“My escapism is better than your escapism!!!”

Love Begins
trying on a metaphor
Mike Driver

if i look back, i am lost

Discoholic 🪩

Andulka
hello vonnie

祝日 / Permanent Vacation

shark vs the universe
taylor price
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda

JVL
todays bird

Janaina Medeiros
h
Monterey Bay Aquarium

JBB: An Artblog!
sheepfilms
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
seen from Ecuador
seen from Saudi Arabia
seen from United States
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seen from United States
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seen from United States
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seen from Türkiye
seen from United States

seen from United States
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seen from United States
seen from El Salvador
seen from Uzbekistan
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seen from United States

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@saintheartwing
“My escapism is better than your escapism!!!”

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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also was jax planned to be trans from the start or was that a more recent decision
It was always meant to be a subtle implied thing, but at some point I just said fuck it.
And isn’t she lovely? ;)
The problem with this argument is that this isn't true. Because people can literally be against stuff like being gay, or trans or just on the spectrum at all, and pass legislation to stamp it out. People can be against ENVIRONMENTAL things and through legislation and a lack of regulation, they can, and have, KILLED OFF observable aspects of the world.
You can absolutely be against the existence of observable aspects in the world and make them cease to exist. This has happened for decades. Centuries, even. What do you think happened to the Aral Sea in Russia? Or to the buffalo in the USA?
Heck, this even works on a POSITIVE sense. MEASLES and MUMPS and diseases like the Black Plague were observable aspects in nature. But through VACCINATIONS and the like we were able to get them to cease to exist as a real threat. Acid rain was a serious issue until the US government took real steps to eliminate it. IT was an observable aspect of life until legislation and regulation occurred, all spurred by the wonderful work of scientists and climate change activists.
I support @assignedmale and their work for the most part, but they'll put out comics that often make these kind of bad points where it really seems like they didn't actually think through what they were saying, they just wanted to be snappy. On top of that, they also regrettably don't allow replies to their work so you can't post any real criticisms or flaws in what they say. I hope in the future they'll maybe consider allowing people to reply and will be more open to criticism and comments.
Having seen the final episode of The Amazing Digital Circus, I can now post THIS little Monty Python joke up. Especially knowing what we now know about Jax. Light spoilers, folks.
This week, Daveigh Chase, the voice actor for Lilo Pelekai and for Chihiro from Spirited Away, my two favorite movies for both Western and Eastern media, sadly passed away at a VERY surprisingly young age. Hearing how she died so young and apparently, HOMELESS, from meningitis due to a blood infection…was really heartbreaking.
So I wanted to make a picture to honor her, because she WAS the voice of my childhood in so many ways. Thank you, Daveigh. Ohana means family, and family means nobody is left behind...or forgotten. And I will NEVER forget you. I promise.

