#the series ending like this also adds a bit more to the dawn of the clans arc

[ja3hwa]

♡ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 | 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐎𝐟 𝐃𝐚𝐰𝐧 ♡

【Synopsis】 : The boys were going to teach you a simple game of pool. Nothing more, nothing less... right?

『Word count』 : 3.9k

-> Genre: Smut. Dark Romance. Supernatural.

Pairing: Vampire!WooSanSang x Human!Reader

[Warnings] : Flirting. Dirty talk. Slight innocent reader. Foursome. Lowkey free use. Dub-con ish, but the reader is into it. Everything is just new for her. Mxm. Manhandling. Blood drinking, biting. Wounds. Whimper kink? Swearing. Clit play. Yeosang fucks her without really asking but the reader is into it. Unprotected sex. Multiple orgasms. Pet names including [Doll, Baby, Pet, Sir, Darling. Pretty thing] Use of the word slut. I shit on religion for a second, so I’m sorry if anyone is religious.

Note: Fun fact I found out that pool tables were invented back in 1470, so I felt like I had to add it aha.

Also hi I'm uploaded two fic in one night. I know crazy right?! Well, I've been really wanting to just post all my work. i got in the drafts, but im pacing myself, hehe. So this is just a little ... gift? Idk ahah i just could help, but post two tonight. Enjoy ♡♡

"Oh, my body, I don't wanna stop until the break of dawn"

Masterlist | Nav | Chapter Three | Series List | Buy Me A Ko-fi

When you finally woke, you noticed Seonghwa had left the bed. There was a small note on the bedside table with a little heart next to your name written in black ink. You smiled sleepily, stretching slowly in the spacious bed. You’ve never had a better sleep in years, if not ever. Your small single bed that was tattered and moulding was all you’d ever known, and now you had a bed fit for a king. It was almost strange, bittersweet in a way. You felt like you were always supposed to end up here. With them. Like fate was etched in stone way before you were even of age. You had wondered if they felt the same way, as you made your way through the halls once again. It became quite easy to move around the manor now that you’ve explored a bit. You had slipped on a tunic and pants of various shades of purple and black that were sitting on the end of your bed.

“I see you’ve made yourself quite at home, pet.” You shivered at the sound of Yeosang's velvet voice. Glancing above, you see him leaning on the railing of the mezzanine, a sly smirk on his delicate features.

“She’s like a curious kitty isn’t she.” Another voice caught your attention looking towards the doorway of the billiard room you see a feline feature man. San... His dark hair and sharp yellow glowing eyes make your heart thump in anticipation. Strange? you thought. They were all vampires as far as you knew, so why were his eyes such a deep sunset yellow?

“We got to get that staring problem under control, Darling.” You jumped hearing the high-pitched man, Wooyoung right behind you, whispering in your ear. 

“I w-was not staring.” You shake your head, turning around to see all three men now standing around the pool table. San had picked up a pool stick, putting some blue chalk to dab on the end of the said stick. You watched as all three of them took a pool cue and chalked them up, curious at what they might be up to. You had never seen a pool table up close, let alone see anyone play before. You’ve only ever read about it in fancy books or heard it from the richer folk in the village. “A-are you going to play a game?”

Your words sounded flinching like you were some peasant girl asking the higher for a slice of knowledge. But in truth weren’t you just that? “We are most definitely going to be playing a game Darlin’ and you are going to be the price.”

Wooyoung’s words made you gulp, standing there awkwardly playing with the hem of your tunic. San walked over to you while Yeosang set up the balls in the triangle. San’s fingers grazed your chin before lifting your face to look at him. His smile was softer this time, unlike how it was border-lining lust prior. “Don’t worry, Pretty thing. We won’t go too hard on you. Well, Yeosang might, if you’re not too careful.”

You visibly gulp feeling a tingle in your tummy. What could he possibly be insinuating? Your mind was racing, thinking of all the possibilities, slightly thanking Jongho was not here to read your lusting thoughts. You were about to say something, but then Wooyoung came up behind San, pushing him aside so he could give you a pool cue. “I don’t know how to p-play.”

“It’s okay, darling. We will teach you.” Wooyoung’s chippy voice eased your heart slightly. And as you watched Wooyoung start to bicker with Yeosang, who would start the game. You couldn’t help but giggle. For Monsters, they sure act like teenagers. Immature and… youthful. 

“Okay okay, Woo, get over here. Let Sangie Break.” The feline yelled over all the bickering. The nicknames he gave the other males made your heart flutter. In the next few minutes, the three vampires took their turn, trying to get a ball in the hole. Until finally, San got a stripe in making Wooyoung whine. 

“How do you always manage to score first.” Wooyoung was disappointed about his lover winning, shifting his weight around as he stomped over to the bar that was sitting across a billiard table. He grabbed out four short glasses and began pouring an amber-coloured liquor in each one. You could hear mumbles around you, most likely San and Yeosang badgering about something again, but you couldn’t focus on them. Only looking straight at the shorter male, curiously watching him take a shot of the liquid before taking the other full glass and shotting it.

“Pet did you hear anything we said?” Yeosang's presence behind you caught your attention, noting the way his shoulder bumped into you lightly. You shook your head with a little sorry before taking a breath, suddenly blurting out.

“I didn’t think vampires could eat or drink human food.”

The situation reminded you about how you shared a meal with all of them a night ago. You were so out of it, and floating in your mind, you didn’t really take notice that they were, in fact, consuming food. Cooked cow, vegetables, rich sauces, and wines. It was always written in history books and the words of your church that no hellspawn beasts like night crawlers were able to consume and dine on earthy foods. Only craving and needing the taste of blood to sustain themselves. 

San had to try very hard not to laugh at your innocence. Wooyoung had a cheeky smirk on his face, placing the glass on the brim of the pool table, speaking up on your question. “Oh, we do not have to eat or drink to stay alive if that’s what you’re asking. And drinking does nothing for us unless we drink an entire Alehouse. But it does take the edge off for us a little bit.” He downed his drink like he did before, some of the alcohol dripping down his chin. San, within seconds, moved from one end of the table to where Wooyoung stood. His speed created a little wind pocket that blew against your face, making you shiver. San’s hand cupped Wooyoung’s chin, drawing his face upwards. San then opened his mouth, letting his freakishly long tongue slide out onto the younger's neck, licking up the liquor he had spilt.

You gulp, looking away to see Yeosang staring at you intensely with a smirk. He bit his lip before chuckling “God I wished I could read minds. I bet you’re thinking about the filthiest things right now.” He moved to stand in front of you, making you take a step back until you were trapped against the pool table and his broad body. “Such a cute little pet, with such a dirty little mind.”

“W-Wha...I…” You didn’t know what to say cause in truth you couldn’t help but think vulgarly around them. They were all so attractive, and it was like some kind of drug being near them. You looked back to San and Wooyoung, seeing San now had his tongue down the other man's throat, and you couldn’t help but whine. What you didn’t realize was that from looking away from Yeosang, you bared your neck to him, making him growl. “You should never show off your neck to vampires unless you want them to bite you, baby.”

Your eyes widened at his words. But you couldn’t react fast enough. It was like your body became a ragdoll as he moved you with the speed of light. Your back hit the table with a thud, legs spread with Yeosang’s body in between them and his face in the crook of your neck. Your fingers squeezed his shoulders as you felt his sharp fangs run along your hot skin. “S-Sangie…”

“Hmm using my nickname is only gonna make me want to fuck you, pet.” his nose brushed down your main vein, letting him breathe in your scent sharply. You were the sweetest thing he had ever smelt. 

“Sangie.” You repeated suddenly, reaching tighter for Yeosang’s large shoulders, lacing the fabric of his dress shirt in your fingers. The vampire just chuckled, kissing along your hot skin. You wiggled against him, feeling his crotch twitch beneath the layers of cloth that separated you both. “Please.”

“Ooo, She begs. My favourite.” Yeosang’s fangs grazed your neck, making your heart thump harder. You felt like your whole body was on fire, and every nerve was being consumed with nothing but Yeosang. His scent, his dark deep chuckles. The way his fingers glide along your body. 

Him. 

While his hands played with the fabric on your clothing. You turned your head to look back at where Wooyoung and San were, but the in a blink of an eye, they vanished. 

“Don’t get this party started without us.” San’s voice frightened you as he was suddenly at the other end of the table, leaning over to give your forehead a light little kiss. Wooyoung, however, was now standing next to Yeosang, pushing your right leg opened wider so both men could stand in between them. “I can smell her from over there.”

“I know, our little slut is getting nice and wet from us teasing her.” Yeosang spat out such a foul name at you but it only made you whimper more. No way in your wildest dreams would you have ever suspected your life would end up with being sprawled out on a pool table with three Vampire, kiss and lick parts of your body that weren’t covered by your clothing.

Sinful. Hellborn. A daughter of Lilith. Words from your mother came flooding in your mind like little flashes of a candle flame blowing in the wind. Maybe she was right. Maybe she saw your future before you even knew it.

“F-fuck I need a taste,” Wooyoung whined, tugging at your pants, but what you didn’t expect was him to lift up the loose pant leg, exposing your right thigh. Yeosang pulled up your tunic, drawing his tongue out onto your hot skin. And finally, San, the last one, lifted your wrist to his nose, inhaling sharply before opening his mouth to suck on the soft flesh.

“I’d take a deep breath If I was you, pet,” Yeosang grunted with a sly smirk, making you let out a large gasp. You felt all three of them sink their teeth into you in a sudden snap, almost synchronised. The crunch of broken skin echoed in the room before ringing in your ears. You could feel their addictive vampiric venom pouring into your veins while they emptied you of blood. The euphoric feeling of being drained was indescribable. Like floating on a cloud, feeling the soft cotton tickle your body, leaving your toes and fingertips to tingle. 

“F-ffuck. Argh.” Was all you could mutter out before rolling your eyes back again. You could feel Yeosang’s deep chuckle against your tummy, feeling like the sound almost came from inside you. And without letting his fangs slip, he drew his hand to your covered core. Pressing sharply on your sensitive button through the loose fabric. This made you let out another gasp, calling for Yeosang. “S-Sangie pleasee.”

San retracted his fangs from your wrist before whining, “Hey, I want to hear you cry my name out. Can you do that for me, pretty?” The vampire kissed along your arm until he got to your neck. You nodded while he tilted your head to the side, exposing your jugular. “such a good little doll. Now I want you to scream.”

And with that, he sunk his teeth into the crease of your shoulder and neck, making you let out a loud, painfully lustful cry. “FUCK SAN!!!”

Wooyoung and Yeosang finally pulled away after a few more moments, licking their lips of your blood. Yeosang had a deep growl rumble in his chest as he ran his thumb over the puncture wound, smearing the crimson liquid on your red irritated flesh. Wooyoung did the same but drew a heart with it instead making himself giggle in approval. “Fuck if we didn’t want to keep you alive pet. We would have drunk you dry.”

Yeosang’s empty threat would have scared anyone, but for some reason, it only enticed you more. Pulling your shaky legs up, you placed your bare feet on the edge of the pool table before spreading your legs wide. The grumpy vampire seemed to get the hint, taking his long nail he ripped the fabric right in between your thighs, making a slit-like opening for him and Wooyoung to get a perfect view of your soaking cunt. “Now, why don’t you look at that.”

Yeosang growls, sliding a finger along your wet lips. Your whole body shivers, feeling yourself becoming overwhelmed with pleasure. This shock wave made San sit up suddenly, pulling away from your shoulder, gasping for air as he let out the deepest, most feral-like groan you’ve ever heard.

“Fuck, She tastes so good when you do that. I need one of you to fuck her right now so I can taste that again” His blood-stained lips kissed along your shoulder smearing all the red crimson liquid over your soft skin. His kisses your feverish as if he had become drunk off you alone. The few buttons that were holding your shirt closed were now being opened by the feline male, slowly revealing your hidden flesh. 

“I volunteer as tribute.” 

Wooyoung protested, shaking his belt in a manner of desperation, but Yeosang quickly scoffed, snaking his belt out of the hoops of his pants in one swift motion before dropping it. “I’d like to see you fucking try. This pussy is mine.” Yeosang’s deep venomous growl made the younger vampire cower slightly, giving him a slight pout. 

“Why do you get to go first.” From your angle, you could have sworn you saw Wooyoung stomp his feet, making you giggle lightly, catching the attention of all three of the men around you. Yeosang kisses your tummy lightly, pulling your focus to him alone, his hands gripping your hips and body snuggling tightly against your hot core.

“What’s so funny, pet? Finding enjoyment over us fighting over you?” Yeosang’s lips travelled up your navel as he kissed along your newly exposed skin since San had now successfully unbuttoned your top, revealing your perky, tight nipples on your plump and soft breasts.

“Yes sir…” you whispered, closing your eyes as you revelled in the feeling of his tongue sliding along your body.

“Fuck, she’s so good isn't she.” San covered his mouth with his hand, sighing at how obedient you had become. Reaching for your breast he squeezed your plump flesh together, pinching your nipples between his pointer and thumb. You choked out a whine as he rolled the pad of his finger over your sensitive bud, almost completely distracting you from the vampire between your legs. 

“Come on, Sangie, hurry up. I want to be inside her so badly.” Wooyoung has hopped up onto the end of the pool table leaning on his hand behind his soft frame. His hand palming his covered crotch, panting slightly as he watched San and Yeosang ravish you. Your hazy eyes looked back to see San standing straight and tall behind you. Giving you a sweet smile that was hiding a sinister lust underneath.

Before you could say anything about what Wooyoung had said, you felt Yeosang’s thick cock head breached your tight pussy. “Oh FUck!” You bucked your hips, helping him slide into you deeply inch by inch until he bottomed you out. He was definitely girthier than Seonghwa, making you feel like the wind was being knocked right out of you. 

“Shhit. This is the tightest pussy I’ve ever felt. Are you sure Seonghwa fucked you pet?” Yeosang began to ramble, pulling you down more so your ass was almost off the table. Sangie put his one hand under your thigh and hip, holding you still so he could slowly start thrusting into you, sharply and greatly. “So tight, so warm. Such a good little pet. You like being fucked baby? Bet you’d take all of us in one go if we’d asked.”

“Oh my god! Yes!!! please, Sangie.” You yelped at the top of your lungs just from the pure idea of having all eight of them. Pleasing them all. Dotting on them. You needed them just as much as they needed you. Yeosang gripped your shirt that hung open on the top and pulled you up until your face was inches from his and his lips, almost touching your own. 

“It’s master, my sweet little slut.” He yanked you off the pool table, pulling out for a moment so he could help you walk to the couch and even though his movements were rough, his grip was gentle, holding you closely in a way. Lovingly. “Come on baby, bend over the couch for me.”

He gave your ass a squeeze before letting you fall on your knees on the plush cushions. The couch was facing away from the pool table, so when you leaned over the top of it, you could get a perfect view of the other two vampires. “Okay, new game.” Yeosang knelt behind you, holding your hips, rubbing his palm against your skin. “Whoever gets a ball in first gets to take over and fuck our precious baby here. Deal?”

You had to laugh as San and Wooyoung scrambled around to grab their own pool stick. Your smile was bright as you were about to say some cheeky remark but you slowly felt Yeosang enter your soaked pussy from behind making you only let out a shaky whimper. His hands gripped tightly on your hips as your eyebrows knitted together and your mouth fell into an ‘O’ shape. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

Yeosang chuckled as he thrusted into your cunt in shallow motions. His hand gripped the back of your neck, pulling you up so your body was at an odd angle, but you couldn’t care less. “Last time I checked I’m not god’s pathetic son.”

Your fingers lased into the couch cushions, gripping onto it for dear life as you felt him slowly hammer into you faster. Your pussy would clench with each thrust making the most beautiful groans and whimpers fall from his lips. The hand that held the back of your neck, snaked around the front to clench tightly, blocking your airway just lightly, sending your brain into a fuzzy mess. 

“M-Master….” You cried, collapsing onto the edge of the couch. Your legs are shaking, and your arms are no longer able to hold yourself up anymore. San and Wooyoung were bickering, yelling at one another as they kept trying to get a ball in the hole. That was until San bent down and shot one of his stripes by hitting Wooyoung’s ball before getting it into the end left basket. 

Your glassy eyes could see San’s triumph, along with Woo’s high-pitched whine of defeat. The knot in your stomach was tightened with every thrust of Yeosang’s hips but before you could reach your climax he slipped out of your soaked cunt making you hiccup in a loud whine. “F-Ffuckk.”

