#you need leads for the three mythic items

[zazikels]

alright I am highkey annoyed that the savior of necrom title is tied to an antiquarian achievement which requires you to do 4 dlc dungeons in order to complete. 

[sonicasura]

The most chaotic and funniest thought just hit me.

Mario and Tales of Arcadia could exist in the same universe.

Let me explain. The Super Mario franchise had their own cartoon in the 90s called the Super Mario Brothers Super Show. In it, the brothers can travel between Brooklyn and the Mushroom Kingdom via a green warp pipe located somewhere in the sewer systems.

Basically no one else knew about this pipe nor the hidden universe(I'll call the Mario World we know as the Hidden World from this point afterwards) except the Mario Brothers. Then you also consider there is more than one warp pipe. And thus this glorious idea.

For setup, the Hidden World could be considered the Promised Land to all Trollkind. A realm where sunlight nor lack of being near a Heartstone DOESN'T turn them to stone and bears many treasures of peculiar power but also a potential second home should their realm fall apart i.e what will become the Darklands.

Some trolls left to seek out the Hidden World but never came back. There had been only one account of someone finding the mythical 'Green Channel' that leads there. However the troll discoverer in question was branded as a liar and label an outcast. This explorer writes a journal of his experiences before eventually disappearing. 'Beginner's Guide To The Hidden World' was the only thing left as no one knew the writer's fate.

A book of a madman's ramblings and gone unfound inside Arcadia's Trollmarket until the first human Trollhunter been made. You don't expect Jim or Toby to not look through the books in Blinky's library especially if a problem arises. It bonks the poor Trollhunter on the head and our favorite book troll practically flips out once he sees the guide.

Whether the major plot point is such as Battle of Two Bridges, find Gunmar's weakness or handle Angor Rot, it doesn't take much convincing to look into this Hidden World. Now since sewers weren't prevalent in the middle ages, no Troll thought the 'Green Channel' could be a giant sewer pipe. Modern human thinking leads to Team Trollhunters rediscovering the Hidden World and it's unique flavor of insanity.

(Jim seriously needs a huge break from being the universe's drama dump. Why not throw a very long overdue albeit super goofy bone? Plus I know some of you guys want to see Draal put on a Cat Bell, Jim in a Tanuki Suit and Toby in a Penguin Suit.)

Now for some worldbuilding!

Trolls born in the Hidden World have natural immunity to sunlight. An occurrence that is half adaptation and half magic revelant. They can also survive without the presence of a Heartstone but are unable to use powers up unless they return or have a special item.

It takes four hits to make a Hidden World troll lose their active power up, two for Changelings and three for a normal troll. Although those who possess the Amulet of Daylight, like Jim, can take four hits no matter the species. They have a major kingdom located somewhere near the Seaside Kingdom known as Stoneheart and are neutral territory. Koopa Troopas are considered rivals specifically the royal ones like Bowser.

Trolls came up with 'Action Filming', a maybe Mario canon(my memory is rusty) where the games/series is a play while the characters are actors and friends offscreen. You know they would make a concept like that as they're still a warrior based race.

Quite friendly to outsiders and visitors, a good chunk of Hidden World trolls are travelling freelancers in their own expertise. The most common are traders, bodyguards, to of course any occupation that revolves around geology or architecture. Gunmar is considered the Hidden World Trolls' Boogeyman, a story to teach young whelps to behave.

If proven real then Jim definitely has an army willing to help him out as major threats are taken quite seriously in the Hidden World. I can say that Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, Partners in Time, and Bowser's Inside Story are the only games mostly based on true events. You can't expect three major incidents that affected three different kingdoms, ESPECIALLY their royalty, weren't taken seriously nor have a huge impact on everyone else.

Hidden World Trolls rarely eat cats or any other pet considered animals. I think the reason why they limit themselves in canon is because a missing cat ain't gonna draw major attention unlike cattle and other farm animals. Although I bet a grocery store that accepts or can keep trolls' existence a secret would be a godsend. But yeah, their food options aren't limited in the Hidden World.

Finally for the last bit, there have been some unique adaptations that tend to crop up with Hidden World Trolls. These can range power up based ones such as species with Penguin Suit or Fire Flower traits, environmental like those raised in Lake Lapcat have feline characteristics, to seemingly random ones like shapeshifting. Yep. A natural born Changeling who doesn't need a familiar to transform is a possibility.

That's it for now! Until next time folks, I'll see you at the warp pipe between Arcadia and the Mushroom Kingdom!

[my-personal-place-to-write-blog]

The next game I want to talk about is Zwei: The Arges Adventure (in Japan this game is known as Zwei!!).

I love Falcom games, and before the end of the last year I've finally decided to play the other translated Falcom games that I was missing. To that end, I started my journey with the remake of the first Brandish (which is amazing), and after that now I’ve played this game, which is an old school RPG (an action RPG specifically) that originally came out in 2001.

The story in this game is really simple: Pokkle and Pipiro (the main characters) live on a floating island in the sky. After a mysterious masked man steals six idols from their village’s shrine, the two set out on an adventure to find them.

This game is really light-hearted and enjoyable thanks to his writing which is simply amazing. You don’t have to take the game seriously at all, and the dialogue are full of jokes. For this we probably have to thank the localization, I’m pretty much sure that making Japanese humour work in an English translation wasn’t an easy task. I did find myself chuckling a lot throughout the game thanks to the writing (both for the main protagonist and NPC as well).

Pokkle loves to make puns (and they are really bad), while Pipiro is extremely honest and straightforward (she says everything she wants without any kind of filter whatsoever).

In this game you can also pick an animal (and you can choose which one you want when you start a new file - personally I did pick a cat) which will accompany you through the game (you can give him basic order and the AI will use him accordingly). If you don’t want him, you can leave him at your house: when you are exploring you will see his adventure in a tab (the pet monitor) and you can give him some basic indication on where he needs to go and what he can do while he isn’t in your party.

The pet monitor is a nice diversion in your adventure and it’s not the only one: at some point you will reach a specific village where you can play three different minigames (Zwei Shooting, Typing of Ys and Mona Mona) that also serves that specific purpose.

Zwei Shooting is a bite-sized arcade shooter, Typing of Ys reimagines the events of Ys II as a typing tutor (you will play as Adol - the protagonist of every Ys game except for Ys Origin), and Mona Mona (a block puzzler where you lead Mona - a rabbit - to the top of the screen instead of clearing all blocks).

The game is overall really short (it did take me 25 hours to beat it), I would say that the length it’s dependable on what side content you want to do and if you lose time to grind for some item (more specifically, food. I’ll go into more details later). Zwei does have a NG+ option (which you can start with the clear save option): you will keep your level (and EXP required for next level), stats based on level and equipment at final boss, as well as progress made with the Item, Character, Monster, and Score books. Pet levels and key item don’t transfer.

The game comes with two different options for the ost: you can use the original 2001 ost or the 2008 rearrangement made for the PSP port of the game. Personally I did mostly use the 2001 original: the ost is simply fantastic. I did check the 2008 arrangement while playing (it’s really easy to change the ost in the menu), and while I think that they are fine, I do prefer the original ost. Then again this is something that really comes down to personal preference I suppose.

Zwei 1 2001 ost

Pavel Gardens

Road to Where the Dragon Sleeps

Aplieste Temple

Mythical Land Serpentina

Final Battle - Demon Lord Vesper -

The game utilizes a 2D character design and the visuals, to simply put it, do look really good. The visuals have a lovely mixture of beauty and charisma that you won’t find much elsewhere. It’s really memorable overall.

Despite the high quality of the graphics in this game, the gameplay, in my opinion, is rather average. The combat is really simple, you will control one of the two playable character and an AI controls the other as you fight enemies in an action-based combat system. The fights are also really straightforward: the player simply needs to spam the attack button while dodging the enemy attacks.

In addition to this, the level design in the dungeons is also really repetitive, they do recycle the same art all-throughout (the only exception to this is the final dungeon). You don’t really spend that much time in the same place in the dungeon (the level are really short overall), but at the same time there’s not much that breaks the monotony in what you need to do (explore the level, reach a new part of the same dungeon, see if you can explore something else or either go back to the overworld – thankfully you can warp out of the place – then you need to think which place you need to explore and then you do some levels in this place before changing, once again, the dungeon).

The only things that actually does break a little these sets of action are the boss battle when these occurs. I have to add one thing for the boss: if you lose against them, you can’t skip the cutscene that introduces them, and this is really annoying.

There’s not much in terms of equipment that you will get or use, most of the loot that you grab consists of food, for two specific reasons: on one hand food is useful for healing, but on the other food in this game is the only way to get experience. If you collect 10 types of the same food, you can get back to your village and exchange them to get another single higher-level item. This will grant both more health and experience than consuming the original item separately. You definitely should try to bring back to the village as many food items as you can but sometimes it might be necessary to grind food for levelling up in a faster way. This is definitely a different experience system when what you’ll usually find in this game and definitely is (in a way) unique to this game.

In conclusion, this game is a simple and a fun adventure that wants to capture the player’s attention with its simplicity. If you are a Falcom fan, you will probably like the game (I loved the charm, the characters from this game, like it’s really good), but the gameplay has a lot of issue that seriously impacts on the enjoyment of the game. For someone who just started approaching their catalogue, I definitely would recommend playing other games before this one (from example, Ys, Brandish, ecc.), and play this one later if you really like Falcom and want to check every game (or what we have translated) that the company made. Don’t get me wrong: I think that this game is really charming and nice, but I don’t really like a lot of things in the gameplay department. It really didn’t age that well in that sense. The characters are great tho, they are really fun to watch and Pokkle and Pipiro are amazing, so look forward to them.

[texasmadehustler]

What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?

What social stigma does society need to get over?

What food have you never eaten but would really like to try?

What’s something you really resent paying for?

What would a world populated by clones of you be like?

Do you think that aliens exist?

What are you currently worried about?

Where are some unusual places you’ve been?

Where do you get your news?

What are some red flags to watch out for in daily life?

What movie can you watch over and over without ever getting tired of?

When you are old, what do you think children will ask you to tell stories about?

If you could switch two movie characters, what switch would lead to the most inappropriate movies?

What inanimate object would be the most annoying if it played loud upbeat music while being used?

When did something start out badly for you but in the end, it was great?

How would your country change if everyone, regardless of age, could vote?

What animal would be cutest if scaled down to the size of a cat?

If your job gave you a surprise three day paid break to rest and recuperate, what would you do with those three days?

What’s wrong but sounds right?

What’s the most epic way you’ve seen someone quit or be fired?

If you couldn’t be convicted of any one type of crime, what criminal charge would you like to be immune to?

What’s something that will always be in fashion, no matter how much time passes?

What actors or actresses play the same character in almost every movie or show they do?

In the past people were buried with the items they would need in the afterlife, what would you want buried with you so you could use it in the afterlife?

What’s the best / worst practical joke that you’ve played on someone or that was played on you?

Who do you go out of your way to be nice to?

Where do you get most of the decorations for your home?

What food is delicious but a pain to eat?

Who was your craziest / most interesting teacher?

What “old person” things do you do?

What was the last photo you took?

What is the most amazing slow motion video you’ve seen?

Which celebrity do you think is the most down to earth?

What would be the worst thing to hear as you are going under anesthesia before heart surgery?

What’s the spiciest thing you’ve ever eaten?

What’s the most expensive thing you’ve broken?

What obstacles would be included in the World’s most amazing obstacle course?

What makes you roll your eyes every time you hear it?

What do you think you are much better at than you actually are?

Should kidneys be able to be bought and sold?

What’s the most creative use of emojis you’ve ever seen?

When was the last time you got to tell someone “I told you so.”?

What riddles do you know?

What’s your cure for hiccups?

What invention doesn’t get a lot of love, but has greatly improved the world?

What’s the most interesting building you’ve ever seen or been in?

What mythical creature do you wish actually existed?

What are your most important rules when going on a date?

How do you judge a person?

If someone narrated your life, who would you want to be the narrator?

What was the most unsettling film you’ve seen?

What unethical experiment would have the biggest positive impact on society as a whole?

When was the last time you were snooping, and found something you wish you hadn’t?

Which celebrity or band has the worst fan base?

What are you interested in that most people aren’t?

If you were given a PhD degree, but had no more knowledge of the subject of the degree besides what you have now, what degree would you want to be given to you?

What smartphone feature would you actually be excited for a company to implement?

What’s something people don’t worry about but really should?

What movie quotes do you use on a regular basis?

Do you think that children born today will have better or worse lives than their parents?

What’s the funniest joke you know by heart?

When was the last time you felt you had a new lease on life?

What’s the funniest actual name you’ve heard of someone having?

Which charity or charitable cause is most deserving of money?

What TV show character would it be the most fun to change places with for a week?

What was cool when you were young but isn’t cool now?

If you were moving to another country, but could only pack one carry-on sized bag, what would you pack?

What’s the most ironic thing you’ve seen happen?

If magic was real, what spell would you try to learn first?

If you were a ghost and could possess people, what would you make them do?

What goal do you think humanity is not focused enough on achieving?

What problem are you currently grappling with?

What character in a movie could have been great, but the actor they cast didn’t fit the role?

What game have you spent the most hours playing?

What’s the most comfortable bed or chair you’ve ever been in?

What’s the craziest conversation you’ve overheard?

What’s the hardest you’ve ever worked?

What movie, picture, or video always makes you laugh no matter how often you watch it?

What artist or band do you always recommend when someone asks for a music recommendation?

If you could have an all-expenses paid trip to see any famous world monument, which monument would you choose?

If animals could talk, which animal would be the most annoying?

What’s the most addicted to a game you’ve ever been?

What’s the coldest you’ve ever been?

Which protagonist from a book or movie would make the worst roommate?

Do you eat food that’s past its expiration date if it still smells and looks fine?

What’s the most ridiculous thing you have bought?

What’s the funniest comedy skit you’ve seen?

What’s the most depressing meal you’ve eaten?

What tips or tricks have you picked up from your job / jobs?

What outdoor activity haven’t you tried, but would like to?

What songs hit you with a wave of nostalgia every time you hear them?

What’s the worst backhanded compliment you could give someone?

What’s the most interesting documentary you’ve ever watched?

What was the last song you sang along to?

What’s the funniest thing you’ve done or had happen while your mind was wandering?

What app can you not believe someone hasn’t made yet?

When was the last time you face palmed?

If you were given five million dollars to open a small museum, what kind of museum would you create?

Which of your vices or bad habits would be the hardest to give up?

What really needs to be modernized?

When was the last time you slept more than nine hours?

How comfortable are you speaking in front of large groups of people?

What’s your worst example of procrastination?

Who has zero filter between their brain and mouth?

What was your most recent lie?

When was the last time you immediately regretted something you said?

What would be the best thing you could reasonably expect to find in a cave?

What did you think was going to be amazing but turned out to be horrible?

What bit of trivia do you know that is very interesting but also very useless?

What’s the silliest thing you’ve seen someone get upset about?

What animal or plant do you think should be renamed?

What was the best thing that happened to you today?

As a child, what did you think would be awesome about being an adult, but isn’t as awesome as you thought it would be?

When is censorship warranted?

What’s the most boring super hero you can come up with?

What would be some of the downsides of certain superpowers?

What word is a lot of fun to say?

What current trend do you hope will go on for a long time?

What actors or actresses can’t play a different character because they played their most famous character too well?

Where’s your go to restaurant for amazing food?

What’s something that all your friends agree on?

What’s your best story from a wedding?

What languages do you wish you could speak?

What’s the most pleasant sounding accent?

What’s something that everyone, absolutely everyone, in the entire world can agree on?

What country is the strangest from your cultural stand point?

What’s the funniest word in the English language?

What’s some insider knowledge that only people in your line of work have?

Who do you wish you could get back into contact with?

How do you make yourself sleep when you can’t seem to get to sleep?

If people receive a purple heart for bravery, what would other color hearts represent?

What are some of the best vacations you’ve had?

If there was a book of commandments for the modern world, what would some of the rules be?

What’s the craziest video you’ve ever seen?

What’s your “Back in my day, we…”?

If you could know the truth behind every conspiracy, but you would instantly die if you hinted that you knew the truth, would you want to know?

What animal would be the most terrifying if it could speak?

What’s the worst hairstyle you’ve ever had?

What habit do you have now that you wish you started much earlier?

If you were given one thousand acres of land that you didn’t need to pay taxes on but couldn’t sell, what would you do with it?

What about humans confuses you the most?

When was the last time you yelled at someone?

What’s the opposite of a koala?

What kinds of things do you like to cook or are good at cooking?

What life skills are rarely taught but extremely useful?

What movie universe would be the worst to live out your life in?

If you could hack into any one computer, which computer would you choose?

Who do you feel like you know even though you’ve never met them?

What’s the most ridiculous animal on the planet?

What’s the worst thing you’ve eaten out of politeness?

What’s the most historic thing that has happened in your lifetime?

What happens in your country regularly that people in most countries would find strange or bizarre?

What has been blown way out of proportion?

When was a time you acted nonchalant but were going crazy inside?

What’s about to get much better?

What are some clever examples of misdirection you’ve seen?

What’s your funniest story involving a car?

What would be the click-bait titles of some popular movies?

If you built a themed hotel, what would the theme be and what would the rooms look like?

What scientific discovery would change the course of humanity overnight if it was discovered?

Do you think that humans will ever be able to live together in harmony?

What would your perfect bar look like?

What’s the scariest non-horror movie?

What’s the most amazing true story you’ve heard?

What’s the grossest food that you just can’t get enough of?

What brand are you most loyal to?

What’s the most awkward thing that happens to you on a regular basis?

If you had to disappear and start a whole new life, what would you want your new life to look like?

What movie or book do you know the most quotes from?

What was one of the most interesting concerts you’ve been to?

Where are you not welcome anymore?

What do you think could be done to improve the media?

What’s the most recent show you’ve binge watched?

What’s the worst movie trope?

What’s a common experience for many people that you’ve never experienced?

What are some misconceptions about your hobby?

What’s the smartest thing you’ve seen an animal do?

What’s the most annoying noise?

What’s your haunted house story?

What did you Google last?

What’s the dumbest thing someone has argued with you about?

If money and practicality weren’t a problem, what would be the most interesting way to get around town?

What’s the longest rabbit hole you’ve been down?

What’s the saddest scene in a movie or TV series?

What’s the most frustrating product you own?

What inconsequential super power would you like to have?

What qualities do all your friends have in common?

What odd smell do you really enjoy?

What’s the coolest animal you’ve seen in the wild?

What’s the best lesson you’ve learned from a work of fiction?

What food do you crave most often?

Who in your life has the best / worst luck?

What fashion trend makes you cringe or laugh every time you see it?

What’s your best story of you or someone else trying to be sneaky and failing miserably?

Which apocalyptic dystopia do you think is most likely?

If you had a HUD that showed three stats about any person you looked at, what three stats would you want it to show?

What’s the funniest thing you’ve seen a kid do?

What’s your secret talent?

What’s the best way you or someone you know has gotten out of a ticket / trouble with the law?

Tear gas makes people cry and laughing gas makes people giggle, what other kinds of gases do you wish existed?

What’s the most beautiful beach you’ve been to?

What’s the most anxiety inducing thing you do on a regular basis?

What’s something that everyone agrees we should change, but somehow it never changes?

What trend are you tired of?

What’s incredibly cheap and you would pay way more for?

What’s your grossest bug story?

What would the adult version of an ice-cream truck sell and what song would it play?

What company do you despise?

When was the most inappropriate time you busted out in laughter?

What would be an accurate tag line for each month?

What’s the most overrated product out on the market?

What word do you always misspell?

What naps are the most satisfying?

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve found lying on the ground / side of the road?

What’s the funniest TV show you’ve ever seen?

What’s the most embarrassing story from your childhood?

What animal is the most majestic?

What’s something that everyone knows is true, but we don’t like to admit it?

What’s the weirdest text or email you’ve gotten?

What always cheers you up when you think about it?

What sport could you play the longest in a televised game, without anyone discovering you aren’t a professional athlete?

If you could talk to animals and they would understand you, but you couldn’t understand them, what would you do with that power?

What’s the most boring sport, and what would you do to make it more exciting?

What’s the creepiest tech out there?

Who did you use to look up to, but they screwed up and you lost faith in them?

What’s fine in small numbers but terrifying in large numbers?

Do you like things to be carefully planned or do you prefer to just go with the flow?

What animal would you most like to eat?

What fictional characters have you had a crush on over the years?

What would the box with all your hopes and dreams inside look like?

What was the worst shopping experience you’ve ever had?

What story you’ve heard has stayed with you and always disturbs you every time you think about it?

What was the most important appointment or deadline you missed?

If you were a clown themed super hero, what powers would you have?

If you could teleport anything you want, worth two million dollars or less, anywhere you want, what would you choose and where would you teleport it?

If you lived in a virtual reality world of your own creation, what would it look like?

What escalated very quickly?

What two things are terrible when separate but great when you put them together?

What did you believe for way too long as a child?

What big event do you think will happen soon that most people aren’t expecting?

What still makes you cringe when you think back on it?

