#graphics: tales of arise

[konfizry]

[holysweetnachofries]

i thought i already permanently escaped from the grasp of the tale of franchise but i couldn't. i came back crawling desperately 10 years later while clenching my fists and gritting my teeth out of sheer fucking guilt.

images of yuri, lloyd, luke, and jude came flashing into my mind and i just wanted to know what was going on in the series already... what games have they developed that will drag me deeper into this hell hole. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY HAVE MULTIPLE MOBILE GAMES AND SIDE GAMES ALREADY?

[dragonsong17]

Tales of Arise - The Otherworld locations

These areas look familiar... do you recognize them all?

Tales of Destiny - Abandoned Mine Tales of Symphonia - Origin's Seal Tales of the Abyss - Mount Roneal Tales of Zestiria - Eizen's grave Tales of Berseria - Mount Killaraus Tales of Xillia 2 - Land of Canaan

[kettlefire]

Prepare for the unexpected. (DPxDC)

Everyone knew about the reign of Pariah Dark. Even those who did not dabble in those realms have heard the tale of the tyrant. A power-hungry man who ruled over the dead with an iron fist.

Following the rise of Pariah Dark, his realm had been effectively cut off from communication. Many mystics and magic users knew better than to open the door of nightmares that could arise if Pariah Dark's reach went further than his own realm.

Except, the universe had plans to bring the realm of the dead back into the cards.

A new opponent, one that had all of Earth's heroes scrambling for options. A being with powers of a god over weather, destruction was on the horizon. A world ending threat.

It's the only reason the Justice League was doing this. In a deep bunker, far from close civilization as a precaution, the heroes looked on with grim expressions.

The world was already being threatened. It would be destroyed regardless of what the league did. So it only made sense to make the last ditch effort. To summon someone strong enough to defeat the threat.

No one wanted to do it. No one wanted to be the one to pull the realm of the dead back to the living. The consequences were untold if this succeeded. If Pariah Dark was freed and defeated the threat, whose to say he won't want control?

That was a problem for later. For the aftermath. For now, the league could only watch on with bated breath as Constantine completely the summon ritual.

They watched on as the shadows in the room seemed to darken and grow. As the sigil sputtered to life with a glow that was growing increasingly brighter. A sudden gust of wind rushed through the room, the temperature began to drop with eaching ticking second.

And then it was all gone.

The room stood perfectly still. Just as it had been moments before. Nothing changed. No giant king standing before them, no sign that the ritual worked.

The room stood deadly still for another beat before the murmurs started. The team trying to make sense of the situation, figure out what went wrong.

Constantine swore up and down that this was the correct ritual, taking offense that they would even think the problem was on his end. It only made it better when it finally happened.

A loud sound ripped through the room, pulling everyone's attention back to the summoning circle. Just in time to see a tear appear in the space above the circle.

A thin tear that ran the length of eight feet. The fabric of the dimension seems to curl at the edges, pulling back to reveal a deep glowing swirl of greens. A dark gloved hand reached through, fingers curling around the edge of the tear, stretching it even further.

A portal. The ritual had worked, but there had been a delay. A delay that had every hero nerves on edge. Each team member tensed, weapons at the ready as they watched the being stretch the portal to the right size.

Then, a foot stepped out with a heavy thud. A dark boot that looked otherworldly despite its similarity to mortal clothing. A deep black that seemed never-ending. A second foot quickly followed before a full body emerged from the portal.

Not many people in the room have ever seen Pariah Dark, let alone know what to expect. Based on what Constantine and Zatara had said, this wasn't Pariah Dark.

A man had stepped out of the portal, standing at almost seven feet tall, and built like a brick house. One glance at the glowing white hair, deadly red eyes, and shard teeth was enough to know this being was not to be messed with.

But there was no giant show of armor or royal garbs. There is no large crown at the top of his head or jewelry from the infinite realms laced around his neck.

Instead, the man stood before them in combat boots, worn-in ripped jeans, a graphic t-shirt, and a spiked leather jacket. Despite his almost normal clothing choice, the man's jacket seemed to be a never-ending depth of the dark night sky. If one was to look closely enough, the cosmos could almost be made out in the sea of darkness.

None of that would have prepared them for when the man spoke. His tone sounded more bored than anything as he took a step forward.

"Oh, so now you need the help of the dead." The man had spoken, running a hand through his hair. When Batman took a step forward to speak, the man raised a hand. Immediately commanding silence in the single gesture. "I'm on babysitting duty and have yet to have a cup of coffee. I'll be right back."

Just like that, both the man and portal vanished into thin air. Leaving behind a group of stunned heroes. Not only was the man not Pariah Dark, but he was also supposedly babysitting.

"Did that just-"

The Flash had been the first voice to speak up, his eyes trained on where the man had once stood. Except he had barely made it through the first few words before the man was suddenly back.

The man that now had a child hanging off his shoulders and another teen being held up by his scruff. Unlike the man, these kids looked human.

Too human for Bruce's liking. The dark black hair and bright blue eyes had every heroes eyes flickering to Batman for just the briefest moment.

"This isn't fair! I'm not even the king. Why do I have to be here!" The teenager had been complaining the moment the man had reappeared. Arms crossed tight over his chest and seemingly used to being held dangling. "Besides, who brings kids to a show down! Wait til I tell mom about this."

"Aw, come on, Danny. This is gonna be fun!!" The younger girl seemed in much better spirits than the teen, Danny. She had climbed up the large man, sitting on his shoulders and resting her arms on the mess of glowing hair. "It's like take your kids to work day! Ooo, Dan! Can we fight too!?"

Unlike the two kids, the man looked purely exhausted and annoyed. The man, Dan, dropped Danny like a sack of potatoes as he took a long drink from the travel cup in his hand.

It didn't take a genius to recognize the look of an exhausted parent in Dan's expression. A look many of the league members were well acquainted to. A look that even had Batman grimacing with sympathy.

"Can it, little shits. You two were grounded, remember." Dan had growled at the kids before shifting his focus back on the team of heroes before them. His glowing eyes set in a deadly glare. "Pariah Dark isn't coming, and he never will. He's been dethroned and banished. We're the best you've got."

A summoning that started with a group of on edge and scared heroes looking for the ghost king, ended in a way no one expected.

No one was even sure if it made any sense. They weren't sure if they should feel hopeful or in despair.

Because truly, what was a ghostly man with two seemingly human children against a godlike foe with the control over the weather?

The unspoken question of power and ability seemed to vanish following Dan downing the metal travel cup of coffee, and crushing it in his fist.

He tossed it to the side, straighting up his posture as he looked over the heroes. Dan might not be a hero, but he's been playing family for too long.

An almost feral, bloodhungry grin spread across the man's face, sharp fangs on full display. The look made the man suddenly look even less human. He looked closer to a demon from the pits of hell rather than the exhausted parent he looked just a few seconds ago.

"Point me in the direction of this bastard. It's been too long since I let loose and had some fun."

[tshortik]

My random comic Recs #1

I've been reading more comics lately, so I wanted to share my love for them in the hopes that someone might give this medium a chance!

Note: I am not a fan of superhero comics, because I simply don't like that genre, so don't expect superheroes below. Gonna make these posts every now and then and they will always include 4 recs. 1.) The Many Deaths of Laila Starr

Death got demoted and sent to earth as a mortal! Some boy is going to figure out how to cheat death in the future, and our girl Death really doesn't appreciate that. The entire graphic novel is only 5 issues long, so it's VERY digestible and easy to get through.There is something so light and playful about the art style, and the vibrant colors really sell it.

For people that are completely new to comics as a medium, I imagine that this is actually an A+ book to start with for the reasons I just mentioned. The way paneling and the flow of time is done in here, is a great example as to why comics are so unique as a medium and why they should be looked at as its own art from, separate from movies or books.

2) Mécanique Céleste (Or "Mechanica Calaestium" in the German translation, or "Aster Of Pan" in the English translation)

An absolutely breathtaking French comic. Aster lives in Pan, a post-apocalyptic France where she scavenges for wreckage with her friend Wallis. After their people come under a threat by the Federation of Fortuna, they are given a choice —submit to Fortuna’s rule or beat them in a weird Hunger Games-esque version of Dodge, called “Celestial Mechanics”.

The detailed art pieces in each panel, the careful line work, the lively way the characters move and the stunning watercolors captivated me from the first page. This graphic novel (now 2 volumes) is one of a kind and truly unique!

3) Something Is Killing the Children

Note: Comic contains a lot of gore and violence!

Children are starting to disappear in Archer's Peak. The ones that come back tell impossible stories that no one seems to believe. Only one stranger trusts these tales - a mysterious girl named Erica Slaughter who seems to be able to see these creatures too. And she's here for business.

I loooove Something is Killing the Children. I haven't finished reading the ongoing volumes yet, but I am super fascinated at how well the pacing goes in this story. The rough art style with Erica's freaky large eyes is SO fun, and you start appreciating it even more the longer you read.

4) Mon Ami Pierrot ("Mein Freund Pierrot" in German, "My friend Pierrot" in English)

Another fabulous French comic! Cléa is to marry soon - a young man name of Berthier. Right before the wedding she meets the fascinating magician Pierrot though, who completely changes the course of her life. Entranced by his whimsical nature that makes her feel "free" for the first time in her life, she follows him and leaves her previous life behind. During her stay with Pierrot, questions arise, though. Who is he really? All the while her betrothed sets out to find her again.

The Ghibli influence both art- and storywise is easy to make out, and I personally really enjoyed that. I particularly love the colors and the facial expressions the characters are drawn with. Everything feels very whimsical and playful and I had a good time going through this chonker of a graphic novel!

No spoilers, but I expected toothrottingly-sweet wholesome stuff, and ended up surprised on several occasions. I think the colours and art style really help give those moments wham, because you don't expect it.

[zealouswerewolfcollector]

A Tale That Wasn't Right

Belated entry for @silmarillionepistolary

2406 words, M, Maedhros/Fingon

Warnings: violence but not very graphic

On Ao3

NOLDÓRAN ARCHIVES PROJECT

MANUSCRIPT 26328-lambe

Records of the Hearing Convened by Finwë Noldóran Concerning the Incident Occurred Between Two Highborn Eldar

Editor’s note: Perhaps one of the most fascinating manuscripts among the royal records, 26328-lambe has been classified for Ages. Only now, well into the Fifth Age, it has finally been released to the public. 

Certainly, the reluctance to publicize these records must be due to the scandalous subject matter and the involvement of highly recognizable figures of the Years of the Trees. We shall refrain from speculations as to the identity of the involved parties and redact or change several identifying details as per the request of King Arafinwë.

The manuscript is also distinguished because of the considerably biased notes of the unnamed scribe, possibly one who did not continue their service for long. Despite their unconventional approach to their role, we have this scribe to thank for the preservation of the very first draft of the records.

Without further ado, we invite the reader to peruse the records and draw their own conclusions.  

At the second hour of the Mingling of [precise date omitted], the Noldóran convened a private hearing, concerning an altercation between two highborn Eldar that has been brought to the Noldóran’s attention. 

Present at the meeting

Finwë Noldóran

[redacted], tavernkeeper of the tavern [redacted] in Tirion

Finwë Noldóran’s humble scribe

Noldóran: Let us begin. Tavernkeeper, I would hear all that occurred between [title omitted] N and [title omitted] F.

Tavernkeeper: Where should I begin, lord?

Noldóran: When did you first notice their presence at your tavern?

Tavernkeeper: Immediately, lord. It was the first time such highborn lords visited my establishment. [Title omitted] F was the first to arrive. He sat in a corner and ordered [drink name omitted to avoid identification]. I did not know how to make it. He kindly explained it to me. He was three cups in when [title omitted] N joined him.

Editor’s note: Henceforth, the omission of the titles will not be mentioned. Let it be noted that the involved parties were addressed appropriately throughout the hearing.

Noldóran: Did you notice any enmity between them when N arrived?

Tavernkeeper: Not at all! F did look ill-pleased at seeing N, but I assumed it was due to N’s tardiness. N whispered something into F’s ear, which seemed to appease him.

