#dwarf dog-faced bat

[loveisinthebat]

tiny hug

[sitting-on-me-bum]

A dwarf dog-faced bat (Molossops temminckii) from Paraguay.

Sweet Bat Portraits Dispel Stereotypes of These Incredibly Important Mammals

Photographer: Dr. Merlin Tuttle

Hairy-legged vampire bat (Diphylla ecaudata) from Mexico. This species does not cause problems for people or for livestock. It feeds almost exclusively on the blood of birds.

A minor epauletted fruit bat (Epomophorus labiatus minor) in Kenya.

An African sheath-tailed bat (Coeura afra) from a cave on the Mombasa Coast of Kenya.

[kaatiba]

reVamped Vignettes ⤅ a WIP introduction

Laika, a werewolf, lives in an old manor house that is either sentient or haunted, along with a debonair dwarf, a recalcitrant selkie, a shy orc, and a grubby cryptid of an elf. That's a lot of personalities for one house—and then one night she stumbles on a miserable vampire named Kyle, who's just been kicked out of his nest by his sire. Laika might have a bite just as bad as her bark, but she's not so heartless as to let a vampire face sunrise with only his snapback for protection…so she invites him over. These are their (mis)adventures.

[content] - [inspo]

Characters

→ Laika | a female werewolf, named unironically after the famous dog. Grumpy, tall, could bench-press a truck. Secretly as sweet as her sweet tooth. → Kyle |  a vampire, disturbingly and sincerely committed to the fratboy aesthetic. Scared of the dark. Turns into a bat when startled. A Disaster™. → Aurelius | a dwarf and a prolific author of poetry. Extremely and genuinely charming. Equally handsome. A veritable font of patience. → Orla | a selkie, transformed half the sunroom she lives in into an underwater habitat perfect for her seal form. Will bite you. Will not warn you about it. A silversmith, runs an online store selling her jewellery and knives. → Mogdur | goes by Mog, an orc, very shy, very large, very gentle. An artist who likes working on his webcomic and gifting people with his sketches of them. → Thistle | an elf, though he's often mistaken for a very pretty gnome. Never formally moved in; they found him in the back garden digging a hole and he just stuck around after that. His actual government name is Ben. He won't answer to it.

Author's Notes

I've been calling this WIP 5 for literal years and as per usual with my story ideas, I had only characters and a vibe and no plot in sight. But today @tracle0 asked me about it and in the course of talking to them, I realized...I don't actually need a plot? I can just write a series of interconnected stories featuring this cast of characters? So that's what I'll be doing and I'm excited for it! Technically this is more of a concept than a WIP, because I don't really feel ready to work on it. Still, I wanted to put this intro post together and see what happens with it! Knowing me I'll probably produce bits and bobs for it here and there. Let me know if you'd like to join the taglist!

general writing taglist: @muddshadow, @lockejhaven, @tracle0, @anonymousfoz

[gamerdog1]

Chainsaw Man Season 1 Review

Its that time of year again: the time where the hardcore anime fans gear up for a new batch of seasonal shows. This winter, a bunch of popular anime, including Vinland Saga, Tokyo Revengers, and Bungou Stray Dogs are releasing new seasons, to the raucous applause of most of the anime fandom community.

I say 'most', of course, excluding myself. Where am I in this, you may ask? Always behind the curve, picking up the hits years after they've had their debut, like a reverse hipster. What's old is new again for folks like me, who are still trying to watch all the 'old' series, nevermind keep up with new releases. There's merit in this method, though: given enough time, the shiny glow of newness fades, and we can experience the series without rose-colored glasses.

In my never-ending quest to understand why popular media got popular, I stumbled upon Chainsaw Man, a rather recent hit that was practically unavoidable last year. In a sea of generic anime girl snore-fests, it grabbed my attention pretty quickly for its sheer ferocity and love for bloodshed. After being assigned it in a monthly show exchange, I figured it was about time I'd given it a chance. After 12 episodes, though, I feel like my time could've better been spent elsewhere.

Chainsaw Man (2022) is an adaptation of the manga by the same name, written by Tatsuki Fujimoto. The series follows Denji, a homeless teen who is saddled with a ridiculous debt to the yakuza after his father dies. After surviving an assassination attempt, he fuses with the Chainsaw Devil, and gains its powers of, well, chainsaws. Now, he must work together with an elite team of public service agents to hunt down other devils, to keep a newly found comfy life.

One would be foolish to assume this wasn't a shonen series. With a teen protagonist, superpowers, monsters, and an overarching storyline about growing up, Chainsaw Man seems like your standard action/fantasy show. What makes it different, though, is its copious amounts of gore. Most 'shonen' series are marketed towards kids and teens, and because of this, are limited in how far they can go with their violent content. Chainsaw Man, it seems, got a free pass from it's producers to show whatever it wants, and really runs with it.

Most of the series revolves around Denji and his team hunting devils, monsters which personify common fears, and gain power from the fear of them. From hulking furry masses like the Bat Devil, to thousand-eyed pushovers like the Tomato Devil, Denji and his team take them down in a brilliant display of blades, sharp teeth, and blood spray. Violence is the life blood of this series, the thing that keeps its main characters alive, and what keeps viewers like me paying attention.

Each confrontation is intense, as the human-looking heroes face off against monsters that dwarf them in comparison. The series establishes early on in every fight just what the opposing devil can do, and how that poses a threat to Denji and his team, making it feel like there's little hope in their survival. This, combined with the constant reminders from Denji's superiors of how many previous hunters have died on the job, gives each fight a sense of stakes to it. Characters can (and eventually do) die, so each fight, even those early on, are tense.

The music, as well, its pretty damn good. I'd already heard the opening track, KICK BACK this summer, and play it a lot while doing chores, but the opening animation that goes with it is really interesting. Look closely, and you'll see shot-for-shot references to famous films, like The Big Lebowski and Pulp Fiction. Each episode also has a unique ending theme, something unique to this series that made me sit and watch each episode all the way through. Most endings are abstract, mostly just the main characters standing around or posing, but all are experimental, including one that is mostly rotoscoped. They were all a joy to watch, a happy surprise at the end of each episode.

Unfortunately, nice music, dynamic fight scenes and a few gallons of blood tossed around can't distract from the many sins of this anime, ones that made it a very uncomfortable viewing experience. When I started this series, I was optimistic about it, and wanted to learn more about its world and characters. But by the second episode, it became difficult to ignore the less savory aspects of this series, which only worsened with each subsequent episode.

Denji, the show's protagonist, is a teenager who had his youth stolen from him by the Yakuza, when they forced him to take up his father's debt. Once he is freed from it, however, his true nature is revealed, one which makes it challenging for viewers like me to like him. This series, it seems, has broken new ground with its protagonist, since I doubt any self-respecting shonen would have a main character (who we are meant to like and care about) be as unabashedly horny as this one.

That's not to say that having a character who likes sex is a bad thing. People, fictional or not, are allowed to like whoever they want, however they want (with consent of course :)). Denji, though, takes the trope of 'sex obsessed teenager' to the extremes, proudly declaring that the only reason he hunts devils is to have sex with his boss. It gets to the point where one of his teammates accuses him of not taking the job seriously, and Denji has the audacity to claim he is. Meanwhile, Denji is lured into a trap by a female character, all because she offered to let him touch her breasts. These, as well as the countless other instances of Denji staring at women's chests instead of their eyes, or whining about how he wants to 'cop a feel', made him a character that was infuriating to watch get his way.

To make matters worse, it seems like nearly every woman in the series is infatuated with him enough to not only let him do these things to them, but outright encourage them. Halfway through the series, Denji and his teammates join up with another trio of devil hunters to investigate an apartment complex. Before entering, one of the female hunters declares that whoever kills the devil inside will get a kiss from her, and when Denji declines, she whispers that she'll do it "with tongue". Around the same point in the show, Denji's boss Makima explains to him about the Gun Devil, the most powerful and most feared devil ever. When he shows apprehension about taking on such a fearsome foe, Makima offers to do whatever he wants if he kills it, heavily implying that she'll sleep with him.

Never in my life have I watched a show where adult women proposition a teenager, something which I was proud to say until today. I wish I could say that it had its purpose in the overall story, but the show hardly has anything to say about it, almost as if it had no problems with it in general. Denji is sixteen, and the hunters that offer to kiss or sleep with him are easily in their 20's, maybe even early 30's, making every 'romantic' or 'sexy' moment in this show a fur-raising experience that took me a bit to recover from. If it was once, and to make a point about the transition to adulthood, or how its morally wrong, I'd understand, but this is absurd. Whoever thought that a scene where the main character's co-worker drunkenly kidnaps him, then coaxes him into have sex with her is okay, should be fired, and have their hard drives searched by the FBI.

I wanted to like this show. Really, I did, especially after all the hype it has, and all the lovely fanart of it I see on my social media feeds. But after having to sit through all 12 episodes of this, I think I'm tapping out. Sure, the fights are great, especially the final one between Denji and Katana Man, where they fight on a subway. The sharp teeth, blades, and constant blood spray were so thrilling, they almost made me forget about the sexual assault stuff. Keyword 'almost'.

Chainsaw Man isn't just a shonen series about the tumultuous journey from teenager to adult: its an action series with cool monster designs, a feral hero, and more blood than a used tampon. But also, its a series where the main character demands sexual favors, and is rewarded with them by adult women time and time again. This series was a mixed bag, one that had me either glued to the screen or wanting to shut it off, with hardly any in between. The main character should've been anyone else (honestly I'd prefer to be following Power, she's way more interesting), and as the series went on, I felt myself wishing for characters to just die already, so I wouldn't have to put up with them anymore. Here's hoping in season 2 that I get my wish.

[mywifeleftme]

86: The Verlaines // Bird-Dog

Bird-Dog The Verlaines 1987, Flying Nun (Bandcamp)

The Verlaines, authors of an all-time (apt and fav) album title in Some Disenchanted Evening, are probably the most ‘acquired taste’ of the original wave of Flying Nun/Dunedin sound New Zealand bands (The Clean, The Chills, The Bats, Tall Dwarfs etc.). Though the jingling single-word chorus of debut single “Death and the Maiden” proved they could be as elfin and twee-sounding as any of their peers, main Verlaine Graeme Downs tended to favour downcast melodies, played with buttoned-down desperation, like running to catch a bus to a job interview in the rain while holding an umbrella and a suitcase. All the good Flying Nun bands played with the tension between their poppy sounds and frequently dour or sarcastic lyrics, but of the lot Verlaines are the clear prescription for wry depressives (or at least people who think Robert Forster was the better of the Go-Betweens).

There’s an argument to made for 1987’s early singles comp Juvenilia as the most accessible introduction to their sound, but Bird-Dog is their most complete album statement. I was thrilled when the album was finally repressed on vinyl after 36 years, primarily because it is an essential “stare at the cover while listening” LP. Forget the rain/bus/umbrella metaphor I tried earlier; this brave brown smudge of a dog heedlessly pursuing (or being lured by?) a bird to the edge of a seaside cliff is bang on. At 12” x 12”, the visible brushstrokes of the hidden cliff in John Collie’s oil painting have a roiling texture, almost as though it is eating away at the soft green turf above. On the reverse, the same location is depicted sans dog, this time in gentle watercolour, the world at peace without all that barking and striving.

