A terrible god, lost and abandoned amidst the sands of time only to be recovered sometime in the early 1990's when a new housing development was built on top of him. This out-of-time deity occasionally writes things of merit, but mostly wonders why the Void never returns his calls.
Lucienne Prophet watched the Chosen One die. Now there is no one left to stop the apocalypse. But she will not sit back and wait for death, she will try to stop the God of Darkness no matter what stands in her way.Sheāll have to recruit some people abandoned by the Empire of Light to help her stop the end of the world. A blood mage with a centuries long vendetta, some spies with questionable methods, and a woman made of fire.Will the war finally consume Lucienne? Will the gods of Light and Dark finally destroy each other and the world in their long war?
I wrote this 116,000 dark fantasy knowledge back in 2019. It's long, but it's good, I promise.
The book is heavily influenced by things like Mass Effect and the original Dragon Age. We have prophecies that may or may not be true (I mean the Chosen One is dead in chapter 2 so like... yeah), we have blood magic, we have vows of eternal vengeance and hatred, we have blood oaths, we have morally ambiguous spies, we have a world spanning religious empire of light and beauty that totally isn't rotten to the core, we have Lucienne and Aracelis as a pair of leads that are really the only thing that the other has to hold on to in the End Times, and we have a badass wardog named Sasha (she's the best).
Below will be some heavy spoilers just in case you want to know about all the things before you commit.
Lucienne Prophet watched the Chosen One die. Now there is no one left to stop the apocalypse. But she will not sit back and wait for death,
SPOILERS
Aracelis is a blood mage in the last remaining country outside of the Ilanem Empire
She's committed crimes and is imprisoned when the paladins of light invade and start to destroy her country
She loses her boyfriend in the fighting and swears death upon all of Ilanem, summoning a blood demon of vengeance that is bound to her body and soul
Lucienne Prophet is the last surviving friend of the Chosen One who died trying to stop the coming apocalypse of the Corrupt and the God of Darkness Cimenor
She hates Michael (the Chosen One) because he abandoned her, leaving her for dead, and got her husband killed when he rescued her. Both Michael and his god refused to save or heal either of them, so Luce is very bitter
Luce has a wardog named Sasha who's last order from Luce's husband is to protect her no matter what
Luce refuses to just let the apocalypse happens since the Chosen One is dead, instead she takes her Rangers to the most dangerous places and continues to fight, pushing herself beyond the breaking point
Recognizing that Luce is the only hope for stopping this war, she is "chosen" by the God of Light, something she doesn't want, but she will use
Luce recruits and uses the other military branches as she is elevated to a position of power, recruiting a couple of spies, Roth and Charna, who lead the Inquisition, she also recruits the immortal and, up until this point, hidden Aracelis into her crusade
Aracelis secretly convinces Luce to do a ritual to give herself blood magic as well, as Aracelis thinks that the only way to really fight this thing is to use every tool at their disposal
Luce also frees a fire spirit that had been chained up and used as a symbol by the Church of Light
over the course of the novel battles are won and lost, Aracelis and Luce get closer
but Aracelis is compromised, more than she knows
the deals that she made to destroy Ilanem also want her to kill Luce, who she has been in love with for a long time, she refuses to do so
which results in a tense fight with Luce (and a Corrupt Dragon) and ends with Luce seemingly killing Aracelis
but Aracelis is immortal, she can't be killed by something as trite as swords
that doesn't change much for Luce who killed her
Aracelis swears a blood oath to Luce, now magically compelled to help her in every way
Luce, Aracelis, Charna, Roth, and the fire spirit Shula go to confront the God of Darkness and it's armies of Corrupt
Roth and Shula die in the assault
Luce manages to kill Cimenor, almost dying herself
Aracelis is compelled to not act during the battle as the darkness has a hold on her
the novel ends with the victorious team returning to Ilanem only to be greeted by the "resurrected" Michael and the God of Light who wants them all executed for heresy
Aracelis fights her nemesis and Charna helps
Lucienne as a chosen of the Light God can't fight, but when she manages to act, is severely wounded
Aracelis kills the Ilanem god and finally completes her end of the deal, freeing herself from her vengeance demon
Sasha lives through the entire book
Aracelis at some point admits to having feelings for Luce, Luce in turn is beyond stressed out and simply cannot think beyond surviving the next few minutes, although at the very end she recognizes that she does in fact have feelings for Aracelis
Bat Burger has always been open late, but in commemoration of Signal's crime fighting debut it began operating 24/7.
Condiment King has a vendetta against the Creative Director, Fatima LĆ²pez because she refuses to make a menu item themed after him or utilize his likeness in any way.
Villainous Venom is a flavor of Mountain Dew that is exclusive to Bat Burger. It does not contain any of the actual Venom drug, but it does have ungodly amounts of sugar and at least a few known carcinogens (but idk, isn't that true of all Mountain Dew??)
