#the literal BEST tbf.

[okruchlodu]

Yennefer looked back at him, sharp features contorting into an expression of pure, unbridled shock, violet eyes flashing in disbelief as the ground beneath their feet began to shake and vibrate violently, heralding the arrival of something so monstrously deformed and twisted that the enchantress could not help but gasp at the sight of it writhing and coiling its maws and claws like a mutilated spider on the horizon. The wind hit the willows once more, throwing up clouds of leaves and blood-soaked grass, and mouthfuls of charred bones and ashes spilled over the air around them, making her choke. Her breath, too, was quick and shallow, blood running cold in her veins as she viciously pried her gaze away from the shores of the lake - now black and thick with blood and ashes - flinching a bit at the unexpected feeling of Eskel's hand upon her face, summoning her attention back from the depths of her shock and tethering her senses back to where she stood. She hadn't realized she had been bleeding. She hadn't realized just how long they had been fighting off the hordes upon hordes of devourers violently thrust their way. Her hands were shaking, thrumming with her magic, floods of kinetic energy rippling like thunderbolts under her skin as she gasped for air, as she nodded, saying sharply, Yes. We are in the belly of the Malleore woods.

How could she have not known? How could she have let this happen, throw them like naught more than prey into the mouth of the beast? thought Yennefer furiously, heart pounding in her chest as the harrowing shrieks and wails of the demon pierced the darkness that was enveloping them, and she froze, paralysed with fear.

And then, the wolf, was laying out his plan, and Yennefer was nodding numbly, feeling the blood on her lips, the tingle of her magic flaming her skin, adrenaline rushing through her veins like ice-cold water. The witcher was soon leaping into action, and the sorceress' fear subsided, to be replaced by savage, brutal fury, determined to walk away from this intact and in one piece- alive, the both of them. Her tense muscles, previously frozen in terror, began to work like springs. The energy that her magic took on was kinetic, furiously flickering and buzzing about the air like shocks of static even as her violet eyes flashed and narrowed in concertation.

Letting Eskel lay out his traps, she took a moment to gather her strength, taking slow, deep breaths and letting her Chaos flow from her very core in streams and waves that spilled from her fingertips to entwine themselves with every last ounce of energy flowing in the air around her: lifting her hands so that she might draw power from every last thing pulsing with life in the forest where they stood, from the roots of the trees, to the depths of the lake and the thick clouds streaking the dark sky high above them, Yennefer moved swiftly towards the edge of the hill overlooking the lake, climbing its slope to stand higher above the witcher and the creatures writing their way from the shore to the treeline.

She waited until Eskel had cast a protective shield around himself to fend off the creatures, and then, she was shutting her eyes against the glare of her spell, throwing her hands furiously up in the air and letting streams of her Chaos flood the whole of her and every last thing around her:  energy and magic both rolling off of her slight form in frantic and kinetic waves that soon had the skies rumbling with the promise of a storm and fire ready to pour down from the heavens.

Yennefer screamed a spell in elder, her sharp voice drowned by the roars of the ruehin slashing the air, and then, with a furious blast and a gasp parting her lips, arcane fire was spilling from her fingertips in furious waves that flooded the night with unnaturally bright light, lashing the demon with arcane fire. She shivered crown to foot, feeling the force of the spell flame every last inch of her skin, and she was furiously summoning forth every ounce of her Chaos, casting blast after blast of silver fire towards the demon. It howled, but it did not falter, slashing and gnashing the trees around it with its vicious claws as it stumbled through the waves of her fire towards the treeline, and the enchantress screamed furiously, garnering her strength and sending another flood of fire to lash it with its magic. The distant necrophages vanished into the flames. They disappeared and blurred in the deluge of the million silver and scarlet sparks which suddenly lit up the entire swamp. The demon howled furiously, and charged frantically across the lake towards them. Yennefer struggled to remain standing atop the hill, but she maintained the casting, flashes of lighting and arcane fire spilling from her hands in floods until she could no longer endure the spell and was falling onto her knees, desperate to regain her strength, blood filling her mouth. Through the smoke and the blur of her waning spell fogging her vision, she glimpsed the ruehin faltering, parts of it melting off its rotting, twisted flesh, its terrible eyes flashing violently in the darkness that descended over the forest as the light of her spell faded.

