#let me fight the other magical overpowered hero spirits

[homopsychology]

sorry but i actually hate this guy

[kathybluecaller]

The submitted version of Smile Force that landed me and @flannagus , as well as two other friends, 5th place for a national competition!!

This initial cut was rather rushed and unfortunately doesn’t contain audio (the song we originally intended to use would have violated the copyright rules and none of use wanted to be disqualified so we ditched it and hoped for the best)

A simple summary of the plot: In a world where three spirits run around wrecking havoc a group of mascots come in to save the day! The villains target adults and through putting them in a bad mood upset the children. Smile Force, consisting of Qubchee (cheese porcupine drummer), Oliver S. Stonks (account bird sax player), Roland Buck (horse plumber guitarist), and Vickey Buck (horse plumber keytarist), make it their sole mission to combat the forces of evil using their musical based powers and bring back the much needed good mood.

Behind the scenes stuff: The prompt we were given was superheroes but figured going with typical powers/appearance would blend in with other submissions. So instead we took inspiration from Twrp and Japanese mascots cause why not. I had already competed to some degree before and humor seems to go a long way so any silly idea was a good idea. Japanese mascots are what inspired the character designs, it helped with standing out as they wouldn’t be human, the silliness came from the fact that often Japanese mascots have rather odd combinations/roles.

A major influence was Nyango Starr, who is an apple possessed by a dead cat who plays heavy metal drums. That seemed absurd enough for a character and had the added bonus of inspiring us to give the characters music based powers. (there’s also this one futon song Nyango Starr plays that inspired the initial idea of lullaby rock song. The thought of Dragon Force music centered for kids is what made us name the hero gang Smile Force: Guardians of Laughter. The look on my friends faces when I told them the other half of the team name is a Twrp reference🤣)

Twrp lore inspired the whole fighting off dastardly haters (sworn enemies of the fun who are bent on hatering them and ungroovifying the world at large). Since the heroes would be fighting for the happiness of the children of the world we initially thought of the villains to be adults kids normally wouldn’t like. A mean teacher, a dentist, your mom. We later came to realize three random people wouldn’t really have that much of an impact on a what is in universe a global scale. So the villains then evolved into The Specters who go by Yo-kai Watch logic, basically they consist of three emotions, Anger, Sadness, and Disappointment, and by slapping a mask onto an adult pass on that negative emotion.

Back to the heroes them being mascots is rather funny to me if this were to be expanded. In universe everyone thinks it’s just some guy in costume but no that is a literal cartoon horse with a magic keytar. Anyway Qubchee came to be because flannagus suggested a porcupine while I was eating an absurd amount of cheese. The character was given the drums just cause(?) not much to it. We had a list of instruments and animals we wanted to use and one of them was a triangle. It would have originally been given to a horse mascot and be beyond overpowered (the scene I had in my head was basically with a single strike destroy a universe levels of power). The reason behind any of this was because of that one dummer that plays the buckets in the bathtub with a horse head on (horse percussionist) we already had a percussionist so we let go of the idea. I did want a pair of sorts because of Chiitan and Shinjo-kun (it’s so funny to me seeing Chiitan on the blue bird app after all this) going with otters seemed to much of a direct inspiration so instead we went back to horses. An early suggestion from a teacher was giving them everyday jobs since you know, they’re mascots, so that’s how the horse twin plumbers came to be (later people would point out ‘like Mario and Luigi?’ and while no I did think it’d be funny if they stared at the camera while fixing a sink) for the instrument by now we had 1 standard instrument and 1 not as much (the saxophone). To keep it even we gave Roland Buck (the brother) a guitar and Vickey Buck (the sister) a keytar

(the twrp references are always there)

btw Roland got his name from the Roland Ax-Synth (what inspired the design of Vickey’s keytar +the Casio AZ-1) while Vickey got her name from what inspired Roland’s guitar (the Flying V). Lastly there’s Oliver S. Stonks who was created while I was storyboarding. We had thought of making one of the members have a saxophone and I really wanted to have a bird character. The same teacher who had suggested plumber also brought up an office worker. With that my 10pm brain thought it’d be funny to make Oliver a tired accountant (because of my aunt). I had given them the tired look but a friend drew they’re version of Oliver with the swirl glasses and so we went with their everyday appearance having the glasses and then taking them off when fighting.

Visual development: Once we had the story and characters we had to figure out how the heck this was going to look like. I struggled with this a lot pushing it back till the very end (and unfortunately doing the entire production phase two weeks before the deadline. note to self never do that again). Trying to tie it all together and prioritizing our main goal of this being a childlike wonder, I landed on making it appear as though a kid had made this. That at home feel was created by using cheap material (literally every physically drawn background is crayola to some degree) some were more simple and was a plan scrap book paper sheet. A lot of notebook paper was used as well. Shots with what was meant to be comic panels were cut out black card stock. My favorite background(s) was the colorful ones used for the transformation scene. It was a bunch of cut out transparent sticky notes

I bit of a node to the album cover(?) of the song we didn’t end up using (Get A Ban Ban, the Japanese opening to one of the Pokémon XY seasons)

The entire mixed media idea came by complete accident/exploration. It was winter break, I was still finishing up the storyboard, I had a single page outline, and unfortunately got the good ol’ art block. Watching Evangelion got me in the mood to animate traditionally and one Strive animation wip later I decided the initial first cut would be done on paper (had my light pad underneath and a text book with a nice pattern)

Early on I had planned the last shot to close like a book Spider-Verse style and after viewing this whole thing as something a kid did for fun I finished off the short exactly like that. The fade into a physical object that was stop motioned to give that whole ‘we’ve just left the imaginary world’ and the pages that flip through the end are a panel for panel retelling of the events in the short. To add to it ‘Guardians’ was totally misspelled to seem like a kid wrote it (and definitely not because I was speed writing at 2am ._.) Anyway it is now currently 2am and I shall continue may rambles at another time (I do however have a little bonus)

Random stuff: Qubchee is the only one without a proper transformation, instead of a different outfit they’re sudden expressiveness contrasts they’re usually blank face so much everyone is like ‘yeah that’s totally someone else’. It wasn’t till getting ready for the national event that we brought up the fact I had never really given any of them genders(?) The only one I had confirmed in my head was Vickey being a girl and that’s about it. Roland I see as a guy and honestly Oliver gives me non binary vibes. To quote my friend ‘well they are colorful’ (they are all queer your honor) Qubchee I genuinely don’t know that’s just a lil blorbo (pats them on the head) Their names came about through a conversation with my siblings while on a car ride back home. It was fun :] Vickey has infinite pocket space and uses her tools (typically the wrench) and moves it around with her music (inspired by the brooms/mops that move around in Fantasia) expanding on her naming coming from that of the Flying V I figured she’d also have that as a nickname as I see her doing this one trick from the Daicon IV film (but with a wrench instead of a sword)

We had planned as part of the booth during the national showcase to have a cereal box prop to give the whole Saturday morning cartoon vibe (Oliver eats all the cereal in the comic on the back) and we were going to make a whole physical copy of the short, burn it on a dvd with a menu and everything, but umm… the digital nightmare struck

I will most definitely continue this project to some degree (and touch up the short and release what I guess you could call the directors cut) if your still reading thank you :] (lemme know what you think about it cause I still got loads to say👀)

(also sorry for any spelling mistakes/straight up not making sense cause again its 2am)

[omegaray45]

Excuse this ramble but... There is a distinct lack of wholesome, character relationship centered Isekai's out there.

And no, I don't mean romantic relationships. I mean where is a story about four friends who are simultaneously warped from their home to a fantasy world? Where is a story about them learning to live in this new world, fulfilling the traditional roles of a fantasy genre as they travel? Where's the moments where they huddle around a campfire, reminiscing about their first adventure and how they nearly lost the reward because they forgot that the gold statue that was the objective had to be spotless and one of them put it at the bottom of their bag along with the moldy sauce they forgot to throw out?

Legitimately, too many isekai focus about power fulfillment instead of friendship. The power of friendship is overused as well, but you don't really see slow progressing, slice of life stories about friends learning and traveling together as if it was a road trip but with swords and magic.

Frieren; Beyond Journey's End is a great example of this. Beyond all the conflict with demons and the inevitable fights that take place against them, at it's core it's a story about people. About how people effect other people and how one should value their relationships with other people even if their perception of time is so vastly skewed that it's hard for them to realize how they feel toward said people.

I'll reiterate; give me a story like Rising of the Shield Hero, but instead of every other hero being foolish and choosing to form their own parties, they have some common sense and think "Hey, we all have the basic components of a fantasy party, let's work together" and then traveling together. Give me a story where they have enough common sense to recognize that something is off about the certain shady people they meet, and then bouncing that idea off their other three party members so the issue is resolved with efficiency and it bringing them all closer together. Give me moments where an outsider, a healer perhaps, tags along for a few days and they're struck just by how friendly and close knit they are. That they click so well with each other that if they use their heads and work as a team, there is literally no obstacle they cannot overcome.

Most of all, if you want drama, expose these friends to something that would strain friendships in real life. Have one of them consumed by their own thoughts, to the point they don't think the others like them. Have it grow progressively worse over time until it gets to the point a cursed artifact uses it against them, and they must fight their now brainwashed friend to free them of it's control. Have them reassure their friend that they ARE still important to them, and that they would never abandon them for the petulant reasons the little voice in their head gives.

Alternatively, if you'd like to twist the knife, present an equally likely scenario. Have one of those friends give in to their darker urges permanently. They betray their friends and defect for whatever horrible reason they have, whether it be riches or a seductive individual or simply power. Have the friends who were betrayed foster an unreasonable hatred because above all, their friend abandoned their relationship and bonds in favor of something fleeting. The traitor may or may not come to regret their decision, but what never changes is that they still gave in, and that wound will need work to heal.

Sorry, this is overly long. Basically; give me friends in fantasy settings. No more of this overpowered harem fantasy fulfillment. Give me people who form bonds with one another, and stick together for as long as possible so they can cherish the warm and happy memories they make. Give me friends who work together to beat their next biggest enemy or solve their most complex puzzle. Give me the epitome of the human spirit of connection with each other, and how it opens the way to a brighter future.

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Rpg Anon: Still haven't finished the Remnants or the next thing I said I would do but I just had another idea. Mod, what do you think we should name certain characters' ultimate weapons? For example, what would Leon's best baseball and bat be called, or Mahiru's camera, or Peko's sword, or whatever weapon category Makoto's and Hajime's are classified as, etc. To save time, let's not discuss what their weapons would be.

//Still not in the mood to get political today so I’ll just do this instead. I don’t know if there are weapon types/classes in the RPG, but I’ll divide them up anyway to make it easier for me.

//I also forgot which characters were planned out and which weren’t, so I’m just doing whoever I can think of.

Unarmed/Fists (Characters who don’t need anything other than their fists to do the talking):

Makoto - Hands of Hope

Hina - Pool Punchers

Mondo - Unbreakable Diamond Fists

Taka - Justice Thrusters

Sakura - Fists of the East Moon

Hajime/Izuru - Jabberwok Defender

Akane - Rambunctious Rough-‘em-Ups

Nekomaru - Show some Spirit

Nagito - Hands of “Ultimate Hope”

Bandai - Hands of the Land

Koichi - Drunken Boxing

Tenko - “Taste the Wrath of NEO AIKIDO”

Kaito - Star Pummeller

Gonta - Reptite Wrath

Masaru - Hero Hands

Yuta - Brotherly Beats

Yuki - Divine Punisher

Yukari - Two minds, one mess

Narumi - Gauntlets of Gross

Kazoumi - Punk Punishers

Ayumu - Wall Breakers

Mikoto - Muscle Mesher

Mitsunari - Uma and Shika

Eje - Punk-Ass Protector

Leona - Sizeable Threat

Breakers (Characters who rely on physical quick attacks, almost like dance moves, and also primarily use their legs (some have unique weapons)):

Toko - Toko Taser (Uses the Taser as an additional weapon, and also this is her when she’s not Genocide Jill. She gets her own one.)

Ibuki - Black Cherry Cha-Cha

Hiyoko - Bladed Fan Dance (as implied by the name, she uses bladed fans like that one Power Ranger)

Akeru - Ninja Nightmare

Setsuka - Evil Eye Ass-Beating

Kego - Low-blow fro’

Aruma - Lashes of Love (She uses a whip with her style)

Kibin - Lonely Lashing

Hunter - Breakdance Backbreaker

Ranged/Pistoleer (Characters who use a firearm or two):

Kyoko - Gun of the Gloved Detective

Byakuya - Puissant pistolet Togami

Fuyuhiko - Kuzuryu Killing Blow

Ryuji/Imposter - Puissant pistolet Twogami

Kokichi Ouma - Dual Intense Cartridge Evoker’s (DICE) (He dual wields)

Nagisa - Sage Shooter

Taichi - Desperate Destroyer

Yoruko - Desperate Measures

Tsurugi - Kinjo Killjoy’s

Rei - Incompetance Annihilators

Teruya - Tarnation Cessation

Ryutaro/Keisuke/Midori/Minako - Kisaragi Foundation Firearm (they all share the same weapon)

Syobai - Brokeback Blaster

Assassin (Arms consist of both a small weapon, like a dagger or baton, as well as a small firearm. Can fight at both close and mid-range)

Genocide Jill - Jill’s Trusty Genoscissors

Mukuro - Fabled Fenrir Gear

Shuichi - Saihara’s Stuff (is significantly less agile than other Assassin-class characters, and wields a pistol and baton)

Maki - Ultimate Assassin Armaments

Ryoma - Tennis History (Has a tennis racket. Can attack with it physically, and hit at range with tennis balls. Put in this class because he’s physically quick.)

Tsumugi - Potentially Deadly Props

Matta - Mysterious Malice

Special (Characters who’s attacks are based on strange unnatural powers that are unrealistic and can’t typically be sensed normally. This is the category of most of the musician characters who fight with music.)

Sayaka - Miraculous Microphone

Hifumi - Otaku Overpower

Celeste - Gambling Blaze

Gundham - Seal Unleashed (He fights a bit like Heizou in Genshin, with punches and kicks imbued with magic. He also summons animals to help him)

Himiko - Magic Castle Staff

Angie - Atua Light of Power (same as Gundham. Attacks with art tools like chisels and hammers imbued with magical power)

Taichi - Datamine Damager

Mikako - Onmyodo Onslaught

Mikado - Monster of Utsuroshima

Iroha - Arts and Crafts

Marin - Playful Forecast

Uchui - Alternate Attacker

Oliver - The Fang’s Fury

//I will make the second half later because it’s really taxing to do this on my phone.

-Mod

[phantaloon-books]

(some) Riordanverse characters (bc I never read TKC) and which Hogwarts House I think they would be in

Warning: this is a long one

Nico: the dude is definitely Gryffindor without a doubt. Like Sorting isn't about some traits and some characteristics, it's about core personality. He may have gone through some of the roughest stuff when he was 10-12, and he was resentful and bitter, but he was brave and bold af throughout everything he did. From learning about his powers, to using them relentlessly despite knowing how exhausted he is afterwards, to his willingness to do whatever is necessary to do what has to be done, because it has to be done. You can't change my mind that he's Gryffindor lol.

Grover: Do I even need to explain why he's Gryffindor? He's a satyr, and even if we're shown strong satyrs, they're not really supposed to be brave fighters. Yet he is one of the strongest, bravest nature spirits we've ever encountered in the Riordanverse, and one of the bravest in general. Like he's so passionate about doing what is good, he's a hero, and the only thing he doesn't match with common Gryffindors is that he's humble and as far from arrogant as could be possible, but it doesn't take his courage away.

Hazel: She's Gryffindor, and core personality-wise, she and Nico are very much alike. They don't ever think about themselves, like Hazel really always does what has to be done, no matter the cost, I mean she literally died preventing Gaea to rise the first time, and she freed Thanatos while believing he would take her back to the Underworld. She's brave af, and she has one of the most strong willpower we've seen in the Riordanverse. She's a passionate hero, and she's the closest thing to a real knight in shining armor.

Lester: I'm gonna place him in Gryffindor because I don't think he fits in in the other houses lmao. That said, as Apollo he's very shitty, but as Lester, he's one of the most courageous people. He's grown so much, he's so willing to actually do stuff now, and sacrifice everything to do what's right, including his life, even if he doesn't know he's gonna survive. Hell, he really went most of TTT with an incredibly painful wound that nearly turned him undead, and he cared more for the future of Camp Jupiter than his own life. Additionally, he's a bit arrogant and cocky, but he truly means well, I love Lester so much.

Clarisse: Look look, all I have to say is that no one could have pulled off less than half the stuff Clarisse has done, she's so Gryffindor it hurts. She's reckless and impulsive, but she's driven by her passion to do good, even if she's the daughter of war, and was bullied by her own father. She's daring, she's bold and she is the hero. She's also arrogant and thinks she can solve everything by herself, something characteristic more of the canon Gryffindors in the books, rather than what the fans have shaped. In fact, she's very much like Gryffindors in the books, who are actually very rude to other houses and think they're the best. Still, at heart, she's in this house.

Alex: I'm in a huge dilemma about where to put them, but I reckon they'd fit pretty fine in Gryffindor. Not only are they daring and courageous, they're proud of who they are, but not in a too full of themselves kind of way, rather in a 'I am who I am, and if you can't accept me, fuck off' kind of way. They can get carried away rather easily though, and very arrogant, thinking they don't need anyone else, when they do in fact need some company. They are one of the kindest and at the same time most ambitious characters we've met, but they are brave beyond understanding in a very personal way, thus, Gryffindor.

Percy: I think it's fair to say he'd be Hufflepuff, because loyalty is literally his fucking fatal flaw, and he is the kindest sweetheart to all those who deserve it, he goes out of his way to help those who need help, whether that be mortals, halfbloods, gods, magical creatures or even his own enemies. He's too good for this world, and even if he's grown a bit bitter, he always looks to fight justly for what is right, and never loses faith in others. That, and the fact that he turned down immortality so that the olympians were more inclusive of minor gods, and their children were treated better. He's just a lovely soul, he's like 80% Hufflepuff so that's enough for me. All that and he's stubborn as hell.