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Fandom Problem #14,151:
Fandom culture has become so damn demotivating, due to the lack of actual engagement.
No matter how much content I throw out, I barely get any engagement from anyone. Which wasn't like this years ago, where people were still commenting and sharing and talking to you.
And then at the same time I see everyone always go on about how fandoms are dying, because the fancreators keep on leaving the fandoms and move somewhere else. Yeah, no wonder if no one talks to us.
Behold the Lamb of God, Chapter 9: Deliver Us From Evil
Shamura's purple, crescent-shaped eye began to glow on his own crown. The tapestries around the chamber rippled like water disturbed by a stone, and suddenly the floor between them cracked open. A perfect circle, ten paces wide, sank several feet to create an arena.
"So be it." Lambert whispered, twirling the Zealous Axe. The weapon felt so light in his hoof, crimson energy crackling along its edge.
Shamura moved with unexpected grace, his eight legs carrying him in a spiraling pattern that made him difficult to track. From the tips of his front legs, purple energy coalesced into long, thin blades that whistled through the air.
"For my fallen siblings!" Shamura cried, launching himself toward Lambert with frightening speed. THWOOSH-THWOOSH-THWOOSH! The blades sailed through the air and Lambert leapt aside, barely avoiding the deadly shots Shamura had launched. He countered with a swing of his axe that caught only air as Shamura skittered away.
"For my slaughtered kin!" Lambert responded, charging forward.
The battle joined in earnest then...a deadly dance of red and purple energy, of slashing blades and flying limbs. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! His axe met the hardened edge of Shamura's shrp limbs again and again as their deadly danced continued. Lambert quickly discovered that Shamura fought unlike any opponent he had faced before. The Bishop didn't rely on brute strength like Leshy or trickery like Heket. Shamura fought with calculated precision, each movement flowing into the next like water finding its natural path.
"You fight well for one so young." Shamura commented as they circled each other. "But I have had over 1000 years to perfect my art."
To demonstrate, the Bishop suddenly split into eight identical copies, each attacking from a different direction. Lambert slashed through two...they vanished like smoke...before a third caught him across the flank with a glancing blow that singed his wool.
"Illusions?" Lambert gasped.
"Perceptions." Shamura corrected, his copies dissolving. "Reality is more flexible than most understand!"
The crown on Lambert's head grew hotter, almost painfully so. It seemed eager to counter this new threat. Lambert felt power surging through him, and suddenly his vision shifted. He could see trails of probability following Shamura's movements...ghostly after-images showing where the Bishop would be moments before he arrived there.
"Two can play at that game..." Lambert murmured, and now when Shamura attacked, Lambert was already moving to the spot where the Bishop would be vulnerable.
The axe connected with one of Shamura's legs, severing it cleanly. SCHAA-THRULLK!
"Wh-what have you d-done? My…my leg, I…I…" Shamura stammered, looking mortified, reeling back slightly before he seemed to find his senses again. "So. First blood to you." Shamura acknowledged, flinching from the loss. "But a spider can lose many legs and still fight."
The battle intensified as Lambert shot towards Shamura, who skittered away again, shooting MORE magical blades through the air at him. SCHWOOOSH! As Lambert dodged and rolled away, the walls of the chamber trembled with the force of their clashing! Webs snapped. Stone cracked. The glowing mushrooms in the walls flickered wildly, casting chaotic shadows across the combatants.
Lambert found himself pushed to limits he hadn't known existed. Each time Shamura seemed on the verge of overwhelming him, the crown would offer some new insight, yet another second wind again and again. And each time Lambert nearly gained the upper hand, Shamura would unveil some ancient trick that forced Lambert back on the defensive.
"You cannot win." Shamura panted after a particularly intense exchange left them both at opposite sides of the arena. "As I said, Lambert of Woolhaven…war is my domain!"
"You're SCARED." Lambert shot back.
"Scared? I'm not Kallamar, you CUR." The spider roared as he opened his mouth as glowing energy formed, bluish yellow balls of flaming magic shooting forth! The lamb barely had time to avoid it, one of the shots knocked him through the air, slamming hard into the wall with a KRAKKA-THRA-KOOOOM!
Blood filled Lambert's mouth. He had been caught off guard and he was getting hazy and dizzy. He tried to launch himself at Shamura once again, but Shamura twisted around, and a horrific spiked tail stabbed at Lambert! Horrible, foul red warmth flooded through him as Shamura watched the lamb shuddering-
Oh no. Not again. Not another death. Not more loss of memories, not more loss of SELF-
Why can't I remember their names? Why can't I remember their faces?
I'm losing their voices. I'm losing how good it felt to hold my grandpa. The soft smell of his wool.
I can't remember how cold I was drifting down the river. I can't remember who was with me. I can't even remember what my home looked like.
I can't remember ME.
All that's left is nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing nothing NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING!
"Get up." Shamura murmured quietly as he gazed down at the still form of Lambert, who laid there on the temple floor, blood pooling around him, his frame softly twitching. "I know…that the Red Crown will never allow you to walk away from your duty."
As if to prove Shamura's point, the Red Crown surged with sudden ferocity. Lambert gasped as new power flooded through him...dark and hungry, eager for completion. His vision tinged crimson around the edges, and he felt his control slipping.
"No." Lambert whispered, fighting the crown's influence. "This is my battle." He angrily hissed. He could only remember one tiny thing now. Someone giving him the bell collar he now wore, showing off the soft gold of it, with a cute little snowflake insignia in the middle of a diamond at the back. "NO. I'M…IN…CONTROL!"
And with that, he shot forward, and ducked under Shamura's sweeping leg. Another horrific, foul SCHAA-SCHLUKKK, and that limb went soaring through the air, carved fresh from the spider's enormous purple body.
"I can see him in your eyes now." Shamura said quietly. "My brother. Narinder. That same dark edge. You wield his power so easily." He remarked as the lamb panted and heaved, his eyes blazing, his teeth gritted, showing…fangs. "Tell me…does he still have the two kittens for comfort?"
Lambert had been about to do a swirling, twirling strike with his axe but he stopped, staring in stunned silence. "Aym and Baal?! How do you know about…"
Shamura's focus seemed to be lost. He tilted his head to the side, and he slightly drooled as he swayed slightly back and forth. It appeared as though all of the blood loss was finally getting to him. The fight, combined with the damage his mind had already taken eons ago, was having a clear, obvious impact on the spidery bishop.
"Brother…I missed you…" Shamura finally seemed to say, and Lambert felt hesitation swell up in him as he saw tears beginning to well in Shamura's eyes. The spider tried to wipe them away. "So many eyes for weeping…I do not care for it…"
"You MISSED me, did you?"
Suddenly it wasn't Lambert speaking as the Red Crown stiffened up, and Lambert with it…as Narinder, the One Who Wait's voice, rang from his mouth.
"Well…missing doesn't change what you did…or what MUST be done." Narinder snapped as he shot forward.
