#ROUND 1 Side 3B

[raddest-hat-showdown]

🎩Raddest Hat Battle👒

Amon from Final Fantasy vs Snufkin from Moomin

Round 1 Side 3B

[beansprean]

Queening the Pawn Act 2 Part 10

No one expects the Nadja Inquisition. See you in Act 3! :D

Act 1

Act 2: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10

Act 3

(ID in alt and under cut)

1. The background of Nandor's crypt lurches back into detail as Nadja slams the door open behind them, catching Guillermo half in Nandor's lap, cupping his face with their mouths half an inch apart. Nandor is holding his elbows. They both freeze in place, eyes wide, as Nadja shouts "Guillermo, there you are!"

2a. Wide shot from Nadja's POV as Guillermo slips out of Nandor's lap, curling his hands up defensively against his chest. Nandor is molded to his chair, hands gripping the arms again. They both stare nervously at Nadja, wide eyed with shock and flushed and sweating as she rants from offscreen: "There are like 30 ravens in the backyard for you. I told them I am not a fucking messenger boy but they are being very insistent and Laszlo is getting tired of shooting them out of my vagina! Go out and talk to them before my darling stupid husband sets them all on fire!" 2b. Reverse shot of Nadja at the door, who steps to the side as Guillermo awkwardly tiptoes past her in an obvious bid to escape the situation, face turned from the viewer, saying "Right, yup! I'm going!" Nadja looks after him with a stern expression. 2c. Repeat, Guillermo now out of frame as Nadja turns back towards Nandor and the viewer, one hand on her hip. Speech bubble with ellipses. 2d. Repeat, Nadja's eyes flick downwards.

3a. Full body of Nandor sitting in the chair on a whimsical red and gold fleur de lis background. He quickly crosses his legs to cover himself, flushed purple and sweating, eyes wide and round with panic as he stares past the viewer at Nadja. His hair is tangled and sticking out on one side from Guillermo's halted fingering, and his ellipses speech bubble is shaky and dripping with anxiety. 3b. Reverse shot of Nadja at the door, gaze back up at Nandor's face. She points at him with her free hand and sneers, "Fix your hair, it's a disgrace." 3c. Close up of Nandor as both of his hands fly up to grip the lock of hair on the right side of his face. He sputters out angrily, "You fix your hair!" 3d. Repeat. The door closes offscreen and Nandor drops his chin to his chest in a relived sigh, twisting and smoothing his hair with both hands.

4. Split panel. On the left, extreme closeup of Nandor on a bubbly pink background, opening his eyes to stare at nothing, shining with panic and confusion. His face is flushed a deep purple and his hands are shaking as he squeezes the twisted lock of hair between them. He is surrounded by little question marks, like he's not really sure what just happened. On the right, extreme closeup of Guillermo on a mottled sickly green background, shoulders hunched around his ears as he walks off. His expression is frozen in a panicked smile, eyes wide and face flushed and sweaty. His thought bubble splits the panel between them as he screams in his head "What the hell did I just do?!" /end ID

[sofasoap]

CALL OF DUTY

This is where my fic which i dubbed “ The Mini MacTavish Universe” goes. Inspired by @saltofmercury fic which she graciously let me borrow and write bit more expanded universe.

There are different “ route ” you take. Choosing König or Simon, or Gaz, it's up to you. For Price and Soap, they are mainly based in "Simon" route. All female reader unless specified. Sorry I don't write for m!readers, I will try write GN!reader more in the future ( Although I try to include GN/NB side characters in the story as much as I can ) Thanks to lovely @kaplerrr for her art work, this is my image of "Mini"MacTavish!

1. “The Favorite MacTavish” - BY @saltofmercury (König x  f!Reader )

To understand any of the background of my Ghost and König story in this universe, better to read her wonderful story first. And while you are there, please check out other other fics too. She is a brilliant writer.

141 Members x F!reader

Life of captains - Taskforce 141 x Readers. Drunken boys - Task force 141 + F!Reader I Love You - Task force 141 x Readers

Memory in a Fragrance Master list - Various Taskforce 141 members x F!Reader

König

2a. “You are very huggable” Continuation of “ The favorite MacTavish ” from König’s perspective if you like König. Poor König totally out of his element in this new social situation.

3a . “ First step”  An unexpected coffee date. Right after “ You are very huggable.”

4. Interlude: Here comes the insertion specialist  König and alcohol doesn’t mix well.

5a. Fate, brought us together again.  Reunite with König, again, under very undesirable circumstances.

6a.Thank you for everything.  Time for Mini to introduce her new boyfriend to the family. Breaking Ghost’s heart a little bit. and new found family for him.

7a. Interlude two : Everyone deserves happiness. Bit of family moment. Family love all round.

8a. Forget me not. The bad news you never want to hear, and more.

9a. Remember me? He couldn’t remember you. Your heart is broken into pieces. Is there a chance?

Epilogue A. Come what may.  Family life afterwards. And the boys learn very fast about never piss off your wives. Epilogue Valentines Drabble - Warmth   Valentines piece for our lovely König. Domestic moments. Because our big teddy bear deserves it.

Drabble - Feral Meeting Horangi officially for the first time, him dobbing König’s recklessness on the battlefield. Drabble - Quiet Moment - König  Family moment with König and his son. Drabble -  Losing you  Nothing shakes him, even facing enemies on the battlefield. Until he gets the call.

Simon “ Ghost ” Riley

2b. “Up for a challenge” - Same with above, Continuation of “ The favorite MacTavish ” but Ghost is the main interest here..

3b.“Love, do not pass me by”- This story sets quite a while after “ Up for a challenge”. Life turns upside down for the better, and the worse, and rock bottom.

4b. “Am I full of sorrow, or filled with love” -  Sequel to “Love, do not pass me by”. Self reflecting moments by Ghost. And shocking news.

4b. “Happy ever after, please stay for a while”  Mini and Emma moving into the new place. Johnny is the best big brother you can have.

5b. “Why the strife and flow of tears”.  Sequel to ““Happy ever after, please stay for a while” .Babies, and finally opening up to each other.

Epilogue B :Eternal happiness among us  Ending to the Simon’s Series. Confession time

Epilogue B1 : “Death, Comes easily”  Set after the epilogue. Threat never cease.

Epilogue Drabble : And life goes on.  life and snippets or mainly how Ghost is overprotective of his daughter. Family moments.

Drabble : Injury - Ghost x f!reader Simon Comes home with multiple injuries.

Monologue + Pre-4B “ You are my light. ” how Simon found his light. Can be read as a standalone or can be part of the Mini MacTavish universe. Little insert of what happened the night leading to “Love, do not pass me by”

Epilogue Valentines Drabble - “Home.”  Happy Valentines people!! bit of soft domestic fluff. Because our dear Simon deserves it.

Epilogue drabble - Still healing Coming home after long deployment, old wound opens up again.

Drabble -Quiet moment – Simon   Short drabble about Simon and children. Drabble - Second chance Your fear that history will repeat itself. How would Simon react to the news. Drabble - Love you always Little quiet moment, between you and Simon. Drabble - Just like you Simon is always scared to interact with his son. Drabble - Climb him like a tree. You have this urge clutching onto Simon like a Koala. and more. Drabble - In your arms Comforting Simon after his nightmare.

Alternative ending: “Thistle and Thorn” -( Ghost x f!Reader + Johnny “ Soap” MacTavish) Kind of in same universe as Mini MacTavish, where every active soldiers and service people’s families worse nightmare comes true….PURE ANGST YOU BEEN WARNED.

Captain John Price

Little secret series:

Little secret. When Soap and Gaz found out something their captain been keeping a secret for a long time. and Ghost is a shit stirrer . This is part of the “Mini” MacTavish universe, but the reader isn’t “ Mini”.

Learning to let go  Price doesn’t want you to go on a mission, you two had a disagreement, and result? make or break.

A quiet moment  – John Price   Life, marriage and baby. Thinking of you After a hard mission, Price has some time alone. Thinking about you, and his son. Trinkets Price loves you, but really doubt your taste in collecting things sometimes. post - a quiet moment fic. Presents 141 boys getting their early presents. Including a very surprised one for Price himself. Presents - part II Price find he really bad at hand-crafts. Surprising results from 141 men when they had a dab on soap-making. Presents - Part III Chameleon and Ghost bonding time.... over hand made soap.

Five times series: Five Times Price x F!Reader (aka Mini MacTavish). Five times you met, four times you left. Four misses Four times you missed each other, one time you gave up. Three apologies Three times the apologies, triple the pain. Two regrets Twice the regret, twice the heartache. One Chance One chance, last chance. Zero Distance He is never going to let you go. Little swallow Falling out of helicopter is never fun.

Come back to me Sharing a pre-mission ritual and farewell with your husband before heading off into danger

 Holding you  Savouring the time together with your husband.

You are in trouble

Price should know he can’t hide anything from you. or be ready to endure your wrath.

John “ Soap ” MacTavish

Hello There. 

How you met Soap. had a crush on him. Does he like you as well? This is following the Ghost timeline of the Mini Verse. Pictures of you The hallway of MacTavish house is dotted with family photos. But there is one that is your favourite.

A quiet moment – John “Soap” MacTavish.    Little short drabble about our Soap boy and domestic fluff. This is following the Ghost timeline of the Mini Verse.

Surprise  Little short drabble about our Soap boy and domestic fluff. Continuation of A quiet moment – John “Soap” MacTavish. 

Soap’s Sleepy time story  Very short drabble Crack fic stemming from Neil Elice’s Soap’s sleepy storytime. I absolutely love that guy.  Touch  Soap desperate for your touch after coming home from mission.

Squirrel series:

Squirrel  You are not the usual type Soap goes for. But he is interested in you. Or How Soap put his own foot in his mouth. (NOT part of Mini MacTavish verse. )

Little Bear series :

Little Bear How you got your adorable pet name from Soap. Little Hobby Your secret hobby and past time discovered by your boyfriend. Little Comfort Long stressful day at work. You had enough.

Kyle “ Gaz ” Garrick

1c. Miss Sunshine  How Mr Sunshine meets Miss Sunshine. 2c.Miss Sunflower  Gaz and you started long distance… friendship? 3c.Miss Starlight First date....? 4c.Miss Stardust What becomes of this broken friendship. 4.5c. Miss Moonlight  Dodging Soap, proposal,wedding bell.

5c. Mr and Mrs Sunshine Your one big chaotic family.

A quiet moment - Kyle “Gaz” Garrick  Photos, families, memories.

Nikolai

Lastochka - little Swallow Nikolai taking an interest in a little swallow in Taskforce 141. To the dismay of the boys. Lastochka - Part II This is the chance,for Nikolai, Captain of Chimera, to show his quality.  Lastochka - interlude Realising your feeling for the flirtatious Russian man. Lastochka - Part III Keeping it under the radar has its benefit. until it isn't. Lastochka - Night Two can play the game. Lastochka - Part IV Will they be too late? Lastochka - Part V Denial and healling. Lastochka - Epilogue  Family. A quiet moment - Lastochka Little Anya getting all the love from the family Lastochka -Espionage

A mission you can not refuse

Rodolfo "Rudy" Parra

Love at first sight  Has spring finally came for Rudy? Love at first sight - 2 Alejandro the wingman. Love at first sight 3 The realisation, the denial, realisation and heartache. Love at first sight 4 Unintentional exposures. leading to embarrassments.

[hubristicassholefight]

Hubristic Assholes Tourney round 1 part 3b

Lord Shen (Kung Fu Panda) vs Ego the Living Planet (MCU)

Propaganda below cut!

Shen

Constantly met his destiny on the road to prevent it. Wiped out all the pandas? Nope. One got away with her child, and set him on the path to become the strongest fighter in China. Tried to kill him with a cannon? Oops. Ended up sending him all the way to his original village, letting him master the technique he will use to beat you. Reject their offer to turn over a new leaf and instead attack them? Congratulations! You’re about to be crushed because you keep cutting the strings holding up your super-weapon; He spent like an hour practicing his big intro to intimidate Po, and he interrupted it by just saying “Hey”.

Ego

His plan is working. He’s won over his son by telling him how they can be a family again, and he knows peters wanted that since he lost his mother. He then decides this would be the Perfcet time to casually mention that it was actually him that killed peters mother. Surely this will have no negative consequences oH WHAT WAIT IM BEING SHOT AT AHHHH; Quite possibly the only thing that could’ve broken his mind control thing over Peter and ruined his plan. Idiot forgot peters only half living planet celestial and actually no isn’t gonna agree with his reasoning for killing his mother. And excellent hubris in that his downfall comes literally less than a second later. Peter wastes no time in switching sides and trying to kill him as soon as he finds out. Painful scene but also satisfying, which is what hubris is supposed to be.