It's all there in the title track too. The lyric begins as a withering assessment of a man’s life spent yearning for transcendence who eventually grows old and slow, buys “a boarding house for slaves / and drinks imported German beer.” But if our escapes often become our jail cells, in the end we love our bars despite it, and the coda of “Bird-Dog” turns into an all-timer of a drinking song, basically a post-punk “Master of the House” from Les Miserables. Thrill of chasing bird despite cliff, one more brew to put off morning.

It's subtle at first, but throughout Bird-Dog, the Verlaines augment their basic power trio sound with unusual instrumentation, a flugelhorn here, a xylophone there, till the album closes with a fully orchestrated* flourish. The tricky, XTC-like “Icarus Missed” adds Gregorian chant (!) and bassoon (!!), followed by “C.D. Jimmy Jazz and Me,” a re-recording of their first single’s B-side with its humble accordion ride-out replaced with a sugary string and horn fanfare that wouldn’t be out of place soundtracking a Sonic Generations level. For an album that starts out as morose and minimal as this one, it's quite an about-face—one of those moments maybe when you shake off your malaise and see the richness in the life you’ve earned.

86/365

* Okay, so they don’t go full philharmonic; it’s the usual band plus five-piece string, trumpet, and trombone accompaniment, if you’re a stickler. But it sounds plenty sweeping!

[the-dragon-folk]

Super Loose Dragon age Origin OC breakdown sheet

My computer's been dead (and still kind of is) for a month after... the milk incident, so I've only had the opportunity to play through Partha, and I do want to re-run her since she was my first playthrough. All of these come with a grain of salt and a lot of opportunity to be changed Warden Partha Aeducan: True to the Dwarf Noble Origin, kings Alistair, Romances Morrigain (bi rights), and does the dark ritual. The Leader. The World's most cringefail trans girl boss princess <3. She's an incredibly strong and fierce warrior, a real shit brickhouse as far as dwarves go, but also really mentally not doing well, and she expends a lot of energy not confronting this. She's remarkably successful, it's just that she's guessing the entire time and a lot of her choices go against her own, or her friends' wishes, in the name of the "Greater Good," but what that means to her is really unclear. She is so desperate to protect everyone and save Ferelden because she knows its right, but she doubts every choice she makes and so many "good" choices cause a lot more pain. She begins her journey feeling unloved, put-upon and lost and ends her journey feeling unloved, put-upon, and lost <3. She's also batshit a little and spends a lot of time doing really risky shit in a half-hearted attempt to chase death in a very Zevran-esque way aha. She comes out of the Blight an extremely weird unsettling person, and I do spend a lot of time jumping the shark with her. She drinks that weird bottle at Solider's Peak and does The Golems of Amgarrak stuff, if that explains anything. She's a ball of knots and hard to explain quickly. Mingrin: Partha's dog. Really cool guy and good boy.

Warden Judpha: Dwarf Commoner, not Brosca, thruple with Zevran and Killian. Grew up in Dust Town and was the guardian to his niece from a young age and broke when she was murdered. He's effectively ripped apart in Ostagar, and this leaves him short an arm and a leg. His Ostagar trauma makes him entirely unwilling to face the Dark Spawn. Jud start off pretty coarse - particularly with Partha, who he bitterly refers to as "Peace-Keeper" - and he softens up over time. He learns to read and write and becomes the sort of book-keeper of the group.

Warden Killian Tabris: True to the Elf Commoner Origin, thruple with Zevran and Judpha. Killian's a little less developed than the other two, but she's also pretty prickly. She dislikes Partha and Alistair because of their highborn status. She tends to lead a secondary party. I think her story is about her growing from jaded and act-first-questions-later to a more tempered and empathetic leader, as she's left to be Commander of the Grey after Partha disappears. I think Jud and Zevran allow her to soften up and relax a bit. I think she'll probably parallel Partha in a lot of ways. She joins at the same time as Alistair. Warden (Unnamed so far) Mahariel: Likely true to Elf Dalish origin. He'll likely spend a lot of time on the side lines. He joins at the same time as Partha and, when he finds himself entirely alone at Ostagar, goes "why would i die for a bunch of people who don't give two shits about me when I can go home and help my clan??" and immediately high tails it. He comes back up when the wardens come to the Dalish and find him. He gets turned into a werewolf and at the end of it he probably choses to stay and help prepare the Clans for the Dark spawn. He isn't meant to come across as a coward, but just as someone who, rightfully, is more concerned with the immediate future of his loved ones rather than a more abstract Series of Misadventures to Maybe? Save the World. Not to mention, he's alone right off the bat and has no context on how to be a warden.

Warden Surana and Warden Cousland (also both unnammed): Both mostly true to Human Noble & Elf Circle. They're more of a MacGuffin. They're both slightly older wardens than Alistair & Killian. Warden Surana and Cousland survived Ostagar (Likely alongside Killian and Judpha) and immediately went into action. They presume the old treaties are lost with Alistair and decide to go to Soldier's Peak to try and find some sort of hope. When Civil War pressures get real, Cousland makes a plan to use his Nobility status to wed Anora and reign some things back into place. This is what sends Partha on the path to wedding Alistair to Anora. When The Party get to Soldier's Peak, Cousland has been killed and likely so has Warden Surana.

Ameira Surana: Sister to Warden Surana and another Circle Elf. Romances Alistair. She is a prodigious young mage who spent much of her life in her sister's shadow. This allowed her to get away with what she wanted in peace. I forget which exactly was the specific character issue that sent her down her path, but after her sister and Jowan bounce, she does become a practicing Blood mage. she keeps this under wraps for a while and eventually saves Judpha's life with it, so he doesn't say anything about it. She joins the party with Wynne to help the Wardens and eventually falls in love with Alistair, and it's really sweet and smooth up until Partha and Eamon make moves to wed Anora and Alistair. Alistair breaks up with Ameira to try and spare her from everything that is going on. Ameira, devastated by the last 2 years' shenanigans' like every one else, does eventually fireball-blood magic the shit out of Partha and Anora and Judpha is like "hm yeah i guess i should've said something sooner."

[vatrpg]

Foramen: An Alien Biosphere

Hey! First purely worldbuilding actual post in a bit! I decided to talk a bit about the native flora and fauna of Bor.

So, Bor orbits the red dwarf known as the Daystar, which due to its light, has made all plant life on Bor evolve to be, fundamentally, not green. In fact, it's shades of blue! Just keep this fact in mind.

One thing regarding the alien life was exploring different types of symmetry other than the bilateral kind that dominates Earth. There's still bilateral symmetry, especially regarding humans, but it's uh. Humans didn't really evolve naturally! For reasons that are currently secret. Don't worry about it but it's not like a super important detail, it's in the background and isn't meant to detract from the fairly grounded main story. Purely relegated to the metaplot. So, I'm constantly figuring out different life forms that are on Bor. Vegetation has some similarities, but other ground coverings exist to fill the niche grass does. From slime to plates to just barren dirt. Instead of trees, pillars of tubes rise from the ground alongside giant spikes or rock hard monoliths with a texture reminiscent of brains. Sextapeds, pentapeds, chimeras, ptagons, and pinwheels are the main classifications of animal life. Sextapeds are radially symmetrical megafauna which operate off of muscles and hydraulics. Pentapeds are carapaced radially symmetrical animals where one of their 5 legs has evolved into a grasping appendage. Chimeras are fucked up bilaterally symmetrical critters with a penchant for asymmetry that have scales, feathers, AND fur. Ptagons are like if a bat was a bird and had a cone for a face that split into 3 distinct parts. I don't know how to succinctly describe pinwheels but they're funny. They have a manipulative appendage that also is a sensory appendage. Their mouth is in their torso and is surrounded by tendrilled lips. THey have a tail that's just an arm. They walk on two digitigrade legs. Uhhhh, that's all for now! Kinda scatterbrained as I wrote this because I was futzing with my internet all day but. You know. Drawings of these beasts, or even miniature versions of these beasts, are to come! Oh yeah, when I posted those miniatures? The dog with a man's head was a chimera, specifically a manticore. I would've put more detail on there but I'm still getting good at green stuff.

[vvatchword]

I fucking moved. Fuck that city in particular and fuck everybody in it except for the cool Bat Dude and the lady who gave me a ride so I didn't get rained on and the nice old grandpa who saw me staring into space at the hamburger joint (as one does).

Yes, I got into a stranger's car, but look. She was very nice and she reminded me of a dear friend, and I was so darkly miserable that the fact she asked was like a little ray of sunshine. Like look. Not everybody is fucking horrid, sometimes they're a nice librarian-looking lady in an SUV.

Oh, now I can't stop thinking of nice people. Let's face it: there were plenty of nice folks there. It's just that I'm not made for cities. There's what I thought I wanted and there's what I actually wanted.

I hate cities

I hate noise

I hate traffic

I hate rich people

I hate pollution (and so does my bird)

I hate the horrifying cost of living

I hate lights and need a real nighttime. If I can't see stars I begin to die. If your lights are so bright the moon disappears, you're too damn bright

I HATE public transit because...

I hate having to maneuver around homeless shenanigans. You know how many times I'd be genuinely terrified per month? Way too many times.

There were too many people everywhere I went. I would try to go shopping early to avoid rubbing shoulders and end up rubbing shoulders. There was just no easy way to avoid crowds.

Tamed nature. Do you know what I mean? Nature made as humans desire it, not nature existing outside of humankind. At the very least--nature that hasn't seen more than two separate human beings per month. I have learned a brand new appreciation for wastelands. I am not renewed by a park with a tree in it. I need to see land that doesn't need a sprinkler system.

I was constantly overwhelmed and I never got to do anything fun because I was too poor. Cool shit happens here, too, though. So I'm just going to try and go to something nice at least once per month. It's more expensive because you have to drive, but it's less expensive on the whole because half of my income isn't going to rent.

Moving was a nightmare. I basically packed up and left in a week. My dad contracted some friends from his church. They said they could help me pack if I wasn't done yet. Joke's on me: those guys didn't give a single fuck. They launched my belongings like we were Cape Canaveral. I thought I was going to die from the agony of seeing brain-dead rednecks bodyslam my books into boxes. I still haven't found parts of my stuff yet. Who knows where it's all gone. I'll find it eventually? I guess?

I proceeded to drive home in the dark and the rain, where I chugged energy drinks and longed for death. I stopped once to buy the best possible snacks I could find (Muddy Buddies, Dot's Pretzels, some donuts. My life is falling apart. I deserve nice things). My traveling partner was the sole surviving African Dwarf Frog (long story, but they started dying one by one, and she is the last).

Got home and weeks of abuse caught up to me. I proceeded to fall into a catatonic state for about two days. Caught up with myself today and finally set my PCs up. I have two; one is an old-school mid-tier gaming device from like. 2012. The other is my custom-built gaming PC from about three years ago. Anyway. I've been wanting to make them both dual-monitor machines but I had to do some troubleshooting, and I figured it out today.

I can't connect to ethernet because this house wasn't built with ethernet in mind. It's going to have to be WiFi. Ewwww. Oh well

Being home is a HUGE relief. My parents are ecstatic to have me. The DOG is ecstatic to have me. The bird is angry because I can just straight-up leave his sight now. The apartment may have been a hideous, dimly-lit hole, but it was a SMALL hideous, dimly-lit hole, and he knew where I was at all times. He has to hunt for me now and he hates it.

I can begin job-hunting again in earnest, as well as begin NaNoWriMo. I need to hit 5,000 words today. Wish me luck lol

[roselightfairy]

A product of the Best Headcanon Ever with @deheerkonijn that dwarf societies have trained rescue dogs - and that Legolas loves them.

...

