#glen you have to stop i'm going to die

[coconutcordiale]

glen what am I supposed to do with you

[shebeafancyflapjack]

Ten Questions For Kya

[Transcript of Alison interviewing "Kya" for the Button House Archives audiobook. Artwork by @idiotwithanipad whose oc Amy is mentioned]

Alison: *sigh* You're really gonna make me do this?

Silver: Hey, you're the one who lost the bet!

Robin: Yeah! Time to pie the piper, Cooper!

Silver: You mean pay the piper?

Robin: Pretty sure he only accept pie, not coin or card.

Alison: *through gritted teeth* Fine.

Alison: Ten Questions For Kya! Who, just to inform everyone listening...is a wolf. Or wolf pup, to be precise.

Silver: And she's just the most precious little angel, aren't you! Yes you are, yes you are!

Alison: And seeing as Kya is...a wolf...Robin and Silver have kindly agreed to translate her answers for the sake of this interview.

Robin: That be Daddy Robin and Auntie Silver. For purpose of guy who listen to magic speaking box because he too lazy to read.

Alison: Indeed.

Alison: So, Kya, where were you born?

Alison: [A/N: Kya's response was the teeniest little squeak as she wriggled in Silver's hands]

Alison: I'm...not sure I caught that-

Robin: She say she first born under tree. Tribe moving between caves and her mama carry her in big belly. She take rest against tree then baby come. Elder say no time to take her to cave so we stop to help bring baby out. Her first cry sound like 'Kya'. Her big sister say that be her name and it stick.

Alison: Right....and that was the....old Kya? Your daughter?

Robin: Old Kya, New Kya - all same, just reborn, Moonah send her back. Second time she born in wood again. But different. No-one to help Mama this time. Me watch but me dead and....head not good at time either...Not same wise and stable caveman you know today.

Alison: .....Sure.

Alison: [A/N: Just to clarify, Robin believes the wolf to be the reincarnated spirit of one of his children. I'm not sure how much of that he actually believes or just pretends but I've been advised not to press on it].

Alison: And how did Kya die? Both times.

Kya: *makes a tiny whine and curls into Silver's chest*

Silver: Aww, baby girl, it's okay! We don't want you reliving anything traumatic.

Alison: Sorry! I didn't think wolves suffered from PTSD.

Robin: Me not see how she die first time. Tribe move on after I...She not tell me and that her business. Second time she die because Mama have too many babies. Not enough milk to feed. It not take long. Me watched....

Silver: *reached to squeeze Robin's wrist*

Alison: That must have been awful. At least she had you there for her when she woke up.

Alison: Uh, Favourite Food? Actually that's an easy one; milk I'm guessing, same for drink.

Robin: Milk her favourite drink, but she never had it. Favourite food is hard choice between Daddy's beard and Uncle Humphrey's hair.

Silver: *giggles*

Alison: And when she was human?

Robin: Favourite drink was special berry juice her sister show her. As for favourite food...Guess.

Alison: *sigh* .....Don't make me say it.

Them:

Alison: Bum?

Robin: Yes! *laughs with Silver*

Alison: Moving on. Favourite song?

Silver: We've all had a go at sharing our music tastes with her. I've played her some of the classics. Avril Lavigne, Evanescence, Nightwish, Linkin Park....

Robin: Me play her Glen Miller, Queen and KC and Sunshine Band.

Silver: But so far the only thing she seems to really enjoy are Kitty's covers of the Spice Girls. She's her number one fan.

Robin: She even like her more than Daddy's singing. Which was her favourite when she human. But then only other singer was woman who screamed at rock. Not certain she was singing or crazy but she had good rhythm.

Alison: Favourite sport?

Robin: Racing.

Alison: I....How does that...? (A/N: the wolf is too young to even crawl. Or open her eyes).

Silver: Duh, she wriggles on her belly, see? *puts her down carefully to demonstrate, the pup mewls and makes her way very, very, slowly forward*

Silver: Ha, look at her go!

Robin: That my girl! She faster than worms and snail. Me enter her into Olympics next year. They have belly crawl racing yes?

Silver: No but we can petition for it to be a competition! Can't we Alison?

Alison: ....I'll add it to the list.

Silver: *picking the struggling Kya back up* She also loves Hide and Seek!

Alison: Ooh, her and Kitty have that in common then.

Robin: Her favourite hiding spots be under beds and inside Cousin Stompy's hood.

Alison: Wait so Silver is an auntie but Amy is a cousin? And Humphrey is an uncle?

Silver and Robin: Yes.

Alison: Does that mean you're also Amy's auntie?

Silver: Or course not, dummy, we're the same age!

Alison: That dosn't...Well, what am I?

Robin: Daddy's scary land-lady.

Alison: I-! *sigh* Fine, I'll take it.

Alison: Biggest regret?

Robin: Not paying attention to Daddy when he say no drink puddle water before bed. Wake whole tribe up with silly nightmares every time. And as wolf, think she regret not fighting to get out of mama's belly before siblings.

Silver, to Kya: But then you wouldn't be with us! And we wouldn't want that would we? Would we? Oh you're just the fuzziest widdle....(a/n: can no longer make out if the rest of her unintelligible high pitched fussing has any words).

Alison: Fondest memory?

Robin: Human memory probably be first time she throw spear into target me set up, she make eye split open like grape, me so proud.

Alison: Is that her fondest memory or you...Never mind.

Robin: As wolf it be first time she meet Auntie Silver.

Silver: Awww!

Robin, quietly to Alison: Real answer, when she watch Balto with Kitty.

Alison: Worst trait?

Robin: Too much backtalk.

Alison: ....You mean when she was human?

Robin: Both! No respect for elders in life, always talk back, question everything, yap yap yap, same as wolf!

Silver: That's her best trait, she's opinionated! Let her use her voice to speak her truth!

Robin: Oh, should have known it be your fault, you bad influence!

Alison: Are you both just messing with me now?

Robin and Silver: Half and half.

Alison: *groan*

Alison: This should be fun then. Kya, any words of wisdom?

Kya: (A/N: Silver held the pup out in her palms. Kya proceeded to open her mouth for the biggest little yawn before falling asleep on her side)

Robin: Oooh, that very profound.

Silver: I know right?! Really gives you a new perspective, doesn't it Alison?

Alison: I hate you both.

Silver: You sure you're not just jealous you can't hold the puppy?

Alison:

Alison: No comment. Wait, I'm not the one being-! Interview over.

[A/N: I left the two pagans chuckling to themselves]

[bite-sized-devil]

Obey me characters as Mean Girls quotes:

Lucifer:

"I'm not like a regular mum, I'm a cool mum!"

Mammon:

"Get in loser we're going shopping."

Leviathan:

"Grool. I meant to say cool but then I started to say great."

Satan:

"Why should Caesar just get to stomp around like a giant while the rest of us try not to get smushed under his big feet? Brutus is just as cute as Caesar, right? Brutus is just as smart as Caesar, people totally like Brutus just as much as they like Caesar, and when did it become okay for one person to be the boss of everybody because that’s not what Rome is about! We should totally just STAB CAESAR!”

Asmodeous:

"But you're, like, really pretty. So you agree? You think you're really pretty?"

Beelzebub:

"Made out with a hot dog? Oh my god that was one time!"

Belphie:

"Gretchen, stop trying to make *fetch* happen. It's not going to happen!"

Diavolo:

"I don't think my father, the inventor of Toaster Strudel, would be too pleased to hear about this."

Barbatos:

"Four for you Glen Coco! You go, Glen Coco."

Solomon:

"I’m sorry that people are so jealous of me, but I can’t help it that I’m popular."

Simeon:

"Don't have sex. Because you will get pregnant, and die. Don't have sex in the missionary position, don't have sex standing up, just...don't do it. Promise?"

Luke:

"You can't sit with us!"

Sadly "your hair looks sexy pushed back" & "I want my pink shirt back" & "she doesn't even go here" & "can I get you anything, some snacks? Condoms?" Didn't make it. 😭

[modern-inheritance]

A ramble about Glen and Arya being more comfortable in the field with their PTSD and traumatic events.

I don't think I've ever explicitly stated it, and I will be the first to admit that I have zero basis for this in research or fact as far as I'm aware, but I've tried a bit to show that Glenwing and Arya have less reactions/nightmares/episodes while in the field as opposed to in Ellesmera.

Glen's got a bit of a better handle on his PTSD surrounding the ambush and the loss of his arm, but he's still strongly affected by it. He had nine months to grapple with his new reality. Arya's return was a significant gutshot, unraveling some of the healing he had done because again, reality had shifted.

Glen's normal was being in the field, under stress, fighting the fight and actively seeking out people to help and heal. He knows that, he knows his body and mind aren't supposed to be in that state constantly, and yet the absence of stress and activity makes him uneasy. He never totally settles, even over those nine months, always trying to get back out there to the Varden. He feels right when he's out in the field. It feels wrong to be sitting idle when he knows he can help. And its that uneasiness that can lead to his episodes.

