#seventh null arc:

[thelightismine]

having recently re-read the Republic Commando books for the fiftieth time (but the first time as a proper adult), amongst many other things that jumped out at me this time, I've been pondering the Many Failings of Kal Skirata™ - and one thing that kept me awake the other night was the realisation that...it takes Kal ages between adopting Ordo and the rest of his brothers, right??

So I went back and did the math. Kal adopts Ordo in True Colours, soon after rescuing Vau on Mygeeto, at 471 days after the Battle of Geonosis (ABG). An excerpt from the scene below:

"I never adopted you formally," Skirata said. It had been bothering him in recent days, ever since he began to think of the war as having a definite timescale. "Any of you." "Does that matter?" Skirata now felt that it did. No Mando'ad would nitpick over the bond between him and his boys, and as far as the Republic was concerned clones didn't even qualify as people, but his plans to give them a decent future had now become very, very specific. [...] "Yes," he said. He reached to grasp Ordo's hand and recited the short, no-frills gai bal manda - "name and soul," all it took to unpick history and give a child a new parentage. Mandalorians were habitual adopters. Bloodlines were just medical detail. "Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad, Ordo." Ordo stared at their clasped hands for a moment. He had a crushing grip. "I've been your son since the day you first saved my life, Buir." "I think you boys did the saving," Skirata said. "I don't want to imagine where I'd be without you." Skirata was now busy hating himself for not doing this before, not making the ultimate commitment, and he fretted about his five other Nulls scattered around the galaxy.

And having re-read this section in detail, it now baffles me even further that it takes him - wait for it - ANOTHER YEAR AND ~THREE MONTHS to adopt the other five Nulls??

Yes, that's correct. Kal adopts the other five Nulls in Order 66, in the scene where they all come together 'on screen' for the first time, which is set 940 days ABG. That is 469 days after he formally adopted Ordo.

At the time KT wrote these books, according to Legends, one standard year is 368 days, with 12 months of 30 days each. If I've crunched correctly, Kal adopts the other five Nulls roughly fifteen and a half months later than Ordo.

And OHHHH:

The meal was as much a rare celebration as a meeting, and the Nulls even had a few glasses of Chandrilan wine. "I should have done this many years ago, adi'ke." Skirata raised his glass. "Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad - Mereel, Jaing, Kom'rk, A'den, Prudii. There. It's formal, legal. You're my sons and heirs." "And we won't bankrupt you," Jaing muttered. "Not with the amount you're skimming, ner vod," Mereel said raising his glass in return. "Thank you, Buir'ika. An honor." At least one cause for guilt had been lifted from Ordo's shoulders. He was no longer the only Null formally adopted by Skirata. It was a legal detail, nothing more, but Ordo didn't want to be singled out as the favorite. He already felt he had a far easier time than his brothers.

what do you MEAN you just went on and forgot to do it, despite seeing them and speaking to them regularly for over a year, Kal?! yikes

Reading this back again, all I could think was - poor Ordo. It's explicitly stated here that he had been feeling and still feels guilty. Imagine living with the knowledge that your father had only formally adopted you, and not the other five of your closest brothers, for OVER A YEAR- (I will keep yelling it I'm not over it)

When they all make jokes about him being the Number One Son. When they all tease him for being the favourite. How do you think this knowledge affected Ordo’s relationship with his brothers?? Not wanting to mention it?? Do you think he ever did?? How do you think they reacted if they knew he was already adopted prior to this??

Not to mention, how does Kal not see this as something that might cause an issue for Ordo?? With how much he loves him??

I find their reactions interesting, because if they didn't know, they play it very cool. I'm leaning towards they did know, Ordo didn't just sit on this knowledge for over a year, maybe couldn't - because otherwise, why is no one asking why Kal left him out of the list? Why is their only reaction calm pleasantries?

Possibly because they don't care about formal adoption that much - it's worth noting Ordo's reaction is also to kind of brush it all away: "I've been your son since the day you first saved my life, Buir."