Spending the majority of his life in a woodland kingdom had not prepared Legolas for the rapid growth and changes in a new settlement run by determined dwarves.

Every time he visited something was different, some vast new structural change in place that Gimli could hardly wait to show him - whole new chambers excavated in the space of three months.  In comparison to the creeping (to mortals) growth of trees - perhaps a few inches in a month - it felt different every time Legolas so much as blinked.

“We are preparing to mine deeper into the cave system,” Gimli said excitedly, tugging Legolas along.  “Until now we have only worked in the existing chambers - and they are wondrous enough to sustain us, but always we have wondered what further marvels Aglarond has yet to reveal to us.  It has been long and careful work, but after much consultation, we have finally found a structurally sound place to begin.”

“Long, you say,” said Legolas.  “And yet to me it seems mere moments.  Truly, Gimli, I am endlessly impressed with your work here.”

“A far cry from years ago,” Gimli teased him gently, “when you would have paid to be free of this place!”

“Ah!” Legolas touched his heart, as if wounded.  “And so my punishment for careless words returns again tenfold.”  He knew Gimli held no true grudge against him for those words, but Legolas could not resist teasing in return.  “Will my husband ever give me the grace of forgiveness?”

“Perhaps I simply enjoy punishing you,” Gimli murmured, his eyes dancing wickedly - and his fingers straying to pinch Legolas lightly in the rear.

Legolas squawked and swatted him away - but then stopped, the smile falling away from his face.  He had heard a strange noise, one he had not heard in Aglarond before.  The click-click-click of claws on stone, and the heavy panting unique to - 

“Gimli,” he said, tilting his head towards the sound and straining his ears.  “Gimli, are there - are those dogs that I hear?”

Gimli too cocked his head, then shrugged.  “I do not know what you hear,” he confessed.  “But I am sure it is.  We have received our first new litter from our patrons in Erebor” - 

“First new - Gimli.”  He said it so matter-of-factly, as though the keeping of dogs were only to be expected!  Legolas had known that men kept dogs for hunting, but he had not thought that dwarves were hunters beyond necessity on patrol - “Why are there dogs here?”

“For training!”  Gimli beamed.  “Particularly now that we are beginning to mine deeper, the dogs are invaluable.  They are trained to recognize the sounds and scents of a cave-in, to alert their handlers if they are first to arrive on the scene, and even to shift rubble and sometimes extract dwarves from beneath it.  They have saved many a life; we are lucky that Erebor sent us a litter so readily.”  He looked up at Legolas and frowned.  “You look stricken.  I had not thought - you are fond of dogs, are you not?”

“Yes,” said Legolas breathlessly.  He could only imagine his own expression.  “Very much so.”  A yip, in the distance, and then the unmistakable soft thumps of a scuffle.  “A litter, you say - they are young, then?”

“Only pups,” Gimli confirmed.  “They will not begin their training just yet, but it will be good for them to know Aglarond as their home before they begin.”

Only pups.  Something caught in Legolas’s chest at the thought of them rolling around one another, batting their large paws in the air.  Amidst the sounds of the scuffle, he heard another yip - yes, too high-pitched to be a grown dog - and then a reedy whistling whine.

Without another word, he turned and strode in the direction of the sounds.

“Legolas!” said Gimli, rushing to catch up - taking two steps to Legolas’s one, Legolas noticed, but he could not bring himself to slow down.  “Legolas, wait” - 

“Wait?” Legolas demanded.  “Do not tell me I am not to see them!”  It would be a cruelty greater than Gimli was capable of, to tell Legolas these dogs were here and then deny him.

Gimli laughed.  “I am not so cruel,” he said.  “You surprised me, that is all.  And I would have a chance to introduce you to the trainer before you steal the affections of all his pups!”

“I would not” - Legolas protested.

“Not intentionally,” Gimli said, with another chuckle.  “But I have seen you with animals; I know how they take to you.  And if your reaction is any indication, the trainer deserves a warning.”

It was not a fair accusation, but Legolas reluctantly slowed his pace.  “Very well,” he said.  “I will present myself with all decorum first.”  He did not have to look to know that Gimli was laughing at him.  “But I think you are exaggerating the danger.”  He could see them already in his mind: a wriggling mass of soft fur and clumsy paws and lolling tongues, bounding from person to person with endless enthusiasm.  “Surely they will have enough affection for all of us.”

[loveisinthebat]

The Lil' Mans

[reliciron]

Miraluka Biology

I’m gonna be honest here, but stick with me.

I’ve never really had much interest in miraluka, they were too human-y, but I do like their Force-sight adaptation. There’s a lot of fun fanfic opportunities with that, so I’ve been in a perpetual state of ‘I wish I could make myself care’ when it comes to them.

But as time has passed, I’ve put more work into making the near-human races more alien, like mirialans having reptilian features. So this is me trying to give the miraluka the same makeover.

So head beneath the read more for some thoughts on their biology and culture.

Naturally, they have no eyes, it’s one of the very few hard facts we have about them. Why? Because their homeworld, Alpheridies, orbits a red dwarf star that only emits light on the infrared spectrum.

Everyone knows about their force-sight and it’s been headcanoned to death, so I’m happy enough to take other people’s interpretation and move on. This post is for biology and a bit of culture, since I haven’t seen much talk about it.

Face

Just as some snakes are born with little nubs where their legs used to be, some miraluka are still born with vestigial eyes, but they are entirely useless and often look visibly malformed compared to human eyes: irises mismatched in size and shape, irises taking up too much or too little space on the eyeball, pupils missing entirely with only a white sclera, etc.

Contrary to general assumptions (screw canon, I do what I want) there is only a faint divot where their eye sockets used to be, and it’s usually not noticeable, however the skin there is more delicate than the rest of their face and body.

As their vision failed them on the dark planet, they evolved very keen senses and their body changed to allow for further adaptation, as I think their Force-sight came later.

Their noses tend to be wide and flat with an alar fold commonly found in dogs, and their ears are long, pointed, and swivel to better track sounds. Although the arrangement looks a little different, they still sport a standard omnivore teeth set-up, chisel shaped front teeth and grinding molars, but with slightly longer canine and first premolars.

Overall, their features give them a faintly bat-like appearance.

Sound

This gets it’s own little category because it’s very important to miraluka. Their vocal range is much wider than other species and extends well outside hearing range for humans. Of course they have their own language, but emotional emphasis is put into the Force and soft, subvocal croons, clicks, and rumbles, instead of displayed in their tone or on their face. It gives their voice a faint two-tone sound.

Because of their different methods of speech many species get the impression that they are overly calm or emotionless simply because they either don’t understand the subvocals, or can’t even hear them.

Body

Their body is pretty much human and varies in size and shape about much, save for their hands and feet. Their fingers and toes are slightly longer than humans or other near-human species for feeling out their environment, and it’s common for miraluka to go barefoot and glove-less. The skin on their palms and fingers also tends to be much more sensitive (and is commonly an erogenous zone). And due to the difficult environment their homeworld has to offer, miraluka tend to have tougher skin that most other species.

And stars help them in direct sunlight, they burn like nobody’s business. Their planet doesn’t get too much ultraviolet light (that’s what I’m going with), so even on worlds with average sunlight they fry. The incidence of skin cancer is much higher in galaxy-traveling miraluka when compared to other species or miraluka that stay on Alpheridies, so sunscreen is EXTREMELY important.

Alpheridies

A quick look at real life science on red dwarf planets was pretty eye-opening. They are almost always tidally locked, meaning that once side is always facing the sun while the other is always facing away, making the night side extremely cold and the day side extremely hot. The habitable zone would be in a ring around the planet that is in perpetual twilight (if the light was on the visible spectrum, of course, which it isn’t).

There was a lot of jargon and its much more complicated then just that, but it’s the main issue with those sorts of planets, and one of the few that a lot of sci-fi novels tend to agree on. It makes the surface very stormy and the red dwarf planets that are more successful for supporting life tend to have vast oceans.

Also, plant life will be black to better soak up what little solar energy they can get (which I thought was really cool).

So basically, anything that evolves to survive on Alpheridies has to be a special kind of tough.

Quick Thoughts on Culture

The eye coverings started for practical reasons. Eyes are sensitive, and with the harsh environment, getting dirt in their eyes was a problem, so since they were useless anyways, they covered them up. Of course what started as a physical need stuck around after they lost their eyes entirely, and now it’s tradition (although it’s certainly useful for putting other species at ease). There’s probably lots of significance about wearing certain kinds of masks, maybe having to do with age, station, or local traditions, but I’m too sleep deprived to properly order them right now.

They also put a lot of emphasis on family. It’s incredibly difficult to make it on your own on Alpheridies, so family groups or close knit communities are pretty much standard. It makes them very social, which is often a problem when they are traveling through the rest of the galaxy. They get lonely very easily, and few other species appreciate their touchy-feely-ness or their lack of understanding when it comes to personal space.

[caroline-nighthunter]

-Rating and gushing about every Wizard101 “World”/Arc-  

Imma just gush about my month of Wizard101 and how I finally got to a close “end” of the game.

24/12 Edit: Fixed some typos here and there and added some stuff.

07/09 Edit: KI decided to fully revamp Wiz city also changing some lore so the rating on that is outdated. Might also put my thought of the new Wiz City there once I’m through all the new content.

Arc 1 - Malistaire - 10/10

Prob my favourite.

The writing really ties in every world, even when you speedquest through it.

Contains a lot of my favourite worlds.

I’m still crying over Mali to this day...

(Old) Wizard City - 10/10

Literally the introduction to the game and the place I spent most of my time in when I was a crownless and membershipless young wizard.

Do you want to farm Nightshade or Kraken?

That graphic revamp really punched.

Fave Places To chill: Nightside, Commons, Ravenwood, Cyclops Lane

Krokotopia - 11/10

This world made me fall in love with Wizard101

Egyptian aesthetic o-o

I was once a balance wizard you know?

Cries over the plot in the tomb of storms

Also KROKODILES

Fave Places To chill: Krokosphinx, School Of Balance

Marleybone - 10/10

I liked the Wizard version, but the Pirate version is more my jam.

Everyone is lookin dapper.

Home of the Doc- I mean Professor!

The whole worlds feels like Cats, but with dogs and the plot is Sherlock Holmes.

Barkingham Palace Gear o-o

Fave Places To chill: The Museum. 

Mooshu 7/10

Japan and China vibes

Your usual warlord chaos

Everything is BRIGHT GREEN

It felt  S H O R T

Has pretty nice wand drops

Fave Places To chill: Jade Palace

Dragonspyre 12/10  

This is what you get when you throw Roman aesthetic, Prussian History and a pinch of Russia into a pot.

The amount of subtle history references is making me listen to every line of dialogue I can get from this world.

D R A G O N S

Milos Bookwyrm is kinda a darlin

We kill Mali here :’)

Fave Places To chill: The Atheneum, wherever my battle drake chills

Arc 2 - Morganthe - 9/10

Has nice spots here and there.

Writing is still good, but a little less engaging.

Morganthe was so over the top “bad bitch” that it got annoying

Grandpappy spider was the saving grace of the arc

Celestia - 8/10

Solid world, story was kinda meh

ASTRAL MAGIC

Is this Skull Island??? Why are there water moles??? I thought they only exist in Skull Island????

Basically Atlantis

WAND OF STASIS

Fave Places To chill: Watermole Village

Zafaria - 8/10

Jambo Wizard!

The plot is Belloq and crazy tse-tse zebra ruining everyones day.

