#returning to the dungeon rave

[darktripz]

CULTURIST - Returning to the Dungeon Rave

[harshr]

Dungeon gabber; absolutely love it.

[ninadove]

2024 reading review 📚

2024 was the year I really got back into reading, and my beloved @pegasusdrawnchariots asked me to share the highlights! Behold my treasures:

READ:

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden “the first book,” and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.

MY PRECIOUS. THIS ONE. THIS IS THE ONE. I had already seen and appreciated the 1955 movie, so I was curious to learn more, and BOY AM I GLAD I DID!!!!!

East of Eden has everything: tragic twins, a touching romance that does not overtake the plot, a smart yet compassionate look at pre-WWI America, generational trauma… But at its core, it is a story about humanity’s struggle to do good, and its message of hope is delivered masterfully.

I have to disagree with Goodreads’ summary: East of Eden is not a brutal story — on the contrary, it is filled with infinite tenderness and forgiveness for mankind. I would go as far as to say it is my favourite novel as of yet. GO READ IT GRRGRRGRR 🌱

Dracula by Bram Stoker

When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes a series of horrific discoveries about his client. Soon afterwards, various bizarre incidents unfold in England: an apparently unmanned ship is wrecked off the coast of Whitby; a young woman discovers strange puncture marks on her neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the 'Master' and his imminent arrival.

2024 was the year I finally accompanied my good friend Jonathan on his completely normal business trip! I was warned certain passages hadn’t aged very well, but I actually found the novel very progressive for its time.

More than a story about vampires, Dracula is a story about humanity (because I have a type, apparently). There is so much love and light in these pages and a guy who eats flies and also a cowboy. Everyone who interacted with my little liveread was so kind! 🖤🦇

Le Comte de Monte-Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet

Falsely accused of treason, the young sailor Edmond Dantès is arrested on his wedding day and imprisoned on an island fortress. After years of solitary confinement in a cramped, dank dungeon, he befriends an Italian prisoner who, with his dying breath, reveals the location of a vast treasure on the island of Monte-Cristo. Dantès stages a daring and dramatic escape, retrieves this fabulous fortune, and returns to France to exact revenge on his enemies, posing as the Count of Monte-Cristo.

If there’s one thing I love almost as much as stories about the beauty of humanity, it’s stories about evil (?) geniuses and revenge. Though I suppose this is also a story about the beauty of humanity, in a sense... Are all stories really about the beauty of humanity? I want 24 essays on my desk by Monday.

Anyway, Pegasus did a wonderful job of selling it to me and it did not disappoint. Every chapter is crazier than the one that came before! You’ll want to take notes, because the Count does not believe in taking the easy route when you could involve poison and a lasso and masks and the telegraph and an actual princess and a dead baby who isn’t actually dead. Also, there are lesbians in there! 🌊

RE-READ:

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand

Pegasus wrote a wonderful synopsis and analysis here — go read it❣️

Re-reading this play healed something in me… It made me want more art, more emotion, more beautiful sights, more everything! Call me Christian the way I can’t put this feeling into words, but trust me, you’ll understand when you read it.

So many new aspects and themes and characters and relationships caught my eye this time around! Everything about this play is beautiful! And and and!!! It’s such a beautiful love letter (HA) to the French language! What’s not to love?

It also brought me my wonderful friend @pegasusdrawnchariots and made me discover @bright-thehawksflight’s amazing fics… The most wonderful and talented people gravitate around this play, and for good reason! Quel panache! 💌

La Sombra del Viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals from its war wounds, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer's son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author's other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax's books in existence. Soon Daniel's seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets — an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

I can’t believe Goodreads forgot the accent on Julián’s name… Must I do everything in this house…

I first read La Sombra del Viento in French when I was 15 or so, but reordered it in its original Spanish in anticipation of my holidays (I got stranded in Bilbao overnight because of the worldwide Microsoft outage! How fun!). Spoiler alert: I loved it as much as I did the first time!

This story will take you by surprise, starting with the magic and mystery of a YA-novel only to take a drastic turn towards gothic horror. Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s prose is so so so very pretty and will make you fall in love with the wonderful yet monstrous city that is Barcelona.

I’m now re-reading the second tome of the series (separate story in the same universe) and thoroughly enjoying myself. In fact, I shall return to its pages as soon as I am done with this post! 💙📚🔥

I’m especially curious to know what @dragongutsixofficial, @theuselesshistoryweeb and @bright-thehawksflight have been reading this year (but no pressure)! And if you want to talk about books, consider yourself tagged! ❤️

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Fiction Free-for-All Book Bracket Tournament: Round 1C

Book summaries below:

The Dark Artifices series (Lady Midnight, Lord of Shadows, Queen of Air and Darkness) by Cassandra Clare

It’s been five years since the events of City of Heavenly Fire that brought the Shadowhunters to the brink of oblivion. Emma Carstairs is no longer a child in mourning, but a young woman bent on discovering what killed her parents and avenging her losses.

Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn’t lead her in treacherous directions…

Making things even more complicated, Julian’s brother Mark—who was captured by the faeries five years ago—has been returned as a bargaining chip. The faeries are desperate to find out who is murdering their kind—and they need the Shadowhunters’ help to do it. But time works differently in faerie, so Mark has barely aged and doesn’t recognize his family. Can he ever truly return to them? Will the faeries really allow it?

Glitz, glamours, and Shadowhunters abound in this heartrending opening to Cassandra Clare’s Dark Artifices series.

Fantasy, paranormal, urban fantasy, series, young adult

Battle of the Linguist Mages by Scotto Moore

In modern day Los Angeles, a shadowy faction led by the Governor of California develops the arcane art of combat linguistics, planting the seeds of a future totalitarian empire.

Isobel is the Queen of the medieval rave-themed VR game Sparkle Dungeon. Her prowess in the game makes her an ideal candidate to learn the secrets of "power morphemes"—unnaturally dense units of meaning that warp perception when skilfully pronounced.

But Isobel’s reputation makes her the target of a strange resistance movement led by spellcasting anarchists, who may be the only thing stopping the cabal from toppling California over the edge of a terrible transformation, with forty million lives at stake.

Time is short for Isobel to level up and choose a side—because the cabal has attracted much bigger and weirder enemies than the anarchist resistance, emerging from dark and vicious dimensions of reality and heading straight for planet Earth!

Fantasy, science fiction, science fantasy, adult

[ecargmura]

Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise From The Shadows- Episode 6 Review - Some Kind Of Entertainment

People were raving about this episode and there were reports that some anime sites had crashed because of it. I watched the episode today and I can see why it’s so lauded by others. The camera angles and animation speed are extremely top notch. It’s crazy to think that A1 did all of this. It really shows the care they pour into this adaptation.

This fight felt extra special because this is technically Jinwoo’s last fight as an E-rank Hunter before he becomes the next S-rank Hunter. I wonder if this is why the animators decided to go all out. Heck, Jinwoo shows off more abilities like turning his shadow minions purple and even participates in battle with them. I’m actually glad that there was zero casualties and that Son Kihoon is a noble and respectable man who thanks Jinwoo for his efforts. It’s clearly different than his last raid dungeon experience with Kim Chul and the Ice Elves.