(I think it also opens up a bigger discussion about Ordo's role within his brothers as...almost a shield between Kal and his brothers, able to take the brunt of Kal's...manipulations to spare them the same attention - I wonder if they don't care as much about their adoptive status because it doesn't mean nearly as much to them as it does to Kal, because Kal doesn't rule them as much as he'd like to think he does. It’s interesting how Ordo is both uncomfortable with the position as Number One Son but also sees its…strategic value?? He states earlier in the scene that he'll swap drafts with Kom'rk because it's "his turn" to explore the Outer Rim, but as far as we know, he never actually does this - despite missing each other dearly, often, do the other Nulls willingly take missions that get them away from Kal? Which is why Ordo is almost never shown being anywhere that Kal isn't? Also the irony that so many people laugh at Maze for being a highly trained ARC being "wasted" in an office job, but Ordo also as far as we see never does anything flashier, nothing that couldn't be handled by a less superior officer, nothing that's far from Kal's side...)

ANYWAY

I’m just baffled as to how Kal didn’t think immediately after adopting Ordo “and now the other five” - my man, what took you so long?? If you love them all as you say you do??

HMMMM

[aupermittymeowmeow]

I take it this means the AU doesn't have any humans at all with Sunset's other world being switched to Kludgetown where she likely kept her pony form (being similar to the Null Void from Ben 10 as a world for dangerous criminals).

Does this mean Sunset ended up going back to Equestria when she began reforming (criminals aren't exactly gonna help in a redemption arc)? If so, did she still face some level of being an outcast by everyone in Equestria (similar to canon having her as an outcast in Canterlot High during Rainbow Rocks for her previous actions) and what does she do to win everyone's respect (adjacent to how she helped with defeating the Dazzlings in Rainbow Rocks)? And does she end up joining the Mane 6's group and becoming a seventh Element of Harmony (like canon having her as Empathy and having her as part of the Humane 7) where they help her reform?

Actually, Klugetown is from the My Little Pony movie! It's where Capper lives, but I spiced it up a bit for funsies.

She does reform herself in Ponyville with the help of Starlight, plus the use of community service after destroying a bit of the town in her demon form. People in Ponyville, besides her friends) are scared of her and are still upset on the damages to their home. She earns respect much like the movie, by defeating the Dazzling's. Then, they do not really see her as a threat.

She does become another element! She join's the mane six with Starlight, her element growing in the Tree of Harmony as well!

[blurrypetals]

