Hey Clashers!
In order to foster better discussion on the subreddit, we're going to be redirecting all simple questions about the game and personal progression to this Weekly Questions Megathread. In this thread, you can ask any question you need answered about Clash of Clans, even if it isn't necessarily about learning the game itself. Questions posts with simple answers (anything that one or two sentences can adequately address without discussion potential) will be removed and redirected here.
If you're a veteran player, then please consider scrolling through and answering any questions you see, even if they already have an answer. Hearing multiple opinions is vital, and the discussion will help new players learn about the game.
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First, please check out subreddit's F.A.Q. page for answers and guides to the most common questions or one of the many fine wiki pages for stats and other quick references on all aspects of the game. Coc.Guide, Fandom Wikia, and Clash.Ninja
Some other frequent topics that might help you:
Should I upgrade my town hall?
Help I deleted my account and now I can't play.
Why is CWL unfair?
Trying to zap something? - Zapquaker Calculator, Lightning Spell Radius, Tutorial Video
What is the latest game news?
Looking for voucher links? Here is a handy list
For base design questions check out /COCBaseLayouts
For recruiting see /ClashOfClansRecruit
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UsUk: -Probably an old fan -Had a TumblAmino account -MHA fan and shipped BkDk -You were extremely socially awkward in school -Read fanfic 24/7 -American history is your favorite subject
FrUk: -Newer fan -You got into Hetalia around 2019- early 2020s -Active on Twitter -Starts a lot of discourse -You probably either kin America or Canada -You dive into the more niche parts of history
RusAme: -Enemies to Lovers FOR LIFEE -Used to think the USSR theme song was the funniest thing ever and T-Posed all over your school hallways -Cold war is obviously your fav part of history -usually really chill -ALSO most of ya’ll are amazing artists
GerIta: -Had an intense fixation on WW2 (duh) -You’re all majoring in History/Eng Lit/Psychology -Doesn’t say much -You all saw that one painting of a humanized version of Germany and Italy and went crazy over it
AmeriPan: -short x tall enthusiast -Studying abroad or planning to -Bilingual -ALSO you love the golden retriever x black cat trope
SuFin: -You dream to live in Scandinavia -Minimalist, probably has a lot of Ikea furniture -You think the Scandinavian bros need more screentime -prefers rain over sun -I swear this is one of the few canon ships but ya’ll r lowkey nonexistent now😭😭
Are these correct 👀? Let me know if you guys have any other ships!

In my opinion it is rather disappointing that warthunder is limited to reality, this has meant that many a plane just doesnt really compete well due to the limitations of the war. Luckily in this replacements game universe we can just give all the right people a lot more attention and say in the design of aircraft.
Of course the biggest issue with something like this is making and designing planes to actually perform like a plane would at the time. For this i think groups will need to exist that discuss and collaborate on how planes will function. For example american planes gota look american, but on that same line of logic a lot has to be discussed like fuel selection, gun types and layout, and most importantly imo what kind of diffrent version people will be able to use.
We could for example give any plane some extra lower caliber guns to make them better fighters, and we can give bomber hunters a turret or 2 to make them more viable in a broad range of uses.
At the same time we couls, for example, make multiple version of the ki-83 one as a heavy fighter, one as bomber hunter (its actually built version) one as a heavy fighter with a top and bottum gunner, in whatever config would be most usefull.
A big balancing point in this game can be what the plane can actualy do instead of how much money said gov was ready to spend on the engine.
For example one might want to fly a plane with minimal weight and armor to fly faster, or you might want the heaviest armor version of the plane for certain types of mission.

I started the campaign again for the umpteenth time, and I'm having such a blast. I took my time, followed layout guides and videos (me being a casual player of this title), and began to make copious amounts of money, really fast (thanks SOAP trade!).
I saw that Berryl had begun to wage war on Willy. She was conquering his home island. With me being a majority share holder on HER main island in the old world, it made me so happy when I made my next move. It made less sense financially to take over, but it was so satisfying to do. She was about to eliminate my ally! Then, as his last island was at breaking point, bang! Her main island is reduced to nothing and belongs to me. She then declared war, but I just kept patrolling/ escorting trade vessels with bigger and badder ships. I also kept buying/ conquering anything she laid claim to.
I've never been in this position before. Normally, I go for a calm game and take the fight to her when we're the only two left. This time, however, she is struggling to branch out. She has random airships hovering in the middle of Cape Tralawney and the old world, unable to do much, and her economy is flat-lining. LOL.

Throwaway account because the subject matter is cringe and id rather not get bullied on my main, thanks.
TLDR: My boyfriend thinks the romantic codywan RP I'm doing with a friend is emotionally cheating and wants me to stop RPing and to stop engaging with the fandom. AITAH?
I (f27) am in an argument with my bf (m29) of two months concerning a text based roleplay I'm doing with a friend.
I'm a cringey fandom roleplayer. Fandom and RP have been an enormous part of my life since I was 13. It is my most beloved hobby, two of my best friends in the whole world, I meant through RP. Roleplaying is basically like creating fanfiction with another person. You each play a character, you write a couple of paragraphs, then the other person responds. It's a game. It's fiction. The things my character says or does are oftentimes not things that I would say or do or endorse, because I'm playing as a character. The relationship I have with my RP partner is not the same as the relationships our characters might have with each other. We DO NOT bring our real lives into the RP. I promise, this is relevant so keep it in mind.
I know it's not everybody's cup of tea, I know a lot of people see it as childish and cringey, and I'm okay with that. It was something that I was deeply ashamed of and was bullied for for a long time, but I've come to accept that it's something I don't have to be ashamed of, but it's still a sensitive topic for me and something I really don't like to disclose. Growing up, I felt a lot of pressure to keep this hobby a secret, or to abandon it entirely because people who found out about it were mean about it. When I was 17, one of my closest friends emailed large potions of my "Mermaid Destiel mpreg RP" around the school. So, I'm sure you can imagine why I'm having such a hard time looking at this situation rationally. It's all caught up in my feels.
In 2019, I started doing Codywan (Obi-Wan x Commander Cody, if you're a casual Star Wars fan and know nothing about the fandom, I am so sorry.) rp with a friend, and we're still doing that RP to this very day. She is one of my closest friends. We have written thousands of pages together. The RP is most definitely romantic, but it isn't smutty. We tried writing porn a couple of times years ago, but it never went anywhere because I didn't enjoy it. The old threads have long since been deleted.
My boyfriend absolutely hate the RP. I have never, ever tried to hide it from him. I told him about it when we first started dating, before we were official, because he asked what my hobbies are. He's a Star Wars fan, not really into the fandom thing, and we had a good laugh about it. Sure, he's made a couple of snide remarks about how cringy it is, but I'm not going to pitch a fit about that because, yeah, it is cringy. I'm self-aware enough to know that. But yeah, it's never been a secret. He's never been very interested in it, and that's fine by me. Every once in a while he'll ask me questions, and I'll answer them. I guess that's why I feel so blindsided about this whole thing.
Recently, he asked to read a couple, just out of curiosity, and I let him, and he was fucking furious! The section he was reading was romantic, describing the characters holding hands and kissing because they were on a date. He accused me of emotionally cheating on him with my RP partner. I think that's ridiculous. Like I said, the role play is fiction. I have never felt romantic feelings for my RP partner, we've never kissed, we've never even met in person. Yes, we chat about all kinds of things outside of the RP because we're friends. Outside of the rp, we do not flirt. We do not talk about our sex lives. I have never come ever said anything bad to her about my boyfriend. I've never hidden the fact that I have a boyfriend from her. I do not see her out as my primary source of comfort. We talk about fandom, other hobbies, life, things like that.
I just feel so fucking confused. I pulled up our "out of character" thread and begged him to read it because I felt like that would prove my innocence, but he absolutely refused because he "already saw everything he needed to know". I asked him if married actors are cheating on their spouses when they have to kiss other people in movies, and he said that wasn't the same. I asked him if it was cheating for an author to write about a romantic relationship, he said that it wasn't the same because authors work alone. I asked him "what about people who co-author books together?" I mean, christ, were Terry Pratchett and Neil diamond having an affair without each other when they wrote Good omens? That's fucking ridiculous. But he got absolutely furious and told me to "shut up and stop trying to defend myself!" He told me I ruined Star Wars by doing this to him, and he wanted me to delete discord and Tumblr. I told him absolutely not, I hadn't done anything wrong. It still makes me so fucking mad because he was talking down to me like I was a fucking child, and my punishment for disobeying him was taking away my social media.
He was mad at me and gave me the cold shoulder for a couple of days, but yesterday, he sat me down because he wanted to have a talk with me. He apologized for freaking out at me, he said that his behavior was irrational and unacceptable, and he did agree that he had no right to try to force me to delete discord and Tumblr. You told me that the role play made him really uncomfortable, and that he felt I had betrayed him by hiding this from him, which is absolute bullshit and I called him out on that, because I hid nothing from him. He tried to tell me that I never told him it was a romantic RP, and I told him that he knew from the start that it was a ship RP, what did he expect? Then he said he doesn't mind if I kept RPing, but he doesn't want me engaging with the Star Wars fandom anymore, and he wants me to block my friend. I told him that he's talking down to me again, that he is punishing me without even bothering to hear my side of things. I asked him, again, to read the OOC thread, because if he genuinely thinks our relationship is inappropriate, I need to know. The characters we play are fictional, the relationship is fictional, there's a line between fiction and reality and we do not cross it. The RP isn't going to give him an accurate representation of my relationship with my friend. If he wants to judge that relationship, he needs to look at the OOC thread. Well, when I suggested it, he blew up at me again and told me I wasn't listening to him. He told me I was being petulant, fucking petulant, and unreasonable. He hasn't spoken to me since, and he's still absolutely fuming.
Look, I'll be honest, there's no way in hell I'm staying in this relationship. I do not want to being a relationship with somebody whose first response is anger. I want somebody who respects me enough to have an adult fucking conversation with me. If he had just talked to me instead of accusing me of cheating and blowing up at me, things would be different. But he didn't and I don't do second chances, not for stuff like this.
But this is the first long-term relationship I've had since I was a teenager, so some part of me feels like maybe I misstepped. Is doing a romantic RP with someone "cheating"? Was I in the wrong? AITAH?

