#yay we can explore dungeons yay!

[apollo-just-ice]

Been replaying pokémon mystery dungeon explorers lately and it’s been on my mind sm,,, my childhood game of all time it’s still so good??? Mannnnn <333

[grimm-writings]

hello! <3 i read your dungeon meshi stuff and it was great!! is it alright if i request some relationship headcanons with chilchuk? preferably with a male s/o, but gn is alright too! thank you sm! i hope you have a good day.

chilchuck relationship headcanons!!

…ft! chilchuck x m! reader

…tags! fluff, mentions of chilchuck's wife, chilchuck bisexuality crisis, teeny weeny hurt/comfort, talk of marriage, just word vomit tbh

…wc! 1561 (UHM...)

…notes! m! reader food come get it!!!!!!!! thank you for giving me the opportunity to go crazy stupid with this request anon i love chil so much is it obvious yet

Ok let’s get one thing straight.

(He isn’t.  Haha.)

But!  In all seriousness, Chilchuck has one thing he needs to do before considering a committed relationship.

Yep, even with all the longing glances, late night conversations, and helping each other learn and grow, he has to delay the fruition of your relationship until after everything after the dungeon dies down.

Well… he just needs to talk to his past lover first.  He needs to have a long, long conversation with her, and he’ll be sure to mention you too.

He relays this to you during the great feast privately.  Despite his nervousness, the sigh of relief that escapes him is noticeable.  His shoulders slack and he closes his eyes.  Finally, it’s off his chest.

Before we talk about the actual relationship, though, let’s talk about stuff that happened during the pining phase!  Yay!

Chilchuck only had one flame his entire life, and that was his childhood friend.  He never really ‘dated’, never really had any sort of time to explore his feelings for anyone else.

To put it plainly, he had no idea he was into guys.

“I dunno, Senshi was always kind of handsome,” Chilchuck notes with Laios, and his doppelganger nods in agreement. You and Marcille pause for a second, processing the words the two men said.  Like a house pet that has certain opinions regarding these sorts of people, you side-eye one another. “How would you know that?”  You challenge. In response, one of the Chilchucks glances over at you – the more tired looking one – and he shrugs.  “Not anyone would have the kinda bold look in his eyes he has.  The pinnacle of masculinity,” he huffs with a small grin, as if daydreaming of the very such thing. You have no words.  You quite simply don’t.

It’d be a major “oh FUCK” moment when he does realise.  Honestly the entire realisation of feelings for Chilchuck is Good Medicine but times a billion.

He’s pacing he’s pulling at his hair he’s questioning how the HELL did this happen.

If he has a pillow he is screaming into it more often than he normally does.

If you’re more on the masculine side, or are a dwarf, this man is a right mess around you.

Like he’s stammering constantly and hates himself for it.  Constantly red in the face around you and has to excuse himself.

But like . Not in a gay way or anything.

(Seriously if you think how he avoids his friends is ridiculous, this is eleven times worse.)

It takes some time, but I can imagine there’s a moment in the dungeon where you kissed at least once.

Chilchuck is the one to break away first, his eyes wide and face beet red.  It doesn’t take long for him to take his hands away from where they were, interlaced with yours, to hold his face and drag his skin down in dread. “...Did you like it?”  You nervously ask.  He’s the king of mixed signals… The half-foot nods slowly, still looking like he experienced some form of unwanted enlightenment.  “Yuh–huh,” he squeaks. You smile.  That’s good enough for you.

Marcille definitely picks up on SOME tension though.  She’s oddly observant of that sort of thing.

Once you actually reveal to the party that you’re seeing each other post-canon, Marcille disrespectfully shouts “I KNEW IT!”

As Chilchuck and her have an arguing match about that, you’ll look at Laios who looks shocked.  He had no idea.  Some things never change.

Senshi and Falin are normal and actually just congratulate you.  Give them hugs for me.

BUT FINALLY ONTO ACTUAL RELATIONSHIP HEADCANONS!!!!!! (This is like 600 words so far.)

He’s still uneasy about a lot of things.  He has a deep-rooted fear of messing this up again.

When the relationship is established he might distance himself for a bit.  Not on purpose, mind you, he’s just… not sure of what to do, and he’d rather not do anything at all than mess up.

Chilchuck no that in turn is messing up noo!!!!

You’d have to tell him this and he’ll try and turn his behaviour around instantaneously.  He’ll be nervous and frustrated with himself, but take it slow and he’ll come around eventually.

His nicknames are … unique.

He’ll use stuff like “idiot” with the greatest affection in his eyes and a soft grin, but he’ll say “hey handsome” with the most dripping sarcasm and sneer.  Why is he like this—

Play with his strands of grey hair and he’s so flustered, swatting your hand away.  If he’s tired and cuddling into you, though, he… well, he wouldn’t mind it.

Speaking of cuddling!  He didn’t really do much like cuddling in his previous relationship, to your surprise.  He just shrugs and says he and his old flame weren’t that kind of people.

This is how you inadvertently find out Chilchuck is a wombo combo of touch starved and too embarrassed by it to do anything about it.  How does he live…?

He knows himself if you’re not a half-foot that him being a big spoon is too ridiculous of a notion.  Yeah, he immediately assumes he has to be the one spooning you.  He realises with time though that he… drastically prefers being in your arms.  Feeling secure, loved…  He really really likes it.

Not like you can ever get him to admit it verbally.

(You can still see it from how he relaxes into you and smiles as he drifts off into dreamland.)

It’s been a long day, and Chilchuck wants nothing more than to see you.  You look up from where you were sitting when your boyfriend enters the house and smile.  “Good evening, love.” God, your smile.  If he didn’t know he’d be coming home to this, then the work day wouldn’t have been worth it.  He sighs and smiles, walking to you and immediately falling onto your lap.  His face tucks itself into your stomach and his arms wrap around your middle. “Hm, someone’s tired,” you remark with a grin.  Chilchuck merely groans into your form. Sparing him from any teasing, you card your fingers through your hair.  You can already feel how he melts into you as he loses consciousness. You lean down and kiss the shell of his ear.  “Sweet dreams, Chil.”

For a long time, he struggles with actually calling you his boyfriend.  It’s not like he’s ashamed of you, it’s just…  It’s always been “my wife” for such a long time.  He still can’t quite fathom this change in his life.  That you’re his and he’s yours.

Eventually, he’ll be the one to proudly proclaim “my boyfriend!” when he gets the chance to mention you.  He’s quite proud of the fact he’s got you, after all.

His kisses are usually quick and brief pecks on your temple or if he’s not in reach, your hand or shoulder.  

Ugh can you imagine him taking your hand and giving a kiss to the back of it?  And you can feel his thumb ghost over your knuckles reassuringly before wishing you farewell to work?  Dying dead.

Kiss him and he’s always taken aback every time.  He still won’t be able to comprehend it no matter how many times you’ve done it.

(To be slightly on the more suggestive side… really likes making out when in the mood.  He can do that for hours with him on top of you.  Though he wouldn’t mind being underneath if he considers it…)

He daydreams more often than he likes, especially early in the relationship.  He’ll feel ridiculous for it, like some lovestruck schoolboy but… well, yeah, he IS utterly enamoured with you!  Don’t be surprised if you catch him staring at you or checking you out in some way.  Call him out, and he’ll flush with a furrowed brow and glance away.

His love language mostly comes in the form of acts of service.  Although there’s a slight bit of gift giving too.  He likes giving you wordworks or embroidery he made if he knows you like it.  Maybe he’ll make you a teddy or ragdoll if you’re into that!

You also get Chilchuck thinking about the impossible after a while.  He doesn’t try to make a big deal out of it, but it’s kinda hard when…

“I think I can give marriage a second chance,” Chilchuck says out of the blue to you one relaxing night in bed.  His hair is messed up by you burying your head into it, and your lover is tucked into your chest, holding onto your waist. His words certainly catch you off guard, and for once Chilchuck doesn’t make a thing out of being the one to fluster you for once.  Instead, he tucks his nose into your neck and sighs.  “I just…” he pauses for a few seconds.  “I think I can do it right this time.  If you’re here with me.  I think I can do it.” The silence is thick with a kind of tenderness you’d only associate with the colour pink.  It’s deep and you can feel your face glow in the heat. You pull Chilchuck closer and kiss his head. “I’d really like that Chilchuck.  I really would.” He chuckles slightly at the soft sensation, closing his eyes again. “Thank you,” he says, “I mean it.  I couldn’t have made it this far without you.”

[lazywitchling]

Okay, book review time. I meant to have it up this morning, but I had to go shopping for xmas dinner ingredients. It was chaos. Anyway.

This is Weave the Liminal by Laura Tempest Zakroff.

Rating: 6/10 [On my rating scale, 5 is neutral, and books will either drop down towards 0 (awful) or rise to 10 (amazing)]

Summary: It's fine, check it out if it's your thing. It's a bit like Rebel Witch in that it's not gonna tell you how to do anything, but will give you an overview and permission to do what you want.

Full review below the cut.

I kept saying to some witch friends that reading this book is like having a very smart argument with someone you fundamentally disagree with. I appreciate Laura's perspective, I can tell she knows what she's doing, but we are approaching witchcraft from two wildly different places.

I finally put my finger on it in the last five pages. Laura is coming from a foundation of Witches Are Special. I'm coming from a foundation of Witches Are Just People.

The whole book is sprinkled with so much about witches-as-liminal-beings and witches-as-protectors-of-the-community and things like that. So many times Laura will say something about how witches are just better at listening to people because we're in tune with their energies, or that people gravitate toward us because we're so in tune with ourselves. And I'm like... "Laura, I'm just vibing here." I almost expected her to bring out the "With great power comes great responsibility" speech. Whereas for me, I'm approaching it as witches can be super enlightening individuals who help you put your life into perspective, and witches can be complete assholes for no reason. Most witches will fall more in the middle of the scale and fluctuate toward asshole or enlightenment depending on the day and how sleepy or hangry they are, just like any other person.

Throwing a metaphor on here: It's like how you can have a chef at a five-star restaurant talking about how cooking is art and how it nourishes the body and crafts an experience for the soul... vs a dungeon master who is just trying to throw together a snack for D&D tonight because they forgot to buy pizza rolls. Either one of them talking about their cooking process might completely alienate the other. Neither one is wrong, they're just approaching the topic of cooking from completely different places.

All that is to say that a lot of my hangups about this book are because of that foundational difference. There's bits where she talks about the witch as a captain of a ship, guiding others through a sea of the unknown. Near the end she talks about how most people want to stay content with what they know and are comfortable with, but it's witches who want to expand out and learn more about the world and universe around us. It was hilarious timing when I was reading that particular bit because I had NASA TV playing in the background with all these nerdy astrophysicists excitedly talking about exploring the unknown. Laura just really likes to pin very general human experiences on being Very Special Witchy Things.

Biggest red flag was one bit also near the end where she talked about how women are taught in society to be quiet and not rock the boat too much, so we as witches need to fight against that instinct. I'm like... Laura, hon, what about the witches who aren't women? So... didn't love that, but at least it was a small section? Just be aware of that. It's not a significant portion of this book, and it's casual enough to have been accidental, but it's there.

The thing is, Laura will go on about how you shouldn't judge another witch's craft, or pay attention to those who judge yours, that the only thing that matters is what works for you (yay!). But then she talks about her own personal craft, and gets a little bit... opinionated? About things that don't jive with her? It's an odd little juxtaposition. She doesn't ever really say that things are wrong, she just maybe spends a little too much time on what doesn't work for her.

Also as I said in the summary up top, this isn't a book where you're going to learn how to do anything. Like in Kelly-Ann Maddox's Rebel Witch, Laura is not going to give you any step-by-step instructions on how to do stuff, she's just going to mention that you can. She'll give you topics to think about and explore on your own, and ask foundational questions for you to ponder as you build your own craft. I wouldn't use this one as a baby's-first-witch-book. It's not going to be great for someone who just wants to poke around in witchy stuff to see if it's for them, it's more for someone who has decided that it is for them, and now they want to start building a regular practice.

Look, I've got a lot of complaints about this book. It wasn't my vibe. But overall it's not a bad book, it just wasn't for me, and that's okay. If you're a little closer to the five-star-chef persuasion than the DM-snacks persuasion, then you might enjoy this one. I just personally like the 'let's fuck around with magic' topics more than the 'we are responsible for the cosmos' ones.

But, to be fair to Laura, this book is what helped me figure that out. So overall, a net gain.

See? Just like having a very smart discussion with a friend you fundamentally disagree with.

[ravenstargames]

Now asking the Ravenstar team: When did you come to the idea "Yeah lets do a visual novel"? What was the inspiration for the Limbo theme? Do you have some favourite VNs?