Noldóran: How so?

Tavernkeeper: After, well, the whispering, F smiled and ordered more drinks. [Drink name omitted] for himself again and simple mead for N.

Scribe’s note: Only a son of [redacted] would drink such an abomination. 

Noldóran: Could you perhaps hear parts of their conversation?

Tavernkeeper: I would not presume to eavesdrop on a conversation between such highborn lords.

Noldóran: Not even if it was to the benefit of your king?

Tavernkeeper: Alas, the tavern was busy, lord, and they spoke in very low voices, so I missed the beginning of their discussion.

Noldóran: So you mean to say you heard the ending, the part before the incident.

Scribe’s note: If this tavernkeeper does not hurry up and tell the interesting  parts, I may die of boredom in front of the King and embarrass myself and my entire family.

Tavernkeeper: They stayed long after the tavern emptied. I must say, lord, they had drunk quite a lot, so their voices were raised. I did not eavesdrop on purpose.

Noldóran: I do not fault you, tavernkeeper. Do recount the argument arising between N and F.

Editor’s note: To make for easier reading, the argument is relayed here directly. Readers must trust that they shall miss only a great amount of hesitation by the tavernkeeper to report to the King the exact details of the conversation and the number of drinks N and F consumed meanwhile, which is high.

F: It has always been your greatest fault! N: Loyalty? F: Loyalty to the wrong person. N: Who would the right person be then? [long silence] N: It is not in your nature to avoid a question. F: Why speak if you know the answer well? N: You cannot fathom what you demand of me. F: Only to do the right thing. Is it too much to ask for? N: Ever you have shown nothing but contempt to my father. You do not know him as I do. F: You are blind to his faults. N: I am not. But, unlike you, I am familiar with his virtues, too. F: Any virtue he possesses pales before his vices. N: Is it not unfair to speak so when you have made no attempt to understand him? F: He deserves none. N: Do I? Do it for my sake. I would do it for you. I have done it for you. F: It was not for me. You had taken a liking to my father long before I was born. He is easy to love. N: How naive for someone who claims to know others with no effort. You say I am blind to my father’s faults, yet you see none in yours. F: He has none. N: I can name one. Just now, he made you lie to me and to yourself. F: My father is blameless in this! N: Of course, only mine is to blame for everything. F: What is the use of seeing his faults if you do nothing about them? N: What do you expect me to do? F: I told you. The right thing. N: Why did you summon me here? We are only repeating ourselves again and again. We shall never agree. F: If only you were less stubborn. N: I am no more stubborn than you. Why should I be the one to relent? What will you sacrifice? F: Have I not sacrificed enough? Have I not endured your father’s scorn without protest? Have I not stayed by your side through all of it? N: What a great sacrifice it must be for you to stay by my side! Have you overlooked that I did the same? Or perhaps you believe it is easier for me? F: If it is not, then we both know who to blame. I suppose I must be grateful you have gathered enough courage to even agree to speak with me. Have you told your father where you will be? N: Have you told yours? F: You give me no answer as expected, but I shall answer you. I have not only because my father has no perverse need to keep watch over his children’s every move. He is not cowardly enough to look for betrayal where there is none. N: You will not call my father a coward! Have I ever treated your father with such disdain? F: Why would you? He does not deserve it. N: But mine does? F: Doesn’t someone who belittles others to hide his own weakness, who is craven enough to forge weapons in secret, deserve to be treated with contempt? N: Do not speak so, I warn you. F: What will you do? Leave and shun me as always? Disregard my letters and flee when I try to visit? Run to your father to assure him of your loyalty, so you can stave off his bitterness and suspicion for a while longer? 

Noldóran: Do go on! What happened then?

Tavernkeeper: I hesitate, lord, for even now, I can scarcely believe it.

Noldóran: Nevertheless, I would hear it.

Tavernkeeper: After those words, N, well, he struck F.

Noldóran: Struck him?

Tavernkeeper: He did. A mighty fist against F’s jaw.

Noldóran: Are you certain that it was N who struck first?

Tavernkeeper: Quite certain, lord. I must say I had lost count of the cups they had both drunk by that point.

Scribe’s note: Liar! It does not sound like N. Although, the son of [redacted] would have deserved it.

Noldóran: Please continue. Spare no detail.

Tavernkeeper: The blow was strong enough that F fell from his chair. They both looked as astounded as I was. I thought N wished to offer a hand to F, but instead, he turned back and moved to the door. That was when F pounced on him and brought him down. They tumbled together, grappled, and shoved each other against the walls. They damaged five chairs and two tables during their brawl as well as all the cups and plates that were on them. F twisted N’s wrist in an attempt to restrain him, but N wrapped F’s braids around his other hand and wrenched him away. They were on the floor once again by then. N tried to rise, but F took a broken chair leg and hurled it towards N. It hit the mark rather painfully. In response, N threw a half-empty goblet at F, which missed his head but drenched his hair in ale.

Editor’s note: The sketch of King Finwë with his head in his hands is presumably drawn by the scribe.

Noldóran: What then?

Tavernkeeper: They must have exhausted themselves because they remained lying on the floor for a while. I was afraid to approach them, but I also hesitated to leave in case they resumed their fight.

Noldóran: Did they?

Tavernkeeper: No… They did something else.

Noldóran: …what was it?

Tavernkeeper: F sat and helped N up. N said something to F in a very low voice. F answered. I could not hear the words. And then they… They kissed, lord.

Noldóran: A kiss between friends?

Tavernkeeper: I would not say so.

Scribe’s note: This does sound like N.

Noldóran: Did you see what happened after the so-called kiss?

Tavernkeeper: No, lord. I hurried to leave. That was all I saw, I swear.

Noldóran: Thank you, tavernkeeper. I believe it goes without saying that what we have spoken about must remain within the walls of this hall. Of course, you shall be compensated generously for your losses. Scribe, there is no need to record this part.

Scribe: As you command, Noldóran.

Tavernkeeper: No word shall leave my lips, lord.

Noldóran: You have my gratitude.

Scribe’s note: Future generations of the Noldor, I shall have your gratitude for making and preserving these records. Glory to the House of [redacted]!

***

Fingers run between disheveled braids, smoothing them with gentleness in stark contrast with the violence they had yanked at them. Inhale. The faint perfume of almond oil wafts through the heavy scent of ale. They do not mix well. Maitimo says so.

“Who could have guessed?” Findekáno says dryly.

Maitimo’s fingers continue their tender way through Findekáno’s braids. Findekáno closes his eyes, his head turning where Maitimo guides him, willingly this time.

Languidly, he raises a hand and runs it – feather-light – across Maitimo’s face, across his left cheekbone where a hideous bruise is already forming.

“Does it hurt?” he asks.

“Yes.”

Findekáno leans forward and retraces the path of his fingers with his lips, leaving a faint trail of red across Maitimo’s cheekbone. Maitimo’s eyes fall shut, his breath stutters. Findekáno takes Maitimo’s hand – the same one that split his lip open – and kisses the bloodied knuckles. Maitimo’s fingers entwine with Findekáno’s – a movement so familiar and practiced that it is almost an instinct.

Findekáno raises his head and presses his lips to Maitimo’s, but the moment Maitimo deepens the kiss, Findekáno pulls back with a hiss.

“It is bleeding again,” Maitimo says with dismay.

He takes a dampened rag and taps it tenderly against Findekáno’s lip, careful to avoid touching his bruised jaw. But Findekáno leans into his hand, his eyelids fluttering in something between pain and relief.

Maitimo undresses him, runs his fingers along his shoulders, caresses his chest, strokes his hips. Bruises are late to bloom and hard to find on Findekáno’s skin, unlike Maitimo, who is already painted red and purple. But Maitimo knows exactly where he had hurt Findekáno – an elbow to the sternum, a closed fist beneath the ribs, shoulders slammed against the edge of a table too many times.

Maitimo explores Findekáno’s body with hesitant touches, soothes his aches, brushes his fingers against the bruises. Does not apologize. The sound of Findekáno’s harsh breathing grows louder and louder until he grabs Maitimo’s hands and turns in his arms.

He bares Maitimo from the waist up in pained, hurried movements as if there is no time left. Maitimo winces when he raises his arms to allow Findekáno to disrobe him.

“Oh!” Findekáno exclaims, staring at the fresh bruise that covers most of Maitimo’s lower rib cage.

“Even inebriated, your aim is true,” Maitimo says.

Findekáno sinks down. Raises a hand to the bruise, then lets it fall. Leans forward and traces the uneven edges of the bruise with his lips, warms it up with his breath, soothes it with his tongue. Does not apologize.

Findekáno begins the work of relieving Maitimo of the rest of his clothing. Maitimo’s hands shake, then his knees, then his shoulders. Findekáno’s lips slide lower, ghost over Maitimo’s groin.

“You did not hurt me there,” Maitimo says, his voice coming out as bruised as his body is.

“How fortunate I still had some sense left,” Findekáno says.

Maitimo laughs, and for the briefest of moments, all pieces fall into their places – Findekáno before him, teasing him gently, making him laugh – so familiar and so right. But the tremors of laughter reach every aching place, reminding him sharply of what they did.

“Wait,” he says.

“Hush,” Findekáno says, holding Maitimo by his unhurt hip.

Maitimo looks down at Findekáno, kneeling on his bruised knees, looks at Findekáno’s swollen lip and beaten face.

“Who would do this?” he asks.

Findekáno draws back.

“Who hurts someone he loves and cherishes in such a cruel way?” Maitimo asks.

“You do,” Findekáno says. His gaze slowly passes over all the angry red marks he has left on Maitimo’s body. “And I.”

Maitimo sits before him.

“Will you swear it will never happen again?” he asks. “Can you give me your word that you will not do it again?”

Findekáno is silent for a moment.

“You cannot either,” he says then.

“No.”

“It is not right.”

“No.”

Findekáno leans his forehead against Maitimo’s. There is a small but painful bump on it from hitting it against a chair. It aches.

“You should leave,” Findekáno says.

“I should.”

“So should I.”

“Yes.”

They sit before each other, bare and bruised, hand in hand, skin to skin, amid the broken cups and chairs, amid the destruction they caused. None moves. 

[contemplatingoutlander]

A Trump judge sends Southwest Airlines to right-wing reeducation camp

Ruth Marcus does an excellent job of pointing out how another Trump appointed judge (from Texas) is stomping on the Constitution when it comes to the separation of church and state. The judge in this case doesn't seem to understand the difference between people being allowed to hold religious beliefs and religious people harassing others who don't share their religious beliefs. The article is well worth reading. Here are some excerpts:

Another day, another extremist ruling by another extremist Trump judge, and this decision — from Texas, no surprise — is straight out of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The judge held lawyers for Southwest Airlines in contempt of court for their actions in a religious-discrimination case brought by a former flight attendant and ordered them to undergo “religious liberty training.” And not just any instruction, but training conducted by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative group that litigates against same-sex marriage, transgender rights and abortion rights. [emphasis added] The issue arises from a lawsuit filed by Charlene Carter, a flight attendant for more than 20 years and a longtime antagonist of the Southwest flight attendants union. In 2017, after union members attended the Women’s March under a “Southwest Airlines Flight Attendants” banner, Carter sent Facebook messages to the union president containing graphic antiabortion messages.

[See more under the cut.]

