#sp: griffin

[cringelordofchaos]

(image description: two blank models with blank expressions holding hands, text over them saying "two guys in the background with zero plot relevance frequently seen together™" End ID)

My favorite ship dynamic

(if image ID is bad sorry!)

[vilepawss]

AHHHHH!!!! more guys. this is for a kinda furry au i have because theres sometjing wrong with me. pip is leucistic btw his colors arent just ridiculously off for no reason

[isaalgumacoisa]

I never noticed it what the fuck is that bike

[jade-muffins]

Welp.

I did this with my mouse pad

Not the art I had in mind when I said I wanted to draw but here's the end result

[stanely-marsh10]

HPD Headcanons

[kenny-ninja]

Cartman gets a job at Butters, but his dreams of a hot dog stand are dashed.

When Butter gets a new job at an ice cream parlor, Eric is inspired to open a historic restaurant, inspired by hard work for a living.

[goldfades]

ahh congrats on 2.5k lovely! can i request a 🍀 blurb for aubrey griffin where the reader makes a spotify playlist that they thought was private but it’s actually not, and it’s filled with songs dedicated to aubrey & their feelings? and aubrey sees it and fluff and confessions ensue 🤩

evangeline's 2.5k celebration !! [closed!]

─ warnings | a lot of teasing, banter and fluffiness. a singular kiss, friends to lovers

YOU AND AUBREY WERE in your dorm, music playing through your speaker as you two "studied." using the word studying very loosely, it was more of a hang-out than anything. over the last couple months, that's how it's been between the two of you ─ constantly together, constantly laughing, sharing stories, and occasionally glancing at textbooks or laptops in a token nod to productivity.

tonight, as the music filled the air, aubrey was sprawled on the floor with her back against the bed, scrolling on tiktok with half-hearted interest. meanwhile, you were perched on the edge of the desk chair, pretending to read a textbook while covertly scrolling through my phone.

"hey, pass me those chips," aubrey said, not bothering to look up from her phone.

you reached over to grab the bag from the desk, tossing it over to her with a grin. "coach's not gonna like us going through all these snacks like they're nothing,"

"hey, i'm bulking." aubrey laughed as she glanced up toward you.

"i'm gonna start using that, too," you joined in on her laughter as you popped another piece of candy in your mouth.

aubrey nodded, "no it's actually such a good excuse. not even coach can say anything back cause he's always telling us to hit the gym."

you both chuckled at the thought, the easy banter flowing between you as effortlessly as ever. aubrey leaned back against the bed, letting out a contented sigh as she crunched on a chip.

"hey pass me your phone so i can change the music," she said between bites.

you nodded and passed her your phone and she began scrolling. her face contorted into confusion as she glanced up at you then back at the phone.

"uh, what's this?"

your heart dropped when she turned your phone around, a playlist ─ no, the playlist ─ on the screen. oh shit, she saw it.

aubrey immediately tossed your phone back, clearing her throat as her lips turned upward into a smile. you felt a flush of heat rise to your cheeks as aubrey's eyes met yours, and for a moment, you were frozen, unsure of how to respond. but then her smile widened, and there was a hint of something in her gaze that you couldn't quite place.

you swallowed nervously, trying to gauge her reaction as she leaned back against the bed, her gaze never leaving yours. for a moment, there was silence between you, the weight of her discovery hanging in the air.

then, unexpectedly, aubrey burst into laughter, the sound rich and genuine (your heart skipped at beat at the warm sound, you couldn't help but smile). "wow, you really went all out with this, huh?"

relief flooded through you, mingling with a hint of embarrassment. you shrugged, trying to play it cool despite the butterflies fluttering in your stomach. "i figured you could use some new songs for your study sessions."

aubrey's laughter subsided into a soft chuckle, and she reached over to nudge you playfully. "well, i'll admit, it's a solid playlist. you have good taste, but we've known that,"

you couldn't help but smile at her words, the tension dissipating with each passing moment. you felt a blush creep up as she glanced up at you, the cocky expression morphing into a genuine smile.

"thanks," you said, grateful for her easy acceptance. "i'm glad you like it."

aubrey smirked, once again. "but next time, maybe just tell me you have a crush on me instead of making a playlist about it."

you both erupted into laughter as you shook your head, your face heating up immediately. "hey, well- you don't know that,"

"oh, yes i do," aubrey nodded as she looked up at you. she sighed and put her hand on your knee, a warm feeling spreading through your entire body. "well lucky for you, i have a crush on you too."

"crush," you repeated with laughter, trying to ignore the surprise you felt in the moment. "god i feel like i'm in high school again. haven't had a crush in couple years,"

"wow, i feel special," aubrey teased.

"yeah, well, you're not like anyone I've ever met before," you admitted, a genuine smile tugging at your lips. "i guess you just bring out the high schooler in me."

aubrey's smirk softened into a fond smile, and she squeezed your knee gently. "well, i'll take that as a compliment."

"it is," you leaned in closer, the space between you suddenly feeling charged with possibility. "so, does this mean we're, like, a thing now?"

aubrey chuckled, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "don't know, do you want us to be a thing?"

"yeah," you said, your voice steady with conviction. "yeah, i think i do."

aubrey's smile widened, and without hesitation, she leaned in to press a soft kiss to your lips. it was brief but electrifying, sending a jolt of excitement coursing through you.

"then i guess we're a thing," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

↳ make sure to check out my navigation or masterlist if you enjoyed! any interaction is greatly appreciated !

↳ thank you for reading all the way through, as always ♡

[utilitycaster]

@rowzeoli replied to your post “Do you think part of the D20 journalistic bias...”:

I rarely go on tumblr so sorry if you see me spamming your posts tonight, but I really enjoy your perspective and thoughts! I think I'm the journalist you're referencing in regards to the Fantasy High Junior Year article and unfortunately 1) journalists only get access to interview subjects at very specific junctions (usually press day before the series goes out or halfway through) 2) most publications are honestly Going Through It and cutting freelance rates and just not paying to cover AP

​So I'll be totally honest - I post on Tumblr because I assume it is far more unlikely to be seen and so I can vent freely (hence the fairly harsh tone of the criticism in the original post), but I guess this is a chance to clarify. I don't expect anything to change, nor do I expect you to respond; indeed, I wouldn't blame you if you block me after this. But if readership is down (and who knows? maybe it's not and I'm the outlier), this may be illuminating.

The issue with your specific article - which I brought up relatively tangential to the larger point of "at this point I think Polygon's AP/TTRPG coverage is a waste of time to read" isn't really that it's only an early look at the series; and because Fantasy High Junior Year is at this time ongoing, it's honestly entirely valid that there hasn't been a follow-up. It's, well, the "surface-level and factually wrong" issue.

Dimension 20 was by no means the pioneer of remote recording as you claim in your article; that had long been the default of smaller recorded AP shows well before pandemic lockdown for the simple reason that if you're not a media company the overhead is very low - no need to have a dedicated space or even cameras beyond decent laptops. Burrow's End's puppetry? Critical Role's Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Crystal Palace did shadow puppets in 2019. They had diagetic audio on the main campaign as early as 2016. I don't even like Kollok, but that's had complex set design since 2019. Meanwhile premise of the article is yet another rehash of Polygon's "Dimension 20 is CHANGING THE GAME" constant drumbeat, while your actual pull quotes from Brennan Lee Mulligan are him musing that this is simply an entry in an ancient tradition of storytelling and isn't, in fact, terribly novel. The interview fails utterly to back up your point and indeed contradicts it; I get that the timeline was probably tight but this is outright incorrect in multiple places and your argument isn't just unsupported; it's outright dismissed by the very person you claim is proving it. If the premise came before the interview, it needed to be reworked afterwards, and if it came after the interview…I'm not sure what to say, really.

This isn't your article, and I'm putting it here to illustrate that this has been a pattern for Polygon's AP coverage specifically. This article about Worlds Beyond Number is perhaps my favorite example of "this is not serious journalism:" Rusty Quill Gaming, The Adventure Zone, Friends at the Table, and NADDPod are all theater of the mind long-running podcasts (RQG's campaign lasted a whopping 7 years of real time) and that's just off the top of my head; the idea of a long-running edited audio podcast being novel is laughable. RQG and TAZ both started at level 1; I'm not personally familiar with Friends at the Table. I don't actually think starting at level 1 vs. 2 is terribly important in storytelling in the first place other than that a few D&D classes pick their subclass at L2 and that choice can be narratively relevant, which it was in TAZ; however, some classes pick a subclass at L3 so you can still achieve this with a level 2 start (as Critical Role's second campaign does). Both Emily Axford of NADDPod and Griffin McElroy of TAZ have long been composing their own music and RQG is heavily sound designed. These are not obscure pulls, either; these are some of the more well-known names in the space.

At this point, Polygon AP/TTRPG articles - by multiple different writers - simply feel like madlibs: "(actual play show) is groundbreaking in its (thing that other shows have been doing for 5+ years); I especially liked (visual effect) and (incorrect understanding of TTRPG mechanics)."