This is a funny one! (I say that about every ask, please bear with me) Beware long post!

I have been a huge, huge fan of visual novels since I was a teenager, especially romantic ones. Making one has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember, and for my final project for college, I did a small study and a prototype for one. Rachel and I enjoy romance a lot so we ended up playing tons of visual novels/otome together, and obviously we pestered both Astro and Kayden about it (specially me because I'm not able to shut up about things most of the time, I love you guys).

We have been wanting to make a game together since forever, but it was like a silly little dream at first. Then, after we all got our degrees, we said: wait, why don't we actually try and make one? And I suggested a visual novel. And everyone said yes.

And that's how my master plan to convince all my friends to make a visual novel came to fruition.

The inspiration behind Lost in Limbo comes from a lot of places! We all love fantasy and building worlds together (mainly thanks to Dungeons and Dragons and a lot of videogames, books and movies) so it was easy to sit down and say "alright, fantasy world, magic, monsters, gods, etc." The first idea that later would shape Lost in Limbo was related to the seven deadly sins and the afterlife, and it soon evolved into what LiL is today (which you'll find out in the demo! yay!). You can tell those were our inspirations at first and those basic ideas are still related to the "final" version of the story/game to a degree!

I could list all the things that have influenced me as the writer, but I'm sure you all would get bored :') I wanted to explore a lot of topics that are important to me like family, love (not only romantic) growth and forgiveness (to name a few), but in a fantasy setting. The dilemma of immortality is something that fascinates me, so I wanted to write about that, and explore the idea of how different a god really is from a mortal.

And favourite VNs...God I have so many (so I will try to keep it short), but as in right now I would have to say Bustafellows!, Collar x Malice, Even if Tempest, The House in Fata Morgana... and from fellow indie developers, Our Life: Beginnings and Always is very dear to me, like Blooming Panic! (I had the privilege to have my art featured in the game and to this day I sort of can't believe it) and Seduce me: The Otome saga, a VN that has a very special place in my heart as the first indie VN I played during my teenage years. I have been lately obsessed enjoying Made Marion, Alaris, Trouble Comes Twice...to mention a few. Because I'm trying not to write a whole novel every time I answer an ask and I'm failing.

[harleyacoincidence]

Greetings and Salutations!

Today is FairyTale Tuesday!

So, today, we will be (once again) exploring the world of twisted fairytales! Today, your OCs or favorite characters will be exploring not just one twisted FairyTale but several.

Today, they will be in a world where all the fairytale stories and their characters live. Now, on with the madness!

How many fairy tales will your characters be exploring?

Which Fairytale stories are they?

How did your characters get to this fairytale world?

Which fairytale do they stumble upon first?

Do they meet any characters?

Is there anything slightly off about the characters?

Do your characters get an odd feeling around the fairytale folks and creatures?

Like they're always watching them?

What an odd feeling!

Anyways!

Why do your characters leave the current fairytale they're in?

What fairytale do they walk into next?

What's slightly off with this fairytale?

Do the characters seem a little odd to you?

Maybe even a little bit weird or creepy?

Do your characters move on from this fairytale as well?

If so, why do they leave?

Okay, now things are beginning to seem obviously wrong.

The world seems to be shifting and changing into something far more sinister than what it was when your characters first got here.

What are those changes?

What makes your characters desperately want to get out of this once seemingly innocent and magical land?

How do your characters try to get out?

What went wrong with their plan to get out?

Are your characters scared?

Why are they scared?

Something is watching them.

They are watching them.

Who is "they"?

Are they friend or foe?

Does the thing watching them appear to be a friend but is actually a foe?

Or is it the exact opposite? And they appear to be foe, when they are really friends?

Either way, your characters are now running away from fairytale characters gone mad!

They run until they reach a temporary safe area.

What is this safe area?

Do your characters find anything that can help them here?

Do they find something that can bring them home?

What is this object that can teleport them home?

How does this object work?

Oh no! Your characters are being surrounded by fairytale creatures!

Hurry up and use the object!

Okay, phew!

We're safe now!

We've made it back to your characters original world!

Yay!

But, wait, something seems off.

What it is it?

Do you get the odd feeling that something is watching you?

The sky looks rather odd.

The clouds don't look right.

The grass is different.

Everything seems slightly different.

Are you sure you made it home?

Nice to see you, friend! Thank you once again for the ask! I thought I’d run out of characters for this, but I have a few in my pocket from a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, as well as some from an old WIP.

Introducing….

Alodar Dresden, a Fallen Aasimar, who is also a Warlock and Bard multiclass. He constantly flips between a soul haunted by his past and a sadistic lunatic when he gets controlled, possessed, or influenced by his patron. In terms of his kit, he is more based around utility and control than damage, since the party he was originally for had two other warlocks already, alongside a sorcerer, a paladin, and a barbarian. However, this makes sense for his character, as he would rather strike fear into his enemies’ hearts, watching them collapse, stop hunting the party, or try to escape rather than kill them outright. While he is almost never out of his patron’s influence, he does have small moments of clarity that show he has a guilty conscience and wishes to atone. He often uses this desire to fuel his evil when he does not have full autonomy. An example of this would be giving inspiration to a party member while they were gambling to ensure their victory. A more extreme situation was when he traumatized an entire hoard of ogres who were attacking the party and taking their second in command, Grokk, captive. He and Grokk would go on to have a healthy but strange master-and-servant relationship that bordered on friendship.

Selene Hargrave, an average human who happens to be best friends with a certain idiot who summons demons in their free time. She is more calm and collected than most in her friend group, regardless of demonic possession. She enjoys staying up late and writing short stories. She’s a very simple character, and helps to lead the rescue operation to retrieve Henriette after she is kidnapped. She and Hadeon have a decently strong bond as of this writing. I might change this in the future, but I currently am not planning on it. She is a minor character in the WIP she’s from, so she is far less complex than Alodar. Oh yes, her main weapon happens to be a sickle gifted to her by Hadeon while on a certain expedition. However, she was not allowed to keep it and will not have it this time around.

The short-tempered demon himself, Hadeon. While he’s not entirely sure how he came to be, he’s beginning to suspect that he was once a human soul that was judged to be the perfect sort for a demon. Despite this strange beginning that is considered lowly by other demons, he is quite high-ranking in their hierarchy. While he isn’t all-powerful, he sure hides what he can’t do well. His prized weapon is a pistol he keeps hidden in his pocket. While he might occasionally take a more shadowy form, he does have a more humanoid one if he needs to blend in anywhere. Oh yeah, he might have been a shapeshifting serial killer in his past life. Just a thought.

Anyway, to the fairytale spinner it is! This time, we’ve gotten Sleeping Beauty, The Snow Queen, and The Master and His Pupil, giving us three to go through.

Since these characters are from different works of mine (looking at you, Alodar), they’ll obviously have to get in through different ways.

I can see Alodar’s patron sensing future chaos in these fairytales and opening up a portal for him to get through. Unfortunately, Grokk would not be there to enter as well.

Hadeon would most likely have to report back to Hell not only to gather his strength but to find something to do. I can see Lucifer casually being like “Yo, if you want chaos, I can get you to an entirely different world. Just take this dagger, it can create rips in the multiverse. Have fun, and stop preventing me from taking human souls!”, or something. He’d return to the human world, as everyone knows its the easiest place to make a portal in, and he’d pick up Selene (I can see her bugging him to let her go so she can find material for her next short story).

Since I feel like going out of the order I got the tales in, they would find themselves in The Master and His Pupil first, where they would all meet each other (as well as the characters). I can see them having a rather rough introduction and being genuinely confused about each other for a bit.

Of course they’d meet some characters! I can see them sneaking into the room where the pupil is summoning Beelzebub. What would be a better time? I could see Alodar and Hadeon exchanging eye contact with Beelzebub and being like “Hey, I know you,” while this story’s Beelzebub stares at them in confusion. Selene would be taking notes on the mistakes of the pupil.

You know that around here, something’s always slightly abnormal. The room would continue to fill with water, as per usual, but Alodar would be able to create a safe dome for his “new party” to remain comfortable in. The master would enter the room, and I could see him let his Pupil drown before having Beelzebub banished. Selene, who is quite familiar with many fairytales (including this one, coincidentally) would remark that this was not how the story was supposed to go.

After hearing this, Alodar would be uneasy and considering torturing the master to find his motivation for murdering the boy. Hadeon would be put on edge entirely, willing to kill him off if it was the beginning of a pattern of abnormality and could be stopped near the start. Selene would not allow either of these things to happen after considering said options. According to her, killing the master most likely wouldn’t fix the issue, if it was larger than just this event.

Instead of seeming wary of the group, the master would simply stare blankly at them, entirely devoid of emotion. He’d watch them leave too, entirely without blinking. Alodar and Hadeon would be tempted to make him scream at least once. Selene would become creeped out by the character, insisting on their departure. Hadeon would double back for a second to do something stupid, like share a couple gestures with the master.

Next, I could see them entering (and promptly getting lost in) a large forest. This indicates their exit of The Master and His Pupil and their entrance of Sleeping Beauty.

They don’t make it very far in this tale, mostly because the trees start talking to Selene and Alodar. As soon as Hadeon realizes this, he drags them the heck out. He isn’t dealing with tree spirits today. Of course, he happens to steer them in the direction of where a certain young lady is asleep. This has him internally panicking, especially when he sees some sort of sharp object in her hand and senses that she isn’t actually unconscious. Hadeon doesn’t feel like having anyone he knows get stabbed, so they turn in another direction and immediately get hit with the faint bite of frost. It’s time to enter the world of The Snow Queen!

Luckily for the group, no cursed mirror shards are around to turn them cold (not like two of three would need them anyway). Instead, they find the body of a young girl in a river. Her lips are grey, and her hands seem shrivelled, like she has been in the river for a while. There seems to be a sort of bloody froth in her throat. Selene recognizes the corpse to be that of Gerda and theorizes that when she went looking for her brother, she slipped and fell in the river, unable to get out.

Alodar and Selene shake off their disgust and horror as the trio travels north. They come upon the Snow Queen’s palace, Hadeon being suspicious of it all and not wanting the group to enter. Selene offers that if they could maybe return Kai to his family or find an alternative happy ending, whatever’s wrong with the fairytales might resolve itself. Alodar has more faith in this plan than Hadeon.

Upon entering, the group finds the Snow Queen sitting atop her throne, a very much frozen Kai before her. Selene is extremely disturbed by the human popsicle and how proud of it the Queen seems. It’s revealed to them that she wanted to make sure Gerda never found her brother, so she drowned her. To hide any remaining evidence of Kai being gone, she next plans to lure the townsfolk to her lair and freeze them permanently. Alodar asks if Kai is dead, but it turns out that he is quite alive and currently conscious, just a popsicle. How considerate of her.

Alright, planned intermission time! Go hydrate or get some food.

Alodar and Hadeon team up to interrogate her inside a mental prison at gunpoint. Apparently, some characters from different fairytales held a meeting, complaining that they got tired of having to relive the same story again and again whenever their books were opened. So, they decided to do whatever they wanted on a whim. Since then, their lives have been more enjoyable to them, at the consequence of their stories suddenly fitting into the horror genre.

For instance, the master was sick of having his pupil never learn from his mistake of opening the book without permission and almost dying. He decided to let his pupil drown in hopes that he might remember this mistake and not use the book the next time the story restarted.

Rosamund (I’m basing the name for the girl in the Sleeping Beauty segment after the version associated with the Brothers Grimm) was tired of being cursed and taken advantage of. She decided to fake falling asleep and instead of having men come and fall in love with her without her consent, she chose to murder them and force their spirits to possess the trees of the forest. She thought that this would deter any new passerby from coming near her. However, if she heard any footsteps, she would return to the place she had decided to pretend to sleep at.

Unfortunately, if they were out of control, the stories were also out of control, changing their tone entirely. Instead of seeming happy or whimsical, fear lurks around every corner, causing nobody to want to finish their stories. Due to this, their tales cannot restart and they are trapped in a mess they created. They do not know how to fix things themselves, and often have flashbacks to their terrible actions, seeing them for what they were, whether just after the deed or much later.

All but the Snow Queen are terrified. She informs Hadeon and Alodar that the others seem to want things to return to normal, no matter how annoying or tedious they might be. The Snow Queen, however, is perfectly fine with her outcome, as it gives her everything she truly wanted. Alodar and Hadeon leave her mind but do not release her from her mental prison, instead changing it so she believes she is free.

Selene is nowhere to be found, and the distant greenery seems to rustle and move. Alodar and Hadeon take off after the movement.