What current trend makes no sense to you?

If you owned a restaurant, what kind of food would it serve?

Which celebrity is the most likely to have a collection of canes that are just for show?

What’s the weirdest crush you’ve had?

What do a lot of people have very strong opinions about, even though they know very little about it?

What’s your go to casino game?

An epic feast is held in your honor, what’s on the table?

What’s your favorite holiday movie?

Who is the most manipulative person you’ve ever met?

Who is the most creative person you know?

What’s the funniest pick up line you’ve heard?

What seemingly innocent question makes you think “It’s a trap!”?

How ambitious are you?

What did you like / dislike about where you grew up?

What elements of pop culture will be forever tied in your mind to your childhood?

What’s your good luck charm?

What’s legal now, but probably won’t be in 25 years?

Would you want the ability to hear the thoughts of people near you if you couldn’t turn the ability off?

When was the last time you stayed up through the entire night?

What’s something that people think makes them look cool, but actually has the opposite effect?

What’s the oldest thing you own?

What has someone borrowed but never given back?

Where is the best place you’ve been for taking walks?

If cartoon physics suddenly replaced real physics, what are some things you would want to try?

What from the present will withstand the test of time?

Who in your life is the worst at using technology?

What’s the weirdest conversation you’ve eavesdropped on?

What just around the corner tech are you eager to get your hands on?

What was the darkest movie you’ve ever seen?

What do you do when you hear something fall in the middle of the night while you are in bed?

What outfit could you put together from clothes you own to get the most laughs?

What’s the most disgusting sounding word in the English language?

What was ruined because it became popular?

What outdated slang do you use on a regular basis?

What was the biggest realization you had about yourself?

What’s your best example of easy come, easy go?

What small change greatly improves a person’s appearance?

What topic could you spend hours talking about?

What happens regularly that would horrify a person from 100 years ago?

What do a lot of people hope will happen but is just not going to happen?

What’s the weirdest thing that has happened to you while working at your job?

What questions would you like to ask a time traveler from 200 years in the future?

Which way should toilet paper hang, over or under?

What’s the most physically painful thing you’ve ever experienced?

What horror story do you have from a job you’ve had?

What’s the most rage inducing game you’ve ever played?

What’s the biggest overreaction you’ve ever seen?

What are some of the most common misconceptions?

What job doesn’t exist now but will exist in the future?

What awful movie do you love?

What normally delicious food gets ruined when you wrap it in a tortilla?

What’s your best example of fake it till you make it?

What were you completely certain of until you found out you were wrong?

What’s something commonly done that gets progressively weirder the more you think about it?

What’s the cutest thing you can imagine? Something so cute it’s almost painful.

If you were given unlimited resources, how would you lure the worst of humanity into one stadium at the same time?

What do you think about when you hear the word “classy”?

What near future predictions do you have?

What do you need help with most often?

What piece of “art” would you create if you had to pretend to be an artist and submit something to a gallery?

What do you do to make the world a better place?

What’s the best and worst thing about the country you are from?

If you were in charge renaming things so that their names would be more accurate, what names would you come up with?

What’s better broken than whole?

What values are most important to you?

What’s the best sandwich you’ve ever had?

What’s the worst thing you ate from a fast food restaurant?

What’s something that I don’t know?

What profession doesn’t get enough credit or respect?

What memory of yours feels real but is most likely false?

What’s your “and then it got worse” story?

What was the most amazing physical feat you’ve managed to pull off?

What’s the most annoying thing about the social media platform you use most often?

If you were hired to show tourists what life is really like where you live, what would you show them / have them do?

What would be the most unsettling thing to keep occasionally finding around your house?

What nicknames do you have for people in your life?

What does the opposite sex do that you wish that you could do, but it’s not anatomically feasible or it’s socially frowned upon?

How much do you plan / prepare for the future?

What do you hate most and love most about your car / bike if you own one?

What weird potato chip flavor that doesn’t exist would you like to try?

What’s the silliest thing you’ve convinced someone of?

How much do you think names affect the outcomes of people’s lives?

What product or service is way more expensive than it needs to be?

What’s the shadiest thing you’ve seen someone do?

What was the last situation where some weird stuff went down and everyone acted like it was normal, and you weren’t sure if you were crazy or everyone around you was crazy?

What did you eat so much of that now you hate it?

What are some of the dumbest lyrics you’ve heard in a song?

Where’s the line between soup and cereal?

What word do you always mispronounce?

What do you think you do better than 90% of people?

What would be the worst food to be liquefied and drunk through a straw?

What’s the weirdest thing about modern life that people just accept as normal?

How much of your body would you cybernetically enhance if you could?

If you wanted to slowly drive a roommate insane using only notes, what kind of notes would you leave around the house?

If you had a giraffe that you needed to hide, where would you hide it?

What’s the clumsiest thing you’ve done?

What songs do you only know the chorus to?

Think of a brand, now what would an honest slogan for that brand be?

What’s something common from your childhood that will seem strange to future generations?

What’s the most amazing place in nature you’ve been?

What’s quickly becoming obsolete?

Where is the most uncomfortable place you have ever slept?

What’s the most annoying animal you’ve encountered?

What’s your best example of correlation not equaling causation?

In what situations, do you wish you could throw down a smoke bomb and disappear?

When was the last time you were hopelessly lost?

What songs do you feel compelled to sing along with when you hear them, even if you don’t totally know all the words?

What product do you wish a company would make a “smart” version of?

What two films would you like to combine into one?

What’s are some of your Pavlovian responses?

Would you rather AI and scientists oversee a country’s policies or politicians?

If you could put a new idiom into common usage, what would it be?

Do you prefer book or movies with happy endings or more dramatic endings and why?

Who is your favorite artist or what is your favorite art style?

What are some of the most interesting facts about the natural world you know?

Do you think that wanting things necessarily leads to more sadness and misery?

What famous person is actually making the world a better place?

What are you waiting for?

What do you look for when you buy clothes? (Good value, latest fashion, your own unique style, function, comfort, etc.)

What is the strangest room or building you’ve been in?

What choice would you make in a prisoner’s dilemma with a total stranger? How about with a friend or family member? *

How much time do you spend on your phone?

What sports if any do you like to watch? If you aren’t into traditional sports, weird and uncommon sports count too.

What do you do when you feel like you are in a rut?

How often did you climb trees as a child? Did you have a tree house or fort? When was the last time you climbed a tree?

How do you think countries could allocate their resources better?

What do you do to relax and let off steam?

What is the craziest thing you’ve done this week?

How much do you recycle?

What are some weird ice cream flavors you’ve seen or heard of, would you try them?

What was something you really wanted as a kid but now look back on and shake your head? (For me it was wanting to live in a water tower, or an inflatable giant soda can.)

What is the perfect room temperature?

What is your ideal home aesthetic if money wasn’t an issue?

What are some pieces of art that had a big impact on you?

What features would you like to see in the next round of TV’s?

Do you prefer to be too hot or too cold, and why?

How would you like to see the education system change?

How self-motivated are you?

What job are you grossly under qualified for but think you would be pretty good at?

What’s the most exotic food you’ve ever eaten?

What are the three most important life lessons you’ve learned?

How much of an accent do you think you have? Are you proud of it or do you wish you could lose it for a more neutral accent?

Who is the most hardcore person you know?

Do you like cooking? What dishes can you make?

What’s the best concert you’ve been to? What made it so good?

What is the strangest sport you’ve heard of?

Why do you think in western society it has been relatively uncommon for men to wear make up?

If you could rename your country or state, what would you rename it and why?

What trend do you think is on the way out?

Where is the most enchanting place you’ve been?

What’s your favorite way to spend a rainy day?

What’s your perfect night out look like?

Which of your possessions are so precious that if you dropped it in a public toilet you would reach in and grab it?

When you fidget, what do you do?

What was the last book you read?

Do you think people are wiser now than they were 100 years ago? Why or why not?

How comfortable are you being without a phone?

In general, is it better for a person to stand out and be different or blend in with everyone else?

Do you think silence is relaxing or unnerving? Why do you think other people might feel the opposite way?

Do you think you are good leader or would make a good leader? Why or why not?

How much do you trust or distrust authority figures?

Have you ever or would you ever try cosplay?

What is your dream vacation?

What about modern society baffles you?

How do you think the internet would change if all advertising was banned on the internet?

What makes your hometown special?

What is or was your most treasured clothing item?

What is the best museum or strangest museum you have been to?

How much sleep do you usually get?

What’s the last movie you watched?

What do you like and dislike about your city or town?

What is the spiciest thing you’ve ever eaten?

What is your favorite movie that came out in the last year?

What do you pretend to understand but actually have no clue about?

What are some red flags and green flags for a new friendship?

How long would you choose to live given the choice of any number of years?

How much faith do you put in humanity?

What feels like a lifetime ago but was relatively recent?

What is a memorable mess you had to clean up?

What do you think the people in charge at your job or school could be doing better?

Have you found your place in the world? How common or uncommon do you think it is to feel like you’ve found your place in the world?

What three “tribes” do you feel closest to?

If you were a spice, what spice would you be?

How do you feel about snakes and spiders?

How adventurous are you when it comes to food?

What appliance would you have the hardest time doing without?

How forgiving are you?

What routine are you sick of but haven’t gotten around to changing it?

How much of a role do you think A.I. will play in the near future?

What were some of your favorite toys as a child?

What do you think about reality TV shows?

How well do you dance? What are some of your go to moves?

Do you buy designer clothes, avoid them, or simply go by style / price? Why?

How good are you at admitting when you are wrong?

Who’s is the person you feel most comfortable around?

How well do you handle spicy food?

Do you think that humans as a species have changed much in the last 2000 years? Not human technology but humans themselves. Why or why not?

Are you a patient person? What are you patient with that most people aren’t and what do you have no patience for?

What is something that unnerves you but the majority people don’t seem to be bothered by?

How well do you take criticism?

What is the best part of this period your life? What do you think you’ll be nostalgic for?

What is the best thing going on in your life at the moment?

Do you think some adversity is good for a person? How much is too much?

What part of the house do you hate to clean the most?

What famous person are you a little too obsessed with?

How do you think you’d fair in prison?

What innovative idea or product have you heard about recently?

Where do you draw your inner strength?

Are relationships with your friends or your family more important to you?

How good is your sense of direction? How often do you get lost?

What is the strangest or most interesting creature you have heard of?

What is the single most important thing a single individual can do to further the greater good?

Do you have a green thumb or hands of death when it comes to plants? What roughly is your kill / grow ratio?

What unhealthy snack can you not get enough of?

What do you think of the electric scooters you find in most big cities?

What are some of your favorite memories with your family?

What do you think the next big tech thing will be?

How much do you take care of your health?

What do you know the most about?

Have you ever or would you ever dye your hair a wild color?

How big of a part of success does luck play?

What is something you covet?

What are some of your happiest childhood memories?

How judgmental are you?

What’s your favorite store or type of store to walk around in? How about your least favorite?

When are you at your happiest?

Most cultures have some form of dance, what benefit do you think dancing gave to early humans?

What new language would you like to learn most?

What is your favorite accessory?

What kind of people do you surround yourself with?

What was one experience that you were hesitant to try but are really glad you did?

What song or artist are you into at the moment?

What’s your favorite type of funny video to watch?

Which drugs, if any, do you think should be legalized and why?

When was the last time you went camping?

What are the three biggest threats facing the world?

What is worth standing in line for?

What is the best way to spend a day alone?

What is the best complement you’ve ever received?

If you were a graffiti artist what would your tag look like?

What were some of the non-tragic turning points in your life?

What scene from a movie still haunts you?

What’s your favorite TV show currently on air?

Where is your favorite place to take a walk?

What songs do you know every word to?

What are some of your favorite things to do outside?

[jcmarchi]

Fortnite Chapter 5: Season 2 Begins Today With New Skins, Locations, Weapons, And More

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/fortnite-chapter-5-season-2-begins-today-with-new-skins-locations-weapons-and-more/

Fortnite Chapter 5: Season 2 Begins Today With New Skins, Locations, Weapons, And More

Fortnite Chapter 5: Season 2 has arrived. Dubbed “Myths & Mortals,” the latest season of Epic Games popular battle royale is themed around Greek mythology and its various gods and goddesses. As today marks the start of a new season (after the usual downtime, of course), there’s a new battle pass to earn and it features plenty of great skins. Plus, the new season introduces several new points of interest to visit, weapons to use, and more. 

Everything You Need To Know About Fortnite Chapter 5: Season 2

Somebody (it was us, the players) opened Pandora’s Box on the Fortnite Battle Royale Island, bringing Olympus and its heroic gods and goddesses to the fight. Olympian legends like the god of the underworld, Hades, and the god of thunder, Zeus, now rule the island with rage. 

You can get a glimpse of Hades, Zeus, and other battle pass skins, including Korra from The Legend of Zorra animated series, in the image below: 

New Locations

At Mount Olympus, the home of Zeus, you’ll always feel like you’re being watched by the massive Zeus monument that graces this mountain POI, according to Epic Games. 

To get to the Underworld, players will need to cross the river at Grim Gate, where the three-headed Cerberus guard dog awaits. Venture to the west of the island to confront this legendary foe. 

The Underworld is the home of Hades. Despite its flowing streams, Epic Games says the land of this city is almost completely dried up. 

Another location is the Brawler’s Battleground arena, south of Mount Olympus. It’s where Ares always welcomes an admirable foe – and speaking of Ares, this god is the Outfit of the April 2024 Crew Pack. 

New Weapons

The new Thunderbolt of Zeus allows players to rise into the air and hurl lightning bolts at enemies below. However, it only has a maximum of three charges with a cooldown between one. Pick up this Mythic power across the island or by defeating Zeus himself. 

The Gatekeeper Shotgun can quickly fire three aggressive rounds. It’s a shotgun best at short range. It can be found across the island or as a Mythic variant by defeating Cerberus. 

The Harbinger SMG is unforgiving and relentless, according to Epic Games. “Highly accurate when first shot, it has dramatically increased recoil and bloom as more bullets are fired,” a press release reads. “But that doesn’t stop it from going all out. Find regular versions across the island or the Mythic version from defeating Hades.” It’s the weapon Zeus is holding in the image at the top of this story. 

The Huntress DMR is a new rifle from Artemis, the goddess of the moonlit hunt. It’s apparently great against the gods on the island, Epic Games says. And it can be found around the island or as a Mythic version by hunting down Zeus. 

The Warforged Assault Rifle is the favorite of Ares. Described as powerful yet unruly, this assault rifle has high damage, a high rate of fire, and a strong recoil. It can be found across the island or as a Mythic variant by defeating Ares. 

The Wings of Icarus are this season’s mobility item. With it, you can soar through the skies and divebomb into your foes below. However, fly too long, and your wings will burn up – taking too much damage might lead to a crash landing. You can find this Mythic pick-up scattered around the island. 

And as a tease, Epic Games says another Olympian power – the Chains of Hades – “will pull you in later this Season.” 

Here are the weapons from Fortnite Chapter 5: Season 1 returning in Season 2: 

Hammer Pump Shotgun

Frenzy Auto Shotgun

Nemesis AR

Thunder Burst SMG

Reaper Sniper Rifle

Ranger Pistol

In terms of new weapon mods, there’s the Thermal Scope, which can be attached to any scoped weapon for a thermal view that can be toggled on and off, and the Speedgrip, which increases your movement speed while aiming. You can find these mods at Mod Benches, just like last season, which are in new Weapon Bunkers scattered around the map that open up throughout each match. 

New Battle Pass

Here are the skins you can expect: 

Cerberus (unlocked immediately)

Aphrodite

Poseidon

Medusa

Zeus

Artemis

Hades

Korra

You have until May 24, 2024, at 2 a.m. ET to complete this battle pass. 

Ranked Zero Build

“We’ve heard your feedback about longer queue times at the upper Zero Build ranks,” the press release reads. “To address this, we’re doing a test! The NA-East and NA-West matchmaking regions will route to the NA-Central matchmaking region for Ranked Zero Build. This is so that Ranked Zero Build players in North America will be up against a wider pool of players, which means shorter queue times. The results of this test will determine if this is a long-term solution.”

And that’s everything you need to know about Fortnite Chapter 5: Season 2 – Myths & Mortals. 

Are you excited for the new season? Let us know in the comments below!

[theriu]

How To Discourage A Changeling

Me: You’re not going out like that, are you?

Changeling: (pauses gloating) What? I look just like you!

Me: I don’t know, I just don’t think you’re pulling it off. The way you slouch is all wrong—and that scar is on the wrong side! I see it in the mirror every morning, I should know.

Changeling: (sputtering) Mirrors give REVERSE IMAGES—

Me: And my outfit! You’re holding at least THREE magical items wrong! Look, don’t go through any fairy doors, that’s all I’m saying.

Changeling: ...Wait, what happens if I—

Me: Oh well, it’s probably for the best. Pretty sure that bugbear is still after me, so I need to lay low. Do me a favor and lead him off for a few days, will you?

Changeling: (horrified) How can you be this inconvenient to replace?!

Me: Practice.

----

More assorted nonsense can be found on my How To Guides For Mythical Creatures Masterlist

[teacupcollector]

The Undead Kind of Love: Part 1

Main Masterlist Series Masterlist

Pairing: Vampire Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: When Y/N’s art project lands her in Romania she is met with very peculiar circumstances. Such as a weird old man speaking mythical nonsense, murders of both people and animals, an oncoming threat to her life, as well as her mysterious yet very hot next door neighbor with a weird obsession with beetroot juice.

You came to the Romanian capital for your college class. Your major was in Art History and you found that throughout your class you enjoyed different types of Folk Art and you enjoyed Romanian Folk Art the most. So you decided to sign a slip to study abroad to a country of your choosing and so you chose Romania. You were tasked to study the art and make your own as well as write an essay on the culture you encountered on your trip. So here you are, in Bucharest sitting at a small park bench, food in hand which had a beautiful view of ‘The Arch of Triumph’ You had your small notepad that you use to take notes on what you see for your essay but as of right now you are doodling with the infamous arch way as the sole subject. As you finished your food you begin to pack up and put your pencil and notebook away then stand up. Your next stop was the “Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum” It is about a seven minute walk from where you are now so you begin your journey.

With your backpack over your shoulder you begin your seven minute trek when something caught your ear. It was coming from ahead of you as you make your way to the entrance of the museum. “Pleacă de aici (Go away!)” A man cried. He seemed out of his mind! He was yelling and touching patrons in an effort to diverge them away from somewhere. “trebuie să pleci acum (You must leave now!)” You weren’t sure of what to do so you just stood there staring. That was your first mistake. He immediately made eye contact with you and charged in your direction. He was spitting nonsense and you couldn’t understand what he was saying. “Părăsi! Părăsi! (Leave! Leave!)” You understand that word so as you go through your imaginary index cards you have for the Romanian language you ask “De ce? (Why?)” The man seemed confused at what you were asking. “Mort! (Dead!)” You look at him even more confused and he sighs angrily “Vampire! Here Vampire!” You look shocked. You knew this man was crazy but not this crazy! He begins to grab on to your arm in a firm grip when he is suddenly ripped off of you. “Destul! (Enough!)” You see a pair of what looked like officers pulling the man away from you. “Atenție! ( Be careful!)” The man cries. “nu ieși noaptea! (Don’t go out at night!)” The police officers are taking him away in the direction of the main road. “Morții merg pe timp de noapte (The dead walk at night!) That was the last words you heard until he was out of ear shot. A wave of strangeness incased your entire body. You felt uncomfortable so you decided to leave. ‘I’ll come here some other time...’ You think to yourself as you find yourself walking back toward the main road and away from the museum and the woods that surrounded it.

Your walk home was unnerving. You wouldn’t say you were a paranoid person or even a believer in the paranormal but the man did strike a fear in you. You use to love vampires when you were a kid. You dressed up as one for three years straight for Halloween. You went through that weird Twilight phase of putting dots of sharpie on your neck and drinking red Kool-Aid in middle school. To say you weren’t a vampire fan would be a lie but that man seemed to know more. I mean you are in Romania so it is to be expected? You sigh as you get closer and closer to your apartment complex. Your backpack seems to be getting heavier with each step you took up the stairs. You enter an outdoor hallway that is connected to the stairs you just went up and look back to the world behind you. As the chill of the Autumn air sets in and you shiver. You turn to your door and take out your keys that were provided for you by the school. 

As you jiggle the lock you hear a door open next to you. You look to your left and see a man step out. He is wearing a brownish leather jacket and a red shirt underneath. He has a cap on top of his head as his umber brown hair surrounds his face. His side profile was a chefs kiss. He had a well defined jawline accompanied with just the right amount of facial hair from what you could see his face stood stern and unmoving until they landed on you. He had equally stern baby blue eyes as he stared into you (E/C) ones. His eyes seem to have a storm behind them. He had an intimidating look to him and the air around him was intense. You felt like you couldn’t breath. His eyes were like a black hole and they were sucking you in but you weren’t sure if you wanted to escape. That brief moment felt like a life time as you are swallowed by those broken eyes. He just looks at you and walks away.