Arya's a raw wound, but she doesn't give herself time to slow down and actually take stock and understand, truely, what happened to her. She can recount facts, crack jokes, utter the most out of the blue, unprompted snippets of times when she fought back or Durza acted a fool, but the bare fact of 'Oh. I was horrifically tortured, to the brink nearly daily and over it a few times, nearly SA'd, saw my best friend apparently die in front of me and the man I loved get shot in the heart before all that, and then I got out, nearly died from poison, got better, then nearly died trying to save Eragon, and now I'm back in the forest where I was ambushed and captured.'

In short, Arya's constant state of mind over it is thus:

But in Ellesmera, where there are no distractions, no warzone, no protection duty, no sabotage runs, no bullets coming out of the darkness, no explosions, nothing to occupy her, Arya spirals. It gives her too much time to think, and she's not fully ready or all that willing to confront her experiences. Glenwing helps. He can see when shes feeling up for it, try and guide her through it and support her for the inevitable breakdown that comes with the realizations and confronting the horrors for what they are.

They both try to be there for each other.

And at the same time, they both know that the surest way to make things calm, make things stop feeling so big and loud and there, is to go back out to the field. Out there, their jumpy reactions, hypervigilance, constant drain, their aggression and battle joy and near constant physical and mental pain...

It has physical, visible reason.

The War.

It's all expected. It's normal for soldiers in the field to feel these things. It's not questioned, not looked at with pity. Their choked out cries during night terrors and Recall are just another voice of a soldier reliving a battle long past. It happens. You don't have to talk about it out there. Everyone gets it. The hypervigilance is beneficial. The insomnia is useful for night patrols. The memories can be used to recall just what points are weak, bolster defenses, attack them in others. Scars and prosthetics are commonplace in the Varden, as are thousand yard stares.

And when there are moments of peace, long stretches of marching, that's when they take the time to think. When the discomfort of a heavy pack and long road displace the pain of their memories. They can talk to each other in hushed voices, talk with their hands, their minds. They don't have a choice of breaking down out there. They confront their demon of the day, butt heads with it, grapple the truth and the pain and the past out of it, feel the result...

and keep marching.

They don't have a choice. And that's how they prefer it. Glen and Arya know that if they survive the war, they'll probably hit a point where it all crashes down on them and they'll have to retreat from whatever project or cause they've dedicated themselves to in the interim to finally go through it all. If they can get through as much of it as they can while they don't have that option, then it might not be as difficult.

Somehow, it's easier when you don't have a choice but to keep going. Keep living, keep fighting, because you can't take the time to lose your mind and lay down and cry about it. Confront it, fight it, take it down, analyze it, dump its body in the dirt and move on. You've got other things to do and people are depending on you to do them.

[misquigleya]

hi hello, back on my bullshit that is misty fucking quigley. could have had much more of her but it's okay...i fully expect to see more of my unhinged baby in the coming episodes. as usual, thoughts under the read more <3

sure you can look and look and look for someone that you actually love but you can also find you someone that will listen to, with the windows down, fuck tha police in your minivan while you're inside being questioned about your totally not dead but def missing boyfriend....we stay stanning jeffrey sadecki in this house and i love him so much. but also rip that dash and steering wheel 'cause it got sticky af from that spit take. like shauna please...he's gotta clean that now before you go off to cult camp with your besties

i wasn't a callie stan until just recently ( annoying teenager pls forgive me for side-eyeing the fuck outta her ) but miss ma'am gO OFF MAKE THEM QUESTION EVERYTHING DET. CREEPO SAYS 'cause goddamn that man needs to go. he needs to be fed to whatever the fuck they all brought back from the woods. also "does this mean we're going to jail???" i love the sadecki family so much.

VAN AND TAI PLEASE STOP PUSHING EACH OTHER AWAY but also please explain what happened for y'all to split up 'cause i'm no longer thinking it was 'cause of the "wicca bullshit" anymore seeing as tai is leaning more into it ( though that was kinda obvious from the fact that adult tai has her little alter #ripbiscuits )

i know they all got beef / tension with lottie but what was up with lottie and misty upon lottie seeing her. like please...what happened out there other than hottie lottie being diagnosed as schizophrenic and being institutionalized and that could ya know....'cause some tension and questioning of what had happened out in the woods, bUT STILL WHAT HAPPENED. 'CAUSE WHAT DID MISTY DO SEEING AS THEY'RE ALL MEH WITH HER. aside from her general weirdness and slightly off-putting personality.

that jackie bit when shauna passed out had me clutching my pearls like sHAUNA BABY DO NOT GO INTO THE LIGHT. and also, i might get shit for this but whatever, eat my ass; thAT DREAM SEQUENCE HAD MY ASS BACK IN THE THEATER WATCHING TWILIGHT BREAKING DAWN PT. 2 like goddamn...okay this one wasn't THAT GOOD but they really had me there in the first half like i full blown thought i was gonna be able to tick off the eating of the...well you know off my bingo card. but nope, they played me, they said "yOU THOUGHT YOU SICK FUCK" so i'll give 'em that. four for you glen coco, four for you.

natalie bby do you need a hug?? yj writers...have you forgotten and or completely disregarded the whole mistnat setting up of season one and telling us to eat your asses now like ha-ha you really thought we'd give you those two?? hahahaha...i hate them and i need them to stop toying with my emotions. LET. THEM. BE. HAPPY. AND. TOGETHER. 'cause that "he was the only one i loved" and "he was the only one who cared about me" like mmmm...mmm...m'kay, i'm gonna go lay in the highway. but like i get. still going through some shit. bUT FUCKIN' RUDE.

deep breath

can we talk about misty's little goodie bag and how it was given carol in twd unloading all her shit when they got to alexandria and just...kept putting more and more on the cart? 'cause i loved that and i fucking lost it aND WALTER BUDDY BOY, YOU WAS GONNA DIE or i'm at least assuming as i don't know what was in the vial that misty had in her purse with the syringe like ma'am please. she was ready to beat the fuck outta whoever, handcuff them, and possibly do some light torturing....so i once again sAY WHY ARE YOU DICKING ME AROUND WITH MISTNAT YJ WRITERS?!?!!??! fucking hell...

anyways....

the episode was good but lowkey...they need to stop hyping them up so much or i need to lower my expectations. either way...felt there could be a bit more and feel like they're taking too long with the story and they're dragging it out to an almost annoying length. like we get it, you're hoping for five seasons but i don't want to wait 'til the last season to have all questions asked or if the worse outcome happens, they get cancelled, i don't want any room for no questions being answered. so...if they could stop dragging it out and get to the point, that'd be super. but that's just me.

[residentdormouse]

Find the Words Tag

Thank you @scienceoftheidiot for the tag!

My Words were: Smile, Dream, Tear(s), Dark, and Soft.

You guys are going to get sick of me posting these 😂 but here goes. All but one word was in the last chapter (and three of them within the same scene in that chapter). The missing word? Dream. I had to go back to Chapter 30. For 'dream'. When the canon source material has everybody getting haunted by this MF in their nightmares. I can't readily find dream?! Wtf am I doing?!

But, this is all from the last chapter - most are vague enough to just post as is, but all instances of 'tears' are spoiling a major event that happens later in Diving. If that is a concern, skip that one.

Since this is like the fourth I've done (😬) I'm just giving an open tag: if you want to join - please '@' me!!

Words: devour, dive, dig, dear, damned

My Answers:

Smile (Chapter 34)

"I uh… thanks for… if we don't…well…"

Thanks for everything if we don't make it out alive. The blanks were easy enough to fill in, despite Lloyd's current inability to come to the words himself.

With a sincere smile, she placed her hand on his shoulder. What she had heard of his past, maybe this response from him should have been a surprise, but it wasn't to her. Maybe she came in too late to see the man who had earned the reputation following him, but the man in front of her now, the man that came to Haven, that man was sincere in his intentions. Fit right along with the loudmouth tavern corner occupants, but never truly gave her a cause for concern. No, this man had always been a good one. If only he could see that too.

Another set of silent nods, and he was off.

Dream (Chapter 30)

"You didn't ask for him to show up in your head, did you? Didn't come to him uninvited?" He waited for her reply to the negative before continuing. "Yeah, thought not. From what I've gathered, between you and Lloyd, what we've seen, what I've seen, this magic, abilities, whatever you want to call it, it's not easily controlled."

His smile still held the prior compassion, his tone lighthearted, but she didn’t register it. Couldn’t. All she could see was the recent dream. All she could feel was guilt.

"He hadn't even started anything, Glen. Being an annoying ass, but that's it. I just got so… I wanted something bad to happen. I did. Did and didn't. I don't know."

Tears (Chapter 34)

**************SPOILERS*****************

Despite the prior context, a laugh broke through and caused a hiccup in the flow of sadness and tears from before.

“But now that that’s established, looks like up and running got you back in quite the spot again, yeah?”