“It’s okay, pet. Breathe…” You tried to take in a shaky breath as you felt your whole body being manhandled until you were sitting perfectly on someone’s lap. San’s naked lap, to be exact. His hazy smile got you blushing as he leaned forward to kiss your cheek so delicately.

“Don’t worry, sweet thing. I’ll take good care of you.” San’s cooe made you relax nicely against him as he lined his cock with your abused cunt. You were already so sensitive but somehow you were still craving more. The loud sound of pool balls whacking together got you startled but San stroked your cheek with his thumb slightly as he pulled your face towards his with his fingers. “Focus on me, baby. I want to see you come apart on my cock okay. No closing those pretty eyes."

You nodded with a short whimper followed by a simple yes that was so quiet you’re surprised San heard it. But then you remember that you weren’t fucking a normal man, but a beast in human form. A blood-sucking night-crawling beast that could kill you with his bare hands at any time. Your pussy clenched around his lengthy, and girthy cock making him groan. He slowly lifted your plump thighs up helping you gather a rhythm with your hips so you could ride him slowly. “S-sannie. Oh g-god please.”

“Such a good girl. Come on. Fuck you’re so tight...” You focused on his knitted brows and slightly parted mouth, seeing he was enjoying this just as much as you were. Your hips got faster as San started to buck upwards to match your movements. Your whole body was feeling like it was on fire, sensing you were close. He pushed your body up so he could help thrust deeper inside you. This left your tits to be right in his face, making him groan as he latched onto your plump flesh and sucked. Your breasts would be completely covered in hickeys by the time San was down them. And as his mouth traveled to the top of your breast you clenched around him, sucking him deeper into your tight cunt. He lost himself in your scent, the way you squeezed him and the sound of your pretty moans. He needed more, just another taste. He needed to taste the flavour of you when you came.

“S-San I’m gonna cum.” You gasped, tangling your fingers threw his hair.

“Come for me, baby. Be a good little human for me and cream on my cock.” He licked your skin before biting down, sinking his fangs into the top of your breast, jackhammering you at an inhuman pace. You screamed so loud that the whole manor would have heard, coming so much around Sans hard cock. You were it grew bigger inside you as your clenched harder, feeling him drink his fill of your red hot liquid. 

“San.” A male voice called out but your head was too dizzy, feeling San continue his assault on your cunt and teeth in your flesh. “SAN!!” The voice got loud but your eyes began to droop feeling a wave of sleep erode through your body. You heard San lewdly growl animalisticly against you, still drinking your blood as his cock stilled tightly in you, letting him come deep inside you.

The voice before screamed again, but your eyes closed, and darkness took over before you could see or hear anything else.

—

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[diegothemenace]

(source — behind a paywall but using the reader format in Firefox worked for me… I will include terrible auto-translate behind the cut for anyone interested with apologies for any errors)

Diego Luna has high expectations for the new government that will be headed by Claudia Sheinbaum starting next October, as she is the first woman president of Mexico, but he also knows that as a society there is a lot to rethink.

The actor of "Y tu mamá también" and "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" is at the International Film Festival that takes place in this city, where he will not only receive a tribute tonight, but also presented the documentary Estado de silencio, which he produces and which deals with the violence suffered by Mexican journalists.

"(The first woman president) We do not owe it to any political party, that is a fact to celebrate and I do find it very exciting to be living it, I am very grateful that I have to live it. That excites me and I also have a lot of expectations to see what is going to happen, because I think we are living in very complicated times, a little bit of the interest of that reflection is reflected in State of Silence," says Luna.

"I think that the violence, the impunity that the journalistic profession experiences and the total absence of justice is a clear example on a scale of something that happens in this country," he adds.

But he points out that he always has hope for the future, something that reaffirmed the public's response to the documentary, which contains the experiences of journalist María de Jesús Peters, EL UNIVERSAL's correspondent in Chiapas, as well as other journalists who face similar risks.

"When things happen to me like the ones that happened to me yesterday after the presentation of the documentary, I do wake up with hope, it is nice to see when people connect and when they care about the other and manifest it, yesterday that meeting was beautiful and those expressions, moments, give me illusion and hope," he stresses.

Recently, Luna finished the last season of the series Andor, the prequel to Rogue One, where it was directed, among others, by the Mexican Alonso Ruizpalacios, with the cinema photograph of Damián García.

"I'm grateful for the format that let me enjoy it until the end, I've never done television for more than two seasons and I, as I'm old and I like cinema more than anything, I live it as long movies (laughs) or eight short independents, it's not something that has been carrying for years," he says.

He indicates that the installment ends where the film, released in 2016, begins, when his character is the one who helps steal the plans of the Death Star, the central theme of Episode IV.

" (Cassian) A lot has to happen to him to throw that mission and for someone to give it to him, he still has a lot to prove," he says briefly.

What he's also happy about is the new version of The Kiss of the Spider Woman, in which he plays a political prisoner who shares a cell with a gay man in the 1980s.

Bill Condon (Beauty and the Beast and Mr. Holmes) is the director, with a cast that includes Jennifer Lopez. "We shot a piece in New York and a piece in Montevideo. It's basically a tribute to the musical work that was done on Broadway in the early '90s."

Today, the actor will be honored. And if some like the late Jorge Fons (Red Dawn) said that he didn't like these ceremonies because he seemed to be being fired, Luna sees it differently.

"I've had to live long enough to know that no, that I can take away that fear, these days have been beautiful, a reminder that I'm part of a community."

[muchalucha-art]

Evolution Of A (Mucha) Lucha School...*UPDATE with one more version!

I was going through some episodes and backgrounds and realized there were three - possibly four - versions of the school.

Version 1 as it appeared in the 'Lucha School' pilot. I wanted a typical high school-type building that wouldn't be out-of-place in SoCal, right down to the muted colors. That was the point of the show: the mascaritas could be living next door to you, and that typical, everyday school could house all kind of crazy shenanigans...

Version 2. After the series was greenlit, I made a few changes and added the statue. This was the version that is actually used, and survives, in the main title sequence - even though the school itself was about to be changed for the series!

Version 3 (?). As we were going into production, Kids'WB decided the series should be set in a MASKED World: buildings should be masked, animals, everyday people...a bit like the old Kroft series LIDSVILLE. Cue a revolt from the series' creators, who thought this was beyond ridiculous and so decided to take their pencils and leave. Kids'WB decided not to pursue this direction, and so the series' creators picked up their pencils again.

Returning to the design process, I discovered the above version by one of the show's background artists was the school they were going with. (I also remember another version with a different statue, that I was able to nix). The above version is the one that appears in the first episode 'Back To School'.

Now, I was never that taken with this design, as I never really 'got it'. To me it reminded me of something carved out of rock from The Flintstones, and perspective-wise just wasn't dynamic enough.

*Update! Thanks to the sharp eyes of @newlunapastel there was a version 4 that was used in Dawn Of The Donuts. Got a feeling we were getting a bit tired of the same of opening shot, so the following version was used. Not sure by who, but I have a feeling it may have been by Roman Laney before he left the series. Love the statue. I think I may ultimately add it to my new version (see the end of this post).

But regardless of my opinion, it IS the design of the school. And so in 2024 as I revisit the series (What? Who? Why?). I made a few tweaks...

Isn't time travel wonderful? :)

[lyranova]

Chapter 19: The Invasion of Spade

Hiya guys! I’m sorry this chapter took a while, I had a few struggles with it 😅. But thanks to @loosesodamarble and @thoughtfullyrainynightmare ‘s help I was able to finish it 🥺💕! Aaahhh we’re getting closer and closer to the end of this series, and I’m starting to get sad but also excited like when COTF was nearing it’s end 😆! This chapter covers the Spade Invasion, and gives a few hints to a couple of scenes and moments that’ll appear in “A Fractured Diamond”! Also, fair warning, the next chapter will have a time skip! I hope you all enjoy~!

Word Count: 5,658

Warnings: Anime and Manga spoilers, Violence, Blood

“ What did you do to my family?!”

Zera’s heart was pounding in her ears, her blood was boiling in her veins, and tears of anger and sadness were pooling in her eyes and slowly falling down her cheeks.

“ Wait, you don’t understand-!” The man gasped as Zera’s vines tightened even more around the man.

“ Oh, I think I understand completely,” She growled as she continued to add more vines to her attack and forced them to constrict more and more around his body.

“ My husband is missing…my kids are all dead or near death…and yet somehow you’re unscathed, which tells me you either sat back and watched everything happen without trying to help them, or,” She began slowly as she used her vines to spin the man around.

Her eyes widened as the low sunlight caught the insignia just right, and revealed it to be just as she suspected; a Spade.

“ You’re the one who did this.” The man's eyes widened and he quickly shook his head.

“ N-No! You’ve got it all wrong!” He gasped as her spell squeezed him tighter.

“ Where is my husband?” She growled, completely ignoring him.

“ I-I don’t-!”

“ Where is my husband?!”

Just as her question left her lips the ground beneath them began to rumble and shake, and both could feel an intense wave of mana rushing towards them.

Suddenly, a large tree shot up from the ground; its trunk grew taller, and taller, and its branches reached out far and wide across the remains of the Golden Dawn base, slowly picking up all the injured members and pulling them towards it as it healed their severe injuries.

Zera’s eyes widened and a gasp escaped her as she stared up at the beautiful tree that towered above them.

“ Yggdrasil…” She whispered as she retracted her spell and let the man from Spade fall to the ground. She ignored his gasps for air as he tried to catch his breath.

“ If for some reason I’m not there to heal and protect you and the Golden Dawn, my spell ‘Budding of Yggdrasil’ will be activated.”

William’s words echoed in her mind as the tears that had welled up in her eyes had slowly begun to cascade down her cheeks.

He was gone…her husband was gone!

Suddenly, she felt something wrap tightly around her waist, and looked down to see it was a branch from Yggdrasil. Slowly, the branch raised her higher and higher before lowering her down gently onto one of its larger branches.

Zera began to look around, her eyes searching for a familiar face, when she suddenly heard someone land beside her.

“ What the-?!” She exclaimed as her eyes widened.

The man from Spade was standing next to her, and Yggdrasil was healing him!

“ I’m just as surprised as you are,” He admitted as he looked at the healing bruises. “ I guess the tree knows I’m not a threat.”

Her eyes narrowed for a bit before they slowly closed; he was right, if Yggdrasil saw him as a threat, it wouldn’t have brought him up here and healed his wounds.

But, just because he wasn’t a threat didn’t mean she trusted him. He was still a stranger who had walked into her home.

With a soft huff, she walked past him and began to look around; where were they…she had seen them all fly past her, but didn’t see where they landed.

“ Maybe…this way?” She thought with a hum before creating a ladder with her magic so she could climb up to the taller branches.

“ Hey, where are you going?” The man shouted after her, and when she didn’t answer his eyes narrowed.

“ Are you just going to leave me here?!” Zera turned around to face him with a smirk on her face.

“ That’s the plan~!” She replied in a sing-song voice, but as she turned around she suddenly felt the branch she was on shake as something heavy landed on it.

Her gaze shifted to the side, and saw the man from Spade standing there, and she growled in irritation.

“ You Magic Knights and your mana zone that lets you fly!” She huffed as she crossed her arms.

“ I’m not a Magic Knight.” He corrected her, making her blink for a moment before she reached up and rubbed the back of her head.

“ Ah, right, I guess each Suit Country has their own version of the Magic Knights.” She muttered before turning away from him again.

“ If you’re going to find Lord Yuno, please, let me come with you!” The man said as he watched Zera begin to climb up the ladder again.

She paused, her brows furrowing in confusion as she turned to look at the man again.

“ That’s the second time you’ve called Yuno ‘Lord’,” She pointed out. “ Why do you keep calling him that when he’s a peasant?”

The man’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“ How dare you call Lord Yuno a peasant! He is the son of King Loyce and Queen Ciel Grinberryall, the crown prince and heir to the throne of the Spade Kingdom!” The man announced firmly, and Zera paused as her eyes widened in surprise.

Yuno was a prince? But more importantly…

“ Yuno has a last name?!” She exclaimed in surprise, causing the man from Spade to stare at her in bewilderment.

“ That’s the part you want to focus on?!” He exclaimed in shock as he watched her climb up the ladder to the next branch.

“ Well, it kind of makes sense that he’s a prince,” Zera hummed thoughtfully as she placed a hand under her chin. “ I mean, it explains why he’s blessed by mana and why he has that ‘princely’ aura around him.”

The man just stood there stunned for a moment, this woman was completely crazy!

But he used his mana zone to again jump up onto the branch above them.

“ Please, let me come with you so I can make sure Lord Yuno is alright!” The man pleaded sincerely, and Zera looked him up and down with a skeptical eye.

Yggdrasil didn’t see him as a threat, and he had multiple opportunities to attack her, but didn’t take any of them…

With a small sigh she eventually nodded.

“ Fine, you can come with me,” She muttered before giving him a warning look. “ But if you try anything, I’m kicking you off this tree!”

The man quickly nodded, and used his mana zone to jump onto the next branch, before he reached down and held out a hand towards her so he could help pull her up.

“ I’m Ralph Niaflem,” The man introduced himself. “ A member of the Resistance.”

Zera frowned, ‘resistance’? The Spade Kingdom has a Resistance? Well, it made sense, she concluded, considering the kingdom was being run by devils.

“ Zera Cassia,” She introduced herself as she took his hand and let him pull her up. “ Flower shop owner and wife of the Captain of the Golden Dawn!”

As the two stood slowly climbed up the branches, they stumbled across many members of the Golden Dawn; some who were all healed up and awake, some who had to be roused to be awoken, and some…who wouldn’t awaken at all.

“ Siren…Siren get up,” Zera said as she shook the man’s shoulders. “ Please, get up!”

“ Lady Zera,” Ralph began softly as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “ He’s gone.”

She quickly nodded, tears falling down her cheeks again, silently hoping that maybe he was the only casualty amongst the squad.

But the higher she climbed, the more dead squad members the pair found, including Hamon Caseus’s body.

From her count, at least half of the squad had been killed during the attack.

As Ralph helped her up onto another branch, a familiar voice shouted out to them.

“ Lady Zera!!” She and Ralph quickly turned towards the voice, and relief quickly filled Zera.

“ Klaus, Letoile!” She exclaimed as she saw the blue and green haired mages standing above them.

As soon as Zera reached them she quickly ran up to them and hugged them tightly.

“ I’m so glad you’re both okay!” She cried in relief, more tears spilling from her eyes and onto their robes.

“ We’re glad you’re alright too ma’am,” Letoile said softly as she hugged the other woman back.

“ But…we’re also really sorry,” Klaus apologized as he pulled away and bowed deeply. “ We tried our best, but in the end, we let them take Captain Vangeance!”

Zera’s heart sank into the depths of her stomach; they took her husband…?

They took her husband?!

“ We don’t know why yet,” Letoile quickly began, somehow knowing that would be her next question. “ But we’re hoping that when Yuno and Neva wake up they might be able to answer some questions.”

“ You found them?” Zera asked as she looked between them. “ Where are they?”

Letoile and Klaus moved to the side and sitting up against the trunk of the tree, their eyes closed but their chests moving softly with each breath they took, was Yuno and Neva.

Neva’s head was gently resting against Yuno’s shoulder, and his was resting on top of her’s, their hands lying beside each other as though they had been holding hands.

If this were a different situation, Zera would be asking for a camera so she could take a photo.

But instead of doing that, she rushed towards them and wrapped her arms around them, giving them a gentle hug.

They were okay, they were alive, they were okay…

“ Lord Yuno!” Ralph exclaimed as he rushed forward and began to look the other man over with a worried expression.

But once he felt sure that Yuno was okay, a sigh of relief escaped him and he moved away.

“ Neva, it’s time to wake up,” Zera began softly as she cupped the younger girl's face gently in her hands. “ Neva, you need to get up, Neva…Neva~.”

The platinum blonde haired girls brows furrowed as she slowly began to stir.

“ M…Mom?” She mumbled softly as her eyes began to open.

Zera frowned and tilted her head in confusion.

“ ‘Mom’?” She repeated, and she watched as Neva blinked a few times to clear her vision.

Once the girl's vision was clear her eyes widened and she began to panic. She tried to back away, but because her back was already up against the tree trunk she couldn’t go anywhere; so, instead, she began to try to push Zera away.

“ Hey, hey, it’s me! Neva it’s me, Zera!” Zera began to say as she reached around and grabbed Neva’s shoulders. “ It’s Zera!”