The people I allude to in the post you responded to as having egregiously uncharitable and sanctimonious takes on Daggerheart (within, again, hours of its publication) are a frequent Polygon contributor and a Rascal editor and they further my mistrust of those publications: There is this constant insistence that everything they like be "groundbreaking" and "innovating" and they will claim this even when it's demonstrably not the case, as the above examples note. As Mulligan says in your article "it’s important to keep new artists with new experiences and backgrounds flowing in," and yet by focusing intensely on high production values (difficult for smaller indie upstarts to have) and by incorrectly claiming that a well-established media company within the space like D20 invented a number of things it flat out did not, this journalism is actively, if unintentionally, working against that goal. As I put it elsewhere, Polygon's bizarre pedestaling of Dimension 20 and simultaneous putdowns of Critical Role (which turn into wild contortions when D20 mainstays like Mulligan or Aabria Iyengar collaborate with CR; for that matter others besides me have observed that Polygon acts like Spenser Starke is two different people, the genius who created Alice is Missing and the knuckle-dragging moron who put out Candela Obscura and Daggerheart) coupled with the obsession with production values over story has the whiff of claiming they're the champion of the little guy for sticking it to the 700 lb gorilla in the space and then focusing on 500 lb gorillas while making it impossible for smaller monkeys to compete because most brand new shows without the name recognition of someone like Mulligan involved can't exactly hire Rick Perry to do their models or Taylor Moore to do sound design.

I suppose a good way to put this, since I've run into this in many spaces, not just AP/TTRPG or even journalism, is that bias on its own in a subjective medium isn't inherently bad; but if something is so nakedly biased against something I love, I will, naturally, turn to it with a far more critical eye, and if its arguments are not ironclad I'm going to start noticing every structural issue in every argument and every tiny mistake. Sure, as a fan of Critical Role, and as someone who feels that Kollok was nigh-unwatchable and that Burrow's End was promising in parts but deeply flawed, I disagreed with Polygon's nonstop mud-slinging towards the former and glowing, verging on fawning reviews of the latter two. But that's not entirely damning on its own; I do get that not everyone will like Critical Role and that some people will love Kollok or Burrow's End for valid reasons. What's damning is the journalism itself is riddled with factual errors and the analysis is so weak that to call the arguments a flimsy house of cards would be generous. The opposite is also true; if Polygon's lead editor were out here repeatedly misspelling the name of one of the main characters in Worlds Beyond Number (note: this has since been corrected) but the articles had compelling arguments, even ones I disagreed with, I'd be far more forgiving, but as is? It's offering me absolutely nothing: it's poorly researched, it's poorly structured, it's poorly written, it's poorly copy-edited, and it shits on things I like seemingly just for clicks. I'm done giving clicks.

I am deeply sympathetic to the pressures facing digital journalism and media and the arts in general; as someone who is fortunate enough not to personally face those pressures and has the income to be a patron, I would love to help in my small way (and I do, at least, financially support a number of the AP shows I love). But the quality of some of this journalism is truly so bad that I can't bring myself to support the institutions putting it out; it's "dead dove do not eat" until such time as someone whose analysis and opinions I do trust cites them (or, perhaps, until there is a sea change of lead editorship). I know that this won't help the crunch, and may make it worse, but I just can't because the quality is so poor. I don't have a good solution to how to write about something that takes a lot of time to watch and process and about which the articles pay very little in return, but the current strategy of bouncing between uninformed provocateur and utter sycophant depending on the show and creators; of drooling over such surface features as shiny production and falsely claiming everything is "groundbreaking" while getting the most basic facts wrong has driven me away.

[blueiscoool]

Billionaire Ken Griffin Buys Stegosaurus Fossil ‘Apex’ For Record $44M

Stegosaurus skeleton, nicknamed 'Apex,' sells for record $44.6M

A nearly complete stegosaurus skeleton sold at a Sotheby's auction in New York on Wednesday for a record $44.6 million -- the most ever paid for a fossil.

The dinosaur, nicknamed "Apex" -- which lived between 146 and 161 million years ago in the Late Jurassic Period -- was originally expected to sell for between $4 million and $6 million, according to the auction house.

Sotheby's has said Apex is the "most complete and best-preserved Stegosaurus specimen of its size ever discovered."

The skeleton was discovered on private land in Moffat County, Colorado -- in northwestern Colorado and on the border with Utah and Wyoming -- in May 2022 by commercial paleontologist Jason Cooper, with excavation completed in 2023, according to Sotheby's. The county is an area where many other dinosaur fossils have been discovered and is home to the Dinosaur National Monument.

Apex measures 11 feet tall and 27 feet long from nose to tail. The skeleton consists of 319 bones -- 254 of which are fossils and the remainder being either 3D printed or sculpted. It's unclear if Apex was male or female.

Stegosaurus sp. Late Jurassic (approx. 161-146 million years ago) Morrison Formation, Moffatt County, Colorado, USA

[magixfairyix]

Hey, I like you all. (Shows my main Winx Club Oc). I do have some actual art of her but none that are character sheets (yet) so y’all get fake screenshots for now.

~Name: Iorda Fey-Carey

~Age: 16 as of season 1

~Class: Fairy

~Title: Fairy of Dark Arts

•••

~Lore:

• While the Company of Light fought against the Ancestral Witches (after defeating Valtor) the reason they were so powerful and why they were so hard to defeat was that they (unlike Darkar, and other magical enemies/creatures) did not have a magical balance

• Previously they did, due to one of my own other characters, Almah (the previous Fairy of Dark Arts) existing.

• Though they killed Almah before the battle against the Company of Light, and she was doomed to exists as a spirit because her soul couldn’t rest. (Same as Daphne’s fate, and spirits with unfinished work is actually common in the Magical Demension). Almah’s spirit soon mentored Iorda in the events of season 1

• Lilith (one of the Ancestors) made sure no one remembered Almah existed

• When the Ancestors were defeated the Company of Light (in order to make sure future descendants of the Ancestors did not wreak havoc, or should they come back) merged a small remainder of one of the Ancestor’s magic (Lilith, specifically Darcy’s ancestor) with some of their own in a powerful convergence spell, and that combined energy just went around non-sentiently until it made its way to Iorda

• Iorda without the combined magic by chance making its way to her would’ve been a human, but the magic was strong enough to manifest her into a fairy (as was the intention of the spell, ie, a fairy to balance the Ancestral Witches)

• The spirit of Almah communicates through the dreams back in Earth, and soon Iorda’s magic manifests (not transforming yet.) After convincing her family, Iorda uses the special spell (girl had to run around to collect a lot of things for it) Almah told her to use to open a portal to Magix

• Iorda arrives in Magix and, with the limited information Almah told her (on purpose—Almah could see Iorda’s future, and it sure wasn’t pretty, so she wouldn’t let her run away from her fate) went to Alfea

• But since Iorda has mainly Lilith’s magic, Miss Griselda thought she was a witch. Before Almah was killed she was a student at Alfea and was killed when three witches (the Ancestors in disguise) snuck into Alfea and killed Almah. Griselda and Faragonda still existed at this time, just beginning teaching at the school

•Iorda is turned away and decides to just go to Cloud Tower. She needs to learn magic and she isn’t above going to a school for witches. She runs into Mirta and the two walk to Cloud Tower together

• Iorda during the time of season 1 meets several other witches besides Mirta and Lucy, who are really nice people, and they form a group called the Nyx

• These witches are Pyris (witch of disguise and deception, eventually Iorda’s girlfriend at the end of season 1)

• Lucina (witch of blood)

• And Nith (witch of water and ice)

• The events of season 1 on the Winx’s side goes on as usual, but during that time Iorda disrupts the Trix’s plans because she just isn’t going to let them hurt the people at Alfea—where she would have gone to

• She stops them from stealing the ring during the dance but later returns it when Iorda runs into Musa while she is racing away from the witches after slapping Icy

• Towards the end of season 1, Pyris (Headmistress Griffins granddaughter) tells Iorda about a tomb. It holds the access to the Whisperian Crystals (that were sealed by the Company of Light, only to be opened by the balance they created) because they were the primary weopans of the Ancestors

• Long story short, Iorda opened tomb, Pryis reveals information, Iorda is overcome with stress and shock. Iorda has the power of the Whisperian Crystals inside her and of cource they get stolen by the Trix (not her magic, they’re just like, we can do that later)

• This replaces the Trix stealing Blooms magic (gurl gets spotlight in season 2 & 3 though)

• The fight against the Army of Decay goes on as normal

• And so on, Iorda (being the Trix’s balance and all since they are the decendants of the Ancestral Witches) faces a lot of turmoil as the Trix want her kind of dead

• Then at the time of season 6 they just want Iorda to suffer because, as determined she is, Iorda is a little sh!t who was messed with their plans one too many times (I mean it’s her job)

• Probably more information about her, the Nyx, and other things to follow XD

[mariacallous]

Election workers in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, are not destroying mail-in ballots cast for former president Donald Trump. The Department of Defense did not issue a directive last month giving US soldiers unprecedented authority to use lethal force against Trump supporters who riot if the former president loses next week. And no, 180,000 Amish people did not register to vote in Pennsylvania—given there are only 92,600 Amish living in the state, including minors. Ron DeSantis never said that Florida would not use Dominion Voting machines in next week’s election. And municipalities in California are not allowing noncitizens to vote in this year’s presidential elections.