Shamura didn't even try to dodge as Lambert found himself swinging hard, and head separated from body. Shamura's body collapsed as he let loose an agonized SKREEE of pain, his legs that weren't carved off jittering and twitching, his head looking at Lambert's, who quietly gazed at his bloodied axe, at the ichor that coated it, then at Shamura. He felt a mixture of both pity…fury…and repulsion.
He thought he would be happy. Shamura was dead and gone. He'd finally avenged all his kin, gotten even with the Bishops for killing him.
But…no. He wasn't happy. He felt more empty than ever. Less than himself than he'd EVER felt before. Narinder's presence left him as the Red Crown softly whispered in his mind.
"It is done." It murmured. "You should return home."
"Yeah…I suppose I should, I…I…ohhh…" Lambert felt his exhausted body's tiredness finally catch up to him. He swayed alarmingly back and forth, and then the ground rushed up to meet him, and he remembered…nothing more.
…
…
…
…"So much to write, so much to SEE…"
Jourmungandr began to carve quickly into the magical tablet he held in his grip as he now stood in the dark depths of an enormous cavern. The interior was positively coated with all variety of mushrooms amidst a land filled with orange-leafed trees. The ground was rocky and purplish in tone and a soft humidity filled the air. Every once in a while, a breeze from a vein that led outside fluttered in, as the Fanatic gazed upon what laid ahead.
There, without a doubt…was a gigantic skull. A skull of, clearly, one of the First Gods. It had been some kind of mandibled thing, with a crest in the center of its head that had two horns, and humanoid hands. He could see the remnants of a right hand, a pair of knees, a left shoulder, rest was long-buried in the ground, but what was truly strange was…
The mushrooms. Such…strange mushrooms.
"My pilgrimage has lead me thus, to the caverns of a Godly skull, remnants of a Great One now decaying into earth. The air here smells sweet, the soil rich and dark…" Jourmungandr wrote, speaking aloud. "I hear whispers, I feel watched, yet there is naught around, just these strange, small mushrooms, their spots almost like eyes…but that's impossible…?" He mumbled as he finished his work on the tablet before gazing at the red mushroom that sat on top of the Great One's skull. He tilted his hooded head slightly before setting down a Commandmant Stone, and rapping it on the top.
It softly glowed when his Zealous Sword touched it, and he spoke into it, a very familiar voice calling back.
"Ahhh! Hoh-hoh-hoh! My dear Jourmungandr, I've not heard from you in a month! What ARE you seeing out there?" Chemach chuckled.
"Amazing wonders." The cobra entity confessed as he put his blade away and looked about the enormous cavern he found himself in. "I've been documenting everything I can find in my travels around the Lands of Oniero." He admitted cheerily. "And oh, I have SUCH sights to show you when I return. And to Yngna too, she's going to love hearing about all the things that I have seen. I'm already working on a song for my lil' lamb."
"She'll like that a lot. I'll be waiting by the iron gate, my dear boy." Chemach offered warmly. "With the freshest of wine for us to drink together, and of course, my muffins."
"I DO love your muffins." Jourmungandr wistfully intoned with a sigh. "Soft and light, yet so sweet…juuuust the right amount of chocolate chips in them, with a light roast to them to really bring out the flavor…" He added as he tilted his head to the side, picturing those beautiful baked goods in his minds eye before he noticed, out of the corner of his NORMAL eye, that…the mushroom atop the First God's skull was DROOLING!
There was no doubt about it. The mushroom was apparently alive, and drooling, a dull, soft moan coming from what was clearly not black markings in the center of a big white spot, but a face with eyes and lips and wrinkles, and…and an "X". An "X" marking above that face. Something about that seemed so…familiar. But how?
"Mushroooooooomoooo…" It murmured. "Mushroooooooomoooo…" It said as, sure enough, what appeared to be…living mushroom people were now emerging from behind the remnants of the First God, and even from the grotto that laid within it's giant skull. They were small, greyish-skinned and very small. Almost cute in an ugly sense, Jourmungandr inwardly mused as he gazed at them all and felt a shudder go through him.
Of course. The giant mushroom thing must be, somehow, producing life. It had remnants from the First Ones seeping into it and was, thus, creating that spark of life, a spark blessed by tiny remnants of the First Ones! That X marking was like a crown!
"Do you talk?" Jourmungandr asked.
"...are you…one of the Great Ones?" One of the "Mushroomos" asked, looking expectantly at Jourmungandr as their red eyes looked upon his own yellow ones.
"We have been here worshipping the remnants of this Great One. It birthed us." Another added, as they all turned and bowed, Jourmungandr slightly cringing as he realized they were all as butt naked as could be.
"I'm VERY flattered to see you're devoted to the First Ones, even if the devotion is to one of their corpses." He confessed as he looked around. "You could probably use some…clothing." He added as he began to rifle through his bag and began to bring out some cloth, handing out what he had to the nearest Mushroomos. "Here." he offered. "To help provide some cover for you, so you'll feel warmer." He added gently, the cobra entity giving a bow.
"First Ones, sir?" The Mushroomo whom he'd given the cloth to asked, the others crowding around, looking intrigued. "You know about them?"
"Yes. I was given one of their crowns by their first children, Chemach, wisest and truly most blessed of them all." Jourmungandr said with a deep bow of his head. "I am Jourmungandr, who Stands for Faith and its tenets." He told the assembled mushroom people as he held his arms out. "I will be honored to speak to you of the glory of the First Ones, and tell you all that was told to me."
"We only have mere glimpses of what they were, sir. The remnants that gave us life in turn provided faint flashes of their memories." The cloth-holding Mushroomo confessed as Jourmungandr's eyes widened and he quickly got out yet another magical tablet from his bag, the others noticing as he took out his blade to begin writing. "We'll be happy to tell you what was passed to us through our very roots-wait. Sir, uh…that sword, it's…BLINKING!"
Indeed it was! The Zealous Blade had, sure enough, an eye in the center. Yellow with a black pupil, just like his own, as Jourmungandr chuckled.
"Oh, that's nothing to fear." he said as he bowed his head slightly. "I make all my weapons, and my offerings to the First Ones, from my own flesh and bone. I usually use my tail, it grows back the quickest." He added, gesturing at his coiled-up tail beneath him with a thick black claw. "That, and a quick plucking of an eye…" He raised his head up and pointed at the center of his forehead.
The mushroomos gasped. A wet, meaty SCHLOOORGGGGH-POP noise rang out! Another eyeball manifested in the center of his skull as he winked at them with that "middle eye". "It also regrows back quickly. Doing this to my weaponry builds a connection to me. I give extra to my followers. Their faith and zeal and fervor pour into it when they fight and this in turn, gives me further power. I, in turn, also pour MY power into the weapons. It's a…symbiosis. As I gain strength, so do they."
"Ohhhhhhh!" The mushroom people all looked in awe as Jourmungandr held out his hands and warmly smiled.
"Little ones…do you wish to be fully inducted into the First Faith? Shall I give you some weapons for defense in addition to the clothing on your back? A trade for your stories about my beloved gods?"
"What's THIS, sir?"
One of them held up something that had been in the bag and Jourmungandr looked down at it. It was a very nice guitar, with a cute bell-shaped soundhole in the middle. It also had, at the top of the neck near the tuning pegs, a distinct snowflake insignia in the middle of a diamond.