Kargalgan was very arrogant as he only brought the group for entertainment, so it was nice to see him be Jinwoo’s ‘entertainment’ like karma. His methods of attacking was interesting as he uses spells like a mage. I liked how Jinwoo resurrected the High Orcs as his minions and even used them against him. I can’t wait to see what he’ll be like now that he’s reborn as the new shadow minion Tusk. Though, I did like the disrespect Jinwoo gave to him because he couldn’t remember his name before renaming him.

Another reason why this fight is extra special is because higher level Hunters witness his strength, especially the likes of Woo Jinchul and Cha Hae-in. It makes me wonder what they’ll do now that they witnessed how strong he is. I did like that some of the ‘comedic’ moments in this episode were from Cha Hae-in holding a pickaxe. Though, I did find it a little “odd” that Hae-in is not covering her nose here. Did the writers forget that little detail?

Jinwoo’s status as the new S-Rank Hunter is going to throw off the power balance, as told by Choi Jong-in. Will he be the strongest or is Go Gunhee still the strongest? Also, what’s with this Lee Minsung guy? Is he important? He even has a rather known voice actor, Gen Sato, so I’m assuming he’s going to be important?

I wonder what’s next for Jinwoo. Will he return to the dungeon with new minions and a new rank to take on the rest of the S-Rank Dungeon or will the story go elsewhere? I honestly can’t wait for tomorrow! Also, I apologize for getting this out late. I was debating on whether I’d do a double episode review or just a single one, but I decided to go with the latter. Let me know your thoughts on this episode!

[buttercupsim]

Escaping Dungeons and Deception

Meanwhile, Aunt Sharon has not been staying with a sick friend as Riley had been lead to believe… but held captive in a dirty basement. After weeks of suffering and refusing to bend to her captor’s demands, she uses her old army training to finally escape.

She goes straight to the police and reveals her story. The man that did this to her will not get away with it and the even more ominous plan he revealed to her will not be kept quiet.

While Sharon hides upstairs and waits for the cops to come, Dylan returns home and is infuriated to find she is no longer trapped in his basement. Consumed by anger, he guns it to her house hoping he still has time before she goes to the police. Unbeknownst to him they’re already on their way…

He shows up only to find Riley having just arrived home from work and making her way up to the front door. And Sharon nowhere in sight. He then explodes, kicking over things, screaming and ranting that Sharon and her have cost him everything. Riley is confused.. what is he raving about?

She then starts to feel actual fear as he storms toward her, the look on his face something she has never witnessed. Before he can lunge for her, the sounds of sirens fill the air and a police car whips around the corner. Sharon promptly exits exclaiming “That’s him officer! That’s the man that kidnapped me!!”

The cop holds Dylan at gunpoint upon seeing his clear to intent to harm Riley and the murderous glint in his eyes. He alerts Dylan to back away and put his hands up. Sharon cries to Riley that Dylan had tricked her into getting a large life insurance policy and then trapped her in his basement.

Riley can’t believe her eyes. The cop apprehends Dylan, informs him he is under arrest and that they will be looking into his accomplice. Riley finds herself in shock and struggling to hold back sobs. How could she have been so blind?

Her aunt and her embrace, and Riley feels immense relief that her aunt seems relatively unharmed. She goes on to tell Riley that she is okay and she will give her the whole story once they get inside. As the cop ushers Dylan into the backseat and drives off, the two women enter the house.

At the kitchen table, Sharon breaks it down that once Dylan tricked her into getting a large life insurance policy, he tried to force her to declare him as her beneficiary. When she wouldn’t budge, he locked her in his basement and chose to focus on who would be next in line for the money… Riley. He planned to marry her, then do away with the both of them and keep the money for him and his accomplice. She describes the accomplice as a woman and someone that seemed to have something personal against Riley as well…

Shaking from the information her aunt just revealed, Riley’s gut can’t help but tell her that the woman MUST be Agora, she just knew something felt off with her. She rushes to the phone to call Fiona to determine when the wedding is and if she has time to warn Mickey. Upon discovering it’s currently happening, will she even have a chance at making it in time?

[caffernnn]

(thank you for the taaaag @reikunrei 💙)

💫✨ people I’d like to get to know better ✨💫

last song i listened to: and if I told y’all The Wiggles dropped a rave remix album? (before that was “Violent Bounce” by I See Stars)

favorite color: greeeeeen!!! Love a muted olive, love a moss green, love a hunter green, love a deep forest green or emerald tone right on the verge of becoming teal. Bright-ass roswell green and chartreuse (the neon brothers) are my problem children on thin ice, but still make me 🙄💕

currently watching: i’m a bit behind on Dungeon Meshi (you know how it is when you wait to watch shows with other people) BUT I’ve been skipping around on a rewatch of The Untamed and working through the newest Quinton Reviews video!

spicy/savory/sweet: usually savory, although I’ve been on a sweet kick lately

relationship status: y’all I’m just hanging out lmao

current obsession(s): hard to pin this one down tbh!! This month has been full of returning to poetry, and also watching videos of how others craft and create things (prop makers, watercolor artists, charcoal artists, art journalists, etc etc etc). I think it’d be fair to throw Dead Poets Society into the mix as far as media goes (beyond the usual cycles of shows/stories I talk about on here every other day lmaooo)

no pressure tags for @roses-and-nightingales @shenyaanigans @ahobbitincamelot @tonfea @sage-nebula @celesteeal @criticalgay and whoever else would like to share!!! 💚

[nonsubstantial]

January 2024 art fascination diary

We're already most of the way through February, but I thought it would be kind of fun to write diary posts about my favorite things of each month, in 2024. Then, I can easily look back and remember what was making me happy all year long! If you are reading this, then maybe you will enjoy hearing about some of these things as well!

MUSIC: my favorite album of January was 「TORIENA makes me smile」 It came out in 2021, and even though I did enjoy it, I still slept on how truly good it was. Its genre can be described as hard electronic, rave, trance, or gabber. I felt compelled to relisten to every Toriena album this month, and after hearing them all back to back, it was by far my favorite one. I mostly listened to it while I was working, and it somehow motivated me, even as I felt like my body and mind were falling apart. You can listen to my favorite song from the album, linked here!

ANIMATION: my partner and I watched Adventure Time: Fionna And Cake! Obviously, I would only recommend this show to someone who has seen all of Adventure Time and Distant Lands, since it picked up right where Distant Lands left off. I should note that while I didn't agree with all of the character writing, or even major parts of the plot, I did think that it was a much better ending to the series than Distant Lands was. I'm still going to imagine my own alternate ending to Adventure Time, and especially Finn's future, but I liked that the show didn't hold back when incorporating some bold new ideas... even if I didn't agree with most of them >:/ On another bright side, I thought that most of the vocal performances were fantastic, and every aspect of the show's artwork and animation was superb. (You can find it on any cartoon streaming site, or just torrent the whole series like I did.)

