culture well, but he talks at length with Petra about her tattoos, and he knows they are prayers to the spirits. A shaman who works extensively with spirits would naturally have more than people like Kieran or Vanora, who have only a few.

Veery isn’t sure why he expects Ambrose to be older. This guy looks to be in his prime, maybe around the same age as Claude, or perhaps Shamir.

“You…” Ambrose squints just a little, eyes fixed solely on Veery, as he speaks, in a gentle, quiet voice, surprisingly smooth Church Common. “You have… no. It is close, but different. There is the power of a spirit within you, but it is no longer one with you.”

What is it with Brigid and immediately recognizing the spark of Sothis she leaves in him? Veery himself can’t even feel her power in him, so why?

At least this guy has it right. Not like Acis or the king.

“Or perhaps… not a spirit at all.” He glances to Hoarvug and Sadi in turn, then says, “Perhaps your people simply have a power beyond our understanding, and that ember in you makes it more obvious to us humans.”

Veery, unsure, shares a look with his friends.

“You, red one, you are a mountain. That spirit in you is a spirit of flame, but you are a mountain. How curious.”

Caub steps between them. “You know something about Veery?”

Veery huffs and tugs on Caub’s shirt. He understands being defensive and confused, but this guy is literally chained up right now. There’s no sense in posturing. Caub looks to Veery, hesitates, then nods and steps back again.

Ambrose smiles at them both but doesn’t seem to really look at them. His eyes are focused elsewhere, past them or near them, and it makes Veery’s fur bristle. “You… forgive me, I do not know what you call your kind. You cats, you excite the spirits.”

“Agell,” Caub says sharply, expression displeased.

There is no real offense to being called a cat – Veery calls himself a cat as much if not more often than he calls himself a man. Mostly, Veery wonders why, if Ambrose doesn’t know about the agell, he thinks to address them directly, speaking Church Common no less. He clearly has some idea of their intelligence.

Sadi rumbles quietly, looking to Veery. Veery isn’t sure what to do, either. Exciting spirits doesn’t strike him as a particularly good thing.

“Agell.” Ambrose says it like he’s tasting the word, savoring it. “Ha. Haha! Wonderful. You are wonderful.” Ambrose’s countenance remains politely curious, and neither does he sound at all unstable when he speaks, but except to devour their image, he refuses to look at them. Veery is confident enough now in reading people that he believes Ambrose is not simply shy. It makes Veery feel like Ambrose sees something he doesn’t. Something all around them.

The gods only know what, though. Spirits, perhaps? So literally? So physically? Veery has no idea. All he knows is that it makes his hackles stand on end and he does not like it.

…They should really unbind this guy. He’s clearly not with the Empire. It says something about how unsettling he is that no one makes a move to do that.

“Agell,” Ambrose says, watching the shadows and the moss instead of them. “You agell are older than humans, are you not? There is something more ancient about you. Something powerful. I feel it in all three of you, though you… the red one… you are even more – touched by a power not your own, even more ancient, even more potent.”

“…I don’t like this guy,” Caub says. He looks to Veery for direction, but… honestly, Ambrose isn’t wrong. He’s weird, but Veery is plenty weird himself. If only he would focus on them instead of eyeing everywhere but the actual people in the room – or even just look at the floor – Veery doesn’t think he’d mind this guy in the slightest.

“No?” Ambrose asks, alarm in his voice but not on his face. “Impressions. Warriors – threats in the snow – snow? Ah, snow. Apologies.” He clears his throat, lowers his head. “I am used to making people uncomfortable; I do not mean to unnerve you.”

Caub scoffs. “I am not frightened by you.”

“No- you are frightened, but not by me. By what? Something lurking, something… Ah, no, I am not meant to ask.”

Hoarvug moves in place, shifting his body to tell Veery just how sane he thinks this man is. Veery… can’t disagree entirely. Something is off about him, but Veery can’t yet convince himself Ambrose is simply mad. There’s too much purpose, and Petra would not name a madman as a priority in rescuing.

“Not scared- warriors are brave, fear doesn’t stop them. It wouldn’t matter if you were scared. Even now you act as if you are not. No… not me, not- a lover? Tender and warm in frozen wastes – I have never seen snow. You all carry it with you. Thank you. This is new.”

