5, 6, 7, and 10 for Meadow? :D

OC question list here!! <- send some in? :D

So this got really long because I never know when to shut up, so I'm putting this under a readmore lol

(Also, I explained some stuff in detail that I've already told you for the benefit of anyone else who might read this lol)

5. What are their regrets?

There's a lot of things Meadow regrets on a daily basis lol But there are quite a few long lasting big ones. Like the obvious enacting the Relic plan, not listening to Lucretia, and not being able to save Phandalin. Then there's two things he regrets from childhood: not running away from home sooner and simultaneously leaving his then six year old cousin whom he was pretty close to. He also regrets spending so much time fighting with himself during the decade post voidfishing and the fact that he was only able to get very little done and caused himself a lot more stress and heartache than was strictly necessary. And the fact that he can't just turn off his brain and go to sleep to escape his thoughts like other people can unless one of his bodies dies. And there's two things that happen during the fic that he comes to regret doing and/or not doing, but those are spoilers >:)

And then the two really big ones is the defining backstory moment of coming across the Word Weaver's Amulet (the Grand Relic they made) and giving it to Astra, their then best friend who I still haven't decided if they're just best friends or if there were romantic feelings involved. Every time I think I've decided on one, I end up changing my mind again, but regardless, they were really close. And Astra said she thought it was beautiful and really wanted it, and when they both came across it, they had been going on a walk to try and cheer Astra up and get her to clear her head because she was having a really bad day, so Meadow, famously unable to say no to anything even though they had the gut feeling that something bad was going to happen, gave it to her. The fallout of how she used the Relic and what exactly transpired is a spoiler, but she definitely dies which is how Meadow ended up with it again, and they've regretted everything ever since.

The second big one is, because during the Stolen Century, they were able to save Meadow's body from the Plane of Logic from the Hunger, and both of his bodies were on the ship for the rest of the century and until Lucretia dropped his Logic Body off in the Faerun's reality's Plane of Logic, Meadow was always up in one body or the other, by nature of that's just how he works, so he was awake when Lup was about to leave the Starblaster for the final time before she disappeared. He saw her before she left, and they had a short conversation where Meadow knew something was wrong, and he thought he helped her to feel better, which in all fairness, he did a little, but Lup still wanted to have some alone time and clear her head down on the planet and then everything that happened afterward happened. So Meadow regrets not stopping her from leaving or at least not going down to the surface with her.

And tbh, because of Meadow being awake 24/7, they had taken it upon themself/was designated to be the person on watch at night throughout the century after both of their bodies were on the ship because all of the others needed sleep and didn't have a fancy shmancy second body to be awake in after going to bed. So because they were up and because they had talked to Lup before she left, Taako mostly, but Barry too to an extent, kind of blamed them for her disappearance. Barry would never say it out loud, but I feel like Taako might have snapped at them once about it, but like, Meadow knew. At that point, they had known them for long enough that they could tell for sure it wasn't just their brain being mean and jumping to conclusions, they were acting a little hostile toward them toward the end there.

6. What are their biggest fears?

Everything lol They're a big ball of anxiety and stress-

No. Well, they are a big ball of anxiety and stress and are a very fearful person, but they aren't afraid of everything.

They are, ironically, very afraid of heights lol The only reason they agreed to go on the Starblaster mission was because they couldn't pass up the opportunity to go to space and explore the space between the planes and do all of that cool stuff. As soon as the opportunity came up, that was basically all they wanted to do and the thing they wanted to get most out of life because they love the stars and space and exploring and everything about it! And how they figured they could get around the height issue was that they could just stay away from the railing and stay toward the center of the ship, and maybe if there wasn't a ground or a metric in which to gauge how high up he'd be, he would be fine.

I think during the century he learned how to push past it mostly out of necessity, but by the time they made it to Faerun, and Material Meadow lost his memories, his issue with heights hit him full force again tenfold, and he has to fight to remain calm while traveling in the cannonball spheres and looking down from the moon base and all that lol

Then, of course, he has a normally paralyzing fear of failure that he has to push through to get literally anything done in the story and honestly, during the century.

And then they never had a good working memory before the voidfishing, so they already hated the idea of losing any more memories. The voidfishing exasperated that into a full blown near phobia of losing memories, especially really important ones.

And then there's the fear of losing everyone and everything permanently and the fear that everyone is going to leave him, especially for reasons they refuse to tell him, so he wouldn't understand why they decided to leave him in the first place.

And then there's the double related fears: Falling asleep while they're in danger because someone decided to wake them up on the other side, especially if they refuse to let them go back to sleep, and someone finding out about them having a double and attacking him or leaving him or ostracizing him because they either don't believe him, refuse to take it seriously, or outright hate him for it

7. How do they cope with stress?

LOL

List making! Mental breakdowns! But mostly they write. Poetry for the most part is their form of journaling, but sometimes they just write out their thoughts too. If they have an idea for a short story, they'll work on that too as usually a more maintenance kind of thing and not something they'd do in the moment of feeling very overwhelmed, and they never really have the time to try and write a whole novel or something. At least, for the most part they didn't. There was that short period of time during the decade where they were at the writing guild Lucretia sent them to in the Material Plane, the Ink Spill Guild, where they had the time to work on a novel because they were ignoring the instructions they were leaving for themself that they made when they actually remembered everything. And they might have been working on a novel, idk. Sounds fun and very much something I would do lol But after that, Meadow spent most of their time adventuring, and then when they got up to the moon base, trying to figure out where the second voidfish was and what the plan was going to be then now that they found Lucretia.

As for when they're in the Plane of Logic though, they didn't give themself as much time to write because they were struggling so hard to get their spaceship built and off the ground, both in the physical aspect of actually researching it and doing it and also fighting the paralysis they usually get when they get super stressed and scared/anxious about something. And the whole possibly being the only one of their family who remembers anything besides Lucretia, but only when they're on a plane where they can't really do much about it, and that means they might be the only person with a chance of stopping Lucretia from destroying the Material Plane and putting their family back together thing is kind of really stressful lol

To compensate for that, Meadow throws himself full force into building the spaceship when he's particularly stressed because it's something to do with his hands and is something that is supposed to get him closer to reaching his goal. Sometimes if they're stuck on how to do something to actually continue building onto the ship but can't focus on reading and researching or even thinking really hard, they take apart and put back together some other component that doesn't really need fixing.

He also sometimes lets Sparrow and their friends forcibly drag him away to hang out with them, and that makes him feel better and less alone. Also eventually talking to Barry helps even if when he does it, he doesn't remember their shared history, and Barry can't tell him anything about it yet, and also hanging out with Merle, Magnus, and Taako.

Back on the Starblaster, Taako and Lup also brought them into learning how to bake :>

And then when things are really shitty, sometimes they dissociate and just check out completely. On top of that, sometimes it'll happen as they are in an immediate stressful situation, especially if they're trying to talk to someone, much to their extreme annoyance because it's really hard to fight it off and come back to reality. They very rarely ever succeed at it.

10. Who is someone they miss?

Astra and Lup definitely, and Lucretia and Davenport and all of them. Even when he joins the Bureau and sees most of them again, he misses how their relationships with each other used to be and the fact that none of them, including him while he's actually physically there with them remember except for Barry and Lucretia. It's this weird feeling of simultaneously being super happy to see them while also still feeling very far away and disconnected when he's awake in the Plane of Logic because he's no longer there and he remembers Davenport being able to talk and Lucretia not holding them all at arm's length and lying to them all the time and being able to hug Barry and Lup being there and the other boys sharing almost everything and all of them being a family. He's able to enjoy being in their presence more, for the most part, while he's there and with them because he doesn't remember the history, but that just makes him miss them more when he wakes up and does remember.

They also really miss Fisher, and while they hang out with it and Johann sometimes, it's still not the same. Both because of the memory thing and also because, while it's Lucretia's fault for erasing everyone's memories, Fisher still had the power to do that, and it didn't broadcast it out after realizing no one could remember and that everyone was gone. So there's also a certain level of wariness and fear I think

And then they do miss their parents to an extent. I mean, they're their parents. And there were good times with them while they were growing up. And they also really miss their cousin that they were close to.

