#i hear he is slaying... this is an amazing accomplishment

[calemakart]

quinn juice 🧃

[crimsonkenjii-writes]

Hi :DD can i request a giyuu x childhood friend reader? Where they met during the final selection and reunite when she became the lightning pillar? The lightning pillar headcannons made me melt 👌👌😭 i loved it alot and i thought the idea would be cute, don't need to do it tho if you want to ofc :D thankiess 💙

Hello!! Thank you for the request and thank you so much for liking those headcannons!! 🥺 Of course I’ll write it ^^

Here’s the Fem!Lightning Pillar headcannons

Giyuu Tomioka x Fem!Lightning Pillar

Synopsis: You and Giyuu had met when you were doing the final selection and became friends with him. However, life made you drift apart and you both became pillars just to meet one another again.

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　♡　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

You panted heavily as you ran through thick fog and towering trees. Your hand griping firmly around the hilt of your nichirin blade. Your eyes were darting from every direction, waiting for another demon to pop out of nowhere and take a slash at you. There was rustling ahead of you and prepared your blade. You brought both your hand to your blade handle and lifted your arms to swing when-

‘Shit, it’s a slayer!’

A small boy with long black hair and a red haori looked at you frightened as you had your blade lifted, ready to slice him down. You couldn’t stop yourself, you had already charged and you couldn’t stop now. In a flash, another boy appears out of seemingly nowhere and connects your two swords, pushing you away with his strength.

You went skidding to the side and almost tumbled over. You were too much in a panic of almost slicing another slayer to process the boy’s strength. After you got your grounding, you quickly jog to the two boys, “I’m so sorry! The fog was so thick and I thought it was a demon! Please excuse my incompetence!” You bowed low to the two boys just to hear one of them scoff.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be a slayer if you cannot tell the difference between human and demon.” The boy with pinkish hair spat.

You cocked a brow at the boy and thought to yourself ‘what’s with this kid??’ You opened your mouth to argue before the boy with black hair interrupted, “It-it’s fine, Sabito. I’m sure she didn’t mean it.”

“Tch, fine. Just as long as she learns her lesson.”

You raised your brow at the pink haired boy with squared patterned haori again. You then noticed that the both of them had fox masks on.

“Oh? What are those. They look very nice. Whoever made them must be really good at woodcarving.”

“It’s a warding mask,” replied the pink haired boy, “to help keep evil spirits and demons away. The craftsmanship is very good. Urokodaki Sensei is very talented and taught us all we know.”

“And you two are?”

“I’m Sabito and this here is Giyuu...”

“Ah, hello Sabito, Giyuu. I’m Y/N,” you bow once again and they do the same, greeting you. “Let’s just forget that incident. I’m sorry, Giyuu.” You smile at him and he timidly tells you it was alright and that they’ll look past it now.

You tagged along with the two for a couple a days. You were very surprised by how strong Sabito was. He was saving everyone and no demon was too strong for him. It was amazing watching him. Giyuu was strong as well but Sabito kept outshining him.

One day, a demon attacked the three of you and you ended up getting separated from the two and finished the rest of Final Slection on your own. Once you reached the wisteria section of the mountain to claim your ore and uniform, you were too out of it from injuries and exhaustion that you didn’t see Sabito or Giyuu again. You figured they’d both be alright though.

━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

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Years had passed and you had become stronger. You accomplished Total Concentration Breathing Constant and slayed a number of demons. You quickly climbed the ranks as you went on more mission and killed more demons. Eventually you were finally able to slay one of the Twelve Kizuki and was given the message to join the Hashiras.

You were pretty banged up from the demon and met Shinobu before any of the other Pillars. She tended your wounds and gave you medicated water to ease your pain before guiding you to Master Ubuyashiki’s garden where everyone else had been waiting.

You felt very nervous to see such a range of people. Two of them were very, very tall and stood in the way of seeing some of the other pillars.

They were all greeting you and asking you a ton of questions. Many of them were very proud to see another slayer defeat a Twelve Kizuki and join them in the ranks. Eventually, Master Ubuyashiki made his appearance and everyone got in line to kneel to him. You did the same until he called you up front to introduce you to everyone. You were finally able to see all of the pillars now that everyone was in line. You scan through until you see a familiar face, farthest away and the end of the line.

You eyes widen after seeing a familiar red haori with raven, black hair sat on top and ocean blue eyes staring right back at you. ‘I can’t believe it,’ you thought to yourself, ‘It’s Giyuu! I thought I’d never see him again!’ You were ecstatic to talk to him again but had to wait until Ubuyashiki had dismissed everyone first.

The meeting finally came to an end and you made a beeline to Giyuu, ignoring all the other pillars who wanted to ask further questions.

“Giyuu?! Is that you? It’s me! Y/N! We were in final selection together! Gods, I can’t believe it! I thought I’d never see you again!” He’d grown a lot since you last saw him. His hair was longer, his jaw was more defined and you now had to look up to meet his eyes. Dare you say he looked more handsome.

“Y-Y/N, Its been so long.” Giyuu stuttered out, completely flustered. He could feel his cheeks burning the more he spoke with you. You hadn’t grown much in height but your body filled out more and your hair had gotten a bit longer as well. He was nervous to say that you were making his heart flutter again.

“Don’t be so shy, give me a hug!! I can’t belive you’re a Hashira, how did that even happen?” You continued on as you outstretched your arms to pull Giyuu in. He was very stiff and awkward but couldn’t resist embracing you after thinking you’ve been dead for years. He was completely wrong. You were strong, so strong in fact that you managed to take out one of the Twelve Kizuki and became a Pillar. For some strange reason, he felt so proud of you despite not seeing you for so long.

All the other Pillars just stared in disbelief and confusion. Who where you? How did you know Tomioka? How did you get him to talk? How the heck did you get him to hug you?! And how were you making him so flustered?!?! He’s stoic!!

After pulling away from the hug, you opened your mouth to ask about Sabito when you noticed the other half of his haori. Your eyes softened and touched the yellow and green patterns, you heart sinking a little. You bring your eyes back to Giyuu’s, “Did... did Sabito... not... not make it...?” You ask him sadly, tears threatening to swell your eyes. Giyuu’s eye become very sad as he looks to the side and just simply shakes his head.

“I’m so sorry, Giyuu... he was a very good man. I’m sure he’ll be reincarnated, his heart was very kind and pure.”

The other Pillars finally interrupted and started bombarding you with more questions and you spent some time talking with all of them and keeping Giyuu close to you since he kept trying to leave. You still wanted to talk with him afterwards.

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━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━

“Ugh, what a relief!” You let out as you stretch your arms upwards, “I thought they’d never stop asking questions.”

You and Giyuu were walking side by side and leaving Ubuyashiki’s garden.

You excitedly turn to Giyuu, you eyes sparkling as you made contact with his deep, ocean blue ones, “We have so much to catch up on! Tell me, Giyuu, what Pillar are you?”

The both of you spoke all night and caught eachother up on a lot of things. You talked a bit more than Giyuu did of course, but he still replied and shared enough of his thoughts to not make it seem like you were talking to a brick wall.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━

━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Giyuu was so relieved to see that you were okay. He knows he didn’t know you a lot but there was just something so magnetizing about you when you first met. He couldn’t help but feel so interested in you. You’d occasionally come across his mind the years you weren’t there and he would just wonder what you were up to. Pessimism would often creep in and make him think that you might already be dead. He tried his best to shake those thoughts but there was a high chance of that being the reality. Being a slayer never guaranteed a safe future.

It turns out all those pessimistic thoughts were wrong and now here you were, reunited with him. He couldn’t understand why he was so overjoyed to see you again. His heart pounded a bit more around you now than it did years ago. It confused him how you made his thoughts hazy and his temperature rise. But most importantly, he was just so relieved that you were still alive. And to top it all off, you became a Hashira. I mean, a Hashira! The new Lighting Pillar! It made him feel so proud of you. He couldn’t believe you were that strong. Not that he ever doubted you, he just feared that since he enjoyed your presence that you’d be doomed to die too soon.

But now you’re here, stronger than he could have ever imagined, and he was not going to let you leave his side ever again.

[whocalledhimannux]

Ozai: You've been away for a long time. I see the weight of your travels has changed you. You have redeemed yourself, my son. Welcome home.

Hakoda: What's wrong, Katara? Katara: He left. Hakoda: What? Katara: Aang. He just took his glider and disappeared. He has this ridiculous notion that he has to save the world alone, that it's all his responsibility. Hakoda: Maybe that's his way of being brave. Katara: It's not brave, it's selfish and stupid! We could be helping him and I know the world needs him, but doesn't he know how much we need him, too? How can he just leave us behind? Hakoda: You're talking about me too, aren't you? Katara: How could you leave us, Dad? I mean, I know we had Gran-Gran, and she loved us, but we were just so lost without you. Hakoda: I'm so sorry, Katara. Katara: I understand why you left. I really do, and I know that you had to go, so why do I still feel this way? I'm so sad and angry and hurt! Hakoda: I love you more than anything. You and your brother are my entire world. I thought about you every day when I was gone and every night when I went to sleep, I would lie awake missing you so much it would ache.

Ozai: I am proud of you, Prince Zuko. I am proud because you and your sister conquered Ba Sing Se. I am proud because when your loyalty was tested by your treacherous uncle, you did the right thing and captured the traitor. And I am proudest of all of your most legendary accomplishment: you slayed the Avatar. Zuko: What did you hear? Ozai: Azula told me everything. She said she was amazed and impressed at your power and ferocity at the moment of truth.

I know I've already talked about this, but seriously, whoever came up with the idea of intercutting these two scenes is a genius. Zuko's near-silence compared to the back-and-forth between Katara and Hakoda, his fear compared to her anger. the way that every line of Ozai's, even the complimentary ones, are not only distant and cold but also dead-on Zuko's greatest insecurities and regrets while Hakoda's words are all affirming, emotional, and about the relationship between them. the difference between body language and physical contact. IT'S SO GOOD.

also fr every time I watch an episode of A:TLA and think "god this really is a top-tier episode, the head writer pops up as one of the Ehaszes. not sure if it was the writer or the director who chose to actually weave the scenes together like this but god, it works so well.

[owenepierce]

SUB 102 - ASSIGNMENT

Name: Owen Elle Pierce

Date: November 12th, 2020

1. ELLE WOODS - So, anyone that knows me knows that Elle Woods is my idol and that Legally Blonde is like…the manual I use to make life decisions. So, I figured a gif of my queen would be an appropriate way to represent my arrival in April - I showed up in all my pink, glittery, slutty glory and it’s just been uphill since.

2. THE PARKING LOT - Okay, so…it wasn’t uphill right away. Shortly after I got here, a mark-wide punishment happened. I was blind-folded and bound to a street-lamp out in the parking lot. A guard came by and whipped me for what felt like hours. It definitely wasn’t, but…yeah I still flinch thinking about it. I had to talk to Miss Pillsbury for a while after that one, and I think I’m more or less okay now. There’s still a scar on my back from the experience, so no matter how bad I wanna forget it…I don’t think I ever will.

3. HOMECOMING - So, you know how I said things went uphill after the punishment? Well, the dance kind of kicked that off. Even though I’d only been here for a little bit, I somehow still got enough votes to get crowned Homecoming King! It was definitely the medicine the doctor ordered in lieu of that awful punishment. I was on cloud nine for weeks, and I still get so happy every time I look at my crown.

4. CHEERIOS - One of the biggest parts of my experience at Lima Heights thus far as been being on the Cheerios! I mean, I wear my uniform pretty much everyday, so it’d be hard not to include it in this assignment. I’ve made most of my closest friends through the squad and I’m also the Captain! We’ve been slaying the competitions and are definitely on our way to being national champs. I’m so proud of myself and everyone on the squad for what we have accomplished thus far, and for what I know we will in the future.

5. SAM EVANS - So, arguably the biggest part of my experience here has to do with not an event, but a person. Sam Evans is…well, there aren’t words to describe it accurately, but he’s like…my whole world. I met him back in April, and until then I never really knew how a man was supposed to treat someone they loved. I think that’s ‘cause no one’s ever loved me right. Not until him. There’s not a minute that goes by without him that I don’t wish I was with him. He makes me laugh constantly, and…yeah, I apologize for the incoherency of this, but if I keep going, I’ll cry all over my homework. I love him and come Hell or high water, I’m gonna be all his someday. ♡ @sammythedominant

6. BLAINE ANDERSON EVANS - You’d think after that, I wouldn’t possibly have more to say on the topic of people I love, right? Wrong. Sam’s half of the picture. The other half is his sub, and my future-co-sub/partner, Blaine. We met back in April too, and ever since he’s been my rock - keeping me grounded, showing me love in ways I never even thought I deserved. He’s also really helped me come into my own as a submissive. I’m beyond excited to come into he and Sam’s set-up permanently, and I just know we’re all going to make an incredible life together someday. @submissivexblaine

7. BEING A SUBMISSIVE - Maybe the biggest part of my time here is just becoming at ease with my mark. I think I’ve always been pretty naturally submissive, but naturally my schooling here is gonna take that up a few notches. While I credit most of my experience to Sam, there’s been lots of really hot smart, helpful guys around here that have scened with me and helped me get to where I am today.

8. GLEE CLUB - Finally, I also joined glee! I’m not the best singer, but the club is another excuse to shake my ass, dance around and demand we perform only Ariana Grande songs. Initially, I only joined because I wanted more time to sit on Sam’s lap and hear Blaine sing, but over-time, I’ve actually come to appreciate the club in the same way everyone else does. It’s an amazing space to express yourself, and I’m super grateful for my involvement in it.