When you got inside you decided to do a little research. Your roommate has yet to return so you decided to use their computer. You go to the local online news paper and begin to look at some articles. You go to the settings in the corner of the screen and hit the translate button. As the site reloads you begin to read. Multiple headlines flash across the screen as you scroll until a specific one catches your eye. “Local Farmer Finds Cattle Slaughtered” You scroll down to see pictures of said cattle. They are strangely skinny and their eyes are sunken in, there is a chunk of meat missing on a few parts of its body -mainly around the neck area- Scrolling down more you see the museum you were suppose to go to. There was a picture of the man you encountered holding onto somebody. Looking closely you can see that it is you! You didn’t realize that you were being photographed. Luckily it was of the back of your head so no one saw your face, but it would be a cool story to tell to your friend later. As you continue to stare at the man you decide to do even more digging. You decide to look up vampires and the influence they have in this culture. What you found was interesting but you weren’t sure if it was accurate. Then again how can something mythical be accurate? You decided to write down the name of a library that is close to your apartment complex and head there tomorrow. You decide to exit and shut off the computer putting it back on the coffee table where it belongs. You get up and decide to see what you have in the fridge. Turns out there was a whole lot of nothing. ‘I really need to go to the market tomorrow...’ You think to yourself as you reach for your phone looking at different take out places. You choose the type of food you wish to eat and made sure to write down the pronunciation of each items on the menu so you can be sure to say it correctly to the best of your abilities. By the time you are done ordering your roommate walks in and gives you a small wave. You wave back to them before continuing to wait for your food. You look out the sliding door of your balcony to see the sky is pitch black. You feel a shiver go up your spine and make your way to the sliding door and shutting the blinds. You take a few steps back and calm your breathing. You don’t know why you feel so worked up over nothing but you guess that your paranoia is getting the best of you. You walk to your roommates room and knock on the door. You hear a quiet ‘come in’ so you open the door. “Hey I just wanted to let you know that I got us some food and it will be here soon.” They smile and nod and you exit the room shutting it behind you. You don’t know how long it has been but you started dozing off on the couch when you heard a knock on the door. You quickly get your wallet and approach the door opening it. You expected your food to be here. What you didn’t expect is the person holding your food in their hands. “Oh it’s you!” You exclaim making the man you saw earlier today flinch. You blush red in embarrassment. “Sorry Uh-” You begin to try and speak some Romanian but the man cuts you off. “Your food got delivered to my place...” You look even more shocked. “Oh right. I’m so sorry!” You pop your head around the corner of the door way looking for the delivery person. “Where did they go?” You ask looking up at him. “They left...” He murmurs. “They wouldn’t have left without payment... Did you pay for my food?” You ask suddenly feeling guilty. He nods. “Why don’t you come i-” “No it’s fine.” He says holding out the bag of food to you. You look between him and the food. As you look closely you can see his hand. His hands look tough, fingernails are well kept with veins protruding and leading up his arm, but the thing that caught your eye the most was how his fingertips and some of his hand was stained red. “Is that your blood!? Are you okay? Did you hurt you hand?” You ask taking the food in which he takes his hand and wipes it on his jeans even though there is no liquid on it. What ever it was you hoped it wasn’t blood because it must have been there for a while to have stained it. “No I didn’t hurt my hand. I spilled some beet root juice.” He says quietly. “Oh... Okay...” You say slightly weirded out. “Well good night.” He says before walking away. You are stood there for a moment before you call out “Good night! How do I-” You hear the sound of his apartment door slamming shut. You were debating on going over there to say something but your thoughts were interrupted by your roommate calling out to you. “Hey what are you doing with the door wide open? Is the food here?” She asks and you sigh “Yeah I’m coming in.” You say as you step back into the apartment and shut the door. A/N: I used Google Translate for the Romanian So I’m sorry if it is off. A/N: This story is for a writing challenge hosted by @lokithealligator A/N: The bolded words is number 46 in a prompt list made by @pitaparka​         -Please check both of them out they are amazing!

[ivy-xvioletx]

“Q&A’s”

350 Good questions to ask 🤩

1. What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?

2. What social stigma does society need to get over?

3. What food have you never eaten but would really like to try?

4. What’s something you really resent paying for?

5. What would a world populated by clones of you be like?

6. Do you think that aliens exist?

7. What are you currently worried about?

8. Where are some unusual places you’ve been?

9. Where do you get your news?

10. What are some red flags to watch out for in daily life?

11. What movie can you watch over and over without ever getting tired of?

12. When you are old, what do you think children will ask you to tell stories about?

13. If you could switch two movie characters, what switch would lead to the most inappropriate movies?

14. What inanimate object would be the most annoying if it played loud upbeat music while being used?

15. When did something start out badly for you but in the end, it was great?

16. How would your country change if everyone, regardless of age, could vote?

17. What animal would be cutest if scaled down to the size of a cat?

18. If your job gave you a surprise three day paid break to rest and recuperate, what would you do with those three days?

19. What’s wrong but sounds right?

20. What’s the most epic way you’ve seen someone quit or be fired?

21. If you couldn’t be convicted of any one type of crime, what criminal charge would you like to be immune to?

22. What’s something that will always be in fashion, no matter how much time passes?

23. What actors or actresses play the same character in almost every movie or show they do?

24. In the past people were buried with the items they would need in the afterlife, what would you want buried with you so you could use it in the afterlife?

25. What’s the best / worst practical joke that you’ve played on someone or that was played on you?

26. Who do you go out of your way to be nice to?

27. Where do you get most of the decorations for your home?

28. What food is delicious but a pain to eat?

29. Who was your craziest / most interesting teacher?

30. What “old person” things do you do?

31. What’s something common from your childhood that will seem strange to future generations?

32. What is the most amazing slow motion video you’ve seen?

33. Which celebrity do you think is the most down to earth?

34. What would be the worst thing to hear as you are going under anesthesia before heart surgery?

35. What’s the spiciest thing you’ve ever eaten?

36. What’s the most expensive thing you’ve broken?

37. What obstacles would be included in the World’s most amazing obstacle course?

38. What makes you roll your eyes every time you hear it?

39. What do you think you are much better at than you actually are?

40. What’s the most amazing place in nature you’ve been?

41. What’s the most creative use of emojis you’ve ever seen?

42. When was the last time you got to tell someone “I told you so.”?

43. What riddles do you know?

44. What’s your cure for hiccups?

45. What invention doesn’t get a lot of love, but has greatly improved the world?

46. What’s the most interesting building you’ve ever seen or been in?

47. What mythical creature do you wish actually existed?

48. What are your most important rules when going on a date?

49. How do you judge a person?

50. If someone narrated your life, who would you want to be the narrator?

51. What was the most unsettling film you’ve seen?

52. What unethical experiment would have the biggest positive impact on society as a whole?

53. When was the last time you were snooping, and found something you wish you hadn’t?

54. Which celebrity or band has the worst fan base?

55. What are you interested in that most people aren’t?

56. If you were given a PhD degree, but had no more knowledge of the subject of the degree besides what you have now, what degree would you want to be given to you?

57. What smartphone feature would you actually be excited for a company to implement?

58. What’s something people don’t worry about but really should?

59. What movie quotes do you use on a regular basis?

60. Do you think that children born today will have better or worse lives than their parents?

61. What’s quickly becoming obsolete?

62. When was the last time you felt you had a new lease on life?

63. What’s the funniest actual name you’ve heard of someone having?

64. Which charity or charitable cause is most deserving of money?

65. What TV show character would it be the most fun to change places with for a week?

66. What was cool when you were young but isn’t cool now?

67. If you were moving to another country, but could only pack one carry-on sized bag, what would you pack?

68. What’s the most ironic thing you’ve seen happen?

69. If magic was real, what spell would you try to learn first?

70. If you were a ghost and could possess people, what would you make them do?

71. What goal do you think humanity is not focused enough on achieving?

72. What problem are you currently grappling with?

73. What character in a movie could have been great, but the actor they cast didn’t fit the role?

74. What game have you spent the most hours playing?

75. What’s the most comfortable bed or chair you’ve ever been in?

76. What’s the craziest conversation you’ve overheard?

77. What’s the hardest you’ve ever worked?

78. What movie, picture, or video always makes you laugh no matter how often you watch it?

79. What artist or band do you always recommend when someone asks for a music recommendation?

80. If you could have an all-expenses paid trip to see any famous world monument, which monument would you choose?

81. If animals could talk, which animal would be the most annoying?

82. What’s the most addicted to a game you’ve ever been?

83. What’s the coldest you’ve ever been?

84. Which protagonist from a book or movie would make the worst roommate?

85. Do you eat food that’s past its expiration date if it still smells and looks fine?

86. What’s the most ridiculous thing you have bought?

87. What’s the funniest comedy skit you’ve seen?

88. What’s the most depressing meal you’ve eaten?

89. What tips or tricks have you picked up from your job / jobs?

90. What outdoor activity haven’t you tried, but would like to?

91. What songs hit you with a wave of nostalgia every time you hear them?

92. What’s the worst backhanded compliment you could give someone?

93. What’s the most interesting documentary you’ve ever watched?

94. What was the last song you sang along to?

95. What’s the funniest thing you’ve done or had happen while your mind was wandering?

96. What app can you not believe someone hasn’t made yet?

97. When was the last time you face palmed?

98. If you were given five million dollars to open a small museum, what kind of museum would you create?

99. Which of your vices or bad habits would be the hardest to give up?

100. What really needs to be modernized?

101. When was the last time you slept more than nine hours?

102. How comfortable are you speaking in front of large groups of people?

103. Where is the most uncomfortable place you have ever slept?

104. Who has zero filter between their brain and mouth?

105. What was your most recent lie?

106. When was the last time you immediately regretted something you said?

107. What would be the best thing you could reasonably expect to find in a cave?

108. What did you think was going to be amazing but turned out to be horrible?

109. What bit of trivia do you know that is very interesting but also very useless?

110. What’s the silliest thing you’ve seen someone get upset about?

111. What animal or plant do you think should be renamed?

112. What was the best thing that happened to you today?

113. As a child, what did you think would be awesome about being an adult, but isn’t as awesome as you thought it would be?

114. When’s censorship warranted?

115. What’s the most boring super hero you can come up with?

116. What would be some of the downsides of certain superpowers?

117. What word is a lot of fun to say?

118. What current trend do you hope will go on for a long time?

119. What actors or actresses can’t play a different character because they played their most famous character too well?

120. Where’s your go to restaurant for amazing food?

121. What’s something that all your friends agree on?

122. What’s your best story from a wedding?

123. What languages do you wish you could speak?

124. What’s the most pleasant sounding accent?

125. What’s something that everyone, absolutely everyone, in the entire world can agree on?

126. What country is the strangest?

127. What’s the funniest word in the English language?

128. What’s some insider knowledge that only people in your line of work have?

129. Who do you wish you could get back into contact with?

130. How do you make yourself sleep when you can’t seem to get to sleep?

131. If people receive a purple heart for bravery, what would other color hearts represent?

132. What are some of the best vacations you’ve had?

133. If there was a book of commandments for the modern world, what would some of the rules be?

134. What’s the craziest video you’ve ever seen?

135. What’s your “Back in my day, we…”?

136. If you could know the truth behind every conspiracy, but you would instantly die if you hinted that you knew the truth, would you want to know?

137. What animal would be the most terrifying if it could speak?

138. What’s the worst hairstyle you’ve ever had?

139. What habit do you have now that you wish you started much earlier?

140. If you were given one thousand acres of land that you didn’t need to pay taxes on but couldn’t sell, what would you do with it?

141. What about the opposite sex confuses you the most?

142. When was the last time you yelled at someone?

143. What’s the opposite of a koala?

144. What kinds of things do you like to cook or are good at cooking?

145. What life skills are rarely taught but extremely useful?

146. What movie universe would be the worst to live out your life in?

147. If you could hack into any one computer, which computer would you choose?

148. Who do you feel like you know even though you’ve never met them?

149. What’s the most ridiculous animal on the planet?

150. What’s the worst thing you’ve eaten out of politeness?

151. What’s the most historic thing that has happened in your lifetime?

152. What happens in your country regularly that people in most countries would find strange or bizarre?

153. What has been blown way out of proportion?

154. When was a time you acted nonchalant but were going crazy inside?

155. What’s about to get much better?

156. What are some clever examples of misdirection you’ve seen?

157. What’s your funniest story involving a car?

158. What would be the click-bait titles of some popular movies?

159. If you built a themed hotel, what would the theme be and what would the rooms look like?

160. What scientific discovery would change the course of humanity overnight if it was discovered?

161. Do you think that humans will ever be able to live together in harmony?

162. What would your perfect bar look like?

163. What’s the scariest non-horror movie?

164. What’s the most amazing true story you’ve heard?

165. What’s the grossest food that you just can’t get enough of?

166. What brand are you most loyal to?

167. What’s the most awkward thing that happens to you on a regular basis?

168. If you had to disappear and start a whole new life, what would you want your new life to look like?

169. What movie or book do you know the most quotes from?

170. What was one of the most interesting concerts you’ve been to?

171. Where are you not welcome anymore?

172. What do you think could be done to improve the media?

173. What’s the most recent show you’ve binge watched?

174. What’s the worst movie trope?

175. What’s a common experience for many people that you’ve never experienced?

176. What are some misconceptions about your hobby?

177. What’s the smartest thing you’ve seen an animal do?

178. What’s the most annoying noise?

179. What’s your haunted house story?

180. What did you Google last?

181. What’s the dumbest thing someone has argued with you about?

182. If money and practicality weren’t a problem, what would be the most interesting way to get around town?

183. What’s the longest rabbit hole you’ve been down?

184. What’s the saddest scene in a movie or TV series?

185. What’s the most frustrating product you own?

186. What inconsequential super power would you like to have?

187. What qualities do all your friends have in common?

188. What odd smell do you really enjoy?

189. What’s the coolest animal you’ve seen in the wild?

190. What’s the best lesson you’ve learned from a work of fiction?

191. What food do you crave most often?

192. Who in your life has the best / worst luck?

193. What fashion trend makes you cringe or laugh every time you see it?

194. What’s your best story of you or someone else trying to be sneaky and failing miserably?

195. Which apocalyptic dystopia do you think is most likely?

196. If you had a HUD that showed three stats about any person you looked at, what three stats would you want it to show?

197. What’s the funniest thing you’ve seen a kid do?

198. In what situations, do you wish you could throw down a smoke bomb and disappear?

199. What’s the best way you or someone you know has gotten out of a ticket / trouble with the law?

200. Tear gas makes people cry and laughing gas makes people giggle, what other kinds of gases do you wish existed?

201. What’s the most beautiful beach you’ve been to?

202. What’s the most anxiety inducing thing you do on a regular basis?

203. What’s something that everyone agrees we should change, but somehow it never changes?

204. What trend are you tired of?

205. What’s incredibly cheap and you would pay way more for?

206. What’s your grossest bug story?

207. What would the adult version of an ice-cream truck sell and what song would it play?

208. What company do you despise?

209. When was the most inappropriate time you busted out in laughter?

210. What would be an accurate tag line for each month?

211. What’s the most overrated product out on the market?

212. What word do you always misspell?

213. What naps are the most satisfying?

214. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve found lying on the ground / side of the road?

215. What’s the funniest TV show you’ve ever seen?

216. What’s the most embarrassing story from your childhood?

217. What animal is the most majestic?

218. What’s something that everyone knows is true, but we don’t like to admit it?

219. What’s the weirdest text or email you’ve gotten?

220. What always cheers you up when you think about it?

221. What sport could you play the longest in a televised game, without anyone discovering you aren’t a professional athlete?

222. If you could talk to animals and they would understand you, but you couldn’t understand them, what would you do with that power?

223. What’s the most boring sport, and what would you do to make it more exciting?

224. What’s the creepiest tech out there?

225. Who did you use to look up to, but they screwed up and you lost faith in them?

226. What’s fine in small numbers but terrifying in large numbers?

227. Do you like things to be carefully planned or do you prefer to just go with the flow?

228. What product do you wish a company would make a “smart” version of?

229. What fictional characters have you had a crush on over the years?

230. What would the box with all your hopes and dreams inside look like?

231. What was the worst shopping experience you’ve ever had?

232. What story you’ve heard has stayed with you and always disturbs you every time you think about it?

233. What was the most important appointment or deadline you missed?

234. If you were a clown themed super hero, what powers would you have?

235. If you could airdrop anything you want, worth two million dollars or less, anywhere you want, what would you airdrop and where would you airdrop it?

236. If you lived in a virtual reality world of your own creation, what would it look like?

237. Are you a morning person or a night person? Why?

238. Are you sunrise, daylight, twilight, or night? Please share why you picked your time of day?

239. How do you like to spend a rainy day?

240. Why do you like living in this area?

241. Do you believe in extraterrestrials or life on other planets?

242. What songs do you feel compelled to sing along with when you hear them, even if you don’t totally know all the words?

243. What two films would you like to combine into one?

244. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?

245. When was the last time you were hopelessly lost?

246. What did you enjoy most about school?

247. What is your morning ritual like?

248. What two things are terrible when separate but great when you put them together?

249. What did you believe for way too long as a child?

250. What big event do you think will happen soon that most people aren’t expecting?

251. What still makes you cringe when you think back on it?

252. What current trend makes no sense to you?

253. If you owned a restaurant, what kind of food would it serve?

254. Which celebrity is the most likely to have a collection of canes that are just for show?

255. What’s the weirdest crush you’ve had?

256. What do a lot of people have very strong opinions about, even though they know very little about it?

257. An epic feast is held in your honor, what’s on the table?

258. What’s your favorite holiday movie?

259. Who is the most manipulative person you’ve ever met?

260. Who is the most creative person you know?

261. What’s the funniest pick up line you’ve heard?

262. What seemingly innocent question makes you think “It’s a trap!”?

263. How ambitious are you?

264. What did you like / dislike about where you grew up?

265. What elements of pop culture will be forever tied in your mind to your childhood?

266. What’s your good luck charm?

267. What’s legal now, but probably won’t be in 25 years?

268. Would you want the ability to hear the thoughts of people near you if you couldn’t turn the ability off?

269. When was the last time you stayed up through the entire night?

270. What’s something that people think makes them look cool, but actually has the opposite effect?

271. What’s the oldest thing you own?

272. What has someone borrowed but never given back?

273. Where is the best place you’ve been for taking walks?

274. If cartoon physics suddenly replaced real physics, what are some things you would want to try?

275. What from the present will withstand the test of time?

276. Who in your life is the worst at using technology?

277. What’s the weirdest conversation you’ve eavesdropped on?

278. What just around the corner tech are you eager to get your hands on?

279. What was the darkest movie you’ve ever seen?

280. What do you do when you hear something fall in the middle of the night while you are in bed?

281. What outfit could you put together from clothes you own to get the most laughs?

282. What’s the most disgusting sounding word in the English language?

283. What was ruined because it became popular?

284. What outdated slang do you use on a regular basis?

285. What was the biggest realization you had about yourself?

286. What’s your best example of easy come, easy go?

287. What small change greatly improves a person’s appearance?

288. What topic could you spend hours talking about?

289. What happens regularly that would horrify a person from 100 years ago?

290. What do a lot of people hope will happen but is just not going to happen?

291. What’s the weirdest thing that has happened to you while working at your job?

291. What questions would you like to ask a time traveler from 200 years in the future?

292. Which way should toilet paper hang, over or under?

293. What’s the most physically painful thing you’ve ever experienced?

294. What horror story do you have from a job you’ve had?

295. What’s the most rage inducing game you’ve ever played?

296. What’s the biggest overreaction you’ve ever seen?

297. What are some of the most common misconceptions?

298. What job doesn’t exist now but will exist in the future?

299. What awful movie do you love?

300. What normally delicious food gets ruined when you wrap it in a tortilla?

301. What’s your best example of fake it till you make it?

302. What were you completely certain of until you found out you were wrong?

303. What’s something commonly done that gets progressively weirder the more you think about it?

304. What’s the cutest thing you can imagine? Something so cute it’s almost painful.

305. If you were given unlimited resources, how would you lure the worst of humanity into one stadium at the same time?

306. What do you think about when you hear the word “classy”?

307. What near future predictions do you have?

308. What do you need help with most often?

309. What piece of “art” would you create if you had to pretend to be an artist and submit something to a gallery?

310. What do you do to make the world a better place?

311. What’s the best and worst thing about the country you are from?

312. If you were in charge renaming things so that their names would be more accurate, what names would you come up with?

313. What’s better broken than whole?

314. What values are most important to you?

315. What’s the best sandwich you’ve ever had?

316. What’s the worst thing you ate from a fast food restaurant?

317. What’s something that I don’t know?

318. What profession doesn’t get enough credit or respect?

319. What memory of yours feels real but is most likely false?

320. What’s your “and then it got worse” story?

321. What was the most amazing physical feat you’ve managed to pull off?

322. What’s the most annoying thing about the social media platform you use most often?

323. If you were hired to show tourists what life is really like where you live, what would you show them / have them do?

