#mogs thoughts cause why not

[ofc-vi-writes-too]

Batfam members and what they’d get cancelled for/their apology

Just watched ItalianBach’s youtuber apology tier list video and inspiration STRUCK.

𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹

Bruce: there are SOOOOOO many things. So so so many things. He has been cancelled so many times that there is a blog dedicated to keeping track of BW apologies. the user is probs something like bruceissosorryagain. Personal favorite was when he ruined a pretty popular and well liked socialite by knocking over a champagne tower directly onto her great grandmother’s wedding gown. For some god foresaken reason the champagne had been dyed red to match the victorian vampire aesthetic of the wedding?? The hashtag “BWmeetscarrie” will forever haunt wayne manor.

Dick: He was literally a cop in 2020. his goose was GOT. He was trying to prove that not all cops are bad by posting to that macklemore song with the little black fist painted on his cheek and BLM on the other. u know the one. It didn’t go over very well. Even macklemore commented “c’mon bro..” This was followed by a 45 minute long apology video explaining how he now understands the harm it can cause to lump all marginalized groups into one category and how he regrets his action severely and yada yada yada hes so sorry, at the end there was a 2 minute long acrobatic performance to the song Nina Cried Power by Hozier. He also donated to several black charities following the whole ordeal. Didn’t leave his house for a week.

Jason: Ran a rage bait account on tiktok when he was like 13-15 where he posted cringe alpha sigma male mogging content, and someone somehow found out it was him, and his apology wasn’t so much an apology as much as it was “I’m sorry you were stupid enough to believe the bs I was posting, and I’m sorry i got caught. Fuck you guys btw now I have to find a new hobby 👎🏽.” The videos are still saved to his phone when he needs a good chuckle.

Tim: Said BTS was ass and BP was even worse (he tweeted it out of boredom, knowing it was gonna be bad, but not knowing exactly how bad). Armies and blinks tried to dox him MUTIPLE times but tim keeps it on lock so his info was safe. There was a boycott for WE so Bruce made him post and official apology. It was half assed and there are kpop accounts to this day that say “Fuck tim drake” in their bio. Either that or he got “cancelled” on some Jynxzi stuff. Like the whole situation to a T. Maybe both are true. He also had a ukelele in his apology vid.

Damian: called an old lady a “stupid ugly stinky bitch” on national television because she “asked father too many questions.” (it was an interview) Jaws were dropped. Nay, jaws were dislocated. Damian was too young at the time to have social media, let alone post his own apology, so bruce did it for him and sent that poor old lady a lot of cash.

Duke: Unironically said “if it’s snowing I’m not going.” the dudebros thought that shit was hilarious. No one else laughed. Duke was serious, but he felt so bad about offending people that there were tears in the apology. At least thats the story he’s currently running with.

Cass: A video of her saying the F slur surfaced. Her apology was her coming out.

Steph: Said something offensive without realizing it and didnt know what she did until she tweeted saying “why is everyone being so wierd around me?? did I do something wrong??” everyones response is either “girl please bffr” or genuine actually helpful input. She apologized less than a day later in a quick and concise apology vid.

Barbara: compared herself to marsha P johnson in an interview and when she was asked to elaborate she simply could not. The truth is, she had no idea who that woman was other than the fact that she was a good, cool woman so she was like yea omg im so her. Her apology was also a mini documentary about Marsha P Johnsons life.

[aberooski]

Assigning Final Fantasy summons to GX characters because why not?

With specifications on which version of the summons I've assigned them, only some genuine explanations of my thought process, and I will take no criticisms 😌

In my mind how this works is that the summons function like they do in 13 at least at least to a certain point. Like how they obtain their summon at some point throughout whatever story is being told here, or maybe some of them have obtained them already, and they're summoned via crystals in the heat of battle when needed. So in my mind as I'm picturing all of this, I'm picturing the 13 summoning technique to an extent.

Alright, let's get into it!

Jaden - Anima (FFX)

If you know the Anima lore you know this is actually so big brain

Yubel -> Anima

Syrus - Valefor (FFX)

I like the idea of Sy and Zane having a similar type of summon (Zane gets Bahamut, spoilers) with them both being creatures that fly, a dragon and a big bird. But Sy's is weaker in power and has a gentler spirit, but that spirit is strong. Very thematically accurate for them.

He could also have Doomtrain to sync up with his deck archetype I think that would be funny

But he gets Valefor because I have a lot of sentimental value towards her and she's one of my favorite summons and he's my favorite and I said so 😌

Chazz - Ixion (FFX)

My favorite lightning summon

Thunder boy and his lightning horsie ⚡

I would honestly just love to see it

Alexis - Shiva (FFX version cuz she's my fav summon period)

Decks are being taken into account and she plays an ice deck in the manga and while she's in the society of light in season 2 🧊

I don't have a crazy in depth explanation for this I just feel it in my soul. I've always said she would be a Shiva girl like me even without her and Atty both having an ice elemental association betwixt all the GX media.

Giving my favorite girl my favorite summon

Atticus - Diablos (FFVIII)

Nightshroud -> Darkness -> Diablos.

Another big brain choice actually

He could've also had Shiva pretty easily tbh and I considered that, but ultimately went with Diablos for the Darkness representation.

I mean come in, the guy is basically possessed by the main evil entity of the show and Diablos is essentially the devil.

Bastion - Leviathan (FFVIII)

His ace monster is Water Dragon, come on now. 💧🐉

Hassleberry - Titan (FFXV)

Titan is a big strong man as is our boy

Also he's Earth element and if Hassleberry had an element he would be Earth I feel it in my non-dinosaur bones.

Sadly there are no dinosaur summons I'm sorry bby 😞

Chumley - Choco/Mog (FFVII)

I'll be so for real I had such a hard time figuring out Chumley like from the summons I had left to choose from cuz I added Blair and Chumley to the list last, I couldn't find one I thought fit super great

But as I was going over the summons lists again I pictured these guys appearing alongside Chum and I just smiled. It just made me smile and so does he.

Sometimes it's just that simple.

But I did also consider Fenrir as an option as well.

Blair - Siren (FFVIII)

Siren specializes in status ailments (silence specifically) and you could argue her love deck reolves around a status ailment, namely Maiden In Love causing male monsters to fall in love with her, which actually is sort of a thing in some FFs through the Lamia enemy but shhhh

8's Siren can also heal status ailments so that gives Blair more abilities available to her to support the party

Valefor would've been another choice for her I just feel the vibe there but I want Sy to have her so 😌

Garuda could be another decent potential choice for her as more of a combative summon than a support summon, I feel that vibe too.

But I dunno I was just drawn to Siren for her so there you go.

Zane - Bahamut (FFVII Remake or FFXIII/XIII-2)

Dragon

Bahamut is typically among the most powerful of all the summons if not the most powerful depending on the game.

I'm wrestling between 7R and 13, 7R has almost some cybernetic action going on that gives me Cyber End energy while maintaining the classic dragon design, and 13 has Chaos Bahamut in 13-2 so he could have Bahamut then it could morph into Chaos Bahamut once he enters the Edgelord Supreme era to facilitate the shift from Cyber End to Cyber Dark if you follow my brain's logic

Aster - Phoenix (FFXVI)

......I-I mean..... Phoenix... Aster.... Aster Phoenix..... 😅

I literally could not resist 🤭

I would also except Odin for him though I think that would be cool too that's a vibe

Jesse - Carbuncle (FFVI)

Ruby Carbuncle ✋

Axel - Ifrit (FFX)

The perfected classic design imo

Badass fire boy 🔥

Like dude imagine Axel with Ifrit by his side

Unmatched

Jim - Syldra (FFV)

Syldra was Faris's pet and best friend since childhood who became a summon later in the game after sacrificing herself. Very reminiscent of Shirley being Jim's best friend/pet/protector since they were both young.

The implications of of the idea of Shirley sacrificing herself for Jim and becoming the summon makes me upset tho so we can just delete any timeline where that happens 😁

Crowler - Alexander (FFVIII or FFXIII)

Alexander is typically a machine or like a straight building or structure of some kind and Crowler plays Ancient Gears so 🏰

8 is a very good classic Alexander, just a great summon, and 13's I have a lot of sentimental value for but also him being a guy that turns into a defensive wall in Gestalt mode and with the way Crowler will put himself between harm and the kids at times.... thematically accurate Alexander?

Crowler wouldn't be beating the Dad allegations any time soon with that version on his side

7 Rebirth's Alexander is a close 3rd choice I think too I really like that design

With Alexander I was trying to think about practicality cuz they're all so massive and occasionally story relevant so he's not always a readily available summon so I sadly ruled out 9 and Type-0 as much as I really wanted him to have either of those too

Really wrestling with the specifics of this one

Sheppard - Ramuh (FFIX)

Wise old man

Sheppard is kinda dumb tho and makes some questionable decisions but he means well he's got the spirit

Banner - Chaos (FFXII)

In the lore, Chaos died and and was reborn several times.

Banner died and was reborn when he transferred himself into a new body, then he died, then still stuck around as a ghost.

Debated switching Phoenix from Aster to Banner and finding another one for Aster but clearly I did not lol

Also considered Phantom from 6 because it's just a ghost and uh.... Ghost Banner. But Chaos is cooler.

Adrian - Zalera (FFXII)

I was gonna give him Odin because of the insta kill move and how he had Exodia which is an automatic win but then I was looking at the summons list and was looking through the 12 Espers and listen.

Zalera is an Esper of death who clutches a woman in his arms and uses her wails to inflict death.

This really reminds me of Echo clutched in Exodia's hand screaming as she's being murdered by Adrian in the interest of obtaining Exodia.

Plus we had no 12 representation I chose Banner's after this and as 12 is my second favorite ff behind 10/10-2 that is criminal.

Welcome to my mind. 😌

[case-of-traxits]

I’m sure you’ve probably talked about this before, but how do you think reeve’s inspire works?

So funny fact here: I've never actually formally meta'd about this publicly. I'm pretty sure. I've talked to a few individuals about it, but never in like, a definitive, "This is definitely how I think it works," sort of way.