[elysianslove]

I think I read your Kyojuro with a son request as soon as you put it out and I loved it! 😊 I love the idea of over protective father Kyojuro. Could I request a pt 2 of the anons request? But for mine can I have some angst? I was thinking Kyojuro and his son get into a bad argument before his sons mission and he doesn’t come back when he’s supposed too? 🧡 ur amazing

hi anon!!! thank you so much for your kind words, you’re so cute omg. i hope this is angsty enough hehe, and that you enjoy!!! thank you for requesting, mwah!

you had long since prepared yourself for everything that would come with your son becoming a demon slayer, just like his father once was. you had anticipated the long, stressful nights of worry-induced anxiety attacks, both you and your husband being victims. you had anticipated the nightmares you would have to reassure your son were not real. that he was home. and that he was safe. you had anticipated the bruises and the cuts and the scars that would paint your son’s skin, that would linger for years, that you would never falter to stitch and clean and heal as much as you can. you had anticipated that some missions would take longer to accomplish. that some demons were relentless and unwavering and persistent.

but you had never anticipated that your heart would hurt this much as the time feeds off your stress, stripping more and more of your well kept composure. thirteen days pass, and your son remains far, far away, on unknown land, fighting an unknown entity, struggling. kyojuro is left in a much worse state than you, and neither of you have the capability or the heart to calm one another down. all you do is sit side by side as the sun rises and sets, hands clasped in one another as you impatiently glance at the front door.

it’s the fourteenth night that you fall asleep alone in your bed, cold and with a sinking heart. and on the fifteenth night, neither you nor your husband can sleep.

for kyojuro, it’s not only worry, but guilt as well, that eats away at him. he’s succumbing to regret so easily, and only on the first few nights were you able to push away that feeling. on the same evening your son had departed from your home, the house had crumbled in on itself from the echos of their bellowing voices. the trees had shook and the birds had flown off elsewhere, cowering away in fear. your attempts to stop the argument were fruitless, and you couldn’t linger on the frustration of being ignored and disregarded when jab after jab from both your son and your husband were being aimed at each other, like the sharp swords they battle with. words, despite unintentional and lacking any deeper meaning, had been said, and they had cut through skin and sunk deep inside. kyojuro had long past dug out those sharp knives, his only concern if his own words would scar his son.

you wake up on the sixteenth day from only a few hours of rest, and your heart doesn’t beat any slower. the first thing you see is the slump of kyojuro’s shoulders to your right, and the first thing you hear is the ragged drag of breathing against marble lungs. he heaves, his large frame shaking with every terrible, short breath he takes in. you’re sitting up dizzyingly quick, crawling over to kyojuro and enveloping your arms around his neck, curling in on him. the tremor in his body worsens once he feels your hands grasp at his clothes, and slowly, eventually, you feel your own tears spring at your eyes.

you’ve always known, and always been aware of the hurt and the pain that come with demon slaying. you’d experienced enough restless, sleepless nights when you’d fallen in love with the flame hashira. the same could only be expected once you’d given birth to your son. and yet, none of these facts or statistics make it any less painful, and they don’t lessen or ease the pain.

you hear your broken voice before you register that you’d even spoken, lips spilling out a weak, “kyo.” he hears he, so near him, and lifts his palms up to rest them against the backs of your hand. “they won’t take our son away. — will they?”

kyojuro stiffens, his breathing worsening in irregularity. then, with his hands gripping yours even tighter now, he nods. and with the firmest voice he could utter, he adds, “they’ll never.”

on the seventeenth day, a crow graces your house, cawing out uglily words you can’t decide fill you up with ease or flood you with even more worry. the crow announces your son’s name, easily catching you and kyojuro’s attention, before claiming that he rests at the butterfly mansion. the two of you have never rushed anywhere with such urgency before.

he isn’t awake, when you see him first, and you think it hurts less seeing him like this, no crease in his brow, no tension in his shoulders. just peacefully sleeping, resting. you’re almost afraid to approach him, but an encouraging nudge from kyojuro pushes you towards the bed your son rests on. the two of you sit on either side of him, and from his right, you quickly reach out and grasp his hand in yours, feeling its reassuring warmth. you pull away at the hair, so alike his father’s, clinging to his forehead, brushing it off gently.

looking to your right, you finally take in kyojuro’s state. he’s very obviously relieved, but not enough, not yet. all he can manage to do is lift his son’s hand up in two of his, and whisper against the bruised knuckles, “i’m so sorry, i’m so sorry, i’m so sorry, i’m so sorry—“ he chants it like a mantra, like it’s a prayer, like it’s a spell that’ll somehow undo this awful curse.

but you reach out slowly, placing a reassuring hand atop kyojuro’s whitening knuckles, and smile as brightly as you can. your voice is hoarse and cracked as you speak, but the relief is evident in your words as you tell him, “he’s alive, kyo.” and kyojuro nods, pressing a kiss to your fingers, where salty tears drip and rest upon like the sky itself is raining sadness on your skin.

end note; the way this man could breathe and we’d all simp. god, so powerful. anyways! i hope the requester and everybody else enjoyed this!! mwah <3

[sokkastyles]

I’ve seen some people say that it was OOC for Zuko to hire Combustion Man in “The Headband,” but I disagree. I do agree that Zuko never wanted to kill anyone, but once he gets back to the Fire Nation, it becomes increasingly clear that, far from getting what he wanted, he’s trapped in a situation where he isn’t safe, and this causes him to behave in desperate ways.

As soon as he gets home, Zuko is worried about confronting his father, and we know exactly what is on his mind when he talks to Azula about it.

Zuko: I haven't seen Dad yet. I haven't seen him in three years, since I was banished.

Azula: So what?

Zuko: So, I didn't capture the Avatar.

Azula: Who cares? The Avatar is dead ... unless you think he somehow miraculously survived.

Zuko flashes back to when Katara explained about her vial of spirit water in the Crystal Catacombs.

Katara: [During flashback.] This is water from the spirit oasis at the north pole. It has special properties so I've been saving it for something important. Back to the present.

Zuko: No. There's no way he could have survived.

Azula: Well, then I'm sure you have nothing to worry about.

All this time Zuko believed that his honor, and by extension his father’s love and acceptance, depended on him capturing the Avatar. This was his way of coping with the abuse his father put him through. It’s not that his father doesn’t care, it’s just that Zuko needs to prove himself. It’s not that his father hurt and permanently scarred him, that happened to a boy who refused to fight for his honor. Coming back without the Avatar, without restoring his “honor,” means that he has to face the reality of what happened to him. Not only has Zuko failed to prove himself worthy, the above dialogue also tells us that Zuko has reason to suspect that the Avatar might still be alive. 

And facing his father doesn’t help matters, either. 

Ozai: I am proud of you, Prince Zuko. I am proud because you and your sister conquered Ba Sing Se. I am proud because when your loyalty was tested by your treacherous uncle, you did the right thing and captured the traitor. And I am proudest of all of your most legendary accomplishment: you slayed the Avatar.

Zuko: What did you hear?

Ozai: Azula told me everything. She said she was amazed and impressed at your power and ferocity at the moment of truth.

The imagery in the scene parallels Zuko’s first agni kai, with Ozai looming over him. This time, Ozai is showering Zuko with praise, but Zuko is clearly wary of his father’s praise, not just because he knows that Azula lied but because he knows what his father is capable of doing should he become displeased with him. He carefully measures his response, asking his father what he heard, because he knows that saying the wrong thing could get him brutally punished.

Zuko then confronts Azula with her lie about him killing the Avatar, because he knows that between his father and his sister, he can’t let his guard down. Azula picks up on Zuko’s uncertainty that the Avatar might not be dead during their earlier conversation, and uses it to her advantage. We know that she told Ozai that Zuko killed the Avatar after her first conversation with Zuko where he expressed his uncertainty because she says she did it because he was so worried. Her motives are more utilitarian than that, though. Zuko knows she’s not being altruistic but he can’t figure out her reasoning, but it’s pretty obvious why she does it, because if it did turn out the Avatar was still alive, then Zuko would take the fall and not her.

Interestingly, it wasn’t Azula who started the talk of the Avatar being dead. Lo and Li announce publicly that Azula and Zuko slayed the Avatar at the beginning of “The Awakening”. So once Azula talks to Zuko and realizes the Avatar might not be dead, she realizes that she has a lie that she has to maintain. It was sometime after that that she spoke to her father and decided to give Zuko the credit in case things go sour.

That Ozai and Azula talked about this without Zuko’s knowledge puts Zuko on even more shaky ground, and that’s the way Ozai wants it to be, despite his words of praise. An abuser like Ozai enjoys having power over his victims, and one way to maintain that power is to keep the victim guessing through manipulation and gaslighting.

So Zuko is left feeling trapped, and scared, and confused, with the knowledge that one misstep or one wrong word, or information about the Avatar being alive, could result in him being hurt like he was before, or banished again, or worse. He’s also lost the support system he had in Iroh.

Zuko: I admit it, I have everything I always wanted, but it's not as all how I thought it would be. The truth is, I need your advice. I think the Avatar is still alive, I know he's out there, I'm losing my mind. [Iroh does not respond. Desperately.] Please, Uncle, I'm so confused I need your help. [Iroh still has nothing to say to him. Angrily.] Forget it, I'll solve it myself!

Iroh previously was a source of wisdom for Zuko, but now, because of Zuko’s actions, Iroh won’t talk to him. He’s desperate and he doesn’t know what to do, so he does the only thing he can think of.

Zuko: You're sure you weren't followed? I've heard about you. They say you're good at what you do, and even better at keeping secrets. The Avatar is alive. I want you to find him, and end him.

It’s a low point, for sure, but one that was motivated by desperation and fear, just like a lot of Zuko’s villainous actions were in book one. Although unlike book one, Zuko is back in the abusive situation and without the support, wisdom, and safety that Iroh had given him, so he’s in an even worse place than he was before.

It is to Zuko’s credit, however, that he takes responsibility for his actions and ends up fighting against the assassin he hired and stopping him (with some help from boomering). So no, I don’t think this was too dark or out of character.

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

Motion Sickness Chapter 71

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I leaned against my sword as the man introduced as 'Vine' carried Marrow away on his shoulder.

Ruby came dashing down from the observation box. She let go of Weiss's hand and Weiss followed at a more subdued pace with Penny in tow.

"That was amazing, Cloud. The way you fly around. You've grown so much."

I looked away from Ruby's praise. Color rising to my cheeks. She hopped up and kissed me on the cheek. I risked a glance down at where she was glowing up at me. I could feel her cinnamon and rose flavored aura.

"So you are Cloud? Not Jaune?" Penny asked. "I thought Ruby's boyfriend was named Jaune."

"It's complicated," I said. "Salem named me Jaune. Well her or Merlot. I'm not attached to it since I learned that."

"Well you did well at any rate, Cloud. You took on two Ace Operative members at the same time. I assure you that's not easy. Even I haven't done that yet," Penny went on.

"Yes it was very impressive, Cloud," Weiss said. "You've grown so much. It's unbelievable."

What was unbelievable was the thought that both these two ladies had the hots for me. I was still trying to wrap my mind around it. I could tell Weiss was too. She seemed a little flustered but just like Ruby she came up and pecked my cheek and walked back blushing. She was a little more uncomfortable with public displays of affection than Ruby was but it was something we would just have to learn.

We'd have to find an appropriate balance that made everybody feel right.

Or they would get tired of putting up with me and decide they wanted to be with each other. You know what I had my money on.

"Well thank you Weiss."

"Wait, I don't understand," Penny began. "Ruby, how does your relationship work?"

"Well I like Weiss and Cloud. And Weiss likes me and Cloud too."

"So the three of you are together?"

"That's right," I said.

"That's so fascinating. Relationships are so interesting. It seems a little..."

"Awkward?" I asked. "We're still ironing out the kinks."

"I wasn't going to say anything," Penny rambled. "It's not my business."

Ruby grinned and put an arm around Weiss and I. I smiled down at her. Her arm barely wrapped halfway around me at the waist.

"Penny, you were made in a lab, weren't you?" I began.

"I was. My father created me. Why do you ask?"

"Cloud was made in a laboratory too," Weiss said. Her eyes went wide perhaps realizing where I was going with it.

"Well I was wondering how you stay so upbeat? When I learned where I came from I was depressed as hell."

"Well for one thing I always knew where I came from. Perhaps that helped me," Penny began. "Why is it depressing?"

"Well we're basically both baking soda and vinegar volcanoes."

"You mean because I'm not even a real person," Penny confirmed.

"Me too. You’re not special," I ran with her train of thought.

"Oh would you stop that." Weiss hit my chest with the back of her hand. It was affectionate though. Her fingers lingered and our aura's buzzed together like electricity. "You're real."

"Both of you are real people," Ruby said.

"Hardly. Barely." I breathed. "If at all."

"Stop it!" Ruby protested. She slapped me harder on the leg than Weiss did. Much more insistent and less flirtatious.

"But you were made for Salem, correct?" Penny wondered.

"I was technically a failure. A prototype. I was made to be thrown away."

"That's sad," Penny said.

"Penny!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Well it is. I never went through a prototype phase like that. My father doesn't have the aura for it," Penny continued. "But you are loved. Doesn't that feel good?"

Weiss blushed again. She was still approaching her feelings tentatively. It had taken enough out of her to confess them, I suppose.

"It does…" I trailed. "I guess I get caught up thinking about it too much. I'm sinking in thinking about something depressing."

"I can see how you would get sad thinking about that. I suppose I am a prototype, too, but I was never meant to be tossed aside."

I nodded. "Mother just found another use for me. Otherwise I think she would have killed me. Her or my father."

"Cloud, I think you meant Salem," Weiss cut in.

"When?" I asked. I was genuinely lost.

"My father cares about me. Perhaps that's the difference. My parent cares about me," Penny went on.

"He has no idea when he does it sometimes," Weiss murmured to Ruby.

"I noticed that," Ruby returned. "He even did it before Haven once. I didn't think much of it at the time."

"That's decidedly bad news," Weiss went on.

"No idea when I do what?" I asked.

"You call Salem 'mother' often," Weiss said.

"I think it just slips out of you," Ruby muttered like it was a secret, nodding along with her own words.

"Oh shit, my bad."

"It's not inaccurate, though, is it? What's wrong with it?" Penny asked.

"I fucking hate her. That's what's wrong with it."

"I see how that could cause problems. I'm on good terms with my father so I don't really have that problem. I also don't have a mother," she happily chirped.

"Luckily I have these two," I picked Ruby and Weiss up with one arm each. Ruby giggled and Weiss let out an adorable yelp of surprise before she slapped my collar again, it was still slightly flirtatious and her hand lingered there longer than it needed to. It seemed like she was just coming out of her shell when it came to me, like she wasn't quite sure what she wanted, especially in terms of shows of affection. Hopefully we had time to figure it out. "They're both in my camp. Even though all the odds are stacked against me," I declared.

"Would you put me down, you gorilla." Weiss demanded. Her face was an adorable beet red.

I did.

I still held Ruby up. She wrapped her arms around my head and kissed me.

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"The last time we spoke it was about how you were an agent of Salem's. I'm sure you could imagine my confusion at the events of Haven," Ozpin said through Oscar's lips.

I was alone with him in his room at the academy. We were bound to talk eventually. When he summoned me I figured it would be better to get it over and done with.

"Yeah well imagine my surprise when it turned out to be true. I was Salem's agent. That's why I was at Beacon."

"I see. But you yourself had no idea."

I nodded. "False and half true memories all the way down. Memories of family from before are all like that. Even of where and how I grew up. I just never put that much thought into it."

"I see. But you know better now?"

"Maybe a little. I'm still working out what's true and false. I'm mostly counting everything before initiation as false, though. Some things were half true. Like my sisters."

"And you know this because…?"

"Salem mentioned them when she captured my mind at Haven."

"But you broke free. That explains why we were attacked by those looking for the relic. One question answered, at least."

"The others mentioned that too. That maybe they were my sisters. It's possible. They were successes made by a different scientist," I said.

"Whereas you were a failure created by Merlot," he clarified. He jabbed his cane at me as he said it.

"That's right."

"For a failure you have absurd strength. You killed Tyrian. That's no mean feat."

"Thank you…" I trailed.

"I can't help but wonder if there is some of my sort of magic in play for you. Aiding you along the way."

"If there is, it's well hidden behind my semblance and usage of dust."

"Why don't we try a simple exercise? It used to be well practiced back in the old world when magic like mine was common. Try to turn this needle into a feather."

He set a needle down on the desk before me.

I stared at it. I had no idea where to even begin with something like that for all that it seemed like a simple request.

I reached out and picked up the needle. Nothing called out to me in terms of where to proceed with it. It was just a needle. And I was just a man. How could I possibly transform it?

"Yes. Indeed, it took Oscar many attempts to succeed in this magic and I knew how it was done."

"I don't know where to start," I informed him.

He reached out and I was sort of able to feel what he was doing. I wasn't sure if it was aura or something more but I could tell something was up as he transformed the needle into a feather and back again.

"Now you try, Mr. Arc."

"It's Strife now. Arc was the name Salem gave me."

"I see. Very well, Mr. Strife."

I reached out once more and focused. Nothing happened. I imagined the needle turning into a feather and let out a little of my aura.

Nothing happened.

Because it was a needle. It was made of metal and a feather was not. If I hadn't just seen it done I would say that it was impossible.

"You must believe in yourself. Magic is about the things you can believe in. If you can't believe in it, you will never succeed.

I tried again. I tried to believe that I could.

I think I can.

The needle might have wobbled a little but it didn't turn into anything.

"Keep the needle, Mr. Strife. Practice a little every day. We will yet see if progress can be made with you. Focus and believe in your magic. You must extend your will in order to accomplish any magic."

"That sounds like bullshit. No offense."

"Believe, Mr. Strife. Just as you believe in your semblance. Just as you believe in your dust. It is the same. It can be. If you choose to make it so."

"I'll keep the needle. I'll keep trying," I promised him from my seat.

