#fun with the spoiler known 'round the world

[lost-technology]

Alternate This... is an incredibly stupid Trigun fan-comic I did back in 2008. I am sorry for the bright colors burning your eyes (although not too sorry, I've gotten back into ultra-bright colors in my art lately). Based in the '98 anime. I've seen a lot of good, sad comics lately, so why not share my old stupid-comedy one? I have inflicted a great evil upon the world, or at least a great deal of dumb, and I run off cackling.

[clare-875]

Hiraeth (ASL brothers x Reader)

_____ Pairing: ASL brothers x Reader Summary: You grieve a time you cannot return to. Warnings: SPOILERS for Marineford War Arc, Hurt/Comfort, Grief Notes: The above image does NOT belong to me [One Piece Masterlist] _____

You watch the ocean rise and fall, finding yourself enraptured in a brief and rare silence. However, the silence slowly becomes a burden; the quiet brings thoughts you would often keep locked away. They were thoughts that brought tears to your eyes if you lingered too long on them, thoughts that could make you break if you picked away at them too much. Unfortunately for you the gentle rock of the boat, the rising moon and the crisp early evening air did nothing but bring him to the forefront of your mind; Ace. You feel a few tear drops pass your lash line as you quickly wipe them away, leaning on the railing and taking in a steady breath. It had been just longer than two years, and you were now in the New World with your beloved crew, but time did scarcely anything to subdue grief, it only made it easier to live with it. As your eyes trace the dark horizons before falling to the depths of the ocean before you, you feel yourself wonder about memories you now look back at bittersweet. First, you lose Sabo, then your beloved Ace. The hurt is heavy on your chest and you feel the tears you push back start to rise again. You felt so homesick, so reminiscent of a time you could never go back to.

You remember it all, as clear as day; the brothers that hold a permanent spot engraved on your heart.

You remember the joy.

You remember how the sun would shine onto you, gifting you, Luffy, Sabo and Ace with countless days of youth spent on adventure; spent on dreams. You were all an outcast of some sort or never fit into the lives you were endowed with, but when the four of you found each other, everything clicked; the world enlightened. You can still hear Ace calling your name, the juvenile ring etched within his words. "Hey, [y/n]!" You remember looking up at the sound of his voice. He was always so keen to show you the new skills he'd learnt, keen to call for another round of combat to see who bested who, keen to have you join in on whatever fun he had found with his two brothers. You remember Sabo's smile, one that encaptured his kindness and diplomacy even in his youth. "I got this for you!" You remember one day when he had returned from the grey terminal and found you a beautiful bracelet that you still hold onto to this day. You remember Ace and Luffy's pouts as you hugged him. You remember calling for a group hug soon after; the warm arms that embraced your form, seeping love and care and nostalgia.

You would find yourself laughing if you lingered on those memories the way you had a few years ago, but now it just filled your heart with unbearable pain. And so, more tears fall from your eyes but you don't stop them this time. You remember the countless nights filled to the brim with laughter, remember the secrets and promises made under the stars. You remember the brotherly conflict. You remember Luffy's joy when you said you'd join his crew, you remember the upset faces of Ace and Sabo. You remember promising you'd visit them often, and how their faces enlightened merely at the thought that you would come see them succeed in their dreams. You remember the comfort that cannot be matched to this day, of the words Ace would speak softly when you had a bad day, of the gentle arms of Sabo, of Luffy's range of hilarious faces as he tried to hear your laugh. They were everything to you, and you wouldn't ever find what connection you had with them anymore, anywhere. You missed the time when innocence encaptured your days and ignorant dreams were free of reality. If I had known it all then, what would I change; would I change anything at all?

You remember unbearable grief.

You remember the falling of your heart when you heard that Sabo had died at sea; the unspeakable rage and guilt. It shocked you, it shocked you all, to learn that Sabo, your sweet Sabo was killed by a Celestial Dragon just by sailing upon the same ocean. What about his dreams? His life? All the countless days and nights and years of knowing him? All the love he gave and received and cherished? Everything that encompassed who he was, was lost to oblivion, never to be seen again. You try to remember your last words with him, your last actions, but it is a blur to you. You remember leaving him with a family you knew you should have saved him from; you knew how much he hated them. Of course, you did, for what would those nights spent dreaming and talking be, if not spent sharing the deepest concerns that confined you? What would a family be, if not spent consoling those thoughts and showing him love? The shock of it still reverberates within you if you linger too long, but you remember the pain, the crying, the screaming. It was something you would never forget, it was something you would never want to go through again.

But you did.

You remember your world breaking as Ace’s gaze travelled to you. You and Luffy had spent so long chasing him, trying to save him, despite his initial denial. But of course you did. Because what would a family be, if we did not look out for one another, if we did not push away at his pride so he sees our love; our desperation to protect him? But when you finally thought he was within your grasp once more, that his life was still a part of yours, he became lost to you too. You remember Luffy, clutching him in his grasp trying to stop the red that just kept pouring. You remember teary eyes, no longer of the youth they were but still lingering with that childish charm. You remember the smile that shone with gratitude, it was a sight you could never forget; your childhood encapsulated within it. “Thank you for loving me.” His smile lingered even in his death. You remember Luffy’s inconsolable form; the tears that wouldn’t cease, the shock that clouded his mind. You remember the screaming. You remember being lost in despair at the thought that you would never see him again. Never feel his warm arms, see his wide grin, or know what it was like to be loved by him again.

You missed them; You missed “back then.”

You missed the simplicity of waking to self-found adventure and you missed the charm of life that came with youth. Your breathless laughter, their smiling forms; all three of them beside you.

I want to go back.

Please, take me back…

Take me back so I can see them, so I can hold them and love them again…

Please…

Your tears fall freely to your face now as you stare silently against the cool breeze, teeth gritted and heart heavy. You find yourself begging the starlit sky for something you knew was inconceivable. Please.

"[y/n]"

You are so lost in thought, so lost in your tears you fail to notice a boy with a straw hat that approached you a small while ago. But when he called your name you turned swiftly, because in that moment you swear you heard Sabo, you swear you could've heard Ace, calling to you too. "[y/n], why are you crying?" Luffy's face is of utmost confusion, the tilt of his head and the shine of his sincerity almost making you break down further. But strangely it brought you to calmness as you saw the final brother before you, the same features as he had in his youth, the same eyes and smile. Your heart tugged against your chest as you looked to the man you chose to be your Captain, over Ace and Sabo, over everyone in the world. He was the same and yet so grown up, even when sometimes he hid his new-found maturity well.

"Luffy," your voice is there but faint, almost lost to the breeze as he silently makes his way to your side and joins you on the railing. You are beyond surprised when he maintains the quiet atmosphere, the seriousness rare on him unless in dire situations. But you also know deep down he sees and he understands why you are crying. You know because you have seen your very image on him before; tears pouring, grief heavy. From four to two. Only you could understand the true depth of what he has lost, and only he could recall the same memories you had lived because he lived them too. You found yourself wondering if Luffy, someone you knew to be a believer in living in the present moment, wished to return to those days that could never return. You wonder if he ever felt the homesick feeling of wanting those same youthful days once again, of wanting three pairs of arms embracing you warmly; of wanting back the time that has passed too soon.

"Luffy, do you ever miss our lives back in Dawn Island? Do you ever miss those days spent together with Ace and Sabo? It was so easy back then, don't you think?"

Do you ever miss the past?

There is a brief silence, as though Luffy is actually contemplating your words, but you are unsurprised when he answers; his answer is blunt and obvious as it has always been. "I miss them." He looks at you with a wide grin, but his eyes are surprisingly solemn, as though reminiscing with you the two boys you both held so dear to your hearts. "But I have the best crew in the world now! I wouldn't give that up for anything!" Your eyes spark with fondness at his never wavering confidence in his nakama as he then reaches over to you wrapping an arm tight as he pulls you in. "Ace lived with no regrets, and I'm gonna live the same way; I'm gonna be the king of the pirates!" His eyes shine and his features are determined when he faces you again; just like every instance he spoke of his dream. "And you'll be there right beside me." You meet his wide smile with a soft one of yours as you lean against him and he laughs joyously. You find yourself shaking your head at the simplicity of his thoughts, but you also remember how he had clutched to the thoughts of the crew in his darkest days. You envision Sabo's toothy grin and Ace's teasing smirk; a sight you would remember and adore for the rest of time. You would live enough for both of them, exactly the way Ace wanted you to; with no regrets.

[dunmeshistash]

It's very interesting to me that there are only a few elves on the island. That Kabru was able to narrow it down to Laios' team when they got "mugged", I mean. Was it ever explained in the world bible why elves don't really explore dungeons? By the existence of Canaries, you'd think they'd want to be involved from the beginning.