All they wanted was a nice zafari, all they got was misery and running into Morganthe worshippers.

Flameingo can’t take it anymore...

“Son I’m disappointed”

Fave Places To chill: Baobab Crown

Avalon - 9/10

Love it, but something is missing?

King Arthur, but you’re Arthur.

How to become a knight 101

FINALLY I CAN GET DEER KNIGHT

The source of Morganthes saltiness

Everyone is prob scared of me because I rode a battle badger during my stay...

Fave Places To chill: Caliburn

Azteca - 9.5/10

Hello and Bye...

I will never be able to do casual side questing here anymore...

The plot was nice, but you know, IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE WAS NOT WHAT I EXPECTED

Do not speedquest through this if you are a plot person, DO NOT

Cries over birb and dinosaur friends...

The music was the best part of it.

Fave Places To chill: N o w h e r e  a f t e r  t h a t  d a r n  m e t h e o r i t e, almost everywhere before that

Khrysalis - 9.8/10

L O O O O O N G

It was to be expected though

Mouse Guard vibes

The furniture sets for this suck and there is no proper furniture to obtain otherwise...

One Wizard Army (with the help of some deer friends) pls do not kill me for my bad word puns

I’d feel bad about how Morganthe ended, but after Azteca I really don’t have anything left for that whiny bitch...

A lot of people want my head...

Hello there hand- I mean hello there Spider.

Captain Colridge, if you had a pegleg I’d be 100% sure you’re ratbeard gone out of shape.

I love the dynamic changes to the Bastion once you progress

SHADOW MAGIC no one uses though because it’s not worth the pips and time 

Fave Places To chill: Last Woods 

Arc 3 - Spider And Raven - 6/10

Had solid concepts, kinda threw them out of the window

I do not like the writing in a majority of the arc

I think I was so disappointed, because I hyped these worlds up so much, the expectations did not meet reality

The ending was a no no

Plot was barely engaging

I only pushed through this for the concepts of Mirage and Polaris and wanted to see where Grandpappy Spider went

Polaris - 7/10

WAY TOO SHORT

You spent half of the time in the arcanum anyway

I don’t like Mellori, but that is just me

REVOLUTION TIME!

I don’t like that we had to throw a ship worth of fish into the sea, although they apparently still live? Somehow?

Everyone was at full right to overthrow the Empress though, she was horrible.

Where is Napoleguin???

RA RA RATSPUTIN, LOVER OF- wait  w h a t ? ? ?

I don’t like the Arcanum, but I guess I’ll be a part of it.

Fave Places To chill: Walruskberg, Captain Colridges Tavern 

Mirage - 6.5/10

The more you hype, the more you’ll be disappointed...

Again the Spider part of the plot was good, the other was  e h

If I’m going to have to talk to another snobby over the top whiny cat I’m going to lose it.

Boochbeard, where is Mr. Gandry?

Bara Snakes.

Istar stop whining about bugs.

Ozzy you’re my best bud in this.

House themed GEAR, APARTMENTS and MOUNTS, but you gotta defeat a 100 enemies before that...

Love the world design though

THE MAGIC CARPET RIDE

Fave Places To chill: Caravan, anywhere you can wander through endless sand

Empyrea 4/10

This is what happens when you throw too many things together

S t a r  T r e k 

Medulla shut up

The idea to have an isle in the eye of a storm is cool though

Zanadu was kinda meh (prob because I remember most of it just happening in a sewer)

That dance session though, Khan rocks

The dwarfes were also kinda meh, just didn’t fit with the concepts of the previous areas 

Cthulu island was also kinda meh

Ending of the first half was literally Batman and although I know “The Bat” and “The cabal” it kinda came out of nowhere...

And then I pretty much lost interest in the world

The Reverie got me again, nice and fresh mechanics.

I will make a seperate rant on the ending, but no... I don’t like it at all and I don’t see Spider forgiving Raven as a good ending

Felt really forced

Hit some bad spots with me...

I thought we could fight Raven??? >:O

Fave Places To chill: Reverie

Arc 4 - idk what is going on

Karamelle ?/10

Ja moin, guten Tag allerseits.

Haven’t gotten there yet, but man, I’m not up for dictator Nana... :T

Spells look pathetic o k

If you try denglish one more time I’m going to lose it

At this point it’s obvious that KI has a thing for german speaking countries related stuff

Sentinel Marshmallows, do I have to say more? 

Other Worlds

Grizzleheim - 8/10

Vikings

Forshadowing of Raven

It’s ok

Grendleweed

Wintertusk - 8/10

Even more Vikings

Grizzleheim 2.0, but everyone is op and crits

You need the spells, but you don’t want to do it

It’s been too long since I’ve last been there

Wysteria - 9/10

The original snob

At least these weren’t a pain to listen to...

Incompetent teachers make incompetent students.

That hall of fame though.

Actually a nice world to quest through

The aesthetic is nice and they kinda got the cooler library compared to Ravenwood, unless I’m missing out on something.

Fave Places To chill: The library

Aquila - 10/10

Birbs

Was a pain in Pirate, is wonderful in Wiz

SKY IRON HASTA

Secret bosses you seldom find people to fight with

Everyone is salty that you’ve beated them and they don’t even try to hide.

Hades got the best estate.

Cerberus was cute until he became a set of floating heads.

Fave Places To chill: Tartarus

Darkmoor - 9.5/10

“Who hits?” - “Everyone” - *person who asked decides to leave the dungeon*

This happened to me 7 times in a row an U G H

People need to calm down their hitter ego

The dungeons are fun the first times, then they are just an annoyance to farm.

Plot is the Ballad Lenore

GO TO REST MALI

Hit in 5 rounds or say bye bye to your blades

No Feints

Catacombs 11/10

D r a g o n s p y r e  L o r e

Valencia, what are you doin there?

Basically KI’s punch in the face of Pirate101 players

“Oh you want an update? Guess you gotta watch how we recycle Valencia in Wiz”

Dragoon gear - Just like Darkmoor, but this time your suffering has a certain end

Also no exp on your quests?

[astrovagant]

Warm Bodies

Title: Warm Bodies Fandom: The Owl House Genre: Found Family / Gen Rating: Kid-friendly Summary: Luz and her friends have a sleepover. A house is not animated this time around. There may be cuddle piles. Notes: Written for a friend’s prompt! :3 Just a cute little fic, probably the cutest thing I’ve ever written TBH.

“I need to run an errand. I’ll be back in a few hours. Luz,” Eda looks down at the aforementioned teenager sitting cross-legged on the living room floor and bouncing in place exuberantly as her fingers tap against her legs, “Can I trust you to not turn Hooty into something even more horrifying than he already is this time?”

“Trust me, Eda! Amity is here this time. And she’s the picture of responsibility. Right Amity?”

The Blight girl blinks as if surprised before humming in agreement, eyes trained on her hands placed primly in her lap in an attempt to avoid eye contact.

“Don’t worry, Eda! We will be on our best behavior,” Willow asserts, nudging the boy who Luz lovingly renamed “Gus” to get his attention. He plasters on a cheesy grin and gives Eda a thumbs-up.

“Well, I guess that’s good enough. Don’t make too much noise, Lilith is sleeping upstairs and does not enjoy being interrupted.”

All four kids nod, varying degrees of seriousness on display at the warning.

“Be safe!” Luz calls as Eda closes the front door with a slam. 

“Keep an eye on them, Hooty,” Eda orders. As she mounts her staff and flies away, she can’t seem to erase the fond smile on her face brought on by the warmth in her chest.

                                                              …

Disregarding the rough way Eda closes the door, Luz looks around at her friends expectantly.

“What do you want to do first? Tell ghost stories? Bake cookies? I have a few things on my sleepover to-do list. Though,” Luz pauses, “Are ghost stories just … normal stories here? I mean everything is supernatural. Hm…”

Willow giggles, “Of course we have ghost stories! Amity, remember that one Emira told us when we were little? You were so scared that night you didn’t sleep a wink!”

Amity flushes, “Willow, we were five. I wouldn’t even tell that story to Gus.”

“Hey,” Gus interjects, “I take offense to that. I’ve heard plenty of ghost stories.”

“Yeah, Amity. Gus isn’t just some little kid. He’s super smart and brave and a great friend. Plus we took on the Bat Queen together. That was some serious business.”

Amity blanches, looking stricken, “Oh no, I didn’t mean it like that, I-”

“It’s okay, Amity,” Luz says, voice soft.

“Yeah,” adds Gus, “I’m not actually mad. Though I don’t appreciate the implication that I’m a baby, so maybe don’t do that in the future?”

“Ah, yes. I understand the struggle of being infantilized,” King says sagely.

“I didn’t mean to say anything rude,” Amity mutters, once again staring down at her lap, “I guess I’m still working on being nicer.”

“Well, you did hang around Boscha and her crowd for a long time. It makes sense to mess up sometimes,” Willow adds.

An awkward silence engulfs the room.

Luz clears her throat, eager to break it, “So… cookies?” 

“What are… cookies?”

“Oh, Amity, you sweet summer child…”

                                                            … 

Two hours later, an empty plate of what was once chocolate chip cookies rests on the living room table. 

Willow stifles a small yawn, “Luz, I know you said you wanted to party all night, but I’m getting kinda tired. Are we going to actually sleep at some point?”

“Oh yeah, of course. Let’s take this party upstairs!”

And that’s how the group finds themselves laying on the floor, sleeping bags arranged in a circle so that they can still talk.

“Seriously Luz, when is Eda going to get you an actual bed?”

Luz frowns, “I don’t know. I asked her a few weeks after I started staying here, but then the whole thing with Belos happened and we kind of got a teensy bit distracted. I wish I had a bed like Eda’s sometimes, though, it’s like this huge nest. It looks cozy, but the sticks might be kind of pokey so I don’t know if it actually is.”

“Why don’t we test it out?” Gus asks, eyes wide, a picture of innocence.

“Uh, I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea,” Luz says, “Eda gets kind of possessive about her belongings.”

“C’mon Luz! It’ll be fun. We’ll be in and out. She’ll never know!”

Luz looks around at her friends. Gus is giving her puppy dog eyes, Willow is wisely staying out of the debate but clearly interested, and even Amity looks a bit like she wants to see Eda the Owl Lady’s fabled nest. For science.

Luz caves.

“Okay,” she says, “But only if we make sure we leave before she comes back. Maybe we can read a book. Amity, did you bring the Azura books? I can read the first one and we can just relax a bit.”

Amity nods, pulling the first book out of her bag.

Clearly excited, it doesn’t take any coaxing at all for everyone to file out of the room, blankets in tow.

Luz opens the door quietly. It lets out a small squeak speaking of a need for oiled hinges. Luz stares reverently down at the nest placed in the far left corner of the room. Tinsel is placed inside of it strategically, making it sparkle just a bit in the moonlight. There are fewer blankets than she would have guessed on the nest, but a few hang onto the edges, snagged on the brambles. Bones and various human wares are tangled in the sticks as well. 

“Shall we?” Luz asks before carefully climbing into the nest. It’s roomy enough for Eda’s owl form to fit comfortably, meaning that it’s the perfect size for four teenagers and a smaller-than-average demon.

Eventually, everyone settles down. It’s surprisingly comfortable given the hardness of the sticks and bones interwoven throughout. One large unfolded sleeping bag is placed beneath the teenagers to form a barrier between the sharp objects and their bodies. Gus, Willow, and Luz are all wedged together, while Amity sits a bit farther away, not quite ready to join the cuddle pile. Luz opens up the book and begins to read.