[arbitrarygreay]

Unit field dynamics

1. If the situation and expectations are relatively clear, Abigail takes the initiative. If there are procedures/protocols to fall back on, Abigail is confident in moving forward and making the plans. However, Abigail taking initiative is actually pretty orthogonal to whether or not she succeeds. Quite often, if she's feeling confident about using her High-Atlantic background, it doesn't work. She tends to do much better when she's breaking new ground, but also when she's had a little time to analyze and prepare. Raelle and Tally are pretty content with following Abigail's lead most of the time. She's a good springboard foundation. 2. If the situation is uncertain, with the first round of ideas tried and failed, the unit defaults to turning to Tally. The first time we saw this was in 1x8, where when Abigail was in a sulk over the Scylla reveal, Tally took over assigning the unit roles. The most vivid case of this is in 3x10. As Adil and Scylla are succumbing to fungal poisoning, Abigail and Raelle are both SCREAMING for Tally to do her usual thing. See also 3x3, where when Adil was twisting himself into knots over what might be happening to Khalida, Abigail's solution to "We need a new strategy, now" was to turn to Tally. Tally, in turn, was immediately responsive to Abigail's body language requesting her counsel, even before she said anything. Tally was the primary lead in season 2 because it was a time when each unit member was thrown into intense emotional uncertainty, and that is where Tally thrives, throwing herself into gathering information and filtering it through her sense of justice. 3. But, of course, there are times when both Abigail and Tally falter. Abigail paralyzed by her own shortcomings, Tally pushing ahead too fast and getting in over her head. And when that happens, they have their backstop in Raelle. We first saw this when Abigail asked Raelle to heal Khalida. There was, of course, the trial in 3x9. I think it seems extremely notable that we really only saw Raelle use the Witchbomb offensively against enemies once? When she destroyed the people threatening Tally in 3x7. (Tarim was borderline, more of AoE self-defense.) Although, of course, Raelle's role was the most in flux across the series. First, she was ducking out on the unit in rebellion. Then, she was emotionally unstable because of Scylla and Willa. And then her arc in S3 was disrupted by production issues, and Raelle was more often than not getting incapacitated by the Camarilla targeting the Mycelium, so even in 3x10 we didn't get to see the unit fully in action together. So, the clearest case we see of the trio at full power in combat was 2x10. Tally gathered information until she identified Penelope. Abigail processed that information and came up with the idea. Raelle was not offense, only keeping Penelope contained, and Abigail was the vanguard offense. 3b. Scylla's role is support. It's implied that the Witchbomb is an exception to Necro's offense capabilities. Usually Necro is charged with gathering information not available to Knowing due to the barrier of death. Scylla is also focused on support in her Spree skills. There's the infiltration and intelligence gathering side, of course, but Morrigan's Whisper also turned out to be used more for distraction and coordination than offense, creating a platform to enable more traditional attacks.

[let-them-say-fuck-tournament]

Brakets ROUND 3

All of ROUND 3 is done!

Brackets ROUND 1 Brakets ROUND 2 Brakets ROUND 3 Brackets ROUND 4 Brakets Semi-Finals

ROUND 3A

Logan Sanders(Sanders Sides) vs Kermit The frog(The Muppets)

Sokka(Avatar: The Last Airbender) vs Toph Beifong(ATLA)

Lake/M.T.(Infinity Train) vs Nani Pelekai(Lilo and Stitch)

Eleanor Shellstrop(The good place) vs Pearl(Steven Universe)

ROUND 3B

Percy Jackson(Percy Jackson) vs Eda Clawthorne(Owl House)

Dr Heinz Doofenshmirtz(Phineas and ferb) vs Candace Flynn(Phineas and ferb)

Annabeth Chase(Percy Jackson) vs Glimmer(She ra)

Merlin(Merlin) vs Papyrus(Undertale)

[yu-gi-poll]

ROUND 3B, MATCH 2 OUT OF 2!

Monster Stats & Propaganda Under the Cut:

Water Dragon is used by Daichi Misawa (Bastion Misawa in the English dub). Its stats are the following:

Attribute: WATER

Level: 8

Type: SEA SERPENT / EFFECT

Effect Type: SUMMONING CONDITION / CONTINUOUS / TRIGGER

Effect (according to the anime): “This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by the effect of "Bonding - H2O". While this card is face-up on the field, the ATK of FIRE monsters and Pyro-Type monsters become 0. When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon 2 "Hydrogeddons" and 1 "Oxygeddon" from your Graveyard.”

ATK / DEF: 2800 / 2600

Propaganda:

[None Submitted]

Treeborn Frog is used by Princess Rose. Its stats are the following:

Attribute: WATER

Level: 1

Type: AQUA / EFFECT

Effect Type: TRIGGER / CONDITION

Effect (according to the anime): “If this card is in your Graveyard during your Standby Phase and there are no Spell or Trap Cards on your side of the field, you can Special Summon this card to your side of the field. This effect cannot be activated if there is a face-up "Treeborn Frog" on your side of the field.”

ATK / DEF: 100 / 100

Propaganda:

Frog-based rebirth is lovely. They can be your angle, but can't be your devil. (Des Frog)

[webkinz-pet-of-month-mv-poll]

Welcome to the Webkinz Pet of the Month Music Video Tournament!

run by @rainbowlack

Please take both the song and the video into account when voting. Don't just vote based on which pet you prefer!

There will be 5 rounds. Each round will have 2 sides each (excluding the semifinals). Each poll will last 1 week.

Rounds 1A and 1B will contain 32* songs ○ *one song (It's A Beautiful Day ║ August 2011) was pre-eliminated to even out the bracket ○ Each side will have 16 songs

Rounds 2A and 2B will contain the 16 winning songs from Round 1 ○ Each side will have 8 songs

Rounds 3A and 3B will contain the 8 winning songs from Round 2 ○ Each side will have 4 songs

Semifinals A and B will contain the 4 winning songs from Round 3 ○ Each side will have 2 songs

The final will pit the 2 remaining songs against each other, once and for all (un)officially determining Tumblr's favourite Webkinz Pet of the Month music video!

Note: the bracket was randomly generated.

[best-kirby-character-tournament]

Round 3 Matchups!

Mod tried to make the matchups as fair as possible, but when they attempted to fix a few it only made them more unfair >w<

Anyway, here are the matchups for Round 3! There will be four Waves this Round, with each Wave having 2 polls! You can see the matchups below the cut! ^-^

You'll see that some teams don't have a team name since mod couldn't think of anything for them. Team names are subject to change if mod or someone else thinks of one that fits the team more! :3

Round 3 is complete! Thanks to everyone who voted! :D

Round 3A (Left Side):

Wave 1 (Complete!):

Taranza vs. Fecto Elfilis (Winner: Taranza)

Wave 2 (Complete!):

Daroach vs. Team Cute AND Deadly (Galacta Knight and Elfilin) (Winner: Team Cute AND Deadly)

Wave 3 (Complete!):

Dark Matter Swordsman vs. Magolor and Waddle Dees (Winner: Magolor and Waddle Dees)

Wave 4 (Complete!):

Team Kings and Sailors (King Dedede and Sailor Waddle Dee) vs. Wheelie (Winner: Team Kings and Sailors)

Round 3B (Right Side):

Wave 1 (Complete!):

Prince Fluff vs. Noddy (Winner: Prince Fluff)

Wave 2 (Complete!):

Team Rippled Mirrors (Dark Meta Knight and The Fairy Queen) vs. Dyna Blade and Tiff and Tuff (Winner: Team Rippled Mirrors)

Wave 3 (Complete!):

Marx vs. Susie (Winner: They tied!)

Wave 4 (Complete!):

Team Galactic Snails (Galactic Nova and Escargoon) vs. Team Capitalism (NME Salesman/Customer Service and Max Haltmann) (Winner: Team Galactic Snails)

[abigail-pent]

TLT Theory Redux: Secret Doors and Heists

gather round the fire, children, for I have finished my third reread and I have theories to spin. they are interconnected. they will also take the form of "a listicle, kind of". This is not as tightly written/cited as I hoped it would be, many thanks to tumblr for eating the first version of this post.

THEORY #1: HARROW WAS RIGHT

About what? Probably lots of things, but specifically about the secret door. You remember Harrow's "secret door theory," right? On GTN p. 303, Harrow and Palamedes are having an argument about what is going on in Canaan House. Harrow makes fun of Palamedes' idea that there is such a thing as a Lyctoral megatheorem. Pal lightly mocks Harrow's "secret door" theory, about which she says:

"But all this is more than unsustainable, Sextus. The things they've shown us would be powerful -- would bespeak impossible depth of necromantic ability -- if they were replicable. These experiments all demand a continuous flow of thanergy. They've hidden that source somewhere in the facility, and that's the true prize."

The action picks up pretty quickly after this, and you just sort of forget about Harrow's theory since Pal's theory is so quickly proven correct. It's set up to make you think these theories are competing, but they're not. Harrow and Pal are both right.

Proposition 1: An entrance to the River -- or perhaps the part of the River on the other side of the stoma -- is hidden under Canaan House.

Evidence for Proposition 1:

1A) On GTN p. 191, Teacher says, about Silas siphoning Colum in the facility: "He cannot empty anybody here, lest they become a nest for something else!" This is highly reminiscent of HTN p. 98, when Mercy says: " A Lyctor's body, empty, with its battery intact but nobody in the driver's seat? Do you know what could take up residence? Anything could get inside you -- any horrible or evil or lonely thing, any miserable revenant, or worse." These two places are described very similarly; they may well be the same.

1B) I'm missing the citation, exactly, but I'm pretty sure it's textual that the first time the Lyctors + John ran from RBs, they ran by dropping into the River. Quite possibly from Canaan House itself.

1C) Teacher. We know he hates the water (GTN p. 325), we know he was created for the "sole purpose of safeguarding the place" (GTN p. 373). Of course, the whole place is surrounded by saltwater.

1D) When Ianthe and Cytherea are fighting and Canaan House is disintegrating, "brackish water from the fountain spattered across the floor and trickled into the cracks" (GTN p. 418). It's been well established already that 'brackish' is the word used to refer to River water. It's also the word used to describe the water that emits from Colum's mini stomae when he dies (GTN p. 393). Why is the fountain water brackish when other water in Canaan House -- for example, the pool -- is saltwater? Seems like a clue!

Proposition 2: Whatever is behind the secret door is the source of John's power.

Evidence for Proposition 2:

2A) During the big confrontation with John in HTN (p. 478-479), Augustine's suspicions echo Harrow's from GTN p. 303, when she's describing the secret door theory. He says:

"You've offered us explanations for everything over the years. But -- some of them didn't hold up on examination . . . It was the power I could never get my head around, you know? I follow power back to its source, John. It's the skill you asked me to perfect. And the longer I looked at yours, the less things added up."

Leaving aside for now the fascinating question of why John would ask Augustine to cultivate this skill, he goes on to ask:

"You're God, John. But -- as the Edenites are fond of pointing out -- you were once a man. So whither that transition? Where does your power come from? Even if the Resurrection had been the greatest thanergy bloom ever triggered, it would drain away over time. And then Mercy said to me -- in a moment of true Mercy vileness -- she said, What is God afraid of?"

Proposition 2.1: The source of John's power is not exactly Alecto, but is Alecto-adjacent. Alecto is from the space behind the secret door.

2.1A) Alecto is called a saltwater creature (HTN p. 328).

2.1B) The oldest parts of Canaan House are where the power emanates from (citation needed, but I’m sure it’s there). They are also the parts closest to the sea. As Teacher says (HTN p. 110): "The base of Canaan House dates back to before the Resurrection. We first built upward, to get away from the sea; then we built outward, to strive toward beauty."

2.1C) The Sleeper is identified with Alecto. Like Alecto, she carries a weapon, she sleeps in a coffin, she can’t be killed, and the River bubble crew is warned that the worst and most cataclysmic thing in the world would occur if she were ever to wake up (HTN p. 112, 185). Since the Sleeper is so clearly identified with Alecto, and is also identified as the presence that’s haunting the River bubble version of Canaan House, it suggests the connection between Alecto herself and the physical version of Canaan House.

Proposition 3: John has dammed the River underneath Canaan House by trapping the Earth Resurrection Beast there.

3A) Per HTN p. 43, we know there's one missing RB, since 9-5=4>3.

3B) Abigail thinks something is messed up in the River and it's dammed, and spirits cannot get across. On HTN p. 396-397, she says:

“A spirit can be trapped, trapped as every spirit in the River is trapped . . . I think there is a whole school of necromancy we cannot begin to touch until we acknowledge its existence – I think these centuries of pooh-poohing the idea that there is space beyond the River has stifled entire avenues of spirit magic, and I believe the Fifth House is waning entirely due to us reaching a stultified, complacent stage in our approach . . . Something has gone terribly wrong in the River, Harrow, and I wish you’d find out what.”