[SPOILERS]

I'm also curious why the two known elves to the island adventurer community are both half-elves. (Especially when Fionil was sent by the canaries.) Part of me wonder if elven superiority makes pure elves not want to mingle with other races, so half-elves are tasked with the more "dirty" jobs... Marcille being a half elf was very apparent to almost all the elves (except Pattadol) (and they made fun of her for ever thinking she could "pass" as a pure blood) but most adventurers don't seem to see elves enough to know the difference.

Elves have a way smaller population so it makes sense that there's less elves overall. It's also said that most of them live in the central continent while the story happens in the eastern continent, It's a not specially notorious new dungeon on a tiny island on the coast of dwarven territory. They might explore them if they exist closer to their territory?

About Fionil I wonder if her being a half-elf was just a retcon? Cause she had round ears like marcille and showed up right away and nobody acted like it was weird there was an elf there lol. I wonder if the elf scarcity was decided after her introduction and the pointier ears too.

But I guess it would make sense that they don't really want to mingle with other races, since they mostly stay in the same continent where its 80% elves.

[hubristicassholefight]

Hubristic Assholes Tourney Round 1 Part 3a

Erin Ruunaser (Aurora) vs Manfred von Karma (Ace Attorney)

Propaganda below cut (Spoiler warning!)

Erin

So in Aurora, there was this ancient, magical storm that been going on for centuries. The further one went in, the more likely they were to die either due to the hostile environment or the massive amounts of ambient magic would begin to basically destroy their body from the inside. Erin looked at this and basically went “yes, but I’m built different” and went inside with zero backup. Now, technically speaking, he is in a way built different as he is one of the only people in the world who can control all of the six (known) magical elements that make up the Storm, so he was able to bypass all of the obstacles and make it to the center. When he got there, he unknowingly activated a trap that destroyed the Storm and caused him to become possessed by an eldritch star-eating dragon, whose physical body is still stuck in the core of the planet and wants to use his new vessel to free himself. Whoopsie! Now, Erin is searching for a way to sever his link with the dragon without his buddies from the Academy finding out. Also he’s being hunted by Paladins now. Fun times; At one point, he tries to learn more about the Void Dragon by accessing a Paladin library. The receptionist doesn’t let him in because he isn’t a Paladin, and he basically goes full Karen on her (he literally asks to speak with her supervisor/manager). Then he learns that one of his friends will be held prisoner for as long as they plan to stay in the city (long story). Erin still plans to stay for as long as he needs to get information on the evil Void Dragon. Said dragon literally appears in his dream that night to tell him he’s being kind of an asshole. Also despite all of this, Erin still isn’t entirely sure if the Light Dragon worshiped by the Paladins is even real. He knows the Void Dragon is real, but the opposite still seems like a stretch I guess. Also the receptionist from earlier is one of the Paladins currently hunting him. He needs to be shoved in a locker. I need to shove him in a locker.

Travels through a famously dangerous magic storm just because he can, fixes some kind of broken magic rune circle that is causing the storm, getting possessed by the evil Void Dragon in the process; He once tried to talk his way into a restricted library and got shot down hilariously

He tries to explore to the center of this volatile magic storm that no one's ever gotten to the center of, and immediately gets possessed by the primordial void dragon that had been waiting for someone exactly like him to try to get to the center of the storm. At the time of writing this he's about to try to cross an ocean on an experimental never-before-seen type of boat, which i suspect will only go well and will have no problems :)

Ventures into a giant magical storm, declaring that the only reason no one has ever reached the center is because he hasn't tried to yet. Reaches the center and promptly decides to switch off the magical pedestal creating the storm, because he can, and gets possessed by a star-eating eldritch dragon god for his trouble.

Literally the first thing he does in the comic is go explore a highly dangerous magical storm just because he's currently the one person in the world who can manipulate all six traditional magic elements and is therefore the only person who can explore the storm safely. At its center, Erin discovers a cracked pedestal with the elemental runes on it and deduces it to be the cause of the storm, then just stops the storm without a second thought, which is notable for two reasons: 1. By the time the audience gets this info, we've already seen a town whose infrastructure depends on the strong winds the storm produces, which is obviously no longer viable 2. The storm itself turned out to have been a trap set by an ancient evil star-eating dragon trapped in the center of the planet which has now possessed Erin. He's actually incredibly booksmart and puts that knowledge to very impressive use sometimes, but he is also known to be impulsive, overcome with confusion when presented with a thing he doesn't know about already, and of course, hubristic. (he does demonstrate a pretty well-aligned moral compass when it counts, though) In summary, I really like him because his combination of character traits makes him flip-flop wildly between "exactly as awesome as he thinks he is" and "hopelessly cringefail" depending on the situation and it never stops making sense. He's so smart but he's so stupid.

(Spoilers) This dude walked into a massive magical storm that literally nobody lived long enough to see the center of, all while gloating about how smart he is, then touched a highly suspicious symbol and got himself possessed by basically Satan. He then proceeds to lecture Not-Satan on how he’s the smart one on this team and that he better sit down and shut up unless he wants to be killed by his MANY enemies. And the strange part is that it worked; The fandom gave him the nicknames “Icarus” “Sicktats McHubris” and “Pompous Nitwit” and I think that says a lot about him

Manfred

During a trial against Miles Edgworth’s dad Gregory Edgeworth Manfred von karma gets a penalty he does not lose the trial however he considers this penalty an egregious enough crime that he must kill Gregory Edgeworth. And he does however due to Miles throwing a gun he gets shot in the shoulder causing him to take his one and only vacation to recover. However he doesn’t get the bullet removed to avoid questioning as to why he has a bullet in his shoulder. For 15 years he gets away with it (miles doesn’t know it was him it’s a whole thing) but then just a few days before the statute of limitations is up on the murder of Gregory Edgeworth he decides to with the help of the Yani Yogi the man originally accused of murdering Gregory Edgeworth frame Miles for the murder of the defense attorney that got Yani off with an insanity plea (which is why Yani hates the man) then after it’s proven Yani is the murder Miles confesses to killing his dad and in Manfred’s attempt to convict Miles for that it’s proven that he killed Gregory. How? Phoenix uses a metal detector to detect the bullet in his shoulder; The thing that kills me about Manfred “I killed a man because he gave me a penalty in court” Von Karma is that he absolutely could’ve gotten away with it if he didn’t try to get revenge on Miles. He was so confident that he would get Miles convicted if not for the murder of Robert Hammond than for the murder of his own father. He was so confident because there’s no way this attorney with only 3 cases under his belt will beat him not when he tased him and that weird girl tagging along with him in the evidence room preventing him from getting any evidence on the DL-6 case except he didn’t prevent them he didn’t even bother to check because that weird girl ended up holding onto a bullet. the bullet that killed Gregory a bullet they could use to for comparison to see if a bullet was shot from the same gun a bullet like the one in Manfred’s shoulder. The bullet he didn’t have removed to avoid the question of “where did that bullet in your shoulder come from”

[littlejuicebox]

Mindwinter Carol 5 / The Repeat

Pairing: Ascended Astarion x Female Elf Sorceress OC

Word Count: 2.1K

Story navigation: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Summary/Setting: Based on the prologue/premise from my OneShot "A Midwinter Carol."

Astarion and the OC broke up after his ascension. She left Baldur's Gate for fifteen years, only to return just recently. Following the events of "A Midwinter Carol," Ascended Astarion has been convinced to pursue a new beginning. Will he be able to change who he has become, with the help of his ex-lover? Or will he ultimately fall victim to his pride and desire for power?

Preview:

Astarion was at the bar, absolutely seething as he downed drink after drink. By the time he caught a whiff of Eirianwen’s blood in the air, he must’ve been on intoxicant number four or five. 

He’d lost count. 

The Ascendant thinks he’s imagining the smell. It wouldn’t be the first time the memory of that particular bouquet haunted him. But then the coppery, sweet, all too familiar scent of both his dreams and nightmares becomes overwhelming. 

The immortal’s heart stops.

It’s a strange sensation, feeling your heart stop in fear. One the Vampire Lord had never known until now. 

Warnings: This will be 18+ / in game spoilers / OOC Ascended Astarion because it follows my epilogue / Eventual Smut / Angst, trauma, fluff / Gore

A/N: Ouch. Fun fact, Delilah is a reference to biblical Delilah and Samson.

-----

“Ani, help me do this. For us. Please.” 

Eirianwen is bleeding out, but she can barely feel it under the waves of adrenaline coursing through her veins. Astarion is clutching Rhapsody in his hand. He looks so lost and worried. He’s panting heavily. He’s drenched in splatters of crimson. 

She wants to reach out and comfort him.

But she can’t think. 

She’s lost a lot of blood. 

Everything is moving too quickly.

“Ani…” He says again, this time more urgently, begging her with his big, round, world-endingly beautiful scarlet eyes, “Please, my love..” 

She thinks this really may be the end for her. 

Her only thought is that she loves him. She loves him so much that it hurts more than the wound in her side. She wants to give him what he wants, even if it’s the last thing she ever does.

