#swords a bit short but welp

[unsuredreamer]

Would you? Maybe

Chloe Charming 💙 x fem!reader

Here you go my loves, I hope you like it! If you do and want more let me know!

I'm also up for ideas 🙌🏻

Auradon. A seemingly perfect kingdom for anyone, anykind, some people described it as magical even, though there wasn't really anything magical about it, and all kinds of magic were long forgotten here, some forbidden.

A place where people aren't as kind as they are pictured to be, most of them even crueler than the worst villains. You would have thought differently.

Being sent here after told fairytales, you'd expect royals to be nice, welcoming. They might have been, although their children are the real pain in the ass.

You were wondering, why has your dad even sent you here?  It's not like you were needed in this world of mortals, well magical mortals.

Don't you think wrongly of course, you always wondered how it is here, and have always dreamt of living here, even just for a while.

It's just.

You'd never expect them to be mean to you purely out of spite? They whispered behind your back, they talked mean,  even laughed at you loudly, which was something not ordinary for you given in that you never once had done something bad.

You have been here for merely 2 months, it was quite a long time for one, but not so much for you, still yet getting used to the time going a bit faster here you haven't really exchanged a word with anyone other than the professors at the school and maybe 2 students.

Well, until now.

A girl with a big shiny sword hung close to her hip bumped right into you. being slightly taller than a normal sized teenager, for a god shrunken to this size, you stood still keeping your posture straight and your head high as taught to you by your dear mother. The girl wasn't so lucky, sat on the ground she groaned in pain.

"I am so so sorry!" You quickly yelled, trying to help the girl to stand, not really being aware of how loud you are. Yet another thing, to get a hold on, being different from your home grounds. "You're just so small and I-I just wasn't looking, and-"

"Hey, get off her! You prideful weirdo!" Another girl came running in, quickly fisting you away from the gorgeous blue haired girl that was just standing hazed 2 feet away.

You always admired her, her total bluntness and a kind hand, her swordsmanship. Welp, you were an observer if you couldn't yet decipher.

"Aye, I'm not prideful, why would you think that?" You shot back at the possessive girl, her gritted teeth told you she was certainly not the kind one.

"You have been nothing but walking around with your head stuck up, like you're all better than anyone here!" She shot fires up you "You're not by the way." glaring she spat out.

"Hey, Red calm down. It's nothin-"

"You better take your 'I'm a god, you better respect me before I make your life a misery' act out of here, before I make you a feast to the Jabberwocky! So much for being exactly like your father" Red, the truly rebellious princess of Wonderland, yelled cutting the other in process. Making a scene out in the gardens of the school.

Of course, you were not totally oblivious to your surroundings, you knew your royals, and your ways around the kingdoms, around Auradon especially. Actually ruling one of yours for quite a short time, you knew better than to get involved in silly high school fights. Being committed to get to know this world better.

You could take any kinds of insults, you really could, an insult she supposedly thought was very harsh. But you actually wanted to be exactly like your father.

Not so much a cocky god. You never thought of yourself as the goddess such great that everyone had to be bowing to you every second they see you.

You were a powerfull being, truly you knew how big of a power you posessed, but making others your play dolls was never in your intention, even when people higher above you insisted on you having maids and others sorta type

But you knew better than to make the girl regret her words, especially because you felt she knew she was wrong deeply in her heart, and also a bit broken. You walked past her, sparing her just a graceful smile and a kind eye.

Stoic you were indeed, no one would question, they just have been so distant as to not anger you? you suppose, you were confused as to why they feared you, not that you would actually do anything while going to school. You were just a kid after all

~•~

Later in the day, that you basically spent just sitting under a willow tree, contemplating of your life. Where you really that bad? Just a cocky god? A stuck up daddy's girl?

Of course you knew this stupid 'argument' if you could call it that, shouldn't vary of you thinking badly of yourself. You were someone after all. (Even though you didn't want to think like that, you had a life experience of being in the presence of literal gods with gods complex, however stupidly it may sound)

Your life-long session of rethinking your life was cut short, due to a loud thud of a sword crashing with the ground. The same gorgeous girl sat there beside you, scarring you in the process.

"Oh im sorry, I should've asked if I could sit-"

"No no, its okay, its not like I have someone to sit with me in the first place" you snorted placing your head ond your knees wrapped up in your hands "I could use some company, it gets so lonely here."

"I'm sorry, Y/n" the girl placed her hand on your shoulder, you jumped at the sudden touch, scared she quickly took it off. You frowned, missing her soft touch already. "for my friend.."

"It's okay, Chloe."

Yes, you knew her name.

How could you not? she was the captain of the Roar team, you grew to like the swording competitions here, lets say they were entertaining...not just for this one particular blue reason..

"She gets defensive quickly, and looses her temperament even quicker, and she's quite hard to maintain, she didn't meant those words I hope you know, you're like- wait" she stopped her rambling "you know my name?"

"I am a god darling, I know everything" You grinned as she looked away, blushing slightly "But so you know I don't use it to my own advantage, it's not like me to be this 'God' everyone thinks of" you shrugged, hiding deeper in your arms.

"You're actually so nice and wise and nothing alike these rumors, not like-" she began, probably wanting to ramble on again but you cut her off. Even though you would love to just listen to her talk for hours on and on.

"My family?"

"Yes" she took a soft breath in as you looked deeper into her soul.

The wind danced briefly around her curls of hair, brown with a mix of blue, she looked astonishing, Her lightly arched brows and deep dark brown eyes held feelings and thoughts you couldn't quite read.

And did you even want to? You could if you insisted on it,, but these were not your intentions for now. Not ever. You'd love to get to know her thoughts, coming only straight from her blabering cutely mouth.

Her soft, pink, plump lips, parted lightly as she exhaled the air, you admired her every feature.

The blue zip up blouse she wore slightly creasing as she sat in the same position as you, turning her head in the direction of the enchanted lake, Her gaze softening with every second she stared at the view before her, dazed, as almost always when she looked at something she really appreciated.

She looked beautiful. She was beautiful

But even those words were an insult in describing such a masterpiece.

She was a piece of art, a muse, the most precious and fragile exhibit in the museum. She was the moment you wanted to live in forever, take in, tresure. She was more than you'd anticipate heaven to be.

"Could you tell me about them? Y/n?"

The way your name rolled off her tounge so perfectly, so smoothly, almost like it was made for just her to say it.

It made you shiver, although you could not have felt the cold, you did feel the goosebumps on your skin. Nothing has ever made you feel like that. Ever.

"What would you like to know princess Charming?" She was a princess and she certainly was charming, creeping her way to your heart, digging a path through the maze of high walls you put up, just to tumble them down the second she looked into your eyes with that hazed expression. With a smile so bright not even the sun could compare. You could not look away, she trapped you into a trance, her orbs like a big rabbit hole dragging you deeper and deeper in.

"How are they like? Are they even a tiny bit like they are described as? Tyranical? Huge? Terrifying?" she took ahold of your leg, clearly needing some sort of physical touch, like she would die without it. Desperate,feeling like you would dissappear in a second, being just a mist, she had imagined you many times.

"They are not. Not much that I think of" You stated grazing her hand, she deeply inhaled at the sudden touch initiated by you, it hasn't gone unnoticed of course.

You took her ring off as you began playing with it. No protests coming from Chloe, as she just admired how swift you were with it, as swift as the queen of hearts with her deck of cards. She observed. "They are a bit fucked in the head, yes. I mean who would declare a war on their sibling?" You laughed, it was truly funny to you, considering it was not that serious as people might think it was "But, they are also just normal beings"

"My father, the one and only, Zeus, is the best father I could ask for, I might even go as far as to say he is a big plush toy, smiling from ear to ear, with a heart so red of love, a true bear" Chloe laughed loudly, showing her amazingly beautiful white teeth and creased eyes.

She was truly charming, living up to her name.

"Trust me, I know some of it" you both giggled, of course she was a daddys girl too.

"He was always so caring, he would spent every second of the day with me if he could, always showing me the best of both worlds, the mortal and the immortal" you stopped "From the begging he used to say I'm going to take his place at the olympus. He said he just knew i was the right one to carry his great legacy, that I had the power within me, uncomparable to his and those of his siblings" you stopped for a second, throwing a pebble in the water "My brother Hercules gave up on being a god for his love" you stopped again looking high in the sky "A ruler of Olympus could never be with a mortal, thus you have to marry a god, if you want to marry at all"

"But that would mean basically marrying your uncles or cousins, wouldn't it? why would anyone choose to marry their cousin?" Chloe looked confused, you just nodded and sighned.

"If you want to have children, you must marry. But I would nerver do that" you looked at her "I want to be the ruler, I have wanted that since I can recall" a tear fell down your face "But i also want to love"

It was only now she got the hand of your features, she alway admired you but not up this close.

You were truly a god, the soft but strong features confused her, you looked so dazzling at the same time looking like you'd tear her alive if she even was thinking of speaking a wrong word to you. Your eyes darted between the trees and the water of the enchanted lake, throwing pebbles with your hands once in a while. You spoke so smoothly, as opposed to how you carried yourself, your tone of voice was like a melody of million playing harps. Looking into the distance, telling her your life story of how you were the gold stained child, always cherished, always praised, but never too much. About how the gods were truly perfect, perfect parents, nothing alike these she was taught about at school all these years ago. She'd never even excpect some things that came out of your mouth would be the truest of truth a few months ago.

Although she alwas caught you cheering everyone on her tournaments. You never once turned down a sweet treat from Zellie, the sweetest student alive. You were always prepared in class. And you were the nicest person alive. All nothing like the gods described in textbooks.

"I have always wanted to fall in love. I suppose I'm sentenced on hundred years of being by myself" you spoke quietly as another tear fell down the same cheek.

Chloe turned to you, wiping the stain off your cheek, staring at your eyes. Her hand lingered in the same place as if it was glued, only her thumb moved ever so slightly, caressing your skin, almost like a ghost touch. Her little smile prominent. You got lost in her, a full force holding you down, not letting you move as much as an inch, fearing she would let go of you almost instantly. You exhaled sharply as her thumb grazed your lips.

"Would you give up on being a god if i told you I loved you?"

[theheromira]

Nimona appreciation post Part 5

Hi Guys, it's me again. The last weeks were a bit stressful, but hey, know I got my drivers license (I'm a bit old to do it now, but welp, never really needed it) ^^ Anyway, let's go right in with part 5 :)

- starting the next part and the first thing I'm hearing is Todd, greeaaatt (not) - nice that Mansley has a guest appearance - and Todd being an immature child right after trying to be mature, not surprising… it's kinda funny how he says butt tbh - the dialog of the knights in the background also is kinda fun, especially that "so sad though" - aaand, now the knights in the background already start accusing of Amb helping Bal, which got me really feeling like he also wasn't liked by the knights that much - liking the look on the directors face when she looks up to see the giant whale-shaped hole - nice that they clarify it, that the showers are destroyed (I just like little comedy-quibs like that, which you don't entirely expect) - Amb being in the literal spotlight while Todd accuses him of workingwith/helping Bal - Rhinos will now forever be big fat unicorns to me, change my mind - that emphasis on "common" in common children makes me feel like the director (and the institute for that matter) see commoners as less than them or not even really as humans - no way, Todd was born?? (don't know if that's a dig on the guy who wrote that dialog or if it's probs for howing how dumb Todd is lol) - ngl, that Todd doesn't say "one" when he say there are two things he wants and then omitting the two entirely triggers me everytime… like: my guy, count correct or not at all - also his sword doesn't look that big tbh - you can literally see the moment Amb decides to be the boss of the hunt on Bal, when Todd says he's gonna make it hurt - Todd being all like: yeah, yeah, you're not gonna get that role and the director being blinded enough by her little blood purity thing that she literally glosses over the fact that everyone there prob knows he and Bal were very close - Nimona doesn't do "drawing no attention" - that poor mouse btw, it's gotta get a heart attack any second - love the "I was going for the hurting people version" - "Buh! I'm a ghost." lol and it works to not draw the attention of the guy walking past lol - Love the line delivery right after the ghost part and Nims slap to his face as a reaction lol - "unclench your mustache" is now one of my favourite sayings when someone is behaving as if he/she has a stick in their butt - she had to ask what the worst that could happen would be - the attack wasn't bad enough to be called horrific, was it? - love that she again tries to let Bal question the stuff he learned from the institute - he thinks like two seconds about her "Soo, maybe there's nothing there." and you can see for a split second how he slips before he irons himself out and gets back in his brainwashed "knowledge" - love how she looks a bit sad there when he tell her no wings he will want them later 100%

Soo, that was a short one again. Next one will come out this weekend, promise. Until then, bye bye :)

[freakywrites]

Short king head-canons! :D

characters - botw Link, Venti 

Fandoms-Botw, Genshin

Warning- none, pretty fluffy tried my best to make it a gn reader hope you enjoy!! <3

  Link tries his best to act smug, but he actually is a little self-conscious about his height, but you assure him that it doesn’t matter, and you love him either way.