324. What would be the most unsettling thing to keep occasionally finding around your house?

325. What nicknames do you have for people in your life?

326. What does the opposite sex do that you wish that you could do, but it’s not anatomically feasible or it’s socially frowned upon?

327. How much do you plan / prepare for the future?

328. What do you hate most and love most about your car?

329. What weird potato chip flavor that doesn’t exist would you like to try?

330. What’s the silliest thing you’ve convinced someone of?

331. How much do you think names affect the outcomes of people’s lives?

332. What product or service is way more expensive than it needs to be?

333. What’s the shadiest thing you’ve seen someone do?

337. What was the last situation where some weird stuff went down and everyone acted like it was normal, and you weren’t sure if you were crazy or everyone around you was crazy?

338. What did you eat so much of that now you hate it?

339. What are some of the dumbest lyrics you’ve heard in a song?

340. Where’s the line between soup and cereal?

341. What word do you always mispronounce?

342. What do you think you do better than 90% of people?

343. What would be the worst food to be liquefied and drunk through a straw?

344. What’s the weirdest thing about modern life that people just accept as normal?

345. How much of your body would you cybernetically enhance if you could?

346. If you wanted to slowly drive a roommate insane using only notes, what kind of notes would you leave around the house?

347. If you had a giraffe that you needed to hide, where would you hide it?

348. What’s the clumsiest thing you’ve done?

349. What songs do you only know the chorus to?

350. Think of a brand, now what would an honest slogan for that brand be?

[glowingbadger]

You may have a little Lorenz Prompt as promised. As a treat. Here goes~

Lorenz taking thorough notes to surprise his s/o (is it the blog owner? the reader? some random character? It doesn't matter~!) with the most lovely, romantic date imaginable based around everything they like. He wouldn't put in this much effort to TRULY impress someone, but you're worth every step and more.

Enjoy where this takes your thoughts~!

(and pls don't eat it, Tumblr)

Y'know what, I've had a shitty day and I just finished writing some darker content- so I am going to ~indulge~. Normally I try to make my Reader character as broadly relatable as possible, but today we're going with MY preferences and interests because I WANT A NICE DATE WITH LORENZ GODDAMNIT

Lorenz (FE3H) x GN Reader - perfect date

Fluff - SFW

Today simply has to be flawless- the Gloucester heir will not accept any less. Not when it comes to you. Of course, Lorenz holds himself to high standards in all things, but the thought of providing anything less than perfection for you is one that pains him to even consider. Especially now that he'd finally gotten the courage- or, rather, found the right and proper time to ask you to spend the day with him.

You approach him at the Monastery gates not long after noon that day, and find your pace slowing as you eye him before he's noticed you. Without his usual elegant set of armor, you can appreciate the way constant marching and training has toned his slender frame- and appreciate it, you most certainly do. Though he soon turns to face you, and your eyes dart back up from a rather ignoble place to meet his instead.

"You're as radiant as ever, I see," he says with a warm smile. He offers you an arm and you take it, replying with a grin,

"You've already got me for the day, Lorenz, there's no need for flattery."

"'Flattery' implies a measure of falsehood," he says with confidence, leading you towards town, "and I could never bring myself to lie to one so lovely."

As your time together proceeds, you can't help but feel that, some way, somehow, Lorenz has some kind of psychic insight into your preferences. Everywhere you turn, whatever your heart could desire is immediately available and set before you with hardly any negotiation at play. At the first flower stall you find, Lorenz takes a moment to exchange words with the owner while you admire the sprawling array of colorful blooms; and by the time he's returned, he's holding a woven crown of delicate little white flowers. With an admiring smile, he carefully places it on your head, a hand trailing down a lock of your hair as he pulls away to observe you.

With a shy grin, you perform an exaggerated curtsy, prompting Lorenz to laugh fondly and take you by the hand. He twirls you slowly under his arm, watching you all the while, then says,

"They suit you every bit as wonderfully as I'd thought."

"They're my favorites," you reply.

"I know- erm, that is- I know of a superb bakery down the block this way," Lorenz seems a bit red in the face, but you chalk that up to nerves.

He's not wrong though- this bakery is something else. The selection and quality of ingredients is on an entirely new level compared to the Monastery's dining hall, and you find yourself overwhelmed even reading down the list of items posted to the wall. By your third pass over the full range of options, the words are starting to dance in your eyes- but a warm touch at your arm shakes your focus. Lorenz leans close to be heard over the rapidly growing crowd at the bakery's counter,

"Might I make a recommendation?" you nod, and he goes on, "I happen to have it on good authority that there's an item not included on this menu that you may like. It incorporates three different treatments of Brigid cocoa, if that is of any interest to you."

Your eyes light up and you can practically feel the rich sweetness across your tongue already.

"That sounds incredible," you reply, enraptured by the very thought. When you start to ask how he'd heard of such a thing, Lorenz has already turned to speak to the worker taking orders, and your words drown among the crowd of customers. The speed at which he acquires this mythical pastry only fills your mind with more questions. How did he manage to purchase an off-menu item so quickly? Wouldn't the cost of something requiring those many luxurious imported ingredients be astronomical?

But then, Lorenz returns to your side and guides you out of the crowded shop, and the sight of the delectable chocolatey treat in his hands dashes all other thoughts from your mind. He hands it to you wrapped in a handkerchief, and you can't help but immediately plunge in for a bite.

"Mmmm-!" you wear an expression of pure bliss as your mouth fills with sweet, savory chocolate, "Oh- Lorenz, it's so good!"

When you glance up at him, he's watching you with a strangely heavy expression. Once more, his fair complexion is painted a light red. You tilt your head curiously, and he seems to resurface from whatever thoughts had taken him for the moment.

"Here- you should try some," you break off a piece and hold it up to him.

"Are- are you certain? I had intended for you to enjoy it to your heart's content," he stammers out, evidently still a bit flushed.

"I want you to get to have some too. Please?" You hate to resort to puppy eyes with him, but it's hard to argue with the results. He leans forward and accepts the piece of pastry from your hand. You don't shy away from him in the slightest, and so a brief brush of his lower lip along the tip of your finger simply can't be avoided. Lorenz does his best to move past this without acknowledgement, and you two enjoy your treat together as you take in the bustle of the town around you.

The day continues in kind, with Lorenz apparently having painstakingly arranged every element of this date from start to finish. At a local seller of antiques and luxury goods, he secures permission to view and explore rare and dazzling paintings from around the world. Here, he's rather uncharacteristically reserved. Wandering the storage area like your own personal art museum, he watches you with evident warmth as you exclaim at the rich and varied pigments, the innovative expressions of human form, and so on.

After this, he brings you to a tavern at the far end of town, where he's reserved the second floor exclusively for you two to enjoy a quiet, intimate meal together. By this point, you've finally gotten around to considering just how much gold must have gone into this singular date.

"Lorenz," you say cautiously, "are you sure it's okay to go through all of this and spend so much just for-"

He raises a hand to cut you off, then replies,

"I assure you that it is," he takes your hand in his, holding it warmly from across your private table, "wealth has no value that we ourselves do not assign to it, and I have chosen to spend it on your pleasure. I can think of no greater use for a bit of coin."

The rest of the early evening is filled with pleasant chat and the occasional subtle sweet-talk. As you discuss everything you've seen and experienced that day, Lorenz engages you with surprisingly astute comments and observations. He's always at his best when he feels permitted to simply talk with you, as one person to another, free of the pressures and expectations of his birthright that he shoulders without a thought.

The sun is steadily lowering behind the hills and walls of the surrounding town by the time you make your way back together. As you walk hand in hand watching the Monastery gates rise ahead of you, Lorenz clears his throat abruptly and says,

"If I may steal you away for just a little while longer, there was... actually someone I thought you'd like to meet."

"Oh? What an honor," you say with a smile, "Do I get any hints?"

Lorenz gives a good-natured chuckle and says,

"Only that I think you'll get along splendidly."

And of all places throughout Garreg Mach's grounds, you begin to recognize that he is leading you towards the stables. You've met Lorenz's horse before- a lovely mare with a calm and agreeable temperment. If not her, then...

"Eloise?" Lorenz calls out in a gentle voice, "Eloise, come say hello- Ellie? Come now, don't tell me you've chosen tonight to become bashful..." at his call, a svelte black cat with delicate little white paws comes trotting out to meet you. Your heart positively aches and melts at the sight of her eagerly approaching Lorenz with clear comfort and familiarity.

"Lorenz, you... have a cat?" You say with obvious disbelief.

"She's one of the Monastery's strays, to be clear," he says, "She helps with the mice in the stables. Evidently, she had become quite fond of my preferred horse- and so eventually became fond of me as well."

Fond seems an understatement- she very clearly adores him. With a chorus of happy little mews, she circles his legs and rubs against him until he crouches down to offer her his hand. As he does, a shred of parchment flutters from his pocket onto the ground. Eloise targets it like a seasoned warrior and pounces at it with gusto. With a laugh, you kneel down to retrieve whatever this paper she's captured might be.

"Now Eloise, none of that- you must behave genteel-like with guests."

As he firmly lectures the cat, you glance at the paper in your hand. Nearly every inch of it is covered in an elegant, curling script that you imagine must belong to Lorenz. It looks like a... list of some kind. As your eyes scan down the page, you begin to recognize a pattern. Your favorite flowers, favorite desserts, favorite types of books and places around town- plus, to the side, the word "cats?" underlined several times. For a moment, you simply cover your mouth to hold in a snort of laughter. Then, you come to kneel beside Lorenz as he's failing to convince his feline friend to stop swatting at his hair.

"So- you've been taking very thorough notes lately." you say, nudging his arm playfully. He turns to face you with an immediate look of panic. Lavender eyes widen and glance down to the parchment in your hand, then back to you. He visibly deflates and says,

"Goddess- you must find me such a fool-"

You press your lips firmly to his before he can say another word. With a soft noise of surprise, his eyes flutter shut and he leans into your kiss. His lips are wonderfully soft, and the subtle scent of his cologne surrounds your senses as you tilt your head to seal your lips to his more firmly. You're not certain how long you remain like this, but only the dull ache of kneeling on the dirt and the incessant sound of Eloise bapping her paw against the paper in your hand bring you back to your surroundings. When you part from him, you brush aside the silky curtain of his hair to run your hand along his face, and say,

"I had a wonderful time today, Lorenz- and it means the world to me that you put so much thought into this. But next time, you don't have to study so hard, okay?"

For a moment, he seems speechless. Then, he gives a shy chuckle.

"You have bested me yet again, it would seem. How can I ever hope to become a man worthy of you when you are ever more lovely with each passing day?"

Eloise gives an insistent chirp and rubs once more against his leg, evidently tired of distractions from the attention she feels she's owed. Your smile widens, and you scratch her ear fondly.

"I think there's at least two of us who like you just as you are, Lorenz."

[sammystep]

No One Lives Forever- CH6

(AO3 link)

Stardust Crusader Wolf Pack AU

[From the beginning- CH1]

<Previous Chapter    Next Chapter>

Jotaro is woken up by the gentle rays of the sun shining through the only window of the room, feeling not necessarily more well rested than usual but calmer. Contented. You are still asleep when he turns to face you. Neither of you had moved much during the night but he’s surprised your hands are still linked together on top of the blankets. He takes a second to decide if he really wants to be awake right now, he’s not used to feeling happy to wake up next to someone else. But ultimately, he’s not tired enough to fall back to sleep and it feels creepy to just stare at someone while they sleep. So, he carefully separates his hand from yours and gets ready for the day.

Exiting the attached bathroom after finishing his morning routine he sees that you’ve also woken up. Well maybe ‘awake’ isn’t the right word. You’re sitting up in the bed but he can’t see if your eyes are even open with how low your head is hanging, your hair obscuring your face. You seem to sense him getting closer and lift your head, only one eye open and squinting at him. Jotaro can’t help the chuckle that slips past his lips, it seems you are not much of a morning person.

“It’s still early. Go back to sleep.”

You have no arguments to this. With a sigh and a flop, you move yourself to the center of the bed and curl all the blankets and sheets around you. Jotaro catches a mumbled “OK. Thanks,” as he picks up his half-torn hat from the night stand and leaves the room.

He’s not surprised to see that Avdol and Kakyoin are already awake and enjoying the start of their day in peace and quiet, counting down the moments till Polnareff and Joseph wake up. Hmm, he should have warned them to be quiet before he went to bed last night. Then again, he didn’t really stick around after dinner to talk things out with his pack. The blood rushes to his cheeks and he tilts his head down so the brim of his hat can shield him. Good grief, they must think he’s some love-struck pup. One girl shows up and he drops all responsibilities to follow after her…

“Ah! Jotaro!” Joseph doesn’t exactly shout at him, but it’s close as the older man walks down the hall, Polnareff following behind him. “Good to see you’re up! You disappeared on us last night.”

“Well can you blame him? Who wants to hang out with us when there is a pretty girl in your bed?”

Jotaro growls a bit at Polnareff, “Don’t be perverted. Both of you knock it off.”

“Easy son, we’re just kidding. Right Pol?” Joseph elbows the platinum blond hard in the stomach. It was one thing for him to tease his grandson, but Pol had a habit of taking things too far. Better to nip this in the bud before they get into a real fight over it. Pol wheezes out a half-hearted apology and Joseph turns back to Jotaro with a more serious look in his eye.

“All joking aside, we do need to discuss this. As a pack.”

Jotaro nods and gestures for the other two men to make their way to the lounge. Once everyone is seated Joseph begins, “So. As exciting as yesterday was, we need to do some damage control and planning. We need to figure out if this was just a rogue group or if they had purpose for being this far out away from towns.”

“Avdol said (y/n)’s wounds were from small shot, and not a killing blow.” Kakyoin added, “But the pellets were silver. Someone was hunting wolves specifically. And planning on taking them captive.”

“We need more information. I’ll lead Polnareff and Gramps back to where I left the hunters. We can see if there are any more clues to who they were.” Jotaro stands as he announces the plan, “Kakyoin, Avdol. Hold down the fort here. I’m trusting you two with…”

“Ah, I see how it is. You don’t want me around for my amazing tracking skills- non! You just don’t want two, what did you call us? Perverts? Around the little lady.”

With a sigh, Joseph starts forcibly pushing Polnareff out the front door. “We’ll be outside Jotaro. Someone needs a lesson on what is appropriate to joke about so early in the morning.” The front door closes with a slam and a muffled smack is heard soon after.

Jotaro shakes his head and exhales loudly out his nose. “Well, he’s half right. Except I do need his tracking skills for this.” He catches the smirks from the remaining two men. “We won’t be too far out I don’t think. Howl if anything goes wrong, we’ll keep an ear out.”

“Same to you. Good luck finding what you need.” Avdol bids him farewell and Kakyoin gives a small wave farewell as Jotaro joins the other two outside.

Polnareff is holding the back of his head and looking more downcast than when he was inside, the older alpha must have dished out some discipline to the younger man. “Hey, Jotaro. No hard feelings, right? I was only joking.”

“It’s fine. This whole situation just has me on edge. Just… don’t.”

“Ah, no worries mon amie! I promise I won’t make anymore jokes about our new packmate.”

“New packmate? Hmm. We’ll need to discuss that later. First things first.” Jotaro motioned with a nod to the forest in front of them. “I’ll take lead getting us there. I left them by the lake but think we need to bring some shovels just in case. That ecosystem can’t handle all of the bodies at once.”

Gathering up some shovels and rope the three men made their way into the forest, backtracking the smell of blood past an outcropping of rocks then turning sharply to the south. The trip took about a half hour on foot, covering up the blood trail as they went to prevent any nosy hikers or forestry department personnel from following it. Finally, they reached their destination, not far from the clearing where you first saw Jotaro in his beastly form.

The remains from the four werewolf hunters were scattered over the forest floor, and although Jotaro had been fast at dispatching them, he was also brutal. Savage bites and claw marks indicated that all four were assuredly dead before Jotaro left them, none of them had bled out. Small scavengers had already made a meal out of the easy pickings, by the scent of the trail it must have been a few coyotes.

Polnareff goes up to the nearest body and starts rummaging in the pockets, Jotaro and Joseph follow his lead. Gathering wallets, extra ammo, and gear they bring what they find to a clear spot not to far away, making sure to keep the belongings separated according to which body they were found on as per Polnareff’s instructions.

As Jotaro searches through the pockets of the last hunter, something seems off to him about this body. None of the others had smelled like anything supernatural, the opposite; they had smelled just of silver and wolfbane. “Gramps, Pol. Come take a look at this one. Or a smell I should say.” The other two meet him at the side of the corpse. “You guys ever smell something like that? It’s not coming from him, more like he touched something and it stuck to him.”

“Hmm, that is weird. He doesn’t have any gear that is giving off that smell, does he?” Joseph crouches down to get a better look at the man. “Pol? Hey Pol, snap out of it!”

Polnareff seems to be in shock from the scent that is clinging to the dead hunter, “I… I know that smell. I had hoped to never catch a whiff of him again!”

“You know it? Well spit it out man!” Joseph shouts, impatient with the younger man’s stalling.

“I met him years before I joined this pack. He called himself DIO!” Polnareff exclaims before grabbing Joseph by the shoulders, “That man; he’s pure evil. I’ve never met another creature like him before or since!”

“You said DIO? That can’t be! How would he have…” Joseph’s eyes go wide as he shouts back in Polnareff’s face, “OH MY GOD! That slimy son of a bitch! After all these years! All these centuries!”

“Old man, what are you talking about?” Jotaro basically pries Polnareff’s hands from his grandpa, both men so distracted that they don’t notice. “Who the hell is DIO?”

“I… I don’t know where to begin! Polnareff is right, he’s the living incarnation of evil! My grandfather, Jonathan, was killed by that bastard! And my father as well by his devoted followers!” Joseph clenches his fists and grits his teeth, “He is the enemy of all Joestars!”

“Hold on old man, you are saying that this guy, DIO, killed your grandpa? How do you even know he’s talking about the same guy? It’d be impossible for it to be him,” Jotaro looks between Polnareff and Joseph, “look, we will talk about this more at the cabin. For right now we need to focus. Besides the weird smell that may- or may not- be this mythical DIO guy, what else do we have to go on?”

Joseph takes a deep breath and collects himself, Polnareff however remains on edge as the cloying stink of magic remains in the air.  “You’re right son, you’re right. Ok, the guy over there had his wallet on him. Just his ID, some credit cards and some cash.” Joseph pulls out the items one by one from the wallet, replacing the cards and cash and keeping the ID out to look at.

Polnareff regains his focus and takes a closer look at the ID. Pulling out the wallets and IDs from the other hunters he studies each one. “The addresses, they are all from the boroughs around the city. Except smelly guy here, he’s from Jersey.”

“Gramps, hold onto those. We can do some research when we get back. Anything else?” Joseph nods to Jotaro and holds out some of the ammo collected from the hunter’s gear.

“Found extra shot on them, its all silver by the smell.”

“And I found this on the other guy over there.” Polnareff holds out a thin strap, made of some kind of flexible plastic with a large protruding box fitted to it. “It looks like it has a clasp. I’m going to see if I can get it working.” As Polnareff clicks together the clasp the box device beeps loudly in the stillness of the forest. A puff of air is released right before a static shock emits from the prongs hidden on the inside of the box. Quickly, Polnareff drops it to avoid being shocked and steps back. “Uggh. I think I’m gonna be sick. Smells like… concentrated wolfsbane.”

Once the initial shock is discharged Jotaro quickly unclasps the collar and deactivates the device. “We’ll take this stuff back with us, let Avdol and Kakyoin have a look. See if (y/n) recognizes any of them from their ID’s.” Surveying the area quickly Jotaro makes a decision, “We’re further from the lake than I thought. We’ll have to bury them all.”

The men make quick work of digging the shallow graves, barely an hour goes by before they are dumping the last body into a ditch. Polnareff makes sure to rip a piece of the fabric from the odd smelling man for further investigation. As they finish their grim work Jotaro picks up on his grandfathers’ pensive mood and unusual silence. “What are you thinking about, gramps?”

“Hmm. It’s that man, DIO. I know you don’t believe that the DIO Polnareff mentioned could be the same as the one who killed our ancestor, but the coincidence… That he’s another evil man named DIO that is now entangled in the Joestar bloodline? And the whole reason we’re here, at the cabin at all…”

“I agree with Mr. Joestar, the coincidence is too unlikely to not be fate. Non, there is something at work here.”

“You think the appearance of this DIO guy and the city getting more dangerous for wolves is connected somehow?” Jotaro pinches the bridge of his nose as he closes his eyes, “Polnareff, you said you met him years before you joined us. That would put the timing right around when wolves started going missing in the city.”

Joseph nods sagely at this connection made, “I’ll give Caesar a ring when we get back, let him and Suzie know we’re cutting this trip short.” He crosses his arms and snorts, “Even if this has nothing to do with DIO, these hunters were here to capture a wolf alive. They didn’t know we were here, which is more concerning cause it means their operation has escaped my notice! I’m Joseph Joestar! And they’ve been abducting wolves outside of MY CITY? Under MY NOSE?” The bristly hair on Josephs arms and face stand on end as he nearly triggers a shift in his anger.

