#red lion inn

[postcardsfromwanderings]

Front porch at the Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge, MA

[hotelbooking]

Red Lion Inn & Suites Sequim At Red Lion Inn & Suites Sequim, we understand the importance of providing our guests with a truly memorable and enjoyable stay. That's why we offer an array of top-notch entertainment facilities to help you unwind and indulge during your visit. Step into our soothing hot tub and feel the stress melt away as the warm water envelops you. Whether you've spent the day exploring the beautiful Sequim area or attending meetings, our hot tub provides the perfect spot to relax and rejuvenate. Sink into the bubbling waters and let your worries drift away. For those seeking ultimate relaxation, our on-site spa is the ideal destination. Pamper yourself with a variety of rejuvenating treatments and massages, expertly performed by our skilled therapists. From soothing aromatherapy massages to invigorating facials, our spa offers a range of services designed to leave you feeling refreshed and revitalized. If you prefer to spend time outdoors, our hotel's beautiful garden...

[fieriframes]

[The pasta's cooked perfectly. It's so full of flavor. It's my buddy Johnny from California. Johnny and I were flambé captains together at the Red Lion Motor Inn. What do you think? Delicious, great place, great food.]

[rachel-blue]

September 5th, 2023.

I'm living for this collection of old, yellowed pads of paper.

[littlemissayu]

this is my first time requesting so if this sucks sorry! You can ignore it if you want!

I was thinking what the dorm leaders favorite thing about the reader, if you can do this request it is much appreciated! Hope you have a nice day<3

“It’s the Little Things” - TWST Dorm Leaders favorite thing about you

A/N: Thanks for sending in the request!! Besides I love writing fluff, and fluffy headcanons!! I hope you also have the loveliest day <3!!

Warning: fluff, reader is implied to be MC/Yuu

Pairing: Dorm Leaders x Reader

Your forehead - It may seem weird and random but he loves giving you kisses on your forehead. It feels intimate and loving. Every morning and night he kisses you on the forehead to wish you good morning and good night. And sometimes after kisses your cheek he’d look into your eyes and smooth his thumb over his cheek

You groggily open your eyes to see your red headed lover staring at your face, lovingly. In a soft yet raspy morning voice he says “Good morning dearest-“ he kisses you on the forehead “how’d you sleep?”

You loved mornings with Riddle ♡

Your neck & chest - Leona loves to settle his face into your neck/chest. It feels comforting and warm; he can take in your scent that he ever so loves. Leona is always placing kisses there, marking you. He typically naps on your chest to hear your heartbeat, it’s soothing to know your still there inn his arms, safe and sound. 

The sun seeped into your vision through the leaves of the trees. You relaxed in Leona’s arms; his head on your chest taking his daily nap. He looked so peaceful, so at home, so beautiful. Little did you know that you lion lover was awake and he knew you were staring, for the single second that you blinked he has moved up to the nape of your neck and kissed it

“You enjoyed your view darling?”

Your hugs - Azul is someone who definitely needs a good hug from time to time(who doesn’t?) and for him your hugs bring him the most comforting feeling ever. It reassures him in ways words can’t. Words can be deceived (he’d know) your actions is what truly reveals your love for him; and your hugs show him how much your truly love him.

Azul was working in his office, seemingly caught in the world of assignments he almost missed the the fact your entered his office until he looked up. “Hello pearl, how are you?” “I’m doing good, how are you hon?” You walked up to him and walked behind him looking over his shoulder, observing the work he was up to. “Just working” he sighed, hou noticed  him didn’t seem to be at his best currently so you did the first thing you thought might help, you gave him a warm loving hug and kissed him on the cheek. The blush on his face was evident and unstoppable. 

“Thank you pearl, you always know how to make me feel better.”

Your smile - Even though he’s someone who has a smile bright enough to blind the sun, he thinks you have the sweetest smile in all of Twisted Wonderland. Every time your smile he smiles and he’d do anything to get you to smile, it’s his most prized treasure.

The two of you walked around together enjoying the architecture of Scarabia , just talking about random things until you two ended up talking about your home. You find yourself going on and on about everything you loved back home. And feeling that nostalgic feeling while talking about home just planted the biggest smile on your face. Kalim then abruptly spoke-

“Your so stunning when you smile”

Your eyes - You know how they say eyes are the window to the soul(or something of the sort), I think Vil believes that. And in you he sees this amazing person; someone who’s truly beautiful inside and out he finds it refreshing. He’s someone surrounded by fame and fortune and in the industry not everyone is a ray of sunshine. You are so caring and sweet; like a perfectly ripe apple. 

He truly admires you.

Your thighs - They're so soft and warm. They bring him comfort when he lays his head in them; and when he’s gaming, you typically sit on his lap and when he gets frustrated he just takes a break to knead your things with his head buried in your neck.

The best way to relax is to simply be close to you.

Your cheeks - He finds them so adorable. He loved to just kiss/pinch/squish your cheeks. They’re so soft and cute. He thinks you're the cutest person ever, if he could he would lock you up forever and keep you to himself(he can’t because you might be sad). He especially loves the way your cheeks are when you laugh or smile (bonus points if you have dimples).

He do anything in this world to keep that joy on your face.

A/N: Happy New Years my darlings!! I wish you the best in 2024!! I will also do my best to upload most frequently since I love doing this<3

Heartsabyul Masterlist

Savanaclaw Masterlist

Octavinelle Masterlist

Scarabia Masterlist

Pomefiore Masterlist

Ignihyde Masterlist

Diasomnia Masterlist

TWST Masterlist

Grand Masterlist

[elspethdekarios]

Places in Waterdeep

According to this reddit comment, Gale’s tower is most likely in the Dock Ward on the corner of Sea Lion and Sail Street. Assuming Gale and Tav spend most of their time in Waterdeep either at home or at Blackstaff (well, depending on what your tav does for a living! I imagine mine works nearby), here are some possible locations for all your fanfic needs. I’m using this map and the descriptions it gives for the locations. This is not an exhaustive list–just the ones I thought might be the most useful to writers.

- Near Gale’s Tower (Dock Ward) -

Taverns and Inns:

The Quaffing Quaggoth

Tavern. A favorite among sailors, merchants, and young nobles, this dwarven owned and operated establishment is known for its own specialty brew – the Quaggoth, a thick house-brewed stout mixed with a shot of a house secret liquor.

The Sailors' Own

Tavern. The place is low-beamed and crowded, with weary sailors slumped on benches playing at board games, cards, or merely getting thoroughly drunk. This place is just what its name implies. It belongs to the sailors, and they don't really want anyone else here. The proprietor is Guthlakh 'Hands' Imyiir. (so, maybe not likely for them to frequent this one, but who knows!)

The Pickled Fisherman

Tavern

The Soaring Pegasus

Tavern

Bard inn

A cozy inn owned by a family of past adventurers, it appears to have been fixed up recently. Most of its visitors are sailors, but it has been known to house meetings between gangs in order to keep the peace. In the basement is a hidden underground fighting ring.

The Angry Coxswain

The tavern contains a one-way portal connecting with a prison cell in the slave market in the Mulhorandi city of Skuld.

The Yawning Portal

Inn. Built in 1306 DR on the ruins of Halaster Blackcloak's old tower, the Yawning Portal gained most of its renown for being the primary open route to the Undermountain. The Portal's innkeeper, Durnan, is a former adventurer of great power and renown.

The Gray Griffon

Tavern

Darth's Dolphyntyde

Tavern

Selune's Smile

Tavern

Azuth's Mug

Tavern

The Rearing Hippocampus

Inn. Probably the classiest inn in Dock Ward. Favored by many caravan masters and merchants who want a good, secure place to sleep, and regular visitors to the city who have business near the harbor.