"I…. Glen, I just… You were right. Down and still. I mean, what's the point of it all? Everything just gets more confusing, and violent, and then people die. You died…"

"I know… I know, but you have to head back there anyway. And you have people that are counting on you. Worlds. Universes. No, can't give up on them, you know you can't. Won’t. Deep down. You know that, and you helped me see that.” His hand came out to lightly tap her on the chin in a loving manner, but it only caused the tears to flow freely once more. While unsaid, she heard the “aw Hell’ sighed under his breath before he pulled her back into a hug, gently rocking her in place. A few additional moments were spent here before he once again pulled backward. “But you can't go back like you were either. What’s done is done, you can’t keep holding in your pain. Inflicting it on others…”

************END SPOILERS***************

Dark (Chapter 34)

Familiar knots in the wood gave away her location before she could even stand up from the floor of her cabin. Thoughts went back to the moment before. Lloyd and Flagg. Rayna. Then darkness. She was trying to take her out of the game. Fuck if she was going to sit by and let her do it.

The bookshelf was her first stop, and it took the brunt of her wrath. Books landed harshly against the floor as she threw them from their place. One after another after another, but there was no teal book to be found this time. No need for it anymore. No need for locking away secrets. No hope of pulling herself out of this state with its help.

Another burst of devastating anger, and she tipped the empty bookcase down on the floor. Splinters shooting outward almost drowned out the voice coming from the kitchen.

“Well, I’m sure that’ll be fun to clean up later.”

Soft (Chapter 34)

She took one hesitant step forward. One more. And without any further delay, she rushed towards him. Arms wrapped around his back and held him tight enough that if he wasn’t solid, she would have absorbed him with the force. But he was solid. He was there in front of her. She could touch him. Kiss him.

And with the realization, the action followed. Desperation fueled grasps at connection, as her lips met his. But no matter how much she felt him there, the tickle of his beard on her face, the glide of his hair through her fingers, the taste of him jolting her senses, she couldn’t understand how it was possible.

“Fuck… How are you… I… you…”

And there was that chuckle, that soft sound that always exuded a lightness which reverberated inside her until she had no choice but to relinquish whatever negativity she was holding on to. Let it all go, and just be there. With him.

[sacred-stanning]

Chapter 9 Part 1: A New Hero

We start chapter, and now our main lord is Ephraim, not Eirika.

His first stop is at a fort controlled by Grado.

The fort is under the control of this charming gentleman.

But before we see what Ephraim gets up to, we have another scene in Grado.

The emperor assigns Glen to go find Eirika, and Valter to find Ephraim.

He also sends Caellach to Jehana to take their stone, and Riev to Rausten.

Dussel also asks the emperor questions about the purpose of the war, and what will be done about the Renais citizens who are living in a lawless war zone. He's obviously feeling some doubts about the war, but the emperor insists that he just needs to follow orders.

Also, wait, that's Ephraim and Eirika's friend, Lyon, standing behind his father, not saying anything...

Cutting back to the fort, we find out that the general in charge is named, "Geb". Also, Tana has been captured (again) somehow.

The fort is called Rigubalt (Rigbalt? Riegbolt? Ligvault?)

Ephraim wonders aloud how many of Grado's people are really gung-ho about the war given the close relationship that Renais and Grado had right up until the war started. He also wonders what is old teacher, Dussel, thinks about all this, and how his friend, Lyon is doing.

And just as Ephraim is wondering the above, we cut to this soldier talking to himself about his sister who married a man from Renais, and saying that it's hard to go along with the war, even if it is the emperor's orders.

Because he was stupid enough to voice his thought out loud, he is overheard and gets chewed out by Geb.

Geb loves using this word, "munou" to refer to people. It literally is the characters for "no / none" and "power / ability", and apparently it can be used to refer not only to a state of powerlessness, or a lack of power or ability, but also to a person who is in such a state.

TLDR: Geb is a Fire Emblem boss, and he is bad and unpleasant.

Brand new Grado recruit, Amelia, calls Geb out on his mistreatment of her fellow soldier, and Geb tells her to shut up and know her place, and that it's only powerful and able generals like him that matter to Grado, not little nobodies like her.

TLDR: Geb is a Fire Emblem boss, and he is bad and unpleasant.

The soldier: "We have no choice but to fight as ordered and to die as ordered"

I feel like if this scene had been before the map on a different Fire Emblem game, potentially there could have been some sub-objective to kill as few soldiers as possible since the game has spent the last couple minutes emphasizing that many of the people don't want to fight, and that Ephraim is aware of that potential resistance among the population.

Like, I could imagine some Thracia map where you are rewarded the smallest number of kills possible, but the only way to do that is some combination of capturing and not releasing enemies, and using staves to do some ridiculousness.

But because the GBA Fire Emblem games tend to keep the mechanics fairly simple, I'm not surprised that that isn't in this game. The only game mechanic hinted at by all of this is that we can recruit Amelia on this map instead of killing her.

Here's our team. I'm leaning all in on using Ross, so Garcia gets to retire. And I already have Franz and Kyle, so Forde can stay behind and paint. Colm gets to come because there are chests. There's also an item I could steal, I think a red gem.

(Note from the future: I forgot to steal the item.)

We start here and start by traveling down.

The hallway continues down after that, and eventually we can go right. There's a locked door that will let us into the main hallway going up, surrounded by two small hallways with bow and mage jerks.

Continuing right from the door leads to a dead end. There are a couple of cavalry there. Going up through the hallway behind the door let's us get into the two thin hallways next to it, as well as to the other hallway leading down to the entrance to the throne room.

Here's Amelia, by the way.

And at the top, aside from the chest off to the left that we could see from the entrance, there are two other chests to the right.

"Even though I came to help Ephraim, I just got caught again..."

So yeah, Tana just kind of showed up on her own to help out.

As soon as you start the map, they show Tana being moved into this cell here and the door being closed.

Why they moved her from the cell in the cutscene above to this cell on the map is not clear...

Also, why do they put her poor pegasus in prison too? :(

Tana actually starts as a player unit. You don't have to recruit her. But she has no items, so she can't break out on her own. She's just out of range of this mage nearby, so she has to just wait for turn after turn until you can get someone up there to either break down the wall to her right, or to open the door.

Next time: Staff and nonsense

[liopleurodean]

Season 10, Episode 21: Dark Dynasty

Yeah, Omaha! NEBRASKA REPRESENT!

Eye doctor?

Oh, poor girl

This is not gonna end well for her

Ew, that's a horrible way to do that

That's disgusting

That wasn't a very clean getaway

A mutual benefit

Fantastic

Yikes

He's trying to garner sympathy for screwing up a murder. This family is psycho

Liar

Rip this guy

Good luck with that

Ouch

They're all idiots

That hurts, Dean

Sam, you're a horrible liar

Great subject change

What's your beef with disco?

They've gone for less

The case will be gone by then

Secret meetings

About that...

Dean doesn't know anything

Charlie is the only one with common sense

Sooo I think this is the third Surface I've seen this season

Nice

Even better

Cas!

Someone not to mess with

Dean. And the Stynes

Cas is so done™

This is a trainwreck

At least they learned

Right...

For Dean!

Rowena 😂

That looks like fun

Of course there is

Crowley.

Everyone here is an idiot

Freaky

Definitely a Styne

Yeah, probably

Sam, you liar

Wow. That was really close

That was a horrible picture for translating purposes

But it's not synchronous

Aw, Cas!

Maybe they can work together!

Agnes. Agnes Nutter?

Spooky

And they're both redheads

Charlie...

Awww

I really don't want to think about that

Yeah. Right.

Just a normal Thursday

Uh oh

He looks kinda like Glen Powell

This'll be a great conversation

Cas.

Dean is concerned

Bad answer, Sam

Awkward...

He's. He's talking to the hamster

This is great

What did Crowley say to him earlier?

Idiots. They're all idiots

Ooh, Crowley, so close

Wow. That is so sketch, Dean

Aw, not the pizza! He just wanted food

This isn't gonna end well

Go for the head, Dean

Oh boy

Yikes

They're foreshadowing it so hard and I'm gonna cry

Charlie, no! Literally any other time, but not now!

Charlie...

That won't stop him

Natural enemies

Mm. Not as far as you think

They really went there

Making their own heroes

Oh boy

There it is

Sloppy stitches

Frankenstein. So original

Yup. Lame

Oh, Cas

Sorry, Dean

She did, but people don't believe

Ever heard of David and Goliath?

And he can find them

Hah! As if

Uh oh

That's not what he means

That didn't sound good

He chopped off his own hand

Ew, even worse

Yikes

Maybe she doesn't want kids

Hah! Cas doesn't know

Indeed it does

She dipped, didn't she

Dang it, Charlie!

He got pretty far for a guy with one arm

Oh no...

Sci-Fi alias, I like it

Nope

That's horrifying

Yeah...

And Dean is inclined to believe him

Sam...

Emergency. Right now

And this entire thing is Sam's fault. If he had just brought Dean in from the beginning -- man, that's Dean's little sister! That's his only source of joy since way back when there were Leviathans! This is horrible

Oh no

Hey! She did it!

That's horrifying

Dean, now is not the time! You have to go!

You shouldn't have left, Charlie

It won't stop them

I don't think I can watch

Charlie..!

