#speed queen 51

[culkin-rory]

[parasamata]

small clip of rory as ‘cory’ in speed queen 51!

[angelsnkisses]

i just know he had sm fun in there 😭

[thattrashrat]

i need scream queen to release NOW i cannot wait any longer!!

[monstersdownthepath]

Lord of Skies and Temptation: Pazuzu, King of the Wind Demons

CR 30

Chaotic Evil Large Outsider

Bestiary 4, pg. 50-51 (Image from the Complete Book of the Damned, pg. 87)

Among the eldest and most powerful of the Demon Lords, Pazuzu was one the first non-Qlippoth demons in all existence along with his former lover, Lamashtu. His dalliances with Lamashtu during the early days of creation were things of both legend and horror, their meetings on fledgling worlds striking the unfortunate planets with the force of asteroids and populating them with all manner of unholy creations. Both of them would scheme and vie for the position of God of the Abyss, but in the end, the throne would only accept one. Tearing the domain of beasts from the god Curchanus, Lamashtu ascended to the rank of Demon God and kicked the ladder out from under her, preventing anyone else from following in her shadow. She now regards Pazuzu as little more than someone she dated in the past, nothing more than a brief fling... something which whips the winged Demon Lord into a berserk, frothing fury.

Or, well, it did. As the ages have passed, Pazuzu has gotten more subtle and patient, and has begun seeing value in manipulating mortals. He's begun to work in Lamashtu's shadow, weaving just enough purposeless destruction into his antics that she barely registers his presence with anything but passing interest, but with every word whispered into the ear of a willing mortal, he erodes the pillars on which the Demon Queen has built her castle by another slight scratch. It may take a few thousand more years yet, but he has all of eternity; one of the perks of being at the top of the pecking order himself. Very, very few other Demon Lords wish to cross him, and for good reason. That "CR 30" isn't just for decoration!

The other biggest reason is that almost every Demon Lord in existence has some manner of flight speed, and Pazuzu's Avian Mastery means ANY creature with a natural, nonmagical flight speed must make a DC 40 Will save to attack him; failure causes the attack to not only fail, but also locks the victim out of being able to directly attack Pazuzu for 1d4 rounds. This ability is unlikely to come up against players (unless they're all Strix, for whatever reason), but he has a great many other tricks that definitely will.

To anyone coming here from D&D, yes, Pazuzu still retains his most famous ability: Hear Name. He can hear his name every single time it's spoken aloud by anyone on any world or plane and through every barrier and form of protection there is. This ability presumably works on any speaking creature, gods and innocent scholars and babbling toddlers alike, so one could imagine it getting annoying for him. However, if his name is said thrice in the same breath (even if it's just part of a long run-on sentence), he instantly knows the exact location and true name of the speaker, which is information that's infinitely more useful for him; he rejects calls from his cultists more often than not but tends to at least investigate anyone who's unfamiliar to him on the off-chance it may be a new soul he can corrupt. Be careful trying to get his attention, though, because if he happens to be on the same plane as a creature that says his name three times, he can immediately try and Possess the poor fool and ride along in their soul for the remainder of their days (or until he possesses another target but shh).

That may not seem especially useful as a Demon Lord who spends most of his time in the Abyss, but Pazuzu is explicitly noted to not do that. To avoid divine retribution he must remain hidden (at-will Shapechange aids in that regard) and work subtly, but Pazuzu is one of the few Demon Lords who can not only freely travel to and from the Material Plane, but often does to further his own schemes personally. How does he get there? Well, that's the fun part! All Demon Lords can use Miracle while they're within their own domains, but their Miracle can only be used to shape their realm or create an effect in-line with their divine domains... but Pazuzu goes a step further with Wish available to him 1/day, the spell completely unrestricted in his hands and allowing him to simply Plane Shift wherever he pleases without issue. Powerful enough outside his lair, but he can use the Mythic Augmented version while in his domain to perform truly berserk feats that borderline breaking the game's rules entirely. Mythic Augmented Wish is basically a blank check in the DM's hands, and it alone is what allows the Lord of Temptation to steer the mortal world in whatever direction he desires.

If he doesn't Wish himself into the universe, he may still use Astral Projection (as all Demon Lords can) to send his essence in instead, his projection acting in every respect as his flesh and blood body, including being able to use Possession on anyone who speaks his name thrice. What IS Possession, you may ask? Is it like the spell of the same name? Haha, ha, no, you WISH it was that weak. Pazuzu's Possession is the stuff of legends, a Save-or-Suck that can decide not only a battle, but a campaign if it's used successfully. Once per day as a swift action, Pazuzu can target any creature within a mile (or on the same plane, if the target is someone who spoke his name thrice) whose name he knows and attempt to possess them. That target has one DC 43 Will save standing between them and the Demon Lord being able to ruin their life; if they succeed, Pazuzu can never attempt to possess them for as long as they live (being killed and returning to life voids this warranty), but if they fail? Ooh boy.

Pazuzu can permanently read the mind of a possessed creature and, by concentrating, can receive all their sensory information. Not so bad so far, especially since the creature retains their own will and control over their body, but this is only at the Demon Lord's whim. As a swift action, he can seize total control of their body and command them to perform any action he wants them to, without restriction. He can force a possessed target to attack their allies, use their most powerful magic to destroy everything around them, destroy or throw aside all of their possessions, hand over a MacGuffin or slay a helpful NPC, fight alongside him or grant him their resources, or even end their own life, and the victim has no ability to resist his control or deny his orders. No saving throw, no force of will, no nothing. While the overt uses are bad enough, if the Demon Lord is especially cruel, he may have his victim speak their true thoughts--no matter how damaging to the party's relationships they may be. He always knows what they're thinking and can force them to say whatever he wants, including just straight up making up "truths" for his victim to helplessly spout, but sometimes the real truth is more painful than any lie he could conceive.

He can use his swift action to command his possessed victim to perform any action they could take on their own, but he has an even worse trick as well: He can channel his spell-like abilities through his puppet as well. Mercifully, the spells are scaled to the victim's stats rather than his own, so a creature with 5 Hit Dice would only deal 2d8 damage with his Unholy Blight and Telekinesis would only last 5 rounds, so it's all fairly balanced... except for Whirlwind and Summon Demons, the former conjuring a destructive, controllable cyclone that can bodily lift and throw Medium creatures like pebbles, and the latter a spell-like that Pazuzu can use 3/day as a swift action which conjures a flat CR 20 encounters-worth of demons regardless of the possessed host's level. The only thing their level affects is how many rounds the cyclone or the demons stick around, and even just 3 rounds is enough time for them to wreak unholy havoc before vanishing.

Other tools at Pazuzu and his puppet's disposal include, but are not limited to: Desecrate, Blasphemy, Shapechange, and Dominate Person all at-will. At 3/day there's the aformentioned Whirlwind, Quickened Dominate Person, Sympathy, and Symbol of Persuasion, and finally as his 1/days besides his Wish, there's Dominate Monster and Time Stop. Useful enough in his hands, but combining them with the talents of his puppet? He may not have to lift a finger. Beyond these, the uses for Greater Teleport at will are infinite, but with his ability to force his puppet to use it, he could easily kidnap them from across any distance by having them teleport right to his side for whatever wicked designs he has.

One DC 43 Will save failure is all he needs... but luckily, a Lawful creature gets a +10 bonus to this save, while a Good creature gets +20, and both these bonuses stack for Lawful Good creatures, meaning the shining paladin of Iomedae only has to succeed a DC 13 save to avoid being possessed, so pathetically low that characters expecting to engage the Demon Lord in combat can only fail if they roll a 1 and even common citizens have a fair chance at battling his influence. Unfortunately, as Lord of Temptation, he does have a trick for that: Profane Wishcraft. Any creature that accepts a Wish from him--even if they're coerced, mislead by Shapechange or a possessed victim, tricked into it by Sympathy, or controlled via Dominate--has to make a DC 43 Will save or have their soul contaminated and shift immediately to Chaotic Evil. While this is terrible enough for the hope of their immortal soul, it also leaves them open to Possession without the protection of their alignment.

We've talked a long while about Possession, but in truth it's Pazuzu's biggest and most flexible tool, and his most unique ability. It's not mind-affecting or any form of curse, so there's no way to avoid it but its saving throw. The victim can't end it by their own action (because he'll know and stop it), and any creature who breaks the effect via Dispel Evil or Dispel Chaos must succeed a DC 30 caster level check or he just possesses them instead. Even if it's ended, here's a fun fact: There's no per-day restriction for any creature that says his name three times, so the unfortunate victim is one Suggestion or Dominate away from being worn like a puppet all over again!