They find themselves back in the forest from Sleeping Beauty, but Selene is nowhere to be found. A twig snaps to their right, but when they look over, nothing is there. Strangely, the trees are entirely silent this time around. The pair is completely lost. Hadeon makes an offhand comment about having a dagger that can make portals if they need to make a quick escape. Alodar begs him to use it, but Hadeon is insistent on leaving with Selene.

Another rustle is heard, and Alodar calls out to where it had been. If it weren’t obvious before, something is watching them carefully.

A cry is heard, and the pair approach the source silently, discovering Selene being held hostage by Rosamund. Hadeon pulls out his pistol and Alodar is ready to blast through everything, but Rosamund holds something to Selene’s throat. It looks different than the object she held the last time they came by. Hadeon’s pocket suddenly feels a lot lighter, the weight shifting to his shoulder as guilt an regret try to crush him.

“One more step and she loses her pretty head,” growls Rosamund.

Selene tries to kick her captor, but is backhanded across the face. She groans again. Her captor glares at Selene’s rescue team, showing no fear of killing their friend.

“Why are you doing this?” Alodar asks in a voice barely above a whisper.

Rosamund seems enraged. “Do you think I enjoy being cursed AS A BABY, FOR NO GOOD REASON, and then TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF BY SOME JERK WHO THINKS HE’S ENTITLED TO MY LOVE? I’m breaking this cycle permanently this time, I am not going back to the beginning. Nobody has any business screwing up my life, not even the people reading my story.”

“What’s Selene got to do with this?” Inquires Hadeon, finger waiting on the trigger.

“She knows my tale front to back. She’ll know how to fix it,” Rosamund explains.

“…You want her to make people see your horrifying story as part of the horror genre?” Hadeon clarifies, puzzled.

“No, idiot. I want a world where nothing that keeps happening to me ever happens. No more of that curse crap, and especially no creepy princes.”

Selene looks at her captor, baffled. “You kidnapped me to ask me to write you fanfiction?! You could have just asked.”

Alodar sees his opportunity and touches Hadeon’s pistol, making it shine with blinding light. Rosamund, who had been staring forward, cries out and covers her eyes. Hadeon pockets his glowing weapon and releases Selene, grabbing the dagger. The three make a break for it through the forest. Rosamund shouts from behind them, and the trees begin to uproot themselves and make their way towards the group at an inconceivably fast pace.

Hadeon wields the dagger and slashes at the air in front of them, creating a large tear in the middle of nowhere. They jump through and Hadeon seals it just before anything else can get through.

The trio takes a moment to breathe as they look around. The place seems familiar, alright. Just not in the way any of them were hoping. The sky is filled with greyish-lavender clouds and everything seems devoid of life. The nearby forest’s trees have been damaged, some of them fully uprooted or snapped in half. Alodar readies a blast of eldritch magic just in case, and Selene is given Hadeon’s dagger as the demon pulls out his (still glowing) firearm.

The forest seems thinner than the one they just escaped, perhaps due to how many dead and destroyed trees there are. It’s like some sort of gigantic monster made its way through here, chasing some sort of prey…

Sure enough, Alodar points out some sort of blob ahead of them with a small gasp. It reminds Selene of some sort of abomination made of several people…But that couldn’t be the case, could it?

[queen-erika-the-songful]

What are your favorite pokemon games?

Yay, a Pokémon ask! Not sure if you only want mainline games or side games too, but I'll include both! (Sidenote: I haven't gotten to play every single game so this is just from the ones I have!)

Mainline (in order):

1. Ultra Sun - I know, I know, it should've been Sun&Moon DLC and I agree, but I just completely fell in love with this game. The environments, the Pokémon, everything! And it gave me Primarina, my absolute favorite Pokémon of all time!! I named my first Primarina Romy. I could say a lot more but I'll just keep it at that for now. 2. LeafGreen - My very first Pokémon game! I've been a fan of Pokémon pretty much since I first became conscious but never got to play the games until Gen 3. And I loved it so much!! I'm planning on doing my very first Nuzlocke with this game (whenever I can find time lol). My starter was Bulbasaur, and I named him Mamoru. 3. Alpha Sapphire - I didn't get to play the Hoenn games when they first came out, so my partner bought me the remake. It was super fun! I get why so many like Hoenn now. My starter was Torchic and I named her Sunny. My ace though ended up being my Gardevoir, Elina.

Side:

1. The Stadium games + Battle Revolution - I have so many memories playing with my siblings! My siblings and I played Stadium non-stop some days. We used to come up with our own ideas during the battle modes, like an all-legendary team, only green Pokemon, silly stuff like that. We also loved putting our D&P teams into Battle Revolution. 2. Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time - I first played this a few years ago on my partner's recommendation and LOVED it!! It was super fun and I did not expect my heart to get ripped out, damn.

Thanks for asking!

[somethinglikelife]

Okay Sunday was the premier of Last of Us on HBO, I'm not going to spoil it. At least I'm going to try not to. I played the game and loved it. But really so many of my favorite games are now shows or movies, and they haven't been done any justice. So I'm hesitant on this one, waiting a few episodes to decide if it's yay or nay.

And don't worry I'm not going to turn into a review blog. Just thought that I would show a little inner geek. I am a sucker for certain game franchises and stand alone games, like Resident Evil, Last of Us, Uncharted, Bioshock, Final Fantasy, Silent Hill.... I know two of those aren't in the creepy factor (I need my unwind games okay!)

And yeah I like silly games like Chainsaw Lollipop and Little Big Planet as well, I mean really, one has a cheerleader who kills zombies with a chainsaw, the other has a small doll that you explore the world with. Both are completely different sides of the chaotic wheel.

Why I'm saying all this? Well my first game really was a DnD game. A littel world created by Margaret Wiess, Tracy Hickman and a few other brilliant people. I played DragonLance with it's awesome Kender, Wild Elves that were pretty much fairytail elves living in the woods, while higher elves had their cities. And well, Wizards of the Coast is eating crow at the moment, or is it Hasbro is? I mean really all because they weren't making as much money as they could off Dungeons and Dragons. I watched a lot of the story unfold on TikTok, because really, watching fellow geeks and nerds meltdown and give a call to action is fun.

The call to action? Well ending the subscription to DnD. I am pretty sure that's about when WotC and Hasbro went "oops we fucked up". Ya think? I mean you couldn't get that idea from the out cries from say.... how they butchered other 80's fan favorites.... (Yes Michael Bay I am glaring at you for the mess that you made of Transformers).

Though you would think that some would, ya know, learn the fanbase. I mean really, most of the games that I was in, we plotted to take out an evil entity, worked with complete strangers and well, if the DM lost the plot or control of the game, created chaos for the enemy. Which is why I have a level thirteen Wild Elven Ranger, who is dual classed as a thief and is picking up more Bard skills than I though she should ever have a right to. Though ya know when the party needs a distraction, she's willing to be said distraction, being quicker on her feet than our thief most of the time, and cursed with a high charisma (No I did not say it wrong).

Will I still play her? Hell yeah, will I play her in a WotC game? Not for a while. The whole ordeal, has left an angry bitter taste, and well, I do have her already slotted for round robin type games and I am planning on rerolling her stats once I find a replacement game system I like for her. I like my high fantasy, and hell at this point I'm half tempted to just slot her as a character in one of my writing projects. That way I can still play with Taleenya Greenleaf, without having to deal with all the ick.

She may have started from a one shot in a game based in Dragonlance (One of my favorite book series as well mind you. I still love my high fantasy), but that is the beauty of gaming with original characters, they can move, evolve and become something else. Will I ever try her in a space based game? Maybe if I find one that seems interesting enough. But for now, I'm okay with looking at her in my gaming binder, where she'll stay for just a bit until I feel that I can game again.

And where and what that game will look like? Is probably going to be a great adventure. Because really, isn't that what all us gamers really want? Just an adventure that lets us have a hobby that doesn't have to cost thousands of dollars and need specialized equipment? I mean really, the dice we use, have been used for centuries. And I have seen many people make their own, hell there's some I really want to buy myself. I really doubt we need to stick to 'official' materials.

After all DMs are story tellers, the monsters we can create as one, can be far more entertaining than what's in a book. Yeah it would take us a little more creativity, but isn't that why we picked up DnD to begin with? I know I for one picked it up to work on my story telling. It's why I've kept all my characters, Tal, Reiko, Maric and his brother Devon, even have a shape shifting fox, and a techy that all started out from table top games. I almost want to get the books for my techy's start and replay that for nostalgia's sake, I mean really had giant robots, aliens, different planets. She'd finally get her Cyclone.

And yeah I know finding the modules will be a chore, but I kinda lost a lot of my gaming stuff leaving Georgia. Though getting new modules, or even coming up and testing out a new system myself might be fun.... I already have so much on my plate though!!! Including a mad desire to introduce tabletop gaming in a very basic form to elderly in a home. Mostly because it would allow them to get in touch with a creative side I know for a fact most activities don't touch. And yeah that's something that I will be looking into trying to write a storyline for at some point. I almost want to try it at the very Sunday Book Club based home near me. I know that the faculty there would have a hissy fit because it's "devils' work", you know how many youth group pastors I follow on TikTok that play out games with their kids as a way of getting them involved with the material that the pastor of the church is teaching? Far more than I thought ever would be. And I for one totally love it. May those youth group leaders keep teaching those kids how to think outside the box!

[rolliaa]

Ziggurat 2 review

#Ziggurat 2 review full

Add in that length 1 can mean 1 floor (okay, cool) or two floors (Less cool, that’s a war of attrition it’s not so easy to get through when you’re low level), and… Yeah, it needs a little work.Īesthetically, a definite improvement, and pretty accessible to boot. But it does need fine tuning, as, right now, coin drops are annoyingly hard to get, and I have far more things in need of a level up than I have coins to level them up. And the new levelling system (XP and coins are necessary) and map system are definitely an interesting change. As far as looks go, it’s very pretty, and you can tell the modellers on the team have been improving their craft. God-damn carnivorous carrots, cackling and getting everywhere…īut it’s still got a ways to go right now, and it shows. Oh, whaddya know, one of my screenshots with shooting in it has the little bastards in it too. And, of course, you do that by blowing the shit out of stuff with those weapons and wizards. Which you’ll need to level up your wands, staffs, spellbooks, amulets, and alchemical/mechanical weaponry. Now you, some of the few surviving wizards, have to clean up the mess this wizarding war caused by, er… Doing what you did last time, but in discrete areas.Īnd this is honestly one of the more interesting changes: Rather than a strict level based structure, it’s a more quest based deal, in which solving mini dungeons gets you cool stuff and money. So, yay, wizard schism, the Ziggurat (reminder: Prison to seal away very bad monsters) got blown up in the war. Turns out wizards don’t fuck around when it comes to higher education.Īlas, wizards are also known, beyond deadly educational procedures, for warring over things and causing apocalypses or other terrible events. In the first game, you, a wizard from a pool of wizards (some of whom were unlockable), had to go up the Ziggurat, a prison to seal away horrific beasties, as your wizarding exam. So now, we have a sequel, and it’s changed the formula somewhat. There is little more horrifying than seeing this as you close your eyes for the last time. Some cool bosses, interesting weapons (some of which were, alas, crap), and carnivorous carrots aplenty. Well, well, well… Ziggurat was one of those games that, if you were into arena fight roguelites (Walk into room, if room has enemies, kill them all before you leave, get stuff, rinse, repeat, boss, end level) was not bad at all. Ziggurat 2 has been redesigned from the ground up with the goal of improving over the original in all areas, and offer an even smoother and faster experience, with quicker, more intense sessions, and more interactive and fulfilling progression.Price: £14.99 (Soundtrack £4.79, bundle £17.80) With dozens of unlockable weapons with different natures and behaviors, preparation before a mission is crucial and may be the difference between an overwhelming victory and the bitter taste of defeat. In the Citadel, home of the Brotherhood, you'll be able to recruit new and old allies, as well as improve your equipment and skills, before deciding which mission to perform next. Going a step further, dungeons now have more verticality and variety, and more compact rooms, for quicker fights and easier exploration.

#Ziggurat 2 review full

No two plays are the sameįollowing the line of its predecessor, in Ziggurat 2 dungeons are randomly generated, full of dangers and treasure for the bold wizards daring to enter them. You'll need dexterity, reflexes and resource management skills to have a chance of survival against the dangers hiding in the shadows, and manage to come back safe and sound. Ziggurat 2 focuses on fast paced combat and constant movement, in which mistakes are paid dearly. Keep an eye on elemental resistances and vulnerabilities to maximize your efficiency, and earn experience to level up and learn useful perks that will help you reach the end of the dungeon in one piece. Face hordes of enemies and fearsome Guardians in epic and dynamic combats. Will you be up to the task? Evil lurks in the depthsĪs a member of the most powerful magic order, your task is to protect humanity from the forces of evil. About This Game Ziggurat is back, and now it's even better! Use powerful weapons and spells to break through hordes of enemies and explore labyrinthine dungeons in this hectic roguelite FPS, while you improve your skills and discover new equipment.