At her insistent words and grasp, directing his pitch black eyes in the same direction she looked, Eskel nodded silently to the raven haired Sorceress in the midst of his bloody work, covering their retreat back to the woods with further Yrden traps, Aard blasts and waves of Igni fire, scattering and slowing those Necrophages remaining on the shores of the lake. Her magic lit their way back into the forest, amid the cries and screeches of the Necrophages they left behind them, buying them a good amount of time. Then... he heard it too after killing the last of the Necrophages around them in the woods, off in the distance in the rapidly rising mist and fog of the forest... felt the air chill further... her tight grasp on his arm, looking back between Yennefer's violet, trepid gaze, bloodied visage, and among the trees, focusing his enhanced senses. A bellowing roar and howl not of their world, a chorus, the death screams of a thousand worlds it had fed upon... laced with an eternally tormented girl's shrill screams, joined as one. Even the screeching and baying of the Necrophages suddenly fell deathly silent, as their master called out to them.

Then it hit him, what he had missed... not remembering if she had even told him where she had portalled them to... but knowing he hadn't asked. The sounds it made, out in the mist... the dark, unnatural magic encompassing the woods... the skittering of its many legs upon the forest floor far away... the rattling of his medallion so hard the chain threatened to break... it all made sense now. What was really lurking in these woods. Woods nobody to his knowledge had ever emerged from alive to tell the tale. Of course she didn't know why the two of them shouldn't be out here. For all her arcane and political knowledge and expertise, this was a Witcher matter, a part of his history and lessons, not hers. He remembered Grandmaster Barmin's tales of it each winter when all gathered in the great hall, as a student, and later as a young Witcher, before the pogrom. A story that had chilled even the older Witchers as much as the students. A warning, as much as a story. One, it seemed, he had accidentally not heeded. At last his deep voice emerged from his mouth, taking control of the situation and laying the short version out for her swiftly, meeting her eyes again.

“These are the forests of Malleore, aren't they? Hengfors League. Something slumbers and walks out here. If it's what I think it is... this horde of mutated Necrophages it leads are the least of our troubles. We need to start forming magical traps around these woods. Binding and harmful ones alike. Lure and bind that thing out in the mist, force it to retreat or kill it... if we can. Gonna need plenty of fire for this as well. Otherwise, we magically shackle it to a rock or tree for as long as possible, buy time, fetch the horses, and you portal us straight back to Kaer Morhen. No guarantees... if that's really the Ruehin out there calling... even the Order of Witchers at its height could not slay or bind the ancient Demon forever. Might want to pace yourself first, from the look of it. Rest and recover. Your magic spells are stronger, but far more draining. I'll get us started with what I can do."

The Witcher reached out on that note, gently wiping off the blood running from her nose from overuse of magic with his glove, gripped the Sorceress' hand encouragingly, then drew back from her with a nod and began to pace around the clearing of the woods they resided in, through the mist. Raising his hand, he began to cast Yrden trap Signs, on the ground and about the trees and bushes alike. The glowing violet magic sprang forth, Signs hovering over the ground and embedded in it... he concentrated on making them as powerful as he could, and combining some of them with burning Igni Signs... turning the ones he imbued with them into fire traps. The others he imbued with Gelu and Fulgur Signs, frost and lightning magic respectively fortifying and weaponizing the Yrden Signs further, modifying them into deadly traps. They would be quite effective on the horde, if their Master sent another wave after them... to weaken their defenses... but it was more for the Master itself he was planning his traps and defenses for. There was no time to make more mundane traps... their magic, his martial prowess and tricks would have to be enough.

He had a few leftover bombs and a decent amount of crossbow bolts... but would have to use them carefully, nothing could go wasted against it. The Black Blood potion would only be of use against the Necrophages... for the Ruehin, he broke out a Tawny Owl Potion and Thunderbolt Potion, downing both in rapid succession and further enhancing himself, able to take the toxins, though grimacing bitterly at the combined tastes. Flicking both vials aside, he sheathed his bloodied, damaged silver sword away, replacing it with his imbued Meteorite Steel one. The Dazhbog, Morana and Devana Runes in it flashed red and green... magical fire and poison unified in one blade, along with a magic that made it difficult for most wounds to close... and he rose his casting hand at the ready, standing amid the clearing and look for more spots to set his traps, giving her the time she needed to recover. Casting a Quen shield over himself for good measure. In the distance, the Ruehin of legend bellowed and shrieked again... but closer than it had been before. He sensed the giant, shrouded Demon's movements, skittering around the forest... around their position, hidden in the mist still... but not hidden from him.