Also, even though Meadow is a self insert and I have siblings, I decided against giving Meadow siblings because, well, not only does Meadow run away from home and leave everyone behind when he's 14, but like, the Hunger and the end of the world happened, and it felt really gross and wrong to be like, yeah! Meadow is me and also all of his siblings died tragically during the apocalypse. I just can't do that. But! I needed a child relative substitute that Meadow would have been close to because an event that happens about them is the catalyst of Meadow finally deciding to run away. I felt like having them be a cousin was enough degree of separation for me to be more comfortable with especially since the event is probably only going to be referenced in a passing one sentence comment, if that, during the Chalice scene. So that's why the cousin exists

want to make a post with all stuff that I have on Sasha Wolf AU

Marcy meet Sasha in her human form for the first time

Marcy came up with the name ‘Sasha’ cause of her favorite children’s book with princess with same name

complicated relationships between Sasha and Domino

here’s the story:

Marcy used to go several time into the forest that people usually avoid cause it’s dangerous and there are many rumors about the magical creatures living there but Marcy can’t hold her exploratory spirit and that’s where she meets Sasha for the first time

With ups and downs they’re start bonding, and with time they grow really close to each other, since Marcy not much content with life in her hometown, so she spends most of the time in the woods with Sasha, Sasha occasionally visits city in her human form to see Marcy, once after seeing other kids pick on Marcy, she jumps in front of them and starts growl, but since she looks like human she only gets laughed at as an outcome

When Marcy is 14 she decides leave/runaway from home and go explore the world, and of course she asks Sasha to go with her, so they start their adventure, in the process Marcy researching plenty of plants and creatures that helps with her studies with magic and potions, and parallel with the exploration of the world, they are trying to find any leads about any werewolves whereabouts cause not so long ago after Sasha’s birth, all other ones are disappeared (thanks to our beloved king but no one knows about it)

And that goes several years, until they helped to catch bursted into the city creature when they were visiting the fair in the capital and were noticed by the King. The King has a proposition - work for him, help him collect some magical creatures that ‘bother’ people around, Marcy’s thrilled to accept the job, but Sasha says she doesn’t trust him, to which Marcy brushes off like ‘you don’t trust ANY human’, but the King’s proposition goes with room in the castle and after years of wanderings they decides it might be nice to have a permanent place where they can return to, and free meals further strengthen this decision, so they take it

But after a few months, the true colors starts appear, and after unfortunate attempt to sneak in the King’s private room to grab one book, Marcy accidentally falls into a secret passage under it, and overhears crucial conversation between the King and someone else (Idk for now what exactly she hears and what exact King’s plans but after overhearing it she decides to steal very important for King’s plan thing and and she don't go unnoticed)

Marcy bursts into her room, telling Sasha they need to flee castle right now, and she has no time to explain, they're partly succeed in it but royal guards already on their tail, turned into a wolf with Marcy on her back, Sasha runs through the forest in the great storm (for the more effect) but she gets shot with an arrow what caused her to fall and knock off Marcy. With ground slippery from the rain, Marcy ends up holding on the cliff above the river, but her grip breaks and she falls into the water. Sasha dashes to the river, but all trying to find Marcy is in vain

Only a couple of days later, in a small village away from the capital, a girl with curvy hair during her routine finds unconscious Marcy on the river bank

Anne finds unconscious Marcy on the river bank during her morning work routine with Plantars. With Sprig and Polly's help, she drags her back to her house. Marcy sufferers from head injury and broken leg, so it takes time before she able to come to her senses, during that she probably couple times mistook Domino or Anne's hair for Sasha and tried to pat it. Once Marcy in her right mind, she is very grateful to Anne for rescuing her, to which Anne replies that she can stay here until she gets better. But soon Marcy has some explaining to do after Anne's parents spoted a wanted poster of her on village streets, so Marcy reveals all about about the King and why she's a fugitive criminal now. Anne is full head-on on believing Marcy, but mama and papa Boonchuy still skeptical about it, and not very much thrilled with the idea of one more kid living under their roof, who's also a bit shady. But their attitude changes after Marcy helps to fix and innovate some stuff at their house, and they grow to like her with time anyway (how can you not, it's Marcy), so later they're like 'would you like to stay forever?'

To avoid being noticed, Marcy stays on the territory of the Boonchuy's house for all time, and she is physically unable to go much further with her leg. In between helping around the house, she's inspecting the thing she stole from the King, it appears to be some kind of puzzle and she remember seeing King open it, but due to her head injury, she can't quite recall how exactly he did it (she did crack the puzzle but she's missing the key element to make it work)  

Meanwhile, Sasha trying to find any signs of Marcy but water washed everything and it's impossible to catch even a glimpse of her presence. After a failed attempt of using her smelling senses, she thinks that maybe guards could already have found Marcy or know where she might be, so she knocks out one of them and steals their clothes, then cuts her hair for better disguise. Talking to the other guards hasn't made much progress in her search for Marcy, but at least she knows they haven't found her either, and it's easier to question those around you when you're in uniform. After weeks of searching, she thinks she has finally caught a familiar scent, but upon reaching her destination she sees not Marcy, but another girl, bewildered, she follows her home. And only then, taking off the upper part of the uniform and with the picture torn off from the wanted poster, she goes to confront the girl and asks about Marcy, to which girl baffled at first, but noticing the bit of clothing in Sasha's hand, she brushes her off telling 'she never seen this person before'. With further pressuring, Sasha gets only more lies and eventually a door slam into her face, understatement to say, she's not happy with such outcome cause she knows for sure Marcy's there and what if Marcy’s in trouble

Waking up at night, Anne noticed her cat meowing anxiously next to the door. She only manages to say 'hey, what's wrong buddy?' how monstrous beast, twice her size, bursts through the door and knocks her on the floor with hit of a claws, scratching her arm. Anne is scared as hell, and when an enormous jaw a meter away from her, Marcy breaks in between them with outstretched hands and shouts 'STOP', all commotion makes Anne's parents worryingly to come down too And here's Marcy, on one hand with uncontrollable Sasha, who without any chances will be able to turn into human in the near time, and one the other - wounded Anne and her parents, who are ready to make a new carpet for a living room, so the only reasonable solution that comes to her mind, - shout 'GO AWAY' to Sasha

And at this moment Sasha's heart breaks, cause the person who has been with her all her life, the person who she genuinely liked, the person whom she has been crazy looking for all the last weeks, not knowing if she is even still alive, the person whom she finally finds again after all this time and thinks she's in danger, yells at her to go away. Sadness gives way to anger when she hears Marcy screaming 'GO' again, filled with rage she runs off, breaking some stuff in the process. After Anne's wound taken care of and atmosphere is calm down a bit, Marcy apologized for what happened and tries to explain everything. Once sun starts to show, took one of her smell tracking potions and a bit of fur that stayed on the stuff, Sasha crushed into, Marcy goes to the forest to find her. Their reunion is not pretty, Sasha's still furious, keeps growl, and whatever other sounds wolf can do, at Marcy and crushing everything around. Only after a several tearful apologies and explanations that this family took care of her and she could not allow them, nor Sasha, get hurt, Sasha let Marcy to help her calm down. Once Sasha is able to turn into a human again, she doesn't speak, to defuse the situation Marcy tries to ruffle her hair saying 'I see you a got a new haircut' but Sasha only brushes her hand away. She agrees to go back with Marcy but she's still very much hurt

stuff from twitter:

When Marcy and Sasha first met, Sasha didn't talk, she intuitively understood some of the stuff Marcy's saying but most of the time she had no idea what she was babbling about but she didn't mind listening, Marcy didn't sound threatening

Marcy was to first one to braid Sasha's hair, she's also went through a bunch of different hairstyles but Sasha stooped at braid

Marcy build a little swings in the forest for her and Sasha

After Sasha and Marcy bonded a bit, Sasha saw a small scar on Marcy's hand that was left after her bite in one of their first meetings and she felt guilty, so Sasha tried to pressure Marcy to bite hers hand in return

In first winter Marcy was so afraid Sasha will get cold no matter the fact that she went by fine last winters, so Marcy brought her several blankets and some old clothes

In Sasha's first visit to the city she was overwhelmed with all new and unfamiliar smells

Sasha is more comfortable in her wolf form and more often sleeps in it

Sasha can’t turn into a human when she’s in the state of rage

Marcy nailing the potions stuff very well (she made potion for Sasha from fleas)

they almost always sleep next to each other, Marcy often just buries herself into Sasha’s fur

Sasha wasn't feeling very intimidating in her human form so Marcy got her a dagger

Sasha loves cutting stuff from the wood using this dagger

They had to switch bed to just a mattress on the floor in the castle room, cause the previous one crashed under Sasha's weight

Sasha on the daily basis has to brush Marcy's glasses from her forehead back to her nose bridge, cause Marcy will squint at the book, forgetting that she's not wearing them

One time Marcy with the words 'watch and learn how to make some money' jumped on a table in a pub with her violin and in the next second fell off it along with the table

Sasha afraid of thunder, Marcy hugs and holds her close during storms

When they wander in the woods separately, like Marcy goes exploring stuff or Sasha goes hunting, and something goes wrong, Sasha can just howl and Marcy will hear her, but Marcy doesn't have such a powerful voice range, so she always carries with her a small vial of spearmint essential oil, and if there's a danger of some sort she will open the vial or simple crash it, depends on situation, so if Sasha will sense a sudden familiar sense means something's up. But Marcy also accidentally crashes it or pours it out couple times, Sasha would huff at her in annoyance when she realizes nothing is wrong, after sprinting half of the woods, but she's glad Marcy is okay

After Sasha and Marcy got separated, all Sasha had left was Marcy's half thorn cape she found in the river

Marcy faked amnesia when she woke up at Boonchuy's so she won't have to tell them she's most likely considered as a kingdom's traitor at present moments, until wanted posters appears

Marcy mentions Sasha a lot of time while talking with Anne but she forgot to mention she's a werewolf so Anne has very ambiguous image of Marcy's friend until she meets her

Anne afraid Sasha will eat her cat

For a while Sasha keeps trolling Anne a bit about various stupid ways she can become werewolf too

Sasha grown to like Mama Boonchuy, she taught her how to do some of the house work

When Sasha and Marcy more or less reconciled, Sasha in her wolf form decided to go in the room where Marcy was sleeping to curl up next to her but she got stuck in a doorway