REALITY / GAME SHOW: I had never watched it before, and to be quite honest I always thought I would be a hater, until a couple of friends (who I love dearly) convinced me to watch RuPaul's Drag Race Season 16. This is the season that is still ongoing, and surprisingly, it is the most fun that I can ever remember having while watching something weekly. I have both friends and coworkers to discuss it with, and every time a new episode comes out, I'm shocked by how much wit and talent goes into the entire production. I know it's a pretty popular show, and it has had its fair share of controversies, but the current season still feels revolutionary in a really good way. It has been a celebration of both community and creativity, so of course I would recommend it to any skeptics, like I used to be. (Additionally, this one also gets uploaded to many free streaming sites shortly after it airs, for those who can't pay to watch.)

VIDEO GAME: I started playing Lunacid on a plane ride back in December. I was returning home from visiting family, and I wanted a dungeon crawler that I could just mellow out with, with minimal mechanical complexity. I checked this game out after hearing that it was a modern take on the old Fromsoft series, King's Field, but I was completely sold as soon as I heard that the dev, Akuma Kira, worked on the dollhouse DLC for Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion. This game turned out to be exactly what I wanted. It scratched my dungeon crawling, treasure hunting, map-making itch, and delivered some fantastic artwork and music along the way. The dev also seems like a super cool person, and I hope I have the time to try out any games they make in the future too. (I feel like the type of person that will like this game knows who they are. Check out Akuma Kira's website for info, and support them if you can!)

MANGA: knowing that the anime would soon be airing, I started reading Dungeon Meshi. And I quickly realized that it is a series that is impossible to overhype. The artwork is consistently top-tier, the content and characters are mature yet lovable, and the tone is cozy yet riveting. It's so perfect, that the few inconsistencies I encountered came as so much of a shock to me that I ended up re-reading those chapters, just to make sure that I wasn't imagining the flaws instead. As I just mentioned, I love dungeon crawlers, so I feel I'm probably more inclined to love this manga than your average reader. But I would truly recommend this series to anyone who's into reading comics at all, because it has been such a uniquely exceptional experience. I don't have all the books yet, but I'll probably continue to read the physical copies throughout the early part of this year, most likely until completing the series. (I am buying the physical copies of this manga, but you can easily find it online as well!)

NOVEL: We Have Always Lived In The Castle was famous horror author Shirley Jackson's final full novel before her untimely death. I've never read any of previous work, but from what I understand, her final book incorporated as many of the themes and ideas of her past works as she could squeeze into it. And it shook me to my core. Even as I read through analysis of this book, I couldn't help but think that no single essay truly remarked upon the entirety of this novel's brilliance. It is perfectly concise, beautifully written, and certainly unique amongst all the books I've ever read. If you like tragedies, and gothic fiction containing very bleak social criticism, then definitely read this book. (I have so many gripes about the modern book covers, I truly wish I could get my hands on an old copy of this novel. Oh well... for now it's just another one that I have torrented. The audiobook is great too, btw.)

(that's it. my favorite art of January. There might be some repeats in February that are ongoing, like Dungeon Meshi and Ru Paul. I hope you have a good month!)

[aemzaemity]

International Intrigue Russian folklore

Labyrinth with 3,000 rooms under a pyramid

in Egypt was built by an advanced society

that lived way before ancient Egyptians.

Ancient historians have raved about it.

Catacombs

The Death of Koschei the Deathless or Marya Morevna (Russian: Марья Моревна) is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in Narodnye russkie skazki and included.

Marya Morevna

Ivan Tsarevich had three sisters, the first was Princess Maria, the second was Princess Olga, the third was Princess Anna. After his parents died and his sisters marry three wizards, he leaves his home in search of his sisters. He meets Marya Morevna, a beautiful warrior princess, and marries her. After a while she announces she is going to go to war and tells Ivan not to open the door of the dungeon in the castle they live in while she will be away. Overcome by the desire to know what the dungeon holds, he opens the door soon after her departure and finds Koschei, chained and emaciated. Koschei asks Ivan to bring him some water; Ivan does so. After Koschei drinks twelve buckets of water, his magic powers return to him, he breaks his chains and disappears. Soon after Ivan finds out that Koschei has captured Marya Morevna, and pursues him. When Ivan catches up with Koschei, Koschei tells Ivan to let him go, but Ivan does not give in, and Koschei kills him, puts his remains into a barrel and throws it into the sea. Ivan is revived by his sisters' husbands – powerful wizards who can transform into birds of prey. They tell him that Koschei has a magic horse and that Ivan should go to Baba Yaga to get one too, or else he will not be able to defeat Koschei. After Ivan survives Yaga's tests and gets the horse, he fights with Koschei, kills him and burns his body. Marya Morevna returns to Ivan, and they celebrate his victory with his sisters and their husbands

Folk Russian fairy tales

Afanasiev

Little sister fox and wolf ( 1-7)

For a chicken, for a hen, for a goose ( 8)

Fox-doyer ( 9-13)

Fox, hare and cock ( 14)

Lynx ( 15-17)

Medicine fox ( 18)

The old man climbs into the sky ( 19)

Old man in the sky ( 20)

Crying Fox ( 21-22)

Man, bear and fox ( 23-26)

Old bread and salt is forgotten ( 27)

Sheep, fox and wolf ( 28)

Beasts in the pit ( 29-30)

Fox and Teer ( 31)

Fox and Woodpecker ( 32)

Fox and crane ( 33)

Snowflake and fox ( 34)

Fox and cancer ( 35)

34

There was an old man with an old woman, and they had a granddaughter, the Snow Maiden. Her friends were going to go into the forest to see the berries, and came to call her. The old men did not agree for a long time, but after many requests they let Snow White go and ordered her to keep up with her friend. Walking through the forest

and

collecting berries, tree by tree, bush by bush, Snow White got away from her friends. They roused her, roused her, but Snow White didn’t hear. It got dark, and the girls went home. Snow White, seeing that she was alone,

climbed into the tree, began to cry bitterly, singing:

-Ow, ow, Snow White, ow, ow, dove! My grandfather’s grandmother had a granddaughter of Snow White;

her girls were in the woods,

the manhunters left.

The bear comes and asks:

- What are you crying about, Snooky?

The Fox and the Snow-maiden ❄️

Wolf wanted to take me away, but I refused. And Fox tried to lure me down, but I wouldn't be tricked by her. But I'll go with you, Zhuchka!"

At the sound of the dog barking, Fox turned tail and fled for dear life. Little Snow Girl climbed down the tree. Zhuchka rushed up, licked her face all over and set off home with her.

Bear was hiding behind a tree-stump, Wolf was skulking in a glade and Fox was lurking in the bushes.

Zhuchka barked loudly, and they were so frightened that they dared not come close.

They arrived home, and the old couple wept for joy. They fed Little Snow Girl, put her in her nice cosy bed and sang:

Sleep, Little Snow Girl, sleep,

Our tasty bun so sweet,

Rolled from the snow of spring,

Warmed by the sun of spring.

We'll give you drink a-plenty,

We'll give you food galore,

And make you such a pretty dress

And teach you four times four.