Caub sighs. “Okay, he’s definitely mad.”

“Not yet!” Ambrose says. “I apologize. I find myself… easily distracted. And you agell do so excite the spirits; there is so much to see.”

Right.

“I will try to focus. My name is Ambrose. It is a pleasure to meet guests in this land. The spirits say you are from very far away. You must be, to be snow. Snow does not come from Brigid.”

Uh-huh.

“You, the red one… you have echoes of a spirit of flame within you. The most powerful one I have ever felt. Such a small ember remains, and yet… But you do not know how to use it, do you? You are an ally of our princess, are you not? I would be happy to teach you, if you would like to learn.”

Teach him? Veery already has some idea of how Brigidan magic works – it’s necessary as a healer after Celica uses that spell that works on the same principles. From examining Caub and Celica alone, Veery gets enough to know that they draw power from the ambient magic around them. Whether that magic is assisting spirits or simply leftover power free for the taking Veery is in no position to say, but the fact remains that that power comes from outside the mage’s own reserves.

It just never occurs to him, until Ambrose points it out, that even if Veery doesn’t feel it like he feels the power that hangs over Brigid, Sothis leaves some of her power in him. It permanently changes his magical footprint, so there must be remnants of her with him. It’s not just his magic changing, it’s this same lingering effect of the magic of dragons, of gods, that is so powerful it sticks around beyond their own death, but applied to him as a person.

(That is what the people of Brigid, who are used to paying attention to the spirits, and the magic, around them, recognize in him.)

Which means that, if he can learn to draw power from outside himself, as the Brigidan shamans do, or as Celica does, and he can learn to pinpoint that leftover power within him, he can use that small fraction of Sothis’ power.

Such techniques like Celica’s Ragnarok would not be feasible outside of Brigid or some other notable place of power. Small curses and the like are possible, but when they draw power from the outside, they are subject to the conditions of their environment.

But if someone carries that power with them… it’s certainly nowhere near enough to power a spell like Ragnarok, nor would it give him special abilities like Professor Byleth’s time manipulation, but it’s not unreasonable to think that Veery might find himself capable of astonishing feats of magic.

Miracles, from one whose soul has touched the goddess’, however more minor they may be than that day in the Sealed Forest.

Veery does not know if he wants to learn that or not.

Obviously, any skill he can learn and any tool at his disposal is good for keeping him alive, if he can use them right, and good for Claude, if he can utilize them in this war, but… taking even a fraction of the power of the gods for himself feels a little… larger than him.

Veery does not want power. He does not want to be any more than exactly what he is. While he’s fairly certain Sothis won’t mind him using the power she leaves behind, he has more than enough problems with being raised to divine levels already with the cat saint thing.

…But is he really going to let humans looking for something to follow stop him from learning everything he can that might keep him alive? Of course not.

That said, Veery is certain he can learn to access that power from Celica. She’ll probably be around until they leave Brigid, which is when he would part with Ambrose anyway, so it’s not as if he’s losing time. Plus, as an einherjar tied to Caub, Veery knows that Celica will not do anything Caub will not approve of. He’s not even sure if she can.

Ambrose, meanwhile, is unsettling and possibly just a little bit mad, so Veery isn’t sure he’s the best teacher for this kind of thing.

“Veery? Oh! You are here!” He turns at the sound of Kieran’s voice. It has been a little too long, hasn’t it? The others must be missing them. Nonetheless, Kieran takes in the room and grins. “You are finding a prisoner! Good. We should be freeing him.”

“Freedom,” Ambrose says. “Flying. Feeling – cats don’t have wings – a memory? A gift? A dream. Cute.” Ambrose’s eyes land on Kieran. “You are cute, but not like a kitten. In the way humans should not be to agell. But why not? This is flying, too.”

And Veery is suddenly very thankful for his thick fur. It is impossible to blush visibly like this. Alas, Kieran does not have such a buffer, and turns redder than Veery’s fur, blushing from his ears to his shoulders.

Sadi laughs at Veery. Caub narrows his eyes at Kieran. Veery frantically wonders what in the world Ambrose is doing. Kieran being cute isn’t exactly a secret, but Ambrose should not be able to call out Veery’s feelings so accurately so quickly. Not to mention, Veery doesn’t tell anyone about that dream. Flying, which Veery both doesn’t remember but also does. It’s like his body remembers the feeling of soaring but he can’t recall the dream save that Sothis bestows it upon him and that he, occasionally, has the same dream even to this day.