Suddenly, she’s using the tadpole to show Astarion the scars on his own back.

She loves him so much she’s ignoring the sickening sounds that arise as the beautiful hands of her lover, the very hands that have brought her impossible moments of pleasure and comfort, gouge giant symbols of a hellish contract into Cazador’s skin.

One moment of weakness from her.

The sickening screams of seven thousand souls.

And then everything goes black.

Astarion had been distracted by the scent of so much blood in the dungeons, the sickly-sweet, coppery, rotten smell overpowered his senses.

He’d nearly died after one misstep in battle, too distracted by the vile memories of this place to operate at his best. 

His weakness would’ve left Ani and his friends alone to face Cazador’s wrath. He’d almost been bested by the bastard that held him captive for two hundred years. 

And that bastard almost got to his Ani.

That bastard did get to his Ani before she blasted him away with ice.

Suddenly, he’s carving infernal into the bastard’s back; ripping into Cazador the way he himself had been torn into over and over again.

Cazador is getting off easy, in comparison – Astarion doesn’t need to make any revisions.

He completes the ritual. The feeling of so much power is overwhelming, at first, just like the coppery scent of this dungeon reminding him of everything he wanted to escape. 

Surely the new power will right all the wrongs, make him forget all the terrors of his past.

Seven thousand screams had been a truly horrifying sound, but it’s no matter, he did what he had to do. He did what he had to do to protect himself. To protect Ani.

After a moment completely engrossed in the feeling of so much raw power, he turns to face his lover, to celebrate.

And the first thing he sees as his new, all-powerful self is the sorceress collapsed on the ground before his eyes, Shadowheart at her side. 

How ironic, that the moment he gained power, he felt instantly powerless again.

Shadowheart was out of spells. They had one measly healing potion left between them, and that had been just enough to keep his little love toeing the line between life and death. 

The rest of the evening was a blur. He’d carried the elven woman back to the Elfsong; Shadowheart and Halsin did everything they could. 

His little love looked so fragile. 

He’d been so consumed by his push for power that he hadn’t even noticed the smell of Ani’s blood seeping out of her abdominal wound, drenching the layers of her robes in crimson. 

He hadn’t even noticed as she began to fade, pushing herself to give him what he asked for.

If she survived this, he would kill seven thousand more souls to keep her safe.

He would be consumed by nothing but her.

He would sacrifice his own soul if he had to.

He owed her that much… after everything. 

-----

Eirianwen doesn’t feel the blade insert itself cleanly between her ribs. But she feels it dragging between two rib bones as Edmund carves a searing arc through her flesh. And then the pain is gone almost as quickly as it appeared.

She tries to move, to cast a spell, but it’s too late. Paralytic oil surges through her bloodstream. Her hands are rigid; her thin fingers, well-made for both playing the piano and spellcasting, are stuck in a curled position. 

Useless.

Defenseless. 

Astarion was at the bar, absolutely seething as he downed drink after drink. By the time he caught a whiff of Eirianwen’s blood in the air, he must’ve been on intoxicant number four or five. 

He’d lost count. 

The Ascendant thinks he’s imagining the smell. It wouldn’t be the first time the memory of that particular bouquet haunted him. But then the coppery, sweet, all too familiar scent of both his dreams and nightmares becomes overwhelming. 

The immortal’s heart stops.

It’s a strange sensation, feeling your heart stop in fear. One the Vampire Lord had never known until now. 

In an instant, Astarion is sprinting toward the dance floor and throwing himself into the throng, searching for Eirianwen. All sense of decorum has left him as he shoves aside more than one dancing couple while looking for the sorceress.

By the time Ani sees the Vampire Lord, she is trapped against Edmund’s wide torso. The cold edge of the dagger presses flush against her neck; she feels a gush of warmth run down her side. Something like this is supposed to hurt, but the paralytics have already numbed around the incision. She vaguely recalls the last time she received a gaping wound to her side.

People are still dancing; no one besides Astarion has caught onto the threat. 

Just as the Ascendant is about to make the last dash toward Edmund and Ani, the sorceress hears someone behind them command “halt” in an airy, bored tone. 

Whispers of magic brush past Eirianwen and she watches Astarion pause on the tips of his toes, mid sprint, before his foot flattens to the ground. He is shaking with the effort to disobey the command; the look of absolute blinding wrath on his face was undeniable.

The damn alcohol had made him slow to react. Idiot.

A sudden gust of wind slams the crowd back, clearing a wide perimeter around Astarion and Ani. Several patrons in the crowd scream as they finally recognize the threat. 

Ani cannot see the woman, but she can hear the seductive purr that naturally rolls out of her voice as she speaks, her tone both cool and menacing, “Apologies for the interruption. But would everyone beside Lord Ancunin and his date depart the dance floor? No need for this to get… messier.” 

Delilah.

Eirianwen uses every last ounce of her strength in an attempt to blast this woman and her henchman with some kind of magic, but to her dismay she cannot move her limbs at all. She’s barely able to hold herself up; Edmund is bearing most of her weight. 

A strangled cry of frustration escapes her throat as chaos erupts and the crowd breaks away from the scene, running desperately from the building.

A bunch of rich cowards. Maybe she shouldn’t have saved them all those years ago.

Astarion is glaring daggers at the half-elven woman. Fucking Delilah. He knew the bitch was dangerous, but in his arrogance he truly never imagined she would dare to turn on him.

Delilah sends another wave of magic from her hands with a second simple, bored command.

“Kneel.”

Eirianwen watches in horror as the previously invincible Ascendant crashes to his knees, forced to obey the command by pink tendrils of malignant magic coiling around his limbs. It was terrifying to see the most powerful elf she knew crumble mere feet from her, outdone by a simple spell he’d unfailingly evaded as a mere vampire spawn. 

Her heart thuds in her chest, quickening the spread of the paralytics.

The reality is that Astarion feels the second compulsion, but this command doesn’t truly take. In a split second decision, he willingly dropped to his knees and let Delilah believe she had the upper hand. Anything to keep the focus on him and off of Ani. The smell of her blood was burning his nostrils at this point. 

The Ascendant suddenly thinks this all feels too terribly familiar. Has he become the predator, kneeling in front of his prey? 

Astarion’s eyes flicker to Eirianwen. And there, in the look on his face, the sorceress realizes that kneeling had been a choice. Ascendent or not, were the male elf truly trapped and forced to kneel before anyone, he would be unable to conceal the terror caused by his lack of control. She is certain of this.

But instead, the Vampire Lord’s face only contains rage mixed with the subtle flickers of the gears turning within his mind. 

Delilah reaches her hand toward Astarion and tightly grips his chin, forcing him to tear his eyes away from Ani and acknowledge the half-elf. She flashes him a sickening, arrogant smile as she stares down at the kneeling Ascendant, obviously quite pleased with herself. 

The woman murmurs, her voice deceptively sweet, “Hmm… I do believe this is the first time you have ever been on your knees for me. You’re so pretty like this, little Star. Shame it will be the only time I ever get to see it.”

She offers a condescending tut and a dramatic pout before lifting the hem of her dress and withdrawing a petite dirk that had been sheathed at her side. She grins as she flashes the blade at Astarion; she’s loving this. 

The knife comes to his face, The Vampire Lord feels a faint sting as she traces a thin line upon his cheek with the point, stopping to let blood drip on the blade as she holds the Ascendant’s gaze. Astarion’s jaw tightens and his nostrils flare as he chooses to allow the woman to move forward with her show. His hand balls into a tight fist.

“Hmm…” She hums as she examines the blood, and then her hands find purchase in his hair and she yanks sharply at the curls behind his ears, causing Astarion to grit his teeth in pain, “And for good measure.”

She uses the blade to cut a strip of the Vampire Lord’s curls. 

A yowl rips through the venue, and Edmund releases the blade that had been pressed against Ani’s neck; it falls to the ground with a sharp clatter. 

Umber has lodged herself on the man’s back, sharp claws digging into the nape of his neck as she uses her teeth to rip at his ear. He is forced to release his hold on Ani as the cat continues to voraciously defend the sorceress.

Astarion takes the opportunity and launches himself forward, knocking into Delilah on his way to Eirianwen. He barely manages to catch her crumpling form just as the doors to the venue burst open.

Wyll, Jaheira, and a Flaming Fist rush toward the altercation. Someone shouts a stun spell at Edmund, causing him to freeze and fall mid-scuffle, but by the time anyone turns to focus their attention on Delilah, she is gone. 

“Astarion–” Ani manages to choke out before her tongue stills within her mouth. Another strangled sound comes from her vocal cords as she tries again. Tears fall from the corner of her eyes as the Ascendant shushes her, quickly swiping at her cheeks to catch the falling droplets.

And then he forces himself to tear his gaze away from the sorceress’s face and fall into commander mode, clinging to every shred of his control and stifling his fear. 