“ Zera?” Neva repeated as a look of recognition filled her purple eyes while looking at the older woman’s face, and after a moment she began to calm down.

“ Yeah, it’s me,” Zera said softly as she reached out and cupped the young girl's face again. “ You okay?” She asked softly.

As Neva stared at her, Zera could see the ‘Diamond wall’ that had only recently started to come down, immediately come right back up.

“ I’m fine,” She replied, knocking the other woman’s hands away from her face.

Even though Neva said she was fine, it was very clear to Zera that she was not okay.

“ Yuno,” Neva suddenly began, her voice soft and confused as she began to look around.

“ Where is he? Is he okay?” She began to ask, her once calm voice suddenly filling with panic as she tried to stand up, but Zera kept her hands on the younger girl's shoulders to keep her from standing up.

“ Yuno’s fine,” Klaus quickly said as he stepped forward and kneeled down. “ He’s right there.”

Neva blinked before slowly turning to the side and everyone watched as a wave of relief washed over her.

“ He’s okay…thank goodness,” She sighed in relief as a small, grateful smile appeared on her face.

As Zera rubbed the girls back, it was clear to everyone sitting there just how much she cared for the wind mage.

Suddenly, a thought appeared in Zera’s mind.

“ You know,” She began as she leaned in towards Neva. “ I think you and Yuno must’ve been holding hands when you were injured.”

Neva’s head quickly snapped in the other woman's direction, her eyes wide and cheeks visibly turning red.

“ W-What?” She stammered. “ There’s no way we held hands!” She quickly added, clutching her hands to her chest before she looked away shyly, causing Zera to giggle and pat her shoulder comfortingly.

A soft groan from beside Neva quickly pulled everyone’s attention away from her and towards Yuno, whose eyes were slowly beginning to open.

“ Yuno!”

The young man winced as his eyes opened and he began to look around; his eyes lingering on Neva just a little longer before he slowly sat up and began to stand.

“ Hey, you shouldn’t-!” Neva began as she stood up and reached out towards him.

“ Yuno!!” Sylph suddenly exclaimed, rushing past Neva and throwing herself onto Yuno’s chest where she cried. “ Thank goodness!”

“ I’m fine,” He told the wind spirit before his amber eyes shifted to Neva, where they softened.

“ I’m fine.” He repeated, but this time it was directed at the platinum blonde haired girl who slowly nodded in response.

“ What happened? Where’s the Captain?” He quickly asked, this time his gaze shifted to Zera, Ralph, Klaus, and Letoile.

The four glanced around at each other, none of them really sure what to say.

“ We think…that man took him.” Klaus said as his gaze shifted away in shame.

“ What?” Yuno’s eyes widened, and his gaze began to drift across the area.

“ But before he was taken,” Letoile began as her gaze shifted to the ground. “ He used this spell to heal us all…but it didn’t work on all of us.”

“ Half of the squad is dead,” Zera suddenly cut in, her voice soft and full of sadness. “ Hamon and Siren are amongst them too…”

A soft gasp escaped Yuno, Neva, Klaus, and Letoile at the news of Hamon and Siren’s deaths, and an air of sadness suddenly surrounded the group.

“ Go check on the others,” Yuno softly ordered after a moment of silence. “ Help the wounded, and move the dead.”

The group looked at each other briefly before they all nodded and began to split off to help.

But Neva lingered, her worried gaze staying on Yuno.

She was relieved to see that he was alive, that she hadn’t made a wrong choice…but she remained worried and unsettled.

Half the squad was dead…William had been taken due to her failure…and Yuno, well, he wasn’t taking this well at all.

She had never seen him like this, and it worried her.

“ Neva,” Zera softly tugged on the young woman’s arm. “ Let’s go.”

Her gaze shifted away from Yuno before she hesitantly nodded and began to follow the slightly older woman down to the lower branches.

Once everyone was away, and Yuno was alone, a scream of anger and pain rang out.

The Next Day

Zera paced back and forth in the new makeshift Golden Dawn base as she waited for Yuno to return from the Capital.

He had left early that morning to report to the Wizard King and other Captains about what had happened to the Golden Dawn and William, and told Zera that he would be back with news and hopefully a plan.

A soft sigh escaped her as she stopped pacing; didn’t they already have a plan? To get stronger and attack Spade? Had their plan changed so much now that William was gone?

Her eyes caught a glimpse of the dandelion flower that her husband had always kept on his desk and a sad scoff escaped her; of course the plan changed, everything’s changed.

The Golden Dawn’s home, her home, was gone. Their friends and loved ones that were members of the squad were gone, and their Captain, her husband was gone…

Everything she had grown to know and love for the last few months was suddenly gone overnight.

But some have lost everything they’ve known and loved for years overnight, she thought as her gaze shifted away from the dandelion up to the platinum haired girl standing a few feet away from her.

Neva’s eyes were staring out at Zera’s courtyard, but the plant mage could clearly tell that she wasn’t actually seeing the courtyard.

She was seeing something completely different…something much more terrifying, judging by how she turned and twisted the white ribbon at the bottom of her braid.

Was she reliving all that had happened yesterday? The attack, William being taken, Yuno’s injuries, her injuries? burying her squadmates? A combination of it all?

Or perhaps, was she reliving something else that was just as terrifying and traumatic?

Either way, Zera could see that Neva was far from alright, that she was trying her best to keep herself together; but instead, was fracturing more and more like a diamond being crushed between two powerful forces.

As she made the decision to go talk to her, she heard footsteps behind her and quickly turned to see Yuno walking up to her.

“ What happened at the meeting? Did you find anything out?” Zera asked quickly as she rushed up to him, her eyes full of hope.

But as she saw his face, she instantly knew that what he had to say wasn’t the good news she was hoping for.

“ I know who took Captain Vangeance, and where they are,” Yuno began. “ I know why they took him, and how we’re going to get him back.”

Zera nodded slowly as she stared up expectantly at him.

“ Tell me, please.”

Yuno took a deep breath and began to tell her everything.

He told her how the man that attacked the Golden Dawn was Zenon Zogratis, a member of the Dark Triad and a Devil Host. He explained how they weren’t the only ones who were attacked, but the Black Bulls were as well, and that their Captain was taken by another member of the Dark Triad.

“ But I don’t understand,” Zera began with a small shake of her head. “ Why take them? I mean, wouldn’t it make more sense to kill Yami and William instead?”

Yuno looked at her.

“ They took them because they needed them,” He told her softly, and that only made her brows furrow more.

“ ‘They needed them’? For what?”

“ For…a ritual,” Zera’s eyes widened in shock as Yuno began to explain.

He told her that Yami and William were going to be used as sacrifices for a ritual that would open the door to the underworld, and would allow Devils to escape and roam the earth, causing the death of 90% of the human population.

To say she was horrified by this revelation was an understatement; her friend…her husband, were both going to be sacrificed, and then the world was going to end?

Before Zera could have a chance to think further on it, Yuno began to speak again.

“ But we have three days before the ritual begins,” He told her with determination. “ And we’re going to save them. I promise.”

Zera slowly closed her eyes, taking in all the information that was just given to her, and after a moment she slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Yuno again.

“ Okay. Do whatever you need to do to bring my husband home.”

Yuno nodded firmly, he would do as she said, and bring her husband, his Captain, back home.

As he went to walk past her, she suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him.

“ Is…Neva’s going with you, right?” She asked softly, as though she didn’t want anyone but him to hear her.

Yuno stared at Zera for a moment before his gaze shifted away towards Neva; his eyes staring at her face before they slowly moved down further and further until they rested on her abdomen, and the memories from yesterday suddenly came flooding back to him.

“ Ne…va,” He gasped, his voice hoarse. “ Run…away…”

As Yuno watched her shake her head, he couldn’t help but want to curse this stubborn woman, why couldn’t she just do as he said? Why wouldn’t she run away and save herself?!

“ I’m not leaving you here!” She said firmly as she continued to try to heal him with her spell.

As he opened his mouth to try to argue with her again, he suddenly heard something wet lightly thump onto his chest. He frowned a bit, and forced his blurring vision to focus, and his pupils widened at what was hitting his chest:

It was tears, Neva’s tears to be exact…

She was crying…why was she crying? Was it because of him and his failure? His heart sank at the thought; he didn’t want to be the reason she was crying, just thinking about it made him hate himself even more.

Yuno frowned, she was saying something…something he felt was very important for him to hear…but his vision and hearing were starting to leave him, so he didn’t hear a single word she said.

Suddenly, the sound of something shattering behind Neva got his attention, and before either of them could react, Zenon’s spell pierced her shoulders, upper arms, chest, and abdomen.

“ No…nononono…NO!” Yuno’s mind shouted as he watched blood begin to seep through the wounds and fall onto the ground beneath her, and Yuno watched in horror as Neva’s body fell limply to the side and landed on the ground with a soft ‘thud’ as Zenon removed his bone spears.

Yuno quickly closed his eyes as he pushed the memories away, now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that…

“ No…she isn’t,” Yuno replied firmly as he opened his eyes and looked at Zera. “ I won’t let her.”

A skeptical look entered the older woman’s eyes but she slowly nodded.

“ Okay,” She began as she turned away to look at Neva again. “ Just, please keep an eye on her…I think what happened yesterday affected her more than what she’s letting on.”

Yuno frowned a bit, but nodded, and Zera let him go.

The plant mage watched as he walked over to Neva and the two began to talk quietly, he was probably telling her everything he had just told Zera.

She watched as the two went back and forth in a calm, yet heated, argument. He was probably trying to convince her to stay, while she was determined to go with him to save William.

Finally, after another moment of the two going back and forth, Yuno closed his eyes and slowly opened them again, seeming to have given in to Neva.

Zera smiled a bit, she knew Neva would get her way.

As she watched the pair begin to walk away so they could do some last minute training, she turned to face the dandelion.

She couldn’t, no, she wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing as everyone else did what they could to bring her husband back.

Even though she wasn’t a fighter, she was going to find a way to help bring William home!

Three Days Later in the Spade Kingdom

The day after Yuno had told Zera why William had been taken, she immediately went to him and the other Captain’s and begged for them to let her help.

“ Can you fight?” The other Captain’s had asked, and when she said she couldn’t they all looked at each other.

“ But I have a pretty good recovery spell,” She had told them. “ So while I’m not able to fight, I can at least heal people!”

The Captains once again looked at each other with unsure expression.

“ Please…let me help,” She had pleaded as she gripped the front of her skirt tightly in her hands. “ I can’t just sit by and do nothing while everyone else is risking their lives!”

The Captains had stared at her for a moment, and before any of them could say anything, another voice chimed in.

“ She can work with my recovery mages,” Owen had said as he walked up to the group. “ They’ll be out on the battlefield helping out, but they won’t be doing any of the actual fighting.”

“ Really?” Zera had exclaimed as she turned to face him. “ That would be perfect!”

And that was how she was able to become useful to the Magic Knights during the battle of Spade.

She ran around with the recovery mages, healing the minorly wounded ones there on the battlefield, while helping get the more seriously injured ones as far away from the fighting as possible.

It was hard, tiring work, but Zera didn’t care. She would do this all night if she had too.

“ You’re going to be okay, it’s just a minor injury!” Zera told the wounded Magic Knight as she used her recovery spell on him.

“ There are so many people getting hurt,” She thought as she watched the magic knight’s wounds begin to heal. “ If it’s this bad out here, I can only imagine what it’s like inside the Castle right now..”

As the thought crossed her mind, her gaze shifted towards the dark castle that loomed over them.

“ I hope everyone’s okay…”

After healing the magic knight’s wounds, she watched as he immediately stood up, thanked her, and then went back to the battle.

As she watched him rush away, William’s words from a week ago suddenly appeared in her mind.

“ But you know what else we Magic Knights do? We fight tooth and nail to come back home to our loved ones alive, safe, and sound. We don’t stop, we don’t quit, and most importantly we never give up even when things are hopeless.”

“ I think I get it now, William,” Zera thought as she watched the young man fight tooth and nail with his squadmates. “ Why being a Magic Knight is so important to you…”

But before she could dwell any further on her thoughts, the ground beneath her began to rumble and shake, and she could feel a dark, intense wave of mana rush over her from inside the Castle.

“ Zera,” Ralph shouted as he rushed over towards her and grabbed her arm. “ We need to leave, now!”

Zera frowned in confusion as he began to drag her away across the battlefield.

“ Why? What’s going on?” She asked as they rushed farther and farther away from the castle.

“ The gates have started to open, and the devils are beginning to escape, we need to get you out of here!” He told her quickly as he continued to drag her behind him.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, Zera stopped moving.

“ If the gates have started to open then…” Her eyes widened and she immediately began to fight against Ralph’s grip.

“ We have to go back, we have to get them out of there!” She exclaimed as she tried to pull her wrist away so she could get back to the castle.

“ We can’t! It’s too dangerous right now!” He told her as he continued to try to pull her behind him.

“ But my husband’s still in there!” She shouted, and Ralph yanked her towards him and grabbed her shoulders.

“ And so is Lord Yuno!” He shouted back, his grip on her shoulders firm. “ Lord Yuno and the others will defeat the Dark Triad and bring your husband home, but for now you need to trust them and get somewhere safe until the battle is over!”

“ We’re going to save them. I promise.”

As Yuno’s promise echoed in Zera’s mind, she slowly stopped fighting against him.

Ralph was right; she needed to trust Yuno, Neva, and Langris.

“ Okay…let’s go,” She said softly, and she watched the fire mage nod before they continued running away.

“ Please, if any deity out there is listening…please let my family be okay!”

A Few Hours Later

Zera rushed down the halls of the building turned temporary infirmary, her heart pounding anxiously in her ears.

Ralph had just gotten word that everyone that had gone inside the castle had returned and were being treated for minor and serious injuries.

Including William.

As soon as the words left Ralph’s lips Zera immediately took off in the direction of the infirmary.

“ Please let him be okay…please let him be alive!” She silently hoped as she finally came upon the wooden door that William and the others were behind.

Without stopping for even a moment, she burst through the door, causing everyone in the infirmary to jump in surprise.

“ Zera?” A soft, familiar voice questioned, and her eyes slowly shifted towards it.

Sitting up in bed, looking a little worse for wear but still as handsome as ever, was William.

“ Zera,” William repeated softly as a smile of relief appeared on his face.

Without saying a word, she rushed towards him and flung herself into his arms, wrapped her arms around his neck, and hugged him tightly.

“ William!” She cried as she buried her face into his shoulder. “ You’re okay, I’m so glad!”

William winced as she hugged him tightly; even though most of the injuries were healed, some of the more serious ones were still there, and her hugging him caused the wounds to ache.

But he didn’t care, he could handle the pain; after all, the physical pain he was experiencing now was nothing compared to the emotional pain that Zera was feeling.

“ I’m sorry,” He quickly apologized as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. “ I broke my promise.”

She pulled away from him and nodded.

“ Yeah you did,” Zera sniffled as she gripped the front of his shirt. “ But it’s okay, because I know you fought really hard to come back to me.”

William smiled softly as he cupped her face in his hands, wiped her tears away, and leaned forward to place a short, gentle kiss against her lips.

When the couple parted, Zera watched her husband wince in pain.

“ What’s wrong? Are your wounds still not healed yet?” She asked as she looked him up and down.

“ Well…some are healed, and others…are still in the process.” He tried to laugh, but again winced in pain.

Zera frowned disapprovingly as she stood up and stared down into the bed at him.

“ I can see that,” She muttered as she pulled out her grimoire. “ whoever healed you did a really terrible job.”

“ That would be me,” A voice suddenly said, causing William and Zera to turn towards it.

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the man standing beside her husband's bed; he had long white hair that was tie back in a high ponytail, he wore red and white robes, had pointed ears, tattoos on his face, and his left sclera was black instead of white.

This man must’ve been William’s childhood friend, Patri.

“ I see, well, you still did a terrible job,” She muttered as she crossed her arms. “ If I didn’t know any better I would think you didn’t have a grimoire.”

The elf’s eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms.

“ For your information, I don’t have a grimoire,” Patri told her. “ But even without one I think I healed his wounds perfectly fine.”

Zera tilted her head in confusion.

“ Why don’t you have a grimoire?” She asked curiously, and watched as William and Patri glanced at one another for a moment before looking back at her.

“ It’s a long story.” They replied in unison, and even though it made her curious, she decided she wouldn’t pry for now.