If Pazuzu didn't have access to this signature ability... well, there's just not a lot that's actually special about him. He's powerful, yes, but generically powerful, using potent but boring spell-likes to seize control of his enemies and smashing apart what he can't control with his Scepter of Shibaxet, a personal artifact he can call to himself at any time. In its scepter form, the Scepter of Shibaxet can pinpoint the exact location of any creature hostile to its wielder at-will (a boring but incredibly practical power), can be presented as a standard action to induce panic in all creatures within 60ft who fail a DC 23 Will save, and can 1/day be used to permanently destroy any magic item. That last one is sure to raise an eyebrow or two, especially if your big suit of magic armor was the only thing standing between you and the Scepter's alternate form as a +5 Anarchic Keen Unholy Longsword! That's 2d6+20 damage up to four times a round, +2d6 if you're Good or Lawful and +4d6 if you're both. If he's being harried or feels like harrying, he can use Flyby Attack and Greater Vital Strike in tandem with his 150ft fly speed to deal 6d6+20 as a single blow instead.

However, he's incentivized to stand and fight. Not only for his weapon Full-Attack, but because he's also got a painful beak (2d6+15), his free hand and his two birdy talons (1d6+5), and his lengthy scorpion tail (2d8+15) loaded with a poison that not only drains 1d6 Wisdom with each failure to resist it, but nauseates the poisoned victim. In addition, if Pazuzu doesn't move more than 5ft in a round, he becomes surrounded by his Aura of Locusts that pour from his mouth and fill a 10ft square around his already 10ft body. Any creature that enters or starts their turn in this space must succeed a DC 43 Fortitude save or be nauseated... but I can't help but feel this is a tragically missed opportunity. Why not let his locusts do extra damage? Why not give him a free Vomit Swarm every round? Why doesn't he have Creeping Doom or, hell, just Insect Plague since he literally passively exhales insects? It'd make him a lot more interesting than he ends up being!

But I suppose that's why he's as close to a "demon king" as there currently is in Pathfinder. His kit is simple and effective, as he's essentially an incredibly fast and incredibly resilient melee tank, with his standout Possession ability carrying a thousand plot-hooks and party wipes by itself. The relative dullness of his kit in battle is made up for by all the chaos he can cause out of battle, granting wishes and demonic powers to his mortal thralls and minions, and using his menagerie of crafting feats to gear them up to deal with whatever would make them nigh-insurmountable threats to the party... or to tempt the party into working for him with whatever treasure they need to combat an entirely different, more immediate threat. In this way, he serves almost the same purpose in the Abyss as Mephistopheles does in Hell!

You can read more about him here.

[roryzlittles1ut]

I..I just wanna know what happened to Speed Queen 51. It said it released last year and..it’s still not there. I haven’t even heard anything abt it either 💔

[microwaving-tesilid-argente]

putting down my scattered thoughts for where i would like season 2 of the webtoon to end 🤔

season 1 ended with the cotton candy scene, webnovel 51 and webtoon 42. s2 is currently at the slime dungeon, which is webnovel 61 but webtoon 52. the webtoon condensed hearthfenrir punishing the golden ivory tower (ch 46-49) into like 2 panels and condensed/skipped a few other minor scenes. i never actually read all the early chapters, so idk if the 10 chapter/episode gap is because even more entire chapters got skipped. if it is, then it means that the adaptation speed is roughly 1:1 except for when entire portions get cut.

if we take s2 to also be ~40 episodes, we might hit episode 80+? assuming a 1:1 adapation speed, it would mean webnovel 100+. and if some portions get chopped (maybe some sections of floor 299 and some others) maybe we can even hit webnovel ch 110?? idk if that area will be a good spot to stop though.

the week of regressions is at webnovel 77, while greenwalle starts at ch 82. narratively speaking, the start of greenwalle would be a nice place to start s3, except that i think the webtoon readers might get a little upset about still being stuck in the tutorial period orz. unless floor 300 is just that well done?? idk. actually i think floor 300 would work well as the central arc for this season, just like the toy mansion was. i just want to see post-regression tesilid though 😔

harpy queen is 87-91 and pandora's is ch 91-98. personally i think it would be nice if they could include greenwalle and a little bit after. just to smack all of us silly with the huge gap between tutorial tesilid and post-regression tesilid. i think casual webtoon readers would have forgotten how optimistic and well-meaning baby tesilid was by the time season 3 rolls over, so greenwalle wouldn't hit as hard.

stopping at the end of pandora's would also mean adapting 40 chapters, so i guess maybe they don't need to cut too many scenes? i also don't think it would be a good idea to include much past pandora's. the vatican arc is a liiiiitle bit long. there's the whole setup period, then the snow queen dungeon, then everything keeps snowballing into the magic republic arc and we only get space to breathe again at ch 128 when ailette blacks out. which is also a cliffhanger itself.

greenwalle being in s2 on its own would be a bit of a let-down i think because iirc nothing really happens there, we just meet reed and tesilid wakes up and barely talks. harpy queen arc very clearly shows how much more cold-hearted tesilid has become, which is great for making us all cry, but idk i think pandora's is a cooler place to stop? harpy queen ends with "how is tesilid going to sacrifice himself to regain powers without dying", which is a nice cliffhanger but i think it's not appropriate for a season finale - the stakes are too high. pandora's ends with them entering the vatican, which is a whole new stage of their lives so i think it's a nice spot for s3 to pick up.

[feralnumberfive]

I wanna read your ramble about planes more

And I couldn't be any happier to share with you, especially on today, National Aviation Day! ☺️

I'll talk about a real cool and gorgeous plane I saw last month, but first let me tell you about its kind.

The P-51 Mustang was the hotrod fighter of WWII, and easily the most famous fighter of WWII. It was designed and built in just 100 days, and was revolutionary as it was the first aircraft to successfully be designed with a laminar flow wing.

There were a handful a Mustang variations, but here are the most common. The most notable differences are their canopies. A-C had what is called a "birdcage" or "razorback" canopy while the D model had a "bubble" canopy that provided a 360° view (note: The P-51C could also have the Malcom Hood and the P-51B could also have a birdcage canopy)

There is an odd looking bump on the belly of the Mustang that is a cooling scoop for the radiator and oil. While aerodynamically it looks like it causes more drag, which it does, it actually takes advantage of a cool effect called the "Meredith effect." Due to the fact that the hot radiator is inside of the scoop, there is actually a backdoor on the scoop that blows out the hot and pressurized waste air.

This pressurized air being blown out is actually producing thrust, like a jet engine and more specifically a ramjet, and for the Mustang it produces about 300 lbs of thrust. So the "Meredith effect" is that despite the scoop itself producing more drag on the airframe, the thrust being produced nearly equalizes the effect of the drag and offsets it.

Okay, now onto one of the most beautiful planes I have had the pleasure of seeing. This is a P-51C named "Thunderbird" that has quite the history.

Hollywood actor and WWII bomber pilot Jimmy Stewart owned this plane after the war ended. "Thunderbird" never saw service in WWII as it was a surplus aircraft and instead was bought and used as a race plane. It won the 1949 Bendix race trophy and had an average speed of 470 mph, which was record setting at the time. Due to the paint on the plane and how polished it was, it actually gained 8 mph in flight.

In late 1949 famous WASP pilot, and leader, and one of the most well known women aviators and record setters named Jackie Cochran bought "Thunderbird" where she set more world records in it. She eventually sold it back to Jimmy Stewart before it was passed onto more owners.

The aircraft was involved with a crash in 1955 and began part recovery for restoration in 1999. In 2007 the restoration of this aircraft began and was finished in mid 2023. In early June it had its first post restoration flight. It is painted in 100% original colors and has the same designs it wore when it won the Bendix trophy. It had been painted less than one week prior to when I saw it, so it was a very clean and neat Mustang!

A neat fact about this aircraft was that after Queen Elizabeth II was coronated it was used to fly the coronation tapes for CBS from Newfoundland into the United States as it was trusted for its speed to complete the job

Alright, (long) ramble over. Thanks for letting me share!

[bookish-artist]

Hi!

I just found your blog and loving it! Could you maybe answer all those questions since I'm new here? 🙏🏼

Well welcome! And of course I can, thank you for asking so nicely mon ami ❤️

1: Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?

Closed, always

2: Do you take the shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotel?

No my hair is picky

3: Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out?

Um well they're tucked in at the end, not on the sides

4: Have you ever stolen a street sign before?

No not my vibe of decor

5: Do you like to use post-it notes?

Yes way too much tbh

6: Do you cut out coupons but then never use them?

No I'm not really a coupon user

7: Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of a bees?