Jason: Hufflepuff. Just, undoubtedly Hufflepuff. Like he seems to be this cold and self centered hero with a superiority complex (bc of all the son of Jupiter stuff) but he's the softest guy there is. Not only is he hardworking, open minded and kind, he appreciates justice but he doesn't seek for revenge or anything, he makes sure people are treated fairly and wants everyone to be accepted. Proof of that is how he continued Percy's job of including more gods, and made sure Nico felt comfortable with who he was. He truly has a heart of gold. (He deserved better btw)

Meg: God I can't decide between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, but I think I'll go with the former. She's so strong, my baby, she's faced so much wrong, but she's still so kind and understanding of others, especially those who deserve kindness. She puts up such a hard facade, but she's so patient and warm and inclusive. She's brave and strong (as strong as the big three kids, if not stronger), but she's also so loyal to her beliefs despite how she was forced someone else's beliefs for years, so I'll keep her in Hufflepuff. Also, she's stubborn af, and she can be lazy, so that settles it.

Will: I KNOW some people will say Will could be in other houses that are not Hufflepuff, BUT I won't have it any other way. Will is literally the warmest person ever. He is kind and sympathetic and enthusiastic and patient and inclusive. Like Helga Hufflepuff would take one look at him and lose her shit screaming "mine". He's the guy who saw the son of Hades so many people were scared of and immediately grabbed his hand and transfered him some warmth and didn't let him go ahead and get himself killed. He's also the one who everyone loves and likes, so much that Clarisse gets along with him and he can calm her down. He's the ideal Hufflepuff, you can't change my mind.

Magnus: I mean, what else can you expect from the son of the god of summer? He's literally a guy who heals others with warmth. He's also the guy who spent years on the street with the most difficult situations, and accepts every single person the way they are. He's inclusive af, and tolerant of everything. He's the guy who's closest include a deaf elf, a Muslim valkyrie, and a black dwarf, and he's dating a genderfluid person. Yes he's brave, and he's kinda smart, and he's ambitious, BUT none of those qualities overpower his Hufflepuff nature.

Piper: Kinda debated whether Gryffindor or Ravenclaw fits more, but in the end I went with Ravenclaw. Even though she isn't a fighter, she's very very brave, yet her bravery isn't compared to her wits. Like others in the PJOverse, she wins her fights by outsmarting her opponents, but unlike others that's one of her strongest traits. She's witty and creative and a little on the negative side, she really struggled to work in a group rather than by herself. On another note, she's able to keep calm in crazy situations and come up with the craziest most unthinkable solutions (I'm talking borderline ridiculous) that always somehow work. She's not booksmart, but she knows so much about everything, and she's lifesmart you know?

Reyna: Why are some of these so hard? Deeply debating whether she'd be Ravenclaw or Slytherin. In the end I'd go more for Ravenclaw though. Reyna's smart as hell, she's strong and sharp, and she always sees the best way out of a situation. She's witty and observant, being able to keep her cool in battle and lead others in the best direction. She's always looking to grow, and she prefers to do things on her own, but she's a great leader. She has some Slytherin qualities, and she's not learning as learning oriented as others, but she's definitely Ravenclaw.

Sam: Let's face it, Sam has the only active neurons in all of MCGA, she's definitely Ravenclaw. I'm gonna be honest though, I've only read MCGA once, so I can't remember much of their personalities, but Sam is witty and clever, pretty much the only one who can come up with competent plans, while the others rely mostly on luck and whatever plan they can cook up in 5 seconds. She's loyal and true to who she is, and she's extremely courageous and proud of who she is, but her sharpness is what she stands out for me, which is why I put her in Ravenclaw.

Annabeth: I know the obvious option is Ravenclaw, but I genuinely think she's also Slytherin. Yes she is booksmart and wise like Ravenclaw, but her personality matches Slytherins' ambitious, cunning and resourceful nature. She's smart as fuck, but she's calculative, she always finds a way to end up winning, and while she does so by outsmarting her opponents, she wouldn't need to outsmart them if she weren't so competitive. I feel like there's this 40/60 odds on Slytherin rather than Ravenclaw, but it's that small difference that counts. Plus her leadership skills are so powerful that people don't ask, they just know she's the boss.

(Also just picture the sweet and loyal Hufflepuff boy with the strong and cunning Slytherin girl, like it should be as opposite as it is with Poseidon and Athena, but they're so cute)

Leo: Idk what you can expect that's not Slytherin. This boy is the embodiment of ambition and determination. Reminder that not all Slytherins are bad btw (I'm slytherin myself), but like he's life smart and cunning, and he can analyze situations faster than anyone else. He's charismatic and talented, and there's no one to stop him from triumphing. I don't have much to say, I just know he'd be in Slytherin.

Rachel: She's kinda a difficult one, and I struggle between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and tbh I'm still not sure. But I think I'd place her in Slytherin, because even if she's brave af (especially since she was a mortal fighting in a war out of her power), her main trait is her determination. When she's set on something, she gets it done. You can't tell her she can't do something, because she will find a way to do it. She's kind, and she's only a mortal, but she still has incredible power unlike any other. I don't think I can really name it, but I think she'd be put on Slytherin with much difficulty from the Sorting Hat.

Luke: Where else could Luke possibly go? On the meaner side Slytherins have created themselves, Luke would be part of those misled by who preceded them, by those who want to take advantage of their mistreatment (bc let's face it, Slytherins are mistreated by both students and Hogwarts staff), and turn them cold and bitter. Luke is ambitious and manipulative, being manipulated himself, and it comes easily because of his natural charisma and talent. He's very freaking determined and cunning too. He'd fit right into Slytherin, but he'd be viewed as one of the rotten lot.

Thalia: I don't have much to say about this, but Thalia is the girl whose fatal flaw is their desire for power (or smth along those lines), just like most Slytherins. She's ambitious, she's smart, she's truly talented, she stands out between the rest, and she knows it, and she actually kinda likes it.

(Also I put Annabeth, Thalia and Luke in the same house because they're all kinda similar, even if their beliefs and postures are different.

Frank: Ngl I'm having more difficulty with Frank than anyone else. I'm kinda torn between Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. I literally can't choose. He'd fit perfectly in any of them lmao, I just can't decide where he'd go. You decide this one yourself.

Please keep in mind, this is my personal opinion and my take on the characters, and not all of you will agree, and that's fine! You can let me know what you think (kindly please, don't come at me), and if you want to, send me an ask on a character you want me to do the same as these (as long as it's not TKC, I'M SORRY I haven't read those) go ahead, don't be shy!

[zelskzerker]

Mangadex went down so I read alot 2/7

Lets CONTINUE reviewing a bunch of isekai and related stuff I binged because mangadex went down. The scale will be a single thumbs up to a single thumbs down in terms of how much I would consider recommending it in general. Lot more to come, brace yourself future me who is reading this.

The Reincarnation Magician Of The Inferior Eyes

Chapters 1-55

This manga is FUCKING SHOCKING. [Insert reincarnation setup] but this time it is end tier level generic. I actually cannot believe the things that happen in this manga are so utterly within my prediction range. Calling the plot and characters lazy would not give this enough credit. It takes alot of force of will to produce something so utterly generic, devoid of spirit, bereft of theme and lacking in interesting setting. I keep reading only to be shocked SHOCKED at how basic the next fuckin plot point is. HOW FAR CAN THIS GO?!?! It is maddening. THUMBS DOWN.

The Reincarnation Magician Of The Inferior Eyes (Prequel)

Chapters 1-21

I cannot believe this. How is there a prequel. How is it even worse. Is this a test? Did Cthulu write this to drive me insane? HOW IS THERE A PREQUEL. This must be a personal attack. Who asked for this. Why.

Revival Game of Wandering Reincarnations

Chapters 1-20

Hmmm. This manga’s concept actually comes together and manages to have emotional highs and lows in a short amount of time. Where it doesn’t connect with me is how every arc completion in this ends with some plot-direction altering revelation about the world that its hard to grasp the theme. Its the best its concept allows I guess. THUMB SIDEWAYS. 

Do You Think Someone Like You Could Defeat the Demon Lord?

Chapters 1-8. 

THUMBS SIDEWAYS. Biggest problem here is how little is translated. Great trajectory, bad total amount of content. Gorey story of a former hero tricked into slavery by an evil member of the hero’s party. Using the knowledge she got there and her skill to reverse effects, she fights for a daily life with her new maid friend. Edgy dark and sweet yuri mix.

Start a leisurely lord life with a plant magic cheat After farming with the knowledge of the previous life, a reversal life began

Chapters 1-7

[Insert isekai startup here] but this time its about growing a town with MC’s OP plant growing magic. Nothing too interesting here, just slice of life slow town building. THUMB SIDEWAYS.

The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool "Asley"

Chapters 1-41

[Insert reincarnation setup] but this time he didn’t actually die, just hikki researched for waaay too long. 5000 years too long. He drank an immortality potion he accidentally made, so old age can’t kill him(he can only die when killed.) Firstly, the story has got alot of chapters which means it clearly goes through multiple arcs and scenarios that allow the grand narrative to start coming into perspective and show how the MC is going for it. Most notable thing about this is how much a comedy duo The Fool Asley and his Trusty Dog Pochi make. It is every chapter, sometimes hit or miss, so you have to be braced for constant back-and-forth comedy acts. For a reincarnation-esque series, Astley is not overpowered for the world. Or at least he really does not want to show off what he can do and has invented himself willy nilly. It is really interesting to see how he self-describes himself as an idiot and he is slow to learn and talentless, his only real advantage being his massive age. As long as you can take the comedy antics and the sometimes iffy art, THUMBS UP.

Exceeding limits can only be handled by reincarnated people

Chapters 1-5. 

Absolutely wild start, even though its isekai. THUMBS UP. For at least the first chapter. Skills in this world are mineable ores and each person only has 8 skill slots. Then of course the MC equips an ability that needed 10 slots. Story outside the inciting incident is cute shotasekai stuff. But damn chapter 1 pops off.

Saikyou Juzoku Tensei: Majutsu Otaku no Risoukyou

Chapters 1-20

So [insert isekai startup here] but this time the MC’s clan uses totems to teach magic, therefore MC mostly uses totem magic. Alot of this series is made up of weird ideas like that and the biggest hook I saw is the chapter 6 stinger of the clan having its siblings marry, the MC obviously hating it and running away, and the YOOOO part of his little sister being a yandere out to fuck him. Surprisingly interesting. THUMBS UP. 

Shadow Hero's Daily Life

Chapters 1-10

Displays and goes through the positivity in seeking revenge. One of the best complete expressions of the theme of “revenge” that I have ever read. A THUMBS UP based on that alone.

The Abandoned Hero is Going Home

Chapters 1-6

THUMBS DOWN. Eh. Not worth reading based on its incompleteness and hiatus.

Shokei Shoujo no Ikirumichi

Chapters 1-12

A well thought out world and story about an isekai slayer *coughcoughfuckisekaicheatslayercoughcough*. The world exists such that the isekai’d are many(relatively speaking) and are on a variable scale from good to bad. The only consistency about them being that their skills eventually grow out of control and instantiate nuclear-tier catastraphoes. So the MC is part of a group that assassinates them, before they know whats happening. Good depictions of present, past, and expectations of how the MC will grow given the recent isekai’d girl she meets and has to travel with because she can’t be killed by normal means. Also touches on how the assassins don’t neccessarily see themselves as good people. Some even see themselves as evil. THUMBS UP. Oh yeah also this is a yuri story so its anime as fuck and adorable.

Even Though I'm a Former Noble and a Single Mother, My Daughters Are Too Cute and Working as an Adventurer Isn’t Too Much of a Hassle

Chapters 1-8

Cute concept, but its kinda only it’s concept so far. Mom is a god tier semi-immortal and fights for her daughters. Maybe the revelation of mysteries later will be interesting but, its exactly as the title says. THUMBS SIDEWAYS.

Vermeil in Gold

Chapters 1-9

Gotta love these oneshota manga. Good design sense, really love Captain Kurys. Vermeil is shamelessly lewd and secretly tragic. This is a story that is going on constantly despite oneshota shenanigans every chapter. su-perb. THUMBS UP.

Ragna Crimson

Chapters 1-40

THUMBS UP. This manga is absolutely wild. It has 4 different scenarios, each which are so radically different in setting and then they just flip out into a totally different setting, making it impossible to predict the trajectory of the manga or what kind of arc will happen next. The only thing worth describing here is the MC with big himbo that is beqeauthed power from his future self in order to protecc his loli this time. Thusly, Ragna wants to kill every “dragon.” They say dragon, its more like vampires. Then there is Crimson, one of the strongest dragons who wants to hunt the 12 elites, and then at the end have Ragna hunt him. Issue being Ragna hates Crimson, because Crimson is absolutely evil. More evil the 12 elites but also more pragmatic to reel it in. The power system of the world is simple and described well so fights make sense. The real most amazing part here is the art and the concept behind fights. Probably the BEST ART of any manga on this entire list. From silly cute gags like the MC’s head being a sword or tsundere love antics to Crimson’s face as he commits a warcrime. As for one of the many amazing fight portrayls I while mention a time where Ragna has to fight an enemy for NINE SECONDS. So the whole chapter takes place over 9 seconds and there is a countdown timer in every other panel. FUCKING SUGOII.

[lordofcrowns]

                                    ➤   “If I were to warn you, what would I say...?”

C A P T A I N  C Y R I L  S T A C Y

Cyril is highly defensive, hard to hit, and extremely quick to punish anyone that gets in his melee range. Melee to mid-range is where he’s the most dangerous, because that puts his opponent both within bullwhip range, and grabbing range. In combat, Cyril’s motive is always to subdue his adversary, not to kill. His goal is to force them to surrender, and he will employ whatever nefarious and cruel tactics he must in order to manage this swiftly. He will grapple, choke, bruise, beat and break bones without hesitation if he has to.

His bullwhip is the weapon he’s the most proficient and dangerous with, as well as being the weapon with which he can inflict the most pain and fear. Typically his whip is used for crowd control - it is most often utilized to halt someone’s retreat. It’s common for people to attempt to flee, only to be tangled up in the coils and yanked back into Cyril’s range. It’s common for individuals to suffer dislocated joints or snapped limbs when this happens, to say nothing of the way the whip cuts into the skin upon latching onto them.

Once someone is stunned, entangled, or otherwise slowed enough for Cyril to get a firm grasp, he can use his right hand to shock them and effectively paralyze them long enough to shackle or bind them. In most encounters, once he’s shocked someone, unless there is outside intervention - the fight between those two is over.

U N T O U C H A B L E

While it’s no secret the Captain keeps his right eye covered, the reason as to why widely remains a mystery. Those oblivious to his name and reputation will typically assume he lost that eye somehow, or perhaps that he keeps it covered as some sailors prefer to do, to allow for better sight in the darkness below decks as well as to sharpen one’s aim. Few ask, as it’s of course terribly rude to pry into such things.

Those who do know of him will often insist the covered eye is magic, a source of power and the very thing that renders him “untouchable”. Rumors often circulate that this magic eye is also the source of the crackling lightning that sparks and manifests from his right hand, allowing him to knock people down for the count so easily once he merely gets a hold of them.

As if to deliberately reinforce the frankly wild belief and ridiculous rumors that he is invincible, Cyril outwardly bears no scars nor marks on his body.

[ bold for often  //  italicize for situational  //  strikethrough for never ]

commander /  duelist / “honorable” / dishonorable / would have others do their fighting /  stealthy  / long-ranged / melee / technological / sorcery / superhuman abilities /  has fought in an illegal tourney / a lover of fighting / a hater of fighting  / cowardly / reckless / strategic / uses underhanded tricks  / renowned for their skill / trained ( sword and shield ) /  untrained / keeps skills secret / won a battle / lost a battle / ruthless / merciful

╳   F L A W S

moody | short-tempered | emotionally unstable | whiny | controlling | conceited | possessive | paranoid | liar | impatient | cowardly | bitter | selfish | power-hungry | greedy | lazy | judgmental | forgetful | impulsive | spiteful | stubborn | sadistic | petty | unlucky

♔   S T R E N G T H S

honest | trustworthy | thoughtful | caring | brave | patient | selfless | ambitious | tolerant | lucky | intelligent | confident | focused | humble | generous | merciful | observant | wise | clever | charming | cheerful | optimistic | decisive | adaptive | calm | loyal

Tagged by:  @whitherliliesbloom​​​ & @windupzenos​​​ ( Thank you both! )

Tagging: @verdandir​ @manawalls​ @finalvalor​ @noscean-scholar​ @wanderlust-spirits​ @cero-tia​ @menphinasbow​ @windup-dragoon​ @thebratcat​ @mystellis​ @reshaepocan​ @pearlescent-scales​ @bastets-ocs​ @alun-ura​ @finalsongxiv​ @amurr-reha​ @ennochian​ @mieyun​ @deviri​ @ashadowatthefork​ @unmend​ @candideangel​ @alinteau​ @sati-ffxiv​ @bolt-from-the-dark​ @ishgardianblossom​ @shroudblessings​ @sunnythanalan​​ @windupnamazu​ & anyone else interested!

[ I know I’m a bit late on this one, so no pressure & if you’ve already done it / been tagged - my apologies. Also, please feel free to use me as your tagger even if I didn’t mention you, I would love to read more of these! ]

Full stat breakdown & continued Cyril related ramblings under the cut:

C O M B A T  M O D E :  C A P T A I N  C Y R I L  S T A C Y

★★★★★★★★☆☆  —  STRENGTH ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆  —  OFFENSE ★★★★★★★★☆☆  —  DEFENSE ★★★★★★★★★☆  —  SPEED ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆  —  DURABILITY ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆  —  ACCURACY ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆  —  AGILITY ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆  —  STAMINA ★★★★★★★★★☆  —  TEAMWORK ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆  —  STEALTH ★★★★★★★★★☆  —  MELEE ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆  —  BLADES ★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆  —  BLUNT ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆  —  RANGED ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆  —  MAGIC ★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆  —  TRAPS ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆  —  MEDIC & ★★★★★★★★★★  —  BULLWHIP

G E N T L E  D I S C L A I M E R : Cyril is written more akin to a thriller genre villain, sometimes teetering over into horror depending on the situation - while still being set in high fantasy. I just realize he might be a bit much, perhaps too dark or violent, depending on your preferred entertainment genre / expectations, so please consider this a soft warning if that’s not something you enjoy!

O V E R V I E W   [ C O N T I N U E D ] :

When in a fight, Cyril typically will come across collected, poised and honestly rather cocky. Cyril is something of an expert at breaking people’s morale and shattering their confidence, and that kind of behavior on his part often starts the very moment he and an opponent, or potential opponent, meet. Cyril will insult, belittle, talk down to, and make a great display of pity towards his adversary - this usually includes offering them ample opportunities to surrender to him before things get bloody.