Slowly, her friends begin to drop off. King is first, laid across her chest, then Gus. Willow falls asleep shortly after. Cautious as Luz was to enter Eda’s room without permission, the softness of Willow’s body against hers and the weight of Gus’ head on her lap is making her drowsy. She barely notices when Amity pulls the book away from her and decides to read aloud in her place. 

She quickly succumbs to sleep, lulled by Amity’s soft voice and the warm feeling of being surrounded by the first real friends she’s ever had.

                                                             ...

Eda has to admit that she’s surprised when she walks into a quiet living room. It’s well past the witching hour, but Luz had said something about “partying until the sun comes up” and Eda would’ve been inclined to believe her. Taking her cloak off, she tiptoes up the stairs, stopping by Luz’s room. She tries to brush off the concern that she feels when she finds it empty. Where could they be? Then she notices the sound of snoring. 

She tilts her head. Is that coming from her room?

Eda’s brief annoyance at the idea of a bunch of teenagers sleeping in her room is dwarfed by the relief that she feels at the fact that she doesn’t have to worry about four half-trained teenagers either having been captured by Belos or roaming the woods in the middle of the night.

Making sure her steps are soft despite her high-heeled boots, she slowly makes her way to her room. The door is open. A strange feeling envelops her when she opens the door and finds Luz and her friends sleeping in her nest. The possessive feeling that she would have expected from seeing someone other than herself sleeping there is nowhere to be found, instead replaced by that warmth from earlier. It heats her bones, still chilled from the outdoors.

The Blight girl jumps from where she was dozing when Eda quietly shuts the door, looking at her warily. Eda gives her a little smirk, nodding towards where Luz, Augustus, Willow, and King lay tangled together.

Slowly, she relaxes as Eda makes her way towards the nest. 

“Room for one more?” Eda whispers. Amity nods, eyes still somewhat wary but weighed down by sleepiness. 

Eda lays down in her nest, surrounded by the warmth of small bodies and the light sound of snoring, and closes her eyes. At least tonight, she can gladly say that everyone she cares about is safe.

And strange as it sounds, she does care about these kids, despite not knowing them for long. And now that she knows what she’s missing, she guesses she can never go back to how tings were before.

She doesn’t think she wants to.

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans Are Space Orcs “Siege.”

Hope you guys enjoy this. I introduce some big implications for the universe, and some other exciting things :) 

Adam’s hands trembled against the bars. Inside his head his heart pounded sending waves of anger like red-hot heat down his back and pulsing all over his body. Inside the cage Vicky’s piteous cries echoed inside his head as she pressed herself up against the bars with a soft moan. Other than her muffled cries, all he could hear was the constant ringing that had risen up inside his head.

A buzzing against his left arm went almost unnoticed. 

Words echoed from the implant by his ear: SOS activated.

He couldn’t have spoken at that moment even if he wanted to. He was so anger that his high brain function had almost completely shut off.

He stepped back for the cage staring at the mechanized lock that kept the cage shut.

This was going to be loud, but he didn’t care. He was already here anyway, and they could just try to stop him.

He paced back one more step before racing forward and slamming the heel of his prosthetic leg into the metal casing of the mechanical lock. 

The augmented limb whirred with mechanical power, and a loud bang erupted around the room as the lock shattered. He grabbed the door with one hand and wrenched it back in anger making his body into a machine.

The door was nearly ripped off its hinges, but he ignored it kneeling down and reaching out. Vicky crawled into his arms resting her strange alien head on his shoulder.

“It’s alright, you’re safe now.”

She mewed and he stepped back turning on the spot. Vicky stuck to his heels as he marched out towards the nearest door. The repurposed steel-eye prosthetic, sensing his elevated heart rate, whirred with power as he stored up the waiting energy.

Overhead sirens began to blare, and red lights flashed causing his skin to pulse with a hellish cast. 

The door before him was thrown open and the two Tesraki from earlier ran into the room followed closely by Sunny despite the attempts to keep her at bay.

“What are you doing!”

“You can’t be in here!”

He ignored their warnings, grabbing one by scarf he wore, clasping the other around the throat and hoisting them into the air choking and sputtering. At their backs Sunny’s eyes were wide in surprise. She scanned the room quickly eyes falling on Vicky.

Her eyes widened.

Adam snarled and hurled the two Tesraki back with the strength and power of a creature twice his size. They hit the ground hard one of them rolling to slam into a wall . The guards that accompanied them lifted their weapons, Adam darted forward grabbing the barrel of one of their weapons, and violently bending it until the barrel was a twisted mass of unusable metal. 

He kicked another one to the side and hurled the next one against the nearby cage.

Sunny grabbed the last one who was just beginning to respond and hurled it across the room with one of her powerful arms. 

Adam kicked open the next door. It wasn’t quite necessary as it ripped the doors nearly off their hinges as he charged into the room. All around them a chattering rose up from massive cages all around the room.

He paused in the opening looking around with wide eyes at the strange scene before him, at all the strange and unusual creatures that he saw. He stopped by the nearest cage eyes scanning over the label as the creature stared at him from the inside. He recognized the face of an Iotin, but the body was covered in a thick layer of fur like the Tesraki. The creature tilted it’s head at hi in curiosity and confusion.

“Adam, what are…. What?

He drew back and with one fist he punched the lock open. It shorted out with sparks, and he opened the cage allowing the confused creature out onto the floor. It looked up at him with confused wide eyes before rubbing it’s head against his arms and then confusedly wandering away.

Walking to the next cage, he looked inside only to find a monstrosity staring back at him. The thing had the face of a human, but its body was a horrific amalgamation of too many arms and too many legs. Still, he kicked the cage door open, and the thing came scuttling out onto the floor.

Each cage held a strange and different creature.

A furry Tvek with large ears, a thing with too many tentacles and too many legs, 

Creatures in all shapes and sizes, most of them confused, some of them barely sentient, no more than animals. With every door he kicked open, more alarms went off until he could hear the rattling of feet overhead.

Groups of Tesraki, Burg, and even human bodyguards ran into the room. They came skidding to a  halt as they did eyes wide. Hundreds of eyes turned to look at them. Weapons were raised towards Adam. And then the room erupted as hundreds of shapes moved forward. The attack was a little less than what one might have expected seeing as most of the creatures were young and unsure, but the guards had no time to react as they were covered in a pile of bodies.

As resourceful as humans are, one of them managed to make it through, but was immediately met by Adam’s waiting first.

Adam Hit him so hard that he was knocked unconscious hitting the floor with a muted thud. 

Adam shouldered his way through the next door and onto the factory floor where scientists were already being chased and besieged.

An adaptid with neon green carapace was chasing one of the scientists around the growing tubes. It was no larger than a big dog, and clearly had no idea what it was doing, but the scientist wasn’t to know that and continued to scream at the top of their lungs.

Adam ran across the floor  and shouldered his way through the next door as pandemonium erupted behind him. He found himself in a large hallway with large steel doors, like prison cells.

Peering through the window his eyes widened. The creatures in here were much, much bigger.

He looked at the label on the cage before him Drev/Celzex.

Looking through the window he was met with an absolutely massive eye. He stepped back for the door. The Celzex must have been an upwards of ten feet tall.

He paused  then shrugged turning to punch the security pad until it shorted out and the door opened. His knuckles were bleeding but he ignored it.

The door opened, and he stepped back as the massive fuzzy creature took a tentative step out of the door.

It was just as cute colorful and fuzzy as it’s smaller counterparts, however it absolutely dwarfed both him and Sunny, who stood behind him with a wide-eyed expression on her face.

“Go on, be free.” Adam ordered 

The massive Celzex blinked slowly at him before it’s eyes suddenly narrowed. Adam turned and barely managed to jump to the side as the Celzex went thundering down the hall full tilt towards a group of guards who had just poured into the rear hallway. They screamed and were knocked aside like bowling pins.

Adam moved to the next compartment: human/adaptid .

He was worried what he might find when he looked through the door , and was both surprised and horrified when the creature turned to look at him. It’s face and upper body were that of a child no older than maybe eight or nine years old, but it’s lower half….like a fuzzy spider.

He stepped away in surprise.

A small hand reached out to him, and the face was twisted in to a horrible expression of pain and sadness.

He elbowed the console this time, and the door hissed open.

The creature came scuttling out into the hall with a wide-eyed expression.

When he spoke to it, it only stared at him before scampering away in another direction after a screaming group of guards.

Adam moved to the next cage eyes closed not sure what he expected to see.

This creature looked like a strange dinosaur with two legs, a long tail, and strangely large bat ears tesraki/randi. When he opened the cage, the thing went running out across the floor to join the fray..

They made their way into the last room with Sunny at his back.

The doors to the floor were open here, and they looked out into absolute chaos. The centaur spider was chasing one of the scientists around the floor screaming at the top of its lungs, but as it passed one of the test tubes, it stopped and pressed a tender hand against the glass, “Baby.” It said before turning and pelting off back after the scientist.

The massive Celzex sat in the center of the room as tons of tiny animals surrounded it cuddling against its thick fur.

It would have been cute if he wasn’t so angry.

“Over here.’

He paused in surprise turning his head this way and that trying to find the source of the noise. Sunny paused with him also confused.

“The last door.”

The voice did not appear to be coming from the last door. In fact, he couldn’t tell where it was coming from, but still he moved forward and paused at the opening to the door looking down at the label.

Human/Starborn.

He stepped back a bit shocked suddenly as a face appeared in the bars, all pale white with wide black eyes and billowing black hair.

He stepped back.

“Let me out, I can help you.”

He glanced over at Sunny whose eyes were wide.

“You can hear her?” he asked 

Sunny nodded.

He busted the lock and pulled the door open. Footsteps sounded and a shape appeared from the darkness. The creature that appeared looked almost human except for her paper white skin and completely black eyes. Dark hair spilled down her naked shoulders. He couldn’t have said how old she was, but it couldn’t have been very old, could it.

Limp white ribbons trailed from her back and onto the floor.

She smiled at him, and when she did he could see a full set of human teeth.

“Thank you, commander.” 

She leaned in a little kissing him lightly on the cheek, “I will take it from here. You have done a wonderful job.”

He stood dumbfounded, rooted to the spot as she stepped out onto the floor trailed by a hundred ribbons like the train of a white wedding dress.

She raised a hand and inside their heads they heard, “Now don’t hurt anyone too badly, we still need them.” The Chaos turned to order as the ethereal creature gave orders projecting her thoughts to the mind of every creature in the room.

Commander Vir let her take over pushing his way through the next set of doors and up towards the administration building.

Some of the creatures had made it out into the hallways, but they were still receiving instructions from somewhere, and their movements were orderly. They stepped by as he passed into the next room labeled the nursery.

The two of them looked around, and there is where they found the human.Drev human/tesraki and human/Finnari hybrids comfortably curled up in baby incubators monitored by robotic nurses where the others had been locked in cages.

Adam’s face twisted in an angry snarl as he stalked through the room Vicky still pressed tightly to his side. Scrambling could be heard on the other side of the door, and he icked it open to find the two Tesraki scrambling to find an escape. One of them was limping badly, and the other one was holding the back of his head from where they had hit the wall.

Upon seeing him they backed away, “What have you done!”

“My job.”

“What job.”

“My job as fleet commander of the UNSC. Honestly you idiots are dumber than a box of rocks. We didn’t even change our fucking names. I dyed my hair blue, and she’s wearing nail polish.” he stalked closer, “How dare you use the adaptids like this.” The two Tesraki backed away into a corner.

