#she's so cool i wish we get to see more of her

[treehoused]

I grew up an only child- I don't remember much of my early childhood, so I'm not sure how I felt then, but I know I've wanted siblings at least since my tweens, probably since I was younger.

My half-brother was born when I was about 8. My dad brought him and his wife to visit for a few days when I was 10 or 11, I saw my brother a few times during their visit but he was very shy so we didn't really interact. He died when he was 4, I was told I think a month after his funeral, I know nothing about him so I didn't really have any feelings about him. It really wasn't any different than being an only child.

My second half-brother was born just before I turned 15, and my third half-brother about a year later. I met them both that December, when the younger was about 7 months or so. The older was shy so I mainly interacted with the baby. I met just one of them about a month later, and again both of them the May before I turned 18. They're toddlers so and I've barely met them, so again, it doesn't really feel any different than being an only child. They're divorced now and my dad is a tool, so I probably won't ever see them again.

My half-sisters (twins) were born a few months after I turned 15. The first time I met them, I had so many intrusive thoughts about killing them, I was genuinely scared to get close to them. I didn't want to hold them, barely wanted to look at them, I was so scared.

I was also still dealing with pseudo-delusions at the time, so I semi-regularly prayed for them to be kept safe. I was terrified of them being hurt.

My feelings about them now are... complicated. I didn't grow up with my mom, so I have kinda bad attachment trauma with her, and I'm psych disabled in a way that means I still heavily rely on her. I still sometimes feel like she chose and chooses them over me, that it was selfish of her to choose to have children when I was and still am struggling so much, that she loves and cares about them more than me.

I do love them. They're adorable, watching them grow up is pretty cool, I'm glad they're doing better than I was at their age. I don't think I ever wish they didn't exist, not really, just... I do sometimes briefly hate them, because they're more important to my mom than I am.

I see them maybe a few times a month? We don't really play or anything, just vaguely hang out. I try to force them to watch Bluey with me and they just complain 😔

I never lived with any of my siblings, barely met half of them, and they're all still toddlers so I really don't have any kind of relationship with them. I feel like I'm sort of between being an only child and not- because I do have siblings, I just don't have any of the sibling experiences. Functionally, I'm an only child. I still wish I had siblings closer in age.

I think I mostly just wish I wasn't so alone.

We ask your questions anonymously so you don’t have to! Submissions are open on the 1st and 15th of the month.

[mayflora-18]

Incorrect CoD Quotes #12 (aka more Pinterest 💩)

Gaz: *walking down the stairs in a flannel hoodie*

Price: Hey Gaz, the 90’s called-

Gaz: Yeah, because they couldn’t fucking text!

Price: Goddamn it! I’m getting tired of my men owning me.

Ghost: What did you expect? We’re YOUR men!

————

Price: You’re done, Simon. You’ve broken 68 bones.

Ghost: Boss for my dying wish-

Price: -You’re not dying-

Ghost: -Please break one more bone for me.

Price: Absolutely not.

————

*when Sherlock first met Los Vaqueros*

Sherlock: Hi! I’m Sherlock! Your base’s really cool! Not to say that you guys aren’t cool, Colonel Vargas. Thank you for letting us borrow it.

Rudy: Ale.

Alejandro:

Rudy: Can we…

Alejandro:

Rudy: Can we adopt her?

Alejandro:

-Bonus-

Nikolai: She’s already taken.

————

Soap: I know you said not to call you unless it was an emergency, ma’am. But it is and we need your help.

Laswell: Is the house on fire?

Soap: No but-

Laswell: Then it’s not an emergency. Leave me and John alone and have Ghost take care of it.

*she hangs up*

Gaz: What did she say?

Soap: Idk she said it wasn’t an emergency.

Ghost, struggling to push an oak bookshelf off of himself: NOT AN EMERGENCY?!!

