#main series

[valyriansource]

It was hard to sulk with Meera. She was much more cheerful than her brother, and always seemed to know how to make him smile. // amber midthunder as meera reed

[dailysansastark]

Sansa waited in King’s Landing with the hope that Robb would be her knight just one more time. // "I won't free him, not even for Arya and Sansa."

[thenorthsource]

@thenorthsource for Palestine, Lebanon, and Sudan: @sayruq donated to Mohammed Qassas and requested Catelyn and Sansa

[suittehearts]

my skin has turned to porcelain, to ivory, to steel. sansa v — a storm of swords.

[four-swords-dub]

Did somebody ask for Chapter Nine? Well okay then!

[bayofwolves]

Rereading Immortal Guardians

It's been a minute...

At long last, I have begun rereading my favourite arc of the series, part one of Fall of the Beasts. Have a look at some of the notes I compiled as I went, if you fancy.

I like how Greenhaven is depicted on the cover. It looks much cosier than the grey stone castle I usually imagine. I don't understand the elk heads, though. They look cool, but why do the Greencloaks idolize Tellun so much? All he did (as far as we know) was imprison Kovo and Gerathon after standing by and letting the Four Fallen die, all while supposedly being their leader. If anything, we should be hearing about statues and decorations erected in the Four Fallen's honour. Replace those elk heads with wolf heads; Briggan was the one who originally shaped the Greencloaks into a real army. Have a stone statue of each of the Fallen guarding the four corners of the castle, like they stood with the Greencloaks in life. Briggan to the north. Uraza to the south. Jhi to the east and Essix to the west. Looking out towards their respective homelands.

It's always a bit of a shock when I remember how young Conor, Abeke, Meilin and Rollan are canonically. They start out a bit older in A Revised History of Erdas, and a lot more time passes over the course of the first three arcs.

In the canon timeline, it's been six months since The Evertree. Not long at all! (My timeline has the world at peace for a much lengthier period of twenty-two months.)

"'Someday our survival will rest upon knowing all about ancient Hellan rock decorating, and you're going to thank me,' Meilin said..." This line is funny to me because in the end, it was a creation of the Hellans that saved them.

The hidden section in Greenhaven's library is so intriguing. The librarian has been collecting literature about Stetriol and storing it there, and only certain people are granted access. Not even the Four Heroes knew about it. I don't think Olvan knew either, because he couldn't tell the kids anything about Stetriol when he sent them there. I wonder what other secrets are kept in there -- maybe stuff about the bond tokens? The location of the key to Gerathon's ancient prison? Records of the Stetriolan Genocide (if it truly happened)? Knowledge that might pave their way forward? The Four definitely need to dig into this.

The cover of the mysterious book is made of black snakeskin... which makes me wonder if the creator of the book was referencing Gerathon. How much did she know about the Wyrm, anyway?

All the pain and horror of Conor's infection could have been avoided if they had just amputated his arm at the elbow... but these books aren't based on logic.

Conor has moonbeam decorations on his ceiling! Someday I'll finish my blueprints for the Four's rooms.

When Conor, Meilin and Takoda make it out of the tunnels, I'm betting everything I have that they're all gonna have mad claustrophobia.

I'd argue that the Abeke Rescuing a Baby Animal saga continues in this book with the yak that she saves from the cougars. I just love the heart she has. To think nothing of herself even as blood is pouring out of her neck, only focused on protecting the vulnerable baby. Abeke, you will always be famous.

Anda has a baby sibling!

Anda was named healer for his tribe because Tellun came to him. It's interesting because in ARHoE, Tasha is chosen as Stetriol's next ruler for similar reasons.

Phos Astos is so much cooler than I remembered. The people live in giant mushrooms! They farm spiders (possibly using their silk for clothing and their venom for weapons or medicine)! It's lit by pretty colours and warmed by the earth itself! Amazing.

The Sadreans have spirit animals but no access to the Nectar, meaning they would have suffered from the bonding sickness until recently.

The Hellans and their Sadrean descendants were inspired by the ancient Greeks! Phos indeed means "light" in Greek. Xanthe itself is a Greek name. There are other similarities and references to Greek civilization/mythology later on (like Atalanta and the Meleager).

The Sadrean carvings reveal that Briggan, Uraza and Jhi were close even before their alliance in the First Devourer War! Interestingly, Essix isn't included.

While the chance of Shane meeting Xanthe while in Sadre is slim, it's not out of the question. Phos Astos is an ocean away from southern Amaya, where Shane entered from, but Xanthe is a wanderling and has been all the way to the Evertree before. It's possible that she's journeyed to other far reaches of Sadre, like the tunnels underneath southern Amaya -- or that Shane travelled quite a ways and met her somewhere in the middle. We're not told anything about his venture underground, so anything is possible.

On that note, it seems like different regions of Sadre have different coloured vegetation. Phos Astos is home to pink and green fungi, but the mushroom Shane found was purple.

Jhi has the power to stop sound. This panda is overpowered.

"Meilin turned her head in time to see [Takoda's] tattoo quiver and then disappear." Oh, the tattoos coming alive for a brief moment when the spirit animal enters or leaves the passive state is such a neat detail. I'm definitely keeping that.