“This is what you supported during your Paid Leave with others at the Women’s MARCH in DC …. You truly are Despicable in so many ways,” Carter wrote in one message accompanying a video of an aborted fetus. After the union president complained, Southwest fired Carter, saying her conduct “crossed the boundaries of acceptable behavior,” was “inappropriate, harassing, and offensive,” and “did not adhere to Southwest policies and guidelines.” An arbitrator found that Southwest had just cause for the firing. Carter, represented by the National Right to Work Committee, sued, claiming Southwest and the union violated her rights under federal labor laws and Title VII. The federal job-bias law bars employers from discriminating on the basis of religion, and Carter claimed she was dismissed because of her sincerely held religious beliefs against abortion. [...] The scary part is what came next. [U.S. District Judge Brantley] Starr instructed the airline to “inform Southwest Flight Attendants that, under Title VII, [Southwest] may not discriminate against Southwest flight attendants for their religious practices and beliefs.” Instead, Southwest said in a message to staff that the court “ordered us to inform you that Southwest does not discriminate against our Employees for their religious practices and beliefs.” This sent Starr into orbit.... “In the universe we live in — the one where words mean something — Southwest’s notice didn’t come close to complying with the Court’s order,” Starr said. “To make matters worse,” he said, Southwest had circulated a memo about the decision to its employees repeating its view that Carter’s conduct was unacceptable and emphasizing the need for civility. “Southwest’s speech and actions toward employees demonstrate a chronic failure to understand the role of federal protections for religious freedom,” Starr decreed. He proceeded to order three Southwest lawyers to undergo eight hours of religious-liberty training — a move he described as “the least restrictive means of achieving compliance with the Court’s order.” Luckily, Starr observed, “there are esteemed nonprofit organizations that are dedicated to preserving free speech and religious freedom.” [...] Adjectives fail me here. This is not even close to normal.... the notion of subjecting lawyers to a reeducation campaign by the likes of the ADF is tantamount to creating a government-endorsed thought police. Imagine the uproar — and I’m not suggesting these groups are in any way comparable — if a liberal-leaning federal judge ordered instruction on women’s rights (those are constitutionally protected, too) by Planned Parenthood. [...] This is the alarming legacy that former president Donald Trump has left us — a skewed bench that he would augment if reelected. The Trump judges seem to be competing among themselves for who can engage in the greatest overreach. [...] Conservatives are quick to balk at anything resembling the order that Starr issued when they disagree with the underlying principle. [...] I need no excuses for calling this what it is: a reeducation program — outrageous, unconstitutional and an abuse of judicial authority. [emphasis added]

[richea]

Arise review

After buying the game at launch, I finally, finally finished my playthrough of Tales of Arise. Normally I would just write a few thoughts on Twitter and leave it at that, but I found I had a lot of things I wanted to touch upon with this game. With the prior two entries in the series, I kind of just rushed to finish them and then let them collect dust in my brain afterwards. However, back then I had other Tales games I wanted to try for the first time, so part of it was I was itching to get to ones I knew I would enjoy more. I got all caught up with the series before Arise was even announced, so there's no excuse this time!

With Arise, I took my time (well, maybe too much time), and let myself really process the game before I let myself finish it, in order to give myself a more solid basis for how I will feel about this game going forward. To that end, I wanted to really write down my feelings on the game in depth, touching upon all the various aspects of it and how everything made me feel.

Quick warning: if you don't accept criticism of Arise well, this isn't the review for you. I am approaching the game from the perspective of somebody who has played every other entry in the series and ruminated on all of them for years on end. I will be critical of the game in this piece. I'm not trying to tell people how to feel on the game, this is all purely my own thoughts and feelings, from the perspective of a long time Tales fan who deeply cares about the direction the series is going, and more importantly, its rich history.

I am also not looking for people to change my mind on the game, so please do not try to tell me my feelings are "wrong" or that I'm not appreciating certain things properly. I'm not looking for discourse.

That said, if you are someone who is interested in my perspective, then by all means enjoy the essay that is to come.

―――

In this post I want to dive into all the different aspects of the game and talk about each in depth, namely the story, characters and gameplay. I think it's more interesting to judge a game by balancing all these traits rather than just pinpointing one specific thing and basing my entire view of the game on that one thing (for instance, I tend to value interesting characters first and foremost when I indulge in media).

That said, for a quick TL;DR of my feelings on various things, when compared to other entries in the series:

Story: 2/10 Characters: 1/10 Character designs: 3/10 Other UI designs (such as monsters/menus/etc): 0/10 Battle gameplay: 4/10 Other gameplay: 4/10 Music: Undecided, which in its own right may not be a good indicator of how I feel about it Graphics: As a video game it's a 10, for Tales specifically it's a 9/10 for the graphics themselves and a 1/10 for the lack of anime portraits and the portraits we got just look awful (how does Ufotable only get worse with its Tales designs?)

Visual presentation

I want to start by acknowledging the graphics, as it's something that has zero relevance to how I feel on video games. Arise is a very pretty game! There is no denying this. I found myself stopping and just moving the camera around to admire all the pretty landscapes and views in the game. The character models are also very nice.

That said, like all modern Tales games, the battles are a bit overly stimulating on my eyes, because there's so much going on and lots of flashing lights. The actual effects were very pretty though.

The skits are absolutely horrible to watch. Even setting aside how I feel about the lack of skit portraits, the thin white text on top of the off-white backdrop was a horrible design choice. I think this is probably my least favorite aspect of the game. I get headaches very quickly from playing video games even just normally, and watching a ton of skits with intense eye strain did not help! There's also way too much movement with the skit... boxes? as well. Were they thinking about accessibility at all when coming up with them?

On the same topic, the subtitles for general cutscenes were also awful. The outline around the text needed to be much thicker. I could probably read 30% of the dialogue in the game. Thankfully I know a decent amount of Japanese, but still, I was interested in reading the actual translation of the text and I was having a really hard time. I feel bad for people who wanted to play with Japanese voices and don't know as much as me.

The menu UI was also very disappointing. It felt really barebones and had next to no personality to it. The big portraits drawn by Iwamoto were a nice touch (though if you're going to make such massive paintings, at least make the art itself more interesting to look at?), but it wasn't enough. They just felt like something to fill in the empty space which there was a lot of; the menu layout really did not utilize the space on the screen well, and it's double annoying when you consider how microscopic the font in the game is and how they could've used that space to make things more readable. Everything was hard to read, and again the lack of portraits was just utterly disappointing. Every time I opened the menu I just felt sad at how lifeless it felt.

Gameplay

My feelings on the gameplay are mixed. I'll start with the elephant in the room: the gald system in this game is not good. Only getting gald from chests and sub events is just a massively poor game design. Fishing helps but it's more time consuming than doing battles would be and there's really no other incentive to even doing it (at least battles would work towards EXP and getting battle proficiency things!).

The owl system was fun and was definitely a highlight of the game for me. It took me back to looking for attachments in Xillia, which is something I really enjoyed in that game as well and made the long traversing in the game more bearable. I just went from point A to point B in both Zestiria and Berseria, so this was the first game since Xillia 2 that I actually touched every corner of the map.

The battles are also a mixed bag for me. I will be completely transparent and state here that I mostly only played Shionne and Rinwell, so my feelings on the melee gameplay is very limited. My committed team was Shionne, Rinwell, Dohalim and Kisara. Between them you could hit every element weakness, on top of Kisara's high defense (and the fact that I just liked her more than Law and Alphen). From the perspective of a caster main, the battle gameplay was fine. Like other entries, you could do fun manipulation strategies to speed casting time. By the end game I was just spam casting Rinwell's highest tier spells instantly which was fun.

The healing is definitely... not great. There were a few times where I would run out of Orange Gels and then have to do a story progressing map action and it would eat the rest of my already gone CG bar. It was really infuriating. I only used First Aid the entire game, never anything else, because why would I use a better healing arte when it would just drain my gauge faster? It was a mess.

The monsters I did not enjoy. It felt really hard to stun them so it never felt satisfying fighting anything. Their movements felt WAY too grand. If every single boss is huge and epic and has moves that hit the whole map, the whole game starts to lose its impact. I also feel like they did way too much damage in a single hit, which made the healing issue even worse, and it felt more like I was trying to perfectly dodge every attack than it did managing my health in a natural way.

The skill system was just fine, no real commentary to make there. I wish there were more titles in the game however, and that they would display on the status screen (even Graces did this despite them both having the titles and skill systems merged).

Some quick other things

The campsite system was fine

I liked that the sub event indicators were really obvious, as someone who's really bad about doing sub events especially on my first playthrough (the actual sub events themselves are a different issue)

Like with fishing, I never really understood the point of the ranch

Did this game even have minigames?

I actually really liked the weapon skins system, that was super fun

Story

This is where I will start to nitpick things because I play Tales games for the story and characters first and foremost. And, having played every other game in full, my feelings on the story and writing in this game are... not very high.

To start, I do at the very least think Arise had some interesting starting concepts going on. Namely, a protagonist trying to figure out his amnesia and a girl who zaps everything she touches are pretty cool concepts! However, even from the first promotion trailer I was concerned about Shionne's story hinging too much on Alphen. The "he can't feel anything, she hurts everything she touches" plotpoints felt really, really convenient to me from the first trailer, and was a setup for having all the impact on the game being reliant on Alphen being a decent character (as well as, well, almost forcing him to be Shionne's hero, rather than him gaining that honor through actual hard work and emotion), but I was more than willing to give the game the chance to prove me wrong on that aspect.

I have too many feelings on the character writing so I will be giving them their own section below.

Anyway, sadly, I think those are the only two interesting and unique things in Arise's narrative. Everything else the game has done has been done in a prior Tales game but better. Let me go down the list (non-comprehensive as I can't remember every single theme from every single game, but I will name games that at least have these as the major theme that I can recall):

Two worlds vying for power (I could name games that don't have two worlds faster than I could name ones that do), and one world is trying to suck power out of the other one (Symphonia, Hearts)

The plotpoint about "when humans lose all their power they turn to dust" is literally exactly what happens in Hearts, while the "making people feel strong bad emotion to provoke them into our gains" is what Zestiria and Berseria's entire lore was about as well as Rebirth

Racism, oppression, slavery and colonialism (Phantasia, Destiny, Symphonia, Rebirth, Legendia, Tempest, Hearts (R removed this but there's literally an NPC who flaunts about enslaving the "lesser beings"), Berseria)

First half of the game is fighting a series of specific enemies, second half is focused on lore, especially figuring out stuff with the second planet (Destiny, Eternia, Symphonia, Vesperia, Hearts)

Do I think Tales rehashing tropes is a bad thing? No, not at all. It's something they have been doing for a long, long time. But what made it work in other games is that each game had at least something completely unique to it to balance that feeling of repetitiveness out. For instance, Hearts shows up a lot on this bullet list, but it is the only Tales game to have lore based around entering people's hearts, and the whole story is based around a fairy tale. Even the fact that it has a robot as a playable character was a first for Tales. Legendia rehashed a lot of plotpoints from Rebirth, but it had its own unique spin on things and the worldbuilding in it is completely unique with the focus on marine themes and the story structure being unique from any other game. Symphonia even keeps the same worldbuilding from Phantasia but the feels of the games are completely unique from one another due to how different the themes the stories tackle are. The issue with Arise is that I cannot think of anything unique in the game, aside from Shionne's thorns, that wasn't done in another game. And even then, all of the writing regarding her thorns is a big rehash of heroine tropes and situations in the series' past. I will go over that when I discuss her though.

Another glaring issue with the game is the skits. Normally, Tales skits have roughly 4 purposes. In order of prevalence: fun skits to show off the character's personality that the story can't showcase, the characters discussing story events to showcase the full depth of their feelings on the events as they happen, skits going over worldbuilding to explain in better detail if you didn't catch it from the story scenes (or just giving more information!), and navigational skits. Skits were always meant to be lively and engaging, even if things felt dull in the story, skits existed as a pick-me-up, and as a way to show how the characters were having fun. Skits are one of the most famous parts of Tales storytelling, specifically for this reason.

What's wrong with Arise's skits? In a franchise where the fun:dull skit ratio was 6:4 give or take, Arise changed those numbers to 2:8. Most skits were dedicated to rehashing events. Even in those rehashes, the characters were near constantly bringing up plotpoints that happened 30+ hours ago in the story. Over and over! Alphen was still talking about the first 5 hours of the game when you're on Lenegis!

Watching the skits, it genuinely felt like I was having constant deja-vu. I think I actually was worried I was going crazy at some point, because of the sheer extent of times they would have the same conversations over and over and over again. It got to a point where I would joke about Alphen and Law being on the screen together and I would say "countdown to them bringing up Zephyr" and every single time I would say that, the convo would turn to him. This was 55 hours into the game!