These are just a small sample of the flood of voting-related disinformation narratives that are being seeded and spread on social media platforms like X, Instagram, and Facebook in the build up to November 5.

The election denial movement never left, and it’s bigger than ever.

In the weeks before the 2020 vote, Trump and his allies had already begun to spread claims that the election would be stolen, but those allegations were vague and unorganized. Over the past four years, however, a well-funded network of election denial groups across the US have worked tirelessly to marshal their supporters and drum up conspiracy theories about voting machines flipping votes in the middle of the night, votes being shredded by the bagful, and “mules” stuffing drop boxes with ballots.

These conspiracy theories are being shared by right-wing election denial networks, the Trump campaign, and Russian propaganda groups. With a week left to go before the historic vote, fully formed conspiracy theories about threats to voting are being pushed to audiences that have been primed to believe everything they hear.

Many of these narratives are spreading virtually unchecked on social media platforms like X, Instagram, and Facebook, where those in charge have all but abdicated their responsibility to fact-check information around one of the most critical votes in US history—and have also made it harder for everyone else to see what is going on.

“What worries me most about this year is that we have a much more opaque window into the penetration of these lies, no matter where they come from,” says Nina Jankowicz, the former Biden administration disinformation czar who is now CEO of the American Sunlight Project. “Social media platforms have by and large stopped moderating such content, and just as worryingly have cut off researcher access to data streams that allowed us to objectively report on the scale of these campaigns, all due to political pressure on disinformation researchers and social media platforms.”

So when voters in Oregon heard earlier this month that the state’s Democratic secretary of state, LaVonne Griffin-Valade, had removed Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, from her website, they believed it was part of a plan to undermine Trump. The narrative was boosted by right-wing influencers and Trump supporters on platforms like X and Instagram and gained so much traction that Griffin-Valade’s office was forced to shut down its phone lines.

The reality is that the Trump campaign had decided not to provide a statement to Oregon’s Online Voter’s Guide, unlike the Harris campaign, which is why the vice president’s name was on the guide.

“Society as a whole is much less equipped to be proactive in the face of election lies,” says Jankowicz.

Similar conspiracy theories about down-ballot races have spread across the country. “It may not be altogether surprising, but it is striking that we have already seen election fraud narratives reminiscent of those we saw four years ago,” Sam Howard, NewsGuard's politics editor, tells WIRED. “A baseless claim about machines switching votes started spreading in Tarrant County, Texas, on the first day of early voting. A similar false narrative about vote-switching took off during the first week of early voting in Georgia. The narrative in Georgia even involved Dominion Voting Systems.”

Last week, a viral video emerged claiming to show election workers in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, destroying mail-in ballots cast for former Trump, the very behavior that pro-Trump networks have spent years claiming happened in 2020.

Days after the video went viral, the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and he Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a joint statement saying they had determined that the video was part of Russia’s efforts to influence the outcome of the election.

“This Russian activity is part of Moscow’s broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the US election and stoke divisions among Americans,” the agencies said. “In the lead-up to election day and in the weeks and months after, the [intelligence community] expects Russia to create and release additional media content that seeks to undermine trust in the integrity of the election and divide Americans.”

Many of these new conspiracy theories about voter and election fraud have emerged from activists at a local level, whose accounts are then amplified by the coordinated network of election denial groups that have emerged in the wake of the 2020 election. These groups have continued to grow and establish strong connections to other national groups run and supported by some of the powerful figures in the conservative world.

The Election Integrity Network, an election denial group run by former Trump adviser Cleta Mitchell, has spent months holding online seminars to push disinformation around voter rolls and the baseless claim that millions of illegal immigrants will vote in the election. In the days ahead of the election, the group has produced a social media posting guide for its members on the best tactics to get these messages to the widest audience possible.

“Be SASSY but don’t say anything on social media you wouldn’t say in front of your grandma,” the guide’s authors write, adding that the best time to post is between 10 am to 4 pm on a weekday. “ALWAYS use graphics—and brains love faces.”

The guide, reviewed by WIRED, points users to mainstream platforms like Facebook and X, as well as fringe pro-Trump networks like Truth Social, Gettr, and Rumble.

True the Vote, an election denial group that pushed the bogus “ballot mules” conspiracy in 2020, even created its own social media platform that is dedicated to sharing election fraud conspiracy theories.

The Heritage Foundation, a group which has been at the forefront of election denial content in recent years, has been paying for ads on X to promote an ebook called 5 Shocking Cases of Election Fraud, which seeks to further undermine trust in elections by citing alleged fraud cases in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Indiana, and California.

The proliferation of disinformation has helped create a fragmented information ecosystem where voters can find “proof” for almost any election-related conspiracy. And tech companies and their refusal to adequately moderate their platforms has made the situation much worse.

“This has created an environment where anyone can find content online that proves their beliefs to be true, no matter if it’s rooted in reality or not,” says Nicole Gill, the cofounder and executive director of Accountable Tech. “The public has fewer options to anchor themselves in truth and reality, and there’s no denying that Big Tech absolutely played a role in that.”

[watcher-with-burned-wings]

Wake Me Up, Let This Be A Dream

(A twist on session 7 of Secret Life)

Years have passed since the beginning of the end. It had all started with mythical creatures appearing out of thin air.  Manticores and griffins appeared in the forests. Selkies, sirens, and sea monsters ruled the seas. Unicorns appeared along with other mythical animals, but these myths were not the downfall of humanity.  Among these creatures, giants resided, ruling above every other creature.

The monstrous humanoids started decimating the human population. At first, few people were killed, as not many giants existed. As giants multiplied, whole communities seemed to disappear after a few giants had passed through the area. Anyone's guess was whether they were eaten, crushed, or disappeared. Countries were falling quickly as the populations were decimated. Granted, giants were still few compared to humans by the time the human population was nearly extinct.

The governments of the world had tried to destroy them with military power, but the most powerful creatures were immune to the bullets and bombs. Any attempt failed, only making the mythical beasts more aggressive. Soon all the remaining governments fell into the hands of giants. They were the rulers of the world now.

When the world first ended, many giants were feral, consuming whole cities of people and destroying everything in their path. But this was short-lived, many gained sense and started communicating and talking with humans. Only a few retained the feral mindset. Some even tried to compromise with the world's governments before resorting to destroying them after the attacks. Many giants decided to settle in small groups and built large houses to live with one another. Many of these groups were secluded to only their members but used trained griffins to send messages to other groups. Soon small societies popped up as giants began bartering and trading for essentials with other groups.

With the new species appearing, the natural world changed around as well. All trees now stood as tall as the great redwoods and continued to grow taller. Besides trees, plants became larger as well. Cites were quickly being overgrown by these new exotic plants. New magical rocks also appear to spring up in canyons and bluffs. Fresh water became scarce and hard to come by with the new creatures. Weather patterns have changed as well. Summer has heated up to exceptional levels. Winter temperatures have plummeted deep into the negatives. Fall and Spring can change instantly from warm sunny days to bone-chilling, frostbiting days. With all the odds stacked against them, nearly all humans have gone extinct, with a few exceptions…

=============

              A blue-haired human male dashed through the large colorful leaves and bushes, hopping over log-sized twigs that fell from the large tree around him. His blue jacket wrapped tightly around his waist, leaving him in a once-white tee shirt with a blue heart. His jeans were dirty and ripped in several places. In his arms, he carried large bird feathers. An aggravated screech sounded from behind closed him. A creature with an eagle’s head and a lion's body bound through the foliage. Large, feathered wings propelled the creature forward, but the monster was missing several feathers, making it hard to fly.  The guy didn’t even look back as he bolted towards his goal.

Anger chirps and caws continued to chase down the human. The human continued dodging and ducking swipes the massive paws of the exotic beast delivered.  Leading the creature down towards a seemingly dead end, trapped between a couple of saplings and a large, towering boulder. The human spun around to face the angered lionbird. Slowly, it prowled forward, claws flexing as it backed the blue-haired guy into the rock. Just as the creature pounced, the human dived into a small hole dug between the roots of one of the saplings. The guy shouted as he dove, “Now Grian!”

A red sweater-wearing sandy-blond haired man sprang from the top of the rock, holding a crossbow loaded with purple stone-tipped arrows. Firing the arrow, he hit the beast mid-air in the back leg. The fabled icon cried out in fury and pain as electric poison sunk into its body, causing it to bite at the arrow and favor its back leg.

The new human called out, “Cleo it’s poisoned! You can go for the kill!” He shouted.