Geriviar Huge giant, neutral evil Armor Class 19 (natural armor) Hit Points 229 (17d12 + 119) Speed 50 ft. Str 27, Dex 12, Con 24, Int 11, Wis 17, Cha 18 Damage Immunities fire, poison, thunder Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks not made of adamantine Condition Immunities charmed, frightened Senses passive Perception 13 Languages Giant Challenge 19 (22000 XP) Prodigious Leap. The geriviar's long jump is up to 50 feet and its high jump is up to 30 feet, with or without a running start. Regeneration. The geriviar regains 10 hit points at the start of its turn. If the geriviar takes acid or cold damage, this trait doesn't function at the start of the geriviar's next turn. The geriviar dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn't regenerate. Siege Monster. The geriviar deals double damage to objects and structures. Sprint. Whenever the geriviar takes the Dash action, it can move up to twice its speed. Actions Multiattack. The geriviar uses its Exploding Nodules if it is able to. It then makes four slam attacks. Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d8+8) bludgeoning damage. Exploding Nodules (Recharge 4-6). The geriviar fires two nodules from its back, each of which explode in a 10-foot radius within 60 feet of the geriviar and within 30 feet of each other. Each creature in the area must make a DC 23 Dexterity saving throw, taking 17 (5d6) piercing damage and 17 (5d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +14 to hit, range 60/360 ft., one target. Hit: 24 (3d10+8) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it must succeed on a DC 22 Strength saving throw or be knocked 10 feet away from the geriviar, and fall prone.

These nomadic, territorial giants tend to prefer desolate mountains or swamps for their lands, living alone or in small families. Rarely do more than ten of these giants congregate in any one place; a mercy, given how deadly they are. They hate buildings or any permanent structure, and seek to destroy them. Some believe they are a race bred in the ancient past to serve as siege monsters for some long-forgotten empire. They keep few possessions. Geriviars stand between 25 and 30 feet tall and weigh up to twelve tons. 

Originally from the Monster Manual III.

Hello ace! Do you have any murdoch mysteries fic recs?

Hi! Yeah I've got a few for you! This is a mix of Murdoch whump, Watts whump, and George whump.

The Butterfly Effect by JeannieMac Summary: A brief (very brief!) episode tag for "Murdochophobia" (7.06). William, Julia, the butterflies.

Life in the Balance by meridian_rose (meridianrose) Summary: AU set during 11x09, "The Talking Dead". Agnes succeeds in poisoning Watts, leaving him fighting for his life and George beside himself with worry.

Bloodlust II by Voltaire63 Summary: A figure from Murdoch's past turns up to stalk the detective.

Side Window by Voltaire63 Summary: While recuperating, Murdoch witnesses something he was not meant to see.

The Rest of Our Lives by Voltaire63 Summary: An alternate view of Julia telling William about the threat from Gillies, after 714.

Going Forward by Voltaire63 Summary: One shot. Next scene in Last Train To Kingston, 709.

As I was losing him - Murdoch Ahoy by Natmuread Summary: Julia's point of view of William drowning in Murdoch Ahoy (season 7). Don't read if you haven't seen that episode. ONE SHOT.

Trials & Tribulations by Sask Summary: Set after the end of Season 6 - James Gillies' trial approaches, but on the way to the court house Detective Murdoch is abducted. Can Gillies be behind it, even from behind bars?

Oh, Susannah by Voltaire63 Summary: Will the Murdochs finally start a family? Takes place a few months after The Murdochs Give a Party

Wild, Wild Yukon by Red Warrior Summary: Five months have gone by without any news from William Murdoch. Thomas Brackenreid, George Crabtree and Julia Ogden decide to travel to Yukon to find the detective by themselves and, they hope, bring him back to Toronto. WM/JO - Rating may go up.

Realizations by MysterMurdochFan Summary: Murdoch and Brackenreid are involved in an accident

My Soul To Take by Demosthenes23 Summary: Murdoch succumbs to a mysterious illness and faces his most sinister threat yet. *Volume I of the alternate timeline series.*

Home Again Soon by TheLastSaskDragonRider Summary: Watts is kidnapped. (takes place between season 13/14, no season 14 spoilers)

It's Not Time by GoodMorningMoon Summary: Spoilers from 16x11, "D.O.A." (the black and white film noir episode). Missing scenes as Murdoch recovers from a nasty poison.

we're going down (six underground) by fluffier432 Summary: It had been a number of days already (George had lost count just how many), and he was no closer to escaping the clutch of his kidnapper. Maybe slightly, if his healing foot counted, but that wouldn’t be much use if he couldn’t unlock the front door to run away. Even if he could pick the lock, there would be no time before Amelia caught up to him, and that would only be if he could get past her in the first place. She had him seated at the desk, not tied down as she believed his foot still could not bear his weight (and it nearly couldn’t), as she lay on the bed between him and the bedroom door. Nobody had come to rescue him yet, which felt out of character for the quick-acting Murdoch. He supposed perhaps they hadn’t even discovered he was missing at all; he was on a book tour, after all, it’s not like his absence at work would be considered unusual. Whumptober 2022 Day 5: Blood Loss/Running Out Of Air/Hypothermia

S-O-S by Horatio13 Summary: He was pinned in a pretty tight pocket, but not tight enough that it was impossible to breathe. Uncomfortably difficult, yes, but definitely possible. His ears were ringing. Something sharp was stabbing in his thigh. He couldn’t feel his fingers on his right hand, but he couldn’t see enough of them to figure out what the problem was. He could feel something wet and sticky starting to pool underneath his legs and stomach. Well, thought George numbly. This is fun.

Whumping the Bugalugs Series by Horatio13 Summary: Slaps the top of George's helmet This bad boy can fit SO much pain!

The Lady and the Arrow by GoodMorningMoon Summary: A crossbow bolt to the gut is quite a blow no matter how fit you are. Murdoch recovers from the events of 1x11, "Bad Medicine."

Steady On by GoodMorningMoon Summary: After the ambush at the church, only a select few know George Crabtree is still alive. Cross-posted to ff.net.

Out of the Woods by GoodMorningMoon Summary: Filling a gap in S8E11, "All That Glitters." How did George get a wounded Murdoch home from Haileybury?

The Lady and the Arrow by GoodMorningMoon Summary: A crossbow bolt to the gut is quite a blow no matter how fit you are. Murdoch recovers from the events of 1x11, "Bad Medicine."

Mr. Crabtree's Insistence by GoodMorningMoon Summary: Missing scene from (and spoilers for) 15x22, "Sweet Amelia." Effie seeks help for George after a deeply traumatic experience.

HOT TAKE : Hakkai should not be held accountable for the choices he made between the ages of 6 and 14 years of age. Especially given how much his choices were guided by Yuzuha who went out of her way to choose to lie for and take the fall for Hakkai. Instead of hating a young teenage boy (pre-teen back when it all started) for not being able to stand up to his older brother (who, by the way, probably should be medically checked for gigantism given his growth spurt and upper body strength -- kinda makes you wonder if characters like Kenny, Mikey, Kisaki and Taiju actually have super powers not dissimilar to Takamichi + Naoto's own), can we instead praise and focus on Yuzuha who, as a girl, took the role of the domineering matriarchal figure that Hakkai needed in his life in the passing of their mother, and who protected her baby brother from their older brother who was being an absolutely psychopathic murderer who was also forcing her to run money drops and pick ups for him for the gang's mercenary work.

Oh, and can we also at least recognize that while Hakkai did fail to protect her sister from Taiju, he did manage to protect Yuzuha from other members of the Black Dragon gang, and did plan on stabbing and murdering his brother for Yuzuha's sake. And eventually, at age fourteen, with the support of people who loved him in spite of his failings, did succeed in standing up to Taiju and protecting his big sister? I'm not saying Hakkai did anything right from 6 to 14, but I'm also not saying he did anything wrong, either. Consent laws and protection of minor laws exist for this very reason: Because none of them were actually old enough to be expected to take on the responsibility and burden of care and action that we only even begin to get taught about in middle/high school, and aren't given responsibility for until we turn 16, 18 or 21 depending on where you live. And if Yuzuha was his OLDER BROTHER, you'd be putting the responsibility on her to protect to Hakkai anyway, but because she's a GIRL, she's suddenly fragile, weak and needs protecting? Is that really the take away we wanna leave that arc with?

Hakkai is nothing more than a scared little kid with PTSD from years of blood-vomit inducing beatings from his brothers, that followed his sister's lead; A girl stood up to protect her family when they needed it most. He's also nothing less than that. Now there is a lot one can do to explore Taiju away from his family, headcanons, maybe future canon arcs where they explore that shit, because Taiju was a minor, too. A minor that brutally abused his family on a daily basis, and was fully intending to murder his baby sister in a church out of some psychotic-delusional abberation of God and Christianity. And you are welcome to explore that. But for the love of God can we not crucify Hakkai for the mistakes he made when he was just as young while fangirling over Taiju for doing so much worse. And can we PLEASE give Yuzuha the credit she freaking deserves. Cuz she's the best damn sister anyone could ever hope for you, and y'all know it.

Whirlbones

“Bone Devil” © Brian Williams

[From the Fighting Fantasy book Trial of Champions. Obviously, “bone devil” is taken in D&D and its derivative properties; I had to come up with a different name. The original didn’t actually have any wind based abilities, which seemed a shame. So I added some.]