Link to original nosleep post:
https://www.reddit.com/nosleep/comments/1azq8ri/i_was_invited_to_play_the_games_in_the_woods_and/
When I was very young, my grandfather used to always tell me to stay out of the woods behind our house.
"Legend has it, that there's something terrible in there." He'd say, pointing to the trees behind our home with his only arm, the other of which he'd told me he had lost in the war. "And no one who goes in, ever comes back the same."
But I never took his warnings very seriously, given his age, and hard life, writing them off as the ramblings of a senile and bitter old man.
At least until a few years later, when, at the age of ten, I was told by my mother that my grandfather had passed…
...And had left me a parting gift.
It was a crumpled envelope with the word "Bobby" scribbled onto the back, sealed with more tape than an envelope needed sealing.
Inside, was a folded piece of paper, which, upon unfolding, I noticed my grandfather had sketched the layout of what looked like three games.
Beside the first two games, he had written instructions for what looked like how to beat them.
"Don't go in the box."
"Don’t run."
Beside the third, were a couple more notes.
"Don’t lift it alone."
"This is as far as I made it, before I lost my arm."
And at the very bottom of the page, Grandpa had addressed me directly.
"Bobby, if you receive an invitation to play the games in the woods, do not accept it. Run as far away as you can. But in the event you end up there anyway, may these instructions help you finish what I started."
Games in the woods? I thought to myself. After all the warnings, and all the lectures, Grandpa was trying to protect me from games?
I found the whole thing quite silly, and resolved to put it out of my mind.
And so, that's exactly what I did, burying away both the loss of my Grandfather, and the gift that he had left for me, for four long years.
That is, until, at the age of fourteen, when I was a freshman in high school, I received a scroll on my doorstep, tied together with a thorny vine.
After carefully unraveling it, I discovered an invite to the very games that my Grandfather had warned me about, grotesquely handwritten in ink.
"Bobby,
Join us in the forest behind your house tonight, to compete in the games in the woods.
Don't be late. The games will begin promptly at midnight."
I laughed out loud and immediately tore up the scroll on the spot.
But who could be the one pranking me? I wondered. Surely my mom wasn't in on it? Who could have known about the invitation that my Grandfather referenced? Maybe my Uncle Frank? He's always been a jokester. Yes, it must be Uncle Frank.
And on that note, I went about my day, and completely forgot about the scroll.
That is, until later that night, when, while fast asleep, I suddenly felt myself torn from my bed, stuffed into what felt like a canvas satchel, and dragged out my window and, from the sound of it, what must have been through the woods behind my house.
The whole time, I tried my best to kick and scream…
"This isn't funny, Uncle Frank! I know what you're up to!"
...But Uncle Frank, or so I thought, was much too strong to break free from, and the next thing I knew, I found myself dropped into the middle of the forest, and my satchel ripped away.
"Uncle Frank?" I called out, unable to see my surroundings in the dark.
Until my eyes adjusted, and I looked up to find a hooded figure, wearing a tattered brown cloak and holding a burning torch that illuminated everything around him, save for what lay under his shadowy hood.
What the heck? I thought to myself. That's not Uncle Frank.
The shrouded man said no words, and simply pointed to a footbridge, lit by torchlight, not far away, and gestured for me to cross it.
Realizing now that this wasn't Uncle Frank's doing, and in turn, that the letter, and my Grandfather's warning, must both be real, I began shaking in fear and, not knowing what else to do, obeyed the hooded figure's order.
When I got to the other side, I found myself surrounded by what must have been twenty of the hooded man's kin, all holding torches, and encircling a glen in the forest, where the moon and the stars could now be seen in the night sky.
And in the center of the glen, were four poor souls. Kids like me, who must have also received the invitation, or been dragged here against their will, or both. Kids, from my high school, that I recognized.
There was Brad Ashworth, our class valedictorian, in a sweater vest, khakis, and boots, clearly prepared for the occasion…
...Caitlin Sullivan, whom many kids called a nerd, geek, dweeb, and weirdo, but whom I found to be perfectly normal, wearing a pair of overalls and round, wire frame glasses…
...Colin Richardson, in a running suit, a jock, known for excelling at at least three sports, football, track, and basketball..
...And none other than Milton Dugan, the biggest bully in school, best known for using his sheer size to jam freshmen into lockers, wearing a pair of polka dot pajamas.
"Shut up, loser." He called out to me, noticing the smile on my face when I saw what he was wearing.
"What do you think they are?" Colin asked me, pointing to the hooded figures.
"I have no idea. But I don't think they're friendly." I replied.
Until Caitlin chimed in, "They're Druids, idiots."
"Whatever they are, I'm not scared of them." Brad added.
That's when it hit me.
Who would bring five high school students out into the middle of the woods to teach them a lesson? Well, teachers of course. That must be it! Teachers! Yes, it's teachers under those hoods!
But before I could continue to dwell on my epiphany, we were all suddenly interrupted, by the sound of a loud howl emanating from the forest.
And then…
...An old man with a white beard came hobbling out of the woods, walking stick in one hand, and an object that I couldn’t identify in his other.
It was only when he reached the center of the glen, and stopped just a few feet away from us, that I noticed he was missing something…
...The reflection of light in his eyes.
And upon further observation, it became apparent…
...That he had no eyes at all.
What the? I thought to myself, before gasping, as the old man began to speak.
"Invited ones. You stand before me tonight, under the light of the moon, with a great challenge before you. A challenge that only comes around every seventy-five years. Each of you, were hand picked to play these games tonight, for each of you represent a unique virtue. Five virtues put to the same test, to see which will overcome all others. The winner, will be awarded the greatest prize of all. While the losers, will pay a heavy price."
The other four kids and I turned to each other with looks of confusion, then turned back to the old man, who continued.
"But before we begin. Which of you, knows for a fact, that you are the best player among us? Which of you, is so brave, so courageous, so sure of your abilities, that you'll volunteer to step into the box?" He asked, pointing to an area of the glen, that had been covered in darkness, but until the Druids lit it with torchlight.
It was a wooden box, about the size of a telephone booth, completely enclosed with what appeared to be a door on one side and a metal latch to open it.
The Box! I thought to myself, remembering my Grandfather's letter, outlining three games, and assuming the first of which was this one.
"Don't go in the box.”
Easy enough. I mused, looking over at the other kids, waiting for one of them to heed the call instead, until…
"It's me. I'm the smartest, and the most talented one here. I'll do it." Brad called out, raising his hand, before turning back to us, "Cowards."
"Very well," The old man replied, walking over to the box, opening the door, and gesturing for him to enter.
And so he did.
Oh no. I thought to myself, as all of us kids cringed in anticipation of something unspeakable happening inside.
But after a minute, the old man simply walked back over to the door, opened it, and let Brad out.
He came proudly walking out of it, chest in the air, with a smug smile on his face, and belted out the words. "See! Nothing to fear, fraidy cats."
Despite his obnoxious comment, we all let out a sigh of relief.
Until suddenly, a few of the druids grabbed Brad by the arms, and pinned him to the box.
"What's going on? What are you doing?" Our valedictorian cried out, unsure of what exactly was happening.
The hooded men proceeded to pry open his jaws with their hands, as the old man hobbled over to him, revealing the object in his hand… a sharp, silver sword.
But before any of us could react, the old druid had already reached into Brad's mouth, cut off his tongue, and held it up for all to see.
Brad began crying and wailing, blood spraying from his mouth, as the druids let him go and he fell to the ground, arms flailing in pain.
Meanwhile, the rest of us kids just stood there, wide eyed in fear, unable to comprehend what we had just seen.
"That was Game One." The old man called out to us. "Let it be a lesson, that your greatest strengths can also be your greatest weaknesses. In this case, confidence begets arrogance. Now, take him away."
Upon his command, two druids ran over to Brad, who was now passed out, picked him up, and carried him away into the woods.
"Let's move on to Game Two, shall we?" The eyeless old man continued, leading us, and the other druids, out of the glen, into the forest, down a torchlit path, and to a massive field, illuminated by the moonlight.
He then took his staff, stuck it into the ground, and carved a long line in the dirt.
"Will the remaining players please stand behind the line."
Still in shock from what had just happened, we all obeyed his command, lining up before the line in the dirt, which separated us from the football field sized lawn.
"Are you gonna hurt one of us again?" Milton called out, puffing out his chest. "Cause I'm not afraid of you guys, and I’m fully capable of defending myself!"
The old man ignored his rant, and continued on with his own, "The rules of the second game are simple. When I say go, you're to run with the wolves."
"Wolves?" Caitlin whispered to me, trying to understand he meant.
Just then, a group of druids emerged from the forest, leading four ravenous wolves on leashes to the field behind us, each of them drooling at the mouth while howling and growling at us maniacally.
Caitlin and I shared a brief look of horror, before the eyeless man stepped aside and called out, "Go!"
Colin was the first one to sprint off into the field, followed by Caitlin, and then, what would have been me, but when I began to dart away, something jutted out in front of my legs and tripped me to the ground.
Confused by what had happened, I looked up from the dirt to see Milton hopping over me…
"Sucker!"
...As I realized that it must have been he who had tripped me, and saw the Druids unleash the four wolves.