[team-heavenly]

Chapter 12 - Part 2

If you haven’t already, read Part 1 here!

So we finally reach the Gold rank and upgrade our storage capacity from 200 to 320! Yay!

The Guild is also peeved with me for taking four days away from the cause, so we hurry back to the plot to avoid getting pelted with Tamato berries.

Sounds good to me. Let’s do this!

So the... first floor of Questionable Causeway is the same as Quirky Crown.

Also ignore my artificially inflated playtime hahaha

Actually, I didn’t have too much trouble with this one- no more than usual, anyway. Although one attempt was thwarted by a Typhlosion having STAB for the strongest Fire Type move in the game:

It happened so fast that I blinked and it was over. As you can see from my max HP, I didn’t stand a chance.

“Look at these three crystals! They’re huge!”

I low key cannot believe that Beedrill’s group stumbled upon this, went “Wow! Cool! Three big crystals! Not much we can do with that though!” and just returned to the guild thinking these weren’t even worth mentioning. Like hello?? Y’all are explorers and puzzles aren’t exactly uncommon in this world! Use your head!

Okay maybe the group was (rightfully) wary this could trigger a trap of sorts, so they didn’t bother even touching the crystals. And sure, they knew nothing about the colors needing to match. Without that knowledge, it could be any possible combination that would yield a result, and trying them all out would take A While.

HNNNNNG I DON’T KNOW WHY BUT THAT MADE ME THINK OF THIS:

Same energy.

And then of course...

I’ve tried taking pictures of the few times the Dimensional Scream is just a voice. But the white text REALLY doesn’t show up well against the black, for some reason.

Naturally, we crack the code within about 10 seconds.

God I love these double screen portraits so much.

Woohoo! Let’s see what Crystal Crossing is!

Evil... Bluff... Uh oh. Boy, I sure hope that’s not a bad omen.

Again, this dungeon wasn’t too bad. I only had to reset once.

It suddenly hit me that 2F is exactly what Crystal Cave is supposed to be lmao. What are the chances?

Present?! Oh Andrea, honey, no-

Ran into another Secret Bazaar and decided to intimidate the true Time Gear Guardian by staring at him menacingly for a bit.

Okay, now here’s the next long stretch of dialogue and action. I didn’t expressly mention this in Part 1, but you may have noticed how I subtly formatted the images for the opening scene. With the more serious moments that drive the plot forward, I try to minimize my commentary. It just feels like the most appropriate thing to do. I know we’ve been through these scenes before, but I hope it can still be somewhat interesting/fresh with the new cast of characters.

The battle... It took more than a few Blizzards to knock him out. But we didn’t get roughed up too badly. The only move I saw him use was Luster Purge, which scared me a decent bit.

Nevertheless, we get brutally tossed aside and utterly paralyzed.

“This is all for the Time Gear! Forgive me...”

Click here for Part 3.

[shadlad24]

The Bitter Truth

Yay! I get to share my ideas on another thing contested by fandom! heh Many Xenites don’t understand how Gabrielle was able to cross the waterfall in Illusia unscathed when Xena could not, initially. They both were untruthful to each other about “The Debt,” weren’t they?

The thing is, however, that Gabrielle never lied about what happened in Chin. In the moment, she said that she was sorry but couldn’t let Xena kill Ming T’ien. These things were both true. She later tells the man himself that she thought it was better to betray Xena than to let Xena betray herself; this was also true. Finally, she tells Xena the same thing during their visit in the dungeon. She did think she was saving Xena. She had let her reverence for life turn her against Xena yet again. And she hated herself for her foolishness. No part of her apology was a lie.

Something widely forgotten and/or not fully understood is that the whole truth is rarely one thing. All her pre-Illusia disclosed reasons played into Gabrielle taking Ares up on his offer. So too did her late-confessed motives. I’m sure even more reasons played into her decision and fire-water passing ability as well, the latter even beyond the fact that she had repressed her intolerable emotions and memories to the point she sincerely could not remember them without divine intervention.

Contrast this with Xena’s massive deception. The warrior princess went as far as to set up a whole drama to make it look like she was talking to a living Green Dragon after killing him. Nothing she said during her recap of it to Gabrielle was true either. The battling bard was wrong. Xena did need to resolve the situation with murder. That was the mission Lao Ma gave her.

Lest we forget, Lao Ma was really, really dark in a lot of ways. But that can be further explored in another post. Suffice it here to say that she, like season-five Xena, was simply unable to kill her child herself. Thus, she planned for her son to die by Xena’s hand. Lao Ma specifically took the time to teach Xena how to use that hair broach as a deadly weapon. She gave it to Xena more than once while Xena was still ruled by uncontrollable hatred and bloodlust. And while Lao Ma was overjoyed to get it back (an unspoken and ultimately short-lived promise that Xena would turn from her path of destruction) and stopped Xena from killing Ming T’ien the next day… she realized she was wrong in the end. Thus, her final request was to have the hair broach returned to Xena, after sending for her warrior princess to come deal with her son.

Anyway, back to the point, Xena told Gabrielle bald-faced lies and even orchestrated a manipulation worthy of Dahak’s cult with that little scene she set up for Gabrielle’s “benefit.” She then denied what she had done and the motives behind it; Gabrielle told the truth, albeit not the whole truth, originally. Nor did she deny her deeper motivations or try to cover up what she had done. After all, she waited in Ming T’ien’s bed and showed herself to Xena when she could have simply warned the tyrant, suggested that he get someone else play decoy for Xena, and then gotten out of there, leaving Xena none the wiser to her involvement. Hence, she was able to pass under the Waterfall of Truth* while Xena had to come clean first.

.

*There might be another facet at play here. Perhaps the Waterfall also/actually judges absolution. Xena’s and Gabrielle’s time in Illusia up to that point had been geared toward helping Xena understand and then forgive Gabrielle: The war arena let her kill the bard but showed her that doing so only made her feel worse; the echo chamber taught her that she needed to hear Gabrielle out rather than continue dwelling on her own pain; and the temple got her to realize that hatred was her true enemy. Her return to putting a higher priority on her sidekick’s wellbeing than her own signified a restoration of their relationship. Meanwhile, Gabrielle had not yet forgiven Xena for lying to her about Ming T’ien because she didn’t know that was an issue. Thus, Xena remained unabsolved. Nor was she able to cross the barrier without Gabrielle reaching out and pulling her through.

(I have a lot of notes about how it was almost always up to Gabrielle to make the first move during their time in Illusia, but that too will have to be is another post for another time, if requested. Thanks again for reading this far! 🙂)

[emerald-echeveria-plant]

All hail

Sophie, humming while brushing her hair: hmmm..

Jim, walks up behind her and covers her eyes: guess who..?

Sophie, playfully: oh gee I don't know, Lukas maybe?

Jim: oh please you already know who it is babe. *Uncovers her eyes*

Sophie: I know, I was only teasing *gives him a peck on the cheek*

Jim: I wanted to give you something that I bought.

Sophie: hm, what is it..?

Jim, pulls out a shell small jewels necklace with small jewels: tada!

Sophie: Jim it's lovely! Thank you..

Jim: I was in the market today and was thinking about a certain someone when I saw this beauty. I thought to myself, huh, who do I know is as beautiful as this necklace that I found.. and you know who said it was..?

Sophie, playfully: I can't seem to put my finger on it.. 🤔

Jim: It was you.

Sophie: oh Jim, you're so sweet.. *hugs him*

Jim, hugs her back: I know.

//The two lean in for a kiss until Lukas pops his head in, sharing a hug with the two.//

Lukas: YAY! Group hug!! What are you guys talking about??

Jim, displeased: oh, hey Lu, were just having an intimate moment.. but it's fine, its whatever.

Lukas: whoops! Sorry about that, didn't mean to ruin the moment. *Rubs the back of his neck*

Sophie, giggles: it's okay, maybe next time Jim *kisses his cheek softly*

Jim, blushes softly: thanks babe.

Lukas: anyway, came to tell you all, Silver and Elinor made breakfast.

Sophie: we'll be there in a while, just gotta finish up getting ready.

Lukas, nods: aight, see y'all later! *Leaves the room*

Jim: now that we're alone.. mind if I can get that kiss?

Sophie: okay you can.. *Gives him a peck on the cheek* now get out because I'm going to change.

Jim, shrugs: whatever you say babe! *Leaves the room*

//Jim walks into the dining area where everyone was sitting at the table. He sits next to Ollie. Ollie notices the lovey dovey look on Jim's face.//

Ollie: Something on your mind Jim?

Jim: huh? Oh it's nothing.. just thinking about how I'm the luckiest guy in the world.

Ollie: what did you win the lottery or somethin'?

Emma: more like the lottery of l o v e

Jim, playfully: pfft yeah right.. Just because I'm with the most beautiful, intelligent, kindest girl in the world doesn't mean- wait.. yeah you're definitely right.

Emma, giggles: remember to have me as a bridesmaid at your and Sophie's wedding ;) *goes to sit down next to Jim*

Jim: that won't be for a while..

Elinor, places a bowl of porridge in front of Jim: aw young love, a precious thing to cherish. Reminds me of when me and Silver were younger. Butterflies in our stomachs and completely all over each other.

Silver: you act as if we still don't do that now.

Elinor: oh I know.. were just not young anymore. *Kisses Silver on the cheek*

Silver: like that makes a difference *hugs her from behind*

Fisch, jokingly: you two love birds gonna join us to eat or make out in the middle of breakfast?

Elinor: heh, you're right. Let's sit down Silver.

//Just as they were about to seat themselves, a comet had scrapped by the chip. Creating a large hole on the side of the ship.//

Silver: oh you've got to be kidding me!

Cetus: huh.. maybe I shouldn't have parked here.. sorry Silver.

Silver, sighs: I don't blame ya lad. No one could've predicted this happenin..

Andrew: we should go to Montressor to get that fixed up. It isn't too far from here.

Silver: I just hope we'll be able to make it.

//Sophie had finally finished up changing. She heard the commotion and worried something bad happened. Sophie rushed towards Jim.//

Sophie: what's going on? Is everything ok?? Jim, are you okay???

Jim: Babe, I'm fine! We just had a "little" accident on the ship.

Sophie: Little??! It felt like we crashed into something!

Jim: ummm.. more like something crashed into us.

Sophie, sighs: okay, this is fine.. We're going to be okay right..?

Jim: of course we are! They're just going to stir the ship towards Montressor, they'll get it fixed then bata bing, bata boom! It'll be fixed up and it'll be like the damaged never happened.

Sophie: I sure hope they do.

//A few minutes went by and Cetus managed to stir the ship towards a docking area. After having a conversation with a repairman, a majority of the crew left the ship. Deciding to explore or purchase since they were on Montressor.

Sophie and Jim decided to take a walk. They held hands as the two looked around the many shops and stands.//

Jim: Do you want to get something to eat Sophie? You kinda missed breakfast back there.

Sophie: oh, um, sure!

Jim: what should we get?

Sophie: hmm, how about.. a smoothie! I just want something light and easy to carry around for now.

Jim: Okay! Let's go!

//The two got into a line at a smoothie stand. As they waited, something caught the eye of Sophie. A few feet from the couple was a group of people reading newspapers. They seemed panicked as they chatted about what was in the news. Interested, Sophie walked over to the newspapers.//

Sophie, picks up a newspaper: huh?

//On the front cover showed a cryptic image of a woman with black hair in a red and black dress. They were holding to what appeared to be a staff. Next to them was a green woman with pink hair. The image couldn't make out what she was supposed to be. Maybe like a plant?//

Sophie: says here that the proclaimed dead Queen Hatred and her henchman Veronica have been spotted inside of Amoretia.. huh? Never heard about this lady before.

???: HEY!

//Sophie turned around to see a guard standing a few inches away from her.//

Guard #1: You! You're coming with me!

Sophie: uh.. no..?

Guard #1: you have to. They've been looking for you.

Sophie:

Sophie: who?

Guard #1: The high counsel of Terra. Now come with me! *Grabs Sophie by her shoulder*

Sophie, tries to jerk herself out of his grip: get your hands off me!

//Jim, who was about to purchase the smoothies, quickly turned his head when hearing Sophie yell. He ran over to her and the guard.//

Jim: you heard what she said! Let go of her!

Guard #1: can't. The high counsel told me not to.

Jim: high counsel??

Cetus: what is going on around here?

//The others had arrived when seeing Sophie and Jim in danger.//

Guard #1: don't I recognize you..?

Cetus: No, I don't believe we've met.