But gods, he’s terrified. He hasn’t felt like this since–

No time for that now. 

“We don’t have much time,” Astarion starts as the others gather around him, “Jaheira, the rings I won at the auction, I need them. Quickly!”

Jaheira simply turns and sprints back behind the stage without another word. The Flaming Fist focuses on Edmund, working to restrain his passed-out form.

Wyll is glaring at Astarion, “I’m sure this is your fault you–”

“We don’t have time to place blame, Wyll!” The Ascendant snaps, “Delilah’s paralytics aren’t like others you’ve seen. If we don’t move quickly–” 

He stops. Eirianwen’s heart is slowing, he can hear it. 

His scarlet eyes, filled with the weight of a thousand things he’s never said, pierce into her golden ones. Blood trickles in thin streams down Astarion’s cheek but he doesn’t acknowledge it. 

“I’ve got you, little love.” The Ascendant promises, gripping tightly onto the elven woman. 

If she survives this, he will do anything she wants of him.

He will find his own soul again if she wants him to.

He owes her that much… after everything.

Ani suddenly thinks this all feels too terribly familiar. Can someone cheat death twice? 

The anguish Eirianwen feels because she cannot say anything is incomparable; she searches for an ounce of comfort in the beautiful eyes that haunt her dreams and nightmares. She is going to die, and Astarion will never know she found his mother. And his brother.

Her last thought as she’s gazing into Astarion’s all too familiar scarlet orbs is that perhaps this isn’t the worst way to die. Let her last vision in this life be of the rubies she willingly gave up and yet longed for every day thereafter. 

She will find them again in the next life.

Everything goes black just as Jaheira appears from behind the stage and runs toward them with the velvet box in hand.

-----

Story navigation: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

[romancomicsblog]

My Adventures with Superman brings Hope back to the Man of Steel - REVIEW Ep 1 & 2

*Spoilers for the first two episodes, now streaming on Max!*

Growing up, Superman always came off to me as a very nothing character. White bread. Good for the sake of good. Not funny like Spider-Man, not dark and cool like Batman, and too powerful to be in any real danger.

He was just there as the original cape and tights. He was important because he did it first, but that didn't make him interesting.

As I got older, and I read and saw him in more media, I realized the fun of Superman comes from the kindness. The hope he brings to those around him and that stable positive force is essential to the world and the Justice League. While he is the most powerful person in the room, because of who Clark is and his values, he's the person you fear the least.

He's gonna save your cat, he's gonna stop that burning building, and he's gonna get the bad guy, as unharmed as possible.

This is where the DCEU lost me, and where I think most Superman content does. That hope, that kindness, the gentle giant that Clark is has somehow been lost in translation.

While Henry Cavill is a great actor and can play the hopeful side, setting the tone of the movies as so dark and serious drained Superman of his charm.

Superman and Lois has done a good job bringing Clark's hopefulness back in moments, but the Zack Snyder DCEU feel coupled with the CW drama still keeps Superman and Lois pretty dark and dire.

While Hoechlin is a fantastic Superman, the world he inhabits has kept me wanting a true representation of the character I love.

Which is why My Adventures with Superman is such a breath of fresh air.

Let's start with Jack Quaid. Using such a pure sounding soul like Quaid to embody Clark was a stroke of genius. While he is known for playing good-ish characters like Hughie in The Boys and Peter Parker/ The Lizard in Across the Spider-Verse, Quaid does not coast on his past charms for Clark.

This character equally feels fresh, different from Quaid's past characters, and like a kid who is transitioning into the Man of Steel.

Whether he is struggling to flirt, scold Lois for lying, or fight a robot, Clark feels genuine, kind, and strong.

As Superman, Clark does not change into a scary, super powered god. Instead, he is trying to help the bad guy, clean up the messes, and rescue kittens from trees. While we only get a glimpse of his true Superman form at the end of episode 2, it is enough for me to get so excited that I'm typing this all out. This is the Superman I've been waiting for!

Rounding out the cast are Alice Lee and Ishmel Sahid as Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen.

Lee has a quality not always perfectly emulated for Lois in my opinion, which is spunk. Moxie. She is so clearly the leader of the team for the Daily Planet. Couple that with her comedy timing and clear chemistry with Quaid, this may be the blueprint for Clark and Lois in the future.

While usually Lois is a made journalist by the time Clark shows up, starting them at equal footing is an interesting development. I'm hoping they use this to show just how quickly Lois Lane can rise the ranks against others.

While Sahid is utilized the least so far, conspiracy theorist comic relief Jimmy is equally charismatic and likable. He is a character I think the DCEU and CW didn't quite understand the value of, but this show clearly does. My hope is this character goes on to go on as wacky adventures as he does in the comics.

The chemistry between the three characters is very strong for the first couple of episodes. So much so I don't know if I'm more excited for more Lois and Clark romance, Clark and Jimmy bafoonery, or Lois and Jimmy investigating.

While the villains leave something to be desired in the first two episodes, the inclusion of overarching villains Deathstroke, Amanda Waller and General Lane lead me to believe they hope to build out this universe, at the very least into Batman.

If that is true, I am so in.

I can see a world where we have 3-4 different anime shows introducing key members of the Justice League, all leading up to an anime style movie where they fight Brainiac, with Jack Quaid's Superman at the center of it.

But perhaps I am getting way ahead of myself.

All in all, My Adventures with Superman has me excited for Fridays to come. It has heart, it has comedy, and it seems to understand the Last Son of Krypton better than most pieces of media.

This should be the blueprint for Superman Legacy.

A Superman who brings donuts for all his coworkers.

If you'd like to support me you can follow me on my socials here!

[scoops404]

Aaaahhh I just finished ‘Merry Men Making Merry’ (otherwise known as MMMM) and I’m so hyped about it!!! I had so much fun reading it, your world-building is amazing, so impressive!

As I said I’m a big fan of the story of Robin Hood and it brings back childhood memories. I like that you can read your fic without having any knowledge of the original story, but if you do have knowledge of it it’s so much fun to recognize parts. Like BBH being friar Tuck had me cackling, it’s perfect!

I always love how you write Larray, I can literally hear him in my head with the way you write him 🤭

Oooh and don’t get me started on the ingenuity of incorporating their background stories through flashbacks, that really made the story come to life for me.

//“You gave me a purpose,” Dream tells him, barely audible over the cracking and popping of the fire. The wind almost carries the words away, but George heard them. They’re his now.//

This is probably my favorite part in the fic. For a moment there you had me fooled because of how the og story ends, but your ending was literally perfect. Anyway, I don’t want to spoil too much and I’ve been going on for too long so for anyone reading this ask please go read the fic, you will not regret it!

Thank you Scoops for giving us such a wonderful story again, you’re amazing!

(All that’s missing was the map of the realms at the beginning of the story, haha)

MMMM because it's finger lickin' good!!! Lol no that's so cringe omg

Spoilers under the cut!

I really wanted to write Robin Hood and I was blessed to get the prompt (It was one of those challenged where you give your top 3 preference and then get assigned one). I knew I could write something actiony/adventury because I LOOOVE writing those and I think I'm pretty good at it. Cc!DNF don't really lend themselves to action and adventure but AU versions of them do. Deep in Dream and The Mushroom King and the Nightmare were some of my favorite stories to write. Like, fully obsessed while I was writing them and working on the world building, and MMMM reminded me heavily of those vibes.

I have seen the DIsney animated movie, of course, and also "Men In Tights" and both of those stories kind of spoof the already famous tropes of Robin Hood, so I did some digging --aka I watched an hour long youtube video essay about the evolution of Robin Hood lore-- and dove in. I wanted to add elements from different "canons" - like Robin Hood being secretly a nobleman. I also didn't want this story to be 100K words (which, as you know, I could easily accidentally do) so I decided for the plot, we would center around something fun-- stealing something, since that's what he's known for. I didn't know how to make George Maid Marian because obviously he has to be the love interest, OBVIOUSLY lol, so once I changed it to Maid Marian being Dream's sister, it all kind of fell into place.

However, I also wanted to see *how* they became the Merry Men, I think that's really interesting and integral to the story, and thus the flashbacks were born. I really don't like flashbacks, both in reading and writing, I think they can be done very very well (Hi Luci!), but normally i just find them really boring, so I had to keep them short and action packed to keep everyone's attention.

BBH as Friar Tuck -- fit tooooo perfectly, I just had to. I went back and forth on George or Sapnap being Little John and then decided it didn't really matter ultimately, they both kind of fill that role. Though, George kind of also rounds out the "Robin Hood" persona --please note that he gets mistaken for Robin Hood at least once in the fic!

I had a blast writing this one and, not going to lie, it got away from me for a while, but @rebelwithoutabroom helped pull me back lol.

Thank you so much for such a lovely review of the story! I'm so glad you liked it <3

(Yes, next time will add a map, though i have no idea what it all would look like so that will add like 5 months onto things. Also, multiple realms, what was I thinking?!)