I hopped up to my feet and attempted to run again, but before they hit the ground, the wolves had already caught up to me.
In that moment, I closed my eyes and braced for the worst, but when I opened them again, I saw that they had run right past me, seemingly in pursuit of the others up ahead.
But as I continued to watch the wolves run away, I noticed that they soon passed Milton too, and then Caitlin, finally making their way to Colin, who was running so fast, that he disappeared into whatever lay beyond the field.
And then, the feral dogs stopped running, just before the end of the field, and began howling and growling again, and they looked down at something below them.
Eventually catching up with the others and making my way to the end of the field, Caitlin, Milton, and myself finally saw what had happened to Colin.
There, at the end of the field, was a great pit, and at the bottom, was the star athlete himself, writhing in pain and begging for our help.
"Help me!" Colin called out, clenching his legs, which must have broken from the fall.
"Does anyone have a rope or anything we can lower down to him?" Caitlin asked.
But the druids had just arrived, and were already lowering one down to Colin.
And by the time they pulled him up, still screaming out in pain, the old eyeless druid had arrived, ready to greet him.
"Why would you put a pit at the end of the race?" Colin screamed, as he lay helpless on the ground.
"You said to run from the wolves."
"I said to run with the wolves, not from them. They mean no harm, just look at your friends here. But you. You got ahead of yourself. And for that, there is a price." The old man warned.
"Price? I already broke my legs." Colin replied.
"Well now, we take them." The eyeless man said ominously, before the druids surrounded Colin and held him down, as another approached him holding a giant scythe, its blade glimmering in the moonlight.
"Wait! No!" He cried out.
But it was too late. In an instant, one of his legs was gone. Severed from his body by the swinging scythe, as blood sprayed everywhere, and Colin screamed in agony.
A second later, I saw Caitlin remove her glasses and wipe the blood from them, before putting them back on and continuing to watch on silently in horror.
"What is wrong with you guys?" Milton called out, clenching his fists and pacing around in a threatening fashion.
For a moment, I thought about cursing out Milton for tripping me, but then I realized he had actually saved me.
And that's when I remembered my Grandfather's second clue.
"Don't run."
He was right again.
"Take him away." The old man said for a second time, as a group of druids walked over and proceeded to carry Colin off into the woods, before turning to Milton, Caitlin, and myself.
"And now for Game Three."
He then led us back into the forest, and down a rocky path that hugged a winding stream.
At the end of the path, we came to a clearing between the trees, where we saw two giant boulders, each nearly the size of a person, placed side by side on the ground.
"For this game, you have an option. Lift a boulder yourself, or pick a teammate to help you lift it. The person or team who holds it the longest, wins. And the one who's first to drop it, loses. Understand?"
Milton, Caitlin, and I all looked at each other for a moment, as we weighed the options.
But suddenly, I remembered my Grandfather’s third instruction.
"Don’t lift it alone."
And before Milton could utter a word, I ran over to Caitlin.
"Caitlin and I will be a team." I declared, as she smiled, and put her arm around my shoulder.
"But what about me?" Milton asked, offended by being the odd man out, before correcting himself. "Actually, you know what? Fine! I'm stronger than both of you combined anyway. This will be your own undoing, dorks! I'll compete by myself."
"Very well," the old man called out, as he stood between the two stones. "When I say go, lift the boulders up off the ground, for as long as you can."
Caitlin and I crouched down and gripped the boulder from below, then looked at each other.
"We got this." I assured her with a smile.
"We got this." She replied, smiling back.
Meanwhile, Milton was scrambling to grasp onto his boulder, and began begging for more time. "Just a second, I swear. This boulder's heavier on one side and it's just-"
But before he could continue, the old man raised his staff and called out, "Go!" at the top of his lungs.
Caitlin and I carefully and calmly lifted our boulder, and despite its heavy weight, strained ourselves to keep it elevated above the ground.
But Milton was not as lucky. From the very beginning, he was doomed, as he still hadn't secured his grip on the rock when the old man yelled "Go!" and bumbled when he lifted it up, catching it in hands, but in an position that looked much too uncomfortable for him sustain.
And as the stone slowly began to slip out of his arms, Milton looked over at Caitlin and I with a sour face and mumbled, "You screwed me, losers."
"Maybe if you weren't such a dick, Milton, someone might have chosen you." I replied, in an attempt to drive home the reason why he had lost.
Milton tried to think of a clever retort, "You know what, Bobby-" but before he could finish his sentence, it was too late. The stone had fallen to the ground. He stopped what he was saying and looked down at it, a look of fear washing over his face.
And as the druids began to surround him, rather than threaten them like he had in the past, Milton began to cry. "Please don't hurt me! Please, I'll do anything!"
But it was too late. The druids dragged Milton to the stump of a tree and laid his arm down upon it, as another swung an ax high above his head, and brought it slicing down through Milton's arm, leaving him with a stump of his own.
As he saw the blood pouring out of his appendage, Milton began to scream, until his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he eventually passed out.
And for a third time, the eyeless old man called out, "Take him away."
Now, only Caitlin and I remained. Together we stood there in silence, arms around each other, as Milton's limp body was carried off into the woods.
"Which brings us to Game Four," the old druid began, "Perhaps the simplest of all. For this game is decided by you and you alone. When I say go, you'll have one minute to come to a decision on who will be the winner, and who will be the loser."
Caitlin replied "Wait-"
But before she could continue, the old man interrupted her, commencing the final game, "Go!"
Caitlin and I huddled together in the woods, as the old man, and the druids, encircled us, waiting for us to come to a consensus.
"Wait, what do we do?" Caitlin whispered.
"I don't know." I whispered back.
"Should we choose both of us as the winners?"
"No, we'd be breaking the rules. He specified a winner and a loser. They'll punish us both. We need to choose one."
"But that means one of us, will suffer the same fate as the others."
"I don't know if we have any other choice.”
"Then how should we decide?"
"I don't know."
"Wait," Caitlin said, as she reached into the pocket of her overalls and removed a coin. "If you're okay with it. A coin toss would be fair. Totally up to chance.”
"It would be fair. Let's do it. But quick." I replied, knowing our minute would soon end.
"Then you choose. Heads or tails." She offered up.
"Okay. Um... heads!" I replied quickly.
And like that, Caitlin held out her fist…
...Dropped the coin…
...Towards the forest floor below…
...Time suddenly slowing…
...As it descended towards the ground…
...Spinning…
...And spinning…
…And spinning…
...Until…
...Thud.
We both crouched down, and saw the result that would seal our fate forever…
…Heads.
I had won.
Caitlin looked up at me, her eyes wide, and her mouth agape, as tears began to roll down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry." I whispered.
"It's okay." She whispered back.
And then…
...The old man spoke.
"Your time is up. What is your decision? Who is the winner, and who is the loser?"
Both Caitlin and my heads hung low, as she began to speak, "I'm the-"
"Winner." I interrupted, as she looked at me, completely surprised by what I had said. "She's the winner, and I'm the loser."
"But Bobby-" She whispered.
"Save yourself. Don't worry about me." I insisted, whispering back to her, as the old man approached us.
"Very well." He said, holding his wrinkled hand out to Caitlin, who accepted it in hers.
And so, he escorted her away, off into the woods, hobbling on his wooden staff, until they disappeared into the night.
And as for me. I… well I was left there in the dark, surrounded by a dozen druids, who slowly closed in on me.
I didn't know what to do so I, accepting my fate, simply closed my eyes and braced for the worst…
...But similar to what had come of the impending doom of the howling wolves...
...Nothing happened.
I opened my eyes, to find one of the druids standing before me.
"Congratulations..." He said, in an ominous voice, "...On winning the games."
"What?" I asked, confused how that could be possible. "I don't understand. I voted for Caitlin to be the winner."
"Yes, you did." He replied, "But humility is the virtue that always wins the games. Your selfless act, sacrificing your own life for that of another's, is why you won."
"And what do I win?" I asked, not knowing what else to say.
"Just as the keeper of the games had stated, the greatest prize of all..." He said, "..Life."
"And what about Caitlin? What will become of her?"
"That is still yet to be decided. But you will find out soon enough."
Any sort of relief that I had felt immediately disappeared, and my heart sank, as I realized that by volunteering my own life to save Caitlin's, I may have actually cost her hers.
"Wait," I called out, "Let me take her place. Please."
But before I could continue, I felt the druids shove a giant canvas satchel over me, just as they'd done earlier that night, before whisking me away into the forest.
They must have knocked me out after that, because when I came to, I found myself back in my bedroom, lying face first on the cold, wooden floor.
The next day at school, I raced to Caitlin's locker, and then her home room, desperately hoping to see her face, hoping to put my mind at ease…
...But she never showed up. That day… or ever again.
And as for Brad, Colin, and Milton, their claims about how they lost their respective body parts, despite being substantiated by me, were all written off by police, parents, and teachers alike as foolish accidents, when no such games were ever found in the woods.
Years later, as my wife and I discuss having a child, I find myself wondering if I'll ever have a grandchild of my own…
...If they, too, will be invited to play the games in the woods, the next time the druids come around…
...And if Caitlin will be one of them.