Probably a bear. I feel like a single creature is easier to get away from than a swarm, if escape is plausible

8: Do you have freckles?

I do not

9: Do you always smile for pictures?

Yes

10: What is your biggest pet peeve?

Cutting me off/talking over me.

11: Do you ever count your steps when you walk?

No never

12: Have you ever peed in the woods?

Yes

13: What about pooped in the woods?

No

14: Do you ever dance even if theres no music playing?

Occasionally yes

15: Do you chew your pens and pencils?

I chew my pens *sometimes* but not my pencils

16: How many people have you slept with this week?

1

17: What size is your bed?

Queen

18: What is your song of the week?

Loud - The Home Team

19: Is it okay for guys to wear pink?

Of course!

20: Do you still watch cartoons?

Oh yeah

21: Whats your least favorite movie?

Talladega Nights, can't stand it

22: Where would you bury hidden treasure if you had some?

Probably on my family's land

23: If you’re a girl, bra size? If you’re a guy, pants size?

42DD

24: What do you dip a chicken nugget in?

Depends on the restaurant I get them from, different places have different favorites lol

25: What is your favorite food?

Mexican, specifically enchiladas

26: What movies could you watch over and over and still love?

Oh gods.. Pride and Prejudice, any of the Winnie the Pooh movies, old school Disney, Phantom of the Opera, there's just so so many lol

27: Last person you kissed/kissed you?

My fwb 😆

28: Were you ever a boy/girl scout?

Nope

29: Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine?

Sure why not?

30: When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper?

Hmm, probably in elementary school. We did that write a soldier program and that's the last vivid memory I have of writing a letter

31: Can you change the oil on a car?

Nope

32: Ever gotten a speeding ticket?

Yes

33: Ever ran out of gas?

No, I always have at least a quarter in there

34: Favorite kind of sandwich?

Turkey, cheese, lettuce, mayo, jalapenos

35: Best thing to eat for breakfast?

Sunny side up egg on an everything bagel with orange juice, maybe some bacon

36: What is your usual bedtime?

Between 11:30-12

37: Are you lazy?

No

38: When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween?

My first costume ever was a hershey kiss! Then I was a power ranger, pirate, Belle, witch, cat, dog, wolf, red riding hood, Ghost face, pumpkin king, angel, devil, fairy.. I've done a little bit of everything 😅

39: What is your Chinese astrological sign?

Um sign of the rat I think? '96 baby ✌🏼

40: Are you horny?

At this very moment?? No lol

41: Do you have any magazine subscriptions?

Not currently no, eyeballing a couple

42: Which are better legos or lincoln logs?

Legos, duh

43: Are you stubborn?

Me? Stubborn? Never 🙄

44: Who is better…Leno or Letterman?

Ew neither

45: Ever watch soap operas?

No not really my thing. Unless you count k dramas

46: Are you afraid of heights?

I don't love them, but they're not a fear

47: Do you sing in the car?

Full on karaoke show

48: Do you sing in the shower?

Karaoke show part 2

49: Do you dance in the car?

Way way too often 😂

50: Ever used a gun?

Yes, I'm a good shot too 😏

51: Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer?

Probably my uncle's wedding like 10+ years ago

52: Do you think musicals are cheesy?

Absolutely not, I love them! One of my favorite genres ever

53: Is Christmas stressful?

When you wait until the very last minute like I did yes 😮‍💨

54: Ever eat a pierogi?

I have not actually, I'll have to add that to the list

55: Favorite type of fruit pie?

I'm not a big pie person

56: Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid?

Marine biologist, ballerina, librarian

57: Do you believe in ghosts?

Yes

58: Ever have a Deja-vu feeling?

Frequently, it's a little unsettling actually

59: Take a vitamin daily?

No

60: Wear slippers?

Sometimes

61: Wear a bath robe?

Also sometimes lol

62: What do you wear to bed?

Either sweatpants and a tee or just a tee

63: First concert?

Panic at the Disco!

64: Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart?

Walmart

65: Nike or Adidas?

Both

66: Cheetos Or Fritos?

Cheetos

67: Peanuts or Sunflower seeds?

Well I'm allergic to nuts and I don't eat sunflower seeds, sooo ��

68: Ever hear of the group Tres Bien?

No never

69: Ever take dance lessons?

Yes

70: Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing?

I don't really care honestly, as long as they can help pay bills and have some ambition in life in gemeral

71: Can you curl your tongue?

Yes 😇

72: Ever won a spelling bee?

No

73: Have you ever cried because you were so happy?

Of course

74: Own any record albums?

Not yet!

75: Own a record player?

Soon!

76: Regularly burn incense?

Yes

77: Ever been in love?

Yes

78: Who would you like to see in concert? Ghost, Bad Omens, Hozier, BTS

79: What was the last concert you saw?

Panic at the disco back on 2016

80: Hot tea or cold tea?

Hot tea

81: Tea or coffee?

Coffee, iced, extra milk extra sugar please thanks

82: Sugar or snickerdoodles?

Snickerdoodles are god tier

83: Can you swim well?

Well enough

84: Can you hold your breath without holding your nose?

Yes

85: Are you patient?

Ehh that could use some work

86: DJ or band, at a wedding?

DJ for sure

87: Ever won a contest?

Not that I remember

88: Ever have plastic surgery?

Not yet

89: Which are better black or green olives?

Don't make me choose

90: Can you knit or crochet?

No but I want to learn to crochet

91: Best room for a fireplace?

Bedroom

92: Do you want to get married?

Maybe

93: If married, how long have you been married?

Single af

94: Who was your HS crush?

He was one of my best friends senior year and nothing ever happened :/ come to find out he almost kissed me one day bc he liked me so much but he never did 🤦🏼‍♀️

95: Do you cry and throw a fit until you get your own way?

No

96: Do you have kids?

Nooo

97: Do you want kids?

NOOO

98: Whats your favorite color?

Green

99: Do you miss anyone right now?

Yes

Hope this gives you some insight! If you wanna know more you're always welcome to ask 😊

[johnnytorresprowres]