————

Sherlock: It’s rather muggy today, don’t you think? Sherlock: *sips coffee from a bowl* Roach: *looks outside, sees all the mugs in the lawn* Roach: It is... Roach: *sips coffee from a bigger bowl* ----- Gaz: *texting Laswell* Laswell! Help, I'm being kidnapped! Laswell: *replying* Where are you? Gaz: I'm with some strange person! In a car. Help! Laswell: I'll call John. Price: *answering his cell* 'ello? Laswell: Where's Kyle? He told me that he's being kidnapped. Price: Gaz? Whaddya mean, he's sitting in the back seat right her- Price: Price: I'll call you back. *hangs up* Price: *turns around in his seat to be facing Gaz* GARRICK! MY BEARD WILL GROW BACK! Gaz: *pushing himself against the car door* WHO ARE YOU?! ----- [Soap opens the door to his room to find Ghost standing there with a bag of snacks in his hand] Soap: What are you doing here? Ghost: I'm here to babysit you. Soap: Babysit?! I don't need a babysitter, I'm a grown man! Soap: *opens the bag of snacks* Soap: Oooh, a juice box. ----- Soap, after the Channel Tunnel: Am I in hell? Shepherd: No, if you were down here, you'd be on a throne and the devil would be panicking. ----- Nikolai: Sherlock! Get away from Ghost, he's dangerous! Price: It's OK, Ghost could never hurt a woman! Ghost drawing knives: IS THAT A CHALLENGE?! Sherlock: omg Ghost, your knives are so shiny and cool!

Ghost:

Nikolai:

Price:

Ghost: I require a different woman!

—————

Price: What is wrong with you?

Graves: I have this weird self-esteem issue where I hate myself but still think I’m better than everyone else.

—————

Price: I think I’m coming down with something, I’ve been feeling nauseous lately.

Gaz: Maybe you’re pregnant.

Price:

Gaz:

Price: I don’t know who’s the bigger idiot right now, you because you suggested it, or me because I just had a heart attack.

—————

[muzsmocsing]

I cannot fucking believe mxtx literally fridged a woman. Lan Yi is just in there. Chilling in an ice cave. Slowly withering away for the plot.

[acricketcannot]

In the end, all roads lead to me.

[valzhangism]

i know i said i was happy about how mel's story went, but the more i think about it the less i'm sure about that. this is very much connected to how the themes of classism and wealth disappeared in s2, but mel in the beginning was the epitome of piltover. she wanted to advance piltover to prove herself to her mother. to "put piltover—" and by extension herself, "—on the map."

she wanted wealth just to have it. and i'm not blaming her for anything that happened, especially with hextech! she, just like jayce and viktor, could not have known what it would lead to. i mean yeah heimerdinger said so but who the hell listens to heimerdinger? but anyway i think mel changed throughout s1, much in thanks to jayce. by the end she's become more cognisant of the mistreatment of zaunites. she's the first to vote for their peace. she was a good person all along but now she knows how to act on it. it's also seen more in s2 act 1. when she covers her painting with gold, it's symbolic—she won't act according to what her mother might think. she won't let her desire for approval dictate her anymore.

so somehow i wish those themes were. continued, somehow? like again they were dropped not just with mel but the whole show and it makes her story a off to me. there's no meaningful commentary on war or classism or how her ideology stands opposite to her mother's. like some people have said, it feels like she doesn't have much agency, even if she is really cool. and that to me is a shame because agency felt like her thing. "to shape your own destiny" as she says to jayce in s1. i know her collaborating with the black rose (but not fully joining them) and learning magic is supposed to represent becoming independent from her mother, taking her own path, but some other aspects of her character were thrown away... the more i think about it the more i'm thinking they kind of #girlboss-ed her a little bit. maybe to sell another champion. i can't help but feel like even though i enjoyed seeing her on screen, the payoff didn't feel proportionally satisfying compared to her setup in s1.

[rosecandyart]

My personal rankings of each special splatfest Callie outfit because why not. This one is gonna be controversial 💀

1. Springfest

2. Splatoween

3. Grand Festival

4. Summer Nights

5. Frostyfest

[r0semultiverse]

Do you think Meenah has survivors guilt for seemingly being the only dancestor left alive?