Adam loomed over them his hands balled into fists, “This is beyond unethical. This is disgusting.’

He leaned forward, “Now tell me what you are doing. I give you five seconds, or else I am going to drag you downstairs, and have that starborn hybrid rip it out of your heads.

They whimpered and mewled at his feet.

“We needed the adaptids.”

“Why!”

They cowered, “Because, because you can’t hybridize without them, the DNA just doesn’t fit. Some of them don’t even have DNA to take genetic information from . The Adaptids are the only ones who can take any genetic material and repurpose it. If we try to do it manually there are always horrific problems. Hybrids are impossible without harvesting from the Adaptids.”

“You mean ripping them apart.”

“Well…. We we try not-”

“I saw what you were doing!” he snarled leaning closer “Do you understand just who you have crossed ?”

They mewled but didn’t answer.

He motioned down at Vicky, “you see her she is one of only six hybrids in existence that should have ever been created, and she is mine so… in essence.” He loomed even more forcibly until the two Tesraki were pressed back against the wall huddled together under his shadow, “You hurt my kid. Do you understand what happens when you hurt a human’s kid?”

They trembled and mewled even more violently.

Adam leaned closer, “You hurt a human’s kid, and you may as well be signing your own death warrant.”

They squealed as the human lifted them off the ground raising them into the air again.

Sunny reached out a hand, “Adam!”

Just then the windows to the facility began to rattle. Through the windows the two of them watched as a fleet of shuttles roared over the distant landscape and came to a stop just outside the facility.

Doors were thrown open and marines thundered down ramps in full gear.

The doors to the front of the building were thrown open.

From down the hall they could hear voices, “Get on the ground!”

“Stay where you are!”

“Alpha 1 this is Ramirez, following tracking signal to last reported location.” Boots thundered down the hall, and the door burst open as three marines spilled into the room their weapons up guns ready, “On the ground all of you!” Ramirez shouted.

Sunny raised her hands.

“Hold off Corporal, it’s us.” 

Ramirez pulled to the stop, “What the fuck happened to you, did you run into a staple gun?”

“Not now Ramirez.” 

He paused eyes looking down at the Adaptid that hunchedat his feet, “is that?”

“Yes.”

“Shit.”  he turned to the radio at his mouthpiece, “Someone get the GA on the line, sweep the building gather everyone up.”

“Leave the hybrids be.”

“Commander says to leave the hybrids alone.”

He dropped the comm and turned to his commander, “Put them down sir, we should let the GA deal with them.”

Adam’s hands shook with anger and his face twisted into a snarl. He clearly did not want to put them down, but lhe knew what was right. The Tesraki pleaded with him. His hands tightened around their throats, and they egan to choke.

“Commander, this isn’t you.”

His arms were shaking.

A hand came down on his shoulder.

“Adam…. Let them go.” Sunny’s soft voice cut through his anger, and finally he dropped them to the ground crumpling at his feet in a heap.

“Get them out of my sight!”

Two of the marines moved forward and dragged the Tesraki out.

Adam turned, and with his hands balled into fists, he stepped out the door and into the hallway where groups of marines were leading rumpled looking scientists and dazed security guards up the Stairs.

He turned as he heard three little voices calling his name up the hall. He turned just in time to see three adaptids racing up the hall with a very bedraggled looking German Shepherd following after. The spiderlings raced forward pulling to a stop in surprise as Vicky peeked out behind his legs.

“Sister!” They announced in unison pushing past him to her.

The dog let off a long, low sigh.

Krill followed after with Conn, “I told you that tracking device would come in handy, though we need a much faster response time next time.”

Adam ignored the smug little alien and turned on his heels making his way down the stairs to where the starborn hybrid was still conducting the raid pointing the marines in the direction of those people trying to hide or escae.

She turned when they entered the room her dark hair billowing around her face, her dark eyes glittering like the smooth black carapace of a beetle. The ribbons fanned out behind her. Conn almost seemed surprised and frowned when she looked at him.

“Say those rude things to me again, and I will broadcast your deepest darkest secrets to the entire city.” She said turning away and cowing their grumpy starborn companion, “Do not worry commander the GA is on their way.”

“Who are you, what are you?”

She turned, smiling, though her eyes were more than a little disconcerting, “I am Eris. The first successful hybrid to be born at this factory. I was made with the idea to start building an indestructible army. The little spider child scuttled up beside her wrapping its hands around her arm. She pointed to the child, “We were prototypes for the original designs, though our production was put on hold when there was a demand for the cute cuddly hybrids.”

“How old are you?” He wondered 

She smiled, “For the reckoning of yours, Less than two years, though my connection to the minds of others has cased me to age very, very quickly. My body aged as well thanks to intervention from the scientists.” She brushed some of her ribbons back, “This knowledge must be destroyed commander. The sentient races cannot be trusted.”

“You are sure.”

“There is always someone out there willing to make profit off of our creation.” She reached down and brushed the hair back from the spider child’s face, “Some of us cannot be loved by others, and that is no life to live. I do not care, who wants a cute hybrid baby. They are part of the problem, and this practice must end with us.’

“I understand.’

She smiled, “You are an honorable man, commander.”  She reached out to touch his hand, “You deserve the world for what you have done for us…. I hope you can also discover the happiness you have been refusing to allow for yourself.”

For the second time that day, he found himself rooted to the floor as she glided away holding the hand of the spider-child.

Conn chuckled inside his head, but otherwise was silent.

What did she mean? 

[starkeaton]

the adventure zone: graduation character list

Well, i accidentally deleted the original graduation character list post, so here i am making another one. Oops. And as always, if anyone has important details i should add then feel free to suggest them!

Here are all the characters introduced in episodes 1-25. Named characters only!

Also i can’t hide spoilers! So, um..... I can’t put spoilers on this one. If you need the version with spoilers try this version of the post that i made on the adventure zone subreddit but youre not missing out on much.

# -EPISODE 1- (19 characters)

Hieronymous Wiggenstaff (he/him): Head of the Hero/Villain school. at least 400 years old. wears shining blue armor with gold accents. also an elf. according to Tomas, he led the charge at the "battle of blood valley", brought the Kingdoms of Rickart and Dawnbreak to a peace treaty, and founded the school. a little boastful, a little prideful, [SPOILERS OMITTED], and overall a pretty good dude.

Higglemas Wiggenstaff (he/him): Head of the Sidekick/Henchperson annex, cranky old elf. has a dog named hero who shows no signs of anything strange at all, ever. 

Gary (he/him): friendly room gargoyle. pseudo-hivemind.

Groundsy (he/him): the groundskeeper. a pretty nice fellow. don't go in his shed.

Hernandez (he/him): beautiful centaur professor of animal handling.

Jimson (he/him): human battlegrounds trainer for sidekicks/henchpeople, world famous featherweight champion, wields a staff. married to crushman.

Crushman (he/him): silver dragonborn with a sickle, and self-described beefy boy! heavyweight blood champion married to jimson. never lost a match for 8 years. full name Frostus Crushman.

Rolandus Fontaine (he/him): former prince, son of deposed king, kind of an asshole, maybe. wears a cape (important detail)

Zana (she/her): "terrifying" tiefling villain sorcerer, friend of rolandus. barkept the test tavern in ep2

Rhodes (she/her): hero ranger, friend of rolandus.

Buckminster Eden (he/him): hero guy. son of "The Iron Lord". their dad is stronger than rolandus's dad. his wiki page says rogue so i think hes a rogue? i never caught that and ive listened more times than i wish i did

Leon (he/him): softspoken buff, bald "fighter" (although i dont remember any clarification on how exactly he fights), sidekick of buckminster, around 28. anyone else keep forgetting he's bald? i keep forgetting it. >!gets sorta-drafted into becoming a falcon for higglemas and so far hasn't done much else.!<

Rainer Michelle (she/her): cheerful villainous necromancer with a floating chair. also, her name is pronounced "rainier" despite not being confirmed as such? travis ships her with fitzroy.

Tomas (he/him): human man with "kind eyes" and a good (psychic???) memory. guidance counselor.

Stewart LeBoeuf (he/him): brawny human man. serves food. there is no joke here, i promise

Mulligan (he/him): teaches potions. mentioned but doesn't appear yet. and we're like 25 episodes in. maybe we'll see him someday

Germaine, Victoria, Rattles (he/him,she/her,???/???): Skeleton crew. They live in the training room i guess, and as a result can never die, because "no one dies in the training room!" (note: someone now HAS to die in the training room). also their races are never explicitly stated but i guess they're probably human? in episode 3 travis brings up something about how many bones are in "the human body" and at this point i think i'm looking too deep into this so i'll just forget about it and you probably should too.

# -EPISODE 2- (9 characters)

Riveau (he/him): halfling, blame-taking teacher.

Mimi (they/them): gnome sidekick who builds cool robot prosthetics

Bartholemus (he/him): owl aarakocra accountant teacher, known for being the best accountant in the land and having a face some might describe as "smoochable". very pro capitalist :’( hope he gets better

Ramos (she/her): goliath teacher of shieldwork. *

Dip (she/her): sidekick, half-orc twin of pip

Pip (she/her): hero, half-orc twin of dip

Festo (they/them): fairy with "beautiful gossamer wings", independent study teacher of magic, loves to party

Snippers (he/him?): Let me tell you my story about Snippers the magic crab. When Travis gave the list of animals that Griffin could choose as Fitzroy's familiar's current form, he listed crab near the start, and this gave me excitement. Now i knew that crab was pretty unlikely but god i hoped that he would choose it. When the list went on- Bat, Cat, Crab, Frog, Hawk, Lizard, Owl, Poisonous Snake, Fish, Rat, Raven, Seahorse, Spider or Weasel- I nearly lost hope. I was hoping so hard that Griffin would choose the crab, but i was ready to accept a non-crab familiar. It was just buried in that list. It wasn't the most useful animal and it was an obscure pick. And as Travis informed him that it didn't have to keep the form for the whole campaign, Griffin said those five words i wanted to hear so, so badly. "Well then it's a crab." Folks, I do not often react physically when something happens in media. But in that moment, i remember very clearly, i fist-pumped and yelled, "YES!!!!!!"

so anyway, Fitzroy has a crab.

Jackle (he/him): kenku teacher of sneakery. creepy dude. apparently knows something about argo? also his name is not spelled "jackal" for some reason. Also in later episodes theyve started calling him "The Jackle" for some reason??? *

# -EPISODE 3- (1 character)

Dakota (they/them): tavern instructor, clad in black/red leather. no race stated? probably human. *

# -EPISODE 4- (6 characters)

Gerry & Tom (she/her, he/him): shopkeepers at barns and nobles who seem to have very bad names. also constantly competing for customers? these guys got dropped faster than the heathcliff quests, which is honestly just sad.

Barb (she/her): the bartender. runs Springs Eternal in Last Hope. has a sweet seeing-eye hawk familiar. 

Jaryd Reginald (he/him): owner of Reginald Ore. Wants the workers to be held responsible for the damage caused by the xorn. (fun fact: originally i wrote down "Jerrod" because i wanted it to sound like a fantasy name, then realized it was probably "Jared" because theyre named after listeners, but i was pleased to find it confirmed that it's actually "Jaryd")

Candice (she/her): A Miner. thought those werent allowed in bars but, i guess not. Wants the mine owner to be held responsible for the xorn's damage.

Jade Johnson Esq. (she/her): lawyer.