FYI, this is a story COLLECTION. Lots of standalones technically. So, you can basically start to read at any chapter, no pre-read of the other chapters needed technically (other than maybe getting better descriptions of characters than: Adam Vir=human, Krill=antlike alien, Sunny=tall alien, Conn=telepathic alien). The numbers are (mostly) only for organization of posts and continuity.
OC Written by Charlie Stastarrfallknightrise,
Typed up and then posted here by me.
Proofreading and language check for some chapters by u/Finbar9800 u/BakeGullible9975 u/Didnotseemecomein and u/medium_jock
Future Lore and fact check done by me.
The plot thickens!
Previous First [Next](link)
Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
The Rundi pilot maneuvered his ship around a chunk of space debris, cutting low as he watched the slow and leisurely path of the rocket as it began on its trajectory towards the moon. Radar was almost impossible to use in the deadly debris field these humans called an orbit, so it was up to his eyes to make out any incoming hostiles.
They circled low and then wide around the slow-moving rocket, keeping their distance while also keeping an eye out. It was easy enough, as the drone was covered in cameras and sensors, which allowed them to see from almost every angle. A human might have been better at this, but right now they were the only ones they could trust.
[…]
A green folder rested atop the lectern as the President of the UN gave her halting, and to the chairwoman it seemed, unenthusiastic speech. The humans down below didn't seem to notice, making her wonder if she was simply imagining things, though a part of her said that was not the case.
She had been suspicious of the UN president from the very beginning, the very beginning when she was given power after the first launch of the enterprise, and they had been forced to deal with her during treaty negotiations. At every step there seemed to be some sort of obstacle, something wrong, some reason that the humans could just not accept. It went on behind closed doors and in quiet whispered conversations. But luckily for them, people like Adam Vir and Admiral Kelly had been there to smooth things over between the two factions.
The chairwoman knew better than most, that there were only a few humans in the galaxy holding everything together.
And the last thing she wanted was bad relations, or to go to war with this species. It would be a nightmare.
She shifted in her seat as she listened to the speech. The valley below her still had traces of smoke let off by burning so much fossil fuel at once. She imagined that such a stunt wasn't entirely great for the atmosphere of the planet, though as far as she knew humans tended to run on sustainable clean energy these days.
The Chairwoman stepped down from the little podium and into the back where she could not be seen, leaning in so she could hear the words whispered from her assistant,
"The drones are deployed, and so far we have not met any resistance.”
She nodded slowly,
"Good work, keep an eye out."
[…]
The UN president felt her fingers digging into the soft paper of the green folder. The red one was lying discarded under the lectern, and she was having trouble concentrating, forcing herself to remember that this wasn't over. She glanced into the crowd, expecting to see that strange white face staring up at her from the throng of people, but there was nothing.
Had she seen it as in her imagination, or did she really see an alien face staring back at her?
She glanced upwards, towards where the rocket had vanished, only half paying attention to the practiced words that dribbled from her mouth. She finished her speech and the people below clapped and cheered heartily, though she didn't much feel like clapping with them.
She turned on her heel and walked down to the back of the stage to where her entourage was waiting for her. Admiral Massie was sitting on one end and Admiral Kelly was sitting at the other, the two of them doing their damndest to ignore each other at all costs.
She sat down next to Admiral Massie, arms crossed over her chest as he leaned in to speak with her.
"That didn't exactly go as planned."
He muttered softly.
"It will if your men are ready."
She snapped back, her palms cold and sweaty.
Admiral Massie nodded,
"Of course, they should come out when they reach the densest part of the debris field, that way we can make it look like some unexpected collision."
He glanced towards the lectern,
"So I would keep a hold of that red folder of yours."
On the other set of chairs, Admiral Kelly was giving them a sidelong glance. Everyone knew that she was in Admiral Vir's camp, licking his boots at every opportunity. It would be within their best interest to keep silent when she was around.
The UN president leaned back in her seat,
"You should be on your way, Admiral. We will have time to talk later."
He stood and nodded slowly,
"Of course madame president."
He turned to walk away, catching the eye of Admiral Kelly as he stepped past. The two of them didn't much like each other, though as the head of the OGI (Office of Galactic intelligence) Admiral Massie had enough pull to keep Kelly in her place.
The UN president turned her head away. Not wanting to draw attention to herself.
[…]
Admiral Kelly glanced over at the UN president as Admiral Massie passed by. There was something about those two spending time together that she didn't like. Granted it was more than likely the two of them were having some sweaty, wrinkly liaisons out of hours which she didn't really want to think about, but if that was the case then he could easily be pressing his planetary isolationist views off on her.
Kelly did not think highly of the UN presidency. Right now, it seemed mostly concerned with power and political favors with the people, rather than doing the right thing. Plus, she found the president herself to be superficially charming, but easily manipulated by the wrong people. Fear mongering worked the best on her, which is why she worried about Massie and his effect on her to begin with.
She found herself digging her nails into her palms as she thought about it.
”Please help us.”
Admiral Kelly shot up in her seat looking around as she tried to find the source of the noise, or the voice. She turned in her seat expecting to find someone whispering in her ear, but there was nothing. She pressed at the implant along the side of her neck wondering if someone had called her and she just hadn't noticed?
”Look up.”
Jolted again, lifting her eyes towards the sky and the burning sun. She threw up a hand to block her vision, and as she did, she thought she saw a shape floating there against the backdrop of the sun.
She squinted hard trying to make it out but was having trouble.
”Now look into the crowd.”
She turned her head down, still not sure where the sound could be coming from, but as she looked into the crowd, she saw a strange sight. One of the people was wearing a dark hoodie, and was turned away from the direction which the rest of the crowd was facing. Their hood was pulled low, but ever so subtly, they lifted their head to reveal a porcelain white face, with large dark eyes.
Admiral Kelly went very still as she stared at the starborn.
“Not a starborn, a halfbreed. My name is Eris, I am Admiral Vir's... daughter”
Oh... oh, yes she had heard about the starborn hybrid from one of his reports.
"What do you want."
She mouthed quietly.
“We need your help, the UN president is planning to have Admiral Vir Killed, and Admiral Massie is on his way to make the order, please, you have to do something."
Admiral Kelly jolted to her feet, very quickly glancing at the UN president in shock and horror before she was able to capture her emotions. The UN president looked up to her sudden movement, and Admiral Kelly had to fight to keep her face neutral as the woman looked up at her.
"Are you feeling well Admiral?”
She could feel the sweat dripping down her face and the nape of her neck, but she remained as calm as possible as she took a deep breath,
"I... Am suddenly very dizzy. I think it's the heat."
"You should sit down, have someone bring you some water."
The woman said, her voice calm and clear as if she hadn't just ordered the murder of Adam Vir.
"No I... I think I need to walk for a minute and find some shade. You will excuse me?"
The UN president shrugged and turned back to staring at the sky, giving Admiral Kelly time to step forward and hurry after General Massi's retreating figure.
[…]
General Massie stepped into mission control and walked down the blank empty corridors. No one was here, they were all either in the control room or out celebrating the successful launch. It had been a sight to see, two-thousand-year-old technology working for one more time, but personally General Massie saw it as completely obsolete and a useless waste of government capital.
That was something they could have been using to help fortify earth's defense nexus. Out of all the useless things Admiral Vir had supported, at least he had agreed that they needed SOME form of defense against extraterrestrial attack.
General Massie made a face…
Though he wouldn't doubt Admiral Vir would have been totally fine leaving their planet with its pants down in order to let those Xenos fuck them over.
Everyone and their dog knew that Admiral Vir preferred alien cock over his own kind.
The thought made Admiral Massie cringe.
It was a well-kept secret among the UNSC, but the man wasn't nearly as secretive as he liked to think he was. Rumors of his infatuation with the stupid blue beetle alien had reached command almost as soon as it began. The only reason they didn't allow it to leak was that it would make the UNSC look bad to the rest of earth.
And Jupiter how he hated that man.
Stupid, juvenile egotistical xeno fucker!
Today was the day all of that came to an end!
He cut right, just before the doors to mission control and walked down two more hallways, finally opening a small side door into, what might have looked from the outside, like an equipment closet. He stepped over a mop and bucket and sat down at an old console, which he fired up with the flick of a button.
"Flight 1 this is Earth 1 over."
"Roger earth one this if slight one, in position over."
He turned on the screen, giving himself time to look the radar over, as twenty dots appeared on screen. Those were twenty Thunderhawks they had slowly appropriated over the intervening year.
With a place as big as the universe to cover, it was pretty easy to lose a few jets in the shuffle. He could see them now, illuminated as little green dots on his screen, hiding in the debris.
"Flight one this is Earth one, Operation “After Apollo” is go. Now remember boys and girls, make it look like an accident. Over."
*"Roger that Earth one. Over and out."
[…]
"You TRAITOR!"
Admiral Massie spun in his seat, eyes wide and wild as Admiral Kelly stood in the doorway. She could feel her skin growing hot with absolute rage as she stalked forward over the open floor. In one hand she held up the small recording device Conn had handed to her outside the building, and on it held proof of this man's order. On the screen behind him twenty little dots burst to life.
She was too late.
The man slowly got to his feet as Kelly aimed her handgun at him, her grip steady, her aim true.
"Call off your dogs."
She snarled,
Admiral Massie slowly lifted his hands, before slowly leaning forward in his seat towards the intercom button. She stepped forward, watching him intently as he leaned over the console pressing down on the button.
"Flight one this is earth one..."
Her eyes flickered up to the screen waiting to see them pause.
But before she knew what was happening an elbow came up striking her on the hand and causing the gun to spin out of her grip. Admiral Massie turned and tackled her to the floor, his nearly 300 lb body crushing her to the floor.
The wind was knocked out of her and she gasped as he struggled to pin her to the ground.
Her hat had flown off and her bun became undone as he drew back a fist to punch her. She was able to block it with her forearms as he raged and went for her face. The blows rained down on her from above with an onslaught of power she wasn't expecting but should have.