@okruchlodu

[aroacesetitoff]

Were any of you guys gonna tell me i gave bart the aroace color palette or was i supposed to realize that on my way to class today

[essektheylyss]

I do think it's worthless to try to argue with the "amount of screen time = relative significance" crowd, but I really cannot stress enough how great this episode was for me personally, as an Essek stan.

I was doing the math between the mention of the war in the prelude (instead of a more general, 'since the Mighty Nein largely parted ways') and Trent saying, "Don't you want to know what I have?" and sat in my chair for ten minutes before Trent actually said it like, "Surely this man is not about to threaten Essek. That is way too much wish fulfillment for me personally. There is no way that's what he's about to say." AND THEN.

Fundamentally my opinions of an episode are not predicated on whether my fave was physically in attendance, nor even whether he was relevant, but it does show how reductive the measurement of screen time is as a metric considering Trent didn't even have to mention Essek by name to drag his living soul in kicking and screaming to briefly haunt this narrative.

[fullscoreshenanigans]

I headcanon that at first Ray is adamantly against the use of nicknames and pet names for himself because he thinks it's silly.

"My name is Ray. It's literally three letters and one syllable long. Just call me Ray."

But Emma can't let that stand. She has "sunshine" and "Em," Norman has "Nor," "Norm," and "Boss."

So her proposed solution is for Ray to change his name so that "Ray" can be a nickname and show of affection. Ray balks at the suggestions she litters throughout their conversations, addressing him as Raymond, Rayner, even Raybert at one point.

Norman is more deft in his timing so the first time he drops a "Raymond" during one of their chess matches he ends up on the receiving end of Ray channeling Isabella with this look

He does eventually come around to them calling him Sunray.

[ravenhairedgoldenretriever]

"The Final Curtain" is the most epsiode of Murdoch Mysteries and I need no essay because it speaks for itself.

The meta comments and acknowledment of the audience and writers but also just acting and storytelling in general, George fully embracing they are all facing the "audience" and everyone else following stage law of facing the audience always and never turning your back on them unless in movement even though they aren't actors and thus have no reason to do it except it's funny, Watts' delivery on every single line but especially his little "no." I cant explain how you literally need to hear how he says it, Julia criticizing the love interest having zero depth but getting fully invested in the real life drama also she isnt "rich rich" also Watts asking her to talk to a suspect about gems or something to help him hashtag relate to them only to immediately butt in and outright ask the question before they can fully chat (I miss Ruby btw), Murdoch being the most Older Brother to Watts ever and I'm so sad we never see this level of calm/friendship between them more the way they casually move around one another and play off each others bits especially near the end are chefs kiss, Thomas bragging about John the whole time and literally nothing else he literally doesn't even insult the others expect once when he says John carried the play he just really loves and supports his son wholeheartedly, Margaret getting hit on and being more flattered by the act of getting hit on than the actual man himself, the critic applauding George's story for being actually good (he's correct) and dropping a baller line about writers who focus too much on surprise and drama rather than telling a good story, I can't even tell you why the killer and how they committed is kinda funny because it's a spoiler but also it really is morbidly hilarious for literally just a split second pun they don't even fully voice which makes it funnier because you have to think it in your own head like a child giggling behind the teachers back along with the Brax boys.

Just. This epsiode. It really has it all.

[toastytrusty]

you ever think about how happy and good of friends they would have been had they met under better circumstances and lived long enough to spend any significant time with each other ☹️☹️☹️

excerpt from war of two by john sedgwick

[thewritingautisticat]

Caldren and Madreline when they were kids <3

They're so cute I hope nothing bad happens to them ever 🙃

[kaidanalenkosprmanager]

THE BEST OF MASS EFFECT: VIRMIRE

Featuring: Cmdr. Sophie Shepard and Cmdr. Dominik Shepard With: Lt. Kaidan Alenko, Gun. Chief Ashley Williams, Urdnot Wrex, and Tali'Zorah nar Rayya Ft. Special Guest Appearances by: Spec. Saren Arterius and Sovereign There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own, you cannot even imagine it... Mass Effect: Legendary Edition (2021)