AND NOW SHE WILL DIE, SAM!

Charlie, no!

They're too late

No...

[whispers-soundtrack-project]

Cobb Vanth

Fanmix Part Four

Part One * Part Two * Part Three

Link to the Spotify Playlist is at the bottom of the post

Dangerous Game (3 Doors Down)

You stand before me * Now we stare eye to eye * Before another second clicks away, one of us will die

Bring Me Back To Life (Ht Bristol, Charlie Bannister, Vincent Steele, & Nine One One)

Battlecry, it's damage done * Who has lost and who has won? * Who will be there when my life support is gone?

Fight On (Sam Tinnesz)

Better move your feet * And start taking sides * 'Cause right now the lines are thin * Between what's wrong and right

The Fire Inside (Bon Jovi)

Silver bullet in the wild blue * Crack in the walls I'm coming through * Think you can stop me, well, take a look in these eyes

What You Leave Behind (Delp and Goudreau)

It's a constant education * In a world of give and take * Along the way sometimes we stumble * But we learn from our mistakes

Grace Beneath The Pines (Glen Hansard)

There’ll be no more running round for me, * No more going down, you’ll see * The line is drawn; my enemy * Better stay behind it

Pluto (Sleeping At Last)

Still I’m pinned under the weight * Of what I believed would keep me safe * So show me where my armor ends, * Show me where my skin begins

Built To Last (Redlight King)

I gave my life for the things I had * And it all flies by so fast * I may have walked through the worst in hell my friend * Now I know I was built to last

The Perfect Space (The Avett Brothers)

I wanna fit in to the perfect space * Feel natural and safe in a volatile place * And I wanna grow old without the pain * Give my body back to the earth and not complain

Stand Alone (Generdyn, ft. Zayde Wolf)

I see the place where I was born * I was raised by the new dawn * And now I sit inside the storm * Like the eye of the pyramid * I know everything ahead * I'm on the hunt don't you forget

[onlyheretoread2]

Lovin' my storm part 3

Storm sat between Daryl's legs as they rode to Atlanta. She got tired and actually fell asleep on Daryl's chest. When they arrived he gently shook her awake and they continued down the road to the store merle was left at.

When they approached the roof Daryl sprinted with storm right behind but she needed to catch her breath . All of a sudden she heard "no no No!"

She ran up the rest of the stares to find Daryl with his crossbow on tdog.

Rick then pulled his colt only to have storm pull hers

"I won't hesitate .. I don't care if every walker hears it" he stated

"neither will she" Daryl said with a smirk

Rick then felt the sensation of a barrel to his temple and slowly lowered his gun.

Daryl decided killing t wasn't worth it so he asked" u gotta do rug or sumthin?"

That's when storm noticed the hand and blood

She helped Daryl wrap it and noticed a blood trail .

"babe " she said as she nudged he looked at her as she motioned at the blood trail leading to the next building

_____

As they all entered the building 2walkerscwere discovered

"merel had enough in him to take out these bastards" Daryl stated

"anyone can die from blood loss babe" storm whispered to him

Daryl didn't acknowledge his wife and proceeded to a kitchen where he and Rick found a stove on eot a skinny iron on it. The smell made storm sick. She vomited as Daryl rubbed her back

"is that skin"? Glen asked

"yea "storm stated

"how do you know" glen couriously asked

"seen that before with asshole who ran during raids" "they'd heat up nifes and seal the wound to stop bleading.

"raids" Rick asked

"my old job" storm said before tdaog noticed a broken window

Daryl and Rick argued about going after merle since he obi ously escaped . The group then decided to go after the guns

"how do we no where to go" Rick asked since glen wanted to go alone

"I'll draw aap" storm stated before grabbing markers and preciding to drawn a exact map of Atlanta .

"howed you learn to do that" glen and Rick asked her

"old job" was all she said

They looked at Daryl who just grinned

After glen showed them his plan Daryl only made one change ... Storm was not to be involved ... And storm didn't argue.

_______

"be careful" storm said lowly as Daryl prepared to leave

"always " Daryl said as he pecked her lips and then her stomach

Storm then say on a couch in the lab before falling asleep( pregnant people sleep a lot)

She was woken up by a kid yelling "I ain't saying shit"!

Storm got up and went to the room to see Daryl throw merles gand at the kid. "This what happen to the last guy that pissed me off'! "This time start with the feet " storm said with a smile. The kid screamed making her laugh as Daryl approached her.

"u good"? He said "yea who's that?"storm aske

Daryl then explained what happened with glen and storm immediately was willing to help.

_______

They all went to the vatos place and were able to get glen back after some tense then funny negotians.

On the way back out of town it was discovered the van was gone.

"who would take it?" Glen asked

"merle" Daryl and storm said together

Some cars were discovered to work so they piled on with storm on Daryl's lap. He held her until they ran out of gas only a mile from camp.

"u good to walk" Daryl asked his wife

"ain't like I can piggy back with the munchkin" she said sarcastically

All of a sudden screams were heard from camp. Daryl pushed storm back into the car "stay here!" Storm just nodded

After hours Daryl returned

"what did merle do" storm screamed as Daryl approached

"shhh it won't him it was a heard.leys go" he says as he picks storm up

"tha fuck u doin" she asked

"you said u can't piggy back and I'm not letting u walk that far. "

"aww even 6 months pregnant and fat you still love me"she said

"stop " he grinned as he put her down and walked into there tent

____

The following morning bodies were being cleared and funerals had . It was decided that the CDC would be the place to go. So the camp was packed up and everyone loaded into vehicles. Dayl and storm were alone in his truck.

"u ok baby" storm said as she layed down in the truck.

"yeah just worried"

"bout merle ?" Storm said with tears

"yeah and other stuff"

Storm looked at Daryl curiously

He looked at her and grinned as he rubbed her belly .

Her Metallica take top just barely fitting over it with her shorts.

"why you keep ya hair up much now" Daryl asked

"pregnancys made it grow" she stated

"how long? " He asked

Storm under her bun and her hair flowed past her butt

"damn babe"

"yeah prob gunna cut it but I don't know when"

"I like it" Daryl stated as she layed back down

Storm just smiled as the rv pulled over at the CDC.

[neoptolemid]

Neoptolemus super doc ? ??

ARE WE ABSOLUTELY SURE,, , ,, ,

uh okay, I pull together my super document of Pyrrhus, have pardon cause it's a bit old and i'm gonna spread it through like 3 or 4 posts probably , , so uh enjoy and I'm sorry for all grammatical errors

Skyros

Pyrrhus was born by the name Pyrrhus and this was based either on his red hair or due to Achilles name of Skyros being Pyrrha.

When it comes to appearances I generally describe him as a good mix of both Deidamia and Achilles’ traits, having inherited Deidamia’s red hair and Achilles Blue/teal eyes. He is around the middle of both of his parent’s height as I make Achilles 6’0 and Deidamia 5’3 when full grown, Pyrhhus rounds out to be 5’6. He also has a number of beauty marks which are similar to Achilles’.

It is unknown how long Achilles stayed on Skyros or when Pyrrhus was born. Either way Achilles did know about his son, we know this from the fact Achilles makes references to his son within the Iliad and Odyssey.

I like to believe that part of Pyrrhus growing up with his mother and aunts is that he has a lot of appreciation for women’s crafts and what they do. That he as a younger child would simply sit and be by his mother and/or aunts as they worked enjoying their company.

He would try his best growing up to join into their songs and dances, and at least once dressed himself in girls clothes to show his mother and aunts which got a good laugh out of them.

From Quintus ‘Fall of Troy’ we are informed that learning to fight and it was Odysseus and Diomedes who came with their black sails to ask him to join the war cause. He was promised to marry Menelaus’s daughter Hermione, he was also promised to have Achilles’ armor and gold, riches, and glory for coming with them.

While work will generally age him to being a young man or simply portray him to be very well spoken, if you follow along with the time line it is very possible that Pyrrhus is only 11 or 12 when he leaves Skyros, I tend to write him as being 13 for my own comfort.

Another thing to note form Quintus’s piece on Pyrrhus is they depict this being especially sad for Deidamia, she is written as having weeped and weeped. She doesn’t want him to leave because she doesn’t want him going to war and leaving her. She doesn’t want him hurt and she doesn’t want another person she loves leaving her again.

Deidamia Pyrrhus’s mother is written as loving him and I interpret bits of this story as Pyrrhus is the only tie to Achilles she has. Generally I prefer the idea that Deidamia did care for Achilles and so it did break her heart that he left and she had hoped that he would return eventually to her and their son.

Over the years she understood more and more that he would not return, so all she had was her son, and then eventually they come and take him from her as well.

Mattering on the version of the story, it is fully possible that Deidamia may have never seen her son again once he left the island.