Whirlbones CR 5 CE Undead This creature is a skeleton, held in shape but only partly articulated, in a column of swirling wind. Small twisters emerge from its eye sockets, and its bones rattle together in the gusts.

A whirlbones is a malevolent undead created when a mortal is killed by the wind. This could include victims of hurricanes or tornadoes, those that shipwrecked in windstorms, or those that were pushed to their death by mundane or magical gusts. Whirlbones hunger for the hearts of their victims, and hunt living prey, preferring sapient victims. They can be found anywhere, although are more common in areas of high wind.

A whirlbones at rest resembles a mere pile of skeletal remains, and they often lay quiescent in order to ambush prey. When they spring to life, their gaze can paralyze their victims, and the whirlbones can get down to the business of feasting on hearts. If a whirlbones is unable to paralyze all its foes, it relies on hit and run attacks, maintaining as much distance as it can while blasting away with hammering gusts of wind. They are smart enough to use their wind blasts to push enemies into hazards or over ledges if these are present in the terrain.

Whirlbones have little use for treasure, except as bait for curious victims. They prefer small items, like coins or gems, that they can carry easily from one place to another. Whirlbones rarely remain in one place for long, unless they are commanded by a spellcaster to serve as a guardian. They resent such treatment, and more than one necromancer has been killed by their whirlbones minions after getting careless.

Whirlbones        CR 5 XP 1,600 CE Medium undead (air) Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +12 Defense AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+4 Dex, +4 natural) hp 52 (8d8+16) Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +7 DR 10/bludgeoning; Immune cold, electricity Defensive Abilities cloak of winds Offense Speed 30 ft., fly 50 ft. (good) Melee 2 claws +10 (1d4+2) Ranged wind blast +10 (4d6+2 bludgeoning plus knockdown) Special Attacks gaze Statistics Str 14, Dex 18, Con -, Int 11, Wis 13, Cha 14 Base Atk +6; CMB +8; CMD 22 Feats Deadly Aim, Flyby Attack, Point Blank Shot, Weapon Finesse Skills Disguise +13, Fly +19, Perception +12, Stealth +15 Languages Auran, Common Ecology Environment any land or underground Organization solitary or storm (2-6) Treasure incidental Special Abilities Cloak of Winds (Su) A whirlbones is surrounded by a layer of wind that grants it a 30% miss chance against all physical ranged weapons, such as bolts, arrows, alchemical weapons or bullets. Rays or oversized projectiles (such as a catapult shot) do not suffer this miss chance. A whirlbones is not affected by magical or mundane wind effects, and can fly in even tornado-force winds without penalty. A control winds effect can suppress this ability for its duration, if the caster succeeds in a caster level check against the whirlbones’ Hit Dice. Gaze (Su) Range 30 ft.; save Will DC 16; effect paralyzed 1d4+1 rounds. A creature paralyzed by a whirlbones’ gaze may attempt to make another Will save each round as a full round action to shake off the effect. The save DC is Charisma based. Wind Blast (Su) As a standard action, a whirlbones can fire a gust of wind at a target within 60 feet. Treat this as a ranged attack. A creature struck takes 4d6 points of bludgeoning damage plus the whirlbones’ Charisma modifier, and must succeed a DC 16 Fortitude save or be knocked prone and pushed back 5 feet. The save DC is Constitution based.

It turns a battle into a massacre.

The largest and most dangerous of the hellbred dreams catalogued so far, the axemorph demon is a horrific monstrosity that leaves a trail of death behind it that can extend from city to city. Any it sees are slaughtered, slashed to pieces with great sweeps of the massive blades fused to its hands, or gored through by the crystalline spikes on its head. It has no loyalty to anything except the occasional hellbred. When under the control of Ekkyon Wayfarer an axemorph demon is even worse, its vicious destructiveness directed to precise locations rather than in whatever direction it happens to be facing at that moment. Bringing down an axemorph demon is a feat, only the greatest of dream hunters or waves of troops committed to throwing their lives away in the hopes of eventual victory having any hope.

The axemorph demon could obviously be turned into purely a demon for other settings. If you'd like, adjust its resistances and immunities a bit to line up with the standards for 5e, roll on the demonic upgrade table for 13th Age, but regardless I think your players will get the point. Or the edge, in this case. Originally from the Dreamblade base set. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as access to my premade adventures and other material I’m working on, consider backing me there!

5th Edition

Axemorph Demon Large aberration (hellbred), unaligned Armor Class 18 (natural armor) Hit Points 189 (18d10 + 90) Speed 40 ft. Str 25 (+7) Dex 14 (+2) Con 20 (+5) Int 7 (-2) Wis 17 (+3) Cha 8 (-1) Damage Resistances cold, lightning, poison, bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks Senses passive Perception 13 Languages any one language Challenge 14 (11500 XP) Dazzled By Radiance. If the axemorph demon takes radiant damage, it has disadvantage on the next attack roll it makes during its next turn. Goring Charge. If the axemorph demon moves at least 20 feet straight toward a target and then hits it with a Bite attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 13 (3d8) piercing damage and must succeed on a DC 20 Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet directly away from the axemorph demon and knocked prone. Hellbred. The axemorph demon is treated as a fiend as well as an aberration. Shake It Off. If the axemorph demon is affected by a condition that allows it to make a save at the end of its turn to end the effect, it can also make a save at the start of its turn. If it succeeds on the save at the start of its turn, it takes 5 psychic damage. Standing Leap. The axemorph demon's long jump is 40 feet, and its high jump is 20 feet, with or without a running start. Actions Multiattack. The axemorph demon makes three attacks: two with its Axe Hands, and one with its Bite. It can replace one Axe Hand attack with Axe Sweep if it is available. Axe Hand. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (4d6+7) slashing damage. On a critical hit, this attack deals an extra 10 (3d6) slashing damage and the target must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or the axemorph demon cuts off one of the target's limbs (chosen randomly). Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (2d8+7) piercing damage. Axe Sweep (Recharge 4-6). The axemorph demon makes an Axe Hand attack against each creature in a 15-foot cone.

13th Age

Axemorph Demon  Large 10th level wrecker [aberration and demon]  Initiative: +16 Vulnerability: Holy Sweeping Axe Hand +17 vs. AC (2 attacks) - 50 damage. Natural Even Hit: The axemorph demon can make another sweeping axe hand attack against a target it hasn’t attacked yet this turn. Critical Hit: The target also takes 20 ongoing damage. [Special Trigger] Thrashing Headbutt +17 vs. AC - 20 damage. Charge Attack: If the axemorph demon is unengaged and moves to engage an enemy, it can make a thrashing headbutt attack as a quick action. Shake it Off: The axemorph demon can make saves at the start and end of its turns. Resist Cold and Lightning 14+. AC 25 PD 24 MD 19 HP 390

#1 snippet

Sanni and Ryon sat in silence at the campfire, both lost in their thoughts as they kept watch. 

"I think-"

"We need to-" 

They both paused, snickering quietly at each other. 

"You go first." Sanni offered, gesturing for her brother to continue his thought. Ryon hesitated, put on the spot, but swallowed nervously and spoke. 

"I think we need to find her. If the triforce she wields is so necessary to the plan, then we need her on our side." Sanni nodded in agreement. 

"You're right; we need the princess with us in order to succeed. Only problem is how do we get to her to ask for her help? The Capitol will be in a full shutdown to protect the royal family." 

"That's assuming they aren't already dead." Ryon pointed out. Sanni groaned and buried her face in her hands. 

"Thanks, Ro, don't want to forget that."

"It's also very likely that the Capitol has a heavier concentration of enemies, as there will be more people there to be cursed. We'll likely die if we go in with a half-baked plan, and there's no way we're all getting out unscathed." Ryon continued, completely missing his sister's sarcasm. Sanni looked up from her hands and glared at him. 

"That was not an invitation to make me more stressed." 

"My bad." Ryon shrugged, unapologetic. The two fell back into silence, listening to the sounds of the forest around them and the sound of steady breathing coming from the pile of the three youngest as they slept. Sanni knew the risks of trying to get to the princess. She also knew they would fail without her. 

On one hand, she refused to risk the lives of her younger siblings and Link, goddess-blessed hero be damned. On the other hand, it didn't sit well with her to ignore the plight of Hyrule just to protect her family, especially when one of them was part of the solution. 

But Link was 14! He was younger than the twins! There's no way she would allow him or the twins to run into obvious danger!

But they needed the princess. She was the bearer of the triforce of wisdom and necessary for sealing the darkness away. 

The princess was a child! Last Sanni had heard, Princess Zelda was the same age as Link! There's no way She could justify allowing yet another young teen to charge into danger. Sanni growled in frustration and fell back on the ground, sprawled out on the forest floor and glaring at the night sky. 

"I hate this." She murmured weakly, exhausted. Ryon sighed and moved to lie on the ground next to her. 

"I know. I do too." The two lay there in silence for a few moments, each drawing comfort from the other's presence. Sanni eventually broke the silence. 

"We need the princess."

"Yup."

"It's gonna be dangerous." 

"Yup." 

"We may die." 

"Mmhm."

"They won't let her go willingly." 

"Yeah." Sanni rolled over to look her brother in the eye. 

"We're gonna kidnap the princess, just you and me, against all of the Capitol, her guards, and anyone else who tries to stop us." Ryon's eyes glinted with excitement, and he nodded. 