"See that you do. You could be an enormous asset to our side. I know you feel as though you cannot make up for the harm you have caused but that, too, is a matter of will and belief. I doubt Mr. Lie and Ms. Valkyrie would want you to give up so easily."

I hardly wanted to hear their names.

"Is that all?"

"Not quite. I know this may be uncomfortable for you but I wish to hear about how Salem was able to control you."

I nodded and grimaced.

"She spoke and her words had power to them. She told me to stay silent and I almost bit my tongue off."

"But you were still competent enough to slay Mr. Lie and Ms. Valkyrie? Would you say her control over you was both subconscious and conscious? You were able to plan for her desires but unable to resist them?"

"That's exactly right. It was both. She...she owned me. Completely."

"That's troubling. There is some magic for such a thing but it mostly implies one or the other. Not both."

"I'm telling you that she had all of me."

"I believe you, Mr. Strife. It is troubling is all. What happened next?" He asked.

"She talked to me. About Merlot and my sisters. She said we had long been in her dreams. Then Nora and Ren came in. She told me to kill them both and I had to obey."

I didn't like talking about it. I didn't even like to think about it. It was my lowest moment. It brought a lone tear to my eye which I wiped away with my right hand's forefinger.

"Well Mr. Strife, the control over you is very troubling indeed."

"Do you know how she did it? How she's in my dreams?"

"She is in your subconscious. When she spoke to you she was able to rise to the surface. That's how she took control. It must be in the nature of your connection to her from being grown from her cells."

"How do I fight it?" I pleaded.

"You already are, young man. Do not give up. Resist her. Resist her nightmares. Fight against them and rage against her ability to over power you. That is the only way you will stay in control. There is no shortcut, no easy path for you. Her control over you is not a simple thing for her either. I suspect you may be able to influence her as well."

"She's so strong." I didn't mean for it to come out as a whimper but it did a little. "She's so old. She's a goddess."

"Not quite."

"Then she's the closest thing to one without actually being one."

"Perhaps. She is powerful, but so are you. Resist Mr. Strife."

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"You might have the others fooled but I know what you are." Blake informed me. It was just the two of us in team RWBY's room while I waited for Weiss and Ruby to come back.

"I haven't fooled anybody. I've outright told them all what I am. The shit I'm capable of. It's not my fault that they chose to not believe me anyways."

"You're taking advantage of them."

"Maybe," I agreed. "What should I do? In your professional opinion, of course."

"Make sure you can't hurt anybody else."

"What? Kill myself? I thought about it. I even tried to."

She looked away from me. Wouldn't meet my eye. "What happened?"

"Couldn't hold my aura low enough to cut through my wrists. It was just after I broke Salem's spell. I was a little shaken up," I said.

"And now?"

"Now I'm on a lot of medications that are supposed to stop me from thinking suicide is my only option."

"Does it work? The meds?"

"A little. I'm still pretty fucked up. I've been open and clear with everybody about that. No tricks."

"You know how Ruby is. She just wants to see the best in people."

"And Weiss and Yang?"

"Weiss never wanted to believe it about you. She was falling for you. She had rose tinted specs. She couldn't see the thing you've become. Yang just wants what's best for Ruby in all this. It's hard to believe you're it, however."

"The thing I've become," I laughed. "You know what I think, Blake?"

"What's that?" She asked.

"You're absolutely goddamn right. I'm a fucking monster. I have killed and maimed and tortured. I killed my own best friends."

"You said Salem made you do it."

"And she did. But that only makes me a tool. Her weapon. That doesn't make the things I've done any less real. Most people get to wonder about whether they have free will. I don't. She speaks and I have to obey."

"So I want you to stay away from my friends."

"Hey," I said. "They're my friends too. Or girlfriends. Trying to wrap my mind around that one."

"Never thought it would happen to you? I thought that was most guys' dream. To have two beautiful women in love with them."

"Yes well. Compare how pathetic I was freshmen year to the shit that's happened to me now and suddenly it wasn't exactly in my realm of possibility or even the realm of my imagination. I thought just Ruby loved me. I come here and find out she's got some threesome business up her sleeve with Weiss who also wants a piece of me. It blew my mind. Especially after freshman year and how things were with Weiss."

"But you didn't say no. You said ‘yes.’"

"I said I was willing to try. Whatever form that may happen to land. Ruby and Weiss may decide they're better off without me," I said. "That would surprise me less than not."

"You hate yourself," Blake realized.

"You would too if you were me. Who wouldn't? I killed my best friends. I see Salem sometimes out of the corner of my eye. She lingers there just beyond the edge of my perception. Just beyond the things that are real. She'll want me to kill again. I can feel it ."

"Which is why I want you to leave my friends be. They don't need to be caught up in what you are," she said. She folded her arms at that.

"I need help. I can't survive without them. I tried living that way. Mostly alone. It didn't work out for me. And I'm right where I need to be to fight Cinder when she comes again. My hated enemy. I take it you haven't talked to them about this."

She shook her head. "They don't want to hear that you're unstable. Especially Ruby. Weiss at least I feel like I can get through to sometimes, but Ruby is just so happy you're back and safe."

"Am I back and safe?" I wondered.

"Well? Are you?" She shot back.

"Perhaps. I have psychic trauma that the medicine just isn't hitting. It's helping with my hallucinations but not the other stuff. My fears are too real. They keep pushing me up on the tranquilizers and sedatives like the things I'm afraid of aren't there. But they are. They can get me."

"You don't fight like you're sedated. You fight very awake and aware."

"Well thank you," I decided to take that as a compliment even if she didn't mean it as such.

I clutched at my side where Taurus had sliced me. It was healing a little still and I got the occasional pang of pain from it.

"Are you hurt?"

"I was. This White Fang guy did a number on me. He got lucky."

"What was their name?"

"Adam Taurus. Evidently he's this ol-"

"You fought Adam Taurus? When? He's in town?"

"It was a few days before my voluntary incarceration. You know him?"

"I did. Once upon a time." She rubbed her right arm with her left hand. "He was my partner in the White Fang before I turned."

"He's a real piece of work," I said. "I take it that wasn't always the case."

"No it wasn't. And are you really one to talk?"

"At least I know it."

"And you think that helps?"

"It literally couldn't make things worse for me. What do you want from me, Blake? You want me to kill Taurus? Would that make you happy? You want me to kill myself or go back into exile?"

Her ears flattened subconsciously.

"I just want my friends to be safe."

"I'll keep them safe," I vowed.

"Even from yourself?" She asked.

"I swear to do my best. What more can you ask from me? Besides for me to stop existing. Because I have a feeling you don't see that as a real solution either."

"So long as you don't hear her real voice you're in control?"

"That seems to be the prognosis."

"What about recordings?"

"I think she has to be behind it for real. There's a magic to it."

"And you can break the spell?" She reassured.

"With enough time."

She hesitated, her arms folded. She nodded once. "Then you have my tentative permission."

"Well thank you. I was really worried about what you thought." I paused. "That came out sarcastic but you're their teammate and friend. I think you were my friend once too."

"I still am. I think. It's just complicated."

"Mind control. It's a hell of a poison."

"I don't blame you. I just want what's best for them," she said.

"I understand. Really. I do. I'm the leader of the 'this sucks' camp. I do my best to remind them at every turn. I think they see me as someone who needs their help."

"You think it's the Florence Nightingale effect?"

"That's…?"

"When nurses fall in love with their patient."

"Ah, maybe a little, then," I muttered.

"You underestimate their feelings for you. They really care about you. We all do. We hate to see the suffering you're going through."

"You're a bunch of empaths. One and all."

Ruby, Weiss and Yang walked in and saw us talking.

"Oh, Blake and Cloud…" Ruby began.

"Are you…?" Weiss trailed off.

"We were talking about Adam Taurus," I covered for us both. "I ran into him a few weeks ago. Before I was hospitalized."

"You fought him?" Ruby asked.

"And I've got the scars to prove it," I said.

"And what did you think of him?" Yang's eyes flickered between Blake and I. She had a sort of nervous energy to her.

"He got lucky. I can take him. Next time," I informed them.

"So Jaune-sorry. I meant Cloud. We were thinking. That is Ruby and I…" Weiss struggled.

I just cocked my head and listened to her.

"We wanted to try a date. The three of us," Ruby supplied. She sounded much less nervous than Weiss did about it.

Weiss had probably never been on a date like this where Ruby and I had. I wasn't sure what all she and Neptune had gotten up to and it probably wouldn't be for the best to ask.

"Yes. That," Weiss managed. A rosy blush colored her cheeks.

"I'm game," I said. "Do you mind if I bring my weapon?" I'd be uncomfortable walking around without Crocea Mors.

"Well we weren't going to leave them out of this." Ruby rolled her eyes. Her excitement was infectious and I grinned down at her tiny form. Weiss cracked a smile at her.

"I suppose you would consider this a six way date with our weapons involved," Weiss teased. She sounded a little more relaxed.

"A little," Ruby poked her forefingers together with a new found nervous energy. "They're important. Cloud also wasn't here when I got Crescent Rose upgraded. He might like to meet her again."

I laughed. "Of course, Rubes."

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-WG

[talldarkandroguesome]

4th of Morning Star, Tirdas

With the blessing of my Earl and a goal in mind, I returned to the Dreaming Cave and met with Valsirenn. She assured me that she would be there with me no matter how daunting. She reached for my hand and I took it as she gave it a reassuring squeeze, which I returned in kind.

The Eyes of the Queen returned soon after and the Ritemaster told us that we all needed to maintained focused on our destination at all time, lest we get lost within the spiraling corridors of the realm. Then he made a very pointed comment that whatever happened, we had to make sure not to lose the Dawnstar gem, as it was only with it that we would be able to find Darien.

Then the portal was opened and we all entered.

The world spun around as we went through and I found myself in a sprawling cavern, light by towering violet mushrooms and huge jagged stone stalactites and stalagmites with crimson glowing light emanating from within them. In the dim light, the towering spires of the thin, sharp towers were easily visible somehow. 

I marveled at the wonders of my Prince’s realm and felt warm tears streak down my face. How blessed was I to be able to glimpse this amazing sight? I quickly wiped at my face and turned to make sure the others had not seen, when I realized, to my surprise, that I was alone.

There was a mix of emotions at this. Being alone here meant a chance to move unimpeded and to appreciate the plane of my Prince as I liked.

However, it did not help me to accomplish my goal. Nor to do anything in the way of supporting my Earl.

I found the nearest long strand of spider silk that seemed to lead upward towards the vaulted ceiling of this part of the cavern and gave it three quick plucks on the back side first. Then, speaking in Velothis, I announced my presence and explained what the Psijics were after and what my Earl hoped to accomplish from his place on Artaeum.

Standing there, wondering if I was heard, I began to fear that perhaps I was to be punished for my part in thwarting the activities of the Court of Bedlam.

I waited, growing increasingly nervous. 

The silence seemed to stretch on, yet the cavern was so grand that I did not hear any echo of my own voice at all. I was beginning to lose faith in my plan.

Then, at last, I heard a voice from behind me.

I turned to see a Spiderkith, her glowing red eyes glaring at me. She demanded to know why I had come here, with the enemies of our Prince, acting as a traitor to us all.

I apologized to her and insisted that I was following the orders of our Prince’s Earl, in order that we might discover the location of the Heart of Transparent Law and yet salvage what had happened to our Prince’s plans with the Court of Bedlam.

The Spiderkith spat curses at me and said that I had worked against the Court already and that if I did not wish to die a thousand painful deaths, I must prove my loyalty.

Of course, I said, I would be happy to prove myself. I was devoted and willing to do what it took to show as much.

The Spiderkith grinned, her fangs glistening in the red light beside her. She told me to follow her.

I did so obediently, going along the twisted path of stone, over narrow passages that rose ever higher.

And there, we came to a door of carven stone, a great spider in a web, with eight eyes, each of a different gem stone. The Spiderkith touched the eyes one at a time, though I could not fully see the pattern.

She turned back to me and told me that they had captured those who entered with me, just through this door. If I wished to prove my worth, I should slay them all and take the relic they carried.

I told her I was more than happy to slay the Khajiit and take the artifact of Meridia’s, but I asked if I might spare the Psijic, for I would otherwise not be able to return to Artaeum without suspicion and that would endanger our Earl.

With a growl, the Spiderkith told me that I might leave the Psijic alive if she had value, but I must hurry and dispatch of the others.

I pulled my blades, tipped them in poison, and then drew my shadows to me as the door swung open.

I found Suni-La first, struggling to walk along a path of sticky webs, calling out for all of us to find where we had gone to.

There was a pang of guilt that bubbled up in my chest. She was not a bad person at heart. Enemy though she may have been, she had also, at one point, been my friend. A companion.

I used one of my poisoned needles, stuck into her neck, to have her fall unconscious. At least it did not have to be a painful death. I caught her body as it fell and slit her throat. Then gently placing her upon the ground, I went and left her to bleed out, a small prayer that her death be swift.

It took a while to find Ahnir. She was slashing out at everything, the gem clutched to her chest. I knew that I could not get close without announcing myself, so I called out to her and asked her if it were really her. She was cautious at first, but eventually did come over to me, relief on her face. I told her I was glad to have found her and asked if she had seen any sign of the others.

She told me know and asked the same. I told her I had heard Suni-La and seen her though she was beyond where I had been. Ahnir grabbed my tunic and demanded to know where, I pointed in a direction and Ahnir immediately took my arm and pulled me in that direction. She only stopped when my poisoned dagger got her in the back.

She cried out for my help, thinking something else had gotten her. I ran her through with my sword, twisting it to make sure that I got her as good in the heart as possible. As I did so, I felt a growing hunger in me, almost a desire for more bloodshed. A true pleasure in the work, this heinous act of betrayal of my own companion.

A warmth spread through me and while I hated that I was enjoying any part of this, I knew it was likely my Prince smiling down on me for what I had done, for proving my loyalty to Her. I took the gem from Ahnir and walked back the way I had come and out to the Spiderkith.

She smiled at me as I returned, bathed in blood and carrying the gem.

Congratulations were offered and then the door closed, the light almost seemed to return and I was holding a spider egg, covered, not in blood but a black sticky substance.

The Spiderkith introduced herself as Zikal-zun and told me that she was delighted to see how easily I had dispatched of my friends, impressed that a mortal could so easily lie, manipulate, and murder. I gave a bow, not ready to accept the compliment in full.

She told me that it had been a trial and that likely there would be more for me in the future, but that for now, I should come along. There was a way her eyes roamed me that I felt like I was still prey to her, a snack should her appetite rear its head.

We traveled into one of the adjacent spires and into a room of mirrors. She explained that each of us had been scattered to different areas of the Spiral Skein, myself brought to the center where it was relatively safer. Meanwhile, the Eyes of the Queen and Valsirenn were scattered along the eight strands of the Spiral Skein, each to a place that best suited them, their darkest parts of themselves, and their fears.

I asked if that would not put them in danger of dying before retrieving Meridia’s vessel and Zikal-zun laughed and said that only one of them needed to survive. Besides, they could not allow them to believe they were simply let go.

That was true enough, I supposed, so I stayed with Zikal-zun as she showed me in each of the mirrors the fate of the others.

She also said that, once the Knight had put back together the Dawnbreaker, they could always recapture him. He was not very good at his job and let imself fall into traps very easily, as if he wanted to be caught. So there was no reason not to let the plan proceed.

First, I was shown Suni-La, she was in the first strand, that of the cavern of lies with everything contained within a lie built upon a greater lie.

She was laying on her back upon the ground and crying, asking what had happened to the others. A wasp buzzed around its nest above her and she screamed that they could not have been killed trying to enter the Spiral Skein, they just could not be, and no, she would not calm down and let her wounds be tended to. She turned to a glowing mushroom and screamed, calling out Ahnir’s name over and over, begging her to wake up, to fight to stay alive. A spider was wrapping her legs in silk and she screamed at the Ritemaster to stop healing her and to work on the others.