Dawn climbed the wide-arched heaven, straightway they rose from their beds. Then Deidameia knew; and on her son's broad breast she cast herself, and bitterly wailed: her cry thrilled through the air, as when a cow loud-lowing mid the hills seeks through the glens her calf, and all around Echo long ridges of the mountain-steep; so on all sides from dim recesses rang the hall; and in her misery she cried: "Child, wherefore is thy soul now on the wing to follow strangers unto Ilium the fount of tears, where perish many in fight, yea, cunning men in war and battle grim? And thou art but a youth, and hast not learnt the ways of war, which save men in the day of peril. Hearken thou to me, abide here in thine home, lest evil tidings come from Troy unto my ears, that thou in fight hast perished; for mine heart saith, never thou hitherward shalt from battle-toil return. Not even thy sire escaped the doom of death -- he, mightier than thou, mightier than all heroes on earth, yea, and a Goddess' son -- but was in battle slain, all through the wiles and crafty counsels of these very men who now to woeful war be kindling thee. Therefore mine heart is full of shuddering fear lest, son, my lot should be to live bereaved of thee, and to endure dishonour and pain, for never heavier blow on woman falls than when her lord hath perished, and her sons die also, and her house is left to her desolate. Straightway evil men remove her landmarks, yea, and rob her of her all, setting the right at naught. There is no lot more woeful and more helpless than is hers who is left a widow in a desolate home."

Lemnos

Pyrrhus agrees to go with them and on the way they stop by the island of Lemnos to get Philoctetes. Odysseus makes Neoptolemus lie to Philoctetes because he knows that he hates Odysseus because he is the man who abandoned him on Lemnos and he knows that Philoctetes doesn’t want to go to Troy but back to Greece and to his home.

This causes a Pyrrhus strife because he has been taught to be noble up until now, in the play Philoctetes by Sophocles we are shown multiple times how this causes him strife because he is having to lie. Philoctetes also considers Pyrrhus to be a friend because Pyrrhus lies and says that he wants to go back home to Skyros because of the way he is treated by the other Greeks even though he hasn’t met any of them yet to our knowledge.

Good lines from this play that I personally characterize him are

‘It would have been better if i had never left scyros. Everything around me oppresses me ..’

‘He’ll (odysseus) claim i’m too soft-hearted’

‘I can’t. It is right and in our interest to listen to those in authority’

Some of the best development to see from this is how he was raised to be noble and how he doesn’t want to trick people or lie, he wants to be honest.

Another thing I find interesting to read from specifically this play is how Pyrrhus is very rarely called by his own name, he is almost always referred to ‘son of achilles’ and also in this play he is often referred to as ‘child’ or ‘boy’.

While none of these things are brought up as an issue in the play I do think it is a detail you can play with, like how it might weigh on an individual to be always referred to by your famous father or how people don’t recognize you by your name but by your father’s.

I think these are things that would weigh on Pyrrhus he wants to live up to his father but it also oppresses him to be referred in such a way. He wants to be like his father but he is still his own individual which he doesn’t feel recognized by as people continually anything but his own name.

To the idea of playing into the fact he is also often called ‘boy’ or ‘child’ These could be names that eventually upset and anger him. He is being dragged into this war like he is old enough to fight, which he is not and yet he is not recognized as such by those around him.

It is a case of a child feeling indignatinge by being called terms which denote being naive, though I like to think there is some justification for his anger because this isn’t just a small thing but he is being taken into a man's world.

In Philoctetes he is referred to by the name Neoptolemus, he was given this name by Phoenix, a man also considered to be a father by Achilles. Phoenix is one of the oldest men in the Trojan war and he is either involved with Pyrrhus coming from the island to Skyros to the war or some time later down the road. He gave him this name because it means ‘new war/warrior’ it is meant to reflect how Achilles himself was a young man when he entered the war.

It is honestly more common to see Pyrrhus referred to as Neoptolemus by the Greeks and Pyrrhus by Roman sources to my knowledge. (i’ll be using Pyrrhus just for simplicity)

Troy

There are a lot of various stories that have to do with the fall of Troy, we have records again from Quintus “Fall of Troy” and the “Aeneid” by Vergil. There are also a number of plays by the three tragedians of Ancient Greece(Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus) that have to do with the end of the war and various stories of the aftermath.

While Pyrrhus doesn’t appear in these very often they still help to give more insight to his possible character.

Pyrrhus makes a minor appearance within the play of ‘hecuba’ and is in the background of ‘andromache’, he makes no appearance within this story but he is directly related to things happening in the play.

Back onto the subject of the fall of Troy, he is regarded as the killer of both Astyanax and Priam. These are generally agreed upon details and sometimes Odysseus fills the role of Pyrrhus when the story decides they don’t want to introduce more characters.

He is generally described as being ‘battle-eager’ ‘Fierce-hearted’ and a few other epithets relating to fighting. In general he is not described as being worse than anyone else. The fall of Troy is a greek work and all the Greeks within this work are killing and fighting people. He is by all means a competent fighter within the text.

In the Odyssey when Odysseus goes into the underworld and speaks with the dead, and when Achilles comes to speak he asks about his son.

Odysseus describes him as

‘but I can tell you all about your son Neoptolemus, for I took him in my own ship from Scyros with the Achaeans. In our councils of war before Troy he was always first to speak, and his judgement was unerring. Nestor and I were the only two who could surpass him; and when it came to fighting on the plain of Troy, he would never remain with the body of his men, but would dash on far in front, foremost of them all in valour. Many a man did he kill in battle- I cannot name every single one of those whom he slew while fighting on the side of the Argives, but will only say how he killed that valiant hero Eurypylus son of Telephus, who was the handsomest man I ever saw except Memnon; many others also of the Ceteians fell around him by reason of a woman's bribes. Moreover, when all the bravest of the Argives went inside the horse that Epeus had made, and it was left to me to settle when we should either open the door of our ambuscade, or close it, though all the other leaders and chief men among the Danaans were drying their eyes and quaking in every limb, I never once saw him turn pale nor wipe a tear from his cheek; he was all the time urging me to break out from the horse- grasping the handle of his sword and his bronze-shod spear, and breathing fury against the foe. Yet when we had sacked the city of Priam he got his handsome share of the prize money and went on board (such is the fortune of war) without a wound upon him, neither from a thrown spear nor in close combat, for the rage of Mars is a matter of great chance.'

In general from the greek sources he is described as nobly.

He is noted for killing quite a few people during the fall of Troy but his most notable kills are Priam, who he kills within the throne room (to my knowledge) and Astyanax who is killed after Troy has fallen.

In the Aeneid by Vergil he is described in ways that frame him a more villainous or evil way

‘The fatal work inhuman Pyrrhus plies,’

During when Pyrrhus is about to kill Priam there is a line that I believe characterizes him as more of a tragic character than anything else. Before killing Priam, Priam berates him about how Pyrrhus is about to treat Priam because of how Achilles showed him humanity and how Achilles gives Priam his son’s body back. This is partly brung up because Pyrrhus getting into the throne room kills one of Priam’s sons in front of his face.

The line basically translates out to be Pyrrhus telling Priam that when he dies and sees his father to tell him of the terrible deed of his son, of how terrible his son is.

In the translation that I read they use the line ‘Tell him of degenerate Neoptolemus’

When in the context of the Philoctetes I think this paints Pyrrhus as being a rather tragic and sad character, because prior to going to the island of Lemnos Pyrrhus tried to act most noble, he wants to be noble like his father. When on Lemnos he has his morals questioned and is forced to go against his morales at the hand of Odysseus.

I interpret this as him vocalizing how he might be upset with himself as he is forced to look at the reality of war which isn’t noble or glorious at all. He wants to live up to the noble idea of his father and everything he is forced to do makes him feel terrible.

I personally think that Pyrrhus probably doesn’t know a lot about the terrible things that Achilles has done or he tries to ignore them. When fighting in the war he might realize his idea of his father might not truly be acturte, he was raised on stories from his mother telling him of his outstanding father.

In terms of justifying his actions during the war because going off my own headcanon he probably wouldn’t be so interested in killing so many people, I imagine he kinda just turns off his head and acts purely on his emotions and just acts like that of a soldier. (Is this PTSD?)

He follows the orders given to him and acts without questioning and lets all his emotions out. I personally don’t assign Pyrrhus that much pride but I like to think he inherited some of his fathers famous anger. All of his anger at what he is being forced to do comes out when he is forced to fight.

That is where the brutality of his portrayal within the Aeneid comes from.

[coconutcordiale]

guys I’m watching everybody wants some for the first time and I am l o s i n g my fucking mind

[megsironthrone]

Meg's Game of Tales: Tale 12

*Familiar Characters are NOT mine! The original story of "Sleeping Beauty" was written by The Brothers Grimm.*

Warnings: Sleeping Beauty AU, kissing w/o explicit consent(consent is sexy people!), magic, angst. POV switches

Pairings: prince!Edmure Tully x princess!reader

When you were but an infant, an evil mage placed a curse on you. You were cursed to die at the age of sixteen by pricking your finger on a spinning wheel. It sent your father and mother into a panic. While destroying every spinning wheel in the kingdom, the king turned to three other magical creatures in hopes they could remove the curse. They couldn't. But they were able to change it. Unfortunately, that still meant you were in danger. So even though it killed them to do it, your parents sent you away into hiding. You were not to return until after your sixteenth birthday.