She’s describing a dam in the River that traps ghosts there. This is extremely consistent with what Teacher tells Harrow about what’s down in the facility (see 3E).

3C) On GTN p. 213, Cytherea suggests that "something has been lurking [in the Canaan House facility] forever", and when Harrow insists that "[A spirit] cannot sustain itself", Cytherea replies: "But what if one could?" We know that Resurrection Beasts are revenants, and a revenant is a type of spirit; and if any spirit was going to be self-sustaining, it would be an RB.

3D) HTN p. 172: "The card up the sleeve of the revenant, and the Resurrection Beast, is that it can inhabit anything it's got a connection to. Anything thanergetically connected with their death." So what killed Earth? Climate change, plus a massive nuclear fission chain reaction. Historically, early nuclear fission chain reaction tests took place underneath the ground (see, for example, the facility at the University of Chicago). So an underground or underwater facility could very well be thanergetically connected to the death of Earth.

An RB may very well be a continuous source of thanergy; and if this is the case, John may want to kill or neutralize the other RBs to keep other people from rivaling his power. Or better yet: harness the other RBs the same way Earth's RB was harnessed.

3E) On GTN p. 152, Teacher literally tells Harrow that the ten billion are haunting the facility. Harrow says she is “repeating exactly – to the word—what Teacher said to [her]”:

“Down there resides the sum of all necromantic transgression. The unperceivable howl of ten thousand million unfed ghosts who will hear each echoed footstep as defilement. They would not even be satisfied if they tore you apart. The space beyond that door is profoundly haunted in ways I cannot say, and by means you won’t understand; and you may die by violence, or you may simply lose your soul.”

For those of you following along at home: ten thousand million = 10,000 x 1,000,000 = 10,000,000,000 = 10 billion, or the exact number of people who died in the Resurrection. This is of course completely consistent with the Earth RB being down there, somewhere in or under the facility, because the revenant of a planet includes the spirits of every living thing on it when it was murdered.

Proposition 3.1: Alecto is one of the physical anchors for the Earth RB.

3.1A) HTN p. 454: “The only sure way to banish a revenant is to destroy the physical anchor it inhabits before it can escape the shell.” If John’s cavalier is the physical anchor for the Earth Resurrection Beast, which is the source of his power, then this would justify the characterization of Alecto as the “death of the Lord”: if she’s a physical anchor and she is destroyed, then so is the source of John’s power.

3.1B) She was the first Resurrection, and it’s plausible that she would be thanergetically connected to the death of Earth.

3.1C) HTN p. 495: Pyrrha notes that the stoma “must think [John] is a Resurrection Beast.” Which is a super interesting mistake for the stoma to make! But if John’s cavalier is a physical anchor for a RB, this mistake becomes more understandable.

Proposition 4: The other side of the stoma is not a trash space, and John actually can access it. He uses it as a battery for his necromancy. It’s a storage space for RBs, and now I guess for Lyctors too. (this is the most galaxy brain proposition, and evidence is slim)

4A) On HTN p. 340, John says: “It is a portal to the place I cannot touch -- somewhere I don't fully comprehend, where my power and my authority are utterly meaningless.” But this is the kind of shit John lies about on the reg, so take what he says and apply opposite day rules.

4B) if the other side of the stoma is related to the River Beyond, it would be to John’s advantage to keep the Fifth House scholarship from treating the River Beyond seriously (see 3B). If they don’t take it seriously as a branch of scholarship, they can’t learn anything about it, and they can’t let the RBs out from where John is keeping them.

4C) this could be why John condemns soul siphoning (GTN p. 340). If soul siphoning sends the cavalier’s soul to the other side of the stoma, and the power that floods into the empty body is from the other side of the stoma, then soul siphoning threatens John’s monopoly on use of power.

This brings me to Theory #2, born out of a delightful discussion with @mayasaura: the heist in ATN is not going to open the Tomb at all. Instead, it’s going to open the part of the River underneath Canaan House, and the goal is to free the Earth RB. After all, the Tomb has been open for seven years already.

Extant questions:

1) Mercy seemed so sure that the RBs were coming back and targeting Alecto in particular. But Alecto stayed in the Nine Houses, and didn’t get eaten by any RBs, and the Ninth House is still there. So why does Mercy think Alecto is a target, or makes the rest of them into targets? If she was lied to, what is the purpose of this lie? 

2) Why does John want Augustine to hone the skill of following power back to its source?

3) If RBs eat Lyctors and both RBs and Lyctors are in the hammer space on the other side of the stoma, then, like… hey Augustine and Ulysses… are you guys ok??

[enzo-zzz]

The blue and red person symbol that keeps appearing in YTTD and its meaning, an analysis + theory

So at the very start of the game you get to choose who you support, mr. Blue or mrs. Red. One of them dies if you support the other. COINCIDENTALLY, i think that the two person symbol and color keeps appearing in the game. This is just my interpretation. My english is not that good, sorry. Spoilers up to 3B.

As i mentioned in my previous posts, i noticed there are so many foreshadowing and hints dropped by nankidai, even in YTTS and his day to day sketch. I'll use that as my basis here.

The blue (sometimes teal) is a man and the red is a female. In manga, they make it more obvious by putting a king crown and a ribbon on the symbol on the sacrifice card option.

To start off, blue and red keep appearing in the game. My interpreation is the blue man is the previous survivor and the red is a woman that looks like sara in hades incident. My bet is, the man who wanted the girl to win used sacrifice card (either possesed by him or her) to win the final round and them both is the last two survivors. However, one of them must become a doll and unfortunately the girl dies by becoming a doll. How did i reach to this conclusion?

In 1f, there are two rooms with door colored red and blue. If you notice, this color pattern keeps appearing til chapter 3.

In blue room, you see the painting of meister and 9 chairs. This room possibly tells a lot about him, the previous male survivor, but i didnt think much about it right now. He probably likes russian roulette or being familiar with it. While in red room, it tells about the girl that looks like sara.

- BLUE ROOM -

Russian Roulette happens here. Blue (but teal color is used instead) and red bullet is used. If you shoot the blue bullet, the person lives and if you use red bullet, the person dies. Sounds similar with the man and the woman in memorandum ? I still didn't think what those 6:3 for blue:red means, maybe how the previous survivors got to live by scoring 3 more points more than the woman in something after they got to be the victor using sacrifice card? It can be similar with the event where you choose whose opinion you support at the start of the game . Its 2 vs 1 , 2:1 and by multiplying with 3 you got 6:3 .

Another things is, about the 4 humans and 5 dolls sitting on the chair. If we didnt count the extra participant that pass the first trial ( nao, joe and kai ) it made up to number 9, same with the number of chairs. I still didnt think that deep yet but maybe 4 humans means there will be 4 survivors at the end of this game (if this game didnt go 2 person using sacrifice route). But the 2 dolls that has been shot by blue bullet still gives me question. It can possibly mean one is hayasaka/kurumada/mai but the other one? If i'm not mistaken we didnt see what is the color of gin's lamp in the banquet? But still midori and meister really believe that gin's lamp color is blue, so maybe gin is blue after all? Unless they too didnt know that gin is possibly a doll, maybe he get switched?

Or the other doll been shot with blue bullet may mean it is midori's another doll that keiji secretly switch it on when he's missing in 3b ( if he's appearing again as midori 2.0 then we got f*ked up unless he got programmed another way ). Keiji appeared, but the midori's head is not with him.

or it's Joe's doll that we only seen for seconds in chapter 2. I speculate that we will see his doll again somehow in the end (the story build up onto that). But hey, there is one sketch about final part hints that has joe in it, isnt it?

OR if thats not it,

4 chairs on the upside of the room can represent Sou Route, and 5 chairs on the down side represents kanna route by the number of survivors at the end of 3B.

Keiji, Qtaro and Kai is on the up side, and only Joe is on the down side. Considering kanna route, Joe got more highlight too compared to Sou route. Idk if the stairs is relevant to be deciphered or not.

Ok because what i'm gonna say after this is gotten real ABSURD and ONLY A MERE SPECULATION but also can become a food for the different routers SJW to fight brainlessly i'll just not talk about it. I hate that part of yttd fandom. Good luck. Move on to the next.

- RED ROOM -

/ not everything is in the pic, eg. the bear doll, the opened tile /

Most of the things in red room is incomprehensible to me yet for the lack of hints from the game but there are things that i kinda get.

1. The clock

In the digital clock , it shows 28.75 and player has to convert it to 5.15 on the traditional clock to get going. If you switch the h:m , it becomes 15.5 , the percentage of sara's victory in ai test.

Before this i tried to interpret it as birthday but its not quite right. I get 15 May but Sara's birthday is on 18 May. Then i thought maybe it is the girl in memo's birthday or the day they all got kidnapped. But since the % paper is found in the red room i guess 5.15 on the clock is actually 15.5 % . Maybe the girl in memo had the same % as sara so thats why the 2nd death game can happens because they are similar? The man she see in the red room is possibly meister or the previous survivor.

2. The bear doll

That doll suddenly has blood poured out from its neck. If you look at the picture from the memorandum, it kinda looks similar, atleast the blood part?

-------

This doll was not visible when you first entered the room, after the lights out it suddenly appears. This doll is the reason why i think the girl in memo dies by becoming a doll, as the red room implies about her.

If this theory is not right, then maybe that memo girl and sara is actually a special doll that got filled with artificial blood. But thats not a strong theory.

However, the only possible reason my first theory can makes sense is that the final victim conference will only end until only one survivors live, which still can make that the girl in memorandum still dies in third victim conference. Will elaborate more on the period length of 3rd victim conference after this.

There are many things i cant interpret yet in the red room:

- Candle that need to be light up, just on the window : i dont know if this is even correct or not, but at first it was dim, then it lit up. Candle as i google translate means rousoku in japanese. If you switch the intonation it can sounds like korosu, which means "to kill". Is this symbolize that the will to kill others lit up in her at last, or is that the other survivors suddenly want to kill her at last? Or its just she is the light or the center attention of the game. Idk if its even close lol.

- The two light source and cracks on the ceiling : ok so this part i'm not really sure, but the two light source can either mean joe and ryoko or joe and keiji. It is possible that the memorandum girl also has the same circumstance as sara (best friend and a man that his views alligned with her since this room is about the memorandum girl). but i will make it easier to type by referring to the case of sara. that light source symbolize her light for which keiji and ryoko can be that role in her life too other than joe. the crack near the left light source possibly relates to joe, the cracks continue to the cabinet that has the clock, may means that joe is the reason her % gets reduced or that she is heartbroken when joe is dead.

- The red water under one of the tiles : it comes from the crack, but idk if it will symbolize anything or just used for convenience (not to scare players etc). Saying that sara is getting more dark thoughts or being haunted by hallucinations after joe is dead is safer than to say joe or sara is a doll that has fake blood, maybe. It kinda makes more sense with hallucinations since at first sara thought it was blood, but its just a red water (something she only imagined as blood).

- The other boxes

- the secret passage/locker

- the dark windows

------------

That Symbol in Chapter 3

We see the holding hand symbol in discussion room on 4f. The man is blue and woman is red too. A human and a doll must hold hands to open the door.

My interpretation:

The discussion room symbolize where the two survivors will go only if they wins by using sacrifice card or by killing others. The part where only 1 pair can go in the room strengthen this, meaning no more than 2 person can unlock this "route". Idk if maple mentions this in the official release of game or it was from scrapped content, but she did said if there are only 2 survivors, they got to live together for some time and discuss who will be the doll. Its the same of the name discussion room. Furthermore, we found "RED" book from this room which can mean sacrifice and the girl in memorandum itself.

Either way, the existence of 1 obstructor in the discussion room maybe mean that who lives in the end depends on whose opinion the obstructor support? Maple also only kills those who are not human. At the very start of the game we have to choose to support whose opinion too. Plausible.

----------

Relation with Red Book and Blue Book

There are 4 books in total, red, blue, green and yellow.

Idk about yellow and green, it can relates with keiji and midori tho.

- Yellow book: Physical Exam Information of participants ( Keiji has access to civilain information when he is a police at some point, maybe. Or keiji is really good at analyzing other people behaviour as in chapter 2 ). But can also be hayasaka's.

- Green book: How to Beat Maple ( The way the book is written annoyingly is like Midori's, and he really used these tricks to be safe )

For some reason, the memorandum man and girl resembles sou and sara a lot.

- Blue book : Shin Tsukimi AI Test Data

- Red book : (the title is not mentioned)

The fact that Sou got spoiled a lot by his parents, has sibling but they live in the orphanage, having midori getting close only to him for years to collect the data for the book compared to other participants, must mean that Sou is somehow special to the game itself. In addition, Meister who wears the same suit as they grey haired man has a moon symbol placed behind him in the banquet that can possibly mean "Tsukimi".