# -EPISODE 5- (1 character)

Xorn: a big hungry gem eating guy from the plane of earth Low-Down Deep with 3 arms and 3 legs. why did travis just say "multi-armed" instead of specifying it was 3? who knows! Anyway it leaves

# -EPISODE 6- (3 characters)

Osric (he/him): the man, the myth, the bursar. finally shows up after being mentioned in episodes 2 and 4. he's an elf. 

breeze through the willows (she/her): Pegasus attacked by demons, lost her parents. introduced in ep1 but gets a name here so fuck it. also in ep>!16!< we find out shes a "white arabian pegasus" and i dont think thats a spoiler bc we shouldve really known it from the beginning

Sabor (he/him): Librarian/research teacher. also a TORTLE. Really good at recalling stuff, i guess. kinda reminds me of Tomas's memory thing but i'm sure that's just a coincidence... *

# -EPISODE 7- (1 character)

Mosh (he/him): The goliath blacksmith who welcomes argo into the unbroken chain. Also, and this is specific to the tumblr version of this post, all the characters with an * at the end of their descriptions are also members of the unbroken chain. if someone knows how to do spoilers on tumblr please tell me

# -EPISODE 8-

:)

# -EPISODE 9- (2 characters)

Eeiïäá#æ&éñn (pronounced like "Ian") (he/him?): an imp but without a shitty voice. also happens to not be violent. what a coincidence?

Terence (he/him): a chain devil with a real demonic name. minor boss of the imps. very convincing and very threatening. has the frightening ability to make you zone out during his fight

# -EPISODE 10- (2 characters)

Althea Song (she/her): elf with autumn-orange hair. representative from heroic oversight guild. i'd like to personally thank travis for spelling her name out.

Crabtree (she/her): Artificing teacher. Long gray hair with a long grey beard. no mentioned race, one might guess dwarf but that would be an assumption i suppose. also unbroken chain member, presumably the dwarf argo didn't recognize in episode 7.

# -EPISODE 11- (3 characters)

Marie (she/her): Grey-haired elf woman. She's the school's physician, i guess. Member of the unbroken chain.

Dendra Maplecourt (she/her): Fitzroy's mom. Has hot mint gum, i guess. She was mentioned earlier but i wasn't convinced she was a real person until this episode

Cool Gary (he/him): AYY ITS ME GARYR

# -EPISODE 12-

no new characters again!

# -EPISODE 13- (7 characters hhhyyyuu)

Kale (???/???): Head of the Placement Department, in charge of real world assignments. First mentioned in Ep4 but i missed that the last few times bc it is so brief. Gives exposition about missions i guess????? is that the only reason this chara cter exists

satyr thief (unnamed) (he/him): tries to rob thundermen, dies instantly

Ogre (he/him): teamed up with the satyr. his name is ogre.

Moon (he/him): A Sidekick. small pale sullen guy. no mentioned race. Why is there another FUCKING sidekick WE HAD ENOUGH hhhyuuuuuu

Deanna (she/her): A bigoted centaur with an obnoxious voice. Malwin the Strong's second in command.

Malwin the Strong (she/her): Leader of the centaurs of the scarlet woods. Wants to appease the spirit of the scarlet woods so that thecentaurs of the scarlet woods will be protected in the scarlet woods. Had a relationship with Arturas in the past but their clashes are currently known to get pretty heated.

Arturas (he/him): Leader of the Centaurs of the Valley, i guess. Had a relationship with Malwin. Centaur. Did i mention centaur? i cant think of anything else about this character

# -EPISODE 14- (2 characters)

Calhain (he/him): Human wizard, Malwin's magical advisor. Kind of an amateur wizard in a job high above his skill level. Graduated Wigginstaff's as a hero.

Spirit of the Scarlet Woods: A spirit who requires sacrifice in order to keep Malwin's herd safe and prosperous. Not keen on dubiously canonical combos, i guess. i wouldnt be either. also apparently the sacrifice depends on personal value, not how much value it has to the spirit.

# -EPISODE 15- (2 characters)

Sylvia Nite (she/her): Fitzroy's magic theory teacher at knight night school, who he turned into a catfish by accident. oops!

Chaos (they/them, maybe more): Presumably a deity, gave Fitz his powers and wants him to give in to his chaotic desires. (physical desc: 9 foot tall, iridescent 'mother of pearl' skin, pure white eyes, fine burgundy cloak with gold/onyx lining. their physical form beyond that seems to change every time they show up.)

# -EPISODE 16-

none -w-

# -EPISODE 17-

some demins happened. the big dudes are called "Pit Fiends" and the armored demon ladies are called "Erinyes", by the way. that was incredibly hard for me to figure out the first time, especially without headphones, i thought travis was saying "pig feet" and i just could not discern what the other things were

# -EPISODE 18- (6 characters)

snow on the mountain: shire horse pegasus

storm at sea: peruvian paso pegasus, vehement defender of The Guardian. doesn't have a goofy voice.. but he could have....

thaw of the spring: a winged horse

night of no clouds: a winged hhorse

The Guardian: "An ancient and powerful being that guards the unknown forest." Has protected the flock from demons for many many years. apparently is the voice that was talking to our firbolg in episode 1?

Grey, the Demon Prince (he/him): wants to cause a war, originally wanted to kill hiero and higgs, forces the heroes to build an army to fight his. As "Fauxronimous", he has skin the *color and pattern of* (but not necessarily made of) slate splashed with liquid, pointed ears, sharp teeth, shining eyes, horns of unspecified shape. 12 fucking feet tall. wonder if the slate-looking skin is related to garys. plot twist detected? Also i recently looked at the episode descriptions and found out his name is spelled "Gray", but really does it truly matter?

# -EPISODE 19- (2 characters)

Shabree Keene (she/her): Argo's mom, killed on the Mariah, possibly by the Commodore. Long auburn hair, green eyes. Mentioned earlier but described here, so fuck it.

**Thomas** (he/him): Argo's first mate on the Mariah, as the Kraken, in his chaos-dream. may or may not actually exist.

# -EPISODE 20- (1 character)

The Commodore (he/him): Reknowned hero of the seas, military regalia, great naval hero, presumably responsible for the death of Shabree Keene. No mentioned race. Seriously, they never mention this guy's race. The only thing described about him is how he's dressed and his evil smile. Does that mean he's human? Elf? Dwarf??? Who knows! maybe it just doesnt matter. 

# -EPISODE 21-

none

# -EPISODE 22-

not any of them. not any.

# -EPISODE 23- (1 character)

Ozymondelius (sp???) (it/its): A warforged teacher who just so happens to like war or something? i guess its in the name. only mentioned in this episode, doesnt show up yet.

# -EPISODE 24-

they have a fight in the training room but nobody dies :\\ maybe next time. also no new characters. pog

# -EPISODE 25- (4 characters)

Gherkin (he/him): Tall lankier skeleton, has a scimitar and a merkin, which is a pubic wig... and he wears a jerkin? which i guess is a kind of coat? also i think hes mute 

Tibia (she/her?) : Shorter skeleton with gold teeth, and long canines. i think both of the skeletons are mute actually.

The Lich King aka Gordy (he/him): Rainer's dad. Commands armies of the undead. lives in The Crypt. described as a hooded, skull-faced man with intricate black lines on his face, but changes to a shaved-head man with dark skin and vetiligo. Abandoned as a babby, raised by traveling parents, had necromancy powers, took Rainier in. Not actually very scary at all i don't know why he did the creepy laugh. Kind of a warm fatherly figure actually. hm. also people are speculating Gordy might be short for Gordita and his parents are maybe supposed to be lup and barry but THAT S JUST A THEORY.

our firbolg's father (he/him): A firbolg who lived by the code and was there when our firbolg was banished. Came to respect our firbolg's interest in a new way of life, in his final moments.

TOTAL: 72 NPCS! (well, including 2 extra PCs, i guess.)

Average: 2.88 NPCs per episode.

i was gonna not include the bone-PCs and have it be 69 but our firbolg's dad was just too important to not respect with a spot on the list.

anyway as always make sure to smack me with a blunt object if i forgot any characters!!!!!

[moskaisley]

migraine pt.3 | chronic

gif: @logan-solo​

rating: mature

word count: 3k

warnings: cursing, suggestive language, fluff but also ANGST, jealous!mando aka my favorite kind 

a/n: this literally took so long to write bc i basically changed the last half of this fic, but i’m rly happy with the results. there was a lot i wanted to include about life before din left, and i thought i’d put them in separate like one shots, but i figured that it would be include in the main story too. this is basically like an anime recap episode LMAO. enjoy!! thanks for the love <3

summary:

“But slowly and languidly, there was a sense of tenderness that began to bleed into the crevices of your daily lives.”

When you and the Mandalorian existed in another time, another place. 

parts 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

ao3 link / masterlist

Dreams these days never really consisted of anything new. Old memories played in your head like a holovid, both the good and the bad. Tonight, they were filled with him. 

In the beginning, the two of you never really acknowledged what it was. 

You fucked only a few more times after the cockpit. Business always came first, of course, and sex wasn’t a regular occurrence. But when the tension (often mixed with the adrenaline of bounty hunting) became too much to handle, you were all over each other. Most of the time, you were in either of each other’s bunks, and you only did it in the cockpit when you couldn’t bother to go down the ladder. At first, you chalked it up to strictly satisfying physical needs. With the two of you in such close quarters, it only made sense. The aftermath often involved getting dressed and cleaned up in silence. There would be an occasional joke or two, but the discussion usually steered itself towards the next mission. 

But slowly and languidly, there was a sense of tenderness that began to bleed into the crevices of your daily lives. Your hands would linger on each other longer. He seemed to loosen up around you, joke around and indulge you in conversation. It was such a stark contrast to his menacing, stoic warrior demeanour he used when rounding up bounties.

Once, you found yourself too distracted and flustered to even spar with him.

“At this rate, you’ll never win a match against me,” he poked, legs straddling your waist as he pinned your arms down

“Oh, shut up,” you huffed, irritated. He had won against you using the same move, twice. 

You’d never tell him, but your eyes were definitely indulging over the build of his body, imagining the way his bare muscles flexed or his lips moved against yours. 

Squirming against him, you hiss, “Off, Mando.”

He chuckles and your chest tightens. I bet his real voice sounds like heaven.

“I dunno, I think I like you like this.”

He studies you under him, helmet tilting sideways watching your chest heave up and down. A wave of heat washes over you at the thought of tearing off his mask and pulling him down for a kiss. Mando lightly laughs again and you swear you’re going to fucking lose it.

“I think you like it too.”

With all your strength, you bring your knee into the small of his back, knocking him forwards as you twist to launch him off of you. After shuffling up to stand, you spin on your heels and march away, embarrassed at how he’s got you flushed and smiling like an idiot schoolgirl. 

He’s still groaning in pain when he calls to you, “Done already?”

You stumble on a witty response, “You’re the worst!”

Smooth.

--

You weren't the only one losing their cool. Mando became a lot more defensive of you in those days; you nearly killed him once because he kept trying to cover you from blaster fire. He even started a bar fight for you. 

You hated the stares you received by virtue of being around him; traveling with him always meant that being unassuming was impossible. Normally, people would avert their eyes. If you were particularly lucky, a poor soul would try and push the Mandalorian’s buttons, not realizing they’re digging their own graves. One day, however, you’d hit the jackpot when they decided to  target you. 