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas - blurrypetals review

originally posted oct. 25, 2018 - ★☆☆☆☆

I have suffered through 160 and a half hours of this series. I have read all 4,800 pages of the books that tell this story. I've seen it all, I suffered through this whole damn series and all I got in the end was the sort of angry passivity only those who have fought in wars experience. I am so endlessly frustrated by Sarah J. Maas and Throne of Glass as a whole that I am just plain exhausted even thinking about the review I'm about to write and I take absolutely zero joy out of the things I'm about to say here tonight. For those of you who are still starry-eyed enough to care, if I write a spoiler in this review, it will not be tagged. I never quite know where to start and stop with spoiler tags, especially when we're talking about the seventh book in a series, where I could also be spoiling the first six books. Plus, I'm way beyond caring about much of anything in regards to Throne of Glass and have been for a very long time, so I honestly don't care if I spoil someone's experience with these books because Sarah J. Maas already does enough of that herself. Something Maas has struggled with ever since Heir of Fire is sufficiently raising the stakes and making the things that happen feel like they have weight to them. Aelin is literally ripped to pieces and healed back to brand new at the very start of this book and while this event isn't completely devoid of weight, it's glossed over and fixed so quickly that I don't even have the chance to blink before the possible ramifications have a chance to settle in. That's how I've felt about pretty much every big reveal, close call, or any other looming peril about this series since the end of Heir of Fire, where Aelin goes from kickass protagonist, Celaena Sardothien, who's very skilled in a lot of ways, but still feels vulnerable in a lot of ways, both emotional and physical, and turns into Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, god-tier queen who literally can do no wrong, has skin made out of plot armor, and, most detrimentally, stops being vulnerable in all the interesting ways. She stops being a character and becomes a caricature of herself, like she's an AU fanfiction version of herself...because she is. Not only did Aelin become, for all intents and purposes, invincible at a certain point, but then we got a whole new cast of characters, which means the pre-existing cast of characters, all of whom were mid-arc just got hardcore sidelined for the rest of the series, with the exception of Chaol, who got his own book all to himself and it was painful because it was clearly written in an effort to correct past mistakes, like someone who has gotten all the wrong information out of a complaint. Sarah J. Maas heard us all complaining that the old cast got sidelined and thought Tower of Dawn would correct that mistake. It didn't because Tower of Dawn was a big dumb stupid terrible waste of my time. Speaking of big dumb stupid terrible wastes of my time, fine, okay, I'll finally talk about the book at hand. The whole thing I was just talking about with stakes and Maas's failure to properly raise and enforce them renders nearly everything in this book completely null and void. We already know Aelin and friends are going to win. We all know Sarah J. Maas doesn't have the guts to kill off any major characters. We all know Aelin and Rowan are going to be icky and gross and make me regret ever reading any book ever. We know how this goes, so why are we looking at this big, "grand" almost 1,000 page finale as if it will provide something we aren't already expecting? I know I wasn't expecting anything other than victory for Aelin and co. I knew there was no chance anyone important would die and I was right, they didn't. I knew this book would not surpass my expectations and yet, here we are, I'm at the other end of the book and I feel exactly the same way about the series as I did at the beginning of this criminally long audiobook, which is 33 hours long and feels like it should be 12 at most. My opinion of Sarah J. Maas and the incredibly shitty people that populate this universe did not improve, just like I didn't expect it to. It did decline, because I wanted something out of this experience. Empire of Storms, for all the dumpster fire bullshit it was, at least made me angry, I was upset when I read it. This book, though? I feel so ambivalent and numb about everything I just listened to. The only thing that upset me was that I was tricked yet again into reading another Throne of Glass book and all I got out of it was...well, just another program on my Audible account, an almost 1,000 page book to set on my shelf and look ugly. I got nothing out of this. I often say it's worse to be boring and forgettable than it is to be spectacularly awful because, at the very least, I'm going to remember the spectacularly awful work in 10 years, where the boring one will just fade into the background within weeks. Again, even though Empire of Storms was an absolute train wreck, I'll always remember it because of how poorly it did just about everything. But Kingdom of Ash here? I'll remember the Dorian chapters, because that was always what I stuck around for; I did it for him. He actually had a pretty cool and interesting arc, but it took up maybe 10% of the whole book and he got an ellipsis of an ending, not a period which, for the record, is just fine with me. Don't write Dorian a spinoff, Sarah. Just let it die. Anyway, other than Dorian Havilliard, the one I suffered through all this material for, I'm sure I'm already losing details about many of the things about this book because, at the end of the day, it was nothing. It didn't excite me, it didn't make me angry, it didn't make me feel anything by the end, other than a quiet longing for things to have gone differently ever since Crown of Midnight. It was just empty, this whole time. And that, with 160 and a half hours of audiobook and 4,800 pages of content, just to culminate in this? Well that, that's the real tragedy here. Wasted potential, broken hearts, and empty promises. I got exactly what I expected out of this book and, in my opinion, that's the worst thing to get from a book: exactly what you think you're going to get. No surprises, no intrigue, nothing. Just nothing.

[deltaengineering]

Fall Anime 2019 Part 2: Fanservice

Choujin Koukousei-tachi wa Isekai demo Yoyuu de Ikinuku you desu!