  When he is alone, he throws a bit of a fit when he can’t reach things and tries to keep his cool and not throw his weapon at stuff.

 Speaking of weapons, he uses his swords or any long items he has just to push things off a high shelf because he doesn’t want to bother you. (sometimes they just drop on the floor with a huge SLAM)

When he is tired, he likes leaning his weight on you, he likes laying his head on your shoulder and take a little nap (so sleepy :( )

*Link enters yall’s (sorry I’m Texan) shared house from a hard day of quests*

You-welcome home Link how was your day?

Link-…*continues to walk over tiredly and hug you tightly, letting out a groan*

You- hard day, huh? *You pat his head as he nods, still not letting you go*

-‐---------------------------------------‐---------------------------------

   Venti doesn’t really care that he was below average he is literally a god. Why would he be insecure about his height??

 He has to get on the tip of his toes to kiss your head or cheek and give you a confident grin.

 He also gets on his tippy toes when he sneaks in the pubs to get a bottle.

   When he is drunk, sometimes you have to either carry him home or drag him home so he doesn’t stubble into a wall or sleep in the streets (this has happened many times)

*Venti chugs what he said was his last drink and looked over to you who was basically glaring at him.*

Venti- “Hic- (name) I promise THIS one is the last one! Now don’t look hic- at me like that.” He said playfully

      *Diluc rolled his eyes, and you knew it was time to go because Venti looked like he was about to knockout.*

        You- Welp good night, Diluc. WE have to go HOME.

       *You drag the drunken bard out even when he whines for just one more drink.*

       Venti- “Hic (name).”

        You - “what?” You said, trying your best not to drop him.

       Venti - “I hic love you yk that right?” He said you roll your eyes.

       You - “Yes I know.”

       Venti - “Say hic it back!” He furrowed his brows.

       You - “Ok ok, I love you too Venti” You laughed

       Venti- “woooo! (name) loves meeeee!”

      * You had to shush him because the knights were looking at yall like yall were crazy.*

-‐--------------------------------------

Note- my dog says hello also I’m thinking of making a nook x reader it’s a joke but someone out there would like it ig so maybe I’ll finish idk to make it smut or fluff tho i was gonna add the kokichi idk how to spell lil dudes name but i was lazy srry

[web-novel-polls]

Priest (Author) Character Lower Bracket

[“Anti-propaganda” is not allowed. Please only give reasons to vote FOR a character, and please be courteous in the notes.]

Chu Huan from Of Mountains and Rivers / Shan He Biao Li 

Submission: 

His vibes are insane. A character pipi made by putting Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu in a jar and shaking, and then wrapping the result in the most unassuming shell possible. That one post that went like "perfectly normal man that has something seriously wrong with him" might as well have been made about him. Kills like 20 ppl in his introduction scene, falls off a cliff, gets on a bus, and agrees to become a teacher for those random guys he met because one of them is hot. Speaking of, his bi awakening and accepting it happens in a span of like, one second. *Sees a hot guy* welp, homosexual attraction is not a sin! Also, somehow has perfect tumblr shitposter vibes. Was asked what's a word for "good brother" in his language and after careful consideration said "bitch". Did I mention he's insane? "Play me a tune, and I'll go along with your BDSM play." Or that time he woke up after being clinically dead for a bit (saw his deceased loved ones asking him to go into the light and all) and to his bf's frantic questioning of "Does it hurt?" immediately went "Yes. It hurts a lot. You have to kiss it better." like bestie your priorities.... Anyway yeah what a guy.

Tong Ru / Lord Beiming from Liu Yao: The Revitalization of Fuyao Sect 

“Beiming? Who deserves the title of Beiming? That’s merely an arrogant title given by some short-sighted people.” - Lord Beiming, Liu Yao: The Revitalization of Fuyao Sect, Chapter 16

[No propaganda submitted]

“It’s just death, nothing serious.” - Lord Beiming, ch.30 

***I, the poll runner, have not gotten to the Lord Beiming reveal, so I’m not 100% sure the quotes from where I’m at are correct/for the same person (since there’s another person trying to claim the title of Lord Beiming)

(Also, Tong Ru and Han Muchun are sharing a picture because it’s way too blurry with just one lol)

Mu Xiaoqiao from Bandits / You Fei / Legend of Fei

Submission: 

"People tended to apply the highest of standards when judging the behavior of revered saints like the Sword of Mountains and Rivers: if they made even the smallest of missteps, they would be deemed unworthy of their sterling reputations, and be lambasted for hypocrisy. But people were much more magnanimous towards Mu Xiaoqiao and those of his vile ilk, for as long as these fiends didn’t go around killing everyone in sight…or as long as this violence was directed at others instead, they could sometimes even find something perversely charming about these villains." (Bandits, book 3, chapter 13)  Callout for who? Callout for me. Pipi is very right about this but also she is the one writing her murderous gays so epic and sexy and fascinating and irresistible and…

[impossiblefangirl0632]