"It's the end of the world," he joked. "What are they gonna do, arrest us?" 

"Probably kill us?" Sanni smirked, pushing Ryon playfully. 

"Oh please, we're gonna die anyways," he scoffed. The two laughed and settled into silence once more, once again getting lost in thought as they kept watch. 

Tomorrow was going to be a big day for both of them.

Holy crap this is amazing!!!!!

Soul-Siphoning Wraith - CR5 Undead

This is a modified wraith for when you want to assault the PCs with a whole bunch of evil incorporeal spirits at once and keep them running around.

Artwork by Feig Felipe Pérez on ArtStation.

This is a more wraith-like version of the Soul Siphoner that I posted several weeks ago, combining a soul siphoner’s slow full-round reach attacks with a wraith’s abilities (plus a few new tricks) for a more complex monster.

Soul-siphoning wraiths are not very dangerous by themselves.  If they manage to latch onto a PC, they can do some damage, but as long as the PCs keep moving, the soul-siphoning wraiths will be mostly neutralized.

This makes them a good minion to put in a fight alongside other creatures, especially at higher levels when the PCs might have three or more attacks per round that require standing in place.  The touch attacks and ability drain remain dangerous at high levels, and the players will have to forego their full-attack actions in order to avoid them.

They mostly stay in the air 10 feet above ground level, meaning they have to be 15 feet away from a target horizontally to attack it.  This keeps them out of reach of most melee attacks.  On rounds when they need to move closer to an enemy, they either use the total defense action or double-move to get as close as possible.  Incorporeally flying down into the ground near an enemy, so that they can take a five-foot float up out of the ground and attack on the next round, is a solid strategy.

Pair them with some kind of enemy that creates difficult terrain, grapples targets, or otherwise hinders movement, and you’ll have a good fight.

If you want to support this blog, now there’s an easy way to do so through my Ko-Fi page!  https://ko-fi.com/lockez  

Soul-Siphoning Wraith - CR 5

This ghostly creature is little more than a dark shape with two flickering pinpoints of light where its eyes should be. It stretches out tendrils darkness in your direction, and makes a grasping motion, as if trying to grab you, though it’s too far away to do so.

XP 1,600 LE Medium undead (incorporeal) Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., lifesense; Perception +10 Aura unnatural aura (30 ft.)

DEFENSE

AC 18, touch 18, flat-footed 15 (+5 deflection, +3 Dex) hp 47 (5d8+25) Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +6 Defensive Abilities channel resistance +2, incorporeal Immune undead traits Weaknesses sunlight powerlessness

OFFENSE

Speed fly 60 ft. (good) Melee incorporeal touch +6 (2d6 negative energy plus siphoning reach (DC 17)) Space 5 ft.; Reach 20 ft. Special Attacks create spawn, shadow corruption, siphoning reach

STATISTICS

Str —, Dex 16, Con —, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 21 Base Atk +3; CMB +6; CMD 21 Feats Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative Skills Diplomacy +10, Fly +7, Intimidate +13, Knowledge (planes) +7, Perception +10, Sense Motive +10, Stealth +11 Languages Common, Infernal, Necril

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Create Spawn (Su) A humanoid slain by a soul-siphoning wraith becomes a wraith in 1d4 rounds. These spawn are less powerful than typical wraiths, and suffer a –2 penalty on all d20 rolls and checks, receive –2 hp per HD, and only drain 1d2 points of Constitution on a touch. Spawn are under the command of the soul-siphoning wraith that created them until its death, at which point they lose their spawn penalties and become free-willed wraiths. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life.

Lifesense (Su) A soul-siphoning wraith notices and locates living creatures within 60 feet, just as if it possessed the blindsight ability.

Sunlight Powerlessness (Ex) A soul-siphoning wraith caught in sunlight cannot attack and is staggered.

Unnatural Aura (Su) Animals do not willingly approach within 30 feet of a soul-siphoning wraith, unless a master makes a DC 25 Handle Animal, Ride, or wild empathy check.

Siphoning Reach (Su) Creatures hit by a soul-siphoning wraith’s touch attack take 2d6 points of negative energy damage, and must succeed on a DC 17 Fortitude save or take 1d2 points of Constitution drain and 1 temporary negative level. On each successful attack, the soul-siphoning wraith gains 5 temporary hit points. The save DC is Charisma-based.

The negative level lasts only until the target moves outside of the soul-siphoning wraith’s reach or the soul-siphoning wraith is slain, at which point it ends.

Slow Attacks (Ex) A soul-siphoning wraith has a 20 foot reach with its melee touch attack, but it can only use this attack as a full-round action.  It cannot make attacks of opportunity.

Shadow Corruption (Su) As a swift action, a soul-siphoning wraith can create an area of shadow corruption with a 5 foot radius on the ground, centered within 60 feet of the soul-siphoning wraith.  Creatures in the area at the time which succeed on a DC 17 Reflex save can immediately move out of the area into an unoccupied space adjacent to the shadow corruption.  If a target takes this movement, it cannot take a 5-foot step during its next turn.  If it takes an action to move during its next turn, it subtracts the distance it moves from its total movement.  A target cannot move out of the shadow corruption in this way if it cannot take a 5-foot step.

Creatures standing on the ground which start their turn in an area of shadow corruption, or pass through it, must make a DC 17 Fortitude save or take 3d6 negative energy damage, and if they take damage, must make a DC 17 Will save or become confused and immobilized with fear for 1 round.  The effects of the failed Will save are a mind-affecting enchantment fear effect.  The save DCs are Charisma-based.

Areas of shadow corruption disappear after 10 minutes.

Behind the Playlist - Transformers: Prime Edition (Part 14 of 22: Predaking)

Link to the other posts in my Behind the Playlist series

✧ ✧ ✧

Predaking is cool. What makes him such a terrifying opponent is what makes him an excellent ally. It all depends on who someone is and whether they respect his power.

Intended overarching themes and/or qualities: Untamed, The Ruthless Hunter, The Alpha

My personal favorite(s) from this playlist: Dangerous, Red October, and Hunt You Down

✧ ✧ ✧

Full song list and explanations under the cut:

Fire Hunt by 2WEI, Ali Christenhusz

No words needed.

This Is My World by Esterly, Austin Jenckes

“This is my world, / Oh, you took a wrong turn / Now you're stuck in my world, / Trust me, this is gonna hurt / Fire it up, and watch it burn, / This is my world”

This is how I like to think Predaking first saw Cybertron upon his arrival. Until he learned to share, that is.

Dangerous by Zayde Wølf

“No, we ain't like them / No, no, we ain't like them / Yeah, you're gonna catch us walking on the edge

We be living so dangerous”

Dragons Win by Steve Jablonsky

Usually they do, yes.

All This Power by WAR*HALL

Once Predaking recognized how powerful he was and could be, there was no going back.

Play with Fire by WAR*HALL

“I don't know any other way / I never lay down, never walk away / I keep pushing like a tidal, pushing like a tidal wave / I don't know how to play it safe / I like walking on a razor blade / I keep burning like a wild, burning like a wild blaze

Baby here I go / I'm outta control / You can't stop me, no

I'm gonna risk it all! (Risk it all) / I'm gonna let 'em fall! (Let 'em fall) / Play with fire! / Play with fire!”

Best Shot by Mountains vs. Machines

“Try shooting me down or knocking me out / You better believe me, I'm making it loud / Everyone thinking they're number one / I'll show 'em, I'll show 'em / Get ready to run / Nothing you can do / See me pushing through / So take your best shot”

Hands Of Fire by Campfire, Leo Gallo

The vibes fit.

Ashes by Endway

Predaking and his fellow Predacons were literally brought forth from the bones and ashes of their ancestors.

Red October by Audiomachine

A powerful instrumental to match Predaking’s powerful beast mode.

Man on Fire by Saint Middleton, Seth Alley, UNSECRET

“I'm a man on fire, I'm a man on fire / Only going higher, only going higher / I'm a man, I'm a man on fire / I'm a man, I'm a man, I'm a man / I'm a man on fire

Dedicated, I'm motivated / The victory is mine for the taking / Let's face it, I'm the greatest / I stay tough, level up, it's like I'm levitating / I came to change the game / I go wild in the cage / It's in my DNA / If you can't take the heat / Then get out of the flame”

Hunt You Down by Vo Williams, UNSECRET

Basically Predaking to Starscream (and anyone else who wrongs him).

Rules of Nature - Platinum Mix by Jason Charles Miller

“Rules of nature! / And they run when the sun comes up / With their lives on the line / (Alive) For a while / (No choice) Gotta follow the laws of the wild / (Alive) With their lives on the line / (No choice) Out here only the strong survive

What's done is done, survived to see another day / The dance of life, the hunter and the agile prey / No guarantee which of them will succeed / Strong or weak”

✧ ✧ ✧

Notes:

This post series is in alphabetical order. Next up are Raf Esquivel and Ratchet.

As I add more songs to the playlist, I’ll update this post.

How to Leave A Legacy of Love

Today’s Saying

To leave legacies of love, we need to welcome opportunities to lead.and love the people who come along with them.

Today’s Scripture

“Do everything in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:14 (NIV)

Today’s Sermonette

Our world is confused about love — what true love is and how it makes a difference. Too many of us have equated love with a feeling and based it on emotion.