Polnareff is not doing much better to contain himself, the memories of meeting the evil man replaying in his head. Combined with the knowledge of what the hunters were set out to do. “(y/n) said they drove her off the road yesterday. I’m going to take a walk and see if I can find the cars and more clues.” There is a deep growl permeating Polnareff’s words and Jotaro can tell he’s going to take the walk in his wolf form. “I’ll meet you back when I’m done.”

“Take the time you need to cool off Pol.” Jotaro nods at the blond in understanding, the gravity of the situation sitting heavily on everyone’s shoulders. “We’ll see if (y/n) knows anything else about these guys or what they were doing. She’s our only living link to this right now.” Polnareff sighs and nods back, already starting his shift into a massive white werewolf. He quickly picks up the trail the hunters left and sets out on his own.

Jotaro and Joseph follow the trail back to the cabin in silence.

The smell of bacon and eggs hits them as they walk through the front door. A quick look in the kitchen reveals its Kakyoin taking his turn to prepare the meal, you and Avdol are in the dining room setting the table for brunch. Avdol is the first to greet them, “Welcome back. Find anything of interest?” His eyebrows furrow, “Where is Polnareff? Did he not come back with you?”

“No, he went on ahead to check out the cars for clues.” Jotaro says, shaking his head. “We found some things… Lets talk about this after we eat.” Avdol just nods and makes his way to the kitchen to help Kakyoin. Jotaro turns to you and you feel his eyes sweep over you quickly. You’re still dressed in his borrowed night clothes as you have nothing to change into. “Your leg doing better today?”

“Yeah, much better. Just a little stiff, and Mr. Avdol helped me change the bandage already. I should be good as new in a few days.”

“Good. That’s good.” Jotaro sticks his hands in his pockets and leans back. “Like I said, you can stay as long as you need. We… well we’ll discuss it after breakfast, but there was some concerning stuff we found out there. And, I’d… We’d feel better if you stuck with us for a while.”

You frown a bit as the seriousness of the situation weighs on your shoulders, “That makes sense. Honestly, I’m not in a hurry to go wandering off on my own again. Its… nice. Being with other wolves again.” You smile at him and you swear there’s a hint of a smile on his face too before both of your attention snaps to the doorway where Kakyoin is carrying in a serving plate of food. Avdol and Joseph follow him in with the rest of the meal and drinks and you all sit down at the table. “Should we wait for Mr. Polnareff?” You ask looking around at the other men.

Jotaro shakes his head, “No. We don’t know how long he’s going to be gone. We’ll set him aside a plate and some leftovers.” Joseph nods in agreement before starting to pass around the food. The meal is eaten in near silence, Joseph and Jotaro’s tense mood spreading to the others. Once the meal is finished and leftovers put away the pack reconvenes at the dining room table.

Joseph lays the items they took off the hunter’s bodies in the center of the table, “This is the stuff we found on them. As you can see,” he gestures to the rounds of ammunition and the collar device they found, “they came prepared.”

“(y/n), can you tell us if you recognize any of these men?” Jotaro passes the IDs to you as Kakyoin and Avdol examine the other items more closely.

You study the faces and names closely but nothing seems familiar to you. Their photos are almost disturbingly normal looking, they look like average guys but they were capable of such violence? “No, I’ve never met them at all. At least not before yesterday.”

“That’s part of what has us so on edge actually.” Joseph lifts his chin to nod at the collection of gear on the table. “They were professional hunters then. You weren’t targeted for personal reasons. Just the nature of what you are.”

“What is the other concerning part then?” Kakyoin questions the alpha.

“We believe you were right when you deduced that they intended to take (y/n) with them alive. We found this,” Jotaro taps the band of the collar device with his index finger, “on one of the hunters. When the clasp is latched it releases concentrated wolfsbane and an electric shock.” You go pale as you wrap your arms around yourself for comfort. The rest of the pack looks pale and shaken as well, hard stares looking at the cursed device and glancing to you occasionally. “(y/n). We need you to tell us exactly what happened. Starting with where you came in contact with these guys.”

You nod and take a sip of your water before starting your summary of events. “I realized there was something wrong when I left the last town I stayed in; I think it was still in Pennsylvania at the time. I picked up some under the table waitressing job to make some cash and was on my way to see Niagara Falls for my next stop.” You look at the IDs laid out on the table again, pointing to one of them, “I noticed a white van pull out behind me, I think this guy was driving it. I remember his dumb Clark Kent looking glasses. Anyway, I thought it was just another driver at first, until I had to make a pitstop for gas. They must have been far enough back that I didn’t see them get off on the same exit, but when I got back to my car after paying, I saw the van pull around the side of the building.”

You blush and look down at the table, “I kind of panicked then, instead of getting back on the freeway I took some random turns in hopes I would lose them. I thought I did and just ended up driving for a few hours north. But then they caught up to me.” You put your arm on the table and rest your forehead in your palm, “I was looking for a good place to turn off and just fight them, but they ran me off the road before I could find a place. When I got out, I tried to run but they shot at me.” You pick your head up to look at Jotaro, his face set in grim determination as he listened to your account of events. “I guess you know the rest. Jotaro showed up after they shot me a second time and here we are.” You motion around you with your hands.

“Hmm. So they followed you on your way out of town yesterday morning. Had you ever seen them before? Maybe they were customers in the restaurant?” Kakyoin says as he studies the faces on the IDs.

“Its possible. Everyone seems to blend together when you work a job like that.”

“My question is: why did they target you? How did they figure it out that you weren’t human?” Joseph scratches his beard as he looks up at the ceiling. “They have this special gear for hunting wolves, maybe Polnareff will find something in the van?”

“I can’t imagine they caught me slipping up. I am usually very careful with how and when I shift. And I can’t think of anything that happened in public that would have drawn attention.” You shake your head as you examine one of the extra shotgun shells in front of you.

Jotaro taps you on the forearm to get your attention for his next question, “You said things were getting bad for lone wolves. We’ve heard similar rumors in the city, that’s why we are all the way out here. What else do you know about those rumors?”

“Hmm, well there are the normal things you hear about- runaways and lone wolfs having bad run ins with religious nuts. But for a few years now, it’s been more than just that. Whole families go missing sometimes, or someone just barely gets away and after a few weeks they’re gone too.” You shudder and hold yourself again at the memory of the horror stories you’ve heard. “They say it’s a new gang- they’re recruiting or trafficking or something. But the worst stories are about the boss. They say he’s a supernatural creature too- immortal and invincible. Calls himself a lord.”

“(y/n)… calls himself what. What is his name?” Joseph looks like he’s seen a ghost, face white as paper and eyes wide.

“They call him Lord DIO.”

<Previous Chapter   Next Chapter>

Author’s Note:

You were expecting a romance werewolf fic- BUT IT WAS I! DIO!

So this is going to turn into a full Stardust Crusade AU- but when I say AU I mean there are only hints of canon left.

Also, Polnareff, are you trying to upset your pack alpha before he leads you into the forest to the bodies of people he’s killed with only his grandpa as a witness?

Also- no hate intended for people from New Jersey lol. I’ve never even been there and I’m sure you are all lovely, but Pol has issues with you (at least in this fic)

[raeynbowboi]

How to Play as Cyborg in DnD 5e

Next up in our Teen Titans marathon of builds, we’ll build Victor Stone, better known as Cyborg. I sure thought this was going to be a much simpler build, yet I’ve spent two days working and reworking it, and it ended up being nothing like I initially assumed. But in the end, I’m positive this was for the better, as it turned out much better than I expected.

Our first instinct is probably to make Cyborg a Warforged, but here’s the problem with that: Cyborg was born human. He needs to eat, sleep, breathe, these are all things Warforged don’t do. And Cyborg has multiple episodes fixated on maintaining his humanity. To not make him a human is to completely miss the point of his character. Obviously, he is no longer a Standard Human. He has changed. We’ll call him a Variant Human, and we’ll give him Heavy Armor Mastery to reduce non-magical melee damage by 3. We’ll give him +1 INT/+1 CON and he’ll get +1 STR from his free feat.

Mythic Odysseys of Theros gave us the Athlete background. You get proficiency with Athletics and Acrobatics. Next, we’ll pick two Fighter skills, we’ll go for Intimidation and Perception. You’re a big tough guy, and there’s probably a radar or GPS somewhere in all that machinery.

We’re largely a team player, but on more than one occasion we’ve left the team to try and become a solo hero or lead another team. I’d say we’re Chaotic Good.

FIGHTER Brute

We’ll kick off our Cyborg Build as a Fighter. Don’t worry, we’ll be multi-classing, but starting as a Fighter starts us off with Heavy Armor proficiency, which is nice. Plus, we were a human athlete long before we ever became part robot. The Brute Fighter adds 1d4 to every damage roll, meaning you really pack a whollap. It’s almost as if you’ve got brass knuckles or something. Speaking of knuckles, Cyborg likes to punch things, so we’ll pick Unarmed Combat from the Fighting Style options. We deal 1d8 + STR bludgeoning damage when punching with two hands, or 1d6 + STR when our other hand is busy holding something. At 7th level, we get to add 1d6 to saving throws, and if that puts the roll above 20, it’s treated as rolling a nat 20. At 10th level, the extra 1d4 damage increases to 1d6. At 15th level, when you land a crit, you add your Brute Fighter Level to the damage roll, meaning you’re putting out 2d8+5+1d6+15 (23-42) with two hands, or 3d6+20 (23-38) when you’re one-handed. That’s a whole lot of ouch. The next level up is even better, since at level 16, your extra 1d6 damage becomes 1d8. Meaning that by level 16, you’re dealing 3d8+21 (24-45) damage on a two-handed crit, or 2d6+1d8+21 (24-41) on a one-handed crit. And with three actions per turn, the odds of landing all that ouch are pretty high. If you’re allergic to UA subclasses, Champion also works, just not as well.

ARTIFICER Artillerist

Once you’ve started as a Fighter, we can hop on over to Artificer and choose the Artillerist. This gives us an Eldritch Cannon, which we’ll make Tiny so we can hold it in our right hand. We’ll be primarily using the Force Ballista, which has a range of 120 feet, deals 2d8 force damage, and pushes objects 5 feet away from the cannon. If you really want to focus on the cannon, it’ll increase to 3d8 at 9th level, but Cyborg is supposed to be the Tank/DPS of the party. Firing from long range is Starfire’s specialty. Instead, it’s better to have more levels of Fighter and hit more often, and just have the Artificer as much as necessary for ranged combat. But don’t fret, because that Cannon is going to get a lot of usage, because it can be fired on every bonus action, which as a Fighter means you’re going to be dishing out a ton of pain. You can be one-arm boxing an enemy within melee range, while sniping another enemy clear on the other side of the battlefield, and with 3 attacks per turn in the late game, Cyborg has the option to be dishing out 4 attacks total per turn. There’s a reason he’s the muscle of the team.

CYBORG’S SPELLS

Cantrips Mending Message (Titan Communicators)

1st Level Grease Longstrider Jump Shield Thunderwave

To be fair, if we’re going to use our spell slots for anything, its building another Eldritch Cannon if the first one is destroyed. Plus, everything Cyborg could do at first level, Raven can do better, and she has a lot more spell slots to put to it.

ARTIFICER INFUSIONS

Due to our low level, we only get 4 infusions. Now some specify having weapons, but we chose Unarmed Combat. Me personally, I take that as meaning our hands are our weapons, but check with your DM how they consider it, because there’s also a lot of fighter features that only trigger with a weapon attack, so don’t use this build if your DM is stingy about Unarmed Combat not counting as a Weapon attack, because otherwise a lot of your features aren’t going to trigger.

ARMOR OF TOOLS Integrate Tinkerer’s Tools into your armor, add your INT mod to tool checks made with those Tinkerer’s tools.

ENHANCED DEFENSE Increase your AC by +1.

MIND SHARPENER If you fail a spell concentration saving throw, use a reaction to pass instead.

REPLICATE MAGIC ITEM: GOGGLES OF NIGHT Cyborg can create Goggles of Night, letting him see in the dark.

If your DM lets you treat your Hands as weapons drop Mind Shapener and pick up Enhanced Weapon.

ENHANCED WEAPON Add +1 to weapon attack rolls and damage rolls.

ARMORY

Cyborg needs Heavy Armor to act as his robotic body. Molten Bronze Skin (Plate) from Mythic Odysseys of Theros is a new rare heavy armor that is skin-fitting and can be worn under clothes and doesn’t impose stealth disadvantage, which is important, because Cyborg has never made so much noise that he gave away his party. Because it’s molded to his body, it can’t be removed unless he chooses to doff it. Thus,  we have a human who is basically made of metal. How bout that?

As the Tank of the party, only three stats really matter to Cyborg’s Build: Strength will determine how much damage he deals with his punches, Constitution will ensure that he has a big pool of health so he doesn’t die all the time like a wimp, and Intelligence because his Eldritch Cannon’s accuracy is aimed like casting a spell. Because he’s heavily armored, his Dexterity won’t affect his AC, and to be fair, Cyborg isn’t very nimble. He seems quite bulky and heavy-footed. All those Fighter ASI give us the kind of stats I’d hoped to give Starfire.

STR 20 DEX 10 CON 20 INT 18 WIS 10 CHA 8

I spent one of his too many ASI to give him Tough to further maximize his HP. You could max out his INT, but as Raven is the party Intelligence caster, it’s valid to want her INT to be higher than Cyborg’s. With a final HP score of 260 and an AC of 19, Cyborg is starting to look a bit like a one-man army. Not only that, but he reduces non-magical melee damage by 3, and adds 1d6 to saving throws, meaning ranged spell attacks are the only great way to hurt him without him possibly reducing the damage.

HAVE A HEART, TIN-MAN Brute Fighter (16) Artillerist Artificer (4)

STR 20 DEX 10 CON 20 INT 18 WIS 10 CHA 8

ARTIFICER INFUSIONS Armor of Tools Enhanced Armor Enhanced Weapon/Mind Sharpener Replicate Magic Item: Goggles of Night

Between the super charged melee damage, and the fact that Cyborg can also fire his Eldritch Cannon as much as he wants makes this a great combination. He doesn’t need spell slots just to shoot it like some other casters, making it a truly great dual-wielding option. He’s got the HP to shrug off damage, and the power to decimate his opponents. He becomes weaker when he pulls out his cannon in terms of melee combat, but it’s twice as powerful as his two-handed boxing, so it’s a good trade-off.

Variant Rule: Mythic Odysseys of Theros

Unscarred. As a reaction, reduce damage taken by 1d12 + CON mod once per long rest.

Piety: Purphoros, God of the Forge

+3 Cast Shield of Faith equal to your INT mod per long rest. +10 Cast Heat Metal once per long rest. You have advantage against being knocked prone. +25 Use your reaction to avoid being pushed. +50 Increase your Strength or Intelligence by 2 to a maximum of 22.

We set out to make Cyborg a high damage DPS striker who could tank a hit like it was nothing, and I think we’ve accomplished that with this build. Some might argue for a 12/8 split, and it’s certainly passable, but Cyborg really doesn’t need it. He’s not a caster. Cyborg is the muscle, and that’s what he’s doing. He’s only an Artificer for the arm cannon, otherwise, he’s primarily a melee fighter, and I don’t want to waste his levels on something that’s not his primary focus.

[yourdeepestfathoms]

Beside The Dying Fire (part ten)

[DnD AU with the tour!verse]

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

Word count: 4271

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Hot. Scorching. Sweltering. Searing. Balmy. Parching. Oven-like. Those, and so many other words could describe the desert Katherine and her companions were trekking through, Katherine just couldn’t think of anymore because her brain was being melted.

The Brazen Empire--or just “Braze”--was the desert territory on the far east side of Atlas. It was boxed in on all sides by tall, platformed plateau mesas called the Highland Cliffs, which kept the land in solitude from the rest of the continent. 

Golden rolling dunes stretched out as far as the eye could see—which, to be fair, wasn’t very far because Katherine was sure she was seeing mirages everywhere. Cacti and shriveled shrubs stuck out of the ground, somehow surviving in the wasteland despite the cruel elements. The sky was an eye-bleedingly bright blue with not a single cloud in sight, letting the blisteringly hot sun rain down on the land.

And Katherine HATED IT.

  “God, this is awful,” She panted, sweat burning in her eyes. Her dirty blonde hair felt like tassels of fire on her head, and her ears were like little torches attached to her skull. 

Catalina laughed. “What are you talking about? This is amazing!”

Catalina had grown up in Braze, so she was used to the desert life. Katherine and Joan, however, were not as fortunate to have been raised in a scorching wasteland of dehydration and skin disease.

Katherine sluggishly wiped away a torrent of sweat from her brow. Jane had given them supplies for the journey to the different territories, but the glass bow strapped to her back felt like it was burning her alive. Joan was lucky enough to just get a simple ebony dagger, but she looked just as miserable. Her grey felt clothes and extra fur paddings for protection looked like they were roasting her like a chicken. Hints of blotchy sunburns were already starting to appear on her long, whip-thin white tail and ears. 

Catalina gazed over a sand dune, looking for any signs of her home city. Behind her, Joan doubled over, heaving her breaths. Katherine could see several streams of sweat cascading through her white-blonde hair.

  “We shouldn’t be far.” Catalina said, turning back to them. It was clear she was trying not to laugh at their discomfort. “Just a little longer!”

  “Easy for you to say,” Joan wheezed. She lifted her tail to keep it from touching the sand. 

  “Trust me! We’re almost there!”

They began their trek once again.

  “So, what’s this area of sand called?” Katherine asked, falling into step beside Catalina. “Wasteland Number Six?”

Catalina laughed. “This is Droughtmaster Dunes,” She said.

Katherine blinked. “That’s actually very fitting.”

Her friend laughed again. “Isn’t it?” She looked up at the bright blue sky, smiling. “I’m actually happy to be back. Nothing beats the sun here.” She stretched her arms out to catch the rays and signed happily.

  “And that’s a good thing!” Joan barked from behind them. Heavily hindered by the sun, she was falling behind slightly. “The sun here SUCKS!”

Catalina tittered. “The mythical bovine, the Brazen Bull, was said to have made Braze, which is why it has that name. The Bull made everything here. It dug out the land it claimed for the territory, it lifted Highland Cliffs with its horns to protect us from other territories, it scraped its hooves through the ground to create the canyons, it stamped its feet to created pools for oases, and, after it was all done, it shook out the dust in its fur and filled Braze with sand.”

Katherine smiled as she listened to Catalina talk. Her friend rarely ever spoke about her homeland, so it was nice to see her reminiscing over her childhood territory.

However, she went quiet for a moment and fiddled with the sunstone necklace around her neck, lightly touching her belly with her other hand. There was an unreadable expression on her face.

  “Just a fair warning,” Catalina said, “that my family is kinda weird.”

Katherine chuckled lightly. “Alright. I’m sure they’ll be fine, though. After all, you turned out amazing.”

Catalina smiled again, nudging her. “Aww. You softy!”

Katherine smiled back. “I speak the truth!”

  “I need water,” Joan wheezed from behind them.

  “We’re almost there, sweetie,” Catalina said, giving the poor Tiefling a sympathetic, but amused look.

She was right. After clambering over a particularly high sand dune, the capital city of Braze was revealed.

Aragon was a city that was smartly built around several oases. Shiny golden walls that glittered in the sunlight boxed in the civilization, and the tips of sun-dried brick houses and a particularly tall tower could be seen peeking out from over the high edges. Hints of a huge skeleton was sitting behind the furthest wall in a sunken sand pit. The clamor of people could be heard as the three of them approached the front gates where two Aasimar guards stood, wearing long, protective garbs covering every inch of skin and holding spears. They bristled as the trio approached, but their jaws weirdly dropped open after a moment.

  “Princess Catalina!” The grey-skinned guard exclaimed. “Y-you’re back!”

Katherine’s and Joan’s heads whipped around to Catalina, their eyes going wide.

  “Princess?!” They both yelped.

  “Surprise!” Catalina said weakly. She gathered herself up regally and turned to the dumbfounded guards. “I request to see the King and Queen.”

Both guards nodded hastily. “Of course, princess!” The grey-skinned one said.

  “Right this way!” Said the other.

The three of them were whisked inside the gates.

Aragon was filled with sun-dried brick houses and sturdy wooden huts. Merchant tents and carpet canopies were set up on the entrance pavilion, where shop owners hawked their wares to anyone who passed by. Fruits and fried meat, protective desert garbs and sunscreening oils, venomous scorpions to use for something and vials of antivenom--there were so many different items being sold. The smell of sizzling meat and roasting scarab beetles and brewing coffee swirled through the hot air, attacking Katherine’s nose with aromas that made her mouth water.

Small pools dotted the city, rippling softly in the heated breeze. Some of them were burbling like a fountain, while others were edged by lush greenery that seemed to be surviving much better than the plants outside the walls. Children were playing in a few of the pools, keeping cool in the midday heat, but some adults were collecting water in buckets.

A bronze statue of a giant bull sat in the center of the city, in front of the steps leading up to the palace. It was reared up on its hind legs with its fur bristled in powerful rage and horns thrown up in the air. Smoldering coals were set in its skull, and the furry tufts of its tail were crackling with orange fire.