A red-haired, green-skinned woman with a black stone sword dropped out of the branches of one of the trees, landing square on the creature's back. She used the momentum of the fall to stab the sword deep into the neck of the griffin. The creature screamed as she pulled the sword through its neck and she slid off the side, pulling the blade down with her. She pulled the sword out of the griffin as the wound bubbled and spread. The griffin fell dead a few seconds later due to the poison and wither coursing through its body and the neck wound.

Cleo sheathed her blade and called out, “Scott! You good?”

Said person pulled himself from the hole, brushing himself off, grumbling, “Next time I’m shooting the shot with my bow and Grian is baiting.” He shoved his feathers he grabbed into his backpack and then pulled out a knife. He started removing the feathers of the griffin’s wing.  

Having just slid down from the boulder, Grian squawked in offense. “Hey! I hit it, didn’t I? You should have said something sooner!” He put his hands on his hips. “And you need to be bait Scott, you’re the only one fast enough to outrun those things.” Scott rolled his eyes and grumpily plucked the griffin.

Cleo chimed in as she knelt to assist Scott. “I kinda agree with Scott, Grian.” A smirk played on her lips. “He is a better quick shot than you.” Grian made an offended noise. “But you are right, you are the only one who can outrun them, Scott.” Cleo pointed out.

Scott sighed, “I know but I’m tired of fighting to survive every day.” He gathers up the feathers and turns to his friends' worried expressions. He quickly amends. “I want to live, not just survive. For the last few years, it has been a struggle to stay warm during winter and find food. We were lucky to discover that the new stones made killing these things easy.” He gestures to the dead griffin. He slips on his hoodie and picks up his full pack. Then he began walking towards their home.

Cleo mimicked his actions, throwing on her pack filled with feathers and falling in step with him. “I know we aren’t living a glamorous life like you are used to, but we are alive.” The women comforted him. “After those berries that turned me green, we were glad to be alive. So, let’s be grateful for what we have.” She suggested.

Scott sighed defeated, “You’re right Cleo. Thank you.” He said with a smile.

“Hey! You guys left me!” Grian squawked as he ran up to them, carrying a bunch of fur. The duo looked over at their short friend and giggled a bit.

“Sorry, G. Didn’t mean to, it just got in my head.” Scott apologized as they headed towards their current base.

Together, they walked in relative silence. Occasionally, they will discuss what other preparations they need to get or set up before winter sets in. Taking care to avoid predators, they arrived at their setup at sunset. Even though it would have been an hour’s walk, Scott and Cleo were not taking any chances to be caught by surprise. Whenever they saw something out of place, they hid beneath roots, behind rocks, or under large leaves.  

Their camp was built beneath the roots of one of the many large trees. The roots were tightly woven together making a great defense to keep out predators. There were gaps between the roots allowing entrance from all angles. This was perfect whenever they were chased down by something that could kill them. The gaps allowed sunlight to seep in during the days which was a bonus.

Scott slipped into the knitted roots, followed closely by Grian and Cleo. Inside, a fire pit was dug out in the center, and embers glowed faintly from an early morning fire. A cooking pot rested beside them; remains of breakfast were evident in the pot. Encircling the fire pit were their three sleeping bags and a miscellaneous survival bag. Preserved food, water bottles, and first aid supplies filled the bag in case of an emergency.  A pile of twigs, the size of logs to them, were gathered in the corner of the heaven. Overall, a safe place to live. But life in an apocalyptical world is never that simple.  

After he set his pack down, Scott walked over to the embers, stoking them with a stick, and blew on them to reignite the flames. Mimicking Scott, Cleo sets her bag down and grabs two branches. She brought them over to the fire pit as Scott got a small flame going. While the other two were working with the fire, Grian gathered the material they collected from the griffin and got to work on crafting gear to withstand the winter chill.

The blond started by using the fur he collected. He had enough fur to craft mittens and boots. He used fabled spider thread to stitch it together, and as treads, he used exotic mushroom bits that were comfortable and similar to rubber, so it was waterproof. Next, he moved to creating cloaks. He retrieved the feathers out of Cleo’s and Scott’s bag and laid them out into three groups. Each group is going to be turned into a cloak. He grabbed more spider strings and began stitching them together. Griffin feathers were perfect for cloaks because they were insulating and waterproof.

Once the fire was going, Scott grabbed some ingredients from their food rations and began cooking dinner. He decided to grab some dried boar meat, strange purple peas, green carrots, and light blue leaves that felt frosty to the touch. He grabbed a water bottle after a last-minute thought. He grabbed the pot and poured some of the water in, rubbing the remains of their breakfast into the water to clean it somewhat, and then poured it out. He set the, now clean, pot in the fire, then placed the rest of the water in the pot and tossed in the other ingredients.

While Scott cooked dinner and Grian made the winter gear, Cleo brought up some important topics while taking inventory of their weapons and sharpening them.

She was wiping off her sword with a leaf when she inquired, “We all agree we can’t stay here for the winter, correct?”

Scott hummed as he stirred the stew he was making. “Agreed. The ground will soon freeze here, leaving us vulnerable to hypothermia even with our sleeping bags and gear. It would be better if we could find a tree hole like last year.” Grian piped in.

“Nah, I nearly slipped off the icy bark multiple times.” Pulling his makeshift wooden needle through another stitch, he added, “Though I agree we need to leave. We’re gonna get snowed in here. Plus, there isn’t water for a good two hours from here. We can’t be making that trip constantly.”

Cleo nodded, now sharpening the clean sword. “So what direction are we heading? We can’t go North again. It’s much too dangerous with all the yeti that come from hibernation.” She remembered, causing a shiver to go down the two guys' spines. Both will never forget the near-death encounter with one of their first year.

Grian frowned as he looked up. “We can’t head west either.” The blue-haired male and redhead looked at the blond confused. He explains, “On the news, I remember them saying tar pits have appeared in that direction. I know it’s been ages, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

Scott nodded in agreement. “So southeast it is.” He stated the others agreed with him. “We’ll head out in the morning. We don’t have much time before winter.” He took the soup off the fire, filled three bowls, and passed them out.

They ate in comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company. They were quite a rag-tag group of people. An architect, rockstar, and teacher. All very different, but all survivors. After dinner, Scott cleaned up and packed while Cleo prepared their weapons. Grian added the finishing touches to the cloaks. Then all of them settled into their sleeping bags to sleep.

The trio headed southeast early the next morning as the sun rose above the horizon. Scott shouldered his pack, the pot tied onto it as well. His new cloak was tightly wrapped around his shoulders, the morning chill nipping at the bare skin of his face.  Grian trailed beside him, heaving along his pack and the emergency bag. His face was half hidden in the collar of his sweater, holding his cloak tightly to his chest to keep it closed. Cleo took charge, leading the way. On her person, she carried her pack along with extra weapons.

They traveled for nearly two days before they found something interesting. As they headed in their chosen direction, the large forestry began to thin out. What was even odder was that more hostile creatures seemed to thin out as well. Realizing this, the group exchanged glances before continuing onwards. With every step they took, everything began to paint a picture. A large imprint in the dirt, crushed bushes, and tree stumps without a tree present. Flattened bushes and grass seemed to become normal the farther south they when.

Scott was getting bad vibes from the area. He admitted his reluctance to continue going forward with the group. Both Grian and Cleo agreed, but Grian pointed out they didn’t have much of a choice. Winter was coming too fast, and they couldn’t backtrack. They were running low on water and food. Going back would only spell trouble for them. Scott agreed with Grian’s assessment of the issue, so they all continued, but with caution.

The feeling didn’t leave Scott if only increased as they traveled.

It was one of the coldest days of the year when the trio stumbled upon a large wooden wall. They all cautiously advanced towards the structure, not sure what to make of it. On closer inspection, the wall was made of large planks, identical to the wooden fence humans had in their backyards. There was a human-sized hole in one of the nearby planks.

Cleo turned to them, “I’m going in.” Grian quickly grabbed her arm.

“Like you are! We don’t even know what's behind there!” He viciously argued. “It blocked off for a reason.” Cleo spit back.

“But what choice do we have? We can’t go back! If only one of us goes in, the other two can escape.” While Cleo and Grian had a heated discussion, Scott snuck over to the hole.

Crouching down, Scott peeked into the crack, not prepared for what he saw. A house. A ginormous house stood looming over him. He stumbled back in awe and shock, falling onto his butt. Finally, Cleo and Grian took notice and rushed over to him.

“Scott! Are you okay!? What happened? What did you see?” Cleo fretted over him, double-checking him for injuries, as he was the youngest of the group. The red sweater-wearing mischief maker nodded in agreement.

“I-I-” Scott stuttered for a moment as he collected himself, “It was a house. A…a very large house…” Cleo raised an eyebrow with confusion.

“A house? What do you mean Scott? Explain.” She demanded him, picking him up from the floor. Grian stood back, giving the younger boy a stern look.

Swallowing hard, Scott tried to explain. “I think could be a giant den, but it looks just like a normal human house!” Scott grabbed both of his companions’ hands and dragged him over to the niche in the fence. “It’s easier to show than explain.”