*sixteen years later*

Edmure rode away from the castle, desperate to get away. After traveling for days to get there, Edmure had been immediately stifled by the planning of his wedding. To a princess he'd met once! When she was a baby and he wasn't much older! Edmure hadn't understood when he was young why the princess had suddenly disappeared and now that he was older, it didn't matter. He didn't want to marry you. Sometimes he hated being the only prince in the family.

Edmure urged his horse to stop when he reached the woods. He didn't know what he would do out here, but he needed the breathing space. He dismounted and lead his horse over to the nearby stream. After splashing water on his face, Edmure heard a sound. It was soft at first but gradually grew louder. Singing. Someone was singing.

Although he wasn't curious by nature, Edmure found it odd for someone to randomly be singing in the woods. After giving his horse a pat on the neck, Edmure followed the sound of the voice. It didn't take him long to locate the source. A woman. She was walking so gracefully, it was almost like a dance. A soft song escaped from her lips and called to him like a siren.

Edmure shook his head at himself. He'd always been something of a romantic as a younger man. It seemed that hadn't stopped as he grew older. He watched for a moment longer before deciding he was being creepy and decided to leave the young woman to her devices. Unfortunately, as Edmure moved to return to his horse, he stepped on a fallen twig and snapped it, the sound echoing through the otherwise quiet woods.

"Who's there?!" Edmure cursed under his breath before revealing himself. "My apologies for startling you, Miss. I heard you singing." The woman let her shoulders lower. "I didn't realize I was singing so loudly. I should go and leave you to your plans." She turned to leave, but Edmure called out for her to stop. He wasn't sure why exactly. Maybe he just wanted to talk to someone outside the palace life.

YOUR POV

You faced the strange man and bit your lip. You knew you should return to your cottage with your aunts, but you NEVER got to talk to anyone outside of the three of them. Before you could talk yourself out of it, you nodded and set your basket down. You followed after and patted the grassy space next to you.

Your stranger sat with only minor hesitation. From there, the two of you spoke at length. You learned your stranger was a prince. It seemed you learned so much about him in such a small amount of time. As the sun began to set, you found yourself not wanting to part from his company. Still you knew you needed to return home before it got too dark. The woods was a treacherous place in the dark.

With a sigh, you got up and brushed off your skirts. Your prince rose as well with a frown on his face. "I'm afraid I must go." You moved to leave, but he gently took your hand. "Will I see you again?" You smiled and nodded lightly. "Tomorrow is my birthday. Perhaps you could come then? I live in the little cottage in the glen." He agreed happily. You bid him farewell and quickly returned home.

The smile never left your face as you enjoyed the evening with your aunts. It even stayed as you began making your way to your bed. And when the questioned you, you didn't want to say anything. You knew they'd be upset and you'd always been a terrible liar. They kept on until you finally admitted that you met someone. "He's coming here tomorrow to meet you all." Your aunts exchanged worried glances. "I-I think you'd better sit down. There's something you need to know."

EDMURE'S POV: The next day

There was a spring in Edmure's step as he headed out. He couldn't wait to see his mysterious woman again. As he was about to ride off, Edmure's uncle stepped out. "And just where do you think you're going? The princess is returning home this evening!" Edmure grimaced. He had honestly forgotten about the princess.

"Sorry, Uncle. I shall return later, but I have an engagement elsewhere." His uncle's eyes narrowed. "This wouldn't have anything to do with your disappearing act yesterday?" Edmure tried to keep his expression neutral. "Because you are getting married," his uncle continued, "You have no time for mucking about now." Edmure clenched his fist by his side.

"Uncle, for once in my life I have something to look forward to. I met a lovely young lady. One I could see myself being wed to and happy with. I don't know the princess and I may refuse to wed her once we finally do meet. I want this one thing." Edmure's uncle scoffed. "Then take the girl on as a mistress, but you will marry the princess." Edmure watched his uncle walk away without giving him the chance to retort.

Anger coursed through Edmure's veins at his uncle audacity. His new friend was too good to be a mistress. He wouldn't do her the dishonor of even suggesting such a thing. He hoped the walk to the cottage would help him calm down enough to enjoy her birthday with her. With that hope in mind, Edmure headed out to the woods once again.

When he reached the cottage, something seemed off. The inside was dark, not even a candle in the window or smoke billowing from the chimney. Edmure drew his sword as he entered the cottage. Not that it did any good. A trap had been set. He couldn't believe it. Had she done this?

"Well, well. This is a surprise. I set my trap for a peasant and instead, I catch a prince. We have much to discuss, Prince Edmure." Edmure recognized the mage from the stories he'd heard. This was the mage that had cursed the princess. Edmure didn't have a chance to ask before he was pulled from the cottage toward the dark, towering castle that loomed in the distance. The mage didn't speak again until Edmure was chained to the walls of a cell in the dungeon of the crumbling palace.

The mage stood across from him with a smug grin. "Why am I here? What does the girl from the cottage have to do with this?" Edmure growled out. The mage looked surprised for a moment before laughing. "You haven't figured it out? She is the princess! And my curse will come to fruition tonight!" Edmure shook his head.

"No it won't! Even if she is the princess, true love's kiss will wake her!" Another dark chuckle escaped the mage's lips. "Except her true love is right here. And here is where you will remain until you are too old to make the journey back to the castle. Oh, you'll try, of course, but you will be weak. Still, you oh valiant prince will not give up. I have seen it. After all, in the case of true love, 100 years is but a day. So, you will leave here and you will make the journey. And you. Will. Fail. The princess will sleep for an eternity!" The mage's cackle echoed through the dungeons as they left Edmure alone.

Edmure's thoughts bounced all over the place. If what the mage said was true, there was no hope. But he couldn't believe that. There had to be a way to save you. Edmure sat, ignoring the clanking of the chains, as he thought of ways he could get out. He had no idea what time it was or how long until sunset. Even if he did manage to escape, who's to say it wouldn't be too late? As every hour passed, Edmure's hope began to dwindle.

Just as Edmure's positivity was running out, a small flash of light caught his attention. As he looked up, two more flashes had him blinking rapidly. When he could see clearly again, Edmure nearly jumped out of his skin. Three obviously magic-wielders stood before him.

"Prince Edmure. We've come to rescue you. The princess is already sleeping. You're the only one who can help her." Edmure stared for a moment. "But, what if I'm not her true love? What if I am?! I don't want to force this on her…on Princess Y/N…I can't believe that the girl is actually the princess."

"We really don't have time for this, my prince. We have to move before the mage discovers we're here. If we can get out without being noticed, you would not have to take on the mage without reinforcements." Edmure stood as one of his saviors used magic to rid him of the chains keeping him in the cell. They all used their magic to summon a sword and shield. Edmure felt powerful(though he was grateful they hadn't summoned a bow. He wasn't really good with those) and he felt like he really could save his mystery girl. That he could save you.

Unfortunately, Edmure's exit wasn't exactly quiet and he ended up having to handle all the mage's little minions and then the mage themselves. It took everything in him and he was certain he nearly died several times. But eventually, Edmure was victorious. He was coated in sweat and dirt, but that was the last thing on his mind. He had to get to you.

The magic-wielders, who Edmure learned were the people that raised you, told Edmure where they'd placed you. Edmure stopped short when he saw you laid out on the bed. You looked so different than you had in the woods. Still, beautiful, but different. Edmure knew what he had to do next, but he wasn't sure he wanted to. He didn't exactly have your consent in this.

With a sigh, Edmure at least decided to clean his face first. He moved to the basin and washed quickly. Once he was cleaned up, he came back over to you. "I am so sorry for this. I hope you will be able to forgive me," he whispered. Leaning forward, Edmure pressed his lips to yours in a soft and quick kiss. Your eyes fluttered open and you gave him a smile.

"I forgive you," you said softly, "But if you ever kiss me without permission again, I will hurt you." Edmure let out a relieved chuckle. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Princess." You sat up and threw your arms around him. "Thank you for saving me."

[haddonfieldproject]

<<PREVIOUS⏺<<CONTENTS>>

1.2.9 HALLOWEEN NIGHT/NOVEMBER 1st 5:13 AM

Warren County, Illinois

While that call did not succeed in waking up Kyndra and Zoey, the aforementioned Diego was woken up, however, by his co-worker Quinn, as he lay napping on a tattered sofa in the SuperFuel Deluxe's break room.

“Diego!”

Diego grunted.

“Diego, get up,” Quinn slapped him with a blue rag.

Diego sat up and rubbed his eye.

“Customers.” Quinn said.

Diego blinked awake. The TV was on. A man with fake looking blonde hair stood in front of a map coated with splotches of reds, oranges, and yellows.

“ Lightning strikes have been reported just about everywhere as this severe cell moves through Warren and Carpenter counties. Listen up if you are in the areas of Russelville, Haddonfield, Langdon, Tuckerville...you are under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning and Tornado Watch ‪until 7:45 am‬. Check out this picture someone posted on social media, that's softball sized hail folks...this reported by Zeke, a custodian working late ‪night tonight‬ at Smith's Grove High School, so be careful out there folks.”