Maybe it's time to change that?

First though, let's talk about why I use the Inspire ability at all, because a lot of that leads into how I think it works.

An Argument for Why I Use the Inspire Ability

I would love to start with Reeve's original bio, but of course, as we know, Reeve didn't get a bio in the original game manual. So instead, we're forced to rely on his Ultimania bio:

The head of the Urban Development Department. Involved in the construction of Midgar from the very beginning, he watches over the town’s development like that of a child. By utilizing his special ability, “Inspire”, he is able to cause inorganic things to emit life; his “child”, the “cat”-shaped robot, Cait Sith can be controlled from a great distance. After Meteorfall, he became the director of the World Regenesis Organization (WRO), which is devoted to the purpose of restoring life to the planet.

For what it's worth, Reeve's bio has been shockingly consistent with including his Inspire ability. I go into that a little bit over in my WRO Reeve + Heartbreak meta.

Now, I know a lot of people don't like the Ultimanias. They find them confusing, or contradictory, or whatever the current "I don't use them," reason of the day is. That's fine! Let's take a look at Cait Sith's original bio from the game manual:

Cait Sith rides on the back of a huge stuffed Mog he magically brought to life. Megaphone in hand, he's always shouting orders and creating dopey attacks...

So there you go. Mog and Cait Sith cannot simply be robots, since it's stated quite plainly that Cait Sith brought Mog to life magically.

(As a side note, Cait Sith in the OG comes equipped with the Manipulate materia. This is a fun multi-layered reference, don't you think? Pokes a note at him being a spy and kind of gives you a thing to consider about how he possibly controls Mog.)

(As a second side note, Cait Sith also has one of the highest magic/spirit scores in the OG, so he's clearly meant to be your caster.)

Now, that said, Reeve clearly did build Cait Sith as a robot. His Ultimania profile clearly refers to Cait Sith as a robot, and in BC, Cait Sith has a controller of some kind in his back, and he gets damaged and broken into pieces and the Player Turk has to put him back together.

(As a side note there— and I swear, I'll stop doing these soon— if I recall correctly, the pieces the Player Turk has to collect are the body, the head, and the crown, implying that Cait Sith's crown is in fact an important part of him, and not just a cute fashion accessory.)

In addition, it is worth noting that Rufus Shinra is well aware of Cait Sith and that Reeve "controls" him, and yet, Reeve is able to directly communicate with AVALANCHE during a board meeting where Scarlet and Heidegger are talking Rufus into loading up No. 26, the rocket from Rocket Town, with huge materia and crashing it into Meteor in an attempt to save the world. Reeve not only does this, but Rufus gives no outward indication that he's aware of it. So however Reeve "controls" Cait Sith, there must not be a visible component to it.

My point is that Cait Sith, from what canon shows us, appears to be a robot that Reeve can control directly, without need for any sort of external control system. And, based on some thoughts that Cait Sith has during BC that cannot reasonably be attributed to Reeve, Cait Sith is still somehow independent of Reeve himself.

So why don't I go with Cait Sith simply being a learning AI of some kind? Well, mostly because of Mog. If we go back to the original bio for Cait Sith, it reads very similarly to Reeve's Ultimania bio. So Reeve grants life to Cait Sith, who can, in turn, grant life to Mog.

Functionally, Cait Sith is a mini-Inspire of his own.

Canon Exploration of the Inspire Ability

Now that I've written out my premise for why I go with Inspire Reeve, let's get to the heart of the original question:  How do I think it works?

Well, let's look at what we have to work with:

[Ultimania Bio] Reeve causes inorganic things to "emit" life.

[Ultimania Bio] Reeve sees Cait Sith as a child.

[OG Game Bio] Cait Sith inherits the Inspire ability.

[OG/BC/DoC] Cait Sith is capable of acting autonomously.

[OG/BC/DoC] Cait Sith can be directly controlled (to some extent, at least) via Reeve.

[OG] Reeve can speak through Cait Sith without other people in the room noticing.

[OtWtaS] Multiple Cait Siths can be 'active' at a time.

[DoC] Reeve and Cait Sith can move in sync with one another.

[DoC] Even if Cait Sith 'dies,' he can somehow convey information he learned right up until his death to Reeve/other Cait Siths.

How Does the Ability Actually Work?

So, with all of this in mind, here's how I usually go with Reeve's ability working:

The short answer is that I see it as a low-key, always-on mental connection between Reeve and Cait Sith.

A longer explanation starts with the fact that I see Reeve's Inspire ability as sort of... it has both passive and active modes for me.  Basically, in the passive mode, Reeve is always influencing inorganic material around him.  It's more noticeable when his emotions are heightened, but things like his phone and his car develop... quirks.  His car isn't really conscious, exactly, but it does read his intent, and to some extent, it basically functions as a self-driving vehicle when Reeve is the one behind the wheel.

Now, for my Reeve in particular, this is in no small part because the car was his father's, and he has worked on it extensively over the years.  It's a classic car, basically, and it gives him an outlet for fiddly work that's outside and not in a reactor or tied to Shinra.  If you're going with a Reeve who doesn't love his car as much, then obviously, that probably would be a bit more odd.

A more common variant on this, I think, would probably be that I usually roll with Reeve having... partially Inspired the reactors.  All of them.  All of the ones he has access to.  And in this case, it's less because he wants them to be alive and more because he wants to have that access to them.  He wants to be able to check statuses and know what's going on with a reactor at any given moment, and no matter how advanced the tech is, nothing will be faster for him than a direct mental connection.

Of course, that can have some less than stellar side effects when, say, a reactor explodes.  @ladykf-writes wrote me some amazing ficlets that feature my headcanons about this after much rambling with her about them. So I highly recommend checking those out if you're interested in this idea.

Then he has the active mode of his ability. I've written a ficlet (Heritage and Legacies) about the process of actually Inspiring Cait Sith (and it makes mention of Reeve's first disastrous accidental Inspiration), but in short, it involves more or less willing the inanimate object to life.  I usually go with the explanation that Reeve is literally feeding the object a bit of his own personal lifestream (or soul, depending on how you want to talk about it) until it starts circulating it on its own.  This gives me a built in explanation for why he doesn't animate hundreds of things at once and such.  I do like to have caps on things.

But because it was his personal lifestream that he used, he can basically retain... think of like a narrow, unseen string between Cait Sith and Reeve, no matter how far apart they get. And across this string, they can send thoughts, memories, and sensations.  That's how Reeve knew what happened to Cait Sith when Nero ate him with shadows.  Cait Sith had immediately connected with Reeve and told him.

Now, I do a few hand-wavey things for my own sanity when writing.  I assume that when a Cait Sith dies, all of their memories get imprinted in Reeve's mind, and when he Inspires the next Cait Sith, they get a copy of all of those memories.  This can create a bit of a jarring dissonance within the memories for a new Cait Sith, as they might remember being Cait Sith 1 and being Cait Sith 2 in the same conversation.  But for the most part, it works.

The other thing I usually do with Cait Sith specifically is that I say that when he was first Inspired, he was very much like a baby or a toddler.  He needed to learn a lot of things.  I don't have any fics currently up featuring this (I will after the holiday events though), but basically, I go with it having taken Reeve a while to get Cait Sith to talk at all for example, and that he had to learn a lot of things on his own rather than relying on Reeve's memory of the things.

Now, because of the hand-wavey memory thing I already talked about, new Cait Siths don't have that same initial problem.  They basically just get imprinted with everything Cait Sith 1 learned before he died.

(And for what it's worth, since Cait Sith's accent is supposed to be based on Reeve's parents, I always go with Cait Sith not speaking at all for a few months after he was Inspired.  Reeve tried everything, from toddler help books to reading books to trying to bribe him, and couldn't get a single word out of him.  And then, finally, Reeve was on the phone with his mother, trying to discreetly ask her for advice without admitting to his abilities or to what he'd done, and when he hung up the phone, Cait Sith looked up at him and spoke for the first time.  In the accent Reeve hadn't realized he'd slipped back into with his mother.)

The other hand-wavey thing I do is that I usually have Reeve and Cait Sith share the ability to communicate mind-to-mind, no outward dialogue needed.  I mostly justify this with it being a side-effect of them sharing the same personal lifestream rhythm.

I will say though, something I do that I don't know that I've seen anyone else do (I don't have any fics left up featuring this either, actually) is that I say the control can go both ways.  So Reeve can reach for Cait Sith and speak through him, but so can Cait Sith.  Now, I usually say that Reeve has to let Cait Sith do this, whereas Reeve can just take control from Cait Sith, but I  chalk that up to Reeve being the one who did the initial Inspiring.  Following that suit though, it would make sense that Cait Sith could do the same thing with Mog, if he wanted.

Now, I also headcanon that Reeve does his absolute best to let Cait Sith have whatever autonomy he can.  My Reeve, in particular, didn't exactly have the happiest of childhoods, and he has spent a lot of time being told exactly what he can do and when, so he tries to give Cait Sith the childhood he never had.

If you read all the way down here, oh my goodness, but thank you.  It's... a lot.  Like I said earlier, the short answer is that I see it as a low-key, always-on mental connection between Reeve and Cait Sith.  And I kind of flex it around, depending on what exactly I'm doing with the fic in question.

[ovaryacted]

So I have a few thoughts about tonight’s episode of HOTD, just cause it wasn’t my favorite but I know it’s a build up of what’s to come. Either way, I will share them cause I can.

WARNING - S2 EP. 5 HOTD SPOILERS

Okay first let me start off by saying the cinematography of this show is otherworldly, very beautiful shots of Dragonstone and the sunset and everything. My eyes like it very much.

To that bitch that was saying “Behold Meleys…” or whatever the fuck, you better keep my girl’s name out of your mouth. Trust me, you will be dealt with. But anyways, my baby ain’t deserve that. Rip Rhaenys & Meleys, you were some real ones. 🫡

Aegon was really in the bed burnt to a crisp. I mean he reminded me of a side of baby ribs, all he was missing was some coleslaw and barbecue sauce to pair with it. And the fact that Aemond was just looking over him so smugly was crazy. He ate that though, he don’t give a fuck about his brother like damn, that’s cold.