They all crouched, the blue-haired boy doing it first, his friends mimicking him quickly. Grian gasped and laughed in disbelief. Cleo muttered a quiet, “No way…”

The house itself was more of a cottage. It was quite small, and the siding was wooden but had some technological advances. The roof was constructed out of stone and wood with a chimney coming out of it. The whole house was painted dark, almost black, purple, and grey, giving a sharp contrast to the bright pink and red of the garden that sat nestled in the space between the fence and the house.

 A bright pink brick path cut through the garden, with red bricks outlining it. Garden beds were sectioned out, the path acting as a barrier. Many plants had blackened and withered; colored leaves scattered around their bases, branches barren. There were a few exemptions,  a still-green pine-like bush, and a few stubborn flowers.   

Standing up, Scott crawled through the gap, tossing his bag through first. Cleo and Grian grabbed him by the ankles. “What do you think you're doing!? Are you nuts!?” Cleo shrieked.

“You can’t possibly be thinking of us going in there, do you?” Grian added, a bit frantic.

Scott kicked away their hands and asked, “What choice do we have? We either go through here to continue our journey,” Scott looks back over his shoulder with a grin, “Or we are set for winter, living off the giants.” Cleo and Grian shared a nervous look before letting the younger boy go.

Scott finished climbing through a brushed himself off, glancing back to see Cleo making the trip next. Grian commented, “I hope you are sure about this Scott.” He quickly army crawled through once Cleo got out.

Scott nodded. “I am sure. We can check it out, if we think it's too dangerous, we can grab some food and water then leave.” He explained his logic.

Cleo slowly nodded, “I see. That makes sense. Giants need mountains of food to survive so it’s only inevitable for them to have food lying around.”

Grian added, “And gallons of water somewhere. Which we need desperately.”

Scott grinned, “Plus, think of how warm it will be?” He pulled his cloak tighter around his body. “The giants will have fires or something to keep their house warm, in turn, we will be warm.”

Cleo sighs, defeated. “Fine. We’ll check it out,” She stressed, “But! If there is any sign of danger, we are leaving.”

Both guys silently celebrated, then picked up their packs, heading into the looming shriveled-up dead plants of the flower bed. Cleo sighed and shook her head, following the two numbskulls to prevent them from causing any trouble.

=============================

              Traveling through the garden was uneventful except for a close call with a sphinx. The trio hid underneath a few loose leaves and waited for it to pass before continuing onto the house. When they reached the side of the house, they quickly discovered a hole in the siding, leading underneath the house. From there, they managed to shimmy up a pipe, cross a support beam, and avoid live red stone wires using some skilled parkour and teamwork to get into the wall of the house.

Cleo and Scott gave one last tug, helping Grian up through the clean-cut hole where the wires lead into and spread throughout the house. The three of them glance around, pausing momentarily to get their bearings. Before they could leave, the vibration of giant footsteps shook the wall they inhabited. Cleo instinctually crouched down, seeming to be getting ready to spring into action at the drop of a hat. Grian froze like a deer in headlights, looking like he was about to leap back down the hole they just arrived through.  Scott felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest, trying to leap out of his chest. He held his breath, stiff as a board till the footsteps faded away. The group collectively breathed a sigh of relief. They quickly gathered their stuff and scurried in the opposite direction of the footsteps.

After traversing the walls, they finally settled into a corridor that seemed to have a lesser giant presence. Grian heavily flopped onto the floor next to his pack, going limp against the board acting as the floor, grumbling, “I hope this was worth it. I’m exhausted and sore.”

Scott looked up at him from digging around in his pack and tried to reassure him. “It’ll get better from here on out. It was just a pain to get in here.” He pulled out his sleeping bag and laid it out on the floor. “We won’t have to move anymore so we can make a proper bed at some point. And once we get a layout of the house, we can find a better space to call home.”

Cleo viciously shushed them, whisper-shouting. “Keep your voice down you two, we don’t want to alert the giants to our position.” She warily eyed the walls around them, like a giant would burst through any second. Scott rolled his eyes but lowered his voice.

“Tomorrow we will explore deeper into the interior of the house, find a water source, and get more food rations. Those are our top priorities.” He pulled out the meager food rations they had left and passed them around to the two. Grian sat up from his sprawled-out position, accepting the food and plan without any comments.

Cleo took the food before hesitantly questioning, “What if one of us gets caught by a giant? Then what?”

The question honestly catches Scott off guard. He always knew it was a possibility in the back of his mind, but he never planned for it to happen to any of them. The blue-haired male pressed his lips together as he contemplated the answer.  Logically, it would be best for the others to escape while they had the chance. But Scott knew deep down neither of them would abandon each other.

He sighs heavily, “Look Cleo, we both know the logical answer, but we also know that we won’t follow through with it.” He gives her a tired smile, feeling Grian observing the conversation silently. “It’s been a long day. Let’s sleep on it and we can discuss it in the morning.”

The redhead huffed but gave an equally tired smile. “Fine, okay yeah. We’ll figure this out when were aren’t dead on our feet and our brains are mush.” The rest of the night they spent in heavy silence.

The small red-sweater fiend fell asleep first, snuggled deep into his sleeping bag, snoring softly. Cleo was quick to follow, her arms tucked under her chin as she lay on her stomach, passed out cold, drool dripping down her chin. The only one still awake was Scott. He tossed and turned for hours, Cleo’s question echoing through his mind. With a frustrated sigh, he got up from his sleeping bag.

The ex-rockstar went to his pack, changing his shirt and slipping on his favorite jean jacket. Then he grabbed his bow and quiver, glancing over to the other two frequently in case they get woken up. As he was about to stand up, he decided to grab his knife as a precaution. He stood up, making a silent promise that he was just going to go on a quick walk and then be right back.

              With a light bounce in his step, Scott set off down the corridor toward where most of the noise seemed to be coming from. Going on walks or runs always cleared his head if he had trouble sleeping. This would be no different.

              The beginning of the corridor was normal, dark, empty, and chilly. He still was alert in case, but it didn’t seem like anything was there.  As he went deeper, he noticed there was a soft glow emitting from farther down the hallway, as well as warmth coming from the source. He bit the inside of his cheek, debating if he should check it out or not. Knowing it was stupid, he continued onward.

              As he approached the light, the wall warmed up, making Scott melt slightly. The heat felt good against his icy skin. Along with the heat, he could hear faint murmurs getting louder, causing him to slow his pace down and be more careful. The murmurs soon turned into voices, that turned into loud booming voices. Soon he recognized that he was heading toward where the inhabitants of the house were. The closer he got, the lighter his footsteps got.  He turned the corner to where the heat and light were the brightest. He was relieved that the way was empty, but he did find a crack in the wall.

Now that he was close enough, he could understand what the giants were saying. Mindful not to make a sound, the blue-haired boy crept closer to the hole in the wall. He crouched down, kneeling beside the opening, preparing himself. He peered out and made an audible gasp at what he saw.

From his position, Scott could tell it was a living room area. A large yellow couch sat in the center of the room in front of the cobblestone fireplace, which had a nice large blazing fire in it, heating the surroundings. The walls were decorated with shelves of pants and paintings. On each end of the couch, lamps powered by red stone sat. A bookshelf filled with books was pressed into one corner of the room. But none of those things caught Scott’s attention.

It was the giants themselves. Two giants sat on the couch, chatting to one another. One seemed to be female and the other male.

The female sat facing towards the wall where Scott was hiding. She had reddish-orange braided hair, with mismatching-colored eyes. One a dark green, the other a bright red. A pair of deer ears and antlers sprung from her head as well. He was wearing a red T-shirt and black overalls. The man sitting beside her laughed at something she said, allowing Scott to see his face.

The guy had a yellow mark, like a scar around one of his reddish-brown eyes. In his brown hair, two yellow demon horns poked out as he moved his head. Glancing at him more, the small human notices a demon tail lazily swaying near the floor. Black spiked bracelets were on both his wrists, as well as a black sleeveless leather jacket resting on him, and a shirt with a yellow “i” underneath it.

Scrambling back, Scott couldn’t believe his eyes. His back hit the other wall harshly, but he couldn’t care less as he tried to get his breathing under control. Tears threatened his eyes as he closed his eyes, his heartbeat deafening in his ears. He grabbed his pants to ground himself. ‘No, no.’ He thinks to himself. ‘Those can’t be them. Gem and Impulse died the day the outbreak happened.’

Covering his mouth, Scott opened his eyes, trying to muffle his sobs, eyes locked to the grainy wooden broad. His body trembled as he remembered it. He wished he could have been there for his bandmates. Movement out of the corner of his eye catches his attention. His eyes widened in terror as he noticed Gem look-alike moved slightly to the left…and was certainly looking directly at him.

The teal-haired human scrambled backward, away from the hole, away from the imposters. He clambered to his legs and booked it down the dark corridor. Hot fat tears dripped down his chin as ran, calling himself a coward for not protecting his old friends, practically family. The survivor bumped into several walls; his vision blurred from the water in his eyes. He hardly noticed the chill growing as he ran.  