Sou once said he overheard that he actually got sibling, but he said he "get out of the house because he overheard something he shouldnt heard". Knowing himself having a sibling is not a strong enough reason for him to get out of the house, so i guess he heard more than that.

On the other hand, Sara's non-biological father took a very good care of her too until a certain date. Alice's parent felt unhappy for not getting a female as their first children, and treat him like a girl, while reko is treated as boy. Alice is also first found in the red room too. Is this a coincidence? Is it that if the Yabusame's first children is female, then sara's position in the game will be taken by her? I can only assume that chidouin and yabusame family has some rivalry history, which dont even have any evidence to support that.

Back to the blue book, Sou is really gonna be the blue man. The condition when the book was found is wet and in a closed space that are hard to reach. I can only think of it as he is a loner who are hard to approach, rarely go out, and he is a gloomy person ( the word gloomy is mostly used by shin himself in chapter 2 in his dream, and sometimes gin describe his smell is like that ).

There must be a reason why only the title of the red book is not mentioned yet. But i bet its about the memorandum girl, the sacrifice, the creation of the doll-AI, the game or sara herself. Since it alligns with the red woman symbol from the start.

3 Coffin Lamp Color and It's Meaning

Blue - Human (Memorandum man alive)

Red - Doll (Memorandum girl dies, and i theorized that she'd became a doll )

Yellow - Vacant (Not sure if this has another meaning, but kinda Keiji-ish)

Thats it. Just curious why the game put so much time into foreshadowing the sacrifice route.

update : so I think I understand now why in the art book cover sara's color is red-ish and not purple and why Sou color is not green-ish (a bit different than kanna's) but blue-ish instead.

ofc qtaro and nao is almost similar but thats not really important now after 3b

[raddest-hat-showdown]

🎩Raddest Hat Battle👒

Ainz Ooal Gown from Overlord vs Green Arrow from DC Comics

Round 1 Side 3B

[cloudywriter]

camp staghorn - 1

Okay here is the official first chapter of Camp Staghorn! I know it’s long and maybe not the most entertaining but gotta have that building up first. Now things will start to pick up just you wait. Thank you for all the love on the snippet too! Let me know if you would like to be tagged!

my masterlist

~~~

Aelin sighed as she finally got off the bright yellow bus, her three bags weighing heavily on her arms and shoulder. The sun was already high in the sky and beating down despite Terrasen’s usually mild temperatures. Lysandra hopped down on the gravel path the bus had stopped in front of with a huff, Dorian and Elide followed. 

They were all about to spend the next week as camp counselors for a huge group of kids all in 1st-6th grade. She was just glad they had 6th graders. While Aelin loved kids but she wasn’t particularly looking forward to what she knew would be a long and tiring week. But, being a camp counselor would look great for her college applications. It was the summer right before their senior year, school had ended only a week prior. 

A number of other people who looked around her age shuffled about the area already convening into their respective friend groups. A few sat around old wooden picnic tables that were set up outside of the camp’s entrance. A huge sign was erected overhead with the words Camp Staghorn painted in white block letters. 

Chaol finally exited the bus and came to stand by Aelin.

“Really, Aelin? Three bags?” Chaol commented, shifting his singular black, duffel bag on his shoulder. 

Aelin shrugged, “I didn’t know what all I would need.”

Chaol only half-heartedly shook his head. Although Aelin and Chaol had broken up in the middle of junior year their relationship was still relatively amicable. 

Lys quickly shoved between Aelin and Chaol. “Aelin, look!” She whispered loudly into Aelin’s ear, pointing towards a group of boys occupying the grass near the entrance. 

At that, Aelin perked up, especially when she laid eyes on the group. Seriously, four of some of the best-looking high school boys she had ever seen were huddled there. 

A boy with tan, golden skin and blonde curly hair piled on his head seemed to be the focal point of the group, Aelin could hear his voice all the way where she was but couldn’t discern what he was saying. The boy immediately next to him looked to be his brother but with a brown mop of hair instead. Two other boys were there too, one with long, straight brown hair and a grumpy demeanor radiating off of him. The other boy was who Aelin really noticed though, his hair was a unique blonde, it appeared almost silver and was cut shorter, his skin had a healthy glow. He was in the circle with the other boys but she could tell his mind wasn’t. He was looking out at the expansive, blue lake that could be seen just through the trees with a thoughtful, pensive stare on his features. 

Dorian stepped up behind Aelin, following Lys’s finger to the gathering of boys. 

“Oh, they go to Mistward High. Chaol and I have had a few lacrosse games against them,” Dorian offered nonchalantly. 

“They’re gorgeous,” Lys giggled. 

Aelin shoved Lysandra’s shoulder playfully, “You’re dating my cousin!”

“I know, I know, but maybe you could have a summer camp fling. Oh, my gods! Like Camp Rock, you hear him singing your song, or whatever happened, and boom it’s love at first sight.” Aelin laughed and rolled her eyes. 

At her laugh, the silver-haired boy turned his eyes in her direction and they made brief eye contact, Aelin gave him a small smile and the boy looked away immediately. Well, that was rude. 

A man suddenly stepped up onto one of the empty picnic tables, a clipboard in hand. His hat was embroidered with Camp Staghorn and he wore a matching t-shirt in a deep green hue. 

“Alright, everyone listen up please!” He clapped his hands a few times to grab everyone’s attention. 

“My name is Gavriel, I’m the director of Camp Staghorn so if you have any questions, comments, or concerns I’m the guy to come to. Now, you all have signed off on behaving and being camp counselors who will set a good example but let’s just go over a few ground rules. First, no funny business between boys and girls camps especially at night, stay in your cabins after lights out. Second, remember to clean up after yourselves and your campers. Third, stay on top of your respective schedules. And really, just use common sense please, you’re all seniors you know the difference between right and wrong I don’t want to have to stand up here and list out a bunch of rules for a bunch of hypothetical scenarios, understood?”

A few head nods and murmurs of yes rippled through the crowd. 

“Great, then I’ll skip over that, you all know what’s expected of you. I’m going to call up names and give you a packet and a t-shirt. In that packet will be a list of your campers, your camp number, your cabin number, a map, and your camp’s schedule for the next week. The schedules are very packed so remember to stay on top of things, okay?”

More nods and murmurs of acknowledgment. 

Gavriel began to call names and people milled up to him to grab their new belongings. 

“Fenrys Moonbeam.” A few snickers went through the group and the blonde boy from earlier proudly made his way up to Gavriel. 

A few more names were called, Aelin remembered hearing the other two boys were named Lorcan and Connall but she was focused on learning the silver-haired boy’s name. 

“Rowan Whitethorn.” At that, the boy - Rowan - approached the table. Aelin thought the name fit him. 

“Elide Lochan.” Elide quickly made her way to Gavriel as Dorian, Chaol, and Lysandra got called too. 

“Aelin Galathynius.” Aelin made her way up, her heavy bags hitting her legs as she walked. She acquired the packet and shirt from Gavriel. 

A list of around twelfth names of girls looked back at Aelin. She skimmed them and saw written across the top was her camp number and cabin number with her schedule and map attached. Camp number 6 and cabin 3B. Lys peeked over Aelin’s shoulder.

“Oh, good you have 3B, Elide has 2B and I have 4B.” 

Aelin smiled but the three girls were a little put out when they noticed their schedules didn’t really align besides the designated meal times. “What are Dorian and Chaol’s cabins?”

“I don’t know they were in the E ones, they put the boys and girls on opposite sides,” Elide answered. Aelin nodded her head. 

“Okay, everyone should have everything now. The kids should arrive in about an hour, so make your way to your cabins and get dressed in your camp shirts. Then we will have a get-to-know-you activity and a little kick-off game when everyone arrives,” Gavriel spoke again.

Once they were dismissed everyone headed towards the cabins and mentally prepared themselves for an incoming army of children. 

+++

The introductions had gone fairly well, Aelin could probably name at least seven of the girls’ names off the top of her head. They all appeared friendly and like they would be a solid group, Aelin found herself looking forward to the week surprisingly. 

The girls and Aelin had all gotten settled in their cabin and were dressed in matching deep green shirts with the number 6 printed largely in white on the back. They made their way to the center of the camp which accommodated a large wooden stage and matching benches lined up around it in a semi-circle. It was clear at some point the stage and benches had been painted with bright colors and patterns but the paint had begun to peel off with time. 

Aelin directed the girls to all sit on the middle bench in the third row as she surveyed the area, looking for any sign of Elide and Lysandra. Most groups were finishing up their introduction games and convening in the main area now as instructed. 

Elide appeared from around a group of trees, her girls trailing closely behind. Aelin smiled when she saw her and waved her over. They all quickly settled in and waited for the second part of the day to start. 

“I’m already sweating through this shirt,” Elide sighed, fanning herself with the packet given to them earlier. 

“Do you know what the kick-off game is?” Aelin asked Elide curiously. 

Elide only shook her head.

A few minutes passed and the benches started to get pretty packed with people all chatting noisily. 

A cough into a mic alerted everyone, a dozen heads shifted towards the stage. 

“Alright, I believe we have all the 6th-grade groups here so why don’t we get started,” Gavriel spoke with enthusiasm. 

“So, get ready boys and girls for the great Staghorn mud race! Groups will be pinned against groups, boys vs. girls until there’s only one undefeated girl’s team and one undefeated boy’s team remaining and then we will have the final throw down!”

A few whoops went through the crowd. Fenrys was close to the stage pumping his arm in the air, hyping up his collection of young boys. 

“Follow me to the track and we will announce the beginning brackets!” Gavriel hopped off of the stage, he and a few other officials of the camp led the way down a dirt path steering away from the stage. 

They all stopped after a short trek, huddled around a middle strip of field complete with obstacles. 

“Here you can see what you’ll have to face. First, you have to high knee through the tires, then climb up the wooden wall using the rope and slide down the net on the other side, next crawl through one of the tunnels, and hop from log stump to log stump and book it to the finish line! Of course, you have to do all of that in slippery mud, it will be messy. The first team to get their counselor and all their campers through wins and moves on to the next round,” Gavriel explained. 

Aelin could feel the anticipation and eagerness radiating off of counselors and kids alike. Even Aelin was feeling excited, her overly competitive nature boiling to the surface. 

Aelin swiftly turned to her small army of 12-year-olds. “Okay, girls, I want every single one of you to be booking it the whole way through, we will come out the winners at all costs, I don’t do losing.”

The girls looked up at Aelin with wide eyes, many nodding their agreement.

“Oh, I forgot to mention the overall winning camp gets ice cream after dinner tonight!” Gavriel interjected.

The stakes were high, not only was Aelin competitive to a fault but she also loved sweets. “Yup, that only confirms it, no losing!” 

“We’ll give it our all, promise,” spoke one of her campers. A girl with long brown hair contained in two long braids named Borte, if Aelin remembered correctly. 

Aelin smiled, “That’s the spirit,” and offered Borte a high-five. 

Gavriel called out the first two camp numbers, both boy groups, that would be competing. 

Aelin watched the match closely, noting areas she thought seemed best to avoid and strategizing in her mind. After the race concluded two other camps occupied the starting line, those being made up of girls. 

A few more matches came to a close when Dorian and Chaol’s respective groups were called up. Aelin, Lys, and Elide all gave a little whoop, Aelin patted Dorian on the back as he passed her, he flashed back a dazzling smile. 

Unfortunately, one of the boys on Dorian’s team fell in the mud and tripped a good number of his fellow campmates, wrecking Dorian’s chances of winning as Chaol and his boys slipped by. 

“C’mon Dorian!” Aelin screamed, cupping her hands around her mouth. A few of her girls did the same, encouraging them to get a move on despite them not knowing Dorian; it made Aelin smile. Chaol’s team took the victory and Dorian trudged past Aelin in defeat, his body covered in mud. 

At one point Fenrys’ camp and Rowan’s camp went against each other. Aelin subconsciously watched that match like a hawk. Rowan was fast despite the mud and the t-shirt he had changed into seemed to be a bit small, it clung to his upper body, highlighting his muscles. Not to mention, the green complimented his hair and skin tone beautifully. 

Rowan was effective in herding his campers through the course, offering a helping hand and encouragement the whole way through unlike Fenrys who completed the obstacles first and resolved to yell at his campers to hurry. Unsurprisingly, Rowan and his camp crossed the finish line as a unit, Fenrys did not look happy but Aelin saw Rowan crack a smile, it was small but it was there.

As time went on both Lys and Elide had gone. Elide’s group had lost against a random camp while Lys had won. 

“Alright, last up for the beginning bracket we have camp 6 and camp 9!”

Aelin cracked her knuckles, she had been waiting for camp 6 to be called impatiently. 

“Okay, girls, now is our time to shine. Get out there and make me proud, remember stick to the sides, the middle seems to be the most slippery. If you slip it's okay just get right back up, don’t leave anyone behind.” All of them nodded in response. 

“Hands in,” Aelin said, sticking her hand in the middle of the huddle, “On 3, 1, 2, 3!”

As Aelin yelled three she and all her campers screamed camp 6 and raised their hands in the air and then took their spot on the starting block. 

The counselor of the opposing team seemed snooty, her nose was upturned as if she couldn’t believe she would have to get dirty in a few seconds. Her bright, almost white, blonde hair was braided down her back and she had her arms crossed. 

Aelin didn’t have a chance to say anything before Gavriel blew his whistle signaling the start of the race. 

Aelin exploded forward, focusing on her footing as she went. Luckily, she was athletic and had played a multitude of sports, including track, throughout the years. Aelin easily made her way through the rows of tires, turning back to check her girls’ progress. They all were keeping up and moving as a unit. Aelin didn’t waste the time to check the other group’s position. 

Aelin made it to the wall and grabbed the thick, coarse rope now caked with mud. Her hands slipped but she gritted her teeth and made it to the top of the platform. Borte was right behind her climbing, Aelin reached and grabbed Borte’s hand pulling her up the rest of the way. 

Aelin continued that cycle with the rest, offering support when the girls struggled with their grip on the rope then she slid down the net once they were all over the top. 

“You got it, girls, keep going!” Aelin encouraged. 

Aelin crawled through one of the large, black, plastic tunnels, getting covered with mud in the process. Then she jumped from log to log though they too were coated with mud. Aelin finished off strong, leading the last of her girls across the finish line. Aelin turned her attention back to the course and saw the other camp’s counselor still on the track. 

She was truly taking the time to scrap some of the mud off her shoe on the edge of one of the log stumps. 

“Remelle! It’s a race, you have to run!” Fenrys screamed from the side. Remelle, apparently, didn’t deign to respond, she only wrinkled her nose. 

“Well, camp 6 will be moving on!” Gavriel declared. 

Aelin and her girls cheered, jumping at each other forming one big mud hug. 

The cycle continued, camps faced off until the brackets grew smaller and smaller. By the time Aelin and her girls went for a second time, the mud on her body was drying uncomfortably. 

They succeeded in beating the other group once more using the same strategy. 

Before Aelin knew it Gavriel was announcing the final match-up. 

“Let’s get a drumroll please for our final throw down,” Gavriel stated, drumming his hands on his knees along with the crowd. 

“Representing the boys we have camp 12 and representing the girls we have camp 6!”

The crowd yelled and clapped wildly, Aelin knew she was smiling uncontrollably and was ready to claim her sweet, cold prize. 

“Aelin! Aelin! Aelin!” She heard Lys, Elide, and other girls screaming rhythmically. 

The boys started up their own chant, which Dorian and Chaol joined, Aelin would punish them later. It was then Aelin fully realized who she was facing: Rowan. The adrenaline had blinded her the last few rounds and she had barely processed who was winning and losing. Now, Rowan Whitethorn was staring back at her from the opposite side of the start. 

Even with mud covering much of his body and splattered across his face he was still insanely hot. Aelin hoped the same could be said about her. 

Too soon Gavriel announced the beginning of the final race, a loud whistle filled the air and they were off. 

Once again, Aelin and her girls stuck to the less muddy sides, navigating the course expertly but it seems Rowan and his boys were doing the same. Aelin didn’t spare much time analyzing their positions but she could tell it was much closer than the previous races. Once again, Aelin fought her way up the rope and dangled off the platform to pull up strugglers. She spared a glance at Rowan, he was doing the same. She huffed, “C’mon girls, it's the last time you have to climb this, you’ve got it!”

Aelin finally got the last one over and flopped down the net which was saturated with mud at this point. Aelin was really looking forward to washing this all off later while she ate her ice cream. She then dove into the tunnel, slithering through at a record speed. Next came the home stretch, all she had to do was jump across the logs. She hopped from one stump to another until she was almost at the end. But on the second to last log, the mud that gathered atop it faltered and she stumbled. Cursing, Aelin regained her footing and prayed it was still enough.

Little did she know Rowan had had his own little tumble. Now, they were neck and neck making a final dash to the finish line. Rowan was probably a bit faster than Aelin and she panicked, her instincts to win at all costs taking over. It just so happened that Rowan was just close enough for her to give him a little nudge, to maybe upset his balance just enough that she could pull ahead. Aelin did just that and Rowan went down, his foot slipped into a small ditch of mud water. In hindsight, Aelin felt dirty but not enough to feel particularly remorseful when she heard the roar of victory from the crowd and her camp. 

Aelin turned back and saw Rowan was glaring at her, his foot still submerged in mud. She halted her victory dance and made her way over to him, offering him a hand.

Rowan took it, his large hand dwarfing hers but the feeling of mud squishing between them did ruin the moment for her a bit. Instead of using her hand as leverage, Rowan pulled Aelin towards him and she stumbled, slipping back until she was next to him in his mud pit. 

Aelin saw red, although she realized she probably deserved it and was already covered in mud anyway her temper rose. Aelin was just naturally wired to explode at any moment like a nuclear bomb. 

Rowan, however, kept his grip firm on Aelin’s hand and he drew her forward until his mouth aligned with Aelin’s ear. 

“You’ll pay for that one, Aelin.” Rowan’s breath caressed her ear and a shiver traveled down her spine. Despite the fact he was literally threatening her, Aelin’s heart skipped a beat and her breath hitched.

She kept her bravado about her though and only smirked in response, “It’s on.”