Guard: Wait, I do know you! You're that cursed cephalopid that stole from Terra's merchant ships!

Cetus:

Cetus: it was someone else.

Guard: I'm not letting you go this time! You and your entire entourage are coming with me!

Silver, smugly: oh really? You and what ar-

//A bunch of other soldiers pop out of nowhere.//

Silver:

Silver: I didn't even get to finish my sentence and you already knew what I was going to say.

//In the next scene, everyone except for Sophie were in the dungeon of the Terran castle.//

Valentino: why am I here?? I'm not a criminal like the rest of you!

Andrew: I'm pretty sure coercing with theives and pirates still counts as a crime.

Valentino: what?! I don't know that!

Elinor, sighs: hopefully our trials are fair and they actually give us, I don't know, maybe a few months behind bars? Then again chances of that are very low.

Valentino: you mean we'll be sent to the gallows??? But I still have some unfinished designs to do! Oh this is horrible!

Silver: oh shut it for once Val!

//In private meeting room of the castle, the counselmen were standing in front of Sophie.//

Sophie; who are you people? Why'd you put my family and boyfriend in jail???

Counselman #1: they were wanted criminals that deserved to be locked up.

Sophie: let them go! I demand it!

Counselman #1: you are so much better than them, why do you affiliate yourself with such hooligans?

Sophie: because I love them!

Counselman #2: Miss Sophie, do you know about your royal heritage?

Sophie: royal.. heritage..?

Counselman#2: hm, well you're father was the brother of Queen Illysa. Making him a-

Sophie: prince..?

Counselman #1: correct

Sophie: So technically I'm a.. princess..?

Counselman #2: also correct.

Sophie: I- I-.. why..?

Counselman #1: we need your help Miss Sophie.

Sophie: I don't understand.

Counselman #1: Queen Illysa has been turned to stone and we need your help guidance!

Counselman #2: yes certainly! We need your guidance on how to defeat Hatred!

Counselman #3: what?? I thought we agreed that we'd make peace with her??

Sophie: I-

Counselman #2: no, we need her to wage against Hatred! Why would we make peace treaty with that lunatic??

Sophie: um-

Counselman #3: because Hatred is going to kill us all once she gets her army back! Listening to her demands is the way to go!

Sophie: can I-

Counselman #1: enough out of the both of you! We need her guidance!

Counselman #2: yes with war!

Counselman #3: no, peace!

Counselman #2: war!

Counselman #3: peace!

Counselman #2: WAR!

Counselman #3: PEACE!

Counselman #2: WAR!

Counselman #3: PEACE!

Sophie: F*CKING SHUT UP!!!

//All counselman look at her with a shocked looks on their faces.//

Sophie: please... As your queen.. princess.. whatever.. can you let my family go?

Counselman #1: but they're-

Sophie: I KNOW WHAT I SAID!

Counselman #1: of course your majesty.

//Down in the dungeon, everyone seemed to accept the fact that they were going to get hanged. Except for Valentino.//

Valentino: I can't, I can't! This isn't happening!

Silver: Just say you're prayers. You'll feel less scared.

Valentino: there's so many things I haven't done! Like making a gown for a princess or skydiving or um, uh- I CAN'T DIE THIS SOON!

Guard, unlocks the door and opens it: congratulations, you've all been let go by the queen.

Cetus: the queen? Huh.., she most be feeling extra generous today.

Valentino: YES! FREEDOM!

Guard: not so fast horn head, she wants to see you all.

Cetus: nevermind. We're doomed.

Valentino: ಥ_ಥ

//All of them went to a private meeting room. They opened the doors to see Sophie and the other counselmen.//

Jim: Sophie! *Tries to run towards her*

Counselman #2, stops Jim: now what do you think you're doing???

Jim: huh?

Counselman #2: what? You're not going to bow to your queen? Show some respect!

Jim, looks at Sophie; Sophie..?

Sophie, bows her head: it's true.

//Jim looked very shocked. He tried to take in this new information but he had so many questions. Did she now she was a queen? Why couldn't she tell him?? Or why did they need her now??//

Counselman #2: didn't you here me boy? Bow before-

Sophie: that is unnecessary. Now, please leave us.

Counselman #1: what about Hatred? What will we do and prepare for?

Sophie: I'll figure that out later. I want to talk with my family first.

//The counselman #1 nodded as he and the other counselmen left the room. As soon as they left, Jim went up to Sophie.//

Jim: what the heck is going on??

Sophie: I don't know! They want me to handle a situation with a lady named Hatred?? I don't even know who that is! I don't know if I should go to war or peace but either one seems like a bad option!

Jim: babe calm down! You can think about it later...

Sophie, whimpering: then all of a sudden I'm made a queen and I found out my dad was the brother to the queen and I- I- *falls to her knees* all of this info is too much for me right now..

Jim, gets on his knees: It's gonna be okay, I promise. We'll figure this out together!

Emma: Jim's right! We've got your back Sophie!

Victor: absolutely! If you need some advice just tell us!

Elinor: you know this Hatred lady kinda sounds familiar..

Cetus: you know something about her Elli?

Elinor: From what I learned, she was just a myth at the time. A queen that lived five hundred years ago and almost had full control of the etherium. She was hell-bent on getting rid of all love in the etherium which is why she wanted to take over the etherium in the first place-

Jeremiah: wait, wait.. you're telling me this queen wanted to get rid of all love? What kinda lunatic would do that!?

Emma: almost like it's similar to trying to achieve class equality by killing rich people.

Jeremiah: yeah, I know right?

Emma, looks at him confused: oookkaay..

Elinor: but anyway, this Hatred is a big deal. Legend says she never lost a battle or war, created her own henchman, and was able to conquer multiple planets.

Cetus: Well, Hatred has clearly never met us before. We'll take her down! She'll be so easy to defeat because I mean come on, there's a ton of us and one of her. It's not like she has an army.

Elinor: She has an army.

Cetus:

Cetus: as long as we believe in ourselves we'll win!

Silver: yeah, that believing we'll take us right to the graveyard..

Valentino: I think we should let Terra's army handle it and maybe come up with a battle strategy?

Elinor: Probably. Even if we make peace with that looney bin, she'll ask for the keys to the Terran empire. Then she'll try to conquer the rest of the etherium.

Sophie: wait.. we have to fight her.

Everyone: WHAT?!

Sophie: Using an army won't be enough to take her down. If they couldn't do it in the past, then we can't make the same mistake. We have to make a plan to get rid of her by any means!

Jim: Sophie, are you sure about this?

Sophie: positive.

Elinor: Hm, maybe if we try ambushing her we can take her by surprise and get the job done! That's how they "killed" her in the past! But I'm sure we'll manage to get the job done.

Cetus: sounds like a plan! I'm in!

Andrew: me too!

Jeremiah: let's kill this tyrant!

Emma: heck yeah!

Fisch: I'll die trying if it means getting the job done!

Ollie: Hatred won't even know what hit her!

Lukas: She's going down!

Nomura: Destroying Hatred will be a walk in the park.

Lyka: Question, after we kill her can I take her jewels?

Elinor: Yes Lyka.

Lyka: LETS GO!!!!

Jim: I'll do it if Sophie's up for it!

Sophie: Honey I'm always down to kick some ass.

Valentino: um, I'll just stay here...

Silver, sighs: Alright let's go!

Elinor: I can't wait to beat someone up! It's been so long!

Silver: um.. yer not going lass.

Elinor:

Elinor: what?

Silver: I can't risk you getting hurt. We have cubs for goodness sake. You need to stay here and watch over them while we're gone. You understand lass?

Elinor: okay.. I understand.

Silver: I'm only doing this because I love you and our cubs..

Elinor:

Elinor, smiles softly: then go get em' you big softie! *Kisses Silver*

//Silver kisses her back. They others waited around awkwardly waiting for them to finish.//

Cetus, coughs fakely: kinda running on a schedule here guys.

Elinor, pulls back and awkwardly rubs the back of her neck; oh yeah right, sorry.

Silver: be safe darlin'

Elinor: and you be careful.

//And with that, the heros set off on another ship that the Terran empire owned. They sailed off.//

Silver: where exactly are we going Sophie?

Sophie: a planet called Amoretia. Its gonna be a while so we should plan our strategy on how to take down Hatred.

Silver: aye your highness!

//They sailed for the planet Amoretia. With Sophie contemplating if this was a good idea or not. Well it was too late to back out now. Time to go take down this fool...

Yet as they sailed, in an office on another planet, was a mysterious person sitting at their desk.//

???, Reading a newspaper: huh, says here old Queenie finally found a way to come back. At last, I was starting to think she'd never show up.

//Another person walked into the room, standing at the doorway.//

???: You wished to see me sir..?

???: I did. I want you too set sail for our ship. We're going to Amoretia.

???: Um, can I ask why sir?

???: Hatred is back and I taste an opportunity.

???: If you don't mind me asking, of what kind sir?

???: An opportunity to finally get all the riches I desire. As well as boost my position of power. And that hot-headed queen is going to help me get there. Wether she likes it or not.

???: Right. I'll go prepare the ship sir.

//the unknown person walks out of the room. The first unknown person placed the newspaper down on their desk.//

???: This etherium is going to become mine..

//Their snake like tongue sizzled out as their slit eyes lit up the room.//

To be continued...

((Hatred, Elinor, Valentino, and Jeremiah belong to me

Cetus and Andrew belong to @aalbliii

Sophie belongs to @sleeplessdreamer14

Emma belongs to @the-weirdos-mind

Lukas belongs to @wallymcflubberfins

Lyka belongs to @princssealexis165

Fisch belongs to @komatheterrible

Ollie belongs to @sailingthespiral

Nomura belongs to @authorchanlove))

[jacaranda-bloom]

October Fic Rec

I’ve been super slack in doing my monthly fic recs of late (sorry!) so this list covers the last 3 months and there’s lots of lovely fics to devour!

In this instalment, there are fics from @lesbianiconharrystyles @kingsofeverything @mediawhorefics @lululawrence @harryanthus @evilovesyou @fallinglikethis @cocoalou @gaycousinlarry @comebackassholes @daggerandrose @allwaswell16 @sadaveniren @all-these-larrythings @wait4ever @jaerie @laynefaire @harrybridgers and @missandrogyny.

Thank you to all the writers for sharing their wonderful talent with us. Please don’t forget to leave kudos and a comment if you enjoy their work. 💜

New Reads

💜 Ever Since I Tried Your Way | @lesbianiconharrystyles / flowercrownfemme | E | 26k | June 2020 | 1940′s/50′s, farm/ranch, farmer Louis, farmer Harry, virgin Harry, gay cowboys, repression, internalised homophobia, hurt/comfort, gender exploration, marriage kink, feminisation, romantic face shaving, body worship, country music | As soon as I started this fic I knew it wouldn’t be able to put it down. It’s just... gosh. The writing is stunning and I was completely immersed from the first page to the last.

💜 Have Love, Will Travel | @kingsofeverything | E | 97k | Sept 2020 | road trip, camping, friends to lovers, smut, humour, youtube, POV Louis, slow burn | God, this story was everything I wanted it to be and so much more. Amazing relationship building and great communication. Hilarious, brilliant dialogue, heartwarming.

💜 Love You In The Dark | Perzikje | E | 10k | Oct 2020 | wedding night, arranged marriage, smut, dubious consent | Sexual exploration and first times. Check authors note.

💜 All These Lights | @mediawhorefics | E | 35k | Nov 2015 | ABO, X Factor, consensual under age sex, omega Harry, alpha Louis, angst with a happy ending, smut | I’m a sucker for a good ABO fic and this one didn’t disappoint.

💜 I Go Down Blazing, Feeling Like I’m Going Crazy (series) | @lululawrence | NR | 30k | Niall / Rory McIlroy | Oct 2020 | soulmates, famous/famous, singer Niall, golfer Rory, pining, diet angst, no smut, heartbreak weather, based on Dear Patience and Bend The Rules | This was my first time reading Niall/Rory and I adored it. Brilliant take on the soulmate trope too, heartwarming and tender. 

💜 Who Do You Burn For | @harryanthus | NR | 4k | Oct 2020 | strangers to lovers, implied/referenced drug use, references to addition | I am such a massive fan of this author and I will inhale anything they publish. More like poetry than prose. So evocative.

💜 Point. Drop, Call. | @evilovesyou / 4ureyesonly28 | G | 1.6k | Jan 2020 | summer, best friends, summer romance, first kiss, party games, mutual crushes, coming out | This was absolutely adorable and managed to provide a whole-ass story in 1,610 words. All the summer feels.

💜 Eat Your Vegetables | bananaheathen | M | 9k | Aug 2020 | soccer player Louis, nutritionist Harry, shopping, banter, sexual realisation, smut | This fic sucked me in from the very first page, so much so that when I went back to grab the link to add to this post I ended up re-reading the entire thing. So witty and sweet and all the goodness in the world.