Not that that’s a secret, either, but it is irrelevant, so he never bothers sharing it, which means Ambrose has no way of knowing about it. But he does. Is it because of the spirits? Can the spirits read his mind? Or… his heart?

“I’ve made things awkward again,” Ambrose says, lowering his head but eyeing Caub. “My apologies, I did not mean to imply you have anything to be jealous of.”

Caub sputters. “Jealous? Listen here, guy-”

“J-jealous?” Kieran squeaks. “I am not understanding. What is happening?”

“You know things you can’t know,” Caub continues, “and I don’t trust it. I want to know how.”

“Who is being jealous? And why?”

Ambrose looks up at Caub with wide eyes. “I know things… yes. You see fate. You know things, too. Things you do not- no- it’s that- we do not speak of that. It is not mine to ask or to know, but yours. Fear burns, then burns out, but there is no fuel in the snow. Snow numbs. That can stop the flame, but it is not always good.”

As if he’s stricken, Caub reels back. “You are peering into our heads,” he growls. “Stop now.”

“I cannot,” Ambrose says, sounding sincerely regretful. “The spirits peer into you, I merely observe the spirits. I cannot control what they see and closing my eyes does not hide me from them. If it helps, he does love you.”

If anything, that only makes Caub’s glare icier. “You think I do not know that? Do not patronize me. You steal from our minds through your spirits, but do not forget that you lack context. Do not assume you know me, or my life.”

With Caub over him, Ambrose cows. “I apologize. It is easy to forget, but… you are right. Of course, the one who sees fate knows when not to trust one’s eyes.”

“More importantly,” Caub says, softening just a little, “you must know when to stay silent. You see much, but it is not yours to share.”

“I say only what is not secret,” Ambrose says, “though I know not if it is shared.”

Caub sighs heavily. “You lack tact. Some things cannot be said whether they are known or not.”

“What is already known will not change fate.”

“Fate does not care for us. It is not a matter of fate, but a matter of feeling. You do not have any friends, do you?”

Ambrose flinches. “You see that? Do the spirits tell you that? Or do you glimpse it in fate?”

“No one needs magic to see what is plainly in front of them.” Caub shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Ambrose’s gaze finally settles. On the floor. “Sorry. I tell, you withhold, but it should be opposite. I- sorry.”

“Keep your wits about you. You should know that is even more important for those who can see more than most.”

“I do not mind. The spirits are good company and have little wit.”

“You are not a spirit, and neither am I.” Caub sighs. “Come on, let’s get you unbound.” As gentle as he ever is with Veery, Caub carefully fiddles with Ambrose’s restraints.

Kieran awkwardly clears his throat. “I… am not understanding what is happening, but we should be rejoining the others.”

That’s a good point. Veery still isn’t sure what he thinks about Ambrose, so he’s more than happy to let Caub handle freeing him. With one last hesitant look to his companions, and a soft meow to Caub, Veery turns to follow Kieran back to the group.

Veery meditates.

For all that Ambrose lacks tact – Veery may not be so odd about it, maybe, but he can’t honestly say he’s better in that regard – he makes a very compelling point. Veery is already working through the magical theory with Lysithea, and has been since Celica’s show of power, to puzzle out how to draw magic from the environment. If he can call upon Sothis’ power, he’ll be that much more effective at staying alive.

Between Lysithea, Celica, and, surprisingly, Petra, Brigidan spellcasting isn’t completely outside of Veery’s ability. There’s… something, a connection to the spirits, most likely, since Lysithea faces the same trouble, that Veery lacks that means he can’t use curses even the way that someone generally unmagical like Petra can. (Should he get a tattoo? No, that’s stupid.) But he can use Brigid’s excessive ambient magic as a component in his spells.

It’s not even that hard once he hammers out the theory with Lysithea – he’s halfway there after examining Caub and Celica after Míor Mór, anyway. It just won’t be very useful. Even here in Brigid where there’s just so much magic around, it amounts to little more than a small power boost. Back in Fódlan or Albinea, where such magic is not so omnipresent, Veery doubts it’ll be of any use at all.