~~~

Hope you’re as excited as I am! All comments, likes, and reblogs are greatly appreciated, thank you. 

taglist: @live-the-fangirl-life

[scarletjedi]

Untamed Time Travel Fix-It Fic But Make it Mingcheng part 3B

 @piyo-13​

Part 1: The Setup

Part 2A: Gusu Revisited

Part 2B: Gusu Unleashed!

Part 3A: The Return of the Plot

PART 3B: THE ROAD TO WAR

Things happen pretty quickly after that. 

The Nie Soldiers accompany Lan Wangji back to Gusu, beating Wen Xu’s forces there, warning Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen of the coming attack. When Wen Zu arrives, Gusu Lan is ready. With help from the Nie and Lan Wangji, the Wen are beaten back at the gates. Wen Xu retreats to regroup - setting up a siege. The Cloud recesses don’t burn, but they are trapped. 

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian return to Lotus Pier, intending to begin building up subtle defences thinking it’s better to not tip their hand that they know an attack is coming. They are welcomed back, but find Lotus Pier preoccupied: Yanli had asked Madam Yu to arrange a date for the wedding, now that she had spent (supervised) time with Jin Zixuan and they found themselves to be most compatible. This puts Madame Yu into a good enough mood that she doesn’t scold them (much) for coming home the long way ‘round. With the piers distracted, it’s pretty easy for Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng to begin to build their defenses. Wei Wuxian begins to worry about Lan Wangji - he was supposed to meet them in Lotus Pier once the Wens were defeated. 

An auspicious date is picked for Yanli’s wedding — and then comes the summons for the Wen Indoctrination. Their defences aren’t finished, but it’s more than they had before — and with luck, they would have time after they return. 

The circumstances are different, but the power dynamic is still very much the same. With Gusu under siege instead of burt, the threat is not so absolute, but it’s not enough yet to trigger a full on push back, no matter how much Nie Mingjue campaigns for it (and plans. He has no desire to end up without Baxia at Wen Ruohan’s feet again, no thank you — and no desire to let Meng Yao out of his sight). 

Jiang Fengmain and Madame Yu fight over sending Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian again, but this time, when Wei Wuxian begins to sink into himself, Jiang Cheng grips his knee where they can’t see, offering his support — and warning him to be silent when it looks like he’d talk to defend Jiang Cheng. 

“It’s an impossible situation,” Jiang Cheng says, voice level, and the steel in his voice is enough to make both of his parents stop. “If we go, we’re their hostages. If we stay, we draw their forces down on us like Gusu Lan — and as strong as our rivers are, we don’t have a mountain to keep them at bay. Are we ready to fight off the Wen army?” He looked between his parents. “I know we are strong, and I know we cause no offence enough to be a target, but we are a target. I am willing to go to Qishan, to buy us time at home to prepare.” He looked at Wei Wuxian, scowling when he saw how proud Wei Wuxian looked.

The night before they leave, Jiang Cheng is restless. He knows he’ll get little rest in the coming weeks, but he can’t seem to quiet his mind. So, he does what he has always done, and slips out to the end of the moonlit pier.

It’s not quiet on the water, but the sounds are gentle: water lapping at the pylons, dragonflies buzzing, a frog croaking. It settles him, and he sits with his feet dangling over the darkened water.

He hears his mother approach - a courtesy. She wants him to know she’s coming, and he decides to wait. She is alone, without Jinzou and Yinzou, and that is enough to make him pause. 

He looked at her, curious, when she sits next to him, but she doesn’t say anything, eyes on the moon. 

So, he says nothing either. They sit in silence for several minutes. Long enough that Jiang Cheng is getting ready to excuse himself, when his mother holds out her hand and waits. 

Frowning, Jiang Cheng takes her hand. She grips him right, suddenly, and it’s a good thing because he tries to pull away in surprise when Zidian slides off of her hand and onto his. 

“Mother?!” The word is choked between his teeth, his memory of the last time she had given him Zidian burning fresh in his memory. “I can’t—“

“You will,” she said, cutting him off. “And you will bring it home once more.” 

Jiang Cheng nodded. “I will.” 

She nodded once, and wrapped her arms around him, pressing his cheek to her chest. His mother could be hot tempered, sharp to the point of cruelty, but she was his mother and she loved him fiercely. Jiang Cheng held on. 

They go, with extra provisions hidden on them, trying to figure out a way around giving over their swords - in all of their planning about the war, that was a detail that they had missed. 

Their arrival in Qishan is a little rougher, with the Wen Army engaged rather than victorious, but it still matches pretty evenly to their memories — including the moment when Wen guards drag Lan Wangji up the stairs, alone. Jiang Cheng has to hold Wei Wuxian back, because Gusu wasn’t supposed to have fallen.

When Lan Wangji is close enough, Wei Wuxian still leans in to whisper at him. “Lan Zhan!” But before he can say more than that, Lan Wangji reaches out and cups the side of Wei Wuxian’s face his his hand — it’s shockingly bold, and Jiang Cheng has to stamp down the knee-jerk reaction he has to watching his brother’s shameless romance with his husband - and it’s worth it to hear Jin Zixuan choke behind him, and watch Nie Huaisang hide his laughter behind a furiously moving fan. 

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said, and that must have meant something to Wei Wuxian, because he smiled widely, even when the guards dragged them apart. 

In the end, there was no way for them to get around it, and their swords were taken from them. Later that night, when the guards had passed, they gathered in the rooms Jiang Cheng shared with Wei Wuxian — all except Lan Wangji, who had been placed under guard, which made Wei Wuxian twitchier than normal. Jin Zixuan was the one pacing, however, clearly discomforted by his lack of sword, even though he had lived through this once before and knew exactly where they were being kept. 

“Jin-xiong,” Nie Huaisang whined, “Please sit down, you are making me dizzy.” 

Jin Zixuan barely spares him a glance. He hadn’t been any better about being without Suihua the first time around, but at least he wasn’t bothering poor Mianmian with it this time. The fact that she hadn’t strangled him before they made it to the Xanwu’s cave...

“Let him be,” Wei Wuxian said. He had finally collapsed backwards onto his bed, next to where Nie Huaisang was fanning himself. His arm was draped dramatically over his eyes and Nie Huaisang fanned him for a moment, in sympathy. “If he wants to waste his energy, that’s on him.” 

“Oh?” Nie Huaisang asked, fake-innocent enough that Jiang Cheng turned to watch. “But Wei-xiong, didn’t you say that—” 

Whatever “Wei-xiong” said, they would never know, because a knock sounded at the door. Almost as if they really were still teenagers, the four time travelers exchanged a panicked “oh shit!” look. 

“Don’t just stand there, hide!” Jiang Cheng hissed, and the knock sounded again — this time, with an accompanying, low:  “Wei-gonzi? It’s me!” 

“Wen Ning!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed, bounding off of the bed. 

“Wei-gonzi?” Jiang Cheng protested, though there was little force behind it. “It’s my room too.” 

Wei Wuxian ushered Wen Ning inside quickly, and shut the door behind him. 

“I don’t have much time,” Wen Ning began, before Wei Wuxian could speak. “But I brought — ” He reached into his robes and pulled out a Qiankun pouch, pushing it into Wei Wuxian’s hands. 