For @encanto-extended-edition 's week 4 Share the Love prompt, @16magnolias @optimistic-violinist and myself decided to share this extremely niche fanfic we wrote that collides the two world's of our fic Take Back the Kingdom, and Mags' fic Just Your Ordinary, Everyday Miracle and puts Bruno/Razili face to face with Bruno/Lucia

~~~

For two powerful magicians it was frankly embarrassing that neither of them had realized that the cave was enchanted. To be fair though they had run into it to take shelter against the hurricane so the fact that there was a bright, colorful inhabited valley on the other side of it was allowed to be a bit of a shock.

For the couple they ran into though, ‘shocked’ didn’t even begin to cover it.

***

All four of them stared at each other for a solid minute before any of them managed to say anything.

Bruno got to his feet brushing his ruana off and shooting an annoyed glance at the other pair. "Camilo, why are you pretending to be me?" He pointed to the woman dressed as a … pirate? Beside him. “And who are you?”

The other him stiffened at the name and a sinking feeling started to grow in Bruno’s gut. He went from suspicious to dangerous in the blink of an eye as he drew a sword and pointed it at him and Lucía.

"Ooookay so, not Camilo. Definitely not Camilo!" Bruno stumbled back, putting himself in front of Lucía, as though that would help - that sword looked like it could skewer the both of them with no problems. This was bad, this was very bad— 

Without so much of a warning Bruno was thrown into the future.

The other him and the woman back to back, swords drawn, both grinning confidently.

An enormous library in an otherwise dilapidated house.

Multiple ships attacking one.

The same couple with Antonio, his sobrino happily chattering with the pair.

Some sort of pendant, a golden butterfly —exactly the same as the one on the candle— engraved on it.

He staggered back as the last image faded. What was— 

The other version of him stepped into view, the sword noticeably missing. 

“Who are you?” Both of them asked at the same time. 

Bruno laughed nervously and picked himself up, Lucia slipping her hand into his. “Uh, Bruno Madrigal.”

The other him pursed his lips. “What did you just see?”

“Uh,” he wasn’t sure if he should actually say the details, “the future.” 

“Huh.” The other him stuffed his hands in his pockets looking at him like he was a particularly irritating puzzle. “That’s… interesting. Is Camilo… Pepa’s son?”

Bruno narrowed his eyes at the other him. "How'd you know about Pepa?"

“I  -  had a Pepa too.” He pursed his lips for a moment before saying, “I’d hazard a guess that you and I are two versions of the same person.” 

Bruno blinked at him, taking in his appearance and failing to catch the past tense the man across from him had used to describe his sister. The other him was wearing worn leather boots, pants that looked like they'd seen better days, a white linen shirt, and a green overcoat that, in a freakish coincidence, matched the color of his own ruana. It was surreal seeing his own eyes narrowed in thought. The other Bruno - pirate Bruno, his mind helpfully supplied - there was that giant green sword hanging from his hip - did look just like him. 

Like an incredibly terrifying pirate version of him. 

"Huh." He took another look up and down his doppelganger's form, noted the sword, and renewed his grip on Lucía's hand. "Welp. Bye."

He went to pull Lucía away but stopped short when she didn't move with him. 

Lucía jerked him back, squeezing his hand hard, and she tilted her head curiously at both of them.  Her brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of it all.  “But – how?  How are you – where did you come from?  And if you’re – also Bruno – then who –  are you?”  She asked the woman in similar pirate garb. 

“Lucía,” Bruno said out of the corner of his mouth.  A nervous laugh escaped him, his wary eyes darting from her to couple across from them, “It doesn’t matter how they’re here.  The thing is – they’re here , which means – we  - we should not be.  Trust me, I’ve seen  - I’ve seen weird stuff like this in – in films and stuff from the future and – meeting yourself? It never ends well.  Never. Let’s not mess with  - whatever – whatever this is.  Whoever they are.  So - ” he turned and flashed an insincere smile at the strangers.  “So yeah, nice to meet ya, other me, you can just – go back to your timeline now or wherever it is you’re from – swashbuckling and – and sailing the seven seas and yo ho ho and all that - with your – ah – big scary swords and – ah – your – ah - ” he eyed the woman beside the other him.

“Wife,” The woman said, sliding her arm through the other Bruno’s, her eyebrows raised in amusement and concern.  “I’m his wife.  Razili Edel.”

There was silence between them all until Bruno cleared his throat.

“Right.  Well - ”

“I’m Lucía Moreno.  I’m his - ” Lucía nodded to her Bruno with a fond smile – “prometida.”

“Congratulations,” Razili offered with a smile.  “I’m sure you’ll be very happy together.”  She glanced at him. “He seems - ”

“Clumsy?” Lucía’s Bruno supplied flatly.  “Tired. Old.”

Lucía gasped and glared at him.  "Stop that! You are not!”

“I am compared to him!”  He released her hand to gesture dramatically at the other Bruno, who was standing with his arms crossed, his brows furrowed at their discussion.  “Look at him, Lucía, he’s – he’s cool!  He’s basically Ramón from our story in human form. He’s like – the – the opposite of me.  He hasn’t stuttered or flinched yet! And in case you’ve forgotten, he pulled a sword on us!  Which reminds me, we should go -”

“- tell your mother about this?”  Lucía said, her words overlapping his and her arms crossed as she raised her eyebrows at her Bruno.  She didn’t notice that the pirate Bruno across from her blanched at her words, his face going slack with shock.

“I was just gonna say walk away and pretend this never happened, but - ”

“So you think it’s a better idea to just let an exact replica of you wander the Encanto with a sword, drawing it on unsuspecting people whenever they startle him? You want people to talk about Bruno? Because that’s one way to get them started, amor.  They’ll never stop.”

The rest can be found on ao3

[demonslayedher]

Things that went through my head while watching this episode:

--This is so much more enjoyable when I already love and care for Inosuke.

--This is also hurts so much more to watch when I already love and care for Inosuke.

--But!! At the very start of the episode we get Giyuu and Shinobu. Giyuu is giving us nothing. Shinobu is observing with a smile that the Corp members they've found are all dead. It makes her seem callous. What with Giyuu's "pssh, no," response to her playful suggestion that they get along, which feels really inappropriate after having just found a bunch of dead colleagues, it gave me the distinct impression that the Pillars are all terrible people, and possibly even enemies Tanjiro will eventually have to overcome (in some sense, yes?). I saw Giyuu as cold-hearted and couldn't interpret his introducing Tanjiro to Urokodaki as kindness, and Shinobu was... well, I just assumed she was going to be the overly cheerful healer.

--It was, however, very inappropriate timing, Shinobu!!! She at least had the decency to ask if Giyuu had friends among them before going into her "welp, everyone else around here may as well be dead anyway, it's probably just you and me, so let's get along!" chirping. OF COURSE GIYUU WAS NOT IN THE MOOD TO HEAR THIS. Those guys are dead and could have lived if only he had gotten there sooner. Giyuu cares.

--Not that the Kimetsu Academy shorts thus far have done Giyuu's image any favors.

--The "moshi moshi, daijoubu desu ka?" entrance is still classic. Also, I love Shinobu's theme music.

--Tanjiro really does have so much ability to think on his feet in battle, cutting down the tree was a great idea, and he's got the composure to stay focused on what a battle needs. It was satisfying to see Inosuke so impressed, and it puts on full display how Inosuke is a frog in a well who knows not the sea, a big fish in a small pond, a king of the forest who just hasn't encountered any humans stronger than him so he naturally assumes he is the strongest. This is but one step in the great humbling of the boar; deeply realizing that Tanjiro has battle skills which Inosuke personally lacks. A harsh realization, when battle skills are your thing.

--And then Tanjiro proceeds to spend the rest of the episode engaged in a playground fight.

--Fun fact, for whatever reason, the Corp Member who gets diced to bits was trending for a time in the Japanese fandom, he was affectionately referred to like diced steak and was the butt of jokes. I don't recall any at the moment, whenever I see him I'm like, "oh, it's that guy who goes to show Kaigaku isn't the only asshole in this Corp and who brazenly states his sinister plans for making himself look good so he can get more money and who then wound up the butt of diced steak jokes."

--So anyway, Inosuke. He got really close to dying, guys, we really could had lost him, hot dang, that was dangerous and Inosuke sure knew it and knowing that sure affected him

--But dang was it satisfying to see Inosuke's energy knocked down so many notches over the course of this night as he's forced over and over and face that this showing off his strength isn't all that fun if it means human people are dying anyway and you have someone named Tantaro starting to get under your skill and make you face your own mortality with how concerned he is for you

--But, for as much as this night is shaking Inosuke to his never-before-so-greatly-challenged core, it's so Inosuke to see him catch himself and be like, "Hhr? This isn't like me, dang Kentaro infected me with fluffy germs. Time to go be the best, as usual!"

--Inosuke and Zenitsu both display a deep commitment to not giving up. Inosuke keeps trying and trying, even with broken swords and hardly any strength left in his arms, that's so sad when he twitches and starts going limp with no more strength, this was truly Inosuke at his limit. Had Giyuu not come, he absolutely for sure had been dead, dead, very dead, but not for lack of having tried.

--Instead, for lack of being as powerful as he thinks himself.

--Again, what great juxtaposition to Zenitsu's triumphant battle, they make sure great foils to each other that it drives me crazy. That said, Inosuke was the one who came away from Nt. Natagumo having learned a lesson.

--Oh hey, Douma-influenced flashback #1

--Again, the Mt. Natagumo arc and setting is so good because the sense of danger runs so deep. Tanjiro can hardly focus on his playground battle because he has mortal fear for Inosuke and what he's up against.

--If Rui gets tried of childish playground arguing so fast, he probably would have had trouble making friends even if he did have the health to keep up with them. He seems like the child who is years more mature than everyone around him in his grade level and therefore he closes himself off from the idiots.

--But who needs idiotic friends (Tanjiro, evidently) when you can have F~A~M~I~L~Y. Blood bonds are strongest, after all, especially you have physically reformed them with your own personal blood. Even though it could had been translated as "A Fake Bond" I wonder if the official English title of this episode was "A Forged Bond" because of the potential double-meaning.

--Poor Rui, though, thinking that family naturally includes abuse as part of its normal affairs. To be fair, his father did attempt to kill him, but where in the world did Rui pick up the idea that fathers physically punish mothers, brothers physically punish sisters?

--And does he realize that mother spiders eat father spiders???

--I used to headcanon that the reason spiders became Rui's thing was because when he was sick in his room, he had no one for company but a spider up in the corner to observe, but what hits me now is that the inspiration may come from the webs. What Rui really desires is the entanglement of family relations. He wants the comfort of a web to be snared up, to be valuable enough not to be let go of.

--SNAP!!!! THERE GOES SWORD #1!!!

--TANJIRO, HAGANEZUKA IS GONNA KILL YOU

[cloudninetonine]

Have a tiny tidbit of something I’m writing for ya

— — — —

You looked around confused this wasn’t where you fell asleep. Hell you weren’t even in the woods anymore you were in a cave and by the crispness of the air probably in a fucking mountain. Taking in you’re surroundings you notice a small fire , an empty bed roll and the master sword ? How was she here sky-no abyss had her. Slowly getting up you grab the sword and in spect her. Unsheathing her you find no damage is anything she was glowing a bit brighter. Relief that’s what you felt from yourself and from Fi, you resheath her and put her on your back. Taking a deep breath you get ready to out but before you could you hear a set of footsteps approaching. Quickly drawing the master sword you point it towards the entrance of the cave.

The person stop at the opening. It was a hylian woman who was the same height as wild with a slimmer build. Her hair was cut short akin to a pixie cut and its color was a deep brown with red tones to it. Her attire was simple a plane cream long sleeve top brown trousers, dark brown boots that stop below her knees, and simple amor a mix between metal and leather. She had a simple broad sword and a sheikah slat on a belt. Her complexion was sun kissed showing the she was a seasoned adventure and from what you could see she had freckles. She had a calm expression almost stoic, she then glanced at the sword in your hand. You remember who she is that’s, Mayu she’s a “link” from a fanfic you read back home. It was honestly pretty good and the author even wrote her a separate fic were she met the chain. That’s right! She got to camp a day after you ran into the twisted versions of the chain and with another linksona named Luna who’s from another person’s fic Did she save you?

Lowering fi you looked at her confused “where are we?” She smiles a bit “ somewhere safe for right now.” Your eyes go wide , she spoke?!? She never speaks! “Holy shit you’re speaking to me?!” She laugh a bit then nods “ I don’t see why I wouldn’t guide , I trust ya as well. Also to answer your questions yes I knew that those links were acting and looks different than normal. Lunar and I decided to split up for a bit for safety reasons. Lunar tiger beast Ezmi grabbed ya while you were sleeping and I yoinked fi with help from my sheikah amor. We ran to here and about two hours ago Lunar went off on her own.” Welp she was right that was all of your questions. “ yeah that makes sense..” letting out a sigh you look around the cave “so what know? We staying here ?” Mayu shakes her head “ no sadly we have to get moving , eventually that wolf man will find us. We pack up the bed rolls and head down the mountain and find the nearest stream to wash away any scent we have. I’m sorry but we also have to travel by foot for 70% of the day only stopping to eat, tiny breaks and to sleep. “ she didn’t look to happy about this either but you just nodded “ I understand, let’s pack up and head out breakfast can wait. “ walking over to the small fire you put it out with some cave dirt and roll up the bed you woke up on.