In the inevitability that someone refuses to surrender, he’ll then dare them to prove themselves to him, which he will equate to proving themselves worthy of autonomy. Cyril will demand their attention and effort, and rather playfully jeer at them the whole time, especially if they seem distracted in any way [ say, for example, if he’s holding their loved one(s) hostage ]. That, however, is typically only his behavior at a distance, or as the fight begins and the two are getting a feel for one another.

Once a fight picks up, and especially once Cyril’s genuinely in melee range - you can expect him to start pushing and forcing himself into his opponent’s personal space. Definitely a byproduct of his confidence, but also typically something he can get away with due to sheer size and strength. He’ll grab, grope, and try to get people into uncomfortable holds they can’t easily wriggle out of. Choke-holds are common, whether he’s wrapped his arm about their neck from behind, or simply clasped his hand about their throat. Getting up in someone’s space may also mean pinning them to the wall, or pinning them down on the ground - he’s skilled at grappling and comfortable with either. It’s also common, both as a way to disorient as well dishearten, for Cyril to slap an opponent if he sees an opening. Usually a slap in the face is paired with an insult - maybe they let their guard down, maybe their footwork is poor - whatever it may be, Cyril will capitalize on any chance to humiliate his opponent.

In addition to getting uncomfortably close, one can expect him to snarl, shout, curse, and even growl at his opponents. Words may still be exchanged, but instead of playful banter one might instead hear whispered threats or extremely dark insinuations and other foul comments. It starts to sound like he’s finished being playful, though that isn’t necessarily the case. After all, he usually treats people like playthings, and encounters are often a game played at his leisure. Cyril likes to scare people, and he likes to see their reactions. He also just so happens to be entirely too willing to make good on any threat he whispers.

At his worst, if an opponent refuses to go down, or say his temper is getting the better of him - Cyril’s restraint will falter and he’ll start being unnecessarily violent. His temper is notoriously fickle, so whether his reaction is appropriate for the encounter he lashes out in or not is hard to say. He has a history of beating people bloody - be it with his whip, his body, or both - until they pass out. Cyril has kicked and crushed people under his boot hard enough to shatter bones and crack ribs, as well as doubtless inflicting many a concussion slamming people against this or that structure. His temper boiling over to such a degree as to see such behavior is rare... but not as rare as it should be.

O U T   O F  C H A R A C T E R  N O T E S :

Cyril is written to be a powerful and ideally ( if I’m doing my job right ;; ) terrifying villain to go up against. He’s supposed to feel impossible to overpower, coupled with losing to him of course having massive & heavy repercussions - both for a hero / heroine and for that individual’s loved ones. I really wanted him to be scary and unforgivable.

While not invincible in any way, he would like to have others believe he is. Therefore, he invests no small amount of effort into selling that invincible image, with a generally rather high success rate. Rumors abound of an “untouchable” Captain Stacy, who boasts no scars and loses no duel. Which... it’s true he’s not yet lost a duel, but why that is can be written about another time.

I’ve written Cyril to intentionally be a villain that someone cannot simply overpower with brute force. Winning against Cyril is going to take strategy, forethought, and ultimately in some cases, stooping to his level or even flirting with a diplomatic relationship. He is a pirate, after all, pirates love to parley.

He’s generally meant to put a hero / heroine in a difficult position, where they’re forced to make decisions and do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do in order to defeat him, because again - simply overpowering him is not going to work. And at the same time, he cannot just be ignored or avoided, because his trade and his tendencies are too cruel and intrusive to cast a blind eye towards. Morally, he cannot be allowed to continue what he does, and someone has to put an end to it. I wanted to make him a villain that challenged heroes on a deeper level than just physical strength.

At least, all of that is what I hope for when I write him. Did I succeed? Who knows. 

Thank you for reading! 🌹

[lotornomiko]

Triumph’s Tribulation Five Sneak Peak

Ah I usually don’t like posting until a chapter is complete, but I am having a lot of problems offline, in addition to the the third and final segment of the chapter, the check in on Midgard, is giving me no end of difficulties. It was supposed to be a Rufus POV but seeing as his POV keeps derailing the fic and my timeline, I will take whoever I can get to be the narrating voice for Alicia and Co. at this point.

I’ve actually debated posting five as it is, but I am trying to have each chapter have three segments, even if one segment ends up being incrediably small like the Lenneth interlude was in uh was it chapter two...?

Right now I have Loki (With Frei!) and Lezard’s parts done...I am posting the Lezard part at least...it[’s mostly finalized, although I’ll probably tweak some words here and there when I go over it for the umpteenth millionth time...X_X

I’d say this scene is PG 13, though it is Lezard so has some darker edge to it...but still hopefully worksafe...! Side note, the A ending got strongly influenced after rewatching the A ending, and all the events leading up to it. It left me with the strong impression and opinion that Lenneth had some kind of mental, nervous break down when the seal broke. I think I even wrote down a few lines from it...if not to use in this chapter, then maybe a future one! I’m also currently in the midst of rewatching VP 2: Silmeria...so maybe that will find my muse for the Midgard crew in this! XD

Onto the scene excerpt now!!

====

The marble of the floor had sealed itself together seamlessly, not so much as a sliver of a crack to betray the chaos that had gone on just moments earlier. That of the anger that had been felt, the world itself a living extension of what had been in its God’s heart. Such has been Lezard’s displeasure that in that moment, Creation itself had acted, moving to protect him and his interests, spiriting the frightened Goddess away to somewhere else safe. Safe from his rage, and safe from his desires, the man who had once been human,  having pushed too hard, too fast, too soon.

She wasn’t ready. He knew that, every bit from her fight to her flight had in fact acknowledged it, the fear that was in Lenneth’s heart. It had sent her running, the Goddess scared, not so much of what he might do to her physically as much as the emotional havoc he had been intent on wreaking. The truths that had needed to be confronted, and with it would come all of its pain, such sorrow born of those lies that the woman had told herself. She wouldn’t be spared its sting, not even God himself able to shelter Lenneth from the agony of breaking free of such warped delusions. The comfort it had once given her, was now nothing more than a crutch, one that that divine beauty needed to break free of if that heart of hers was going to stand a chance at any true solace.

It wouldn’t be easy, that fact something Lezard could acknowledge in his more rational moments. His beloved needed a far gentler hand than he had thus far been capable of, that near overpowering lust of his, making him impatient and clumsy whenever she was so near. So consumed with the want of her, his attempt at a controlled veneer had all but shattered when her fear had turned violent, Lenneth’s fist finding its mark against his jaw. It had left him so close to doing something unforgivable, illusions torn and discarded if not for his world acting instead. Protecting him as much as her, Lenneth swallowed up whole into an abyss that had opened up beneath her feet.

Even now she was still there, free falling in an endless darkness, that heart of hers in an absolute turmoil that would only be the start of her unraveling. There was both pain and pleasure in the idea of it, Lenneth this intoxicating brand of everything that Lezard could have ever wanted. Her heart, her soul, that of her mind and her body, her tears, her agony, and that of her happiness, the man wanted it all. He was obsessed with the having of it, of attaining paradise with so perfect a being. It was so close to a reality, that he could almost taste it, his blood stained hands reaching for it, for her, Lezard this newly remade being, the ultimate Lord of it all, Lenneth and the effect she has always had on him, the one thing this God could not control.

Even now he was tempted, sheer folly though it would be to go after her right now. Lenneth was too wild in the moment, too angry and afraid, tormented by a truth he had only merely hinted at, such insinuations holding the strength to make a Goddess reel in an absolute terror. It was a fear not just for herself, for what might be done to her, but that of her world, the paradise that she had created. That perfect utopia that was nothing more than a lie that her wounded soul had retreated into, every insinuation that Lezard could make had the power to tear that universe apart from the root, the very foundations it had been built and brought to life upon.

It was a world of desires, that perfect paradise grounded in a pain so blatant that it had nearly torn the Goddess apart. That heart of hers that had been so ripped to pieces by the sins committed against her, it had left Lenneth reeling in an agony even she herself had not understood, the Goddess so overwhelmed in the moment as to escape into a fantasy. An illusion, the deceits woven there all by her own hand, the ageless woman latching onto a figment, the fragment that had been dangling before her. Seizing upon it, with that earring in her hand, out of all the lives she had slept through, it had been the latest, that of a child, a girl no older than fourteen when she had died, that had helped feed into a delusion. In that moment she had been thinking not as a Goddess, but as a human, a child, torn apart by a loss that had been about more than just one man’s death.

The seal had been broken, a flood gate of emotions overtaking the Goddess. How much agony had it been, to remember them all, every last life that had hosted Lenneth inside them. The highs and the lows, their joys and their pains, hundreds upon hundreds of women, all helping to shape the Valkyrie’s humanity. Her compassionate heart, the depth of her millennia of experience far more than anything those scant fourteen years as Platina could have given. She was just a sliver of what had helped shaped the Goddess, so small and inferior a speck, the child was not who Lenneth was meant to be.

So much more than any one human girl, Lenneth was in fact a being so uniquely her own. A caring Goddess, one whose capacity to feel and sympathize with the mortals a threat that Odin and the other Gods could not abide by. They hadn’t killed her, they had done WORSE, the woman’s free will taken from her, her true sense of being SEALED away.

A safeguard meant to control that which the Gods could not understand, that human compassion that that particular Goddess had been gifted with, the likes of which had been cultivated and learned over the course of a millennia of different hosts. Through them she had loved, and Lenneth had cared, the woman so wholly unique in her ability to FEEL, the Goddess the champion that the mortals had needed. The Gods had feared it, feared Lenneth and the allegiance that such emotions had wrought, Odin needing the Valkyrie to be a good little soldier who fell into line with his own selfish wants. Unable to dominate her as she had truly been, that tyrannous God had tried to eradicate her spirit, that of her true self, through such archaic means, such a brutal manipulation of the self, such that Lenneth had been little more than a doll. A puppet, beautiful and perfect, and so wholly without the feelings that would have interfered with the Heavens’ schemes.

The Gods had seen her as nothing more than a Death Goddess, a chooser of the slain to bolster their own armies with the souls of dead heroes. They had let her pick from the brave as though they were mere flowers, calling into service warriors from all corners of Midgard. Leaving her exposed to the very thing that the Gods themselves had feared, the emotions that were so plentiful in the humans, putting cracks in the shield erected around Lenneth’s heart. Bit by bit, that ancient magic had been worn away, the seal itself eroded with each and every encounter, until it had finally shattered, and with it went Lenneth’s mind, the woman having snapped.

It must have been so, so overwhelming, to have been hit at once with all those feelings, with the many lives she had slept through, their hopes, their desires, all coming to life within Lenneth in startling clarity. Was it any wonder she had lost her true self in the process, spinning from one host to another, again and again, until she had latched onto the most recent, that of the child, those scant years of fourteen the most overwhelming dream of them all given how fresh it had still been.

Even grounded in that child’s psyche, it had proved too much. Lezard himself had born witness to it, to that mental break that the Goddess had had. The tears that had fallen, the screaming that had been done, it hadn’t been just the Goddess, but the child, Platina, made horrified by the one solace of her life, Lucian the only kindness and warmth she had ever known, LOST, killed in turn by his own refusal to let go of his own delusions.

It had all been such a mess, a tragedy the likes of which all else had fallen short. Her puppet strings not just severed, but left tangled across the board, Lenneth had been operating on a grief born madness, forgetting who she really was, to play fantasy for one ignorant human. For some fake facsimile of him, Lucian a shadow, his miraculous return to life nothing more than a figment born of Lenneth’s own desperation and desires. Instead of the warrior she had known, he was something new, a puppet who was nothing more than some idealized version of who she had thought him to be, Lucian just one of the many dolls whose every thought had been painstakingly crafted by Lenneth’s power.

Creation itself had been remade on desire, on such potent delusions and lies, the many souls there not the people they had once been. They were just shadows of those that had died, annihilated in the Ragnarok that Lucian had helped Loki bring about. It hadn’t just ended lives, it had wiped out everything, including that of nearly every living being’s soul from existence, such devastation a permanent end, the cycle of rebirth itself destroyed. Such finality was there to it, that no one, not even God, could fight against, the world and its people entirely eradicated.

It left the world in complete ruins, Lenneth’s land a paradise populated in lies. It was a copy, a mere imitation of what had once been, formulated out of fragmented glimpses, the memories she had gathered, the people there nothing more than a pathetic bunch of puppets. They were just these hollow husks of what she thought them to be, these seemingly ideal versions ultimately falling short, all an attempt that was unfulfilling when it came towards truly easing the pain in the Goddess’ heart. They were all lies that couldn’t make her truly happy, anymore than they could satisfy her needs. Each and every last one of them, Lenneth living in a farce, a waking dream that could crumble apart so easily given the right push. If enough care wasn’t given, the Goddess would crumble again with it, her psyche perhaps lost to yet another kind of fantasy.

Lezard couldn’t lie and claim that he hadn’t considered it. Hadn’t given thought to molding Lenneth into a fantasy that would suit HIM best. But ultimately, he didn’t want the illusion, that of those broken remnants of who the Goddess had once been. He wouldn’t be satisfied with just a sliver, wouldn’t embrace the farce of just one of her sides. He wanted her everything and her all, Lezard made mad with the desire, with that need. It fueled him, his obsession with Lenneth the motivating strength that had led Lezard into doing the impossible again and again. He had died for her, traveled through time for her, even become a God for her, such a warped semblance of love a catalyst that had no limits and no match. Not even Lucian could compete, that young man unable to see past Platina, and past the Valkyrie, to the supreme manifestation of the woman, a Goddess so sublime as to move a heart that had once been so unfeeling.

Her mark left on him, Lenneth had helped shaped Lezard into this mad man, so utterly devoted in the pursuit of her. Worlds had been ruined, people slaughtered, time itself run roughshod all over, yet his hands were no less dirty than any of the other Gods. Than even HERS, Lezard creating his own world, his own perfect paradise to ease the pain that was in HIS heart. That it spilled hurt onto others, was of no concern, Lezard an unfeeling God who had no desire to rule or be worshiped by anyone other than by Lenneth.

Such blasphemies should have been sins enough to weigh even God down, yet Lezard was instead made unburdened by it all, free of the demands the throne of Creation should have made of him. He was free, having discarded duty the way he had discarded bodies, nothing but time on his hand, and power, and harboring a patience that was fast running out.

====

[diminuel]

15x11 rewatch! Let’s go! It’s again, very long, so read below the cut!

My recap of last week to orient myself: We’ve seen Sam and Dean struggle with issues that they usually don’t have. Garth’s theory is that they are now faced with “normal people problems”, things a writer glosses over when it gets to their heroes because it slows down the story. However, they aren’t only faced with lactose intolerance but also suddenly find that they have trouble with all skills they used while hunting - they can’t open locks (at least not with make shift tools and when they’re stressed), they cannot fight against monsters (that are vastly overpowered while they just have human abilities), etc.

At the end of the episode Garth suggested a magical fix to their issues and we see them decide they would head to Alaska. Meanwhile, Cas is glaringly absent on a not further specified mission to Heaven. (*rolls eyes*)

Now, on twitter I said that if Sam and Dean went to Alaska to find a magic fix it for their issues without talking it through with Cas first they are “embarrassing dumbasses”. Spoiler alert: they are embarrassing dumbasses.

Now we start the reaction. I will bundle this sections since there are two plots that progress 98% independently of each other.

A: Misadventures in Alaska

- I know that Cas is absent, but I wish the Winchesters would have waited long enough to dicuss the issues with Cas. Sam does afterall talk it through with Eileen. And he must have talked to other people about it because he knows that it’s not in the lore and nobody else ever heard of it apart from Garth. But waiting for Cas to discuss with him was too much of a hassle...?

- Dean might not be able to digest cheese now, but he knows how to help himself. Like a normal person. (Well, I’m a normal person too but I just risk it and then suffer the dire consequences.)

- Okay, so they are in Alaska already. Don’t you have to cross through Canada to get to Alaska? If yes, how did they manage to cross the border with all the weapons in their trunk and without valid ID?

- I love Sam’s bewildered reply to when Dean claims that he was playing pool since before Sam was born. “What, between nap time and snack?”

- I was constantly worried that Dean was too cocky about his pool skills considering he had lost some other skills and that he would get into this game without even making sure that he still had the necessary skills for it. However, this episode isn’t the kind of silly overkill like last one was. Pool is a skill Dean and Sam developped over years and years, so of course they should be able to do it. (It’s not the same as lockpicking with a random nail)

- Dean “baiting” the other players wasn’t super elegant for someone who’s hustled pool for years *lol* But it was cute I guess?

- I like that Sam tries to talk to people and make them leave before it’s too late.

- Fortuna’s a dick, not winning any parent of the year awards...

- I like how Dean’s sure enough of himself to know that he’s much more complex than a “sexy but skimmable beach read”

- I think that usually the villains agree to Sam and Dean’s demands far too easily even though they have nothing to bargain with. So I assume Fortuna not agreeing to Sam’s terms falls under Sam and Dean no longer having their god given hero bonuses.

- I really appreciate the explanations we got on how Gods and all the other gods can exist at the same time. Humans/ human needs creating gods has always been my headcanon.

- Fortuna called Sam “little minx” *lol*

- Hero’s luck is a thing independently of Chuck then, but still granted by a divine being. But what makes a hero a hero is not their luck - but their choices and their attitude. Fortuna recognized that in them: bravery, the willingness to risk it all for others.

- I’m not sure yet what “don’t play his game, make him play yours” means. Though it’d be interesting if the same thing that happened to Metatron (who tried to play God) happens to God. God as “one of them”. Give him a soul and the weight of it, so he experiences the story and creation differently. I don’t know. I feel there aren’t enough episodes left for such a “remind God of the beauty and value of his creation” kind of plot.

B: Agent Lizzo

(I think this story line is more interesting than the monster of the week case and should have been given more screentime)

- “CASS”. Sam, that’s not how you spell his name. And why did you write a note instead of texting him? Also, they explained nothing. 

- Jack’s “Wanted by the FBI” picture is pretty cute. I wonder who took it.

- I like how Cas now frequently has a very visible reaction to things; he pulls the phone away from his hears, his expression changes, he has to breathe, before he manages to regain his composure. (Like the phone call he had with Dean while they were still seperated)

- Cas is so cute sitting at the desk with his laptop

- Why Jack. Why do you just sit down in the office to eat the heart?