"Oh, this is a very precious gift to me. The commandment stones were from my dearest Chemach, and this guitar was from my beloved Yngna, the God of Winter, Mother of the Flock, wielder of the Frost Crown." Jourmungandr wistfully murred as he took the guitar up, and softly strummed on it. His eyes were filled with warm memories, and his face showed that in that moment, he was a thousand miles away, and years away in his mind. "Yngya's VERY special…" He murmured. "My "lil lamb" made this for me in Ewefall, in the realm of Woolhaven, in the mountains, one very special night. A…very…VERY special night…"
He softly strummed on it, his head lightly bouncing as the Mushroomos all sat about, listening eagerly.
First warm day in all these months! All the sunlight made me drunk!
Made me feel like I could run…Made me feel…like I was young!
So I went out all on my own…I told no one where'd I'd go!
Anyway I did not know! I only knew…I had to go!
Out beyond the iron gaaaaate! Out there where you…saaaaaaid you'd wait!
…
…
…
…it couldn't be.
COULD it?
Lambert awoke with a start, gasping, clutching at his head. That prophetic dream…the old memory. That guitar's symbol.
Now it all made sense. ALL of it. The Entity of Love's interest in him, why he'd been helping Lambert. Of course! Of COURSE. The way he'd talked about Yngna, the way he'd ACTED around her, that special gift with the symbol on it, that pet name!
Lambert quickly took off his bell collar, turning the golden sphere around, looking at the back and, sure enough…there it was. That snowflake symbol in the middle of a diamond.
As he began the long trek home, every leaf seemed to turn its back to him. Every gust of wind sighed with Shamura's mournful prophecies, whispering tales of blinding, terrible light. Lambert's hooves moved mechanically over familiar forest paths, yet a thousand miles separated him from home. He felt it: not on his shoulders, but as a hollowness inside where something essential...memories, a name, a mother's scent...had once been.
Ancestors...?
The words echoed not in the forest's hush, but within him. The thought of having family, a lineage extending beyond the blood-stained altar where this entire nightmare began, felt both like a sunbeam piercing storm clouds and like standing at the edge of a cliff made of glass. It was a beautiful, terrifying vertigo.
Jourmungandr and Yngna...
The cobra's song lilting through the grotto, that snowflake and diamond on the back of his collar...it was a thread. Not of crimson prophecy or power, but of simple, fragile humanity. A history.
And what had he become, this descendant of a forgotten god and a love-stricken god of seasons?
A vessel. An executioner. He began to wonder what his life SHOULD have been like.
What would he have been had the Bishops not done what they did? If Yngna was still around, if Sheep Kind hadn't been slaughtered?
It gave him a newfound purpose in his mind, a new hope. The dream of the past had opened a path to the future! Perhaps he wasn't a god of death or war or pestilence. He could be something else. He didn't have to be Narinder's echo! Perhaps he could…
Wait.
It was too quiet. The gentle burble of the stream that marked the perimeter path not far from his village should have been audible from here. But there was only a profound, unnerving stillness. And then, the silence sharpened, gained texture...a wrongness, vast and chilling, that emanated from ahead.
He broke into a run.
And he stopped dead.
His community...his HOME...was gone.
The huts, lovingly built from the finest wood and stone they could find, were still there. The cooking fire pit was now a nest of cold ash. Ratau's whittling knife lay on a stump, a half-finished spoon still gripped in the imaginary hand of its creator. But the life, the noise, the heart of the place... extinguished. No voices. No laughter. No Ratau cheerfully trying to remember things he didn't even know he'd lost. No...NANA.
This didn't make sense. There was NO WAY Nana or Ratau would leave. And where was Jourmungandr, who'd stayed behind to-
Oh no. The gigantic cobra entity was there, and he was curled on the ground, very, VERY badly hurt. Lambert approached, cringing in disgust at what he saw. Jourmungandr's hands had been horribly burned...in fact, his arms had been burned. The cobra had already had damaged skin, Lambert had realized this earlier, that apparently being skinned alive by the Bishops had peeled off so much that what was left had looked like raw meat beneath, pink and rare, but now...now the flesh of his arms was so horribly blackened.
"I...tried to...hold onto the cage as long as I could. Tried to...pull it...out of..." Jourmungandr groaned aloud. "But I used up so much strength earlier, trying to keep them safe from Shamura's forces. I couldn't hold on." He shamefully confessed. "He's t-taken them, Lambert. The cage went in and…and I c-couldn't stop it…"
"T-taken who? WHERE?! Who's taken-" Lambert began, then saw it. There…a portal that swirled in the far edge of his makeshift home, their lovely little village. A dark, horrible, reddish thing like a swirling red eye.
"All of them were f-forced into a...a cage." Jourmungandr hissed out, panting heavily, ichor oozing from the side of his mouth. "Ratau and Nana were the last..."
And Lambert's world narrowed to one, horrific conclusion. He saw it all, playing out: Nana, her face frozen in terror but still defiant. Ratau, confused and blinking in amazement at what was going on. He thought he'd left them somewhere safe. Instead…
Narinder.
It wasn't a portal to another land, another lair, per se. The sickly, draining colors, the taste of decay and stillness hanging in the still air... Lambert recognized it instantly. It was a doorway to the Grey.
The God of Death's prison was now empty.
This wasn't an attack. This wasn't another crusade. This was... something final. A homecoming. He thought he'd been coming home, but Narinder... was just coming for what he'd considered HIS home.
"Lambert…this path has become very wrong..." Jourmungandr rasped, pushing himself up, groaning as blackened flakes peeled from his arms. "Whatever the Red Crown whispers to you…resist it. D-Do not…fall entirely."
But a chilling new certainty had already hardened around Lambert's heart. "I have no choice." he said quietly. He looked up towards the portal to the land of death and steeled himself. But before he stepped through, he turned back to Jourmungandr. "...I want to know though." he added quietly, picking up the bell that hung from his collar. "Are you...are you my ancestor?" he asked of the God of Love.
Jourmungandr looked back and tears formed in his eyes. "I think I am. Yes." He murmured. "Yngna and I had...quite a lot of children. All s-sheep, of course. Except for a couple goats." He added with a harsh chuckle as more ichor oozed from his mouth, and those horrible burned arms singed and hissed. "When I s-saw that symbol on the back of your bell collar, I was sure...you must be d-descended from one of our little lambs...we put that sy-symbol on all the bell collars of our progeny..."
He began to weep now. "I never thought...I thought you all w-were g-gone, b-b-b-but to find out you lived...that Yngya...that one of her...o-one of OUR little lambs made it through...gave me one last spark, Lambert. A reason to not just let him destroy us all."
Lambert stood dumbfounded. He felt the weight of that truth settle upon him. Family. Not just the idea of it, but someone who was here, NOW, looking upon him and acknowledging what they shared. A godly figure, someone important.
It only made everything burn like a raging flame now that he realized all of them...and now even HIS newfound connection to this god, his new, long lost FAMILY...were in danger because of him.
"...I promise...I won't let him keep them." the Lamb whispered, and then the world dissolved into greyscale nothingness.
…
…
…