Fox and the hound

Little red riding hood

Snow white and seven __

Finding Nemo

Mustard seed parable/

Wolf wanted to take me away, but I refused. And Fox tried to lure me down, but I wouldn't be tricked by her. But I'll go with you, Zhuchka!"

sound of the dog barking, Fox turned tail and fled for dear life. Little Snow Girl climbed down the tree. Zhuchka rushed up, licked her face all over and set off home with her.

Bear was hiding behind a tree-stump, Wolf was skulking in a glade and Fox was lurking in the bushes.

Zhuchka barked loudly, and they were so frightened that they dared not come close.

They arrived home, and the old couple wept for joy. They fed Little Snow Girl, put her in her nice cosy bed and sang:

Sleep, Little Snow Girl, sleep,

Our tasty bun so sweet,

Rolled from the snow of spring,

Warmed by the sun of spring.

We'll give you drink a-plenty,

We'll give you food galore,

And make you such a pretty dress

And teach you four times four.

Zhuchka was forgiven. They gave her a nice saucer of milk and put her back in her old kennel to guard the house again.

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Little Snow Girl

Russian folk tale retold by Vladimir Dahl

Little Snow GirlOnce upon a time there was an old man and his wife, who had no children, no grandchildren at all. One feast day they went outside and watched other people's children making snowmen and throwing snowballs at one another. The old man picked up a snowball and said to his wife:

"If only you and I had a little daughter as white and chubby as this, wife!"

The old woman looked at the snowball, shook her head and said: "Well, we haven't and there's no getting one now, so there!" But the old man took the snowball into the cottage, lay it in a pot, covered it with a piece of cloth and placed it on the window-sill. When the sun rose, it warmed the pot and the snow inside began to melt. Suddenly the old couple heard a lisping sound in the pot under the piece of cloth. They ran up to take a look, and there in the pot lay a little girl, as white and chubby as a snowball.

"I am Little Snow Girl, rolled from the snow of spring, warmed and browned by the sun of spring," she said to them.

The man and his wife were beside themselves with joy. They took her out, and the old woman began sewing her some pretty clothes, while the old man wrapped her in a towel, rocked her and sang this lullaby:

Sleep, Little Snow Girl, sleep,

Our tasty bun so sweet,

Rolled from the snow of spring,

Warmed by the sun of spring.

We'll give you drink a-plenty,

We'll give you food galore,

And make you such a pretty dress

And teach you four times four.

. So Little Snow Girl grew up, a joy to the old couple. She was good and clever, as little girls are in fairy tales, but very rarely in real life.

Everything was going well for the old couple and their livestock. The cattle got through the winter safely, and in spring they put the chickens back into the yard. But no sooner had the moved them from the house to the hen-coop, than the trouble started. A fox came up to the old man's dog Zhuchka, pretending to be ill, and begged her in a whining voice:

"Dear little Zhuchka of the white paws and silky tail, please let me go and warm up in the hen-coop!"

Zhuchka had been with the old man in the forest all day and she didn't know that the old woman had put the chickens back into the coop. So she took pity on the fox and let her in. The fox killed two chickens and dragged them off home. When the old man found out, he gave Zhuchka a beating and drove her out of the yard.

"Be off with you," he said. "You're no good to me as a watchdog!" So Zhuchka left the old couple's house, whimpering, and only the old woman and Little Snow Girl felt sorry for her.

Summer came, the berries ripened, and Little Snow Girl's friends asked her to come berry-picking in the forest with them. The old man and his wife would not hear of it. But Little Snow Girl's friends promised faithfully not to let go of her hand, and Little Snow Girl herself begged the old couple to let her go berry-picking and see what the forest was like. So in the end they gave her a basket and a piece of pie and let her go.

The girls set off holding Little Snow Girl's hand, but as soon as they got to the forest and saw all the berries, they forgot about everything else and ran off in all directions, picking berries and hallooing to one another.

They filled their baskets with berries, but lost Little Snow Girl in the forest.

Little Snow Girl called out, but no one replied. The poor mite began to cry. She tried to find the path, but got even more lost than before. So she climbed a tree and shouted: "Halloo! Halloo!" Up came Bear, crunching the dry branches and bending the bushes. "What's the matter, my pretty one?"

"Halloo! I'm Little Snow Girl, rolled from spring snow and browned by the spring sun. My girlfriends asked my grandparents to let me go with them into the forest, but now they've left me all alone!" "Come down," said Bear. "I'll take you home." "No, Bear," Little Snow Girl replied. "I won't go with you. I'm afraid of you. You'll eat me!" So Bear went away.

Up ran Grey Wolf.

"Why are you crying, my pretty one?" "Halloo! I'm Little Snow Girl, rolled from spring snow and browned by the spring sun. My girlfriends asked my grandparents to let me go berry-picking with them in the forest, and now they've left me all alone!"

"Climb down," said Wolf. "I'll take you home!"

"No, Wolf, I won't go with you. I'm afraid of you. You'll eat me." So Wolf went away. Then Fox came up. "Why are you crying, my pretty one?"

"Halloo! I'm Little Snow Girl, rolled from spring snow and browned by the spring sun. My girlfriends asked my grandparents to let me go berry-picking with them in the forest, and now they've left me all alone!"

"Never mind, my poor little pretty one! Come down quickly, and I'll take you home!"

"No, Fox of the honeyed words. I'm afraid of you. You'll lead me to Wolf or give me to Bear. I'm not going with you!"

Fox began stalking round the tree, looking at Little Snow Girl and trying to lure her down, but the little girl would not go.

"Wuff, wuff, wuff!" barked a dog in the forest.

"Halloo there, Zhuchka!" cried Little Snow Girl. "Halloo, my darling doggy! It's me, Little Snow Girl, rolled from spring snow and browned by the spring sun. My girlfriends asked my grandparents to let me go berry-picking with them in the forest, and now they've left me all alone. Bear wanted to carry me off, but I wouldn't go. Wolf wanted to take me away, but I refused. And Fox tried to lure me down, but I wouldn't be tricked by her. But I'll go with you, Zhuchka!"

At the sound of the dog barking, Fox turned tail and fled for dear life. Little Snow Girl climbed down the tree. Zhuchka rushed up, licked her face all over and set off home with her.

Bear was hiding behind a tree-stump, Wolf was skulking in a glade and Fox was lurking in the bushes.

Zhuchka barked loudly, and they were so frightened that they dared not come close.

They arrived home, and the old couple wept for joy. They fed Little Snow Girl, put her in her nice cosy bed and sang:

Sleep, Little Snow Girl, sleep,

Our tasty bun so sweet,

Rolled from the snow of spring,

Warmed by the sun of spring.

We'll give you drink a-plenty,

We'll give you food galore,

And make you such a pretty dress

And teach you four times four.

Zhuchka was forgiven. They gave her a nice saucer of milk and put her back in her old kennel to guard the house again.