- We usually saw Jack heal instantly; can’t he heal now or doesn’t he bother to heal his wounds?

- How many Grigori hearts did Jack eat...?

- Jack’s “dark” in ways he wasn’t before. The kind of dialogue he has comes across as very Winchester/ Cas like. I’m also trying to figure him out. He looks to the side at one point, before the Grigori takes his sword, which I assume means he saw Cas? His next expression is hard to describe; his nostrils flare, his calm expression drops. Is he shocked (I doubt it), is he angry (why would he?), is he trying to get out of the ropes to help or run? During the time it takes for Cas to defeat the Grigori, his expressions calms again and he lowers his head again. Maybe I’m just reading too much into it. I’m not very good at reading expressions anyway...

- The hug was nice but I really wish Cas and Jack would have actually spoken to each other. :/

TFW back together

- Dean and Sam are given the “little extra” that Dean wanted: Jack and Cas are back.

- I wish Sam had a bit of a more profound reaction. It’s the kind of welcome back reaction that would have been appropriate if Jack had just come back from a trip to the Swiss Alps where he tried to find himself among the cows and mountain spirits. Not when he came back from being killed by God.

- Dean’s reaction on the other hand was more impactful to me. Here we see that there’s tension there, some unspoken things. But still, he touches Jack the way that Bobby used to touch him. It’s a fierce look, but a gentle, parental touch. At the same time, this scene also addressed how much has changed (for the better!) between Dean and Cas. Dean seeks out Cas for conformation. I’m very soft about that exchange. (I think it also again presents Cas and Dean as an unit, especially when it gets to Jack.)

- I do hope Jack and Dean will hug eventually because the scene switch was a bit too fast for me. A bit more talk would have been better, or guiding them over into the next scene a bit gentler... Too many fanfic gaps here, even though the gaps are small!

- Sam and Dean acting like Jack ran away from them...? Sam: “You could have called.” Really, Sam...? When Jack says he couldn’t even though he wanted Dean says: “why not?” Why not, Dean? Do you really need to ask? And then Jack addressed nothing of what had happened and just brought up the current reason (staying hidden from god). Dude! You killed their mother, they wanted to trap you, then they wanted to kill you! I mean, come on.

- If Grigori hearts are the beginning, then what is next? Grigori are some of the “failed” creations of God that, according to Cas, should have been wiped out by the Flood. So maybe there are other things that God didn’t like for some reason or another that he wanted to get rid of. Grigori wiped out, Leviathan locked away, Nephilim forbidden... Hm. 

- From S11 we know that you can’t kill God. Killing God is not an option... (I also don’t really want it to happen. If the ending is literally creation being wiped out and there is nothing but a black screen at the end then I will have a panic attack.)

New things going forwards: 

Dean and Sam are heroes, no matter what Chuck says. Maybe they are no longer the heroes of his story (here I remember Metatron’s words again “you’re not the hero of this story, you are the villain”). But they’re still heroes. Fortuna rewards them for that alone with hero’s luck, which might give them back their bonuses to a certain degree. But the fact is that Sam and Dean are ordinary humans who become heroes because they are compassionate and brave and while they receive no reward for it, no “great recognition of their deeds”, they matter to the humans they saved. They matter in the smaller scheme of things, in the ways that Chuck disregards. Here I’m thinking of what Cas realized when he became human: that there is dignity in what he does, even if there is no divinity in it, even though it’s meaningless and “below him” even by Dean’s standards. But it mattered to Cas. He hurt, but it was meaningful and he wanted to live his life anyway. Chuck doesn’t see that. Chuck doesn’t see the dignity and meaning in the small things of human life. Because they are nuisances to him, they don’t make stories. Just like Sam and Dean doing the laundry all day don’t make stories for him - but they do for Becky.

So I think this episode reaffirmed what early SPN established: it’s the story of humans and how they save people, even if the odds are against them, and that makes them heroes. And not the other way around.

Some general comments: This is totally subjective but I feel there were some extra scenes that could have been cut (some pool hall stuff, the Grigori thing could have been slimmed down a bit) to give more space to things which I found more relevant like Cas/TFW’s reunion with Jack. I know that fanfic will fill the gaps eventually, but I wish we had to do a bit less work, you know? *lol* I mean, how did Cas and Jack’s conversation go, how was the drive back? How long where they in the Bunker by the time Sam and Dean came back from Alaska? What did they talk about? What conversations were exchanged in the scene break between TFW reuniting and them sitting at the map table? So many scenes to fill.

[fatefulfaerie]

Beyond Time Itself

Zelink Week 2019 prompt #8/10

Todays’ one-shot is actually an excerpt from one of my previous works entitled ‘One Moment’, centered around Link and Zelda’s journey in Skyward Sword. You can find the full story via the link below, but otherwise the chapter I’ve posted here is perfect for todays’ prompt.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17659280/chapters/41646086

We walked forward into what looked like the Sealed Temple where I first met that mysterious old lady. It seemed different, but somehow, even more familiar.

"We are now in the distant past," I heard Impa say as I stepped forward, "where Hylia and her servants have only just waged the battle for this land that you have heard of through stories and legends. This place, although eventually renamed to become the 'Sealed Temple', was at this time known as the 'Temple of Hylia'."

As she walked slightly in front of me, Impa gestured her hand forward through large stone doors that revealed a large room.

"And it is through there that you will truly be reawakened as the Goddess Hylia.”

I nodded as I entered, Impa following me inside as I walked up to a red-carpeted pedestal and sat down, closing my eyes.

It wasn’t long until I was thrusted into a vision, much like the ones before.

In front of me was a large, dark hole that deepened in its' mystery as it spiraled downwards into a dark chasm.

And somehow I knew that I was looking into the conduit for a growing evil. Subdued for the moment, yet still a great threat to my land.

I started to hear the sound of cascading footsteps against the charred grass behind me, before they completely stopped.

"Yes, Impa…" I said.

"Impa…perhaps it's a relative of the Impa I know."

"All of his forces have been defeated. The war is over."

"No, Impa, it isn't," I replied, sighing before continuing with, "the war is only just beginning."

Impa took a couple steps forward to stand next to me.

"Is that?" Impa asked.

"Demise, " I replied with a nod, "I have created a seal that I must maintain….but…my power…it's…"

"Goddess!" I heard someone exclaim behind me, prompting me to turn around and find an odd, burly creature panting heavy breaths.

“We found him.”

At the sound of those three words, I felt my heart lurch.

“Lead the way,” I said to the creature before Impa and I followed him through the Temple of Hylia and out onto the vast land that echoed the past calls of battle, its’ beauty ruined by the flames of war.

We soon entered a familiar clearing where bodies of monsters and hylians alike had been rendered completely immobile, their carcasses stacked on top of each other in a morbid display of the cost of the battle waged.

In a corner to my right was a small gathering of creatures who turned around to face us with sad expressions.

And, at the sight of Link laying on the ground they stood on, I let out a shaky exhale.

The creatures parted as I ran to his side, feeling the cold drop of tears wetting my cheeks.

There was no denying it, the blood that coated his tunic, the stillness of his chest, the drooping of his head, his arms.

The man I now held in my arms was dead.

It was hard for me to see him like this, to touch his limp body. Not only because of Hylia's raw feelings of loss, but because I couldn't bear to imagine my Link in this same state.

As I hugged him close, accepting the truth of his end that I already suspected, the creatures started a walk back to the temple. The sound of footsteps prompted me to watch Impa walk closer to me, her red eyes warped with sadness.

I laid Link gently back on the ground and closed his pain-stricken blue eyes before taking his left hand with both of mine.

"Golden goddesses of old," I started, "you entrusted me to be your agent, to protect the Hylians and the Triforce that was left in your stead. In this, I have succeeded at the unfortunate cost of many lives. It is apparent that the fight for the peace of this land has only begun, so I ask you to assist me one last time so that it may continue."

"One last…" Impa said, "Hylia, what are you doing?"

Ignoring her inquiry I continued,

"Farore, the goddess of courage, who, with your rich soul, produced the life forms that walk the earth. When the evil starts to brew again, I ask you to bring back into this world the soul of this hero, who gave his life for my protection, so that his unparalleled courage may be of use to us again."

"Din, the goddess of power, who cultivated the land and created the red earth with your strong, flaming arms. I ask you to create a weapon, that matches the power of the evil sword of Demise, yet opposes it in its’ divinity and proves its' greatness through its' benevolence. The spirit of this sword and the true power of the hero will grow together, becoming stronger within their goal to truly eradicate Demise. The reincarnated hero will be the master of this sword until the evil is truly defeated, armed with the justice of his cause."

"Nayru, the goddess of wisdom, who poured that wisdom onto the earth and gave the spirit of law to the world. I ask…"

I took a shaky deep breath.

"I ask that I be reborn as a mortal at the same time as the soul of this hero. So that…so that I can make up for the mistakes that I've made and ensure that no one else suffers because of them. And also…so that the Triforce, our last hope, can be used for the eradication of Demise. An asset for us as opposed to a force against us,"

"And, of course, the price I pay for this request, my final act that will set all of it in motion…"

"Hylia…" Impa said with and inquisitive tone of warning, not quite sure of what I would say but obviously sure that I could say something risky.

"I will relinquish my immortality."

"Hylia!" Impa said with a distinct shock, as if she were disciplining a child, "Your injuries from the battle, you won't survive if you succumb to them without the protection of the goddesses. You need to ensure that the seal holds…without your power you will subject this world to the evil you are attempting to destroy. There won't be a land left to save."

I took a pause and gently placed my right hand on Link's cheek.

"My power…I can already feel it dwindling…without him, I…I can't…"

The weakness of my voice inhibited me from continuing, yet a warm, supportive hand on my shoulder reminded me of a welcome presence.

"My incarnate," I continued, "can I trust you to guide her? To this time?"

"So…does that mean…Impa is from this age…she was tasked by the goddess to travel across time."

"Or rather, she was tasked by me…"

"And the Triforce…" I said, “its' power is too great to leave in the grasp of man. We may need it a time like this, yet that is a dangerous habit to fall into. Dependence on its' might is an invitation to disaster. When it has served its' purpose, it must be secreted away to lay dormant once again…the knowledge of its' existence hidden from mortal history."

"Yes, of course," I heard in reply before Impa stepped back.

"Link," I said as I retreated my hand from his cheek, "surely this love that we felt will carry on, will ensure that our fates are intertwined, will connect us in a way that will always bring us together."

I then closed my eyes and said,

"Goddesses of old, I urge you, as the chosen guardian of this land and its’ chosen people, hear my pleas and see them through. With that hope in my heart, I now…I now relinquish my immortality for the future protection of this land."

An overwhelming loss of energy overtook me, for I could barely make out,

"…please…" before I felt a sudden dizziness, my vision blurring as the pain of the injuries that I sustained overpowered the capacity of my now mortal body.

I started to feel my consciousness drift away as I lost any sense of being, the whole experience becoming increasingly more dreamlike as the pain swelled.

To brace me from falling hard to the ground I felt Impa's hands quickly grasp around my right arm before I gently was laid down.

I squeezed Link's hand as my eyes slowly closed again.

Soon, all I saw was a golden light, completely enveloping the otherwise black void of darkness. 

When my eyes opened, I felt within myself an awakening, of my understanding, of my purpose, of myself as Hylia's incarnate. It was as if I truly did close my eyes on the ground next my hero and opened them here, in this temple.

So, when I turned around to find that Impa was bowing down to me, I only stood, accepting my destiny and the reasons for her reverence.

"I know what I must do now," I said when my eyes found her red gaze, "I must stay here, in this time, to ensure that Demise does not break free of his seal."

Impa nodded in agreement before I asked,

"So I shall start then?"

"No, your grace, Now we wait."

"Wait for what?"

"For him"

"Link?" I retorted, trying not to get too hopeful about the prospect of seeing him again.

"Yes, I believe now is the time, his blade is in need of your magic and both of you are in need of each other. I will step aside. I now see that…I must apologize to you. I underestimated your chosen hero, I ignored him, cast him aside, berated him. He didn't deserve the way I treated him. I should never have doubted that he truly is the one. I'm so sorry"

"How am I supposed to respond to that?"

"It's okay, Impa."

"No, it's not okay. None of this is."

"But…she was really just doing her job, the job I tasked her with, the job that entails her to sacrifice everything for my protection."

"I understand," I said as I walked down the steps.

"After all, perhaps she was right that it's best that we didn't really see each other and confirm our feelings."

"Because look what it did to Hylia and her hero."

"Things are so much different now…"

"You look apprehensive," Impa stated as she studied my expression.

"Things have changed. I can no longer expect love from him after he has heard that I've taken advantage of him. I need to at the very least tell him the truth, all of it."

"Do with your time what you wish," Impa replied, "I will not interfere."

[jloves-pp]

little book of magic-Chapter 4

Chapter 4

While the four teens were thinking about what to do, Sally had found that she had fallen out of bed with a unexpected thud, groaning as she rubbed her head, remembering a horrible dream she had. For a long time now, Sally had been having the same dream and each time she had it she had ended up on the floor.

She glanced over to Maria who was still asleep, covers wrapped around her. Sally sighed, got up, put her bunny socks on and headed down the hall. She rubbed her golden locks still feeling sleepy; all she thought about was getting water. She headed downstairs to the kitchen, grabbed a glass, filled it with water and drank it. Glancing out of the window she focussed her attention on her Nan's flowers bed and the wooden boat. She then notices a robin standing on the balcony. She wondered if it was the same robin they had seen yesterday, Sally watched the little bird for a moment before it flew off.

Just as she was going to get her breakfast, her mind wandered and settled on the book she found yesterday. At first, she looked around in the kitchen and the living room but remembered she left it the attic. She made her way up to the attic but on reaching the stairs, She could hear banging coming from above. Puzzled she slowly climbed up and as she did she could hear people talking, it was faint but their voices sound familiar. She thought she must still be feeling sleepy and that she was imagining it, Sally walked closer to the door, when she reached it she put her ear to the door, now she could hear the voices much clearer. She then got on her knees and looked through the keyhole.

At first, there was nothing unusual. Sally only saw what she saw yesterday, not knowing that there were four teenagers in there who were talking to one another. The young girl tried see where the voices were coming from when suddenly a huge green eye stared right back at her.

Sally fell backwards and let out a terrifying scream, she continued screaming as she tried to get up. She did manage to pull herself up and flew down the stairs as fast as her feet would carry her.

The teens heard the screaming and found Toothless banging at the door. They joined him before Rapunzel tried turning the doorknob but it was locked.

"What do we do?" Rapunzel asked the others.

Then Merida found an old fire poker, "Ok stand back" she said, Jack pulled a face as they took a step back. Merida plan was to prize open the door, she tried a few times but it didn't move.

Jack sighed and gently moved the red head, "Let me try" he said ignoring Merida's annoyed face.

"And what are you going to do?" Merida asked, her only response was Jack giving her a knowing smirk. The winter spirit pointed at the door knob and froze it. Hiccup and Merida's mouths dropped, they have experience magic and ledgendry being before but they'd never met anyone like Jack. Rapunzel was even more shocked, she knew he could fly but she had no idea he had power just like her.

The door knob was completely frozen over and when Jack grab and turn it, it opened. He grinned to himself when he saw the other stunned faces. "Well let's go".

The four teens, with Baby Tooth, Pascal and Toothless slowly walked down the stairs, they couldn't help but look at their new surroundings.

"Where do you think we are?" Rapunzel asked in wonder.

"It's look like a house" Jack replied.

"Well it no house I've ever seen before" Merida commented as Hiccup nodded in agreement.

As they continued going down, Maria had come out on the bedroom, she was just going to find her iPad when Sally collided with her, she wasn't looking properly an now looked shocked.

"Sally, what's the matter" Maria asked after she saw her frightened face.

"There...there...there's someone or something upstairs" Sally finally said trying to breath, pointing one hand up the stairs while holding her sister with the other.

"Sally, Sally, calm down, just breath" Maria said trying to calm her sister down. Sally did as Maria told her and took a couple of deep slow breaths.

"I saw a big green eye come toward the keyhole and...and I heard voices...I think they're robbers or killers" Sally said quietly.

"Maybe you dreamt it, I think..." But before Maria finished, both of them heard footsteps coming towards them and getting closer.

"What should we do?" Sally whispered gripping Maria's arm.

Her sister couldn't think of what to do, the only thing she could think of was "Hide! Hide!" And she pulled Sally toward the kitchen and into a cupboard.

At the moment Maria shut the door that when the four teens and the dragon reached the ground floor.

"Do you hear something?" Merida asked.

"Yeah," Hiccup said "it sounded like a door".

"It came this way" Jack said before him and the others walked into the kitchen. For Rapunzel, Merida and Hiccup had never seen a kitchen like this; they looked in awe at the sink, the oven, the fridge and all the other machines. Jack however noticed faint noises coming from the cupboard Toothless noticed and began sniffing toward the noise.

Both Sally and Maria tried to stay still as possible, deeply hopeful that they would go out.

"What do you think they want" Sally whispered to her sister.

"Don't know, probably robbers!", Maria whispered back, keeping her eye on the door which she used a mop to hold it closed.

"Oh no!, Charlie and Ollie they're still upstairs" Sally realised and started to panic. Her older sister pressed a finger to her lips.

"They're still asleep, hopefully the robbers will go before the boys wake up", Maria reassure.

What the two didn't know was the four teens were looking at the door, (they were just as scared as the two sisters) and were wondering what to do.

"What do you think they're talking about" Merida asked folding her arms.

"Probably planning on what do with us" Hiccup said shrugging.

"Ok, we jump on them once they leave" Jack said as Baby Tooth flew and hover next to him.

"But you forget we don't know how many of them are in there" Merida commented with one raise eyebrows.

The winter spirit just gave her a quick glare, "Well do you have a better idea".

Clearly getting annoyed, Merida stomped over to Jack with clenched fists, but Hiccup got in between the two of them.

"This is not the time for a fist fight" he said as he elbowed to separate them and try to stop the situation from getting out of hand. But Jack and Merida continued to argue, Hiccup tried in vain to stop them, Rapunzel meanwhile was switching from watching the new friends to looking at the door. She didn't really know what to do until a thought came to her. If they were the people who kidnapped them, why were they hiding? Rapunzel glanced at Pascal who was thinking the same thing. So Rapunzel walked up to the door and knocked.

"Hello, can you please come out" she asked sweetly.

Behind the door, Sally and Maria heard a voice that they seemed to instantly recognise.

"What that..." Sally started.