The Splintered Stair

Inn. The entry hall of this room rises up three floors, overlooked by interior balconies linked by elegantly spiraling stairs.

The Blackstar Inn

This dignified, even haughty inn is like a fortress on the outside, with barred windows, stone walls, and a slate roof. Its lobby has two armed guards, and the four hostlers in the locked stables are also armed. Fees are high, but in return, guests get almost soundproof rooms. Each room has a hip-bath, a double bed, water and wine provided for drinking and various pamphlets and chapbooks provided for light reading. Each room also has its own fireplace, albeit with a miserly supply of firewood, and the patrons tend to keep to themselves. A good place to get a long soundsleep. Asiyra Boldwinter is the proprietress of this inn. Her manner is one of uppercrust, noble dignity.

The Empty Keg

The Empty Keg is a rowdy beer-hall. Later at night, it sees visits from workers from Mother Salinka's next door to reinvigorate business there.

The Red-Eyed Owl

This is the closest thing Waterdeep has to a comfortable, unimpressive, welcoming gathering place for the neighborhood. It is the kind of place where friends will come in and hail each other across the room. The food and drink are pleasant, if unspectacular, and you'll be allowed to sit in peace. It is a rambling old wooden building that looks as if it's about to fall into the street. Balarg 'Twofists' Dathen, a man with long, red hair, owns and runs the tavern.

The Sleepy Sylph

Tavern. Locals in the neighborhood come here for a single drink, to enjoy the music and to watch the waitresses (wearing diaphanous robe), and then go to the Owl, just steps away to eat and drink at about a third the price. The owner is Callanter Rollingshoulder, a tall man dressed in dark silken robes with a magnificent mustache.

The Bloody Fist

Tavern. Bullies and angry people come here to pick fights, and a room upstairs is retained for a succession of novice priests of Tempus who dress broken bones and perform minor healing magics in return for donations to the war god. Members of the Bull Elk Tribe can usually be found drinking here. Proprietor: Uglukh Vorl, a half-orc.

The Sleeping Snake

Tavern. This rowdy place is roughly furnished in hastily mended furniture. Members of the Black Boar Tribe can usually be found drinking here.

Festhalls and Entertainment:

From the Forgotten Realms wiki: “A festhall was an establishment combining the services of brothels, casinos, and private clubs. Festhalls provided a variety of adult-themed leisure activities and entertainment, including sex work, gambling, day spas, dining, exotic dancing, companionship, role-play, and other specialized interests.”

The Mermaid's Arms

Festhall. Elegant dining lounges, in which one dines or just drinks with an attractive host or hostess (or alone). Increasingly, the Arms is being used by single gentlefolk for a night of love. In other words, patrons are going there to meet each other, not to hire a host or hostess for the night. The Arms is large, well-lit, always busy, and can be quite expensive.

The Hanging Lantern

Festhall. The Lantern, an escort service known for the stunning beauty of its workers, and for the skill of its matchmakers, is famous up and down the Sword Coast.

Blushing Nymph

Festhall. The long stair links the oubliette of the Blushing Nymph festhall with Undermountain's first level.

Mother Salinka's House of Pleasures

This is a dingy low-coin festhall owned by halflings and frequented by those who are there for a 'brief visit', or can't afford or are turned away from the Yawning Portal.

Three Pearls Nightclub

Festhall. Pearls, as it is called, is a popular evening destination for Waterdhavians, offering stand-up comics, trained animal acts, illusionists' recitals, bards, orators, and exotic dancing. It has a low ceiling and is usually hot and smoky. The manager, Xandos Waeverym, is known as 'the Dandy'.

Seven Masks Theater

The theater caters to a lower-class clientele, and ship captains and sailors are admitted for free. The owner of the theater is a burly and jovial Shou man with a braided goatee named Rongquan Mystere.

The Purple Palace

Festhall. This is the closest thing Waterdeep has to a Calishite silks-boudoir. Its lavender silk draperies and gauzy hangings are heavily perfumed. Everything is cushions, soft carpets, music, and purple-tinted, spiced wine. Companionship is expensive and very good.

The Smiling Succubus

Festhall. Not exactly the pride of Wharf Street, but one of its most popular destinations.

Businesses and Shopping:

Whistling Blades

Business. Weapons.

The Fishscale Smithy

Adventuring gear

Talnu's Ropeworks

Adventuring gear

The Old Xoblob Shop

This curiosity shop is filled with lots of battle trophies and souvenirs from Undermountain. Worth a look to see the stuffed beholder for which the shop is named. The shopkeeper is a deep gnome.

House of Pride Perfumes

Business. The House of Pride is crammed with a forest of glass bottles of all sizes, shapes, and hues. It is protected by a special enchantment that prevents glass from breaking. The shop is run by two sisters and is guarded by trained hunting dogs.

Khostal Hannass, Fine Nuts

Business. Food.

Felhaur's Fine Fish

Business. Food.

Miscellaneous:

Mirt's Mansion

Villa. Mirt is a friend of Durnan (see The Yawning Portal). Both used magic to extend their lives.

House of Two Hands

Monastery. Order of the Even-Handed.

Harborwatch Tower

City building

The Griffon

The walking statue called the Griffon is shaped like the beast for which it is named. Though it stands on all four legs, its back is fully twenty feet off the ground, making it a mount fit for a storm giant. Although it has shown itself to be capable of flight, with the granite feathers of its wings spreading like a bird's, the Griffon now merely stands in a regal pose near Peaktop Aerie atop Mount Waterdeep, looking to the southeast over the Dock Ward. Newcomers sometimes assume it to be a monument to Waterdeep's Griffon Cavalry, but Waterdavians know better.

Peaktop Aerie

City building

Castle Waterdeep

Thick-walled stronghold that broods over Castle Ward from the flanks of Mount Waterdeep. Pennants and banners are often hung and flown from its battlements to signal the arrival of diplomats or the commencement of ceremonies.

Starry Cradles orphanage

The Starry Cradles orphanage is a Dock Ward orphanage run by Matron Griselda Hoppletun, a halfling care-taker, and funded by the House of the Moon and the Selûnite clergy thereof.

- Near Blackstaff Tower (Castle Ward) -

Taverns and Inns:

Sapphire House

Expensive rooming house on Swords Street. The inn is a five-story building.

Tavern of the Flagon Dragon

Tavern. Three Stories high, stone dragons at the base of the walls are all gouting fire, two dragon helmed guards at the door. Caters more to the less-than-noble class.

The Singing Sword

Tavern. Three floors of busy diners enjoy one of the largest menus in Waterdeep. They are entertained by the high-voiced ballads of the wondrous magical blade for which the tavern is named. Gothmorgan Ilibuld, the proprietor, is a polite host.

Wyrmbones Inn

Inn

The Pampered Traveler

Inn. This inn stands like an exotic castle. There is inside a library filled with books and a reading table with a glass top, under which can be seen a map of the known Realms as far west as the Moonshaes, as far east as Thay, and as far south as the Shaar. All in all, a quietly luxurious place to stay. This is undoubtedly the wealthy scholar's choice of hostel. The inn is run by Brathan Zilmer, guildmaster of the Fellowship of Innkeepers.

Dauntlyn's Doors

Luxury Inn

The Elfstone Tavern

Tavern. This old, dimly lit tavern caters to elves. By night, dancing lights spells bathe the place in soft, floating, blue motes of light. Gentle harp, pipe, flute, and choral music is performed and service is fast and graceful. Dwarves and half-orcs will be driven away; humans and halflings are tolerated in small parties; half-elves are just accepted. Yaereene Ilbaereth is the tavern's proprietress.

The Blue Jack

Tavern. The tavern specializes in low prices and fast service, and it's a success. Immithar the Glove, the tavern's proprietor, is quick with a joke or to mimic the speech of other.