Uhhh, I’m starting to feel a little bad for Alicent with how they’re casting her aside, but I also knew she wouldn’t be exempt from the sexism of the realm. I also think this was used as a way to show her parallels to Rhaenyra, where despite the fact she was supposed to rule the 7 kingdoms and was the chosen heir, sexism still fucks her over the way Alicent has fed into it and this is her karma, especially now that her side piece hurt her feelings.

Another parallel I know others caught was that one clip of Aegon/Alicent’s dynamic where Aegon legit calls for her (that made me so sad), and right after it jumped to Jace/Rhaenyra talking. Like damn, Alicent is a bad mom fr. ☹️

I would like to give one clap to Criston Cole for finally putting his job before pussy and thinking with his upstairs brain. He will never get his tens from me, but he ate that little thing up.

Aemond is so fine. That’s all I have to say on that. 🙏 (even though Helaena clocked his tea, I still want him).

Caraxes is so damn cute. I love the noodle very much and all of his noises.

Baela, my honey my sweet. That’s my fucking niece and y’all better respect her name. “I am blood and fire” You fucking are bae, you absolutely are. Humble your peepaw!

Jace be mugging down. Like everytime he’s on the camera, he starts mogging and serving face. Incredible, truly. Adore him. Why he kinda f- [GUNSHOT].

And last but not least, SOMEBODY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GET DAEMON OUT OF HARRENHAL. HES FIGHTING DEMONS AND FUCKING THEM WHEN HE’S NOT SUPPOSED TO. HES TWEAKING OUT! SOMEBODY SAVE HIM! Sigmund freud can’t keep getting away with this!

Real shit though, I think it’s starting to sink in my head that Daemon is not a good person and he’s really showing his ass. And I think Ser Alfred is going to do some real bitch shit so I’m scared for that.

Anywho, I hope next week’s episode will be action packed and we get to see more dragons, more of my favs, and less of Daemon’s tweaking! These are my two cents. 🫡

[c2rng]

Tags: Dream, Casey, Yuzu, Qiaoli, Elias, Cheesetart, edating, angst, comfort, good ending Casey has been admiring Dream from afar, ever since she found him on Youtube. She was his 100th subscriber but also, one of his biggest fans. When Dream got famous on Youtube she was genuinely happy for him, but a problem came which was if Dreams famous that means he'll get haters but of course Casey's gonna defend Dream even though it's a little hard. But something changed on one day, Dream noticed Casey and that's where all the love story starts... Dream then tried finding Casey's social medias, and luckily he did! Dream then messaged her on Instagram, "Hey, I'm Dream i've noticed you've been defending me from the haters in the Youtube comments.. I really wanted to say Thank you for that, and i really appreciate it." He sent to Casey, a few minutes later when Casey checked her phone she was Shocked to see Dream messaged her it's a good thing but.. She had never thought of Dream noticing her or even messaging her. Casey then replied " Haha it's fine no need to thank me! I'm just doing what i want to.." She sent. When Dream saw the message from her, he smiled.. They then kept talking for hours after, and days, months, kept on they got closer and closer day by day and they play video games sometimes together, Dream's fan knew about Casey too and shipped them together. Suddenly one day, Dream asked Casey out "Hey umm.. Casey? I wanna tell you something.. I don't know how to say this but, i really like you more than a friend and a bestfriend really.. I've had a crush on you for a long time" He sent to Casey, and he was blushing while typing this.. And when Casey did saw it, she gasped and blushing at the message Dream sent. She then said "Yes!" happily to Dream. So they started dating, after 2 months they decided to meet up irl and live with eachother, which they did! They even did some 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 stuff together. Everything was great for them these months until.. That night Dream and Casey went to a party, it was dream's "friend" party which was George's. They partied for hours there and Dream was pretty drunk at the moment, Casey went to the bathroom.. and when she came out she saw something shocking and heart-breaking. George and Dream was making out, and George was clearly not drunk yet he kissed him like they both did it casually, and Dream was saying "I love you so much... Georgie.." Which just revealed something. Casey was devastated, her heart breaking.. and she then started crying as she runs out of george's house. She then ran past a mentally challenged black guy, and the guy saw her this sad so he stopped Casey from running and called her. "Hey! you there! Oi Oi Oi.. whats wrong skibidi? who hurt you?" the guy said, Casey responded while sobbing " M-My b-b-boyfriend cheated on me.. that's why.." she said. The guy then said "Over a beta? nah, that's so lame. you can goon with me i'm a sigma and i do looksmaxxing i probably can mog that beta, heh." he said confidently. (+ 1000 aura) But then suddenly, Casey cries even more she saw Elias pinning Cheesetart onto the wall, which gave Casey flashbacks of her and dream. And the mentally challenged guy was secretly panicking but had to keep it cool cause he's mysterious and nonchalant. But then suddenly he couldnt hold it anymore so he hugged Casey "It's ok, i have more aura than that guy who cheated on you, stop crying over that guy i'm the better rizzler and the sigma. if you're gonna cry over him you're gonna lose aura." he said nonchalantly. Casey then nodded her head "You're right.. i can't be crying over him." and so she did stop crying. Yuzu and Qiaoli was taking a walk and saw Casey, they both then ran to her " What's up gang did you cry cause you seem like you did what happened?" Yuzu replied. "

"No no this guy was just helping me out cause, my boyfriend cheated.." Casey responded, "I'm Jadyn." the guy said. "ohh ok.." Both Qiaoli and Yuzu replied. "Alright then Casey if you're fine me and Qiaoli will go home then, cause it's pretty late already." Yuzu said, and Qiaoli nodded her head and said "let's go then." and they walked home. Leaving Jadyn and Casey alone, Jadyn asked "do you wanna stay at my skibidi place?" Casey nods her head " i guess.." Casey stayed at Jadyn's place for the night. After that incident, Casey slowly starts having romantic feelings for Jadyn and they both got closer as well days, weeks, months and just about they were about to confess their feelings to eachother, Dream wanted Casey back and of course Casey's not the same anymore so she rejected Dream "Sumimasen, but you've cheated on me so that's end of relationship for us so say sayonara!" (And in the end Jadyn and Casey lived happily together and got married.)

[candycryptids]

4 do they have a canon mount or minions? What are their names? If applicable!

30 what was their highest point in Shadowbringers? Their lowest? What caused it? 

((Omg I’m dumb I forgot the number but:)) how do they feel about Zenos?

Ok ok I’m sorry this took a while I was gonna take screenshots but then the mog-event started and instead I raided until my wrist hurt LOL (and then I typed this all up laying in bed and kicking my feets- read more cos it just got fuckin long

So for Minions/Mounts/Names; Mochiie has adopted two little Chocobo hatchlings- a tan-brown one he named named Anne, and a deep orange one he named SallyBeth he’s not 100% sure what breeds they are, but he does end up eventually saddling Anne adventure during Heavensward and SallyBeth during Stormblood, with the two of them each having their own strengths in terms of riding. SallyBeth is a Draft sized Chocobo too tender hearted for battle and ends up being more suited to long journeys across the continent or carrying luggage/passengers/pulling the cart, if need be. Anne is a smaller sized spitfire that is most likely to kick and bite apart anything that gets in her way. Mochi is the only one that can safely handle her, though I would call them “drift compatible”. Anne has bitten several people on the ass before, and will steal gyshal greens out of your bag.

Anne is also kitted out with a special ‘trick saddle’ he had custom made during his stint on the Steppe in Stormblood, so he can put his foot up on the saddle horn for extra height-stability to fire his bow while riding. (Hence why they are “drift compatible” in order for this to work, Anne actually wears blinders to keep her focused and running steady)

(Since I haven’t thought about Shadowbringers too extensively for my two canon WoL’s, I’ll give you this weird answer from Chuusday the non-WoL, and her wife, also a non-WoL but more involved w/ the WoL, it’s complicated ik ik we haven’t nailed out what happens with the WoL yet tho;)

Lowest point was when Chuusday’s wife Talia got soul-ganked and she didn’t even get to find out about this until she was summoned to the first (eon become instant yadda yadda) a week or so later to help fight The Big Problem which was all told a hilarious situation. Because her wife was really hurt and despite being inactive by nature that was enough to send her into a guns blazing fury. I think she temporarily became a Gunbreaker she got so mad-

High point was the Yorha Raids- for all the ups and downs during, getting to explore the ruins of the city and pick through the parts for upgrades made all Chuu’s dopamine receptors light on god damn fire. Tuesday gets a body upgrade just from all the salvage. He’s lighterweight than ever. His link Pearl gets built in temporarily but ends up disabled in favor of a physical linkpearl after concerns abt being listened in on without safe action to prevent it being available.

Aaaand, “how does the WoL feel about Zenos?”

The short answer; Mochiie is obsessed with this guy for a long time. It makes him worse. It brings out the ugliness in what he would’ve considered his good traits.

The longer answer;

“I can fix him” but it’s a hard lesson. It’s a hard lesson because sometimes people can’t be fixed. Zenos becomes an all-consuming yard stick that Mochi measures himself against strength wise as he fights to become stronger, faster, wittier, he’ll think of the right things to say this time and make Zenos change for the better and recognize the humanity and feelings in others but it just keeps not working. Because Zenos doesn’t want to be fixed. He wants to be your obsession. He wants the person with the potential to be an interesting fight, a meal to be fattened and braised for hours- he wants them to be obsessed with him just as much as he is. More than he is. And Mochi falls right into that readily, of having potential to be a fight that makes his blood sing. And Mochiie thinks in his overwhelming strength is the same potential for overwhelming goodness. It is. Not easy to accept when that isn’t so.

He’s never had to run into a wall like Zenos before. He does eventually make peace with it, after beating him down as Shinryuu, baring his whole self snarling and ugly and tired to face against a terrible primal that was someone he thought worth saving. (He’d made it work with Ysayle, they found common ground before her death, even Urianger, for his turncoat moments, they found sense, things made *sense* Zenos doesn’t make any **sense**—)

Zenos isn’t here to make sense and fit into neat and tidy boxes or be some ‘fix-it’ project that can be saved lmfao.