              He finally slowed down when the tears slowed down, and his cheeks were icy from the cold in the air. Wiping his eyes and then closing them, he took a very deep breath, to calm his racing heart. Once his heart was beating normally, Scott opened his eyes and headed back to Cleo and Grian, convincing himself that he was just tired and imagining his friends.

              When he reached the small camp they had, Scott put his bow gear away then his knife. After putting his gear away, he climbed into his sleeping bag. He glanced at his current friends. Both Grian and Cleo were knocked out cold. Grian was still snoring away, and Cleo had rolled onto her side. He watched his friends sleeping peacefully before relaxing, deciding that he should just focus on the present instead of the past.

With that, Scott got comfortable and drifted off into a deep sleep.

-----------------------------------------------

              During a temporary intermission, Scott stepped out from backstage onto the street for a quick breather. Brushing his hand through his hair, stressing over the night’s events. Gem collapsed suddenly during their last song. Impulse had caught her before her head could hit the floor. They called an intermission even though Gem had woken up a few moments after she passed out, claiming she was fine.

Due to Impulse’s and Scott’s insistence, they got a venue nurse to check her out. Impulse noticed Scott was stressing out by pacing around, so he told the guitar player to go take a breather to calm down. Reluctantly, he listened to the drummer but had him promise to tell him what the doctor said. Said drummer grinned, nodded then shoved him out the door, telling him that everything would be alright.

So here he was now, standing outside a backstage door on the unusually warm September night. Sighing, he headed down the street, pulling up the hood of his blue zip-up hoodie to avoid attention. Drunk concertgoers stumbled out of the bar, laughing, and giggling around him as headed down the street. His original plan was to walk around the block and return backstage to check on Gem.

His walk was doing its job as he slowly started to calm down after turning the first corner. He started to think more rationally now that he was calmer and could face the diagnosis. Turning the corner to the street that would lead him back to the concert, he was met by a gaggle of girls, who recognized him. Resigning himself to his fate, he pulled out a pen and started signing autographs.

Once the girls were taken care of, he made his way back to the alleyway. As he was about to enter backstage, the guitar player was startled by the sounds cracking around him. He spotted cracks growing up the side of the monstrous building. He couldn’t get a clear view from where he stood, but a noticeable dent in the domed roof had started to bugle out. He backpedaled away, knowing he was in a dangerous position, Scott ran for the alley exit.

With a loud crash, debris came raining down from the once-pristine concert hall. The cyanette made it out of the alley just in time as the concert hall's walls collapsed. Dust and screams filled the surrounding area. He spun around, trying to see what was happening, shielding his eyes from the cloud of debris threatening to blind him.  

Coughing harshly, Scott stumbled out of the dust cloud, using his shirt as a mask as he guided other blinded spectators. Once on a clear street, he glanced back towards the concert hall. A sudden terror stuck through him as he spotted something out of a fairy tale. A monstrous giant was standing in the middle of the venue where he and his friends were just playing minutes ago.

The back was facing Scott, a wave of messy hair trailed down the back and it had something growing from its head.  He couldn’t get a good look at the giant before more chaos broke out. The survivors of the building collapse sprinted out of the rubble, covered in dust and dirt.   

Realization struck Scott like a lightning bolt. Gem and Impulse. They were still in there. They could be trapped under the rubble. The first instinct he had was to run back to get Gem and Impulse. He started running towards the venue as people ran away from the giant. Before he had a chance to go farther, a female police officer snagged his shoulder dragging him away as he kicked and fought.

Just as Scott was getting desperate, another giant grew from the rubble. This one grew into a sitting position. Taking advantage of the rock star’s momentary shock, the officer dragged him farther away, pulling him toward the subway tunnels. From there, she ushered him towards a group large group of people who were all survivors of the incident.

She then explained that they would be evacuated when the next train came, this being the fastest and safest way to get them all out without issues. The guitar player tuned her out, staring at the stairs, hoping that any minute his friends would be carried or come walking down them. Many people whispered and murmured, clearly anxious about the situation.

Suddenly the whole station shook, and the fluorescent lights swayed from where they were hung. The officer quickly grabbed her radio, pressing it up to her mouth. The station shook again, some dust falling from the ceiling, making the crowd cry out in fear. The cyanette flinched as a thunderous thump came from above them. She informed the crowd that the giants were on the move.

She looked grim and panicked as she shouted over another footstep that the two were heading towards the station. The cries of the terrified people echoed off the walls of the subway station. Scott’s blood felt like ice in his veins as he felt the ground shake harder, all the oxygen was stuck out of his lungs as panic consumed him.

A cheer and the screeching of wheels knocked him out of the all-consuming panic that overcame him. The subway train pulled into the station, opening all its doors. The crowd quickly swarmed into the small tram. The officer tried to do crowd control, but everyone was in a panic. Scott kept looking over to the stairs, and then to the train. Biting the bullet and praying to Aeor, the teal-haired boy slipped up the stairwell, ignoring the call of the officer, leading to the ground level. The ground around him shook with the weight of the giant as it came closer.

As he reached the top of the stairs, he was met with a startling sight. Buildings were toppled and cars were wrecked. In front of him, the giants were walking together, taking off building tops, seeming looking for something. One of the giants spotted him, making him step backward. His foot slipped on a step, making him fall down the stairs partly.

He groaned, pain echoing through his body. Thunderous hurried footsteps pounded toward him, causing him to force himself up. A loud creaking sound caught Scott’s attention as he glanced up. A part of the office building above him broke off and hurled towards him. He covered his head with his arms and then blacked out. But before, he swore he heard Gem call out his name…

--------------------------

Scott jolted up in his sleeping bag with a gasp, looking around frantically before realizing where he was. He grabbed his chest, doing quiet breathing exercises before he relaxed fully. Once calmed down, he noted that Cleo and Grian were already up. They both were looking at him with concern from where they stood.

Cleo was the first to speak, “Scott bud, you good?” Her voice echoed the worry in her body language. All he could do was nod as he stood up stiffly. He moved around robotically. She paused in stuffing her pack.

Grian huffed, “Scott, we all know you are not okay. So what’s wrong?” Scott scowled, hating that Grian could see through him. He packed in silence for a few more minutes while his friends patiently waited for him to respond.

He finally sighed, “It was just a memory.” he said softly. “The day the apocalypse started; my bandmates were in the concert hall when it started.” He viewed Cleo’s and Grian's reactions. Cleo looked sympathetic told him and murmured, “Oh Scott…”

Grian had a similar expression. The ex-rockstar simply shook his head. “It’s in the past, no need for sympathy. We all lost someone so it's water under the bridge.” He hefted the pack onto his shoulder. Grian and Cleo shared a concerned look before looking back at him.

Cleo spoke up, “We are here if you ever need to talk Scott, death isn’t something that can be taken lightly.” She walked over and gently patted his shoulder. “We got your back bud.”

Grian came up onto his other side and nodded. “Yeah, if you wanna talk, we're here to listen.” Scott scoffed at them but smiled slightly at their comfort.

“Thank guys, I appreciate it.” He gives each of them a quick hug before stepping back. “Now let's get going, we need to find water and food.” He turns around before they can respond, heading down the path from the night before.

The others quickly caught up to him. The three of them chatted quietly as they walked through the wooden corridors. The farther they traveled, the quieter they became till they were silent. The sound of creatures moving became clearer as they headed towards the giant's living quarters. As Scott examined the walls around them, he realized that they were closing in on where he was spotted last night.

A pit of dread grew in the cyanette’s stomach as the hole from last night seemed bigger last night. Grian slowly approached and grimaced as he stepped in something sticky. He pulled his foot out easily, making Scott breathe a sigh of relief. The dirty blond walked across the sticky spot without trouble. Cloe followed next, then Scott. He glanced out of the hole but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

Traveling deeper into the house, they soon smelled something delicious. They all perked up as they knew they were getting closer to the kitchen. Grian blushed as his stomach rumbled loudly, making Scott and Cleo silently chuckle. With a pep in their step, they sped up, knowing they were close to their goal.

The voices of the giants became clear and loud, letting them know they were in the right place. The trio slowed their pace. Grian looked nervous and anxious. Cleo looked determined, pressing her lips into a thin line. Scott’s blood rushed through his ears, but he felt an odd calm flood his system. He pressed his ear against the wall, curious what the giants were talking about.

“Are you even sure this is gonna work?” A feminine voice asked, skepticism in her voice. A masculine voice replied, “Of course! I made it, didn’t I?” A smug voice answered. “You say that now.” The female voice countered as she seemingly left the room as her voice got farther away.

Scott felt the tension leave his shoulders as the male voice gets farther away as well. He turns to his found family and whispers, “They left, we’re in the clear.” Cloe nodded but said, “Still we need to find a way in and out quickly because we don’t know how long.” Scott nodded in agreement. Grian frowned a bit but nodded as well.