She took another gasping breath, and then with a surge of adrenaline she bucked, throwing him forward where she grabbed one of his arms and bucked again, forcing him to his side and onto his back. Still gripping his arm, she threw herself sideways, throwing her legs over his chest and struggling with his arm to pull it flat.
He kicked and grabbed at her legs with his other hand painfully gripping her calves as his nails dug into her skin and drew blood. The pain was incredible, but she finally got his arm down tucked tight to her chest, her legs across his chest, and then she jerked her hips sharply upward.
Admiral Massie screamed as his elbow snapped backwards.
She let go of him and scrambled towards the console, but at the last moment he grabbed her by the foot and hauled her back to the ground, one arm hanging limp and useless at his side. He clawed at her with one hand, and she rolled onto her back, kicking up at his face with her boot catching him square in the chin.
He staggered back as she crawled to the console and reached to adjust the frequency, ready to call in lunar support.
There was a sharp click behind her, and she froze, turning in her seat to find Admiral Massie standing behind her gun held in his good hand.
Blood leaked from his nose and down onto the front of his uniform, staining the grey fabric red,
"Nice try, Kelly."
[…]
Donovan Red waited, spinning slowly as he watched the progress of the distant rocket. Inside his helmet his breathing was cold and calm as, ranging all around him, his other men and women waited as well. Their ships had been outfitted with proper weapons as they had ridden here in the cargo hold of the Omen. The group of them weren't soldiers or trained fighter pilots, so he didn't imagine this would be easy, but it was going to have to do.
"Red, this is Apollo 11 do you copy?”
"Yeah Cinderella, I copy."
"See anything?"
"Nope not a..."
He paused,
"Wait..."
There was something, something he thought he saw detach itself from another piece of space junk,
"Hold that thought Apollo."
He detached from his own bit of space junk and inched forward.
A thunderhawk? What would one of those be doing here?
It began to accelerate.
He accelerated after it.
Up ahead the rocket was growing larger and larger in his view.
“Thunderhawk has made lock.”
The cool female voice said from his console.
"Oh shit, Admiral r-“
He didn't have time to finish his sentence as a small ball-like-silver ship came pelting down from nowhere, blasting the Thunderhawk in the wing with a sharp burst of laser fire. It's wing exploded and it went careening in the opposite direction as the silver ball whizzed past.
"What the fuck!?"
He turned to fly after it, but was stopped.
"Red, this is Wendy, stand down that's a Rundi UAV."
"Rundi? I thought it was the Rundi we were worried about!?”
He called in confusion.
"Yeah, but that thunderhawk had locked in on Apollo 11. It looks like the Rundi are helping."
He grunted and cursed under his breath,
"Boys and girls, if you see a silver ball stand down, those are on our side."
Just then another Thunderhawk shot over his head. He cursed again and pulled himself into a sharp upward turn cutting after the Thunderhawk and locking on. His lock cut off their attempts to shoot down the rocket, and they were forced to dive under as he followed after. He followed, spinning right and left around debris as the Thunderhawk attempted to escape.
It cut upward, just in time for a bright pink jet with graffiti words on the side to shoot out of nowhere.
The Thunderhawk exploded in a cloud of debris as Wendy roared by.
"Good shot, girl!”
He said over his radio.
"Thanks boss. Now let’s give them hell!"
[…]
Admiral Vir floated before the console, knuckles white and unable to do anything. A silent explosion flashed in his vision to the right as quickly as it had begun. Richards and Chavez started with wide eyes and dropped mouths.
"Admiral what the hell is going on!?”
Adam took a deep breath,
"It seems as if we are under attack."
The two of them exchanged glances,
"From who? What the fuck!?!"
Adam turned where he stood to look at the two of them,
"I am sorry I got you two into this mess, but the isolationists have been gunning for me for a few months now, and it seems as if now things have come to a head.”
"What are we going to do!"
"Radio Houston."
Chavez hurried to do as ordered, but when she did, they heard only static,
"Shit... Something is jamming our coms."
Adam took a deep breath,
"Well I guess all we have is Donovan to protect us. Lets' hope they do it right."
[…]
Admiral Massie laughed,
"You're as dumb as you look Kelly."
She stood, slowly wiping blood from her cheek as she turned to look down the barrel of the gun. Her own gun.
She didn't generally tend to agree with Massie, but this time he did have a point. Surprisingly though she was very calm,
"You aren't going to get away with this."
She glanced over to where the little silver recording device lay in the shadows under one of the chairs.
Massie was too amped to notice.
"Doesn't matter. I will have done my duty to my planet and my people, saving them from alien lovers like you and that bastard Vir."
"Whose Idea was this, the President or yours?"
She held her hands out to the side.
"Do you think that dipshit was smart enough to come up with a plan like mine?"
Kelly raised an eyebrow,
"Is it wise to incriminate your friends along with you?"
"That bitch? Heh, I could care less. And if I am going down, she is going down with me. The president may think it was all her idea, but it was mine all along, she was following my orders, whether she believes it or not, and once Adam Vir and YOU are dead, then it doesn't matter what we did, because diplomatic relations will dissolve, and it will be all over."
He lifted the gun to her face,
"Goodbye Kelly."
She remained very still as the shadow fell over him from behind,
"May I say one last thing?”
He paused.
"Turn around."
"Very funny!”
He lifted the gun again and pulled the trigger.
There was a sharp crack and thud as metal hit metal. Kelly flinched and held up her hands, but opened her eye after a moment as no pain came.
Admiral Massie lay on the floor face down.
Kelly reached down quickly to grab her gun, looking up to where Sunny was standing in the doorway holding her pearlescent white spear. Behind her floated the starborn Conn and the hybrid.
She took a deep breath,
"Great timing you three.”
Sunny nodded,
"Anytime."
Admiral Kelly turned and lunged for the comms, switching the frequency to the lunar station only to find she couldn't get through,
"Damn it."
She cursed, turning to look at Sunny and the others,
"I was too late, the ships have already been deployed."
She paused and looked down, grabbing the recording device from off the floor tossing it to the hybrid who caught it with some difficulty,
"Run that to one of the media outlets, convince them it is important and leak it as soon as you can. We don't want her to have time to cover her own ass."
Eris nodded and shot off in the other direction.
Sunny knelt down to help her restrain Admiral Massie.
Just then the sound of feet came thundering up the hall and they looked up to see the Chairwoman of the GA and her assistants skid around a corner. Sunny's eyes narrowed as she crouched low leveling her spear.
"Did you catch him?"
The Chairwoman asked,
"No thanks to you."
Sunny snarled, but the chairwoman waved her off,
"I lost contact with my drones, but they should be out helping to protect Admiral Vir. I am sorry I couldn't do more, but it was all I could do not to show my hand too early."
Admiral Kelly stood slowly,
"You knew about this?"
The charwoman shook her head,
"Not this specifically, but I have been trying to find the source of the assassination attempts on Admiral Vir's life. I've had discreet escorts on him for the past few months while I tried getting in contact with my people in the criminal underworld and I called the hit on him with those pirates, knowing who Captain Kell was, hoping that he could get more information out of the pirates that I could."
Sunny stared at her rage flickering across her face,
"You called a hit on him!"
The charwoman did not seem perturbed,
"Those pirates couldn't have... How do the humans say... Hit their way out of a paper bag. I have been attempting to come in contact with the leader of the anti-alliance for the past few months. I have been trying to convince them I am on their side, and that was part of my ruse, as well as knowing Admiral Vir was captain Kell. During my investigation it became clear that someone within the UN was involved though I couldn't have said who."
"And why should we believe you aren't just covering your own ass?”
The chairwoman hissed,
”Do you really think I want to make an enemy out of the strongest species in the galaxy!? Not on your life! I am not stupid. Besides, I owe Admiral Vir my life. I admit I have done some irreparable things in order to keep the alliance going, but those moves were calculated, and Vir was always protected.”
[…]
One of the silver UAV's exploded and Red had to dodge to the side to avoid the flying debris. He cut right and then left keeping as fast as he could possibly go as he cut up through the chunks of metal and locked onto the back of a Thunderhawk. There was a sharp click and then a silent explosion which he rolled out of the way to avoid. He had sent one of his men off to make contact with earths forces for backup.
They were good, but these men and women were made for combat, and despite their best work only four out of twenty of them had been destroyed, and their numbers were dwindling fast. He cut right before one of the Thunderhawk’s, forcing it to turn away from the rocket and cut down in another direction. He could only imagine the fear of those inside the rocket as they watched helplessly at the fight raging on around them.
He spun down and under, cutting off another Thunderhawk coming in the opposite direction.
There was no way they were going to keep up with this for long.
Their only chance was earths forces reacting quickly.
Previous First [Next](link)
Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
Intro post by me
OC-whole collection
Patreon of the author
Thanks for reading! As you saw in the title, this is a cross posted story written by starrfallknightrise and I'll just upload some of it here for you guys, if you are interested and want to read ahead, the original story-collection can be found on tumblr or wattpad to read for free. (link above this text under "OC:..." ) It is the Empyrean Iris story collection by starfallknightrise. Also, if you want to know more about the story collection i made an intro post about it, so feel free to check that out to see what other great characters to look forward to! (Link also above this text). I have no affiliations to the author; just thought I’d share some of the great stories you might enjoy a lot!
Obviously, I have Charlie’s permission to post this and for the people already knowing the stories, or starting to read them: If you follow the link and check out the story you will see some differences. I made some small (non-artistic) changes, mainly correcting writing mistakes, pronoun correction and some small additional info here and there of things which were not thought of/forgotten or even were added/changed in later stories (like the “USS->UNSC” prefix of Stabby, Chalar=/->Sunny etc). As well as some "biggemajor" changes in descriptions and info’s for the same stringency/continuity reason. That can be explained by the story collection being, well a story collection at the start with many standalone-stories just starring the same people, but later on it gets more to a stringent storyline with backstories and throwbacks. (For example Adam Vir has some HEAVY scars over his body, following his bones, which were not really talked about up till half the collection, where it says it covers his whole body and you find out via backflash that he had them the whole time and how he got them, they just weren't mentioned before. However, I would think a doctor would at least see these scars before that, especially since he gets analyzed, treated and goes shirtless/in T-shirts in some stories). So TLDR: Writing and some descriptions are slightly changed, with full OK from the author, since he himself did not bother to correct these things before.