[necrotic-nephilim]

For the ask game

How do think talia would react to seeing her father loose to dick in sword fight, since I discovered this I can't stop think about how others would react

for the ask game!

this was such a fun moment in the comics for Dick's development and thinking about how other characters would react to it is so fun

so the context of Dick beating Ra's is proving himself as Bruce's heir, since Bruce just died and Dick's Nightwing run is coming to an end to make him Batman. also interestingly, is that Ra's called Dick 'Detective' during this moment, as a sign of respect. so Talia is not only reacting to Dick beating Ra's, but also Ra's extending his respect to Dick as Bruce's replacement. so like everyone else, Talia is coping with the loss of Bruce. and like everyone else, she's apprehensive at best of the idea of Dick replacing him. they're impossible shoes to fill, and she's not exactly known for liking Dick in the first place. it's a difficult, messy time for everyone.

i don't think she'd believe it, at first. there are plenty of rumors and fights always get dramatized when they're retold. so until she hears it from Ra's himself, hears the respect in his voice when he talks about Dick, that's when she finally accepts it. and well. her feelings are complicated. because her feelings about her father are complicated, but at the very least she knows he's a formidable opponent and not many people alive can beat him, especially in a sword fight. and Dick isn't even *known* as a sword fighter, it's not his specialty. so shock would be the first real reaction, from Talia. Dick and Talia do *not* have a history of liking each other, they've always been at odds whenever they're forced to be around each other. they can work with each other for a common goal, like saving Damian or Bruce, but otherwise, they just don't get along and she's not one for extending and compliments toward him. and it was easy to dismiss him as nothing more than a sidekick when he was Robin, but now he's clearly Bruce's equal, able to beat Ra's and becoming Batman. it forces her to re-evaluate her view of Dick.

i think one of the biggest changes would be her being more willing to leave Damian in Dick's care. Damian is her son, and she loves him more than anything, so it's a lot of trust for her to just leave him with Dick. (i know she has issues with it in Batman & Robin (2009) and does all sorts of nonsense but we do not acknowledge Morrison's Talia in this house i refuse ty) so it'd make her slightly more secure to know Dick is capable of defending himself and raising Damian, since he can clearly beat Ra's in a fight. it at the very least means he has something meaningful to teach Damian and will make a good mentor, even if Talia's still not too sure about trusting Dick as family to Damian. she can respect him as a teacher.

eventually, i do think she'd still check up on Dick. she'd have to see this for herself and she would just. try to fight him solely to see what he's capable of. which Dick would be. annoyed by because he's really got bigger things going on than a test from Damian's mom to see if he's fit to raise Damian. but for Talia, it's not just about Damian. it's also about Bruce. this is her beloved's mantle that Dick is wearing, and she's not just going to take Ra's' word for it that Dick is worth this mantle. Dick tries to blow her off, but Talia is absolutely insistent on the fight, threatening to take Damian from Dick, which actually gets a real reaction out of Dick.

it'd be a close fight, but Dick would eventually come out on top. and when Dick finally beats Talia, she has to face a lot of feelings at once. she has to face her grief, that Bruce is really gone. she has to face the annoying reality that this kid she's never liked his finally surpassed her and is actually worth being Bruce's successor. and she has to face that Damian loves and respects Dick as his family. she doesn't take it well, at first. she blows Dick off and struggles with the reality of it all. but once she's sat with her feelings, similar to Ra's, she would come to a grudging respect for Dick. and even like him a little bit, holding him a high regard for being able to take care of her son and shape him into a good man, and to be able to take down Ra's. it's a hard balancing act for anyone to manage. i think she'd keep some level of contact with Dick, annoying him regularly just to check in and make sure he and Damian are doing okay. it ends up healing their relationship in a way, because she's finally able to view Dick as an equal.

[sskk-manifesto]

Ep 5!!!

[barissoffee]

Hi i was just wondering why do you want barris so much? I mean, ı liked her too but she blamed ahsoka. well she was right jedi were corrupted but ahsoka was her friend. I don't like jedi counsil either but i can't forgive her not yet at least.

I've always loved her character since the first time I saw her in the original clone wars animation that came out in 2003. And I've always wanted to know what happened to her after tcw s5. Yes, what she did to Ahsoka was pretty shitty, and I wished the writers handle her character and the arc differently, but they needed Ahsoka to leave the jedi order and unfortunately they chose Barriss to be the cause of it. And personally I believe the whole wrong jedi plot was out of character for Barriss, but like I said they needed Ahsoka to leave the order.

And Yes, maybe we can't forgive her yet for what she did (eventhough it was 10 years ago), but characters can make mistakes and they can reflect on their actions to grow and change. I have no idea what the writers have planned for her in tales of the empire, will they show that she regrets what she did? maybe. Who knows. I hope they will because I think she does regret what she did, and I believe she really did care about Ahsoka. I've always wanted a redemption arc for her since the wrong jedi came out, because I believe she's a good person. Either way I am happy she is back and excited to see what happens in Tales of the Empire.