Mayu walks in to the cave and rolled up hers putting both in her slate. “Let’s get going.” And with that you both started your decent. You had any thoughts running through your head. Mainly about the villian chain as you dubbed them cuz they were acting like stereotypical game villains looked like them too. “Hey Mayu, if we did run into them what will we do?” Mayu looked at you with a serious expression “ you will run and keep Fi safe. They want you for some reason. I’ll stay and fight.” Dear hylia you forgot that she’s like wild mixed with twilight and wars. She would rather die fighting then surrender. “You have a death wish did you not see what time looks like?! “ Mayu just smirks and nods “oh I have , but he doesn’t scare me. He may have the looks of the fierce deity but he’s to him. And besides he doesn’t have the gods blessing I do.” Her aura instantly changed. Looking at the reflection of the smallish waterfall you two were walking past behind her reflection was the reflection of the very god you were talking about. Looking right at you with a small smirk you knew one thing and one thing only, he was at his full power and you prayed you never got to see it in action. You remember the ending of Mayus main story and you could only describe the finale fight that he helped as brutal. Looking back at path a head of you , you pushed that thought to the side , right now you need to survive, not think about any possible deaths.

———

Uhhh this is longer than I thought it would be. Anyways enjoy!! Luna belongs to Pandora - Lunar

AYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY I LOVE THIS LUNEY THIS IS AMAZING!

I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE FINISHED PRODUCT!

[mlobsters]

supernatural s6e12 like a virgin (w. adam glass)

i can never watch a stormy scary nighttime flight scene without thinking of the thing on plane wing in the twilight zone movie from 1983. that movie must have been in heavy rotation on tv at some point in my childhood (clip on youtube if you're curious)

(this is why it takes me 2 hours to watch an episode)

CASTIEL Let me tell you what his soul felt like when I touched it. Like it had been skinned alive, Dean. If you wanted to kill your brother, you should have done it outright.

great, great.

oh, dean. not gonna tell him about being soulless. why do you do this! writers, why must you do this kind of thing over and over and over 😩 please do not drag this out for ages, i'm begging you

BOBBY He's gonna find out, you know. One way or another, someone'll tell him, or he'll figure it out on his own. He's not dumb. He should it hear it from us.

DEAN Can we just leave it alone for the moment, please?

better be a short fucking moment, my guy.

the filming on this car conversation is SO DIFFERENT whoa. it's like they changed how it was filmed, different angles, you can actually see real stuff outside the window, exterior light showing inside the car. what's going on! it's nice, but whoa

DEAN I was with them for a year—Lisa and Ben.

SAM A year?

SAM So then what?

DEAN Didn't work out.

DEAN turns up the music.

MUSIC It was a new day yesterday but it's an old day now

(a new day yesterday, good choice)

every time dean lies to sam "for his own good" i just want to smack him.

PENNY'S SISTER They were just starting to get serious. She didn't want to seem, you know…Not interested. I just wish I'd told her to stay home. We don't even have a body to bury.

not sure what that look was about (wishing sam stayed home [???]->my brain could suggest leaving him at stanford but i mean no escape from their fate). dean giving sam all sorts of meaningful looks in this interview with the sister

man i hate when they have wacky hijinks in the middle of the serious episode. like when becky showed up previously. yucking it up about virgins

the show is so not subtle sometimes, sam's really gonna flex his empathy this episode

(desktop background update, no change) pins in the motel wood paneling? bold.

BOBBY Yeah, yeah. Hey, how's Memento doing over there? He caught you in any lies yet?

DEAN Everything's fine. Sam says hey.

😒

SAM Hey, did we hunt a skinwalker lately?

DEAN Doesn't ring a bell. Why?

SAM I don't know. Just...déjà vu or something. Are you sure? I could have sworn—

DEAN You got to remember, your eggs are still a little scrambled, right? But, yeah, I'm sure.

that deserves several smacks. damnit dean.

the coloring is very unfortunately orange again in a lot of these scenes :( and i don't even know what to say about bobby's ex. weird styling choices. not great lines. mmrgh

preemptively cringing at this sword in the stone bit. god it went on for SO LONG.

SAM Um...Look, I-I would hug you, but—

CASTIEL —that would be awkward.

was that really necessary?

welp, no surprise cas spills the beans. thank goodness. but also DAMNIT DEAN.

huh, so i really expected sam to get mad at dean for lying to him but i guess he's too swamped by guilt over what he feels like he did.

thought this was nell from hill house for a second. so i guess this must be eve. don't know much about her from fic lol

DEAN Cas. Friggin' child.

--

DEAN Sam, Death didn't just shove your soul back in, okay? He put up the great wall of Sam between you and the things that you don't remember. And trust me when I say that the things you don't know could kill you. That's not a joke.

SAM All right. But I have to set things right. Or what I can, anyway.

DEAN It wasn't you.

SAM You know, I kind of feel like I got slipped the worst mickey of all time...and I woke up to find out that I had burnt the whole city down. And you can say it wasn't me, but...I'm the one with the zippo in my pocket, you know? So I'm not sure it's that cut and dry. And, look, I a-appreciate you trying to protect me. I really do. But I got to fix... What I got to fix. So I need to know what I did.

DEAN But you don't know how dangerous that could be.

SAM What would you do? Right. Same thing.

DEAN Sam...

[umichenginabroad]

Week 4: Becoming Electric

This week is going to be a bit of a shorter post, mostly because not much happened but also because a bunch of us are going to London tomorrow!!! I’ll let you know how that goes with plenty of pictures in the post next week. But, without further ado let’s get into this past week. 

Me at the saga museum in their dress up area with a sword attacking a stuffed Fenrir wolf (Loki's son). 

Power Plant Trip!!!

Ok I may be a nerd but I was really looking forward to this, and honestly it was really fun. Christopher (our program sponsored guide) came and picked us up at 9:30 and we started heading towards many of the power generating areas of Reykjavik. What was quite fun to watch was us almost make many wrong turns as the bus driver misheard Christopher. This occurred as we were taking the scenic route to many of these places (as you do) and that route isn’t inherently the route that a GPS would take you on.

Picture of Reykjavik land as we drove to our first stop. It was a nice day and it was really pretty.

Our first stop was a geothermal plant that provides much of the hot water AND electricity for Reykjavik. For this plant we got a view of it from above the cliffside. What’s really interesting about these geothermal plants is the fact that near each one of the veins there is a little dome where maintenance and experiments can be done on the water while protecting the scientists and others from the elements. I just find that neat.

Picture of the first plant we visited. This one provides power to Reykjavik and is in a valley. 

Next up was a surprise stop that wasn’t originally planned. We just so happened to be passing by the lake (one that has a bunch of volcanic ash on the beach). So, we decided to take a quick pit stop and go touch some water. 

We also took this group picture of all of us! Look, that's me on the left with the beanie! No Monokuma hat that day :(

Once we had our very short fun touching water we were on our way to a hydropower dam. This was ironically one of the cooler places that we saw that day. The reason is, an interactive museum that has a lot of really interesting physics things and a game. There’s going to be a few pictures for this one so I hope you enjoy hydropower!

The hydropower plant from the outside. Honestly, it would make for a pretty good wallpaper.

Once you head inside of the powerplant you are greeted with a bunch of really cool things. First up on our list though, is free coffee. Not relevant to me, but figured it’d be good to note. Next though, and much more prevalent is the wall of power. This wall activates as you touch it and lights up with the more force you put into it showcasing how we as humans are power. 

This video depicts just how it works and it’s really cool.

The hydropower plant also had windows to the inside of the turbine. They also had a spinning wheel that described the history of hydroelectric power in Iceland. There was just a lot to see and do here. However, the next thing and the last thing that I will talk about for the hydroelectric power plant is the most important thing in my opinion. They had a game where the whole purpose was to maximize your percentage of wind utilization by turning a little turbine to face the wind. It was honestly kinda fun to compete against each other and I enjoyed it. If only I took a picture of it though. Instead, have this picture of turbines.

Sometimes you enjoy something so much you forget to take the picture. Welp cool turbine instead, enjoy.

After the amazing hydroelectric power plant we went and had lunch at this pizza place. I’ll talk more about that later in the blog, but just know, it was good pizza.

Next up was probably not the spot to go right after having lunch. We went to a hot spring (technically) where there's bits of mineral water and other gasses escaping from the earth. Now realize, this is not a pleasant hot spring, this is a dangerous hot spring and one that is full of hydrogen sulfide, (or in other words just a lot of sulfur). This has the pleasant thing of smelling like rotten eggs (for me it smells like them in an egg sandwich). Now we have had to deal with this smell because all of the hot water in Iceland has this chemical. We didn’t think it would be that bad. Look at the picture below, it was that bad. The smell was so overwhelming that even though I was congested I could smell it through my mouth when breathing. I had to cover my mouth with my sleeve and get out of there. 

Mhmmm  delicious rotten egg sulfur juices!!

After that, we went to the powerplant nearby that takes advantage of the geothermal energy that is present here. This powerplant actually is really interesting in that they utilize a new technology known as Carb fix. Carbfix takes carbonated water (think of sparkling water) and puts it back into the ground where it mixes with the chemicals in the ground and solidifies. 

More turbines that are hard at work. This time from much closer!

One unique thing about Iceland is that they run hot water pipes throughout the entire country. These pipes only lose at most 4 degrees Fahrenheit from their mile long runs. They achieve this by insulating the pipes very carefully using rocks. This plant had a segment of one of the pipes (showcasing the insulation) and I thought it was cool. I also saw a really cool photo opportunity and so I had to get this picture. You can tell me how it turned out, I think it’s cool at least.

I mean like cmoooonnnnnn. Maybe I’m just overhyping it but I think it’s a cool picture.

That was our last stop on our powerplant trip but honestly it was so much fun. I may be a nerd but I just find these things so cool. I find it just really amazing how Iceland survives off of pretty much entirely renewable energy and it’s really impressive coming from Michigan where that’s nowhere near close to being realized. 

Saga Museum:

This is gonna be a little short but figured it’s still nice to separate it with a header. While some other people went horseback riding, another person and I went to the Saga Museum. The Icelandic Saga Museum is a museum dedicated to, you guessed it, the Icelandic Sagas. Which is actually where we get most of our sagas from the vikings from. The sagas are really cool and detail the history of the vikings, the settlement of Iceland, and medieval history and politics. 

The Law-speaker of Iceland decided whether or not Iceland should be Catholic. 

The way that the vikings interacted is really cool. I’m a history nerd and I love just looking back at history and looking at how people acted back then and how crazy it is and how similar it is to nowadays. Obviously we aren’t murdering each other but politics is still just funny to look at. A lot of things in Viking history just involved killing each other because you killed the other person’s brother or dog. Everyone is John Wick at heart. The museum was really cool though and I had bought some stuff from it (Fenrir pictured at the start). The museum also had a dress up area where you could dress up in traditional norse and viking clothes and stuff. They also had chainmail, helmets, and actual metal swords (although they were dull). All of those things though were heavy as hell, and that makes this picture of me wearing it all that much worse. 

The battle of two people who don’t know what they are doing holding swords

Alex’s Food Corner:

Welcome back to the best part of the blog where I talk about my really stupid takes about food. I was asked recently why I never give anything a 10/10 rating for food and the reason being is because food is never perfect and there is always a way to make it better. Anyways, let's get eating. This week is also going to be a little shorter just because there’s a couple of things I forgot to picture and I’ve been cooking stuff. 

Tommi’s Burger Joint Burger:

Now this isn’t related to the food but this place was located on Burgerjoint street and so that gives it plus 10 points. The burger itself was honestly alright. It tasted very charred and had a bit of a weird aftertaste to it but honestly was still really good. The fries were also amazing and I ate them all up with no crumbs left whatsoever. Pretty solid start at 8/10.

For proof BURGERJOINT STREET!!!

Valor Chocolate Bar:

While at bonus (the grocery store) I bought a bunch of different snacks and chocolate bars to try out of curiosity. The first one on our list is this chocolate bar. It was honestly pretty good but it wasn’t satisfying to eat each piece of the chocolate bar and that’s my main complaint here. 7/10

PIZZA!!!