[episodeoftv]

Round 3 of 8, Group 1 of 2

propaganda and summaries are under the cut (May include spoilers)

The X-Files: 3.20 Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'

Well known author Jose Chung is writing a book about the claimed alien abduction of a young couple that was subsequently investigated by agents Mulder and Scully. With Mulder unavailable, Scully provides most of the information on the case. Chrissy and Harold were out on a date when their car suddenly lost all power in the middle of nowhere. From that point on however, their stories and that of the others involved in the investigation begin to vary considerably. It all equally leads to several possible conclusions.

this is the fucking funniest episode i absolutely love it. iconic.

Xena: Warrior Princess: 2.15 A Day in the Life

How do they use the bathroom? How do they make decisions? How do they cook an eel when their frying pan is broken? and is there a romantic relationship between Xena and Gabrielle? All is revealed in a day in the life of Xena and Gabrielle, as Xena and Gabrielle battles a warlord and his army who plan to loot a village and save another village from being destroyed by a giant.

As in the title the episode follows Xena and Gabrielle on a 'typical day', it's full of great little character moments and a characteristically silly plot. It is fun to watch without the stakes of the world ending and showcases the character relationship central to the show.

[queenburd]

holding up mac with love and adoration as i make their existence more and more miserable. here's the rundown on our sad little server. There are spoilers for MITYO, which you should absolutely get and play here (it's free! and accessible on browser!), AND for NonPlatonic Forms.

Mac was previously known as MC, the term short for MAIN CHARACTER. the term MC was used a lot when describing the protagonist of May I Take Your Order. (There's ALSO the joke that the "May" of May I Take Your Order is me. wordplay. badum tsh.)

In MITYO, MC is the server at the restaurant Rakove summons Talaiporia at for their date. This restaurant is supposedly USED to them and they are implied regulars and MC just was assigned to them accidentally.

MITYO is a really sanded down version of Rakove and Talaiporia, more, ahem, palatable for mainstream consumption. Though Talaiporia doesn't disguise her cruel and eldritch nature, she never particularly threatens to harm MC or any of the other guests, and she even enjoys MC as a server, who ends up leaning into playing up their discomfort for her pleasure.

When I played MITYO, I usually ended up getting the 80% tip ending, ending #4 I think. This ending shows a sort of softer, sweeter side to Talaiporia and Hendrik, and MC comes away actually enjoying the experience and wanting to be their server more consistently. Although they're gonna need a long talk with their boss about this mishap.

When NonPlatonic Forms was taking shape, the first round took place in what was meant to be the same restaurant. So I made jokes galore about the same server having to serve Diegesis and Lee and how this keeps happening to them.

However, as NPF progressed and the restaurant showed up again as a setting, it became pretty clear that this wasn't the same establishment from MITYO. This place was serving up spirits and humans! This is definitely..... not a great place to work. The servers might LOOK human, but that's no guarantee.

Still. I was amused by and attached to the idea of this poor human, still working a job, only in a much more dangerous setting. And I loved the idea of them being used to Rakove and Talaiporia as guests. Even if the kid gloves were off and the pair were in their full glory as fucked up horror characters, it seemed funny to me that there was just this One Person who was, you know, used to it, I guess.

And I thought Liam could use a human friend who still understood a bit of what he was going through. Being shoved into a world with spirits and entities and things that want to eat you, but also want to play with their food.

So, MC somehow moves from the relatively safe restaurant of MITYO to the much less safe restaurant of NPF. There were jokes about it looking good on the diversity paperwork, humans being easier to employ because all THEY want is money, they're not about to steal the food off the plates for themselves, and of course "this is the restaurant's gimmick. human servers."

The joke I've decided to stick with is that MC was moving, which meant they had to quit their old job at the restaurant in MITYO, and when they let their regulars Rakove and Talaiporia know, Rakove "oh so helpfully" said that he knew of a great restaurant that would hire them and he could put in a good word as reference!

And, because MC got a little too used to Rakove, sanded down and well-behaved in his appearance of MITYO and a stellar guest, they.... agreed. Stupidly, and naively, they were SUPER GRATEFUL for the help with finding work, because it's really hard finding work in this economy.

The job they have now is... well, it's not good. There is a benefit to having human servers at the restaurant. Humans being witness to pacts and deals gives those much more power than if spirits were just the ones to witness them. And servers can be quickly added to the bill as a fun treat, if they get the attention of their guest. Employee turnover rate is high.

Mac knows they're basically doomed, at this point. It's not really a matter for debate. They can't exactly quit, either, because the more you come into contact with spirits and ideals, the more you'll stand out from the crowd to OTHER spirits and ideals. There's no protection either way. There's no way out.

So they really, really want Liam to live. They want him to win his game with Diegesis, so that at least one human's fate isn't set in stone.

Mac's gonna be eaten, it's just a matter of when and by whom....

Only, it's not actually that simple. And maybe the reason they've lasted so long at their job isn't simply because they've been really good at fading in the background.

Maybe it's because Rakove got them that job on purpose. Maybe the more miserable they become at the job, the better they'll taste for Talaiporia when they're finally served up to her as a special gift. Maybe Mac's just been a specially commissioned meal, marinating, becoming well-aged, for that moment when Talaiporia comes into full power.

One thing's tragically certain. When they do go, it won't be quick.

Sorry, Mac.

[ultimate-character-design]

The Ultimate Character Design Tournament

Please remember to vote for characters solely based on their design, rather than which character you are more familiar with or like more!

*One of the characters in this bracket is considered a spoiler for: The Owl House

Luz Noceda (Titan) | The Owl House

"To me, Luz’s design looks iconic, pretty, ghostly, and cool in her titan form."

Metal Sonic | Sonic the Hedgehog

"See me as I am, no longer afraid of ANYTHING! I shall become the ultimate overlord, ruling as the world's most supreme being!"

Penny | Brawl Stars

Mako Masks (Hong & Azul) | OC

"i thought it would be fun to submit the oc of mine whose design i like the most (because most of my art is in the realm of character design) and it turns out the answer is two of them. they're splatoon fan characters, based on the various 'idol groups' of the series, but i mostly took inspiration from off the hook (in their original outfits) in terms of the balance between shared motifs and distinct features. most likely because they're some of my oldest ocs in terms of when i first made digital art of them, i've come up with a lot of fun details to work their motifs into, like how all of their facial features above their noses are shaped like the curve of the eye on their mask, and how basically all of their clothing has a 1-1 connection with the other person's clothing in that area. i also want to specifically point out their eyeliner because that was one of their most recent design additions and i feel like it adds SO MUCH. their previous iteration is barely any different (aside from being on the other side of a major leap in art quality) but without that one detail they look so much more bland."

Tendou Satori | Haikyuu

"he's jus a liddle guy"

Lan, Aeon of The Hunt | Honkai: Star Rail

""With no end to hate and no boundaries to war, how much concern do you shoulder? With determined eyes and the arrow drawn, the Reignbow Arbiter needs not turn back hither." — Worlds History as a Mirror, Xianzhou The Aeon known as the Reignbow Arbiter wanders endlessly between worlds to destroy the undead beings that once poisoned their homeworld. The cost of the hunt was never a consideration for Lan. There is often no difference between the salvation they offer and total destruction. (In-game Data Bank)"

Ollie (Mantis form) | Shiloh

"Normally he’s a human and that design is pretty good too"

Ryuji Sakamoto | Persona 5

"I just think he's neat! Ryuji is an early party member in Persona 5. He's one of the more... argumentative characters, and often causes a bit of conflict in the group, but he still ends up on good terms with everyone. He's also known as Skull, cause of the mask he wears when in Persona's dungeons and stuff. Anyways, I just think his visual design is very good, the black and yellow go very well together, and he always has a very confident look."

Rick Shades | Epithet Erased

"Epithet Erased has so many incredibly solid designs. They blend with the zany nature of the universe and I love it so much. Rick's design looks like a dark magic businessman who just washed up on the beach, yet still is zany enough that you could realistically see his superpower pretty much equaling the power of friendship."

The Riddler | The Batman 2004

"This is my favourite design for The Riddler; he looks so snappable."

[vifetoile]

Calvin Anagonye-Shellstrop and Hobbes

Eleanor Shellstrop becomes the first woman to get knocked up in Hell.

So.

Spoilers for the end of The Good Place, however, no spoilers for Good Omens (this does not incorporate season 2) and Calvin & Hobbes and Fairyland, they need no spoiler tags.

Post-Season 4. Eleanor and Chidi are in the process of overhauling the afterlife; the process is going well but there are still holdover-demons who prefer the old regime. Chidi and Eleanor are happily together and Do It a lot; they visit the old Neighborhood and have a quickie in Eleanor’s old house, and two months later Eleanor realizes she’s pregnant.