[moodr1ng]

time to stop and think woah i love my little sister so much.. i saw her yesterday and she told me she broke up w her boyfriend of 6 months a couple days ago and we talked about it for a while (i think hes a dick, she thinks its not that bad, im probably just overprotective of her lol but whatever) and she mentioned that during the breakup he said she had done nothing wrong in the relationship and it was all on him, which it was, and i was just thinking like. "yeah obviously. youre the one person i know who has literally no flaws." like i thought about it for a sec and i cant think of a single trait of hers that i find annoying or that causes me problems or whatever. the only times ive ever found her to be like, a bit too harsh or moody or something is when shes responding aggressively to our mom, and having grown up w our mom i honestly cant blame her at all cause ik she can be really hard to bear with sometimes lol. but like. i dont think weve ever had a single fight in our lives yknow. its rare and precious to have someone so great in your family and im so glad she is there :)

[todayisafridaynight]

So there's my grammar teacher who used to be known as the intimidating one but like.. He's always been open to me and my friend about like what he watches and interests and has literally asked to see my writing

Do you know how awkward it is to explain the last thing I wrote was haha flower cough;"#+(@+%

(he liked the concept and deadass said "send it to me that's a command" and now I'm omw to write something entirely new because ain't no way I'm sending MineDai)

LMAO I WAS GONNA SAY YOU'D HAVE TO HOLD A GUN TO MY HEAD TO SEND SLASH FICTION TO MY TEACHER

[guidingthulite]

i'm up to date with the super manga now

[britney-j-christ]

I'm coming back to this, because I *am* too soft on Curly. What happens to him is so brutal that it far outweighs anything he did, but I think I am ignoring the narrative in favour of the story's circumstances.

If Anya was able to talk about what happened openly, I have no doubt both Swansea and Daisuke would have stepped up. We literally get to see both characters do so. Daisuke dies trying to save Anya, is easily pushed by Jimmy of all people to do something incredibly dangerous for her. Swansea can be seen supporting her, able to be confided in, even in the middle of a bender.

A sober Swansea and Daisuke not under pressure would both support Anya.

Looking at the overall narrative, I think Captain Curly and the Pony Express act as the individual and societal shame surrounding sexual assault? Because I think that Curly really does support Anya... but his way of dealing with it does still shove it under the rug as much as possible. The Pony Express, while factually being a nasty piece of shit corporation who is the cause of all these problems, is also acting as all of wider society. All of the problems The Company has caused, benefited from, disregarded, or will punish the crew for, are all mirrors of circumstances and what the wider society often do to victims of sexual assault.

The space ship, and the story events, are a microcosm. They are functionally isolated, but this exact scenario (minus being trapped in space) will and is playing out all over Earth, or whatever planet the Tulpar was headed to. Captain Curly and all the factors that weigh on his decision making, do on the other enablers out in the world(s).

This doesn't change much, to be clear. Because unless they replaced Jimmy somehow, they still needed him to pilot the ship and I think then, with his impending doom upon arrival, Jimmy would have crashed the ship in a way that really DID kill everyone. This was always a tragedy, even before it was a horror game. The scenarios rotten. Man, Curly really had no good options. But he choose the quietest one, and everyone dies not knowing what Jimmy really is because of it. Anya doesn't tell Swansea until it's so, so late. Daisuke dies on the word of Good Captain Jimmy, never knowing the truth about him. Curly takes the fall for the Tulpars crash. The silence Cpt. Curly's decision imposed hurt people. I don't think the ship not crashing would have made it not hurt people either.

Oh man, Curly really had no good options, huh?

I see a lot of people jumping to "Curly should have shot Jimmy", which is fine to say because he still should get to shoot Jimmy, but not a compelling argument.

Unless this is even more dystopian of a universe than it seems (Ala the villain being capitalism, not The State Shooting You Without Trial In Space style) there's no legal grounds to do that. That's vigilante justice and while it would solve a part of the Safety Concern Jimmy causes, it leads to too many problems on earth.

Also, you cannot just casually shoot a coworker or 1/5th of the locals. Daisuke and Swansea would have *very reasonable concerns* if their captain just shot someone, even if it was explained. And I don't think either would be down to do a cover up about it. And if they did...