…in truth, to step into the Grey was to have existence scraped away. Not darkness, not emptiness, but the profound absence of...everything. The warmth of the sun on wool, the sharp scent of evergreen, the reassuring weight of the ground under hoof...it all vanished. Here, in this realm of drained-out monochrome, reality itself felt stretched thin, like the skin of a starving creature.
The Grey looked just as it had during his first visit…a bleak landscape of greyish white and swirling fog. But something had changed. The mists seemed thinner, the endless void less absolute.
And there…there HE was. Narinder. That big, tall, three-eyed cat, with dark grey fur, body RADIATING raw power the likes of which Lambert hadn't felt previously now that he was unchained. Aym and Baal stood nearby, the two larger-than-Lambert cats holding their weapons, looking quietly at Lambert, then over to their god whom they attended.
But what made Lambert's blood run cold was what he saw to the right of the throne...an enormous cage crafted of red energy, pulsating like a living heart. Inside, crowded together in terrified huddles, were all his followers. Ratau pressed against the bars, his one eye wide with fear. Amdusias had curled into a tiny ball, trembling by his brother. Gusion was trying to comfort Focalor and Saleos and there, at the front, her pink fur unmistakable even in this dim light, was Nana.
"Lambert!" she cried, reaching a paw through the bars. "Run! You have to run!"
"Silence!" Narinder's voice boomed throughout the air, the force of it nearly knocking Lambert off his hooves. The God of Death advanced, and his form seeming to grow larger with each step he took toward Lambert.
"Your appetite for death is something I can admire, Vessel." Narinder said, his voice like velvet over broken glass. "You wield the Red Crown almost as excellently as I do. But the Crown is mine, and in the end none...NONE...are worthy. None other than I. You shall lay down your life and return to me what is mine. After millennia, all may bask in my glory once more."
Lambert found himself backing away involuntarily, the crown on his head suddenly ice-cold against his wool.
"Vessel." Narinder continued, extending one massive paw toward Lambert, claws gleaming. "I relinquish you from your service to the Red Crown. Return it to me, and embrace the end that awaits. With this last sacrifice of my most devoted Follower, I will be freed. Finally... I will be FREE! Approach, vessel, and lay your life down at my feet."
The crown whispered urgently in Lambert's mind. And instead of telling him to submit…
It sounded…
DESPERATE.
"Don't listen! He'll destroy you! Fight him!"
And for perhaps the first time, Lambert found himself agreeing with the crown. This was wrong. All of it...the kidnapping of his friends, the demand for sacrifice, the grandiose proclamations. This wasn't a misunderstood deity seeking justice. This was something else entirely.
Still, what chance did he have against his god? Lambert took one hesitant step forward, then another, his head bowed in apparent submission.
"Yes." Narinder purred. "You understand. It is the natural order of things."
But then Lambert raised his eyes up and said a single word, quiet…but firmly.
"No."
Narinder's massive head tilted, as if he hadn't quite heard correctly. "What did you say, Vessel?"
"I said no." Lambert planted his hooves firmly on the obsidian floor, raising his head to meet Narinder's gaze directly. "I won't be your sacrifice. And I won't give you the crown."
The God of Death's fur bristled, his three eyes narrowing to slits. "You dare defy me? In my own realm?"
"I do." Lambert replied, surprised at the steadiness in his voice. "Because I finally see you for what you TRULY are now. Not a god of mercy or second chances. Not a misunderstood victim. "You demand fealty and dominion, no different than the siblings you claim to hate. Anything good about you died ages ago. "
Narinder's face contorted with rage. "Insolent lamb! I gave you life!"
"And I'm grateful for that." Lambert admitted. "But that doesn't mean I owe you my death. Or the lives of my friends."
"So you betray me, ignoble lamb?!" Narinder hissed out coldly.
"The lands will never be free while you draw breath." Lambert snapped back.
"VERMIN." Narinder darkly glowered. "I've not "drawn breath" in a very...very long time. But so be it. You've shunned my gospel and claimed yourself a false idol. You shall be punished. Aym! Baal!"
Narinder turned to his attendants as they advanced.
"Deal with him."
They clanged their weapons together, Baal with his multi-pronged, circular spear, the one-eyed Baal with his curved-moon-shaped scythe. "I will take care of this beast, master. I will cut that crown from its HEAD!" Aym proclaimed.
"Yes, master. Allow us. I will give this wretch a taste of your wrath!" Baal roared out.
"I'm willing to spare you two." Lambert said quietly as he held up his hooved paw and focused, and manifested a twirling, spiked mace, spinning it around and around rapidly. "Just as I did with the Bishop's lieutenants. I have mercy."
"You'll be the one begging for THAT, boyo." Aym whispered as he and Baal launched forth.
-----------------
AUTHOR'S NOTE!
For those wondering what song I used, it's Beyond the Iron Gate, by Richard Shindell. Specifically, THIS version.
What's this song about, you may ask? Well...if you can't figure it out from the lyrics, then I'll tell you next chapter. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, though. For those wondering, I've actually gotten a BUTTLOAD of inspiration from folk singers and their songs like him. His work's kind of been a fixture in my own for a long, long time.
The power of imagination is out the charts 😲🌸
🟢 Commissions Open!!
Frist of all safe to say that there's a lot of politicians like Lily in all the worse ways, IYKYK.
It goes without saying that Lily is just saying what her idol Moviebob has been saying since 2014. Yes the same Moviebob that is in favor of eugenics and defends the "movie" cuties, that's Lily's idol.
What Lily and MovieBob fail to understand is that politicians try to look like the common man is because people want someone in office that can relate to everyday regular people in the country, that understands the problems regular people face everyday, and not some fill of themselves elite that is out of touch with the problems regular people face day in and day out. It's called trying to be relatable, don't expect Lily to get that since Lily doesn't see people as people.
Actually, this time, I think I understand the point she’s trying to make. Cuz CS Lewis said something similar.
“A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that every one deserved a share in the government. The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they’re not true. . . . I find that they’re not true without looking further than myself. I don’t deserve a share in governing a hen-roost. Much less a nation. . . . The real reason for democracy is just the reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters.”
The reason why democracy works is because people are so flawed that you can’t trust them to always do the right thing whenever needed, because they will make mistakes, or they will be illogical, or they’ll do something stupid, or they’ll do something evil. If everybody was always good all of the time. You wouldn’t need stuff like government to begin with. The government exists because you cannot trust people to always do the right thing. Laws, ethics, religion, rules of morality exist to be a constant reminder to do the right thing because people need constant reminders.
And ideally, you would want somebody in charge who’s a lot smarter than you, a lot more well read, a lot wiser, and a lot more versed on political issues and what’s happening around the world. Having a candidate you can have a beer with is great. Having a candidate who’s relatable is great. But if I had to CHOOSE between relatable and knowledgeable, I would rather have a candidate who’s knowledgeable.
Do you agree that compromise and cooperation are more important now than ever before?
Depends on who you’re compromising and cooperating with