The Cooldown 1: Pro Wrestling GRIND “Stiff Upper Lip″ - 3/24/2023

1: “Iron” Rip Byson (8-3-1) vs. Joseph “A-Game” Alexander (2-4) At the beginning of the contest, Derek Neal pulled up a chair in the GRIND entryway to watch the proceedings.  Rip Byson had a difficult time with the shot speed of A-Game at the beginning but was able to weather the storm of the Pretty Boy Shooter, return fire with bombs of his own, and was one lariat away from victory.  But Derek Neal caused a sudden distraction and A-Game was able to snatch the prawn hold for the upset.  This would not be the last we’d hear from either Rip or Derek during the event. Joseph Alexander d. Rip Byson (7:41) Now: A-Game: 3-4, Rip: 8-4-1 Up Next for Rip: Derek Neal in a Strap Match at Masters of Reality on 4/28 in Easthampton, MA 5 Prospects for A-Game: Andy Brown (2-2), Myung-Jae Lee (2-1), Alec Price (2-3), ZPB (1-2), Mike Skyros (3-3) (rematch from Doctor Doctor). ___ 2: “King of Chaos” Logan Black (6-3) vs. ZPB (0-2) In a battle of refined lariat practitioners and Western Mass favorites, neither veteran warrior wasted any time letting their hands go and it was only a matter of time before someone’s armor would crack.  But as both Logan and ZPB neared complete exhaustion, it was not a lariat but instead a well-time counter to Logan’s Life-Altering Lariat that enabled ZPB to stack the KoC’s shoulders to the canvas and notch his first win in GRIND. ZPB d. Logan Black (8:13) Now: ZPB: 1-2, Logan: 6-4 5 Prospects for ZPB: Channing Thomas (1-4), Gary Jay (1-2), Andy Brown (2-2), O’Shay Edwards (2-3), Manders (2-2) 5 Prospects for Logan: Ryan Mooney (6-4), Delmi Exo (6-3), Andy Brown (2-2), Perry Von Vicious (7-7) (rematch from Electric Crown), Joseph Alexander (3-4) (rematch from Antisocial) ___ 3: “God Queen” Delmi Exo (6-2) vs. “International Pop Sensation” B3CCA (0-1) A match featuring this much familiarity was destined to come down to one defining strike that landed true.  As they have in every bout throughout their history, they both brought their best bombs.  But it came down to a dialed-in superkick from B3CCA that floored the Emerald Matriarch, and the Pop Sensation found home with the 450 Splash to take home her first GRIND victory. B3CCA d. Delmi Exo (7:51) Now: B3CCA: 1-1, Delmi: 6-3 5 Prospects for B3CCA: Myung-Jae Lee (2-1), Trish Adora (0-1), Jaden Newman (1-0), BEEF (1-1), ZPB (1-2) 5 Prospects for Delmi: Ryan Mooney (6-4), Logan Black (6-4), Perry Von Vicious (7-7), Mike Skyros (3-3), Joseph Alexander (3-4) ___ 4: “The Human Monster Truck” Perry Von Vicious (7-6) vs. “King’s Road Slayer” Derek Neal (0-0-1) Fans of agile heavyweights were right at home.  Derek Neal and Perry Von Vicious tested each other’s mettle in every facet of pro wrestling, from grappling to striking to occasionally taking flight! It came down to who would land their best shot first, and Derek Neal was able to connect with his patented Fisherman’s Buster to notch his first W in GRIND.  Neal called out Rip Byson post-match, Ripper happily obliged, chaos ensued, and a Strap Match is on the books for 4/28! Derek Neal d. Perry Von Vicious (10:03) Now: Derek: 1-0-1, PVV: 7-7 Up Next for Derek: Rip Byson in a Strap Match at Masters of Reality on 4/28 5 Prospects for PVV: Logan Black (6-4) (rematch from Electric Crown), Ryan Mooney (6-4), Manders (2-2), Delmi Exo (6-3), Mike Skyros (3-3) ___ 5: ��Uptown” Andy Brown (1-2) d. “Locksmith” Brandon Williams (0-1)  The heavy-handed Andy Brown and mat specialist Brandon Williams brought the thunder in our return from intermission.  After a feeling out process, Williams recognized the danger of the sure feet of the Thiccc Daddy and started fighting for his trusty ankle lock throughout the contest.  But an ill-timed shot was met with an intercepting knee strike followed by the Finish Him to make it two in a row for Andy Brown. Andy Brown d. Brandon Williams (8:10) Now: Andy: 2-2, Locksmith: 0-2 5 Prospects for Andy: Manders (2-2), Myung-Jae Lee (2-1), Mike Skyros (3-3), Alec Price (2-3), BEEF (1-1) 5 Prospects for Locksmith: Ryan Clancy (0-2), ZPB (1-2), Jac St. Jean (0-1), Angelo Carter (0-1), Nolo Kitano (0-2) ___ 6: “Moonlight Son” Mike Skyros (2-3) vs. “Fancy” Ryan Clancy (0-1) Two refined mat technicians with no shortage of familiarity locked horns in a very evenly matched bout.  Clancy was able to keep Skyros off balance with his misdirection with manuevers such as criss-crossing into the crossbody and the rolling single leg crab. But it was misdirection and split-second timing that brought Skyros the victory as he was able to ricochet out of a Clancy kickout right into Skyfall.  Skyros has now bounced back from an 0-3 record to even the ship at 3-3. Mike Skyros d. Ryan Clancy (11:40) Now: Skyros: 3-3, Clancy: 0-2 5 Prospects for Skyros:  Andy Brown (2-2), Ryan Mooney (6-4), Alec Price (2-3), Myung-Jae Lee (2-1), Joseph Alexander (3-4) (rematch from Doctor Doctor),  5 Prospects for Clancy:  Brandon Williams (0-2), Angelo Carter (0-1), Jac St. Jean (0-1), Covey Christ (0-1), Gary Jay (1-2) ___ 7: I QUIT MATCH: “Murder Hornet” Travis Huckabee (6-3) vs. “Top Shelf” Troy Nelson (1-0)  An I Quit match a year in the making.  Personal issues from years past had risen to the surface and GRIND broadcaster Top Shelf Troy Nelson returned to the ring to settle the score.  Top Shelf appeared to be in classic form, even landing his patented Johnny Cage split punch.  But Huckabee utilized his surroundings to great effect, including a spare turnbuckle, a steel chair, and a vicious irish whip into the steel corner post that opened up the back of Troy as a target for Travis.  In the end, an unholy cocktail of the steel turnbuckle hook and contorting Top Shelf’s spine forced Troy to utter I Quit.  Troy had some words post-match for Travis that may have sharpened the edge of the Murder Hornet, as he laid out Troy one last time with a headbutt. Travis Huckabee d. Troy Nelson (12:23) Now: Huckabee: 7-3, Top Shelf: 1-1 5 Prospects for Huckabee: Andy Brown (2-2), Manders (2-2), Joseph Alexander (3-4), Ryan Mooney (6-4) (rematch from Come And Get It), Myung-Jae Lee (2-1) (rematch from You Better Run) Up Next for Top Shelf: Most likely the commentary table with Alyssa & I. ___ 8: GRIND GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP: “Blue Thunder” Jay Freddie (11-1) (c) vs. “World Class” Channing Thomas (1-3) In our 4th defense of the GRIND Grand Championship, the mighty Jay Freddie locked horns with “World Class” Channing Thomas, flanked by the legendary Sidney Bakabella.  Once any brass knuckles were removed from the contest, Channing brought his best to the defending champion, and nearly came away with the victory thanks to a pair of brass knuckles on the fist of Sidney.  But our secondary referee Nate Speckman watching the monitor was there to notify acting ref Bill Thompson of the miscarriage of justice, and the main event was restarted.  Freddie quickly removed Sidney and his hairpiece from the equation, and with hairpiece in tow, landed the Shining Wizard to successfully defend the Grand Championship for a 4th time. Jay Freddie d. Channing Thomas (22:53) Now: Freddie: 12-1, 4th defense, Channing: 1-4 5 Prospects for Channing: Gary Jay (1-2), ZPB (1-2), BEEF (1-1), O’Shay Edwards (2-3), Joseph Alexander (3-4) Top Contenders for Jay’s Next Defense: Anthony Henry and Mike Skyros have both won 3 straight singles matches. Manders, Myung-Jae Lee, and Andy Brown have won 2 straight singles matches. See you at Masters of Reality! - JT

[grumpygreenwitch]

The Fairy and the Prince #1 + #2 + #3 + #4

Part 1 - Part 2 - Parts 3 & 4 - Part 5 - Part 6, 7 & 8 - Part 9 & 10 - Part 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 & 16 - Part 17, 18, & 19 - Part 20, 21 & 22 - Part 23, 24, 25 & 26 - Part 27, 28, 29 & 30 - Part 31, 32, 33 & 34 - Part 35, 36 & 37 - Part 38, 39, 40 & 41 - Part 42 & 43 - Part 44 & 45 - Part 46 & 47 - Part 48, 49, 50 & 51 - Part, 52, 53 & 54 - Part 55 & 56 - Part 57, 58, 59 & 60 - Part 61, 62, 63, 64 & 65 - Part 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71 & 72

Originally posted 9/1/2022, 9/14/2022 and 9/28/2022. Celebrating the FINIS of this story, I’ll be reposting it in its entirety once a day through February, starting today. It’s queued so that both the original posting and the reposting will come together for the final piece.

Again, thank you to all that read it, that liked it, that let me know so. I never expected to get as long as it did, but well, here we are.

If you’re new to the party, please bear in mind this was originally a speed-writing exercise. Editing has been minimal. Concurrency was a seat-of-the-pants thing, and if the spelling for names and titles matches from one chapter to the next I’m gonna be the first one surprised. All of that is getting cleaned up in post, and this is a story I’m definitely considering self-publishing, if only to see how that goes.

Prince Adam met Linden while escaping his geography lessons.

Geography is one of those things everyone should know and no one wants to learn. The Queen Dowager had commanded that it be taught to the mob of prospective heirs to the throne that she’d gathered in the Royal palace, among with many other sciences and arts. Then again, the same august and childless lady had also commanded that they be taught the finer points of fencing, wrestling and knife-fighting, so everyone had a good, if resignedly terrified idea as to how she meant to solve the matter of succession without actually making a choice and angering a niece or nephew. However, these were also the same people who’d agreed to drop off their kids at the palace and under her supervision.

In any case, Adam had no more fondness for his geography studies than any other of the Princes at hand. He was fortunate, or unfortunate, enough that, the youngest of the candidates at nine years, by the time his geography lessons rolled around the teacher, a dour old priest of the Tree-Father, was either already asleep, or nearly there. All he had to do was read quietly, peeking up, until the man started snoring.

Which he’d done.

He’d only meant to slip out onto the balcony and sit on the ornate stone railing. But the day was lovely and still young, and he’d realized that one of the gutters ended not too far from the balcony, the spout carved like a horse’s head. He’d leapt lightly onto it and charged into many a battle on his moss-painted steed before a nearby cornice had caught his eye. From there he’d climbed several fashionable false arches, like a great explorer over vast mountain ranges. Then he’d leapt and caught an old arrow-slit by his fingertips, and climbed further up, until he could tip-toe along a gutter made slick by decades of rain-feed moss.