Here we go. We’ve had some isekai that wasn’t totally bad for one reason or another, but of course that couldn’t last. Choujin Koukousei-tachi wa Isekai demo Yoyuu de Ikinuku you desu, or Choyoyu if you want to be merciful, or High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World if you want spoilers, is so nakedly isekai that I’m actually kind of confused. You see, usually isekai is about some loser that gets transported somewhere where his mediocrity is overwhelmingly powerful. I don’t like it, but I get it. Choyoyu, on the other hand, is about a bunch of kids that are already hax and get transported to another world where they’re even more hax and also elf girls give them tongue kisses. Is this for people who are so emotionally fragile that they don’t even want to be reminded of how much they suck in their isekai power fantasies? Then again this is written by someone who also thinks that politicians (one of the kids is the prime minister of Japan... yeah) are supergeniuses, and that if you max out journalism, you prestige class to ninja. Yes, it is more or less comedic and so bizarre that it almost seems like an attempt at parody again, but lemme check something real quick...

Nah, I’m all out of benefits of the doubt and running low on fucks as well.

Azur Lane

So, Azur Lane then. I could tell you all about how it’s a gijinka thing about World War 2 warships, but then you’d say “isn’t that just Kantai Collection” and yes. Not to mention that Azur Lane seems to be more popular than Kancolle now, so either way this isn’t very surprising. So let’s just go over the differences: Azur Lane isn’t almost entirely Japanese ships, and there’s a three-way fight of Axis vs Allies vs Aliens going on. The upshot of this is that Azur Lane is mostly shipgirl(s) vs shipgirl(s) and not everyone vs mobs. And that’s it for the one difference that matters, apart from that it’s a bit more varied than the Kancolle anime was, but that just gives it an uneven tone that swings between Gochiusa-levels of fluffiness and lesbian twincest aircraft carrier villains hamming it up. Characters? We have several dozens of them, thanks for asking. If you play the game or stalk Danbooru/Pixiv religiously, you might even care about them. The (supremely silly) action is technically alright, but doesn’t reach the level of “impressive”, and of course it’s hard to follow with so many obligatory participants. I’d label this one “fans only” and even for them I’d assume it’s just decent at best.

Null Peta

This is a short about a child genius that misses her (dead?) sister so much she builds a robotic version of her. Several mishaps later and she’s stuck with something that most closely resembles Doraemon if Doraemon was all ara ara and also all mofu mofu (apart from when the spikes come out). As far as wacky children’s adventure comedy shenanigans go, this seems to be fairly agreeable, but where it really shines is how it looks. This season admittedly hasn’t had a real sakuga heavy hitter so far, but Null Peta comes the closest to one since it looks quite dope, especially for a weird random short. 5m/week and nothing too annoying make this one easy enough to follow up on.

Chuubyou Gekihatsu Boy

Here we have the example of an anime where I would admit that it’s pretty good at what it wants to be, but what it wants to be is just intolerable. This appears to be a reverse harem with the theme of all the boys having some shade of chuunibyou (if you gotta ask, you don’t want to know) going. I even like the protagonist girl, she’s likeable and shows a bit of personality when being exasperated at the gang of incredibly annoying idiots surrounding her. But that’s the problem: In particular “Red”, a genki runt with a sentai gimmick, is a show destroyer all on his own. The others aren’t quite as bad as him but I’d still accept maybe one of them per harem at most. It does alright in execution, visuals, timing and so on (DEEN’s “poor man’s SHAFT” team, cf. Meganebu, seems to be seeking a comeback), but you’d have to be embarrassingly thirsty for idiot dick to put up with this shit.

Val x Love

Just to prove that I am an equal-opportunity harem h8r, here’s a non-apparently non-reverse one and yes, it also sucks. Not only is it easily the cheapest looking show so far, it’s also reminiscent of the Conception school of harem setup: If you must know, Val x Love is about an ugly ogre of a dude whose lonely house is suddenly stuffed full of Val(kyrie)s (= 9 Japanese harem archetypes because, you know) by none other than Odin himself between cuts. He then has to fight some monsters by cuddling one of the Vals, which unlocks their super or something. Barebones, uninteresting and crappy looking, this one is a real stinker and should be of interest to nobody.