It's not bad for characters to reflect on the past events, but when that makes up the vast majority of their conversations, and one singular event makes up the entire personality of the character, the game feels dull very, very quickly. Skits transformed from a thing that I would usually open to find fun shenanigans between the characters and silly banter into me sighing about having to hear about Zephyr's death for the 200th time in the past 5 hours. It was very exhausting. Can we talk about something else now? My rant about this could be endless, but I genuinely want somebody to do a study on just how many times Alphen and Law bring up Zephyr throughout the game, and how many lines in the skits were dedicated to things that weren't just recapping events.

(Even then, there were cooking skits! However, I can only hear so many conversations about preparing food before I start getting bored. I know that eating and food is a BIG cultural point in Japan, but did every single "fun" skit need to be about eating? No.)

Speaking of, let me go over my feelings on the actual story and its events.

While the game did have a slow start, it wasn't that bad. The game eases you into what's going on, with the slavery and meeting Shionne. Nothing really of note to mention here. Rinwell and Law's character introductions were nothing special, but that was fine, it was still early in the game. My first major issue with the game is Zephyr's death. As it may be obvious from my above rant, the game places way too much importance on him as a character. A game mourning a character is nothing new. For instance, fractured Milla's death was a big turning point in Xillia 2. However, the entire game, as well as two entire characters, did not revolve around her death. Arise's issue is that Zephyr is barely a character, and yet the game constantly reminds you of how great and wonderful he was. We barely saw the guy, and no number of skits dedicated to Alphen and Law talking about him changes the fact that he is no more memorable than any other random NPC in the game. His death is unceremonious and was one of the most predictable deaths in the series to date.

(As an unrelated note, I am someone who loves a lot of NPCs in Tales. I love a lot of characters who have very little screentime. Two of my favorite Tales characters are Stella and Marian, who actually have a lot of similarities with Zephyr in narrative importance! The difference, however, is that you are not constantly having it drilled in that they are the epitome of nuance and the stories are not dictated by either character's morals, of which we never got to even see. Arise has Alphen claim Zephyr has the best moral views in the world and his entire life is dictated by those morals he was taught, and he pushes them on everyone else. Including the player.)

Zephyr's death aside, the other non-party characters are barely characters. I don't even remember any of their names. Especially the lords. To sum up my feelings on this instead of subjecting you to a long tangent on the lords, let me just drop these posts I made while playing:

One of Arise's lowest points however is how it handles its themes of racism and colonialism. I have a distinct memory of Alphen telling Rinwell to shut up when she brings up Renan oppression to him, Law tells Rinwell she's not allowed to want revenge due to her oppression, and there's this not-so-great scene on Lenegis where the party reflects on how... one of the lords was "only human" for wanting to enslave the Dahnans and how they can "see" his point of view? NOT GOOD! One of the comments I made while playing the game was "Alphen would stop Cless on his quest of revenge and he would also tell Velvet she's over-exaggerating is kind of my feelings on him at this point" and I still stand by it.

In general, the story is just very predictable. At no point in the game was I surprised by what was going on. Well, no matter, there's other predictable things in Tales games! ...But the difference is that other games, I at least was compelled by the characters and their reactions to those predictable events. Or, their personalities alone would carry me through plotpoints I otherwise found boring. Arise never endeared me to its cast, yet it expected me to find shock value and importance in its very predictable storytelling. I remember when the party takes on the lord who kills Rinwell's family, they said "we'll spare her life" (which is its own long rant but I digress) and I went "oh well someone DEFINITELY won't kill her one second later" and then Vholran showed up as I was saying it! Then, Alphen JUST so happens to get his feeling back in his body after Shionne walks right into Vholran's arms! This was truly the point in the game where I completely gave up on enjoying it and I started to only push myself to beat it just so I could get it over with.

The story sadly saw no improvements after that point either to remedy my soured feelings. The only two things I enjoyed after that point were the little bit with Dohalim's past and him making the speech on Lenegis, and Rinwell touching Shionne's hand in the final scene in the game.

I could go on forever about the story, but I will leave it at that.

As for the sub events, you couldn't really call them "events" when they were just one or two lines about defeating monsters. I did every sub event in the game up until before the final dungeon. I was very unimpressed by them.

Characters

This is absolutely my least favorite part about the game. As I stressed at the beginning, what I go through media for is for the characters. Good characters can salvage just about anything for me. When I watch story scenes, I'm always thinking about how it makes the characters feel. I went into Arise thinking "even if the story doesn't cater to me, at least I can fall back on enjoying the characters and their banter".

As you can already tell, I was utterly disappointed with the cast in Arise.

Alphen

He is easily the contender for my least favorite Tales protagonist, hands down. The issue with Alphen is he never has any original ideas at any point in the game. He always attributes any of his morals to Zephyr. He would go on tangents, explaining how other characters should feel about things, but when asked he got all of his ideas from Zephyr. It seriously felt as if he never thought for himself.

Making this worse is the fact that he would explain how everyone should feel. He would tell Rinwell to stop being mad about her oppression, he would tell Law to listen to his feelings on Zephyr and change his view on him based on his view of who Zephyr was, he would tell Kisara how to feel regarding her place as a woman.

Worst of all, however, was how he would talk to Shionne. Any time she would have an issue, he would make it about himself. In her most important scene in the game, where she's talking about how her thorns make her want to die, he made it about himself. She said what she wanted for herself and he said "whether you like it or not, I'm taking matters into my own hands". Yes, Tales has done this before, with the heroine wishing to die and the hero telling her he won't allow that, but it's infuriating in this case when he never lets her think or act or move or do anything without his input. There's countless scenes in the game where she would be upset and want time alone and he would force her to talk to him about her feelings. Shionne was not permitted to ever exist without Alphen forcing her to talk to him about it and expecting her to go along with what he wanted, and his feelings about her situation. Again, past Tales game have had this, but when it's so constant and so prevalent, and is the only thing the character has to them, it becomes exhausting and annoying.

Also, his only "unique, fun" trait was that he likes armor, but this dialogue only ever showed up... when you made armor?

I was really disappointed with Alphen. Which is really not good when he is the protagonist, and Shionne's entire character also hinges on him. Especially given the grand finale to the game was their wedding, when I saw no romantic tension between them, because all he ever did was explain how she should feel. He was such a mess. I have more I could rant about with him but I need to leave it at that.

Shionne

Shionne is a big bundle of wasted potential to me. That said, she is probably one of the only characters in this game who felt like a character.

Like I said above, her thorns are an interesting concept. However, the handling of it really was standard Tales heroine tied to a cursed fate. The damsel scene, the way she wants to die but the protag talks her out of it, etc. That said, I did think her trauma with never being touched in her life was interesting, and it did make me emotional at points, even if the execution was poor.

I just really, really wish she could've been a character separate from Alphen. Her writing truly was doomed from the start with him being the only person who could touch her. Again, it felt like she bonded with Alphen because he's the only person who can touch her, rather than them actually making a proper bond as people.

Rinwell

Rinwell is... fine? I honestly don't have a lot to say here. I think it was nice that she got importance as the spiritual person in the party, and her banter with Dohalim was nice. I really disliked her relationship with Law however, and again, I hated that Law and Alphen tried to talk her out of her revenge. She was in the position as a "spiteful" person who "needed to grow out of it" but... her family was massacred? Why is Law allowed to be furious about his dad dying, but she's not allowed to be mad about her family being killed? The hypocrisy in regards to Rinwell seriously infuriated me and I felt really bad for her.

Law

Hoo boy. I really do not like Law either, for many of the reasons I don't like Alphen. He does with Rinwell what Alphen does to Shionne. What is with Arise men and mansplaining everything to the girls and refusing to let them have any agency or thoughts without their input?

He was also supposed to be the "mood maker," except his only mood making scenes were Hootle pecking him in the face or him saying something dumb and Rinwell calling him an idiot. It really wasn't that funny and felt like borderline bullying.

Law falls under a Tales archtype I normally really really like (Tytree, Spada, Hisui, etc), so I was expecting to like him quite a bit, but sadly I just... do not. See my Zephyr rants above as well.

Kisara

Kisara is probably the most unfortunate character in the cast. In theory, I really like Kisara. I'm a big fan of knight ladies, and I always enjoy the older woman character in the party (even if only in her 20s). In practice however she just... completely misses the mark. All of her scenes are dedicated to one of three things: working (or not working) under Dohalim, her brother, or how she can be a proper woman. Yikes! It's not good when a female character's entire character revolves around what she can do for men! There's many skits where she asks "what can I even do if everyone cooks for themselves" and her conclusion is... to follow her brother's dream? Kisara, can't you find your OWN dream? And no, bringing up how she can help Dohalim also doesn't count here.

I don't hate Kisara for being who she is, but I really just want to have a stern talking to with whoever wrote her. A female character should not revolve around men and being in the kitchen. Seriously. This game came out in 2021, you should've known better.

Dohalim

While I didn't like his introduction scenes much, he grew on me a lot throughout the game, and he definitely felt the most like a Tales character to me. There was a lot of humanity and nuance to him, and he had the honor of actually having his backstory shown on screen. He had a lot of facets to him: the part of him that was a Renan leader, the part of him that supports the party, his own goals, his own motivations, interesting relationships with other characters, as well as (and maybe most importantly) fun things about his personality via his breaks from seriousness as well as his fondness for music and artifacts.

Overall he felt very fleshed out, and I really wish he had been put in another game. I came out of Arise quite content with the character that was Dohalim, which I cannot say for anyone else.

Closing thoughts

Overall, this is probably the most disappointed I have been with a Tales title. Of course, I don't think every game is perfect, and there are games that I will admit just don't click with me personally that others adore, and likewise there are games that I think fall flat in some regards but resonate with me for the characters.

For instance, I think Tempest is a perfectly fine and even charming game, despite it being more on the barebones side of things. I do not hold Tales games to unrealistic expectations when it's not necessary, and I always think of a lot of things when I base how I feel about the game: crunch time, what the creators had in mind when making it, what heart was put into the story, what fun I am able to find even in the game's flaws. Things to that effect.

Where Arise differs for me is that many of the decisions I dislike about the game were intentional. The lackluster, yet overbearing monsters were intentional, the lack of skit and status portraits were intentional, the story not being that compelling, but taking itself way too seriously and acting as if it's the pinnacle of Tales writing, is also what the producer of the game flaunts when he discusses it. All of these things negative attribute to the quality of the game. Arise scratches away the charm that Tales games have, yet it is flaunted as being something groundbreaking when the story never attempts a single new trope.

It's not one deviation from series staples, it's a whole cluster of them. Why was there any reason to remove post battle dialogue, when that is something everyone absolutely LOVED about the series? Why are skits, which are part of what brought Tales to fame, boiled down to recaps of story scenes and not fun moments, which is what everyone is excited for when they go to open a skit? Why are the cute and iconic monsters completely gone, when every single game used the same designs? Why does the producer for the series actively hate the things that the fans love about Tales?

Arise is essentially a long laundry list of bizarre decisions made by the producer with awful execution, and then sadly the writing does the game absolutely zero favors. I came out of playing it feeling hollow. I've been revisiting some older games after playing it, and I've been getting legitimately emotional at how the characters in these other games actually talk to each other like people, and don't just bounce recaps of events back and forth to each other. Other games know how to have fun, and they have compelling characters, which is really what has always been the thing bringing people back to this franchise.

Would I like Arise more if it wasn't labeled a Tales game? Honestly, no, given I only ever played it because it's under the Tales branding. And I shouldn't have to even ask myself that, given I play Tales to enjoy Tales, and its tropes, and all the fun little things these games provide that no other series can give me.

If and when the next Tales game comes out, I will still probably play it. But so long as it is under our current producer, I will go in incredibly cautious, given he seems adamant about hating all of the things I love most about Tales. At the very least, I hope the next game is more innovative with its writing and characters, and brings back some of the charm that even Zestiria and Berseria had.

[thewritersaddictions]

Request: The Witcher: Jaskier - Runaway Princess

Pairing: Jaskier x Princess!Fem!Reader

Pov: Reader

Summary: The shy princess is enthralled by the bard at a local tavern. Could it be everything she was looking for?