The Jade Jug

Inn. Waterdeep's plushest inn. Guests are attended by a personal servant for the duration of their stay and their every need is attended to. The charming, beautiful, one-armed hostess is Amaratha Ruendarr. She notices every detail.

The Dragon's Head Tavern

Tavern. This modest place is aimed at those who like to sit quietly and chat over their drinks. The proprietor is Vorn Laskadarr.

The Asp's Strike

Tavern

Festhalls and Entertainment:

Jhural's Dance

Festhall

Silavene's

Festhall

The Smiling Siren

Festhall. Nightclub & Theater. Home to a company of popular local actors who can perform everything from rowdy comedy to high tragedy. Nobles often hire the place for an evening for exclusive performances. The Siren is also home to traveling troupes of vaudeville jugglers, comedians, and nearly nude dancers or burlesque dancers. Before and between performances, the place is used for drinking and dancing to live music, sometimes with show dancers on the stage. The mage Perendel Wintamer runs this nightclub.

Lightsinger Theater

Business. Entertainers.

Mother Tathlorn's House of Pleasure

Festhall. Entertainers. The most famous house of pleasure in Waterdeep is a large, five-floored building with two additional levels of dungeons below ground. Mother Tathlorn's has on staff several priests of Sune. The most popular service performed at Mother Tathlorn's is massage and bathing, but all of this luxury and pleasure doesn't come cheaply.

Businesses and Shopping:

The Market

Open marketplace. Largest open space in the city surrounded by stone buildings that enclose the maze of temporary stalls and carts that appear here day and night.

Blackwell's Fine Books and Good Tomes

Blackwell's Fine Books and Good Tomes is a posh retail shop, located in the shadow of the God Catcher statue. Owned and operated by the Blackwell family, Blackwell's Fine Books and Good Tomes specializes in rare and antique manuscripts. The shop is especially known, among the noble set, for its restoration, document preservation, as well as transcription services. Mr Blackwell's son, Aldous, has been known to keep an eye on any ancient texts which spend time in the family's shoppe.

The Bookstore occupies the bottom of a three story building. The upper two stories are the Blackwell's lavish townhome apartment.

Paethier's Pipeweed

Business

Eilean's Maztican Delights

Business

Sharkroar - Harth Shalark's Broadsheets

Business

Sorynth's Silverware

Business

The Curious Past

Business is run by Bronwyn Caradoon, dealing in exotic items while also being a front for Harper Activity.

Diloontier's Apothecary

Assassins. Drugs. Poisons. Potions. Now renamed to 'Diloontier's & Sons Apothecary'.

This upscale store catered to the elite of Waterdhavian society. Those who had the right credentials and money for it could quietly purchase poisons and more nefarious potions from the proprietor.

Balthorr's Rare & Wondrous Treasures

Business. Magic items. Balthorr 'the Bold' Olaskos will fence stolen items for 40% market value.

Old Knot Shop

Adventuring gear

Rebeleigh's Elegant Headwear

Business. Clothing.

Halls of Hilmer, Master Armorer

Armor. Hilmer, a tall, strong, and soft-spoken man, with shoulders as wide as most doors, only makes plate, but he's known as the best, or among the best, in all the Sword Coast lands. He's a master craftsman.

Halambar Lutes & Harps

Business. Entertainers. This shop sells all sorts of stringed musical instruments. Kriios Halambar, guildmaster of the Council of Musicians, Instrument-Makers, and Choristers owns and runs this shop.

The Golden Key Locksmiths

Business. The proprietor, Ansilver, makes custom locks to order, and guarantees that he's never sold a key that will open the lock you buy from him to anyone else.

Phalantar's Philtres & Components

Business. Drugs. Poisons. Potions. Here you can buy medicines, herbs, and rare substances used in the making of perfumes, scented oils, poisons, and as material components in the casting of spells. Phalantar Orivan will fence stolen goods for 40% market value. He is said to be fabulously rich.

Olmhazan's Jewels

Business. All the gems one can think of, except very rare or magical sorts. Jhauntar Olmhazan, Gentleman Speaker for the Jewelers' Guild, owns and runs this shop.

Temples:

Font of Knowledge

Temple of Oghma. Largest public library in the city.

Halls of Justice

Temple of Tyr. Holy Order of the Knights of Samular.

Spires of the Morning

Temple of Lathander. Order of the Aster.

Temple of the Seldarine

Temple of all elven deities.

Miscellaneous:

Melody Mount Walk

A magically lit tunnel that runs west up to the cliffs on which the New Olamn barding college is situated. The tunnel contains a little-known portal between Waterdeep and the keep in Rassalantar. The tunnel continuously resounds with music due to an ongoing concert known as the Neverending String of Pearls that is performed by bardic students from New Olamn in a small alcove in the tunnel.

Syndra Wands' Tower

Wizard's domicile.

The Lady Dreaming

One of the eight enormous statues called the Walking Statues of Waterdeep, scattered throughout Waterdeep to defend the city in times of great peril. This statue has the appearance of a titanic sculpture of a noble lady asleep in her garden.

The Great Drunkard

One of the eight enormous statues called the Walking Statues of Waterdeep, scattered throughout Waterdeep to defend the city in times of great peril. The unconscious pose of the statue and the tavern in its lap made the name of the Great Drunkard a natural fit.

Duir's Alley

This busy, winding passage is often the scene of spell demonstrations and practice, as patrons or staff spill out of the rear of the Elfstone Tavern and unleash magic down the alley.

Cat Alley

Recently, a masked, rapier-wielding, quietly chuckling assailant has made this a dangerous place for women after dark.

The God Catcher

One of the eight enormous statues called the Walking Statues of Waterdeep, scattered throughout Waterdeep to defend the city in times of great peril. This is perhaps the most famous walking statue in the city, thanks to its dramatic pose : a well-muscled but impassive male human with a sphere of stone floating above its right hand raised skyward.

Piergeiron's Palace

White marble Palace and main office location for many city officials, the majority of which are dedicated to the administration of city services, such as the Watch, the Guard, city clerks, and the Loyal Order of Street Laborers. The ruler of the city - the Open Lord of Waterdeep - resides and works here.

Tower of the Order

Guildhall. Magic items. Scrolls. Watchful Order of Magists & Protectors.

House of the Fine Carvers

Guildhall. Guild of Fine Carvers.

The Map House

Guildhall. Surveyors', Map & Chart-makers' Guild.

[undertale-npcs]

Undertale NPCs tournament Round 2 summary

Round 2 finished up a while ago! Let's catch up on what happened...

The new characters, understandably, were generally more popular than the round 1 NPCs. There are also maybe 1 or 2 outliers who need to be wrangled in, lest they dominate forever. The man says two words the whole game... Let's check out some points of interest:

The most popular character of Round 2 was:

Onionsan!

Onionsan (60.9%) won against Inn Kid (39.1%) with 1556 votes. I have to assume it's because they are an unavoidable encounter. Everyone has interacted with them so many people know them. Maybe. I genuinely don't get it. This was also the { Most Popular Match }, with 2555 total votes!

The least popular character of Round 2 was:

Clam Guy!

Clam Guy (4.2%) lost to River Person (95.8%) with only 51 votes! I think he had the opposite problem as Onionsan, you have to backtrack to a room you have no reason to backtrack through to see him. Also he only talks about water. Not very interesting! This was also the { Most Agreed Upon Match } ! Probably because he was paired with River Person.

The least popular match of Round 1 was:

Fourth Froggit (66.5%) vs Scarf Lady (33.5%)

This match ended up having 653 votes, and was match 26/32. The amount of votes this had is way larger than the first round! I'm glad :) Both of these characters are kinda nothing but I was surprised there wasn't a bigger following for the wall Froggits.

Thank you for your participation!