But what of Sothis? That’s the trick. Outside of places of power, this technique is near useless, but Veery, at least in theory, carries a place of power around with him. If he can only tap into that, then even if it ultimately results in nothing more than a minor power boost, or a slightly increased magic pool, that is still an advantage to his survival.

And that’s the part that Veery can’t figure out. Anyone else examining him, from Lysithea, to Dorothea, to even Caub, who never knows him without that ember of Sothis, can recognize it within him to some extent. Yet to Veery… his magic is just more muscle. It feels no different than it does before the Sealed Forest, and it feels no different from his physical form. He does not know how to identify something foreign within that if it is not blindingly obvious.

Veery catches Hoarvug’s scent on approach, before Hoarvug sits behind him and leans on him, head on Veery’s shoulder, arms around his middle.

Well, it’s interrupting Veery’s time on this vain search, but this is nice, too.

“If I thought I could suffer my fur in this heat long enough,” Hoarvug says in Ancient, “I would ask you to groom me. I feel as if I have not bathed in weeks.”

Veery chuckles. He definitely knows the feeling. Brigid is just so sticky, and if they go into the ocean to cool off, they just end up encrusted in salt – and that sucks to get out of his fur. Fresh water is a remarkably precious resource for such a wet place. For all that Albinea lacks, clean water is one thing that it has in abundance. Even if much of it is frozen.

When they do have the chance to bathe, the heat and humidity puts a swift end to Veery’s attempts to groom his fur to his liking. It’s just impossible to go around for more than a few minutes without getting sticky and gross again, so the best he can do is ensure there are no tangles.

Hoarvug is not a stickler for keeping his fur neat and clean like Veery is, so that even he is miserable over it is quite telling.

“Laying on me is not helping the heat, you know,” Veery murmurs. He has half a mind to simply push Hoarvug off of him, but since Veery is already in the coolest place around, it’s tolerable for now.

Hoarvug huffs. “I know. Sadi will not put up with it. But I cannot suffer so long without your touch.” Veery can’t relate, though he understands the sentiment. “…It is easier to be alone when you are not within arm’s reach.” Strong arms tighten around Veery. “How can I see my Veery every day and not cuddle?”

Veery smiles, deciding with that to allow this, no matter how the heat may discomfort them both. He reaches up to fondle Hoarvug’s torn ear. “You were lonely?”

A deep rumbling, somewhere between a purr and a laugh. “Of course. You know my heart as well as I. In battle or peace, I am not made for distance.”

That’s true. There’s nothing like getting up close and personal. Hoarvug is the kind of cat who is happy in a big pile, all cuddling in a muddle. He would probably enjoy pets very much, were he not so prideful that he would never allow a human to pet him.

Veery hums, then purrs some, and smiles when Hoarvug purrs in return. “Tell you what. When we are finally safe from this climate, I will groom us all. How’s that sound?”

“Perfect,” Hoarvug sighs. “I look forward to it. You have a very skilled tongue.”

Veery snorts. While the innuendo is less common in their native language, that doesn’t mean Hoarvug doesn’t still perpetually fall into it. It’s funny when it’s not being shouted for everyone to hear. “I have a lot of practice.” Practice that, at first, he’s unsure translates well to grooming anyone but himself, but Hoarvug obviously enjoys it.

It probably shouldn’t make Veery as happy as it does to know that his grooming is so appreciated. Still, it’s something he does for himself that, by pure chance, ends up making someone else happy. There’s something very nice about that.

They both sag a little, simply relaxing, content with the company. “What were you doing?” Hoarvug asks.

“Hm? Oh, just trying to find that piece of Sothis’ power everyone keeps pointing out in me. I know it’s there; I just can’t feel it.”

Hoarvug rumbles. “Bah. I know nothing of magic.”

“What we do is magic, you know,” Veery says.

“Perhaps. But it is like breathing. Magic that is a part of us is no more a mystery than our own claws. Your foreign magic baffles me.”

Veery giggles. “That’s fair enough. I spent a long time confused, too, but Lysithea took the time to teach me all about it.”

After a quiet moment, Veery feels Hoarvug’s invitation, the opening of his heart for Veery to share with him. Veery smiles and opens his heart in turn, listening, resonating, with the cat still holding him from behind. “I prefer this magic,” Hoarvug says, little more than a breath into Veery’s ear, as the contentment of the moment slips through their bond to them both.