The first person she goes to is Janet, who confirms it and says that the chance of a woman conceiving in the afterlife is astronomically low. She congratulates Eleanor on beating the odds. Eleanor asks Janet to keep it a secret and asks for help— how will she tell Chidi without him freaking out? Comedic advice sequence ensues.

Eleanor tells Chidi, he has a few minutes of shock but once it’s confirmed he’s surprisingly chill. He asks Eleanor what she feels about it.

Chidi and Eleanor have a long talk about parenthood. While keeping the idea of abortion fully on the table (Janet can do it), they decide they want to try being parents together.

Furthermore, Chidi says that he would like their child to live on Earth, if that’s possible, with a normal experience of time and space. 

So this is the news they break to Jason and Tahani and Michael. Jason is delighted at the prospect of being an uncle; Tahani offers sincere congratulations and sends for champagne; Michael is surprisingly morose. The idea of Eleanor and Chidi returning to Earth really bums him out. But Jason manages to talk Michael 'round. It'll be fun to be a godparent.

So Eleanor and Chidi resume their lives on Earth, and move to Maine. When they marry they take the surname Anagonye-Shellstrop. When their son is born, they name him Calvin. 

Tahani and Jason also choose to resume their Earthly lives.

Meanwhile, back in London...

Aziraphale and Crowley get notices from their separate authority figures: this kid Calvin was conceived in Hell. A kid like that… could have all kinds of strange powers. He could even fill the role that Hell wants, the role of the Antichrist.

Remember how I said there are those who want the old regime, and the old plans for Armageddon? Yeah, not all of them are demons. 

Plenty of angels would like to put Armageddon back on the calendar, and this kid might be their way to do it.

Aziraphale packs up his books, and Crowley packs up his plants, and they head out to Maine. The Arrangement has a new form.

Artwork by Ana Juan, colored by me

By a completely unrelated train of events, there is the realm known as Fairyland, as described by Catherynne M. Valente. There is a young Tiger by the name of Hobbes. He is kin to the Leopard of Little Breezes and the other great cats of Fairyland. 

Hobbes hasn’t quite found his domain yet. As he vagabonds along from one port to another, he finds his way to the world of humans, where he appears as a stuffed toy to most. However, even under this glamor, Hobbes possesses a debonair charm which catches the eye of Tahani al-Jamil. She introduces Hobbes to Calvin and they become fast friends.

Calvin will come into his powers when he reaches seven, the age of reason. However, the year before Calvin’s seventh birthday never seems to end, it just… sort of loops. Jeremy Bearimy never saw it coming.

Artwork by Bill Watterson

How will this all end? Will the Maine sea-air prompt Crowley and Aziraphale to confess their long-buried feelings? Will Hobbes ever go back to Fairyland? I don't know, it's a mystery, but isn't it fun to think about!

This all could be a long-running Ao3 series with 100k words and dozens of chapters and interludes, but in this part of Jeremy Bearimy, it is a humble tumblr post.

[benevolentcannibal]

i am on my hands and knees and my back is arched, can we please get a yorin x yonji backstory, i jus need to know more about 'em, especially the relationship cards, like AAAA I don't know who I want to be when I see 'em (spoiler alert, I want to be Yonji, I want Yorin to smash my head into a wall)

Back arched?? lolol 

Sure I already have a handful of arches of their story planned.

The TLDR is: It's a political marriage. Yorin's family are wealthy traders able to grow almost any organic thing. Germa is an island nation so having access to goods  like that is a win-win in exchange for Germa military force.

The long version: The Tress family owns a chain of fertile summer islands in the new world. They are one of the world's largest producers of fabric and rope and have a long standing contract with the navy. This gives their ships a lot of freedom which they use to move illegal goods(drugs, artifacts, and previously flesh) as well. The main Tress island has a special shroom network that when spliced with  other martials makes a plant that flowers and produces that material. (I haven't fleshed this part out fully but it's op brand weirdness, the shroom ate a devil fruit.) The splicing technique is only known by the Tress family so stealing some won't produce the same results, the shroom also doesn't like the taste of DF so they can't be cloned.

Judge wants this access to goods and services, being a country of mercenaries and the whole cake island incident just finding and taking martials is a huge sink of man power they can use elsewhere. All that to say that Yorin's wellbeing is important to the deal not falling through and Germa typical violence etc.

Yorin isn’t happy  about the arranged marriage but understands that the family needs Germa protection (there might have been recent an incident, haven't figured this out.)

  Yonji also isn't happy about the wedding because he feels like it's a Sanji thing and ya know, ew. Most of his gripping stops when Judge tells him Yorin's marrying into the Vinsmokes instead of the other way round. Basically nothing changes for him . Fun Fact: One of the conditions Ji (Yorin's mom) agreed to the marriage is that  she gets three grandchildren and Judges shares the news about the marriage over dinner so Niji ofc thinks hey, you’re wifes mom obviously wanted three because there's three of us. (Yorin and Niji do not get along, more Niji doesn’t get along with Yorin because he doesn’t like folks talking back to him and Yorin laughs in his face + tells him to get lost in so many words. i'm sure he's gotten his head smashed into a wall) When they finally do meet privately a few days before the wedding the first thing Yonji does is announce his disappointment that Yorin is fat and it goes about as well as you think.  Yorin laughs and makes Yonji hit himself with their DF power. (If you really want Yorin to smash you into a wall they’d just flick their wrist and crunch) This sets the tone for the first half of their marriage, it confirms Yonji is a pig and that Yorin can manipulate him with sex and tiddy. 

They don’t dislike each other, they both know the marriage is a transaction and treat it like that. Yorin doesn’t care if Yonji sleeps around/with the Germa haram, their one rule is don’t embarrass them. Very simple. Most of their sex life is led by Yorin because in my mind the brothers don’t have to be good at sex since they can just get it whenever they want. That’s not going to fly if Yonji wants to have sex with Yorin and given how big their tits are he REALLY wants to. In this stage Yonji learns that oh I’ve been fucking remotes, my wife is soft and mean to me, my dick loves this. Like 60% of the sex they do have is non penetrative and Yonji isn’t happy about that but then the edging starts and that leads into dom-sub play, sensation play, command/order play, furniture/objectification kink, some cbt, sounding, prostate play etc. Yorin’s a pretty stern soft femdom, doesn’t have any interest in pegging him but there’s so much more other stuff they do to him. Stage two: All of the above is happening in the background. Yonji’s also practicing his stroke game to level up because competitive. He starts noticing things about Yorin, what they like and there’s a moment where him and Ichiji are finishing a job where they’ve been paid in treasure. Normally Yonji doesn’t care about this stage but he sees a string of pearls in the pile and takes them because wife wears pearls, wife likes pearls so will give to wife. It’s a small moment but Yorin never expected a gift from Yonji and it begins to change their relationship.

Yorin begins to see Yonji off when he leaves for work, nothing dramatic like waiting in the window but begins telling him to be careful etc. The really important instance of this is when  Yorin is reading on the balcony and they call Yonji over before he leaves, makes him kneel and gently cups his cheek. A light bulb goes off in his head and he thinks about it and thinks about it.

  Their relationship is complicated but incredibly simple at the same time. Yonji does something Yorin likes and he gets rewarded for it. 

From then on Yonji expects a cheek touch  before each mission and sometimes he gets to lay his head in Yorin’s lap and that just blows his mind. If feels good but different than sex  and Yonji figures it’s the intimacy like when he was a kid and was praised for doing something well, which falls in the same vein as that for him. He hasn’t felt this in years and can also have (really good) sex with this person. Double whammy it’s over for him. 

Yorin on the other side isn’t exactly falling in love with Yonji but he’s becoming familiar. Yorin doesn’t expect him to suddenly get the full range of emotions or would really want that. It’s easy dealing with him because they don’t have to guess how he’s feeling. They aren’t disappointed he doesn’t know he’s supposed to do something because they can tell him and he just does it. Again their relationship is really strange.

Anyway sometimes passes and it’s that time of the year again, the Reverie. Germa’s kinda been on time out for the last few years because of the bullshit ™.  Ichiji and Judge probably are the ones to attend but Yorin volunteers. They have experience with the Reverie and their family has a decent amount of pull in the government even if they aren’t officially a part of the world government. Ichiji’s away on a mission that’s running long so Judge agrees and Yonji is  expected to attend with them. (The fuckening is upon us) 

On the way to the Reverie Yorin opens up to Yonji slightly about hating the dragons. Years ago their sister attended to expand the trade network. A dragon took a liking to her and kidnapped her. Yorin’s older sister was a slave to a celestial dragon for 46 days before the family could find someone stupid enough to smuggle her out of the holy city. She returned, branded, traumatized and pregnant. Ji was pregnant at the same time and the boys were raised as twins, only Ji and Yorin know this. After this incident the Tress family stopped dealing in the flesh trade and haven’t set foot in the holy city since.