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Controversial Opinion: Generative AI is fine so long as it isn’t used as a cheap substitute for human creativity and imagination.
Would you agree?
I don’t honestly know. I know it can be useful for translating stuff like sign language?
Is it wrong if I believe gray skies will start to clear for Gooseworx once The Final Act hits theaters?
She needs all the support she can get obviously, but I think the success will be the best medicine for her what she’s been forced to endure.
I certainly wish for all the success they can get.
Commission for @saintheartwing! Absolutely loved the vibes here. The shading was fun to implement. And Hornet x Trobbio is surprisingly intriguing. Big fluffy. Thought to add the giraffe weevil since it seems like a no brainer steed.
He is absolutely copying you, and cuddling, and doing the slow close of eyes that is a cat kiss! #this is one very happy cat #i hope the two of you have many years of harmony and happiness
Perfect harmony
Behold the Lamb of God, Chapter 8: The Things We Do For Love
Focalor righted himself with alarming speed, his many legs finding purchase on the silken walls. His dozens of tiny red eyes fixed on Lambert with a hatred so intense it seemed to generate heat.
"You have been touched by death." the spider hissed. "I can smell it on you."
Lambert gripped his axe tighter, the crown pulsing with angry energy. "Last chance, Focalor. Stand down."
The spider's response was a burst of sticky webbing shot from specialized glands beneath his fangs. Lambert ducked, but not quickly enough...the substance caught his left hind leg, anchoring him to the floor.
"HA! You're stuck!" cried Focalor with wicked delight. "Now we shall see how the little lamb dances!"
Lambert swung his axe at the webbing, but the blade merely bounced off. This was no ordinary spider silk...it had the consistency of steel cable. Focalor took advantage of Lambert's predicament, charging forward with fangs extended. Lambert twisted his body desperately, bringing the axe up in a defensive arc that caught one of Focalor's legs. The crown-axe sliced clean through the appendage, sending it flying across the chamber. Black ichor sprayed from the wound, hissing where it landed on the silken floor.
Focalor shrieked...a sound so high-pitched and terrible that Lambert's ears rang with pain. But the spider lieutenant didn't retreat. If anything, the injury seemed to fuel his rage. He lunged again, this time shooting a jet of venom directly at Lambert's face. Lambert ducked just in time, the poison splattering against the wall behind him. Where it touched, the silk dissolved into smoking holes. Lambert didn't want to imagine what it would do to wool and flesh.
"Hold still, little sacrifice." Focalor taunted, circling Lambert like a shark. "Your death will be quicker that way."
Lambert tugged frantically at his trapped leg. The webbing wouldn't break, but perhaps... He drove the handle of his axe into the floor beside his leg, creating a small tear in the silk platform. Then he widened it with his free hoof until he had carved a circle around his trapped limb. As Focalor charged again, Lambert dropped through the hole he'd made, his trapped leg pulling free the section of floor it was attached to. He plummeted for a heart-stopping moment before landing on a lower level of webbing, the impact sending shock waves through the entire structure.
Focalor followed immediately, his seven remaining legs scrambling down the sides of the tunnel. Lambert had only seconds to free himself, hacking frantically at the chunk of webbing still clinging to his leg. Finally, it came loose just as Focalor landed before him.
"Clever lamb." the spider acknowledged, his breath a putrid cloud. "But cleverness only prolongs the inevitable."
This time, Lambert didn't wait for Focalor to attack. He charged forward, the crown flaring with power that coursed through his body like liquid fire. The axe became a crimson blur as he struck at Focalor's legs, his movements impossibly quick. One by one, the spider's legs were severed, each strike accompanied by a terrible shriek and a spray of black ichor. Finally, with only four legs remaining, Focalor crashed to the silk floor, unable to maintain his balance.
"Surrender." Lambert commanded, standing over the crippled lieutenant with his axe raised. "It's over."
Focalor laughed...a gurgling, bitter sound. "Over? Nothing is over until one of us is dead, lamb."
With his remaining strength, the spider lunged upward, fangs aimed directly at Lambert's throat. Lambert sidestepped and brought the axe down in a final, decisive arc that split Focalor's body nearly in two.
The spider collapsed, black ichor pooling around him. His many red eyes flickered like dying embers as his life ebbed away.
Lambert stood over him, breathing heavily. "Why?" he asked, genuine confusion in his voice. "Why wouldn't you yield? I would have spared you! I only want the bishops dead!"
Focalor's mandibles clicked weakly. "Spared me? For what purpose? To become your servant, like those other traitors? To abandon everything I am?"
"You could have chosen a different path." Lambert insisted. "Just as I have. I'm not as cruel as the bishops."
"Ah, but there's the difference." Focalor whispered, his voice growing fainter. "We spiders have our code. It is woven into our very being, just as surely as we weave our webs. Shamura is the one I devoted myself too. I cannot change what I am any more than you can change what you are."
Lambert frowned. "But I HAVE changed! I'm living proof that one can choose their own destiny."
A sound like dry leaves rustling emerged from Focalor...his dying laugh. "Are you? You were LITERALLY blessed by the God of Death himself. You think that was chance? You think you had any choice in the matter?"
The crown grew uncomfortably hot on Lambert's head.
"Besides." Focalor continued, his many eyes fixed on the crown, "Are you even still 'yourself' anymore? We know all about how you killed the Bishops. Leshy, Heket... and especially Kallamar."
Lambert stepped back as if physically struck. "What do you mean?"
"The way you sliced him apart." Focalor wheezed, black ichor bubbling from his mouth. "So methodical. So cruel. So...unlike a gentle lamb. We have eyes everywhere, little vessel. Do you really think you have ANY true control over your own fate?"
Lambert's hoof moved unconsciously to touch the crown. "That wasn't me." he whispered. "The crown took control."
"Exactly." Focalor's voice was barely audible now. "Don't you see? It will again. And again. Until there is nothing left of the lamb who once was. Just as there is nothing left of Narinder in that crown. Only hunger. Only purpose."
With those final words, Focalor's eyes dimmed one by one, like stars being extinguished at dawn, until all that remained was the empty husk of what had once been Shamura's lieutenant.
Lambert stood in silence, Focalor's words echoing in his mind. The crown felt heavier than ever before, a constant reminder of the question he'd been avoiding since Kallamar's temple:
How much of Lambert was still Lambert? And how much was now Narinder?
"I'm…I am NOT going to be like him…or the Bishops." Lambert insisted as he clenched his fists, and then held his hooves up. "Come back to me…live…LIVE…LIVE!" He roared out. "I won't be the god of death. I…will be a god of LIFE!" He proclaimed as he slammed his fists down into the ground.
SCHAA-THRAA-SCHWOOOOMHHH! A burning red circle engulfed Focalor's form. His body shimmered and glowed, and bit by bit he began to shrink. Slowly but surely, he was now a smaller, stubbier-limbed specimen of spider with blue fur over his body, four horns with spiderwebs interlocking them, and two fangs on either side of his head.
"I…feel…odd. What…what did…wait, am I…?" Focalor moaned, holding his head. "…I'm…Focalor, right?"
Inwardly, Lambert felt a pang of regret. He had hoped that maybe he was getting better at bringing people back to life, that maybe, as he got more powerful, his control would improve. But this was no better than Ratau's resurrection.
"Yes, you…you're Focalor. I want you to go here…" The lamb reached into his cape, pulling out a copy of his map. He kept several just for such occasions, to give to new followers who would want a safe place to call home. "This is where you'll be safe. I've built a nice home here. You'll find good people." "Ooh, that sounds nice…yeah, I…I think I'll go there." Focalor said, a rather dumb smile on his face as Lambert watched the transformed spider trotting off with the map, the Red Crown speaking to him in his mind.
"Do you think you're being kind?" It asked. It sounded less mad though and more…pitying. "Narinder did the same thing you did. He thought he was being merciful in bringing back followers. His very first resurrection was of his first follower, one he KEPT returning to life, who only became more pathetic and mindless with each time."
"I want to be better. There HAS to be some way to perfect resurrection, or at least improve it." Lambert murmured back as he rubbed over his arm. "If Death is just the beginning…then Life can find a way."