The palace behind the statue was huge and majestic. It seemed to be made out of actual gold, glowing in the sunlight. Gemstones were inlaid across the outer walls, sparkling like colorful eyes. There were no front doors so the breeze could filter inside, so the guards led the three of them right inside.

Two thrones were sitting at the back of the wide, high-vaulted entrance room. They were made of solid gold, embedded with rubies and emeralds and cushioned by soft camel fur pillows. A curtain of water was pouring out behind the royal seats from the ceiling, collecting into a bubbling trough pool. The desert could be seen rippling behind the sheet of water. 

And in the thrones sat the king and queen.

Queen Isabella was glowing like a polished garnet. The dress she wore was made of silk, in a rich dark orange shade that allowed her thick black hair to be shown to best advantage, and edged with ribbon and lace that perfectly set off her fire-like amber eyes and dark tanned skin. Golden veils wreathed her blood red wings, and yellow diamonds, topazes, sunstones, and tourmalines hung from her arms in glittering curtains of wealth. An elaborate headpiece made of gold and rubies sat on her head, with strands of gemstones dangling down into her face. Three golden medallions hung around her neck- one had a symbol of a broken rib cage etched on it, the second had what looked like small intestines forming the shape of a coiled snake, and the third had a faceless head.

King Ferdinand was less flashy than his wife, wearing simple cotton clothes with a camel fur cape around his neck and onyx wristbands on his wrists. His skin was slightly blotchy from sun damage and his hair was long and ash brown. Pale orange-salmon wings were folded neatly against his back, not nearly as big as the queen’s.

The two of them leapt to their feet from the throne when Catalina walked in.

  “Catalina!!” They both cried, bustling over to their daughter. They threw their wings around Catalina, swaying her in glee, but Katherine noticed how Catalina just barely hugged them back.

  “Oh, my dearest desert flower,” Ferdinand said. “You’re finally home after all these years!”

  “It’s so good to see you again,” Isabella said. “You’ve been gone for so long!”

Catalina nodded reservedly. “Yes. It has been.”

The king and queen stepped back, taking in the sight of their daughter. Isabella’s joyous expression faded into a calculating one when she noticed Catalina’s pregnant belly, while Ferdinand just blinked at it.

  “You’re pregnant,” Isabella said. 

  “Yes, I am,” Catalina said, ruffling up the feathers in her hair. “I hope that isn’t any issue, Mother.”

Isabella considered the bump, like she thought the baby was going to jump out now and steal her throne. “Who’s the father?”

  “His name is Arthur.” Catalina said.

  “Where is he?”

  “Not here.”

  “You aren’t with your baby’s own father anymore?”

  “Oh my god.”

Catalina glanced back at Katherine and Joan for a moment, giving them a, “Here we go again” kind of look. She turned back to her parents with as much reserve as she could manage.

  “What is he?” Ferdinand asked, glancing at Catalina’s belly every few seconds.

  “A human.” Catalina answered. “I hope that isn’t an issue, Father.”

Ferdinand just cleared his throat and looked away. Katherine could tell that he didn’t have as much power as his wife, therefore making him weaker in disputes, even ones that don’t have to do with court matters.

  “You shouldn’t just sleep with random strangers, Catalina.” Isabella scolded.

  “I’m not!” Catalina barked, her face heating up. “Arthur is--was different! And why does it even matter to you? It’s not your body, it’s mine! And if I want to use it to sleep with people, then I should be allowed to!”

  “Well, your body is holding my grandson. Or granddaughter.” There was something icy about the way Isabella said that word, and Katherine noticed how Catalina shuddered and set a hand over her belly protectively. “Plus, you’re still my daughter and I’m concerned over what you’re doing. You already ran off and disappeared for five years!”

Catalina rolled her eyes. “Don’t act like you weren’t happy.”

  “I wasn’t.” Isabella growled, her blood red feathers standing on end like an angry cat’s fur.

  “Sure you weren’t.” Catalina challenged her.

Ferdinand quickly put himself between his wife and his father. “That’s enough, that’s enough,” He said. “The point is that Catalina is home safe. That is what matters.”

  “Hm. Of course.” Isabella said, settling her expression back into stolid noble maturity.

Catalina growled softly underneath her breath, and Katherine set a comforting hand on her shoulder. Isabella glanced at her, an eyebrow twitching up.

  “Introduce us to your friend, Catalina.” The queen said.

Grinding her teeth a being ordered around, Catalina said, “This is Katherine. And this over here is J--”

  “TIEFLING!”

Katherine jumped at the cry. Isabella suddenly whipped out a hidden dagger from inside her right wing, her face contorting with rage and feathers ruffling up into two big red masses. Several guards around the room jumped to attention with their weapons raised, and even mellow Ferdinand growled softly and raised his wings to look more threatening. Meanwhile, Joan just blinked in frightened confusion, curling her tail in close.

  “Catalina, you brought a TIEFLING into our home?!” Isabella shouted, and Katherine saw Joan wince and lower her ears.

  “I didn’t recognize it at first,” Ferdinand said at her side, slightly more to himself than to the others in the room. “Why does it look like that? Aren’t they usually red or blue?”

  “Her name is Joan.” Catalina said, stepping up beside Joan, exuding a protective aura. “And she’s with me. There’s no need to worry.”

  “There is every reason to worry,” Isabella hissed. “You brought a Tiefling into our city! A TIEFLING!! Don’t you know what they are?” She didn’t wait for Catalina to answer her, “They’re DEMONS! Goat-faced, hell-touched, unbirthed DEMONS!”

  “Mother, will you stop shouting?” Catalina said, agitation biting her words. A few people from outside were peeking in and ogling the scene with wide, curious eyes. “Joan isn’t bad. She’s my friend. And you’re not going to throw her out.”

Isabella narrowed her eyes at Joan, sizing her up several times. She sniffed. “We’re going to have to put her through decontamination.”

  “Mother--”

  “You will not fight me on this, Catalina.” Isabella said firmly, turning her knife-like gaze on her daughter. “She will be back with you soon enough. But she is a Tiefling and this needs to happen for our safety.”

Catalina clenched her fists tightly, but said, “Fine.”

Isabella smiled like a venomous snake. “Very good.”

Catalina turned to Joan and cupped one of her cheeks. “You’re going to be okay, sweetheart. My family is just super paranoid over some races and feels the need to do a really stupid examination on them before they can have free reign in the city.” She brushed an unruly lock of white-blonde hair out of Joan’s face. “You’ll be out in no time, alright?”

Joan nodded quietly, and Catalina gave her a quick hug before a group of guards came to take Joan away. The young Tiefling glanced back at Katherine and Catalina, her tail slightly tucked between her legs and ears folded back, before disappearing down a hallway and out of sight. Isabella shook her head with a look of visible distaste.

  “I don’t know why you would ever befriend one of those beasts,” The queen said, earning a growl from Catalina. Katherine put her hand back on Catalina’s shoulder, hoping to provide some comfort to her. “Anyway, I’ll alert the chefs. Your arrival back home needs a celebration!”

And celebrate they did.

That night, when the desert dropped to a startling cold temperature for a blisteringly hot wasteland, the Brazens of Aragon rejoiced in the return of their missing princess. Firelight emblazed then night sky, the Bull’s horns were lit with golden flames, and a band played Catalina’s favorite instruments. Cactus juice, strange alcoholic concoctions, and camel milk were passed out in tinted yellow glasses, and roasted desert fruits, grilled meat, and spicy hot foods were served on bronze trays you could see your reflection on. Aasimars danced and twirled in the main pavilion, celebrating gleefully, all while Catalina stood at the top of the steps leading to the palace, receiving guests and graciously accepting their best wishes. Everyone had a smile for her. Some of the adults looked at her appraisingly--only to be expected, Katherine supposed, as she was royalty--and many of the youngsters tried to flirt. Catalina humored them lightly solely for the entertainment of their reactions.

Katherine got lost in the festivities rather quickly. One moment she was getting her tongue melted by a painfully spicy dish, and then next she had a glass of translucent greenish juice thrust into her hands. She tasted it as she tottered up to Catalina and made a face at how bitter it was. Catalina laughed lightly.

  “That’s Snake Wine,” The princess told her, “It’s made out of cactus juice that we put a dead snake in and leave out to ferment in the sun for a week.”

Katherine silently spit the mouthful of Snake Wine back into her cup. Catalina burst out into laughter so loud it rivaled the blaring music and made several people’s heads turn in curiosity.

  “That is, umm,” Katherine said, covering her mouth. “Ah--”

  “Horrible?” Catalina smiled and passed her a napkin. Katherine took it gratefully.

  “Your words, not mine,” Katherine said, wiping her mouth. “But yes.”

Catalina giggled. “It’s better than that weird berry crap you used to have me drink.”

Katherine gasped with a wounded expression. “Berry Milk is amazing, thank you very much!”

  “Berry juice and milk do not go together! You have to choose one, Kat! ONE! You can’t have both!”

They both laughed, earning even more confused stares.

  “Are you happy to be back?” Katherine asked after a moment of serene silence between her and her friend.

Catalina shrugged, losing her smile. “I guess. I mean, I like seeing the city again and all my old friends, but…” She cast a frustrated expression at her parents, who were chatting animatedly with two old nobles. “Like I said before, my family is weird.”

Katherine frowned. “I’m sorry.” Hoping to get Catalina’s mind off of her family issues, she looked over at a tall orange tower in the far right corner of the city. It was made of dried clay, with several twists, points, and spires, and Katherine noticed the deep red of a Kobold snout peeking out of one of the large barred windows. “What’s that?”

Catalina looked at the tower. “Oh that’s Hotshot Hall. It’s our prison.” She said. “Mother doesn’t like having the prisoners near the palace, so they’re kept as far away as possible.” She wrinkled her nose.

  “Ah,” Katherine nodded, watching the Kobold pull back inside the tower. 

  “Well, maybe you’ll get to see a Calf Scramble while we’re here,” Catalina mused. “So that’s something to look forward to.”

  “Calf Scramble?” Katherine looked at her confusedly.

  “Oh, it’s great,” Catalina said. “Five people are taken out to the sinkhole in the back of the city and have to try and catch these camel calves we release with them. It is HILARIOUS to watch them run around and slip in the sand!”

Katherine smiled. “I look forward to it!”

  “Princess Catalina! Princess Catalina!” An eager young voice called. 

  “A princess’ work is never done,” Catalina said to Katherine, smiling. She bumped her shoulder affectionately. “Have some fun, Kat. I’ll talk to you again later.”

Once Catalina whisked off to go speak with more people, Katherine delved back into the party for a little while longer before straying away to explore. 

Aragon was truly a lavish city, even for a civilization in the middle of a desert wasteland. She passed by several cozy-looking houses and lively bars decorated with desert flowers, all abandoned for the celebration. 

She soon found herself in a small clearing between buildings where an oasis pool sat. Two bendy palm trees swayed lightly in the breeze, and clustered of paddle-shaped succulents hounded the edges of the pool. Katherine sat down on a smooth stone and looked up at the sky, where every single star in the entire universe seemed to be visible.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?” 

Katherine jerked around, nearly falling off of the rock and into the pool.

Queen Isabella was standing in an alleyway feeding into the clearing, darkness shrouded over her. She stepped out into the moonlight, and all her gemstones glittered like eyes around her. 

  “Yes,” Katherine nodded, composing herself.

  “Why aren’t you celebrating?” Isabella asked, standing above Katherine. 

  “I’m just taking a breather, Your Majesty,” Katherine answered. “Is that alright?”

Isabella eyed Katherine suspiciously. “Of course,” She said slowly. She looked up at the sky. “When did you meet my daughter? You seem to be good friends.”

  “Five years ago,” Katherine said. “She lived in a city next to my forest village and wandered in one day. After an interrogation, I was showing her out and we just started talking. She kept coming back after that and became a regular visitor in the village.”

  “Hm.” Isabella said. “Well, I thank you for bringing my daughter back home safe.” She looked down at Katherine and smiled, sending chills down Katherine’s spine. “I am so, very pleased.”

————

The celebration was still going on when Katherine eventually turned in for the night. She went to her lavish guest bedroom in the palace to sleep, but not before visiting Catalina.

Catalina was in her own huge bedroom, sitting under the marigold velvet blankets in her equally giant bed. She was looking down at a painting in her hands, and didn’t look up from it when Katherine walked inside.

  “I ran away because I wasn’t happy in Aragon.”

Katherine walked over and sat down next to Catalina. The painting she was holding had four girls in it, all smiling and engulfing each other in their wings. 

  “I was restricted from doing so many things and Mother watched my every move.” Catalina went on, her voice brimming with hate. “I couldn’t stand it.” She brushed her hands over the surface of the painting, an expression of longing in her eyes. “You probably think I’m just being selfish and snobby, but you don’t know how things happen here.”

  “Then tell me,” Katherine urged softly. She set a hand on Catalina’s thigh, letting her know she was there for me. 

Catalina sighed. “The queen rules in Braze. And that’s great, you know, girl power, yay!” She laughed dryly. “But the way we take the throne…” She trailed off, shifting uncomfortably. “Only daughters, nieces, granddaughters, and aunts are allowed to challenge for the throne. And they do this by fighting the queen. To the death.”

Katherine frowned, quickly understanding why Catalina didn’t like the system.

 “Mother’s three sisters died young, so she didn’t have any competition growing up.” Catalina went on. “She challenged my grandmother when she was twenty-two and killed her swiftly. Crushed her ribs during the fight. Then, she married Father and started having children. She said she would only humor four female heirs. No more than that.”

She pointed to the tallest girl. Her wings were dark indigo and powerful-looking, and she had glowing golden skin. Dark brown hair was cut short around her head, bordering her fiery green eyes. She was wearing the sunstone necklace that Catalina now had around her neck.

  “That’s Juana, my second oldest sister. She had the wildest temper and always thought of fun stuff for us and my other sisters to do. She also LOVED to challenge the teachers she had.” A smile pulled on Catalina’s lips, then quickly disappeared. “She challenged Mother when I was ten. I swear, she nearly beat mother to death; Juana did not mess around when it came to combat. And she would have won, too. She should have won. But then Mother, bleeding, bruised, and pinned on the ground beneath her, looked up and said, ‘I’m proud of you.’ Mother doesn’t say that often. Rarely ever. Juana hesitated, smiled, and then Mother slashed her stomach open with a dagger hidden in the bends of her wings. I still remember Juana’s face. That look of realization. She had looked down at her organs now hanging out of her stomach and grabbed at them like she was going to try and put them back in, then looked at me and my sisters with the most agonized face I’ve ever seen on her before.” She dipped her head and swallowed thickly, blinking back tears. “I think--I think she thought she failed us.”

After a moment of silence, Catalina swiftly wiped her eyes, sniffled, and then pointed to the next girl. Her wings were narrow but shiny and the color of raw salmon and hibiscus flowers. Her tree bark brown eyes were calculating and calm, but her smile was bright and beaming.

  “That’s Maria. My oldest sister. She was like the voice of reason for the group, but she always got dragged into mischief anyway. She was also really good at getting us out of trouble. Except that time Juana mooned our history tutor.” She laughed, tracing her fingers over Maria’s long brown hair. “After Juana died, she became a lot more protective over me and my sister. I never thought she was going to challenge Mother, but she did when I was sixteen. Because Mother gave birth to another female child. A healthy baby girl. But, three days after she was born, she just--disappeared. One night, she was there, and then the next morning she wasn’t. Nobody ever said anything about her again, but Maria was furious because she knew Mother had killed our baby sister.” She swallowed thickly. “Maria was never a fighter. She was good at non-lethal combat, not--not what the challenge for the throne was. After she was beaten senselessly, cut up and bleeding all over the sand, she begged Mother for her life, saying she forfeit the challenge and wouldn’t try to overthrow her again. And Mother decapitated her.”

With the sadness of losing her sisters came anger, and Katherine saw Catalina grip the sides of the painting tightly and grit her teeth in rage.

Catalina pointed to the last girl. Her wings were fluffy and a goldfish orange color. She was small and had large, innocent dark amber eyes and sun-kissed brown hair she kept up in a messy bun.

  “That’s Isabella Jr. Pretentious of Mother to name her that, huh? We just call her Izzy.” Catalina said. “Izzy’s the youngest out of the four of us. She was always worried in a cute way and was super smart. After Maria died, she became a lot more clingy towards me. I let her sleep in my bed at night because she was too scared to sleep alone. Not that I blamed her. Mother always looked at us like she was just daring us to challenge her. It scared the poor thing.” She shook her head. “But then I ran away. I left Izzy alone. I didn’t tell her where I was going or what I was doing, I didn’t even leave her a note or ask her to come along. I just--left.”

She gently touched her pregnant belly. “I hope they aren’t a girl. I can’t stand the thought of Mother doing something to them to get rid of competition.”

She shook her head and looked up at Katherine, her eyes shining in the candlelight. “This may be my home, but this is not my family. You and Joan are.”

[hesesols]

Into the WILD

Day 16 of Ichiruki month 2020

Trapped inside fantasy MMORPG. Send help please?

Rating: T

FF/ao3

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The first thing that strikes him as odd is that the ground underneath him is dewy soft. Not that the carpet in his tiny student accommodation isn't soft. It just isn't as soft by comparison and doesn't smell so strongly of grass and urgh- he hates pollen with a vengeance.

It makes his nose itch like mad and –

Wait!

Last time he checked summer was already over and the northern hemisphere was entering early autumn.

.

Brown eyes open in alarm.

The sun is in his eyes as he sits up and he's lying in a sea of golden tulips and ruby red camellias, blades of grass and crushed flowers under his fingertips.

He isn't alone.

There are others next to him. Each one garbed in unusual medieval clothing- intimidating-looking armours with spikes and brightly-coloured capes, fur-trimmings and equally garish-looking armbands; brandishing weapons that range from claymores to wooden staffs. Everyone seems to be in more or less the same state of disbelief and wide-eyed amazement at their new surroundings.

Where are they?

And holy shit! Is that a real-life armoured bear?

.

"You look like you could use a hand there, Kurosaki."

"Ishida?"

Ishida or at least who he assumes to be Ishida- his annoying cousin of sorts and fellow guild member- stands in front of him, offering an outstretched hand. Ichigo recognizes the voice but those pointy ears, the gleaming ivory bow that stands at a grown man's height and strange cleric-like clothing- those are definitely new. He grabs hold of it and pulls himself up, wiping at the grass stains with a fierce scowl before turning to the strange elf-like creature.

"What are you wearing?

Uryuu snorts, "I could ask you the very same question, Kurosaki."

Ichigo glances at the midnight black armour he has on- light weight, extra resistance to magic and +25% endurance to all physical attacks- wait, where did that come from?- the reassuring weight of Zangetsu in his hands-

He blinks.

.

Name: Zangetsu. Also known as: Sword of the Moon, Cursed Fang. Status: Legendary. Raid item from the Sacking of the Gollum King's Palace at Hueco Mundo. The mythical black blade forged by the Grandmaster Yhwach over the Fires of Sokyouku for a full year and a half in preparation for the Conquest of the Soul King's Throne (see also Conquest of the Soul King's Throne). Grants the wielder—

.

Reeling from the surprise, he falls flat on the grass.

How the hell did that just happen? How did all those words and background information just pop into his head unprompted? Almost like they're in a fantasy RPG gam—

"What's going on?"

Uryuu's smile is grim and sardonic, sliding the half-moon glasses up the bridge of his nose before he tells him, "Don't freak out but I think we're inside the game."

.

.

.

"Anything?"

Uryuu shakes his head.

Ichigo sighs. The lines of communication are down and no one has been able to log back out into the real world since they first entered.

"This doesn't make any sense at all!"

10,000 WILD players across the world and different servers who were online and active at precisely 12 midnight that day somehow found themselves transported into the game world and trapped there as their game character persona.

They're calling it the Lockdown.

No one has a clue as to why they were the only people affected, nor do they know how they came to. One minute they were logged in, playing the game as usual; the next thing they know they're lying flat on their asses in this strange new world strongly reminiscent of the game world of WILD, as their respective game characters.

He's one of the lucky ones he thinks. As a human Swords Master, there isn't much alteration to him besides the clothes and the muscle bulk added to his physique, unlike Chad who woke up as a bear armed to the teeth with a war axe and metal gauntlets. It wouldn't have been a pleasant wake up call for anyone, much less someone who wakes up trapped inside a fantasy MMORPG.

"What about Keigo then? Have you managed to locate him yet?"

Uryuu's eyebrow twitches. The pale blue glow from his hand falters for a fraction of a second when his attention shifts to shoot his guild leader a nasty glare.

Ichigo growls before mumbling out an apology to the raven-haired Cleric. He knows of course that Uryuu is trying his best and really in a strange new world that seems equal parts deadly and fascinating, the best is all they can do.