You sat across from him in a booth, patiently waiting for the quarry to pass through; you took the side facing the door while he was turned away, taking advantage of the element of surprise. Out of the corner of your eye, three drunk bumbling idiots stumbled from the opposite end of the bar. Despite your stealthy gaze, one of them locked eyes with you, and when you saw his lips curl into a disgusting smile, you knew you were in for it. 

The man you saw and sauntered over to your side of the chair. His friends shuffled behind him like dogs, and he practically beamed when he saw Mando, seemingly nonchalant.

“My my, Mando! You’ve got quite the catch here,” he says, undressing you with his eyes, “Where’d he buy a thing like you, baby?”

Are you fucking serious?

You cocked an eyebrow and shot him a glare in response, but remained quiet. You turn back to your view on the door, praying to Maker that he’d leave you alone. But the man didn’t let up.

Instead, he turns to your partner inquiring,

“How good of a lay is she, huh, Mandalorian? Bet she’d be a real treat for me and my boys” his men move a little closer to corner you both, “How much to take her off your hands?”

Can a girl just exist?

“I’m not for sale,” you snarl, voice tight. A dull pain begins to echo in your temples.

“So she speaks,” Your irritation only seemed to egg him on, “C'mon darlin’ let us take care of you. I promise I’m good for it.”

Your fingers were itching towards your blades, but you were still waiting on the quarry to enter the cantina. A scene would scare him away and you would lose your money and time.

Business comes first. 

At least, that’s what you thought.

Mando’s voice cut through your exchange, “Get lost, she said she’s not interested.”

“Now, that’s not what we heard, was it boys?” His men laugh in agreement behind him. His eyes turn dark as he goes to place a hand on your shoulder, “The lady can speak for herself. I think we can negotia-”

A blaster shot whizzes by your ears before you can even think to fight back against him. Mando, ever the gunslinger, shoots again towards his leg, knocking him onto the floor.

And then the whole bar descends into chaos. 

Drunkards pile on top of each other as tensions crescendo; the sound of a single shot has everybody up in arms. Your migraine only grows in intensity as the situation spirals out of control. To top it off, amidst the chaos, you see the quarry a few paces away. His eyes were wide watching the shitshow before him, and in a panic, he scurried back out the door.

You’d caught him eventually, but not without traversing the entire underground marketplace that stretched under the city. By the time he was in carbonite and you were both in the cockpit, your irritation boiled over.

“Are you insane, Din?” You fumed, “When did you get so careless? We nearly lost him!”

He simply looked at you as if you knew the answer, but his silence only fueled your exasperation.

“Fine, don’t talk to me,” you grumbled, throwing your hands in the air, “I’ll be in the refresher.”

You turned to leave, but his gloved hand suddenly gripped your upper arm, spinning you into his chest. It was then that you realized how much bigger he was, dwarfing you in his arms as he rubbed the space above your elbows. 

“He was gonna touch you,” Mando’s voice was low, bordering on a growl.

Oh. The air in the room shifts dramatically.

You take a shaky breath, your voice quieting down to a whisper, “And if he did?”

The gloved hands on your arms squeeze like a vice grip. Your heart swells.

“He’d have a hole in his head.”

Your expression softens before your lips spread into a sly smile. You move as close as you can, eyes boring into the black space of his visor.

“Tell me something,” you swallow hard as you gingerly move his hands to your waist and trace your fingertips over his breastplate. Mando’s breathing is ragged through his vocoder, and you relish in his excitement. You bat your eyelashes a few times before peering up at him.

“How good of a lay am I, Mandalorian?”

His fingers dig deeper into your sides before pulling you even closer, erection already stiffening against you. He groans out a response, “Let’s find out.”

--

There were little things that warmed your heart, too. When you were stuck in your bunk with a migraine, he never let you get up to do anything by yourself. He brought you water and food and he took extra care in opening the door so no light was let in and he wasn’t too loud. When you could tell he was dozing off in hyperspace, you forced him to go to bed. If he was particularly stubborn, you shoved him into the co-pilot’s chair and covered him with a blanket. Sometimes, if you came across a market with a few extra credits, you’d cook him a real meal, leagues better than the shitty ration packs you normally partook in. 

And then, there was the first time he kissed you.

You were strolling through a bazaar before a job when you stopped at a produce stand, excitedly picking up a fuzzy white peach from the box.

“I haven’t eaten one of these since I was a teenager,” you say, bringing up it to your nose and sniffing, “They smell amazing. We should get some later.”

Much to your chagrin, the job went south that day. You were so frustrated and angry that you’d completely forgotten about it, caked in mud and grime demanding to go straight back to the Razor Crest.

Holed up in your bunk and fresh out the shower, you were clad in only a long sleeve shirt and underwear when you heard him knock. When you opened the door, you were surprised to see  the fiercest hunter in the parsec standing before you with a plate of peaches from the market, sliced neatly into little wedges.  

Mando sat with you on your bed as he watched you eat; you told him about how the fruit used to grow on trees in your family’s orchard in the summer. Though you acted like you were sick of them, you always ate it when you were upset. You smiled at the memory of your adolescence, silently cutting up the fruit into wedges and eating them outside during dawn, right after your first break up with some boy.

You were so caught up in the memory that you nearly jumped when Mando leaned in and took your chin in his right hand. His finger traced over the side of your lips, and your heart raced in your chest. 

“Sorry, it’s just,” he uttered, “It was going to drip on your chin.”

You would’ve thought he’d lit your body on fire. Your core ached and you suddenly couldn’t breathe. When he began to pull back, it felt like instinct to grab his wrist and keep his hand near your face. You leaned into his touch, pressing a chaste kiss to his thumb. 

You began to crawl across your bunk to him when he stopped you, “Wait.”

Mando stood, and closed the door and shut the lights off. Darkness enveloped you both, and you called out to him, “Din?” His voice cut through the inky dark, “Can you see anything?”

You hear him shuffle, as he stands in front of you, “I dunno, can I?”

“Y/N,” he urged, impatient.

“No, Din. I can’t see.”

And then you hear the air hiss, and metal clanging to the floor. Realization hit like a meteor crash.

He took it off.

You panic immediately.

“Din, wait! What are you doi-”

You shut up the instant his hands cup your face and his lips are on yours.

And it felt delightful, better than any kiss you’d ever had. Your eyes flutter shut as you deepen the kiss. Your arms go to wrap around his neck, and you pull him even closer, elated at the way his soft hair feels in between your fingers. You were sure that he could taste the sweet, tangy peach on your tongue. When he pulls away for air, your face feels flushed with heat and you could feel your swollen lips.

You’re in a daze, “You kissed me.”

He laughs and you hear it. His real voice. No distortion. No modulator. 

“I did.”

He does sound like an angel.

“Do it again.”

--

When it all broke apart, it wasn’t like the steady, dawdling way you fell in love. The break was quick and it stung worse than any migraine. 

“What do you think?”

You walked around the cockpit, tracing your fingers over the controls. “Why? You thinking of an upgrade?” You shoot Mando a smile. He doesn’t seem amused, “It’s nice, I guess. Smaller, though. We already have a tough time fitting together in the Razor Crest.”

You’d been on Nevarro for a few days, having finally finished your last job. Instead of going back to the Crest, however, Mando took you to a shipyard and aboard an empty cruiser. The Slipstream’s windows were big and were much cleaner, but space was still an issue even if you and Din didn’t carry much.

You turn to him expecting a response, but he only says, “Let’s go.”

“Wait, Mando,” you reach for his shoulder, “What is this about? I don’t understand. Why are we here?”

He doesn’t stop to answer, “I said, let’s go.”

You let out a huff as you followed him out of the cockpit. Ever since you landed, Mando’s behavior had flipped like a switch. Your friendly talks had been reduced to one-sided exchanges. He’d been ignoring you, cold like the beskar he donned on his back. 

“Mando!”

He kept walking down the loading ramp. His terrible attitude had made your blood simmer for a while, and now it was all boiling over. 

You stomp forwards, stopping at the entrance to the hull and shout. 

“Din, stop!”

And he does, but he doesn’t turn around.

You’re fuming, “What is your problem? You’ve been in a shitty mood ever since we got here and frankly I-” You’re interrupted by something flying towards you, instinct having you catch in your hands. It’s a small silver device. Code sets, for what could only be the ship you’re currently standing on.

The dots begin to chaotically connect in your head, “What the hell is this?”

“It’s the -”

“No, Din. I know what this fucking thing is,” You’re seething with panic and rage as you hold up the silver box, “I mean, what are you doing?”

He only stares up at you, the mask emotionless and frigid. The reality of the situation was crashing into you like waves; you were begging to any god that this was just a fucked up nightmare. Tears were stinging in your eyes, threatening to pool and pour over. 

You hated how your voice cracked, “Answer me!”

“I’m leaving you, Y/N.”

Fuck. Hearing him say it out loud made your gut wrench. 

You made an audible sob; you couldn’t control it. Shuffling to the bottom of the ramp, you’re desperate to try and connect to him, bring him back to you. The questions spill from your lips.

“Why? What did I even do? What’s wrong?” You bring your hands up, cupping the sides of his helmet. You whisper through your cries, “Din, please.”

You know. You feel it in your bones. You know he feels it too. 

He gently holds your wrists, “We can’t do this anymore.”

“Can’t we talk about this?” You plead, “I know something’s wrong, you gotta let me in.”

“Y/N, please don’t make this harder than it already is,” he chides, pulling your hands away from his helmet. Your heart feels like it’s in freefall when he turns around to continue walking.

You try to scramble forward to pull him back but to your horror, you’re met with the barrel of a blaster. The noise that roars through your ears sounds like shattering glass. You gape at him, a mixture of shock and disbelief contorting your features. The figure that stood before you was unrecognizable. Because it wasn’t Din, the soft lover who kissed you in the dark and traced words of Mando’a into your sternum. It wasn’t even Mando, the old snarky friend who joked at how bad of a shot you were and who laughs like a complete idiot when he had one too many sips.

It was the Mandalorian, the ruthless and deadly warrior poised and ready to fire you away.

--

You wake up smelling peaches and blaster smoke.

Shifting to sit up against the wall behind you, you groan at the dull ache in your head and heart. Mando is here with you at the foot of the bed; you’ve memorized the way the bunk feels with or without him. 

“Why are the lights off?” You ask.

“I didn’t know if you were going to wake up with a headache or not.”

Of fucking course. It drives you insane how considerate he is sometimes.

You suddenly become more alert as you remember, “Aayn’vida, where is she? Is she safe?”

He quells your anxiety immediately, “She’s safe. I took her to her family.”

“And Khan?”

“Cold.”

You feel him shove pills and a bottle of water into your hands. You took them, and as you both waited for the pain in your head to subside, he told you what happened in Jaemai. As it turns out, Aayn’vida’s mother was a doctor for many years, and she was kind enough to check on you and care for your wounds. Khan’s goon nicked your right side; no major organs were hit, but your skin was likely scarred since it was basically singed off. There was another thing, however. Mando had asked her about the constant migraines,  “She said that they can happen because of stress or trauma.”

You laughed bitterly, “Well, we both know I have plenty of that.”

Silence blankets you two again. Even in the dark, you can tell when the Mandalorian is uneasy. You wait for him to confess.

“If I’d known this would’ve happened, I would’ve never asked you to come with me,” he lets out a tired sigh, “I’m sorry.”

You roll your eyes. Why is he so fucking nice?

“We’ve been through worse,” you say, a familiar feeling fluttering through your chest, 

“Besides, this just means I’ve rightfully earned my 80%”