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[masterkirby]

https://grimestone.bandcamp.com/album/culturist-returning-to-the-dungeon-rave

[irresponsibleink]

I Read the Highest and Lowest Rated Books I Own

2/21/25 

I love buying books more than I love reading them. The oldest books on my shelf are from middle school, and some of those elite remain unread. In October I had a realization - if I continued to read and buy books at my current rate, then by the time I die I will have accumulated thousands of books, having only read a rough ten percent of that collection. To combat this issue, I donated several books and started reading more intently. I enjoy perusing BookTube and a recent trend has been uprising, a challenge where a reader finds the lowest-rated book and the highest-rated book in their library and reads them back to back. 

I was enthralled by this concept! I had so many books in my library that sat unread for years. What would be the lowest-rated book, and what would be the highest-rated? How would they compare? I rummaged through my library, cataloging every book, and then with my complete list, I scrambled to Goodreads to see the results. I cataloged my collection in October and at the time the lowest-rated book on my shelf was Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker with an average star rating of 3.35. The highest rated book in my collection was Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman with an average of 4.53. I was excited to dive into the challenge, but school got in the way and I hit a depressive slump in November (I wonder why that was). 

By the time January came around I was excited to complete the challenge. Only I now had more books in my library that I got over Christmas. If I were a normal person, I would have just read the original two I had selected and called it a day. But I enjoy intense suffering, so after cataloging my new books I returned to Goodreads with not-so-surprising results. 

The highest-rated book in my library was now The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson with an average of 4.67 and the lowest-rated book was now Stones to Abbigale by Onision with an average of 1.87. If you know any information about these two books or these two authors, you know how they contrast each other. 

I hear the name Brandon Sanderson a lot in writing circles. He’s known for his writing courses and his stellar fantasy novels. People I know and trust rave about him, so he’s been on my TBR for a while now. The Way of Kings is the first Sanderson novel I have ever obtained and this particular copy happened to be 1250 pages long. Onision is famous for other reasons. Onision, or Gregory James Daniel, or James Jackson, depending on where you look, is a disgraced YouTuber who has been accused of grooming children and sexual assault. I’m not well versed on the controversy, but his books have made the rounds on BookTube and are infamously bad. Like Sanderson, I had never read Onision’s work, but the 1.87 rating scared me. The Goodreads user base tends to be very kind with their reviews. To find anything below 3 stars is very concerning. 

Stones to Abbigale by Onision

This novel is about a teenager named James who falls in love with his classmate, Abbi. In terms of plot, there’s not a lot else going on. Instead of a typical narrative, James stumbles from one plot point to another without real motivations or goals. Even events that should hold weight, such as a school shooting, feel arbitrary and meaningless. The only thing James thinks about is Abbi. James has no interesting traits, despite being told by the author how many good qualities James has, and despite every character riding his dick for the majority of the novel. You got James’s mom who lets him do whatever he wants, Abbi who exists just so James can save her and feel good about himself, Davis who is secretly in love with James, Jason the school bully who hates James but respects him nonetheless, and his teachers who worship the ground he walks on. 

This book is insulting on so many levels. Very real and horrible subjects are shoe-horned in to make the novel feel serious but are handled with the conception of a pre-teen edge lord, the characters are laughably unbelievable, the narrative is pretentious, and eighty percent of the novel is dead weight. It’s hard to justify some plot points when you have characters to sympathize with. But none of these characters were likable, the main character had no goal, no motivations, and no character arc, and the majority of the novel was crammed with trivial plot points that didn’t matter. Why did I read this? I thought, after finishing it. What was the point? Why did Onision write it? What was this novel trying to convey? What was it trying to do? Because it left me stunned, irritable, and unsatisfied. 

At one point I was so frustrated I ripped a page out of the book, crumpled it, threw it in the toilet, pissed on it, and flushed it. I sent an explicit text message to my sister afterward describing this event, only to discover I accidentally texted a high-strung conservative Christian relative of mine. Nothing good comes from this goddamn book. Had I not been reading it for a blog post, I would have DNF’d 20 pages in. 

I didn’t write much about Stones to Abbigale in this post. Part of that is because I finished the novel over a month ago and the details aren’t fresh in my mind. The bigger reason is that I was so inflamed with hatred I gave Stones to Abbigale a separate blog post, which you can read here for a more comprehensive review. 

Score: 0 Stars

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson 

I have a love/hate relationship with fantasy novels. They are so easy to screw up, and my first venture into the fantasy realm left me so scarred I didn’t read another fantasy novel for years. At the same time, I heard a lot of buzz surrounding Sanderson, so I entered the Way of Kings cautiously stoked. 

The novel takes place in a land called Alethkar five years after the assassination of the former king Gavilar by a mysterious people called the Parshendi. Now the two lands are at war across the Shattered Plains and the novel switches between three main narrators, Kaladin, Shallan, and Dalinar. Kaladin is a former surgeon’s apprentice and soldier but is now branded a slave, forced to carry bridges from plateau to plateau for the war effort. Shallan is a young girl whose father died, leaving Shallan and her brothers in immense debt. To combat this debt and prevent the desolation of her family, Shallan seeks to become the ward of Jasnah, the daughter of the late King Gavilar, and the sister of the new king, Elhokar. Shallan plans to rob Jasnah of a mystical object called a soulcaster and use it to generate new wealth for her family. Dalinar is the brother of Gavilar and the advisor of King Elhokar, his nephew. Dalinar is studying the ancient texts referred to as the Way of Kings and is also plagued with visions he doesn’t fully understand. Because of this, many question his power, and Dalinar must watch his back very closely if he is going to unite Alethkar and end the war. 

This book is complicated and long. If that’s not your vibe don’t pick this one up. I have the attention span of a gnat, so when reading long books I have to hit them hard and fast before my attention wanes and I move on to something else. I find this isn’t typically a fault of the novel itself, I have experienced this several times with some of my favorite books. With the Way of Kings, I sometimes read 200 pages in one day, while some days I read nothing. I managed to finish the novel within a month. I found my attention draining in the third quarter of the story. 

The Way of Kings is well flushed out but it takes a long time to get from plot point to plot point. Sometimes the slow pace felt necessary and other times I questioned it. Kaladin’s flashback chapters were interesting but how necessary were they? The interlude chapters partially confused me. Having finished the book, I don’t believe the interlude chapters contributed much outside of Szeth’s chapters, as I believe Szeth will contribute a larger role in the next book. I went back and forth on it, but now I know the pace is adequate, however, if you’re into shorter novels please look elsewhere. 

I liked Shallan and Kaladin’s perspectives more than Dalinar’s. Dalinar’s storyline was interesting and important to the overall story, but compared to the other two narrators it was hard to care much about him. Shallan and Kaladin are more desperate because they aren’t royalty, and much of the story focuses on how little power they have and why they struggle with their inner and outer obstacles. Dalinar’s story pales in comparison. 

I will say this book has the same problem that many fantasy and sci-fi novels have; the world-building is so complicated that it can sometimes get confusing. I’m still not entirely sure I understand who the Heralds were or where Shards came from, which is more my fault than the story’s, but I thought I would mention it so any potential readers know that this is a dense, slow-paced novel. 

That being said, I loved it. I thoroughly enjoyed the first half, the third quarter dragged a bit, but the final act of the novel left my jaw on the floor. The spine of this novel was so cracked that pages were spilling out. I was jumping up from my chair, mouth agape, my mind reeling. I paced my house in between chapters trying to digest what the fuck just happened before diving back in. Trying to explain the ending to the uninitiated is like trying to explain Avengers Endgame to someone who has never seen a Marvel movie. 