There’s plenty of frustration, too, and discomfort especially from the heat, and something somber, and that loneliness Hoarvug so readily admits to, which is something Veery has little experience with himself, but mostly they both are just content.

This magic makes sense to Veery. It’s a part of him like shifting is. He does it instinctually, never needing to be taught. As his soul mingles with Hoarvug’s, Veery is careful to distinguish between himself and his friend, but… he thinks he prefers this magic, too.

No theory, no equations, no power limitations or concerns, not even any conflict. This is magic that exists simply as part of who the agell are, not something crafted by hand to serve a purpose. It is as much a part of him as his muscles, and in that visceral way, makes sense to him.

And isn’t that nice? To let it be, without thinking or worrying over what it is or how to use it? To simply exist because it does, with no obligation or expectation to be anything but what it is?

Isn’t that Veery’s ultimate goal for himself in the first place? No wonder his own magic will always be so comfortable.

[kateliot4ever]

The “White Witch,” time travel, and that final shocking scene:

The season finale of The Way Home ends with the reveal that the woman from the 1800s we saw being chased at the beginning of the series is, in fact, Kat. With that reveal, it’s clear that the rules of the pond are even more complicated than we thought. On top of that, we also learn that the pond has something to do with Jacob’s disappearance years ago.

Leigh confirmed that we’ll definitely find out more about how the pond works and how “intricate the pond rules might actually be.” She added that being outside of the framework of everything Elliot experienced also means there is more to discover, including how the pond can take someone to the 1800s and what that might look like.

“And if that’s exactly where Jacob is, then how old is he? What is his story like at this point? What did happen? But where is he now? And what kind of life has he had to make over there if the pond didn’t bring him back to where you need to be?” Leigh pondered.

“And does Kat always need to go back to the 1800s? And what does that spark? Does that help us discover how the pond came to be at all? Which is, I think, definitely something that we are exploring in Season 2,” she said. “We need to know the origin story of one of the biggest characters in the show, which is the pond.”

Leigh also pointed out that there have been clues all along that her character was the woman in white, and she thinks as viewers go back and re-watch the season, they’ll pick up on things they didn’t notice before.

“There was a scene in particular with Jacob and Danny, when they’re little, and Kat is being a creeper and she’s wearing a white shirt, I was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt. And so it was intentional and because I was like, ‘Hold up. Why would anybody jump into the water in a white shirt?'” Leigh laughed.

“But it was intentional because he says, ‘The white witch,’ and then runs away.”

On jumping into that cold pond and filming the underwater sequence:

Speaking of the pond, Leigh also discussed what it was like filming those scenes — and how very cold that pond is.

“Luckily we had incredible stunt doubles to be able to do a lot of that jumping, [because] that pond is freezing. I mean breathtakingly cold. And so, poor Sadie [LaFlamme-Snow]… she had to do it a couple more times than I did. And also David [Webster], who plays the young Elliot, had his time in there as well. It is green, very green, and there are things that are swimming in there. So the less people had to get in there, I think the better,” Leigh laughed.

“Our underwater sequence, when you see what’s happening to Alice and Kat, and how they’re being dragged down even by that fern that’s in the water, to be able to film that, we actually did it in our director of photography’s pool at home,” she continued.

They tented out the entire pool and tented everything because we’re filming in the day, so you had to black out everything. And it was kind of the only way that we could be underwater. You could see it clearly, but it was warm,” Leigh recalled.

“So we could spend more time. Sadie and I had, I don’t know, eight hours in that pool that day. It was a Saturday. And so we had a skeleton crew of people that were there, and it was fantastic. We had scuba divers that were down there too, obviously for safety reasons.”

Filming Kat and Elliot’s first kiss:

Leigh said that day in the pool, as well as the scene where Kat and Elliot finally kiss, were just two examples of moments where it felt like they were making an indie film at times.

That first kiss, we had 10 minutes to be able to do it because we were legitimately at sundown, the sunset, and we had to capture it. And so we had, I don’t know, like three takes to be able to do the entire thing,” she said.

“It was epic because there was so much kind of pressure behind it to get it done and to capture it. So it’s like, if you have to capture something as epic as that in that amount of time, you better damn well go for it. And we did. We really did.”