“ Uh-huh, well, I guess that explains the terrible healing job,” Zera began as she rolled up her sleeves. “ And since you don’t have a grimoire, and I do, I’ll use my healing spell to properly heal your wounds.”

“ With all due respect, Zera,” Patri began with narrowed eyes. “ Light based healing spells are a lot more calming and comforting than Plant based healing spells, so I don’t think it’s necessary for you to intervene.”

Zera blinked at the elf before her own eyes narrowed.

“ Is that so? Well, with all due respect, Patri, Plant based healing spells are a lot more effective than light based ones. Especially when the mage has a grimoire.” She replied as she crossed her arms.

Patri’s eyes widened a bit before he mirrored her actions and crossed his arms.

“ What’s the use in having a grimoire with effective spells if you only have a limited amount of mana to use?” He asked with a raised brow.

“ And what’s the use in having an abundance of mana if you can only manage to do basic spells?” She countered with a smirk.

William sighed and closed his eyes as Patri and Zera argued back and forth; if he wasn’t already exhausted from the Ritual, then the two bickering would have done it for sure.

“ Might I make a suggestion?” He suddenly cut in while raising his hand. “ How about you both heal me? That way I can heal twice as fast?”

Patri and Zera looked at him for a moment, looked at each other, and then looked back at William.

“ No.” They told him in unison, which made him blink in surprise.

“ And may I ask why not?”

“ It’s simple; I don’t like to share!” She told him with a smile even though she cut Patri a sharp look.

“ Finally, you and I agree on something,” Patri said as he cut her a sharp look back.

“ You do realize that he’s my husband to share, not yours, right?” Zera asked pointedly.

William sighed and shook his head again as the two began to bicker again; the pair reminded him of children who refused to share their favorite toy.

Even though they were beginning to make him even more exhausted, he couldn’t help but also be amused by their antics.

Two of his favorite people in the world were getting along, though it wasn’t quite in the way he had hoped.

Eventually, they found a compromise and helped each other to heal the rest of William’s wounds so he could return home to the Golden Dawn where he belonged.

Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

[teenageread]

Review: Grip of the Shadow Plague

Synopsis:

transforms beings of light into creatures of darkness. Seth discovers the problem in its infancy, but as the infectious disease spreads, it becomes clear that the preserve cannot hold out for long.

In dire need of help, the Sorensons question where to turn. The Sphinx has always given sound advice–but is he a traitor? Inside the Quiet Box, Vanessa might have information that could lead to a cure–but can she be trust?

Meanwhile, Kendra and members of the Knights of the Dawn must journey to a distant preserve and retrieve another hidden artifact. Will the Society of the Evening Star recover it first? Will the plague eclipse all light at Fablehaven? Find out in Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague.

Plot:

Not learning his lesson, Seth is determined to complete the trade of gold for batteries, and along with Newel and Doren, they raid the nipsies. Oh Seth, when will you learn! Life at Fablehaven was good, until their parents showed up, wanting to take them home. When they tried to get their parents to see Fablehaven as it truly is, even after drinking the milk, the best they could do was say they were having a great summer and wanted to stay till the end. With the threat of the Sphinx, who may or may not be a traitor, Seth was in for a bigger surprise when Kendra was asked to join The Knights of the Dawn. Leaving Fablehaven with Warren, Kendra went off to join the brotherhood, leaving Seth behind. Unable to stay out of trouble, despite the lectures, all was not well at Fablehaven. It seems as if the prisoner the Sphinx saved left a plague on Fablehaven, turning the creatures of light into the dark. As it spreads fast through Fablehaven, the sanctuary is once again on the brink of collapse as those who they trusted turned evil, and the house itself becomes a death trap. Meanwhile, Kendra is part of a brotherhood, their youngest member ever, and is sent off on a mission to retrieve the second artifact. With Warren trying to find out who the Sphinx is to the Knighthood, Kendra focuses on survival as she hides that she is fairykind, and explores another sanctuary that, unbeknownst to the current caretakers, is also on the brink of collapse. 

Thoughts: 

Brandon Mull has done it again. Expanding more into the Fablehaven world, we get to meet new characters, and new threats, and get double the adventure this time. That’s right, because Mull split Seth and Kendra up, allowing us to see the mission Kendra goes on with the brotherhood, and what is happening to Fablehaven, both at the same time. Mull dives deep into history with this novel compared to others. Bringing up Kendra and Seth’s parents and how they do not believe, Patton Burgess a former Fablehaven caretaker and Lena’s husband, to our two rival groups of the Knights of the Dawn, and the Society of the Evening Star. For character, while Mull introduced us to some great ones like Gavin, they also failed again to develop the ones we got. That’s right, Kendra starts off as cowardly and then becomes brave, and Seth does something stupid and learns his lesson, and uses his bravery to try to fix a mistake. Where this pattern was less present in this novel, with Mull even giving Seth a breakdown by his grandfather on what it means when you disobey rules early on, I still wish we were past the point of even talking about this. Mull does add details into our siblings' powers, with Seth gaining some traction to catch up to Kendra being fairykind, I still feel we are scratching the surface with what Mull has in store for this series. The series plotline is becoming a bit more clear, as our gang has to stop the Sphinx and the Society of the Evening Star, but we still have a long way to go with only two books left. This novel’s plot line went quickly, mostly because we had two plots running parallel with Kendra’s mission and Seth at Fablehaven. However, I felt like Mull really has not used Kendra and Seth as a team, with previous novels having them fighting separate battles, this book only made it more apparent as they square off in two separate locations. Yet Mull does bring them together in the end, so there might be hope that our sibling pair can become the fighting duo Mull wants them to be. Of all the books in the series, so far, this is my favorite due to the amount of action and world-building it does, and the realistic threat that Fablehaven might not survive for the next novel.

Read more reviews: Goodreads

Buy the book: Amazon

[zonaenthusiast]

One Piece Live Action

EPISODE 1: ROMANCE DAWN - review

Here is the first of my reviews on what I liked and didn't like about the first episode of the live action. I have been writing as I watched the episode for the second time, so it is written in chronological order with references to future episodes.

To begin with, I was very happy with Roger's execution scene. I have to admit that, as soon as Garp appeared giving the previous speech, I doubted if it was like that in the manga. I had to look it up and I'm still hesitating, but I couldn't find anything about Garp being present that day. It's a pretty cool addition, it makes a lot of sense: Roger originated the great age of piracy while Garp is a very proud marine who works every day to erradicate it, his face when Roger says his last words is magnificent. And for those who watch the live action without knowing the original story it means nothing, but for those of us who do know what Garp and Roger really are to each other it was great.

From the beginning you start to notice that the characters are slightly different (I think the Luffy in the manga wouldn't know what mutiny means) but Oda was right when he said that there are things that maybe his Luffy wouldn't say, but it looks good because the words are spoken by Iñaki. Luffy for me is the one who behaves the most different from his original version and I'm not sure he convinces me all the time, but I think our Luffy would be very difficult to translate to the screen by a real actor without being unbearable. Luffy's case is more obvious but it will happen with Nami and Sanji as well, their personalities are very intense and for a live action it was necessary to tone them down.

Alvida is wonderful from the first minute, the actress is a 10/10 in all her scenes (Ilia, please call me, I am free on weekends), confident and menacing and sometimes ridiculous. Perfect. Koby more of the same, Morgan Davies has done a great job playing the scared Koby from the beginning. I loved the first scene of Luffy and Koby together.

What I didn't like so much is the battle against Alvida, the action is one of the weakest points of the series and they have been smart to reduce it just to the necessary because most of them are just barely good enough.

However, one of my favorite things about the live action is how they've connected the characters from the different arcs, especially the villains, it gives it a greater scale that in the manga we didn't see until much later. In the Marineford saga especially, we started to see that many characters know each other because of x or y, because they have a common past, because they did business together, whatever. I thought it was smart to add something like that already. In this chapter, for example, we have Morgan mentioning that he was the one who arrested Kuro.

I say this because adding the fun fact that Zoro killed the previous Mr 7, something that in the manga is only mentioned in passing a whole saga later and has no importance and using it to justify his presence in Shells Town, is brilliant to me. The my favorite is number 1 thing? Foreshadowing at its best if we have a second season.

I'm also of the opinion that while Luffy has the worst action scenes because in the end seeing the fruit is weird at times, Zoro has the best ones. Fellow Zoro stans, I don't know if you feel the same way I do but they are a delight to watch for me. Mackenyu, you are glorious.

Shanks... I liked him but my god, the hair. What is that, is that a wig? is that his hair with a bad dye? I don't know but it looks terrible, the whole wig thing in live action is a complaint I have. The series has opted for an artificial look on purpose and you can tell, similar to the series A Series of Unfortunate Events (and it was a good idea because the gyojins probably would not have worked otherwise), but the hair department doesn't convince me. Also, Makino seemed a bit weird to me, if she hadn't been characterized at the beginning I wouldn't have thought it was her, but then she has a scene with Luffy (small Luffy, you did great too!) in which I did appreciate her personality better.

Another thing about this live action… is that it's not subtle at all, Oda is a master of show don't tell and the difference starts to show soon. Luffy doesn't go around asking people what their dreams are in the manga (he does it only in very few occasions) and I think they could have worked on the script a little more to see how Luffy, without asking directly, inspires people to tell him those things.

We move on to the bar, the moment when Luffy, Zoro and Nami see each other for the first time (kind of, because Luffy and Nami notice Zoro but he doesn't notice them and Luffy and Nami don't seem to notice each other either). Very well done too, I loved it and it's one of my favorite scenes in the whole live action. Luffy eating with Coby, Zoro picking a fight (my god, he is FINE) and Nami taking advantage of the chaos to get what she needs. The stuff with Zoro, Rika, Helmeppo and the rice balls, even if it's different, makes me infinitely happy that it was kept because it's important to understand that Zoro is much less of a dick than he appears to be.

Luffy, tell Sanji about the rice balls, this fandom is begging you.

I also found it curious that they have chosen to insist a lot on Zoro being a bounty hunter, we see Zoro emphasizing several times throughout the live action on the money they provide him, and it's striking because it's not like that at all in the manga. It gives him less of a sucker vibe and that makes me a little sad because I really like that Zoro became a bounty hunter because he needed to eat and he didn't know how to get back to his village. I like my men dumb as a rock. I assume they did it that way because they wanted to tell us what he is but what he doesn't want to be, just like it happened with Coby and it's going to happen with all the mugiwara, so Luffy can ask him the question about what his real goal is.

Anywat, both the first time Luffy and Zoro talk and Luffy and Nami talk inside the navy base are perfect, you can see the differences in their personalities from the first moment. I will always defend that meeting Luffy changes the lives of all the mugiwaras but the most obvious changes are in Zoro and Nami (maybe Robin), they owe Luffy their literal personalities.

I think Zoro breaking into Helmeppo's room while the latter is naked and acting cool with the Wado Ichimonji is cinema, I'm glad they included it. The haircut was a great touch.

Luffy and Nami's shenanigans inside the navy base, from the safe robbery to the fight in the courtyard where they are joined by Zoro... I really like that. The part where Zoro is about to leave but decides to turn around and fight them fits his personality from the beginning very well but it's actually pretty Nami coded too, she has a scene like that in Orange Town in the manga where she almost leaves but in the end feels bad for leaving them to their fate and comes back. Zoro and Nami are very similar and this live action highlights it a lot, we'll see that (episode 5, my beloved).

The battle against Morgan is short and concise, and I repeat: I think they did very well not to drag the action out longer than necessary. The part of Zoro carrying the safe and leaving Nami speechless before such a display of brute force I personally liked it a lot, it's a clear reference to the scene of Luffy and the cage in Orange Town in the manga.

The Shells Town escape also is a great idea. I already wrote a post about why I don't agree at all that Zoro's loyalty to Luffy is immediate and Nami certainly isn't loyal from the start. That they don't say yes to Luffy, but that it's more of a we have to get out of here and right now these other two people are the only allies I have works very well with them because it's exactly how they started in the manga as well.

To finish with this first review, I want to mention a last point in favor of the live action: increasing Garp's presence in the saga and making him the big antagonist present in all the arcs, I will go deeper into this in other chapters. It's very important to see how his relationship with Koby develops (and to think that this was written before the recent events in the manga, good lord).

And Buggy has the best first appearance of all. My king.

ko-fi

[telomeke]

5 Songs Tag - QL Shows Edition

I was tagged by @recentadultburnout and am excited to play along; thanks for tagging me! 🥰

Before going further, I should clarify that @colourme-feral also tagged me on a different musical tag game, and I was just about to respond to that when this one came in. So am combining my responses for that one with this one as well; hope y'all don't mind! 😚💖

Credit to @troubled-mind for starting this off with their post linked here. 😍

Here are the rules:

When you get this, list 5 songs from the Asian QL shows that you actually listen to. 🎶They do not have to be custom-made for the series. 🎶Non-western tracks only. Let's support Asian music and languages! 🎶Feel free to tag anyone who may be interested in participating. 🎶Add #5qls tag to your post for others to find the new favourites!

But I'm going to bend the rules a bit because I can't stick with just five. Here are my choices (extra details for the top five, and the more unusual ones listed after):

1. 遠い国/Tooi kuni sung by Ueno Daiki (上野大樹) – the closing theme to Bokura no Shokutaku (Our Dining Table)

This gently lilting song perfectly captures the essence of the hesitant, winsome waltz between Yutaka and Minoru as they orbit ever-closer to each other around radiant little Tane-kun in this heartwarming gem of a series. I can't listen to it without the tears welling up, sentimental fool that I am. The laidback time-signature (a somewhat unusual choice) and hauntingly plaintive key changes really set this one apart. If you'd like a glimpse into the meaning of the lyrics, @isaksbestpillow has a post linked here that translates them into English – the lines are poetically indirect and yet still find some way to pluck at your heartstrings in new and unexpected ways, just like the show itself.

Although the tempo is different, I find this song reminds me so much of the theme to the 70s family series The Waltons, with its old-timey 3-4 (or is it 6-8?) vibes of nostalgia and home truths being shared over steaming bowls of homecooked goodness (also calling to mind Yutaka and Minoru's meaningful exchanges during their many simple but oh-so-delicious meals together).

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2. เพลงที่เพิ่งเขียนจบ (Our Song) sung by Nanon Korapat – PatPran's theme in Bad Buddy Series

Nanon isn't one I would call a gifted singer, but his schoolboy tenor and unembellished vocal delivery suit the simple message of this piece really well. It's an unassuming little love song that sweetly encapsulates Bad Buddy's Episode 11 storyline and the theme of living the truth of your love (and by extension that of your identity too) without any need for great flourishes or grandiosity to glamorize the picture; you and your truth are enough, no matter what you may think or what others may tell you. (More write-up linked here.) 💖

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3. พรุ่งนี้ (Tomorrow) sung by Ford Arun – the closing theme for Moonlight Chicken

A quiet, hope-filled ballad that softly reminds us (as Moonlight Chicken did) how life will always be fraught with struggle, disappointment, sadness, bereavement and mistakes – and despite it all, the dawning of each new day is also an opportunity to cast off the burdens placed on us yesterday and reshape the present and the future in any way that we wish. We are more than just the sum of our past missteps, and we can find our way to a life of fulfilment when we move forward beyond the shadows of our immediate despair. Ford's rendition, set against an end-of-year Christmas backdrop, tenderly nudges us with the message that whatever it is (within reason) that we seek – happiness, purpose, love – the promise of it is wrapped up in the days to come, and is always ours to take and make real.

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4. รักติดไซเรน (Love Siren) sung by Ice Paris and Pearwah Nichaphat – from My Ambulance

My Ambulance isn't strictly a QL but it has a BL side couple played by Billkin and PP Krit, so I'm counting this one in (also because it's a relentlessly feel-good and catchy confection, everything you want in a breezy pop song). Everyone's really pretty, and you can spot some familiar faces dancing back-up. I've watched this so many times I immediately recognized the filming location when it popped up in Our Skyy 2 x A Tale of Thousand Stars and Be My Favorite. (Don't understand the unnecessary toilet break at timestamp 3.27 though. 🤷‍♂️)

Almost forgot to add the multilingual version – if you've not seen this before, get ready to have your mind boggled at the different languages they sing in, and maybe watch out for your own to make an appearance: 👀😍

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5. ไหล่เธอ (You’ve Got Ma Back) sung by Fourth Nattawat, Ford Arun, Satang Kittiphop and Winny Thanawin – from My School President

A cheery teen anthem to togetherness and the support of friendships, very much like My School President itself. You can't help smiling and singing along because you know it's all about positivity and living worry-free when those around you care and protect you too.