I have to take a break from this series because it’s so dense, but I will be returning for the sequel with a vengeance. This book is thoughtful and patient and the final act made all the waiting worth it. My rating would be higher, but I deducted points for the third quarter where my attention was burning away like a candle wick. 

Score: 4.5/5 Stars

It was wild to go from one of the worst shortest books I’ve ever read to the most wild and dense. You should do the same with your library, but maybe don’t overcommit like I did. Have fun!

Rick Stepp (irresponsibleink@gmail.com)

[squeeb100]

scrubbed through the totk trailer on 0.25x speed and here are things that intrigue me

Skydiving past a big ol' building - dungeon???

What's goin' on in Hateno village? My first thought is 'rocket/firework launchers' but who can say

Settlement building up in castle town ruins? Or did we set up camp with our friends?

TUBES EVERYWHERE BY GOD WHAT ARE THEY FOR? (my guess is for getting up in the sky). Also the return of zonai green swirlies

Thunderhead

what's this emerging from the sand? Dungeon? Arbiter's grounds? I will be throwing out some wild guesses today

DEMISE!?

dungeon?

i like how he gets in the bubble not much else to say

my screenshot is ass but link seems to be wearing some kind of red flight suit here

BOAT??? In SKY???

My guess is that this is early game link being taken somewhere for mechanics reasons but idk. Also he vascillates between his champion's tunic and his new outfit throughout the trailer which is interesting.

THEY ARE HERE we'd seen them from artbook but here they are. Who? Idfk

Please epona please epona please epona

Note the dungeon-like area and also the horrifying construct boss emerging from the wall

Time travel confirmed?

In the vein of time travel....master sword whole and in its pedestal, and the hand that eventually reaches for it looks like link's but is not greenie

Their chest is a face to me

Zelda sheikah tear or ???

"I fused a shield to my sword!" Can i put a mushroom on the shield if it's already on the sword

Idk what this is but i enjoy it and hope it can LAUNCH me

Again not really sure what's going on here but by god is he rolling and exploding

maybe the real playable zelda is the friends we made along the way

New rito friend but ALSO lots going on in the background here. Towers and boats

Finally. Crush Him.

Rocket launcher

rave machine

UHHHHHHHHHHH does this live in the thunderhead or is it a boss or what

a TEAR OF THE KINGDOM?

that right arm of yours ashitaka

MORE COMING in rbs, 30 image limit on tumblr

[vanquishedvaliant]

I’m coming around on Malenia lore because paying close attention to all the externals of Millicent’s questline, the shaded castle, everything in Caelid, and leading up to the Haligtree is a lot more lore than I was at first initially giving her credit for. So let’s talk about what Malenia the Severed, Blade of Miquella, Goddess of Rot has going on with her.

Starting off, I still would very much like Malenia to (and expect her to) play a part in further DLC given the incomplete nature of her and Miquella’s plotlines. It would surprise me if they were not involved in future content as they are not only two of the only named Shardbearers that are explicitly not killed with finality, senile, or travelling through space by the end of the game; but also two of the Empyreans favored to become true Gods.

One of the criticisms of Malenia as a boss character centers around her extreme passivity; I’ve seen it said that she does little but sit around waiting for Miquella to arrive in an off-the-path optional dungeon. Certainly the demigods presence is not as immediately felt as some others; Radahn is quite hyped up for us as a raving shadow of himself awaiting his execution, Godrick is by far the most active and in our face, Morgott actively seeks us out, and even Rykard’s long isolation is spent fruitlessly gathering more power and flesh into his body.

But I don’t think its fair at all to say that her Malenia’s influence isn’t felt in the story. While Caelid is formally the domain of Radahn, a good deal of the area’s points of interest do not speak of Radahn or the Redmanes at all other than in their struggle to contain it. If you follow the breadcrumb path that Caelid leads you on, you are brought in U shape through the Redmane’s two forts and to fight Radahn, but immediately north of the Radahn’s castle lies Sellia, the Plague Church, and the Sage Gowry introduces us to a questline and characters that are both lengthy and also immensely important to Malenia’s characterization. Millicent’s connection to Malenia is obvious, and immediately alluded to. As a woman with with the Rot and an amputated arm seething in agony lying in wait for her death or her savior, she’s a reflection of the demigod. As the quest progresses this is only further impressed upon us; Millicent’s memories return and she becomes fixated on learning about Malenia, about finding her, and eventually coming to certainty about her goal.

I can only surmise our purposes are aligned. In which case, allow me to explain myself. I am of Malenia's blood. But in what capacity I know not. I could be sister, daughter, or an offshoot...There is something I must return to Malenia. The will that was once her own. The dignity, the sense of self, that allowed her to resist the call of the scarlet rot. The pride she abandoned, to meet Radahn's measure.

The word Offshoot is what’s really important here. Millicent and her sisters appear to not precisely be either daughters or sisters of Malenia, but more like botanical clones or budding; just as you can propagate genetically identical plants and flowers by taking cuttings of them and growing them separately, or parts of a dead plant will bud separately to replace their missing branches, each of the scarlet “Sisters” is most likely an offshoot bud of Malenia’s own body. Each and every one of them “Severed” from the whole and falling to pieces from the rot, but blooming again from the Flowers left in its wake.

In this sense, we can consider Millicent’s characterization and journey with us as a character to be not a complete understanding of Malenia herself, but strongly indicative of her underlying personality if you stripped away the pomp and circumstance, the despair of her defeat, and the loss of her brother and her purpose. And it is this very loss of purpose that haunts Malenia’s original body; when we meet her in the Haligtree she professes that she’s merely been dreaming; living through nightmares of the blood she’s spilt and the death her rot has caused. 

In the age of the Elden Ring, and Queen Marika, the precious Empyrean was born. A new god to forge a new Order. Since Malenia fought Radahn, and the great scarlet flower blossomed in Aeonia, I have dedicated myself to her. And to the resplendence of the Order of Rot. The cycle of decay and rebirth."

Gowry introduces himself to us as an doddering old sage past his prime that wants us to help him cure the ailing Millicent out of the goodness of his heart. It’s immediately obvious how much of a mysterious figure he is by the seemingly domesticated rotten dog sitting outside his shack.

If we dig deeper we can easily discover “Gowry” himself is NOT the human body we talk to, but rather some other powerful magic entity that simply possesses the bodies of the Pests, the Kindred of Rot from afar. You can kill him as many times as you wish, and he simply respawns until you’ve either foiled or completed his plot with Millicent and her sisters, taunting you with the futility of his death.

"We shall meet again, you and I. There are countless pests to choose from." (First time killing Gowry)"We shall meet again. As many times as it takes. For you to understand." (Subsequent killing at Gowry's Shack after the first)"Have you taken the lesson, now? Killing me is an exercise in futility. All is well, provided you understand. Let's just pretend it never happened, shall we?" 