Thunder struck and the lights in the shop momentarily dimmed. Customers, Diego thought, in this storm?

Diego stood up and stretched and then grabbed his Mountain Dew he had swiped from the coolers a few hours ago. Stepping into the shop, he sure enough saw some guy was talking to Quinn, standing next to an old-ass station wagon. The kind that had the wood panels on the side. The bottom was eaten away with rust. Diego was surprised the thing was even running at all, and one of the first things he noticed were the California plates. The lifeless remains of a tire lay snaked around a severely dented rim on the front passenger side. Must have hit a curb without even braking, he thought.

Quinn pulled a clipboard off the dark blue tool bench next to him and said, “We actually just had one of these die on us last week and it's back there in the yard. We can replace the tire and the rim and fix up those tie rods and struts in a jiff. You got really got lucky, because otherwise you'd be waiting at least two days for parts.”

The man's eyes grew wide, “Are you serious?! That's a miracle if I ever heard one.”

“I'll say,” Diego chimed in, “What year is this?”

“1989 Ford Country Squire” Jack Tate said proudly.

“Wow,” Diego laughed. “Quinn's right, we literally just got one of these in, the drive train fell apart in our hands, literally fell apart. But it was much more beat up than this.”

“You don't say!?” Jack put his hands on his hips.

“I couldn't help but recognize the California plates,” Diego motioned to the back of the car, dropping to one knee to examine the wheel well.

“Yep,” Jack said, rubbing his chin, “We're from a small town in Northern California, between San Jose and Sacramento. It's called Summer Glen.”

“Bet you don't get much snow there,” Diego said from under the car.

“Nope..but I bet you guys do.”

Diego appeared from under the lopsided tire with a smile, “Buckets,” he replied, “And it wreaks havoc on an undercarriage.”

“I bet it does” Jack replied.

Diego stood up and wiped his hands on his coveralls. “Well, not so much the snow,” he said, “it's the salt they salt the roads with. Eats the bottom of the car all up.”

“So what do you do?” Jack asked.

“Heated car wash,” Diego said, reaching out his hand to Quinn for the clipboard.

“I saw signs for those on the way in, all over the place up here,” Jack said, “But I saw signs but then it looked like empty parking lots.”

Quinn smiled and handed Diego the clipboard, “With steam coming up?”

“I didn't see any steam,” Jack replied.

“They're probably turned off right now.” Diego remarked, looking over the paper on the clipboard.

Quinn whistled, “Whew don't I know it. It's been hotter than a hippo with a hernia.”

“Hmmm,” Jack grunted in agreement, “Climate Change.”

Quinn hissed, “Hogwash! I don't believe that bullshit for a second.”

Jack quickly changed the subject, “Anyways—err--how do car washes help your car in the winter?”

Quinn nodded, “You drive over the jets and they hose off your undercarriage with heated water”

“That's fascinating,” Jack smiled.

“Well,” Diego sighed, “We have the parts already so we'll charge you a $90 restocking fee, that's mostly 'cuz Quinn here has to run out in the rain and slip the rim and tie-rods off the old car.”

“Aww man, that's cold,” Quinn exclaimed.

“Good news is,” Diego continued, “You really didn't tear her up all that much besides that, you knocked some things loose but we can tighten her up. The labor will cost you $400 easy,, being on the weekend now, and then $140 for the tire, $126 for the rim, taxes and disposal and you're still under a grand.”

“That's wonderful,” Jack said, placing his hands back on his hips.

“What brings you out here?” Quinn asked, “Especially in this storm.”

“My wife got a job out here, she ‪starts Monday‬ so we wanted to get out here as quick as we could....drove straight through.” Jack remarked.

“Wow,” Quinn breathed.

“I need those parts Quinn,” Diego remarked, opening the top of the tool bench and pulling out a socket wrench.

“Oh right!” Quinn smiled. He walked over to the far wall and grabbed a yellow rain coat which hung on a peg next to a Calendar, still on the month of October. A model in a bikini presided over the tenth month. “What job did your wife get out here?” He called from across the room.

“She's going to be the new Chief of Medicine at the hospital,” Jack replied, his eyes on Diego as Diego crouched back down toward the car.

“Oh she's gonna replace old man Mixter!” Quinn remarked.

Jack shrugged.

“Hurry Quinn, this guy said he's got places to be,” Diego said from under the car.

“Oh right,” Quinn said and stepped through the side door that led into a small foyer and eventually either out to the front parking lot or back into the lot.

“So your wife's a doctor eh,” Diego's voice came from under the car, “so what do you do?”

“Well I'm a doctor too,” Jack replied.

Diego emerged from the car holding a twisted piece of metal, “Really? What kind?”

“Well I'm a psychiatrist,” Jack said.

Diego slid back under the car, “A shrink huh?” He said, “You opening up an office here or something?”

“Well no,” Jack laughed, “I'm actually going to take some time off and write a book.”

Diego re-emerged with more twisted metal, “Cool,” he said, “What about?”

“Hypnosis,” Jack said matter-of-factly.

Diego cocked his head to one side, “Really? You do that shit?”

“Swear by it,” Jack replied.

There was an awkward moment of silence and then they both laughed.

🎃

Meanwhile, Ophelia Tate had purchased a small and incredibly over-priced pack of baby wipes and was giving herself the best attempt at a bath she could muster inside the surprisingly clean restroom of the SuperFuel Deluxe. After she finished, she sat on top of a toilet and took an opportunity to catch up on social media.

While she sat in the stall reading about “11 Celebrities That You Would Never Assume Were Gay”, her son Damon stepped into the Food Mart, and wiped his perfectly white sneakers on the welcome mat. An angry looking Indian man looked up as the door bells jingled and then went back to fiddling with some electronic device behind the counter. Damon's first thought was, Why does he keep all that bullet proof glass open?

He casually turned to his left, starting down an aisle chock full of every imaginable brand of potato chip or chocolate or fruity candy---browsing but not really browsing, more just wasting time. The aisle came to a dead-end at a wall of coolers full of soda and water and fruit juices. Damon stopped and caught himself staring at a row of YooHoos when he heard what sounded like a snickering to his left.

There was a small hallway to the left of the coolers, veering off next to an ATM machine. He stepped in front of the ATM machine and peered down the hallway, at once spotting the cause of the commotion. Three young boys were standing in the corner next to a door marked: UTILITY, NO TRESSPASSING. One was a freckled redheaded kid with shiny braces dressed as batman, another was a blonde haired blue eyed boy dressed like Darth Vader, and the last was a much younger looking kid with brown hair and brown eyes dressed like some kind of zombie. They were huddled together, their masks all hanging limply around their necks, crowded around a magazine featuring a hot blonde titled RED RABBIT. The cover-girl’s name was apparently Misty Dawn, and according to the cover caption, she was “Back and Ready for More Action”.

The boys caught sight of Damon and looked up startled. The freckled redhead kid's smile disappeared and his eyes grew narrow, “Hey!” He called, “What are you looking at?”

Damon was unfazed. “Looks like a couple of pervs to me,” he said, stepping toward them.

This apparently took them aback because they said nothing in retort.

“Seriously,” Damon said, pointing at the cover, “How old are you guys?”

Blonde Vader who held the magazine in his hand pressed it to his chest as if it were the most valuable thing on the earth and looked up at Damon with his mouth open. Little zombie boy took a step back. But BatFreckle was not amused. “Why don't you go Fuck Off!”

Damon frowned, “That's not very nice language. Is everyone in this town pervs like you?”

“Where are you---” little zombie started in but BatFreckle cut him off.

“Don't you know that Warren County is the home of the Rabbit-in-Red? What hole did you crawl out of freak-show?”

“Rabbit-in-what?” Damon asked and with lightning speed, snatched the magazine from Blonde Vader.

“Hey!” The wannabe Sith Lord exclaimed.

“Rabbit-In-Red Productions is the world's third largest manufacturer of pornographic media dipshit, and the company is based here in Warren County.” BatFreckle spat.

“So it is a county full of pervs,” Damon said, opening the magazine and thumbing through the pages.

“My dad said a local bunch of church folks fought Mr. Martini in court over decency laws so much, the legal fees drove the church out of business.” Blonde Vader said.

“Shi-yeah,” BatFreckle said, “That's why old man Taylor's up in his house on the hill crying like a pussy all the time.”

“Mr. Who?” Damon asked, closing the magaize and handing it back to Blonde Vader.

BatFreckle snatched it instead and flipped to the table of contents, pointing to a ‪small black‬ and white picture of a middle-aged overweight man. “Lou Martini. He's the CEO of Rabbit-in-Red nimrod, he owns half the county and is like, the richest man in Illinois outside of Chicago.”

“Where are you from?” Little zombie found his place to ask.

“My parents and I are moving here from California, we just got in tonight, got a flat tire.” Damon replied.

“California! That's cool!” Blonde Vader exclaimed.

BatFreckle rolled his eyes, “Beat it California!” He said, “We were just checking out Spitz' mom in this month's issue.”