Daisuke would Crack in seconds under interrogation or scrutiny.

We're also talking about Captain Curly pre, uh... "character developement" as it were, being able to see Jimmy's abusive nature first hand now that he's under his control. There's a pattern for trying very, very hard to see the good in Jimmy and enabling him. He'd never be in this position as copilot if Curly hadn't been there, trying to pull Jimmy out of whatever trouble he was at back on Earth. Curly is a big picture guy who doesn't see the dead pixel; he sees Jimmy climbing up and out of the muck with him and he ignores the red flags or, possibly, even prior offenses?

Captain Curly can be seen *trying* to be a good Captain, not unlike the way Jimmy as Captain is also "trying" to be a good Captain(for selfish ego driven and guilt-avoidant reasons). It really is a goal they share. Both of them fail at it, but it is both their motivations in those roles. Even stressed and overworked, jumping to killing his best friend three months into a year long voyage isn't rational.

So how about we downgrade to more reasonable option; jailing. Except the places where one can be locked in are the hold full of valuable unknown cargo, so a non option if they want to get paid (they desperately do), and the medical bay, which is much more viable if they could a) get that set up in a way that didn't jeprodise the health of everyone and b) didn't have a huge human sized vent that might kill you if you go through it. I understand why neither were chosen.

So, how about the cryopods? Seems pretty viable. Much like murdering Jimmy, you'd have to get everyone on board for this. So, confronting Anya's rapist in front of Daisuke and Swansea and hope they can sway them both in favor of Lawful Detainment.

It's not impossible. I think, if they tried, it would have worked in terms of grouping up together- if they could do it without Jimmy getting wind of it and doing something drastic beforehand.

But then there's no copilot. This is such a major issue for an eight month voyage where we see that the ship will see a problem approximately like 2-3 minutes before it happens and requires corrections. Curly cannot do this job for that long. No one else is appropriately trained. Swansea is busy, Daisuke is not reliable enough to handle this, and Anya... could probably do it tbh I have complete faith in her but that's a lot to put on her shoulders to not get paid appropriately for, just for her to be *safe* from Jimmy.

I struggle to blame Curly for the choice he did go with. I don't see any good options, especially without knowing what's going to happen. It's already a huge jump to go from Best Friend to Rapist; expecting Jimmy to go down to Murderer is a big leap. It seems like he thought he had eight months to work with Anya, to figure out what to do. "Talking with Jimmy" could have been anything from Boys Club protection racketing to clinical setting of boundaries for likely the first time in their relationship to a full on confrontation. We don't know. We only get to see the death spiral that came out of it after.

It's pretty clear that Curly failed as a captain to protect everyone, but the scenario was hopeless to begin with. The choices he made before they got on the ship doomed them: trusting and supporting Jimmy was the mistake and it happened well before they got on the freighter.

And in every single scenario, I find it leads back to Pony Express being the ones at fault. Every bit of the ship they are trapped in exists to funnel more money into a dying beast of a company at the crews expense. I think Curly and maybe Anya both thought they had 8 months to figure out what would happen off the boat. A looming unavoidable threat of consequences. Everything to do with getting the company involved would likely drive Anya and or Curly broke; they say straight up they fine the crew for problems arising. That it's flat out the captains duty to handle it and then get charged by the company $$$ about it. They will double the amount of responsibility back onto the Captain and crew. Imagine working a year in isolated space and getting NOTHING for it? Imagine slashing thenrest of the crews wages.

Curly wasn't able to predict what Jimmy would have done. I think his plan was to handle things Off Board. Too late in multiple ways, but I do think he would have genuinely back up Anya in however they go forwards once they've landed.

The option he chose didn't deal with the real problem though. It feels like he tried to problem solve to deal with the consequences and not the issue at hand; the safety of Anya, his crewmember. It's how he failed as a captain.

I'm proud of him rushing headlong unto danger to try and save them all. God. What a vicious cruelty to deny Curly the one thing he does deserve credit for.

Anyways I'm redressing him like a mummy so he's nice and cozy for his 20 year sleep. Poor guy tried to intervene, badly, into something that needed to be prevented instead by the company and by foresight he didn't have about a dangerous, narcissistic best friend. Doomed from the beginning because of your character flaws and unwinnable scenarios. You're such a good little horror character; if feel like he's a good parable about putting safety first. Thanks for your follies bro I hope it has impacted my personal decision making for the better so I don't become you if I'm in your position.