Surprisingly the first pizza I’ve had while here. This was the pizza I got on the power plant trip. It was really good. I got pepperoni and chicken pizza. It was a thin crust pizza and had plenty of pepperonis and chicken. It was very greasy and because the crust was so thin and posed a bit of a challenge but that’s my own fault. It was still delicious and I was starving 9/10.

KitKat:

Ok now this may look just like a normal KitKat but hear me out it’s different. Due to different regulations regarding food and stuff European kit kats and other candies are actually different then American ones. Honestly, it took a little bit for me to get used to the taste but I actually really like the taste of the European KitKats and I’m pretty sure they’re healthier. 7.5/10

Black Licorice:

OH GOD NO BURN IT WITH FIRE. 0/10 TASTED LIKE COUGH SYRUP. I WOULD NEVER EAT THIS AGAIN I RATHER EAT SHARK FIN SOUP. Although…. I have heard it’s alright once you get used to it. Maybe 1/10. 

Alright that’s all for me I have to go get some amount of sleep before my flight.

Alex Shamoun

Robotics

Engineering in Reykjavik

[newvegascowboy]

the actual events of the campaign

so, with background covered, we can move in to What Is Actually Happening In These Fucking Campaigns

Adam and Seamus are our two major players in this story. The other characters are important, but many of them rotated in and out according to their schedules, and very few of us managed to attend every game. Not to mention, we had another game going concurrently, and halfway through that one, the DM quit and had to be taken over by someone else (who remained our DM even unto this day).

Immediately after losing the sword, Seamus goes Welp! That was crazy! and attempts to leave. he is promptly stopped by Adam grabbing him by his shirtcollar and shaking him like a naughty cat, saying No The Fuck You Aren't. You're going to help us Fix This. The sword is somewhere in the city.

The City, Seamus says, the Giant, underground mountain fortress of a city where we currently are. That City.

Yes, says Adam. Fix it.

The city in Question is Vol Thumrod, a massive (and ancient) former dwarven fortress built into one of the mountains of the range that divides the continent in half. This city is a city state, ruled by a human dynasty, and serves as a melting pot, considering it's at the epicenter of three of the four major political powers on the continent. It's also one of only two ways to cross the mountains -- go under, through the city, along the trade routes, or go over, and potentially freeze to death or be eaten by giant birds.

The city extends from the roots of the mountain, miles and miles and miles to the very top. Simply put, Vol Thumrod is fucking huge. The Godslayer could be anywhere. It'll take them ages to find it, they should just let somebody else deal with it.

The thing about Seamus is that he is ultimately selfish. He's the second son. His black blade is his brother's inheritance, stolen from their home, because Seamus wanted it, and he wanted adventure, and Tolouse promised that to him and more if only Seamus would steal it and take off. So he did! Simply put, Seamus doesn't care. He doesn't care about what he just unleashed into the world, because he's an asshole and he's selfish and this cuts into the time he would spend seducing people out of their money and their blood. Now he's got a giant, irritated seraph on his tail trying to get him to fix his mistakes.

Now. Adam. Beloved Adam. Our special case.

The thing about Adam is that he didn't choose to be a paladin of Tierken. Tierken press ganged him into service. He is technically a Champion, but he's a special case, because his body and mind were altered into that of a legitimate Celestial being. He's not human; he is a legitimate angel, and he's been in service to his god for a long, long time.

On the material plane, he's allowed his free will. He's allowed to do whatever he wants, even if Tierken disapproves of it, buuuut.... if he dies, or otherwise returns to the Celestial plane, it's kind of a crapshoot on whether or not Tierken will let him come back. You see, semi recently, Adam broke the rules a bit by falling in love and getting married to a tiefling woman he fought with (in another another short campaign). This was pretty Against The Rules, but Adam said fuck it, im not planning on dying any time soon -- and then shortly after they were married, he died and Tierken didnt let him come back.

Until now.

The catch being, he's not free of his service until the damn Godslayer is found. He wants to go back to his wife, but he is physically unable to while he has been sent back with standing orders to retrieve the Godslayer and prevent the Ignitum armies from destroying the known world. So he's fucking Stuck with Seamus & Co.

Given that this campaign happened back in 2018, I don't remember much beyond the major storybeats, but here's the gist:

They fuck around Vol Thumrod and quickly pick up on a series of murders that sound suspiciously like they've been done with the Godslayer -- smoking eyes and sunken corpses -- but the sword is never at the scene of the crime (Seamus was briefly investigated for these murders because he couldnt stop himself from fucking around, but thats irrelevant).

Seamus begins having dreams. Strange nightly visitations from a man in black who calls himself Gyren. Gyren thanks Seamus for all his help, and tells him they'll be seeing each other soon, to which Seamus is like... who the Fuck Are You? (spoiler alert, he's the Champion of Zena, goddess of death, the one in charge of half the Ignitum army currently Befuckening the north, and also The Guy Who Just Got The Godslayer).

The war begins to accelerate. Where once before it had not affected Seamus and he didnt care, refugees begin pouring into Vol Thumrod and it tickles Seamus' guilt and sympathy, for perhaps the first time in his life.

The death cult in the bowels of the city is growing, and more people are dying. There's an event in which banshees attack and incapacitate everyone except Seamus (by pure luck of the dice; i think I rolled a nat 20), who rescues them all and brings them to safety, where he begins to actually feel some measure of loyalty to his ragtag group of heros.

A paladin in service of Zena attacks and slaughters several people before being dispatched by Adam himself. The war continue to encroach upon the land, made worse by the appearance of a second Ignitum army marching from the south, where an Ignitum foundry has been spitting out soldiers in secret. This army in particular is led by a gargantuan red dragon called Kontar the Burning -- Aior's champion, who is the other god in charge of all this bullshit. (hi sly's dad!) The Champions are currently far to the north attempting to dispatch the Foundry there, and battling Gyren himself, who has the blade, so it seems that Kontar's path of destruction towards the capitol city of the Empire will continue on uncontested. Luckily, he's not on a collision course with Vol Thumrod, but it's only a matter of time until he gets there.

Seamus is forced to confront his vampiric nature and the lives he's taken and ruined due to his own greed and selfishness (which... he doesn't SUPER care about, but he is inflicted by a curse that briefly makes him start pulling out his own teeth) (also he got hit by this curse while stealing gold from the king's vault, so. nice one). Gyren continues to visit Seamus in visions, prompting him to join him, and then promises revenge when Seamus basically calls him a dumbass who wasn't even smart enough to find the sword in the first place. Something something, everything Gyren has has been given to him, or he's stolen it.

Finally. The denoument.

The army from the south is days away from encroaching on Vol Thumrod. Gyren is on his way to dispatch the king and make Vol Thumrod the fortress by which he will direct the Ignitum armies, and also kill Seamus & Co. for being assholes.

In their panic, Seamus & Co. rig the throne room with explosives. He sends the rest of the party to evacuate as much of the upper city as they can and to get people Out. Not that there's anywhere necessarily safer, but its better than being in a mountain that he's about to blow up.

Seamus waits for Gyren in the throne room, setting himself up as bait, and lounges like a boss until Gyren shows up. Adam is waiting and hiding to attempt to give Seamus backup.

>Gyren has the Godslayer

>shit's about to get serious.

G: A throne suits you. If you'd have joined me when I asked, you could have been a king in the new world. Instead you had to run your mouth. S: I've turned over a new leaf. I'm a hero of the people now, you know. G: That's exactly why you'll die with the rest of them. S: Your threats are as pathetic as your manipulation. A product of your weak mind and weaker battle prowess. If you were a man worth his salt, you wouldn't need the Godslayer to kill me, but I suppose even Gods are fallible. Come closer, then, and kill me, if you have the balls to do it.

Gyren is aggroed, the bait has worked. He goes to kill Seamus and Seamus blows the throne room and Gyren doesnt fucking see it coming. The detonation isn't strong enough to collapse the mountain, but it does knock loose a shit ton of debris. The castle is crumbling, bits of the mountain coming loose.

>Gyren drops the fucking Godslayer

>Seamus scoopties that shit

>Will save

>SUCCEED WILL SAVE

>Seamus kills Gyren with the Godslayer

My DM has later told me that he was not expecting me to do that. If he had, he certainly wouldn't have expected it to work. But the rolls spoke, and Seamus kills Gyren as the palace begins to crumble around them.

Remember what I said about the Godslayer being ravenous? Once someone dies to the Godslayer, their soul is consumed. Because Zena was so closely tied to Gyren that he was a direct conduit to her, and the Godslayer consumes, it consumed her too. Zena, goddess of death, is utterly destroyed by the Godslayer. And just like that, her armies in the north collapse, no longer being puppeteered by the goddess or her Champion.

Adam takes the sword from Seamus and easily succeeds his will save. With the Godslayer in hand, his divine purpose has been fulfilled, and he is called back to the Celestial plane by his god and Master, Tierken, god of the Sun.

Seamus, being left alone in a mountain that is falling apart, hightails it out of there and escapes through tunnels in the upper reaches of the mountain. A good chunk has collapsed inwards, and Seamus expects to be fried by the sun and spend his last few moments alive dying in the agony of sunlight, but... there's nothing.

Is it nighttime? He can't tell. The sky is black as pitch. He can't even see the stars.

he treks down the mountain by himself where he reunites with the rest of the party, who have been battling Ignitum in the foothills and the southern jungles. They have refugees to protect. But the funny thing is...

It should be daytime, they tell him. The sun was out. It was high in the sky, and then a few minutes after the detonation, the sun went dark. Just black as night. As if it never existed.

Or

As if

The king of the gods, the god of the sun, Tierken, was slain.

Part of the plot in the campaign is that several people are trying to acquire a legendary weapon called the Godslayer (named such because it can slay gods, obviously) and my dm told me the stats last night and I'm genuinely a little bit scared now.

You only need to roll a 10 or higher to succeed a hit, and it doesn't even have to be a killing blow. You just have to touch them with the damn thing and they die. He was giving me the stats last night and I felt a ticking clock start over Sly's head like hmmm how long until one of the party uses it on him....

[parfaitstars]

[makeste]

BnHA 326: What’s up Kids, It’s Me, Your Old Pal Stain

Previously on BnHA: Ochako shamed the U.A. Clown Mob into letting Deku go back inside his own fucking school by giving them an hour-long speech about how not to be humongous dickheads. Kouta and Gigantic Fox Lady saved the manga by being the only ones brave enough to give Deku a hug. Shouto was all “man, all this togetherness sure does remind me of that promise you made that we would handle Touya together which you immediately bailed on, doesn’t it, Dad.” Aizawa was all, “for the one and a half people out there who thought that my losing an eye and a leg might actually make me less sexy, I’m very happy to prove you wrong.” All Might was all, “[standing outside the U.A. fortress alone in the rain talking to someone or something??].” Like seriously, what was up with that though.

Today on BnHA: All Might is all “here I am in Kamino having a belated mid-life crisis because Deku abandoned me and I’m a terrible mentor and everything sucks and I hate myself.” Stain is all, “don’t make me come over there and give you a ten page speech about why you’re still the goat while menacingly holding you at swordpoint the entire time” because idk if you knew this guys, but Stain is pretty crazy actually. Anyway so he does that, and then All Might gets all emotional, and then the lady from chapter 92 shows up and gives All Might’s statue an encouraging pep talk, and then Horikoshi is all “and it even stopped raining lol can you believe this shit I’m not even a little bit subtle,” and he really isn’t. But I still got emotional anyway, because seeing people reassure All Might that everything he’s struggled for his entire life hasn’t been in vain just got to me okay. Horikoshi knows I am weak to the All Might feels and he just goes for the jugular every time, that bastard.

lmao. “in the neverending downpour, All Might is...” yeah, thank you, glad we’re getting right to that then

“All Might is driving 95 mph in his busted ass car in the pouring rain, is what he’s doing.” huh

so basically a day or two after his adopted child refused to accept the handmade bento that he packed with love, my man is out here acting like he’s got nothing to live for anymore. this sure bodes well for certain prophecies on which the clock is still ominously ticking down

his fucking face though omg. is it weird that I’m kind of hoping more people ambush him just because I think it’d be funny to see them get their asses kicked like the last bunch

(ETA: or maybe he will just stand there openly not giving a fuck and basically daring them to stab him!! get it together please All Might.)

side note, “anti-hero supporters” is such a strange way of saying “people who hate heroes”, which I’m assuming is what they actually wanted to say?? this makes it sound like it’s a group that really loves antiheroes. “these Hannibal stans have been a real menace lately. time to go deal with them”

ha ha ha, fucking ouch

are you really gonna do it Horikoshi you bastard. are you really going to let that be the final encounter between the two characters whose relationship you once described as the vertical axis of the entire fucking story. are you really gonna?? huh??