They explored more of the wall, getting increasingly nervous when they thought they found a loose board, but it was glued over or something was blocking the entrance. It was later in the day when they finally found a perfectly round hole in the wall, looking like it was drilled. Cleo was hesitant to use it, but when Scott’s and Grian’s stomachs groaned, along with her own, she relented.

 Grian peeked out first, not seeing anything unusual, he ushered for Cleo and Scott. When Scott stepped out, the breath was knocked out of him. The kitchen around them was so large but beautiful. Flowers were painted along the cabinets; pink trim gave life to the bland wooden counters. A black and white checker floor covered the area below them. But what caught his attention was the paintings hung on the walls. They were landscape paintings, of a beach, a meadow, and a forest. He shook his head, to stop getting distracted.

Looking over, Cleo and Grian seemed to be in awe as well, except they were looking at something else. The guitar player’s jaw dropped as they spotted what they were staring at. On the counter, a large cake sat. Drool pooled in Scott’s mouth as it was decorated with berries and white and pink frosting. Swallowing, Scott also noticed a fruit bowl next to the cake.

Grian took a step towards the cake before Cleo grabbed his shoulder. She whispered to him furiously, “We can’t. It’ll be too noticeable.” Grian whispered back, “Come on, one berry.” He begged. Cleo brazenly shook her head. “No. Too dangerous.” Scott couldn’t help but agree with Cloe’s sentiment.

“The fruit bowl could be good.” He points it out. Cleo looked over to Scott and nodded. “Yeah, that seems more reasonable.” Grian crossed his arms but reluctantly agreed. Scott headed towards the fruit bowl, having to walk around the edge of the cake. Cleo and Grian followed behind him.

They all froze as a quiet click was heard. Scott glanced around trying to find the sort of noise. It was only when he looked down, he realized he had stepped on a mechanical button. He felt the blood drain from his face as he hopped off in a panic, turning to his friends.

“Run! It’s a-“He doesn’t get to finish his sentence as his feet are suddenly pulled out from under him, making him yelp. Two more cries follow as well. He felt himself get pulled unwillingly to a metal circle, his friends joining him shortly after. He looked down at his shoes, his eyes widening in panic. They were coated in metal flakes, making them magnetized.

Realization hit Scott, the sticky stuff. It was glue. And they walked through it. And it was filled with these metal flakes. Cloe was trying to pull herself off the magnet, while Grian struggled violently.  Scott began trying to get his shoes off to escape but giant footsteps made his blood go cold.

Scott’s breathing picked up as the Impulse-looking one entered the kitchen and cheered loudly, making all the humans flinch harshly. “Gem! I caught him! And two others.” Scott covered his ears with the loud voice, tears threatening to escape his eyes. It’s not them. It can’t be.

His breathing picked up as the giant came closer to them. His struggles got more desperate to get his shoes off. A scream rang through his ears, and it took him a moment to realize that it came from him as Impulse-look alike reached for him. The horned giant seemed taken aback by his sudden cry, pausing in his advances. His friends were shouting and yelling at the giant to leave him alone.

The Gem-look-alike came into the room. She walked over and frowned then scolded the horned giant. “You idiot, you’re scaring him. Don’t just try to grab him.” She crouched down and in a very soft voice, “Hey there Scott, can you count to five for me?” The ex-guitarist couldn’t help but close his eyes and picture Gem holding his hand, rubbing circles on his back as he calmed down from a panic attack. He quietly counted to five, taking deep breaths as he did.

Opening his eyes again, he was considerably calmer, but his heart rate spiked as he saw the giant smiling down at him. “There you go. It’s okay, we’re not going to hurt you.” She reassured them. Cleo spit. “Yeah right! And how do you know Scott? Let him alone!” Cloe struggled hard.

Scott croaked, “You can’t be them. They died the day of the outbreak.” Tears rolled down his cheeks as he lay on his back, trapped. Both his friends and giants looked at him. The deer giant frowned, “Oh Scott, no. I am Gem and that still is Impulse. We just look a little different and bigger.”  Gem tried soothing Scott by touching him.

He flinched away from the large hand, sobbing, “Let us go then, please.” He begged, adrenaline and fear blocking out the hunger and thirst he felt. “Please Gem.” Both Gem and Impulse shared an uneasy look before Gem sadly shook her head.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t in good conscious.” She said softly, making Scott’s throat close with terror. “You three look like you are about to drop dead in a day. You are all so skinny and it’s scary.”  She explained, as Impulse carried in a fish tank-looking thing but built for a human.

Scott didn’t have it in him to shout or yell as she gently pried him off the magnet and placed him into the tank. She did this with Grian and Cleo as well. Grian shrieked and tried to bite her as she picked him up. Cleo glared but didn’t do much, not wanting to cause them to get angry.

Gem looked at them sadly. “This will be only temporary.” She comforted. “We just need to humanify the house and get you guys healthy.” Scott glared at her through tear-filled eyes, through gritted teeth he mutters, “I hate you. I hate both of you. You are not them.” Shock then hurt filled Gem’s eye but she replied, “You know you don’t, you just need to get used to us like this.”

Impulse looked hurt as well as he added, “I’m sorry for scaring you all. But it’s true, this is only temporary. I hope you’ll trust us soon as well.” He carried the enclosure over to a table and placed it down gently. The walking made the humans flinch harshly. Impulse apologized softly then turned away. Impulse and Gem left the room after that, saying that they were giving them space to adjust.

Scott bushed his hand through the plush carpet bottom of the tank, glaring at it like it had wronged him. He immediately took off his shoes and chucked them at the glass around them with a frustrated cry. He watched them bounce off the glass onto the floor. He wiped his eyes and examined their temporary home.

There was a little kitchen area in one corner, it had a fridge, sink, and oven. Another was a walled-off room with a door labeled ‘bathroom’. The room the three of them seemed to be in was a living room of some sort, it had a couch, coffee table, and loveseat. Looking over to the last side of the tank, it was also walled off but with two doors. Both were labeled ‘Bedrooms’ in fancy bold letters.

Grian shrieked, “How did they know that we were here!? We were so careful.” He threw up his arms in frustration as he flopped onto the loveseat. Scott’s stomach churned with guilt because he caused this. Cloe scowled at him. “Get off there, we are not entertaining them with thinking we’re comfortable.” Grian huffed, “What’s the point? We might as well take advantage of this situation.”

Scott walked to the miniature kitchen and looked through the cupboards, to get away from the arguing of the other two and through curiosity. He was pleasantly surprised to find that they were filled with grains and dried fruit. He looked in another and found plates, cups, and silverware. He took three cups hesitantly and walked over to the faucet, filling them will water.

Once all three cups were filled, he walked back to the other two, who had stopped arguing when he turned on the water. He handed each of them a cup and said, “Here, we need it. I don’t care if it’s dosed or poisoned, we will die of dehydration if we don’t.” Grian eagerly down his cup, while Cleo cautiously sniffed it before sipping it. Scott slowly drained his cup. The water felt nice on his dry throat.

Cleo finished her cup and sighed. “That helped clear my head.” She looked at Grian. “I’m sorry, I suppose you’re right. We can rest up and regain our energy for a while then we can escape in due time.” She walked to the kitchen, placed her cup in the sink, and grabbed dried fruit for each of them, passing them to Scott and Grian.

Scott nodded and whispered, “I’m sorry, it’s my fault we’re in this mess.” He took a small bite of his fruit. Grian shook his head, swallowing as he did. “Don’t blame yourself, it was bound to happen eventually. We’re just lucky it was your old friends.” Grian happily munched on his dried fruit. Cloe gently hugged him.

“Don’t blame yourself kiddo, we all agreed to go into the house,” Cleo reassured. “So don’t blame this completely on yourself.” Scott sighed and replied, “Okay…” He still felt guilty for not telling them he was seen last night but decided to change the conversation.

Scott walked to one of the rooms and looked back at them. “I’m gonna take a nap. I’m exhausted. Wake me up if they come back.” He said before opening the door and closing the door behind him. The bedroom was simple, a bed and a wardrobe were the only two thing decorating the room.

The cyan-haired boy climbed into the bed and curled up in the sheets. Tears pooled in his eyes as he buried his face into the pillows, hiccupping softly as he thought of how Gem and Impulse could do this to him. Sobs escaped him as he dragged Cleo and Grian into this mess as well. It was all his fault. He soon cried himself to exhaustion, his unconscious consuming him. His last thoughts before he fell unconscious were “I’m sorry everyone.”

[agoddamn]

Gameplay notes for the future:

As far as reclassing goes: Sage Mauvier is great

...

It's fucking hard to reclass without planning a lot ahead of time since you only have two chapters to spread Lief around like a cheap whore, alright?