By then he was nearly six stories off the ground.

He stalled after having raced along a lip of brick, mortar and stone barely wider than his fine leather slippers, which he’d already thrown off at some point between mountain-exploring and harpy-fighting (there had been three particularly angry swallows with nests under another balcony). The gutter there ended in a fish-head spout, and there the palace itself turned in a sharp corner, rather than a round tower curve.

Adam glowered at the lack of further road in impotent anger. After a few minutes, however, anger grew boring with no one there to look upon it, and he put his mind to more practical concerns. He was a clever young man, forced by circumstance to become even cleverer, struggling to leave childhood behind just to survive the deadly competition he found himself in. He was a lovely child, a little on the slim side, with his father’s curly black hair and his mother’s (and grand-aunt’s) narrow, firm features, black brows and deep blue eyes, pale skin quickly growing pink because no one could keep him out of the summer sun for long.

A decorative ledge above him caught his eye. It was a mirror of the one he was standing on. On his tiptoes, he couldn’t reach it, his fingers just shy of the goal. If he leapt, though…

He glanced over his shoulder. Far below he could just see the tops of the trees, swaying in the afternoon breeze like fretful nannies. Beyond them were the muddy grounds of the expanding Royal Gardens, and beyond that was the dark green smudge of the Hunting Woods. But there was no one to tell him no, and so he leapt.

He caught the ledge, and almost immediately his right hand slipped. The ledge was, he realized belatedly, much larger than he’d expected, and at a slant, meant to shed water off from whatever might lie beyond it. Years of rain had left it as slippery as the gutters.

He tried to find the ledge below his feet, but he was just high enough that his questing toes couldn’t reach it. He tried to grip the ledge once again, but couldn’t find a place that wouldn’t spit out his fingers. His left hand was slipping, and for the first time it occurred to prince Adam that he might have been a mite unwise in his choice of entertainment for the afternoon. Grunting with effort he tried to lift himself up one-handed onto the ledge.

His left hand slipped.

Adam was weightless for a single, fragile moment, the tiny space between his heart beating and his breath catching.

Then he realized there was a small, strong hand gripping his left wrist, and looked up into the face of the most extraordinary creature he would ever meet in his life.

The stranger laughed, a merry and carefree sound, the ringing of cheerful bells. “You’re not very good at this, are you?”

They were wearing mismatched clothing, pants too big and tied with twine around the waist, folded many times over at the leg, shirt worn so thin the sun shining at the edge of the roof behind them showed skinny arms and a slender, graceful neck. Their hair was white and fine, tipped in dark gold, a halo around a fine-boned, acorn-brown face. But their eyes…

Their eyes were shattered glass.

Adam blinked, enthralled. They were brown and green, blue and hazel; it was as if someone had taken chapel windows and made them into eyes, glorious and random and full of lights. He fought to grip the ledge with his right hand, and finally found a spot willing to meet him halfway. “It’s my first time climbing this high up!” he protested.

The stranger, brown and lithe and mismatched in every way, laughed again, glad and guileless, and helped Adam scrabble onto the ledge.

“What’s wrong with your eyes?” the Prince asked.

The stranger jerked back in surprise, blinked pointedly, and then squinted at Adam. “Nothing. What’s wrong with yours?” they challenged.

“Nothing,” Adam replied, flopping onto the ledge, which was far larger than he’d expected, the slate and stone of it sun-warm. “Other than they’re boring, I suppose.” He rolled over, trying to catch his breath. The blue sky above him vanished behind that white-haired face, far too close to his. “Gah!”

“What’s boring about them?” the stranger demanded. “I think they’re lovely. Like a bluebird’s feathers.” They reached out to try and pry at Adam’s eyes, and the prince swatted that hand aside.

“What are you doing? It’s rude to touch people without their permission!”

Fine white brows went up. “Should I have asked permission to catch you when you slipped?”

“That’s different,” Adam sat up, and his new acquaintance, kneeling by him, leaned back on the heels of their bare, muddy feet. “Of course you don’t ask someone if you can save their life, you just do it. But when it’s not important, you should always ask. It’s good manners.” The young prince flopped back down again. “Thank you for catching me.”

“You’re welcome,” the stranger seemed to be mulling on Adam’s words, and once again that fine-boned, brown face filled his field of view. “I don’t think you’re boring. I liked how you fought the swallow-harpies.”

“Have you been watching me all this time?!” Adam burst up to a sitting position again.

“Yes,” his savior admitted blithely. “It was much more exciting than me just climbing to catch the sun.”

“Catch the sun?”

“Yes, see?” The stranger reached into a pocket of their oversized pants and pulled out something that gleamed too brightly for Adam to really see, something warm and golden like fat drops of honey held in the cup of that muddy, small hand. “It’s not a lot.”

“It’s more than I could ever get,” Adam replied, intrigued. “I didn’t even know you could catch the sun like that.”

“Well, it is tricky,” they admitted, a delicate fluster on the brown and high cheeks revealing faint green freckles as they pocketed the sun drops again.

“What do you even do with it?” Adam asked curiously, examining his feet and finding them incredibly filthy; for some reason this pleased him immensely.

“I bring them into the woods, where the normal sun doesn’t reach.”

“Oh, that would be so helpful to everything there!” Adam exclaimed, and his companion flushed even deeper, all unnoticed. By the time the young prince turned to face them, they were sitting cross-legged next to the boy. “By the way, I’m prince Adam Lestrelle. But it’s fine to just call me Adam.” He offered his hand, trying to make the gesture very grand and grown-up.

“Oh, Adam’s a good name. Better than Prince, anyways, there’s too many Princes here, it’d get confusing really quickly. I think you might be the only Adam.”

“I am,” he admitted. “I’m also the youngest. And you?”

“Ugh.” The stranger took Adam’s hand; their grip was strong, dry, warm, like wood softly polished by age and use, and warmed by summer daylight. “Me too. I hate it. There’s nothing good about being the youngest.” They licked their lips in thought, and then nodded, seeming to have come to a decision. “You can call me Linden.”

“Like the tree?”

“Yes.”

Adam considered. “It suits you.” He leaned closer a bit and sniffed, making Linden look at him curiously. “You smell like them, too.”

Linden shoved him. “Of course I do!” They sprung up to their feet, and offered a hand. “Come on, then. Palace won’t climb itself!”

There was a challenging, welcoming grin on Linden’s face, as bright as the white of their hair. Adam grinned back, took their hand, and let them help him to his feet.

***

By the time someone noticed the youngest prince in the palace was missing, it was suppertime. By the time he was found, seven people had been fired, three had been threatened with beheading, and the Dowager had written increasingly scathing letters to the monastery that provided her with teachers. Adam was dragged into a bath, sunburnt and windburnt and eyes full of wild glee, soot-black from where he’d made his way into an unused chimney and climbed down and out through the hearth. Linden had shown him the chimney, and watched him begin his descent. “Be careful, Adam,” they’d warned the prince, those shattered eyes gleaming in the setting sunlight. “I can’t catch you if you fall here.”

“There’s steps, it’s fine. A baby could climb this. Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Maybe.” Linden had laughed. “You know where to find me.”

He was grounded, and quickly forgotten once again. The problem with that, of course, is that it’s hard to keep a young boy in a giant palace grounded if you start ignoring him. He slipped out through the cellar once, when he’d been given punishment duty there. The master-at-arms lost track of him in the training yard, busy with the older boys whom he actually had faith in. He climbed up the beams in the stables when he was supposed to be doing punishment detail shoveling hay, and slipped out through the open shutters where hay bales where shuttled back and forth. Twice he climbed out of windows, his own and the one in the secondary library. He nearly fell once.

Linden was always there to catch him, with a merry laugh and those shattered, many-colored eyes. The palace rooftop and the cool dark woods were their playground, and they went everywhere together. In shallow cisterns and tiny pools carved out of the stumps of fallen forest giants Linden showed him impossible fish that spoke in tiny strings of bubbles, like pearls from a spilling necklace. They fought with imaginary swords, back to back, defending against savage barbarians and wicked pirates and murderous raiders, legions upon legions of them. It was always his ideas that they chased after, but Linden never seemed to mind falling in with the young prince’s wild imaginings.

In the end, with summer growing heady and sweet and hot, he got grounded for good, his windows barred shut while the sour-faced, pinched-mouthed man that handled the princes made ���other accommodations”. His door was barred and there was a guard set upon it, and he couldn’t force the windows open even a little bit. He’d tried to climb out of his hearth, but it shared a chimney with something that had a fire going at all hours of the day.

So he’d hid in the laundry pannier.