[indiegame]

today was. good. yeah. needed that.

[claire-starsword]

Bloodline of the Sacred Dragons - Chapter 2-7

[warning for violence and dismemberment on this one. yes you read that right. as opposed to me who did not pay attention to this on my first read. lol.]

The group emerged back into the fields, after safely crossing the mountains. They hurried on their journey, heading towards the Pao Plains.

By Krin and Tyrin's calculations, they should be a day ahead of the monsters. If they could get the mercenaries at Pao and come back, they would be able to ambush the enemies at the mountain path that led to the plains. The devils wouldn't be able to escape a trap in such a narrow pathway.

In the forest, Karin replaced Randolf as the lead. Tyrin gave the general directions by her side, and she decided the exact path to traverse according to the condition of the plants and other forest signs. Bleu was speechless on how observant she was, not letting the slightest detail pass unnoticed.

Bleu struggled the most with the thick cluster of trees. Unlike Camallia and Karna, he didn't have the power to heal everyone's exhaustion either. He grew frustrated with himself. Once they got to a wider place or a road he'd be able to stretch out his wings. He did his best to put up with it.

Once the sun had gone down, the group had finally come out the end of the forest, reaching the road between Bustoke and the Pao Plains.

And there, their calculations failed them.

They ran right into the monster squad that had stolen the Manual. A sudden encounter, one could say.

"They shouldn't be here by our calculations, so why…" Krin complained about the unexpected turn of events, as she stared at the twenty or so monsters that had appeared in front of them.

The devils were just as shocked as them.

"Impossible! Why is there a Sacred Dragon here?"

One of the monsters, accompanying the squad of harpies and armed lizardmen, stared wide-eyed at Bleu, with empty eyes devoid of light. Those eyes caught sight of Camallia by his side. The devil then understood everything.

"So you survived. And you guided them here. It's always you, always… Fine, if you'll be this much of a hindrance, then I, Ziduur, will end you just like those pursuing mages."

The monster's fangs showed over the corner of his lips, and his two horns, atop his head like a moth's antennas, swung backwards in a menacing stance. Deep crimson hair ran from the nape of his neck to his back like a mane, bristling. As if answering to that, the lizardmen raised their slimy triangular heads, their bifurcated tongues flickering through their lips. The harpies let out ear-piercing shrieks.

"If you want this, come and take it."

Ziduur held a box made of ebony. It was full of intricate inlay decorations with a foreign feel.

"Sir Bleu, there's no doubt, the Manual is in there!"

With Tyrin's shout, the battle began.

"Randolf, Tyrin, take care of the girls!"

While shouting, Bleu bolted towards Ziduur, as if drawn to the Manual in his hands. Cerberus followed behind him.

"Wait, don't just rush in, it won't go well if we fight separated," Randolf hastily stopped Camallia, who wanted to jump ahead as well.

"Bleu, come back right now! Bleu!"

Karin's voice did not reach Bleu, and he began to fight the harpies in midair.

All his pent up feelings were unleashed at once. And at the same time, he had confidence in being the one who always broke through the enemy lines. With that amount of enemies, he believed he could strike the commander at once and end the battle with that. There was no reason to eliminate them all. Once he retrieved the Manual, he could just disperse the rest of the enemies. The shorter the battle, the less likely it would be for Karin and the others to get hurt. And by defeating all the monsters himself, he could prove his power to them. Maybe then the girls would stay behind without a fuss, Bleu thought.

However, his reckless advance did not go as he expected.

Superior to him in speed and number, the harpies put up a tough fight against him. Wanting to rush to Ziduur straight away, he had become isolated from his allies.

Randolf and Camallia shielded the others, facing the incoming lizardmen head on.

"Bleu, I'll burn down these enemies, get out of the way!"

Krin began chanting a Blaze spell, but Karin stopped her. If she cast the flames in a wide area, Bleu would certainly get caught in them.

"Krin, give up and target a single enemy," Karin ordered, while shooting down an enemy away from Bleu with perfect accuracy. Their lack of coordination was apparent. Karin bit down her anger at Bleu's stupid actions.

"I won't show mercy to any who interfere. Join the hateful corpses that sleep under this earth."

Ziduur took out a piece of a crimson jewel, and held it tightly within his left hand, as if squeezing it. Beams of light came through between his fingers.