huh

you’re telling me you were driving 112 mph and you still didn’t get there in time. you’re losing your touch old man. lol Todo’s ice is almost fully melted already, how late were you

(ETA: so apparently this is taking place after the end of chapter 325, meaning he went to U.A., hung out for a bit, saw the kids come back with his bedraggled half-dead protégé in tow, watched as they shamed the civilians into some long-overdue character development, and then was all “welp, time to go argue with the hero-hating faction or something because I’m feeling useless.” and Edge just let him go, just like that. though to be fair I have to imagine it’s pretty hard to say no to All Fucking Might.)

also belated lol at the fact that the kids were all “yeahhhhhhh we are definitely not gonna touch that thing, let’s just leave it here, he doesn’t need it anyway.” probably the right call to make since they couldn’t get a hazmat team on such short notice

fuck. ha ha ha fucking ouch part two

All Might please put that thing down before you get gangrene. also yeah, you dropped the ball, good for you to acknowledge it. nobody’s perfect and you did your best. but yeah you could have handled a lot of things completely differently. but I still love you

is Horikoshi really putting this flashback here. are you serious. what kind of fucking sadist

look, I swear I’m not one of those people that runs up and down the street shouting ���DEATH FLAG!!” at every third panel lol. but this shit screamed Death Flag when we originally got it, and it’s screaming DEATH FLAG!!! even more now. like with the capital letters and exclamation marks and all. and that’s just a fact. I don’t like it but that’s how it is

ffkdjslk

“DID YOU READ THE SIGN??!” Horikoshi asks while zooming in maniacally because he thinks we’re blind or something. lol what

-- though actually, it only just occurred to me that this sign is actually written in English. I never really paid attention up until now and had been assuming it was written in Japanese and translated by the scanlators, but the writing here is clearly part of the original image. anyway so maybe that’s why he’s zooming in?? just to make sure everybody pays attention lol

okay fuck this

see, this is the whole problem right here. once again All Might is all on his own. Deku’s self-destructive angst spiral was fortunately brought to a grinding halt because he actually has support from his friends and family and teachers and classmates. but All Might never had that same kind of support, and it’s made all the difference between the two of them, and not in a good way. Katsuki wasn’t wrong when he said All Might and Deku were both cut from the same cloth. but now when it’s All Might’s turn to go all “I WALK A LONELY ROAD~~” once again, there’s nobody in sight

just, after forty plus years of him carrying this torch, I just wish someone would finally come along to let him know he doesn’t have to. all those things that he wanted to say to Deku are also things that he needs and deserves to hear himself. Aizawa was making a little progress there, but now he’s got his sad zombie cloud boyfriend situation to deal with, and we can’t expect him and his perfect hair to solve all our problems. someone else has gotta step up

oh my god

“you rang?” never mind I take it all back sob

omg why am I laughing. shit

this man truly has the best PR game in the series. we were truly convinced he was gonna suddenly become a good guy and defend All Might against the other villains or some nonsense. as if this wasn’t the same man who decided on a whim that Iida Tensei deserved to be paralyzed, and that his fifteen-year-old brother deserved to die for daring to be upset about it

lol even All Might is all “I genuinely never saw this coming” lmao

just want to say, for the record, I have always harbored a very sensible hatred toward Stain. feeling very vindicated right now. good job Past Me

adsfklwkfsdwgkj

ffffwefjslkg. ghsdlkg. dsfkkkslkjldwkjrg

STAIN: heard you talking shit old man

ME: smh that’s what I thought you’d say you dumb fucking Stain

STAIN: how dare you talk about All Might that way

ME: gljfljgk

(ETA: in hindsight I have no idea how I didn’t clue in sooner that he didn’t recognize him -- or, well, ~didn’t recognize~ him, to be more accurate lol. I think it was the whole “is that a slight against the heroes?” thing that threw me. Viz’s translation makes it much clearer that he’s offended on behalf of All Might specifically, not heroes in general. anyways.)

sob. so All Might is all “yeah I don’t blame you for not recognizing me in this sweet leather jacket”

good thing he still knows how to do this party trick

A+ reflexes on Stain’s part presumably pulling the sword back a few inches to keep this dumbass from impaling himself with his whole pufferfish routine. can you imagine if that was the gruesome death Nighteye foresaw. and he was just too embarrassed to say anything

lol anyways guess I was wrong about Stain everyone

way to fucking go, Past Me. you really biffed this one

oh wait

Stain sure is one wacky rollercoaster ride

oh fuck me lol I forgot how much I did not miss this

(ETA: “this here is the sacred ground where All Might gave up the last of his power and turned into a shriveled old man!! please ignore the part where I admit to knowing all about that, and yet pretend not to recognize said man when he’s standing two feet in front of me.”)

Past Me, I know we’ve had our ups and downs these past ninety seconds, but I’m really starting to think you were on to something. this dude has always been kind of insufferable. always acting like his high horse is a fucking giraffe when it’s actually a Shetland pony

dammit now he’s got All Might going off on a depressed monologue

oh my god my heart

shit

why the fuck does that hit so hard. he became a hero because he couldn’t bear to just sit back and let bad things happen to people who didn’t deserve it. I mean that’s basically the same as every hero ever, right? so why does it still hit so fucking hard every single time though. what is it about seeing someone so determined to stand up for other people and fight on their behalf. it just never loses its impact no matter how many times I see that determination mirrored in so many of my favorite characters

“I wanted to make the world a better place.” omg. but you did, though. like seriously, I feel like people are always dogging on him for not being 100% perfect, and fandom really doesn’t give him enough credit for everything he still managed to accomplish. this man came of age at a time when Japan was by all accounts a total shitshow, and singlehandedly managed to bring about an era of peace that lasted for four fucking decades. can you imagine having peace for that long?? that’s longer than I’ve been alive. shit

and he gave people hope. he inspired them and protected them and made them feel safe. and no, he couldn’t save everyone, because he’s only one fucking dude (and also because the whole time AFO was also out there desperately working to undermine him so that he could keep preaching his narrative of “heroes are bad actually”). but you know what he did do, is inspire multiple new generations of heroes who, if they can all manage to work together, will finally be able to accomplish everything he never could

so yeah. forty years of peace, and inspired the “that’s how we all became the greatest heroes” generation -- that’s a fucking win in my book. talk about having a net positive impact on the world. lol anyways now I’m all fired up and ready to fight anyone who tries to talk any shit about you, All Might

“but what if I talk shit about myself” okay listen up All Might I’m gonna need you to try just a little bit harder to work with me here okay. please calm down and stop blaming yourself for every single bad thing that’s ever happened in the world. do you remember that time Bakugou was blaming himself for Kamino, and you gave him a hug and told him it wasn’t his fault, and that he was only a boy, and that even though he was strong, even strong people can struggle with the burdens they place on themselves, and that you were sorry for not seeing that earlier? do you remember all of that? that’s what I want someone to tell you too, dammit. anyway please stop breaking my heart please and thanks

wtf

are you dead All Might

um

I don’t even have the slightest idea what’s happening lol

oh snap did he grab him so they could hide??

hold the fucking phone. don’t tell me this person in the background with the umbrella is here to actually do something decent??

oh my godddd

and here come the feels. oh boy. okay don’t mind me, I’m just gonna sit here sobbing over this fictional lady and her simple act of kindness in this weekly shounen manga that I care about way too much

FUCKING DAMMIT AND HERE’S A SECOND HELPING

DON’T MIND ME, I’M JUST GETTING DISPROPORTIONATELY EMOTIONAL OVER THIS WOMAN’S DETERMINATION TO HONOR A MAN WHO SACRIFICED EVERYTHING TO SAVE HER AND COUNTLESS OTHERS. I’M JUST HAVING SOME FEELS OVER HERE ABOUT HER HEARTFELT, DOESN’T-EVEN-KNOW-ANYONE-ELSE-IS-WATCHING FEELINGS OF GRATITUDE THAT COMPELLED HER TO COME OUT HERE AND MAKE THIS SMALL BUT POWERFUL GESTURE. I’M JUST OUT HERE GETTING ALL PROFOUNDLY WORKED UP ABOUT STATUE MAINTENANCE AND THE HUMAN RACE. NEVER MIND. JUST IGNORE ME AND CARRY ON

holy shit. I was not even remotely prepared. you can’t just do that to me. you can’t just leave all these death flags on my lawn and then suddenly shift gears to show me the best of humanity in a chapter where I was expecting the worst. that fucks a person up lol

OH ARE WE STILL GOING

my heart. you see that, All Might. your legacy is so much more powerful and meaningful than you think

...has. has Stain actually been giving All Might a pep talk this entire time

I give up lol. this dude is a fucking enigma

YAYYY

it may just be a metaphor panel, but I’ll take it lol. I missed them. nice to see the traffic light trio front and off-center. I know the whole “this is the story of how we all became the greatest heroes” thing had left some questioning whether certain characters would continue to play a central role in the narrative, and hopefully this will help to ease those concerns just a bit

anyway, so idk if it’s getting a bit chilly down there in hell, but damned if Stain didn’t just give an actual decent fucking speech

I have to say, earlier when I was whining about All Might not having a support squad, I really was not expecting Stain to be the one to come over and pat his head and reassure him that he made the world a better place

-- okay LISTEN

YOU CAN’T JUST COME INTO MY HOUSE AND HIT ME WITH THOSE ALL MIGHT TEARS AGAIN GODDAMMIT THIS ISN’T FAIR. my god. first 317 and now this

holy fucking shit

“I’m just gonna pretend like I haven’t been stalking him for two days and didn’t see the entire Deku bentogate thing go down, and then I’ll give him the whole big speech that I rehearsed, and then I’ll turn around and be all ‘BUT IF YOU’RE A TRUE HERO’, and then I’ll toss him the super-secret AFO wifi password that I stole from Tartarus. god I’m such a badass. fucking give myself chills”

so basically what you’re telling me is that this whole time my “what’s up kids” characterization of Stain from this shitpost has actually been 100% accurate. just want to make sure I’m understanding this right. okay then

“and then I’ll dramatically spin around and be all NOW COME KILL ME BITCH”

it must be so much fun to write Stain. drawing this coked-out maniac who talks like a chatbot that was trained to speak by reading Alan Moore monologues. that must be a trip

anyway so All Might is still crying, the awesome lady from chapter 92 is admiring her handiwork totally oblivious to the batshit insanity going on fifty meters to her right, and it’s finally stopped raining lol

“THE RAIN WAS A METAPHOR YOU SEE” yes, yes, we got it lol. thanks for that Horikoshi. don’t think we needed any help putting the pieces together on that one but I appreciate the effort

so that’s the end! and as I mentioned in another post, I had the count off by one chapter, but next week should be cliffhanger week! so break out your U.A. Traitor bingo cards, friends and fiends. either that or something else happens that I’m completely not expecting at all. which, based on my success rate with Stain predictions, I’d say is more than likely lol

mmm but anyway, so now that the Hug Deku 2021 campaign has finally come to an end, what’s it gonna take to get a hug for my struggling bento-preparing jacket-rocking world-weary death-flag-waving husband who is the worthiest man to ever live and deserves the fucking world, goddammit

[knightofhylia]

Reading with Zelda

Right now, I'm working with Zelda as instructed. I confirmed this was Zelda in the deck by doing a quick meditation, and I was standing in the Chamber of Sages with her. This time she was Ocarina era but that's because I literally googled Ocarina of time stuff like 2 seconds before lol. I must've been young link because I was incredibly short. We held the deck together for a moment as I confirmed it was her.

Since I wasn't really doing this as a past life question as the original spread intended, I pulled a card for context. She gave me Two (stuck together).

Welp. This is pretty clear, I gotta say, especially since both literally mention Hard Work. Right now I am very much The Devil raging across a lightning-filled landscape as I struggle to find a job. A tempting upcoming force could be a lot of things: A job that falls through, some type of monetary temptation, etc, something that provides short-term gratification. With the Eight of Rupees, ain't nothing much more than putting the nose to the grind and focusing (and hello, RUPEE$). I have a lot of projects in the work and it will be worth it to make sure I take my time on them and also ACTUALLY DO THEM. The executive dysfunction is real ^^". I see this as manifesting in a few ways, mostly working harder at freelance stuff and applying to more jobs.

As for the actual question of Health, I got Four of Swords. As I am NOT very content and cradled right now, I assume that I am the crying baby metaphor in this card. Swords usually represent having to face a harsh truth or cutting out things. Basically, I see this as a "You are going crazy trying to make yourself Marketable, why don't you just do what you want since people like that anyway?" I'm guessing since this is focusing on creativity, she is encouraging me to pursue more artistic endeavors than corporate.

Overall, a pretty positive reading. She has a different feel from Hylia, definitely a bit more somber. Last night I was thinking about how we have a lot in common (dealing with the pressure of living up to divine expectations, struggling with powers, etc) so I think that is why she has started to take over as opposed to Hylia. I hope you enjoyed this reading, I will try and do more of them!

[lilyharvord]

Blade Breaker Live Read