Warnings: Almost being killed, getting caught, smut, friends to lovers, fuck the hierarchy, falling in love, sacrificing everything for someone, passion, fluff, shyness,

A/n- @ firefly-graphics for dividers

WC- 3.3 k

Requests Master List // The Witcher Master List // The Bard Master List

She was looking for something, anything that lead far away from the dimmed light of the castle. The gowns that fit to tight, for poor Y/n she may have a crown with diamonds and sapphires but her heart desired more. It yearned for something less showy, and more homey feeling. Sure she had a wonderful set of parents. A loving mother and father, but what they could not give their daughter was that true and rare feeling of walking outside the castle walls, being just another person among the streets. 

Once the handmaiden had left I was rushing for the windows, as I looked over the edge the ground came close and then far all in a moments time. I shook the image from my head, and went in search of better outside attire. The sheer night gown wasn’t going to cut it if I was going to make it down the side of my window and into the village. From my room the village looked small, the hundreds of flames that flickering back and forth in the the wind. 

Had I been stealing the young girls clothes that worked in the kitchen in exchange for extra coins so that I could go out in a disguise… of course I had it was the only way that I was going to be able to go without causing a very big scene. I only ever got to out once or twice a year. One of holidays and the other for any special announcements. I wanted to be where the people were, the bustle of feet on the dirty paths left dust to fall onto your shoes. I wanted nothing more then to feel normal even if it were just for one night. 

The girls clothes were a bit tight around my hips and my bust, but I could care less as I climbed down the stone wall of the castle. Landing feet first on wet, dewey grass. The air had a biting chill yet it didn’t scare me away from exploring the village. I made my way around guards, and others before finally making it to the gate. A gate was all the stood in my way of the village, the people the ones that loved us without knowing why. 

The side of the said huge gate was a small door, no bigger then my bedroom door. I twisted the handle, and pulled but it didn’t budge. Panic began to arise in from the pits of my chest. I swallowed hard when footsteps got louder. I jiggled the handle and with a push of my hand the door opened. I leaped through the doorway, shutting the door without thinking for another second. I was sure that I had thought this far yet standing here now. On the other side of the gate I was frozen with fear, and with the unknown ahead of me I stood there. Minutes passed by before the sheer fact that I was outside of the castle walls hit me like a ton of bricks. 

My cheeks bagan to burn with a smile so great, I don’t think I’d ever smiled like this, not even for a painting of my portrait. Confidence began to grow in my chest, and with that my feet were taking me on my first adventure to the village. The streets weren’t crowded as how I had imagined it, but the flames that were ablaze in almost every window told me life was still happening just inside right now. I walked the streets for what seemed like hours until the loud banter, and laughter came from a shabby looking building not far off the path. 

A wonky sign laid lopsided on the top of the building. Simply written it said ‘The Tavern’. The sounds of a few voices rang out from behind the doors, and windows. Drunken men and women stumbling out onto the path. Nonetheless the sounds of a beautiful voice dragged me nearer. The beautiful voice turned out to be singing. A tale from what I caught just the end of. “That’s my epic tale, Our champion prevailed, Defeated the villain, Now pour home some ale” His voice rang out across the tarven. He sat atop a table, a lute laid across his lap. He was so beautiful, or handsome whatever he was words could not describe, so I watched in awe. “Toss a coin to your Witcher, O Valley of Plenty!, O Valley of Plenty!, Toss a coin to your Witcher, A friend of humanity.” His riff was remarkable, and yet all I could do was stare at him from afar. Blue eyes staring out into the crowded floor of patrons in front of him.

I wanted deeply to talk to him, my bones ached for conversation with the man with blue eyes. Confidence oozed from him across the grimmy, and dirty floor stopping just before it would ever get to me. I ducked my head out of the tarven, and walked away from my growing obsession. Except I didn’t just walk away, I ran like a bat out of hell. I ran so far that I somehow managed toget myself right back at the tarven the next night, the following night after that, and so many more just hoping. Crossing my fingers that the bard would be there singing another one of his tales. Singing, drawing me in, closer and closer every night. 

Just for the off chance that the bard would be there. I had gotten so good at climbing from down my bedroom window that I knew exactly when I could leave, who was posted on guard and that the small door next to the gate was always left open. The plans of getting back in were always harder, or maybe I should that they were getting harder. With every chance I was able to descend down the castle walls the more aggriant I got. With every walk on the dirt path to the tarven the nights turns into days quicker and quicker. That meant the plans of getting back into the castle walls only got harder. 

Yet I cared not for as long as I got to gaze, and hear the sounds of his angelic voice ring through my ears. Most night it traveled behind me like a bird singing her morning song. It kept me calm before the morning started and the drag of the day took place. Where tight corsets, and snickering happened. 

It wasn’t till the summer night cooled down, and the fall began to liter the ground it it browned and reddned leafs that I was caught by none other then the bard himself. Now let me make this perfectly clearly I’m yes a shy person, but there’s something about the way he talked to me when he first laid his eyes on me. I had talked to men before, been courted about a dozen times. Never having worked out due to one thing or another. I had danced at court with a few genetlman, but never tallked to someone from outside that proteigous realm of people. Fear had settled, and I stuff my heels in the dirty waiting for the worst to happen. 

Except it didn’t, because why would the worst happen? 

“You aren’t new here,” The bard said as he snuck up from behind me. Shaking me with a sort of fear I wasn’t used to. I swallowed down the fear, and the scream that wanted to come out. “No.” That was a simple answer, but all the sudden I didn’t want to talk I just wanted to look at him. I wanted to be the invisible girl behind the crowd of people that looked but never dared to touch. “I see you every time I’m in here.” I nodded, “Oh how rude of me, the names Jaskier, and you are?” In a moments time I had turned looked him up and down. Now that he was standing right here, now that he was in touching distance. Everything was blown out of proportions for me. Lean frame but built good, a fresh dandelion smell wafted from his clothes 

The words that wanted to come out were stuck in the back of my very dry throat. He must have sensed my painc, “How about this we can get a drink, or we can get the hell out of this loud place maybe go for a walk?” Jaskier offered, I nodded my head, “I’ll take you meant the second thing.” I nodded again words still not wanting to come out in a coherent sentence. He lead the path through women and men standing around near the door, and out onto the dirt path. “This is better?” He asked me. “Yeah…” The words they were working now, he smiled brightly at me even though the dimmed flames and the moon light gave me little to work with I knew his face like the back of my hand. Many a night I just stare at him. 

“My names Y/n.” Finally getting up the courage to answer his first question ‘Well that’s a beautiful name, Y/n.” My names rolls off his lips with a sort of grace that most people don’t even have at court. “And I must say that it fits your beauty as well.” A chamer this man is, I swallow hard trying to will the heat that grows at the edges of my cheek bones. The conversation starts to grow into something I’d never had with anyone else. His voice is so soothing that when the first sight of sun rays hit the horizon I’m not even paying attention. 

When the blinding rays hit my eyes, the panic rises in my chest, “I’m sorry Jaskier I have to get going.” My words rushing out of my mouth, and Jaskier doesn’t understand what’s going on. “I’ll see you again right?’ He asks as I start to walk away. “Of course.” I say without even thinking, ‘And even if you don’t I’ll see you’ I think to myself as I run as fast as my feet with allow. 

This friendship grows every night I see him, he’s there in the tarven every night. Singing about tales of the past, and then the songs they turn into something else. Songs about her beauty, oh how she must be something from the heavens. As our frienship grows so does my confidence and one night without thinking as Jaskier is going on and on about something I lean in, kissing his lip ever so gently. He shuts up almost automatically. “What… what was that for?” He barely manages to get out. “You’re just so very handsome.” I mutter. My lips are burning with a sensation I’ve never felt before. 

Kissing Jaskier becomes the only thing I can think about, the only thing that I want to do. The thing that wakes me in the morning when the stray lights of morning sun hit my face, when I sit at lunch with my mother and father. It’s the driving force that has me climbing out the window even when the icy wind picks up and chills me to my bones. Summer having come and gone now that winter is here the outside conversation and little kisses become to hard to have. So Jaskier suggests we get a room, “A room?” I ask not understanding, “actually we don’t have to get it, since I’ve been paying for the room since I met you. It’s just above the tarven.” Jaskier says it as if it’s the most normal thing on the planet. 

The night with the searing wind hitting the window the rooms chills and the banter down the stairs is muted by the sounds of Jaskier kissing my lips and my neck. Something turns into more, and more turns into ecstasy. It’s all I want now, I have no want to leave when the morning hits the brim of the world. I just want Jaskier. I want his hands on me forever, I want his everything he has to give me. Yet when the church bells go off I have to leave him. I hasetly dress myself, rushing down stairs bumping into people. Barely making it to the castle walls, or through the smal door. My heart is racing as I leap into bed awaiting the regular knock on my bedroom door. 

“Princess Y/n, are you awake?” The small voices asks from the other side of the door. “You may come in.” I say trying to make my voice seems calm. That night I was right back out the window. The small gate and to him, “Where did you go?” Jaskier asks caring not that he had stopped his sings thrown down his lute. “I… I was…” The words can’t and won’t come out even if I tried to make them. “Did I do something? Was I too rough with you, please Y/n just explain.” Jaskier begs. “That was my first time jaskier.” I say in a whispered breath. His eyes widden, “Oh my dear sweet dove.” He says reaching over to grasps my cheek I melt into his touch. “I wish you would have said.” He mutters as he presses his forehead into mine. Nose brushing against nose. 

The night takes a turn for a sweet cuddle between a set of warmed sheets. Jaskier keeps his lips to himself for a little awhile then I want him to. “I’m sorry I didn’t say…” Jaskier hushes me before I can even finish my thought. “I should have reliazed my love, that’s on me. But I promise if you give me anothe chance I’ll be gently and kind with your mind, and body.” Jaskier says before pressing kisses into my exposed skin. His hands are searching for my skin, and my hands are searching for something to ground me to him. 

The moment is ripped away from the both of us, when a knock, a hard knock happens to befall the door. Jaskier looks up at me, then towards the door. “I must have forgotten my lute downstairs. I’ll be right back my love.” Jaksier says pressing a chaste kiss into my lips. He opens the door, I can see the flame shine in the metal of their armor. “Where is she?” He guard asks Jaskier. His voice booming hitting all the walls around me. Jaskier stands there dumbfounded. “Who?” Jaskier asks, and I bear witness to the fall of his expression when the guard tells him that they are indeed looking for the princess, “Princess Y/n, there have been reports of her here at this tarven. With you.” 

The moment still, and everything happens in slow motion. Jaskeir turning to look at me. I’m left with my mouth gaping open. “Your the princess.” He doesn’t sound angry, or really like anything. “I… didn’t mean for…” “Princess Y/n, you have to come back to the castle with…” Guards then see the state that I am in, clothes half off my clothes and in the bed, hair a mess. The next few things area blur, the chains that end up circling Jaskier wrist, and a guards drags the both of us back to the castle. 

That large gate opening. “Why?” Jaskier asks,m before a guards slaps him, and tell him he isn’t allowed to talk to me. I’m walked to the court where my father and mother are sitting there with worry written on their expression. While Jaskier is taken in the opposite direction. “My king, this man was seen with the princess. We caught him with her in bed.” The guard says prideful; of his actions.

“Why could you do this?’ My mother asks, “Because she’s spoiled rotten that’s why.” My father answers her question. “I’m not spoiled rotten.” I disagree, “You are to go to your room, and someone needs to bind her windows up. I will not have my daughter making a fool out of the crown for what a bard.” He spits venom out at me. I bit my inner cheek willing the tears to go awau but nothing helps, not when I know that I had caused all of this. Hours later a knock comes to my door, my mother comes in through the door  “Sweetheart.” I cry on my side thinking that I want is a moments time with jaskier. “It wasn’t his fault mother.” I tell her through hiccups, and shear breaths. 

“Oh my sweet darling daughter, do you love him?” She asks me, as she combs her nimble fingers through the ends of my hair. “Mother I do not know.” I honestly do not know, “Of course you know.” My mother says all knowing, she’s probably right but I’m not sure Ic an say the words. Say the truth outloud. “Do you think I will be able to see him?” I ask my mother, she thinks for a moment. “Your father probably won’t allow it my dear.” The ears start to bubble over the edge of my lashes. “But I’ll see what we can do.” She promises me. 