He's just … frustrated over the lack of answers and to make matters worse, one of their own still remains unaccounted for. Out of all the guild members who decided to switch servers during the Lockdown, it just had to be Keigo- scatterbrain extraordinaire. He wouldn't trust Keigo not to get sold on some crazy-ass get-rich-quick scheme in the real world, let alone in this virtual reality full of bloodthirsty monsters just waiting to make a nice dinner out of unsuspecting players.

The double doors to his studies are suddenly pushed apart, jolting him out of his thoughts. Orihime stumbles in barefooted and narrowly avoids tripping over the trail of her druidic dress robes in her excitement. Her cheeks are flushed and the pretty flowers in her flower crown bloom and blossom in magnificent shades of pinks and violets as she makes her announcement.

"Kurosaki-kun! I have his location!"

Ichigo jumps to his feet.

.

Finally!

.

It's the first piece of good news he's had since he found himself stranded here with the rest of his guild members.

"So where is the idiot then?"

Behind her, trails Tatsuki- their resident cynic and Shield Maiden who purses her lips and informs both him and Uryuu rather miserably, "You're not going to like this. He's in the Forest."

Ichigo resists the urge to face-palm as he sees Uryuu rubbing at his temple.

"Keigo must have been on his way back to HQ and decided to take the shorter route," Uryuu rationalizes things- as the team tactician he excels at it, "he couldn't possibly have known."

That's right. Keigo couldn't possibly have known that he would get sucked into the game and be left standing in place of his game character.

Tatsuki gives a derisive snort, "Doesn't make a difference. A level 25 Bard like him can't possibly survive the Forest of Hueco Mundo alone. He's going to get himself killed. The Forest is no man's land- level 70+ Hollows and player killers aren't warded out."

All eyes turn to their orange-haired team leader.

"What do you want us to do?"

Call it instincts but Ichigo has a nasty suspicion that player death in their new world would also mean certain death in the real world. The thought makes him nauseous and for obvious reasons, he isn't too keen on testing out the theory himself.

Keigo may be a pain-in-the-neck and downright insufferable at times but damn it! He's one of them. He's their pain-in-the-neck and they can't just leave him there.

In the real world, Ichigo Kurosaki may be just an ordinary university student bogged down by studies but here in WILD, he's a guild leader, it's his job to look after his guild members and he pledges to make sure that every single one of them makes it back home to the real world in one piece.

Ichigo heaves a loud weary sigh, grabbing the sleek black katana by his side.

"Let's go get our idiot back!"

.

.

.

"I told you we should have gone left instead of right!"

Tatsuki can feel her skull throbbing. She should have just stayed behind with Chad and Orihime.

"Stop yelling at me! It's not my bloody fault that you're so fucking incompetent that you couldn't get a better map!"

"Oh so I'm the incompetent one?! Never mind I was the one who organized the rations! We would have starved to death days ago if I hadn't triple checked our provisions!"

Tatsuki grimaces as the feel of exhaustion creeps in as does the unbearable chaffing on her thighs. It wasn't just the lines of communications that were shut off with the Lockdown. It turns out the Portals- their main means of transport have also been disrupted and that means that the full distance between Karakura and the Forest had to be covered by good old-fashioned horse-riding.

They've been riding nonstop since they left Karakura, trading horses with NPCs in the farmlands nearby to push ahead at a gruelling pace and rescue Keigo as soon as possible. It is a noble cause but the trade-off for the weeks' long worth of hard-riding leaves the three riders surly and sullen. This virtual reality that they're trapped in certainly feels real enough, right down to hunger pangs and sore muscles.

Chaffed thighs, bland food, little sleep and the heat (the sheer humidity was making her hair frizz) made for horrible traveling condition and it seems that both Ichigo and Uryuu are about to hit their respective boiling points.

She rolls her eyes, tugging at her horse's rein to halt.

"Both of you need to shut up before –"

A sudden rustling in the bushes nearby draws their collective attention and sure enough from the depth of the overgrown bushes, a Hollow emerges. This one seems more reptilian in features, flickering pink tongue and all. Something jumps at the back of her mind but Tatsuki ignores it.

The Guide is nothing more than a useless collection of WILD lore and trivia.

She doesn't need a lecture on Hollow classes and their special attacks to know that the only good Hollow is a dead one.

With a loud battle war cry, she unsheathes her blade and leads the charge, throwing herself against the beast.

.

.

Ichigo leaps through the dense foliage with Zangetsu drawn and bloodied in his hand. Despite Tatsuki's misgivings about his foolhardy plans and recklessness, the woman is just as bad with her own brand of battle lust, leading the charge like a crazy berserker.

All hell literally broke loose the second they stormed through the clearing. The sheer number of the Hollow horde overwhelmed them and forced them to break formation and the three of them took off in different directions in a bid to divide the remaining Hollows' attention.

He ducks behind a tree to catch his breath. Having lost sight of both Uryuu and Tatsuki during their retreat, he is in a sour mood and more than a little embarrassed that a level 98 Swordsmaster like him is being forced back by a horde of weakling Hollows in level 50s.

"Psst. Ichigo."

Ichigo grips Zangetsu tightly, eyes nervously darting at his surroundings. He could have sworn that he heard Keigo's voice. Well it's either that or he's officially losing his mind.

"Over here."

A head pops out from the bushes next to him and Ichigo reacts accordingly- nearly slicing the newcomer's head clean off his shoulder and Keigo almost becomes a casualty of friendly fire before Ichigo sees through the heavy layer of disguise and stops the blade mid-swing.

"Keigo?"

The bard is barely recognizable with his slashed and dirtied tunic, patches of dirt and dried leaves covering his face.

"The fuck you doing- sneaking up on me like that! I could have killed you!"

Keigo couldn't have cared less. With a loud wail and snot running down his face, he throws himself at his saviour and professes his undying gratitude in between hiccups and tears.

"ICHIGO! I knew you would come for me! I never doubted for a second!"

"Get off me! You stink!"

The happy reunion doesn't last as the roar of a Hollow and heavy footsteps of a lumbering giant still their movements. Ichigo pushes Keigo away from him and readies his blade, but even his quick reflexes are no match for the suddenness of the attack.

"ICHIGO!"

The Hollow's swipe knocks the air right out of him and sends him flying. The tree trunk of a young sapling snaps in half as his back connects painfully with it. The pain disorients him and he is enough of a doctor's son to recognize the signs of concussion. Also, he thinks he might have cracked a rib (or two) as fresh blood- metallic in taste gurgles past his throat.

His vision clears in time for him to see the Hollow- a Dragon class one with beady yellow, thick, iridescent scales covering its front and gigantic wings sprouted at his back, rearing up for another charge.

This time at Keigo, who is down on his knees- eyes wide with fear as he scrambles to get away from the advancing Hollow.

There's no time to think. Ichigo pushes everything he has- the very last spurt of HP and MP within him towards Keigo, taking his place before the monster with gapping mouth, awaiting certain death to come.

.

.

"Out of the way!"

His eyes snap open just in time to see a small lithe figure, sunlight reflecting off the bone white armour- so bright that he squints, leaping through air and landing gracefully on the Hollow's back. A glint of light flashes yet again and before his very eyes, one of the Hollow's tattered wings is cut off, an arc of blood spurts high into the air and the Hollow's roar of anguish follows.

"Are you deaf or stupid? Get out of the way!"

Ichigo doesn't hesitate. With Keigo tucked under his arm, he pushes past the pain and sprints for the clearing.

With them gone, the mysterious stranger makes quick work of the beast, easily dismantling its other wing before diving for the kill; sinking the white blade somewhere between the soft scruff, flabs of excess skin free from the scaly armour.

Ichigo watches in silence as the dying monster screeches in pain, a swan's song in roars of fury before it topples over with dead eyes, a fine cloud of dust from where its body fell.

With the urgency of the situation gone, he focuses on the newcomer. Sheathing Zangetsu as it becomes apparent from the markings and sigil on the stranger's shield and helmet that he is a Paladin, one dedicated to the path of the light. They're in safe hands- for now at least.

"Where did you come from?"

The Paladin regards him oddly.

"What do you mean?"

.

"Princess!"

Half a dozen of swords are suddenly drawn and held under their throats by what seems to be a band of armed knights. Their armours gleam with the same bone-white shine and the leader of the men- a tall redhead with inked markings across his forehead approaches them with a fierce scowl and the intent to kill.

Next to him, Keigo yelps.

"The fuck!" Ichigo curses. His chest hurts, he's barely standing on his feet and now this?

Can this day get any worse?

.

"Watch your mouth, you punk!" The redhead growls threateningly, "You're in the presence of the Princess."

Amber eyes narrow. Did they think he's stupid? There's no one vaguely even female in their company unless—

The Paladin removes his helmet and a cascade of black hair- dark as the night pours forth. Apple cheeks, soft petal lips and elfin features curtailed somewhat by the iciness of her stare and her unsmiling face.

Their eyes meet.

.

Oh!

.

The short stature suddenly makes so much sense. Ichigo gulps.

"They're Heroes, Renji."

Renji scowls and gives them a dirty look.

Ichigo's eyebrows knot in confusion. "Hang on- what do you mean by Heroes and how are you a princess? Royalty isn't a job class and Paladins don't call themselves Princesses. I don't care what level you are, that's not allowed by the game admins."

The smile on the woman's face- Ichigo doesn't know what to make of it, but he thinks he's about to be made into a fool of epic proportions, especially when she pushes past her armed guards and tilts his face up by the chin with the tip of her white blade.

Smirking with dark violet eyes gleaming, she tells him, "That's because I'm not a Hero. Look closer."

Sure enough- when Ichigo focuses his gaze at her, her presence is shrouded in golden aura. The Guide pings- very belatedly and most unhelpfully, he might add.

.

Name: HRH Princess Rukia of the noble house of the Kuchiki, heir apparent to the throne of Seireitei. Status: NPC

.

He bites his tongue.

"B-But- but NPCs aren't sentient," Keigo blurts out.

Ichigo turns just in time to see him give out a pained yelp, being pummelled by the angry redhead, "Oh I'll show you how non-sentient my fists are!"

He winces. That looks like it would hurt… a lot. But Keigo's an idiot with thick skin, he'll live.

Rukia- her name rolls off his tongue easily. He refuses to even entertain the idea of addressing her by her royal title. For starters, a princess isn't supposed to be a Paladin, or know how to fight or use a sword, or look this good while having him at her mercy.

He gulps when violet eyes narrow at him.

"And you? Do you think that NPCs are non-sentient beings too?"

Ichigo is a fast learner and gives a quick shake of his head.

"Good-" her lips curve into a smile, hair dipping low to tease at the contours of his face as she whispers into his ear- "Because this NPC just saved your life. I'll show you just how deadly I am with my sword before you dismiss me as just another background token NPC."

The sword tip leaves his neck.

"Now, hold still."

That's all the warning he gets before a green glow is emitted from her hands- smelling faintly of mint and something fresh he can't quite name. He shuts his eyes, letting the healing magic wash over him, knitting most of his superficial cuts and wounds back into place.

When the light fades, his chest still hurts but at the very least he feels a little less light-headed and breathes a little easier despite the pain.

He wants to thank her- both for her healing and her timely rescue from the Hollow but she refuses to meet his eyes.

"Renji," she barks at her captain of guards who immediately stands to attention.

"Take them with us. He needs a proper healer. I can't set his broken ribs."

"It's Ichigo!" he calls out, interrupting their conversation and earning himself a hard glare from Renji but Rukia's gaze is almost thoughtful.

"Can you still ride, Ichigo?"

He nods.

A horse is brought to him under Rukia's instructions and as soon as he is properly mounted with Keigo seated behind him, the woman sounds the horn, black hair unbound and flailing in the wind as she leads the company into a gallop.

"To Seireitei!"

.

.

FF/ao3

Review, like, comment or reblog to send some love my way pretties~~~

I have a thing for fantasy AUs. Can’t you tell? Click on link for rec list of some off-main Isekai/Game animes. I have a special place in my heart for them.

[baekchelor]

ｔｈｅ ｂｒｅａｋ ｕｐ (ｉ)

pairing: george mackay x reader   genre: gossip girl! au, angs, slight smut summary: Gossip Girl here, your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite. Spotted: George Mackay at Heathrow, homeward New York. What could possibly make George abandon his self-imposed exile at his hometown and venture back to Manhattan? We bet Y/N wants to know. After all, George flew the city all of a sudden, while Y/N Y/L/N shed tears for the dearly departed. word count: 1.3k a/n: hello hello, welcome to the firt glimpse at my new George fic. This one is going to be way more angsty than the others, but I think you’ll enjoy it a lot. I’ll be posting on Mondays. So wait for the first chapter 🤭🤭 Lots of love and I hope y’all are staying safe. xoxo Ps. Y/N/I/L stands for Your Name Intial Letter

❝ Just so you know, there are a few things that I consider sacred. The back of a limo is one of them.❞

ｐｒｅｌｕｄｅ ｈｏｗ ｔｈｅｙ ｓｔａｒｔｅｄ

Resolute. To no longer yearn for his touch, to not pronounce his name and neglect any idea of him. Determined to obliterate it all, each kiss on the forehead, on the flushed pink cheeks, on the lips. Every smile, every gaze... just everything. In such mood, Y/N Y/L/N hops out of the black car, chin held high and a smirk curving her pretty little face.

"Where's Dean?"

As soon as her ears register foresaid name, her mouth neglects the newfound smile. Dean. Known in the Upper East Side as the fairy-tale couple, they grew a reputation of mythic and enviable love. Manhattan's Queen B and her Charming-Chapman Prince were an item throughout their years at Columbia. Both their parents talked about wedding plans during their jointed dinners —Y/N has even tried the fit of the Charles-Chapman's engagement ring heirloom.

The whole shebang was perfect. But turns out fairy tales end when they do for a reason. Y/N matured, found new horizons, and although Dean was nothing but goodness in her privileged life, he felt merely juvenile.

"We broke up."

"Beg you pardon?

"I don't want to talk about it, George," with a pointed look, she makes her way inside the club, barely glancing at his intense blue stare. "I just want to forget. That's what this place is for, right?"

George laughs under his breath, a hint of malice tangled in the whisper, "Indeed."

For a change, Y/N agrees with George tonight. She wants to forget Dean, misbehave, and to achieve that purpose, a substantial amount of liquor must be drowned. Alcohol is supposed to transform pain into nonsense, scattering the memories of young first love into the strobe lights and waning them within the swarm of lively bodies on the dance floor. Whether or not George Mackay is Dean's British best friend, Y/N couldn't care less. The boy is new in the city, aching for adventures, and a well-known playboy who wouldn't ditch several bottles of Moët in the sake of friendship boundaries. Hence Y/N shrugs away Dean's remaining memories, and delicately —with her characteristic grace and elegance, takes a seat in George's private boot.

The Brit orders two bottles of champagne and slurs to the waitress' ear to keep them coming. The blonde winks at him, making sure to sway her hips as she departures, pretending to be a star in a catwalk. It makes Y/N roll her eyes. She met George Mackay for the first time three days ago, during brunch at The Palace, and even then, with family and the elite present, girls threw themselves at him. Pathetic.

How different could she be from those girls, though? If she's alone with George, at some club in the West Village, just an hour past her breakup with charming Dean.

Trapped in the line of thoughts, Y/N gulps the entire flute of Moët. She doesn't even wince, eyes fixated in a couple slow dancing to a beat song. That used to be her and Dean, that could've been her and Dean right now.

"As much as I'm enjoying this, princess," George's voice catches her attention. "Downing champagne until you knock yourself unconscious is not the way to deal with a breakup."

"Fine," she rests her elbow over her legs, cupping one side of her face as she nods toward the remaining bottle. "Help me then."

George laughs, "No way. One of us needs to be able to think straight tonight."

"Have one, and I promise that I'll stop for now."

George licks his lips and brings the flute towards his mouth. As he tilts his head back and exposes his bare neck, Y/N is victim of a warm feeling at the pit of her stomach.

He sets the flute back on the table, smiling darkly, "I know you don't wanna talk about what happened but…"

"Relief," Y/N answers, eyes merged in the writhing silhouettes moving at the rhythm of the music, "I feel relief." Is hypnotizing: the music, the dance moves, the flashing lights and the rush of welfare running through her veins; is everything and nothing at the same time and she wants to be part of it, she wants to have a night to do all the stuff she gave up to be Dean's perfect girlfriend, "Y'know, I got moves."

"Really? Then why don't you get up there?

"No," she kind of, sort of, giggles. Y/N Y/L/N never giggles. "I'm just saying I've got moves."

"C'mon, you're ten times hotter than any of those girls."

There's lurk in her voice as she answers, "I know what you're doing, George," but then something mild forms inside every pore of her skin when George tilts his head, looking at her with defiant ocean eyes. They seem dangerous, like a tide willing to drag her to the bottom of the ocean. Yet, the blue colour is appealing, beautiful even, and the pink streak across her porcelain cheeks, assures her that the distress is nothing but adrenaline. "You really don't think I'll go up there."

"I know you won't do it."

That's it, that's all it takes. George likes playing games? Well, she'll prove to him she can play too —and better. Curving a seductive smile toward him, Y/N grabs his hand, "Dance with me."

She's not surprised when George encircles a hand around her waist and leads her into the ocean of people; she had discovered, just now, that he understands him, to the extend that she might even be able to read his mind. What comes as a surprise, however, is the way her body reacts to him. George's palms rest on her hips, slowly guiding her figure to grind against his in rhythm with the music.

With each beat, her thoughts blur together further. Dean's face has left its perpetual place in her mind, and the crowd, the lights, all are gone too. In her world, it seems to only exist George, and them both, pressed up against each other —George's fingers digging into her skin, her hands tangled in his light-brown locks... But boundaries can't be damned that easily. Although George Mackay isn't known for his excellent sense of morality, he still is Dean's best friend, for long enough to neglect the unknown thing fluttering around his stomach. So before he has time to regret it, George guides Y/N out of the crowd, straight to the back of his limo.

He will take her home. Right now.

"Thanks for the lift home," she breathes out, confused over the abrupt shift between them, but unable to stop holding onto his warm gaze. Get lost in his eyes seems effortless.

"Thanks, for…tonight."

Leaning closer, as they stare into each other's eyes, no one can't think of anything, anyone else. It could be the alcohol in their systems, or the rush in their blood, or perhaps is the erratic beat of their hearts and the goosebumps emerging the moment George's fingertips lay on her. But Dean's voice screaming at George to stop this madness because she's still the girl he loves, and he still holds her dear to his heart, goes mute. And Y/N's inner self, reminding her that George is not a perfect gentleman neither prince charming, is shoved away in a closet, one as secured as the one where Y/N/I/L stores her Manolo's.

Suddenly, his hands are at the small of her back, foreheads pressed together, and soft lips sucking on hers. Y/N's mouth opens in a gasp, and George takes this opportunity to insert his tongue. He tastes like a variety of alcohols, one of them being the champagne she forced him to drink earlier, and it is intoxicating.

He pulls back. Both of them panting as they stare into each other's glazed-over eyes, "Are you sure?"

Y/N doesn't breath out an answer, her mind is working to sluggishly to form coherent words. She merely holds onto his shoulders for support and gives a soft peck to his lips.

Leaning down, George growls into her neck as his fingers travel south to play with the hem of her dress.

Oh-Oh, Upper East Sidders, turns out that for G and Y/N/I/L, boundaries can be damned that easily.

[mdelpin]

In Search of a Dream - Chapter 2

Slayers Week 2020 Prompt: Magic / Adventure Pairing: Gray x Natsu AO3 | Prev: Ch 1

Like many others, I’m not a huge fan of the Daphne arc, so I figured while I was messing with canon (yes, I know it’s anime only), I might as well change this up a bit.

Summary: Gray goes off in search of Igneel. After several months of chasing leads that get him nowhere, he happens upon a girl who claims she’s seen a dragon.

0-0

Gray figured the best way to start his search was to go to the place where Natsu had been found by Gramps all those years ago. Taking advantage of the fact that the dragon slayer had left on a job with Lucy and Happy, Gray had cornered the guild master and plied him with drinks.

He hadn’t missed the curious way Gramps had stared at him once he’d understood what Gray wanted, his brow furrowing as he tried to figure out what Gray was up to and how it tied into his never-ending rivalry with Natsu. Eventually, he recounted everything he remembered and even marked the spot on a map.

Having acquired all the information he needed, Gray decided to leave the next morning. It had been a while since he’d gone off on his own, and he was looking forward to it — the promise of a new adventure exciting him as it always did.

It took him three days of walking to find the forest Gramps had marked on the map. He examined his surroundings, but nothing really caught his attention, it looked like any number of forests he’d visited over the years. Gray explored as much of it as he could, trying to find anything that could be considered a clue to how Natsu had ended up there by himself so many years earlier.

He decided to camp for the night, carefully lighting a fire to cook his food. He found himself staring into the flames, his thoughts straying to Natsu. What must it have felt like for him to find himself here all alone? Had he been scared?

Gramps had mentioned that Natsu had refused to leave this spot, determined that Igneel would return at any moment, even though by his own admission, the dragon slayer had already been waiting for weeks.