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Ive seenyou mention wuxia a few times now and i wonder what that is. Would you mind explaining it to me?

not the most qualified person to explain this as i'm not, in fact, from china; but i've read a couple of wuxia so here goes:

wuxia is a genre of fiction from china specifically, about martial artists in ancient china. i don't think a specific time period is like required? obviously some dynasties are more popular but idk how it goes in that front. it just has to be Not Today and probably Too Long Ago. like pre industral revolution i think. again idk if that's a requirement, but most i've seen are from around the same relative murky pre-electricity era.

xianxia is a subgenre of wuxia that's specifically more fantasy-like, and it's not just martial arts, but also spiritual powers and cultivation (which i have no fucking clue how to explain without two hours and three tangents other than chinese magic system. if you've ever heard of chi/qi as an energy, it appears there). so like- genshin is by all accounts a xianxia, it just doesn't use the more common specific xianxia terms like cultivation. some of those are very weird to translate and probably not common for the average non-wuxia reader, so it makes sense why they're going for alternatives.

chongyun and xingqiu and xianyun are very much straight out of a xianxia. xianyun's entire story quest was the closest genshin has gotten to a straight xianxia plot so far. i highly reccomend ashikai's video on unnecessary visions if you want more info on why genshin is a xianxia hahah

cyanide narwhal has some talk of some stuff from xianxia, but that's mostly because well- fucking liyue, that's how it works there. the whole light energy striking down someone who's getting powerful and giving them godhood if they survive the strike is, while not exactly like that, something that happens in some xianxia as well. like the way adepti work in general is just very xianxia. ashikai does a much better job explaining it than i do tbh but yeah

TL;DR: wuxia is chinese martial arts fiction in ancient china, and xianxia is a wuxia subgenre with more magic elements. also genshin is a xianxia

[sugarsnappeases]

thank you for the tag @fxreflyes this is so cute, except the format is trying to hinder my propensity to ramble, so i’ve rectified this in the tags lmao

i’m over 5'5 / i wear glasses or contacts / i have blonde hair / i often wear sweatshirts / i prefer loose clothing over tight clothes / i have one or two piercings / i have at least one tattoo / i have blue eyes / i have dyed or highlighted my hair / i have or have had braces / i have freckles / i paint my nails / i typically wear makeup / i don’t often smile / resting bitch face / i play sports / i play an instrument / i know more than one language / i can cook or bake / i like writing / i like to read / i can multitask / i’ve never dated anyone / i have a best friend i’ve known for over five years / i am an only child

no pressure tags for @static-radio-ao3 @inevitablestars @itsjaywalkers @carniferous @orbitfalls @transsexualpriest @futurequibblerjournalist <333

[menlove]

the way I genuinely literally have to put replying to people and sending messages on my to do list is embarrassing for me

[thegradus2]

started reading tcf because i saw the cover of the manhwa and thought cale was a handsome butch woman but this was a lie, he is a dude. however it was good so i kept reading. (cover i saw was this one so you can likely understand the misconception → https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/trash-of-the-counts-family/images/b/bb/Manhwa_cover.png/revision/latest?cb=20200902031404)

As a masc nonbinary woman who almost decided to fully transition bc i relate to this man *that* much i completely understand wehre youre coming from LMAO

[stuffyflowers]

undertale yellow fans when a character makes a morally grey/imperfect decision or has a reasonable outburst based on their current emotional state

[fertbutt]

been rewatching the legend of korra recently and its actually insane in retrospect (and even when it was happening!) how much hate and vitriol this show garnered when it was coming out because like. It's good?? It's still really good??? like okay the romance stuff is bad and the way they depict different ideologies is. interesting but at least they had something to say and it's still just plain good. like im convinced a good 90% of the hate that the show got was literally just misogyny and racism because grown men cant handle seeing a masc dark-skinned girl main character

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

i love shiny hunters like they fucking do the same shit over and over again for tens of thousands of hours hunting like and they’ll make it even more difficult for themselves by hunting really obscure and rare things like? the fucking title screen minncino??? you can’t even keep that. people will do the most monotonous tasks for months or years for a cartoon sparkle and they enjoy it.

[hrryshoney]

BECAUSE I’M LIVING IN A HOUSE WITH JUST THREE WALLS SO I’M ALWAYS GETTING RECOGNIZED!!