"…you're less selfish than Narinder was." The Red Crown said and it deeply sighed. "You know…I was originally a crown of life AND death." It quietly admitted. "I belonged to a very kind god who thought much like you. But those days are gone. I don't know if they could ever come back."
"Who was the first owner?" Lambert asked. "What were they like? This God of Life and Death?"
"Warm as the sun…gentle as the morning rays. I remember days of peace, and happy gods, with happy followers. For a brief, short time…there was love in these lands. We had hope for a brighter future, and faith in our fellowship of gods."
…
…
…
… "Oh! Jourmungandr, you're here! Chemach was hoping you'd come, your followers make the best roasts."
The three feathered beasts had their lovely home at the far edge of the island, where there laid an immense iron gate. It'd been set up with a clear warning sign upon it…that beyond this way laid danger. The island, sadly, was surrounding by horribly deep waters. Not merely Anchordeep, oh no! The entire great sea that cut them off from whatever mainland laid beyond was nigh-impossible to properly sail on if you went too far. The most anyone could get was about two, maybe three miles off the coast.
Something was clearly "off" about the whole island. Oniero had always seemed to bring out the worst in nature with its freakish mutations that would infest unfortunate creatures, and the rough weather that seemed to batter miles and miles of land for days on end didn't help either, and finally…that horrible, rough sea that cut them off from ever leaving, or even just getting outside help…it was all too much sometimes.
But then there was that house. The order of the universe intact…in Chemach's house. Big, welcoming, a soft paint job, enormous in size, almost a mansion, and the assembled chosen would arrive every single year to feast and speak to one another.
"Ah, hello Owl." Jourmungandr smiled playfully at Haro, giving him a bow, one hand against his chest, the other spreading wide. He had brought a small contingent of followers that were carrying fruits and freshly-roasted meat in delightfully-woven baskets. "I heard Chemach's picked gods of the seasons?"
"Why yes, Snake. Our favorite artist has made some INSPIRED decisions." Haro offered his own little nickname for Jourmungandr. "I think you'll really like the newcomers. Especially-"
"Here he is! See?"
There SHE was. Chemach, in her blue robe, cheerily smiling, waving enthusiastically as what stood by her was quite possibly the cutest, most adorable female sheep Jourmungandr had ever seen. She had two pairs of grey ears, and multiple horns, four in fact, atop her head. The roots were brown, the tips gray, and she wore a black, three-pointed, mountain-shaped crown with a snowflake at the top and roots at the bottom. She had a cute blue blush to her cheeks, and an adorable little black nose, and wore a blue bell on a collar around her neck.
"Ohhh my! What a LOVELY bit of jewelry you're wearing. Very tasteful." Jourmungandr said as he took the lamb's hand and bowed to her as well. She smiled in tender way, looking at his own big beaded necklace.
"My kind often wears bells. We have to put up with a lot of stormy, cloudy, foggy weather where we live, so it's a simple way for us to find one another." The female sheep admitted. Her voice was beautiful, it sounded musical and brought a warmth to Jourmungandr when he heard her speak. "I'm Yngya, and I'm the Goddess of Winter."
"Jourmungandr is my name. Chemach chose me to be the First Faith's herald. I stand for Faith and the three Tenets they represent." He admitted back to her as Chemach patted him on the back, and he felt a blush come to his cheeks as he looked back at her.
"Indeed, and you've done VERY well. But before you come in to join us for dinner…have you washed your hands?" She playfully inquired, wagging a feather finger in the air.
"Of course! In the blood of half a dozen heretics." Jourmungandr wisecracked, wiggling his clawed hands in the air as Yngna snorted. "Kidding, kidding. I'll do that now. Could you show me where you've got your new toilet?"
"Oh, you heard about THAT too? Yes, it's very fancy. A gift from Yngna, she carved it herself. Evidently it's a skill her mother passed down. She's SO talented!" Chemach said with a happy grin on her duckish face. "I just love a fellow artist."
"Ooh, your mother taught you to carve?" Jourmungandr followed Chemach and Yngna into the beautiful house, waving at the sight of Kudaai and Clauneck as they were getting plates ready, setting them down at a large dinner table where quite a few other gods sat. Haro, that dear Owl, sat down by one he definitely recognized, the one and only God of Life. You could easily recognize the white figure, this beautiful dragon had white scales that were so soft, they were almost furry. Their eyes were a deep black, but had a soft, gentle green undertone at the bottom, and their wings were as the rainbow, with a hundred colors flowing forth. They radiated warmth and life like the sun, and were currently setting down bread rolls for others to enjoy.
"Yes. I tragically lost her in a climbing accident almost a year ago." Yngna sighed sadly. "I found Chemach a few months later, she was kind enough to attend the funeral. She saw I'd carved a beautiful headstone for my mother and she said she saw potential in me."
"I understand. Yesterday was the anniversary of my own family's deaths. I know how hard it is." Jourmungandr offered as he and Chemach and Yngna made their way to the bathroom and he began to wash his hands in their sink. "Whenever I get sad, I try to recover some childhood memories to cheer me up."
"Find any good ones in your mind?" Chemach offered.
"It gets hard. I know what they SHOULD look like." Jourmungandr intoned, as his voice became wistful, his four eyes closing as he stepped away from the sink and began to dry his hands, his tail slowly swishing back and forth. "A mother…gentle, nurturing. Forgiving of my failures. A lilac-scented touchstone of unquestioning love, and soft, black eyes. A father. Patient. Wise. A drier of tears. Deliverer of comfort, security, ready to tear into any one who'd threaten his family, and always willing to tuck you in at night." A deep, long sigh. "A childhood…a lyrical passage to discovery. Insulated with love. Protected from pain. Soothed with lullabies."
"I think we would ALL like to recover memories like that." Chemach admitted quietly as she finished washing HER hands. "Any of those recovered yet?"
Jourmungandr laughed dryly. "No. I got my father struggling to stay alive after a bird pecked his insides out, and my mother eating my brothers and sisters."
"UGH." Yngna cringed. "I'm so sorry. That sounds terrible!"
"Ol' Chemach knows what'll make you feel better…her signature wine, and our dear friend Sude's finest biscuits." Chemach offered, giving Jourmungandr's shoulder a hug as she then ruffled Yngna's wooly head, leading them towards the table. Jourmungandr looked around, noticing quite a lot of the followers there, who were close to their respective gods…that is, except for Kudaai, Clauneck and Chemach. None of them had any!
Clauneck looked…rather worried. He kept furiously shuffling a card deck, then pulling out three cards, then shuffling them again. Each time he did so, his face seemed to become a bit more scrunched up and nervous and fearful. Kudaai gave him a soft pat on the shoulder, and Clauneck finally put the cards down, sliding them back into his robes.
"Are you alright, great feathered friend?" Jourmungandr offered as he sat across from him, right next to Yngna on one side and Sude, God of Life, on the other.
"Please forgive my rather silly brother. Clauneck's only recently gotten his fine gift of foresight through the cards, and he doesn't like what he's seeing."
"It's not…happy news." Clauneck quietly mumbled. "But there seems to be…nothing to be done. No, just…nothing at all." He laid his hands his lap, glancing quickly at Chemach, who was pouring herself some wine.
"I've noticed that none of you have any followers here. How come?" Yngna asked, bringing Jourmungandr's own question to her lips as she tilted her head slightly. "Oh, we don't need any and we do not ask for any." Clauneck said nonchalantly. Kudaai shook his own head.
"Yes, we're quite fine without followers, dear sheep. We don't ask for anything, really. We're quite fine with what we've been given. We work with amazing gifts that the First Gods gave to these lands, and that alone's an honor."
"Yes, we couldn't ask for anything more, really." Chemach added as she sipped on her wine. "Now, who wants to lead us in a song to start us off?" She cheerily intoned as the assembled gods all cheered and whooped, Chemach putting own the wine and getting out a small lyre as Jourmungandr reached into the very nice golden robe he'd put on for the occasion, getting out a flute to contribute.
"Wow, they really don't need followers?" Yngna asked Jourmungandr as he chuckled slightly.
"I know what you're thinking. I used to think them strange, these three feathered beasts, unworn and unweathered by the passage of time. To be keepers of Godly tools, and yet not be tempted to Godliness themselves…do they not hunger as we do? Now, wisened in age, I understand. Hatched beneath the First, they crave no power, seek no other fulfillment, for it is not in their nature. And it is by nature that we must abide…"