Zikal-zun nearly doubled over in laughter, asking me if I saw how delightful the lies were. I told her that it was far more impressive than any I had seen before, asking how it was that she did not see what was around her.

The Spiderkith cackled that it was part of the magicka of the realm, it gets inside the mind if you do not stay focused for even a moment, then she waved a hand over the mirror and showed me the blood carnage of the healer’s chamber in Artaeum, telling me that this was as Suni-La saw things.

Then she continued on to another mirror, that of the fourth strand, the tunnels of fear. I could see nothing within the mirror’s surface, though I could hear Ahnir’s cries as she told things to stay back and warned that she would slay anything that came near. There was the sound of panicked breathing and of whispered words trying to get her eyes to focus in the darkness to let her see.

The next mirror showed the fifth strand, the halls of betrayal, where what is foul is fair and fair is foul. Valsirenn opened the doors of a room to see inside. There was my Earl, along with a young Altmer girl, and the back of a woman. As Valsirenn approached, the girl jumped into my Earl’s arms, smiling and saying how happy she was to have been reunited with her parents. Valsirenn stopped at these words.

My Earl kissed her cheek and said it was all thanks to Ealdaawe‘s new mother. The girl hugged my Earl, then ran over to the woman and hugged her as well. The woman turned, bending down to give her a kiss on the cheek and it was obvious that she was no mortal, but rather, a Spider Daedra, her additional limbs, tucked neatly into her dress. My Earl leaned in and kissed her lips and thanked her for being so good to them. The girl told the Daedra that she was the best mother she could ever ask for.

Something stirred in Valsirenn and she began to walk forward, but the Ritemaster found her. He turned to her and shook his head, said that it was for the best, that could she not see how happy they all were now, that she should just leave them to their brief happiness?

Zikal-zun let off more peels of laughter and asked if it was not perfect.

I told her it certainly was and asked her what I was to do while the others continued. She told me we could watch. Or we could have some fun.

Not in the mood to simply watch the horror of the others, I agreed to try some fun.

Zikal-zun said she had hoped I would choose that, then she summoned a spider. It shot webbing at me and when I asked what the fun was, she told me to wait and see.

I was then lifted up into the air and brought before a pit with a wriggling mass of assassin beetles. Zikal-zun told me to prove my strength through survival and dropped me into the pit below.

It took me a while and I could feel the burn of poison coursing through me even as I broke  through exoskeleton after exoskeleton.

When I stood, panting, but victorious, my clothing torn, bleeding from a few minor scrape and cuts, Zikal-zun’s laughter echoed around me. She delighted in the entertainment I provided her and asked if I would like a reward.

Not feeling I truly had a choice to decline, I agreed.

Then I was privy to more glimpses of the others. Suni-La was having to work through a difficult political situation with as much diplomacy as possible. Ahnir was trying to convince herself that she just had to use her love and comfort in the dark to calm herself enough to see. Valsirenn was having to witness my Earl intertwined in and orgy of a mix of mortal races, Spiderkith, and Spider Daedra.

I admit, I let myself linger over the images of him at the center, everyone present fighting for their turn to worship his body, to bring him pleasure. Sure, it was not something that likely happened even for the hierarchy of Mephala’s representatives in the Court, but I could enjoy it nevertheless.

Zikal-zun caught my interest in the image and she leaned in over my shoulder and asked if I was pleased by this illusion. I agreed that I most certainly was, since I was primarily a devotee to the pillar of lust.

Her eyes shone with malice and glee and she grabbed me by the hair and pulled me backwards. I was obedient to her desires, as she asked me if I were not scared of what would happen to me.

I told her that I had no need to fear death any longer within this place, that I would be reformed, the same as her, so I was allowed to be more brazen.

This continued to delight her and she told me she wanted to play with me, but she would allow me to watch the naive Psijic suffer.

And so I was suspended in webbing and allowed Zikal-zun and those she summoned to join in, to have their way with me, all the while, watching the scene of my Earl in the fantasy that was Valsirenn’s nightmare. I felt many mandibles close over parts of my body, felt myself drained and poisoned throughout, even as I reached a new peak of ecstasy. 

When I was fighting for consciousness, Zikal-zun relented and allowed me to cure myself and take healing potions, telling me that if I were to die so easily, she would have no more fun during the time it took for me to reform. And besides which, she did not want to have to go seeking me out and bringing me back.

There was a glow from the mirror of the fourth strand. As Zikal-zun activated it, a bright golden light shone through and it was clear that Ahnir had begun to use the Dawnstar gem to clear her path.

In short order, Valsirenn, started to focus herself, stilling her instincts with each fresh illusion until she was free. Then Suni-La cast some spell which ceased her illusion and it was clear that she was not far from us.

Zikal-zun told me that she was going to have to make her grand entrance and I should prepare to do the same. Then she opened a door and we walked down along a thick structure of webs that lead down to a stone building, passed several Spiderkith and Ogrim, and finally to the entrance of a grand chamber. She told me to wait until the others arrived to show myself, that in the meantime, she was going to play with the Golden Knight. I told her to have a lot of fun, he was insufferable and full of nothing but bravado.

Zikal-zun said she would see if she could not break him of it and she left me there. Within the chamber, I could hear Darien’s cries, even as he feigned bravery. Soon enough, Ahnir, Suni-La, and Valsirenn, who seemed to have recently found one another, could be heard just beyond the wall. Thinking quickly, I leapt in the air and summoned up spider silk, adhere myself to the wall, the Spiderkith nearby laughing at my predicament.

When the others entered, they saw the Spiderkith as he continued to laugh at me and then easily defeated him and freed me from my place before I told them that Darien was just in the next room and we should hurry.

Within, Ogrim and Zikal-zun were in front of a giant glowing web, with Darien in its center. He was crying out that they were really in for it, just as we all entered.

I told the others to fight off the Daedra and that I would free Darien of the webs. They agreed.

I was sorry to see Zikal-zun defeated, but I know she will be back, likely looking from more fun.

Darien, in true Darien fashion, accused us of being late. Valsirenn, who still seemed shaken by her time in this place, told him his words of gratitude were hollow. Of course, he made an innuendo about expressing his gratitude that made all of us uncomfortable. Valsirenn even suggested that we leave him and that the Ritemaster would understand. Ahnir laughed and said it was not a bad idea.

Suni-La did not seem to appreciate the humor in things and went to check on Darien. Valsirenn turned to the rest of us and told us how unimpressed she was by him. I agreed that it was why I was so shocked when hearing that he would be one of Meridia’s chosen.

Darien told us that he was poisoned and unable to fight, but if they could get him out of here, he would repair the sword for the Psijics. Which was enough for the Eyes of the Queen to agreed. Moving ahead, Valsirenn said she could make a portal back to Artaeum, but that it would likely catch the gaze of my Prince and Her agents, so the rest of us should fight off any attackers until she could finish her portal.

Seeing Darien’s state, I told them I had a cure for the poison and that, if he were left without help, it would not matter if we made it out or not. That Ahnir and Suni-La would have to fight them off so I could save Darien’s life. He tried to protest, but then half sat, half fell to the ground.

Valsireen began her spell, and true to word, spiders and hoavers and scorpions began to drop from the ceiling, surrounding us.

I made a large flame cloak to put a barrier between the Daedra and where Darien and I were. Then I fished out a couple of antidotes for poisons derived from spiders and fungi and told Darien to brace himself. I took a bit of brandy and poured it over his wounds, knowing it would sting terribly. He screamed, then tried to force it back. Then I mixed together the potions and made him drink it. I knew that without the last additive it was terribly bitter, even by Dunmer standards, and that he would feel he needed to force himself to keep it down anyhow.

Then I heard Valsiren yell that the thing that had stalked her was there.

I looked up to see a glorious Spider Daedra. Her beauty was a fierce and cruel as her claws. I watched, in complete awe of her. I wondered at the magic that allowed her to command so much at her fingertips.

When she fell, my heart ached.

The portal was opened and I did not wait before lifting Darien into my arms, even through his protests and struggling to try and get out, heading towards the way to Artaeum.

It was not until we were through the portal that I realized that I was now feeling a greater sense of loss. Somehow, just being in the Spiral Skein, I had felt more whole. Perhaps I am readying into things too much. Perhaps I just miss that sacred place. Or perhaps it was simply being closer to my soul. I cannot say.

The Ritemaster had the healers come to take Darien to be healed.

Then I heard Valsirenn shout that they needed more help for the others and I saw Ahnir’s huge face gash as she held and unconscious Suni-La in her arms.

I made as though I was devastated, asking Valsirenn what had happened. 

There was too much going on for her to be able to explain and she asked if I could report what had happened to the Ritemaster while she got the others to the healer. Then I realized that she was using some sort of spell on Ahnir.

The Ritemaster had me tell him what we found. I said was separated from the others when I arrived. That I had ended up captured by Daedra and held nearby to the Golden Knight, then rescued by the others. I said that Darien was poisoned so I helped to offer my knowledge of cures to stabilize him from the fast-acting venom while the others fought off enemies and allowed Valsirenn to bring us back. I recalled what shock was supposed to look like, the lack of memory you were supposed to have. I used it to my advantage.

The Ritemaster told we could deal with the reassembly of the sword once everyone was healed again. That he had a task for me in the meantime, since the others needed the chance to rest and recover.

I am to report to Oriandra and assist her with her research, though he asked me to get a couple hours of rest first, just to eat and come back to myself.

I have gotten a small meal and some wine. But I long to return to the Earl and share our success. I wonder if he will be proud of me.

[shade-without-color]

Come back with a fight

Note: So I have a kick doing Inuyasha fic since I saw @loveyou-x3000​ doing amazing Inuparents drabbles and all. So I asked her what she wanted, and she said- Inuyasha meeting Toga’s (Inu no Taisho) ghost, which I took another direction with an idea of Moroha (yes I love the girl) actually mastering her own Meido to get her dad. This was pretty fun, especially when I do the action scenes. I feel a huge amount of nostalgia here, and plus I think Moroha is capable for creating her own path (I think @born-for-eachother​ could agree with me.)

The song I was using to write this drabble is Just like Sleep by Passarella Death Squad as i thought it always evoke the Meido Zangetsuha in my head

Don’t give up Kagome. I am going to get you no matter what.

“Kagome! Kagome!”  Inuyasha yelled loudly at the top of his lungs as he floated around the blackness. He tried to compose himself, focusing on the goal to reach to his wife. Wiping the blood stained brow from his face, he saw another round of demons and horrid things trying to overwhelm him.

He cannot let his anxiety writhe his thoughts. Fate will always lead them back together. Picking up his tessaiga again, he told quietly Tessaiga in his heart.

Do not give up. Kagome would not want us dying.

“KAZE NO KIZU!”

A strong attack overwhelmed the demons as pieces of flesh and miasma came over the void. Quickly he made a barrier to prevent it to come over again.

Kagome do not give up, I am coming. Stay strong.

Another wave come again, this time, a youkai breathing fire causing him to sweat profusely. Quickly he used Flaming Tessaiga to absorb the flames and throw it back to the demon. The demon gave a piercing scream which alerted the group to swarm over Inuyasha.

“Damnit! Damnit.”

Inuyasha cursed that he is unable to stop Kirinmaru from attacking the forest. All was at the rush, when the flames spread over the dense forest and he must think quickly to save his daughter from danger, by wrapping her with the robe. He observed his wife calmly shooting holy arrows to defer the demons swarming them.

Should he be able to get that bastard, he would pay by blood.

For now he must stay focused for his search for Kagome. However his body grew exhausted from the waves of demons. Kirinmaru’s cruelty stretched beyond all realms of time and space..

“Kagome! Where are you?” as he used his Backlash wave to slay the latest wave of demons. He found his voice growing hoarse at every second, in hopes that she will respond.

Dread paralyses his heart.

She could be anywhere.

Anywhere.

Anywhere.

He felt the weight of hopelessness in his heart as he floated through the void, exhausted from the latest wave of demons. Kagome cannot simply perished in the darkness. She cannot. However time seems to stretch so long, until he grew blearily over the many waves.

Kagome find me.  

He prayed that fate could lead his wife back as he clutched Tessaiga unto his heart. The pressure of the scabbard to his heart provide great comfort in dark times. ---

“Get up, son…”

Inuyasha gave a sniff to the figure that spoke. It smells like youkai.

Not like Kagome

No sign of his wife amidst the void.

Inuyasha scrunched his eyebrows slightly. He saw a slender older man with an elegant kimono swinging his word to slay a wave of demons. His hand reaching out to him gently.

“Kagome…”

“Your wife?” The elegant man replied to him.  His face shows a bemusement to Inuyasha’s stubbornness “She is fighting a good fight. These demons are nothing to your power pup…” Inuyasha cringed that nickname, it makes him less significant in his eyes.

“What did you said…. Old man….I am no”

The older man gave a hearty laugh. Indeed his son carried that same arrogance as him. “Come…” as he unsheathed his sword, which formed formidable barrier which bounced all of the demons away “Shall we fight together…you need all of the help…” Inuyasha quickly up his sword, and unsheathed it.

He could hear the faint whispers from Tessaiga

“Do not give up….hope is near…”

The older man shouted “Kaze no Kizu” in front of the hordes of demons. Soon they are all obliterated to pieces. Quickly both fought the demons, like father and son.

And soon blackness came over again.

“You still have that fire…then fight for it…”

Inuyasha took his strength, and nodded to the older man. Quietly the older man slipped his sword to his scabbard. “I always admire the resilience of humans. And your mother will be proud of what you do.” Inuyasha connected the dots to realise that stranger is his father.

Toga.

Lord of the Western Lands.

He was indeed a force to be reckoned as told by Totosai and Myoga. Even before he could say his goodbyes to Toga, a wide gap of light came from the void. He saw a young girl of 14 with a red bow grinning at that sight, leaping out from the gap. She gave a girlish chuckle of glee, as if she has accomplished something significant 

“I found you Old man!”

He gave a sniff to that figure.

She smelt human and yet youkai in blood.

Moroha

It was indeed her daughter.

Moroha used her holy arrows to shoot all of the demons, and her father in awe of her newfound strength and powers.

----------

Quickly she gave a sniff, and recognised it was her father. “Old man…do not give up….” Moroha stared at him, determined for him to give an answer. Moroha took her sword out from her scabbard, which its blade turn into swirls of galaxies. Quickly she looked over the open gap filled with nebulous clouds and quickly she sliced it again, sending all the demons to the underworld.

“We are going to find mum together.”

Moroha took a sigh of relief as she sliced it again, drifting them to a shimmering corridor.

No matter what.

That gave Inuyasha hope amidst the fear and dread. “Keh, if you said so…Moroha.” as he positioned himself with sword in hand. However he wondered how she is able to do a Meidoo Zangetsuha despite not knowing about that technique.

Indeed she took her smarts out of her mother Kagome.

“Let’s go and find your mother.”

[royaltealovingkookiness]

I thought for my 500th post on this blog, I’d do something self-indulgent and write down my thoughts about the parallels and contrasts of these two scenes, even though so much has already been said about them. Strap in, it’s long.

The parallels and contrasts between Zuko being reunited with Ozai and Iroh abound. 

The lead up already, as he feels conflicted both on the boat back to the Fire Nation and when he decides to find Iroh. I’ve written about the parallels of the scenes with Mai and Katara before the actual reunification scenes.

1. The anticipation. Zuko seems apprehensive / afraid both times. 

With Ozai his fear is clearly stated; his father won’t take him back because he didn’t capture the Avatar. He didn’t meet the conditions to his acceptance.