Fate Grand Order - Absolute Demonic Front Babylonia

It’s the seventh story arc of the hit mobile RPG Fate/grand order! How do I know? Because they talk about how they skipped the previous six ones, presumably because they’re boring. Or more boring, at least. It’s Fate, and I know an embarrassing amount of details about Fate (e.g. enough to know that the Rinclone that appears apropos of nothing is Ishtar), and I’ve even seen First Order (which sucked), but this stuff is impenetrable, yo. This iteration on F/go definitely doesn’t care for people who don’t play the game, rare as they may be, and at best you’re supposed to let the proper nouns wash over you and enjoy the spectacle. It’s just that it’s CloverWorks this time, and while an attempt was made, shit just blows up way gooder over at ufotable. So the spectacle is insufficiently spectacular, and Mash is still insufficiently moe. In the end this does nothing to change my opinion of F/go away from “functionally identical to every insipid homebrew Servant thread on /a/ ca. 2010, also Shiki can kill Servants, discuss″, and I ain’t watching 2 cours of that.

Mairimashita! Iruma-kun

Iruma-kun is a goodhearted boy whose scumbag parents sell him off to some demon, who then transports him to hell and enrolls him in demon school where demons try to step to him. Isekai and battle harem is my first suspicion, but not so fast! It’s not a light novel, and while the general gestalt of this setup might resemble a certain conical helix, this appears to merely be convergent evolution. In other words, it’s just a funny kid’s manga, and it’s not even bad for that. It’s colorful, moves at a decent clip and I was moderately amused by the antics of Midoriyaface trying to dodge the ol’ KILL BY DEMONS. It’s just that I also know that this is very much not for me, and while it’s better than say, eIDLIVE, I don’t think I want to stick around. Props where they are deserved, though.

[dungeonsanddragonsfifthedition]

tazchat: double whammy

okay so i’ve been havin computer troubles lately and i wanted to make sure the readmore works so i had to wait to upload these, right. but. anyway. if you know me irl and you see this you are legally allowed to kill me.

i’m almost done with the bank episode, but. y’all. there’s two whole episodes before that. we’re just now getting to the really good shit. but the shit that came before? also fucking good. here’s that.

and now, what about two of you have been waiting for: Welcome Back To Bee’s Journey To Self-Acceptance Re: Their Deep Attachment  And Sense Of Relation To Travis McElroy’s Self-Insert DND OC