The only problem with that is as soon as the feeling is gone, the love follows. We’ve made it flowery and feeble when it’s actually the greatest gift that God gave us! (1 Corinthians 13:13)

If we step back and look at the bigger picture of what love is — what God created it to be — it changes everything.

The thing I’m realizing about life is no matter where you are or what season you’re walking through, you’ll find yourself in spaces that require you to lead, which come hand‐in‐hand with challenges to love.

Career changes, new life phases — whatever it may be, we all get thrown into situations where we have to make decisions and choose to grow in who we are and how we love.

The key to leadership is love, so I want to make sure that as I go through life, I leave traces of love behind me.

Like our key verse says, I want to “Do everything in love.” I’ve been thinking about what that looks like in everyday life, and here are three ways each of us can leave a legacy of love:

1. Seize opportunities to lead.

No matter who you are or what you do, you are a leader.

It’s hard for a lot of people to wrap their minds around that. They think they are too quiet or too loud, too unique or too ordinary, too opinionated or too meek, and the list goes on.

The fact is God uniquely designed each of us with gifts and abilities to lead and love others. That includes YOU!

* If you’re a mom, you are a leader to your kids.

* If you’re the boss at work, you are a leader of your organization.

* If you’re a student, you are a leader at your school.

If we want to leave legacies of love, we need to welcome these opportunities and love the people who come along with them.

2. Understand the power of your words.

How different could our relationships look if we just committed to saying positive things like “thank you” and “great job” more often? A LOT.

Our words carry more weight than we know.

As leaders, our words can speak life into the people around us if we’re willing to run them through a filter of love.

This doesn’t mean that we have to sugarcoat everything or shy away from the truth. It simply means we should be slow to critique and quick to compliment.

3. Commit to helping others succeed.

If I am successful in life, then good for me. But if those around me are successful? THAT will define me as a leader. It will be the legacy I leave.

Our friends, coworkers, spouses and kids won’t remember us for what we accomplish, but instead what we helped them to accomplish and how we cheered them on along the way.

They’ll remember how we loved them.

I SERIOUSLY want everyone around me to live a life that exceeds their dreams as they become who God created them to be.

That’s why I’m committed to seeing the people around me reach their goals.

When people in our lives know we have their best interest at heart, they can trust us. That trust allows them to experience what true, unconditional love feels like — that love leaves a legacy!

So as you go about your day, do everything in love. When you’re shuttling your kids around, do everything in love. When you’re at your job, do everything in love.

When you’re taking care of small details you’re convinced no one will ever notice, do everything in love.

When you model what you consider important, those around you take notice. Celebrate love. Display it.

The most lasting thing we can do with our lives and leadership is to love because love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). That’s why leaders who love are leaders who leave a legacy.

Today’s Supplication

Father, thank You for lovingly leading us. Help us to love and lead others in a way that honours You and leaves a legacy. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Night Road | Kristin Hannah | Published 2011 | *SPOILERS*

Jude Farraday is a happily married, stay-at-home mom who puts everyone's needs above her own. Her twins, Mia and Zach, are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill enters their lives, no one is more supportive than Jude. A former foster child with a dark past, Lexi quickly becomes Mia's best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable. But senior year of high school brings unexpected dangers and one night, Jude's worst fears are confirmed: there is an accident. In an instant, her idyllic life is shattered and her close-knit community is torn apart. People - and Jude - demand justice, and when the finger of blame is pointed, it lands solely on eighteen-year-old Lexi Baill. In a heartbeat, their love for each other will be shattered, the family broken. Lexi gives up everything that matters to her - the boy she loves, her place in the family, the best friend she ever had - while Jude loses even more.

When Lexi returns, older and wiser, she demands a reckoning. Long buried feelings will rise again, and Jude will finally have to face the woman she has become. She must decide whether to remain broken or try to forgive both Lexi...and herself.

Night Road is a vivid, emotionally complex novel that raises profound questions about motherhood, loss, identity and forgiveness. It is an exquisite, heartbreaking novel that speaks to women everywhere about the things that matter most.

Lexi Baill has spent the majority of her life in and out of foster care homes. Her mother, a drug-addict, has spent more time running away from her than being with her. Despite all her faults, Lexi's mother tries but never succeeds in being the mother that Lexi needs.

When her mother passes on 3 years prior, Lexi is shocked to hear that her social worker has located a great-aunt, Eva, living in Washington, who has agreed to take her in. 14 years old and going to live with true family for the first time in her life, Lexi isn't sure what to expect. Eva lives in a rented double-wide trailer on an Indian reservation and with little money, she tries to do best by Lexi because she knows of the hard ships the young girl has been through.

The opposite of Lexi's own mother, Jude Farraday is the epitome of a helicopter parent. Mom to twins Zach and Mia, she is everything that Lexi ever hoped for in a mother. She spends all of her free time shielding Zach and Mia from the real world while also attempting to give them the freedoms they need going into their formidable teenage years.

When Mia and Lexi meet on the first day of 9th grade, their friendship blooms quickly. And for their entire high school careers, they remain as close as sisters. Lexi is brought into the family and loved easily, and she spends a lot of time with the Farradays. During their first initial meeting, Jude tells Lexi to be easy on Mia's heart, as she has difficulty forming friendships with people and had only just a year before had her heart broken by a girl who was supposedly her friend.

As mentioned, the girls spend the next three years as close as sisters, doing everything and anything together. Zach and Mia are also close, so naturally, he is friendly with Lexi, but Lexi believes that he doesn't like her. At their senior year homecoming dance, Zach tells Lexi it's just the opposite, that he's been attracted to her since that first day of high school three years before, but because she was friends with Mia, he never went for it for fear of something happening to their friendship.

Despite their misgivings on potentially hurting Mia, the two of begin seeing each other, hiding it from their families. But, knowing they can't keep it a secret forever, they come clean. At first, Mia is taken aback by this discovery, but in the end, she realizes that the two of them love her as much as she loves them, and that the two of them being together doesn't truly change anything. They promise to always be there for each other, regardless of the outcome of Lexi's relationship with Zach.

With college applications due, and the forthcoming acceptance letters, Zach and Mia are bound for USC come the fall, and despite her best efforts, Lexi has decided to remain with her aunt and attend a two year college, continuing to work in order to save for tuition to a transfer college. Zach is defeated by this, knowing that in the end he'll have to choose between the girl he loves and his sister, and Lexi knows that despite the love they have for each other, Zach will always choose Mia.

Shortly before graduation, Zach tells his parents that he is going to go to the local community college and he and Lexi can get an apartment together in Seattle, and that he would love for Mia to join them. At first, Mia is sad at this prospect. For Mia, she is so insecure in herself that she cannot be alone, and despite Lexi telling Zach to continue with his plans to go to California, the night of the graduation BBQ, Mia tells her mother that she has decided to allow Lexi and Zach to continue their relationship, and that she'll go to USC in two years when Lexi has had time to save some more money.

That night, despite being the designated driver, Zach gets intoxicated, as does Mia. Lexi had a few drinks, and when Zach gets behind the wheel of his Mustang to drive them home an hour after their spoken curfew, Lexi knows she needs to do something.

When Jude comes to an hour later, she is met at the front door by police cars that said there was an accident, that all three of the kids were airlifted to a hospital in Seattle. Jude and Miles travel as quickly as they can off of Pine Island and make it to the hospital. Lexi is mostly uninjured, with only a broken arm and some fractured ribs; Zach has some chemical burns from the chemicals inside of the airbag that went off when the car crashed; and Mia was rushed into surgery for her extensive injuries.

When the doctors inform the Farradays that they did everything they could, but her injuries were too extensive and there was nothing further they could do, Jude's world comes crashing down. Mia was no longer their daughter anymore, and while her physical body was being kept alive by machines, she was brain dead and no longer mentally with them. With permission, they allow her organs to be harvested to go to people who needed them, and they say their goodbyes. Jude learns that Zach wasn't the one behind the wheel that night, but instead was Lexi and so begins years of blaming not only her son, but Lexi for the death of Mia.

Lexi is charged with DUI vehicular manslaughter, and despite being told to plead not guilty, she pleads guilty, waiving her right to a trial and is sentenced to spend the next 5 years in prison.

A few months after Lexi is sent to Prudy, the women's correctional facility in Washington, her lawyer appears on the Farraday's doorstep, explaining that Lexi is 5.5 months pregnant. She hadn't known when she went to jail, only having found out shortly after she arrived. She is prepared to give her child up for adoption if Zach chooses to waive his parental rights. But Zach decides to leave USC, come home to raise his child.

A few months later, Lexi gives birth in a hospital to a baby girl she would like to name Grace Mia, to which Zach agrees. She hands her daughter over for the last time, and Zach becomes a young, 19-year-old single dad.

For the next 5.5 years, Zach continues his studies, and has ented medical school. Jude has become a shell of the woman she was before, and despite doing all the grandmotherly things that should be done, she can't look at Grace, her granddaughter, without seeing Mia so she feels nothing when she looks at her. Her relationship with Miles has slowly gotten better, but there are a lot of unsaid things. Jude has truly let the grief overtake her.