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And for the also-rans – these are not in any way inferior (some are even arguably superior musically), but they're not up above simply because they don't have as heavy a rotation on my playlist (and I'm listing them here to spread awareness): 🤩

ไม่ยอม (Be Mine) from TharnType, the Kaownah version (very strong melodically, and this performance converted me into a fan of Kaownah who's excellent here; the song, singer and actor deserve to be associated with a better series).

รักคุณยิ่งกว่าใคร (I Love You More Than Anyone), from Cutie Pie 2 You, sung by NuNew Chawarin (hopelessly, somewhat ironically and unapologetically cheesy, this paean to the pageantry of Thai country music or luk thung is so joyful I can't help loving every jangly, bedazzled melisma; I love it as much as the Build Jakapan cover and the Got Jakrapun original – all so addictive, like too‑sweet candy).

คนที่เสียใจคงไม่ใช่เธอ (The One Who Will Be Sorry Is Probably Not You) – theme from Bad Romance The Series (amazingly this works either as the hard-driving original replete with wailing guitars and screamy rock-god vocals by Pete Pitipong, or the soft ballad cover by Tul Pakorn – both have a grip on my heart).

The theme to KinnPorsche by Slot Machine – this is like the theme to Bad Romance but with no brakes at all, racing to the cliff edge and you don't care; with soaring, almost operatic vocals and a relentlessly pounding rhythm that shifts unsettlingly offbeat midway, the Thai original (เพียงไว้ใจ/Just Trust) is already so many kinds of amazing, but the English version (appropriately titled Freefall) is surprisingly not only more than credible, it also screams primally with lyrics that embody the full-blooded, breathless, all-stakes-committed rush of KinnPorsche's action sequences and darker dramatic moments (when the series wasn't unfortunately tripping over its own shoelaces or galumphing about in a clown car).

นิทานพันดาว (Theme to A Tale of Thousand Stars) – but it's the Torfun version sung by Aye Sarunchana that's won me over. 💖

ฟัง (Listen) from My School President, sung by Lookwa Pijika, Fourth Nattawat, Ford Arun, Satang Kittiphop and Winny Thanawin – you can give this treatise on love so many readings, but my favorite is when it incarnates the love that Mrs. Ratchanee has for her little Gun of a son; the original by Sin Tosaporn Achawanuntakul (featuring โอม Cocktail) isn't half bad either, with the music video also dallying with LGBTQ+ themes, but Winny absolutely does a better job of the bridge in the MSP cover.

คิด(แต่ไม่)ถึง [Same Page?] by Tilly Birds – not too sure this counts as a song from the world of QL because it was only in the original, not-quite-canon Bad Buddy trailer but not in the series itself (except for the one line Pat sings on the terrace of his apartment during his Ep.12 drinking game with Pran); still I'm including it because it's an aural experience like no other, starting out hollow, off-kilter and dissonant before its various polyphonies interweave into a delightfully solid pop song.

Inwza by Panpan Yeeyee – once again, not sure this counts as a song from QL but the made-up word Inwza (not so much the song itself) was mentioned as part of Pat's chat ID in Bad Buddy Ep.1 (significance explained here); nonetheless looking up the word got me connected to this wistful little synth-heavy indie pop number that makes for a refreshingly quirky listen.

เพื่อนเล่น ไม่เล่นเพื่อน (Just Being Friendly) – the My School President version by Fourth Nattawat, Ford Arun and Satang Kittiphop is just as good as (and maybe even slightly better than?) the original by Tilly Birds featuring Milli, but this flawless mashup of the MSP version with NuNew's is also amazing and I rotate between all three. No favorites here; all so boppy and guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. 😍

เลี้ยงส่ง (Farewell Party) by So Cool – this is what Pran references during Bad Buddy's Ep.12 drinking game as the first song he learnt the chords to; totally old-school (dates from 2005) and makes me think of a pre-teen Pran struggling to learn guitar, practising the chords on a song that was already a Thai rock classic at the time.

Stand by หล่อ by New Country – this wasn't in any QL as far as I can tell but the MSP boys performed it in their Prom Night concert and Bas Asavapatr also confirmed having danced to it during one of the Be On Cloud games, so I'm including it because it's so infernally catchy, has roots in Thai luk thung, and the dance video is really SHINee-slick.

Tagging @pandasmagorica, @isaksbestpillow, @colourme-feral, @dudeyuri, @ranchthoughts...

...@chickenstrangers, @lurkingteapot, @airenyah, @dribs-and-drabbles and anyone else who wants to play along. Apologies if you've already been tagged!

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[imustbenuts]

Is it possible that dragon degradation is a form of corruption by kegare? From a cultural perspective. Do you think that's basically what's happening? It feels like a lot of the ones who end up degenerating are... Almost stagnant? Basically the spiritual equivalent of letting the dishes pile up until the mold overtakes the proverbial sink.

From a culture + religion informed perspective I think... Yes, at least for the earlier FE games. There's a clear line here somewhere I'll try to explain in a bit.

It helps to think of kegare as decay, rot, a force of nature. In normal amounts it functions normally, but in excess it wreaks havoc on creatures and the environment. Kinda like excess pollution of methane or carbon dioxide etc. You are completely right in thinking of it as stagnation, which is a milder form of decay in taoism's yin yang thing.

I think in the earlier FEs, the dragons came into an environment that had higher than normal kegare baseline and refused to pass on, thereby causing an excess accumulation of kegare. Add on some wars and antags doing antag stuff and it just got worse. So yes, a form of degradation.

You can also find a small buddhist aspect here where the refusal to let go causes more suffering.

But, somewhere along the way, I think with possibly radiant dawn, this changed.

See, the shitty implications about kegare and a chunk of Shinto is that it's actually rooted in old japanese fascist ideology. Revere the emperor, expel the barbarians.　尊王攘夷. Like with many, many fascist ideologies, it used Shinto to propel the idea whilst splitting and suppressing Buddhism (bc its extremely difficult to be used in that way for their case). And so unwanted, undesirable, ugly things are kegare'd, and only clean, desirable aspects can be allowed to remain in a society. If a person is born wrong, they are kegare'd and should be avoided like the plague. Oh, undertakers, they deal with the dead so avoid. Foreigners, kegare'd.

When applied to FE though, we can end up on a slippery slope writing of, all who have degraded are unwanted and should immediately be eliminated. A step further with possible sickness imagery of degraded dragons, gods, religion, people, even nations aaaand uh.... Yeah. We don't want that. You really don't want this in Fire Emblem. Nonono NO.

Anyway, at some point the kegare subtext became more of something that's a tool, a magic force which isn't inherently bad, per se. It moved on from being a corruptible force to. Just a force. The writing slowly stops treating war as a generator of kegare, but more as a shitty thing that happens because of idiots being idiots and causes more pain. (I will note that Blazing Blade treats war as a kegare generator for what it's worth still btw.)

Radiant series seems to say fuck this and went full geopolitics first. Even the big bad here isn't a degraded dragon but a broken logic'd god. This is why I think this entry is the biggest turning point. Though I'll admit I'm really not super into FE so the games I fully understand are awakening onwards, again sorry for this incomplete sounding analysis.

In Awakening, I remember some joke zombies/risen written to be actually friendly in a side dlc content. In Fates, they kinda went back to the kegare thing but are really leaning in on the Buddhism aspect as a crutch (see Anankos and his attachment to Cadros.).

Engage even just said "nuts to that, old series", and confirmed Fell Dragons aren't so much corrupted degraded dragons as just, more depressed creatures who needs a helping hand. Buddhism here is on full blast with the interdependence theming now.

This is why there isn't dragon depredation in the same way the old FEs were handling it. It's more live too long and without rest or letting go and it's bad for the mental health now.

So uh yeah hope that answers more than what u asked lmao

[cinnamonest]

Spooky Season Game Recs 🎃

Since it is That Day, I put together a quick recommendation list for games that I thought might be appreciated for fun and for anyone who might want to use it.

Here is a generalized list of games you should play! I'm including some horror-themed, some that just have gratuitous violence, some just have creepy vibes, some that are mild but have Halloween themes, etc. A lot of these are very popular, and likely some of you will have already played/heard of them all, but this is just for anyone who hasn't. Feel free to add to this!

Quick note: unfortunately, I am in the small percentage of people who get severe migraines and nausea from playing first-person perspective games (but not third-person perspective ones). As such, there's a lot of horror games that I can't really play, and there's only one first person game I've played here. I'll include a section for some renowned games that I haven't played, but are well-received.

I’m giving one link, but for some of these it’s available on multiple platforms, I’m just linking steam if available since it’s what most people might have. I played most of these on PS4.

Also warnings for all of these. Some have heavy violence, a few have references to sexual assault, in one you murder a toddler. Etc. Be warned.

Happy Halloween 😊

Console/Professional/3D Games:

Until Dawn

This is one of my favorites, it is a choices-matter game with multiple endings, the endings being determined based on who lives and who dies. It's very suspenseful, they did a great job at crafting the right atmosphere for the game. Although in my opinion (and apparently the popular opinion) several characters were not very likeable. I did really like Josh, though. Best boy.

It's really neat in that your choices don't just effect the ending, but your choices can branch you off into a different path entirely, changing future events themselves, working more like a flowchart than a "Choice one gets ending A, choice two gets ending B" sort of thing.

It is a PS4 exclusive. 

(Link)

Inside

An eerie game with no dialogue and a really creepy atmosphere. I finished it in one Saturday. It's one of those games that's more of an "experience" than a game (kind of like Journey). This was one of those games where I kept seeing it for years and thinking like "huh, I should play that one day," then one day it was on sale on the PS Store so I finally did and I'm very very glad I did.

(Link)

Friday the 13th

Basically you play in locations across the movie franchise. You can play as a victim and try to hide, or as Jason Voorhees and try to hunt down victims. There’s multiplayer and single player. It’s basically a hide and seek with someone trying to kill you.

(Link)

Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan/Little Hope

These are made by the same developers as Until Dawn. They're not sequels, as they have different stories and a new cast of characters (save for the overarching narrator-esque figure, think Igor from the Persona series).

Personally (and according to most reviews/professional critics), I think these fell a bit short of Until Dawn's legacy, but they're still pretty neat. They utilize the same mechanics, just with a new story. Also that intro rendition of O Death is a banger.

There’s also 2 more after these but I haven’t played them.

Unlike it’s predecessor, this one is available on multiple platforms. (Link)

Resident Evil Series

This is a horror game staple and I'm sure most people are familiar with it, but I'd like to note that it's extra appreciated for other people who have motion sickness/migraines, as several games are in third person (7 isn’t I think?)! There's a pretty expansive list to choose from, but (here is a comprehensive ranking list).

Silent Hill Series

Another staple for the horror genre and the origin of the iconic Pyramid Head, unfortunately if you don't have a gaming PC or a PS2 to dust off or pay for PS Now, right now it is unavailable -- however, that is set to change, as just recently a PS5 remake was announced, although unfortunately it looks like it might be PS5 only and not PS4. The first three games are generally regarded as the best, but I would not recommend Downpour, it feels very slow and kind of dull by comparison in my experience. 

(Announcement)

Zero Escape Series

This is iffy to include here, but it has a lot of very dark themes and atmosphere so I think it fits. It's basically "escape rooms: the game," wherein you have to solve a lot of puzzles to progress. This series was an inspiration for Danganronpa, but the critical difference is that while DR has a brightly-colored punkish aesthetic and over-the-top quirky, eccentric, often lighthearted elements/characters to offset the dark depressing nature of a game about murder, Zero Escape doesn't have that, so it's a lot more bleak and heavy.

 (Steam page for ZTD)

The Wolf Among Us

A Telltale game with a really nice art style and memorable characters. It's a murder mystery and a "choices matter" type of game. I'm including it here because it's very gritty and violent at times, and kind of has like film noir vibes. Also if you like older men you'll probably like the main character.

(Link)

Bendy and the Ink Machine

I have no doubt you're all probably already aware of this one, but I tolerated feeling like someone was hammering my head with a marble chisel for this game (I played it in 10-minute intervals and took breaks between but nonetheless) so I'm mentioning it so my suffering is not in vain.

The stylized nature of the graphics gives it a very quirky, unique vibe. It's somewhat exploration-ish with a plot. The main monster is also a really unique choice.

(Link)

RPG Maker Games 

Unless otherwise noted, you can find these (here on VGPerson). The ones on VGPerson and most of the ones on this list in general are free.

Ib

A classic of the genre. You are a little girl at an art museum who falls into one of the paintings and enters another realm. You meet two friends (one is a "friend") who try to help you get back home (or not). 

The Witch's House

Also a classic of the genre. You are a girl looking to reach the top of the witch's mansion for... reasons. There's a really well-executed plot twist. A cat is there. What more can you want.

Yume Nikki

The final entry here of the iconic genre-defining trio. There is no real plot, I don't think there's even any dialogue if I recall correctly. It's largely just a matter of exploring the world around you. It's very trippy and relies on aesthetic, it's not everyone's thing, but I found it pretty calming actually. If you collect all the effects, you reach an ending. 

(Free on steam)

Pocket Mirror

This is one of those games where you play it and then are really surprised to learn it's not more popular than it is. I highly recommend it. It's somewhat Alice in Wonderland-esque, in the sense that you are a young girl traveling through an odd land trying to go home, and meet interesting (and sometimes dangerous) characters along the way. One of the biggest selling points for this is the music, which is (except for a few) original and not borrowed from free use websites. The art and game as a whole is GORGEOUS visually. Developer is Astral Shift.

(Link)

End Roll

You are a 14-year-old boy who also happens to be a murderer. You are being put through a rehabilitation project that will cause you to have vivid dreams, which are very pleasant and welcoming... at first. The dreams are intended to eventually induce remorse in the subject, which, in this boy's case, means he has to relive some of the things he has done.

Corpse Party

Technically, the original was 1996, but pretty much any version you can get now is a remake with improved graphics. That being said, there are several different versions with different graphics.

Synopsis is a group of students become trapped in their school by supernatural means and have to find a way out. Gratuitous death and vengeful ghost hijinks ensues. This one is paid. You can purchase an old PSP copy as well. There's an anime based on the game that is significantly more graphic. There's also a lot of games after the original, but I've only played the original (or at least the remake of the original) so I can only speak for that.

I played (this version) a few years back, but to my knowledge (this version) is the most recent remake.

OFF

This is a personal favorite. You are a man on a mission to purify your (very bizarre) world, and defeat an evil queen. This is one of the best RPGMaker games in my opinion. The music is great, the characters are memorable, and the plot twist is very well-executed. It does a really good job of slowly becoming more and more unnerving to the point that by the time you reach the end, you know something isn't right regarding your understanding of things, but need to progress to find out exactly what. The way it utilizes unreliable narrator/limited perspective is very well-done. Also obligatory Zacharie my beloved.

(Free official download)

Hello Charlotte

This is a series of several games about a girl named Charlotte. Some are paid and some are free. The art style is really neat, and it has that constantly mildly unnerving vibe that I really like. I believe the first one is free and the rest are paid.

(Link)

Omori

Also really well-known already but I wanted to include it, this is more of a tear-jerker than a horror game, but there are some unsettling moments/imagery. The art style is really cute, and the characters are very lovable. It does a great job of setting up an atmosphere/story that leaves you just perfectly in the middle of your understanding, where you sort of know what's going on but makes you desperate to know more and fully understand what's happening.

(Link)

Pre-2000 

Don't expect much from these in terms of graphics/mechanics, but they're fun nonetheless. 

Monster Party

This is a 1989 game. It's Halloween themed (ish?) and really cute. Unless you have an NES on hand, you'll need an NES emulator and ROM to play it. Retroarch is a well-known emulator for all sorts of vintage games.

(Retroarch)

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

This is a point-and-click from 1994. Personally I have to include this as it's one of my absolute favorite games/stories of all time. It is based on a renowned short story. Personally its selling point for me is that it has one of my favorite fictional antagonists of all time. The author of the original story voices AM in the game, too! I could ramble on about how much I love this work for literal hours but I'll spare you all that. I recommend reading the original story as well.

Synopsis: A supercomputer hellbent on satisfying his hatred for humanity has destroyed the world, leaving behind five humans who he spends eternity torturing. The five humans, each desperate to die and finally be rid of their tormentor, must go through stages designed to be personal hells for each of them to hope to achieve that.