I should have a summary of Losers Round 1 up soon. Tomorrow perhaps? And Losers Round 2 will be starting later after that!

And, for the nerds, under the cut are the stats for each poll of round 2:

Match 1 | 1005 votes Red Thundersnail 15.9% vs Nice Cream Guy 84.1%

Match 2 | 923 votes Library Loox 24.6% vs Wrap Mouse 75.4%

Match 3 | 1003 votes Business Snail 38.3% vs Politics Bear 61.7%

Match 4 | 1094 votes Cinnamon 34.2% vs Goner Kid 65.8&

Match 5 | 1337 votes Distant Guy 28.8% vs Dress Lion 71.2%

Match 6 | 1158 votes Inn Rabbit 56.1% vs Nacarat Jester 43.9%

Match 7 | 1008 votes Snowdrake's Dad 33.7% vs Ragel 66.3%

Match 8 | 959 votes Wall Eyes 59.9% vs Oni 40.1%

Match 9 | 2151 votes Ruins Mouse 44.9% vs Heat Flamesman 55.1%

Match 10 | 1097 votes Library Lizard 46.6% vs Donut Guy 53.4%

Match 11 | 952 votes Fox Head 27.3% vs Loren 72.7%

Match 12 | 946 votes Hotland Mouse 43% vs Rabbit Girl 57%

Match 13 | 1063 votes Echo Flower Explainer 16.1% vs Grillby 83.9%

Match 14 | 954 votes Gift Bear 70.3% vs Hotdog Harpy 29.7%

Match 15 | 1174 votes Box Lover 25.7% vs Ice Wolf 74.3%

Match 16 | 934 votes Resort Janitor 79.1% vs Wisp-like Business Dude 20.9%

Match 17 | 1316 votes Ferry 18.8% vs Bird That Carries You Over A Disproportionately Small Gap 81.2%

Match 18 | 771 votes Homeless Snail 34.9% vs Wrong Number Song Guy 65.1%

Match 19 | 903 votes Skateboard Girl 51.9% vs Drunk Bun 48.1%

Match 20 | 821 votes Big Mouth 28.6% vs Fuku Fuku Fire 71.4%

Match 21 | 2555 votes Inn Kid 39.1% vs Onionsan 60.9%

Match 22 | 930 votes Father Slime 68.1% vs Kid Slime (unhatted) 31.9%

Match 23 | 951 votes Waterfall Mouse 23.8% vs Snowman 76.2%

Match 24 | 1015 votes Watching Man 88.8% vs Hand Receptionist 11.2%

Match 25 | 1509 votes Thundersnail 54.7% vs Clam Girl 45.3%

Match 26 | 653 votes Fourth Froggit 66.5% vs Scarf Lady 33.5%

Match 27 | 887 votes Snowdin Mouse 60.9% vs Ficus Licker 39.1%

Match 28 | 658 votes Hotland Bakesale Spiders 66.3% vs Rabbit Kid 33.7%

Match 29 | 1220 votes Clam Guy 4.2% vs River Person 95.8%

Match 30 | 863 votes Ruins Bakesale Spiders 62.6% vs Snoring Guys 37.4%

Match 31 | 978 votes Red Bird 52.1% vs Business Manticore 47.9%

Match 32 | 1065 votes FOLLOWER 3 40% vs Rock 60%

[starsfic]

Summaries:

Smut AU, where Shadowmane is going through a very rough patch in their marriage and, separately, ends up starting an affair with cute next-door neighbor Sun Wukong. Wukong is just assuming that they're poly and is excited for threesomes eventually.

Ghost AU where Chimera finds themselves the marriage counselors of Lionpeach- Azure killed Wukong and wants to win him back. Wukong just wants their drama to not affect the cute newlyweds.

AU where Sun Wukong is a new guard of the Jade Palace. It's a little weird that it seems like he's the only guard and he can't remember how he got the job, but it's fine. The emperor, Azure, hangs around a lot.

Ironbull get pregnant and Wukong is the first to know, thanks to the absolute fit he threw when he learned nobody told him about Red Boy.

AU where Qi Xiaotian is a home decorator and hired by Shadowpeach to decorate their baby's nursery. Unfortunately, Shadowpeach is going through a very rough patch. At least they have a hot nephew helping him.

The Traffic Light Trio, Sun Wukong, and Macaque are caught by an artifact that forces them to reveal truths about themselves. Harsh stuff comes up.

A recently wed Spicynoodles, an engaged Zoisite, and Ironbull end up staying at Immortal Ruyi’s home for the summer. Unfortunately Ruyi is a dick who believes that Red and Xiaojiao are married. Spicynoodles and Zoisite smut.

Vanessa hears that Help Wanted is getting redone.

Witch AU where Lord Red wants a child and witch Qi Xiaotian wants a powerful patron. Smut

AU where Macaque gets married to the wealthy and charming Azure Lion to support his failing theater. However, there is a darkness about his new husband and his mysterious first husband.

AU, inspired by King Thrushbeard, where DBK decides to marry his son off to the next person to walk next to the castle after Red rejects too many suitors. Local monkey inn worker Qi Xiaotian is very confused when his afternoon ends with him married.

[whencyclopedia]

The Origins of British Pub Names

Pubs remain a prominent feature of the rural and urban landscapes of Britain, but their names very often date back to medieval times. Red lions, white horses, and colourful characters peer from pub signs as landlords choose names to represent local history, legends, landmarks, national figures, or simply imply their drinking establishment has a long and prestigious heritage.

This article presents the meaning behind some of the most common pub names seen across Britain from Penzance to the Hebrides. According to The Wordsworth Dictionary of Pub Names, there were over 50,000 pubs in Britain at the beginning of the 21st century. The same source identifies the top 20 pub names. Red Lion, Crown, and Royal Oak are the top three, then (in alphabetical order) Anchor, Angel, Bell, Bull, Coach & Horses, George, George & Dragon, King's Head, Nelson, New Inn, Plough, Railway, Rose & Crown, Swan, Duke of Wellington, White Hart, and White Horse (269). As the appeal of pubs and inns has widened to other countries, many of the traditional British pub names can be seen today around the world from New York to Melbourne.

English Pub Signs

Mark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA)

The pub names below have been selected because they are especially common, their meaning is obscure, or the history behind them is of particular interest. Self-explanatory but, nevertheless, very common names such as Hop & Grape, Jolly Sailors, or Duke of Marlborough are omitted for want of space. As shall be seen, many variations of a name are possible, even in broad meaning, but a local would always have known the precise significance of their pub's name since, from the late Middle Ages until the mid-19th century, when most of the population was illiterate, it was the pub's sign which gave the establishment its name (and not vice-versa, as is usually the case today). Pub signs, which were made obligatory by a 1393 law, can take the form of a painting, a representation in wrought iron, a three-dimensional model, or even a weather-worn example of the object itself.

Anchor

The name Anchor is, naturally, most popular by the coast where fishing traditions are strongest. However, the name was also common for pubs near canals, particularly overnight stops for barges carrying goods such as coal and wine between towns and cities. The name can be qualified by all sorts of adjectives related to seafaring such as Foul Anchor (used to rescue a ship in distress), Sheet Anchor (a ship's largest and most reliable anchor), and Raffled Anchor (an entangled anchor). For extra cachet, the name might be upgraded to Royal Anchor. A lesser-known significance of the name is when it is used in reference to Saint Paul who, in the Bible, mentions that faith is like an anchor and gives hope, hence the pub name Anchor of Hope. As the colour blue is symbolic of hope, pub signs for this name very often depict a blue anchor. Finally, there is the common variation Crown & Anchor, which refers to the arms of the Lord High Admiral and the badge of petty officers in the Royal Navy.

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[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

What happened to Christine Walters?