I joke in a modern au Mochiie would write a ten+ paragraph argument, cited sources, research, hours, days of carefully picked words and picked apart drafted, revised, revised again thoughts, and Zenos would send back the equivalent of

“ur mom suck me good and hard through my shorts 🤣🤪😜” like .2 seconds later, implying he didn’t even bother to read it… and he like, really won’t.

[chlortrimeton]

Mogs’ thoughts: #1

Two dudes who didn’t practice enough

analizing their marketing strategy as youtuber, and also a letter to them

Looks like I’ve been stanning Twosetviolin for pretty long time. A year and counting. But this same person haven’t watched their vids for like 2 weeks who am I tho.

And for that I know that they’re on going question that hasn’t been answered for ages was if my boyz--Brett and Eddy--are dating. Cause yeah, they’re cute AF together, have those dreamy ship dynamics, literally look like they are both in love in their vids, and so on.

Don’t worry, I also ship them. But the fact that they haven’t given the fandom any clue about this concerns me. Cause I don’t want to ship someone who frankly say that they don’t want to be shipped with each other. It would make them feel extremely uncomfortable, and disrespecting their privacy, right?

And to make me get those shipping in guilt feels, they use matching captions on promoting their merchs.

For example from their last two merch promo pics:

I swear to God, their new promo pics (and possibly the next three upcoming promo pics) will have matching captions as well. They freaking look like such a middle school couple that just dated for a week I wanna cry

Of course, the feedback was so great. Stans are dying, keep on questioning whether this was them slowly coming out that they are dating. Me? Ships in guilt even harder.

I remember this famous phrase that kinda popular; “There’s no way a girl and a boy can be bestfriends forever cause one of them must fall in love with the other.”

WAIT. I THINK IT’S NOT THE RIGHT ONE. BUT NEVERMIND.

I mean, boys can date each other, right? So why not. That’s what I thought.

And maybe, that’s what they thought, too.

To make sure that their viewers stay with them--in addition to long running jokes, comedic content that somehow still educates you, dorky personalities, promising that they’ll do something once they’ve reached particular subsribers (2 million Tchaikovsky freaking SLAPS, dudes. You guys ROCKS!)--let’s make a long running mystery; are they dating? Make it even more questionable by liking some comments regarding this.

Evidences:

To spice things up, twitter thread of them being questionable

They probably play along to this long-running mystery to make sure we stays. Cause yeah, some fans would tell their IRL friends, their friends ask the same questions, and join the fandom out of curiosity. Then, the fandom grows even bigger. That’s a win solution for them.

They could make this mystery last forever. Or maybe, just maybe, in 5 years or so, finally come out like Dan and Phil. And told us that they’re going to get married tomorrow, just like Sam Tsui’s come out vid. Even i n t e r e s t i n g, they’ve been married for 3 years.

Just maybe.

Anyway, I just want to say that they might play along and gain more subscribers by taking advantage to this long-running mystery. We can speculate over anything cause they haven’t confirmed or denying anything.

Oh, and my message.

Back to that phrase. Fall in love. People sometimes forget that there are more love besides romantic love. One of them is platonic love. That’s how you’ve been able to love your siblings, or parents. That thing also can happens to bestfriends. Especially two dudes that have been friends for 14 years. They might be just love each other like siblings.

What I’m trying to say is, if you guys want to say something about this, and you guys want to tell us that it’s platonic love, I would still support and love you, tho. Just because the long running mystery has been solved, doesn’t mean that your journey would end. You guys, or us, would eventually find another mystery to solve. But more than that, we will wait for your upcoming i n t e r e s t i n g contents, Stay awesome, boyz!

P.S: the right phrase that should be quoted was, “If you’ve befrended someone for more than seven years, that friendship would last forever,” but I choose to ignore it cause this won’t fit my entire thoughts I’m sorry.

[cadence-blackburn-for-queen]

Here's a little thing I wrote yesterday! It's my first fanfic and it's translated from swedish, don't judge me!

Fifteen-year-old Morrigan gently swept away the leaves from the small sign. The tension rose within her. Which wundersmith created Deucalion? Soon she knew.

Here is a phenomenon.

Created by wundersmiths Elodie Bauer, Owain Binks and Ezra Squall,

with the support of Countess Lily St. James.

The rest of the words had faded away, but Morrigan did not. She stared at the fence.

Morrigan had already suspected that Ezra had done, or been involved in, the hotel. What she was staring at were the words "... with the support of Lily St.James…".

Morrigan knew who Lily St. was. James var.

Lily St. James was a member of Wunsoc, but no one seemed to know which unit she belonged to. She was a singer with a famously beautiful singing voice. When Laurent St. James was most active, she made it clear that she was NOT supporting him. Also, Lily looked like she was maybe thirty, but if this was true she was over a hundred.

Morrigan went back to Deucalion. She needed to meet Lily, because if Ezra did not want to tell, she was the only one.

"What are you thinking about?" Jupiter asked later at the meal.

Morrigan shrugged. "Nothing special."

"Everything is special, Mog." Jupiter leaned forward. "What is it?"

Morrigan sighed. What would she say? Well now it's like this that your worst enemy has created your hotel and one of the most famous singers in the whole free state is over a hundred years old I don’t know how but at least I want to meet her.

Fortunately, she did not have to say anything. Jupiter's skill as a witness had gone so far that he could almost read her mind. He smiled. "We're inviting her here, okay?"

She nodded.

"Captain North said you needed help with something," said Lily St. James. "Wundersmith."

“Um… Yes, ms. St. James, ”Morrigan replied, uneasy.

She waved it away. “Call me Lily. The others called me that ", she added to herself, and got a sad expression.

Morrigan knew what others meant, but chose to ignore it. It would cause pain.

"You helped build this hotel," Morrigan began bluntly.

"Yes."

"How did you manage to keep the look from when you were type thirty?"

"Elodie, Owain, and Ezra taught me the wundrous art Tempus."

Morrigan grimaced. “You're better than me at it. And is not it Veil too? Like… some kind of illusion too? ”

"But you will be far better," Lily pointed out, smiling. "Yes, you could believe it. I actually have no answer as to why it is not. They told me what to do, and some basic theories, but I never understood, because I'm not a wundersmith. ”

"Sorry if it causes any pain but… How did you know them?"

She pursed her lips. "Ezra was my cousin. I was the only relative he hung out with, because he broke contact completely. But Elodie and I met when we were seven, and we were best friends for the rest of her life. ” Lily fell silent. The word choice “the rest of her life was painfully obvious. She swallowed. After a while she spoke again. “Owain was my soulmate. And my boyfriend. We had a bit of a sway, he got together with one of the most popular boys at school when we breaked up. Then we got back together, and luckily we hadn’t quarreled when he… when they… you know. ” She blinked and looked away.

Morrigan decided they could continue the conversation another time. Now the woman in front of her needed to be cheered up.

"You," Morrigan said cautiously. "You said Ezra is your cousin?"

"Was," Lily corrected.

Morrigan shook his head. "He was just deported from the Free State."

It was as if a candle was lit in Lily's eyes. "Unfairly deported," she mumbled absently. "It was not him… she is smart who blames the innocent."

It was tempting to ask who, but Morrigan kept quiet. However, Lily understood that she was wondering, and patiently replied: “President Winter Sea. Show me Ezra.”

Morrigan nodded, and her head spun with thoughts as she grabbed her umbrella to take her new friend to the Gossamer line.

[zusy-hunter]

Spoiler ep 9

Dear beloved comunity, it's been a week now and I would like to discuss somethin with you

There's something in episode 9 that drives me crazy like an itch in my brain.

In the recording of the therapy session Dr. Barret mentioned that they were "just kids". So how could a child cause a fatal car accident? If the story takes place in America, she could of course have got her driver's license when she was 16, but can a sixteen-year-old be called a child?

And if they just stole the car as children, I wonder why nobody remember the car, it was a very eye-catching car, after all (AMC Gremlin). And can you imagen two children carry a dead women into the forest and burry the body?

So either there are two incidents or I can't really connect the statement of Dr. Barret and the hit and run.

Then there is th incident where Hannah is standing at the window in the middel of the night and scares Lilly by telling her there is a man standing by the forest, but Lilly can't see him. Lilly starts crying and had to be brought back to bed by her parents, which indicates that Lilly was still quite young at the time. Unfortunately I don't know how much younger Lilly is than Hannah, in another forum someone once said she was 4 years younger, but I can't remember that that was mentioned.

So either hannah saw the mog before Jennifer died, or she was really not a child when she ran over her ?!

Please help me get my facts straight, there are too may thoughts in my head 🤯🙈

[descendantstidalage]

Lorictober 2021 Day 18: Hope

I knocked on the door, stomach in knots. I’d lost his garde, failed him, and now I was knocking on Brandon’s door in the middle of the night, with the lingering hope that he could help me get Nine back. Shame and embarrassment were creating a noxious mix in my stomach.

Brandon opened the door with a shotgun. I held my hands up. “I need your help.”

He lowered the shotgun. “Sandor? What are you doing here in the middle of the night? How’d you find me? Where’s your garde?”

“Yeah. That’s the problem. I lost him.”

Brandon’s expression was exactly what I’d been imagining it would be. He waved me in. “Explain.”

I took a deep breath as I sat at the table across from Brandon. I noticed a blonde teen watching, half hidden behind the doorway. Four. Some things didn’t change.

“He’d been seeing a girl. We had a fight, and he ran off to stay with her. And then… the Mogs caught him. They’d been using her, I think. Can you help me get him back?”

Brandon sighed and rubbed his hands down his face. “They’re not supposed to meet until they’re old enough to fight.”

“You’re another cepan?” Four asked, stepping out of the shadows. Brandon gave him a harsh look, but he didn’t back down. Brave kid. I wondered if that’s what Brandon first saw in me. That was a disconcerting thought; that maybe the cycle was starting again.

He looked pleadingly at Brandon. “We have to help. I’m already next; we can’t lose another one.”