(Steam page) 

Short Indie Games 

These are basically short interactives meant to be unnerving and unsettling, which they do well. Time consumption ranges from anywhere from two minutes to maybe half an hour.  A lot of them are made by independent creators so it's good to support them! All of these can be found on itch.io’s  horror tag. In general, this whole page is full of good ones, so I’m just listing a few I found particularly neat.

Next Door

A short browser game based on a Junji Ito story. 

(Link)

(Don't) Open Your Eyes

A short Renpy game. It has voice acting, which is like 99% of what makes it so unnerving. Basically, the title is the summary.

(Link)

Please Answer Carefully

I LOVED this one, it's stalker-themed. Basically a short survey from someone who misses you and wants you to forgive them :)

(Link)

Discover My Body + Water Womb World

Body horror based, point and click narrative. Both are made by the same person. The graphics style is really unique. I like this creator's portrayal of the characters, there's a common theme of a sort of religious fervor that blinds them to reason and drives them to insanity. 

(Discover my Body)

(Water Womb World)

Assessment Examination

Very short, the images can be unnerving/uncanny if that bothers you.

(Link)

Honorable mentions: 

First-person gamesI haven't played these; they're pretty well-renowned, though, and while unfortunately I am not able to enjoy them, you very well may, so they are worth checking out if you can! 

Outlast

Layers of Fear

SOMA

Alien: Isolation

Amnesia: the Dark Descent

Blair Witch

[explosionshark]

Okay so it’s been a while, I haven’t found the time to watch episodes lately so this truly is the irregular Buffy update (my notes are really gonna pay off here its been like two weeks since I’ve seen the most recent of these episodes). So first of all I was gonna say yeah Series 5 it does feel like a bit of a reset (even beyond suddenly Dawn), but like really pretty much every one so far except for S2 into S3 felt like a bit of a reset so should I really be surprised?

So Buffy vs Dracula, loved this ep. I loved everyone being so excited to meet the actual Dracula, he’s so fun, Anya having history with him, Xander, Riley and Tara all being jealous of him. Also like its a pretty straightforward set up on what everyone wants to accomplish over the next batch of episodes which doesn’t normally happen like this in the show? Buffy wanting to learn about the deep Slayer lore, Giles and Xander wanting to exit their flop era, Riley being a bit jealous and still wanting to be helpful but in a bit over his head, Willow wants more magic? I guess? Good for her she didn’t actually have a moment to be like this is my goal going forwards. I also have in my notes here RIP Gwendolyn Post from the OP. Also ‘RIP Dracula what a legend’ followed immediately by ‘RIP Dracula?’ So more RIPs than usual.

Real Me, also real good, loved the diary framing device with a show that now has eight (?) main characters I think are in the OP now its a real economical and effective way of getting all these new dynamics they need with Dawn, as someone who has definitely always been there. Really enjoy Harmony ending up top dog vampire by virtue of attrition. There’s something real neat about that conflict between Buffy and Dawn over Dawn being able to have had a normal childhood and Buffy having had to spend hers being the Slayer considering Dawn has not really had said childhood.

Something I enjoyed from my notes 'Dawn has good taste, likes Willow and Tara' followed later on by 'Dawn has bad taste, dislikes Anya'. But I do enjoy Dawn I think she’s a real good addition to the cast particularly in the fun new dynamics it gives her with Buffy but I think it’s a pretty good dynamic with everyone it really adds a lot. They laid it on a bit thick that she might be malevolent so I’m going with she’s not evil and that's all smokescreen.

The Replacement, I thought it was pretty good Xander episode, fun twist lotta fun in general. He finally manages to start crawling out of the loser allegations, good for him and beats his Restless nightmare which like great for him he gets straight out that basement nobody else has that kind of efficiency to beat their nightmare in just three episodes. I don’t really have too much to say about it but I enjoyed it. Oh yeah I guess it does say something about Xander’s portrayal that him with only his negative qualities reads kinda perfectly as Xander and him with only his positive qualities reads as a demon who’s taken over his life. Oh yeah and they mention Anya has her own place? I guess I just assumed she's been crashing with Xander the whole tiem. Where does she live? Does she have a job to pay for it? Why do they seem to exclusively hang out in Xander's basement? It raises a few questions.

So Out of My Mind, like I’m still not like the biggest fan of Riley but I do appreciate the work done in this episode to draw parallels between him and Spike considering it looks we’re finally going in the Spike/Buffy direction, I’ve enjoyed Buffy/Angel and Buffy/Faith so far so we’ll see how the third of her big ships goes for me later. But anyway I thought this was actually a pretty neat follow up to his stuff with the Initiative. My favourite comparison between Spike and Riley here was the big one with Riley’s goal in this episode is to not have life saving surgery from the government doctor so that he can remain strong and be part of Buffy’s life and his fear of what they’ll put in there like the chip that Spike is desperate to get out with life risking surgery so that he can become strong again (and fight Buffy). Also like, personally I don’t really buy the Riley relationship being that crucial to Buffy but I do appreciate the acting in that scene where she talks about how important he is to her, also congrats to Riley for pulling that I’m deciding we’re breaking up now to avoid later complications like Angel did. Also like I want to take this moment to formally apologise to Joyce, back in Lover’s Walk I’d made a note about how Joyce talks about how Buffy likes History when that’s actually one of the subjects she’s really bad at as a sign of Joyce not knowing as much as she should about Buffy, but this episode proves she knows her better than I do because Buffy and Willow have their scholarly debate over History in this episode she is actually good there.

Also enjoy that the four episodes all so far have a broadly similar underlying theme of people not being as they should be that feels like it ties in with the weirdness of Dawn being there; Buffy vs Dracula for Buffy, with her being more forced towards the Slayer balance of her life following her dream adventures with the First Slayer. Real Me for Dawn obviously, The Replacement for Xander with the premise of the episode feeling like its gonna be broadly similar to the Dawn situation with him being replaced, Out of my Mind for Riley acting out of sorts with his Initiative experiment side effects.

Anyway Angel’s alright, I like the idea of this Darla plot thread going forwards, it’s a nice reversal from S1’s overarching plot of Angel needing to build human connection for S2 to be about the consequences of his vampiric connections, shout out to Judgement for having a pregnancy storyline that isn’t Expecting. Great to see Lorne’s introduction, is it a bit convenient to have both Cordelia’s visions to start plots and his karaoke to solve them? Perhaps, but Angel doing karaoke is great so I can forgive it. I like the usage of Angel effectively killing himself with that random demon who was acting as the girl’s protector to pull the rug out form under the team who were riding high coming in from S1. Also surprise Faithwatch, was not expecting her to make an appearance until way later but it was a nice usage of her for an additional perspective on the road to redemption with Angel messing up this episode as well.

So like I dunno if its sacrilege or something, but I gotta be honest 2x02 did not grab me at all, there’s some decent stuff in the second half but David Boreanaz had to pretty much carry this entire episode on his shoulders and I think he does good work with people around him but I don’t think he succeeded here to do the majority of this episode solo. And when I looked up on my phone to see what the popular opinion on this episode was (which I don't usually do especially mid ep but as I said I was very not grabbed) all I found were threads about how this was the best episode of Angel, the moment people fell in love with the series, the episode that marked AtS as better than BtVS. So yeah unpopular opinion I guess but I wasn’t a fan. Like I say there was some decent stuff, like seeing the interim between freshly souled Angel and eating rats in the alleys Angel, the Angel lynching scene and the climax were pretty strong but it just did not grab me.

And First Impressions, I like a lot of stuff in this episode, I like the backslide from being connected to the world that Darla is causing to Angel, I like having a Cordelia and Gunn focussed episode with him being promoted to main cast. But the idea of Cordelia and Gunn’s plot being that she needs to fix him isn’t great, y'know? I do like the mirroring it has with Angel though that both of them are too focussed on the past, with Gunn pushing himself too hard and Angel becoming overly sedate in withdrawing into it.

But yeah having a good time, looking forward to watching some more especially Buffy, hopefully it doesn’t take me like a month to watch a few more episodes.

you did send these a while ago, but reading them now is REALLY making me nostalgic for s5 buffy. i am still only in s6 of my rewatch but it has been. difficult. a season of big highs and lows and a lot of little things in between that kinda put me off. but we persevere! personally, my biggest motivator is 1) knowing i'm so near the end of the series 2) knowing once i do this i can finally let myself read all those s6 AUs i've been hoarding.

mostly just posting in appreciation of your commentary per usual but i especially enjoy what you highlighted about dawn. the way she represents so much of what buffy wants but couldn't have. dawn getting babied by joyce, really being a kid. having everyone look out for her. buffy's jealousy of that is deeply humanizing and ALSO goes to highlight how young she still is. siblings have a way of bringing the kid out in us, i think, now matter how far away from your childhood you feel.

i love dawn, i think her introduction is genuinely brilliant. i came to the show after it had already ended, so i can't imagine how insane it must have felt to watch that as it aired.

[knightotoc]

I found all the Asimovs on audiobook originally, but I've been slowly collecting the physical books at thrift stores. I prefer the weird old covers to the plain modern ones you can get at B&N, and these old versions often have interesting ads for more books at the end or funny dedications at the front. I half-love and half-hate how mismatched they are, but the excitement of finding a new one outweighs my other feelings.

Prelude: a cracked-binding October 1991 Bantam reissue, with a cheesy cover by Will Cormier of an Edward-Norton-looking Hari Seldon checking into a fabulous pink Trantorian hotel. There is an ad in the middle for a collector's edition of the original Foundation novel with the awesome Michael Whelan cover + a copy of the new and "exclusive" short story Cal (I've read it, it rules, though it's a bit of a clip show). In the back, there is an ad for the upcoming novel Forward the Foundation (the best one but not part of my collection yet), TWO author bios and an adorable author photo. Asimov would die shortly after, in April 1992 :(

Foundation: a 1985 reprint by British publisher Panther Books, with a stunning wraparound cover by Tim White of the Foundation's lonely settlement on Terminus. There is an order form in the back for dozens of classic sci-fi books by multiple authors, with prices marked in pounds. I wonder how this European book crossed the pond to end up at a used book store in California? I'm glad it did, or I never would have heard of Tim White.

Second Foundation: a 1987 12th printing by Del Rey, with the iconic Michael Whelan cover of Arkady Darrel my beloved standing among the ruins of Trantor. This is my favorite cover of them all🥰 There is a long-ish and funny intro by Asimov about this series' complicated publication history, and an ad in the back for the original Foundation trilogy + the first spinoff, Foundation's Edge.

Foundation's Edge: a first-edition 1982 hardback by Doubleday. It is missing the dust jacket, which isn't a huge loss since, according to Google images, it's not that interesting. It does have a funny dedication.

Robots of Dawn: a "Book Club Edition" 1983 hardback by Doubleday. It still has the dust jacket, designed by Kiyoshi Kanai; the cover isn't that special but the jacket does have another great author photo inside. There is also some water damage on the last pages (probably from some Giskard x Daneel fan's tears).

Complete Robot: a "Book Club Edition" 1982 hardback by Doubleday. The wraparound robot-arm dust jacket by Kiyoshi Kanai is simple but cool as hell, and features a great big author photo that fills the whole back cover☺️ There is also a lovely "Last Word" that makes me tear up a bit.

Stars, Like Dust: a 1983 hardback "Book Club Edition" reprint by Doubleday. The dust jacket features nice wraparound art by Joe Bergeron. In the afterword, Asimov apologizes for the outdated science of his fictional lifeless world's atmospheric composition, since the book was first published in 1950. He doesn't apologize here for the stupid US Constitution subplot that his editor forced him to add, though I know from other sources that he really hated that thing.

Gods Themselves: a cracked-binding paperback by Fawcett Crest, with no date given besides the 1972 copyright. The cover art is absolutely fantastic and bananas; I think it depicts the 3 gender roles of the aliens' marriage, and the 2 worlds colliding. The book doesn't credit the artist, but ISFDB online identifies him as Charles Moll. Thanks Charles Moll👏👏👏

[the-owl-tree]

Laurel?

Laurel: If you could write the books, what changes would you make?

make the erins write a series bible

major overhauls would include getting rid of the tribe and their connections to the clans, some name changes, and just making some of the shitty things in the books more intentional to the worldbuilding

as more specific arc changes... (i ended up rambling more than i thought i would)

dawn of the clans i think would be the most changed since i already have a mini rewrite in my head for it lol change gray and clear sky's initial group to a cluster of city cats living in a rundown and somewhat abandoned area of town. Give Lion's Roar, Dove's Wing, and Jay's Wing bigger roles because why would you not do that in the first place. Have One-Eye and his gang be the initial threat that brings the group together and then have Clear Sky's desire for borders begin to tear them apart with the big gathering battle being the sixth book instead of the third. Also less fridging because holy shit this arc sucks

the prophecies begin would remain mostly the same howeveeeerrr make redtail firepaw's mentor OR give him more screentime before his death ooorr change him to someone who gets screentime in tpb or bluestar's prophecy, change tigerclaw to be snowfur's son, and change tigerclan to the final boss with bloodclan as the allies

the new prophecy would also stay the same, just have the cats actually bond during the journey and don't kill off feathertail. i'd make hawkleaf a thing instead of crowleaf for the sake of drama, have graystripe be written as a pretty shit deputy to add to brambleclaw's desire, and have brambleclaw not be named deputy after nearly going through with the assassination of his leader. maybe sandstorm or brightheart is named instead as graystripe is forced to resign? literally anyone else

po3 gets some minimal quality of life changes in the first half with the three's (twos?) powers actually have an impact on their quality of life and having negative consequences physically, socially, and mentally. Jaypaw would choose to become a warrior after the horrible experience that was his first battle, Lionblaze would also gain a nasty reputation after his numerous brutal experiences, and Holly would just have more emphasis on her ambitions to become leader. I think the most i'd like is some deputy drama at the end, where Sandstorm/whoever is named deputy wants to step down so Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and a handful of other candidates try to show off who's best for the job. When Ashfur winds up dead, Lionblaze becomes suspect number one and Holly has to decide whether or not to help her brother or save her own skin.

oots would get a radical overhaul with the battle happening in book three and kicking off a full on war, i see the dark forest troops conquering thunderclan and riverclan and the remaining survivors have to work together. Firestar gets killed in book three and, in the final battle, has his spirit killed as well taking out Tigerstar. It would end on the Clans fully unified.

avos would act as the first physical challenge to unity with darktail coming in and, disillusioned with the amount of infighting, i can see the younger cats joining a group that in appearance looks more unified than the clans. of course this comes crashing down and shit hits the fan. i have not read avos in a bit so uh that's the premise lol

tbc could act as the spiritual challenge to the unified clans where the existence of starclan and the dark forest could be challenged, also make spotfur the thunderclan protagonist instead and have bristlefrost being a double spy be a secret from her and the reader. Scrap everything stupid the books say about Shadowsight, give Rootspring's powers to Needleclaw instead and have her take on his role, and so on.

aannnd there's not enough to go on with asc but uh get rid of nightheart, tear him asunder the thunderclan perspective is unnecessary here anyways

[kaija-rayne-author]

Hi, I'm in the middle of creating a list of books by autistic authors with more than one central/significant autistic character. It is on Goodreads right now, and I was thinking about also making a twitter thread to find more upcoming works, especially by authors of colour. The goal is to showcase books where there is more than one Autistic character who is central to the work. E.g. protagonist and love interest(s), multiple pov characters, mother and kids, main character and their community, a supervillain and their archnemesis... anything where the primary relationships, plot and narrative force comes from multiple autistic people. This is kind of a complicated question, because I remember seeing on twitter that you sort of accidentally wrote Rhian as autistic but as far as I know this is not on-page or stated elsewhere. In SoulBound, I really loved how Rhian relates to him by talking about how it felt for her when she first learned to shadowmelt and then they hold hands and ground themselves together, and although I'm not sure if you meant it this way, the way they communicate feels very neurodivergent to me. Would you say that both Rhian and Lynn are autistic, although with Rhian it is not explicity named on page, or is Lynn the only autistic character although Rhian possibly has some autistic traits, as a reflection of you as an author?

As a separate question, if you think that SoulBound does meet the specifications, would you be comfortable with it being added to the list? I know that visibility can be tricky and vulnerable to put on the page or be open about, and that sometimes people prefer to keep things not publicly labelled in a specific way, so I would only want to add SoulBound if you agreed.

Thanks so much! Please feel free to message me directly if you have any questions.