—“i wish i had pictures but at least i have my memorieeeees” —LOOK AT THIS PHOTOGRAPH —i love weird all yankovic’s song paradoxes —magnus calling the boys “fellas” and “boys” all the time is a speech quirk i forgot about. he addresses them as a group more than the other two and. hm. —you know what else i forgot about magnus? he values honesty to a point he doesn’t always live up to? but when he does... boy HOWDY. this whole roswell exchange is SO in-character and i love it. —aaand (this is a magnus monologue!!! listen. listen) he is All About People even if he isn’t necessarily great with them? he knows that nobody’ll survive past 12 but he won’t let them die in the collapse/fire —wait. oh my god. that’s why! i guess! because that’s what happened in RR. fuck? it’s salt shaker level implication, if intentional, and i love it. —chekov’s bush —“oh, the labor—“ / [magnus starts digging with his hands] / “i cast healing word on taako” PEAK THB DYNAMIC —“i put the bomb in a DIFFERENT POCKET than steven” —ALPHABET PUZZLE —oh my god they just blow up the room GRIFFIN: how do you feel? you’ve died three times. it hasn’t been great. TRAVIS: this is how magnus would live his life anyways? he’s emboldened by being able to fuck up CLINT: merle’s not a fan JUSTIN: Just Another Day At The Office, Babey. but he’s fuckin disoriented. —just highlighting that bit which has been highlighted so many times before because it’s so good because we stack up: Oh That’s Why Magnus Made The Chalice, merle death irony, and Justin Predicts The Stolen Century —A L P H A B E T P U Z Z L E —fuckin love the implication that this mine intentionally hired one person for every letter of the alphabet —DISARM / OPEN —“you guys are adorable right now :D” —I’m Gonna Call It Good Ice —token arc elevator —The Bugs Appreciate His Folksy Charm —magnus is exactly that one andy samberg snl skit about that Actor Who I Won’t Name Because He Committed A Literal Hate Crime talking to animals. —Another Fine Miller™️ Product —Merle Fucks Up His Nature Check And Clint Fucks Up Justin’s Mic —[merle solves the whole issue] / TAAKO: another great adventure, magnus. —every time they say umbrella on this show i am reminded that i apparently say umbrella wrong, but, look, they say it the same way!!! —also the imagery of merle just whistlin as magnus and taako hide under their shield/umbrella is so cuts —♪ To Heaven We’re Going On A Trip Together ♪ —CHRIS ISAAK —“dad , i don’t give two shits” —three bubbles —Teef —Oh Worm? —all of you hold hands [...] and you are dead. —Oops-A-Doodle! —oh my god it’s the diamond episode —“i have 24 hours, i don’t know if i can learn to play jock jams on piano” —“oh, i remember you, little ren!” lyin ass but it’s cute —“so the cooking show is on ...Hiatus” —Help Yourself Cast Yourself Into Magic Legend —the ash character voice is really familiar and i can’t place from where? i think it’s the john voice —HELL YEAH IT’LL BE COVERED IN THE SEMINAR —“my lawyers have told me that if there is no tomorrow this payment is null and void” —“that’s a one perception” / “EVERYTHING’S COOL, DON’T EVEN WORRY BOUT IT.” —I DON’T KNOW YOU FROM JAKE! —oh fuck there IS a zone of truth in this arc. —Istus? Maybe Christmas? Biscuits? —clint thought bjork was pronounced bork —“listen skipping niceties is our spe-ci-ality.” —“did you use cold butter or just stick with room temp?” / “mostly just scone magic!” / “not the baking convo i was hoping for, but.” —TURN RIGHT. TURNRIGHT. Tuuuurn Riiiiight. —“it’s my prophecy. i earned it. through lying.” —black opal. fuck off griffin. —“an ocean of tar [...] a world covered in ash.” / THERE IS ALWAYS A THIRD OPTION which none of the dumbasses on this show could figure out beforehand because plot —i burp and small prophecy comes out. —wait no i wanna talk about like. lup and lucretia are both very smart women who are extremely myopic but like. what if we had both. you dumb ass motherfuckers. i love you. —“tell em it’s a bank holiday. hug day?” / “it IS hug day.” —magnus nerds out over the architecture in spite of disaster. hell yes —MERLE ABOUT TO MAKE HIS FIRST RELIGION CHECK — comin up on junebug! i just remembered —“can’t call up istus, like new phone who dis” —Fantasy Shorts —magnus chasing a rag like a kid chasing a butterfly is SO GOOD —clint wants to play doctor strange so bad. @mcu recast now —“is it alive?” / “it’s a skeleton.” / “yeah, but it’s dnd.” —caleb cleveland teen cop —“SKELETONS CAN MOVE IN THIS GAME, JUSTIN!” / “so can rugs, travis, watch aladdin.” —“...it’s seventh level necromancy.” —the ONE TIME griffin gives a shit about casting time is when clint tries to necromance asdhfjkll —“are you about to make a joke about the song luca?” / “...no.” —“it can be upsetting to see a Living Skeleton Man!” —“what loop? what are you talking about?” me when people first proposed the twin theory —Griffin Wants Magnus To Take The Chalice So Bad And I Love It

libra season

[glass-phoenix]

Six for Seven - Part 1

Content warning: contains a form of cannibalism (eating demon parts).