“Hey, food!” Wei Wuxian said, peering inside. He reached in as if to take something, and Jiang Cheng snatched it away. “Hey!”

“They’re feeding us now,” Jiang Cheng said. “We should save this for when they stop.” He turned to Wen Ning with a short bow. “Thank you, Wen Ning.” 

Wen Ning nodded. “There’s medicine, too. Pills to restore qi, to stop bleeding and prevent infection.” He turned back to Wei Wuxian. “I spoke to Huanguan Jun,” he said, and that had Wei Wuxian’s full attention. “He’s not uninjured, but he has no broken bones. The official story is that he was captured outside of the Cloud Recesses and sent as a warning and as leverage, but he says it was a plan to get here, to help with the Xuanwu.” 

“Does he have a plan to return our swords?” Jin Zixuan asked, and — well, it’s an understandable question. None of them had figured it out, after all, but Jiang Cheng’s hope lasted only the moment before Wen Ning shook his head. 

“We did it last time,” Wei Wuxian said. “Injured and with makeshift weapons. We can do it again.” 

“Speak for yourself,” Nie Huaisang said. “I want no part of that.” 

Last time, Nie Huaisang managed to faint just before the night hunt that ended in the Xuanwu and their escape, and — well, to be honest, Jiang Cheng never actually found out how Nie Huaisang made it home. It wasn’t like the Wens would have sent him back after sending the other young masters to their deaths. 

He didn’t escape it this time, marching sullenly along with them. He whined often enough that his feet hurt that Wen Qing managed to convince Wen Chao to call a halt so she could see to them. Judging by the way she paused when he took off his boots, his feet were not nearly in as poor condition as his complaints made them sound. Still — everyone would be better off for a break, and without Lan Wangji’s leg — 

Ah. 

“You’re a menace,” he murmured, leaning against he tree that Nie Huaisang sat beneath. Nie Huaisang flicked open his fan, holding it to shade his face. 

“I have no idea what you mean,” he said, and Jiang Cheng snorted in amusement. 

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Jiang Cheng kept his voice low, barely letting his mouth move. “You weren’t here last time. How did you get home?” 

“Oh, Meng Yao let me out,” Nie Huaisang said. Jiang Cheng stared at him, but Nie Huaisang didn’t look up. “It was before he came to Wen Ruohan’s attention. I’m sure, if he’d already been granted any sort of position within his court, I’d have been left there to rot until Da-ge came to get me.” 

But, they had changed things. Meng Yao had never killed that general. He was never banished from the Unclean Realm, and never went to the Wen Sect. Nie Huaisang had no man on the inside, and therefore decided to face the Xanwu of Slaughter rather than find another way out of Nightless City. 

Nie Huaisang was a little bit terrifying, and continued to be terrifying all the way until they were in the Xanwu’s cave and fighting both it and the Wens. Not that Jiang Cheng was paying that much attention to him, being that he was currently using Zidian to strangle the life out of Wen Zuhilu much more quickly than he would have liked given the threat-rich environment he was in — but he was aware enough to his surrounding to know that Nie Huaisang’s ever-present fan also doubled as a fucking battle fan which had to have been a later-in-life development for his pre-time-travel self because what the fuck Nie Huaisang!

Other bits of information flashed through his awareness — Mianmian disarming that terrible Wang Lingjiao — Jin Zixuan fighting surprisingly well with a sword taken from a fallen Wen disciple — Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian fighting back to back — the Xuanwu of Slaughter eating Wen Chao —

That was enough to make Jiang Cheng drop his hold on Zidian, dropping Wen Zuhilio to the ground as he stared at where the Xanwu of Slaughter had it’s head reared back as it gobbled up Wen Chao like a snake!

“Oh, gross...” Wei Wuxian muttered. 

Wen Zuhilu’s sword lay at Jiang Cheng’s feet. It was, in the end, a simple thing to pick it up and drive it through Wen Zuhilu’s back, hopefully cutting his heart in two. If he wasn’t dead before, he was surely dead now. Jiang Cheng didn’t spare him another glance as he joined the others in hiding from the Xuanwu as they planned. 

The Xanwu killing Wen Chao fixed one problem, and Jaing Cheng killing The Core Melting Hand solved another. So now, of course, they were faced with a new problem. Previously, Wen Chao’s cowardice meant that none of the Wens had remained in the cave with them to face an angry Xuanwu, and their escape was thus unhampered by the enemy. Now, they had Wang Lingjiao pouting under the influence of the Lan silencing spell, a handful of Wen Chao’s entourage, and Wen Qing - who wasn’t a problem herself, but keeping her sympathy for them a secret certainly was. 

“Well, now what?” Nie Huaisang hissed, fanning himself with his damned war fan, Huaisang! 

“We wait for that thing to calm down and then we leave,” Jin Zixuan said, like it was going to be that easy. It wasn’t like they could go back the way they—

Except they could. Wen Chao never gave the order to retreat and cut the ropes. They could, conceivably, get out the entrance of the cave and not have to deal with the Xanwu again. 

Jiang Cheng met Wei Wuxian’s eyes, saw the same realization there, and then his features set in the same resolve that he had last seen in the burial mounds, when it was all falling to shit. 

“Jiang Cheng—” Wei Wuxian started. 

“I know, I know,” Jiang Cheng interrupted. “I got you the first time.” 

“Then could you share with the rest of the class?” Nie Huaisang asked, only a little dry. 

“We can not leave the Xuanwu here,” Lan Wangji said. Then, after a beat. “Alive.” 

Wei Wuxian was already nodding. “Exactly Lan Zhan. It was sleeping before, and not a threat, but it’s awake now, and if it gets loose it could cause a lot of harm before it could be subdued. If it could be subdued, with everyone distracted by, you know, the war.” 

Jiang Cheng noticed Wen Qing’s attention shoot to Wei Wuxian, and he remembered, belatedly, that they weren’t actually at war yet. Only Qinghe Nie was actively skirmishing, and the Sunshot Campaign wasn’t formed until after the fall of Lotus Pier. Luckily, She seemed to be the only one who noticed the slip — after all, one of their biggest arguments to get the campaign started was that they had already been at war, just not unified. 

“You want to take out the Xuanwu of Slaughter?” aked one of the surviving Wen that Jiang Cheng didn’t know. “Without your swords?” 

“They defeated us easily enough,” Wen Qing snapped. “Do you wish to provoke them? Or would you like to be first chosen as bait?” 

Jiang Cheng exchanged a look with Wei Wuxian, who flashed a quick grin before stroking his chin in a clear impersonation of Lan Qiren. “You know, that’s not a half bad idea.” 

“It was their plan for us,” Jiang Cheng added, playing into the bit. “It would only be fair to use it on them. We could even have Mianmian choose, since she was the first chosen.” He nodded at Mianmian, who seemed surprised to be addressed, but he focused his sharpest grin on Wang Lingjiao, who had paled considerably and no longer struggled against the spell.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said quietly, plaintively, and Wei Wuxian pouted at him. 

“Fine,” he said, flouncing dramatically. “I guess we’re better than using live bait.

Jiang Cheng nodded. “I wouldn’t trust ‘em anyway. You need to only bring people you can rely on into a fight as dangerous as with the Xuanwu. Jin Zixuan,” he said, and didn’t bother repressing his smirk when Jin Zixuan stood a little taller at being addressed so suddenly. Turns out his Sect Leader voice was useful, even if his voice still hadn’t settled into it’s full register. “We need someone to lead everyone else away while the Xuanwu is distracted. Can you do that?” 

Jin Zixuan nodded, resolved and not a little bit relieved at not having to fight the Xanwu without his sword. 

“Good,” Jiang Cheng said. “Take Nie Huaisang with you.” He looked at Nie Husaisang. “I don’t want to be the one to tell your brother we took you anywhere near the Xuanwu, no matter how much he nags you to train.” 

Nie Huaisang waved it off with his closed fan. “It’s alright. I have absolutely no desire to go anywhere near that thing. I’m not built for night hunts.” 

“Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian said, voice quiet as he came up beside him, using the soft sounds of the others getting ready to leave as cover. “Last time, Lan Zhan and I could handle it. You should get out too.”

Jiang Cheng bit back his initial spike of anger, telling himself that this came from a place of concern not a dig at his skills — but, being back in this place, this time was dredging up a lot of dirt that he thought he had left behind, and he wasn’t surprised that Wei Wuxian was falling back into old habits as well. 

“Last time, I didn’t have Zidian,” Jiang Cheng said. “And I know Lan Wangji didn’t have those guqin strings on him, either.” Blinking, Wei Wuxian looked over his shoulder to see Lan Wangji pull a coil of strings from his sleeve. “And more importantly, last time, you and Lan Wangji nearly died, and were out of commission for days. With the three of us, we might just walk away.” He gripped Wei Wuxian’s shoulder. “And if you try to sacrifice yourself for me again, I’m telling A-Jie.” 

That cracked a smile on Wei Wuxian’s face, and he nodded, pulling back to stand, arms behind his back as they watched the others make their way back out of the cave. 

Before he left, Jin Zixuan paused and said, “How long should we wait for you?” 

Jiang Cheng blinked and exchanged a look with Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji spoke: “Six hours.”

A bit surprised, perhaps by the specificity, Jin Zixuan nodded, and followed the others out. 

They have the advantage, this time, of their own weapons — Zidian, the Chord Assassination, and Wei Wuxian’s knowledge of resentful energy. 

“I need a dizi,”  he muttered to himself as they crouched down to draw diagrams in the dirt. 

“I will get you a dizi,” Lan Wangji said before Jiang Cheng could say they probably had some back at Lotus Pier. That caused Wei Wuxian to flush pink and protest quietly, hiding his face in his palms. 

“If you’re going to flirt the entire time, I’m going to leave,” Jiang Cheng said. And, when Lan Wangji shot him a look that said “do it, bitch,” Jiang Cheng continued, “and I’m going to tell everybody you’ve eloped and you won’t be able to go anywhere without a chaperone until my mother and your uncle settle the marriage contract.” 

That shut him up. 

It’d eventually decided that they would take the same basic strategy as last time. Wei Wuxian would grab the sword pinning it in place, and Lan Wangji would strangle it to death with the Cord Assassination. Only this time, Wei Wuxian would not be crawling into the Xanwu shell, what the fuck, and would be summoning the sword to him from the outside using resentful energy. Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng would both then strangle the beast, and hopefully between the two of them it wouldn’t take a full six hours. 

And, well, that’s pretty much what happens. Wei Wuxian stands out of range while Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng take their place, and then he begins to whistle. The sound of it isn’t loud, but it fills the cavern with an awful pressure, and Jiang Cheng shook his head like there was water in his ear. Then, like a branch giving way, something small but dark and foul rockerted out of the Xanwu’s shell, the Xanwu’s head roaring after. Jiang Cheng reacted, and Zidian wrapped around the Xanwu’s neck in the same instant as Lan Wangji’s chord, and the Xanwu snapped its teeth mere feet away from Wei Wuxian. 

Wei Wuxian smirked, and shouted something that squirmed in Jiang Cheng’s ear, and the sword — the fifth piece of Yin Iron — embedded itself in the top of the Xuanwu’s head. 

The Xanwu roared and Jiang Cheng pulled harder, sending a sharp pulse through Zidian, where it met a similar pulse from Lan Wangji—

And the head of the Xanwu popped clean off, falling to the water below, and sending a small wave up to soak Jiang Cheng’s boots. He kicked his foot, disgusted, and watched as drops of water flicked off. Great. 

Jiang Cheng let Zidian curl back up, dormant, and stared down at the corpse of the Xuanwu. “That took you six hours?” 

Wei Wuxian was blinking at the Xuanwu, equally surprised. “To be fair, Lan Zhan was injured, and we hadn’t eaten in days.” 

“Mm,” Lan Wangji agreed, curling up his chord. “No proper weapons. Wei Ying was also injured, and did not yet have his understanding of resentful energy.” 

“And you weren’t here!” Wei Wuxian. 

Jiang Cheng kicked off his rock and joined the other two. “No, I was running to get help, and I almost didn’t make it in time.” He clapped his hand on Wei Wuxian’s shoulder. “This is better.” 

He turned his back, giving them a moment of privacy while he drew the talisman that would dry his boots. It wasn’t a talisman that he bothered to use often, being wet was part of living on a pier, but it was one that every disciple learned early and learned well. It had saved him from a weeks worth of blisters last time, and it would do the same now. 

It didn’t do anything for the smell, however, and Jiang Cheng resigned himself to needing a new pair of boots. Again. 

Climbing out of the cave wasn’t actually easier than leaving though the water, though if Jiang Cheng had to choose, he would choose not sneaking past the mythical murder beast without a weapon. 