 Days before  the actual meeting the nations leaders meet a handful of dragons and one of them recognizes Yorin by name.  Proudly explains he look a liking to Yorin’s sister and misses her dearly since their time was cut so short. If Yorin wants him to put in a good word for Germa they can discuss it privately. Yorin politely declines and not even an hour later shit goes down.

The thing about Yorin is that they are very controlled and precise, this includes their emotions and social awareness. Dragon’s don’t take rejection well and before they reach their room this dragon puts a hit on Yorin. They aren't a Vinsmoke by blood so killing them shouldn’t be a big deal right, canon typical Dragon childishness. Yonji ends up taking the bullet and shrapnel hits Yorin. This wasn’t apart of Yorin’s plan and the stress  of the situation understandably  makes them snap.  Assassination failed the Dragon just openly orders Yorin killed.  

Long short of it is  they now have to escape from the holy city and while that happens Yorin gets hit again and Yonji swoops in to cover them but the damage is much worse. Yorin begin’s having a panic attack and enemies are closing in very quickly.

Yorin’s DF begins to awaken, it’s a partial forced awakening . This allows them a forceful egress and to return to Yonji’s ship. The force Yorin summons to give them a head start cracks the red wall.

(Hair eyeballs cause the vector's DF's weakness is the user being blinded or restrained and more arms to dance/attack with. Yorin's attacks have to start with a joint being bent which is why her main form of dance is Bharatanatyam. Visually their awakened form is based on okami boss and kali)

It’s a HUGE incident and Yorin ends up getting a 300 million belly bounty. It’s a WHOLE fucking mess and ye that’s their story so far.

[isekai-crow]

Doctor Elise Ep 3-4

I cannot express enough how fun of a potato chip this show is. I had a fever this week and this was a great lil show to watch that didnt require me to think.

As a self proclaimed shonen bro whose not normally into shojos, I enjoyed the manga, and the anime is doing a good job despite not being one of the "big names". It might also be my love of medical dramas from the early 2000s peaking in. I can turn my brain off to watch it and just have fun by going "WTF w h y", and poking fun at how broken some aspects of this world are while still thoroughly enjoying it.

It's definitely the kind of show that probably won't hold up to scrutiny for the world building, so. Just. Don't think too hard about the specifics of what's happening! Then the power fantasy pieces won't break through your suspension of disbelief! Because IV bags did not exist during the Crimean War in the 1800s which seems to be where this fantasy setting is taking place.

But I'm gonna go and point out all the broken bits below because its so much fun (not bashing at all!).

Also my favorite boy shows up! Doctor Graham!! We love a boy whose not there to be a rival or love interest, and respects the Lady and they get to be bros!

Look at this silver haired ponce of a bishonen, he's delightful, ascot and all!

He's voiced by Hosoya, Yoshimasa - Rainer Braun from Attack on Titan, Nezumi from NO.6, WOLFWOOD FROM THE NEW TRIGUN STAMPEDE!! Tokoyami from BNHA, and Sousuke from Free!

DAMN THEY PICKED A GOOD VOICE FOR MY BOY.

More spoilers/screen shots below the cut!

Elise shows up for work as Rose at the No Cultural Touchstone For Mother Teresa Hospital, the genius young doctor Graham is supposed to take care of her but he's busy and assumes like everyone else that a young well-off lady will run from the sight of blood soon enough, and so sticks her in the HOSPICE WARD.

HHMMMM I WONDER WHY ALL THESE PEOPLE ARE ON THEIR DEATH BEDS???? COULD IT PERHAPS BE... UH... SANITARY REASON?? SHOULD HOSPITALS BE SANITARY??? NAHHHH THE DIRTY ROTTING BANDAGES ON THE FLOOR AREN'T MAKING THINGS WORSE, NO WAAAAAAAAY.

These poor overworked shift nurses seem to have no idea what they're doing, but thankfully we have a returner with concepts of modern day sanitation who cleans the place up!

She then finds a dude with bed sores and realizes no one knows what SEPSIS IS, and is like. Get me a scalpel, it's my first day, I've never held a scalpel in my read:this life, I'M DOIN' A SURGERY TODAY. I'VE GOT GALAXY BRAIN TO HELP ME.

I love these shots they're great.

SHE PROCEEDS TO CUT INTO THE DUDES BACK LIKE SHE'S DRAWING FREE FORM SELECTION ON MS PAINT AND THEN JUST HITS CTRL-X DELETE.

That's not A tissue, that's HIS (necrotic) tissue! I sure hope this dude has pain killers or is drunk off his ass with vodka because DAMN.

All the other in-patients are so happy she's here, they feel better already with her bright and happy personality! Normally this would feel really creepy and sexist, but this juuuuuust squeaked by as not coming off that way.

Jump cut to the King! Only 12 people in this world know what diabetes is! How is Elise going to get away with having known about it?? Probably more hand waving!!

Now, we either get a time skip, or she's literally been working all night, but Dr. Graham walks in on her dozing, thinks he's got the wrong place, and proceeds to scold her for performing surgery without permission. But then he takes her on rounds and we're in a medicial show!!!!

IS THAT A FUCKING IV BAG?

IT IS!!!! THOSE WEREN'T INVENTED UNTIL THE LATE 1800s!! At least its a glass bottle, and not a plastic bag like I initially assumed?? But I guess the Crimean War was in the 1850s and this type of open glass bottle IV was from the 1900s so... Wooo Fantasy Europe!! -waves hand rapidly to shoo you on-

This man is having a time trying to figure out what the fuck. But he's pretty.

It takes him a bit to come to terms with her abilities but then he's just so happy to have another Doctor Bro who Actually Cares that he's behind her with full support! Which yay! But also becomes a tool of sorts, to kind of hand wave away the concept of sexism in the medical field to the point where it doesn't seem to exist. Which is also what makes this such a light show, because it doesn't even try to handle said topics, it just erases them completely with regards to medicine.

Equal numbers of men and women as doctors! The women aren't relegated to nurses! Yay! No critical thinking needed here.

My favorite part of this though, is that they DO tease at it. When Elise makes a different call from the doctor she's following in Ye Olde ER, he kind of stutters and is flabbergasted and panicked, while the female doctor is immediately like, I GOTCHU SIS, and steps in to help her as she proceeds to STAB A DUDE IN THE CHEST WITH A SYRINGE.

She's so pretty with blood on her face.

We're in episode 4 by this point, and its the "Festival Episode" common to many isekai romance manhwas, but of course, Elise is a doctor and so she's working the ER instead of attending.

However this is the episode that proves there is magic in the world, and WE GET A SECOND VA FOR THE PRINCE. He transforms into "Lord Ron". We also get a glimpse of his tragic back story!

His bodyguard gets a knife pulled on him and THEN A GUN. New Technology Discovered: Guns! I should hope they had those figured out before IV tech, but you think they'd know about general sanitation being important as well.

Dude's been shot in the SPLEEN!!! OW MY SPLEEN! They don't have a splenectomy in Fantasy Europe, oh no!

Elise puts up such a persuasive argument, and the dude is dying, so they might as well let her try to save him. And look, the prince Lord Ron has field surgery experience and offers to help!

SUDDENLY THERE IS ELECTRICITY. WHAT WERE THOSE OIL LAMPS IN THE GRIMEY DEATH WARD???

MS PAINT SCALPEL FTW!! It's not bad for the limited time they likely had to anime each episode, and the fact that they're putting more emphasis on the conversations. For comparison, this scene in the manga ↓

Surgery is a success! Yay! Elise is asked to write up a report abotu the surgery as it will be the first ever recorded splenectomy.

and then. Blushing Prince is Adorable, even in disguise. Love us some blushing boys.

But by far the most accurate part of this show so far...