CHAPTER 22

If I do not get Eristan fucking this chapter, I’m rioting. 

I AM PLEASED TO REPORT THE RIOT IS CANCELED UNTIL FUTHER NOTICE. AT THIS TIME I WILL BE SCREAMING FOR TEN HOURS 

FUCKING HELL, THEIF, OBVIOUSLY IS CANCELED. WE NOW WORSHIP: 

“That’s what you are, mine.” and “Does that make you mine?” 

also, RONIN CAN GET FUCKED ✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻

CHAPTER 23

I’m very curious to know if there are red flashes of What Waits in Corayne’s eyes. I know she hasn’t chosen him like Taristan but I wonder if in essence they are connected to him as he is to them. 

CHAPTER 24 

LISTEN, there is nothing hotter than a character yelling at another in their native tongue to stay alive. I want for nothing more. 

CHAPTER 25

Someone push the easy button please, that battle felt so short and managed so well XD But also like, What Waits really just sort of let her have the win. That smells fishy, but I’m not sure what kinda fish it smells like. 

CHAPTER 26

NOT SIGIL LITERALLY NOT KNOWING THE NAME OF THE MAN TRYIGN TO KILL THEM ALL. I’M DEAD.

Ah, see that’s why they got to close the Spindle..... cause Taristan is off opening his next one XD he’s really out there poking holes in the ship just for shits and gigs at this point. 

I don’t know why I was under the impression and Dom and Sorasa would have a relationship that actually builds this book. I WANTED THEM TO HAVE MOMENTS. Their moments have been so small, they are less than crumbs, GIVE THEM TO ME VICTORIA 

CHAPTER 27

JESUS CHRIST. ERIDA. My love... I just have this twisting feeling in my gut that What Waits is slowly twisting her mind, making her more paranoid etc... because tbh she really is so paranoid now. 

^^^ me being a huge supporter of women’s rights, and more importantly, women’s wrongs... but also worrying about Erida on a deep level because she really does feel like a woman on the edge 😬

CHAPTER 28

I LITERALLY LOVE SORASA. She was honeslty like, welp, you wanna leave, you’re gonna have to come take your sword from me, and based off how that went last time you’re not going anywhere any time some. What a fucking QUEEN, a LEGEND. 

ALSO: “you’d think I’d be used to this by now.” “Sorasa?” “Death, though I suppose they are interchangeable.” 

THERE IT IS, OH FUCK THERE IT IS. 🥰 🥰 🥰 🥰 🥰 🥰 🥰 🥰 that’s my ship, slowly but surely leaving the harbor... with some holes and definitely sinking a bit, but it’s SAILING. 

I’ll allow Corayne and Andry to be a ship for the rest of this stupid chapter just to catch even a GLIMPS of Dom and Sorasa interacting. Crumbs victoria, I’m begging for crumbs at this point. 

CHAPTER 29-32

LISTEn, okay listen. It was good, there was so much to unpack. Like, too much to feel/deal with. I mean WHAT am I supposed to do with that ending. But also like... why? Like why did they all split up? I get that it’s supposed to be sort of Lord of the Rings kinda thing but I dont know. Like why did Sigil go back? Why did Valtik take Andry? I get why Dom stayed, and I get why Sorasa stayed, but like... what the fuck of Corayne supposed to do now? Like just sort of hang out? XD 

Also, lets all just... take a second to try not to kill victoria over the bury your gays... I’m smelling a fucking pattern, and I don’t like the pattern I’m smelling. I really was sitting there like, um, okay wait what? 😑 I just dont get the whole black knight thing either! It comes out of no where, there is just negative explanation, and then we use this black hole of a plot device to kill off a character that we got in my opinion so little of. Why is did this knight literally leave Ridha dying? I dont understand. It just felt like Victoria tried and failed to pull at my heart strings with that ending. I just sat there going, okay wait what? I mean I guess its set up for book 3 but it feels shaky. The whole ending kinda felt that way. We know so little about Ronin’s “gifts” and Valtik is a black box too. I just, *sigh* am I gonna read book 3? Maybe. I dont know, I need to reassess some things. 😒

[itssuppertim3]

Ghost Story

Welp, this is my first one shot so far

You’ll probably be seeing a lot of Miraak & Teldryn on here lol, but I’ll most likely be adding more characters in the future😗

The rough echo of boots clomping against stone could be heard throughout the vast and lonely crypt. Well, perhaps not as lonely as one would think. 

My knuckles clenched white, gripping the hilt of my blade at an impressive strength. Danger lurked around every corner. If I lost focus for even a moment— “Watch out, serjo. A ghost might snatch you,” I heard a certain mercenary whisper spookily into my ear. Upon instinct, I flinched away and wacked Teldryn where his nose would be.

“For the last time, I’m not afraid of those! And if you don’t watch it, we’ll be caught in a draugr ambush. Again,” I grumbled through my teeth. The male elf reached underneath his mask to soothe the tip of his nose while shrugging his shoulders in reply. “All I’m saying is, those rumors could still be true.” I chuckled weakly at him. “It’s no rumor, it’s just a myth; an old wives tale used for scaring children.” Teldryn seemed to have perked up at my words, for he picked up his pace until he was matching mine.

“Huh... well, it must be a pretty damned good wives tale if it scares the almighty Dragonborn,” the Dunmer teased. I could practically feel the grin cracking through his mask. I felt hints of a embarrassment settle into my cheeks and I immediately tried to hide it by facing the other wall. “You’re really insufferable, you know that?” The words came out a tad more harsh than what I intended.

I waited for another taunting remark from him, maybe even a small tut, but alas I was only given silence. I whipped my head around to confront him, but he had completely vanished!

In a heap of confusion, I halted in my steps and didn’t think twice about yelling his name. “This isn’t funny, Teldryn! I know you’re just trying to scare me and it’s not going to work!” No answer. A sudden chill crawled over my skin and for some reason, I couldn’t control the rapid tempo of my heartbeat. This feeling was somehow kin to the one I felt when losing sight of my mother in the town market when I was young.

I balled my hand into a fist, whether it was from anger or fear, I hadn’t a clue. “You... you’re dead meat, you hear?” my words fell weak against the hollow, stone walls of the tomb. I knew the fool was just hiding, simply watching me from the shadows in amusement. The mere thought had me clicking my tongue and spinning on my heel. Oh, I’d show him! 

As I ventured onward with great reluctance, I began to recall the story the farmer told us a day prior:

“She was an old hag who lived around here bout’ a hundred years ago. She was a rich one, too. Dozens of times little brats would be takin’ her jewelry, pendants, even a few septims here and there. Then the brats started disappearin.’ One by one, children would be plucked away gods know where. The townspeople couldn’t find a single trace of em’! The Hag, Talos forbid I mention her name, was declared guilty by the townsfolk. They seized her house, searched it, and found the cellar a bloody mess! All six children were down there, bits of em’ scattered about and such...

They say her body resides deep inside a crypt a small ways from here, though I wouldn’t go wanderin’ around in there. Much like those children, adventurers like to search for treasure down there, but often go missing just the same!”

A shudder slowly raked through my body, and my legs started to tremble with each step. To blazes with the treasure, I just wanted to leave! But I couldn’t leave without Teldryn, and I knew he would only tease me for it afterwards. 

But what if he didn’t tease me. What if he didn’t give me one of his goofy remarks like he always did? Teldryn and I grew to be close friends, but I still knew so little of the man beneath that red cowl. I didn’t want to show fear in front of him. I didn’t want someone I cared so deeply for to see me in such a weak and feeble state. I was the Dragonborn, not a child who needed a hand to hold. I thought quite often of him leaving my side, always conjuring up some wild scenario of him abandoning me in random moments. I hated feeling like this. I hated stressing over such a trivial thing. Followers always came and went as they pleased, so why was this one so different?

All of my pent up anxiety fled my senses as I heard Teldryn’s footsteps approaching from behind. I whirled around with a relieved grin dancing on my features. I wasn’t even upset with his antics anymore. I was just happy that he was back at my side. However, my stomach flipped upon meeting a familiar pair of eyes emitting a chilling blue glow. It was a draugr, and a wight lord at that.

I yelped as a burst of frost magic was shot in my direction and I rolled out of the way. But due to my slow reacting, my shoulder managed to pay the price. Luckily I remained mostly unscathed, but a frostbiting sting seeped through my shoulder plate and sank its teeth into my skin. I jumped to my feet and readied to lunge at the monster, only to be left gawking at the sight of a blade penetrating through its chest.

The draugr gargled in agony before slumping forward, and Teldryn discarded the body to the ground with a loud thud. He then sheathed his sword, chuckling to himself as he did so. “You know, I think I deserve some gratitude--” I cut his words short by throwing myself into his arms. The mercenary let out a small grunt of surprise and he stumbled back a bit. “Easy, now. You’re injured,” he warned. 

“I’m sorry,” I voiced quietly. I could feel his gaze linger on me. “You’re sorry? What in the world do you have to feel sorry for?” he asked in complete bafflement. This caused me to only bury my face deeper into his chest. “I yelled at you and called you insufferable...” I felt Teldryn’s body quiver as he barked in laughter. “Oh, my poor serjo,” he began, clearly out of breath. My face reddened when he held me ever so tighter.”You act like this is the first time we met. I mean seriously, there’s no need to feel bad. Any normal person would be furious with me!”

I brushed away from his warmth and proceeded to firmly jab my knuckle into his chest. “You’re right. Maybe I should be a little more furious with you,” I snickered. This earned a few pained ‘ows’ and ‘ouches’ from the fearless mercenary. “You know what? I change my mind. Your guilty side is much cuter.”

“Die.”      

This has been chilling in my drafts for over a month mainly b/c of procrastination and a LOT laziness lmao                                           

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Emp-Ire “The King.”

“I am starting to think that the oracle was screwing with us.”

“Silence!” One of the men barked, clapping Ramirez across the back of the head with an open palm. Ramirez jerked forward with a grunt of pain, and seeing that, Adam was having the sudden, sneaking suspicion that…. Everything wasn’t what it seemed to be.

At first, the whole thing had screamed of elaborate tourism. Let the tourists show up and think they are going on some cool quest, and then make them overpay to meet with some lady who was just super high, but the way these men were acting…

Adam was beginning to agree with Ramirez.

If their adventure as Sheriff’s deputies had been real then wasn’t there all the likelihood that this was real as well? Just because you show up to someplace exotic doesn't mean it was designed like that to amuse you. He wouldn’t take a hop and a skip over to Japan and just assume that the different customs there were an elaborate ploy to get money off of tourists….

Well maybe on Earth that sort of thing could totally happen, but looking at these men…. Their physiques, their clothing,their weapons, and the very real, point of their spears, he was becoming aware that maybe they had stumbled on something a lot more serious than they had first thought.

Shit.

He seemed to have a habit of doing things like that.

He glanced around at the small contingent of men who walked with them. As he had noticed before each and every one of them was absolutely shredded, not necessarily in the bodybuilder kind of way, but in a way that made it clear these guys never skipped leg day, arm, day or cardio. 

Adam and Ramirez were no slouches; by comparison, both of them hitting the gym at least five times a week for an hour at least, but in comparison?

And of course they didn’t hide it either. 

Each of the men carried a massive circular shield and spears taller than they were. They had on sandals with greaves and simple leather wraps, most of them were bare chested, though their commanding officer wore a breastplate, all of them wore helmets.

“Laconia!” 

His sudden exclamation startled the man as well as Ramirez, 

“Shit, I just realized why that sounded familiar.”

One of the men turned to look at his commanding officer, “I do not think they are Athenians, sir.” He glanced back at Adam, “Too dumb.”

The other men laughed at his expense. Adam frowned, “Sorry my knowledge of ancient greek geographical locations isn’t up to snuff.”

He was silenced with another slap to the head, and with his ears ringing and one eye fuzzy, he finally accepted that this was, in fact, not a joke. Somehow, for some reason that dumbass oracle had sent them out to get potentially sacrificed by a group of Neospartans, and he doubted they were going to be able to sue for damages.

It took almost the whole day to make it to “Sparta” itself, though he became aware of their approaching closeness when small dwellings began appearing on the edge of fields. It was only when he figured out that Spartans needed to eat too that he realized not ALL of them were going to be big buff badasses. Of course, that was until he saw the farmer pulling the plow, who was in fact Hercules’s cousin on his father Zeus’s side.

Okay so maybe things were a bit different.

He was under the impression back during the age of real Sparta, a lot of spartan citizens were just normal people and it was only a select few who were turned into warriors. Women, while they had some rights than in other places, were still expected to stay home and take care of things while the men were off at war. She had to be strong, but that was only because she was expected to raise spartan sons, or something like that. He couldn’t remember exactly how that sort of thing worked, he wasn’t a historian. For all he knew Spartan women were just as shredded as the men.

A truth that seemed apparent for thee spartans because, as they made it to the next little farming house, a woman turned to look at them and damn it was like the Amazons met the spartans. She wasn’t particularly tall by anyone’s standards, but she looked like did mixed martial arts for a living.

He had no doubt she could probably kick his ass.