Arax charging Abeke in the final battle harks back to Wild Born, when he cornered her after she stole his talisman. Since she was shown to have an affinity for the Granite Ram, I like to see connections being drawn between them.

Conor x Xanthe could have been something, actually. He seems quite enchanted by her, which I find sweet, but when I think about it some more, they have the potential for real depth. Imagine the internal struggle that could have arisen when she discovers he's infected, but by that point has already caught feelings for him. Something I'll explore in an AU, perhaps...

This was a great book. There were a lot of elements introduced that I really enjoyed: The overarching apocalypse, the Sadreans, the lore, the cool cast of new characters, and, of course, King. I have always favoured the aboveground team, but was pleasantly surprised to find the underground plot far more engaging than I remembered. I like Xanthe and Anda, but I'm not so sure about Takoda so far. He's alright, but I can't get a good read on him. His personality was all over the place in this book. I think I need to read some more chapters from his perspective. Thankfully, that is coming! And next time we are introduced to one of my all-time favourite characters: Tasha!

This is part of an ongoing series.

Wild Born | Hunted | Blood Ties | Fire and Ice | Against the Tide | Rise and Fall | The Evertree

Immortal Guardians | Broken Ground | The Return | The Burning Tide

Heart of the Land | The Wildcat's Claw | Stormspeaker | The Dragon's Eye

Tales of the Great Beasts | The Book of Shane | Tales of the Fallen Beasts

[raijin-tribe]

Color Page for Chapter 545!

Source: Fairy Tail Chapter 545 [FULL COLOR] | Imgur [7/29/17] The English colored version of the entire final chapter was made possible by the awesome people (u/AmazingSpiderMan & u/11thDoctr) over on Reddit! And was actually released 7 years ago today!

[amongdestiny-qu33n]

Green's POV (What I have so far)

My visor widened at Yellow and his little kid. They were imposters?! Or, at least the little dude was...I was shocked. Yellow was a good pilot, maybe an even better parent, and they’re child had killed Purple and Pink! I took out my megaphone, angry.  

I reported the two bodies as Yellow finally noticed me, that kid of his, if it really is his kid, turning to me to look at me. I caught this glimpse just before I reported the bodies, and when everyone gathered at the table, Black and Cyan on either side of me, I yelled and pointed at Yellow. 

“IMPOSTER! THAT CHILD IS AN IMPOSTER!” I yelled, Yellow’s visor widening, Black and Cyan gasping beside me as Lime seemed uncertain. “No, he is not!” Yellow said back, “They were trying to kill us!” I slammed my fist down. “Liar! Your kid killed Pink and Purple!” 

Yellow shook his head. “No! Glitchy protected me from them! They were the imposters! Glitchy is good!” He tried to explain, but I didn’t have it. “LIAR!” I spat, Yellow trying to argue back.  

We got into a heated argument, back and forth anger spilling from our words. “THAT KID NEEDS TO GO!” I finally said, grabbing the kid by the backpack. Yellow gasped, slamming his hands on the table. “I’ve had it!” I said, turning towards the Ejection Chamber with fuming anger. 

Yellow’s visor widened even more, horror showing. “NO!” He yelled, when the power suddenly went out. I let out a startled gasp, looking around frantically. When the power cut back on, the kid was out of my hands. 

“He’s getting away!” I heard Cyan yell, and in my anger, I roared at the crew. “WELL DON’T JUST SIT THERE, GO GET THEM!” Black and Cyan nodded, sprinting off after Yellow and the kid. I looked over at Lime. 

“Well, go follow them! Or are you another traitor like Yellow and that kid of his?!” I spat at him, his visor widening slightly as he chased after the others. I huffed, moving to the other side of the ship, just in case they came over there.  

[blluespirit]

atla fics i want to write but in a future investigative journalist kinda way/vibe; some potential ideas:

The Boiling Rock idea 1: a journalist goes to the Boiling Rock Prison, now at the centre of controversy as reports come to light for the first time detailing the horrific abuse endured by prisoners during the war.

The Boiling Rock idea 2: a journalist investigates the rumours that Fire Lord Zuko and Ambassador Sokka broke in, and out of the Fire Nation's most notorious prison, expecting it not to come to fruition, and instead, uncovering one of the most insane stories of the year.

Pentapox: a journalist investigates a mysterious outbreak of the so-called "pentapox" disease that broke out towards the end of the war in the then Fire Nation-occupied city of Omashu, in which a highly documented disease resulted in the release of dozens of Earth Kingdom citizens from the city to stop the spread, despite there being no record of any similar disease then or since.

Azulon, Ursa and Ozai: a journalist decides to take the plunge and investigate the suspicious and frankly disturbing timeline of events that lead to Fire Lord Ozai taking the throne. Through a series of harrowing interviews with previous servants, political experts and even a special interview with the Fire Lord himself, they learn their suspicions of murder and violence were tame compared to the truth.