He and Blonde Vader started laughing.

“That's not my mom!” Little zombie, who's name was obviously Spitz, whined.

“Don't lie, you know it's her!” BatFreckle teased.

Blonde Vader turned the page, and the centerfold fell out, revealing the cover-girl Misty Dawn laying on a bed of white fur naked except for a silver belly chain and and black stilettos. A paper fell out as well and fluttered almost magestically to the floor. Damon bent down and picked it up. It was a flier that featured another picture of the model. The headline read:

SEE COVER GIRL

MISTY DAWN

TUE-SUN

OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER

AT THE

RABBIT-IN-RED LOUNGE

IN

HADDONFIELD

“Look Spitz” BatFreckle said in jest, “You can see your mom's show tonight if you want.”

“It's not my mom!” Spitz whined again.

“Why don't you leave him alone?” Damon said.

“Why don't you suck my balls?” BatFreckle snapped.

“Chill out Lonnie!” Blonde Vader slapped BatFreckle's shoulder and then looked at Damon “Lonnie can be a douche sometimes, I'm Richie Marshall, this is Lonnie Elamb, and he's Spitz. Welcome to Haddonfield.”

Lonnie groused and leaned back against the wall, opening up the porn.

“Cool, my name is Damon.”

“How old are you?” Richie asked.

“17, you?”

“I just turned 12, Lonnie is 16 but he's still in 8th grade...he has to go to special classes at the Middle School.” Richie and Spitz cackled.

“I have dyslexia fuck face!” Lonnie said, throwing the RED RABBIT at his friend.

“I'm 8,” Spitz said proudly.

“What are you doing out of the house at this time of night?” Damon asked, picking up the magazine from the floor and handing it back to Richie.

“Lonnie has his drivers license now, and I just snuck out of my house.” Richie said.

“What about you?” Damon asked, turning toward Spitz.

“His mom's a whore so she leaves him alone to go out fucking for quarters!” Lonnie called.

“Stop it Lonnie! She is not!” Spitz cried.

Damon ignored him and Spitz continued, “My mom works late nights at Jamie Lee's Diner, she doesn't get home till morning. My grandma watches me but she fell asleep and I...I snuck out too.”

“We just ate there coming in,” Damon said smiling.

“My mom is Taylor,” Spitz said.

“She was our waitress.” Damon replied.

“His mom's a slut!” Lonnie called.

Spitz started to whine but Damon put an arm around him, “Why do you hang out with this asshole? Is there anything else to do in this place than look at naked chicks?”

“There's an arcade in the driver's lounge, but I don't have any quarters.” Spitz said.

“Come on,” Damon said, “Show me where it is.”

Richie tossed Lonnie the magazine to followed Damon and Spitz. Lonnie caught it, rolling his eyes, he was perfectly happy right there looking at boobs.

🎃

Damon stepped into the shop area of the SuperFuel Deluxe and shook off the rain. There he saw his dad sitting on a folding chair listening, as another man held a lamp under their family station wagon from the Jurassic era. A third man was under the car working. The man holding the lamp was droning on and on about baseball. Damon didn't really care for baseball, or any sports for that matter.

“And then the Sox brought in their reliever, that guy Stroop, and he just completely fell apart. He hit two batters and walked another, and before you knew it the bases were loaded.” Quinn was saying.

Damon walked up to his dad. “Is that so---” Jack replied, but was startled when Damon tapped him on the shoulder.

“What is it son? You're not supposed to be back here.” Jack looked up at Damon.

“There's an arcade inside and I was wondering if you had any change on you?” Damon asked.

Jack leaned to one side and pulled his wallet out, withdrawing a 20 dollar bill. “Can they make change?” He asked.

“There's a change machine,” Damon said flatly, taking the money.

“You can play all of that, what the hell, it's been a long few days,” Jack said smiling.

Damon stuffed the twenty in his front pocket and turned, “Thanks,” he said.

“Tell your mom I'm in here,” Jack called after him.

“Haven't seen her,” Damon said as he walked out, without turning.

Quinn started up again, “So you know that big Dominican for the Cubs, Agu...Agu...something.”

“Aguilar,” Diego called from under the car.

“Yeah, Aguilar,” Quinn corrected himself. “Well he steps up to the plate and first pitch...bam!”

NEXT>>

[weaponsofassreduction]

Weekend Away

Two weeks ago I ended up at Lake Seneca for a friend's bachelorette party. It went pretty well all things considered. Three of the girls I had never met and were the bride's age (aka: much younger than me) and the other four, including the bride, I haven't seen probably in years.

How I got invited I really don't know. I had a falling out with one of the group a couple years back. Everyone was mad at her for doing something horrible I'm not going to talk about here. There were a lot of emotions from everyone, involved or not, and I decided to separate myself from it all. I was remembered for about two weeks before everyone went about their business without another thought for me.

But that's just the way it goes. Always has been, probably always will be. I have a reputation in my own head: the girl everyone "loves" but no one interacts with. "Oh, you know so-and-so? OMG I LOVE HER!!" Meanwhile, we haven't actually spoken in two years. Story of my life.

Needless to say, the prospect of staying in a house with these 7 people was stressing me out. The kind of stressed where I sit and think about all of the things I need to do or make lists, but never actually get around to doing those things. That's how I found myself sitting in a Kmart parking lot crying at 9:40 the night before I was supposed to leave for this trip with nothing to wear.

I had a legitimate fear that I was going to be the one who ruined the trip pictures because of the way I look. I'm obviously pretty heavy, I don't buy myself nice clothes, I'm plain and never wear makeup or jewelry, and my standard hairstyle is a ponytail. There's my nutshell. So, yes, I was anxious about nearly everything that weekend.

All in all, I guess it wasn't bad, though. We went to Watkins Glen and started with what was supposed to be "a nice hike up the falls." 😐 "Don't worry, there's steps and hand rails." 🤔 It was also 1.5 miles up hill including 832 stairs just to get to the top. ☠ Then another 1.5 back down. My legs were shaking and felt like overcooked spaghetti by the end. 🍝 But hey, exercise, right?

I had to stop several times-since asthma makes me it's bitch- and have everyone stare at me while I wheezed and tried to not die. Fun times! 👍 Here's some pics.

We survived I guess.

Next we hung out at The Oasis at Hazlitt. That was fun till it wasn't. A few guys were trying to pick up certain members of the party. I was also drunk and may have shot my mouth off a few too many times. My favorite:

Us- (leaving)

Them- (spouting nonsense I didn't care about)

Me- Yeah, well sorry you're not getting laid tonight. Looks like you put in all that hard work for nothing. Bye!

Unfortunately we ran into them at the next place too. I ate a bunch of pickles and drank more. The night ended with them somehow figuring out where we were staying, us freaking and checking the house while wielding kitchen knives, then deciding planks were a good idea. Spoiler: stupidest fucking idea since hiking the gorge.

However, I think pickles are the best hangover cure now. I thought for sure they'd make me sick, but I woke up at 6:30, sore everywhere but not a hangover in site. Yay pickles!🥒

We also stole lots of glasses. Sorry Hazlitt.

Went to a few places the next day. Bought a little wine, ate some food, had some laughs. It was mostly a good time. We did have an issue with where we wanted to go for dinner. They wouldn't accept our reservation for 8 people but then wouldn't seat us because we didn't have a reservation. 😲 Whatever. We found something better. Ended up at a place called Thai Elephants and it was amazing.

They let us have a reserved table as long as we promised to be out before the party got there. The food was BEAUTIFUL! I got pineapple curry with mussels, squid, and shrimp. It was also ridiculously spicy. When she asked how it was I told her how good but spicy it was for me and asked for an order of coconut rice to help. When I got the check she had comped the rice! It was already a $20 bowl of curry and I think I left a $10 tip because they were so good to us. I hope everyone else did the same.

Now for the sad part. When we were packing up to leave the next day I pulled my leftovers out of the fridge to take home and saw that it leaked. But when I went to wash off the container and repack it, it was actually shattered. Apparently someone knocked it out of the fridge and there were little plastic pieces in it. 😢 I was sooooooo looking forward to eating that and had to throw it away!!! I've been checking every local Thai restaurant around to find the same dish and no one makes it with all the different seafood. Next time I'm up there I need to make a stop and get some more. I'm still not over this.

We packed up, cleaned, and left the next morning. But not before stopping at the discount wine store to buy all the wine we liked. Lol we had a full cart, it was ridiculous. I also bought garlic and dill cheeses from the store after a stop at Dunkin.

A Frozen Chocolate and a blueberry donut. Yeah, aside from copious amounts of wine this was my big cheat and I don't regret it.

We also decided to do a plank challenge for some reason. So now I do planks every day and it sucks. Better than my usual no exercise though.

So that was my weekend away. I'm still not fond of any pics that were taken because I look like a whale especially compared to the other girls. I definitely felt ignored and forgotten about at points, but that's pretty much my superpower. So, it is what it is and I just try to deal with it. The bride had a great time and that's the only party that really matters.