Christine Walters, a 23 year old botany and ethnobotany student at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, set out for a trip to Portland, Oregon to visit a friend during the summer of 2008. She wouldn’t return home to Wisconsin, and in fact, would never be found. Christine, along with 4 other missing women that have been labeled “The Humboldt Five,” would vanish in California’s Emerald Triangle: an area in the northern part of the state famous for growing marijuana.

What was originally supposed to be a two week trip to Oregon turned into a more permanent move for Christine, who decided to take a leave from her studies at the University of Wisconsin and remain on the west coast. She moved to Humboldt County, CA in September 2008. There is very little information about Christine’s life in California; however, her mother and other friends and family in Wisconsin reported that her calls became less frequent, and being without consistent work, she would often ask for money. Her mother reported a series of concerning phone calls in the months leading up to her disappearance, and her requests to return home to Wisconsin were returned with “I’m not ready yet.”

Christine had a genuine love and admiration for the natural world and California’s landscape. Having taught yoga and Pilates in Wisconsin, Christine’s passion for the environment and living naturally would also bring her to the Green Life Evolution Center. Now defunct, the center was known for its environmentalism and promotion of living a natural, vegan life. On November 7th, Christine would attend a “tea ceremony” or “cleansing ceremony” sponsored by the Center. A private investigator later hired by the family learned that Christine and others at the ceremony had ingested ayahuasca, a South American psychoactive. Known for its potential to invite "spiritual revelations," negative physical side effects can include nausea, tremors, and vomiting.

Four days later, on November 11th, Christine appears naked and disoriented on a couple’s porch in rural Arcata, CA. While Christine has scratches all over her body and is severely dehydrated, she also appears extremely paranoid and confused. From this point forward, eyewitness accounts remark on Christine’s unusual behavior. Unfortunately, it is unclear if Christine’s paranoia began directly following the tea ceremony, or had been developing over several weeks or months.

The couple calls the police and Christine is taken to a nearby hospital where she becomes evasive and refuses to answer questions about her injuries. Instead, she reports that she has “walked a long way” and that “demons … were trying to get her.” She is released and taken to the Red Lion Inn, where she calls her mother several times and repeats the same concerns about being followed.

On November 14th, Christine is seen for the last time while visiting a copy center. Having lost her ID, her mother faxes relevant documents to the copy center for Christine. It’s her mother’s hope that she will be able to book a flight home once she has acquired a new ID. It’s also reported by some sources that her father wires her $1,000.00 at this point, which remains untouched in her bank account. At the copy center, Christine appears disheveled and acts paranoid; she repeatedly looks over her shoulders, and asks for directions to a DMV approximately one mile from the copy center. She is never seen nor heard from again, and is reported missing by her family on November 17th, 2008.

Later, Christine’s missing backpack – with her identification and cash – is located at Green Life Evolution.

If you know anything about the disappearance of Christine Walters, please contact the Eureka Police Department at (707) 441-4060 or the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office at (707) 445-7251.

[monstersandmaw]

Female knight x lady - part one?

Disclaimer which I’m including in all my works after plagiarism and theft has taken place: I do not give my consent for my works to be used, copied, published, or posted anywhere. They are copyrighted and belong to me.

I've had this knocking around for ages, and I don't know if I'll continue it, but I fell in love with all the characters anyway and figured someone might enjoy it. It was based on a prompt that I can't find now, but ran along the lines of: "Female knight looking for a Lady to serve. Experienced in monster slaying."

Wordcount: 4149 Contents: Buff, tough, butch knight seeks employment from a local lady, featuring the ugliest horse in all the land, a dog named Muffin, and a brother who just wants his sister to be happy and safe... Fleetingly suggestive moments, but nothing super nsfw.

“Here goes nothing,” she sighed as she drove the nail into the village noticeboard with the pommel of her dagger and stepped back to look at her chicken-scratch writing. “Fuck,” she added as she glowered at it and saw the way her hand had smudged the bottom of it.

“Female knight looking for a Lady to serve. Experienced in monster slaying. Find me at the Bleeding Goat until the day after the Spring Equinox.” At least, if she squinted it still looked like ‘Spring Equinox’. If she didn’t, it looked like ‘Stink Jurybox’ or even ‘String Fairyfox’.

“Fuck,” she said again, and turned away. It would have to do. She didn’t have any more paper anyway.

And with that, she led her enormous war horse down the road towards the Bleeding Goat inn. Maggot was a vile mare by anyone’s estimation, but Vika loved her dearly. Built like a brick shithouse, with a shaggy, yellow-ish white coat, pink eyes, and a propensity for biting anyone who came within a three yard radius of her, the mare wouldn’t have won an equine beauty contest if she was the last horse in the land, but she was loyal to Vika, and could keep up a steady trot for days without breaking a sweat. She made a great windbreak too, if the need called for it, and her hooves were the size of a large buckler shield. Once iron-shod, they were lethal when she reared up or lashed out.

The ostler at The Bleeding Goat almost didn’t take her.

“Size of that beast,” he muttered as Vika led her into the fresh stall. “Looks like it might eat one of my donkeys whole if I turn my back!”

“She won’t trouble the others if they don’t trouble her,” Vika growled down at him.

“If you say so,” he said, giving her the once-over too as he looked back over his shoulder at her.

At six foot three, with broad shoulders, thick, wild, dark brown hair that resisted almost every attempt at combing, a jaw like an anvil and a glare to make a dragon nervous, Vika was only distantly aware of the little man, the way a lion might briefly take note of a mouse in the grass.

“Like horse, like rider,” he muttered as he shut the door on Maggot’s stall. He reeled backwards and tripped over his own heels when Maggot lunged for him, teeth bared, red eyes rolled to show the whites and her lopsided, wolf-bitten ears pulled right back against her matted mane. “Fucking hell,” the ostler yelped as he scrabbled to his feet. “Look after it yourself!”

“Suits me,” she said with a shrug. “You never gave me the chance to offer.”

“Bitch,” he spat as he slunk out of the stable yard, nursing a bruised backside and a wet patch where he’d fallen on the muddy ground.

“That’s ‘Dame’ to you!” Vika yelled after him. When he stopped and lurched back around to goggle openly at her, she offered him a cold, feral grin and tapped the pattern of embroidered lilies and swords on her padded brigandine with her thumb. “Dame Vika of Sharkshoal Point.”

“Right. Sorry, m’lady. Ma’am. Dame…”

She snorted and turned away just as Maggot whickered in a way that meant she was thoroughly amused with her own antics. Vika poked her in the chest and she stepped back from the stable door to let her owner in, and with practised movements that felt almost meditative, she had untacked the horse and rubbed her down with a handful of straw. The bran mash and oats she’d paid for were brought to her by a trembling stable lad who had stared up at her from over the stable door with wide eyes until Maggot had neighed with soft, enquiring interest and he’d practically flung it over the door and bolted for the kitchen door of the inn. Anyone might have thought Maggot was a roaring dragon by the way he’d reacted, but it was a common enough occurrence that neither mare nor knight paid it any mind.

Vika spent three days at the inn.

She took the time to sharpen all her numerous blades, not just the greatsword she usually kept sheathed on Maggot’s tack, and she even managed to acquire a needle and thread to darn up a few slashes in her padded brigandine. Her needlework wouldn’t have passed muster in the house of a lady, but delicate embroidery wasn’t the goal. She could make two pieces of fabric meet and stay together well enough, and that would have to do. She could also sew up a person if push came to shove, and she bore the scars of her own neat stitching in a number of places about her body as proof.

On the fourth day, while the lively little town was setting up for the Spring Equinox celebrations, a man entered the tavern’s common room and looked around, asking for the ‘female knight’ who’d placed the advert on the board.

She tensed but let the scene play out, watching as the cute serving girl flushed and pointed across the room at her.