He couldn’t help but be glad that the old man had worked his usual magic, convincing the stubborn boy to give guild life a chance. Gray didn’t even want to imagine how different his life would have been if Natsu hadn’t been a part of Fairy Tail, how different he would be if the annoying fire-breather hadn’t been there to challenge him at every opportunity.

Gray thought that was part of what his need to find Igneel was, Natsu had done so much for him over the years, and he’d never been able to repay him in any way that mattered.

He put out the fire, encasing himself in a dome of ice for protection while he slept. In the morning, he got ready to leave. On a whim, he used his ice to lift himself up in the air and look around, hoping to find something that maybe Gramps had missed, but there was nothing but trees everywhere he looked.

Disappointed that the forest had been a bust, he decided to walk to the next town to see if anyone remembered anything from when Natsu had been found or had heard about any dragons in the area.

He traveled to town after town, visiting libraries, searching official records, and talking to anyone he could find, following any lead that came his way regardless of how insignificant it seemed. But no matter how much he searched or how hard he tried, everything turned out to be a dead-end, or easily explained away.

Gray was beginning to understand Natsu’s frustration. Everywhere he went, he was ridiculed for his questions. It had only been a few months since he’d started his journey, but the constant disappointment was already getting to him.

Maybe the real question wasn’t whether Natsu should give up or not, but rather how he’d been able to continue his search for so long. More than ever, Gray wanted to find Igneel for his friend, but he was running out of ideas, and there hadn’t been a lead to follow in days.

He was currently in the city of Malba, eating lunch at a local cafe and considering his options. He wanted to keep going, but the truth was that he was almost out of jewels. He’d have to go home soon.

He also hadn’t exactly told anyone what he was doing or where he was going. Knowing Fairy Tail, they’d be sending out a search party soon, and he could just imagine who would be on it. As much as he wanted to see Natsu again, he was determined to have something to tell him first. Anything that would return that fire back into Natsu’s eyes.

Frustrated by his lack of progress, he decided to walk around and explore the city for a while. The idea of giving up didn’t sit well with him, but Gray didn’t know what else to do. He was surprised to find a magic shop tucked away in an area of the city that had clearly seen better days.

Gray had never really been to a magic shop before. He was a caster mage, and from what he’d understood, these places mostly sold magical items. With nothing better to do and welcoming a distraction, he decided to enter. If nothing else, maybe he could find Natsu a present for his birthday, which was coming up in about two weeks.

As he’d suspected, there were a lot of charms and magic potions, devices that could change your clothes or hair color, but outside of some prime prank material for Natsu, there wasn’t really much there to hold his interest.

Until he came across an area of the shop that seemed to thrum with magical energy. Figuring he had nothing to lose, he pushed the curtains aside and walked through. This room was much more interesting. Even though it was dimly lit, Gray could feel the power emanating from some of the objects encased in the display cases. The man who stood behind the counter nodded at him as he entered, but he was already deep in conversation with a woman.

Gray continued to explore the small room, fascinated by the displays. The case he was currently examining contained many trinkets - rings and lockets, masks that seemed to pulsate with dark energy - as well as different items that purported to be from mythical creatures. A feather from a phoenix, a horn from a unicorn, a stinger from the tail of a manticore, and many others that Gray had never even heard of.

“Daphne, we’ve been through this before, I can’t buy that from you,” the shopkeeper’s voice was laced with irritation, but he seemed to be trying to keep it in check.

“But it’s a dragon scale!” Daphne protested, “It must have some value. They were one of the strongest magical creatures, weren’t they?”

“There hasn’t been a confirmed dragon sighting in hundreds of years, I’m sorry for what happened to your city, but I can’t just buy an item I know is fake.”

“But I’ve seen it with my own eyes!”

“You saw a dragon?” Gray interrupted, excited by the prospect of another lead, “When was this?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Daphne turned to him, her eyes alive with excitement, “It was-”

“No, she didn’t,” the shopkeeper interrupted, “If you’re looking for magical items, I’m sure I can help you find something here that will suit your needs.”

Gray ignored him in favor of examining the woman. She looked to be about his age, with medium length black hair and big brown eyes that hid behind glasses. He couldn’t sense any magic power coming from her, but more importantly, he didn’t get the sense that she was lying.

“Can I see the scale?”

Daphne handed it to him, and Gray could barely contain his excitement. It was a large white scale that looked and felt incredibly similar to those that made up Natsu’s scarf.

“It was red at first,” she informed him, “but it lost all it’s coloring soon after.”

Gray could hear the shopkeeper muttering behind them and made a quick decision. “Can you take me to where you found this?”

” Yeah, sure.”

0-0

They left the magic store behind, then the city, walking towards the field where Daphne claimed to have seen a dragon in the sky some years earlier. Along the way she told Gray a story that he had trouble believing, but made more sense than anything else he’d heard during the last few months.

Daphne claimed she had been playing by herself in the field when she’d heard a loud noise coming from above. Surprised, she’d looked up only to see a large creature flying overhead. It had seemed ghostly, but she’d had no trouble identifying it as a dragon nonetheless.

The extraordinary thing was that she claimed that the dragon seemed to be trying to ram into something. Its terrifying roars rang louder with every failed attempt until suddenly it just disappeared from sight. She’d found several scales in the grass and had grabbed them to show her family, but when she’d arrived home, everyone in the city had disappeared. Well, everyone with magic anyway, Daphne had none.

She’d run to the next town to ask for help, but they hadn’t believed her. Everyone she’d told had made fun of her, calling her crazy and suggesting that maybe everyone in the city had left to get away from her.

Regardless, no one could explain what had happened to the people in her city, and soon it was nicknamed the City Without Sound. People would come to explore it, fascinated by the idea of a ghost town in modern times. Daphne had been left with nothing but the dragon scales, surviving on the jewels she got from selling items she found in the empty houses.

“Are you sure this is where you saw it?” Gray asked, not sensing anything out of the ordinary about the field.

“Of course, I’m sure!” Daphne snapped, “Do you really think I’d forget after what happened?”

“Right, sorry,” Gray excused himself, then he had a thought. “Do you remember what date it was?”

“July 7th of 778,” Daphne replied, peering at him curiously, “Why does it matter?”

Gray startled at the date, it couldn’t possibly be a coincidence, could it? Natsu had been abandoned on that same day a year earlier. He held the dragon scale in his hand and stared at it. It had to mean something, it just had to.

“I have a friend who was raised by a dragon. He was abandoned on that same day in 777, he’s been looking for his dragon ever since,” Gray admitted, handing the scale back. “I’m trying to help him find it.”

“I’ve seen it more than once,” Daphne suddenly admitted.

“What?! Why didn’t you say so before?”

“People already think I’m crazy,” Daphne shrugged, lying down on the grass and staring up at the clouds. “The first year after it happened, I came back here every day, but I never saw anything. When July 7th came around again, I was determined the dragon would show up. I managed to convince a few people to come so I could prove I wasn’t crazy, but when it didn’t show, things got worse for me. But I knew I would see it again, and I was right. The following year I heard the same sound and looked up to see the dragon once again. Everything was the same as before.”

“I raced home, hoping that everyone had returned, but - uhm, they were still gone,” Daphne’s pained chuckle tore at Gray’s heart.

He felt a strange kinship with this girl, he’d lost everyone in the blink of an eye too, and it had been horrible, but at least he’d known what had happened. Whatever took place here on that day had caused her to lose everyone without any explanation, which had to be worse. Still, there was something about what she had said that nagged at him.

And that’s when it hit him, she’d said everyone in the village had had magic, except for her. That was unusual. In general, only about ten percent of people on Earthland had magic.

“Take me to your village,” Gray demanded, determined that there had to be something there that would have caused this to happen.

Daphne considered him for a moment and then got up, shaking off the dirt from her clothes, “What is it you expect to find?”

“I don’t know yet,” Gray admitted, “but I get the feeling I’ll recognize it when I see it.”

“Do you think you can help me get them back?” The hope in her eyes made him pause, he didn’t want to make things worse for her if there was nothing he could do, but he could feel it in his bones. He was on to something.

0-0

He was right.

Even before reaching the city entrance, he could feel it. There was an enormous concentration of ethernano in the air surrounding them, more than what could be considered normal. His magic was buzzing inside him, begging to be let out.

“Daphne, do you think I could have one of those scales to show my friend?”

“I have no idea what’s going on, but you believed me when no one else did, and for that, you may have one with my thanks,” she handed him one of the scales. She looked down at the floor, her voice quivering as she asked, “Do you think they’ll ever come back?”

He didn’t want to give her any false hope, but he knew that if there was one person who knew a lot about dragons, it was Natsu Dragneel, and when they both set their minds to something, nothing ever stood in their way.

The dragon had first been sighted in 778, and Daphne had said that it returned every other year, which meant that if she was telling the truth - and Gray was convinced that she was - it was scheduled to return in a little over a week’s time.

And when it did, he and Natsu would be waiting.

@ao3feed-gratsu​

[dokuhebi]

FIVE FOR KABU!

send a 🖐️ emoji ( or just ‘ 5 ′ ) for five times our muses touched .   // @raichoose​ The candles flame is sinking lower and lower, wax dripping down the sides of the long stick, pooling in the caved in center, coaxing the dying light to submerge and be vanquished. They should ignite the candle again, before the only source of dwindling light is completely erased. Yet they don’t. Golden eyes watch as the fragile little flame dies out completely. As the success from burning so brightly causes its own slow demise, erasing the very foundation it exists on. They are overthinking again. It is what they do. A simple item, a simple result of fire upon wax. It does not need to be symbolic of all they have come to know. It does not need to remind them of him. Of the burnt out bond that had seemed to be verging on success, so caught in the heat of the moment, yet damned itself somewhere along the way. Their most trusted companion, friend, ally... when had that fragile little flame burnt out? The document on their desk is growing harder to read as the light fades, sometimes flickering out altogether before somehow struggling back alive. But Kabuto’s face, a small photo attached to a report torn from a bingo book, is still visible. Until of course, slender fingers coil around the image, and hold its tip to the flames hungry mouth. Desperate for some means of survival, catching instantly, eating away at the image until once more its hunger has diminished its own foundation. They watch as the singed edges of the photo curl and flake in to ash, dripping on to the table below, embers still faintly glowing on the charred and broken pieces. They could burn an image, but they could not burn a memory.

The sun filters down through scattered tree leaves, a distant breeze not quite reaching the figures standing there. They watch him from across the small clearing in the forest. Golden eyes attentive, slender arms folded, a taunting smirk on their face. He’s not even twenty yet, but if he is to be their subordinate, then he is to learn what it truly is to be a shinobi. “Shall I make it easier for you dear?” they call to him, watching as he adjusts his glasses, wanting to see what has become of the man they decided had enough worth to be taken on to their team. Many wanted his position. None had been valued enough to get the opportunity to earn that right, “I’ll use nothing but kenjutsu. If you can disarm me, I’ll consider this your win,” they say,  a fanged smile giving away their arrogance during the training. That they truly think the young man will be unable to do even this. How pleased they would be of course, if they were to be proven wrong instead. The fight is a back and forth affair, as the serpent turns the exercise of training in to a game. Leaving their legendary katana alone and instead using an ordinary one, a slim and elegant blade all the same. They think it will be their win, until a few slip ups on their end, and a few cleverly taken advantage of opportunities on his, wind the serpent up losing their grip. The sound of their weapon hitting damp soil signals their loss instantly, no means to recover, as they find themself disarmed, their slender figure pressed to the nearest sequoia, a measly kunai held flush to their pale throat. A smirk tugs at their lips, so pleased it may trick anyone viewing to think this was some trap. That they wanted to lose. It isn’t quite the case. The serpent finding a victory in their loss. Porcelain digits coil around his wrist, loose and gentle, almost simply caressing the skin beneath their fingertips, “it seems I was right about you all along. You’re quite remarkable.” They push against him, inching closer to the blade knowing he would draw it away rather than cut them, their figure and a single slim hand pressing in to his chest as a dance of mischievous appreciation enters their yellow eyes. “It will be intriguing to see what you might accomplish in the future.”

But twenty years from that moment, the serpent would not have the luxury of seeing what the man would become. Twenty years from that moment, they are sitting in a dark cell, a step up from their life in prison, but a step before being released in to Otogakure. A small abode, locked and guarded. A few personal items allowed, research material, home comforts. An attempt to keep them from growing restless. But they are restless, and more than anything, they are left with their own thoughts for too long. Allowed to fall down the rabbit hole in to a twisted imagination. They force themself away from the table, moving to the kitchen which is only a few steps away, and in the same room. Fumbling in the dark and fishing out a glass, seeking next a bottle they know is half empty already. A dark orange liquid swishing in the glass container. They pour themself one drink, it steadily becomes two, then three, then four. But even the sake that was so adept at making people forget seems only to inspire more thoughts.

Autumn welcomes the patrons with a bite of cold air, an unexpected nippiness. As it would turn out, the pretty layers of their hanfu would not serve to be as warm as they were beautiful. Various shades of ashen grey, black and white material falling around their svelte figure and speckled with the intermittent patterns of a violet wisteria, wraithlike, as if they may have stepped out of some mythical folklore. Pale skin is cast in a pleasant glow beneath the moonlight, while golden eyes seek only to compete with its brightness “How is our chatty comrade doing?” they ask Kabuto, standing elegantly amid a small gathering of lords, here only to make the necessary connections. Dark connections, allies who did not shy from dabbling in the black market. The small team accompanying the Sannin, to keep them from being targeted with the sizable bounty on their head, had since dispersed. But it hadn’t escaped their attention how one rather talkative Oto shinobi had been grating on Kabuto’s nerves. It hadn’t taken long for them to decide he was the right man for the job, when testing the drinks for poisons or other drugs and additives. With the chatty subordinate even more chatty, buzzed but certainly not dead, the Sannin knows they can indulge in the tested beverages. And how they will need that as a support and crutch when having to entertain the frivolous Lords with no grasp of reality. By the time the light weight viper has realized they are now gracefully off balanced rather than gracefully refined, they seek a different crutch. Inhibition's to the wind, as they lean in to Kabuto’s figure. One slender arm laced elegantly around his neck. But they would not only need help getting back to their inn, or at least, that wasn’t all they would end up asking of him. Not that they would remember the half of it. The next morning, they find themself dressed in a night yukata, sparing them from a night in the elaborate hanfu, courtesy of Kabuto helping them out the intricate dress in to a more suitable sleepwear no doubt. They also find themself in Kabuto’s room and bed, rather than their own. So as it would seem, their famed ‘guard dog’ would not solely be warding off enemies that evening, his loyalty had kept them warm too. But they are still plagued by a headache, and the sunlight seeping in through the blinds prompts them to hide their face against the crevice of the mans neck where it had just been buried before, “turn the blinds down, it can be morning when I say it is,” they mutter.

The sound of their parole shatters their thoughts, causes them to glance to the sealed and locked door. Someone’s joke evidently earning a great deal of laughter and debate. It had been a while since they had the opportunity for small talk, how they loathed small talk usually, how months in isolation could suddenly make them crave it. Conversations... was it something they said that made him leave? Had they chased him off with their ideas, their quiet moments together? Had it all be one lie after the other, and he never truly felt any shred of care toward them? Just a means to an end. Their end. A distraction is welcome, and they try and listen to what is being said. Something about a slip up during a mission. Something about the entertainment it had been for onlookers. Something about a strange nurse, a long stay at a hospital, a well earned dose of Ibuprofen. A simple word, yet even that manages to awaken ghosts of the past.

“I don’t care if it’s not recommended. Just make it stop.” Their voice is hoarse sounding, hissed and drenched in agony and venom. Feeling as if they are in their darkest hour, feeling at their lowest, their weakest, their most vulnerable. It instantly brings to life their fight instinct, it instantly makes them volatile and unpredictable. Too swept up in the sheer crippling pain. Agonized to the point of forgetting their own training in medicine, as they reach for any and every painkiller available to them. For the highest dose to stop the suffering/. The pain of the body was one thing, but Hiruzen was showing them a new kind of pain by severing their very soul. Leaving their arms growing thinner and bloodier, decaying on their very living person. Most of their medics had been casualties when overstepping boundaries around the Sannin, who was more a wounded animal than a person on these nights. The rest had refused to enter the chambers due to fear. All but one. “None of it is working,” they hiss to Kabuto, still trying to convince him that overindulging in the painkillers may lead to some numbness. Desperate enough to think it will be enough. If they had placed their arms in to open flames, they imagine it would hurt less than this. Their breathing becomes erratic, labored, forgetting even that simple task as their body wants to go back in to shock with the overwhelming sensations. Almost blinded and completely disorientated from the agony. Until his hands rest upon them, until the faint glow of blue offers a shred of mercy in a moment of pure torture. A second enough to catch their still shaken and ragged breathing. They find their slender form leaning against him, almost clawing for him, their only source of relief in a world of misery. A dozen medics had been in and out of these halls, a dozen treatments had been offered to give them relief. None had managed. Yet his single touch mitigated enough suffering, to finally give them rest. Enough that their body may succumb to fatigue, enough that the pain slips away from their mind, and only a distant sounding song can be heard as they finally find sleep. His song. Her song.

It is moments like those that makes them wonder how they may have imagined it all. How Kabuto could possibly have never cared when he had stayed holding them all night on that dreaded evening. When he had sung a personal song in a hopes of capturing their attention and outdoing the pains grip on them. It had to be real - now didn’t it? It could not be made up, feigned or fabricated. So what then? It being real, his devotion and care for them being real back then, did it change that farewell? If he had wished to be at their side at their lowest on the day of Hiruzen’s assassination, when exactly had it started to fall a part of irreversibly? When had they lost him?

It’s hard to tell dawn from dusk in their underground home, to know when the sun had risen or set, as darkness constantly engulfed them beneath the earths surface. Hidden away from all that wanted to harm them, but equally hidden from the pleasantries of life too. Perhaps this inability to keep easy track of time is the excuse the serpent will use for why they so often fail to keep an orderly sleep schedule. Why they skip entire nights, sometimes several, throughout the week in exchange for more hours to work. But they aren’t the only one overworking in these halls, as they enter the next room, about to speak, when they see Kabuto has fallen in to a slumber. Scattered around him are the many scrolls and documents he was taking on for them, to relieve the Sannin of some of their duties - perhaps to ensure they may have time for sleep themself. Sacrificing his own. They can’t be sure what precisely has kept him up. It is no mystery he has nightmares - what shinobi didn’t awaken regularly due to the trauma of their job? The serpent certainly skipped sleep for more reasons than just their work, flashes from the past an ugly reminder they didn’t need at night. They cross the distance quietly, placing a hand gently to his forehead to inspect for a temperature and ensure he isn’t sick but merely tired, before delicately removing his glasses, and then his hair tie. Combing out the slight tangles and indents from being held together by the hairband, before placing both items carefully aside for his ease of access and reach when he woke up. Catlike steps, nimble and silent, allows them to move about the room undetected. A skill harnessed for insidious assassinations, but would now be far more affectionate a need. A final act of drawing a blanket around his shoulders, and trying to help him lay down properly on the couch without disturbing him. Only to disappear like a phantom, as was all their acts of love and care perhaps. Too timid to be caught in the act of fondness. Hiding their heart over hiding their crimes.

That may have been the problem then? Surely, who could ever stand by a person who would brandish their killings and veil their love? Who could tolerate such a juvenile trait? For they know, as much as they think being distanced from their own heart is a clever defense, that it is also a sign of emotionally stunted development. That while they can not break a habit with knowledge alone, they had read up on it to link their orphaned childhood and constant attendance to loved ones funerals to connect the dots. That they were as much protecting themself from loss and unnecessary human fragility in an effort of being wiser, as they were simply too afraid to brave the risk. Whichever way, they imagine it doesn’t matter a terrible amount anymore. They are here, and he is not. And the memory most burnt in to their mind seems to replay like some cruel Tsukuyomi. 

The war was starting to pique in its volatile and violent arrival, torn from the land of the dead to be placed back amid the chaos. Resurrected. But the serpent isn’t frazzled or overwhelmed, the stimulation simply feeds their more ambitious side - and they are not alone. Not when the first thing golden eyes awaken to see, is him. Kabuto. ‘Of course it would be the young doctor’, is the first thought to enter their mind. From the moment they felt Sasuke’s blade embed itself in to their weakening and sick body, they had known if anyone would save them from that fate, it would be Kabuto. And here he stands proving them right, as a fanged smirk reveals itself on their lips, pleased and satisfied, as they automatically, instinctively, move to his side. And somewhere along the way, what they believed they saw, and what was really happening did not align. Somewhere between the fighting, the strife and the forced great alliance, he slipped through their fingertips like running water. So when the Sannin knew the battle was over and won, they did not feel as if they must face the uncertainty of execution or imprisonment alone. Moving once more instinctively to Kabuto’s side, as if the two of them were really just one person, one entity. To attack him was to attack them, and visa versa. Yet when they place their hand to his shoulder, both offering a touch of support and looking for someone to lean on - for what may be the last time without their realization - they find themself faced with words they hadn’t anticipated. Words that struck them more than the injuries sustained in combat, shook them more than the tremors of the bomb fire. ‘ I can’t go back with you. I have to leave. ’