...a shadow lies over all the land of Aman, and reaches far out over the sea. Why will you not tell me more?
Welcome one and all again to the 2024 Read-Along and Discussion of The Silmarillion here on tolkienfans. For Week 19 (May 5-May 11), we will be exploring The Quenta Silmarillion (The History of the Silmarils) chapter 15, "Of the Noldor in Beleriand"
​
Previously, the elf Turgon had been led by Ulmo to the secret vale of Tumladen, hidden within the Encircling Mountains. This was a vast plain of grass with a great hill in the middle, where he decided to build a city that was reminiscent of Tirion. Turgon returned to his realm of Nevrast with the knowledge of this hidden place, and began planning to construct a refuge that would be hidden from the knowledge of Morgoth.
After the Dagor Aglareb, Turgon led his people away from Nevrast back to Tumladen. There they began the construction of a great city upon the hill in the center of the plain. After fifty two years of secret toil and building they at last completed the city of Gondolin. This city was known only to Turgon and those of the Noldor who had followed him there. Before Turgon left Nevrast for the last time, Ulmo appeared to him again. He warned Turgon that though he would shield Turgon's final journey to Gondolin from prying eyes, he could not free Turgon from the Doom of Mandos that plagued the exiles. Gondolin would stand the longest of all the realms of the Noldor, but in the end it too must eventually fall. When that time would come, Ulmo would send Turgon a messenger to warn him of the impending doom. Ulmo bade Turgon to create unique armor and weapons for that messenger, who would come to Nevrast himself one day and take up the equipment. These would be a sign that the messenger was sent by Ulmo. Having done this, Turgon and his followers left Nevrast forever and went to Gondolin in secret.
Turgon prospered in Gondolin, which became a thriving city. Gondolin's location was kept secret from Morgoth throughout the wars against the Dark Power. Gondolin produced many works, like Glingal and Belthil, forged at the image of the Two Trees of Valinor. As for Nevrast, it decayed as the years went on, and no one inhabited the city again.
While Gondolin was being built, Finrod Felagund created his realm of Nargothrond, which would become a great city. His sister, Galadriel, would reside in the realm of Doriath. There Melian and she would often speak of Valinor, but Galadriel would never speak of what happened after the Darkening of Valinor began. But Melian was perceptive and wise, and she soon guessed that Galadriel was hiding something from her. Eventually, Galadriel admitted part of the truth, that the Noldor had not come as messengers of the Valar. However, she did not mention the First Kinslaying.
Melian told Thingol what Galadriel had said, and cautioned him to beware of the Sons of Fëanor. Soon, rumors of the Kinslaying did indeed reach the ears of Thingol. The truth being known to him at last, Thingol confronted Finrod and his brothers who happened to be in Doriath at the time. Finrod protested that it was Fëanor and his followers who had been the ones mainly responsible for the evils the Noldor had done, not Finrod and his party. But he allowed Angrod to tell the whole story of what had happened in the flight from Aman. Thingol's wrath towards Finrod and Fingolfin was softened by what he heard, but he did not forgive the sons of Fëanor. In vengeance, he forbade the usage of Quenya, the language of the Noldor, within the borders of Doriath. In later years, this would lead to the rise of Sindarin over Quenya, which would become an almost dead language outside of books and the private use of the exiles.
When Nargothrond was finished, a feast was held to celebrate its completion, and Galadriel came back from Doriath to celebrate. She asked Finrod why he was not married. Foresight seemed to come upon Finrod, and he said that one day he would swear an oath - Ring of Barahir - that one day he would have to fulfill no matter the consequences, and as a result no child would inherit his works. [1]
Of the Noldor in Beleriand at The Lord of the Rings Wiki: This chapter introduces the lays of the kingdoms of Gondolin and Nargothrond, as well as giving information on Doriath. The full tale of the Noldor's deads reaching Thingol is in this chapter, and of him banning the language of the Noldor from his realm.
Chapter discussion at Entmoot TolkienTrail.
Chapter discussion at The Barrow-Downs.
Question for the week:

1. Galadriel confirms to Melian that they left Valinor without the Valar's permission and cannot return but makes no menton of the Kinslaying, the Oath, or the burning of the ships at Losgar. Why?
2. What of the "cold thoughts" of Finrod?
3. What of Melian's statement to Thingol concerning the sons of Fëanor that their "swords and their counsels shall have two edges"?

For drafts and history of this chapter see The War of the Jewels, "The Grey Annals", pp. 119-120, §91-113; "The Later Quenta Silmarillion", Chapter 12, "Of Turgon and the Building of Gondolin", pp. 198-201.
For further history and analysis of this chapter, see Arda Reconstructed (by Douglas Charles Kane), pp. 151-154.
Be sure to have your copy of The Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad on hand as you go through this chapter.
Some Tolkien-related hangouts on YouTube (relevant to this week):

• Nerd of the Rings This episode: Maps of Middle-earth: The First Age The Silmarillion Explained
• Nerd of the Rings This episode: The Origins of Melkor Tolkien Explained
• Nerd of the Rings This episode: The History of Morgoth [COMPILATION] Tolkien Explained
• Nerd of the Rings This episode: Turgon, King Of Gondolin Tolkien ExplainedTolkien Untangled This episode: The Return of the Noldor Of the Lords of Beleriand : Silmarillion Explained - Part 2 of 10
• Ælfwine's Road This episode: Silmarillion Summary: Ch. 15 - Of the Noldor In Beleriand [18/31]
• Voice of Geekdom This episode: Chapter 15.1: The Interrogation of Galadriel Silmarillion Explained
• Voice of Geekdom This episode: Chapter 15.2: Thingol's judgement against the Noldor Silmarillion Explained
• The Tolkien Road Podcast This episode: Silmarillion 2022 Ch 15 » Of the Noldor in Beleriand » Gondolin, Galadriel, and Finrod's Doom
• The Tolkien Road Podcast This episode: 0046 - The Silmarillion - Chapter 15 - Of the Noldor in Beleriand
• The One Ring This episode: This Map is HELL - Of Beleriand - The Silmarillion – 16

The Silmarillion Reader's Guide at Tea With Tolkien.
The Silmarillion Reader's Guide by askmiddlearth on Tumblr.
Quettaparma Quenyallo (QQ) - The most extensive list of Quenya words available on the internet, by Helge Fauskanger, 1999-2013.
Tolkien Collector's Guide - Guide to Tolkien's Letters
A (Hopefully) Light Guide to the Silmarillion — Or What I Wish I’d Known Before Reading It by u/Ok_Bullfrog_8491/
The Definitive Family Tree of the Tolkien Legendarium by u/PotterGandalf117
Wikipedia - The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Announcement and Index: (Take 2) 2024 The Silmarillion and The Fall of Gondolin Read-Along

Player Character

Summary

Reddit Account: silver-thorns
Discord Tag: Aeg
Name and House: Rhaenys Targaryen
Age: 50
Cultural Group: Valyrian (not Westosi, not Andalized, real shit)
Appearance: Silver-gold hair worn long and loose, purple eyes, slender body. Time doesn’t seem to have an effect on her appearance, no doubt due to her no seed oil diet.
Trait: Agile
Skill(s): Swords, Daggers, Duel Wielding (e), Dragonrider
Talent(s): Dancing, poetry, flying.
Negative Trait(s): Loves too much. (Not mechanical)
Starting Title(s): Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, Lady of Summerhall, Mother of the Conqueror’s Heir, the Absent Queen, Wielder of Blackfyre, Rider of Meraxes
Starting Location: King’s Landing

Biography

Rhaenys was born on the island Dragonstone to Aerion Targaryen, Lord of Dragonstone, and his wife, Lady Valaena Velaryon. She had two older siblings: Visenya and Aegon. Although according to Valyrian marriage customs Aegon was expected to marry his eldest sister, Visenya, he took both his sisters to wife. People claimed that Aegon wed Visenya out of duty and Rhaenys out of desire. Prior to her wedding, Rhaenys became a dragonrider, having bonded with the dragon Meraxes.
She flew alongside her brother and sister over Blackwater Bay, to the site where there was nothing and landed with fewer than 2000 men. Upon the highest of three hills Aegon ordered the construction of a holdfast, the Aegonfort, as he held court in a tent. Rhaenys flew to Rosby and accepted their surrender and oath of loyalty for her brother.
After the first battle she watched as Visenya placed a circlet on her brother’s head and proclaimed him,

“Aegon, First of His Name, King of All Westeros, and Shield of His People!”

She knew then that her son would be king, for a brother she married for love could only father his heir on her.
As her sister went to the Vale and her brother and king went to Harrenhal, she marched south with Orys Baratheon. In the Last Storm, the Last Storm King offered a fierce defense of his lands, before the mighty Meraxes cut them all down to size and left the prize for Orys. She assured Argella Durrandon that Orys was a good man before flying off to join her brother.
Once again with a smaller army the Targaryens stood against the Lannisters and Gardeners and as their army faltered they descended on the Westerosi and sent them to paradise. For failing to yield, the Gardeners were replaced by the Tyrells as the Lannisters kept their seat and were named Wardens of the West.
Rhaenys stood to her brother’s right as the King Who Knelt said his words before they returned to the Aegonfort as Visenya integrated the Vale of Arryn and made the King Who Flew.
As the years passed Rhaenys remembered the words of Princess Meria when she rejected Aegon’s demand of submission, and flew south to parlay with the Princess time after time, knowing what her words did truly mean. Princess Meria opened a letter and heard her news.
For her husband she flew back to the Aegonfort and the beginning of the great city of King’s Landing before spending every last moment with her brother, until his very last, feeling the quickening child in her womb. She would never love another so, and she would never trust another like so. They said the Tullys were responsible for it, Visenya and Orys, but she knew better. Once she heard from Visenya of her own child on the way she knew that her sister would be able to do such a thing, and did.
Leaving the little Aenar on Dragonstone she flew, to this keep and that, present for every marriage and arranging others, making sure that her brother’s dream became his legacy. Of note among them, she arranged the marriage of her lady-in-waiting, Serena Stark, to marry the last King of the Vale. Aegon’s legacy became her focus, ensuring that a man like him took the throne next, and that he was the first King of the Seven Kingdoms, not the only one.
She found a new home, in Sunspear where Meria and Deria Martell welcomed her away from the eyes of court, so that she could have peace. When the Tarths, Estermonts, and Dornish decided to get rid of the pirates in the Stepstones, she flew. Between every arrow, bolt, and rock sent her way, she dodged and rained fire on the pirates. When the Stepstones had no other pirate, she asked to keep her eye on Highwatch and Princess Meria agreed.
When Zhoe Whitemane was discovered to be a dragonseed, a girl in the far north and on hearing the news, Rhaenys flew to meet her. There was no doubt in her mind that this girl was the blood of Valyria, and as such she took her atop Meraxes to Summerhall, where she played host to the girl. Zhoe would eventually tame Cannibal, the furious beast that he was. Rhaenys couldn’t help but smile when she heard the news and Summerhall remains open to Zhoe to this day.
After building her fabulous castle on Highwatch, which she named Summerhall, jokingly after the way she behaved in court, she brought little Aenar to raise him there. Where he might learn that while he may have been born in Westeros, his mother and father were Conquerors, dragonlords descended from Valyria, as he would one day be.
The child born of love not duty would sit the Iron Throne, with Astaraxes as his mount, and Rhaenys would make sure of it. For taking her seat away from court they called her “the Absent,” while she taught her son in peace what it meant to be a Conqueror,

what it meant to be a king.