Lexi is released from prison and her lawyer, Scot, picks her up and brings her back to his law offices. Through no fault o fher own, she sees Gracie on the playground at the kindergarten she attends in the mornings, and notices that she keeps to herself, talking to a mirror that she wears on her wrist, speaking to an imaginery friend. None of the other kids play with her or even make an effort to spend time with her. And with this knowledge, Lexi knows that she cannot leave.

She files a motion in order to have joint custody of Grace. Although Jude doesn't like the idea, she does agree to be the supervisor of the visits that the court orders for Lexi and Grace to spend time together, and through Lexi's words of wisdom, she slowly comes back to the woman she used to be. She begins to love the granddaughter she has kept emotions from, and she realizes that Zach never truly stopped loving Lexi despite everything that he's been through.

Zach finds Lexi at the location where they buried a sort of time capsule, promising to always be friends. He tells Lexi that he loves her, and the two of them come back to each other after 6 years of being apart. Grace is thrilled to have her mommy back, not even realizing that she was missing out on the close relationship with her mother. Jude finally goes to the cemetery for the first time since Mia's funeral to say her goodbyes to her daughter, finally ready to move on from her grief and accept her new life.

As a parent, this one hurt. I can't even imagine the loss that Jude felt when Mia died in that car accident. The guilt that she and Zach, and Lexi, held onto all of those years, throwing blame where there was none. It was an accident, and Lexi was trying to do what she thouht was best. Nobody could have anticipated the outcome of that decision, especially being so close to home.

Kristin Hannah sure knows how to tug at the heart strings, and I will continue to read any and everything this woman writes.

How To Stop Worrying and Grow Your Business Faster!

Once upon a time, a girl around 14 approached her wise grandmother and asked, “Do you ever get scared?” Her grandmother smiled and replied, “Sure, everyone gets scared.”

Visibly upset, the teen asked, “How do you deal with it? I can’t stop thinking about all the bad things that could happen.”

Her grandmother replied, “Child, two wolves live in our minds. One is a bad wolf. It wants us to be afraid and tries to hold us back by conjuring dreadful images and thoughts. The bad wolf wants us to be small and remain in our comfort zone by reminding us of all the injustices that have happened, and could occur again, if we attempt to make life better.

The other is a good wolf. It wants us to be courageous, shine brightly, and expand our comfort zone to grow and experience more of life’s joys. The good wolf encourages taking chances because only through experience can you gain the wisdom and confidence to know you can handle anything that comes your way. That is where inner security and peace of mind come from. These two wolves are constantly battling in your mind.”

Curious, the teen asked, “Grandmother, which wolf will win? The good wolf or the bad wolf?”

Seizing the opportunity, the grandmother looked deep into her eyes and, with great conviction, said, “The one you feed, child. Because that one will be the strongest!”

As you know from all the emails, I’ve been working for months on my Practice Accelerator, Practice Amplifier, and One Belief Away™ Certification programs.

The bad wolf in my head says, “Why are you putting so much effort into this when nobody will show up anyway? People complain about their situation but do little to change it, so why are you working so hard for these people? You’re just setting yourself up for disappointment again.

Go back to growing your practice. It’s what you know. Besides, why would you give all your secrets to strangers who will take them and run? Or worse, now you’ll have better-trained competition! This idea of building an Army of Healers is dumb, and you’re wasting time trying to make this world better by teaching others how to build successful practices. The world doesn’t want to change, and people are too afraid to do what it takes for them to succeed anyway. So focus on making yourself richer and forget about helping others win.”

Then the good wolf steps forward and says, “Everything you’ve experienced up to now has prepared you for this moment. All the ups and downs, breakthroughs and heartbreaks, and wisdom you’ve acquired have equipped you to be the tip of the spear for elevating the personal development industry.

You finally have all the pieces in place because of your willingness to charge forward into the unknown without a safety net and no backup plan. Your decision to believe in yourself and your dreams and to pursue them fervently despite fears of running out of money, unworthiness, and not being smart enough has unlocked doors of opportunity and success that would not have opened any other way.

At this very moment, your light is attracting those who also have GREATNESS within them and are enthusiastically ready to join you on this much-needed mission to end needless suffering for millions of people. Some have already raised their hand and said, “I’m in.” Others will do so today, and many more will follow because they also want a life filled with meaning, purpose, and joy. So ignore the bad wolf and KEEP GOING!”

Every time the bad wolf thinks, “What if it doesn’t work out?”

The good wolf in my head says, “What if it DOES work out and it’s the BIG break I’ve been reaching, working, and praying for?”

I keep feeding the good wolf by following my coach’s advice, hanging out with like-minded people who are heading in the same direction, and listening to my Millionaire Brain Tapes every day.

Which wolf are YOU you feeding? What are you doing to feed it each day?

🙂 Tim Shurr ​Certified OBA Hypnotist™

Ok, so this is a completely different hero far in the future, and Sanni, Ryon, and the twins are close childhood friends who went with Link cause he is baby and screw fate they're gonna look out for him.

___________________________________________

Sanni and Ryon sat in silence at the campfire, both lost in their thoughts as they kept watch. 

"I think-"

"We need to-" 

They both paused, snickering quietly at each other. 

"You go first." Sanni offered, gesturing for her brother to continue his thought. Ryon hesitated, put on the spot, but swallowed nervously and spoke. 

"I think we need to find her. If the triforce she wields is so necessary to the plan then we need her on our side." Sanni nodded in agreement. 

"You're right, we need the princess with us in order to succeed. Only problem is how do we get to her to ask for her help? The Capitol will be in a full shutdown to protect the royal family." 

"That's assuming they aren't already dead." Ryon pointed out. Sanni groaned and buried her face in her hands. 

"Thanks Ro, don't want to forget that."

"It's also very likely that the Capitol has a heavier concentration of enemies, as there will be more people there to be cursed. It's pretty likely we'll die if we go in with a half baked plan, and there's no way we're all getting out unscathed." Ryon continued, completely missing his sister's sarcasm. Sanni looked up from her hands and glared at him. 

"That was not an invitation to make me more stressed." 

"My bad." Ryon shrugged, unapologetic. The two fell back into silence, listening to the sounds of the forest around them, and the sound of steady breathing coming from the pile of the three youngest as they slept. Sanni knew the risks of trying to get to the princess. She also knew they would fail without her. 

On one hand, she refused to risk the lives of her younger siblings and Link, goddess blessed hero be damned. On the other hand, it didn't sit well with her to ignore the plight of Hyrule just to protect her family, especially when one of them was part of the solution. 

But Link was 14! He was younger than the twins! There's no way she would allow him or the twins to run into obvious danger!

But they needed the princess. She was the bearer of the triforce of wisdom and necessary for sealing the darkness away. 

The princess was a child! Last Sanni had heard, Princess Zelda was the same age as Link! There's no way She could justify allowing yet another young teen charging into danger. Sanni growled in frustration and fell back on the ground, sprawled out on the forest floor and glaring at the night sky. 

"I hate this." She murmured weakly, exhausted. Ryon sighed and moved to lay on the ground next to her. 

"I know. I do too." The two laid there in silence for a few moments, each drawing comfort from the other's presence. Sanni eventually broke the silence. 

"We need the princess."

"Yup."

"It's gonna be dangerous." 

"Yup." 

"We may die." 

"Mmhm."

"They won't let her go willingly." 

"Yeah." Sanni rolled over to look her brother in the eye. 

"We're gonna kidnap the princess, just you and me, against all of the Capitol and all her guards and anyone else who tries to stop us." Ryon's eyes glinted with excitement and he nodded. 

"It's the end of the world," he joked. "What are they gonna do, arrest us?" 

"Probably kill us?" Sanni smirked, pushing Ryon playfully. 

"Oh please, we're gonna die anyways," he scoffed. The two laughed and settled into silence once more, once again getting lost in thought as they kept watch. 

Tomorrow was going to be a big day for both of them.

-------------------------------------------------------

THERE IT IS OK BYE!!

AHHHHHGHGFGH THIS IS INCREDIBLE I LOVE IT!!!!! (つ≧▽≦)つ I LOVE THESE TWO CHARACTERS THEIR ENERGY IS JUST AHSDFJSKLJH YEAH THIS IS GREAT THANKS FOR SHOWING ME!