"No, it's can't be" Maria replied not knowing if what she heard was real but both girls knew that they weren't dreaming.

"Rapunzel, what are you thinking?" Merida said as she pulled Rapunzel away from the door.

"I didn't know, I, I think they should be harmless" Rapunzel answered.

"We don't know that Punz, it could be a trick" Jack explained.

"Wait, she's right" Hiccup then said "if they kidnapped us, they wouldn't hide if they had overpowered us".

Merida and Jack wanted to find fault but what Hiccup said made sense.

Sally and Maria could hear the four as they continued talking and found the other voices familiar too. Sally knew those voices anywhere even though she knew it could only possibly be a coincidence. Then she thought for a moment as she rubbed her necklace, why were they talking instead of doing something. She mustered enough courage and she removed the mop, reached for the door knob and turned it.

"Sis, no!" Maria called but it was too late. The young girl push it opened, the door swung with open a bang that made the four teens turn. Sally was blinded by the sunlight and when her eye's adjusted to the brightness, she could only stare.

Now, she really did think she was dreaming for Sally was looking at four of her favourite characters, they were there right in front of her. It wasn't just people dressed in costumes, they were the real thing, fully animated as if they had literally step out of the film.

"It's a girl", Jack simple said. This broke Sally out of her shock, she crawled out and stood up. Maria too stood up and glared in amazement her mouth gasped open she was in utter shock.

"There's two of them" Hiccup then said seeing the girls who were now standing in front of them.

Toothless growled which made both girls turn and their mouths drop.

"Oh kitty cats, it's Toothless" Maria said in awe, trying to hold her excitement.

"Wait you know Toothless?" Hiccup asked knowing he never came across these girls before in his life.

"Of course we know him Hiccup" Sally said as if she was talking to a friend and Hiccup was more shocked.

"You know him?" Rapunzel asked simply.

"Yes and you Rapunzel" Sally said smiling bright "and you Merida and you too Jack" now this was scaring them, there was no logical way the girls could know them.

"Who are you?" Merida asked them. At first Maria and Sally didn't answer, they didn't know what to say. Both were still so stunned that their minds were blank they could only stare in awe at their heroes. Finally Maria spoke.

"Ur...I'm Maria and this is my sister, Sally" Maria said nervously.

"Are you the ones who kidnapped us?" Hiccup then said accusingly.

"What no, we would never do that to you guys" Sally quickly said.

"But how do you know us", Rapunzel asked.

"That's because..." Sally began but stopped herself; she couldn't tell them that they were fictional characters from animated films. They would think she was completely nuts "Because your legendary, everyone knows your stories" she said which was of course, true.

"What else do they know? Rapunzel then said. Sally and Maria then realised that she didn't know she was a princess who was been taken as a baby and stay in a tower for years.

Jack didn't want to trust these girls but they didn't look like they were able to plan a kidnapping, also they didn't have a clue that the four of them were up there and he wanted to make sense of it all.

"So, where are we?" Questioned Jack.

"This is our Nan's house" Sally said, she blushed slightly as she looked at the handsome winter spirit. Sally had a big crush on Jack Frost, it wasn't just because he was good looking but also his personality and sympathy. "But how did you all get here," She asked.

"We don't know, we woke up found ourselves here," Hiccup said rubbing his neck.

"So do you know why we're here?" Jack then asked.

"Honestly, we don't have a clue what's going on" Maria replied.

As they were talking, Charlie and Ollie had woken up and walked down the stairs they were still tired and wanted food. Just as they turned the corner, Charlie froze. Not believing what he was seeing but when Ollie instantly saw the dragon, his face lit up.

"DRAGON!" The little boy cried and ran up to Toothless with the biggest smile on his little face.

"Ollie I think going too near a dragon isn't a great idea" Maria called as her brother stood in front of Toothless who just bewildered by Oliver, the dragon didn't know what to think of this little boy and backed off a little when Oliver tried to touch him.

The others found the interaction adorable while Charlie continued to stare at them.

"What the..." He mumbled before looking at his sisters. Asking them silently what's going on, he could tell by their faces they didn't have a clue.

"And you are?" Merida then asked when she noticed him. The other three turned to the boy who then suddenly became embarrassed when he realise that he was in his pyjamas in front of two girls.

"Well this is our brother Charlie" Maria introduced, "and this is are little brother Oliver, Ollie for short" after she said this Ollie started barking like a dog. The dragon had never seen a child do anything like that before.

Charlie couldn't think of anything to say until Baby Tooth flew out of Jack's hoodie and went up the Charlie, he was taken aback by the fairy and watched in wonder at Baby tooth's antics.

Is this...real" He asked looking at his sister.

"I...I don't know, but I certainly think we not dreaming" Maria said looking at the Big four talking to Oliver. "But if it is, it's the best dream ever."

"This is mad, it's like something out of a movie or a book" Charlie comment to himself.

But, when Sally heard her brother, a thought hit her. "Book...that's it...the Book!", And with that she ran up stairs to the attic followed by Maria and Charlie.

Jack, Rapunzel, Merida and Hiccup watched them before going after them. When they reached the attic it didn't take long for them to find the golden book on the floor.

Sally, grabbed the book and opened it and began to look at the pages,

"Do you think they're connected to the book", Maria asked as her sister flicking through the pages looking for clues about the famous fours appearance in their Nan's house.

"I think so," Sally replied "There must be something."

"What about that portal spell? They could've come through and woke up there." Charlie said when he joined them.

"No, it said only those who are blessed can open a portal," Sally explained closing the book.

"Well what then," Charlie asked, before Sally answered she glared at the cover and notice something was missing. The four jewels were gone and she was about to tell them when she glanced up at the big four who had just arrived and were talking to each other , she looked at them then at the book and a thought clicked in her brain.

Sally pulled her brother and sister away from them, without them noticing.

"Look" Sally whispered showing them the book's cover. Charlie and Maria looked and were puzzled.

Maria then said "That's weird, I thought..."

"There were jewels on this cover, " Sally quietly answered, "I think those jewels have something to do with the big four"

"Like the jewels brought them here" Maria suggested scratching her chin.

"Maybe," Charlie then said "but why?, why bring them here?''

Sally thought for a moment before saying "I think if we ask them to remember what happened to them then we can figure this out".

"I don't think they'd like to know that they're actually cartoon characters" Charlie whispered loudly that his sisters instantly shushed him.

"They can't know that, they'll think we're crazy. They won't believe us," Maria told him.

"They won't believe what?", the three jumped and turned to Jack standing a few feet away from them. Sally, Maria and Charlie couldn't think of how to reply. "You know something and we want answers," Jack said staring at them.

Knowing there was no other way around it. Sally took a deep breath and tried to be calm as she said "You'll never believe us"

The winter spirit could see the nervousness in her face. He glanced over to Hiccup, Merida and Rapunzel who sensed what he was thinking because they nodded understanding.

"Ok, we are willing to listen," he told the young girl. Sally felt a bit better but wasn't sure where to start. She looked at Maria then Charlie, they were all unsure.

"Well, you better sit down"she said turning back to the Big four, they all found seats, Sally took a deep breath and began "OK, so it all began in 1923 when...

[skylanders-after-the-end]

Rise of the Undead

Deep down below the mystical floating islands of the Skylands there was a place hidden underneath a thick layer of fog. A place so terrifying that no mortal being that valued their life has ever dared to enter it. It wasn’t until a powerful sorceress decided to descend into the dark depths and face the greatest evil that it had to offer. That place was the underworld. The walls crumbled into pieces as powerful blasts of magic collided like thunder strikes. Hex fought fearlessly against the Undead Dragon King himself, Malefor. The purple dragon unleashed his mightiest breaths of spectral fire, attempting to burn the sorceress alive. Hex precisely dodged his attacks and was able to counter with her own powerful light magic. The two have been fighting for hours and slowly but certainly, Malefor realized that he might have underestimated the powerful magician. Finally, with a final devastating blow which traveled throughout Hex’ entire body, the sorceress was able to defeat Malefor and leave nothing but a grand cloud of smoke behind. Exhausted, the witch fell onto her knees and took heavy breaths of the cold underworld air. As she collected her thoughts and strength, she realized that something felt different. She looked down on herself and saw a raven black dress accompanied by two ashy blue hands with long pitch-black nails. “What happened to me?” The sorceress asked herself in horror as she came to the realization that her stay in the underworld has turned her into the very same creature as her enemy that she just defeated, an undead.

Now, hundreds of years later, the Skylands were rid of the wicked dragon and had no reason to worry.

“We have every reason to worry!” Stealth Elf exclaimed, slightly overdramatic, after announcing that the Golden Queen has fooled them and is still somewhere running loose in the Skylands.

“Didn’t you trap all of them?” A worried voice from the enormous crowd in front of the Life Skylander demanded an answer.

“We thought so, but she had us transport a golden statue of herself instead.” Stealth Elf was embarrassed to admit that they were fooled by such a cheap trick.

“How is that even possible?” Another more irritated voice questioned.

“We were in the heat of the battle and Spyro discovered some strange new powers, we didn’t have time to observe them more carefully.” Stealth Elf tried to explain the situation as calmly as she could. “Speaking of that, we still have to figure out what exactly Spyro did back there. It seems to be pretty helpful when you’re overpowered and about to get killed by your enemy.”

While Stealth Elf was taking care of the crowd, Spyro met with Master Eon in his office. A few days have passed since the battle, but the Skylanders were still recovering from the damage they received.

“I just don’t understand.” Spyro looked thoughtfully into the grey bricks of the room. “It just happened right before they were about to defeat us. I didn’t have any power left in me and suddenly I felt like I was…”

“Awakened.” Master Eon suggested as an ending to Spyro’s sentence.

“Exactly!” Spyro sparked up and finally had a term for his miraculous transformation. “But what does it mean?”

“I would have to see it with my own eyes to be the judge of its meaning.” Master Eon gave Spyro an expecting look.

“I tried everything, but I can’t do it again.” The dragon sounded hopeless. “I guess we should have me get beaten up by the Doom Raiders and let them threaten my life again.”

Eon snickered. “I am sure that is not the reason for your awakening.” The wise old sorcerer never had another Skylander experience such a thing, but he had seen similar events. “However, the urgency of the situation and your own willpower might have been possible factors that triggered the transformation. You might not be able to do it whenever you want, but whenever you need.”

Spyro thought about that sentence and it did make sense. He was very determined to protect his friends in that moment, so it might happen again when he must do exactly that. “I guess time will tell. Thanks for the talk Eon.”

“You’re always welcome, Spyro.” As his former student was about to leave, Eon had one last request. “And Spyro!” The Skylander turned around. “Make sure that you get a hold of the Golden Queen.”

Spyro smiled. “I will, master.” He ascended into the skies and left the spirit of their former leader in solitude.

The Magic Skylander made his way to the hospital of the Academy. He greeted Whirlwind as he looked for the room Cynder was stationed in. The building was clean and smelled like several healing potions that Spyro had to drink in his early days as a Skylander. After a short search, he finally found Cynder’s room. The dragon entered and was saddened by the sight of his good friend on the bed. Even though she was good at hiding it, Cynder was in a lot of pain.

“Hey Cynder.” Spyro silently called her to which she turned her head and smiled. “How’s it going?”

“It’s getting better.” The dragoness looked at her broken wing which was covered by bandages. “They said I can get out in a few days.” Cynder turned her head again as her smile started to fade. They told her something else, but she didn’t want to share that with Spyro.

“What did they say about flying?” Spyro was aware that she might never be able to properly fly again, and he was worried that that might cause her more pain than the wing itself.

“They’re not sure.” She said it without a hint of emotions. “They’re not even sure if attachements would help since they could put me through unbearable pain every time I spread my wings.”

Spyro felt extremely sorry and even guilty for Cynder’s situation. He gently put his claw on her shoulder. “I’m sure it will be fine. Just hang in there.” In all honesty, he wasn’t confident about it himself, but he had to put Cynder’s feelings first and encourage her.

Suddenly a loud noise echoed through the area. Spyro and Cynder turned silent and stared blankly at each other. The dragons could hear screams. Spyro hurried to the window to see what was going on. What he saw left him in utter shock.

“What is it? What’s going on?” Cynder pushed her friend to tell her what left him so speechless, since she couldn’t see through the window for herself.

Spyro gulped and couldn’t take his sight off the horrifying view outside. “Spyro what’s happening?” Cynder asked again in a more impatient manner.

The leader slowly turned his head to the dragoness and didn’t say a word at first. He responded by showing her the pure fear in his eyes. “Stay here.”

The purple dragon zoomed outside of the room without losing another second. “Wha- Spyro! Wait, what’s going on? Spyro!?” Cynder cried after the dragon but he didn’t return.

Spyro dashed outside of the hospital through a crowd of worried Skylanders and bystanders and couldn’t believe his own eyes. The Academy was being assaulted by an enemy who was believed to be long gone. An enemy with such power, that everyone who merely mentioned his name trembled in fear. It was none other than the Undead Dragon King Malefor.

The enormous dragon was spewing purple flames across the roofs and pillars of the Academy as the Skylanders were fleeing helplessly. Some tried to fight him off, but they were all overwhelmed by his undead magic. Spyro didn’t hesitate and jumped into battle. “What are you doing here Malefor? How did you return?”

“Spyro, so we meet again.” The king interrupted his massacre with a sinister grin whilst looking at the tiny dragon. “I thought I’d pay you and your friends a little visit after being resurrected from my immortal doom” The purple tinted flames surrounding him made his presence even more threatening than usual.

“Resurrected- How?” Spyro’s companions gathered behind him as long as Malefor wasn’t busy attacking any of them.

“Unimportant. What’s far more important is the fact that I will obliterate this entire Academy and rule all of Skylands with an iron claw!” The menacing dragon’s eyes glowed in a yellow light as he was about to continue his rampage.

Further off from the scene of action, one of the Academy’s many portals was activated. Through a bright light Hex floated out in a hurry. She looked around and soon saw the terrifying scenery and dashed towards her allies. The Skylanders have been fighting the dragon king with their combined strengths, and while many of them took heavy hits, they were slowly able to make out his weak spots and fight him more effectively. Spyro was facing the dragon head on. They were both weakened, but Malefor still had enough energy left in him to shot a mighty undead blast at Spyro. The Magic Skylander couldn’t react in time and the blow was about to consume him. He closed his eyes just to open them seconds later after nothing happened. He saw Hex in front of him, using her powerful magic to shield the leader from the strike and finally throw it back at Malefor. The king screamed in agony as he was engulfed by his own flames and finally turned into thin air.

There was silence. Everyone looked at Hex in awe. They were about to cherish the witch before she raised her hand to silence them. “It’s not over.”

Everyone looked at the place Malefor was just standing moments ago. There was a mysterious purple light in mid air which spread out like a flame. It turned bigger with each second and left the Skylander shocked once again. When it was finally done growing, it shifted colors and out of the light emerged Malefor, standing tall in his full glory without a scratch on his body. No words could be heard. There was only silence as the Dragon King looked down on the heroes with a dark smile.

“So, you did return to save your friends. How noble of you.” He was looking at Hex while talking in a sarcastic tone to tease her.

“Hex, what’s going on here?” Spyro finally spoke up and wanted to know how Malefor could return from the dead after only a few moments.

Hex ignored the dragon and instead directed her voice back at the evil dragon. “Leave this place Malefor, you have no reason to be here!”

“I have the reason that I’ve had for the past thousands of years, to rule the Skylands. And even you won’t be able to stop me this time.” Malefor kept his sinister grin on his face at all time to show everyone how confident he was in his power.

“Hex, why is he here? How could he come back?” Spyro sounded terrified and expected the witch to have an answer, but she once again ignored him.

“I will defeat you as many times as I have to you twisted beast!” Hex clenched her fists and was ready to fight the dragon with all her strength.

“Save your powers witch, don’t you want to tell your friends what they want to know.” Malefor knew how confused everyone was after his incredibly fast resurrection and wanted to let them know exactly how it was possible. “This one might fall into a coma if you keep him waiting.”

He was referring to Spyro who cowered behind Hex in fear. He was lost and feared for his life, the dragon thought that Malefor has become truly invincible. Hex looked behind herself to see the terrified Skylanders, but she didn’t know how to explain it to them, since she wasn’t quite sure herself.

“I told you during our last encounter that you cannot defeat me. No one can.” Malefor started to tell the same story that he told Hex when he surprised her in the underworld just a few minutes ago. “I have been resurrected by a force greater than all of you together. And what keeps me alive and allows me to return from the dead is the exact same force that once put an end to me. It’s you, Hex.”

The crowd gasped and all eyes were on Hex. The Undead Skylander remained silent until she suddenly raised both of her hands in a quick motion. She summoned a pair of giant skeletal hands from the depths of the underworld which grabbed Malefor’s hind legs. The king’s body was torn to the ground, causing the entire Academy to shake under his enormous force. The dragon used his front legs to push himself up, but the hands kept pulling him away from the still shocked Skylanders. Hex concentrated on removing the foe with the help of the hands, but it was no easy task. Malefor roared and attempted to shoot another breath of fire from his air, just to get interrupted by another strong pull. When he was at the edge of the island, Malefor used all his might to stay on it by digging his claws into the earth. Hex moved closer to the edge to look him in the eyes before she would banish him back down into the hole he emerged from.

“You cannot keep me trapped forever!” Malefor yelled as he made another unsuccessful attempt to pull himself back up. “I will return, and you will regret ever facing me!”

Hex has heard enough and let her arms fall in a downwards motion, which Malefor soon did as well. With the skeletal hands tightly grabbing onto him, the dragon fell down from the island and into the endless foggy depths of Skylands, until all Hex could see was a wild flurry of purple lights that eventually disappeared in the fog as well.

Everyone hurried to the edge to see if there was any sign left of him, but there wasn’t. They all looked at Hex with relief, but the sorceress didn’t bother to turn around. Instead, she summoned another huge skeletal hand right in front of her and opened its palm. The Skylander then continued to float over the white bones which served as fingers and into the middle of the hand.

“Hex, what are you doing?” Spyro questioned the witch as she hovered inside the large hand.

The witch finally turned around to face her worried allies, with Spyro up front. “I can’t keep Malefor trapped from up here… I have to follow him.”

“What!?” Spyro was shocked and didn’t want to lose his trusted ally. “You can’t do that!” Spyro didn’t understand what exactly happened between the two recently, but he wouldn’t let any Skylander near that malicious creature. “What did he mean when he said you are the force that keeps him alive? Hex you have to tell us what’s going on!”