Maxie Zeus inspired a limited menu of Greek food including "The Gyro Gotham Deserves."
The shakes are actually really good for a fast food place and they have 52 different options for toppings, but the ice cream machine is always broken.
There's an urban legend about the burger patties having trace amounts of guano in them. The USDA has never found these claims to be true, but they have yet to test the Robin Nuggets so, who's to say?
Every hound can be a Bat Hound and take a bite out of crime with pup-friendly Bat Bones available in peanut butter, liver, and chicken flavors.
(Mostly I just wanted to show off the Bat Burger logo that I spent 3 hours rendering, but please feel free to add your own headcanons!)
Just watched Adam Conover (of Adam Ruins Everything) make such a solid point that I think we should spread far and wide. Yes, having AI write your emails is lazy, sure, but people love being lazy. We need to really emphasize that sending AI emails (or using AI responses on social media, or publishing AI flyers, or or or) is rude.
It's rude. You're making someone take their time to read something you couldn't bother to write. You're telling them they were so unimportant you couldn't be bothered to actually take the time to say something yourself. And frankly, you're lying about it while you're at it.
oh, no, you misunderstand me. those were my monkeys. yeah the circus and i have since parted ways. yeah it was the elephant thing, i dont really want to address that right now though
Posting this for my soul cat Kenzie (she passed a few years ago but I still think of her every single day) and for everyone else who has lost someone they love. ā¤ļø
Look y'all, this reveal means so much to me. So many times in movies these days there are big reveals for the audienceās benefit that mean absolutely nothing in the context of the story or to the characters in it. Iām talking the Thanos cameo in the Avengersā stinger, Iām talking Benedict CumberKhan in Star Trek, Iām talking about every hackneyed āThis character is actually this other characterā when in universe nobody knows nor cares about their true identity.
But here? This reveal? This is a Big Reveal for us, Peter B Parker, and Miles, all on different levels. We and Peter both know Doc Ock is a portly dude, not a woman. We know the name Octaviusā¦ Otto Octavius. But when she says her name is Olivia Octavius weāre clued in to the fact that Doctor Octopus is a woman in this universe. And she has Peter captive.
Miles, if he was paying attention in science class earlier in the movie, would have known her name was Olivia Octavius, but that doesnāt mean anything to him, why would it? Liv has apparently been very good about keeping her supervillainy a secret. Sheās in educational videos shown in high-schools. So to Miles, the reveal here is this scientist lady, who he knew enough about to know was the head scientist at Alchemax, is a supervillain. He gets the reveal a second or two after Peter.
And the movie? It was dropping hints the entire time, confident in our expectations blinding is to the truth. Oliviaās name was partially visible when Miles got to science class. Her glasses are octagonal. The lights in her lab are octagonal. We know sheās working with the Kingpin. Why wouldnāt she be a supervillain? Because sheās hot? Hell, Peter even says he needs to reexamine his internal biases. Maybe he was telling us that we should too.
Itās a reveal for us, and for our heroes. It means something, both in-universe and out. And that makes it infinitely better than other similar reveals.
GLaDOS voice: "Would you like to see some artwork I generated? I've heard from other test subjects that AI-generated artwork produces an uncanny valley response in human viewers because they can't perceive it as fully real. They've told me that it looks absolutely hideous to them, that they can't imagine anything more disgusting than AI art. But, well I've been practicing and wanted your honest opinion. Feel free to let me know how ugly you find this by ranking it on a scale from 'vomit-inducing' to 'eye-bleeding'."
A robotic arm lowers from the ceiling holding a hand mirror up to Chell's face
If you care about animals, please consider showing your support to my friends at Heartwood Haven.
The Hearts and Hooves Auction is an annual event where you can bid on art, collectibles, and gifts from PNW local and international artisans. This year's event is particularly special as weāre asking you to help us take on one of the most important projects in the sanctuaryās history.
Heartwood Havenās current medical barn ā a structure that is more than 100 years old ā is no longer safe for the animals who depend on it. Time, weather, and years of wear have left it worse for wear, and we urgently need to replace it with a new medical barn designed to provide proper care, treatment, recovery, and shelter for rescued animals in need.
The new medical barn will mean safer surgeries, better rehabilitation spaces, emergency treatment areas, and a secure place for vulnerable animals to heal with dignity and comfort. It will become the heart of lifesaving care at the sanctuary for years to come. Every bid placed in this auction helps build that future.
Not interested in the auction? Then also consider just donating if you have the means and would like to support this amazing sanctuary that's home to over 100 rescued animals.
i do not ādelete sentencesā when they start āhindering the plotā i COPY PASTE THEM into a SEPARATE DOC made just for keeping all my USELESS LINES that i will also NEVER USE so therefore i should JUST DELETE THEM but i DONT because id FEEL BAD if i did