The man turned and cocked an eyebrow when he looked Vika up and down, but he thanked Ella and wove his way carefully between the tables. He was wearing the practical garments of a labourer, with a long tunic that covered his hips and a belt around the waist, but the fabric was far finer than any Vika had ever clapped eyes on, and his fur-trimmed cloak looked soft enough to swaddle a baby. His boots were worn to the point of comfort, but not falling apart, and at his hip he carried a slender sword with a silver pommel.

“Forgive the intrusion,” he said with a polite incline of his head and an accent that betrayed him as nobility as surely as the gold stitching on his scabbard. “But are you the knight who placed the advertisement on the noticeboard? You’re looking to serve a lady?”

“I am,” she said, blunt and direct as ever. “Vika,” and she stuck out her hand to him.

He shook it without hesitation and revealed a strong, firm grip. “Lord Roland. Brother of the Lady Elayne Drummond,” he added with a friendly twist of his lips.

He was attractive, for a man, with big, brown, puppy-dog eyes and russet brown hair that fell in easy waves around his ears to brush the fur of his cloak. He had a short beard that was well-maintained, and his skin had the healthy glow of one who had never missed a meal a day in his life and spent much of his time out of doors.

“May I sit?” he asked, eyeing the chair opposite hers across the table.

She glanced down at the throwing knife she’d been in the process of sharpening, and at the black grime that coated her fingertips and around her nails from the oil and the whetstone, and felt a touch of shame beside his immaculate appearance, but she nodded all the same. “Sure. Make yourself comfortable. Can I get you something to drink?” she offered.

He smiled at that and nodded. “The ale here is the best in town,” he said, looking over his shoulder and beckoning over the serving girl with dark eyes and curly, black hair.

“M’lord?” Ella chirped and then shot Vika a smile. She’d flashed her the same smile on Vika’s first night, and again when Vika had made it clear in which room she was staying, should the young woman feel like joining her when she’d finished work. Ella had, and she’d fallen apart with the same glorious light in her eyes under Vika’s mouth and with her fingers buried deep inside her. They’d not met since, but they’d been easy in each other’s company ever since.

They ordered their drinks, and Roland turned back to Vika, resting his forearms on the table. “I suppose I should ask the reason you’re placing advertisements on public noticeboards instead of serving with the king, or even the knight who gave you your title to begin with.”

“A fair enough question,” she shrugged. “He died. Of old age, mind you. I served Gwilym of Sevenoaks from the time I was first raised to the order until two years ago. After his death, I decided to travel. Found myself here, and decided it was time to find myself a new place to roost.”

 “Your advertisement said you’ve slain monsters…?” he asked just as their tankards arrived.

“Thanks,” Vika murmured to Ella as she slid it across the table to her, and then looked up at Roland and shrugged. “Yeah. But nothing that didn’t deserve it first, you know? There was some sick fuck who was kidnapping maidens to feed to a dragon, so I went to the dragon and found out what was really going on, challenged the fuck to a duel, he ran, I put an axe through his skull before he’d cleared the trees. Then there was a vampire that had gone feral back near Reaver’s Canyon, and she refused to let me chain her up til the bloodlust faded. Went into full shift, came at me, and went for my neck —” she bared the side of her throat to Roland where the skin was puckered. “Near tore me open with her fucking claws, but I staked her and that was that. Cauterised it with my own dagger. Nearly fucked up the temper on it too,” she added as an afterthought.

Roland cleared his throat and shifted in his seat, and she wasn’t sure if he was impressed or uncomfortable. Again, that wasn’t an uncommon reaction for folks to have to her.

“Right. Well, you clearly know what you’re doing…” he said in his clipped, aristocratic tone. “I do have one more question.”

“Ask away,” she said and drained a third of her tankard in one go. “Ah, fuck me, you’re right. That is good.”

“Right,” he chirped again, shuffling slightly in his seat. “My sister is… Well… She’s… She’s a lady… you understand…”

“Sisters of Lords usually are,” Vika growled. “What’s your point?”

“Quite, but… while your… um… your deeds are certainly impressive — and if you say you served with Sir Gwilym, I can’t argue that he knew good character when he saw it — I must say that your language is… uh…”

“Unbecoming of the knightly order?” she said. “Don’t worry. I can hold my tongue when I have to. I’m just tired and a bit run down. I apologise. I can watch my mouth, if it offends the lady.”

Roland blushed. “You know, it probably wouldn’t offend ‘the lady’, if I’m honest,” he sighed. “It’s just… Well, you understand. Decorum and all that.”

“Yeah, I get it. So is there an opening at the castle or not?”

He nodded. “I think you’ll fit in just fine, but as a formality, I’d like to extend a trial period to you.”

“Oh, Roland,” she grinned over the rim of her tankard. “Never give a knight the challenge of a trial.”

His answering smile went all the way to his big brown eyes, and he raised his own tankard to her. “I look forward to meeting you in the lists, Dame Vika.”

She snorted and drained her ale. “Ready when you are. Just need to grab my horse and my gear.” Roland slid two coppers onto the table and she frowned. “Thought I said I’d pay?”

“I’m the one interviewing,” he shrugged as he stood and made his way past Ella to the door. “You can leave a tip if you like.”

“Oh, I already tipped her,” Vika purred, sliding a silver coin into Ella’s palm while the young woman blushed prettily and tried to hide a smirk behind a dip of her head. “Bring my saddlebags down to the stables, love? They’re all packed up in my room,” she asked before following him towards the stables.

A magnificent black palfrey, still wearing his gleaming tack, stood in the stable next to Maggot’s, staring wide-eyed and stock-still at the mare with a look of abject horror on his face so comical that Vika guffawed when she saw him.

“That’s…your horse?” Roland asked as he saw Vika hang her arms over her mare’s stable door and dangle her hands in a ‘come here’ gesture at the mare.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I know. Before you say it, we’ve heard it all before. But she’s everything to me, alright? Wouldn’t trade her for a high-stepping prancer like that for the world.”

Roland’s horse snorted, offended.

“Fair enough,” he said, and swallowed thickly. “Come on, Lancer.”

Vika rolled her eyes and hefted her own saddle off the rack near the door and slung it over the stable door. She tacked her mare up in silence and led her out into the yard to mount up after Ella brought out her saddlebags and Vika winked at her just to watch her blush again. “Thank you, love,” she said. Damn, but the girl was pretty.

Ella rested her hand boldly on Vika’s thigh as she looked coyly up at her and said, “It’s been a pleasure, m’lady.”

The ride to the castle took twenty minutes, and passed through some of the loveliest countryside Vika had ever seen. Deer scattered from a nearby field into the oak and beech trees on their right, and as they urged their horses into a canter, Maggot threw in a little buck of happiness and Vika laughed, patting her neck as she sat it with familiar ease.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Roland said as they continued to canter, his palfrey slightly in the lead and looking wary about the lumbering beast a pace or two behind him, “But how did you come by a horse like… that?”

Vika looked down at her mare’s boulder neck and shoulders and sallow, flaxen mane, listening to her dragon snorts as she heaved up the hill. It sounded like a hell of a lot of effort, but she could outlast any fancy racer once the quarter mile marker had been passed. She wasn’t fast, but hell, she had endurance.

“Saved her from a slaughterhouse,” Vika called above the wind in their ears. Her own long hair streamed behind her, probably tangling into an even worse bird’s nest, but she couldn't have cared less after days cooped up in the tavern. She’d expected to have her advertisement ignored, and simply to move on while the town celebrated equinox, but this was infinitely more attractive.

Roland’s horse put on a sudden spurt of speed, nudging from canter to a ground-chewing gallop, but Maggot just ploughed on at the same stubborn canter, pounding her great hooves into the soil until Roland sat back in the saddle and his fancy prancer slowed with a frustrated toss of his head. “A slaughterhouse?” he asked.