Zayneth Shadowspite was born without magic of his own. The ‘null’ curse ran in his father’s line, rendering some generations entirely unable to use or sense mana. Even the pull of the Sunwell was weaker upon the null children. Some compensated by going into the trades, others by going into battle. He might’ve been null-cursed, but the sheer power of the magic painted on his skin made...well, made his skin crawl. Crystallized mana crushed to a powder, mixed with ley dust and the soot of a branch from Crystalsong Forest, the ink scribed on his chest and arms was laced so heavily with arcane magic that the Withered would probably try to lick him. That is, were Zayneth still on Azeroth.

Argus was a hellscape beyond description – fel magic seethed through land and air alike, choking out hope and twisting life to its own ends. Arcs of acid green flared across a blackened sky, painting the realm in the unmistakable colors of the Legion. It was testament to Azerothian determination that the armies had been here for weeks and fought still. Zayneth passed a small forward camp holding control of a former Legion outpost. Fifty-four yards away, six life-forms – all touched by arcane, four touched by the Light. The Sight told him more than he needed to know sometimes.

Zay gave the camp a wide berth, unwilling to explain the gruesome sack he carried to anyone. Fel blood stained the spellcloth, but nothing within still bled. He climbed a switchback up one of the hundreds of jagged and broken cliffs overlooking the Antorran Wastes. If he lost control, he wanted to be far enough away from allies that he would be recognizably demonic by the time he reached them so that they might kill him without hesitation.

When he reached the top of the cliff, Zay cast about for a good spot to sit. Not having eyes wasn’t a deterrent anymore; he could see the ground clear as ever, the fel seething in the soil turning it a lurid red mottled with acid green. All he wanted was a good flat spot. Settling back on his heels in the dirt, Zay set the sack in front of his knees. Once he started, there would be no stopping. No going back. A part of him quailed, wishing to hum a song to soothe his nerves or dwell on his loved ones to give him courage. He stomped that part back and locked it away in his head. There would be no room for that life here today. There could only be hunter and demon.

The blindfolded man reached for the ties on the bloodied sack. Spellcloth fell away to provide an obscene tablecloth for the disgusting pile of organs he’d been carrying. A hoof for the paths walked. Two ears for the conversations heard. Two eyes for all that had been seen. And a tongue for the words spoken.

Six dead dreadlords. The Nathrezim were among the strongest of the Legion’s commanders, hellish demons who had a hand in many of the most egregious manipulations of Azeroth’s history. And six of them had given pieces up – posthumously, of course – for the name of a seventh.

And save the keratin of the hoof, he would be eating each piece.

Zayneth picked up an ear severed from his first kill with Rheythe at his side – Vadhmal, an infiltrator who’d sought to destroy a Legionfall camp. It was easier to eat than he’d thought it would be, gristly and tough, but after eating a bite of all sorts of demons for their power, not as awful as it could’ve been. The other ear – Basuzhar, a supervisor of those obnoxious little junk demons.

Suddenly, sounds crashed down upon the blindfolded hunter. From every direction, a cascade of screams, a hundred-thousand conversations at once, the demonic chants of countless spells cast. The cacophony was deafening and maddening, an overwhelming infusion of noise pushing itself into Zay’s consciousness and obliterating all of the sounds around him on the cliff. Light help him if anything was coming; he wouldn’t hear it.

Knowing now what would come, he tore meat from the bone of the hoof’s ankle next – Morx’al, commander and lesser lieutenant of another Nathrezim on the Broken Shore. His legs shook, a million steps taken all at once robbing his muscles of strength. Zay was glad he’d sat down.