“This is again, another experience for the audience to see a super big kiss like that, even an open mouth kind of kiss, where you go, ‘Whoa, that’s racy,'” she added.

Another deeply emotional scene is the one that follows, as Alice pulls her mother from the pond and Kat has a panic attack. Leigh said she was determined, from a stunt perspective, to do that scene justice as well.

“I mean, I just did a comic book show so I know what stunts [take]. It’s easy to get injured, it’s easy for things to not be as easy to do because you have so many logistics going into it. I was very adamant about working that part out of it, the physicality, so that we could just do the emotional stuff,” she said.

“I was like, ‘I’m going to go there, guys.’ And our director came up to me afterward and she kind of clasped her hands together and said, ‘Well, that’s not Hallmark.’ I was like, ‘Sweet!'”

[azertyrobaz]

Skeleton Crew | Official Trailer

[movietimegirl]

2 weeks!

[j4gm]

TOGETHER AGAIN SPOILERS

A thread of lore, Easter eggs, episode connections, and background details from Adventure Time: Distant Lands: Together Again! Let me know if I missed anything! This is adapted from my original Twitter thread.

Keep reading ⬇️⬇️⬇️

1. I was expecting them to perhaps do a classic style title sequence for this episode, but I wasn't expecting them to straight up use the original title sequence. The only difference is this final screen saying "Distant Lands".

2. The background of the title cards is also the hill from the title sequence.

3. The ice cream having "50 flavours" and having an image of an enlightened soul is an obvious reference to the 50th Dead World as we see it later in the episode.

4. Continuing with the metaphor, the dirt in the ice cream could be a parallel to the fact that Jake's Nirvana actually wasn't perfect, because his inaction was allowing for injustice to perpetuate.

5. This whole scene feels immediately slightly off. Finn has his Scarlet sword and is out on a classic Ice King adventure, but he speaks in his grown voice and all the slang feels much more forced than it did in the real season one. Turns out this was deliberate.

6. The snow golem speaks with a baby voice like it did in the pilot episode, even though in canon it has a deeper voice. This further hints that something is not quite right.

7. The first major break in continuity is these snow golems resembling Uncle Gumbald and Peace Master, who Finn didn't meet until later in his life.

8. LSP sitting on Finn's head like this is reminiscent of Pen Ward's piece for the 2018 Ble crew zine.

9. Finn being given the choice of helping somebody but ending up helping everybody reminds me of "Memories of Boom Boom Mountain". It's the kind of resolution that wouldn't happen so much in the late seasons of the show, which helps make this scene feel even further out of place.

10. Jake is half frozen by Ice King in pretty much the exact same way as he was in "Prisoners of Love", and even has a very similar line.

11. The Snail is seen here. The crew have said that the Snail has been deliberately left out of previous Distant Lands specials, so its placement here is another very deliberate hint that this whole sequence is "trying too hard" to be like the early seasons.

12. The book "Mind Games" appears a couple of times, as seen in several previous episodes of Adventure Time. The first is as Finn is approaching the library in his dream. It also appears as one of the items in Finn's backpack later.

13. Jake is hurt when Finn fist bumps him with his metal arm, revealing that this scene is not real. This is also a callback to the title sequences of "Islands" and "Elements".

14. A whole bunch of familiar skeletons are seen in the bird's nest: Dirt Beer Guy, Abracadaniel, Me-Mow, Lemongrab, Mr. Pig, and the Snail again. This doesn't necessarily mean that all these characters are dead, since this scene is just a hallucination.

15. Old Man Finn! He's still got the chest tattoo of Jake, and this time we know that Jake is dead, so the theory that Jake died before "Obsidian" seems pretty likely. He looks similar to his old man design from "Puhoy", with the same facial hair.

16. There are several cameos of familiar characters who apparently died at the same time as Finn. The first is this duck, who previously appeared in "Ocarina".

17. The second is Donny, from the episode... uh, "Donny".

18. This goblin guy is an unnamed background character from “The Silent King”.

19. This old lady first appeared in "The Enchiridion", way back in season one. Old ladies are a species in the Land of Ooo, so I guess she wasn't actually very old back then, given she just about outlived Finn.