Brandon glared him down. “That’s exactly why we shouldn’t help. They’re already going to be looking for you; we don’t need to serve you up on a silver platter. And if you and Nine meet, you’ll put all the others in danger, too.”

“Nine?” Four said eagerly. “That’s your Garde. What are they like?”

“You two used to play together on the trip here,” I told him eagerly.

Brandon turned his glare on me. “You’re not helping.”

Four sat down beside me, ignoring Brandon’s increasingly dark looks. “You look young to be one of our cepans.”

Brandon made a noise in the back of his throat. “Sandor’s the kid cepan. He was unexpected. But you can’t come with us to get Nine.”

“You’ll help?” I asked hopefully.

Brandon groaned. “Yeah, kid. I’ll help. We just get to keep the Garde from coming into contact.”

Four cheered. “I’ll be good. Stay in the car and everything.”

“Good. Get packed. We’ll leave at first light.” He turned to me. “Do you need to rest?”

“Probably. I’ve got my mog tracker and a couple weapons I made in the car…. We should probably take mine.”

Brandon gave me a look. “You rigged up your car, didn’t you?” He shook his head and half laughed. “At least you’re using the skills I recruited you for.”

I grinned. It felt good that even in this situation, Brandon recognized and appreciated my skill.

***

Four stared at the low profile car. “Why are we taking this one?”

“Because Sandor can’t help but trick out all his stuff,” Brandon replied blandly.

I hopped into the driver seat with a wide grin. “Buckle up. We’re getting out of here.”

Four climbed into the back seat, while Henri took the passenger with a skeptical look. “How do you even know where to go?”

I tossed my ipad at him. “I rigged it up to find Nine on the way here. He’s in the middle of a bunch of Mogs. I have a plan on how to get him out.”

Brandon raised his eyebrows. “Did you just come up with it last night instead of sleeping?”

“It’s a solid plan,” I said defensively. “We’ll use the Mog finder to get around the Mogs for as far as we can get in there. Then we create a distraction to get Nine out. I’ve got a several explosive weapons that will cause a good distraction. It might make the building a little unstable, but we’ll just have to move fast. And I’ve got several flash grenades to blind them so we can slip back out with Nine.”

Brandon stared at me for a long moment, until I started shifting uncomfortably. “We’re going to need to work on your plan as we get there.”

“That’s not going to be too long.” I started the car and tore out of the little town as fast as the car could go. In the back, Four gasped, his eyes lighting up with amazement. “Pretty slick, huh?”

“Stop showing off,” Brandon scolded, though he glanced at the window with what I thought might be an impressed look.

[I’m not getting into the whole rescue plan because that takes more mental energy and thought than I’m willing to invest right now. I might just completely leave this up to your imagination when I revise this later.]

Nine stared at Four as we got out of the Mog prison. “So you’re one of us.” He glanced at me. “We’re going to kick some Mog ass?”

Brandon rolled his eyes. “He reminds me of you. Too much attitude.”

“Hop in, protégé. We’ve got places to go,” I said, flashing a smug grin at Brandon.

He looked annoyed at us. Nine gave Four a lingering look. “Are you sure we can’t stay in touch?”

“We’ll stay in touch,” I assured him. “We’re just trying to let you grow up before you go to war.”

Brandon’s face twisted into an uncomfortable look like he was remembering something he’d rather forget. I wondered what was going through his head, but it was time for us to separate before we pushed the limits of the protection charm.

[elevatorelevenhatesyou]

Final Fantasy 14 Part 32: Yet More Gridanian Racism

Aw look, Brash is learning to read.

Are you seeing this shit? Alf went to go do something important, and Brash went and did nothing until he got back. Did you think I was joking about Alf being the real main character?

Alf has secured us a new hangout. Everyone gives Alf a big round of applause.

yeah he sure is great isn't he

When Minfilia's done sucking Alf's dick, she gives Brash a delivery job to Slafborn, one of the Revenant's Toll dudes who gave us a hand back when we were breaking into that Garlean fortress where Minfilia totally didn't get sexually assaulted for weeks on end. No I'm fuckin not fuckin letting that shit go, am I, FF14!

Slafborn's about to give us a tour and get Brash involved with the setting up of the Scions's new headquarters, but he gets interrupted by a phone call from Tataru telling Brash to come back because there's a job to do in Gridania.

Alright but this better be good.

It’s a new primal.

The new primal threat is moogles.

MOOGLES.

Gridania sucks.

Bit of a twist on it though. The legend goes that ages ago moogles lived in the sky but then that place turned to shit, so Good King Moggle Mog let moogles escape down to the surface, staying behind himself to hold the door open. So he was a great mythological figure, but the moogles have apparently summoned him like a primal.

Papalymo wonders why, given that Garuda and Ultima Weapon are gone and thinks maybe a new threat has cropped up, but little sister seedseer here says it's probably because of all this other calamitous shit happening in recent months, and how it's all been caused by and then solved by outside forces, so the moogles are probably feeling jumpy.

Gee if only we'd even attempted to involve the beast tribes in our big unified operation to fight the Garlean invaders who were coming to wipe out everybody. It WOULD have been a nice story beat to have all the human races but not the beast tribes get together to beat Gaius, then point out how racist that was by having the moogles get scared and feel left out and summon a primal. Except, Minfilia already brought up how we should totally find a diplomatic solution to the beast tribes summoning primals problem before, and then, as I've mentioned, nobody ever even attempts diplomacy with the beastmen at any point. The fact that this Right Answer was brought up but then immediately forgotten just makes this current bit feel hollow and hypocritical. It's starting to give me like 'shitty white people making excuses and trying to absolve themselves of responsibility for systemic inequality' vibes.

That feeling is definitely not helped when the writers have our buddy moogle say the moogles who are attempting to do something about the status quo have gone too far and now we need to put them down, which we do, and then completely do not address their concerns.

Don't worry, we're not being racists, they're being mind controlled by evil monster gods.

There's some discussion here about whether or not Mog actually is a primal, but he basically counts as one for now, so naturally Kan-E-Senna wants Brash to go murder him.

Sheesh, do you guys even know what a Diplomacy is? Fuckin Gridania, man.

Yeah sorry, this post has a bunch of shit about systemic racism again.

I'LL QUIT HARPING ON IT WHEN FF14 QUITS FUCKIN SAYING REALLY RACIST SHIT

Is anyone listening to this motherfucker? Am I the only one horrified by statements like this? Wow yeah what a terrible burden it was for you that you had to kill those guys. You poor baby.

Oh well shit I guess the king's a monster and all the other moogles are psychopaths now. Alright well fine guess I'll kill him after all, what the fuck. Are primals just ALL like this? Just, one hundred percent chance of xenophobia and supremacism?

So way later there's like some more stuff about the nature of primals revealed, and it turns out they're more created on the spot rather than summoned, and they're created from the thoughts and wishes of the people doing the summoning. So I guess, considering Moggle Mog is a shitty racist, the moogles are actually shitty racists too? Considering Ifrit, Titan, and Garuda, I guess ALL beastmen are shitty racists? Is there anyone in this story who isn't a shitty racist or a caricature of a shitty racist? Sheesh, it's like the deep south. Is it possible to summon a primal who isn't a shitty racist? Just asking because like right at the end of Heavensward we find an EXTREMELY GOOD REASON why we might be interested in having a primal on our side.

Anyway Kuplo takes us to the entrance and opens the way, and Brash goes in to fight Mog. Or rather Brash goes to hang out with her squad of hot girls for five minutes while waiting for the fucking duty finder. 

These wait times are sometimes short and sometimes extremely long. Crafting and sidequests exist so there's something to do while waiting for dungeons.

So Brash and seven other random people who happened to be nearby beat up Mog and his royal guards with particle effects. 

When he dies he disappears in a big cloud of aether just like a primal, so turns out he was indeed one after all, or at least close enough. 

Papalymo says it might be our definition that needs revising. That's good science, that is. You're alright, Papalymo, besides the racism.

I take it back. Fuck you for bringing them back into the story.

Yeah good luck with that shit you guys I'm goin home. and of course we do nothing about the moogles feelings of insecurity in a chaotic world. fuck’em, I guess.

Almost ready to leave for Revenant's Toll. Maybe now that the primal garbage and Alf's dumb pointless sidequest is out of the way we can do something interesting again. Minfilia is making final preparations to leave. Urianger's staying behind though and will keep using this place as a library or some such.

He waxes philosophically about moving on and looking back; about people who think themselves bold leaders but are really just recklessly diving into things they haven't looked into hard enough first. He's quick to back peddle a bit though and say Brash is nothing like that though.

yeah must be because of god, not like it could be my own accomplishment or anything huh

Then suddenly there's a scream. Brash rushes back to find Minfilia hurt on the ground. 

She starts to tell Brash what oh come ON

Once again, we get a vision telling us what happened that interrupts someone telling us what happened. Alright fine, this fuckin thing. So what is it this time?

[sky-arcobaleno]

memories of the forest

Katsuki Bakugou x Reader; 

Sky piercing trees loomed an unreachable canopy above her head as she raced through the forest’s lower jungle. Vines and upturning roots were nothing to her skilled bare feet. Dodging another low branch, the cheeky girl laughed to herself. Her clan would never be able to catch her here! Within Teair’s close knitted playground, this child of the sky wandered freely. Slowing down to a small stream, the girl perked up at the sound of a grass being moved. Something was here. Something….soft? Standing up and brushing off her deer skirt, she turned around to see her uninvited guest. She blinked, genuinely confused, as a vulpine beast with four tails sat in front of her. The tips of its tails were a soft autumn orange. It was….divine like. Nothing like Grandame Forneil, but close. 

“Who are you?” The voice was male, but a child male. Close around her age...maybe. She would find out. 

“I’m a daughter of the sky! Who are you?” the beast curled its tails around its feet. Seeming to observe her before answering.

“A beast of fire.” She laughed to herself, but not quiet at all. 

“You are a land beast of flames!” The vulpine beast growled, quickly crouching down, ready to pounce. She only looked at the vulpine beast before giggling. 