"That light!" Camallia shouted, alerting everyone.

Ziduur punched the ground. Thin sparks of crimson lightning ran at once over the surface.

"What did he do?"

Karna watched in awe as the ground in front of her began to stir, and something jumped out from within.

"Eep!" She let out a strangled scream as she came face to face with a skeleton.

"Get down!"

Hearing that shout from behind her, Karna got down while covering her head with both arms. The end of a flail flew past her, sending the skeleton's skull flying like a football. As she pulled the weapon back, Camallia smashed its upper body as well.

In the brief moment where Karna breathed a sigh of relief, more skeletons jumped from below, one after the other. Those skeletal warriors, carrying all kinds of different weapons, were the warped forms of monsters once defeated in that land, and the travelers they once killed.

"Are we surrounded?"

Watching the growing swarm of skeletons and lizardmen around them, Randolf swung his Battle Axe once again. If the monsters attacked all at once, they certainly wouldn't manage to defend against all of them.

Karna shouted for everyone to get closer together.

"O benevolent ones who watch upon all, please hear our prayers. Gather the righteous light within our hearts, and make it into a shield of holy brilliance!!"

By her incantation, the faint shine of the supporting spell Boost enveloped the whole group from within. The monsters with no flesh nor blood were driven away by that light.

Not wasting the opportunity, Randolf and Camallia attacked. The mages covered the openings between them, Tyrin freezing the enemies to stand as shields, and Krin erecting walls of fire with her Blaze spells. They were doing their best to defend themselves, but the situation still wasn't good as they were outnumbered.

On one swing, Camallia's flail became entangled in another flail wielded by a skeleton. The resulting forces made both of them lose their grips on their weapons. Without delay, the skeleton took a short sword from the back of its shield, and charged at the now empty-handed girl. Another short sword was thrown at the skeleton as it did that. By reflex, the skeleton knocked it down with its shield. Camallia jumped at the fallen sword, grabbing it and swinging it at the skeleton's leg to cut it down. The monster fell down as it lost its balance, and Camallia stepped on its bony body from over its shield, using all of her strength to crush it.

"Thank you, Sir Randolf."

Picking up her flail, she stood back to back with Randolf, who had moved backwards. She extended a hand in his direction, trying to return his short sword that had saved her from her predicament.

"I don't mind. Keep it. Without a spare weapon, something like this might happen to you again."

Answering that, he swung his blade at another monster.

At that time, Bleu was also surrounded by even more enemies than before.

Sacred Dragons had tough bodies and powerful attacks, but were in no way invincible. Their thick hide was hard to penetrate with a blade, yet at some point he had been wounded, and it bled. While he had finished off many of the harpies, he had also hurt his wings. The injury was not severe, but it made him unable to fight the remaining harpies in the air. Having fallen to the ground, Bleu faced a concentrated assault from the group of enemies.

Sustaining minor injuries all over his body, Bleu had made a pile of corpses out of his enemies. Yet he was clearly exhausted. Taking a fierce blow to his chest, he began to cough violently.

In this terrible moment, a lizardman brandished his Large Axe. In Bleu's current condition, he couldn't dodge or spew out his lightning breath.

The monsters became agitated.

Steeling himself for the fatal blow, Bleu saw a silver blur pass through the corner of his vision. Fresh blue blood spilled by. With a deep gash on his torso, the lizardman turned around only to be cut again like a paper doll by sharp claws, this time on the chest.

"Zylo!?" Bleu exclaimed in surprise, seeing the werewolf that had showed up behind the fallen lizardman.

"It's been a long time, Bleu."

Zylo's eyes had the glint of a wild beast hidden within, and he narrowed them in recognition for an instant.

Taking that as an opening, the harpies attacked from the sky.

"Watch out!"

Faster than Bleu's cry, Zylo jumped to the air. He spun next to harpy like a gear, hitting it with a somersault, and knocking it down hard to the ground. The blood from the harpy's torn neck ran in lines across her dead body.

"Before worrying for others, worry about yourself. Honestly, what a pathetic fight you put up. Have you forgotten your past experience? I'll show you how it is to fight as a group. Watch and learn."

Zylo howled.