With that she kisses my forehead, and she’s out the door. I sit there for the rest of the night feeling sorry for myself, and Jaskier. I feel as if it’s all my fault. This feeling sits at the bottom on my stomach for what seems like weeks. It isn’t until those weeks turn into months does my mother come back. Giving me rather good, and bad news. “Sweetheart, I need to tell you a few things.” My mother said softly. “Yes mother.” “The boy is be putting to death, but you can talk to him before he goes to the gallows.” There was no warning or anything from her. “Right now?” I asked her, she nodded her. 

I had never rushed down the stairs of the hallways so fast to just get to one person. “Jaskier!” “Y/N!” I followed the sounds of his angelic voice. When I reached thebar that held him in the cell. “Oh god, you’re so… I’ll go get something to clean your face up.” I said, “NO please don’t go.” Jaskier pleaded with me. “They will be taking me tothe gallows soon. I just wanted to see that beautiful face of your before I meet the heavenly gods.” Jaskier words hushed. “Oh Jaskier this is all my fault, but I… I have a way to fix it all. I promise.” His brows furrowed together. “What do you mean?” worry seeping into his voice all for me while he was going to be killed. 

“Jaskier I would do anything for you. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, or for well anyone that I loved.” Jaskier looked me up and down. “What are you saying Y/n?” He asked as he eyed my hand on my stomach. “Please don’t do something so irrationally. I’m not worth your jewels, your titles, or your throne.” Jaskier pleaded with me, I scoff at him. “Of course you are Jask. You are worth it all because I love you.”

Jaskier is brought to the gallows with my father looking proud of himself, and my mother  standing by his side. “Do you have any words to say before you are killed?” My father boasts. “I do.” The shock written over my fathers expression is hard to ignore. “Y/n sit down.” He demands, “No, I don’t care anymore. I will do anything for this man. Regardless of what you think I should do or not. I’m giving up my everything for him and our baby. I’d rather be happy and poor with Jaskier and our baby then be miserable and alone on the throne.” I said loud and clear, throwing my crown down to the ground. “Undo Jaskier chains, he and I will leave without a single word.” My father twitches with anger and as he’s about to burst at the seams my mother whispers into his ear. 

Moments later, “Undo his chains and escort them out.” My father demands and with that when Jasker is in my arms the kiss of life brings both of us back together. “A child?” He asks against my lips. “Our child Jaskier.”

Completed on: 09/24/23

Posted on: 09/24/23

The Bard-

[azulsluver]

Twisted Tales In The Dark

The Sweetest One Of All         Halloween event!

tw. yandere, graphic violence, major character death (for reader personally), gore in general, self sacrifice, reader (sort of) develops feelings for the main character, stalking, rook being rook, peace was never an option, obsessive behavior.

❥ featuring the three vampires, Vil, Rook, Epel.

❥ thank you @silentsuperior for writing the first couple of sentences!

Unusual. It was all so distinctive. Feeling of pain arising within one, 

Your body drifts in and out of consciousness, and your airway is fresh and clean. You’ve never felt this comfortable, basking in the warm sun and the cool breeze to top it off. With a gentle noise of chattering and horse hooves hitting the ground. You think you can live like this.

A road bump had caused your leg to jolt. Your nerve system crackles and makes your body temperature drop. Your mind is now wide awake, staring into the mists of trees passing by.

As confusion consumed your emotions, you quickly took this time to backtrack on what could’ve caused this pain. Studying down at your leg and kicking in the air a few times. You realized you’re on a moving wagon, layers of hay stacked for you to lay on. A soft gasp catches your attention.

That was until you had a terrible vision. Oh, a rotten image indeed. Flesh departing from your leg so horribly, and the taste of vomit linger down your throat. You tried breathing through your nose, feeling departed from reality.

“Are you alright?” Such gentle words, your eyes travel to a fair maiden.

Her face is fair-skinned, with rosy cheeks and a nose. Hair tied messily in a braid, she stares at you curiously with her green eyes. Another person is by her side, not glancing back at you but at the road ahead. She leans over from her spot up front to look at you closer, you think you look like a fool compared to her.

“I’m fine, ma’am.” You slump back down on the haystacks, sitting by the side so you can talk to her properly.

“Oh, that’s swell. But please don’t be so polite, I’m not that old. My name is Antoinette. My father and I found you lying near a bark, I convinced him enough to heal you until you’re well enough on your own.” She smiles at you sincerely, a sort of smile that has your cheeks warming.

Brushing your hand over your hair, you shyly reply. “ I can’t thank you enough..” Your eyes wander around, nature looks beautiful during this season.

Antoinette gives you a short nod, turning back to let you have a moment to comprehend. Your fingers move on their own, flexing in and out for how heavy they felt. You try to figure out just where you are now.

For she, a maiden so fair in a far land has caught the unwanted attention of vampires. Thirsty for blood, per usual. Her story was pitiful, sacrificing herself to save her father from danger, for the vampire king had taken a liking to her. You’re not sure what happened to her at the end. For a horror story, it was mutual excluding the kidnapping.

You close your eyes as she hummed a tune, letting her voice drift you away to their home.

The wagon comes to a stop, lifting an eye open and you manage to see a lively village. Children are running around while sellers and farmers are advertising their stands. A little cottage house crossing a bridge away from the others, Antoinette helps you down.

Your leg is still in pain, swollen even. Didn’t your wounds heal faster?

….

OK, that's enough. Inside stood garnished with books and flowers, having your muscles feel less tense at the scenery. You’re guided to the kitchen chair, seated down as Antoinette fetches her apron. Her father had left to go to town, leaving you alone with her. You face outside the window, the view is possibly her garden. Flowers and vegetables grow on the right, leaving soft patches of grass on the left.

“Do you like it?

“Hm? Oh, yes. Do you garden as a hobby?” She chuckles, already chopping up some onions.

“Not really, we grow a little patch before winter comes. But I do enjoy it nevertheless, the flowers for example.” You watch as her hands move, slicing the onion in a snappy motion.

Standing abruptly, your legs carry you next to her. Not too close to make her uncomfortable. Do you need some help? Her face turns slightly red, handing you the knife. The smile on your lips was noticeable, the action causing you to dig deep into a forgotten memory.

“You must hold the onion like a paw.” “A paw?” You scrunch up your fingers, making a quick cut on the onion with even slices.

Antoinette stares in awe, you give the knife back to her.

“Practice will help, surely you’ll get better in no time.” You try to keep smiling, your lips cracking once in a while.

You lean against the counter, resuming your watch as she slowly cuts the onion; now moving to other vegetables like carrots and celery. You didn’t want to be a burden. A burden. You’re so much better than that.

“It is rude of me to watch you cook up a meal for a stranger, I wouldn’t mind being of help before your father returns.” She waves her hand.

“But you’re a guest! I promised my father to nurse you, so don’t fret over supper. I’m an expert.” She grins, taking a large pot from under the cabinet and filling it up with water.

You hum. Pretending you didn’t hear what she just said. Instead seizing the heavy pot from her hands and set it on top of the fireplace. She tsks behind you.

“Out of all my guests, you’re quite persuasive.” You light up the fire with a lighter you found on a table, giving a noise of acknowledgment.

She sighs in defeat. You both move around the place, adding ingredients and species to the soup until it was just right. It wasn’t too long until her father came home, an old and short man with a cute mustache. You prepared the plates and even suggested doing the dishes, which you got an earful from Antoinette.

You sat down on your seat, staring at the vibrant color the soup gave off. It smelled good, and you can’t remember the last time you ate. Picking up your spoon, you let the warm soup fill your tastebuds. The taste of flavors burst into your mouth, and you had to stop yourself from letting tears fall.

You shamelessly asked for seconds.

.

.

.

.

Time goes by fast, almost making you forget what your adjective was. You sat from the couch, a book in hand as Antoinette sat by the fireplace. Her back is facing you.

This is where it would happen. At night, her father would be abducted in his sleep. Just from his window since the yard was the opening. Then, Antoinette would follow. Running through the woods to find her father. With no luck. She’ll be captured by the king’s loyal henchmen, or whatever really.

You slam the book with your hand, getting up from your seat and heading towards the back door. Antoinette is startled but follows after you.

“Are you tired already? We have an extra spare room for you.” She slowly stops when seeing you heading in the back, not glancing at her.

You exit out from the door, passing by the garden and sitting against the wall. Your arms resting on your spread knees, eyes narrowed at the deep woods. The only light source was the fire from inside, but the moon showed what it could reach. You planned on staying up all night, making sure nothing happened to Antoinette and her father. Your hands would wander to the four keys you now have.

A blanket is thrown over your head.

Antoinette holds a candle with her, seating herself next to you. You grab a hold of the blanket and wrap it around her. It wasn’t the time to be going soft, the night is new and ready for danger. You knew your peace wouldn’t last long.

“Antoinette.”

“Yes?”

“Who did you help before me?” She looks up at you, unsure to be surprised or creeped out.

She hesitates for a moment before speaking.

“There was one man I remember, a funny bob cut hair but weirdly charming. I found him lying in a pool of blood, he was awfully pale as well.” You look harder at the trees and bushes.

“Did you know his name?”     “yes.”

She lays her head on your shoulder. Her Voice getting softer.

“He said his name was Hunt. Rook Hunt, a strange man indeed. I haven’t seen him in the last couple of months. So I have no clue where he went. However, I did meet a kind man named Epel. He stopped by my doorstep once to thank me for helping his friend, leaving a basket of apples as well.” The story was starting to irritate you. These cruel men sounded familiar in the book, for they were the ones who lured her to a castle just up on a hill.

Now that you have a view, the castle is large and gives off the worst vibe of “come here and you’ll die” vibes. Antoinette plays with your fingers, she’s seemingly into physical touch now you’ve noticed.

“The problem. Ever since that incident I’ve been seeing things. From afar, or I feel like I’m being watched.” She gives you a dry laugh, her voice slightly breaking. “I sometimes can’t sleep. Or else, I feel like they would get me.”

Antoinette buries her face into your shoulder. Soothing her as you pat her head gently. She shouldn’t be getting this comfortable around you.

An idea pops into your head. Well, not an idea but a memory. You read along the lines of the man named Rook Hunt, some weirdo who didn’t like garlic because Antoinette just so happened to get some from her garden at night. This would mean right now, but that’s ok, stories weren’t always implied to be the same.

You still kept your eyes forward. And you’re glad you did. The human eye couldn't see, but those green orbs stared back at you with the same intensity. A scowl on your face. Both you and Antoinette are clearly in a vulnerable situation, these superhuman vampires would kill you if they had the chance.

You stand to your feet, holding Antoinette along. Mind racing with what would be the best scenario, the outcome. And you. You’ll have no choice but to face these demons for that fifth key.

In a blink of an eye, your face to face with the man who's been terrorizing her. His tall figure towering over you as his cape swallows you whole.

Thrown on the floor, a heel stomps on the back of your spine, keeping you from getting up. Antoinette is held by her wrist, you’re no longer outside. But in that forbidden castle you were just dissing. Your body twitches and struggles, looking back to see purple hair all up your face.

“Do we kill this one?” Now that’s just rude. Rook lets out a laugh, and Antoinette cries out for you.

“Now, now monsieur Crabapple…You’ll upset poor ange if you keep it up, just throw that thing into a cellar–” His eyes travel down to your waist, craning his neck in the process.

Rook throws Antoinette to Epel, making him stumble a few steps back for him to lift his leg off you. Your chin is harshly raised, Rook examines your features, squinting playfully at your angered expression.

"Tu as une magie si forte en toi ! et tu sens absolument divine aussi…” his nose brushes down your cheek, feeling a sharp sting.

You started to thrash in his hold, fear-stricken in you for how little it helped. Warm blood flows from the wound, his tongue greedily licking it up. As disgust washes over you, you can’t win in this situation. Antoinette watches with horror as she’s dragged away, being left with a freak lapping up your face like a dog. Your hands hold onto the back of his cape, grunting in frustration as he pulls away with a loud plop.