💜 For Wanting | anonymous | E | 5k | Oct 2020 | post mpreg Louis, male lactation, body worship, lactation kink, strangers to lovers, neighbours, dirty talk | Really sweet and hot, beautifully written. 

💜 Pillow Talk | @fallinglikethis | E | 26k | Feb 2016 | friends to lovers, sexuality crisis, first time, mutual pining | I have no idea how I’ve never read this fic. Such a clever plot and perfectly delivered. Hot and funny and sweet and all the loveliness.

💜 The End | @harryanthus | T | 5k | Aug 2020 | post-war, selectively mute Louis, soldier Harry, psychological trauma, hopeful ending, non-specific time period | This is everything I usually avoid reading but this writer’s words just do something to my brain and I let down all of my protective barriers and dive in not caring about what I’m going to be faced with. I’m yet to be disappointed. When I read their fics I always feel like I’m floating or drowning or... I don’t even know how to describe it, but yeah. Wow.

💜 The Anticipation of Knowing You | @cocoalou / sweetrevenge | T | 13k | Sept 2020 | strangers to lovers, neighbours, pen pals, love letters, baked goods as a wooing technique | This was all kinds of lovely and funny and sweet. The premise is brilliant and I understand that we’re to be blessed with parts 2 and 3 in the near future, so yay!

💜 It’s Halftime. Are You Ready To Go? | @gaycousinlarry / momentofclarity | E | 12k | Oct 2017 | friends to lovers, awkward boners, pining, banter, flirting, dirty talk, body worship, smut, watching football as a seduction technique, Niall texts Harry terrible sporting innuendos to make him sweat, jockstraps | So fucking good. Sexy and cute and funny. Could read this one again and again.

💜 Salvation Let’s Their Wings Unfold | twoshipstiedup | M | 14k | May 2019 | angels and demons, heaven and hell, angel Louis, demon Harry, humour, fluff, romance | So much love for this fic. Way less heavy than the tags suggest. Niall is both supremely unhelpful and the captain of the ship as always. Fluffy and fun and romantic.

💜 Dom Louis (series) | @comebackassholes / dimpled_halo | E | 12k | Mar 2020 | dom Louis, sub Marcel, BDSM, kink negotiation | God. This series is amazing. Hot and sweet and nnnrrgggh. Really hope we get more in this universe.

💜 For You I’d Bleed Myself Dry | @daggerandrose / amomentoflove | E | 50k | May 2019 | vampire Louis, human Harry, soulmates, king Louis, angst, depression, blood drinking, past abuse, past kidnapping | I absolutely loved this fic. Beautifully written and so thick with emotion. Check tags, summary and author notes.

💜 Interview With The Vampire | @allwaswell16 | E | 4k | Louis / Robert Pattinson | Sept 2020 | ABO, omega Louis, alpha Rob, journalist Louis, actor, Rob, interviews, humour, bad cooking, bad flirting, scenting, knotting, smut | The rare pair I never knew I needed. Wow. Brilliantly told story. Cute and cheeky and fluffy and hot. Loved it.

💜 Fellowship of Eroda | @sadaveniren | E | 5k | Feb 2020 | dungeons and dragons, gaming, hate to love, BDSM, face slapping, facials, wrestling, choking, spanking, Louis is a brat, so is Harry a bit | Adored this. Such a clever plot and the writing is amazing as always.

💜 Brooklyn Saw Me | alreadyhome | E | 29k | Nov 2017 | homeless Louis, uni student Harry, no-graphic violence, homophobia, angst, slow burn, hurt/comfort, NYC | Painfully beautiful and so well written. Loved it from start to finish.

💜 It Feels Different When You’re With Me | @all-these-larrythings / rearviewdreamer | M | 45k | May 2020 | deaf Louis, sign language instructor Harry, slow burn, mentions of major character injury in the past | God. This fic is amazing. Gorgeous writing and so romantic and sweet.

💜 You’re Music To My Eyes | @fallinglikethis @wait4ever / recycledstardust | T | 6k | July 2020 | blind Louis, Be My Eyes app, volunteer Harry, TPWK | This fic is truly wonderful, romantic and so sweet. It even encouraged me to sign up for the app and I’ve taken two calls already!

💜 We’ll Be Alright | @jaerie | E | 20k | Feb 2020 | ABO, alpha Harry, omega Louis, major illness, sick Harry, sex therapist Louis, dubious ethics, sexual dysfunction, depression, recovery, mating, knotting, unplanned pregnancy | Gosh. So good. So hot. So lovely.

💜 Let Me Be Your Everlasting Light | @laynefaire | M | 12k | Aug 2020 | established relationship, northern lights, Norway, romance, proposal | Loved every beautiful word of this. So romantic and sweet. Can I go to Norway please?

Re-Reads

💜 Here In The Afterglow | @harrybridgers / fondleeds | E | 89k | Dec 2016 | 1970′s AU, small town America, gay rights movement, period-typical homophobia, strange to friends to lovers, angst, hurt/comfort, bullying, high school | Re-read of an old fave which hits differently each time I revisit it. Hauntingly beautiful and heartbreaking in some parts, but ultimately uplifting and hopeful.

💜 Led By Your Beating Heart | @missandrogyny | E | 30k | Oct 2015 | famous Harry, non-famous Louis, Call or Delete, Cute Lou from the Loo, coming out, smut, banter, romance | Still one of my all time faves. The plot is delicious and the flow of the whole story just makes me smile throughout. I find myself going back to this one every few months. Romantic and fluffy and sexy as all hell.

💜 Is This Seat Taken? | Lainy122 | E 35k | Dec 2015 | famous Harry, non-famous Louis, popstar Harry, seat-filler Louis (eventually), Louis and Zayn make bets, penis-shaped cashew nuts, miscommunication, shitty PR tactics | One of my all-time fave fics. I must’ve read this one more than ten times by now and it never disappoints. Funny and sweet and hot.

💜 When The Sun Won’t Let You Sleep | @allwaswell16 | E | 30k | July 2018 | enemies to lovers, scientist Louis, scientist Harry, Antarctica, sexual tension, smut, diet angst | Such an interesting plot that is handled so beautifully. I adore all of this authors work but this definitely up there with my faves.

[violet-t-9]

Checking in on my (not very realistic) wish list for episode 133

1. Continued dungeon crawl starting with a relatively easy victory against the frost salamander thingy.

Fjord you battle genius! That was pretty easy I totally knew it-oh never mind lol there is another one. Also, Capeleb my beloved. Still pretty easy first combat though considering they took both salamanders out in 2 rounds.

2. They discover more about the nature of the “coldness” they experience in the ruins that keeps making them do constitution checks (is it just the brown mold? I don’t trust it).

I mean, seems like regular brown mold to me at this point! We got a full explanation of their effects as well! (Still don’t trust it though.)

3. Maybe they can discover some more cool relics/clues to what happened to Aeor, the nine eyes, its history or arcane and this mysterious ward.

They found the city proper! Cool stuff. They also found mummified bodies and pretty architecture. A weird body with metallic features and runes! A smooth orb power core? Weird blue and teal lights and dome. Who is that woman?

4. Confirm (via commune perhaps, let’s go team clerics) that the TT are in fact still gathering their crests/just got them so M9 still have some time to relax/plan.

Yay Jester! Go Jester! Shoot they are less than a day away though... but they still got some time to rest/plan. At least Trent and Co. are not pursuing close. Ah never mind they are actually here-

5. Seeing more of Essek’s cool dunamancy spells in combat and for other things (Matt please give me more of that delicious dunamantic flavour yum), also seeing his other fancy magical items.

Magnify Gravity hype! Magic missile description was also cool (love the colour scheme)! Sending stones made an appearance again! (Rip those rangers)

6. I will continue waiting for the Essek and Caleb one-on-one conversation until it happens eventually (manifesting). (Bonus: Essek meets winter Frumpkin)

Yes! It happened! They talked, in private. Literally everything I have ever wanted for weeks now, thank you critical role.

7. More Essek realization moments as he gets more and more convinced that he is surrounded by super powerful idiots. (Bonus: Essek gets either super impressed by M9′s battle skills or joins in their fun afterwards)

I’m counting the Capeleb moments lol, low int Capeleb is low int. (Again, Capeleb my beloved.) Also Essek joined them in their heroes’ feast and expressed his love of beef stew so I’m going to assume he had fun.

8. Finding a place they see fit, coming up with and deciding on a tangible plan for ambushing the TT and actually setting up the traps. (Bonus: discover the place where the TT plans to use to go to the astral sea)

I love ambush planning! They actually set stuff up! Wonderful wonderful. Did not expect them to actually confront the TT so soon, but hey, 3 down 2 to go. The real problem is the bonus part. 

9. Widogast’s Nascent Nein-Sided Tower (with renovations) the next night (let Essek see it before fighting the TT, come on). (Bonus: water slide woooooo)

Ayyyy “impressive” indeed! Caleb even gave Essek a short tour. What fun that this episode just keeps delivering. Water slides even got an honorary mention (they are in the rooms of requirements).

10. Dome cuddle pile shenanigans on this night, maybe some more one-on-one conversations between people on watch. (Bonus: the couples cuddle)

I mean technically yeah there was the dome too! Essek and Fjord had a very intense one-on-one conversation that I loved... so I’m counting it.

11. No more red eyes on Beau and Caleb in their long rest (I’m still hoping that their amulets are helping with that, honestly though that’s unlikely).

Well they never got a long rest, but no red eyes I guess so l will take it.

12. Caleb (from casting polymorph) and Veth’s (from spider climb) wild magic rolls from last episode have their effects revealed. (Bonus: the effects turn out to be not horrible or harmful for them)

I mean, no news is good news! They have been using a lot of magic but are fine so far. Hope that they keep getting the casual “you are fine”.

13. Fjord and Jester having more powerful battle couple moments (since last episode they were being very cute and flirty). (Bonus: Jester heals or refuses to heal Fjord)

Fjord and Jester were such a battle couple this episode! All the fire damage from Fjord, spiritual weapon and toll the dead from Jester. It was really awesome to see. They also went in first against the TT!

14. Yasha and Beau having more cute and flirty moments (since last episode they were being a super powerful battle couple). (Bonus: they kiss)

“Come on babe this is the hottest you have been” lol it worked! The strength check worked guys! It’s the power of love. Beau also gave Yasha a little kiss! 

15. Cad and Veth each gets at least one nice RP moment or battle moment (would love to see them interact more honestly, they have an interesting dynamic).

Cad got to fly around Aeorian town as a stealth agent, fun! Veth had a little moment with Caleb when they were doming up. Also, she got to kill Otis, so I’m sure she is pretty happy right about now.

16. At least one of the party members gets tempted by a strange, powerful or magical item/location/opportunity etc. and attempts to push the button.

I mean, Fjord was really tempted by exploring the rest of the Aeorian cityscape. Who could blame him though.

17. Everybody stays relatively happy and very much alive by the end of this episode (probably will end on a terrifying cliffhanger, AGAIN).

Hey, I will take that as a win! The cat-and-mouse game starts again, except this time they are the ones on the offensive! Most impressive.

Score: 14/17 fulfilled, this episode fulfilled almost everything on my wish list and delivered even more excitement! Wow, what an episode. I’m so excited for how this is going to turn out!

[bakersstreetirregulars]

Tower of Sweet Chaos Season 7

An Apprentice’s Guide: Part 1

💫 The Tower of Sweet Chaos… oh boy. It’s been a year or so since Pastry Cookie first investigated the tower and witnessed the secrets inside, but she’s never talked about them since, especially when she skimmed on the details for this blog last year… wait, it’s been a year since this blog was started?! Yay! Happy First Anniversary to the Baker’s Street Irregulars!

There sure are lots of scary things hiding here… *gulp* as well as others that might be up to trouble, but that’s why we’re here together. I’m Cream Puff Cookie, and I’ll be your guide as I, Wizard, and Amber Sugar navigate the seventh season of the Tower of Sweet Chaos! What lies in store for us…?

The Tower of Sweet Chaos is a vertical dungeon packed with Cake Monsters and other baddies trying to seize the power of this tower for themselves. Complete Story Mode Stage 4-1 to unlock it!

It’s also filled with plenty of EXP Star Jellies to make your Cookies stronger very quickly, making it a pseudo-descendant of the Tower of EXP from Cookie Wars

To start a battle, you need to use a separate resource called Searing Keys. They recharge at 1 key per hour and cannot be purchased using Crystals, only through packages with real money. You might find some keys in your mailbox periodically, and these deliveries will be announced in your notifications and in the news feed in-game. Some events also have a few keys as a reward!