“Silly vulpine! You are land fire. I am -” the mighty roar of Grandame Gowyual trembled the loose dirt below the girl’s feet. Giggling louder, the girl finished her sentence. “- sky fire!”

It had been a few summers since she saw that land firefox of four tails. Ah...Kitsune, Grandame Forneil had explained the night of the fateful day. A Kitsune of four tails at such an age was a feat Forneil had continued on. She was lucky that Kitsune was curious about her, lest the beast grow bored and end her life. Sighing and shaking her braid behind her, the now young teen races through the same forest. This time, instead of playing hide & seek, she was practicing her tracking and hunting skills. 

“Skills of a warrior. A survivor.” Grandame Locoful had croaked out before she left the nest with Grandame Forneil. Skidding to a halt and notching her arrow, focused gray eyes followed the peaceful deer. She was with a child, if the bigger belly was anything to go by. Removing her arrow and turning around, gray eyes locked on a sight of wonder. A golden kitsune with five tails, tipped in a familiar autumn tone. Ah…a fire kitsune. That’s when knowing crimson locked on her. Suddenly, she felt as if she was facing a true predator. A predator of many hunts and had victory in its tight bite. The kitsune rose, a head or two taller than her, and began to walk towards her. A small spark of fear struck her body, tensing her muscles. She was ready to fight. As the kitsune reached about a few paces ahead, the sudden breeze came. On its path...the smell of….smoke? Turning in the breeze’s direction, the girl saw the thick mog. Small, but growing rapidly. 

“Stupid humans!” the girl mumbled under her breath. Was she human? She assumed not. After all, she lived with dragons. No mere mortal could live as long as she had. Glancing at the kitsune, who was watching her actions, the girl spoke in her serious voice as she stood up right. 

“This is not the work of dragons. I will return with a dragon of water to save this forest.” The kitsune only tilted its head before speaking in a deep voice.

“A ride to a clearing may be the fastest way.” A kitsune making an offer? A trick if the situation wasn’t growing dire every minute. With a brisk nod, she walked over and carefully got on the furred back of the majestic beast. With ease, the beast ran through the thicket. No fur caught on low limbs and nothing hesitated the pathway. That’s when heavy clouds of ashy smoke filled the air and her breath. Fire. A forest fire caused by inattentive mortals. 

“You will not reach the clearing in time.” fearing for the woods and the lives within, the girl hummed to herself before stretching both arms to the sky.

“Hear my cry! O’ beast of the lake. Take flight to the Azure’s Domain and bring the blessing of new beginnings! Locoful, dragon of Shiramizu! Hear me and cry out your blessing!” The heavy snaps of trees falling and the crackling of flames echoed back. Her cry was swallowed by the dire situation. The kitsune whacked her head.

“No dragon will hear you, imbecile.” She growled at the statement. Hoping it was false. Locoful would hear her. She always did. 

“She will not abandon her fledgling.” The beast of fire exhaled heavily before turning around.

“Then at least be alive for her to save you.” Then, the Kitsune took off again. Running away from the flames. It is then, as the Kitsune jumped over a fallen log, a mighty roar and the sound of heavy crashing swallowed the air. 

“Locoful!!” She cried, overjoyed, as the mighty dragon arrived. Within mere moments, the forest fire was put to rest and the mighty beast stared at her and the Kitusne. Slipping off the Kitsune’s back and reaching Locoful’s side, the girl spoke.

“See Kitsune, beast of land fire? Locoful will always answer her fledgling’s cry.”

It was hardly a season’s changing since the forest fire, when she found herself alone by the lake nest. Around her, curled protectively, laid Setluno. Setluno was a young dragon, half the age of Grandame Forneil. Setluno was the only one who played with her. Now, Setluno is forever embraced by the forest’s trees and the lake’s watery shoreline. In front of the nest’s entrance, Gowyral was delimbed and beheaded by a blade endowed with magic. The lake was boiling in rage as Gowyral fell. Locoful had died upon return to the nest, multiple poisonous arrows cracking her scales and the poison taking her life before she could finish her warning. Forneil was the only one alive. Yet, she was over a season’s change away. She wanted Forneil to come back. Avenge the nest. Protect her. Save her. She was scared and lonely. She was no beast of sky fire. She was a mortal. Just like those responsible for the death of her nestmates. So blinded by the emotions she felt and the events that occurred within three sun positions, she didn’t notice the lake’s water coming into the nest. Hardly felt the power shifting within her. Never noticed how she was no longer pooled in blood, but now in the sky, riding a mighty beast. Intended on killing those who took her nest.

He heard the mournful cry of a dragon before he saw one take flight. Yet, this dragon was not one of the physical planes. No. This dragon was alive by the sheer magic of a mortal. A mortal intent on bringing justice. His favorite mortal to be precise. What had happened? Taking off in pursuit, he saw how the dragon looked, searched, for something or someone. What mission required such measures of hunting and tracking? That’s when the tree sprites, Kodama, began to whisper.

“Dragons dead”

“Beast slain by man”

“Oyamatsumi is enraged”

“So is Ryujin and Fujin”

“The fledgling calls for blood.”

“She will kill everyone.” Fearing that his mortal might do just that, the Kitsune prayed to his given deity. Prayed that his human would have to take rest on the ground. Allow him a chance to guide her away from the path of evil. 

“Please let me get to her in time. For the world will be chaos if she succeeds.”

Three summers have passed since that loss of her nest. She now ruled the forest with a close eye. Grandame Forneil was so broken by the deaths of her flightmates, she had taken her own life in the very same lake. Now, that lake was surrounded by beautiful flowers that would poison anyone who touched them. The only saving grace from them was if the person had suffered such a loss as she has. Now alone within the woods she called home, a thought passed her mind. Why her dragons? Why not her? This thought had haunted her for many nights and days. Nothing could stop these thoughts except the occasional hunting trips and killing off gluttonous men. Now, she stood in the lake’s shallow shores, naked under the sunlight. A bath after a recent hunting trip, when the snap of a branch caught her ear. Within a mere moment, she stood with her bow taunt and arrow notched, aimed at the noise. Only to see the familiar Kitsune. Yet, he now bore six tails. He had grown more powerful in the last three summers. They watched each other, waiting for the other to make a move, when she lowered her bow and set it on the sand. 

“What, beast of land fire?” The Kitsune huffed, keeping its distance. 

“You are not meant to be alone, mortal of flames. You need to be with others.” Gray eyes stared into crimson. She knew the Kitsune was correct. He usually was. Yet, to be with others meant risking another nest massacre. She couldn’t handle another heartbreak like that. 

“Leave Kitsune.”

“You know my name. Use it.” She shook her head. A name meant power. Power she did not deserve. Suddenly, a warm cloth covered her shoulders and a man’s voice spoke closer to her.

“Y/N, the others miss you. The forest misses you! I...I miss you.” Warm arms enclosed her, making her heart beat faster and her mind filled with happy, joyous memories of younger times. 

“Please...please don’t make me remember Kitsune.” The arms tightened, and the man’s voice returned.

“I will always remind you of the joy life can bring. But first, you must take my hand.”

She now stood before the overwhelming hearth of the mountain. She had found the murderers of her nest. The cause for her mourning. The cause of her grief. Today, she will return the favor. With her blade drawn and her eyes focused, Y/N was about to take the killing blow, when she saw the triplets resting in the mother’s arms. Suddenly, like ice had appeared, it sent shivers down her back. A mother and her children. Innocent children. With quick thoughts and quicker reflexes, she turned around and began to spirit back in the forest. The forest was now alive, gleaming with life. Yet, life that could be easily taken away.  Tears pricked her eyes and she tumbled down a hill. She could only feel the numbness in her heart. She had nearly repeated history again. With another family. Another generation of hurt and hate. Y/N closed her eyes, hoping for the tears to disappear. For this pain to leave. 

He watched in slow motion as his mate, his Rook, leaped in front of him. Taking the killing blow from the monstrous demon Shi-gi. He watched, as his luminous flames encircled her body. A mortal with Kitsune Flames. Proof of their mate bond. He was enticed by the way she reached for the heavens, crying out for her deceased nestmates, and aimed her hands at Shi-gi.

“From the dust and stars, a life is born. To dust and star, life returns. From the mighty cry of a dragon and the plead of humanity, I fused the realms to grant my inner desire and wish!” He watched, as the five primordial deities appeared in forms of a phoenix, tiger, snake, tortoise, and….dragon. Together with his mate, the beings reached out their hands and gave power to her.

“I command the soul of Shi-gi to be bound to the realms of the inner Earth! May no beast, no mortal, no divine being find you. May you wirth in the chaos of the world and never be able to take part in its affairs! I bound thee to this plane and no other!! I banish you Shi-gi, from paradise and hell itself!!” His flames encircled her and suddenly, he remembered the price for banishment from Paradise. A soul for a soul.

“No!” He reached out, but only the feeling of his flames returned. His mate, now burning away in his flames, smiled at him.

“Find me again my love. In a time where you and I can co-exist without Shi-gi.”

He mourned to himself as the forest his love protected was burned by his flames. No. There was no world without her smile. No reason to continue if she wasn’t there. No point in existence. Turning around, ready to end his own and see her, a glimpse of something flashed through his mind’s eye. A girl, with amber hair and glowing eyes, running away from him in a playful manner. The same girl mocking his sharp teeth. The girl seeking the yokai realm for the first time. Then, the same girl bore his mark. A mark only he could create. Like lightning, he turned away from the murderous flames and ran through the woods. He couldn’t die. Just as his mate asked, he would find her again. Find her in a time where that cursed Shi-gi did not exist. His name is not even remembered by humanity. She had returned to the world of the living in some time. He would have to be there, ready and waiting, to meet her all over again.