In truth, it appears that Sage Gowry is a malicious actor that worships the Scarlot Rot, obsessed with the rebirth of the scarlet flowers into Valkyries in order to ascend Malenia to godhood. Now, what we do know is that there is in fact an “Ancient God” devoted to the Rot, and it’s found in the other region most strongly associate with it; the Lake of Rot.

The dancer in blue represents a fairy, who in legend bestowed a flowing sword upon a blind swordsman. Blade in hand, the swordsman sealed away an ancient god — a god that was Rot itself.

A great lake of standing water downstream of the Ainsel River. It is said that the divine essence of an outer god is sealed away in this land.

The Outer God that presides over the Scarlet Rot was said to have been sealed away underneath the Lake of Rot. The map itself tells us so; and the items Blue Dancer Charm, Flowing Curved Sword, and Prosthesis-Wearer Heirloom all tell us the combined story that this very same blue swordsman was both the hero that sealed that god away, and also became Malenia’s instructor in the sword. So if there truly is an Outer God of Rot, and the bloom of Aeonia has awakened it’s attention, it follows to speculate that Sage Gowry is either himself an extension of, or a servant to this Outer God, the very one that has cursed Malenia with the Rot and awaits her body to Bloom.

Each time the scarlet flower blooms, Malenia's rot advances. It has bloomed twice already. With the third bloom, she will become a true goddess.

With this in mind and taking into account her twin Miquella’s own curse, we can consider Gowry to be a contrasting counterpart to Mohg, in the sense that each are external figures acting as a hand of their favored Outer Gods that are manipulating the Empyrean Twins in order to engineer their ascent to Godhood. Godhood in the form of Empyreans such as Marika, Ranni, or the Twins is not to actually become a deity in itself on the level of these Outer Gods, but rather to become the avatar and embodiment of their will; To place them within the Elden Ring in Marika’s stead and create a new Age, a new Order, as Marika and Radagon did when they conquered and ousted the previous tenants, and as Ranni takes upon herself in her own ending. Where other endings the player chooses to repair Marika’s Elden Ring and enforce their will on her as the Goddess and Avatar of the Greater Will through the Elden Ring, we also have examples in the Frenzied Flame taking the power of Lord instead by placing you as it’s avatar, the intensity of which burns your mortal flesh and soul with madness. Similarly there are outer gods championing most of the other players behind the scenes as well; Ranni is never seen to swear direct fealty to the Dark Moon god of the Age of Stars, but we know that it exists and is the basis of the Carian lunar magic that Rannalla inherited.

Meanwhile, Mohg offers his prayers to the Formless Mother, Placidusax was abandoned by his Outer God when the dragons were conquered, the Fire Giants were cut off from their ‘fell god’, and even the Deathbirds / Deathrite Birds are descendantsd of an ‘Envoy’ of their own Elder god. Which returns us to the Unalloyed Gold Needle- an item which wards off the influence of Outer Gods, and staves off the rot. (through evidently the same mechanism!) Why then, does it appear Gowry wants us to use it to cure Millicent? What are his aims with her sisters?

The Four sister were born in the swamp of Aeonia, and came to the Haligtree under the aegis of Gowry. And yet, those buds were doomed to never blossom.

“Green and undeveloped, waiting to flower into magnificence. What a wondrous day that will be. In truth, before her, I'd never seen a bud of such superior quality. She might very well outshine her sisters.”

“Millicent trusts you, rather deeply in fact. Sever that trust. Nurtured by betrayal, her bud will flower most vividly. When Malenia ascends to godhood, Millicent too shall be reborn. As a scarlet valkyrie."

Gowry repeats the botanical phrasing over and over; buds, sapling, pruning, blooming, flowers. He calls them Daughters, Sisters, with Malenia the mother. But in truth they are his attempts to clone her; to recreate her perfectly. And all of them failed, all but Millicent; the most true reflection, the most perfect recreation of Malenia, fated to follow in her footsteps so that they can Bloom together into the Scarlet Aeonia flowers that spread the rot, and we are lead to believe will lead to their Rebirth.

“But this is where things end. I pause to even tell you, but... I took out the needle myself. Tell whoever put you up to this. That if I am to flower into something other than myself, I would rather rot into nothingness as I am.”

The despair of sweet betrayal transformed Millicent from a mere bud into a magnificent flower. And one day, she will be reborn - as a beautiful scarlet valkyrie.

And in fact, Malenia and Millicent both do bloom into these flowers if we defeat them. Millicent if invaded is stricken by your betrayal and her body becomes a Scarlet Aeonia bloom. And if you assist her, Gowry laments that Malenia and Millicent have both rejected him. Only, there’s still one more Bloom that’s not accounted for. In the room just off the side of the grace before Malenia’s fight, there is already a Scarlet Aeonia blooming, and at its feet, you can loot the Traveler’s Set; the very same clothes that Millicent herself wears. If you’re counting carefully, fulfillment of this questline and defeat of Malenia means that 3 Scarlet Aeonias are blooming at the same time, and in close proximity....  And Sage Gowry simply disappears, satisfied.

[edensrose]

Hello my favorite author, may I ask for some yandere Sauron. He be my favorite and needs more content in life lol

ʚ pairing : yandere!mairon |sauron / maia!reader

ʚ cw : yandere themes ៸៸ possessive behaviour ៸៸ obsessive behaviour ៸៸ violence ៸៸ psychological torment ៸៸ dark themes in general, viewer discretion advised

ʚ summary : you were the fellow maia of mairon, one of his closest friends. however, there was a noticeable change in his behaviour. . . what could it be?

ʚ note : awww dear ✨ of course I will! he's one of my favourites too

( masterlist ) ( taglist )

ʚ Very evident in his yandere ways, he doesn’t do a good job at hiding it ( not that he really would ). However, if you go back in time to when he still served Valinor, before he had been put under the influence of the dark lord then such thoughts would have been hidden, suppressed even. You were a dear friend of his, a fellow maia of Aulë and eventually would become the object of his infatuation. Yet when you showed no interest in him he buried his feelings, trying to weigh them down and lock them away

ʚ As Melkor began his little threads of influence over Mairon his feelings would begin to twist and dark thoughts would begin to fester. Yet he still attempted to force this down, it kept coming back and stronger than ever. You would see the way he looked at you, how his stare lingered. It felt unnerving every now and then you swore he would murmur something under his breath but every time you asked what is it, he merely brushed you off and continued with work 

ʚ When the day came that he finally proclaimed his loyalty to Melkor, Mairon had offered you to come with him. He offered you anything you could possibly ever wish for in exchange for being at his side. But when you denied? It hit the final nail in the coffin. You were dragged back to Melkor’s lair, whether you liked it or not - and thus began the torment of your stay in Angband 

ʚ The more you denied him, the angrier he became. You were locked up in one of the dungeons, a secluded little place. It served as your ‘punishment’ until you learnt to accept him and his love. There were numerous times he would visit you, eager to see if you were ready to be his. And every time you rejected him? Pain. More than you could ever imagine 

ʚ You remained there, chained by your wrists until you finally decided to give in. Deeming that it wasn’t worth the suffering any longer. However, that didn’t mean that things were smooth sailings from here - as a relationship with this Mairon was far less than ideal 

ʚ He was possessive, controlling. You either did things his way or suffered. Look at anyone else in Angband and you were done for, take your attention off of him for longer than he deemed necessary and you’d be sorry. He’d resort to locking you away in his chambers instead, in complete darkness with perhaps the threat of setting a werewolf on you every now and this

ʚ Psychological torment played a big part in this as well. He would constantly remind you that you were tainted, unable to return to Valinor. That the Ainur would look upon you with disgust and immediately reject you. He made it clear that all you had left was him - and if your ‘disobedience’ kept up, that may even fall flat as well

ʚ This, inevitably, led to the breaking of your mind as you had become reliant on him. Begging him to keep you safe, telling him how much you loved him, how you only had him. 