The tongue next, as he wasn’t certain he could still find it even with the sack in front of him once he’d taken in the eyes. The dying scream of Xarial, a conspirator of the Nightborne, tried to rip itself from his throat. It was only the harsh clamp of Zay’s will that kept the scream inside his mouth. Xarial had been his last kill, the one he took alone. The tongue was still limp and chewy.

Eating the eyes was both the hardest and the easiest of the grisly feast – Apicor, a lone wolf wreaking havoc near the Throne of Sargeras; and Gao’banoch, the commander of Morx’al. There was a dark satisfaction in having taken the eyes of a Nathrezim in vengeance, a heinous pleasure in the irony of it. But they also tasted incredibly foul and did unimaginably disgusting things on his tongue.

The visions took him over and the world went dark. There were so many colors at once that the end result was black. Then, purest white. A confusing whirl spun around him until he was certain he would be violently ill and vomit up everything he’d swallowed down, but Zay dug his fingertips into his knees until the armored leather of his pants screeched in protest. He couldn’t hear it. He couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t open his mouth. It was only by virtue of sitting on his feet that he didn’t hop up and jitter right off the edge of the cliff. Six demons fought inside the hunter, assailing his soul to break him down and take his form for themselves. Zay didn’t intend to keep any of the power he’d consumed; he couldn’t. He just needed to hold on long enough to search their knowledge for the one name he didn’t know, the Nathrezim who’d caught him ten years ago in Outland, the dreadlord who’d tortured his best friend and taken Zay’s eyes, the demon who’d nearly killed him.

The demon he already had a bond with.

“Kaze’thros.”

[shakalos]

Jaune's family tree

Amethyst Arc: the mother of jaune arc. A caring yet carefree mother who was a bit of a troublemaking rascal when she was younger. Nowadays she rules arcadia, a small kingdom near patch. The kingdom itself is too small to be compared to the four other kingdoms, but she doesn’t mind at all. Her Semblance allows her to generate a special electrical charge that can even conduct through some non conducting material such as wood and rubber, though there are often times where even she can’t control it, causing everyone within a small radius to get shocked.

Cyan bloodstar: the father of jaune arc. A calm japanese rabbit faunus man who was born in a foreign land far outside the four kingdoms. He moved to vale to try as a hunter, but he sometimes carry out his family’s lineage of assassins. He utilizes two different energies like aura called ki and Nanomana, two energy sources discovered by his ancestors who started the clan because of it. His semblance allows his to morph into any animal he has encountered, though it sometimes amplifies his instincts, often times having he weaknesses of some animals.

Rouge arc: the eldest of jaune’s sisters. She is mentioned a few times in the story as a successful author of many novels. Has been rumored to have wrote ninjas of love, but she never answers.

Violet Arc: the second eldest and the only faunus of jaune’s sisters. She’s mentioned as a high tech programmer.

Ciel bleu Arc: the third eldest sister. She is mentioned as a professional cook.

Vert Arc: jaune’s fourth sister. She is mentioned as a popular actress and fashion model.

Marron Arc: jaune’s fifth sister. She is mentioned as a professor at one of the top hunting schools.

Noir Arc: jaune’s sixth sister. She is mentioned as a famous mma fighter.

Rose Arc: jaune’s seventh, and twin sister. She plays as one of the main female protagonists in shinigami 16. As part of the reset’s side effect, some of jaune’s power is transferred to her. This allows them to link each other’s souls, speak in telepathy, and allows her to utilize null dust. She is the second of the 3 light bearers, and her semblance lets her heal wounds otherwise nigh impossible to heal, however it takes a bit of energy to heal bigger wounds, so she gets tired easily.

Jaune arc: the only male child of the Arcs. His reset has granted him powerful abilities that he has achieved before he reset. His semblance allows him to pierce another person’s aura, while protecting himself with his own. The reset has given him the power to produce null dust, see and anylize a person’s soul while changing his eyes to white, and use a weaker variant of his friends semblances. ( ex. Ruby has super speed, so he can dash at the same speed, but the range is short.)