The particular Inspirational Story with the Miracle League

For numerous kids in America, playing baseball and playing in the particular Major Leagues at some time is all they dream about inside their lives. For most kids along with disability, just being able to swing a softball bat and circle the particular bases is a present from god. These dreams have become a reality thanks to the constructive story of the particular Miracle League. Lauren Gunder loves snowboarding, but her fantasy on her own constructive story is impede by the bone disorder this lady has been delivered with. This situation made her bone tissues fracture easily in addition to frequently. Consequently, playing sports was away. But that would not stop her through wanting to enjoy. Since the age associated with 3, she got consistently brought home hockey flyers from schools encouraging children to be able to play. Her parents, weighing on your ex disability, always disappointed her for her own good. Intended for Lauren, her attitude was that the lady does not have got a disability. If the Miracle League was created, Lauren's dream arrived true. The Miraculous League was shaped by the group associated with well meaning folks who wanted children with disabilities to live their dreams plus inspirational story. The league accepts kids of all capability and contains a policy of saying little to no children. Heart is typically the only thing that matter for this league, and all those disadvantaged children inside the league have heart of winners. The rules involving the game with the Miracle Group are also distinct. Every child becomes to bat. Zero one strikes out. All games result in a tie, and player is along with a volunteer buddy who will assist the participant to bat, run, circle the facets, and field typically the ball and almost all. They often execute these tasks using players on wheel chairs and both player and pal get a whole lot of fun and ideas out of this specific. Their inspirational stories are certainly not often told. It did not really matter into a party of people even though - the player's parents. For these types of parents of these moving kids, this is a desire comes true. Every single parent would like to notice their child play. Having to deal with their incapacity is already some sort of tough challenge, but when they discover their children satisfying their dreams of playing, everything that occurred becomes worth the cost. Thanks a lot to the Miracle league as properly, their children will be in safe hands. When the league first started on dirt pitch, it was the cause for problem as players operating and circling angles often get caught in the bumpy pitch. But thanks to Dean Give and the Rotary Club in Georgia, the Miracle Group was able to be able to raise funds in addition to build a secure artificial pitch with regard to these children. The first was built in 2000. Since then 14 more experienced been added throughout the country plus 62 more pitches have been in the process of been developed. The inspirational story and success of such children is dispersing. website in addition to lives are given birth to of your desire to be able to succeed no matter the situations. more info in the Miracle League will be truly in some sort of league of their particular own when it comes to having the heart that matters most. Jimmy New tong/tanga is a Physical Mentor for 13 Yrs in Singapore, along with degree in sports science and bodily education from Loughborough University in UNITED KINGDOM. She has extensive instruction experience in soccer, floorball and rugby teams in Singapore Schools. He will be currently an activities development officer within Singapore schools mainly because well as an active contributor regarding sports training posts to improve sports activities performance in players. He hopes in order to enable people's achievement to come by inspiring these people with true sports motivational and constructive stories.

Excuse Me what is pulp and why is it importan?

Good question! And probably one I should have answered sooner. Time to put on the historian hat for this one.

"Pulp" is a term used mainly to describe forms of storytelling that sprang out or were dominant in 20th century cheap all-fiction American magazines from the 1900s to the 1950s. The pulp magazine began in 1896, when Frank Munsey's Argosy magazine, in order to cut costs, dropped the non-fiction articles and photographs and switched from glossy paper to the much less expensive wood pulp paper, hence the name. The pulp magazines would mainly take off as a distinct market and format in 1904, when Street & Smith learned that Popular Magazine, despite being marketed towards boys, was being consumed by men of all ages, so they increased page count and started putting popular authors on the issues.

It was specifically the 1905 reprint of H.Rider Haggard's Ayesha that not only put Street & Smith on the map as rivals to Argosy, but also inspired other companies to start publishing in the pulp format. Pulps encompassed literally everything that the authors felt like publishing. Westerns, romance, horror, sci-fi, railroad stories, war stories, war aviation stories. Zeppelins had a short-lived subgenre. Celebrities got their own magazines, it was really any genre or format they could pull off, anything they could get away with.

Nowadays, although they came quite late in it's history, the American pulps are most famous for it's "hero pulps", characters like The Shadow and Doc Savage that are viewed as a formative influence on comic book superheroes. The pulp magazines in America lasted until the 1950s, when cumulative factors such as paper shortages, diminishing audience returns and the closing of it's biggest publishers led to it dying off, although in the decades since there's always been publishers calling their magazines pulp. That's the American pulp history.

But pulps are a phenomenon that spans the entire world and has a much bigger history to it, because pulps have become synonymous with cheap fiction magazines and those have a much bigger history. In America, before the pulps, you had the dime novels, the direct predecessors of the pulps, as well as the novelettes. England had it's penny dreadfuls and story papers, and continued publishing pulp-format magazines past the American 1950s, and that's how we got Elric of Melniboné. France and Russia arguably got to it first with it's 1800s coulporters, chapbooks and particularly the feuilletons which lasted all the way to the 20th century and created characters such as Arsene Lupin, Fantomas and The Phantom of the Opera. The Germans published pulp under the name hefteromane. Japan also published pulp magazines both original as well as imported, and the current "light-novel" phenomenon started off as an equivalent of pulp magazines (it's even on the Wikipedia page). China has wuxia, Brazil has cordel, Italy has gialli. There were Indian, Persian, Ethiopian, Canadian, Australian pulps and much more. Look anywhere in the world and you'll find examples of "pulp" happening again and again, under different circumstances and time periods.

Even if we stick to American fiction, it's impossible to state that all pulp heroes must come from the 1900s-1950s pulp magazines, because that forces us to exclude some of the most popular pulp heroes like Indiana Jones, Green Hornet, Rocketeer and The Phantom. Pulp may have once been a term meant to refer to pulp magazines exclusively, but it's morphed and lost structure and it's become the closest thing we have to a general umbrella term that allows us to try and consolidate these under a shared history. It's a lot, as you can see, and it's why several pulp historians that broaden their scope outside of 1930s American fiction have adopted Roland Barthes's definition of pulp as "A Metaphor With No Brakes In It", which is still the closest thing to a true working definition we have.

Why is it important? You tell me. I don't like to stake claims about stuff being "important", everyone's got their own priorities in life. Surely a lot of people would scoff at the idea of old populist fiction published in what was functionally equivalent to toilet paper having any sort of "importance". On the other hand, some people definitely want to talk big about the pulps as a cultural bedrock of fiction, something that's baked into the lifeblood of all fiction as we currently know it. Which it is, mind you, but I don't like to talk about pulp fiction's value being derived mainly from merely the things it inspired.

There is definitely a historical importance to be had in cataloguing them. According to the US's foremost pulp researcher Jess Nevins, 38% of all American pulps no longer exist, and 14% of all American pulps survive in less than five copies. Many libraries have very scant, if any, records on them, many collectors are hard to locate and are uncooperative when it comes to sharing information and letting outsiders view their collections. A lot of them are bound up in legal complications that prevents them from taking off in the public domain, and a lot of them ARE public domain but are completely inacessible as research material. And that's the American pulps, foreign pulps have fared far worse in posterity, with records inaccessible to people unfamiliar with the language or locations, many existing merely in mentions on decades-old records, and hundreds if not thousands of them being completely gone beyond recovery or recall.

Gone, dead, wasted, destroyed. They can't be found in barbershops or warehouse or bookstores, not even in antique stores. Hundreds, thousands of characters, stories and creators, gone. Time and posterity have crushed them to dust, forgotten and ignored by their successors. Unfettered by pretenses of respectability that repressed their glossier counterparts, in packages meant to be destroyed after reading, proudly announcing itself as trash. Things that should have never even lasted as long as they did have died many times now. It's heroes peripherical shapeshifters, nearly all of whom seem dead, quite dead, as dead as fictional characters can possibly be.

But they do not die forever. Many of them have, maybe most of them have, but many of them linger on.

"The strange red flickering of 1930’s fiction seems distant now.  You hold in your hand the product of a time too remote to recall, and feel a slow stir of wonder.  The smell of pulp pages, an illustration, an advertisement, these fragile things mark the slow hammering of time and display what it has done.  About you are today’s machines, today’s shadows.

Outside the window, leaves hang against the sky, as did leaves during the 1930’s.  The sound of voices are no different then than now.  You hold the magazine and feel something quite delicate slipping past. These solid forms surrounding you are all insubstantial. Time’s hammer will also pass across them, leaving little enough behind." - Spider, by Robert Sampson

Many of the things people call dead are just things that have been sleeping for a while or haven't had the chance to be born. Pulp fiction is dead on the page, inert, unless your imagination breathes live to it, and every now and then, one way or another, these characters dig themselves out of dustbins. Maybe it's a brief revival, maybe it's a successful reboot. Maybe they find publishers, or maybe the public domain allows them to find new life. Maybe new creators do interesting things with them, and maybe, just maybe, they live again because some won't shut up about them online. Some curious impulse led you to me, did it not? 

We all have our Frankensteins to obsess over, and these are some of mine. As someone who's lived a life perpetually restless over pursuit of knowledge, pulp has lured me like a moth to flame, because I literally never run out of things to discover within it, I never run out of possibilities. As the years pass and the public domain starts being more and more open to the public, more and more narrative real state is brought forth for writers and artists and creators to play around.

Pulp is the dark matter of fiction, the uncatalogued depths of the ocean, the darkest recesses of space. It's the box of your grandfather's belongings, the treasure you find in an attic, a body part sticking out from an old playground. It's the things that don't work, don't succeed, the things that don't fit, that are out of place. That shouldn't live and succeed, and did so anyway. The things that slither in the cracks, the shadows behind the curtain.

Aren't you interested in peering on what's behind the curtain?

The exquisite workmanship of the head, of a pre-pyramidal age, and the hieroglyphics, symbols of a language that was forgotten when Rome was young–these, Kane sensed, were additions as modern to the antiquity of the staff itself as would be English words carved on the stone monoliths of Stonehenge.

As for the cat-head–looking at it sometimes Kane had a peculiar feeling of alteration; a faint sensing that once the pommel of the staff was carved with a different design. The dust-ancient Egyptian who had carved the head of Bast had merely altered the original figure, and what that figure had been, Kane had never tried to guess.

A close scrutiny of the staff always aroused a disquieting and almost dizzy suggestion of abysses of eons, unprovocative to further speculation. - The Footfalls Within, by Robert E Howard, quoted by Stuart Hopen’s The Mythic American Culture