I'm not sure if you understand how happy getting this made me. I cried happy tears. I often feel like I'm just throwing my brain babies into an empty void because I never see them on lists, or people talking about them, and I'm never gonna get my magic Unicorn for hitting 50 reviews on Amazon 😅🦄.

I get why, people don't often like to talk about books with certain types of content, but as the author, it's miserable to just not know which characters people loved, what things they enjoy about my work, or if something meant something to someone. I hear absolutely nothing about my work, and when I look, there's very little. TBH, I learned to stop looking. This is possibly the first time someone wanted to add them to a goodreads list.

I live in desperate hope for fanfic or fanart. The idea of someone loving something I created so much that it inspired them to create is just mind-boggling. It's definitely author goals for me.

My heart projects mean so very much to me and one of the reasons I write and share what I write is because an author's words have absolutely kept me breathing through hard times. There have been nights where if I didn't have another author's words to cling to, I probably wouldn't have seen the dawn.

If I and my work can be that hand in the dark telling people like me that there's still beauty and hope in the world... then publishing as a poverty stricken author has meaning and is worth it. Of course, it would be really nice if my books or patreon made me a living wage. I could write so many more books if I didn't have to worry so much about affording the basics! At the end of the day, I'm a pretty decent writer and I deeply wish I could afford to do it more often.

So, thank you so very much. You made my day ❤ (maybe my month).

Now to your question.

Rhian has always been autistic/ADHD, from the very first moment she marched into my head and demanded to be written. She's written with some of my stims and autistic ways of thinking, her ADHD manifests like mine does. I did downplay that a bit with her character for reasons, but she absolutely is. I was extremely hesitant to label her such on page because of her profession. There are some rather common assumptions people make about someone who murders people. Even if she's sanctioned by a God, she's still a murderer.

It's always, 'the shooter was autistic or mentally ill'. When 3% of violent crime is committed by mentally ill and neurodivergent people, and 97% of it by regular neurotypical people, it's a fraught subject. I didn't want to add to that incorrect and painful prejudice. It already harms enough people. I don't mind answering here, because there's space to explain my reasoning.

Y'know, I'd just written the handholding scene when I said I'd accidentally outed Rhian as autistic on Twitter 🤣. It was just so obvious in that scene. I didn't label it specifically because of prejudice, but I figured people who needed to see it would likely be able to.

Kai has ADHD. I tried to depict that in him by how he's always on the go, and with his temper. A lot of ADHDers have quick tempers that can get away from us. I did my best to keep him just ADHD for variety, but he's neurodivergent too. He may have some autistic traits simply because I'm autistic.

With Lynn... I showed a lot of my personal autistic and ADHD traits that I rarely let anyone see. It was hard to write for me because, well, people are already really awful to autistic/ADHD folks, and I didn't want to add to that with my depiction. Yet, at the same time, I wanted to let people see that rep. We need actual rep of what autistic people are really like. It's a part of most autistic/ADHD folks lives. Meltdowns aren't an automatic part of being autistic/ADHD. Something has to push us to that, usually traumatic or overwhelming stuff. But they do happen, and maybe by showing Lynn's meltdown, it helps someone.

I agonized for a while after writing Soulbound about whether I should take the meltdown scene out or not.

The handholding scene really just felt perfect to me because it's how I would react. Little steps toward intimacy. I absolutely meant that scene to read as two NDs grounding themselves together and also showing unequivocally the step they were taking, together. I think with intimacy, especially physical intimacy, the way autistic/ADHD folks do things isn't really shown much. I wanted to show it.

I mean, there's still a lot of people who infantilize us and think we couldn't possibly be interested in sex and romance, when in many cases, it's the exact opposite of the truth. Many of us do indeed want to have those things. It's just way harder for us to find it.

I'm very comfy with you adding my work to your list. Honestly, I'm thrilled, awed, and honoured. Thanks again. Not all of my work has multiple NDs, but most of it does.

So for ease of reference:

Ace Assassin series

Rhian (Risk, Rhi): autistic, ADHD, OCD, high anxiety, generalized anxiety, panic attacks, chronic severe depression, CPTSD. Also demisexual, grey aromantic, bisexual, genderfluid non-binary, submissive if she can trust who she's with. Can switch to Top but it’s not her preference.

Alkaios (Kai): ADHD, anxiety, depression, CPTSD, abandonment & trust issues. Also pansexual, allosexual, alloromantic, genderqueer, polyamorous, kinky, Dominant but can switch with Lynn, no one else.

Lachlan (Lynn): autistic, ADHD, OCD, high anxiety, suicidal ideation, depression, CPTSD, self-harming behavior. Also bisexual, genderqueer, kinky, Dominant but can switch, polyamorous, allosexual, alloromantic.

Ilavanian Dreams series (repub 2023/2024?)

Tormaëline (Maël, Maëlcolm): Autistic, ADHD, prone to dark depressive episodes and lying to himself, self-harming behavior in a variety of ways. Pansexual, demisexual, aromantic, gender-fluid, polyamorous, kinky, Dominant but can switch with someone he deeply trusts.

Cameron (Cam, Tànaiste): Autistic (different flavour than his brother), depression, periods of deep melancholy, pansexual, demisexual, alloromantic, polyamorous, kinky, Dominant but can switch with Li.

Carnelian (Li, Selinas): Autistic, depression, panic attacks/anxiety disorder, CPTSD w/heavy trauma from what was done to xyr and how xie grew up. Gender neutral non-binary, pansexual, grey aromantic, polyamorous, kinky, Dominant but can either switch or pretend to with a client.

Astrophilos (Los): ADHD, chronic severe depression with suicidal ideation. Genderfluid non-binary, though he doesn't really feel the need to display it or fuss about it. Pansexual, kinky, polyamorous, allosexual, grey aromantic, Dominant but can switch with Maël.

Kataniya (Kat, Kitten): Autistic/ADHD, severe chronic depression, anxiety, CPTSD, suicidal thoughts, DID, cleithrophobia, claustrophobia, pathological need for freedom. Bisexual for now, (she's still young so still figuring herself out). Gender non-conforming, demisexual, alloromantic, kinky, polyamorous, submissive.

Maikke (Mai): Anxiety with panic attacks, CPTSD, lost memories, gender non-conforming, allosexual, demi-romantic, pansexual, polyamorous, kinky, switch.

Mothmen:

Shea: Autistic, ADHD, depression, PTSD, bisexual, alloromantic, polyamorous, kinky, switch.

Jai: Autistic, depression, generational trauma, CPTSD, pansexual, demi-romantic, polyamorous, Dominant

Ryan: ADHD, PTSD, kinky, bisexual, polyamorous, switch, demi-romantic

Unreleased books:

Sanctuary Heart (2023?)

Amon-Ea: Autistic, chronic illness, chronic pain, demisexual, agender, alloromantic, depression, social anxiety. There's no sex in this one. It's the one I wrote for sex-neg folks who wanted to read my work. (There's only one ND character who drives the plot in this one, there may be more stories in the series depending on reader reaction. If so, a rescued sea person and Amon-ea's brother are also ND.)

Faerie Glamour (2024?): current WIP

Liadhain (LEE-ah-thane): autistic/ADHD, chronic pain, chronic illness, demisexual, bisexual, grey aromantic, polyamorous.

Ruaidhri (RUR-ee): ADHD, anxiety, depression, claustrophobia. Allosexual, pansexual, grey-aromantic, polyamorous.

Finnvarr, Finn (Fin): Autistic, chronic severe depression, social anxiety, CPTSD. Bisexual, demisexual, grey aromantic, polyamorous, trust issues the size of mount fiji.

There's a few more ND characters, but I'm still working on this one.

That's most of the main characters. If you have any questions please feel free to ask! I sorta threw a lot of info at you. Oops. 😅

For anyone interested in reading about the adventures of my brain babies, here's some links. These will take you to the first chapter in each book so you can see if my writing voice works for you. Please remember to be careful about the content warnings.

I'm so freaking terrible at self-promo 🥴.

Links to first chapters of my books

Bloodbound is the series starter for Ace Assassin

Prelude of Bloodbound

Mothmen is a standalone novella based on the urban legend about mothman.

Sample of Mothmen

Ilavani is the series starter for Ilavanian Dreams.

First chapter of Ilavani

Note that Ilavani is still down for a new cover. It's almost finished and depending on how much life throws at me, I hope to have it back out this year.

[joemerl]

A Short Summary of Every Book that I Read in 2022

Here I am on Goodreads if you want more elaborate reviews.

1.) Dark Moon (Wereling/Changeling #2) Author: Steve Feasey Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Two stars in terms of quality, three stars for personal enjoyment. That whole storyline with Philippa was annoyingly pointless, though.

2.) Batgirl: Stephanie Brown, Vol. 1 Author/Artist: Brayn Q. Miller, Lee Garbett Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I knew Stephanie was supposed to be "the fun Batgirl," but this also turned out to be surprisingly deep and serious.

3.) Gravity Falls: Dipper's and Mabel's Guide to Mystery and Nonstop Fun! Authors: Rob Renzetti, Shane Houghton, Alex Hirsch Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

It doesn't add much to the lore, but it's enjoyable.

4.) Batgirl: Stephanie Brown, Vol. 1 Authors: Brayn Q. Miller, Grant Morrison Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Less serious but more fun than the first volume. Unfortunately, editorial issues messed things up near the end.

5.) The Lost Colony (Artemis Fowl #5) Author: Eoin Colfer Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is my favorite AF book yet! I hope the rest of the series is this good.

6.) Team Human Authors: Justine Larbalestier, Sarah Rees Brennan Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I expected a parody of Twilight, but this is more like a reconstruction. Cathy is what Stephenie Meyer thinks Bella is like.

7.) The Invasion: A Graphic Novel (Animorphs Graphix #1) Authors/Artist: Katharine Applegate, Michael Grant, Chris Grine Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Quite good, but I think it works better in prose. I should reread the original to compare.

8.) The Visitor: The Graphic Novel (Animorphs Graphix #2) Authors/Artist: Katharine Applegate, Michael Grant, Chris Grine Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

One of the few Animorphs I never read before. I think Grine did a better job smoothing over some of AppleGrant's edges, but the original does a better job conveying emotion.

(reread) 9.) The Invasion (Animorphs #1) Author: K.A. Applegate (Katharine Applegate, Michael Grant) Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Some of the flaws are actually worse than I remember...but it's a really strong start, showing how dark and complex this series will be.

10.) Blood Wolf (Wereling/Changeling #3) Author: Steve Feasey Goodreads rating: ⭐

So Philippa's pointless storyline continues...but the A-plot is actually worse!

11.) The Visitor (Animorphs #2) Author: K.A. Applegate (Katharine Applegate, Michael Grant) Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The story isn't quite as strong as book #1, but it's still a good first look into Rachel's mind.

12.) Mort (Discworld #4) Author: Terry Pratchett Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pretty good, though I feel like some of the characterization is confused.

13.) The Time Paradox (Artemis Fowl #6) Author: Eoin Colfer Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

Well. This was a stepdown from the last one, wasn't it?

Stop writing about environmentalism until you understand it, Eoin.

14.) Demon Games (Wereling/Changeling #4) Author: Steve Feasey Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The best in the series. I almost gave up after how bad the last one was.

15.) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice #1) Author: Lewis Carroll Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A little too pointlessly weird for me, but it sort of perfectly captures what dreams are like.

16.) The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl #7) Author: Eoin Colfer Goodreads rating: ⭐

Well, this was a stepdown from the last one, wasn't it?!

I've given up hope for actual character development.

17.) Zombie Dawn (Wereling/Changeling #5) Author: Steve Feasey Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

The main character's arc is realizing that he's genetically superior to everyone else.

18.) Alice Through the Looking-Glass Author: Lewis Carroll Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A little better than the first book, since the world is a bit more coherent and Alice has an actual goal.

19.) Giants, Monsters and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend and Myth Author: Carol Rose Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

A good reference source, but man, are there a lot of uninteresting giants in French literature.

20.) The Last Guardian (Artemis Fowl #8) Author: Eoin Colfer Goodreads rating: ⭐

UGGGHHH.

21.) The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3) Author: Rick Riordan Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I need to start reading more than one of these per year.

22.) Sourcery (Discworld #5) Author: Terry Pratchett Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

Wow, the main plot is so cool! If only Pratchett would FOCUS ON IT!

(reread) 23.) My Brother is a Superhero (My Brother is a Superhero #1) Author: David Solomons Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Not quite as good as I remember, but not bad by any means.

24.) Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle #1) Author: Diana Wynne Jones Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

It's less annoying than the movie, but it throws out so many interesting concepts that it winds up a confused mess.

25.) A Tale Dark and Grimm (A Tale Dark and Grimm #1) Author: Adam Gidwitz Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I saw the Netflix adaptation first. It fixed some problems and then created new ones.

(reread) 26.) My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord (My Brother is a Superhero #2) Author: David Solomons Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This one is better than I remember. Solomons' strong suit is taking goofy premises and using them for legitimate drama.

27.) Castle in the Air (Howl's Moving Castle #2) Author: Diana Wynne Jones Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Kinda un-PC and its characters aren't as interesting as in the first book, but the story is more coherent.

28.) My Evil Twin is a Supervillain (My Brother is a Superhero #3) Author: David Solomons Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Possibly sillier than book two, but even more dramatic.

29.) In a Glass, Grimmly (A Tale Dark and Grimm #2) Author: Adam Gidwitz Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It'd be five stars if the last chapter hadn't had so many problems.

30.) Changeling (The Oddmire #1) Author: William Ritter Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I don't know if the author's seen Over the Garden Wall, but he would definitely enjoy it.

31.) House of Many Ways (Howl's Moving Castle #3) Author: Diana Wynne Jones Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

For most of the book I assumed there wasn't even going to be a main plot, just a bunch of subplots. It might have been better that way.

32.) My Arch-Enemy is a Brain in a Jar (My Brother is a Superhero #4) Author: David Solomons Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

It's cool that Solomons didn't go with the cliché body-swap plot, but unfortunately he didn't think of another one to replace it with.

33.) Something New (Blandings Castle #1) Author: P.G. Wodehouse Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Not quite as good as Leave it to Psmith, but that's a high bar to reach.

34.) A Grimm Conclusion (A Tale Dark and Grimm #3) Author: Adam Gidwitz Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

The fairy tale retellings feel perfunctory, and the overarching plot gets really dumb near the end.

35.) The Unready Queen (The Oddmire #2) Author: William Ritter Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

It's like the dumber themes of Artemis Fowl, except better written.

36.) The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains Author: Frederick Marryat Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A short story (technically a chapter from a longer novel), and one of the first literary werewolves. Nice and creepy.

37.) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight/Pearl/Sir Orfeo Author/Translator: Anonymous, J.R.R. Tolkien Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Much like Tolkien's own writing, it's brilliant but barely comprehensible.

38.) The Were-Wolf Author: Clemence Houseman Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This could have been an amazing book if it was longer and the ending wasn't so heavy-handed.

39.) The Vampire and the Wandering Jew Author: Barak A. Bassman Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

This could have been several amazing books if it was longer and the ending wasn't so ambiguous.

40.) My Cousin is a Time Traveler (My Brother is a Superhero #5) Author: David Solomons Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

If I had a nickel for every book I read in October where the author wrote himself into the story to interact with the characters, I would have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

41.) Dracula Author: Bram Stoker Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

I liked Dracula Daily more than I liked Dracula.

42.) Julius Caesar Author: William Shakespeare Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I think it would have worked better as two plays, one dealing with the assassination and aftermath, another with the civil war. Still brilliant thematically.

43.) Grace and Gravy Pirates: A HEINZ Thanksgiving Story Illustrator: Aaron Cushley Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

At least the art is kinda cute.

44.) An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving and Other Stories Author: Louisa May Alcott Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

The eponymous story was fine, but also the weakest of the three.

45.) Deepest, Darkest (The Oddmire #3) Author: William Ritter Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Probably would have been four stars if the climax hadn't been so good.

46.) A Christmas Memory, One Christmas and The Thanksgiving Visitor Author: Truman Capote Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pro-tip: you can read the Thanksgiving story first and the other two still make sense.

47.) Over the Garden Wall: Tome of the Unknown Author: Pat McHale Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Me when I found this on OpenLibrary:

48.) Blandings Castle and Elsewhere (Blandings Castle #2.5) Author: P.G. Wodehouse Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Blandings Castle makes better novels, and the other stories are kinda iffy.

49.) Young Star Travelers Editor: Isaac Asimov Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

All of the stories were good, but I think they almost all would have been better expanded into full novel(la)s.