"What's YOUR nature?"
Jourmungandr blew a soft note on the flute. "The three tenets of the First Faith. Hope, Faith, and Love. That's what I've tried to abide by. Prophecies can fail. Tongues can cease their talking. Knowledge can vanish. The three most important things to have are hope, faith and love, and the greatest of them…is love."
Yngya.
So that's what she'd looked like. Lambert's dreams had been more pleasant this time. He understood what the Red Crown had said about the past quite well. There'd been camaraderie and warmth and he could feel the delight, joy and hope that filled the room when all the gods had been together. But…now that warm feeling was gone as Lambert stood at the entrance to Shamura's inner sanctum, his little heart pounding like a drum against his ribs. The chamber was immense, intimidating and yet…surprisingly CLEAN. Instead of the sticky, chaotic webbing of the outer nests, this space shimmered with orderly tapestries that told ancient stories in threads of silver and gold. Soft, tiny glowing mushrooms grew along the walls, casting a gentle, blue light over everything.
At the center of the room sat Shamura on a dais of smooth, obsidian stone. The great spider looked different at the moment. Though massive and terrifying, Shamura radiated a quiet, melancholic dignity. His deep purple fur seemed to absorb the blue light, and his eight eyes were like dark, black pearls, each reflecting a different image of Lambert. His voice, when he spoke, was a soft rustle of silk.
"Welcome, Lambert of Woolhaven." Shamura said. "I wondered when you might come." There was no threat in the words, only a deep weariness.
"You know who I am?" Lambert replied, his voice thin with tension. He was surprised Shamura knew his real name!
"I have been watching you." Shamura answered, his long, segmented legs folding neatly beneath his body. "Ever since you rejected your sacrifice and received my brother's crown."
Lambert raised his chin defiantly. "Then you know why I've come. I want the full truth. Why did you slaughter my kind? Why kill every last sheep? What possible threat could innocent lambs be?"
Shamura remained motionless, his gaze distant and sad. He let out a long, mournful sigh. "Because, little lamb, you were the key."
Lambert shook his head in disbelief. "What're you talking about?!"
"To answer that." Shamura said slowly, "You must understand that I was born with a gift. And a curse." His delicate limbs brushed the tapestries behind him, and they shimmered with new patterns...images of galaxies swirling into existence and ancient mountains crumbling into the sea. "What your kind would call prophecy. But mine isn't glimpses of what might be...mine are absolute truths. I do not see potential futures; I see what WILL be, much like that…" He hesitated, as if struggling to remember. "…that duck. Yes. Clauneck. He too, has the same gift I did. But he sees it through cards. I see mine as if right before my face."
Lambert stepped forward cautiously, his eyes fixed on the images. "And what does that have to do with my people?"
Shamura swept back to gaze at Lambert. "I foresaw my beloved brother Narinder's ascension as the next God of Death...an irreversible fate carved into the tapestry of time itself. I foresaw the burden that his domain would bring: that he would gather only a handful of followers. People fear death and worship motivated by fear is a feeble foundation for faith. Narinder knew this. He craved more...not for power, but for a connection that fear could never forge. He wanted…love. So, against my better judgment, I taught him a secret art. The power to resurrect the dead." A soft blue tear welled in one of Shamura's many eyes. "I loved him. How could I deny him? But the consequences were disastrous. Our followers...all of us Bishops...abandoned us. Why worship any other god when you can restore a loved one? Death itself lost its meaning."
Shamura's limbs trembled slightly as images danced across the tapestries: cultists gathering around Narinder, abandoning temples of their former deities. "But it was never enough for him. His compassion became obsession. He aimed to obliterate death itself. He forged immortality...first for himself, with the same intent for his followers. The chain reactions of that pursuit…it threatened the foundations of existence. Balance shattered. Life and death tangled into madness!"
Lambert listened, spellbound. He thought of the crown whispering cruel things into his mind and his own struggles resisting it. He thought of Narinder alone in the Grey. "You mean…is THAT it? Immortality made Narinder the One Who Waits? THAT'S why you banished him? It wasn't just him bringing people back, it was-"
Shamura nodded. "Yes. Can you imagine the chaos it'd cause if everyone was immortal? There was but one choice. We chained him in the land beyond life and death. There in the Grey, he will never fade, not truly, thanks to the immortality he gave himself. Trapped. Alone. Forever."
"And my kind?" Lambert whispered.
"I am sorry. They had to die. I saw the future with absolute clarity." Shamura explained. "I foresaw that one day, an innocent lamb, one offered as a sacrifice, would rise and don Narinder's crown to either become his vessel or free him. And so I and the other Bishops panicked. We decided all sheep must die to avert that prophecy."
Lambert felt his wool stand on end. "But I escaped."
"Yes, helped along evidently by another sheep, carried away on a river, if I remember right." Shamura answered simply. "Prophecies are as tides, Lambert. They can be delayed, resisted, but never diverted entirely. And now here you stand...living proof that we made everything worse with our desperate violence." Shamura's voice broke as he uttered those last words, an emotion so raw Lambert could almost feel it himself. "I loved my brother. And in sealing him away, we broke something beautiful. But do you know the cruelest twist of all?"
Lambert shook his head silently.
"My gift fails me now." Shamura said. "Your presence creates ripples that muddy even my certain sight. Before you, Lambert, I could see the clear road ahead...every speck of dust, every blade of grass on the path of fate. Now? I look toward your future, and all I see is a brilliant, terrifying white light. It blinds me."
Shamura took a single, deliberate step forward, though he was careful not to come too close. "Had I known what the prophecy truly meant, I should have suggested your kind not be slaughtered. You would not be allowed to truly live free, but you would be comfortable in gilded cages. At least then, if treated comfortably and kindly, when the time came for all of you to die, you would have rejected Narinder's demands, having only known mercy at our hands. I am sorry I didn't take that route. So tell me, Lambert of Woolhaven. What comes next?" He inquired.
"…" Lambert focused as the Red Crown shifted off his head and turned into the familiar weight of the Zealous Axe. Shamura's eyes widened slightly as he gazed at it.
"You and the Bishops slaughtered all my kind. I don't even remember what my family looks like anymore. Being Narinder's vessel took that from me. YOU took that from me. I…" his hoofed hand began to shake. "I WANT…to say I forgive you. I WANT…to say I'm glad you're sorry for what you did…but…I am just SO damn…ANGRY right now!" he murmured, as he felt a horrible, cold, creeping chill sinking into him. The Red Crown was quiet…silent. It was just going to let Lambert do what he wanted.
"If you would fight…I understand. You must avenge your death, and that of your kin. But you will not survive." Shamura intoned as he began to stretch out ALL his long, bladed limbs. "I too, must avenge MY kin. Mercy is not my name, Lambert of Woolhaven. And war…IS MY DOMAIN!" He proclaimed, letting loose a mighty roar.

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
A wonderful picture I won in a raffle from "The Dark Mangaka" featuring my Hellaverse character Snizzi giving a piggyback ride to Charlie Morningstar. He did quite a nice job with this, I hope you all enjoy it! :)
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery dir. Rian Johnson
I LOVE the film, but...EPISITEMICALLY, Jud is wrong. Here's why.
CS Lewis said, "Christianity agrees with Dualism that this universe is at war. But it does not think this is a war between independent powers. It thinks it is a civil war, a rebellion, and that we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel. Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage." Because if the world WASN'T that…then there'd be no NEED for religion, ethics, or law. Because everyone would just be like Jesus and would always be just and good.
The same way a perfect world doesn't need a Superman.
It's BECAUSE the world is massively unperfect and unfair that we have to be on our guard.
And this idea of "if we start fighting wolves before you know it, everyone's a wolf"? That's just a slippery slope argument he's invoking. It also ignores the fact you can't treat everyone like they're just lost lambs.
Because some people are shepherds, some are sheep, some are sheep DOGS, and some are, in fact, wolves.