You’ll only lose the keys if you win, so don’t sweat it too much if you lose. If a tray proves too hot to handle, go back to a previous one and play it again for the repeat rewards! You can even Time Jump completed trays if you have both the necessary Searing Keys AND the necessary Time Jumpers! There are no star rewards, so there’s no bonus if you keep all five Cookies in the fight (although that IS a good practice for later trays)

There are 150 trays that rise in difficulty the further you scale the tower with three different kinds of encounters: Basic, Arena, and Boss Fight, which will be described when preparing for the encounter. The first 90 are open when the season starts, while the latter 60 become available after two weeks

Basic encounters function like any other stage with no preset gimmicks that mess with your stats in any way. Your abilities work as normal and can be activated at any time (unless you’re on Auto). Defeat every wave of enemies with at least one Cookie still standing to win! Any enemy previously seen in World Exploration is fair game here, but every enemy in any one tray will all originate from the same chapter.

Arena encounters operate like any other fight in the PvP mode, Kingdom Arena. Your team will fight against a preset enemy team of Cookies (with their own levels and Treasures) and will use their abilities automatically. You have no control once the battle begins. Defeat the enemy team with at least one Cookie alive to win. Damage dealt increases for both sides if enough time passes. If you lose, time out, or draw, you will not advance.

Boss Fights work exactly like Basic encounters, except there’s one basic wave, then the boss itself. Defeat the boss to win! Any boss seen in World Exploration can appear here, although we can’t quite confirm that with Cookie bosses (EX: Strawberry Crepe and Raspberry where they are encountered as bosses, NOT encounters with Licorice, Strawberry/Wizard, Pomegranate, Dark Choco, etc.)

Each tray also has its own restrictions that limit or forbid using specific classes and rarities for that tray, making it impossible to start the fight at all if any of the guidelines are not being followed

If there’s a fork in the road, you can choose either path and keep going after you win!

Some trays contain two treasure chests instead of enemies, but require a lot of Searing Keys to open them. Open the chosen chest to win the listed contents and unlock the next tray, but you can only claim the contents once!

I promise there’s better stuff inside, this one shown as a demonstration was a dud if you look at the coin count 😂 I’m at Castle level 10 and I’m already back to the Ovenbreak scenario of having too many Coins to spend!

The entire tower resets every two months, resetting your progress and refreshing the rewards that you win after completing each tray the first time

Repeat trays for Basic encounters are a certainty; we’ll come up with witty nicknames for them and tell you what trays are repeating!

Any Coin rewards you get from completing trays may vary from what’s listed here; the Editor has a level 7 Star Candy Observatory that increases Coin rewards from battles by +14%, and we’ll inform you if it gets upgraded to adjust for percentages…

Finishing any tray the first time awards a special resource called Chaos Cake Pieces, which you can spend on multiple decorations under the St. Pastry Order subheading

If an enemy hasn’t appeared on this blog yet, we’ll record them and their preferred strategies!

🌰 Wait! Before you go, let’s get a picture of you three on a new adventure with my new EZ Camera! Say “Cookies!”

💫 Cookies!

✨ Somebody get me outta here!

🐝 How did we even get here?!

Early-game trays only require 6 Searing Keys to enter. Beyond this divider are details regarding each tray’s lineups and restrictions.

Tray 1- Cake Menagerie I

Power: 25,327

Restrictions: ✊ 1 Charge Cookie, 🪄 1 Magic Cookie

Rewards:

🍬 66 Level 2 EXP Star Jellies (+220 for First Win)

🪙 18 Coins (+100 for First Win)

🍰 5 Chaos Cake Pieces for First Win

Wave 1: 7 Cake Hounds, Cake Wolf

Wave 2: Choco Cake Wolf, 6 Cake Hounds

Wave 3: 3 Cake Hounds, 4 Choco Cake Hounds, Choco Cake Wolf

Final Wave: 4 Cake Hounds, 2 Choco Cake Hounds, Choco Cake Wolf

Cake Hounds: Both the classic Cake Hounds and their chocolate-flavored brethren have no real “strategy” so to speak. They’ll just charge towards you in packs to bite you down to size, although this shouldn’t be a problem at early stages of the Tower.

Cake Wolves: Acting as the alphas among Cake Hounds, Cake Wolves come in vanilla and chocolate flavors with their fellow Cake Hounds to make quick work of you as a wolf pack. Compared to the Hounds, the Wolves are slightly tougher and more ferocious, but they’re just as harmless towards the Tower’s base.

Tray 2- Cake Garrison I

Power: 26,660 (Increased 1,333)

Restrictions: ✊ 1 Charge Cookie, 🪄 1 Magic Cookie

Rewards:

🍬 66 Level 2 EXP Star Jellies (+220 for First Win)

🪙 35 Coins (+200 for First Win)

🍰 5 Chaos Cake Pieces for First Win

Wave 1: Cake Warrior, 2 Choco Cake Warriors, 3 Cake Boomerang Warriors

Wave 2: 2 Choco Cake Warriors, 2 Cake Warriors, 5 Cake Boomerang Warriors

Wave 3: 3 Choco Cake Warriors, 2 Cake Warriors, 4 Cake Boomerang Warriors

Final Wave: 3 Frenzied Choco Cake Warriors, Frenzied Choco Cake Wolf

Cake Warriors: These cake bee-ligerants fresh from whatever infernal oven they came from are just as brash as the Cake Hounds, swarming you to bash your friends repeatedly with sticks. STICKS! The chocolate ones do the same thing, so don’t think about it too much. Just turn them into distant memories in seven seconds!

Cake Boomerang Warriors: These guys actually have a strategy with those boomerangs, making them capable of hitting the middle and back rows from a distance. With enough power, they can slice through supporting Cookies like they were made of honey!

Tray 3- Ginkgoblin Mob I

Power: 26,695 (Increased 35)

Restrictions: 🏹 1 Ranged Cookie, 💣 1 Bomber Cookie

Rewards:

🍬 66 Level 2 EXP Star Jellies (+220 for First Win)

🪙 53 Coins (+300 for First Win)

🍰 5 Chaos Cake Pieces for First Win

Wave 1: 4 Ginkgoblin Mobsters, 2 Ginkgoblin Hunters

Wave 2: 2 Ginkgoblin Mobsters, Ginkgoblin Hunter, 2 Ginkgoblin Sharpshooters, 2 Ginkgoblin Bombers

Wave 3: 4 Chest Ginkgoblins, Ginkgoblin Sharpshooter, Ginkgoblin Bomber

Final Wave: 4 Ginkgoblin Sharpshooters, Frenzied Ginkgoblin Sharpshooter, Ginkgoblin Bomber

Ginkgoblin Mobsters: These mobsters engage your party in close-quarters knife fights, but that’s about it for them. They’re usually more threatening in mobs.

Ginkgoblin Hunters: Armed with a pistol and a portable net launcher, an accurate net shot from one of these guys can shackle the targeted Cookie for a couple seconds.

Ginkgoblin Bombers: One of the only goblins of the group to come equipped with goggles, their bombs can hit an enemy from moderate range. Sometimes, they’ll throw a special firebomb that sets the ground on fire to create a burning area that damages any Cookie that steps in it!

Ginkgoblin Sharpshooters: Capable of hitting any lane with a long-range pistol, these guys will heal themselves with every shot that connects. They don’t have as much HP though…

Chest Ginkgoblins: These sneaky goblins hide in empty chests before springing into action with a heavy mace. They usually have both strength in numbers AND more health than the mobsters.

Tray 4- Ginkgoblin Horde I

Power: 28,100 (Increased 1,404)

Restrictions: 🏹 1 Ranged Cookie, 💣 1 Bomber Cookie

Rewards:

🍬 66 Level 2 EXP Star Jellies (+220 for First Win)

🪙 70 Coins (+400 for First Win)

🍰 5 Chaos Cake Pieces for First Win

Wave 1: 2 Crate Ginkgoblins, 2 Chest Ginkgoblins

Wave 2: Ginkgoblin Marauder, 2 Ginkgoblin Bombers, 3 Ginkgoblin Hunters

Wave 3: Ginkgoblin Marauder, 2 Ginkgoblin Hunters, 4 Ginkgoblin Hunters

Final Wave: 2 Ginkgoblin Mobsters, Ginkgoblin Marauder, 2 Ginkgoblin Bombers, 2 Ginkgoblin Sharpshooters

Crate Ginkgoblins: Smaller than the ones in chests, they employ the same tactics and weaponry. They’re usually not as tough as the Chest Ginkgoblins, but who knows?

Ginkgoblin Marauders: With tougher protective suits and a heavy pickaxe, they’ll definitely take more hits than other frontline Ginkgoblins before faltering. With a menacing Taunt ability that can cause a distraction, this one’s definitely suited for the front with a few of its buddies.

Tray 5- Light & Dark

Enemy Team Power: 13,100

Restrictions: 🏹 1 Ranged Cookie, 💣 1 Bomber Cookie

Rewards:

🍬 72 Level 2 EXP Star Jellies (+240 for First Win)

🪙 88 Coins (+500 for First Win)

🍰 15 Chaos Cake Pieces for First Win

Enemy Team: Level 14

🌟 Madeline

⚔️ Dark Choco

☕️🥛 Latte

🪶 Black Raisin

🕵️‍♂️ Almond

🔨 Bear Jelly Hammer (Level 1)

🔥 Elder Pilgrim’s Torch (Level 1)

✨ This is an Arena Encounter. Face off against an enemy team of 5 Cookies and some treasures, usually no toppings, while working around the restrictions. Besides that, the combat rules are the same as those in the Kingdom Arena. Everything is automatic, and you relinquish all control over your team once the battle starts. This first one seems easy enough to do that even one Cookie at level 40 can take on five level 14 enemies with no problems arising! But now that we’ve established that, this is where we’ll end it off for now.

[queenxxxsupreme]

Midnight Adventures

A/N: We are using Geralt’s daughter in this with some Uncle Eskel because I love him okay. Also this idea came from an amazing conversation I had with @thatfluffybabyduck. It’s all their idea tbh. We’ve had so many talks about what if the witchers had dragons that they were like bonded to for life. After they’ve completed the trials, they get a dragon. I’m hoping to mess with this idea more later on but for now, I just wanted to give it as background info because Lana has a little baby dragon.

Note: I redid my entire taglist so everyone who was previously on it has been removed but if you’d like to be put back on the taglist go to this link here. Requests are open!

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: none

Summary: Uncle Eskel is the one chosen to take his little niece on a journey to the dungeons....

***

Lana shuffled into Eskel’s room, knowing he never fully shut his door at night. She went to his bedside and shook the witcher’s shoulders.

“Uncle Eskel? Uncle Eskel, come on!” She whispered loudly, little fingers grabbing at the material of his shirt.

He had heard her little boots against the stone steps, heard her grunt in displeasure at all of the stairs she had to travel up just to get to his room. The witcher had plenty of time to briefly open his eyes and look out of the window across the room from him. The sky was still dark and the moon wasn’t visible. From his position, it became visible just a little after midnight. 

With a heavy sigh, he rolled over, hoping Lana would continue up the stairs to Lambert’s room and wake him up instead. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on his side. 

“Uncle Eskel!”

“What?” He mumbled,

“I need your help with something.”

Fuck. Eskel turned over onto his back and ran a hand over his face. 

“What is it, sweetheart?”

“I wanna go for a walk.”

Eskel’s eyes widened and he turned his head to look at his niece.

“You what?”

She smiled innocently at him, holding her favorite little doll that Lambert had given her for her birthday last year. 

“It’s too late to go to the dungeons right now, Lana. Why do you want to go down there anyways?” He propped himself up on one elbow to get a better look at her.

“‘Cause we’re bored and we wanna go for a walk.”

Eskel looked down to her feet. Sitting beside her was her little gray dragon, Ander. He was a tiny thing, the runt of his litter. His feet, the tips of his ears, and his nose were darker than the rest of him, a coal black color opposed to the smoky gray. His eyes were a piercing gold. 

Eskel sighed, shaking his head.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. It’s too late. You should be sleeping, both of you.”

“Uncle Eskel, if you don’t come help me, I’m gonna start crying.” Her bottom lip popped out as she pouted and her brows drew together softly.

“Honey, that won’t work on me anymore. Worked when you were a toddler but you’re six, almost seven.”

On cue, she began to cry, bringing her hands up to cover her eyes. Ander nudged her leg with his nose, concerned about her. 

Eskel seriously didn’t think the fake crying would work on him anymore. She hadn’t done it in a few years but when she was a toddler, she was a skilled fake cryer. She knew how to get her uncle to do whatever she wanted. 

“Okay! Okay!” Eskel grumbled, pushing the blankets back so he could get out of bed. 