“Yeah. They thought she was far too ugly to make a destrier, and too mean to make a carthorse. I took one look at her and bought her. She was a year old at the time, and already built like a siege engine. She could teach mules about being stubborn too.”

“Something I sense you two have in common?” he said, and because he said it not unkindly, Vika laughed.

“You got me there,” she said with another laugh. “So what’s your sister like? And why is she looking for a female knight, specifically?”

He slowed Lancer to a brisk trot, and Vika nudged Maggot up beside him, instinctively tugging the reins to one side when Maggot went to bite the destrier’s glossy, black rump on the way past.

“Ah, none of that,” she barked at the horse, and for once, the mare listened, plodding along like an aged plough horse.

“Elayne is…” Roland began, and then faltered, scrubbing his hand over his face. “She’s beautiful, educated, beloved…” he said, and Vika frowned. When he looked askance at her, he sighed and the weight of it dragged his shoulders down with it. “She’s miserable. Our father… well, he loved her more than anything, but he kept her penned in… like a bird in a cage. She can insult you in about fifteen different languages, but she’s got no experience of any of the places where they speak them. Not even of our own country, really.”

“Sounds lonely,” Vika offered, and not without some sympathy. She’d travelled, and she’d met her fair share of courtly folk before. It wasn’t all it was made out to be.

Roland nodded. “Yes. I think… now that father’s dead, she’d like to see something of the world.”

Vika raised her eyebrows. “And you want someone to go with her?”

“Precisely. We have contacts all across the land,” he said. “She’d never want for a place to stay, but it’s the in-between that worries me. There’s no disguising we’re a wealthy family, and if someone figured out who she is, she could be taken for ransom, or harmed, or… It doesn’t bear thinking about. I can’t go with her because someone would have to run our estates in her absence.”

“She manages that now then?” Vika asked and he nodded.

“Yes. Father taught her everything, and, to my shame, I never had much of a head for it; not the way she does. She’s a natural. I can manage though,” he added, cheeks heating. “It’s not like it’d fall apart completely without her, but… yes. She’s the one who manages the day to day of the castle and the estate finances.”

“I’m surprised she’s not got suitors lining up from the castle gates to Southport,” she snorted.

“Oh, she has,” he laughed.

“None of them good enough?”

Again, Roland barked a laugh. “Seemingly not. Look —” he said, and pointed with his gloved right hand as they rounded a bend in the road and the trees drew back a little way. “That’s Crow’s Nest.”

Vika followed his gesture and spotted the dark castle on the hill easily enough. “Impressive,” she murmured.

“Think your ugly mare can beat my Lancer to the courtyard from here?” he asked.

Maggot was already lurching forwards into a determined canter before Vika had processed the question. “What did I tell you about knights and challenges?” she yelled over her shoulder at him as they took off with an ungainly jolt.

Lancer, of course, was off like a hound after a hare a second later, his silky tail held high as an officer’s plume, but after a mile, he began to slow while Maggot just thundered on like a boulder down a mountain. Vika just sat forward a little in the saddle and gave the mare her head to set her own pace. They overtook Lancer on a corner by an oak on the last stretch and Vika yelled, “I hope they let us in without you, Prancer!”

“You’d just batter down the gates anyway!” he roared back, laughing.

Maggot won by a country mile, though mostly through grim determination and grit than anything else. Her sides heaved by the time she got to the barbican gate, and Vika was forced to sit back and ease her into a trot before the archers on the gate started to shoot at her.

Lancer appeared a few minutes later, his deep, black chest rimed with foam and his nostrils flared wide while Vika was still walking Maggot in a lazy circle just out of bow shot, and Roland shook his head. “Damn,” he laughed. “I’d love to see Maggot race Crocus.”

“Crocus?”

“My sister’s gelding. Don’t ask about the name — something to do with saffron and the fact that he’s probably the most orange horse you’ll ever lay eyes on. Open the gate!” he added in the same breath, and the portcullis rumbled up.

“Bit extreme, isn't it? We’re not exactly at war…” Vika muttered as the ironwood frame ground upwards into the bastion above and Lancer ambled in like he was the lord of the castle, not Roland. Maggot eyed the murder-holes with deep suspicion, and then followed the palfrey inside.

Roland shrugged. “There’s already been one attempt on both my sister’s life and my own since our father’s death,” he said, and all the jollity of the race evaporated from his handsome, boyish features. “Can’t be too careful.”

“Shit,” she hissed. “I can see why you’re not celebrating the Equinox here,” she commented, looking around and finding the castle bailey empty of all the accoutrements of celebration like a mummers’ platform and festive stalls.

“Not this year. We’re funding the festivities in the town though,” he said, “To make up for it. But we’re not hosting anything here. Elayne is devastated,” he added as he sprang lightly down from Lancer’s saddle and loosened the girth while a stable hand strode over to greet them. “And very angry with me.”

“Careful,” Vika advised as a second stable hand approached her. “She’s… not the friendliest.”

“Right…” the young man chirped, faltering. “Uh… you want to lead her in then?”

Vika saw her mare settled and rubbed down, and when the stable hand promised to feed her in an hour’s time, after the strain of the race had faded from her body, Vika relaxed a little. He did know what he was doing after all. “Don’t shut yourself in there with her though,” she advised him while the mare rolled her red eyes at them, and the young man nodded.

She hooked her saddle bags over one arm and strode after Roland to meet him at the castle entrance.

The next few hours passed in a blur, but after she’d bathed and been given a new set of clothes, which not only fitted her but actually suited her, by a tailor who seemed to have magicked them out of thin fucking air, Vika meandered down towards the great hall.

A massive wolfhound lay sprawled across the doorway ahead of her, and just as the sole of her boot touched the marble entrance hall floor at the base of the stairs, a young woman emerged from a doorway on the other side, and the wolfhound looked up. His shaggy, bull whip tail began to wag and he whined and wriggled on the floor like a puppy as the woman approached, unaware of Vika’s presence behind her on the stairs.

“Oh, Muffin!” she giggled, kneeling beside him and playing with his ears and his bearded chin.

Her dress — a silvery, iridescent blue that shifted as Vika stared at it — pooled around her like a cloud on a summer day, and Vika watched as the dog floundered into a sitting position and tried to lick the woman’s face. She leaned back, laughing, and then caught sight of Vika as she turned her face away.

Vika, a woman who rarely found herself without retort or reposte, stood speechless as the young lady looked up at her and parted her lips in a soft ‘oh’ of surprise.

Vika was no stranger to beauty. From milk maids to marquesses, she’d seen it all, but this woman, with her smooth skin and warm, honey-coloured hair coiled up in pearl-studded waves, her flowing silk dress and bright, blue-grey eyes, gave new meaning to the concept of beauty. “Fuck,” she breathed, too quite for the lady to hear.

“Hello,” the lady smiled. The dog had gone still and was staring at Vika as though he was still deciding whether to launch himself at her or let her approach. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.” And with that, she rose like a dancer and crossed to her.

Standing in front of her, she was a foot shorter than Vika, but as she looked up into Vika’s face, the urge to kneel, to bow her head and give every shred of her soul to the woman surged so strongly in her chest she almost wept. Swallowing thickly, she managed, “Dame Vika. Of Sharkshoal Point.”

Something cleared in the woman’s face and she smiled so delightedly that Vika felt lightheaded. “You’re the knight my brother found!” she beamed.

Unable to do aught else, Vika bowed her head. “I am, Lady. If you’ll have me.”

“That remains to be seen,” she grinned, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “I hear you beat my brother in a race today,” she added and turned towards the great hall behind her. “Perhaps you’d care to spar with him tomorrow?”