[susiephone]

so i’ve been doing a lot of thinking about ezra squall.

i think it’s a given that there is more to the courage square massacre than we’ve been told so far. i think the situation is more complicated than we realize. something about the way he reacted when morrigan asked him why -- that was the first time i think she actually managed to get to him. and from what we’ve seen, wunsoc as an institution is fucked. (like... it’s really no place for children, let’s be honest.) there are good things about it, and good people within it, but the system’s a mess, and the people calling the shots are coldly pragmatic at best. plus, when squall warned morrigan that the elders would throw her under the bus if it suited them... that seemed like he was talking from personal experience. so while i doubt his actions will ever be justified, i do think there’s a more human explanation somewhere in there.

building off of that... why is squall so desperate to return to nevermoor? i don’t think it’s as simple as wanting revenge; frankly, i don’t think squall’s that dumb. he has a cushy gig in the wintersea republic, and he can live openly and be left alone--and, next to the president, he is unquestionably the most powerful person there. everyone in the republic (so far as we know) would be completely out of their depths when dealing with a wundersmith if he really wanted to cause some pain. it’d be perfectly doable and sensible for him to cut his losses and stay out of nevermoor, and he’d be putting himself at far less risk.

something about the way he talks about nevermoor, the way he's been visiting for years--i think there is some genuine sentimental attachment there. i’m not sure squall could love a person, but i do think he could love a place, especially a place he saw as a reflection of himself (similar to how whatever regard he has for mog is seeing his own qualities in her). i think, as much or perhaps even more than he wants revenge or to take over, squall wants to go home. (i mean, he should’ve thought of that before he killed eight people. but you see my point.)

which leads me to my theory: squall’s not from the free state.

partially this would just be an interesting connection between him and morrigan, another way that they’re similar. but depending on what his life from wherever he’s from was like, and why he came to nevermoor, it could be that nevermoor is, to him, representative of his shiny new life, the life where he was appreciated and flourished. and this of course raises the question: how did the free state treat outsiders back then? was he smuggled in, too? or is his massacre part of what made them become so isolationist?

idk, i just feel like... if i’m right, the circumstances behind his arrival in nevermoor could be a key part of what turned him from ezra the boy into squall the monster.

[stepboldlyjess]

so today i was chatting with @christineenjoysbooks and we came up with some theories surrounding Jack and his background. i made up one and i think it makes quite a bit of sense. i’ve explained it in the story below and i hope you agree with me. i hope you like it :)

Lies

Morrigan heard a knock on the door interrupting her reading. She looked down to her waist where the tentacles of her octopus chair were wrapped around her. She tried to wriggle out of its grip but she was unsuccessful. She sighed and sat back.

“It’s open!” she yelled.

The door clicked open to reveal Jack and Jupiter. They walked into her room. Morrigan smiled as she saw them.

“Jupiter! You’re home!”

“Hi, Jack. How are you? Oh, I’m fantastic, Morrigan. How about you?” Sarcasm dripped from Jack’s voice.

Morrigan rolled her eyes. “Hi, Jack. How are you?”

“Fantastic.”

“Alright you two, that’s enough.” Jupiter and Jack walked over to Morrigan’s bed and sat down. Jupiter’s face suddenly became very nervous. “Mog, can we speak to you?”

Morrigan closed her book. “‘We’? Why ‘we’? Why not just you? What’s going on? Have you decided you love Jack more than me and you’re sending me back to Jackalfax?”

Jupiter’s eyes widened in horror. “Goodness no! I would never do that! No, we just want to talk to you about—“

“About me.” Jack cut off Jupiter.

Morrigan frowned. “You? What about you?”

Jupiter and Jack stayed silent.

“Okay, I’m very confused right now so it would be greatly appreciated if someone told me what was going on.”

Jupiter was the first to speak.

“You know Jack’s my nephew, right?”

Morrigan slowly nodded.

“Haha! It’s a prank. I’m not his nephew!”

Jupiter suddenly got very quiet. Morrigan looked between him and Jack.

“I—um—excuse me?”

“Mog, you’re going to need to relax, okay? You have to promise not to get mad. We can’t have you...” Jupiter shook his head. “Nothing. I’m not going to say that.” Jupiter looked down to his lap guiltily.

“Can’t have me what? Can’t have me getting angry and using my Wunder? I’m trying, okay? I’m trying so hard not to be the dangerous entity I’m made out to be. So just say what you’re going to say and get this over with.”

Jupiter sighed. “Jack’s a witness. Like me. You know that.” Jupiter swallowed. “Two years before I brought you to Nevermoor, Jack competed in the Wunsoc Trials.”

Morrigan’s jaw dropped. She tried to get up but her chair’s tentacles were still wrapped firmly around her waist. “What do you mean he competed in the Wunsoc Trials? Are we talking about the same Wunsoc? The one I’m in?”

Jupiter nodded. “Yeah. His patron’s name was Ruby Westfield. She was a very nice lady—“

Jack laughed.

“Unfortunately, Jack didn’t make it through the Show Trial.”

Morrigan blinked in surprise. “What? Why? You got accepted! And you’re a witness, too!”

Jack sighed. “I wasn’t in control of it yet. Not like I am now. I would look at something and just see colours. In my Show Trial, I was so overwhelmed by everything I saw that I passed out. Jupiter ran to me and took me home. It was the most humiliating day of my life.”

“Jupiter ran to you? Why not Ruby?”

“Mog, what I’m about to tell you now does not leave this room. You are not to tell anyone. Understood? Not even Hawthorne.”

Morrigan nodded.

“I also need you to breathe. Not because I’m worried about you hurting Jack or I, I’m worried about you hurting yourself. Okay?”

Morrigan took three deep breaths.

“Jack’s not from Nevermoor.”

Morrigan froze and looked at Jack. He smiled at her apologetically. Morrigan looked back at Jupiter, silently urging him to continue.

“He’s from the Republic. Like you.”

“You mean—“ Morrigan’s throat was suddenly very dry. “—You mean he’s here illegally?”

Jupiter thought about this. “Well, yes and no. We pulled a few strings like we did with you, so now nobody suspects a thing.

“Jack was brought here by Ruby to compete in the Trials. However, shortly after his third trial, she passed away. Apparently, she had been battling illness the whole time. I was...close to Ruby so I started taking care of Jack. Once he was no longer under the protection of Wunsoc Law, we needed to figure out how to keep him in Nevermoor—“

“Why? What about his family in the Republic?”

Jupiter looked to Jack who answered her question.

“I...didn’t have any. I lived at the orphanage. From what Jupiter tells me, it wasn’t far from where you lived. I begged Jupiter not to take back there. It was a living hell.”

Morrigan felt empathy grow in her stomach. She knew what he was going through. She had felt the same when she thought she would be sent back to the Republic.

“So I told everyone he was my nephew. We got him fake papers and a citizenship. Mog, you can’t tell anyone, okay? If you do, Jack could be taken away from me. You too. I couldn’t bear that.”

Morrigan felt a wave of anger flood over her. She felt the familiar taste of ash rise in the back of her throat and she tried to keep it down. “So your great idea was to lie to me for two years? What great thing to do, Jupiter! You’re being such a role model! In the future how will I deal with my problems? Oh, I’ll just do what Jupiter did and lie my way out of things! Way to go! Let me guess, were you and Ruby actually dating? Is that why you started looking after Jack?”

Jupiter’s face suddenly got very red. Morrigan leant back against her chair.

“Great. Just great. You know what? I can’t be around you two right now.” She tried to push against the restraints of her chair. With each failure she would get more angry. The flame rose in her throat and the tears pooled in her eyes.

Without knowing what was going to happen, Morrigan stopped trying to get out of her chair. She let out a sob and started crying. However, it wasn’t a sob.

It was a flame.

She looked to Jupiter and Jack. Jupiter looked worried but Jack looked scared. Morrigan felt reality hit her like a brick as she looked at her friend’s terrified expression.

She slumped down into her chair and felt weight move from her waist. It seemed as if the chair knew what would happen before it did. It kept her restrained so that she wouldn’t cause any damage.

Morrigan started crying again. The sobs shook her body. The tears rolled down her face and landed on her shirt, soaking through the fabric.

Jupiter walked over to her and began rubbing her back. “Shhh, it’s okay, Mog. Breathe. Come on.”

“No. No.” Morrigan shut her eyes and shook her head. “I’m a monster.”

The word hung in the air, making the room feel heavy. Morrigan was surprised when she felt arms lift her up off the chair and wrap around her.

“Don’t say that, Morrigan.”

Morrigan opened her eyes and was surprised when she saw a head of black hair. She wrapped her arms around Jack’s shoulders and cried into his shirt.

When she pulled away she turned to Jupiter. She was surprised to see tears in his eyes.

“Jupiter—“

“You are not a monster, Morrigan Crow. Don’t you ever think that. I will not tolerate it. You are a little girl. Not a monster.”

Morrigan wrapped her arms around Jupiter’s middle.

“Promise me one thing, Jupiter?”

“Anything, Mog.”

“Don’t lie to me ever again. Please.”

“Never again.”

Morrigan squeezed her arms around him. “I love you, Jupiter.”

Jupiter let out a small sob. “I love you more.”

so basically in the theory jack is from the republic. he was chosen to compete in the trials by his patron. his patron was jupiter’s partner. she is the girl in the pictures on jupiter’s desk. she’s died, leaving jupiter to look after jack. jack is in nevermoor illegally so being jupiter’s nephew is his cover. hopefully this makes sense.

my other theory, which is less exciting, is that the girl in the pictures is jupiter’s sister which is jack’s mum. that makes the most sense but it’s not as fun 😂

i hope you enjoyed the story!