Hex sighed and decided to finally tell everyone the truth about her disturbing bond with the dragon king. “As he already said, he can’t be defeated.” She felt a certain guilt but also anger for his return and hesitated when talking about it. “I fought him just a few hours ago, I thought I finally put an end to him, but then that same light appeared and brought him back.”

“That can’t be possible, no being can resurrect itself after every defeat!” Stealth Elf decided to speak in Spyro’s place and find some solution to their problem.

“You’re right, that isn’t possible.” Hex agreed with the elf. “Unless they have a source of power that allows them to do so.”

Spyro thought about that for a moment and put the pieces together. “Wait, does that mean you…”

“He is using my powers to resurrect himself and become even more powerful than before.” Hex finally told them exactly what Malefor told her. “After my first battle with him, when I turned into an undead and my powers changed, a remaining fragment of his soul connected itself to them and used it to keep Malefor alive all those years.” The witch couldn’t believe that she helped Malefor to return to the Skylands instead of ridding them from him after everything he put her through. “He couldn’t use my powers to regain his physical body and magic, but some other force helped him with that and now he can use me to stay alive forever.”

“Hex, I-” Spyro had no words. He didn’t want to make her feel like it’s her fault the dragon is back, since it was clearly a cruel curse that she couldn’t escape. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay Spyro.” Hex looked over the crowd one more time before turning her back towards them and closing the fingers of the skeletal hand around herself. “I will make sure that he never causes anymore damage again.”

With those words the giant head with the Skylander inside of it descended from the island as well, following Malefor deep down into the underworld.

“Hex, wait!” Spyro dashed to the edge and looked down, but the witch was already gone.

Everything went silent again, until Stealth Elf joined Spyro and put her hand on his shoulder. “It’s going to be fine, Hex knows what she’s doing.”

“But we have to help her!” Spyro looked at Stealth Elf with determination but also sadness. “We can’t leave her down there with him.”

A cold wind blew across the crowd and some of the paralyzed heroes could feel a cold shiver running down their spine. The Skylanders spent a few more moments looking over the devastated edge, with haunting traces of Malefor’s claws going through the earth like a blade, constantly reminding them that one of the most dangerous and powerful villains in Skylands is back.

After everyone processed the shocking scenery, a ray of light shined down through the grey clouds in the form of a pillar onto the same spot where Hex just stood moments ago. The Skylanders looked upwards and soon saw a divine figure descend from the heavens. It was a woman dressed in white and gold fabric with a halo floating over her head. She had golden bronze hair which was styled backwards with the sharp tips pointing straight up. The unknown face landed on the messy ground of the Academy, her cape-like cloth moving elegantly with the wind, and observed the group of heroes for a moment, who were all confused as to who she was and why she was there.

“That was certainly an unpleasant display I had to witness.” The halo above the woman’s head started to move on its own and floated in front of her. The ring expanded and created a yellowish screen with data inside of it, which the stranger used to write on. “The return of the Undead Dragon King Malefor followed by his disappearance alongside a Skylander.” She kept her eyes on the screen while reciting what she was writing down.

Spyro stared at her for a few more moments before breaking the lonely discussion. “Excuse me, but who are you?”

The stranger stopped her documentation and moved her eyes up to look at the leader properly. “Oh right, how rude of me. My name is Angelica, ambassador of the Guardians.” Her voice sounded very smooth and almost soothing, but it was a rather deep tone that gave off the vibe that she was a more serious type.

That information didn’t ring any bells with the dragon. Some Skylanders have heard of an elite group of angels who are located in the Highlands, a part of the Skylands high up in the clouds, called the Guardians.

Angelica typed some more things onto her halo screen before closing it and returning the ring to the position above her head. “Now where is Knight Light?”

The front row of Skylanders looked behind themselves to see the Light Trap Master push himself through the crowd and step in front of Angelica. “Here.” He said in a rather unpleased tone.

“What’s that ridiculous mask supposed to be?” Angelica sounded revolted after seeing the knight’s mask which he has been wearing ever since he became a Skylander. “Take it off!”

Knight Light sighed before grabbing the hawk-like helmet with his hands and removing it. The Skylander revealed his short messy golden blonde hair. Since he always had a helmet on his head, the Light Skylander didn’t bother with styling his hair a certain way, so it was just a collection of spikes going into different directions. He had sky blue eyes that managed to shimmer even in the dark setting the group was currently in. “What do you want?” The angel asked while some Skylanders whispered about the unexpected reveal of his entire head.

“You have been a Skylander for several years now Knight Light. You know very well that your wings were a gift for your… outstanding performance as a Guardian.” By the tone of Angelica’s voice, everyone could tell that she wasn’t too fond of the knight. “However, now that you are no longer a member of our group you have to hand your wings back to the Highlands.”

Gasps could be heard from the crowd and Knight Light’s eyes widened with disbelief. “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely.” Angelica remained stern and cold. “Our superior wants it that way.”

Spyro has had enough of the confusing discussion and decided to confront his fellow Skylander. “Knight Light, what’s going on? You never told us about any of this.”

“I wasn’t allowed to.” He looked over to his former companion who notably doesn’t have any wings. “The Guardians are a secret organization that’s supposed to protect the Skylands from above.”

“That’s the Skylanders’ job!” Spyro sounded insulted. “What makes you believe you need to protect us?” He directed his words at the obedient Guardian.

“Minutes ago, you were threatened by Malefor and one of your allies had to drag him to the underworld. I think that��s a perfect example for how well you can protect yourselves, not to mention the rest of the Skylands.” Angelica had a proud smile on her face while keeping eye contact with the angered dragon.

“I’m not giving you my wings!” Knight Light finally answered. “I have earned them, and I still require them as a Skylander, you can’t just take them!”

“You are ruining our reputation and anonymity by presenting your wings to the world. The Skylanders have no right to any of our powers and privileges. Neither do you as one of them.” Angelica summoned a pair of golden blades curved in dangerous shapes and stepped closer to Knight Light.

The Trap Master pulled out his Traptanium Scythe and held it in front of him defensively. “Not a chance, Angelica.”

The Guardian sighed and pulled her halo up as a screen again. “Disobedience and stubbornness.” The Guardian spoke while typing. “Typical.” A comment she added on the side.

There was an odd silence with Knight Light in his fighting stance and Angelica seemingly waiting for something to appear in her halo. Finally, she closed it again and it floated back above her head. “Fine, there’s a possibility for you to keep your wings.”

Knight Light moved his scythe down and listened suspiciously. “What is it?”

“If you can prove yourself to be an effective protector and guardian to the Skylands, you will be able to keep your wings.” She rolled her eyes before finishing the sentence. “Even as a Skylander.”

Knight Light had a faint smile and was happy to hear that. “I’m sure that wasn’t your idea, so thanks to your superiors.”

Angelica scoffed and took a step back. “I will keep watch over you Knight. So you better deliver your best performance.”

Not a second later, the Guardian ascended back into a pillar of light and disappeared among the clouds. Knight Light’s hair flowed in the wind as he looked up with a self-assuring smile.

Another moment of silence occurred, and no one had the words to comment the situation. “I sure hope the was the last unexpected visit for today.” Sprocket finally said jokingly.

The group separated again, and everyone discussed the recent occurrences. Some wondered what those Guardians were all about, while others expressed their shock about Malefor’s return. Stealth Elf and Spyro walked alongside each other as usual. “So, Knight Light used to be a member of a secret organization and might lose his wings.” Stealth Elf commented. “And we thought Tidepool was suspicious.”

Spyro couldn’t focus on his friend’s speech. He only repeatedly heard Hex’ last words before sinking into the dark depths of Skylands in his head. “Spyro?” Stealth Elf finally pulled the Magic Skylander out of his thoughts. “You’re thinking about Hex and Malefor, aren’t you?”

“I just can’t believe he’s back.” Spyro started to imagine all the terrible things that could happen if he managed to escape. “And Hex…”

“We will find a way to stop him.” Stealth Elf didn’t worry too much about the undead threat and instead wanted to focus on the mission at hand. “Hex is taking care of him, we don’t have to worry about it now.” The friends walked a little longer before Stealth Elf continued. “And there’s still the Golden Queen problem. We don’t know where she is or what she’s up to, we need to find her first.”

“You’re right.” Spyro set his priorities straight and realized that the queen was currently more dangerous than the undead dragon. “We have to take care of one thing after the other.”

Many months since Malefor’s return and disappearance have passed. The dragon king hasn’t been seen ever since, but neither has Hex. The search for Golden Queen was unsuccessful so far, but the Skylanders continue to put all of their time and energy into finding her, as they feared an unexpected attack at any time. Knight Light has been going on missions regarding the queen and other villains everyday to prove his worth to the Guardians and keep his wings.

Meanwhile Sprocket has been working tirelessly on a device that would show her the exact location of the Golden Queen ever since she escaped. The engineer used the jewel that she found after her fight with the queen to help her, but nothing worked out so far. She made some final adjustments to the tracking machine she was currently working on until it was finally done. The Tech Skylander grabbed the turquoise stone and held it tightly in her hand.

“Please let this work.” The goldling took a deep breath before placing the small object inside the device.

The machine scanned the stone and calculated many different factors and formulas. It was supposed to find the other identical jewels that the Golden Queen possessed, no matter where they are in Skylands. It seemed as if it would fail again at first, but finally the screen attached on front of the device showed a map with a blinking red dot. That was the location of the Golden Queen. Sprocket’s mouth formed a big grin and the Tech Skylander jumped up in joy. “Finally I can put an end to this!”

[thetygre]

Arthurian D&D Books

So before the tumblrpocalypse hits us all, I guess I better belt out that mini-review of D&D books that deal with Arthurian legend for @magitekbeth, @fuckyeaharthuriana, and @lucrezianoin. These are specifically 3rd Edition books since that was the edition I started with, and it also had the greatest body of material to work with. 3rd was famous for its glut of books by third-party publishers, and Arthurian mythology was a recurring subject under the Open Source Rules (OSR).

That being said, Arthurian legend has always had some form of presence in Dungeons and Dragons. It is very openly an inspirational source in the fantasy gumbo that is D&D. The original 1st Edition Deities and Demigods included ‘Arthurian Heroes’ in it, along with gods from just about every pantheon. 2nd Edition had a supplement detailing Arthurian legend, though for the life of me I can’t find it.

But let’s start cracking on the 3rd edition books. Atlas Games’ Love and War isn’t necessarily about Arthurian legend, but it is about knights, particularly the romantic characterization of knights that is attached to a lot of versions of Arthurian legend. The book is built around the four concepts of knightly virtue (love, valor, piety, and loyalty), with special knightly orders and character options for each one. It expands outward into fantasy rpg territory a bit more by also offering race-specific concepts for knights, such as orders specifically for dwarves and elves.

Since it doesn’t have to explore Arthuriana, that also gives Love and War more room to explore knight concepts that other books here typically don’t; female knights, knight duos, fallen knights, etc. And as is standard for most of the books mentioned here, Love and War also introduces a variety of subsystems for a chivalric setting, including tournaments, piety, honor, and renown. Interestingly, one of the subsystems is courtly wit, which is a non-combat system meant to emulate the verbal sparring and social maneuvering present in stories about nobility and knights. Again, not Arthuriana, but recommended.

I’ve already talked about I, Mordred before, and it’s what got me thinking about this list again. Like I said there, I just feel like the premise of fighting an evil King Arthur alongside Mordred as the good guy just didn’t go far enough. If nothing else, Morgan le Fay should have been at least Neutral instead of still being cast as Evil. Really, everybody needs to be some kind of Neutral to really get an ambiguous setting of competing factions with no clear ‘right’ choice. Personally, I still want to see a version that goes super-hard with the alignment flip; paladin Mordred and white witch Morgan versus the half-demon warlock Merlin, his puppet king Arthur, and the death knights of the round. But then again, subtlety was never exactly my forte.

But this is where we get into the real good stuff, the books committed to Arthuriana. Relics and Rituals: Excalibur is the book of choice for if you want to plop a faux-Arthurian Britain into a high fantasy setting. It comes at Arthurian legend from a perspective that inherently has multiple races, high magic, and wandering monsters. You can play as not just a human, but a sidhe elf, halfling, dwarf, or even hobgoblin. Even half-orcs have made it in, though reflavored to be their own race of ‘Wild Man’.

Like most extensive themed campaign books, R&R: Excalibur takes an extensive look at what aspects of the base Dungeons and Dragons systems stays the same and what changes. For instance, some player character classes like fighter, rogue, bard, and paladin fit right in to Arthuriana, while other like the oriental-themed monk and the spell-slinging sorcerer are right out. (Regular classical wizards are still fine, though.) And, as is to be expected, there is a new knight class, though the author does note that it can seem somewhat redundant with the fighter and paladin still around, and its use is optional. There are a few prestige classes, with the one sticking out most in my memory being the classic Green Knight, complete with chlorophyll and resistance to decapitation.

There are a variety of essays encompassing everything from tournaments to the importance of knightly decor to honor and, perhaps most importantly, how to manage D&D’s vastly overpowered magic system and magic items into an Arthurian setting. There are no less than two pantheons, one Faerie lords and the other of this new-fangled ‘God’ fellow. Me being me, I mostly remember the chapter on how to treat different kinds of monsters; I was particularly fond of the idea of making the Fisher King’s cursed kingdom filled with undead trying to enact a danse macabre of everyday life, complete with skeleton farmers driving skeleton horses to plow barren fields. But again, that’s just me.

Relics and Rituals: Excalibur is definitely a worthy book for lovers of Arhturiana. But that’s the thing; it captures the spirit and tone of Arthurian legend, but not Arthurian legend itself. There’s definitely an appeal to it; something novel about the idea of jousting on a chimera, or cockatrice fights at the local fair, but it’s not quite the same. It’s high fantasy D&D stepping into Arthuriana, not the other way around. For that, for the real Arthurian legend lovers, you’ve got to get the real gem.

*Slaps top of book* This bad boy can fit so many knights in it. This is arguably THE book for Arthurian mythology in Dungeons and Dragons. Legends of Excalibur: Arthurian Adventures is a love letter to Arthurian legend. It starts with an incredibly brief summary of the history of Arthurian legend, from Wales to La Morte D’Arthur to John Boorman. LoE:AA makes it clear that it’s up to the reader to go research Arthurian legend for themselves; all the book can do is point them in the right direction. After that, it’s right into the content.

There are some pretty drastic changes made to the base 3rd edition D&D core rules before really setting in. The Alignment system is gone entirely, replaced by a character’s honor score. What are the character race options? Get out of here with that; LoE runs old school, so it’s human or nothing. What you do pick, though, is your starting social class, and that can make just as much difference as whether you have pointy ears or not. All the base D&D classes are chucked out except for fighter, rogue, barbarian, bard, and druid.

All that uprooting is fast replaced by a host of new character options. Legends of Excalibur is smaller than Relics and Rituals, but definitely packs more bang for its buck. The new character classes include the fool (with a special nod to Arthur’s fool, Dagonet), the hedge mage (new general mage/spellcaster), the hermit and the priest (for divine spellcasting), the minstrel (meant to represent more traditional Celtic/druid bards instead of the base D&D one), the noble (so that you can finally live out the fantasy of being rich and respectable), the robber baron (which is like the noble, but with more stabbing and shaking people down), the skald (another bard, but for vikings), the yeoman (Robin Hood/archer type), and, of course, the knight.

As if that wasn’t enough, there are a metric ton of prestige classes. Some are fairly bog standard, like the alchemist or berserker, while others are meant very explicitly to play into Arthurian archetypes. Remember how there was actually more than one Lady of the Lake? Now you can be one too. Merlin? Court mage. Morgan le Fay? Fae Enchnatress. And knights? Oh, you bet there are knight prestige classes here. There are no less than SEVEN knight prestige classes, including Quest Knight (specifically for seeking the Holy Grail), White Knight (to replace paladins), Black Knight (to replace blackguards/antipaladins), and practically every color knight in between.

Legends of Excalibur also offers rules for characters that advance beyond the standard level cap in the Dungeons and Dragons system, into the ‘Epic’ character levels. This is actually one of the reasons why I feel like Dungeons and Dragons can be a good fit for Arthurian legend. A character can start out as little more than a wandering soldier and advance to become as powerful as a demigod. While the typical image of Arthurian mythology is of a fairly low-fantasy medieval Europe, the actual source material, throughout its multiple incarnations, isn’t stingy about giving its characters magic powers, legendary equipment, and impossible challenges to face. While it still needs to be toned down to some degree, there is definitely room in Arthurian legend for the kind of superheroic powers that the Epic rules can bring. (Or at least as long as the setting keeps spellcasters to a minimum.)

This book isn’t just a guide to playing Arthurian characters, but the Arthurian world. There is a complete map of Arthurian Europe that has to reconcile Arthur’s given time with accounts of him rebelling against the Pope and fighting in the Crusades before Islam even existed. It’s a wonderful little detail, trying to account for everywhere that Arthur or one of his knights or relatives supposedly lived in or visited. Another detail is accounting for the the timeline; Legends of Excalibur designates five important time periods in the Arthurian cycle, from just after Uther’s death to the Golden Age of Camelot to the civil war with Mordred. Each period has different effects on not just characters, but the geography, people of the land, and magic. Try to go into the forests just after Uther died, for instance, and a character is likely to run into monsters like dire wolves. Go back when Arthur is on the throne, though, and the forest and its animals will be tamer. It’s a world very committed to the idea of Divine Right, and how a king affects the universe.

Of course there are monsters. There’s the standards; white hart, Questing Beast, though some more obscure monsters like a variety of werewolves are here too. There’s individual entries for monsters to describe their individual place in Arthurian Europe; chimeras and manticores are rare, ogres and trolls are common, etc. The real gem of the monster section, though, is giants and dragons; giants and dragons are staples of knightly mythology, after all, so they get special treatment. Just like people, dragons and giants are categorized by class and bloodline; a noble dragon, for instance, will have scales the color of gold and be the size of a castle, where a lowborn dragon looks like the wrong end of a snake and an umbrella. Naturally, there’s more Honor to be gained fighting one instead of the other. It’s a great system that reflects how, along with the King, giants and dragons are tied to the land.