“What are we going to do about the Wens?” Wei Wuxian asked. “I mean, they can all die, as far as I am concerned — except Wen Qing, of course — but...” 

“We can’t let them go back,” Jiang Cheng said. “Wen Chao is dead, and even though it’s not our fault, you know we’ll be blamed. We want to keep that information to ourselves as long as possible.” 

“Hostages?” Wei Wuxian asked. “It’s just - I don’t want that woman anywhere near Lotus Pier and, sorry Lan Zhan, we don’t know if the Cloud Recesses is able to handle a hostage right now.”

Which left Jinlintai or the Unclean Realm. The Jins were closer, but Jiang Cheng knew better than to trust Jin Guangshan and with the Nies already fighting, he didn’t want to anything to make them a bigger target. 

Not that it mattered anyway, because when they climbed out of the cave they found the area filled with Nie cultivators — and Nie Mingjue, who was holding Nie Huaisang while he hung like a limpet, crying about everything he had to endure. It’s only when they appear, and Nie MIngjue relaxes, that Jiang Cheng realized that Nie Huaisang was physically holding Nie Mingue back from rushing into the cave himself. 

He so surprised that it takes Lan Wangji bowing in greeting before Jiang Cheng remembers to bow himself. 

Apparently, Nie Huaisang had planned more than just escaping with them via the Xuanwu, and when they had first left on the hunt, had managed to sent message to Nie Mingjue - along with the other half of a tracking talisman that was attached to Nie Huaisang’s fan. The timing was simply happenstance, and with an actual sect leader present, the decision of what to do with their prisoners was technically no longer Jiang Cheng’s. 

Jin Zixuan stared at them openly. “That was not six hours.” 

“Thank the gods,” Jiang Cheng said, then paused. “How long was it?” 

“About two,” Nie Huaisang said, miraculously no longer a sobbing mess. He joined them, pulling Nie Mingjue with him. Nie Mingjue eyed him sideways, as if aware Huaisang was plotting something, but not truly minding. “Dage said he’ll bring everyone back home, and send official word to Wen Ruohan once he’s sure you are home safe and can muster your defences.” 

Jiang Cheng looked at Nie Mingjue. “Are you sure?” he asked. “That’ll put a lot of heat on you, and more quickly.” 

Nie Mingjue shrugged. “I could execute them here.” Which - wasn’t a terrible plan, except that previous fighting had been on Nie land - an act of war, yes, but Nie killing Wen on Wen land was an act of war that Wen Ruohan would recognize. 

“Not Wen Qing!” Wei Wuxian said quickly, which got him a look from Nie Mingjue. “She’s just as much a hostage as we were. She healed Nie Huaisang’s feet!”  

Nie Huaisang nodded vigorously. “She did.” When Nie Mingjue looked at him to confirm, Jiang Cheng nodded. 

There, in front of the Xanwu cave, Nie Mingjue and the Nie cultivators kill the remaining Wen, and Wen Qing is taken as hostage. 

Later, the histories would mark this moment as the true beginning of the Sunshot Campaign.

Part 3A

Part 4: Sunshot!

[goatsandgangsters]

Top 5 Meyer/Charlie moments in the series!👀 in depth explanations always encouraged 💗💗

oh ANON you FLATTER ME! And you indulge my inability to ever be concise…

1. That ending scene in Friendless Child. This is the pinnacle. The peak. The moment where if I had to show a random person exactly one scene from Boardwalk to prove how married these two are, it would be this one. The warm, contented, lovesick way Charlie is openly staring at Meyer throughout their entire conversation with Torrio. The way they’re so relaxed and at peace, finally. The psychic conversation we watch them have while Torrio is talking. When Meyer reaches for Charlie’s arm. The first time I watched it I thought “oh wow they’re actually going to kiss,” not even in a sdkhfgkjfhd way but just this moment of calm surprise because it looked that much like Meyer was going to grab him and kiss him. THE TENDER WAY MEYER HOLDS ONTO HIS ARM AND STARES DEEPLY INTO HIS EYES!!! THE WAY CHARLIE SMILES BACK!!! WHOEVER IN THE EDITING ROOM DECIDED TO FADE THE SONG IN HALFWAY THROUGH ON THE LYRIC “FOR MY LOVE IS YOUR LOVE, THERE’S NO LOVE FOR NOBODY ELSE” FOR THIS. The fact that everyone knew they looked So Absolutely In Love that they had to tack on random women for plausible deniability, but that didn’t even work because Charlie and Meyer barely even LOOK AT THEM because they’re too lost in each other’s eyes. Like WE GET IT!!!! YOU’RE IN LOVE!!!!!!!

they are… incredibly married.

[there were exhibits A, B, and C here but it wasn’t showing up in the tag until I removed them, so thanks for that tumblr] 

2. Speaking of being incredibly married, I love their exchange over the stolen watches. “Might as well set up a pushcart,” “fellas who know what time it is,” the SNARKING AND JOKING WITH EACH OTHER! There’s a lot to unpack in terms of what’s going on off-screen (Charlie’s bloody knuckles and Meyer’s sigh of “I wish you’d stop with this,” like how regularly does Charlie beat someone up and steal counterfeit watches??) But the way they joke with each other and tease each other, it’s so comfortable, it’s so familiar. It’s one of the only times we get to see them alone together and at ease—no high stakes gangster situation, no serious business talk. Just two people who’ve known each other since they were kids, who are totally comfortable around each other, and who joke and tease and sigh at each other like the old married couple they are.

3. The way Meyer grounds Charlie in their finale scene in season 3. The way Meyer’s anger from out in the hallway dissolves as soon as he puts two and two together (and he puts it together way before Charlie does). The intimacy of Meyer’s hand on Charlie’s neck. (And WHAT A CHOICE too. His neck? That’s such an intimate place to touch someone, but when you’re Meyer/Anatol’s height it’s also somewhat impractical, so the fact that they still chose to have him reach up and touch Charlie in such an intimate vulnerable place in order to steady up and stand with him….. WHOOF THE INTIMACY). That moment where Charlie is lost and helpless and angry and confused—and he locks eyes with Meyer and you see him deflate, you see the anger disappear from his eyes and you see the hurt instead. The way he looks at Meyer like he’s a drowning man and Meyer’s the only thing that floats for miles. The way Meyer DOES NOT! TAKE! HIS! HAND! off Charlie’s neck. Even when he has to grit his teeth and disparage Charlie a little in order to save their skin (and you see, oh you see, how bad it tastes in his mouth to have to say any of that), he never takes his hand off Charlie. The way he says with his body Don’t listen, you know it’s not true, you know I’m with you. It’s such a vulnerable scene (side note: that’s something I love and admire about Vincent Piazza’s acting in particular, that he’s never afraid to go really vulnerable with his acting choices, which is an impressive choice for a man who often plays, well, prickly assholes where you wouldn’t expect it). This scene is so powerful and intimate between the two of them. And it’s telling about the strength and importance of their bond that this intimate moment happens in front of AR and Masseria.

3b. It’s not as powerful a moment, because it’s a much smaller scene on a much smaller scale, but for similar reasons I also love the scene at the end of season 2 where Jimmy and Charlie are arguing and Jimmy calls him Sal and—again with the vulnerable acting choices—Charlie’s upset. He’s not angry, he’s upset. And I love how Meyer immediately cuts in with “is THAT the issue” to change the subject. I love how Charlie retreats to Meyer’s side and stands with his back to the room for a moment to collect himself because he’s safe at Meyer’s side, while Meyer is standing there arms crossed and baring his teeth. I love that in the middle of these fraught moments with other gangsters, if Charlie needs him, Meyer’s there. And you can tell how much Meyer makes him feel safe.

4. Shayna punim and try not to sit by the window—or How To Say I Love You Without Saying Those Exact Words. The intent way Meyer shifts his focus to Charlie as soon as he comes in the room. The little nod behind Benny’s back that Charlie wants to talk in private. The total lack of hesitation on “I’ll come with you.” MASSERIA HATES! THAT SHAYNA PUNIM OF YOURS! 💖Just Extremely Platonic Business Partner Things: complimenting his beautiful face in his own language💖 I was also so caught up in the other great lines in this scene that I almost forgot about “this is the problem with you, always very headstrong, good thing I’m hear to talk some sense” and Meyer, through all the tension, laughs. It’s such a familiar way to talk, such a teasing way for Charlie to say, “I am very headstrong and I need you to talk some sense,” but like TEASING HIM ABOUT IT INSTEAD OF SAYING IT OUTRIGHT BECAUSE THEY’RE JUST LIKE THAT. How Meyer can’t even look at him when he says “try not to sit by the window” but how he can’t look away as Charlie leaves, with that look on his face that says I love you so much, please come home safe.

5. I wrote the first four answers immediately and then took a couple days to decide on my 5th one, but I think that I’m going with Their Final Scene ever, even though there’s very little conversation between the two of them. But, you know, OUR FRIENDS, OUR PARTNERS!!!!!!!! The very deliberate choice of our friends = shot of Benny and our partners = shot of Meyer. And OH THAT SHOT OF MEYER, sitting there with the slow blink of a cat in a patch of sunshine who also just killed and ate the canary. Like that smug “mhm, yes I AM the one sitting at his right hand. Not any of you. Me.” That pride. That satisfaction. That “yeah, he’s mine” vibe. Overall, I admit it’s more of a significant scene for Charlie than for Charlie/Meyer necessarily, but I love that it’s been such a big part of Charlie’s narrative, the constantly being told “don’t work with them, you’re one of us, we’re your people, not them,” but then everything culminates in a scene where Charlie says “actually fuck that, it doesn’t matter if you’re Italian or Jewish or Irish #LoveWins,” where he’s got Meyer and Benny beside him and THEN the Italians. The table might be round for a reason, but who’s sitting beside you is still significant, Charlie. Plus, the fact that after the whole table does a toast, the FINAL SHOT OF CHARLIE AND MEYER is them sitting back down and quietly toasting each other. Yes, yes, they did the business bit with everyone else, but this is for them. And even though the audio is soft, the chorus of Italians toasting “salute” followed by Meyer getting the last word for Team NY, toasting Charlie with “l’chaim.”

[benevolentbirdgal]

A guide to 13 Jewish holidays / Jewish Writing Advice

Depending on how you want to count, there are theoretically 47 Jewish holidays, assuming you count all minor, major, and modern celebrations, both minor and major fasts, special shabbats, and each Rosh Chodesh (new month) individually. Since that post would be A) neverending, B) probably not useful in its entirety here, and C) really not applicable to most Jews you meet or write, I’m going to tell you about 13 celebrations (12 holidays plus the category of Rosh Chodesh and the category of special Shabbats), which will be plenty long enough. Maybe I’ll write a super-niche passionate post about the minor fasts or modern holidays later, but today is not that day. 

Usual disclaimers: I’m one me. The Jewish community is 14 million and super diverse. These are broad strokes and local tradition may vary. I operate from an American context and communal gathering/food sharing practices come from the Before Times (in some cases, the long before now times). 

I’m going to go in the order of the Jewish calendar, instead of likelihood of celebration, and note the most popular ones as I go. Three general notes as well: I will be using the most common transliteration/translation of the Hebrew names, Jewish holidays (and days in general) start at sunset and operate on a separate calendar that fluctuates relative to the secular Gregorian calendar. The Hebrew dates are listed with the months they generally fall in on the Gregorian calendar. Holidays marked with an * will likely merit their own list at some point. 

Additionally, how long many holidays last also varies depending on location. For some holidays (NOT fasts), diaspora (outside Israel) Jews celebrate an extra day for Jewish-diaspora-is-complicated-story-for-another-time reasons. I will note these holidays. 

*Rosh HaShanah (Tishrei 1, September-October): Jewish new year (well, one of four, but for the purposes of our discussion today, the Jewish new year). 1a. Typically celebrated by synagogue attendance, consumption of foods that are sweet and/or round (or have heads, like fish heads). Longer services than normal Saturday morning services but not by much, even when combined with regular Shabbat services. Big time to gather with families for a large meal. 1b. Lots of blowing of shofars at specific times, shofars, which are cleaned and sometimes painted ceremonial ram’s horns (we’re operating on 1200 B.C.E. tech here). Some of us are very good at blowing the shofar. Some of us are assuredly not.  1c. One of the most common holidays to celebrate, part of the “High Holidays.” If your character is remotely observant or has a very Jewish family, they celebrate this holiday.  1d. One day in Israel, two in the diaspora. 