[scotianostra]

Stanley Odd 'KILLSWITCH”

Welcome back to savage exchanges Here, can somebody explain please? Every time a royal is having a baby I feel like I’m living in Gavin and Stacy Wait. Is that reference dated?! Fine ‘cause this face comes straight from the 80s I’ll put you through your paces It’s so hard to find good conspirators lately Fake news, deep fakes and the deep state Keep folks glazed on cheap cocaine This a new remedy for the sickness Toxic shock to get felt on the Richter Mate why so glaiket? I been on this since Limmy said gies yir jaiket We are collaborators We are collaborators We are collaborating re-al contamination You are the state of fear and I'm an agent God bless you sir. As-Salāmu Alaykum Nostalgic for an imperial nation That crumbles under closer examination Hard Brexiteers claim their booking travel agents Bon voyage hope yi get detained at immigration OWR: Old white and racist Caught in a sleeper hold by the Matrix Thinking the skin yir in makes you diff-er-ent You’re not an expat mate you’re an immigrant You don’t know which century you’ve been living in You’re not poetry mate you’re a limerick Dumb things Mal-funk-shin Assump shins Dis-rup-shin Bairns not bombs for yir luncheon We want drums not drones ya dumplin’ Rising tensions No NHS and no pensions No Post Office, no assisted living And you wonder why there’s no community spirit I’m taking cheap shots at Jacob Rees-Mog Blood suckers know the people they can feed off Send this line of minor Etonians Off to SA and have em mining zirconium This is a reverse kill switch Sound the alarm, this is not a drill kids Raise the alert, smash the glass I’m still blitzed In case of emergency get out yir phone and film this Palestine's a friend of mine It’s past time to end apartheid How’s it a heretical view To question Benjamin Netynyahu Agitprop is an insult Not hip-hop – an insult I’m standing on stage with a live grenade And when I let it fall you could hear a pin drop I watched the Amazon on Fire On ma Amazon Fire Tried to log out the planet It said ‘your password’s expired’ You implied that we generalise with no mission Which is weird cause I thought I'd been pretty specific And just cause I think we should all get along You seem to think I’ve no content in ma songs? I’m interested in commonalities Building bridges while you’re bombing alleyways What I believe in is being good and decent It’s weird you don’t see that as just humans being Can I kick it? Yes you can't Wait a minute – Who you calling a can't? I'm a can of worms that you don't want tae open mate Too many years nose pressed to the coal face Officials are paid off to instigate wars While publicly wringing their hands and shouting ‘Praise God’ Conspiracy theorists can’t be serious howling from crazed blogs Information overload, I’m needing to take stock Wait stop, Infobesity too much mass info Force feeding me, call it Foie Gras Syndrome An embattled and embittered public Rise up when municipal VR feed is interrupted First round of virus got the frail and the weak The sound of silence while we stay in and sleep Next comes the violence, power cuts, riots and a blaze in the street I haven’t even been able to Google ma own name in a week So many people doing cocaine Delivery drivers drapping aff need their own lanes _ cooncil cut wi a claymore like Brexit yi get what yi pay for 3 for 80 I believe Me, I’m 50/50 on whether or not we prop up the economy

[the-dragons-knight]

FFXIV Write 2020

Prompt #12 - Together Again

Tooth and Nail - ‘with all one’s resources or energy; fiercely’

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

The island of Gangos was truly a beautiful sight. The alcove where the Bozja Resistance made its headquarters reminded Katsum so much of her island that she found it rather restful to come and rest by the water’s edge sometimes whenever she visited. This afternoon was one such time, and Katsum stood on the sands watching the waves crash against the rocks. She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing in the salt air and just listening. She could almost imagine it, standing among the cliffs on the shore of her island, the water and sand tickling her feet as the waves flowed in and out around her. She could hear the gulls as they flew overhead, and perhaps the distant should of the castle town that she knew so well. A sense of peace emanated from everything around her, and she found daydreaming of what that island must look like now...after so many years.

“Miss Katsum,” Katsum opened her eyes at the sound of the voice, turning to see a Hrothgar clad in resistance armor speaking to her, Bajsaljen, “It is good to see you again.”

She smiled, stepping over to him until she stood before him, “It is good to see you too, Bajsaljen. How are the affairs of the resistance?”

“Slowly, but the progress shall be worth the wait. Though we did encounter some refugees from another fallen province of the empire’s.”

“Refugees? Really?”

He nods, “Some of them were injured, and so we brought them into our camp. After hearing the stories they told, it would seem the castrum fell in flames.” He grunted with a stren nod, “One less fortress to demolish ourselves.”

Katsum’s ears twitched in thought, “Could I bother you to introduce me to these refugees?”

“Bajsaljen!” Both of them turned to see another soldier waving over to them, “Our scouts are returning!”

“Good, I shall be right there,” He bowed to the blonde Miqo’te, “You’ll have to excuse me, Miss. I can point you in the right direction though,” He turned towards the back corner of the camps, pointing towards a campfire where she could just make out some people sitting at through the tents, “You will find them there more than likely. ‘Tis where they often gather. Until next time, be well, miss.”

She nodded her thanks with a soft smile before setting her eyes on the campfire in the distance and moving towards it. The camp was as busy as ever with soldiers moving here and there, making her have to weave through them on her way to keep her eye on the fire. As she drew nearer, she could swear she heard the sounds of voices raised in song, yet she was sure it was just her imagination. However, the closer she got, the louder it sounded. She couldn’t make out what was being said though, and no one else seemed to be listening. A large group of soldiers started marching in front of her, causing her to stop and wait for them to pass, and it was then that the breeze carried the voices to her ears and heard them more clearly.

‘Red is the rose that in yonder garden grows…

Fair is the lilly of the va-lley…

Clear is the water that flows from the Boyne…

But my love is fairer than a-ny...’

The words caused her entire body to freeze. She knew those words, knew them by heart. It was a song from her home, from that island so far away. If they knew then...they were her...her people…!

Before she knew it, she was sprinting past everyone between her and that campfire, her heart racing at the very thought that someone from her island was so close. Perhaps they knew who still lived? Perhaps...perhaps they knew of her parents fate…? As if the Savior had been right beside her listening, a single voice raised above them all then, singing alone with the words:

‘‘Twas down by Killanery’s green woods that we strayed…

When the moon and the stars, they were shi-ning…

The moon shone its rays on her locks of golden hair…

And she swore she’d be my love fore-ver..’

Tears fell from Katsum’s eyes. She knew that voice, heard it in her dreams and her memories of her childhood. The voice she pretended to hear in her darkest times in her travels, encouraging her to press on and to keep fighting. As if she could move any faster, she sped past the soldiers around her, letting the sounds of the song guide her. Finally, she came around the tent that had stood between her and those gathered there and when she saw them, again she froze, her eyes landing on the dark-red haired male Miqo’te that sat with his back to her. Before she could speak, they all raised their voices together:

‘‘Twas not for the parting that my sister pained…

‘Twas not for the grief of my mo-ther…

It’s all for the loss of my boony Draic lass…

That my heart is breaking fore-ver…’

‘Red is the rose that in yonder garden grows…

Fair is the lilly of the vall-ey…

Clear is the water that flows from the Boyne…

But my love is fairer than a-ny...’

As they finished their song, they all raised their mogs to the air in a silent toast before taking a drink. Katsum’s hands trembled as she watched them, her eyes focused on the dark-red haired man. He was just as she remembered, a strong man sitting with an air of a calm fury, his red hair styled back and his tail curled neatly around behind him. She nearly sobbed as she shakeningly stumbled towards them and called out, “Dad?!”

The group froze as they turned to look at her in shock, all but the man she was looking at. She watched him very carefully set down his mug and then look up at the other Miqo’te men, “Did you hear what I did? Is that why you all look so shocked?”

The one sitting next to him just stared at Katsum yet answered him saying, “Rune...it’s her...”

Her father’s ears lifted, and he nearly fell over himself turning to look at her. Sapphire met emeralded as their eyes met and she cried, “Dad..!”

His face broke out into a relieved smile, “Katsum...! Oh, Katsum, my sweet girl…!” He rose to his feet, moving at a hobble towards her as she rushed to him, throwing her arms around him before he could fall. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and she buried her face in his shirt as she cried. She felt him pet her head and laugh through his tears, “Thank you, Savior. Thank you, Heaven...for bringing her back to me...”

“I missed you so much...I thought...I thought and Mom...”

“I know, I know...we thought you were gone too. Your ma, she’s so very strong...she promised to find me again when we were separated...made me promise to find her and come find her once I did.” He pulled away from her and held her face in his hands, his face stained with tears like hers was, “You’ve grown to look so much like her...You’re beautiful, my dear girl. Your mother will say the same, I know it!”

Katsum held tightly to her father’s hands, helping to keep him steady on his feet, “How did you escape? How did...” She looked down to notice the way he was standing, how it seemed he could not stand on one leg much at all, “How were you injured?”

Rune laughed sheepishly, a sound that made her smile as she knew it so well, “That is a long story, but we fought tooth and nail to break free from our chains, brought down the castrum with us as we did.” The men behind him cheered at that and Katsum smiled as he grasped her hands then tightly, “Nothing was going to keep me from finding you and your mother again. If it took all my strength, we would be together again. I swore it.”

She pulled back a hand to move her shirt collar to show him the Draic necklace around her neck, “And Raihogg is still with me. The dragon is with me.”

He sighed sadly, “You’ve carried that burden all this time?”

“No, no! I have so much to tell you about him, Dad, he’s so much more than any of us ever knew!”

“I can’t wait to hear it all!” He then noticed the ring on her left hand, staring at for a moment before his smile seemed to brighten, “Wait, sweetheart! You’re married!? Oh, wait wait. Is he a good man??”

Katsum nodded happily. “Yes, Dad, of course he is. I'm sorry that you and Mom couldn’t be there at the wedding...”

“Oh, dear, that alright. As long as you are happy and well taken care of. Well, that’s my opinion anyway. Your ma will have a much different one though..”

Katsum chuckled and nodded, “We’ll have to find her first though.”

He smiled so big and warm, “Right! Right!” He turned to the others and shouted, “Our Queen has returned!”

The men cheered and Katsum shook her head, waving at them to settle, “Please, I am not looking for a crown. I am just...so happy to see you all again…and that you are all safe.” She looked back at her father, smiling brightly, “I have so much to tell you.”

“Come then, sit with us!” One of the other men gestured to the log Rune had been sitting on, “We’ve all night to share stories!”

Rune nodded, shifting and almost falling as Katsum caught him, laughing as she helped him back over to her seat and sitting beside him, “As long as you can spare the time that is, Warrior of Light?”

She scoffed, “They will have to make the time. The world can wait for an evening for me. I have much to tell my father and his tribe brothers.”

“Hear hear!” They all cheered, and Rune grinned at her, “So shall we start with...Raihogg was it? Tell us about the dragon...”