The staff panicked. How had their charge slipped out? How had he made it past the guard, the barred windows, the locked door? People dashed in and out, but no one thought twice of the laundry basket, least of all the burly-armed maid that carried it down to the boiling pools of lye water. Someone shouted when Adam squirmed his way free, but in the vast forests of laundry hung to dry hardly anyone could see him, let alone catch him. He scrabbled over a stone wall and raced along the top, leapt onto the low eaves of the kitchen, sprinted away and clambered up a gutter, thanking each water spout he passed by name, as Linden had taught him. He was almost to the top when his feet went out from under him and he slammed against the edge of a steep roof with punishing force, blowing all the breath out of him. His grip slipped.

A strong, tiny, brown hand caught him by the wrist. “Are you ever gonna get any better at this?” Linden accused him cheerfully.

“I hope so,” he admitted, groaning.

“That took forever!” Linden helped him onto the roof, and Adam flopped down on his stomach to catch his breath. “What happened, where have you been?”

“They locked me up.” Adam sighed.

“Uuuuugh!” Linden dropped to sit next to him, playing with the black curls of his hair. “Are they even allowed to do that? You’re their prince!”

“I’m one of, like, fifty princes, Linden.” Adam felt himself relax at last under that familiar, friendly touch, like a bird making a nest of his hair. “And I’m the youngest. I’m never gonna be king, so they don’t care.”

“If they don’t care, why’d they lock you up?” Linden sprawled on their back next to him.

Adam turned his head to look at them, frowning a little as he put his words together; that, he’d learned from no teacher in the palace, but from his mother, who hadn’t wanted to leave him behind. “Because I made them look bad,” he explained at last. “When you’re a prince, they have to know where you are and what you’re doing, always and always. And if I told them about you, they’d say it’s too dangerous and wouldn’t let me do any of it.”

“That’s so dumb.”

“Right?” Adam was silent for a long moment. “What about you? What does your family think of me?”

“They think I’m very silly for spending time with you,” Linden tucked their arms under the gold-tipped burst of their white hair. “But they’ve always thought I’m silly.”

“You’re not silly!”

“Well, of course not.” Linden looked pleased at Adam’s staunch and immediate defense. “But they think everyone that’s young is silly, and I’m the youngest, and you’re the youngest. So we’re twice the silly.”

“Ugh.” Adam was very familiar with that sort of thinking, and kept as much distance between himself and it as possible.

“And who cares what they think anyway.” Linden whipped upright. “Now come on, I found a stork’s nest!”

Adam sprung up to a sitting position. “With storks?!”

“How else would I know it’s a stork’s nest? Come on!”

***

He came back, of course, he had to. Hunger brought him back.

“Are they going to lock you up again?”

“Probably,” Adam admitted as they meandered over the narrow edge of a high partition, soaring high above a private courtyard on one side and a small kitchen’s garden on the other. “It won’t be forever,” he told Linden when his friend’s face fell. “I’ll find some way to get out, I promise.”

“What do they even want from you?” Linden demanded. “If you’re not going to be king, why can’t they let you be?”

Adam found that an excellent question and, when he was dragged once again before Master Leminy, after the sour-faced, prune-mouthed man was done with his shouting and berating, he asked it. The Master of Scions swelled up like an angry toad. Adam would know, he’d recently made the acquaintance of several of the creatures.

The truth of the matter was, Everidge Leminy had tried to get Adam sent home. Repeatedly. But he couldn’t very well explain to the Dowager why he wanted the boy gone without admitting that he was balking the entirety of the palace staff and, mostly importantly, master Leminy himself. Admitting to such a failure might well cost the Master of Scions his job, and the rank and power that came with it. The first time he had excused it as the teacher’s failing. There wouldn’t always be someone else to blame, and the Dowager would not eschew even one boy. There was talk of a prophecy, of a fairy curse that she was trying to escape, ergo there being no children of her own. But master Leminy was too busy a man to believe in fairies.

He did believe, however, that the shameless, reckless brat before him would keep on vanishing. No one could watch a child every moment of the day; no one should have to, which made it all the more infuriating, because Adam was forcing him to do exactly that, and falling behind in his studies to boot. The latter wasn’t terrible, it could be readily excused by his youth, by having to compete with peers who in some cases more than doubled him in age. But eventually someone would make a comment to the Dowager, and she would start asking questions of Master Leminy.

Faced with uncomfortable risks and unwanted variables, Leminy shifted tacks. He clapped his hands and pressed his laced fingers to his mouth. “Prince Adam. It occurs to me that your life in the palace must be unbearably boring.”

Adam, who knew grown-ups never speak to a child with that sort of make-believe respect unless they want to set a trap, was instantly on his guard. “It’s alright,” he admitted neutrally, wary.

“You’ve no peers,” Leminy replied. “No one to do childish things with. I believe Prince Rickard is… thirteen?”

“He’s twelve,” Adam replied. And a bully, he didn’t add, but gosh he was thinking it very loudly.

“Just so.” The Master of Scions kept from gritting his teeth at being corrected, but it was a close thing. “I will make you a deal. I will find friends for you. I will set aside time from your schedule so you can do,” he flapped a hand, “whatever it is children do. But in exchange you must attend your lessons without fail.”

Adam nearly cried out agreement in delight. But as his many escapes made clear, he was a clever young boy. “How much time?”

“Three hours every day before supper.” Which were hours Adam would have had free anyway, until new teachers could be found from the monastery; the Dowager’s letters had not impressed them. “But you will have to make them up; no more free mornings during the end of the week.”

Adam chewed on his lip restlessly, his hands in his pockets. In one of them Linden had thrust an empty snail shell, and he ran his fingers restlessly over the rim. Was it a good bargain? It sounded like one to him, but the source made him nervous. And would the Master of Scions stick to it? He had no reason to. He could throw Adam up in a high tower cell and leave him there forever, until his hair grew as long as his nails and he forgot what the green world looked and felt like. “I don’t need paid-for friends,” he murmured.

“Of course you do! Every young boy needs friends!”

Adam saw the trap then. They wouldn’t be friends; they would be Lemony-Leminy’s spies. That made much, much more sense. And so, as graciously as he knew a prince should, he agreed. They both left the meeting quite satisfied, even if Adam was being marched off to another punishment detail in the kitchens, and Leminy was off to wrangle an impossible little urchin’s schedule into something suitable for a would-be king.

***

Summer quickened into fall, and then into winter. Linden warned Adam that they wouldn’t be able to come once the snow fell, and the young prince spent the time after their last parting forlorn behind the glass-paned windows of the palace. For lack of anything better to do he applied himself to his lessons, half forgotten during the golden warmth of better days. He found in himself a surprising aptitude for things he’d learned with half an ear and a tenth of the interest they should have been originally given. His teachers didn’t question their good fortune; they merely rushed to catch him up while they had his attention.

The ‘friends’ Lemony-Leminy had promised him had come the day directly after his talk with the Master of Scions, and they were no better or worse than Adam had expected. Older, of course, he’d expected no different. Unfortunately for master Leminy, when you might grow up to be a king, the politics of getting people to do what you want them to do take up a good part of your education. Adam made it clear to the three boys that if they left him alone and asked no questions he would return the courtesy, effectively getting them paid for doing whatever they wanted with their afternoons. All they had to do was meet with Adam briefly after his lessons so they could agree on a likely tale to tell anyone who asked, and not get caught the rest of the time.

Two of the boys had been thrilled with this agreement. The third tried to stick to his purpose, until he discovered that it entailed trying to follow the young prince as he climbed up walls and raced along roofs like a squirrel. After falling one time too many, he wisely gave up before he hurt himself irredeemably, and contented himself with scowling at the young prince every time Adam took off through paths best suited to cats and thieves.

Winter left him stuck with the boys, and while they weren’t bad sorts, Adam couldn’t forget that they weren’t his friends. They were paid to stick around, paid to tell master Leminy what he did with his time, paid to try and keep him busy. He’d offered for them to accompany him in his lessons, but while all three had agreed, it quickly became obvious the only one with a real interest was Beliwick. To the other two boys it was just time spent away from unwanted chores with a valid excuse.

“Is she pretty?” one of the boys asked one afternoon, his voice just this side of a taunt.

Adam jerked back to reality. He’d been staring out the window at the snow-choked grounds of the palace, willing spring to arrive faster, hoping for just one sprig of green, one touch of color, to let him know his best friend would come back soon. “Who?” he asked in confusion.

The two boys, Dane and Oliver, where sprawled by the hearth playing dice. Beli, who’d been painstakingly reading one of Adam’s math primers, a gift of the prince to him, glanced cautiously at them and then ducked his head low.