With Iroh; I’ve read some metas that Zuko is afraid that Iroh would hurt him the way Ozai did. I don’t think so. While Zuko is deeply traumatized, he knows Iroh too well, who never raised a hand to him no matter how rude, insolent, disobedient he was. It’s not how Iroh rolls. But I think Zuko is afraid that Iroh would not want to do anything with him anymore after the betrayal. And ironically, Zuko only realized what Iroh was to him (his “real father”), once they were ripped apart. So he’s afraid that he threw away the love and approval of the person who matters to him more than anyone.

It’s also interesting that returning “home” in the case of Ozai means the Fire Nation palace (the place that ceased to be home on the day Ursa left and Ozai became Fire Lord), but in the case of Iroh, means Ba Sing Se; the place where for a little while, Zuko and Iroh lived like a normal family, and for a brief moment seemed happier than they have ever been. It’s Iroh’s place of destiny, the place of his biggest failure and greatest self-sacrifice, the biggest loss and the promise of peace and a new beginning. 

With Ozai, Zuko has to wait for an invitation, in contrast Iroh’s door is always open to him.

2. The setting. 

Ozai greets Zuko in his throne room. The formality is suffocating. The physical distance is enormous between them, Ozai is on the elevation to symbolize the power imbalance. They are divided by fire (their relationship is forged by the destructive side of fire). Zuko is foremost a subject of the Fire Lord, a tool to his will and only secondly Ozai’s son. 

With Iroh, Zuko is on his knees as well, but not because he has to, only because he chooses to. Iroh is close, there are no defenses around him, he doesn’t try to intimidate with his power. The situation is achingly familiar, a throwback to the informality of their relationship. The scene is not lit by fire, but by the rising sun and the warm light of a lantern (their relationship is characterized by the nurturing, protective side of fire).

3.  The first words

It’s Ozai who speaks first. “You have been away for a long time. I see the weight of your travels has changed you. You have redeemed yourself my son. Welcome home.” Zuko’s feelings or experience don’t matter, only Ozai’s perception of it. It is only important that he behaved the way Ozai expects him. Ozai grants Zuko his redemption, it doesn’t matter whether he actually feels redeemed. Interestingly, it’s the first time we hear Ozai call Zuko “his son”. In the Agni kai, he calls him “Prince Zuko” and when he orders Azula to bring him back, he calls him “your brother”. Even though he walks towards Zuko, he stays towering over him and doesn’t touch him. Zuko may be his son in words, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it.

By contrast, Iroh's first words are silence and for a moment it looks like Zuko’s worst fears have come true; Iroh hates him and doesn’t want him there. But actually, Iroh listens - like he always has. He reached out to Zuko from the prison even, but now it’s Zuko’s turn. And Zuko’s heartfelt apology highlights so well the depth of their relationship and the mutuality of their bond. 

“Uncle, I know you must have mixed feelings about seeing me. But I want you to know, I'm so so sorry, Uncle.  I'm so sorry and ashamed of what I did. I don't know how I can ever make it up to you but I'll...”

It matters what Zuko feels (he’s sorry and he’s ashamed), but it also matters to Zuko how Iroh feels and whether there is a chance to fix their relationship. Iroh listens quietly, and he doesn’t interrupt Zuko with words, but with a hug, completely at the level of Zuko, showing him with action that he is loved, wanted, forgiven. 

And he interrupts him before Zuko has a chance to vow to do whatever grueling task Iroh has for him to earn the forgiveness. His love is unconditional. Zuko doesn’t need to capture the Avatar to be taken back.

4. The Forgiveness

This is my favourite bit, and one that doesn’t get nearly as much attention as the other parallels. 

Ozai explains as he circles around the still kneeling Zuko his reasons:

Ozai: I am proud of you, Prince Zuko. I am proud because your sister conquered Ba Sing Se. I am proud because, when your loyalty was tested by your treacherous uncle, you did the right thing, and captured the traitor. And I am proudest of all of your most legendary accomplishment. You slayed the Avatar.

That’s super interesting. What is Ozai exactly proud of?

-Azula conquering Ba Sing Se (the first thing he mentions isn’t about Zuko, but something Azula who always comes first in Ozai’s book did that Iroh failed to do)

- Zuko turning against Iroh. (The single thing Zuko feels the worst about. And for Ozai, again ,this isn’t about Zuko, it’s about Zuko choosing Ozai over Iroh, it’s about proving that fear is more reliable than love, it’s one more way Ozai is beating Iroh. Familiar? Self-worth based on being “better than”?)

- You killed the Avatar (The third thing is a blatant lie, something Zuko didn’t do - but is he willing to to earn Ozai’s acceptance?)

Now let’s compare it with the dialogue with what Iroh says: 

Zuko: How can you forgive me so easily? I thought you would be furious with me. Iroh: I was never angry with you. I was sad because I was afraid you lost your way. 

These are Iroh’s first words. “I was never angry with you.” For Iroh, it is not about himself. Nor about Ozai or Azula. It’s about Zuko and his love for him. He doesn’t expect Zuko to carry out any agenda for him. He doesn’t want to make him the poster boy of the White Lotus. All he wants for Zuko is to find his way. His own path to redemption and happiness. Iroh doesn’t own Zuko, he’s not a tool. He doesn’t pretend he can give Zuko his redemption or honor. Zuko is his own man and he has to decide what he wants for himself in life and Iroh, like a good father, steps back and hopes that all he taught the boy will help him become who he is meant to be.

5. The resolution

Now the ending. 

For the first time, Zuko speaks to Ozai.

Zuko: What did you hear? Ozai: Azula told me everything. She said she was amazed and impressed with your power and ferocity at the moment of truth.  

Again. Ozai is not interested in Zuko’s version of the story. Azula (better than Zuko) vouched for him - the forgiveness is built on a lie and not only on Ozai’s whim, but Azula’s as well. The attributes expected of him are power and ferocity. Aggression. Proving that he’s cruel enough to belong to this family. 

Zuko closes his eyes, clearly left in a really bad place, conflicted, tormented by doubt and fear that his acceptance home is conditional on being his absolute worst self. There is no feeling of catharsis after three years of suffering and doing his best, there is no love and he doesn’t feel honorable.

Even though he’s home, it feels like he is surrounded by people who can and will destroy him when it suits them.

(And in light of this meeting, his actions in The Headband become more understandable [even if still ooc] - he unleashes his rage on Iroh and hires an assassin. Because what did Ozai say? It’s about Iroh’s supposed treachery and killing the Avatar. All that suffering, all the exile becomes useless if Zuko can’t make the lie true somehow.)

With Iroh though, there is catharsis - Zuko is crying from both eyes for the first time since he was burnt. His own tears are the spirit water that can heal his scar. His feelings are laid out all raw, and Iroh reciprocates with the same honesty. 

Zuko:  I did lose my way. 

Iroh: But you found it again.  And you did it by yourself. And I am so happy you found your way here. 

Zuko: It wasn't that hard, Uncle. You have a pretty strong scent.

Iroh can’t give redemption or honour to Zuko (he can only do that by himself), but he can give him something even more powerful: love and acceptance. All his scars and mistakes and stumbling on his path included. Iroh loves him for who he is and supports him on his path. But it’s Zuko’s path.

Finally, Zuko is home - because home is not a place. It’s not a fancy palace, not even a favourite summer house. It’s a place where people who love and accept each other come together, wherever in the world they pitched their tent. 

[g00dberry]

this is me asking about your campaign

Anon, I am so fucking glad that you asked. Alight kiddies strap yourselves in and get ready to hear the story of Fortune’s Favor cause this is the hyper-fixation to end all hyper-fixations for me right now. (BTW, all art for the party members was done by @Tallinier on Twitter! She’s amazing and you all should go check her out right now!). Anyways:

See that? That’s Ar’De. The main continent that our D&D campaign takes place on. You might have noticed that huge white sprawl right in the middle there. That’s called The Conflict Zone. That also happens to be the name of our campaign itself, The Conflict Zone.

The Conflict Zone is an area of the continent that has existed since the dawn of recorded history. It has always contained things that do not make sense and is home to creatures not of the material plane. The topography of it is constantly shifting, changing, re-arranging. It is impossible to map out. Portals to thousands of other realms are constantly opening and closing within its borders, and creatures from these other realms have recently begun to take notice of these portals in larger numbers. The Orcs, Humans, Elves, and Dwarves have all made a pact to do their best to contain this threat on their shared borders, but something is happening... While the shared governments are trying to keep it under wraps, The Conflict Zone is expanding. More and more things are coming through those portals, and those who live closest to it have been facing grave dangers and strange occurrences more and more lately.

However, our story doesn’t begin with The Conflict Zone. It actually begins with a man. A man known only as Gaust. 20 years before the events of this campaign, a powerful man known as Gaust led a violent uprising centered in the human country of Empiria that killed many people. Gaust himself supposedly had powers that were evil and astounding. On top of his own abilities, he had the power to give other people arcane abilities. It was said that his mere presence was enough to make those around him just as bad as he was. However, nobody really knows for sure, as nobody ever claimed to have truly met the man in person. That is, until the current king of Empiria, Ryborn Hauzer -

(That guy) - slayed Gaust himself, and put an end to his 5 year reign of terror. Things were pretty okay for 20 years after that, and that’s where our heroes meet each other.

Why don’t we get to know our heroes? They’ve recently started to garner a reputation for themselves, and have decided to call their little group Fortune’s Favor (It’s a miracle none of us are dead yet, so we’ve gotta be somewhat lucky, right? Right?). They weren’t always a recognizable group of heroes though. In fact, they started out sleeping in the haymow of some guy’s barn, just outside the human capital of Union. With only a few coins to their name and a shared goal of joining the legendary Pathfinder’s Guild for various reasons, they decided to team up to try and earn some coin together, attempting to get past the nasty 500 GP application fee to even try out for the Pathfinders.

But enough about that, why don’t we finally talk about these lovable losers?

First up is Sarrali Farseer, a Tiefling Hunter Ranger 5 / Wild Magic Sorcerer 2:

Sarrali found herself designated as the leader of the group rather quickly which was really concerning for her (especially considering that she’s the youngest at the ripe age of 21!). She’s never seen herself as much of a people person. She grew up on the rugged streets of Vandis, Empiria’s military capital in the harsh North. With her human mother in mental institutions, her father completely unknown, and a childhood full of horribly unfortunate mishaps and distrust from others due to her Tiefling blood, Sarrali grew used to the idea that her father might actually have somehow been the god of shadow, twilight, misfortune, and chaos - Vayn. After deciding to ditch civilization entirely at the ripe age of 16 with only a pewter charm of a bird in flight left by her mother to her name, Sarrali fled South to the Northern forests of Empiria with no idea how to survive on her own. She was found and taken in by an old human bounty hunter, Mordecai Swift, who taught her everything he could before he met his untimely demise at the hands of some slaver pirates when Sarrali was 18. Out for vengeance, Sarrali made the unwise decision to try and take on an entire camp of slavers on her own after finding her master’s decapitated head not too far outside the camp. She managed to take down 7 of them all on her own before she was captured. She spent a horrific month in a Port Des’Sali warehouse run by the cruel leader of the slaver pirates, a wretched dragonborn named Bodac the Blue. Sarrali survived many horrible things, including torture and receiving a mysterious brand on her right shoulder blade before she and all of the other slaves were freed when a mysterious man entered the warehouse one day, the right half of his body glowing with red flames. He proceeded to torch the place, ripping Bodac’s head clear off his body, and burning right through the cages holding the slaves. Sarrali ran away from the others and spent the next 3 years working for a morally decent smuggling ring in Port Des’Sali, recovering and steeling herself for the future. She had heard that some people believed the gods themselves might reside within The Conflict Zone, and she finally wanted to confront Vayn. Unfortunately for her, the only ones allowed within The Conflict Zone were high ranking Pathfinder guild members and other decorated soldiers. So, she had no choice but to arm herself with her master’s hunting knife, her trusty bow, and head out to Union to achieve her goals. 6 months down the line and things are going arguably well for Sarrali. She’s got people who care about whether she gets out alive at the end of the day, she’s started learning some ritual magic (including how to cast Find Familiar). She returned to her supposed birthplace, a mountain town named Overlook, in search of her mother and discovered that she has an older sister, a tiefling named Brandia.

She also discovered that she was apparently human when she was born, as was her older sister. She learned that her father apparently wasn’t Vayn, but instead a human man known as Jaxon Farseer. Someone who’s family line is millenia old. Full of heroes, legendary dragon riders, and masterful archers. Her father disappeared shortly after her birth, and her mother apparently made a deal with a tall dark man who appeared in her dreams, allowing him to give her and her children his “blessing” to ensure that Jaxon would one day be rescued. Her mother accepted, and was immediately cast into madness as her daughters were changed in ways she couldn’t imagine. Odd, Sarrali’s been seeing a tall dark man in her dreams as well recently. In fact, he keeps telling her she’ll be the one to end the world someday, and he gifted her the use of Wild Magic... Hm.

Next up is Teael of house Arren, a Half-Elf Grassland Druid 5 / Hexblade Warlock 2:

Teael is the bastard daughter of Chancellor Arren, a noble High Elf who lives down river from the Spring of Len. Teael Is an incredibly caring person, though her childhood was very lonely. Her step mother was kind, teaching her druidic magic like any of her other children, but her step sister was cruel to her and her father was rather indifferent, refusing to tell Teael anything about her birth mother. Tired of spending her life being ignored and mistreated in what was essentially a gilded cage, Teael fled her father’s estate and headed North with something to prove. Through fate or misfortune, she ended up at the same barn as Sarrali and decided to stick close to the rugged tiefling girl who seemed to know her way around a weapon a little better than she herself did. 

6 months later and 24 year old Teael has sort of adopted Sarali as the little sister she never had. The two get along well and care for each other in ways they haven’t really had the chance to experience before. Teael finally has someone who will stand up for her, and Sarrali has someone who cares about how she’s really doing. Someone who wants to help her through the trauma she’s endured. Someone who cares. One of Teael’s main points of interest is that she somehow possesses the ability to summon 2 familiars at once. A grumpy large blue gecko named Nigel and a posh white Weasel named Eloise. On a rather.... improvised trip to the Shadowfell, Teael recovered the mangled body of a Drow servant who called her Lady Velodora (which also happens to be the name of the Goddess of Darkness, Death, Sleep, and the Moon... She’s also one of Vayn’s twin sisters!). After escaping the Shadowfell, Teael paid a good amount of money to have her new friend attended to by a revolutionary doctor and a high level cleric. The Drow has made a decent recovery, but is suffering from horrible amnesia. So, Teael gave him the name Vega. 

He later proved himself to be a rather accomplished wizard. He lives on a plot of land owned by Teael now, and he restored a broken down wizard tower there. His favorite pastimes include listening to Teael sing for him, reading, and studying new arcane affects. He isn’t the only friend Teael’s made recently though. On a mission into Orc territory, Teael recovered a strange black rod. After a dream that the party still doesn’t really know all the details of, Teael’s got a wicked looking new quarterstaff, and seems to have made some sort of deal with a woman (entity?) named Ebony. Before we set off on our latest adventure, Teael wrote to her father for the first time since leaving his estate to boast about how fine she’s doing on her own, and is eagerly waiting to hear back from him. She’s also a complete bi-sexual disaster, but the party loves her anyways. Oh, and one last thing. She also learned that if people found out who her mother was, she’d supposedly be killed on the spot. So that’s fun!