Ramirez had gone rather silent as he looked around  nodding to himself every so often as they were dragged through the outlying villages and farms, and eventually up a set of stone steps leading into a city which was surrounded by lush medeteranian hills and grasslands on either side.

The city itself was no slouch either. It wasn’t as artistically expressive as New Athens had been, ut there was no shortage of statues, and interesting architecture. Walking down the street, everyone they met was shredded or well on their way to becoming so. The men, the women, everyone but the children.

He noticed a few differences from ancient histories, including but not limited to the fact that the women were just as armored as the men, the many races and ethnicities, and the strange assortment of modern day dogs that roamed the place, which he thought was a strange addition.

A line of marching soldiers passed by wearing their red and gold, and as they went Ramirez turned his head to follow them, “Welp, I am pretty sure I had a dream like this once.”

“Did you dream include us dying horribly?”

“Does being crushed between someone's thighs count?”

Adam sighed and rolled his eyes to the heavens, “how can you be thinking like that at a time like this?”

“How can you not, I am scared and way turned on and it is the most confusing feeling I have ever had in my life…. Aren't you just a little?”

Adam frowned and was surprised to find that, “No, he didn’t think so. He was JEALOUS of plenty of these men, but none of the men or women caught his eye in that way, at least he didn't think so.”

Ramirez stared at him and shook his head sadly.

“What?”

“Still thinking about your breakup huh?”

“No I’m not.”

“Quiet.” One of the men hissed raising a hand to backhand one of them, though he stopped as a voice called out from before them.

“Captain NIcos, you have returned from your patrol.”

It was a woman’s voice this time, and as they looked up an armored figure stepped down from the steps to the columned temple. She wore a bright golden breastplate, knee length red skirt and golden greaves and bracers. An attendant at her shoulder carried her Helm, though she kept hold of her spear and circular shield. She was at least six feet tall and had a body like the she hulk though her face was exceptionally beautiful as well, with large brown eyes and full lips. 

The man raised his spear to her, “Queen Xanthia.”

The man around them raised their spears as well.

She stepped forward over the stone, “What have you found here.” She used the tip of her spear to reach under Ramirez’s chin and tilt his head back, “Athenians?’

“They say they are ‘from Athens, but not “Athenian.” Captain Nicos said shoving Adam forward so he tripped and fell to his knees on the hard stone.

She grunted and turned her attention to him, tilting his head back to look at her, “Is this true, not-an-Athenian.”

He crinched away from the blade of her spear, “I’m Mericandian actually, Terran, Earthling.”

There were a couple grunts of surprise from around the group.

“Tourists.” Ramirez piped in.

Xanthia frowned, raising her chin, “And how did you end up on Laconia. We don’t encourage tourists here.” 

“Would you believe it if I said that asshole of an oracle sent us here.” He raised his hands, “We meant no disrespect of course, we just came here to see the sights and then leave.”

Ramirez nodded.

There was another muttering from the crowd. She had an eyebrow raised, “The oracle you say?”

The two of them nodded again, not sure where this was going.

She turned her head to Captain Nicos, “Keep a close eye on them, I will speak with the king”

She turned on her heels and walked off, passing through the double doors with a swish of her red cloak, leaving the two of them still kneeling on the rough stone.

They turned to look at each other in nervous confusion, not entirely sure where this was going. Overhead the sky had dimmed to a dull blue and torches were being lit all up the city streets. The young man who was doing the lighting had the look of a classic greek hero with tight curly hair and a body borrowed from a demigod.

The two of them didn’t say anything until the doors opened and the queen walked back out, “The king wishes to see the intruders.”

Two guards held the doors opened as they were forced to their feet and up the steps. The interior of the room was bare and blunt, no more than stone pillars and a single uncomfortable throne carved out of sharp marble blocks, on which sat the manliest man he had likely ever seen. Xanthia walked over and sat in the identical throne next to him, and together it seemed as if they were being pulled before the throne of the very gods themselves.

This man was godlike, but not the kind of overly muscled where he can't even touch his own head. This was probably what peak human performance looked like with a neatly shaved beard and thick dark hair. Adam glanced over at Ramirez again, to see the other man was nodding in great approval of this development. He turned his head back to the man who stood very slowly, his armor clinking. He wore a short sword on one hip and carried a spear in one hand, and when he moved, he moved with the grace of someone who knew exactly what he was doing, and where his body was at all times.

He walked down the steps and looked the two of them over with steely golden eyes, like those of a wolf.

His gaze fell on Adam for a long hard moment, “I see we have been graced by the presence of a foreign general.” He said turning back and stepping up the stone steps.

There was a murmuring in the room around them.

Adam blinked in surprise, “You know who I am.”

The Spartan king stood before his seat, but did not sit down, “Well of course.”

He held up his arm so Adam could see the scrolling holographic image across his wrist, “Just because I live like a spartan doesn’t mean I subjugate my life to not knowing what goes on in the universe. In fact as King it is my duty to know what important developments are being made in this galaxy.”

He turned his head to look at Adam ,”I am loyal to this galaxy and the ideals upon which humanity has befriended aliens.” He walked across the stone, “And you Admiral Vir  are an important linchpin in that model.”

He turned to wave a hand at Ramirez, “And of course I know a Marine when I see one.”

Another muttering from around the room.

So, this is sort of not what he expected. The Spartan king was well versed in intergalactic politics, and was no slouch intellectually either.

“So, you’ll let us go then.”

The man did not smile, but the way his eyes twinkled, almost menacingly did not give Adam much hope.

“Oh I never said that.” He turned and paced back in the other direction, “You see, Admiral, I have become aware of an unfortunate pattern in humanity’s political history, and this includes the fall of empires due to poor or weak leaders.” he turned on the spot, “I had given up hope in being able to influence the intergalactic stage, but finding you here has…. Given me an idea.”

Oh no.

“I want to see just what kind of men are being tasked with keeping this galaxy together. I want to know if you can do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done. I want to make sure that my people are in good hands, when their good is out of mine.”

“What are you talking about.”

“I want to make sure you are a brave leader, and that you can fight when is necessary.”

He made a motion with his hands and Ramirez was dragged off to the side.

A group of Spartans stepped up and grabbed Adam around the arms hauling him to his feet.

“Bring him to the training field.” The king said, and the group of men dragged him forward and out the doors.

Adam tried to protest but he was silenced as he was dragged from the doors, down the walkway and into a large lit arena with a sandy dirt floor. A large group of men were practicing here with their spears and shields, but cleared off as soon as an order was barked.

“What are you doing!” Adam demanded

“Consider this your greek trial, Admiral.” The king said taking his own spear and tossing it to Adam, who caught it in one hand, “Fight, and let’s see what you can do.” “But I-”

He was handed a shield, and then the group began to pull back.

The king stepped up onto the arena wall and paced down it’s length, “Lets see if you can beat one of my men first, and we will go from there.”

He motioned a hand and ordered one of the younger men forward. He couldn’t have been that old and was not nearly as well put together as the others, but he held his spear and shield with some confidence.

Ok…. this was going to get interesting.

He knew there was nothing he could do to stop them, so Adam dropped into a crouch.

The shield felt awkward and heavy on his arm, but the spear was a familiar weight. They circled for a short time before the boy came charging at him. He could see what the king was doing. This boy was young and had probably trained repeatedly in drills but had never sued weapons in practice..

He was meant to be easy to beat.

Adam stepped to the side and caught the boy’s foot sending him staggering away. Adam used the shield to knock him further off balance and sent him plowing into the dirt.

No one made a sound.

It wasn’t that impressive. That was SUPPOSED to be easy.

“So at least you have SOME training.” The king called. Overhead a shooting star crossed over the heavens. A crowd trickled onto the stands of the arena.

He motioned someone else forward. She too was young, but the set of her face and a scar down her right cheek showed that she had at least SEEN combat at some point. The way she eyed Adam told him that she knew what she was doing.

Her problem?

She was likely to set i nher fighting abilities, not creative enough. He traded a couple of strikes with her, gaging her ability before making his move. He used his shield as a distraction to cover some of his movement so she couldn't see, and then sent a lightning fast jab. He struck a hit hard on the side of her helmet sending her plowing to the Arena floor.

Still no one made a sound.

The king nodded slowly and motioned someone else forward.

This man was an actual soldier, though likely no great shakes, but at least he knew what he was doing. Adam ended up in a sharp flurry of contact before the shield got in his way and he almost took a hard blow to the shoulder , even so he ended up with a delicate cut along the side of his cheek. It was only by way of quick thinking that he was able to duck under one of the swipes and kick the man hard in the sternum. He went flailing back into the dirt, and Adam couldn’t help but whisper to himself.

“And this is sparta bitch.”

The kind paced around him in a wide circle, “So, someone has trained you in the use of the spear.”

Adam growled, “I was trained to fight aliens with four arms, so you are going to have to try harder.”

The king smiled, “Confidence…. Always a good sign. But the shield, I think you have not been trained to use one of those.”

Adam paused nodded, and then threw the shield to the ground kicking it away.

He took the spear up in two hands, in a distinctly different style from the spartans, “Well, come on then.”

WIth the shield gone and his switch back to using a spear like he had been trained he defeated the next three challenges with relative impunity. It was only when the king stared adding extra fighters did Adam struggle.

They clashed hard, Adam ducking dodging and sometimes jumping over swings from his opponents. He dived into the dirt, rolled onto his back and caught two spears as they hurtled down at him. He kicked one in the side of the knee and he went down. Adam lunged for the hit, spun on the spot and caught the second spear as it came down for him again. He brought the but of his spear up and hit the woman in the face before spinning back in the other direction, dodging an oncoming jab and slammed his spear into the back of his opponent’s head sending them sprawling to the ground.

He was breathing heavily now but he could see and hear some of the men and women muttering in surprise.

The king nodded, “This is heartening, I must say. It seems as if our leaders CAN fight.”

Someone was motioned forward and he was handed a rag to wipe his face and a canteen of water. He drank greedy wiping his mouth and tossing the leather skin back to the young woman who had brought it to him.

“But I think I do see one deficiency.”

He took a waiting spear from one of his followers, waved off a shield and stepped into the ring.

Men and women all around the circle leaned forward in anticipation. Adam readied himself.

The king stepped forward.

Adam could already tell this wasn;t going to be easy.

He was already tired, the kind was fresh.

But still he was ready, the two men circled and then Adam lunged forward in the way the Drev had taught him, The king batted it away and they made an exchange. The man didn’t try to attack him, but seemed content on seeing what Adam could do. Their engagement must have lasted for thirty minutes as they clashed, the king slowly escalating over that time. The longer they went the more energized the other man became. Adam thought if he could just hold out until the other man grew tired as well, then maybe he would have an upper hand.

But it never happened.

Adam gasped for air.

Even after what must have been thirty minutes of continual engagement, the other man only seemed to be breathing steadier and more deeply. All together they had been fighting longer and harder than all of the other previous engagements put together, and still the man was not tired. Adam watched as the man specifically did not take openings that should have killed Adam.

He knew he was trying to make some sort of point.

Adam was breathing in ragged gasps now. He had never been so tired in all his life, he came in for a lunge he knew was sloppy, and his spear was kicked from his hand. A sandals foot hit him in the chest and he went down choking. The king stood over him nodding, “I am impressed by your skill” He turned and waved to the crowd, “You could match any man or woman here hand to hand in a fair fight, but you do have one deficiency.”

Adam gulped and panted.

The king crouched next to him, “No stamina.”

He stood again, “You train with my men tomorrow, and so does your marine. We will make Spartan’s out of you yet!”

Adam gasped coming to his knees, “Wait… but I-”

“You came here for vacation, and I am sorry to inform you that will not be so. You will not be leaving until I am satisfied our galaxy is in the Best hands.”

Adam stood crawling to his feet with great effort.

The king even smiled at him this time, which seemed strange to him somehow. He held out a hand and Adam took it, “A pleasure to fight with you Admiral, I am James king of the Spartans.”

Adam frowned, “James?’ Not Kyros or something?”

“I was born in the northern provinces of Mericanda, of course I don’t have a greek name.”

He clapped Adam on the shoulder and then walked off joined by his queen and their entourage as he shouted orders vanishing into the night.

Adam stared after him.

So, the king of Sparta was Canadian?