Inheritance:

Sigurd: every mounted unit wants canter (1k/2k) + momentum (1k/2k)

Lucina: Dual Support/Dual Assist (3k total) on MC are great

Lyn: Speedtaker (2k) is niche but nice on coinflip speed units; otherwise, Alacrity (1k/2k/3k) is nice on speedy crit animals like Kagetsu or Kagetsu

Roy: Hold Out (2k/3k) goes great with Diamant or maaaaybe a dedicated Ephraim partner? Some possible utility on Saphir, though your SP is better spent somewhere else

Kamui: Quality Time (250/500) is worth on MC/dancer for support. Draconic Hex (2k) might go better on units that can avoid counters; ones that are too slow to double and OHKO but not too slow to drop. Incidentally, I've heard very good things about Yunaka/Kamui and MC/Kamui, though I haven't messed with them myself

Marth: cracked lol Break Defenses (2k) is great on triangle units, Perceptive (250/500) is nice on speedy frontliners like Kagetsu or MC

Celica: ...good question 😔 only a physical unit would want Holy Stance (100/1k). Resonance (2k/3k) is basically free damage, but again, you have better things to buy

Micaiah: Healing Light (200) is good on staffbots like Framme or a griffin rider

Leif: Vantage (500/1k/2k) on Diamant or Saphir may have a niche; otherwise you're just using him for his profs

Bylat: ...Mentorship (250) on a support I guess? If you had to inherit something?

Ike: Wrath (2k) on Diamant/Saphir or a similar self-damage synergy unit and maybe Reposition (200) on a high-mobility unit

Eirika: Lunar Brace (2k/5k) is outrageously expensive. It's also limited to physical attacks, and uses the enemy's defense--so it's great against armors and worthless against mages. Only skill worth getting off her save maybe Dodge for Seadall, but goddamn, the cost

Edelgard: str/dex+5 is enough stats to be worth slotting but 8400 SP?! Not in this economy

Tiki: STARSPHERE (1.5k) ON EVERY UNIT

Magic weapons:

Levin Sword or Flame Spear on your local pegaslut (prob Chloe)

Flame Spear comes with Mauvier for a reason

Levin Sword can also work on MC or Yunaka. Maybe even Clanne/Jeanne depending on your luck? Merrin and Timerra look like they have growths to support magic weapons, though they didn't get those levels for me

Radiant Bow: glue to Fogado's hand

[pathfinderunlocked]

Thorny Living Topiary - CR7 Plant

No mansion yard or hedge maze is complete without a topiary sculpture that comes to life.

Artwork by Euro Living Furniture.

This creature is based on and similar to the lower level Living Topiary, and they’d work well in a battle together if you had a fight in a particularly large garden.

The original Living Topary can be created by a spellcaster; interestingly, it can be created without Craft Construct or any crafting feats at all.  I kept that for this creature, for the sake of consistency, even though I don’t think that’s particularly reasonable.  The gold cost is higher than normal for a CR 7 construct to make up for the lack of a feat requirement.

The lesser wall of thorns spell is useful for preventing enemies from flanking it.  Note that, like a normal wall of thorns, it can be created in an area already occupied by enemies, growing around the enemies.

Thorny Living Topiary - CR 7

Shuffling forward on brambly limbs, this walking green hedge has the rough shape of a griffin and appears to move on its own.

XP 3,600 N Large plant Init +2 Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +1

DEFENSE

AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 16 (+2 Dex, +7 natural, -1 size) hp 100 (8d8+64) Fort +15, Ref +4, Will +5 DR 5/slashing Immune mind-affecting, plant traits Weaknesses vulnerable to fire Defensive Abilities poison thorns

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft. Melee 2 slams +11 (1d8+6 plus poison (DC 13)) Space 10 ft., Reach 5 ft.

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +9)     Constant—pass without trace     3/day—entangle (DC 13), hedge stride (see text), lesser wall of thorns (see text)     1/day—thorny entanglement (ranged attack +9, DC 14) STATISTICS

Str 22, Dex 14, Con 24, Int —, Wis 12, Cha 12 Base Atk +6; CMB +13; CMD 25 (27 vs. trip) Feats Great FortitudeB, Iron WillB, ToughnessB Skills Escape Artist +10, Stealth +4 (+10 in undergrowth); Racial Modifiers +8 Escape Artist, +2 Stealth (+8 in undergrowth) Languages Common, Sylvan (can’t speak any language) SQ assimilate, move through hedges, sculpt shape

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Assimilate (Ex) As a full-round action, a thorny living topiary can consume undergrowth or bushy plant matter it’s currently touching and incorporate that material into its form.  It can do this at a rate of one 5-foot cube per round, healing 2d8 points of damage each time.  If the topiary is at maximum hit points, this ability has no effect.

Hedge Stride (Sp) This ability functions as tree stride, but rather than allowing for teleportation from tree to tree, it permits the living topiary to teleport from one area of brush or hedges to another area of similar vegetation within 1,500 feet.

Lesser Wall of Thorns (Sp) Three times per day, as a swift action, as a spell-like ability, a thorny living topiary may create a small wall of thorns.  This functions as the wall of thorns spell except that its casting time is a swift action, the wall is only 5 ft. thick, 20 ft. long, and 10 ft. tall, and the wall must be shaped as a straight vertical wall with no breaks.

Treat this as a 2nd-level conjuration (creation) spell.

Move through Hedges (Ex) A thorny living topiary may move through any mass of brambles or other dense plant growth without penalty, including the area of an entangle, thorny entanglement, or wall of thorns spell.  It must begin and end its turn outside of any mass too dense for a creature to stand in normally.

Poison (Ex) A creature that takes damage from a thorny living topiary's slam attack or poison thorns must pass a DC 13 Fortitude save against a poison effect or be poisoned by slight exposure to poison oak.  This poison has a 1 hour onset, after which it deals 1d4 Dex damage and the target is sickened until the Dex damage is healed.  Multiple applications of this poison have no effect on an already poisoned creature.

Poison Thorns (Ex) A creature that attacks a thorny living topiary with an unarmed or natural weapon attack or a touch attack takes 1d3 piercing damage from its thorns and is subjected to its poison.  Reach weapons do not trigger poison thorns.

Sculpt Shape (Ex) As a standard action, a thorny living topiary can alter itself to take on the basic form of any creature.  The change is purely cosmetic, and does not change its size, grant it any special powers, or alter its abilities.

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS

Skill Ranks Knowledge (nature) 12 ranks; Spells command plants, freedom of movement, plant growth, poison, thorny entanglement; Skill Check Knowledge (nature) DC 26 or Profession (gardener) DC 22; Cost 17,500 gp

[jade-muffins]

Nutboob???? 🤯🤯🤯

[azelle-intermisson]

My first Maddening Playthrough mvps!!

I only used units I didn't use on my first playthrough(other than pandreo) and I had a lot of fun using these units. I also only used dlc emblems for the last two chapters because I forgot to build a tank and I desperately needed one. I'm prob gonna end up doing another run on random growths with all the units I liked from my first two playthroughs.

Chloè- Other than Alcryst she carried me throughout the whole game. I loved Marcia in fe9 and gameplay-wise Chloè was exactly the same. She was an actual monster and I honestly did not need to give her all of those weapons because the foraged steel lance was more than enough. With the Erika emblem she demolished every single boss and any enemy in the game other than armor knights. I could have made her a wyvern to make her even stronger but I just kept her in griffin knight.

Alcryst- He is def one of the best units in the game, he is so low investment and kills anything with luna crits. He only had lunar brace for the last two maps and I didn't really feel the difference it made but I'm sure it was doing something. He did like 60% of the damage on the final boss. Also I really loved his support with Céline it was super sweet.

Kagetsu- He started off as a replacement unit after like 4 units died in chapter 11 but was able to keep up with Chloè and Alcryst pretty well. He got the Sigurd emblem because he did not have enough sp for canter but having Sigurd on a flier was soooo useful. I made him a wyvern rider because I don't really like sword masters in this game and I wanted him to fly around. Speedtaker was super useful because wyvern rider has a kinda low speed cap and it let him have 2 chances at criting with his killer axe. His supports where pretty funny too I liked him a lot.

Pandreo- Love this guy so much best supports (other than Yunaka and Zelkov) in the game he is really funny and a very versatile unit. I put him in sage because I thought it would be better than high priest but he ended up having a hard time hitting things so I had to give him divine pulse. With thoron and Corrin he was essential to beating almost every map and having staff access meant he could also heal if he had nothing better to do.

SPOLIER UNIT BELOW

Veyle- She was not a unit I intended on using when I got her but I barely scraped by chapter 24 so I caved and used dlc on her. I didn't want to use dlc originally because in past fe games the dlc made them really easy but I needed a tank so bad that I caved and used them. This is a genuinely broken combo if you are having difficulties with madding use this build. Flare's dragon type bonus on dragons combined with a crit foraged Obscuritè makes her have 100% crit rate on every hit. Hold out and vantage means if she misses or gets one shot she still lives and gets to attack first on the next combat and heals everything back. The only other fe unit that even compares to how strong Veyle is with Soren is Robin in Awakening but at least nosferatu could break. She took on all of the reinforcements on the left side of chapter 25. I also sent her up alone on the left side of endgame and her and Alcryst ended up killing Sombron before I broke his barrier.