Third up is Rhak,  a Dragonborn Bear-Totem Barbarian 5 / Champion Fighter 2:

Teael and Sarrali met up with Rhak once they were already knee deep in a mission back in Union. They needed some extra muscle, and just happened to see a very stocky dragonborn writing something down in a book and petting a small kitten on their way into the sewers. His common wasn’t that good, but he seemed so happy that someone had offered him work without being mean that he decided to protect his new friends on the spot. He’s been with the group ever since. Rhak was the runt of his litter back in the Dragonborn territory of The Free Isles. Though he still exemplified the traits that the Platinum Dragon, Bahamut, tried to preach. Rhak had never really been one to turn to violence. He preferred to read and try talking through his issues with others. Unfortunately for him that meant that he was bullied mercilessly as a child. Though the kindness of a half elf woman named Lucia, a sorceress in the Free Isles seeking the wisdoms of the Platinum Dragon, inspired him to stick to his own ideals. One day, when he saw some bullies picking on a much younger runt, he accidentally let his anger get the better of him and ended up killing one of the bullies. Thus, he was exiled from his homeland at the age of 15. Forced to wander parts of the world that he was tragically unfamiliar with, places where he was seen as an oddity, and forced to live a cripplingly lonely life. Lucky for both him and us, we found each other though, and he’s finally got true friends that care deeply for him.

Though he had to leave his lovely kitten friend Steve at an orphanage in Union before we set out on a larger adventure, Rhak is going strong today. He has a bear spirit named Ursula that gives him the strength to protect his friends and keep pushing forward. After an untimely demise in the stomach of a Rhemorahz, Rahk was saved by a very close Revivify and brought back. Though, not before he got to have a nice chat with Bahamut himself. Bahamut explained to Rhak that he was Silver Prime, and that he needed to help usher in the era of The New King if the world was to be saved from calamity. We were already carrying a dragon egg with us (taken from a bunch of kobolds months ago in some old mine). But after breaking open an artifact from the Shadowfell, the egg was transformed. After reaching Sarrali’s hometown of Overlook, we learned that it was home to The Roost. The former breeding ground of Empiria’s human-allied dragons. However, The Roost had been destroyed years ago in Gaust’s uprising, and the only dragon left there now was a Silver Dragon named Orphyrah. She gave Rhak her blessing, explaining that she needed to sacrifice herself if he was supposed to reach his true potential as silver prime. She breathed all of her life essence into a single scale necklace, which Rhak now wears and can use to call upon her spirit in times of need. While at The Roost, we were able to hatch the new king of the dragons, a platinum hatchling named Justifax. Rhak has been tasked with protecting him and uniting the other primes, and he seems to be taking that duty very seriously. Only time will tell how Rhak’s destiny affects the fate of the world...

Last but certainly not least, we have Theren Greybend. A Human Knowledge Cleric 7:

Theren is the newest member of our group. We quite literally ran into him while fighting for our lives in the North recently, while on our way to Sarrali’s birthplace. Theren is a cleric of Magus, the God of Magic, Knowledge, and Secrets. The rest of the party doesn’t know too much about him yet, but we were in desperate need of a healer, and he got to witness the hatching of a new Dragon king with us, so he’s kind of stuck with us at the moment. Theren is a huge book nerd. He craves learning about any and all strange anomalies, and agreed to travel with the party on the pretense that we seem to run into stuff involving The Conflict Zone (his research specialty) a lot. We’ve basically become his latest research project, but that’s alright. He seems nice enough, and wants to help in any way that he can. Theren recently revealed that he possesses the odd ability to connect telepathically with a willing creature once a day, but who knows what else this guy can do? As far as we can tell, Theren is from one of the Western parts of Empiria, rather close to The Conflict Zone itself. 

Now finally, you might be wondering: Alright, but how did all that crazy stuff start?

Well, the intro arc was far too long to append on to this post, but let’s just say that in an unfortunate mix up involving Dynamite, Sewer Zombies, and a Burning Lighthouse. Our rag tag group was pinned as prime suspects, and then later were offered a deal by this shady motherfucker - 

Ekkard, the right hand man to the King of Empiria. If we could investigate those three issues for him on the down low, he wouldn’t just waive our Pathfinder application fee, he would ensure that we were accepted, and would become one of the King’s personally invested in teams. Of course, he didn’t give us much of a choice, since he told us we had a month to figure it out or face exile from Union as a cautionary action. 

So, on the job to clear our names and earn our stripes, we faced down more zombies, a flesh golem, an assassin, terrorist threats, bandits, exploding zombies, a re-kindled uprising of Gaust, and finally a huge bone serpent to save the city of Union and earn our freedom. 

Long story short - we succeed, and thus, Fortune’s Favor was born.

-I’m always down to talk about this campaign, so if anyone has any other questions, please don’t hesitate to send them.

@icarus-undying (Teael’s Player)

[thecomicsnexus]

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #48-49 JUNE - JULY 1992 BY KEVIN EASTMAN, PETER LAIRD, JIM LAWSON, KEITH AIKEN AND ERIC TALBOT

SYNOPSIS (FROM TURTLEPEDIA)

The TMNT are preparing to go on a mission in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts. Donatello bows out of the exercise so he can debug his latest project, and thus Splinter sends the three remaining Turtles to the city. Their goal: find Casey Jones and return to Northampton before 1 AM. April drives the guys to town and drops them off - if they can't find Casey and get him to take them back home, they'll have to walk... all 20 miles.

Raph comes up with a plan - "an immobile object is easier to find than a mobile one," thus the TMNT decide to find Casey's car so they won't risk missing him. After all, Casey can't get back to town without his wheels. So the Mutants head off to find Jones' Chevy.

Meanwhile, Casey is spying on the guys and heads off in the opposite direction. He enters a playground where he's accosted by three young punks, who insist he pay a toll. A fight breaks out and Jones accidentally kills one of the boys.

From the rooftops, we see the costumed clad vigilante Nobody (from Tales of the TMNT #2). Nobody, although being an ally of the Turtles, doesn't know who Casey is, and attacks Jones for committing the crime of homicide. A battle takes place, and Nobody tries to handcuff Casey and take him in.

The Turtles spot the two remaining hoods fleeing and figure that the boys must have run into Casey, so they double back. The TMNT arrive in time to prevent Nobody from taking Jones to the police, but the crime fighter is angered by the situation.

"You realize this makes you accomplishes." the costumed cop states.

"Casey will answer for whatever he is guilty of. Justice will be served." Raph replies.

As the Turtles and their shaken friend depart, Nobody mutters, "Yes... I'll see to that."

April is talking to her sister Robyn on the phone. April is worried about starting a relationship with a man who helped her out of a jam, and Robyn is trying to figure out why her sister has been so mysterious about her life the past few years. Before any resolution is reached, Robyn has to hang up to attend to her baby. As April puts the receiver down, Master Splinter walks into the kitchen. O'Neil explains her dilemma to the wise old rat.

"Ever since I met you and the Turtles... and Casey... my life has been so secretive and strange. I mean... how can I get to know this guy - or any guy - if I can't let him get to know me? 'Cause getting to know me means learning about you guys... and that... geez! Sometimes I just wish I had a normal life. Splinter... what should I do?"

The Sensei thinks for a moment and then responds, "Leave."

This was not the comforting solution that April was hoping to hear.

Casey wakes up and quickly remembers what happened the night before. He hurries to the bathroom and retches. April walks by and calls out to see if he needs help and Casey orders her away. The bemused O'Neil dejectedly walks off.

Casey gets dressed and has an awkward silent moment with April in the kitchen before he takes off running into the woods. As he burns off his energy, Jones laments all of the "if only" scenarios that would have kept him from killing the young thug in the playground. Eventually Casey comes to a waterfall that has a fallen tree spanning the ravine, creating a bridge to the other side of the river. Donatello is sitting on the tree observing the stream in attempt to "understand the fractal structure of natural patterns," an element of Chaos Theory that Donnie is excited about.

Don's explanation irritates Jones and he blasts the Turtle for using big words and acting better than everybody else. Casey than demands to know why Donatello hasn't spent any time with him.

"Well" the perplexed terrapin begins, "We don't exactly share a lot of interests..."

This reply only angers Jones more and Don asks him if they can take up this conversation at a later time, when Casey is sober. Jones pushes the issue and gets more and more agitated and threatening until Donatello is forced to draw his bo and teach Casey a lesson in manners and humility. In short order, Donnie sends Casey careening into the water waiting below. Perhaps Jones also learned a thing or two about fractals while he was in the drink.

Meanwhile, Raph, Leo and Mike are training in the barn while the news plays on a radio in the background. Leo beats Raph in two out of three falls when a report comes on regarding gang-related slayings in New York City between warring Asian factions. Upon hearing this story, Raph walks out of the practice session.

Later, Casey is back at the playground where he accidentally killed the teen. The man called Nobody shows up, only this time he's wearing his police uniform rather than his super-hero costume. Nobody tells Jones that the three other hoods turned themselves in and their story matched Casey's, thus making it apparent that Jones was acting in self-defense.

"You sound disappointed." Jones remarks.

"Do I?" the vigilante cop inquires, "Well... I do prefer an open and shut case, and you seem guilty as Hell. But... facts are facts. As much as I live to bring criminals to justice, I have to face those facts. Besides... the courts are full of poor jerks like you, ingested and spat back out, guilty or innocent, it doesn't matter."

"Wow," observes Casey, "At least you're not bitter."

Nobody then relates his philosophy to Casey about the state of the world, a Yin-Yang theory that revolves around the idea that the further man advances, the more he regresses. The policeman then wonders how much longer the fabric of society can be stretched before it tears.

Casey states that he doesn't know, and Nobody then says that when he first met the TMNT he felt that they were an omen.

"I thought that it might be a sign... a sign that the end was near... you know, 'The Beasts Rising Up', that sort of thing." the cop states.

"Uh... yeah." Jones answers, "Look... I gotta go..."

"I won't stop you." replies Nobody.

Casey then heads off in silence towards downtown Springfield.

REVIEW

This is a good TMNT story, and it is written by their creators as well.

It’s been a while since we focused on Casey Jones and April (most guest writers used them as plot generators but didn’t invest much time in making them real).

And this was bound to happen, in fact, I would have assumed that something like this already happened to Casey, after all, his methods are quite aggressive.

Nobody came back for this story (to be honest, I didn’t really miss him), and we also got to know Robyn O’Neil.

The story seems to be pointing at a certain climax (the volume is getting into a final 12-issue saga). Between the gangs in New York, Splinter’s moods and April’s needs, something has to happen.

The art is also very good. Sometimes Jim Lawson can be a bit too angular, but the backgrounds look amazing.

I give this story a score of 9.

[mothermaidenclone-blog]

Godzilla: King of the Monsters or It’s All About That Queen Bee Though

Godzilla: King of the Monsters was a very cool movie. Yes, it was pretty stupid, but was it also a gloriously fun, utterly ridiculous romp? Definitely. Warner Bros. knew we wanted to watch a bunch of massive monsters beat the ever-loving shit out of each other, and they certainly delivered on that front. As with any Godzilla movie, the main problem was that they spent too much time on the tiny, insignificant people and not enough on the aforementioned battling titans. However, there were some notable ladies featured amongst the squishy humans.

*Godzilla: King of the Monsters spoilers follow*

The first on screen conversation takes place between two women, Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) and her daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown). Dr. Russell is evidently an exceptional scientist, as she has invented a device to communicate with, and to some extent control, the titans. She is also portrayed as brave and compassionate, risking her life to run to the aid of Mothra with her ORCA device. In addition, she wants her daughter to be strong and to experience what life has to offer, helping her to stroke Mothra once it has calmed down. She then guides her through the horrors of being held captive with the advice, “Eyes straight ahead, deep breaths, just like we talked about.” She isn’t shielding Madison from what is happening, but trying to help her to cope with it on her own.

However, it soon turns out that Dr. Russell is one of the villains of the movie, as she approached the eco terrorist Jonah Alan (Charles Dance) rather than being abducted by him, as it first appeared. As such, she is responsible for countless deaths in the movie, regardless of whether or not she is acting for the greater good of the planet. On the other hand, she is unwavering in the defence of her decisions and ethics, and even after the movie has declared her a baddie she is still portrayed as rational and somewhat empathetic.  She justifies her actions as being for the benefit of her daughter, and perhaps her daughter’s whole generation: “I couldn’t be more sane and Madison couldn’t be stronger. At least now she has a fighting chance.” At least Dr. Russell is granted a redemptive end - she dies saving not only her family, but arguably the entire planet, from the destructive forces of Ghidorah. It’s still shitty that she dies, no two ways about it, but at least she is granted some agency. Once a film like this declares you a villain you don’t stand a chance - it’s a noble sacrifice on her part and she isn’t just squashed by a giant monster foot while delivering a monologue about how her plans were right all along.

One of Dr. Russell’s plans does come to fruition, and that is that Madison becomes an incredibly strong young woman. She goes from slyly flipping off Jonah at the start of the movie to literally standing down Ghidorah and screaming right back in his fucking face. Now, it could well be argued that these are not the most considered of actions, but it cannot be denied that Madison has some nerve. In addition to being categorically courageous, Madison is also intelligent and principled. When she sees that Ghidorah’s rampage is becoming uncontrollable, she not only steals the ORCA from under the nose of a group of highly organised armed terrorists and escapes their fortified secret base, taking the time to appropriately supply herself for her journey (like no one in movies ever does!), but she also figures out the most effective location to broadcast from and operates the ORCA independently. Kudos to Madison, she knows what she’s doing. She does end up having to be rescued by her parents but two things are worth remembering at this point: firstly, Madison has just done her bit to save the entire planet and secondly, she is still a child. She’s more than allowed to run scared for a moment when a three-headed, lightning-breathing dragon from space is trying to cause the end of days.

Dr. Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins) reprises her role from the first film, and we are treated to a brief reminder of what a competent, intrepid scientist and eloquent, fearless defender of Godzilla she is before she is unceremoniously felled by Ghidorah. I didn’t even notice her death, and while it’s true I might have been taking notes and missed it, I was informed by a small piece of text on a character’s computer screen, which seems like an unnecessarily dismissive way to end the life of such an intrinsic character to the series.

Perhaps in an attempt to compensate for the loss of Dr. Graham, several new named female characters were introduced, and credit where credit’s due, pretty much all of these women are immediately addressed by their name and title. This not only shows them the respect they are due, but saved me the kind of IMDB credits trawling I usually have to do when writing a review. We meet another of Monarch’s top scientists, Dr. Ilene Chen (Ziyi Zhang). She is notable not only for her scientific competency, but also for her heritage, as she reveals she is the direct descendant of one of the female founders of Monarch, and shows a selection of photos of completely badass looking explorers and scientists that make up her family, all of whom are women. Her twin sister, Dr. Ling (also Ziyi Zhang) also briefly features, although she is seemingly working for the terrorists. We don’t see much of her except for an appropriately awed look at the hatching of Mothra, but it’s safe to assume by her presence at the site that she is an equally accomplished scientist. Dr. Chen is also notable for being an advocate of not blowing Godzilla to smithereens, pointing out that, “slaying dragons is a western concept.”

Another new female character is Colonel Diane Foster (Aisha Hinds), an extremely competent officer and woman of colour, who seems to be in charge of the military branch of Monarch’s operations. She continues to excel throughout the movie, surviving the attack that killed Dr. Graham and continuing to lead others safely through danger until the end. Foster is shown to be a strong leader as well as a distinguished field officer - she is a highly skilled sniper who cares deeply about saving innocent lives.

Black women continue to occupy positions of power, if not leading roles, in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, as further exemplified by Senator Williams (CCH Pounder), who presides over the Monarch hearing at the start of the film and appears to have the power to turn the whole organisation over to the military if she so chooses. Women do very much inhabit the world of this movie, with many women being present of all sides of the conflict as scientists, soldiers and terrorists alike. Although I’m not sure we hear all their names, many are credited, including Asaj (Tracy Garrison), one of Jonah’s team, First Lieutenant Griffin (Elizabeth Ludlow), Lieutenant Bottin (Natalie Shaheen), G-Team Officer Harryhausen (Shauna Rappold), Argo Officer Arvin (Skylar Denney), Argo Officer Cross (Kelli Garner) and a news anchor (Fiona Hardingham) who is one of the first voices we hear in the movie. The fact that two of these characters are named for practical effects superstars tells me that they held a special place in the hearts of the movie makers.