20. This is the cobbler who first appears in "His Hero". Amazing that he lived so long given all the trouble he got into in that episode.

21. Land of the Dead! This place was first seen in season two's "Death in Bloom", and now we are finally learning its actual purpose. It's a sort of gateway and hub to all of the other dead worlds.

22. There are some more minor cameos at the gates: a house person from "Donny", a soft person from "Gut Grinder", and a wood person from "When Wedding Bells Thaw". And, of course, the gate guardian himself from “Death in Bloom”.

23. Finn completely ignores the gate guardian in the same way he did in Death in Bloom. This also has the convenient effect of not having to reveal how Finn died, leaving it up to the audience's imagination.

24. Mr. Fox! We already knew he would die at some point because BMO had his skull in the finale.

25. Finn has his design from the first Distant Lands poster in this scene. Turns out it's young Finn in old Finn's clothes. But they gave him a shirt in the poster so you wouldn't be able to see the tattoo.

26. The clapping that Finn does while he's looking for Jake is a callback to "James Baxter the Horse", when Jake tells Finn to listen for that same rhythm if they are killed and need to find each other in the afterlife.

27. Mr. Fox talks about a "past life quotient", suggesting that there might be some kind of limit to how many times somebody can reincarnate. Finn's reincarnations are also seen in this scene; a callback to "The Vault", and confirmation that reincarnations share the same soul.

28. Boobafina, the goose who Mr. Fox was in love with in his debut episode “Storytelling”, apparently reincarnated into a tugboat. We've already seen that objects can have souls in the episode "Ghost Fly".

29. Finn is initially assigned to the 37th Dead World, which is the same one that Jake went to when he died in "Sons of Mars". We can only guess at what the other numbers on the ticket mean ;)

30. Tiffany! Despite several lucky escapes throughout his life, Tiffany has finally died. I like the use of this imagery to express Finn's conflicted feelings about him.

31. The 50th Dead World has long been established as the "highest" dead world, and the one synonymous with Heaven within Adventure Time's universe. It was first mentioned in "Ghost Princess" back in season three.

32. It's unclear what happens to souls which are destroyed within the dead worlds. It is a similar question to asking what happened to the ghosts that were killed in "Ghost Fly".

33. Death doesn't speak at all in Together Again because his voice actor, Miguel Ferrer, passed away in 2017 long before production began.

34. Finn phases through New Death when he tries to attack him, just like what happened way back in "Death in Bloom".

35. The 30th Dead World contains Tree Trunks as well as many of her love interests; Mr. Pig, her alien husband from "High Strangeness", Danny and Randy who first appeared in "Apple Wedding", and several more who we don't recognise, including at least one who presents as a woman.

36. Literally yelled when these two showed up. Joshua calls Finn a crybaby, which is a callback to "Dad's Dungeon".

37. The wall of weapons in Joshua and Margaret's house includes the iconic Demon Blood Sword, which was broken in "Play Date", as well as Margaret's auto-loading crossbow from "Joshua & Margaret Investigations".

38. Jermaine is sidelined a few times through the episode, in reference to his attitude in "Jermaine" where he feels that Finn and Jake were always their parents' favourites. I would have hoped things would be a bit better by now.

39. Fern gets name dropped while Finn and Jake are reuniting. A shame he doesn't actually show up in the episode.

40. In this scene, Finn says "What time is it?" This is a very subtle reference to the 2010 cartoon "Adventure Time".

41. In a couple of shots during this fight scene it looks like Jake might have a tattoo. It seems like it only becomes visible when he stretches out his arm.

42. New Death's amulet in this scene resembles parts of the Lich's cape, foreshadowing his influence on New Death.

43. There are several more cameos in the 50th Dead World: Booshy from "High Strangeness", one of the Marshmallow Kids from "Scamps", and Ghost Princess and Clarence, who were seen ascending to the 50th Dead World in "Ghost Princess".

44. Finn didn't interact with Booshy in "High Strangeness", but it seems they must have met at some point before they both died because Finn knows his name.

45. It seems like people in the 1st Dead World are slowly melted away until they become part of the landscape. Nasty.

46. Lots more cameos in this scene: a gnome from "Power Animal", a gnome from "The Enchiridion", a Bath Boy from "The Vault", Blagertha from "Love Games", Maja the Sky Witch, a troll from "Dungeon", Chocoberry, Choose Goose, Wyatt, a spiky person from "Gut Grinder", and possibly more.