“Yay! Thank you, Uncle Eskel.” Lana threw herself at him, her little arms wrapping as best as they could around his torso. Then she grabbed his hand and tried to pull him out of bed. “Let’s go to the dungeons.”

“The what?” 

“The dungeons!” She giggled. 

He opened his mouth to object but at the last moment, he decided against it. She’d only start crying again and he didn’t want that. 

“Let me get my boots on.” 

Lana clapped her hands together and rubbed Ander’s head. 

The second he had his boots on, she was grabbing his hand and tugging him towards the door. 

“Come on! Let’s go, Uncle Eskel!”

Eskel couldn’t help but feel a little creeped out that she’d want to go to the dungeons this late at night. What normal child would want to go somewhere dark and cold and so sketchy? But then again, Lana was her father’s daughter. This little girl had no fear. 

***

Once they made it down to the dungeons, Eskel almost regretted not grabbing his swords. Who knew what kind of things lurked in the dark dungeons? No one had been down there in years. 

Their footsteps echoed through the long corridor, scaring away the mice that called the dungeon home.

Lana’s hand let his go and she ran ahead of him, disappearing just out of sight. Ander followed closely behind her, struggling to keep up with his little legs. 

Eskel was perplexed. How could she see so well when his eyes- witcher eyes -struggled to see more than a dozen feet or so ahead? Without any potion, he couldn’t see far. 

“Lana?” He called out for her, staying still so that he could listen for her footsteps. “Lana?”

There was a little giggle, one that he would usually find adorable but in the dark, it was unnerving. 

I knew this would happen. I knew it! Why couldn’t she bring Lambert? Part of Eskel was comforted knowing that she came to him. Lambert would’ve gladly accepted anything the girl threw at him. He’d encourage her to explore the dungeons. 

The sound of a rickety door to one of the chambers came from the dark. It shut with an echoing noise. He could hear her heartbeat. She was okay. 

“I can hear you. Where are you, sweetheart?”

“I’m stuck.” She muttered. 

“Stuck?” Eskel drew his brows together. “Stuck where?”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay. I’m…. I’ll come to you.” He shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck. 

He moved through the corridor, following her steady breathing and beating heart. 

He found her inside of a chamber with the door shut. Her head rested against two bars and her hands held either one.  Her eyes were cast down to the ground. She huffed. 

“You okay?” 

“M’fine. The door won’t budge.”

“Of course it won’t. Is Ander in there with you?”

“I don’t know. I can’t see anything.”

“This is why we don’t come down here during the night.” Eskel shook his head. Why hadn’t he brought a torch?

He tried to pull the door open but he had no luck. It was jammed. 

The sound of heavy footsteps caught his attention. He turned his head in the direction of the footsteps.

“Someone’s coming.” He thought out loud.

“Who?”

“Geralt and Vesemir.” Eskel sighed happily. They’d be able to help get Lana out and then he could go back to bed. Geralt could take care of his adventurous daughter. 

“Daddy!” Lana squealed delightfully. 

“What the hell are you two doing down here?” Vesemir asked. He carried a torch, lighting the way. 

Eskel pointed to Lana.

“It was her idea.”

“Papa, I’m stuck!” She frowned.

“Well, how did you get stuck?”

“I walked in and I shut the door cause I thought it would be funny to scare Uncle Eskel.”

Vesemir barked out a laugh, his hand coming up to his stomach.

“Of course. Good night, boys. I’m going back to bed.” He shook his head, still laughing. 

“Wait! Vesemir!  She needs to get out!” Eskel said. 

“You’ve got Geralt to help you.”

His howls of laughter echoed through the corridor. 

Geralt sighed through his nose, bringing his eyes to Eskel. 

“I had no choice.”

“Daddy! Get me out!” She pulled on the bars dramatically. 

“Stand back, little dove.” 

It took both Geralt and Eskel to get the door moving. When Lana was finally free, she bounded out of the chamber and wrapped her arms around Geralt’s legs. 

Eskel turned and walked away, rubbing his face.

“Where are you going?” Geralt asked as he picked Lana up.

“It is your turn to keep her occupied. I’m going to bed.”

Geralt sighed, following just behind Eskel. 

“We need to have a little chat.” He told Lana. She giggled, knowing she would get into trouble but she had fun doing it.

“Daddy, I was bored.”

“It’s well past midnight. The sun will be coming up anytime soon. You need to sleep.” He began to climb the staircase.

“We were having fun! I wanted to show Ander around the castle! It was fun!” She grinned brightly.

“.... Where is Ander?”

Lana’s grin fell and she looked over Geralt’s shoulder back down the stairs. 

“Uh-oh.”

With another sigh and a few curse words muttered under his breath, he turns and starts down the stairs again. He placed Lana on her feet with the intention of holding her hand while they searched for Ander but Lana had a better idea. 

“I’ll find him, daddy!” She took off down the corridor, escaping into the dark. 

“Fuck.” He threw his hands into the air. 

He jogged behind her, not wanting to let her too far out of his sight. 

She found Ander rummaging through a pile of rocks.

“Silly Ander!” She giggled, kneeling down to rub his back. She squealed as Geralt snatched her up, holding her to his hip. He used his other hand to pick up Ander.

He toted the two all the way upstairs and then up to their bedroom. 

Ander was placed in the bed next to Lana, who yawned as if she was sleepy.

Geralt stayed right there at her bedside, waiting patiently for the two to fall asleep before he went to his room. 

When he was sure they were sleeping, he went just down the hall to his own room. He settled into bed, comfortable beneath the blankets, and closed his eyes. It felt like only seconds later that someone is tugging at his blankets. 

“Daddy? Daddy, wake up.

He groaned, opening his eyes to see Lana standing there.

“You really should get more sleep, little dove.”

“But it’s noon, daddy!”

Geralt closed his eyes and rolled over in the bed, adamant on sleeping just a little longer.

“Daaadddy!” 

“Go find Lambert.” Geralt suggested.

“Okay! Come on, Ander!”

***

Lana ran through the halls, calling out for Lambert. 

He was sitting at a table with Eskel, discussing little things that needed to be done around the keep. Lambert stopped mid sentence, hearing someone call his name. 

“Laaaaambeeeert!”

“Fuck.” He cursed, standing to his feet. “I was hoping she was still sleeping.”

“I don’t think she sleeps.” Eskel shook his head, taking a sip of his tea.

“Fuck!”

Eskel chuckled as he watched Lambert dart across the room to a door that would take him out to the courtyard. Just a few moments later, Lana came into the room, searching for the young witcher.

“Uncle Eskel!” She climbed up onto a chair. 

“Good morning, sweetheart.”

“Morning.” She brushed her messy hair out of her eyes. “Have you seen Uncle Lambert anywhere?”

“Went that way just a minute ago.” Eskel nodded in the direction of the door Lambert went through.

“Thank you! Come on, Ander!”

The wolf watched the little girl and her dragon run out of the room. He was happy that he wasn’t the one she was chasing, that he’d get a few moments of peace.

Taglist: @pressedinthepages @mishafaye  @whitewolfandthefox @ayamenimthiriel @c-a-v-a-l-r-y @wolfyland07  @belalugosisdead @persephonehemingway @romancebibliophilia @keira-hulmaster @dinonuggs69 @greatestauthorofmygeneration @shadow-hunters-lover @dancingwith-thesunflowers  @tedi-fach-las @thecomfortofoldstorries @raspberrydreamclouds @natkowaa @disasteren @weathervanes-my-oneandlonely

If your URL is in italics, it means it wouldn’t let me tag you :(

[tears-and-lilies]

Chapter 5 – Locked up

Hmm I don’t like how this turned out. I feel like it doesn’t make sense. Oh well.

Also: I’m moving the tags to the beginning of the post! It’s easier for me!

Tag: @whumpfigure; @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi; @green-eyed-whumpster (Who is so friendly I love her! Now there are three, yay! You don’t know how happy that makes me! Love you all <333)

(CW: stress position, death threats, non-con touching (not sexual), threats of sexual violence)

***

Glorien woke with a strain in his shoulders. The sting was rapidly spreading to his spine and neck. He groaned and slowly lifted his head. He was sitting on the ground, leaning against a wall, his arms hanging above him. His hands were cuffed, with the linking chain attached to a ring in the wall. His arms weren’t stretched out, but rather they were hanging loosely from his wrists. The latter bled from the metal handcuffs cutting into them. He tried to sit straighter to ease the pain, but the hook in the wall was just too high: his arms would always hang painfully above his head.

It was dark. Glorien had no idea how big the room was he was in. And it was cold. Why did it always have to be cold?

His head still hurt from the blow. How long have I been unconscious? For all he knew, they could have knocked him out a second time when they brought him down here, to the dungeon underneath the palace.

There was no doubt about where he was. All the Emperor’s enemies ended up here. Or dead, after public execution. His heart raced. He didn’t want to die. He had almost finished his rhetorical and philosophical classes, and then he would get his military training. He would finally be beside his brothers! They would march alongside each other, talking about campaigns, holding mock swordfights, exploring far corners of the Empire, and they, and then, and-

But Mirifen is dead.

They’ll kill you too.

Tears prickled in his eyes. His breathing was shallow. Was there no hope? Was there no way to get out of this?

He screamed. The high-pitched noise echoed against the walls, it’s frequency piercing through Glorien’s ears. He didn’t care. Someone had to hear him. Someone had to get him out of here. He would make them.

He continued even when he heard the heavy creaking from the door to his cell slamming open, and a guard entered.

‘Shut the fuck up!’

‘No! I want to get out! Let me go, right now!’, Glorien demanded.

The guard smirked. ‘How cute. Are you a bit uncomfortable? Do your arms hurt?’ He approached Glorien, his armour shining reddish in the dim torchlight from the hallway. ‘I’m sure the thousands of people who lost their loved ones, their homes or even their lives would laugh at your little inconveniences!’ He crouched down, so he was at eye level with his prisoner. ‘And who did that to them? Oh, right! Your father.’

‘I’m done with this! I can’t help it if people died, I’ve never set a foot outside of the capital!’, Glorien snarled back. ‘It’s awful for them, but I’m not responsible! Let me go!’

The guard grabbed Glorien’s hair, pulling his head closer to him. ‘If your father refused to take responsibility, and your brother follows his path, then who is?’

Glorien gritted his teeth. The pulling worsened the pain in his shoulders. ‘I refuse too’, he panted.

The guard pulled harder. ‘You can’t. Not as long as you’re alive.’ He suddenly released, and Glorien yelped as he fell back.

‘You should be glad I’m the one who guards you’, the man said. He moved his hand to Glorien’s cheek, softly stroking it with his fingers. ‘You’re young and pretty, a mannered and proper noble boy. Most of us haven’t seen our wives in months, constantly doing our duty to protect Koia. Roaming the streets, looking for you, for example. ’ He looked into Glorien’s eyes. ‘But I’ll keep my comrades away from you.’

Glorien hated the way the man was staring at him. He tried to turn his head away, but the guard grabbed his chin and forced him to look at his face.

‘Or at least, I will, unless you decide to make things hard for me. Do you want to cause me problems?’

Glorien didn’t answer. He gave the man a disgusted look.

‘Of course you don’t’, the guard smiled. ‘Unless you like the feeling of my friends in your mouth.’ He laughed and let go of Glorien’s chin. He patted the boy’s cheek softly and stood up.

‘In that case, you should definitely continue screaming.’

‘Felicen will kill you’, Glorien growled. ‘I’ll tell him what you said to me and he’ll skin you alive!’

The guard was making his way back to the door. He turned his head and laughed when he realized Glorien was serious. ‘Sure, big brother will save you! How do you plan telling him, hmm? In your dreams?’

He might never see his brother again.

He locked his jaw. He would not think about that. There had to be hope.

‘And there I’m trying to make your last days not as miserable as they could be. Can’t you appreciate that?’, the guard said, and sighed. ‘Why do I even try?’

Glorien watched as he walked out of the cell and took the door to close it behind him.

No. You will listen to me.

‘Wait!’, Glorien said. He saw it as a small triumph when the guard stopped. ‘Can you at least tell me when I’m going to die?’

The man shrugged. ‘Could be in a few days, could be next month. Sir Loui has just gone off with a legion to fight the revolt in the city Tarcarina. It shouldn’t take too long, though. They don’t seem that orderly, those rebels.’

That meant any day could be his last. His heart felt cold. This wasn’t how he wanted it to go. He needed to survive this. He wanted to have hope that he could.

‘We do know how you will die’, the man smiled. Glorien looked down. He didn’t want to hear that. He wanted to know how to escape it.

‘I’d spare my voice if I were you.’ The guard slammed the door shut, leaving Glorien in the dark again, with no clue how he could possibly get out.