50.) The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas (Austin Family Chronicles #0.5) Author: Madeleine L'Engle Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

L'Engle usually can't make her high-concept ideas into coherent stories, but this low-concept slice-of-life idea came out mostly okay.

51.) The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus Author: L. Frank Baum Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Great as a kid's fantasy story, kinda weird as a Santa Claus origin story.

52.) Chestnuts from Mrs. Claus Author: Ellen Fischbein Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

The source for all those Yuletide quotes I posted around Christmas.

53.) Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblins Author/Illustrator: Eric A. Kimmel, Trina Schart Hyman Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I finally found a nice Jewish fairytale.

54.) The Christmas Pig Author/Illustrator: J.K. Rowling, Jim Field Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What if Toy Story was Coco, but it was Christmas? (Also, mix in some Inside Out.)

55.) A Boy Called Christmas Author/Illustrator: Matt Haig, Chris Mould Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐

Add this to my list of Christmas Media That A Lot of People Really Love But I Just Don't Get the Appeal Of.

56.) The Artemis Fowl Files (Artemis Fowl #1.5) Author: Eoin Colfer Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

There. I'm done.

Admittedly, it was better than the later books.

57.) Horrible Histories: The Big Fat Christmas Book Author: Terry Deary Goodreads rating: ⭐⭐⭐

A lot of interesting facts, but some was incomplete or outright fake just in the name of "horribleness."

[warriors-aus-and-such]

Evil! Lionblaze

(( Sorry in advance for the excessively long post and points, this au includes two arcs of detailed story ))

- Lionpaw, first of all, doesn't stop training with Tigerstar. Ever. Spurred by bitterness towards the contempt from his waking mentor, Ashfur, and the need to live up to his leader grandpa and deputy father, Lionpaw strives to be the ideal warrior, even by training in the dark forest. He's so blinded by his need for validation and ambition that he began to kill in the dark forest, without even considering the lives he'd destroyed. He thought it wasn't real, and the cats he murdered would wake up all fine and dandy.

- He becomes "evil" slowly, his ill will towards the clans and the cats in them sprouting from the that that he never received the validation he so desired, but from who it counted. No matter how powerful he grew, no matter his invincibility, Ashfur seemed to hate him, and Brambleclaw didn't seem to care. On top of this, Tigerstar planted an idea in Lionclaw's (he was named after his adoptive father, as kind of a joke family name) head when he revealed his power to his "grandpa". The idea was that Lionclaw could conquer the clans, show those that didn't appreciate him properly that he deserved their admiration because he was so powerful and important. Show the likes of Ashfur and Brambleclaw that he deserved their love.

- Lionclaw becomes sort of a living legend among dark forest cats and trainees (some of whom started probably more around his age as opposed to Ivypool's), holding as much power and respect as the likes of Tigerstar and Mapleshade, because of the uses of his power in that environment, his closeness to Tigerstar, and being one of the first still-living trainees. He even commands the respect of the asshat known as Breezepelt, and the half-brothers grow close, with a bond forged by similar motivations and a friendly rivalry. They were practically joined at the hip during their nighttime training sessions, and even the revelation of Lionclaw's parentage changed nothing in their relationship. If anything, it brought them closer and gave more meaning to their brotherly bond.

- Lionclaw who kills Ashfur instead of Hollyleaf, driven to the bloody crime by the pain and rage he felt over his mentor, the cat that was supposed to act like a third parent and a gentle, supportive figure in his life, hated him so. Even despised him to the point of trying to murder him. When Lionclaw told his birth mother and littermates, he proudly and almost in a scary tone of voice justified it as "paying the favor forward, only this time I wasn't afraid to get my paws bloody"

- At the following gathering, Lionclaw made the grand, dramatic announcement that shook his family and the clans to the core, but it wasn't the same one that his sister had made in the main series. He announced that he had killed his own mentor, that he had been training with Tigerstar and co., and when he commanded the crowd's attention once more, he revealed the prophecy, and his power. He challenged the clans as a whole, if any one cat or group could defeat him in battle, he wouldn't take over the clans and kill every cat that didn't fall into line. The gathering descended into chaos, and Lionclaw was barreled off the tree he'd made the announcement from and was promptly jumped by cats that thought they could overpower him. Among the cats he fought and wound up killing were all leaders and deputies, Tigerheart, Tawnypelt, and, in the end, he even killed Hollyleaf. These murders weremore spread out, with Lionclaw killing Brambleclaw and Hollyleaf back in ThunderClan. They didn't have the heart to attack him right away at the gathering, so he put them out of their misery.

- Many cats left at the urging of cats who had run ahead, like the elders, medicine cats, and some of the more morally grounded warriors. Pregnant queens (so not Daisy or Ferncloud) didn't have the time, stamina, or generally felt unable to run away, and when Lionclaw returned they were kept as prisoners so they had kits. Cinderheart was forcibly dragged back and made to become Lionclaw's mate, Jayfeather was taken prisoner as Lionclaw didn't want to lose his brother after killing his foster father and littermate, and any cats that hasn't run, they were either taken prisoner or forced to pledge their loyalty, Darktail style.

- During his takeover of his WindClan, Breezepelt joined forces with Lionclaw, becoming like his "deputy". Many cats that didn't know about their bond were baffled and a little scared by this, and rightfully so. The two of them combined commited worse at atrocities than any combination of previous villainous leaders.

- Lionclaw, after having been forsaken by a terrified StarClan, gained leader lives from Dark Forest and took the name Darklion. The Dark Forest became the kind of replacement StarClan after it's revealed that Darklion had gained these lives, but instead of being respected and beloved, they earn their respect through fear. They even chase StarClan out of their hunting grounds one night, thanks to the help of their trainees and Darklion. (Note: Breezepelt is also named Darkbreeze, but without the lives. He just had to command more respect because of his authority over the WindClan + RiverClan territories)

That's just the Power of Three arc

- The Omen of the Stars arc starts off right away with and introduction to Darklion's expansionism, and the aftermath of him taking over ShadowClan. He already had WindClan, and RiverClan was the last clan that had gone unattacked. Dovekit and Ivykit are like fresh eyes and an introduction to how miserable, violent, and terrifying clan life is. Ivykit seems to be thriving in the environment, in some ways, but Dovekit is constantly stressed and anxious. She's too soft and kind to bear living in the very same camp as Darklion.

- There's a leader Darklion assigned in each area of the new LionClan - Darklion in ThunderClan + ShadowClan and Darkbreeze in WindClan + eventually RiverClan. The two sections are unified and as harmonious as they could be, but most cats kept to the territory of their birth clans and the apprentices are the only ones that truly feel open and happy to casually traverse the old clan borders.

- Darklion winds up having his kits with Cinderpelt Much earlier, against her will of course, and she's confined to the nursery throughout nearly the entire series. The first litter are named Tigerkit (Fernsong), Maplekit (Sorrelstripe), and Hawkkit (Hollytuft)

-Suspicious of both Dovepaw and Ivypaw, Darklion apprentices Ivypaw to himself and Dovepaw to Darkbreeze, effectively shunting her off to WindClan and getting her away from him. Darklion is the one who first convinces Ivypaw to go to the Dark Forest and train there, and he winds up training her waking and sleeping. Ivypaw thinks this is great, and brags about how only special warriors like her get to train where she was. In this arc, she's the special one, the golden child. Training with the evil cats is a privilege, and their stories are told as tragic and heroic tales because Darklion wouldn't have them otherwise. Dovepaw is the one that believes StarClan is good, she's the one with the big heart and the strong moral compass, and therefore she must be the evil one.

- Darkbeeze eventually reports to Darklion that he figured out that Dovepaw has powers and she is the third prophecy cat. Darklion panics and immediately and permanently banishes her to Darkbreeze's territory, as opposed to before, where she could still visit her parents and sister from time to time, if she got the chance to slip away from her intensive training. Darklion continually tells Ivypaw that her sister is terrible and evil, like the cats they must kill to keep their clan safe and happy. Dovepaw is the enemy. Dovepaw is evil and wrong.

- Dovepaw, in WindClan, is starved and tortured by Darkbreeze and her younger clanmates, causing her to become weak and resentful, but unable to fight back. Nobody would help her because of a belief that StarClan were the evil cats and they gave her the power, or out of sheer terror at the prospect of angering Darkbreeze. The cats knew full well that if they helped a cat like Dovepaw, they'd be held prisoner, or even killed.

- One night, as she lay in bed, Dovepaw heard the plots for her own execution. On that full moon, all the clans, even RiverClan, having been taken over, gathered on the island. The prisoners in particular were made to watch as an example was made of a poor, defenceless apprentices. The cats were forced to watch as Darklion stripped Dovepaw's name from her, not even leaving her as Dove, but a nameless, faceless enemy that none could or should sympathise with. Ivyfang, having earned her name, brutally tortured and murdered her own littermate following that. It was disturbing, the delight and joy Ivyfang found in murdering for own sister. Cats like Whitewing, Birchfall, Cloudtail, and Brightheart had special front row seats, even closer than the prisoners. The victim's blood even splashed onto them, and Darklion reveled in their discomfort.

- Jayfeather has been silent for most of the arc, but that had been the last straw for him. On the new moon after Dovepaw's brutal murder, Jayfeather escaped his brother. Only one cat had been guarding him, so the blind cat slipped out under the cover of the new moon. He eventually found his way to the others who had fled, updated them on the situation, and had tearful reunions with the ragtag group of escaped cats. He spent time in recovery from being starved and abused, but was soon back on his feet and plotting against his own brother without fear or regret.

- Near the end of the arc, the dark forest manifests itself in the physical realm, beefing up the authority of Darklion and Darkbreeze and preparing all cats to kill their old clanmates if they were to attack. Tigerstar encouraged Darklion to tour around his territories and torture, blackmail, or kill any cats that didn't present unwavering loyalty. He followed their advice, and eventually the only cats left either believed in Darklion or were too terrified not to obey his power. The only disloyal cats that were spared were pregnant or nursing queens, but they were seprated from their kits at the earliest possible moment, and not allowed to talk to them without a loyal cat to moniter the conversation and make sure the queens weren't speaking ill of any dark forest cats, or planting the wrong ideals in their kits' minds.

- The climactic final battle the PO3 and OTS arcs build up to come from a conflict with the clan cats and the dark forest fighting against the cats that had previously fled and StarClan. Many good cats are slaughtered mercilessly, but it all comes crashing down when Leafpool, Squirrelflight, and Jayfeather work together to drown Darklion in a great "this is revenge for all the cats we loved and you killed" moment. Breezepelt dies not soon after, killed by his own father after running away from Darklion's corpse in a panic. As the news was spread around tbd battlefield, everything came to a standstill. The cats that had been scared into commiting immediately abandoned ship, turning to their attackers and begging for their lives, explaining that they'd been coerced. They were quickly accepted back, and all that has truly believed in Darklion perished in the battle of the aftermath. This unfortunately includes cats like Ivyfang, and all of Darklion's kits.

- This is the end of the Warriors series. As the book and our childhoods come to a conclusion, the living cats are bedraggled, injured, and exhausted, exchanging glances and questioning what to do next as the bloody evening fades into a moonless night, and the book series draws to a close

[crguang]

good morning || ajak.

A/N: this is part of the found family series that i decided to add on to. the timeline might seem a bit confusing since i’m not really following it LOL but once everything is out it’ll be put in order in my masterlist! hope yall enjoy this fam as much as i do

next

“MOMMY! Up, up, up!”

That was how you woke up this morning: with Mateo already barging into your room, his tiny feet hitting the floorboards as he excitedly jumped up and down from his spot beside the bed. God, that kid had energy. When you only groaned in response, sensing Ajak shift beside you on the mattress, he added a weird, rhythmic clap of his hands to his singing in hopes of making you get up faster.

“Inside voice, Teo…” you weakly replied, brows pinching together as your eyes blinked open. A look to the nightstand let you know it was only half past 6AM.

Mateo had always been an early riser. No one was more excited to start the day than your son and he often proved it by waking you up at the crack of dawn for breakfast—which is the word he just added to the made-up morning song he came up with just for you.

“Breakfast, breakfast, breakfast!”

“Ajak, please get your son.”

You heard a small chuckle from her and felt her hand push the strands of hair that was in your face, then a soft kiss on your cheek. That made you smile. You never liked the waking up part of the mornings, but she always made them better.

“My son?” Ajak questioned in amusement, lifting the covers from her body while making sure you were still cozy under them.

“Yes. He’s yours before 7AM,” you fell back face first into the pillow, ignoring the one Ajak hit the back of your head with as you did. You had work at 9 and you wanted to get all the rest you could before then.

“Did you even brush your teeth, cariño?” That question was directed at Mateo, who stopped jumping and made a show of thinking about it, index finger on his chin, knowing he didn’t.

The Eternal raised an eyebrow and he pouted. She shooed Mateo to the bathroom, and he ran there, earning a fond shake of the head from her. Ajak found his good mood in the morning adorable even if he could be quite loud at times. When she heard the faucet, she finally got up and left the bedroom to walk into Mateo’s. The tiles of the bathroom were cold in the morning, so she picked up a pair of socks for the baby to put on. He finished brushing his teeth responsibly, jumping off the small stool he used, and sat on the toilet seat to let her put on the socks without complaining.

“Mama, you have to brush teeth,” Mateo said, pointing at the sink expectantly.

“Do I?” Ajak asked, mirth dancing in her eyes. The child only nodded. He stayed there on the toilet seat, swinging his legs the whole time and occasionally babbling something Ajak only pretended to understand until she was done.

After he insisted she show him her teeth like you always ask him to, he got up and ran to the kitchen. The padding of his feet against the floor never failed to make Ajak smile. Entering your life was the best thing she’s done in millennia. To be able to share a life with you and Mateo, to be able to call herself his mother, filled her with an incredible amount of tenderness. This was her home now, her family. Mateo was so full of love and curiosity and life. Everything excited him, whether it be a crunchy colored leaf or a light-up toy. It was admirable, really, and Ajak would do anything to protect that innocence. She never thought a three-year-old would end up stirring so many emotions within her.

“MAMAAAAA!”

And that three-year-old wanted breakfast. The Eternal entered the kitchen to him trying to climb into his highchair. He was also incredibly impatient.

Breakfast was uneventful. Ajak had to remind Mateo not to play with his food a couple of times or not to be too loud, knowing you were still dozing off. Then she took him to get a bath. He wanted to stay in it, liking the feeling of the warm water and playing with his toys. When Ajak told him it was time to get out he refused a few times, ignoring her to drown the plastic duck he had in his hands under the water.

“Cariño, the water will get cold.”

“No.”

“You need to get ready for daycare. You’ll see your friends, remember?”

“No.”

Ajak paused. Bribery it is. “Mateo, if you get out of the bath and get dressed, when I come pick you up later…” she lowered her voice as if letting him in on a secret and he turned to her curiously. “I’ll buy you chocolate.”

The boy seemed to ponder his options, watching the toy in the water for a few seconds before he let it go to clap his hands, babbling something about chocolate and candy. He waved his fists excitedly and Ajak couldn’t help but laugh.

“Did you say chocolate?” The sound of your voice behind her would’ve surprised her if she wasn’t an Eternal. She heard you yawn earlier and knew you would be getting up soon. She lifted the baby out of the bath, securing the big towel around him as she held him. “What do I need to do to get some?”

Ajak looked at you, at your tired eyes and matching pyjamas and bare face. You had just woken up and it was a sight she still couldn’t believe she was lucky enough to witness. When you raised your eyebrows at her silence, she simply glanced to your lips. “I have a few ideas.”

The corner of your mouth lifted in a small smirk, and you approached her, leaning forward to plant a sweet kiss on her lips. “Good morning,” you murmured. She smiled, shifting Mateo so she would be holding him with the other arm. You pressed a big kiss on his cheek, making a show of eating him by pulling it gently between your lips, until he screamed and pushed your face away with a giggle. “And good morning to you, too, mister.”

Mateo got dressed without complaining. He chose the clothes himself: overalls with a blue shirt that has a teddy bear on it. He insisted to wear the jacket Makkari gifted him on his birthday and Ajak thought it was too cute to refuse. Before leaving the house, he ran up to you in your bedroom, asking for a hug. You cooed, picking him up to squeeze him until he was laughing, momentarily wrapping his arms tightly around your neck.

“Have a good day at daycare, okay?” He nodded, babbling something you didn’t quite pick up on. The second you put him down he was running away. You heard Ajak ask if he was ready to go, then the door closing. Mornings like this one have became routine to you, one you didn’t wish to replace any time soon.