The lizardmen and harpies flinched at the incoming chants of beast hunters. From its direction came the rushing sound of rain. A merciless rain of arrows…

Once the synchronized barrage of arrows ended, Zylo had also disappeared. Too fast for Bleu's eyes to keep up, he ran between the disoriented enemies, cutting them down as he passed them by. One by one they fell to the ground.

Having broken through the enemies surrounding them, Zylo reached Karin's group.

"It's Zylo, the king of Bustoke."

Krin calmed down the others, who were on guard, unsure if he was a new enemy.

"We'll regroup with Bleu. Follow me without delay," Zylo ordered, and turned away from them without waiting for an answer. He spoke as if certain that they'd obey. Not forceful. Just showing unwavering confidence.

"Diane!!" He shouted. In answer, a squad of archers appeared from the forest shadows, led by an elf girl. Their bowstrings rang as they once again released their arrows in unison.

Diane's archers concentrated their assault on the skeletons. The ropes tied in their arrows perfectly wrapped around their enemies. The skeletons hit by them fell down and tumbled through the ground. It seemed as if they knew what enemies they'd be facing, which made Krin impressed, but also a bit suspicious.

"Let's go!"

Zylo dashed away, heading towards Bleu, who had recovered some energy and continued to fight on his own. The others ran behind him as fast as they could.

"Karna, Camallia, heal Bleu, quickly!"

As Zylo and Randolf took the surrounding enemies down, Karin immediately asked the priests to tend to Bleu. While the archers of Bustoke kept lending them support, Camallia healed everyone who had been injured with Aura, the high level healing spell.

"Thank you, Camallia. You too, Karin…" Bleu thanked the girls.

"There's no time to waste," Zylo urged Bleu. "Let's retrieve the Manual at once with this."

Led by the wolf king, the group split apart the confused enemies. Separated from each other, they had no time to recover, and were shot down by Diane's squad.

"Now. Sir Bleu, the Manual!" Tyrin shouted.

Spreading his healed wings, Bleu flew over the skeletons. The monsters were knocked down by the wings and the gust of wind.

Ziduur held up the ruby in his hand. His body was enveloped in red light.

"Like I'll let you teleport!"

The monster had jumped away, but Bleu sliced him with his claws.

Ziduur's arm was torn and sent flying, tracing an arc in midair, weighted down by the ebony box it carried.

Bleu had his attention drawn to the Manual for a moment. Ziduur didn't miss that, casting a Blaze spell in that time. Bleu crossed his arms in front of him as the flames burst in front of him.

"Bleu!!"

Karin and Camallia left the few remaining monsters to Zylo, and ran to the dragon.

He looked down bitterly at the space Ziduur had teleported away from. It shimmered like hot air, proving that a devil stood there just a moment before.

He picked up the box with the Manual, and Camallia saw that both his arms were bleeding.

"Are you wounded?" she asked, walking to him.

"It's no big deal. Just scratches."

"Even a small injury cannot be left alone."

While he insisted that he was fine, Camallia softly kissed his wounds.

Bleu suddenly felt eyes on him, and tried to pull away from her.

"Please stay still."

Camallia's warm lips moved over his skin as she said the words. Her hot tongue traced over his wound, licking off the blood. Her throat made a glugging noise as she drank it. Her lips continued to move over it, trembling with her incomprehensible chants and sighs.

She let go after a while, and no trace of the wound was left.

"Bleu, the king of Bustoke is calling."

Karin only said that before turning her back and running away.

To next part>

Translation notes:

"Zidur" is apparently a word of a power to summon one of the creatures in the Necronomicon by Simon. I know nothing of that book other than a cursory look so I can't talk much about it, but do you know how hilarious it is to google a Shining Force thing and come up with a pdf full of demon rituals and absolutely no other results? Unparalled experience. Also, the character's name does have a longer "u" sound so I reflected that in my translation as well.

I don't recall Ziduur being explicitly referred to as a man, but his speech manners are pretty rough and he'll eventually be using the rough and masc "ore" pronoun, so unlike Otrant I just made the call to use he/him pronouns for him.

Zylo's species in the original game is given as "wolfling". His base class however is "werewolf", so nothing wrong here.

Up to this point I had been calling the dog "Cerberos" because that's closer to the japanese reading and I didn't think to look it up, but I was recently reminded that the games use "Cerberus" instead. I'd rather stick close to the official translations when it doesn't matter so I've updated past posts and will be using the game romanization from here on.