Even in a Fantasy Europe Hospital the doctors have shitty handwriting lmfao

[kamreadsandrecs]

Title: The Late Mrs. Willoughby (Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney #2) Author: Claudia Gray Genre/s: historical, mystery, Jane Austen pastiche Content/Trigger Warning/s: murder Summary (from author's website): The suspenseful sequel to The Murder of Mr. Wickham, which sees Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney reunited, and with another mystery to solve: the dreadful poisoning of the scoundrel Willoughby’s new wife. Catherine and Henry Tilney of Northanger Abbey are not entirely pleased to be sending their eligible young daughter Juliet out into the world again: the last house party she attended, at the home of the Knightleys, involved a murder—which Juliet helped solve. Particularly concerning is that she intends to visit her new friend Marianne Brandon, who’s returned home to Devonshire shrouded in fresh scandal—made more potent by the news that her former suitor, the rakish Mr. Willoughby, intends to take up residence at his local estate with his new bride. Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley are thrilled that their eldest son, Jonathan—who, like his father, has not always been the most socially adept—has been invited to stay with his former schoolmate, John Willoughby. Jonathan himself is decidedly less taken with the notion of having to spend extended time under the roof of his old bully, but that all changes when he finds himself reunited with his fellow amateur sleuth, the radiant Miss Tilney. And when shortly thereafter, Willoughby’s new wife—whom he married for her fortune—dies horribly at the party meant to welcome her to town. With rumors flying and Marianne—known to be both unstable and previously jilted by the dead woman’s newly made widower—under increased suspicion, Jonathan and Juliet must team up once more to uncover the murderer. But as they collect clues and close in on suspects, eerie incidents suggest that the killer may strike again, and that the pair are in far graver danger than they or their families could imagine. Buy Here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-late-mrs-willoughby-claudia-gray/18822240 Spoiler-Free Review: And yet another delight of a novel in this series! The mystery is a little less structured now because it's happening within the context of a small town instead of just one manor house, but it just opens up more opportunities for twists, and this book DEFINITELY takes advantage of that. The way rumors were used, in particular, was interesting: they opened up alternate ways of viewing the suspects, but also breathed life into the town, showed its dynamics: who was loyal to whom, and who was connected to whom. It also made the true culprit a bit less obvious, which is always fun. While the mystery at the heart of the plot is pretty fun, I was a lot more focused on the character dynamics this go-round. Marianne and Brandon were a delight to read about, especially after what happened in the previous novel, and it was just as lovely to see Elinor (Ferrars now, given that she's married), and to see the rest of the Dashwood clan. It was nice to read how Elinor and Marianne get on after their respective marriages, as well as to see how well Elinor and Edward have settled into married life. And of course, there's Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney. As a second murder brings them together again, it becomes immensely clear to the reader that these two have Feelings for each other - but keep on being unable to express it. This can get a bit frustrating in a good way, especially because Jonathan and Juliet keep on making entirely mistaken assumptions about what the other is thinking or feeling. It's true they can read each other very well, often able to discern each other's intent from just a glance, but they are most definitely NOT mind-readers. Please note that all of this is a GOOD thing: I like me a slow-burn romance, and the kind of misunderstandings these two have about each other are pretty much par for the course of a Regency novel - and, given that Jonathan is neurodivergent, make sense.

Given how this book ended, of course, I'm fairly sure that there's going to be at least one more in the series, because the protagonists need to get together - and this time, hopefully, in matrimony.

Rating: five glasses of port

[tsaomengde]

Starfield thoughts

Finished Starfield. If you like Bethesda games, you will like Starfield. If you don't, then you won't. Pretty simple.

More detailed thoughts:

I finished Oblivion's main quest, finished Fallout 4's main quest, and bounced off of Skyrim. Starfield was distinctly the most fun I've had with a Bethesda game. Partly because it's in space and I'm a slut for spaceships and sci-fi. Partly because the combat finally felt - well, look, it's still bad combat. Like, objectively, it is clunky and flat compared to dedicated shooters like Halo or Doom. But it's clunky and flat in a way that feels a little retro to me. Kind of brings me back to FPSes in the 90s.

I also really enjoyed going down the science skill trees and the ship skill trees and crafting myself an OP ship and OP guns. I was playing on Normal and never felt the need to spec into combat stuff. I did not need to put points into Rifles to have them do 20% more damage when my custom-crafted sniper rifle, "That Guy In Particular," could put a penetrator round into someone's head with 85% accuracy from half a kilometer away.

I liked fucking around with the outpost stuff a little bit, but the attempts at giving you the ability to automate production of crafting materials are very clunky. I have not played Factorio or Satisfactory, but I have played an indie factory game called Dyson Sphere Program that is in a very similar vein, and Starfield's ability to set up supply lines between star systems and link stuff up inside outposts is poorly implemented and kind of anemic. Once you spec far enough into science you also get the ability to just make the shit yourself at a crafting table. And the various merchants in the hub worlds sell all the raw materials you ever need, so while setting up outposts to mine the shit yourself is nice, ultimately it is entirely skippable. Which, like, is fine! It's an RPG, you should be able to play the bits you're interested in and leave the rest. But the flip side of that coin is that I respect developers who are like, "You want to be Good at this game? Learn the mechanics." Putting in this big outpost system and then saying "but you don't actually have to interact with it at all if you don't want to" is like if Sekiro said "you can get by without learning parrying."

Spoilers below:

I appreciated that the game picks out the companions you have the highest affinity with at a crucial point in the main plot and says, "You can only save one." It's like the Kaidan/Ashley dillemma from Mass Effect 1, only dynamic instead of static. I did feel bad when my then-BFF Sarah died. Not, like, *super* bad, since none of these people hold a candle to the classic companions from Dragon Age or some of the new hotties from Baldur's Gate 3. But I really did like Sam Coe, mostly because he's voiced by Elias Toufexis, best known as the voice of Adam "I Never Asked For This" Jensen. So I would have been sadder if he'd died, but I put the main plot off until super late and you only get him halfway through it so my affinity level with him wasn't high enough yet to put him in the crosshairs. Ha!

The main plot having to do with multiverse theory, and the NG+ just being the next universe you enter once you finish collecting the macguffins that open the multiverse portal, is clever. I liked that the multiversal travelers you come into conflict with over the macguffins are alternate-universe versions of people you've already met, including whichever character died in the aforementioned choice. Overall, pretty solid writing. Nothing exciting or exceptional that I haven't seen before, but just enough of a twist and a little spice to keep it interesting. It does take a while to build up, though, and everyone who's said "the game only gets good x hours in" is correct. The main plot takes a *lot* of time to heat up. I did a bunch of random Bethesda fucking around and a couple faction questlines before I touched it, and I only went to the main plot when my brain was telling me "I am about to start experiencing diminishing dopamine returns from this game so you might as well finish it up."

At the end of the game, you activate the macguffins, step into the multiverse portal, and are presented with a choice: go on to the next universe (NG+), or stay in the one you have. I liked that there was a choice. My character, Skade, decided to stay in the one they have. They've built a good life for themselves here. They have friends here. They wrested the macguffins from the hands of the multiverse travelers who thought they knew better than everyone else what to do with them. They're not ready to leave. Maybe someday they will be, if and when I come back to Starfield and want to do a NG+. But for now, I, Gabe, am moving on from the game in this universe. In the universe where Skade is a real person, though, they're still going off having adventures with their buddy Sam and his daughter Cora. And I think that's a nice thing indeed.

[nebulousfishgills]

WIP Asks!

2, 6, 8, 9, 16, and 18 please!

they're such fun questions, it's hard to choose :)

2 - What part of your OCs creation and writing are you most proud of?

The fact that Emily is effectively one OC for two fandoms and, despite the reasons for that being absolutely hogwild, she works effectively in both worlds.

6 - Have any of your OCs had name changes? If so, why?

As far as I know, no. I've considered changing one or two names, but they're much older OCs and I'm in too deep for that to happen just now.

8 - Which of your OCs is the most fun to write?

Emily, 100%. Again, for the aforementioned flexibility between two universes that allows for double the story opportunities. Also I wrote her so she's just unapologetically, frankly, the worst and there's a sense of catharsis that comes out of that. Her character leaves me with so much to mess around with.

9 - Which of your OCs need a break from all you've put them through?

...to be honest, all of them. Olivia's had to deal with those she loves being ripped away from her time and time again, Emily has almost 40 years of pure, unfiltered trauma and has barely known a healthy state of being, and Keira's life was a straight downward spiral. For the sake of argument, though, I'll say Keira. I never ended up finishing her story, but I know how it ends and her need for vengeance ends up getting her killed after five years of demons and hauntings. At least Olivia gets happy endings and Emily's so-called Second Life (to use SMeyer's terminology) gives her everything she lacked in life prior. Keira gets no happy ending, in the way I left her story off or in how I know it ends.

16 - Do you have a favorite OC?

Again, it's gotta be Emily. She's my newest OC, but I think she's the most well-rounded character. Olivia was my first big one and at times I understand she seems the part, a bit too OP and her character flaws seem clunky. Keira was a self insert of the life I idealized for myself that even a year later I've changed my mind on (and I kinda regret making her seem so close to me, appearance-wise especially). Emily, as I said, is just unapologetically awful, yet her character feels the most believeable. She's a product of circumstance, she's selfish, she's damaged, she's someone who needs love and can only get so much of it. Her Second Life, as I said, gives her some of those things and she does grow as a person as a result (or, will. I can't get into spoilers for Diplopia's sequel, but she does get her fair share of development). Plus she's objectively got the coolest design.

18 - Do your OCs have any scars?

Well, Emily obviously, it's one of her most defining physical characteristics. Just this raw web of scars on her face and arm after Upside Down damages (and the fact that she's not worse off is also a silent physical testiment to Henry's protectiveness of her since he took most of the hits when they were banished). Other than that, Olivia probably has various small battle scars (if you read that in Jasper's voice, me too) and Keira likely has a few on her hands from shattered beakers or chemical spills.