Ew, ew. You quickly wipe your face off, feeling 10x lighter which is scary. Rook’s face is coated with a light pink, he chatter’s to himself as a way to introduce himself. You’re far from interested in getting to know him, instead eyeing the many doors around you.

Mentally hitting yourself, you try to think of a solution.

“How about a game!” That was dumb. But it seems to grab his attention.

“Y-yea, a game where I can run around and you come and find me. Like, hide and seek!” You’re sweating horribly, a nervous smile breaks out.

Rook seems thoughtful at the idea, rubbing his thumb over your purple cheek before answering.

“It’s been so long since I’ve had a chase, oh tu fais battre mon coeur d'excitation!!” His grin shows his fangs, making you cower.

He lets you go.

A hand placed over his eyes, his smirk taunts you.

“I suggest you start running. Counting to fifty starts now~” You make a break for it.

The heel of your shoes echoed down the corridors, passing by sculptures and large paintings on walls. There was a one percent chance of winning this game. For the hunter of humans was the kings right hand man. With just a flick of his wrist could kill a man in seconds, you weren’t gonna risk it. You needed an advantage.

You burst through doors to doors until you stop yourself in a large kitchen. Empty, strangely enough. You look around for a place to hide. The plan must be perfect, or else you wouldn’t see daylight again.

He followed the doors and scent, with that mark on your cheek it was child's play. With your wound still fresh, it leads him to the empty kitchen. Your scent had disappeared, have you figured out already? Rook scans out the area, nothing seems to be out of place and he couldn’t hear your breathing. You’re quite good at this.

Rook glides his hand over the counters, his footsteps loud as he moves in a full circle. Should he pretend to leave the room and watch you come out, or maybe even stab each cabinet until you scream.

There was that smell that lingered the air again, Rook followed. His body reacting singularly by the smell, strong with how many more scents was covered. Some old friends.

Rook stops in front of a single cabinet, face shadowed with a thirst of sin. He was certain, you were in that exact spot. Shivering in fear perhaps? How he longs to see such dread. His gloved hands reach for the handle, swinging it open with eager intent.

A dust of yellowish white powder blinds his vision, he hiss in pain as he’s tackled down to the other side of the room. His nose scrunches up in disgust at the smell; garlic powder. With burning eyes, he couldn’t use his magic to sense you or where you went. All he can do was trust his instincts and the pressure of your aroma.

Rook was fast, he could detect your hits and where you planned and plunging the knife. You needed to agitate him more. With the knife in your hand, you make a quick cut on your wrist. Since he was so keen on reminding you how strong your scent was, you knew it would throw him off. And it did.

His body jolts, bumping backwards into a counter as you quickly press the knife down to his heart. If it was there. You held yourself there, hearing his breathy gasps and how your hands stained with his blood. Just to be sure, you push deeper.

Green eyes lit dimly in the dark, his vision clears. Your about finished by now, separating yourself from his needy hands that tried to hold you. Rook watches you intently as you found a cloth to wrap your wound, tasting his own blood drip out of his mouth.

“Quelle poursuite passionnante. Un humain comme toi a réussi à capturer mon cœur froid“ He chuckles to himself, your eyes meet.

You crease a brow at him, not liking the look he’s given you. Twiddling the knife, you stab it down onto his knee, making sure to hear the bone snap. He doesn’t react, instead smiling happily at your choice.

“Smart one aren’t you?”

“Rot in hell.” You get up, time was wasting. And you need to find that mirror along with Antoinette.

As you leave the room, you can faintly hear Rook’s humming.

It took some time but you found the room you needed, a large door. Your eyes widen at the scream inside, making you waste no time into using your body to break it open. Holding your composure as you stumble upon thousands of floating coffins.  A fountain oozed with a green liquid makes you grimace. But what caught your attention was him.

 Holding Antoinette by the throat, he stands tall near a large mirror. Your way home, or so you thought. Antoinette is bleeding by the neck, two holes punctured in her skin as she struggles to free herself. A gorgeous man you stand before him, a look as deadly as knives.

He drops her. letting her gasp for air as he takes long strides towards you. Your body is tense in action, ready to move if he planned on hitting you with a surprise attack. His gloved hand raises, flicking it slightly as the other man from earlier bows.

“Find Rook.” The purple haired man responds with a yes, passing by you in surprise.

You inched closer to see Antoinette but is stopped by Vil, his hand magically appearing a a silver key with royal purple gem stones. The design of an apple. Vil raises an eyebrow at your shocked face, taking a step back. He throws you the key.

“Leave.” Firm and full of authority, you glance over to Antoinette.

“What about her?” Vil frowns at you, placing a finger over his chin as he looks down.

“Or would you rather die here instead? Why worry about some girl, she won’t live long.” Antoinette steadies herself, her skin pale and sweaty. You stand where you are.

His eyes glower at you in irritation. “Fine, have it your way.”

Vil stands in front of you, his hand straighten as it aims for your head. You backed your head away but is damaged by the shoulder, a clean cut. His attacks are ruthless, having you scattering to the floor and up again. A kick to the head, able to protect yourself yet sending your body flying to the fountain. Your arms are raw from the pain, yet you’re lifted by the neck.

“Filthy, you’ll get my clothes dirty. Oh well, I’ll be sure to let poor Antoinette clear the stains off.” His hand once again aims for your chest. You shut your eyes.

Antoinette runs to the side, pushing you with force as you land by the mirror. Choking and gurgling the spit out for air. You raise your head up in horror, with his hand clutching the heart of hers. Beating and alive, you stare as she’s thrown next to you. Her mouth is foamed with blood and spit, eyes barley moving to take one last look of you.

Yet you thought you could have prevented her fate, with a kiss to her cold hand. Your body moves quick to the mirror, as your final goodbye to the one you failed. Vil stands by, poker-faced.

You couldn’t see them, but he can. The various marks on your body, it was best to let you go. 

[stocky2016]

"The Dance of Yin and Yang"

I'm learning now to be comfortable in my own skin,

finding courage to unmask without a second thought or a grin.

Embrace the strength of being vulnerable and free,

unveiling my truth is how I'm meant to be.

My soul is gentle yet my spirit is strong,

cerebral core is like a rock, can't be moved for long.

Gentle heart, rock solid core deep inside of me,

depth of spirit, balance and completeness I see.

Quiet and composed, fierce when I want,

bountiful poise and grit that I flaunt.

Calm as a breeze, fierce as a tiger,

these energies can join together and make me larger.

Both sides have a tale to be told,

behind each story lies a lesson to be bold.

Both sides make me whole, beyond reproach,

my actions arise so together I can coach.

Stick to your guns and stay in your lane,

don't let your inner strength evaporate in vain.

Empower yourself and stay afloat,

your will shall help you, take the helm and let it hold.

My life's a contradiction, contradictory views,

They come to pass the judgement, saying what I should do.

Fierce and gentle, neither one is better than the other,

Just like a butterfly, beating like a hummingbird's feather.

Where we exist, where boundaries fade,

where duality converges, a truth is conveyed,

For within this profound paradoxical place,

I find solace, I find purpose, both sides I embrace.

Like shimmering moonbeams on a starlit night,

both light and darkness cast their captivating light...

For how can I truly know joy's sweet refrain,

without tasting the bitter tears of sorrow's domain?

In love's tender caress, my heart finds delight,

yet it was forged in the crucible of lonely nights,

For in the absence of touch, I learned to endure,

and in the depths of despair, my resilience matured.

Whispers of the wind, carry songs of hope,

but their symphony's incomplete without echoes of despair,

For in moments of weakness, I rediscover my strength,

and from shattered fragments, I rebuild, at length.

It's in the ebb and flow, the dance of "yin and yang"

where I find harmony, in both joy and pain...

For both sides make me whole, in this intricate dance,

embracing life's contradictions, I find my true chance.

So let the symphony of life's dichotomies ensue,

for it is in this profound paradox, I find my truth,

Both sides make me whole, as I navigate this grand stage,

and in my heart's union, I find wisdom's eternal sage.

© Geoff Stockton ❤️🥀

© Myriam Ghezaïl Ben Brahim ❤️🥀

(A collaboration )

Graphic courtesy of Myriam who I would like to personally thank.

[konfizry]

Barring a few exceptions, all of Rinwell's books show the same two pages when she opens them. One such exception is Oblivion Ring, which if you look closely, you might notice has the two pages, but upside down. Below is a closeup on it with heightened contrast for your convenience. Feel free to compare it to the other books at you leisure. (notice the winged seal at the bottom of the right-hand page? you'll find it at the top of the left-hand pages of the other books, with the larger wings pointing up instead of down)

Interestingly enough, the details of Oblivion Ring featured in the art book show its pages depicted the same as the other books, suggesting that this might be an actual error where the texture for this one book got flipped in mysterious circumstances. (either that or Rinwell is holding it upside down, not that I would blame her given how all over the place Oblivion Ring is)

Oblivion Ring in the bottom right corner, along with the textures from a couple other books for comparison, as shown in the artbook. Now for the books that actually display something different. There's 3 sets of 2, corresponding to the six books that can be obtained via beating challenges that were included in the free Special Training Grounds DLC.

First are the Avian Tomes A and B, meant to accompany Rinwell's Demonic Stole costumes (not pictured), with the vertical text and stylized owls and trees.

Then you have Waterproof Notebooks A and B which go great with her Rapscallion Swimsuits (not pictured) and give off a cutesy bullet journal vibe once opened.

Finally, Birds of Dahna Handbook A and Creatures of Dahna B that harmonize perfectly with Rinwell's Owl Uniforms (pictured: Owl Unifor B with Pigtail Beret C (does not include a beret)). Blocks of text along with an illustration of either a bird or a rappig can be seen, as well as a map that takes up most of the left-hand page and (assumedly) informs the reader about the distribution of Dahnan animals. The map itself corresponds to Dahna's western continent, as seen in the beginning intro of the game. Compare:

One last thing of interest (to me) is that it seems most of the books are meant to be read from left to right, but there are a couple exceptions:

(graphic design is my passion) Indeed, when viewed open and from the back, the vast majority of her books have what seems to be the front cover on the right, meaning the spine would be on the left if one were to look at them closed, with the front cover on top. The only two books I could find that had the front cover on the left when viewed from the back were Birds of Dahna Handbook and Creatures of Dahna. This configuration seems to imply that the "modern AU" (so to speak) books read from right to left. Finally, there seems to be three books with perfectly symmetrical covers: Secret of the Stars, Artes of the Cosmos (not picutred; is a palette swap of Secret of the Stars) and Book of Owl Wisdom. Interestingly enough, Secret of the Stars and Book of Owl wisdom are respectively implied and stated to be heirlooms of Rinwell's mage clan, in their description. The symmetrical look may thus be intentional, leaving the question of whether Rinwell's clan read from left to right or right to left unanswered on purpose, for extra mystery. NB: 1. You could argue that Oblivion Ring's cover is ambiguous as well, but if you look real hard, I think you'll find that that the right part has more going on than the left part, so I think it belongs in left-to-right like the others. 2. Not all of Rinwell's books are included on the pictures of this post but I think I got a sample that was representative enough. (i know, i know, Records of the Fallen should have been in there, it has black pages with white ink, it looks so cool yadi yadi yada well if you really wanna see it just open your own Tales of Arise go look at it im not stopping you) 3. There is no Birds of Dahna Handbook B, just like there is not Creatures of Dahna A. A and B make sense with the other sets since they're books with identical titles, but since these two have different titles, they should hace ditched the A and B to avoid any confusion, idk what happened here.

[bearfoottruck]

FANFIC UPDATE 5-3-2024:

I don't have much other than an update for Gonna Kiss You On the Boulevard (Fanfiction, AO3). However, speaking of My Hero Academia fics, I thought I'd mention all the ones I've written thus far.