It was warning enough for Adam, who dragged himself with an effort to the present.

Oliver, the oldest of the boys, snorted. “Whatever girl you’re pining after.”

“Ugh,” Adam made a face to go with the groan. “You’re getting too old to be my friend if you think I’m interested in a girl, Oliver.”

The smirk went right out of their faces, and Adam saw Beli hide a grin.

“I’m waiting for spring. I’m tired of being inside forever and forever,” he explained.

Dane flopped on the warm slate before the hearth. “The whole world is,” he agreed easily enough. Dane was not a bad sort; he was simply lazy. He would always agree with whatever was easiest. “Winter’s dragged on this year.”

“Well, it needs to drag away faster,” Adam groused.

Winter, of course, would be rushed away by no one, but it eventually did give way to spring. By then, much to his teachers’ astonishment, Adam had caught up with and surpassed a few of his peers in his academic studies. It didn’t occur to most of them that it was because he had nothing to do but read.

Rain fell on the day of his birthday, rather than snow, and he took comfort from it. He was invited to tea with the Queen Dowager, who asked the questions expected of her station and his studies, and seemed distractedly pleased over a boy from whom she expected very little, if anything at all. Just before supper he was dragged before the Master of Scions, along with prince Rickard and four more miscreants, one of them Dane. Everyone ended with punishment duties to go along with their black eyes and bloody lips, but since it was the first time Adam had landed a punch on the older boy, he counted it an improvement and the best birthday gift so far.

[culkin-rory]

speed queen 51 trailer

[omsdoortodoor]

OMS Door to Door Challenge – Departure Date minus 1 week

Ian's fortnight

Playlist: Classics

Riding on My Bike - Madness

The Bike Song - Mark Ronson

Bicycle - John Cale

Bicycle Race - Queen

Broken Bicycles - Tom Waits

Bicycle Song - Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Bike - Pink Floyd

Silver Machine - Hawkweed

Nine Million Bicycles - Katie Melua

Riding On My Bike - Sia

From The Little Book of Cycling.

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve contributed to our blog so I thought it was time I wrote something. 

The last few weeks have been my out on several rides of different lengths including a circuit going past Wellington Monument to Culm Head before going passed Smeatharpe airfield to Dunkeswell. I then headed towards Culmstock, through Uffculme to Willand, Sampford Peverell, Uplowman, Huntsham ant the Staple Cross before retuning to Holcombe through Hockworthy. A ride of about forty-six miles which I completed in three and a half hours at an average speed of thirteen and a half miles an hour.

I have also completed several other rides as well as visiting the gym a few times to do some leg and back exercises.

Last week I had both the bikes serviced in Exeter, Bike No1 just needed a check over, but Bike No2 required some attention as it hadn’t had much done to it since I bought it about twelve years ago. It did give me the opportunity to cycle back from Exeter.  Approaching Cullompton I was overtaken by a bunch of about ten keen cyclists, and I managed to tag onto the back go the group & cadge a lift to near Willand. I showed the benefits of slip-streaming, which I won’t have the benefit of during the challenge.

I also saw my Osteopath this week, I tend to go every three months, probably in a vain attempt to keep myself as fit as I can.  She went through a number of exercises and stretches someone of my age should be doing when taking on a long cycle like this one.

With just a week left before we set off, I have several rides planned which will hopefully include a couple of longer routes and going out on consecutive days, I’m happy with my level of fitness so it’s now just about spending time on the bike.

Celeste our motorhome went in for a service and wash this week and I decided to go for a ride while I was waiting. I rode what will be part of the first day, leaving Wellington I climbed on to The Blackdown hills and on to Chard, through Winsham to Drimpton where I turned round and did it all in reverse. It’s fairly hilly but with some lovely countryside and pretty villages. The climb back on to The Blackdowns was tough but in all I rode 51 miles in about four hours which I was pleased with. Unfortunately, my phone went flat halfway through the ride, so I only managed to record part of the ride on Strava through which I monitor my performance.

I have to keep Jane and my cousin Heather musically happy during our time away so I have been buying CDs and downloading songs by the likes of ABBA, Lionel Richie, Whitney Houston and Coldplay to name a few. There may be times when I’m glad to be on my bike!

Heading into the final week before departure I have a couple of jobs to finish off on Celeste before packing her up ready for the off and of course we have our Fundraiser on Friday the 6th, The final Holcombe Rogus Pop Up Pub in the village hall so hopefully we will see you there.

Once we are on the challenge, there will be far fewer text blogs and more videos, pictures and interviews.

Thank you for your support and readership over the last few months.  Your comments and support has really helped us to prepare for our journey.

As you know we are raising funds for Overcoming MS. If you would like to support this amazing charity which helps to improve the life of people with MS you can follow this link.

[wikiuntamed]

Top 5 @Wikipedia pages from a year ago: Friday, 24th March 2023

Welcome, velkommen, selamat datang, croeso 🤗 What were the top pages visited on @Wikipedia (24th March 2023) 🏆🌟🔥?

1️⃣: Kitty O'Neil "Kitty Linn O'Neil ((1946-03-24)March 24, 1946 – (2018-11-02)November 2, 2018) was an American stuntwoman and auto-racer, often called "the fastest woman in the world" for her various speed records. Her women's absolute land speed record stood until 2019. An illness in early childhood left her deaf,..."

2️⃣: John Wick: Chapter 4 "John Wick: Chapter 4 (released in Japan as John Wick: Consequences) is a 2023 American neo-noir action thriller film directed and co-produced by Chad Stahelski and written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch. The sequel to John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) and the fourth installment in the John..."

3️⃣: ChatGPT "ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a chatbot developed by OpenAI and launched on November 30, 2022. Based on a large language model, it enables users to refine and steer a conversation towards a desired length, format, style, level of detail, and language. Successive prompts and..."

Image by

Original:

OpenAI

 

Vector:

Zhing Za

4️⃣: Shou Zi Chew "Shou Zi Chew (Chinese: 周受资, born 1 January 1983), also known as Chew Shou Zi, is a Singaporean businessman and entrepreneur who has been serving as the chief executive officer of TikTok, an online video platform owned by Chinese company ByteDance, since 2021. ..."

Image licensed under CC BY 4.0? by Photographer: Lukasz Kobus

5️⃣: Cleopatra "Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (Koinē Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Θεά Φιλοπάτωρ lit. Cleopatra "father-loving goddess"; 70/69 BC – 10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler. A member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder..."

Image by Louis le Grand

[cloudiyum]

1: Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? Closed of course

2: Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotel? Yes I doo, I want to donate them to homeless shelters.

3: Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out? Tucked in, I love being tucked

4: Have you ever stolen a street sign before? No but I've stolen many a cone

5: Do you like to use post-it notes? I do at work

6: Do you cut out coupons but then never use them? I don't come across any coupons in my life right now

7: Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of a bees? BEAR. ABSOLUTELY A BEAR. I would gladly be mauled to death

8: Do you have freckles? Not freckles but "beauty spots" as my mum calls them

9: Do you always smile for pictures? Nooo I tend to avoid that cuz my lips turn into 2 dimensional objects

10: What is your biggest pet peeve? Untidyness. Leaving the babywipe lid open. Dirty fridges.

11: Do you ever count your steps when you walk? No I don't!

12: Have you ever peed in the woods? Yeeees

13: What about pooped in the woods? No I once went camping for a week and didn't need to because my body knew It'd have to be in a hole.

14: Do you ever dance even if theres no music playing? Not really, maybe if I'm eating rly tasty food

15: Do you chew your pens and pencils? Nope

16: How many people have you slept with this week? Zero the fuck

17: What size is your bed? Queen.. slay

18: What is your Song of the week? LIKE A GIRL DOES PEACH PRC

19: Is it okay for guys to wear pink? Absofuckinglutely. I'd love my Henry to dye his hair pink if he would

20: Do you still watch cartoons? Not really but family guy yes

21: Whats your least favorite movie? OMG. DUNE!! FUCK DUNE. my god. worst/boring movie I've ever seen in my entire life.

22: Where would you bury hidden treasure if you had some? Bury? In dirt.. what else can you bury treasure in?