However wonderful all of these women are, let’s talk about the real leading lady of this movie - Mothra. Not only is she utterly radiant and resplendent, she can hold her own in a fight -  penetrating Rodan with her stinger - and apparently has the monumental power of the ability to resurrect Godzilla. In short, she’s amazing. She is also the only titan to be named as female, which makes it all the more shitty that she’s the only one - other than the big bad Ghidorah - to die. It seems even female kaiju aren’s safe from the played out and tired fate of dying for the benefit of their male counterparts. Now, my little brother (who is more of a Gozilla expert than me) texted me as soon as he knew I’d seen the movie to tell me not to worry and that Mothra is apparently immortal, because he knew I’d be so cross and sad about this. Thanks, baby bro. However, as this is not addressed in the movie, I have to stand by my initial assessment that Mothra’s death is pure garbage.

Overall, the women in Godzilla: King of the Monsters are incredibly strong and adept in a wide variety of fields ranging from science to combat, are without exception incredibly brave, and most of them hold to a high moral code. Furthermore, for a monster movie where presumably thousands of people are slaughtered, their mortality rate isn’t too bad. I think one more named male character dies than female, but this doesn’t make the loss of talented female scientists on screen any easier to swallow. Also, they killed Mothra, so I can never forgive them. Well, not until she comes back in a sequel and fucks up some even bigger bastards because you know I will watch another Godzilla movie, no hesitation. On balance, this is an absolutely ridiculous movie about giant dragons murdering each other, so I think we’re lucky that so many competent human women were featured at all.

And now for some asides:

Umm, excuse me, was that casually Atlantis? And did you blow it up?

Also did this movie low-key endorse hollow Earth theory?

Thank you, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, for the gift of someone ejector-seating straight into Rodan’s fiery maw. You truly know your audience.

[2spry]

Ozark Foothills 50k Race Recap

Oh man… so I don’t even know where to start. I guess at the beginning. This was my first race back since I broke my foot, 1 year to the day actually. I still can’t believe it worked out that way. I was looking at races that were easy to travel to, and that were loop courses. I wanted a looped course in case my foot said “nope” and I needed to hop off course easily. I signed up for this race only 5 weeks out! I had had a year of major ups and downs, with multiple attempts at upping mileage with no avail. Every time I tried to increase or even add in a little speed work or hill training, my foot would blow up. When I say blow up, the pain would be bad enough to cause me to limp. It wasn’t until really February where I was not having much pain anymore. I hit, on average, in the 60-70 mile range for Jan and Feb, with 116 miles total in March. I also had only 2 speed work sessions (they were easier ones). So I signed up with the goal of only using this as a training run, to make sure my foot could handle the distance. If it did, I was going to pick a longer race next and really train for it! I was extremely nervous because having your foot snap during a race is very scary and the pain is something you never forget. I have had to work hard on my mind this past year because the fear was really taking over. The mind is so powerful. Working hard on mental training has been a huge help for me. That is one of my weaknesses.

The day before the race was crazy!!! I thought I really had everything lined up, but so many things happened which led to getting off late. It worked out though! This was an Altra sponsored race so I was also going to the packet pickup to help out my local Altra rep Erica, and I was covering the race for Road Runner Sports on their Instagram account. Doing both of these things was incredibly fun for me! I love new experiences! Plus, it got me out of my head!!! They had a screening of The Double, and the speaker was Jeff Browning (aka @GoBroncoBilly). It was chalk full of awesome information. One of the main things I took away from his talk was to slay the negative thoughts of the mind. I know this, but to hear someone so accomplished say that they have to do this all the time, really brought it home to me. The mind is so powerful. Once that was over we headed to the hotel.

We got to the hotel around 8:45ish and headed to the room. So far everything had been rather uneventful. Then the room keys wouldn’t work and we got locked out! Phones were in the room (key worked at first and then just wouldn’t, no idea). Anyway, we finally got everything in and ate dinner around 9:30. While I was eating, I realized, oh my goodness, I forgot to get my race packet!!! LOL!!! I mean who does that!?!? Goes to the race packet pickup and forgets to pickup their race packet!?!? Me apparently. Thank goodness they had race day pickup! Then we realized we forgot the bottom to the electric kettle for coffee in the am. Oh well. The front desk was able to provide it. After all that, I finally headed to sleep close to midnight. And sleep I didn’t.

Up at 3:45 exhausted! However, I did not have a headache or migraine which was HUGE!!! I cannot remember a race where I didn’t have one of those the night before or the day of. (When I ran my 50 miler, I had a migraine from the night before and it didn’t abate for 7 hrs of the race!) Not having a headache gave me such a boost!!! We got there at around 6:15 and it was foggy and dark. I had thought for a moment that it wasn’t going to lift, making a note to bring my headlamp next time just in case. It did finally lift and turned into a gorgeous sunrise!

I was super nervous, freezing (yes me the cold weather runner was freezing lol!), and very thankful once she blew the horn to start. I kept reminding myself that this is a training run, no pressure! I started out very conservative. I was really watching my footing (I did the whole race) and just trying to ease into a steady easy pace. It did take me awhile to warm up, but once I got going I felt pretty good! I would say after the 5th mile I felt like I was getting in a groove, getting more comfortable with the terrain, but I could feel my lack of training then too. Just the amount of vert and all the rocks and roots that I am not used to. My quads and ankles let me know that really quick, but I told my mind to shut it, slayed those negative thoughts, and told myself to just enjoy this! (There was 3,800 ft of ascent so lots of hills) I started to look around at the beauty of where I was and just got really emotional. Here I was running, in a gorgeous area, on trails, in an ultra, healthy. What a blessing!!! That gave me a boost and I started to pick up the pace. I think this was around mile 10-12. I started to pass people, but I had no idea what race they were running. You are on the course with 25k, 50k, and 50 mile runners.

Coming through the half, I felt really good! I really was ultra conservative with my footing and therefore hadn’t fallen yet. My upper body felt really good, and I know a big part of this was because of my new race vest fitting seamlessly. Super important to find one that works for your body! I filled up my water bladder with Ultima Replenisher, and headed out! But then had to run back cuz I forgot my MUIR gels!!! LOL! Made a bathroom pitstop and finally headed out. I had no stomach issues with that combination, it worked well!

The hardest mile for me was 17. My hands started to swell like crazy! I was using salt, so I didn’t know why I was swelling so bad. Still unsure of the cause. They were so swollen that I actually thought I was going to have to cut off my ring. I was feeling a bit more tired, and just kind of worried. I started opening and closing my hands and telling myself it was going to be fine. Then, about a mile or two later, it started to go down a bit and relief washed over me. I began to think about all my friends that can’t run right now and began running miles for them, praying for them and for this race. I started to pick up the pace. Once I started running, I began to catch up to people. It was so spread out at this point that passing was pretty easy. I hit a string of two people and wanted to pass them but I kept thinking, no they are keeping you conservative, you don’t want to blow up you’ve come so far. I was kind of panicking. I felt so good I thought it was a fluke. So I stayed for too long. Finally I told myself what are you doing!?!? Get going! So I asked to pass and took off. I kept passing people. I had someone tell me hey you’re going really fast!!! Are you sure you're feeling ok? (It was getting really hot at this point, 70’s) I said yes I feel great! They cheered me on! Each aid station had amazing volunteers and I cannot tell you how much their cheers help! I continued to try and catch people. I started having water poured into my mouth (I didn’t have a cup) and ice in my fandana to help with the heat. Plain water was tasting so good at that point. I also began grabbing orange slices.

I hit the last aid station feeling great! So much so that I neglected to check my water bladder. It was empty. You might not think that is a big deal, but it really is. In that heat with miles to go, you need it. I let myself have an “uh oh” moment and then moved on. Those last few miles were tough. I felt pretty dehydrated and very nauseous, but I kept pushing. I fell twice because I got a bit sloppy at watching my footing, and then rolled my ankle pretty bad. I noticed that not one person was around me still. I ran alone for a lot of the race. After limping a bit I pressed on and started running, only to hear footsteps behind me coming fast, I moved over and it was Jeff Browning. LOL! He was cruising, but made sure to take the time to tell me to keep pushing! So I did! I ran all the way into the finish! I had no idea if I was even in the top 10, so when I crossed the line and Shalini the RD told me I was 3rd female I was in complete shock!!! It was like a dream.

From one year ago breaking my foot, to now taking 3rd was crazy. It was a huge confidence boost to know that my foot could handle the distance and that I was able to have a podium finish with as little training as I did. I felt so blessed and humbled. A new memory to replace the old. A realization that I can do this! A thankful heart to have been able to run this race and finish. A grateful heart for all of the support and new friends that I made at this event. Thankful to the Lord for the gift of running.

Now that I know I can handle distance again, I am going to find my next race and really train for it. I am so excited and hopeful for the future. I cannot wait to see what happens!!!

Huge thank you to all the volunteers, the RD Shalini, my mother, and all of you who commented and supported me through this journey. Big thank you also to Road Runner Sports, Altra Running, Jaybird Sport, OS1st, Yukon Charlies, and Momentum Jewelry for your awesome support and gear to get me through!

Gear: Altra Running King MT 1.5 and gaiters Road Runner Sports R-Gear Recharge Compression Capri Altra running performance tank Garmin Fenix 5 Os1st Arm Sleeves Injinji trail crew socks Ultimate Direction Race Vesta with bladder not front bottles

Fuel: MUIR energy gels Ultima electrolyte replenisher Salt stick KION essential amino acids

Balm: Squirrel’s Nut Butter

Pic Cred IG accounts: Trail @mile90photo, Finish @alex.fagin

[captainfawful]

 With the year coming to a close, that means it’s time for me to do my “Nobody Cares Awards” thing I like to do! Check under the cut for some hot takes I may or may not have!

Hello, hello! It’s me again! Third year in a row I decided to jot my thoughts down on the years various game. I decided to change things up more from last year, kind of eliminating most of the categories in favor of writing more about the games I enjoyed. I tried to write at least something about every game in the Top 10 this time, even if it’s the bare minimum. Let’s see how it goes!

BEST MUSIC

This entire thing was first created because I wanted to write about how good Death Road To Canada’s soundtrack was. So no matter what changes with my format on this, there will always be a Best Music category. I’ll be honest though, there weren’t a whole lot of games this year with amazing soundtracks. The only real contender for most of the year was Celeste, which OST is very good, and fits perfectly with the games tone and style, but it’s not... The Best music. They aren’t songs I’ll put on loop and listen to multiple times throughout the day. They’re not the hard hitting tracks I would typically put at the top of this category, despite how great the music is. That’s how I felt until about August, when The Messenger came out. Messenger is not a game that will be in my Top 10 by any means, but it’s a pretty good game nonetheless with a couple of really weird twists. But the OST is phenomenal. Easily my number 1 favorite of this year. Just about every track in the game is a total banger. But don’t take it from me, take a listen yourself! A little later in the year I played through Just Shapes & Beats. I have a personal stigma against saying a thing with licensed music should qualify for Best Music, which is why JS&B did not make it into my top 3, but rest assured that it is sitting comfortably in the 4th place spot. Almost immediately after I played JS&B, Deltarune suddenly came out. I don’t think I have to tell you why that’s on here, right? Toby Fox cannot make bad music.

SPECIAL MENTIONS

THE MISSING:J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories

It’s hard for me to talk about what makes The Missing so special without diving deep into spoilers. There’s a reason it’s in the special mentions, and not the Top 10: And that reason is because the gameplay isn’t great. The Missing is a side-scrolling puzzle game, in the same vein as Limbo or Inside. Unlike those two, however, the puzzles you have to solve are not that hard, and most of the difficulty around it revolves around how slowly and janky the movement is. However, the overall story and twist is what makes this game great. There’s not a whole lot for me to say about the themes this game presents, so if you want to play The Missing, play it. If you don’t want to play it, then maybe take a look at some writings from actual queer women who could talk about its subject matter in a way I never possibly could.

The Quiet Man

The Quiet Man is a terrible game. When I first saw the trailer during Suare Enix's E3 presentation, I was super interested. I've always wanted a game that transitions from FMV to gameplay with as few seams as possible, and The Quiet Man promised that. Not only that, it promised a compelling story told from the perspective of its' deaf protagonist. The way I saw it, this game would either accomplish what it set out to do, or fail miserably. Either way, it was a win/win scenario for me! Little did I know just HOW miserably it would fail.... Oooooh, how miserably it failed... The gameplay is absolute trash, the graphics leave much to be desired which makes the "seamless" transitions from FMV look unconvincing and bad, the story is needlessly complicated despite how generic it is, the acting ranges from decent to awful, and it requires you to play it twice in order to actually understand what's happening. And all of those problems are the LEAST offensive parts of the game. It's racist, misogynistic, somehow ableist against more than just deaf people, semi-incestual, and also kind of pro-abuse??? I mean, it doesn't take a stance to be anti-abuse, and certainly doesn't condemn abuse, so does that make it pro? Maybe? Probably? I have a headache. I've watched this entire 2-4 hour game be played 10 or 11 times, and I still don't understand how this exists. Square-Enix published this. They dropped Hitman and IO Interactive not even one year ago, yet threw money at this horrible abomination of a video game! Oh by the way, you might be wondering why I said you have to play it twice to understand, and that's because the first playthrough doesn't give you any sound. Yup, aside from the intro cutscene and the credits song, the entire games' audio is just muffled ambiance. This includes all of it's cutscenes, of which there are MANY, and they are LONG. Entire MINUTES of dialogue happening at a time that the game just doesn't want you to hear or have subtitles for. The only way to get audio is to beat the game once and replay it. Not only that, but the New Game + with sound and subtitles didn't even get patched in until a week after it's release!!! Who does that!!!!! And the version with audio has some ATROCIOUS writing. Just about every scene has at least one line of dialogue that makes no sense, almost as if the writers were only told about how humans speak, but never actually heard one themselves. I’ve heard a lot of people saying it’s The Room of video games, and I sort of agree. Much like The Room, it’s not the absolute worst of it’s form of media, the game is playable start-to-finish, extremely straight forward so you can’t get lost, no bizarre puzzles to figure out, the FMV cutscenes are at decently produced. Hell, I wouldn’t even say The Quiet Man is the worst game to come out THIS YEAR. Crying Is Not Enough released in June, and boy oh boy is that game a trash fire. But it’s just BAFFLING that this game exists. That’s the perfect word to summarize my feelings on The Quiet Man. Every single thing about it is just, baffling. I need to stop writing about this game. This whole paragraph is probably going to be longer than anything from my Top 10, which feature a few games I ADORE, but no. All my writing energy is going to how terrible this fucking video game is. Don't play The Quiet Man. Or do, fuck if I care. Maybe watch someone else play it, I don't know. I don't know anything anymore.

Ori and the Blind Forest

Back on the topic of good games, I finally got around to playing Ori and the Blind Forest! I played it for a little while after it originally came out around 2015, but it just didn’t stick with me at the time. There wasn’t any real reason why it didn’t stick, I just got bored and stopped playing, which isn’t that uncommon for me to do. But for whatever reason I decided to go back to it super late last year. It may have been the excitement for all the cool looking Metroidvanias slated to release throughout the year, I don’t know. But I played through it, and it’s fantastic! Most Metroidvanias tend to go with around a 60-40 split between platforming and combat. Different games have different splits, sure, but most of them tend to keep those somewhat even. Ori is like an 85-15, greatly favoring tight platforming over fighting enemies. Your main attack automatically locks on to nearest enemies, and boss fights are replaced with autoscrolling or stealth segments. The traversal is also super smooth and fun, making that 85-15 split much more favorable than others in its’ genre. Great controls combined with some amazing visuals and music, Ori is definitely a game I regret not playing earlier.