47. Tiffany's insults are consistently nonsensical and amazing, as they were in the original series.

48. The Candy Kingdom looks extremely different. Peppermint Butler is wearing the crown so he might be in charge now, which is supported by the kingdom's very magical-looking augmentations. It’s not clear whether Finn and Jake were expecting to find Princess Bubblegum or Peppermint Butler, since both have the initials “PB” and both could be going by the title of “Princess”. Perhaps Peps and Bubblegum share the princess duties now that PB is living with Marceline more of the time.

49. Peppermint Butler has a "Boss" mug, although it's not the same colour as the one from "Obsidian".

50. Jake's ghost has the same design as he did when BMO killed him in "Ghost Fly". I also absolutely love Finn's ghost. This scene establishes that ghosts are just visitors to the mortal plane from the dead worlds.

51. Life has only appeared in animated shorts before now. Namely, "The Gift That Reaps Giving" which establishes her relationship with Death, and "Frog Seasons: Winter". This episode gives her a concrete place within Adventure Time's pantheon: she is in charge of reincarnation.

52. A translation of Life’s angry French dialogue by Shado: “After all I did for that boy. After all I did for him. No, it's not possible. It's not possible no, that... that makes me so mad but it's not possible.”

53. We finally have in-universe confirmation that Shoko's tiger is a previous life of Jake. This was previously confirmed by one of the writers, but wasn't canon until now.

54. I feel like Finn pulled off Shoko's look even better than Shoko did. I wonder whether Finn has gained the memories of his past lives now that he’s dead.

55. No Easter egg here, just want to appreciate this image.

56. There is an elemental symbol on the wall here, as seen in "Jelly Beans Have Power".

57. Tiffany's dramatic internal monologue is a recurring gag, as is his habit of nearly dying from falling into holes.

58. The Jake suit makes a cameo in the fight against New Death. It was last seen in the episode "Reboot”.

59. Finn's backpack contains a few familiar items: the t-shirt with the pocket from "It Came from the Nightosphere", Finn's underwear from "Little Dude" and other episodes, and a copy of Mind Games as I've already mentioned.

60. The Lich's Hand is present in the background of Death's... death scene. This is probably the unseen "friend" who New Death keeps talking about.

61. The Lich's menacing monologues often begin with a single command. Previously they have included "Fall" and "Stop". This time, the command is "Burn".

62. Jake uses the word "boingloings", which is a callback all the way to "Hitman" in the third season.

63. Jake's blue shape-shifter form from "Abstract" appears very briefly during his fight with Finn.

64. Finn's lumpy space person form also makes an appearance. This design was last seen all the way back in the second episode of the entire show, "Trouble in Lumpy Space".

65. Jake steps on the Lich's hand in a very similar way to how he stepped on Ash in "Memory of a Memory", which is itself a Monty Python reference.

66. The credits include a dedication to a few AT cast and crew who have passed away. Polly Lou Livingston was the voice of Tree Trunks. Miguel Ferrer was the voice of Death. Michel Lyman and Maureen Mlynarczyk were both sheet timers on the original series. Rest in peace.

67. The message that Finn and Jake write out on the ouija board is "BUTT", which Peppermint Butler takes as a distress signal. This message is also used as a distress signal by the Hot Dog Knights in "The Limit".

68. Peppermint Butler's reversed dialogue from the scene where he makes contact with Finn and Jake is "Kee-Oth Rama Pancake", the spell from “Dad's Dungeon” for banishing demons.

69. That appears to be President Porpoise with all of Tree Trunks’ other lovers.

70. In this scene, Life is humming part of "Lonely Bones", the song which Death tried to record for her in her debut short "The Gift That Reaps Giving". It's hard to notice because it's so brief.

71. Finn and Jake's cover is blown while in the Land of the Dead because Jake loudly farts, which also happened in "Death in Bloom".

72. The place where Mr. Fox explains the perception mechanics of the afterlife is the exact same location as the River of Forgetfulness from "Death in Bloom", which, as it turns out, was imaginary.

These are sort of out of order at the end because I was adding stuff to the Twitter thread as it got discovered. That’s all for now!