But the cincher, the real hook that I think makes this book worthy of a true Arthurian legend fan, is the sample adventures and appendix. I, Mordred gave you one shot of teaming up with Arthurian big names; Legend of Excalibur gives you three. Fresh adventurers can help Sir Balin kill the invisible knight, possibly even averting the grail cycle by killing the knight before he reaches Pellam’s castle. More powerful adventurers have to choose sides in the civil war, and Mordred is once again an option. But my favorite of the three adventures has the player characters helping a young Arthur claim a castle. It would be satisfying enough to rub elbows with the likes of Merlin or Sir Kay, but then there’s a side-quest where young Arthur sees Guinevere and is instantly smitten, so he conscripts the players into acting as his go-between for her. Players have to deliver Arthur’s notes Guinevere. They can read the love poems he writes for her; they’re awful. It’s just such a wonderful little detail that it’s hard not to love it.

And then, finally, there is the appendix; a whole cast of Arthurian characters statted out. It would be impossible to cover EVERYONE, but Legends of Excalibur makes a fair effort. LoE remembers some characters that typically get left behind; Dagonet, Morgausse, Sir Bors, etc. Some characters, such as Arthur, are presented at different stages in their life. All-in-all it makes a good roundout for what I’d call easily the best book about Arthurian legend in Dungeons and Dragons, if not one of the best tabletop roleplaying.

If you scanned past all that; this is the book to get for Arthurian legend in D&D. Legends of Excalibur is the beginning, middle, and end of the argument for Arthuriana with tabletop roleplaying. Even if you don’t play 3rd edition, or even D&D, it’s still a valuable resource in converting Arthurian Europe into a tabletop fantasy setting. The only way you could get more in-depth is if you made an entire RPG about Arthurian legend.

But maybe let’s talk about that some other time, huh?

[veridium]

Prompt: Theia Sacrifices Herself in the Fade

I received this VERY intriguing prompt from @nachtigall7 and wanted to write something up to depict it! So here is the prompt:

“What would happen if the Inquisitor stayed behind in the fade to fight the Nightmare demon and saved both the Warden and Hawke? What is your opinion on this? Could she survive the fade and the Nightmare?”

The path had been arduous and dank, but at last, they had seen their journey through even past the clutches of the fear demon and towards the rift that would return them to their world.

Sweating and heaving air in and out of her lungs, Inquisitor Trevelyan began the dead sprint along with her allies, seeing most of them make it through the rift sent a singe of relief down her spine. Good, perhaps Varric was wrong, some heroes can survive.

Then, the ground rumbled with a sinister energy that hungered to feed.

As she beckoned Hawke and Stroud to follow her, their faces of horror and caution compelled her to turn and see what stopped them in their tracks. It was the massive Nightmare creature the Divine spirit had managed to fend off long enough for them to tackle the Fear Demon alone. It had obviously recovered from the sundering, and now, its limbs curled and struck the ground with a vengeance. 

[KEEP READING BELOW]

Her arms fanned out at her sides as she tried to remain on her feet amidst the shaking. She stammered back to Hawke’s side, Stroud not far away.

“We need to clear a path! It will surely devour us all if we cannot find a way around!” Stroud yelled, instinctively gripping at his sword.

Theia tried her best to level her labored breathing as the problem presented itself before them, with time sprinting faster than they every could.

“I will do it! I’ll cover you!” Hawke replied, her hand reaching for her staff. 

“Hawke, no!” Theia looked back over her shoulder, her brow furrowing.

“Inquisitor, Corypheus is my mistake. Let me make up for an error that never should have happened!” Hawke insisted, beads of sweat falling down her forehead and down her temples.

“No, let me do it. A Grey Warden must avenge the wrongs we have done to Thedas. It is our duty to sacrifice,” Stroud came closer, unsheathing his sword. 

Theia’s mind became a storm of emotions and thoughts. They had made it this far with everyone relatively unscathed, and now at this last moment, a life would be lost. She remembered the conversations, the meaning in both the lives of Stroud and Hawke, who now stood at her side, ready to end their lives for her cause. It was overwhelming. The adrenaline coursing through her veins, the anchor responding to the insurgence by humming in her palm’s skin. She felt an unabated pang of remorse and sorrow.

“Both of you go. I will cover.” She said sternly, pulling her staff off of her shoulder and holding it at her side, ready for combat.

“You can’t be serious, Inquisitor! You are needed!” Hawke came closer so as to make direct eye contact, but everything in Theia’s eyes told of a woman convinced of her own demise.

“I refuse to let you die, Inquisitor. This is madness,” Stroud joined in.

“Both of you are needed and have been needed before I ever existed to Thedas. The Inquisition can always find a leader to pull rank. We don’t have time to dispute, do not make me order both of you!” she grit her teeth as she yelled, tapping her staff with her thumb, beginning its humming of magical potential. 

Hawke’s eyes flickered to the light emanating from the Inquisitor’s staff, and her chest was hollowed by the sense of dread.

“Inquisitor...it’s...it’s been an honor,” she said, roughly landing a hand on Theia’s shoulder. She looked at Stroud, who’s stubborn expression spoke of his unwillingness to cooperate.

“Stroud, let’s go. She says it’s an order,” Hawke squared her posture alongside him. The Warden’s brow raised in distress as he, too, punched his chest with a fist in reverance now.

“Inquisitor. We will not fail you,” he growled with an urgency. 

“I trust you. Hawke,” she said, turning turning to her fellow Mage. “Tell Cassandra she is right. Tell her to push on.”

“I will.”

“Then tell Josephine...tell her...” her voice choked as tears of mixed and fervent emotion welled in her eyes, a one falling from her eye and mixing with the sweat and blood. 

Hawke pursed her lips quickly, reaching a hand to grasp the back of Theia’s head. She resolutely put her forehead to the Inquisitor’s, lowering her eyes. She was giving a warrior’s comfort, a warrior’s goodbye, a warrior’s reassurance.

“I will, I swear,” she muttered low, before breaking away and taking one last look at her, nodding once.

Theia swallowed fast, and with one shallow breath, she composed herself. The monster that had lurked in her subconscious, that had preyed upon her weak moments but did not yet have the courage to approach, was taking her down. She was submitting to an end she had always anticipated. But, she was done watching others die for her, even if it was for an idea, a future bigger than herself. She was the one person who could put a stop to it. 

And so, she ran. Every muscle in her body seeming to oscillate with the energy of a woman protective beyond comprehension. She swung her staff like a pole spear, cutting and slicing decisively with her staff blade as her comrades ran at each side of her. They were getting there, the path was opening with each thrust and ball of fire she let go from her body. Her irises hummed and beat with colors as she let the magic in her body consume her senses and take hold of her.

She went to her knees, sliding forward as she twisted the staff around, taking off more grotesque limbs. The creature shrieked and squealed to the point of enveloping their senses.

The rift’s light gained fast and fleeting shadows, as from her periphery, she saw one, then two, figures leap forward and into its embrace. A second of assurance gave way to terror as the demon reached for her. She would not be an accommodating prey.

Theia roared with animosity and ferociousness that could outmatch any desert beast, any scourged demon, even ones that could eclipse the sun.

“You want a fight?!” she raged, standing as upright as she could to her feet, and dropping her staff to the ground. Then, clutching the air with her fingers, she summoned a most unholy mass of electricity in her palms. Another growl reverberated in her chest as she compelled the anchor’s magic to combine with the static in her left palm. It had not done so before, needing to be convinced like an autonomous will. But, in this moment, in this time of staring death in the maul and bearing her teeth right back, she bent it into subservience for one moment.

The electric currents glowed green and purple now. This surge could consume her body, obliterate her flesh and bone like dust. That is why she hesitated to push herself. But, if she was meant to fall now, might as well cause an elemental rupture in the Fade to do it.

She finally amassed enough charge in her body, so much so that her senses seem to want to break free from her skin. She felt as though her body, her bones and ligaments, were cracking like stone facades in a temple torn asunder. In that moment, her body echoed the destruction of all the Temples and sacred sites Corypheus left in his wake. She was becoming a ruin.

Now a doomed beacon, she relented her body, heralding the sacrifice with one last mouthful of resistance.

She screamed an un-Earthly scream, sending her arms over her head. The reach of her arms extended with violent branches of electric energy, intermingled with the Anchor’s aggression. The sound of her voice thundered like a storm downpour. Only when the creature’s wailing erupted from its depths did her sound get overpowered.

The creature became paralyzed as its skin and extremities became enveloped in merciless static, encompassing every inch of its being. Then, waves of green light, like the patterns of the Frostback night sky lights, coursed through. The creature had an endless rage, and endless, fearful flood of roaring.

Theia’s eyes were now all purple, all light, and all thirst for death. Her body was shaking, but she had concentrated the instability to her hips as they shifted and rotated under the weight of her casting. In her mind’s eye she could at first see only blinding light, nothing but vastness. 

Then, the power started to seek any means of satiation and sustenance it could. It came for her memories, the ones that fed her emotions and her will to live --

Her childhood, the feeling of injustice that she could not yet name. Her life in the Circle, relying on few confidants and friends who knew her better than she knew herself in those intemperate times. The days of being on the road, never knowing when she would become the next kill for fun or ravaged woman at the hands of a man’s sin. Then, the Conclave, and the early days in Haven; finding people who looked at her with hope, with respect. Those adversaries who became allies, who then became friends.

Their travels, their triumphs. The victories that came from the clutches of impossibility.

Her grasp of the sword grip, and the reflection of everyone’s faces as they saw their Inquisitor for the first time.

The feeling of mountain air against the skin of her back.

The smell of her onyx black hair after a night of sweat and incense burning.

A moment of chaotic concert between the Inquisitor’s and the demon’s voices, both fighting off the clutches of death. Then, a snap, as if a hand had rolled over a reservoir of friction and made it snap.

Then, darkness.

--

The air that filled the Fortress courtyard was thick with sweat, blood, and magic. The onslaught of demons felt indominable. So, when the rift broke open further to allow the bodies of Hawke and Stroud to jump forth, everyone examined the sight in their periphery. Quickly, Hawke gathered herself and stood to her feet, looking back and hoping that the Inquisitor would manage to close the rift. 

Then, screaming echoed through, and it was not obvious as to who it came from. The Rift began to collapse on itself, but not in the way it normally did when the Inquisitor sought to close it. It was almost as if is was responding to a nearby explosion of power, and being consumed by default. It shrunk and ached, and then, snapped like a fragile neck bone.

The demons collapsed around them, victims of a shockwave of energy. 

“Hawke! Where is the Inquisitor?!” Cassandra ran to her side, wondering why the Fade rift would close without her there.

Hawke coughed up the lingering blood and dried spit in her throat. 

“She...she...” she breathed, hunching over and putting her hands on her knees to keep herself somewhat upright.

Cassandra felt the air quiet now, and the weight of the silence proved more frightening than the concert of screams and sword thrusts.

“No...she could not have...” she muttered, taking a step back in disbelief.

“I’m sorry. We couldn’t...we couldn’t tell her otherwise,” Stroud, now, managing to just barely sheath his sword. His voice made Hawke’s heart sink further into her stomach.

Cassandra was brimming with righteous anger and sorrow, and as she grit her teeth, all she could hear was the high-pitched ringing in her ears.

“Seeker!” a voice called from behind. It was Solas, armor bloodied and staff humming with expendable energy as he approached with an urgent march in his step.

She did not reply. To do so would cause another eruption of devastating energy.

“Seeker, I have felt a reckoning emotion that came from the rift closing itself. The rift was not closed directly, it gave into a massive expelling of energy. If it was her, she could still yet survive. I have not seen such a phenomena happen, but, if she gave into her magic, she could have been salvaged by it.”

Cassandra snapped out of it, hearing a hopefulness in Solas’s erudite voice.

“How can we know? And how do we rescue her if she is alive?”

“We wait. I will keep attention to the energies I feel from spirits who will wish to know what released such a shock-wave.”

“If she used her body as a lightening rod, would it make sense for her to be alive after that?” Dorian’s voice now echoed from several yards back. He had listened in, his heart beating fast with anxiety. His friend, his dear friend. If he had only stayed behind and convinced her out of her stupidity.

“I do not yet know. However, considering her body has maintained the power of the anchor, which seeks to survive as well, perhaps she has defied the rules once more. We must regroup, and wait.”

The Seeker couldn’t help but be unsatisfied at the thought of sitting on her hands and waiting for her friend, who was flesh and blood, to make her survival known. It had been a dance she had done one-too-many times in this short span of time, but now, the stakes were raised. She wasn’t simply in the middle of no where, or under a mountain of ice and snow. She was in the Fade, physically so. Trapped if she was alive, lost forever if she wasn’t.

“We need to find the closest fade rift, and we need to rescue her,” Cassandra growled, gripping angrily onto her sword, and stomping off through the crowd.

If there was a way, she would do as Theia always teased her for: she would ram whatever armored limb she had against the obstacle until she could move forward. Her friend, her ally, her comrade, deserved at least that.

[thegrimdarkoffice]

Thrones and Cauldrons

The door swung open and Maelle stepped inside, pushing Alice forward.

“Let get this over with. Sit.” She commanded sharply as the door fell back into its lock.

Alice obeyed without a word, taking a seat in the large throne that had been nailed against the wall. Its interior was decorated with heavy restraints, impossible to crack or overpower, especially if one was only a mere witch like Alice.

Not too far away from the throne sat a big, black cauldron, containing a foul-smelling liquid that could induce tears if one got too close. It had bubbled happily the night before, as Alice poured the last parts of blood into its contents.

But far from being just a blood stew; the mixture contained body parts, magic, liquids and scraps from their customers (and victims), every part tainted with pure negative energy. From suffering, to loss, to hatred, to pain.

Alice herself was dressed for the occasion, hair braided tightly to stay out of her face, and clad in a black outfit whose material didn’t quite seem like animal leather.

She scooted back until her spine was aligned with the cold surface of the throne and laid her arms on the armrests.

Maelle stepped over. She leaned down and began fastening the restraints, activating the magic ones with soft murmurs and pulling the physical ones tight enough for Alice to not be left any wiggle rooms.

The Acolyte, however, barely felt the protests her body made. She stared up at the face so close to hers, cool breath passing over her skin whenever Maelle whispered to the magical locks.

Her cheeks heated up slightly.

If I am going to die, then I am going to die happily. She told ███████ and got no response.

“There.” Maelle stepped back and watched Alice carefully test the restraints.

Her head, chest and arms were pinned down, impossible to move even an inch, which was the most important part.

She couldn’t nod, therefore, and offered Maelle a simple smile.

The Matriarch turned back to the cauldron and picked up the attachment that had been lying at their feet.

To put it simply, long tubes extended from inside the cauldron into a gas mask-like device. But its built was a bit different, in that it had a curved piece of metal extending where the mouth will be.

Alice watched the woman fasten the cauldron’s lid shut. No one can mess with the insides until they’re done, this was important.

Nervousness started to arise again. This wasn’t going to be pleasant. She knew she was in for a world of agony and misery. She knew. It wasn’t done without her consent.

But she also knew that soon, she wouldn’t care about her job, her mission, about Maelle or anything else. Her survival instincts will kick in and her body will fight relentlessly to get away. Perhaps her spirit will break before the cauldron was empty, or perhaps she will fight on afterwards and try to get away from her own purpose.

Aside from the pain, it scared her to think that in just a short while, her matter will overpower her mind in a fit of agony.

She had to get through it, though. Her body needed to become a vessel, to hold everything that broke humanity.

They needed her for this.

So she stopped trying to find comfort. She relaxed her body and told herself that it just was going to be shitty.

“Open your mouth,” Maelle ordered.

Alice obeyed and the mask was placed over her, the curved piece pushing itself down her throat. She barely kept from gagging.

The mask was fixated firmly like her restraints, both magical and physical.

Then Oriol stepped in.

The kid was his usual curious self, carrying a syringe on a tray while glancing around the room with great interest. Despite the fact that he’s been here before several times.

His eyes fell on Alice and she could see them light up.

“Here ya go, Miss Lady Maelle!” He proclaimed with a little bow. (Presumably, to keep Maelle from eating him. He had very strange ideas about his bosses sometimes, but as long as he kept in line, they didn’t care what he believed.)

“Go ahead.” She returned.

Oriol blinked his owlish eyes. “Me…?”

“Yes. You will be in charge of giving her the shots, so I need to see that you know how to do it correctly.”

“….er, yesmam!” He picked up the syringe and placed the tray aside. Stepping over to Alice, the boy couldn’t help admire the position she was in, restrained and masked like that.

But he quickly gathered himself and, with mumbling an automatic apology for touching her, brushed her braid aside to penetrate the muscles in her neck.

Alice held still.

A few moments passed and she started to feel her neck muscles relax. The reflex to gag at the device jammed in her throat subsided.

A minute longer and she was unable to swallow.

“Good.” Maelle turned back to the cauldron and switched it on.  

Alice prepared herself mentally.

Oriol stood back and watched.

There was a soft gurgling sound at first. Then the tubes started to quiver as liquid was pumped through them, towards the throne.

It was easy to pinpoint the exact moment it hit Alice.

Her eyes widened, hands curling into clenched fists. She started to struggle with what little room she had left and they could hear her whimpering slightly.

Maelle nodded, pleased.

She activated another set of protection, then left the room without another word.

Oriol stood there for a while longer.

With the keen nose of his, he could start to smell Alice’s despair and fear welling up in the room, trumping even the horrible smell of the mixture itself.

Her eyes locked on his, begging to be released.

Pained whimpers filled the room, a pathetic plea for mercy, for someone to get her out of this chair, she changed her mind, she couldn’t handle this after all.

Talking was impossible at this point, but every part of her screamed at him for help.

Oriol knew that sight all too well.

He had seen it in countless of others, mostly women, glancing at him helplessly before they were dragged off into rooms, where soon their cries could be heard.

He had fallen asleep to their screams, in his small corner he had called his sleeping place and eventually, they didn’t bother him anymore.

Natural selection, his boss used to tell him. This is how Nature wants it. It’s their fate. Don’t try to be a hero, you’re only good for taking orders anyway.

And so he never did. And he didn’t now.

The part of him that might’ve felt pity for seeing another living being in distress had died long ago, and so he walked out of the room and locked it.

[liz-and-the-blue-bird]

2016 Year In Review

Where Kurt talks about literally everything.

Totally not late 👌.

(Recommended Sountrack. You may just want to put it on loop.)

(Alternate soundtrack. This is what I listened to for the majority of writing this.)

Top lists are a sort of fun exercise for me. They present a unique challenge: to sell an idea well but short enough so the full list is reasonable to read in an afternoon. They also allow me to flex my own creative muscles by talking about many topics and concepts all at once. One of my favorite parts about anime is writing and talking about it after all. So top lists let me do that all of that for a bunch of different shows all at once. Also they’re pretty interesting to compare to other critics who are much better than me and like, do this for a living. I find that when I compare top lists to each other, they tend to agree on what each individual show is doing, yet disagree on which is the best. But I digress.