23: If you’re a girl, bra size? If you’re a guy, pants size? 10D I think, last time I got sized was when I was 14

24: What do you dip a chicken nugget in? Mustard or Sweet and Sour sauce. Mostly nothing though

25: What is your favorite food? Salmon Sashimi <3 <3 <3

26: What movies could you watch over and over and still love? TWILIGHT <3 <3 <3

27: Last person you kissed/kissed you? My Henry on the 7th November 2023

28: Were you ever a boy/girl scout? I did scouts when I was like 8 or 9 and met this cute girl named Chloe and we were such good friends at camp. I think she gave me one of her lip glosses or something. I wish I could find her again

29: Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine? Only if my nips n bits were covered with an emoji or something

30: When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper? I don't remember but it definitely would've been to henry. Or today to pippa for work

31: Can you change the oil on a car? Nope but I can fill my tires with air :)

32: Ever gotten a speeding ticket? Only once I think

33: Ever ran out of gas? Never I would die

34: Favorite kind of sandwich? Banana & Honey or Cucumber & Salt <3 <3

35: Best thing to eat for breakfast? Bacon, egg & bbq sauce toasted sandwich or poached eggs on toast

36: What is your usual bedtime? I aim for 10:30 but sometimes its midnight

37: Are you lazy? No, I value my well deserved resting time

38: When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween? :( I wasn't allowed

39: What is your Chinese astrological sign? Ox I think

40: Are you horny? No I am not, that is very rare

41: Do you have any magazine subscriptions? Nope

42: Which are better legos or lincoln logs? the fuck are lincoln logs

43: Are you stubborn? Noo my mind can be changed very easily

44: Who is better…Leno or Letterman? Crystal meth santa claus <3

45: Ever watch soap operas? I like the big bang theory sue me

46: Are you afraid of heights? I would say not

47: Do you sing in the car? YEA I DO VERRRRY LOUDLY

48: Do you sing in the shower? On occasion

49: Do you dance in the car? I wiggle

50: Ever used a gun? Nooo

51: Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer? When I was 9 years old

52: Do you think musicals are cheesy? Some of them.

53: Is Christmas stressful? Not really

54: Ever eat a pierogi? Yess with Henry & Greg in San Francisco <3

55: Favorite type of fruit pie? Cherry or blueberry

56: Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid? A cleaner only cuz mum once said they get paid a lot HAHA

57: Do you believe in ghosts? Yea friendly ones only

58: Ever have a Deja-vu feeling? I have a specific scenario I see every time I get it. I'm swinging back on the blue classroom chair in my year 7 classroom. The big windows are to the left and I'm at the front left of my class. I think Mrs Ralph or the other one was teaching. Every time.

59: Take a vitamin daily? No but I would if the gummies weren't so expensive and had enough nutrition in them

60: Wear slippers? no

61: Wear a bath robe? nono makes me look like an idiot

62: What do you wear to bed? The only thing I want to wear to bed for the rest of my life is the avocado toast oodie sleeping shirt that henry got me. It's so fucking ridiculously comfortable you have no idea

63: First concert? Die Antwoord in 2015 but if that doesn't count then apparently mum took me to see Hi-5 when I was little, I don't remember it tho

64: Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart? Walmart if I'm in America, but in Australia I like Kmart for everything and Target for clothes and socks

65: Nike or Adidas? I don't really give a fuck to be honest but Nike aesthetic is more pleasing to me

66: Cheetos Or Fritos? I've never had fritos but I enjoy flamin hot cheetos

67: Peanuts or Sunflower seeds? Neither, those textures are off putting to me. Too gritty

68: Ever hear of the group Tres Bien? No is that French?

69: Ever take dance lessons? Yeees I did, at Denise Hollins Dance Company. I started when I was 3 or 4 and did Teddy Bears Picnic. I stopped and didn't start again til I was 8 turning 9. 2006 Jazz (I want Candy & Footloose) (Must've skipped 2007) 2008 - Tap (Here It Goes Again & Jump n Jive) Jazz (Moving thru Time & Get Up and Dance) Acrobats (Jump Shout Boogie) Finale (Move Shake Drop) 2009 - Jazz (Backstreets Back & Hocus Pocus) Intermediate Acrobats (Batman) Finale (Zombie) 2010 - (my last year forever) Advanced Acrobats - Gold :)

70: Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing? I picture Henry as a professional DJ <3

71: Can you curl your tongue? YA

72: Ever won a spelling bee? We don't have those here

73: Have you ever cried because you were so happy? Nooop

74: Own any record albums? A thank u next single and peach prc

75: Own a record player? nope

76: Regularly burn incense? Occasionally

77: Ever been in love? yessss henry

78: Who would you like to see in concert? ARIANA GRANDE

79: What was the last concert you saw? Peach PRC <3

80: Hot tea or cold tea? Cold!

81: Tea or coffee? I like the taste of tea better but I like the effects of coffee

82: Sugar or snickerdoodles? Don't know what that is

83: Can you swim well? Very well, I won champion girl at my primary school once

84: Can you hold your breath without holding your nose? Of course.. I don't think anyone can't do this

85: Are you patient? I try to be yes

86: DJ or band, at a wedding? hmmmmmmm dj

87: Ever won a contest? Not a contest but a wax kit and some free goodies from norris for guessing the correct number hehe

88: Ever have plastic surgery? Nope only lip fillers 4 times. Dissolves way too quick for me tho

89: Which are better black or green olives? omg fuck I love both so much. my fave is marinated green olives

90: Can you knit or crochet? I do not

91: Best room for a fireplace? Living room I guess

92: Do you want to get married? I am :) already. married. hehe

93: If married, how long have you been married? um one month and four days

94: Who was your HS crush? Luke Ramljak <3

95: Do you cry and throw a fit until you get your own way? No that doesn't work

96: Do you have kids? I do not

97: Do you want kids? I think so. I'm very undecided still. Blairs so cute and I don't think my baby will be that cute hahaha

98: Whats your favorite color? Pppppink duh

99: Do you miss anyone right now? henry henry and henry even tho its only been 11 days

[eschercaine]

I posted 483 times in 2022

That's 266 more posts than 2021!

304 posts created (63%)

179 posts reblogged (37%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@fuckyeahlabynight

@twisted-shipper

@fromtheboundlesssea

@nireey

@ravenfan1242

I tagged 481 of my posts in 2022

#house of the dragon - 279 posts

#hotd - 278 posts

#rhaenyra targaryen - 201 posts

#daemon x rhaenyra - 180 posts

#rhaenyra x daemon - 179 posts

#daemyra - 177 posts

#daemon targaryen - 175 posts

#hotd spoilers - 98 posts

#alicent hightower - 51 posts

#reblog - 46 posts

Longest Tag: 135 characters

#and the thing is it's so widespread that i can't feasibly avoid it or else i would hardly follow anyone at all and that's no fun either

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Remember what Alicent told Aegon in episode 6?

If Rhaenyra comes into power, your very life could be forfeit. Aemond’s as well. She could move to cut off any challenge to her succession.

Alicent’s been consumed by paranoia because she feared that Rhaenyra will kill her children if she become queen, that’s why she usurped her throne. And then the first thing that happens in the first season is Alicent’s own adult son murdering Lucerys, a 14 year old boy.

If anything, Rhaenyra’s the one who should be more afraid. Because while she was the princess, Alicent is the queen; who’s making Rhaenyra’s life hell for 10 years just to humiliate her, hence why she moved to Dragonstone.

Rhaenyra tried to keep the peace, like her father once did, even after the greens steal her throne, but they forced her hand.

The greens drew the first blood, not the blacks.

1,959 notes - Posted October 27, 2022

#4

Upgrade, my ass.

The lake rushed up with terrible speed. Then Daemon Targaryen, who had never fastened his riding chains, stood in his saddle. He leapt from his dragon to Aemond’s and in his hand was Dark Sister, the Valyrian sword of Aegon’s sister-queen, Visenya. As Aemond One-Eye looked up in terror, Daemon ripped off his nephew’s helm and drove the sword down into his one remaining eye so hard, the point came out the back of the young prince’s throat. — Oberyn Martell, Histories & Lore: The Dance of Dragons

1,965 notes - Posted October 7, 2022

#3

I CACKLED— OH MY GOD. 🤣

2,170 notes - Posted October 10, 2022

#2

Next episode preview:

#𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 🖤🐉

By the way, I haven’t watched episode 6 because it wasn’t released yet in my country.

2,329 notes - Posted September 26, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Okay, Alicent. The last shred of sympathy I have for you is GONE. Yes, Alicent is a victim of her father’s abuse but she is now doing the abuse herself.

Rhaenyra just gave birth in this scene yet Alicent only cares about her own agenda; to humiliate Rhaenyra by forcing the princess to present the child to her in a fragile state. Why not see the child for herself? Jeez. Rhaenyra didn’t do this kind of thing to Alicent while she was pregnant with Aegon nor Helaena nor her other children.

I like that Laenor is there for Rhaenyra, but I wish Daemon was there to punch Alicent in the face or raise some hell. Seriously.

3,368 notes - Posted September 21, 2022

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