ʚ This was exactly what Mairon wanted. You had finally been broken down to the point where all you wanted was him - where all you knew was him. From then on, you were like his perfect little doll, clinging to him, loving him - just as he had wished for all that time ago. Yet now at a more extreme degree. 

taglist ━ @kiatheinsomniac @augustwithquills @m-shade @nerdydcfan @flowerchildishere @camilomyshiningsun @bugnug @algae-rave

[dailyadventureprompts]

Adventure: Serving Under Fire

Bretheren we have been betrayed! Long years of patience, long years of sacrifice, all undone by the feeble heart of one who once swore an oath to our cause.  We must find him, we must return what he has stolen, ‘ere else the Lady will scorch us down to our very bones! 

Synopsis: The Enkindled Earth,  A Pyromaniac cult seeks to overturn the established order and reshape the very land itself. Their plans for a great, earth-shaking ritual are only forestalled when a member of their order remembers his conscience, and steals a powerful relic essential to their calamitous aims.  Now on the run from his fellow cultists, and from the authorities, this turncoat’s ultimate fate as well as the fate of the realm now rests in the party’s hands. 

Adventure Hooks: 

it’s easy to brush off the threat of the Enkindled in the early campaign. They’re raving street preachers, weirdos who dress in rags and dance around bonfires in the countryside, village outcasts who’ve found solace in a strange religion.... Then they get together and start burning temples, and people start to pay attention. Bounties are set out, the party gets involved, and soon the heroes are battling through a smoke filled cave while a babbling madman lobs clods of bubbling pitch at them. It’s a grisly job, taking the cultists alive, and it’s worse because the martial that gave them the bounty insists on the party attending the public execution of their prisoners before handing out their pay. Even to the last miniute the Enkindled exalt their cause, claiming that the earth itself will shake with thier lady’s wrath. 

In a way you could almost see the cultists’ point of view, their movement started in response to the enclosure of public lands by a series of greedy lords looking to rationalize their holdings and maximize their profits. While tax policies arn’t usualy of any relevance to an adventuring party, they may begin to care about it when they hear tell of a dungeon that was known to exist on this enclosed land... land that is now patrolled by a lord’s well paid men looking to prevent trespass or poachers. 

There’s been rumblings out in the badlands recently. Plumes of smoke on the horizon and dark clouds that blow in carrying sulfurous rains. No one knows quite what causes it, but numerous badland predators such as minotaurs and basalisks have been seeking new habitats recently, and someone needs to hunt them down before they go seeking it in civilized lands. 

Setup: The Enkindled Earth serve a sorcerer by the name of Agdellena, a pyromancer of terrifying potential who’s gathered the dissolute around herself the way you’d stack dry wood and tinder on a bonfire.  Always a charismatic and willful woman, Agdellena’s path of destruction started when her parents sent her to a convent in hopes of breaking her defiant spirit. After enduring over a decade of harsh “ discipline”, Agdellena’s powers awakened, consuming her abusers ( and fellow victims) in a pyroclast along with the temple itself. Now free and surging with elemental power, she strode out into the badlands clad in the soot-blackened robes of the high-priestess, ready to revisit the pain she’d suffered upon the world at large. 

While the Enkindled may speak of revolution, renewal, and an overturning of the established order, Agdellena’s aims are far more literal: using her followers to gather enough power to create a massive seismic event that will litterally “overturn” the landscape, countrysides swallowed by ash and wildfire as cities fall into the earth or are buried in lavaflows. To achive these apocalyptic ends, Agdellena has spent nearly two decades out in the wastelands perfecting her magic and gathering her powerbase, and has achieved the skill required to rip elementals free of the landscape and bind them to her will, having them tutor her in their primordial magics. 

With their help she built the Collignis, an arcane focus made to collect the power of burning holy places and the furvor of her own followers, storing it up like a metamagic battery until it was needed for the shaking of the earth. The Collignis was stolen during one of these temple burnings when Lels, an idealistic member of the Enkindled who was given an ecstatic revelation by the god who’s  temple he had just set alight. In that vision Lels saw the scope of Agdellena’s plan, and the destruction of his home, a small village that he’d left and joined the Enkindled in order to spare from the poverty forced upon it by their neighboring lords.  Ceasing the Collignis he reduced his fellow zealots to ash and ran, hoping to find someone who’d believe him before the cult caught up with him and reclaimed their holy relic. 

Further Adventures: 

The party can encounter Lels in a number of ways, either by intercepting an Enkindled temple burning ( which just so happens to be the one Lels has his revelation at), or by meeting up with an allied authority who the repentant cultist gave himself into the custody of. Desperate to be heard but wracked with guilt, Lels will gladly give up information on cult activities in order to get the party to believe him about the threat of the lady out in the wastes. 

The lords and magistrates who the Enkindle defame critically underestimate the threat they represent. Too set in their ways and intolerant of any form of disorder, these elites are content in throwing dissidents and reformers alike into their dungeons and sending groups of sellswords after any who resist. The party may find their battle against the cult impeded when they get caught between a group of innocents and the feudal enforcers. 

To reclaim what was stolen, Agdellena will summon a meteor like elemental and send it chasing after the Collignis. Crashing in when it’s most inoppertune, the party gets a preview of their enemy’s preview as they must battle the creature while protecting the relic and escaping from the building set alight by it’s landing. 

[ramblebrambleamble]

Itty bitty pixie warlock. Got into a human's house and made a nuisance of themselves, eventually did a deal with the human to stop causing trouble in return for a saucer of milk every night. Human tells the pixie that they're the only one that the human is going to tolerate, and that if anyone else got into their property, the pixie could tell them to get out by the order and authority of the human.

If anyone else got onto the humans' property, the pixie can make them leave, as the pixie explains to their fellows.

The pixie subsequently has a very broad idea of what constitutes human property. Can do improbably large feats of magic for their size, dependant on their being able to reason it as being part of defending the humans' property.

Lich king? He used to be human. The adventuring party that interrupted the pixie rave in the dungeon gets magically bound and floated outside.

Zombie horde? This area of land probably belongs to some sort of noble and the pixie doesn't know for sure that they aren't human, so. Bye-bye (with fire).

And so on.

The original, ordinary, human keeps waking up in cold sweats, certain that somebody somewhere is up to something.

It can't be that pesky pixie though. They went flittering off forever ago.