Ba Sing Se's missing women: a journalist delves into the bizarre series of disappearances of Ba Sing Se women in the final decade of the war and the state secrets that surround it (i.e., all the women the Dai Li brainwashed were people, and there's no way there wasn't some scary as fuck rumours about the Dai Li kidnapping women and then seeing them again, except they no longer have any idea who their loved ones are)

The Blue Spirit: A journalist looks into the bizarre crimes of a masked vigilante who robbed both the rich and the poor, freed the Avatar, and ended their story in the Ba Sing Se catacombs. The story leaves everyone with a lot of questions, and very few answers.

The Boy in the Iceberg: a journalist decides to delve into the truth of what happened to Avatar Aang in between the time he went missing and 100 years later. Through incredible exclusive interviews with Chief Katara and Ambassador Sokka, they learn about the events that led to Aang being discovered, and what it meant to leave their home behind to save the world.

The Freedom Fighters: A journalist and their journey tracking down one of the most well-known resistance groups in the later half of the war as they learn the fate of it's leader and the terrible cost of war on the children that were pushed into fighting.

[sleazyjanet]

ilyn payne commission for @kingslayerstew 🙏

also if you want to support me and my art and also get a pack of awesome cards, you can dm me and get a deck (and if i have time, an extra bust commission of a character of your choice) or commission me

[dracomelody]

A lot of people don't play Zelda games for the story, and that's perfectly fine. But I think we all have to admit that a good story can only make the game better, right?

1) the story beats in almost all 3D Zelda games are happening throughout the game. This gives you motivation to both keep playing (because now you're given a task to complete) and so you can see what happens next.

2) the story beats (memories) in BotW and TotK take place in the distant past. And you can beat the game without ever seeing them, so they don't really make a difference to the gameplay or your desire to keep playing.

3) the memories can be gotten in any order, so you might end up spoiling yourself by accident.

BotW saved the final memory until after all of the previous ones were found, so it was fine in terms of spoilers.

TotK didn't do that, and the key for the order of the memories isn't outright said to you, they're pictures on a wall that 1) you might miss, 2) might delete the photos you took of them on accident if you're filling out your compendium, or 3) you may not even have the camera app when you come across it (I was too chicken to go into the chasm at that part in the game, so I thought I could do the dragon's tears first, but I didn't have the camera so I did them out of order thinking the spoilers would be saved for last like in BotW. Nope.)

BotW's plot with the divine beasts wrecking havoc on the world was good. I liked their effects on the neighboring environments and the races who dwell there. The threat of a great flood, a neverending sandstorm, a volcano's constant eruption, and the Rito being potentially maimed if they fly too high. You prevented disasters and helped save people, and you gained useful abilities from the characters who used to be fight alongside, which ties them into the memories. The Master Sword in BotW was what let Zelda know Link could still be saved, and retrieving the Master Sword as a means to beat Ganon was mentioned after every dungeon, stressing the importance of it as a weapon that can't be broken.

All in all I liked BotW's story because of this.

But there were only four divine beasts (excluding DLC), so it was short lived compared to how massive the game is in every other regard.

TotK handled the dungeons better, but it had a similar problem, and some of the plot just doesn't make sense. As Yunobo would say: "Why'd you do it?!" Fake Zelda getting the Gorons addicted to marbled rock roast serves what purpose, exactly? It just makes them lazy?

Zelda turning into a dragon to restore the Master Sword serves what purpose, exactly? We saw in the beginning cut scene that dehydrated Ganondorf could shatter it, so what good is that weapon against a fully powered Ganondorf?

The sage abilities you get in TotK are cool, but they're mostly passive, so you're not in direct control of what the sages avatars do. Activating 3/4 of their abilities requires you to interact with them by pressing A, which is hard to do if you're in the middle of life and death combat and they're running away with you. In BotW the abilities were tied to buttons you could press at any time without this issue.

TotK followed the exact same route as BotW: find shrines, find memories, and beat dungeons. The dungeons also follow the same exact route as BotW by needing to activate terminals to reach the boss.

TotK had better gameplay mechanics with the building options and the amount of dungeons and their designs. But the story just doesn't make sense, and then it's shoved down your throat after each dungeon. It's even worse if you try to see where it fits into the timeline, it's like they went from not caring about the timeline to directly contradicting it with the founding of Hyrule. Especially after they advertised Skyward Sword HD and TotK to have some sort of tie-in.

TotK is easily the Zelda game with the least amount of thought/care put into its story, and no matter how cool the gameplay is, the story is a huge detriment to it.

[valyriansource]

Seven, Brienne thought again, despairing. She had no chance against seven, she knew. No chance, and no choice.

[dailysansastark]

@sansastarkmonth2024 day 4: love/marriage.

[thenorthsource]

Bran stared resentfully at the sweating boys below. "If I still had my legs, I could beat them all." He remembered the last time he'd held a sword in his hand, when the king had come to Winterfell. It was only a wooden sword, yet he'd knocked Prince Tommen down half a hundred times.

A Game of Thrones - Bran VII

@thenorthsource for Palestine, Lebanon, and Sudan: @sayruq donated to the Khartoum Kitchen and requested Bran Stark

[blackberreh-art]

I wish I cared about Stain, generally his kinda character would be right up my alley, and yet

[four-swords-dub]

Here it is, Chapter Ten!