“Will you be there to judge us?” Vika asked before she could stop herself.

“I suppose I should be, shouldn’t I?” Elayne said, pausing and looking back over her bare shoulder. “If you’re to be my knight,” she added, and as her dark eyes raked the length of Vika’s body from boot to crown of head, Vika shivered.

“I’ll be your knight, Lady,” she promised.

Elayne smiled brilliantly, and Vika bit her lip.

___

I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please consider reblogging to show your support as well as leaving a like and/or a comment.

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[postcardsfromwanderings]

Pumpkins outside the Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge, MA

[hotelbooking]

Red Lion Inn and Suites Victoria Featuring a seasonal outdoor pool and 2 on-site restaurants, this Victoria hotel is located along major bus routes. Uptown Shopping Centre is only 1 minute away. Victoria Red Lion Inn and Suites features guest room equipped with free Wi-Fi and cable TV. Microwaves and refrigerators are also provided for added convenience. Red Lion Inn offers guests free passes to Fitness World, located right across the street from the hotel. A business center and 24-hour guest laundry facilities are also available. Cedar Hill Golf Course is located 2 miles from The Red Lion Inn Victoria. Galloping Goose Trail is next to the hotel and provides guests with hiking and bike trails. University of Victoria is 5 miles away.

[renee561]

Got a whole list: (not in order of watching just a list)

While You Were Sleeping (5 of yall)

The Santa Clauses (personally I'm only a fan of the first two)

Elf

Scrooge'd

Scrooge A Christmas Carol (not sure if this one and the one before is the same movie or not)

A Muppet Christmas Carol

Lion in Winter (Hepburn o Toole)

Lost (4x05)

Ted Lasso (2x4)

The Shop Around the Corner

Happiest Season

Let it Snow

Holiday Inn

The Holiday

Bob Burgers Christmas Episodes

Bones Christmas Episodes

Jingle Jangle

Barbie Nutcracker

The Nurcracker and the Four Realms

A Boy Called Christmas

Klaus

Nightmare before Christmas

The Noel Diary

Spirited

Home Alone (1 & 2)

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Noelle

Red One

Cursed Claymation chronicles (youtube)

Thanking for the recs!:

@miz-chase @echoofawind @austennerdita2533 @wauryd @operationlightswan @albatrossisland @twelverriver @heatherfield @cursedartandthensome @bisonomy

[deliciousindelusion]

It's okay. (No it's not) I cried at that part.

Although I understand the beauty of the ending,

I want my son to be happy. So. I introduce everyone to the ‘Thistle Gets Therapy’ AU.

[[DUNGEON MESHI MANGA SPOILERS]]

So in this AU where Terra exists,

I’ll try not to make it too long but :

Terra’s village was destroyed by a dungeon collapse forcing her to escape to the Island. She faced some discrimination from being a half-elf/dwarf so she escaped to live in the dungeons. Her family used to operate an inn in her village so she set up a mini inn/rest area in the upper floors. This is how she actually met Thistle because he was suspicious of what she was doing there, but through their interactions she realized that he was just a kid who was mourning his family and felt empathetic, since she also lost her family. So she began essentially acting like a mother to him, welcoming him with a big smile and a warm meal when he visited, scolding him when he was being a brat, and helping him work through his grief. That was the relationship they built years before Laois’s party entered.

After the years of slowly building up that parental relationship, Thistle actually made Terra a citizen of the Golden Country without telling her (actually he did, she just thought he was joking) which meant that no monsters attacked her mini inn anymore making it more popular. In my personal AU, Terra actually ends up joining Laois’s team (after the golem incident), because she felt bad for Laois and wanted to help them get back Falin. Family is *really* important to her. The thing is, the group constantly called Thistle the ‘Mad Magician’ so she didn’t even know that the poor little elf boy she’s been helping out was the lord of the dungeon. Until they meet him after they defeat the red dragon. She’s the one who was desperately trying to convince the group that maybe they could talk it out with Thistle to save Falin and give up being the dungeon lord.

So during the events of when Thistle confronted the party in his house, he actually trapped Terra in some trees while he did all the dragon battle royal with the rest of the party. Terra has levitation magic which Thistle knew about, so he made sure to restrain her hands since she needs to point at the object she wants to levitate in order to activate it. She witnessed the meal between Thistle and Laois, hoping that maybe Laois could help Thistle give up his obsession (obviously didn’t work and Laois also got put in a tree being eternally fed). She then finally acted to get out of her constraints when the Winged Lion came out and ate Thistle’s desire to resist. She realizes that she can use her feet and used her magic to push Thistle out of the way of the lion and used all of her remaining mana to close out the book again, actually causing her to die from exhaustion and a heart attack. Thistle panics, revives her, and realizes that he doesn’t care about finding Delgal anymore (this one’s a big stretch because of how canonically obsessed he was) and realized that whatever life he had with Terra, he wanted more, so he wishes for the title of Dungeon Lord to be transferred to someone else, which goes to Marcille and the story follows the rest of canon events. This way Thistle gets to stay.

[thebibutterflyao3]

Day 22 - Prompt: Lazy @jegulus-microfic

December Daily Series - 500 words

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James stared at his mobile screen expectantly, watching the three little dots dance. It had been over an hour since he’d given in to a lazy flop onto his bed while Padfoot curled up at his feet. He’d held off texting Sirius until two minutes ago. Twice, Sirius had started to type and stopped. The third time, the dots flickered for ages.

When his phone dinged loudly with a notification, James jumped. It was Peter. He would be arriving late.

He swiped the notification and tossed the phone on the bed. All he’d asked was if they were coming back soon. He really wanted to join them, but he doubted Regulus would agree.

The opening beats of “Never Ever Getting Rid of Me” blared a moment later. James laughed at the change to his ringtone. Sirius set the most obnoxious, clingy songs for his contact because James never bothered to lock it.

“James! Hi!!” Sirius shouted. “We miss you!”

James didn’t realise it was a video call until he saw the dark screen suddenly blur. “Sirius? Why are you yelling?”

“He’s…al-always yelling.” That sounded like Regulus, but it was heavily slurred.

The screen flashed Sirius’s mischievous grin before it faced his brother. Regulus was curled up in the corner of a booth with one arm draped over his head, eyes closed, and forehead against his bicep. His other arm held his knees pulled up to his chest.

“Reggie’s no fun. You should come! You’re loads of fun. Right, Reggie?”

“Mmm.” The hum was noncommittal at best.

James grabbed his trainers. They were both clearly pissed and in no state to walk back unattended. He saw enough decor to identify The Red Lion.

“I’m on my way. Stay put,” he insisted. The order was for Sirius, who had a tendency to wander when pissed, but Padfoot huffed in agreement.

When he reached the pub, James found Sirius first. He was dancing with a pretty redhead who giggled as he twirled her around. James shoved his shoulder as he passed, then searched for Regulus.

He found him in exactly the same position. James slid into the booth and leaned in. “Regulus? Are you alright?”

“Potter?”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

Regulus slowly lifted his head, then squinted. “I see that.”

“Do you want to go back to the inn? I can walk you,” he offered.

“No.”

“Oh, alright.”

Regulus stared unblinking, then sighed. “Well, you’re here. Might as well make use of you.”

He unfolded from the corner to climb into his lap. Stunned, James steadied him while Regulus tucked his face into James’s neck. He smelled like gin.

“Are you sure-”

A ring-covered hand patted his face blindly.“Shhh…it’s fine. Just st-stop moving and be warm.”

Regulus’s breaths were hot against his skin, but his nose was cold. James hesitated, then cuddled him closer. As his breaths evened out, James rubbed Regulus’s back soothingly.

“Good boy,” Regulus whispered, nuzzling his neck.

James barely contained a cough as he choked on his own spit.

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