Anyway, if you read last years’ post, thank you—the writing in it sucks compared to how I write now so I don’t blame you if you don’t read it. Secondly, I’m changing the format a bit: I’ll still do a top five list, but I also have a few anime that I’ll just call “notable.” To me they aren’t good enough to put in my top list, but have interesting ideas or execution that is worth talking about (also, some other people may believe that they are worth their top list, which is a discussion topic in and of itself). Then I’ll just list off the rest of the shows I watched this year and give them little cute bite-sized reviews. I’ll also give star ratings out of 5 to everything (2.5 is the “average show,” but I refuse to rate with a fraction). Now then, we have a lot to get through so let’s get cracking.

Top Five New Anime

As always, in airing order.

Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! (KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!)

Jan 14, 2016 to Mar 17, 2016; 10 episodes; Studio DEEN (btw is it Deen or DEEN? I can’t seem to find any consensus on this.)  

So like, think SAO, but not edgy. KonoSuba takes the inherent absurdity of the SAO premise and puts that at the forefront. It opts out of the darker concepts that most of these “stuck in another world” anime tend to take in favor of hilarity. This is mostly done by creating a world that is legitimately wonderful as opposed to fake-difficult. Which means that the ridiculous problems the protagonists have are not at all because the world sucks, it’s because they suck. Each of them are jerks or weirdos in their own way and how they play with each other and the world is a riot. The show also does lots of clever things with its videogame world like: how luck stats affects quest rewards, how one develops their own skill repertoire, how dying works—hell, the first episode uses a literal pause as a method of conveying the protagonist’s thoughts. It feels like a DnD campaign that went off the rails in the best possible way. Even the show’s weakness, the occasional moments of terrible or rushed animation, are leveraged into comedic beats. It’s only 10 episodes (and a fantastic OVA) and a sequel is coming out soon. It’s definitely worth the watch.

★★★★☆

I didn’t expect to ever put a DEEN show on this list.

Mother’s Basement did an OP analysis along with Re:Zero here.

Boku No Hero Academia (My Hero Academia)

Apr 3, 2016 to Jun 26, 2016; 13 episodes; Bones

Many hero shows nowadays are trying to be a dark and intense, discussing themes of loss or the responsibilities of power. My Hero Academia handles hard concepts like that as well (especially in the most recent arc in the manga), but, first and foremost, it absolutely loves heroes. The original writer is a huge fan of old American comics and this show is a shonen recreation of the original Golden Age of superheroes. They explode onto the scene. They smile in the face of overwhelming odds. They always beat the villain and save the day. The best heroes are those that just want to be heroic and this show understands that. It’s world, like the author, loves heroes. The school loves heroes. The main character loves heroes. This incredibly positive view just emanates from the show and can be felt in every aspect. By far it’s biggest weakness is Bones seems a bit afraid to take risks: the fights a bit too true to the manga and the pace afraid of running out of material. But the character writing, the world building, the soundtrack are all top notch. A sequel is in the works and there’s also an OVA story that isn’t in the manga. An easy recommendation.

★★★★☆

One of my favorite critics, Nick Creamer, did a review on ANN. He also reads the manga and talks about it often on his blog, Wrong Every Time.

Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu (Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-)

Apr 4, 2016 to Sep 19, 2016; 25 episodes; White Fox

The opposite of KonoSuba—Re:Zero instead takes the SAO premise and makes it legitimately dark. It does this, not by making a main character whose defining character trait is “I’m cool,” but by crafting a world that is half high fantasy and half intangible, unceasing horror. The show leans on the uncertainty of being thrust into a new world and the agony of respawning again and again while talking to people who killed you as if they weren’t ticking time bombs. However, this story is not built to crush you. It carries heavy elements, not to present meaningless challenges to a blatantly overpowered protagonist (cough), but to push the protagonist to strive harder. In this way, it creates a relatable character. A character who we know is not strong and sometimes doubts himself, just like how we do when we face our own monsters. Then he faces his problems head on, sometimes by himself and sometimes with friends who don’t really understand the depth of his struggle. It says to the audience “this is not the end of your story” in a way that fills us with determination to reach our own happy endings. And that is a story worth telling.

★★★★★

This is probably the best story about being thrown into another world since…KonoSuba. 2016 was pretty good about this premise tbh, especially when you also consider Grimgar was released as well.

Mother’s Basement did an OP analysis along with Kono Suba here.

Flying Witch

Apr 10, 2016 to Jun 26, 2016; 12 episodes; J.C.Staff

Flying Witch doesn’t really have anything important to say. It doesn’t have a deep meaning like “one’s journey to personal peace” or “the intrinsic strength of the human spirit.” It’s just a slice of life story put in a casually magical setting. Like every good slice of life, episodes aren’t super related, and once you know all the characters you can watch it in basically any order. Some episodes don’t even show off any magic. All it does is carry a carefree lighthearted tone for 12 episodes. The show does this by establishing the world with many, many wide environment shots and then dropping so many quirky-cute characters whose interactions are so lovely and so charming that you just have to come back. In many ways, this show is K-on! except the captivating music scenes are replaced with equally stunning magical scenes. And I adore its sound design. Many of the most iconic tracks are reprises of its main theme at different tempos or with different instruments, creating a very cohesive experience throughout the series. In particular, its flying theme is gorgeous. Just like K-on!, it’s one of those shows that you watch on a rainy day and it will be just what you need. Flying Witch has quietly entered my personal favorites.

★★★★★

None of the critics I follow have made long articles about this anime. What this is telling me is I need to find more anime bloggers. Now taking suggestions.

Yuri!!! on Ice

Oct 6, 2016 to Dec 22, 2016; 12 episodes; MAPPA

To say this show was an endeavor would be selling it short. Yuri!!! on Ice tackles something like seven or eight parallel stories and relevant backstories of characters who all have different cultures and goals, and then it also has to explain enough about professional skating for you to actually care and understand the performances the show takes so much time to show and, if that wasn’t enough, it’s also LGBT. You have to give it to MAPPA for trying. The success of each of these aspects is middling, but, at the very least, it handles the stories of Yuuri, Yurio, and Victor fairly well. I’ve already touched on many of the techniques it uses to develop it’s expansive cast, but setting that aside, there is just a lot of show here. In order to communicate the number of ideas it tackles, the show presents everything full of purpose. Most scenes work overtime here and the resulting dialogue pops. Even the commercial break cuts are used effectively: they are foods that are native to the region that the cast is currently in which establishes a sense of place. At the same time, they’re food, so they refer back to the Yuuri’s in-joke about being a pork cutlet bowl and also maintain the lighthearted, happy tone of the show. Yuri!!! on Ice is efficient like that. It’s also one of those rare shows that sneaks into the public eye, so supporting it feels a tiny bit like supporting animation as a medium. But, before all that, it’s a story about a guy who follows his dream. That’s about as grand a story as anyone can tell.

★★★★☆

Notables 

Hai to Gensou no Grimgar (Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash)

Jan 11, 2016 to Mar 28, 2016; 12 episodes; A-1 Pictures

If you read just the premise, this show should suck. It’s just another one of those “stuck in another world” anime that come out every season. However, it has an interesting secondary hook: it’s actually a slice of life. Some of the most interesting portions of SAO and Log Horizon were how the videogame world interacted with the daily lives of the characters, so a show about this should be good, right? Unfortunately for Grimgar, it seems to be in the business of ruining it’s own emotional beats. The first episode is a good example of this: they open with a goblin hunting section that would be high tension, yet the animation struggles to provide the necessary impact. A training sequence occurs, but ends up paying too much attention to the instructor’s fanservice to offer anything meaningful. Then there’s a bit where the main crew gather round the campfire for some casual conversation which also stumbles because their topic of discussion is witch girl’s breasts. In fact, a lot of potential emotional hits snuff themselves out by becoming fanservice beats instead. A real shame. 

★★☆☆☆ 

Flip Flappers

Oct 6, 2016 to Dec 29, 2016; 13 episodes; Studio 3Hz

Well, I’ve already talked about how I feel about this show, but it just keeps popping up. To me, Flip Flappers comes across as trying too hard and losing focus and meaning as it tries to rationalize its own absurd world. It fails to explain bits and pieces, and, once you go down this rabbit hole, you have to hit everything. So we end up with this sort of half-done mess. However, people are still talking about it, so I think your assessment of Flip Flappers is a personal measurement of how much BS you can handle before you reject a plot idea. And the plot really is the “only” thing that grinded me about Flip Flappers. It had interesting characters, clever world building, and its ability to play with its animation style produced lots of great single episodes. It’s not a bad show, but it depends on what kind of person you are to tell if it’s a great show.

★★★☆☆

Short Answer Section

Ok, hopefully this goes by faster. 

Winter 2016

Prince of Stride: Alternative -  Madhouse does sports anime sounds like a good show. Unfortunately, this is less sports anime and more otome game. The parkour/running scenes are well animated (it’s Madhouse), but the character beats don’t work very well. All in all, ok. -  ★★☆☆☆

Musaigen no Phantom World - Flip Flappers but bad. How disappointing. -  ★☆☆☆☆ 

Sekkou Boys - Honestly? Not terrible. It’s a short, so attempting to put any sort of character development is kind of a crazy idea, but at least it was hilarious. -  ★★☆☆☆

ERASED -  2/3rds of a great show. The first 8-ish episodes are tightly written and well directed. The next 4 are…less so. At least for the writing part—the direction is still pretty good. ERASED fails to explain some character developments in ways that really make sense. This is similar to my problem with Flip Flappers, but, as ERASED is a mystery thriller, it is a much larger oversight. In short, the director once again proves himself much better than the works he has been given to adapt. -  ★★★☆☆

Zootopia - Disney does not suck, usually. Zootopia, in fact, is one of their better films. The setting is actually self-explanatory enough to work without too much info dumping, so it uses this kooky setting to tell a story that is relevant to our own world. Being a mystery/detective thriller, the plot is required to be more tight than Disney animated movies usually are and for the most part Zootopia delivers. It’s probably the best animated Disney movie this year. -  ★★★★☆

Spring 2016

Uchuu Patrol Luluco - Trigger at their Trigger-iest. Luluco actually manages to reference (“reference” aka “directly call out”) every single Trigger show in this short mini-series. It’s actually a really fun ride, in the same way that Gurren Lagann is, but because of how much it meanders it loses some of it’s punch. Still, I’d recommend it because honestly, at 13*6=74 minutes total running time, what have you got to lose? -  ★★★★☆ 

Gyakuten Saiban: Sono “Shinjitsu”, Igi Ari! (Ace Attorney) -  Ace Attorney shows us that some things are much better played than watched (like some other shows). But, all in all, it didn’t suck. It’s actually pretty good for people who don’t have the time to play the games. And I did get a lot of notes on that one post… - ★★☆☆☆

Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta?  -  For the most part, a generic harem anime except the archetypes are marginally more interesting and the secondary hook is unconventional (videogames as opposed to…super human high school. We live in a world where super human high school is more common than just videogame club). The fanservice is expected. The comedy is ok. Overall it’s just kinda eh.  -  ���★☆☆☆

Sakamoto desu ga? -  This show is actually just one joke repeated for twelve episodes. I mean it’s a pretty good joke; you could call this the slice of life One Punch Man. But I liked One Punch Man—I put it on the top list last year, so what’s wrong with this show? Well the strength of One Punch Man is not actually Saitama (haha), but rather the cast of side characters. Since Saitama is a static character, the development is shipped to everyone else so we get our character beats from them. Then, Saitama is used only for comedic beats. Sakamoto, on the other hand, fails to do this, and instead uses a rotating static character cast, so it has to rely entirely on comedy to compel you to watch. And, like I said, it’s just one joke repeated for twelve episodes. - ★★☆☆☆

Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge -  Like Sakamoto, Tanaka-kun is also just one joke, but it spends a bit more time developing the surrounding cast since that joke isn’t as potent. It’s slow pace reminds me a lot of Flying Witch, but it uses its characters more than its environment for the jokes. In fact, that’s probably the more important difference: there are more jokes. Flying Witch is content to let you stew in the world for a while, but Tanaka-kun feels pressured to hit you with another joke right after another. It’s not a bad show, but it’s a bit clumsy in its execution. - ★★★☆☆

Kiznaiver (2/12) -  I touched on this already, but Kiznaiver is an interesting enough topic to revisit. Often for character shows, a director will take one of two ways to show relationships: 1) understated gestures and close up camera angles on expressive body parts—this is the stance KyoAni and PA Works likes to take—or 2) metaphor as shorthand to character mindsets, anywhere from expressive skating performances to personal demons gone physical. Neither of these is really Trigger’s style, so for their own character story, Kiznaiver, they turn the relationships into an actual physical connection and then use force to move relationships. I still haven’t gotten around to finishing it, but it’s a clever workaround and very Trigger even if it’s not their usual director. I’m excited to see how it’s done. -  ★★★☆☆?

Finding Dory -  I…don’t remember much of it. Usually that means it’s just kind of ok. A “just kind of ok” Disney movie probably means it’s above average so let’s go with that. (I am a serious critic who seriously critiques things with seriousness.)  - ★★★☆☆?

I need to start writing shorter opinions or we’ll be here all day. 

Summer 2016

That scroll bar is getting pretty small…

Love Live! Sunshine!! (3/13) - Of the 3 episodes I’ve watched, this seems very much like “Love Live! 2, Love Liver!!” It still has this weird problem of taking itself too seriously (remember “I love school idols!” ?), but Sunrise is a roll here, given another iteration we might have a very good character comedy. - ★★★☆☆?

New Game! -  Aside from having the most adorable OP of 2016, this show isn’t really notable. Yeah, it’s cute, it’s Doga Kobo. Yeah, it’s funny, it’s Doga Kobo. There’s some fanservice, often leveraged into comedy a la Monogatari, but that’s kind of it. For the most part, this is Shirobako channeling K-on! which sounds amazing but ends up just being pretty ok. I wonder how much better it could be given a two cour season. -  ★★★☆☆

Taboo Tattoo (1/screw it) - I was coerced into watching one episode of this thing. It has like almost an interesting premise but every time they introduced another character I just got more disappointed. Please send help. - ☆☆☆☆☆

Amanchu! (1/12) - J.C.Staff has this weird artistic style that seems to change completely whenever they are making a joke. This works for some anime, but it’s not very subtle. In the case of Amanchu!, I think they needed to deliver it with a more softer style overall, but it’s not a deal breaker. I just haven’t gotten around to watching the rest. -  ★★☆☆☆?

Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru! (3/12) - Comedy anime about girls in art club falling in love with a dense otaku and surrounded by other quirky idiots is not a new concept. To be different, Konobi tries to provide more structure to its story, evident just from the first episode. Well, I’m only 3 episodes in but I’ve found the comedy weakens the plot and the plot weakens the comedy. Often with short seasons, it’s better to focus on only one aspect, as dividing your resources like this results in a mediocre show, but I still haven’t gotten that far. I’m hopeful. - ★★☆☆☆?

Fall 2016

WWW.Working!! (6/13) - It basically plays out like Working!! lite. WWW.Working!! was the original “rough draft” for the Working!! manga after all, so it kind of makes sense. It’s alright. Working!! is a stronger show overall and has a rare multi-season full adaptation, so, choosing only one, I’d choose Working!!. That was probably really confusing. - ★★★☆☆?

Shuumatsu no Izetta (2/12) - History drama meets magical girls. You know, maybe we should stop making so many “x + Magical girls” anime. It’s an interesting take and the direction it goes is pretty fun. Instead of following a WW2 titan, you follow a small country that needs the magical girl to keep themselves from getting totally destroyed. I’m not sure I’ll finish it, but if that’s your kind of vibe, Izetta is the show for you. - ★★☆☆☆?

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku (1/12) - Continuing the theme of “x + Magical girls” anime, this one is Magical Girls meets Battle Royal. At least, that’s what it’s supposed to be. The pace is so incredibly slow that the little premise you read on MAL tells you the story past the first episode already. I don’t think I’ll be coming back to this one. - ★☆☆☆☆?

Cheating Craft (2/12) -  Calling this an Anime is kind of hazy but luckily this post is about more than just anime. The first episode is sort of a flashback type deal that explains the concept and the next episode is the first of what seems to be a series of tests. Instead of the subtle strategic type of show I expected, it’s actually just ok-ish action with poorly defined characters. So it’s been dropped. - ★☆☆☆☆?

Hibike! Euphonium 2 - I’ve talked about this so much you guys probably already know my stance on it. It’s hampered by the nature of adaptation as the Mizore-Nozomi arc could probably be removed. But the Asuka arc shows KyoAni has still got it. One of the best shows of the year. - ★★★★★

KEIJO!!!!!!!! - You know what’s interesting about this show? In story structure, it’s the most generic shonen ever. But the base premise is so absurd and so confident in itself that it carries pretty well. The absurdity even spreads to the title: all caps and eight exclamation points. This show knows what it’s about. - ★★★☆☆

Gi(a)rlish Number (2/12) - Oregairu is well written show. Gi(a)rlish Number is also a well written show. Thanks Wataru Watari. But because of how cynical they are, they’re really hard for me to watch. So I’ve only watched two episodes. Thanks Wataru Watari. I’m sure I’ll have lots of opinions about this so I’ll talk about it at a later time. - ★★★★☆?

Haikyuu!!: Karasuno Koukou VS Shiratorizawa Gakuen Koukou - Carrying from the momentum of the previous season, Haikyuu!! remains good. I think this is the weakest season so far in terms of emotional pay-off (probably because it’s, ya know, 10 episodes), but it’s still my favorite sports anime. Hopefully the next season isn’t too far away. - ★★★★☆

Moana - Compared to Zootopia, this Disney film is more hand-wavy with its plot. It’s not like the world is harder to build, one of them has demi-gods and another has talking animals, the world just isn’t as important for this type of story. On the flip side, it has arguably the best sound design of an animated feature in 2016. I enjoyed it, but all I ever think about with Disney princess films is how cool the Kingdom Hearts world is going to be. -★★★★☆

I’M DONE. 

Holy cow I didn’t realize how much stuff I watched last year. And I didn’t even finish a lot of shows I wanted to. 

Man. I hope one day I get paid to write about this stuff. 

Thanks as always for reading. Let me know if I missed something!