MULTI-CHAPTER FICS:

My Hero Cannonball (Fanfiction, AO3): When the Japanese government threatens to pull funding for UA, Deku gets an idea during a foreign film festival at Todoroki's house: enter the Cannonball Run - America's craziest, most dangerous coast-to-coast road race - not only as a form of protest, but to win enough prize money to keep UA afloat. Rated T for automotive and superhero violence, some language and suggestive content. Takes place between Seasons 2 and 3.

My Special Affair (Fanfiction, AO3): Todoroki is an NYPD detective working for the Supernatural Crimes Unit as its only member. His job is to hunt vampires, werewolves, zombies and other supernatural nasties that threaten the Big Apple. One day, he gets a report of an especially aggressive vampire known only as the "Binge Drinker", but has no clue who it is. Then, one night, he is attacked by a vampire, only for a young woman to save his life. However, could there be more to her? Rated M for strong language, graphic violence and explicit sexual content. Also contains male-on-female violence. Fem!Izuku Fem!Deku

Todoroki and His Women (Fanfiction, AO3): Todoroki retires from Endeavor's agency to start his own. However, he gets an unexpected surprise when all of his applicants turn out to be women. Together, they'll laugh and cry as they do their best to clean up the streets of Los Angeles. Rated T for violence, language, situations of intense peril, general sexism and alcohol references. Fem!Izuku Fem!Deku.

Todoroki's Laughing Problem (Fanfiction, AO3): During the UA Christmas Party, Eri's lack of common holiday knowledge causes Todoroki to burst out laughing, and now he can't contain himself, much to the chagrin of his fellow students. Rated T for Kacchan swearing, some violence and some suggestive content. Takes place during Season 5, with references to World Heroes' Mission.

Nitro and Acid (Fanfiction, AO3): For years, Kacchan has blasted his way through the streets of Chicago, not particularly caring about anyone or anything except kicking villains' asses and earning a sweet paycheck while doing it. Then, one day, he meets Ashido while grocery shopping, and she becomes infatuated with him. Ostensibly, he wants nothing to do with her, but deep down inside, he's gone crazy for her. Can he put aside his foul attitude and learn to love? Rated M for strong language, violence, sexual content and a brief mention of "rape".

Russian Winter, Broken Hearts (Fanfiction, but will be on AO3 eventually): Sidequel to Gonna Kiss You On the Boulevard Chapter 22, "Super Bomb". After Deku, Todoroki and Tsu's mission to recover the Poseidon under Selkie's command, Russia delivers Japan an ultimatum: either return the bomb or risk war. In the meantime, UA gets a visit from students hailing from a Serbian hero school. Little does anyone know, they'll be in for a fight of international proportions. Rated T for war violence, language and suggestive content. Contains resources to help Ukraine. Fem!Todoroki

Hero Enforcement Regiment (Fanfiction, AO3): Izuko Midoriya serves as "Deko", the Symbol of Peace, but one day, she finds rumors of heroes abusing their powers for personal gain. She doesn't want to believe it, but then one night, another hero attempts to rape her. She fights him off, but is absolutely shattered by the experience, so much so that she founds her own hero agency to combat corrupt heroes. Rated T for violence, language, attempted rape and some suggestive content. Loosely inspired by The Boys. Fem!Izuku Fem!Deku

The Four Horsemen (Fanfiction, AO3): Crossover with Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. Adrien, Marinette, and a few other students visit UA High. However, two issues arise: 1. One of the students is secretly a traitor, and 2. Two of the students are cheating on each other with students from UA. Rated T for violence, brief strong language and suggestive content. Fem!Izuku Fem!Deku

ONE-SHOTS:

An Unexpected Check-In (Fanfiction, AO3): After Tsu's breakdown in front of Class 1-A, Deku checks on her the day after to make sure she's okay. Takes place during Season 3.

Thank You For Your Cheerfulness (Fanfiction, AO3): Todoroki tells Ashido the thing he admires about her the most.

Giving Deku a Hand (Fanfiction, AO3): Fem!Todoroki explores Deku's anatomy. Rated M for sexual content.

Todoroki Gets It On (Fanfiction, AO3): Todoroki and Fem!Deku make sweet love. Rated M for sexual content.

Deku Saves Father's Day (Fanfiction, AO3): Todoroki is having a horrible time on Father's Day, but Deku helps him out. Rated T for brief strong language.

Todoroki Is On Fanfiction Friday Fire (Fanfiction, AO3): Todoroki has been uploading a lot of fanfiction lately, and Ashido takes positive notice.

You Don't Have to Be Angry Anymore (Fanfiction, AO3): Todoroki is having a horrible time, and Fem!Deku does her best to cheer him up. Rated T for brief strong language.

Half-Cold, Half-Hot, All-Loving (Fanfiction exclusive): A short poem about TodoDeku.

Caring In Pink (Fanfiction, AO3): Ashido checks up on Kacchan. Rated T for Kacchan being Kacchan.

If You Need Passion, It's Close At Hand (Fanfiction, AO3): Fem!Todoroki is having a lonely time, but Deku soothes her. Rated M for sexual content.

TodoDeku Hug (Fanfiction, AO3): Todoroki and Fem!Deku give each other a hug.

BakuMina Hug (Fanfiction, AO3): Kacchan and Ashido give each other a hug.

KamiJiro Hug: (Fanfiction, AO3): Kaminari and Jiro give each other a hug.

It's-a Me, Midoriya (Fanfiction, AO3): Deku and Class 1-a celebrate Mario Day. Rated T for Kacchan's mouth. Fem!Kacchan Fem!Todoroki

Trying New Fandoms (Fanfiction, AO3): Todoroki writes a fanfic for a fandom he never wrote for before, much to Ashido's joy.

Todoroki's Fanfic Mistake (Fanfiction, AO3): Ashido gets upset because of a fic that Todoroki wrote.

A Special Morning After (Fanfiction exclusive): The morning after Todoroki and Fem!Deku make sweet love, they have pancakes. Rated T for suggestive content.

A Heroes' Lunch (Fanfiction, AO3): Crossover between Sonic the Hedgehog and MHA. The Sonic and MHA casts celebrate National Chicken Wing Day together.

A Letter From a New Friend (Fanfiction, AO3): Sequel to The Four Horsemen. Todoroki gets a letter from Adrien.

Welcome and Comfort (AO3 exclusive): Fem!Deku helps a new student who's feeling lonely.

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 3.5/5

Book Blurb: PENNY DREADFUL meets MONSTRESS in this feminist Victorian horror by the creator behind the bestselling graphic novels UNNATURAL and SWEET PAPRIKA!

Mercy, a goth-inspired, Victorian monster series explores topics of “otherness,” damnation and redemption, and what it means to be a monster in a horror graphic novel perfect for fans of Penny Dreadful, Crimson Peak, The Alienist, Parasol Protectorate, and Dark Shadows.

This new graphic novel by acclaimed creatorMirka Andolfo (Unnatural) is a gothic horror tale where mysteries and unspeakable sins are blended together in a unique and sensual way.

Washington State, late nineteenth century. During the frenzied historical era commonly known as the Klondike Gold Rush, a mysterious woman arrives in Woodsburgh, a small mining town close to the Canadian border.

It's been a few years since the Swanson mine was closed following the terrible accident that claimed the lives of so many men and women, including the owner's and the city it's still struggling in search for a new place on the map of the country.

Elegant and extraordinarily wealthy, Lady Hellaine arrives in the city accompanied by her faithful butler Goodwill and settles in one of the most luxurious mansions in town. A lifestyle that contrasts sharply with that of the majority of the population, forced to choose between humble crafts and illegal activities.

No one is aware of the reasons that led such a classy lady to move from Seattle to the small village, but her arrival certainly did not go unnoticed. Especially in the eyes of Lady Swanson, widow of the late mine owner and leading figure of the local bourgeoisie. Lady Hellaine's plans will bring her on a collision course with the powerful Lady Swanson, who, for reasons not entirely rational, distrusts the newcomer.

Meanwhile, the streets and surroundings of Woodsburgh are flooded in blood: a heinous creature is killing incautious citizens, wreaking havoc on their bodies. Enough to induce local authorities to impose a strict curfew after sunset.

And with the falling of the first snow, the “Woodsburgh Devil”'s fury seems to have even increased. What's the connection, if any, between this disturbing presence and the ivory-skinned stranger?

Who is Lady Hellaine, really? And what's her secret agenda?

Collects Mirka Andolfo's Mercy #1-6, the complete story.

Review:

Penny Dreadful meets Monstress in this gothic victorian monster series featuring a mysterious woman who has just moved into a struggling mining town... where dead bodies seem to drop constantly and a deadly monster is eating away at people... and the town's own secrets are deadly. When Lady Hellaine arrives into town with her butler Goodwill, things shake up in this small mining town. Hellaine's beauty, her wealth... is all picture perfect but she's hiding something... the fact that she is a monster who consumes people and so is her butler. Her arrival is not smooth sailing though as it arises suspicion from Lady Swanson, widow of the late owner of the mine and a leading figure of the local bourgeoisie. It doesn't help that Hellaine's not the only monster in this town... there are other monsters ready to eat and monster hunters on the loose too... bodies are dropping and blood is being shed, the question is, who is the true monster and can any of them be redeemed? This was definitely an interesting one, it's. a bit scattered, but the artwork is phenomenal, absolutely stunning. I love love love the art in this series and would recommend it for the art alone. The story has a interesting monster/gothic tone to it too.

*Thanks Netgalley and Image Comics for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Free Fall //

by Sanfan11 Gotham is changing, the city already preparing for it's newest addition. With Nightwing struggling with his new responsibility of fatherhood and Mary struggling with her place in her strange new life; mix-up's, chaos and trouble's are sure to arise. But the dangers from the past are resurfacing. Dangers the Grayson's need to face as heroes, but survive as a family. (Sequel to What Hides In the Shadows) Words: 876, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Series: Part 2 of Tales of Bluejay Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics), Nightwing (Comics) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: Gen Characters: Original Child(ren) of Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown, Duke Thomas, Cassandra Cain, Alfred Pennyworth, Barbara Gordon, Batfamily Members, Mary Grayson, Nightwing, Red Hood, Robin, Red Robin -Character, Court of Owls - Character, William Cobb (DCU), Talon Relationships: Batfamily Members & Dick Grayson, Batfamily Members & Original Female Character(s), Batfamily Members & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Original Female Character(s), Damian Wayne & Original Female Character(s) Additional Tags: Father-Daughter Relationship, Protective Dick Grayson, Parent Dick Grayson, Mary Grayson - Freeform via https://ift.tt/iG5cvbP

[realmofshade]

Happy new year! I started a graphic last year to track games I beat through the year, will probably end up doing the same for this year. It was fun. I have several other playthroughs on the go, but until I get to the credits, they don't count ;) They'll be on 2024 though.

My fatal flaw is that I enjoy RPGs and boy howdy they aren't the shortest games. Lol.

V Thoughts about some of the games I played below V

Favourite game hands DOWN was Monster Hunter Stories 2. That game is so incredibly well made, it almost makes me cry. I still need to get into the postgame some more and train up some absolutely busted beasties >:) And finish that fanart of my dear Pukei-Pukei.

Can't forget about Tales of Symphonia though. I beat it a couple times as a kid with my brother, but this is the first (and solo) run I've done in well over a decade (nearly two). It holds up so well, and the themes and story are still topical. One of these years I'll deep dive into the secret bosses and sidequests. Gotta get those new game+ perks first.

Lastly, big shoutout to Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker. I picked it up in a retro game store's bargain bin for $5, figured it sounded fun. I am now absolutely enamoured with a couple of the monster designs (heart eyes at Jailcat) and got the new Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince game for Christmas on my Switch. Been playing the HECK out of that too. Monster tamer games my beloved.

Moving into 2024, there's gonna be much of the same. I have some Pokemon playthroughs that I'm always plucking away at, and I'm about 75% of the way through Tales of Arise as well. DQM: The Dark Prince will make it this next year, obviously. I also have Bayonetta 2, 3, and the spinoff Cereza and the Lost Demon in my backlog. At some point I need to continue playing the Professor Layton games. Aaaand I'm about 40-50% through a revisit of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

So again: monster tamers and RPGs for the most part. I am beyond predictable :')