2019′S COMING IN HOT

Spelunky 2, Wargroove, Indivisible, Hypnospace Outlaw, Ooblets, UFO 50, Kingdom Hearts 3, Overland, Sea of Solitude, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and  Get in the Car, Loser!. These are all great looking games that are supposed to be coming out in 2019. I remember last December when I last did this, I couldn't think of THAT many games I was really excited for, and despite that I ended up with a pretty damn good list of games for 2018. So who knows what next year will be like?!

And now... The Top 10!

#10: Spider-Man

It’s been a great year for Spider-Man. His best buddy Venom had a pretty good movie, his new video game is good, and he has a new movie that’s fantastic! Yep, it’s been such a good year for Spider-Man in which nothing bad has happened to him or the people who created him.

#9: Megaman 11

2 > 4 > 3 > 8 > 11 > 7 > 5 > 6 > 9 > 10 > 1. Don’t @ me.

#8: Iconoclasts

Iconoclasts has been in development for a very long time. Officially, development for it began in around 2010, but there is a seemingly earlier game by Konjak that shares many similarities. Basically, Iconoclasts began development at least 8 years ago, and it shows, for better or worse. On one hand, the game is gorgeous. Grade A sprite work all around. The characters are interesting and well written with their own morales and arcs, and the story is surprisingly deep and compelling considering the type of game it is. On the other hand, the gameplay feels very outdated now. The combat is super simplistic, the puzzles aren't terribly challenging or rewarding, and the weapon/ability upgrades are very limited. The traversal can be sluggish and boring, which is a red flag for a game where you have to backtrack a decent amount. If Iconoclasts came out 4 or 5 years ago, I feel like it would've been at least a cult classic. But in 2018, it's a decent Metroidvania in a year of great Metroidvanias. Overall, I'm glad Iconoclasts finally came out. I just wish it either came out sooner, or got more updated for modern game design.

#7: Slay the Spire

For all intents and purposes, I shouldn't like Slay the Spire. I always hated card-based RPGs, and always hated RPGs with only one party member. And for the most part, the issues I have with both of those are still very much present in Spire. So why have I sunk 50 hours into it so far? Beats me! If I had to guess, I’d say it’s the similarities it shares to Darkest Dungeon, one of my favorite games, that ultimately drives me to it. Now, you might be asking why Slay the Spire, a game that came out in 2017, and won’t be in 1.0 until probably 2019, is in my top 10 for this year, but Ori & the Blind Forest isn’t? Well, I started Ori last year, and didn’t start Spire until the middle of this year! Also, they’re my awards, and I can do whatever I want!

#6: Just Shapes & Beats

Just Shapes & Beats’ concept is simple: A rhythm bullet hell. Certainly not the first of it’s kind, and not even the first one to use simplistic shapes as the obstacles/characters. But there’s a bit more to it than that. JS&B has some good personality to go with it. It has some fun characters, all of the levels are demonstrative of the areas you’re in on the world map, it even has a couple lightly emotional moments! It’s much more than you’d expect from a game about Just Shapes & Beats. When I was younger and had vague dreams to make games, I always imagined making one that was basically “What if a Windows Visualizer was trying to kill you?” and also be themed around a world and a story, and JS&B is basically that.

#5: Pipe Push Paradise

What happens when you take Pipe Dream, an iconic puzzler which has given inspiration to countless others, and mix it with Stephen's Sausage Roll, arguably one of the greatest puzzle games of all time? You get Pipe Push Paradise, of course! That’s all I really have to say, and all I NEED to say.

#4: Dead Cells

Go play Dead Cells. Really, it’s the closest thing to a perfect Rogue-like (that isn’t Spelunky) out there right now. It’s a game so good, Filip Miucin couldn’t look away from it long enough to write his own review!

#3: Subnautica

If I had the opportunity to become a Fishman and live underwater, I’d probably take it. As long as you take out the jellyfish that can kill you .0001 seconds after stinging you, I have no qualms with open water. In fact, the isolated feeling from it is really relaxing to me. That’s what initially drew me to Subnautica. Survival games are usually hit or miss for me, but the ones I like I really dive deep into (Heh heh), and Subnautica is one of those. Also, I was rewatching the Super Mario Bros. Super Show on Netflix as I played this, so now I’ll have those two permanently linked in my mind from now on.

#2: Into The Breach

I love tactics games, especially Advance Wars. While I do still love others in the genre like Fire Emblem or X-COM, there are some intricacies of the AW series that most of the others don't have. When I first heard about Into The Breach, I thought it would be exactly what I wanted, a true successor to the series I'd been waiting for. And it was not! But it's still pretty damn good. It's not so much a tactics game as it is a puzzle game, described by Waypoint's own Austin Walker as a "tactical dance". You know at the start of each turn where each enemy is going to attack, and it's your job to navigate and attack with your 3 mech units in the exact right way to minimize or even straight up prevent any damage that would befall you or the cities you're protecting. You aren't trying to advance a map during combat, or conquer any enemy bases. You are merely trying to avoid damage for a certain amount of turns and move on to the next level. And it's all super fun! I've let the game sit for 10, 20 minutes while I try and figure out every possible option I have after being backed into a corner, and coming up with the absolute perfect solution and getting through to the other side is super satisfying. The biggest gripe I have with Into The Breach is the same one I had for FTL, the developer's last game, which is I don't think the unlockable mechs/mech teams are as fun as the default ones. I played most of them once or twice and went "Yeah, that's a thing" and migrate back to the first mech team. All in all, Into The Breach is a fantastic game, it just doesn't scratch that Advance Wars itch I've been feeling. Oh well, at least there's still Wargroove!

#1: Celeste

Celeste is a game I got 100% completion in. For those of you who might not know me well enough to know how I play games, that’s something that never happens. I think the last time I purposely got 100% on a game was in Uncharted 2, and even that was only to get a skin for multiplayer. Despite that, it’s been really difficult for me to write up a whole thing about why I love Celeste so much. It’s just a compilation of everything. I love the look of it, both the sprite work and the character portraits. The music, as mentioned before, is fantastic and perfectly fitting for all of the levels themes which deal in different forms of anxiety or self-doubt. The levels are hard, but not too hard. The secrets hidden throughout the game are so satisfying to figure out and find, very reminiscent of Braid. I feel confident in saying that Celeste has cemented itself as one of my favorite games of all time.

Well, that’s all I can handle writing for this year. Thanks to the few of you who skimmed through all this, and extra thanks to the fewer of you who read all of it! I’m not 100% sure if I’ll do this whole shpeel next year or not; maybe if 2019 turns out to be an incredible year for games, and definitely not if I have to move to Twitter in the off-chance Tumblr dies out completely. Hope you all had a fun holiday season, and have a great 2019! 

[krixwell-liveblogs]

Arc Thoughts: Prey

In which everyone hunts everyone else.

There’s one big question Arc 14 of Worm has left me with: How do these Arcs just keep getting better?

I mean seriously, let’s look back at the progression in this Arc:

14.1: In which we got attempted mind games from Cherish and learned that someone among the Undertravelers (probably Trickster) has a potentially lethally upsetting secret. Only one of the weakest chapters in the Arc because the rest were so good.

14.2: Solid rescue operation of one of my favorite characters from Siberian.

14.3: Epic chase scene, and excellent Amy development.

14.4: In which Jemily Piggot is delightfully devious and Amy continues to be fantastic with her latest contribution of Atlas the giant beetle.

14.5: Taylor and Weld fighting together nearly seamlessly, big asshole kitty getting some much-needed attention, fantastic tension as the Undertravelers try to escape the blast zone, Taylor learns to fly... So much good stuff.

14.6: That Amy and Victoria scene was so good! Honorary mentions: Taylor’s tangent about eating bugs and Regent being beautifully on the ball.

14.7: Some pacing/tension issues drag this one down, but the descriptions of the Bakuda barrage was amazing.

14.8: AND THIS IS WHERE THE ARC WENT FROM GOOD TO FUCKING AMAZING. The miasma is one of the best concepts Bonesaw could drop on the city and I love it so damn much. Honorary mention: Sundancer’s spiel on being alone and the way it ties in beautifully with what was about to happen to her and everyone else.

14.9: AND THEN IT JUST GOT EVEN BETTER (even if I was being a bit of a dunce)

14.10: Really good dialogue between Jack and Amy as he tried to get her to betray her morals and join up, followed by a pretty good hallway knife/gun-- wait a minute. Jack. Literally brought a knife to a gun fight. Or was it Taylor who brought a gun to a knife fight?

14.11: Well that’s certainly a way to go about curing Rachel and Lisa! And then there’s Jack’s parting message and Cherish’s fate.

Interlude 14: Sierra Interlude? Don’t mind if I do! I had some trouble getting through the earlier parts of the Interlude but once Taylor showed up things got really good.

Interlude 14.5: LEGEND IS SO GOOD FOR KID WIN. Shame they’re probably not getting another chance to talk. ...oh yeah, and the Triumvirate are working with Cauldron despite two of them apparently knowing what’s up. That’s a pretty good curveball reveal. BUT KID WIN GUYS

In short, really fucking good Arc. Quite possibly the best one so far, even!

This was the climax to the Slaughterhouse Nine plotline (though Jack at least will likely become relevant again when we find out how he dooms the world), which has been going for 3.5 (or 5, depending where you count from) Arcs now, and I really think Wildbow nailed it. The miasma was a really amazing way to end this sequence, and I appreciate just how unwilling the Nine were to give in, how much they had to be whittled down before they left - it made it feel like this was an amazing accomplishment by the protagonists even though the core of Nine ultimately got away.

Even if Taylor doesn’t feel that way. Taylor is weird about acknowledging her accomplishments, though it all makes perfect sense with regards to her character.

The Arc title

Everyone was indeed Prey, except maybe the Protectorate. And even they were caught in the miasma.

The Undertravelers hunted Siberian, who hunted Amy. The PRT/Piggot hunted the Nine and the Undertravelers, and when parts of the Nine slipped away from the Protectorate, the Undertravelers took up that hunt (after being Crawler’s and the PRT’s prey at the same time), while Legend was hunting Siberian. And so it went on until the miasma struck and made everyone downtown the Nine’s prey in a sense (not that that’s much of a change from the norm), as well as feel like everyone else’s prey. Jack tried to prey on Amy’s insecurities. Then we had Taylor hunting the Nine again at the end, though they ultimately got away.

Sierra and Charlotte avoided the miasma and even they ended up as prey for the metaphorical ravens.

Prediction review

Rolling over all the way from Arc Thoughts: Infestation:

And, if someone attempts to kill Jack Slash, they will either fail, or do it too late.

Yeeah, nobody succeeded at that. Anyone who manages to do it later in the story will be too late according to Dinah. I’m going to consider this one proven correct.

And now for predictions from Arc Thoughts: Snare:

Due to an accident while writing the End of Interlude 13 post yesterday, I know the title, or original title if it has been changed, of Arc 14: Prey.

Who’s the prey, exactly? After hearing Piggot’s plan, I’m inclined to think it’s both the local villains and the Slaughterhouse Nine. The Nine are at the bottom of the parahuman food chain for a change, being hunted by the Undertravelers and the Protectorate, but the PRT is also hunting the Undertravelers and other local villains.

I suppose there’s still civilians under the Nine on the overall food chain, but the Nine have already been preying on them quite a lot, so that shouldn’t be enough for an Arc title.

…oh. Oh, right.

I was already going to predict that Siberian was going to be in the spotlight next Arc, because of the focus she got in Interlude 13. Of course that ties in with the title Prey. She’s probably the next tester, which means the nominees are going to be her prey.

That doesn’t invalidate the other interpretation, though. I’m inclined to think both are correct.

I think I was right here, except I was thinking too specifically. I later added that everyone’s prey, in the chapter thoughts of 14.1.

So is the next Arc going to give the spotlight to only Siberian, among the Nine? The Nine’s numbers have been reduced enough that Wildbow can do that now, especially if they continue being reduced.

No. At the time I was writing this, I still thought the plotline might go on for a bunch more Arcs.

I don’t think the Undertravelers are going to let up on their ongoing assault against the Nine, but Taylor might start being a tad more cautious thanks to Grue’s input. Maybe that’s what ends up saving them from the Protectorate’s explosive backstab?

I haven’t really seen her be that notably more cautious, really. And the thing that ended up saving them was Piggot tipping her hand while making sure they’d all go into the blast zone.

And finally, I think there’s a good chance we’ll finally learn what the Travelers’ deal is. Hell, if my theories on that are anywhere near right, that might even be another reason for the title.

Not yet, but we’re definitely building up to it, what with the massive secret and the Sundancer development. Roll over.

From a post made shortly after Arc Thoughts: Snare:

Oh yeah, one more prediction for Prey: I suspect one or more of the minor protagonists is/are going to die to Siberian, or at least get mauled. Maybe even one of the major protagonists. This would mirror the Case 01 video, perhaps even closely.

The Nine have actually been remarkably non-lethal to the named characters. They’ve slayed hundreds, maybe thousands of redshirts civilians, but only, what, five characters whose names we knew? Four of which were incredibly unsympathetic? Though some more may have died in the miasma.

Predictions for Arc 15 before reading the title

This is a hard one. There’s not much to go on as far as where the story is headed next.

It’s possible we’re about to learn more about the Travelers, but I doubt that’s the main plot. Likewise, I don’t think dealing with the Chosen is that big of a deal for Taylor at this point, especially since they’ve lost their leader.

It is also very possible that we’re heading into the second boss battle Arc, though it’d be a bit curious that no strong indication of that (except Eidolon mentioning that another Endbringer strike was due soon) appeared at the end of Prey like what happened at the end of Buzz. If we are heading into that territory next Arc or in Arc 16, I think we’re in for the Simurgh attacking Brockton Bay.

If she does, we might see some of the characters start to question why two Endbringers would attack the same location in a row like that, lending more credibility to Coil’s “Noelle draws Endbringers” theory.

I suppose it’s also entirely possible that the miasma was the boss battle of this section and we’re not getting attacked by all three Endbringers like I’ve been theorizing, in which case we’d be moving into an Interlude Arc.

But that’d feel kind of anticlimactic, even though Prey was a fantastic climax to the Slaughterhouse Nine plotline, and unless the chapters in the Interlude Arc were themed like the ones in Sentinel, it’d call into question why we had two Interludes in Prey. Though that can still be explained by thematics and threads, wanting Legend’s Interlude to be clearly tied to Prey.

So yeah, I’m not really sure what to expect. Let’s see if the Arc title gives me any ideas, shall we?

Predictions for Arc 14: Colony

Colony. That, to me, sounds like we’ll be focusing on the rebuilding of Taylor’s territory and its community for a while. Maybe all the territories, even, turning the city into the Undertravelers’ colony?

But that sounds like a really anticlimactic premise on its own. We may focus on that, but something needs to not go smoothly to make the Arc interesting. It needs more conflict than just “how do we fix up this building”. Dealing with the Chosen still doesn’t sound all that interesting after tangoing with the Nine.

I’m not saying I expect the upcoming Arc to be boring. I’m saying that if I’m right about what the title implies, I don’t really know how Wildbow is going to prevent that. I do trust that he will, though, in some way.

Perhaps the title is less literal. Maybe it’s about the cohesiveness and cooperation as the heavily hurt and fractured people of Brockton Bay band together to defend their colony, their home, against the Simurgh or another threat?

Or maybe it’s a colony in the sense of an additional area taken and controlled from afar? But I can’t imagine Taylor wants to take another piece of territory, away from her current one.

This next Arc is very hard to speculate on, jeez. In any case, I’m looking forward to starting on it and finding out what’s actually going on. See you soon!