Yom Kippur (Tishrei 10, September-October): The second holiday in the “High Holidays.” Yom Kippur is ten days after Rosh HaShanah, known as the “Days of Awe” (or the “Days of Repentance”). The Days of Awe, outside of orthodoxy and people who do prayers every day, aren’t really celebrated outside of asking people for forgiveness and tashlich (throwing away sins by yeeting small pieces of bread or other small foodstuffs into a pond). 2a. Yom Kippur is a 25 hour fast. Fasting on Yom Kippur means the following: No food. No water. Medication is typically okay (and most denominations are 100% okay with food/water necessary to accompany medication). No sex. This is usually extended to no sexual contact in general. No wearing of leather. You’ll see a lot of sneakers on Yom Kippur. No perfumes or lotions. Bathing/washing. This one is the one most people ditch. 2b. Jewish “adults” who are not health-impaired are expected to fast. Pregnant women, sick people, and the elderly explicitly get a choice and most of the former two do not fast. Lots of old folks do and have very strong opinions about it (I fast, but have gotten second-hand awkward watching a healthy 23-year-old explain why they aren’t doing so to an 89 year old survivor who is). There are young/healthy/not pregnant people who choose not to fast, but this is generally frowned upon. 2c. One day holiday regardless of location. Starts at beginning of sunset one day and ends at complete darkness (ideally with three stars in the sky) the next. Fasts are typically broken as a group over a large meal.  2d. It’s very likely that your Jewish character “celebrates” Yom Kippur and whether they fast or not is likely a point of contention with their family. 2e. There are a bunch of different services and they are usually heinously long.  2f. Shofars are also super important here.  2g. Wearing white is traditional in many communities.  2h. Napping is a popular way to pass the time, especially among less traditionally observant Jews.

*Sukkot (Tishrei 15-22, September-October): The Festival of Booths, basically the Jewish Harvest Festival.  3a. Fairly common to celebrate but not as much as the High Holidays, Passover, or Hannukah.  3b. Celebrated by building a Sukkah, which is an at-least-three-sided TEMPORARY structure with a natural roof (corn, leaves, bamboo) that you can see the stars through. People will eat and sleep in the Sukkah, and go “Sukkah hopping” to visit other families’ Sukkahs.  3c. In addition to regular guests, there is kabbalah and traditional mysticism that the a different guest from Jewish history will join you in the Sukkah each night, known as the Ushpizin. The Ushpizin  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and David) are all male, and in the 20th century some Jews began the custom of honoring Ushpizot (female guests as well, adding Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Hulda, and Esther (although some obscure lists of Ushpizot date back to the 15th century). 3d. Your Jewish character may not have a Sukkah. Their temple will have a communal one.  3e. It is customary to shake a lulav and etrog, also known as the four species. Three leaves and a citrus from specific plants are held together and shook in all six directions after the recitation of a prayer. I like to call this shake-the-plant, but it actually has a ton of different spiritual meanings traditionally ascribed to it. There is also a processional in synagogue with the lulav and etrog. 

Shmeni Atzeret (Tishrei 22, September-October): In Israel, the one day after Sukkot and in the diaspora the last day of Sukkot and the day after. There are some extra prayers and it marks a seasonal shift in prayers pertaining to rain. Unless your character is particularly religious/observant, they aren’t going to do anything extra. This holiday’s functions were mostly relevant during the Temple Periods in ancient Israel. 

*Simchat Torah (Tishrei 23, September-October): Simchat Torah celebrates the restarting of the Torah-reading cycle and overlaps with the second day of Shmeni Atzeret where there is a second day. Unlike in some other faiths where the congregation or leader generally chooses the text of the day, Jewish congregations are bound by the Parsha (portion) of the week for formal services/readings (as opposed to other forms of study). The 54 parshas are read over the course of the Jewish year, and the resetting of that cycle is Simchat Torah. In synagogues during services readings from from Torahs, which are large, heavy, physical scrolls. This is relevant during Simchat Torah particularly.  5a. Two days in the diaspora, one day in Israel. Intermediate level popularity.  5b. Seven hakafot (professionals) are performed by dancing around the synagogue while members alternate carrying the Torah. This is considered an honor. Simchat Torah is usually the only day all the Torahs are brought out (or at least the ones that are in good enough shape to be carried). Dancing is mixed outside of orthodoxy and separated within orthodoxy. Only Jewish adults are permitted to carry the Torah. Outside of orthodoxy this includes both men and women. Within some orthodox congregations, women-only circles will also include Torahs in their dancing.  5c. There are also smaller not-Torah-but-still-Holy scrolls and Torah-shaped-stuffies that children will sometimes carry and dance with.  5d. After the dancing, the final parsha is read aloud. This is the only time we read Torah at night (from the physical object Torah - we read books of the Torah in other forms at any hour). The scroll is then rolled back all the way to the first reading. Reading the first or last reading is a great honor. 

*Hanukkah (Kislev 25 - Tevet 2, November-December): Hannukah celebrates the victory of the Maccabees over the political and cultural oppression of the ancient Greeks in the 160s B.C.E. After the victory of the priestly-class-turned-warrior-bros over their oppressors, the Maccabees found the Temple seriously wrecked, both on a physical and spiritual level. They wanted to rededicate the temple, but only found one itty-bitty little jar of oil for the Menorah (seven-branched candelabra in the Temple), enough for one day. They figured it was better than nothing, and immediately sent out for more oil, which took eight days. That was the miracle of the lights, and where the Hanukiyah (eight-branched variant of the Menorah) comes from since the oil for one day lasted eight.  6a. Hanukkah is an immensely popular eight day festival. 6b. Religiously, Hanukkah actually isn’t super important. Religiously-significant practices for the holiday are lighting a Hannukiyah, telling the story of Hanukkah, and eating greasy foods.  6c. There are approximately a shabillion ways to spell Hanukkah, it’s not just  you. There are actually only two acceptable (really only one 100%) Hebrew spellings but transliteration is a bitch sometimes.  6d. Although not “Jewish Christmas” gifts on Hanukkah are a thing because of the proximity to Christmas. Hanukkah gifts as they now are are really a 1950s-forward thing because Jewish kids were starting to have Christian friends en-masse who were getting Christmas gifts at the same time a lot of the U.S. was experiencing an economic boom. Purim is actually the traditional gifting holiday.  6e. Related: Hanukkah parties are very popular, but much more cultural than religious.  6f. Dreidels have a weird AF history and their dubious origins (and half-dozen possible theories) truly merit their own post. In the U.S. they are played with chocolate coins or other not-money, elsewhere children frequently use their local equivalent of pennies instead. 

Tu Bishvat (Shevat 15, February-March): The Jewish new year/birthday of the trees. Functions like a Jewish Earth day - planting trees is popular. Fresh fruits are consumed in celebration of what trees give us. Some more religious families also do a ceremonial meal, a Tu Bishvat seder, but most Jews don’t. 

*Purim (Adar 14, February-March): Purim, an immensely popular holiday celebrates the survival of the Jews during the first exile period in the ancient kingdom of Persia. The text celebrates the strength of our community and the chutzpah of a Jewish woman, and is usually celebrated in practice like Jewish Halloween.  8a. The story really merits its own post, but the short of it is because shenanigans, antisemites, and booze-hound kings a Jewish lady named Hadassah became queen (hiding her Jewish identity and taking the Esther to do so), the king’s head advisor Haman wanted to kill-the-Jews-tm, Esther was able to prevent it by convincing the king that the Jews should be able to fight back, the Jews did so and won, Haman was executed, and Esther’s cousin/bestie Mordechai became the new advisor. [really, the full story is Hollywood-level drama, another post to come.] 8b.  Communities gather together to do communal readings of the book of Esther (in Hebrew or the lingua franca), it’s only about 10 chapters and takes an hour or two. The megillah is read once in the night and once in the day. Technically there are several megillahs for different books/holidays, but Jews are usually referring to Megalilat Esther (the book of Esther) when they say the megillah, definitely so on Purim. 8c. Costumes are donned by adults and children alike, both inspired by the story and otherwise. This is in honor of the hiddenness in the story (with both Esther and some other stuff we don’t have time for today). Synagogues often hold costume contests as a small break between chapters.  8d. Readings get ROWDY. It’s customary to boo and make noise using little noisemakers when Haman’s name is said aloud, as with the names of his also Jew-hating sons (which are traditionally said in one breath). There are also certain lines of the megillah read out loud together.  8e. It is a mizvah to give gifts (typically of food) to friends as well as to charity on Purim (two separate mitzvahs).  8f. It’s also a mitzvah to have a big special meal.  8g. It’s a common misconception that it’s a mitzvah to get so lit on Purim you can’t tell the difference between Haman the wicked and Mordechai the blessed. It’s not a Mitzvah, but there is some commentary in the Talmud saying that, so while not a commandment, “get lit to honor the party king goy who vouched for us and also because Jewish history requires drinking sometimes” is a historically-rooted take. Consequently, it’s very popular to drink a lot on Purim.  8h. Purim is, for all of the above, immensely popular with both children and adults despite being dark AF.  8i. Purim is the last holiday in the Torah itself (Hannukah is after).  8j. Purim is a one-day holiday unless you’re in a walled city (long story). 

*Passover (Nissan 15-22, March-April): Arguably the most important holiday, theologically. Passover celebrates the Exodus from Egypt.  9a. Families gather for Seders on the first night (Israel) and second night (Diaspora). The holiday is 7/8 days long and one of the most common to celebrate. In normal years it’s common for families to travel to have large gatherings together.  9b. In addition to regular kosher laws, “chametz” (basically leavened bread and bread-like things and most foods that bring joy). There are five grains that can make chametz, wheat, rye, barley, oats, and spelt.  Some communities historically forbade other foods that could be mistaken for chametz, like the Ashkenazi forbiddance of kitanyot (legumes, rice, corn, certain seeds), although that was revoked/voted on to be not an official custom by nonorthodox denominations in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.  9c. Seders are ceremonial meals with 15 steps, including the actual meal itself. The quickest Seders run maybe an hour plus the meal. The longest can run upwards of 6-8, depending on the denomination, family, and customs. It almost goes without saying that there’s a lot of food and wine involved.  9d. In addition to be prohibited for consumption, Chametz cannot be possessed or consumed on Passover, so Jews clean out their houses of Chametz, and temporarily sell it to a gentile friend or family member for the duration of the holiday.  9e. Passover-specific hanger is very real, especially after the post-Seder food-coma wears off. Especially if you already have dietary restrictions and can’t just do a meat-fast.  9f. During the Seder, the story of Passover is gradually told from Moses to the plagues to the Exodus itself. It is a fairly interactive telling/ceremony and the specific rituals to different parts of the Seder merit their own post.  9g. Synagogues also hold Seders, but at-home ones are very common. Whose home to go to for the Seder is often a very political choice. 

Lag BaOmer (Iyyar 18 for Ashkenazi, Iyyar 19 for Sephardi, May): The counting of the Omer is from the second day of Passover to Shavout. Passover is the leave from Egypt, Shavout is the getting of the Torah, the Omer is the in-between time. There are a bunch of restrictions during the Omer for long-story reasons, but  haircuts, shaving, listening to instrumental music, weddings, parties, and dinners with dancing are forbidden during the Omer. Lag BaOmer, the 33rd day of this count, is the exception. 10a. Consequently, for Jews who are abstaining from the aforementioned things, Lag BaOmer is popular to do those things.  10b. Many Jewish schools and synagogues will have counting activities for kids and prizes if they can count all the way to Shavuot on their sticker chart or equivalent.  10c. One day regardless of location.   10d. Bonfires are a super popular activity, usually accompanied by feasts. 10e. Not as popular as some others. 

Shavout (Sivan 6, May-June): Shavout celebrates the day Moses came down with the Torah and when the ancient Israelites in the desert formally chose to enter their covenant with God at Mount Sinai. It was also celebrated as an additional harvest festival in ancient times.  11a. Two days in the diaspora, one day in Israel. 11b. The “dairy holiday” because the Jews didn’t have any kosher meat and had just received the laws, including kosher.  12c. The book of Ruth is read on Shavout. There are several possible explanations, but the most popular is that she choose to be Jewish, just as the Jews did at Sinai.  12d. Torah studying all-nighters are traditional.  12e. Not as popular as some other holidays. 

Rosh Chodesh (varies, 1st of every Hebrew month): There are 12 Hebrew months, except for leap years which have a second Adar. The first day of each month is known as Rosh Chodesh. It is unlikely your Jewish character does anything for it, unless they’re very religious, work at a synagogue, happen to be at shul anyways for another reason, or go to a Jewish school. If any of those are true, their prayers will have extra prayers (especially on Shabbat or another holiday).  12a. Rosh Chodeshes are traditionally women’s time/a moment set aside to honor women. 

Special Shabbats (varies): There are eight special Shabbats scattered around the year right before or after a big holiday. Services are longer and special prayers are added, but unless your character goes to shul or is in another circumstance where they pray consistently, they likely won’t know/care/notice. 

Some of these topics are also totally their own posts, but this is a general overview of the most important/common holidays and already super long!