In her palace of Summerhall, Rhaenys stewed in her worlds and made overtures to those who may not have a place in the Seven Kingdoms. Each year for a month she would invite any who wished to Summerhall, and host a series of parties, where the eccentricities of all those who attended were forgotten at the end of the month and everyone went their own way. When Rhaenys placed her order for wine with the Redwynes, the shipments would take days to arrive as more extreme substances from Essos were ordered months ahead. Prior to their beginning, Rhaenys would send Aenar and Naerys away as they were not the appropriate place for children. At the beginning of the parties, all attendees would be informed that if word of what they had seen was spread, they would be paid a visit by the jaw of Meraxes.
As Aenar is ready to turn eight-and-ten, Rhaenys is ready for what is to come next. To have him take his place as his father’s heir.

Timeline

• 25 BC: Rhaenys is born to Aerion Targaryen, the youngest of three siblings.
  
• 9 BC: Rhaenys bonds with and rides Meraxes. She will spend more time atop Meraxes than Aegon or Visenya combined.
  
• 7 BC: Rhaenys is married to Aegon upon turning eighteen, at request of both Aegon and Rhaenys.
  
• 3 BC: Aegon, Visenya, and Rhaenys depart Dragonstone to begin the conquest of the Seven Kingdoms.
  
• 1 AC: Aegon is crowned in Oldtown.
  
• 7 AC: Aegon is killed, Rhaenys finds out she is pregnant and gives birth to Aenar Targaryen.
  
• 9 AC: Rhaenys secludes herself in Sunspear for months.
  
• 12 AC: The War in the Stepstones begins.
  
• 14 AC: Rhaenys adopts a dragonseed who is discovered in an orphanage in Dorne. She treats Naerys as if she were her own.
  
• 16 AC: Dorne officially joins the Seven Kingdoms, Rhaenys asks for and is granted Highwatch where she builds Summerhall.
  
• 18 AC: Annual parties begin at Summerhall, they last for one month with the intention of giving a space for those who have none.
  
• 25 AC: Present.
  

Family Tree

Supporting Characters

• Laena Qhaedar - Builder - Laena’s parents moved from Volantis to Dragonstone, wishing to remain near the only remaining dragonlords. Laena has been Rhaenys’ friend since they were young girls. Currently the Keeper of the Library of Summerhall, a meaningless title.
  
• Unnamed Man - Magnate - A close friend of Rhaenys for years who does not take his mask off outside of the company of Rhaenys’ children, Laena Qhaedar, and Rhaenys herself. He is known for having a shrewd mind. His lilac eyes and silver hair make it hard to doubt whether he is of Valyrian origin.
  

Auxiliary Character

Summary

Name and House: Aenar Targaryen
Age: 18 (sorta y’all know the deal)
Cultural Group: Valyrian
Appearance: Silver gold hair brushed to one side and worn below his shoulders, purple eyes, a ‘twinkish’ body. Full lips and high cheekbones have many questioning whether he is on a low dose of Lyseni potion.
Trait: Insidious
Skill(s): Espionage (e), Dragonrider
Talent(s): Petting Astaraxes, handwriting, plucking body hair.
Negative Trait(s): Too perfect. (Not mechanical)
Starting Title(s): King of the Seven Kingdoms (contested and under regency), Prince of the Seven Kingdoms (contested), Heir of the Conqueror, Bonded to Meraxes
Starting Location: King’s Landing

Biography

The circumstances of Aenar’s birth can best be described as strange. Born the same day and nearly same hour as his half-sibling, from mothers married to a man dead for months. Some have proclaimed that Aenar has been a king since birth, others yet still state that he is the heir to his older half-sibling.
Taken to Dragonstone and left there by his mother, Aenar did not see her but for a few days at a time in his early life, as she attended to matters of the realm, or so he was told. It was still difficult to not have a mother, and be raised by wetnurses and maesters.
Once Summerhall was built, his mother brought Aenar to it where she began to form a bond with the boy and taught him what it meant to be Valyrian. Though the transition from one faith to another was not an easy one, it did mean that Aenar did not need to openly worship the gods of his ancestors, and could pretend to be one of the faithful.
As he grew up and the visitors to Summerhall came and went, he would often work with one or two to ask for letters back should they hear anything interesting, this eventually resulting in gold exchanged for such arrangements as he grew older.
At four-and-ten, Aenar’s egg hatched, who he named Astaraxes after one of the minor deities of Valyria. The little creature and Aenar bonded quickly, never truly far from one another.

Timeline

• 7 AC: Born and left at Dragonstone.
  
• 17 AC: Aenar joins his mother in Summerhall.
  
• 21 AC: Hatches and bonds with Astaraxes.
  

Note: I had originally posted this on my tumblr, replying to a person saying that Touya/Dabi was 'born' with his issues and basically glorifying the one actual responsible thing Enji did with him. I'm just re-posting my response here to get others' responses/thoughts/opinions on the topic, I love to discuss the Todoroki drama because it is VERY similar to my own past family drama and I want to hear from those who both 'apologize' for Enji's mistakes/blame Dabi and hate Enji/sympathize with Dabi.
Also, keep in mind there are spoilers for the Dabi/Touya reveal and what happens to Endeavor during the 2nd war arc! I put up as much spoiler blocks as I could, I know they may not be really needed at this point but just in case there's anyone who doesn't know about the Big Reveal or haven't read up to the 2nd War arc just yet.
Here are all the points to show that, though Enji did have some good intentions with his actions, he royally fucked up in the end:

• Though he initially wanted to be a Hero to prevent others from losing their parent(s) like he did, he did this by developing a jealousy/envy towards All Might and was unable to get any stronger than he already was. This started his downfall into basically being a 'villain in hero's disguise', but at this point his intentions were not as extreme so he gets a pass for now.
  
• He only married his wife to create a child who was stronger than him, basically his plan was to have the kid manipulate both fire and ice to become a self-regulated heating/cooling system. And technically, Touya was that (he had the fire to beat Endeavor's but he also had a 'cold core' that kept him from entirely burning alive). The problem was, it turned out to be a 'defect' as his body was not made to handle fire - it was meant to handle the 'cold core' inside him, making him weak to fire.
  
• When Enji found out that Touya was getting hurt by his own quirk, he actually made the responsible choice to stop the training...but he went about it the wrong way. He went cold turkey, and outright neglected Touya. Just imagine being told you are a prodigy from birth, that you were born to be something great...then your parent(s) just outright ignore you one day, telling you to stop studying or practicing for your sport(s) because it is going to kill you one day. And all because that reason you became a 'prodigy', it was actually a disability (i.e. having autism) so your parent(s) force you to stop before things get too bad. But you don't want that - you see it as your only reason for living, after all it was what you were born for in the first place.
  
• This is when Enji starts to just fuck up with everything. Not only was he still having kids after Touya was born to get that 'perfect mix' of fire and ice, he neglected all the 'rejects' (Fuyumi and Natsuo) as if they didn't exist. And then, he forced his wife to 'take care of' Touya rather than dealing with the problem himself. And then, it is HEAVILY implied that Shouto is a Rape Baby (the wife did not want to have more kids, she had those soulless eyes and at this point I don't deny that Enji may have just forced himself onto her to have one more kid with her). And when he finally got the perfect mix in Shouto, it was like he snapped. He got his goal after all, but at this point he was on such a destructive path that he ONLY spent time with Shouto. And we know what Shouto went through, that happened while Touya was still around and it was clear abuse.
  
• When Touya finally 'died', that's when he realized he fucked up. But it was too late, so he went on with making Shouto into the prodigy he wanted Touya to be. He still had that grief, after all Touya was the first and the one he wanted to be great...but this is what happens when one's prodigy is found out to be disabled in some way, the parent either pushes them to do more to 'make up' for their perceived flaws (like with Shouto) or just neglect them entirely (like with Touya). And this is when Enji truly became a monster.
  
• When he finally became #1, he was still so pissy about it because it was through All Might retiring rather than his own efforts. Yes, he does 'prove' he 'deserves' the role as #1 hero (tbf he is an amazing teacher but a shit fathehusband). But his 'atonement' feels too little too late. And he doesn't even try to tell others of his crimes and atone that way, he keeps it secret from the entire country and hopes that he can continue doing as he pleases. He just wants to keep his position at this point, yes he does care for Shouto and the others now but it's under the guise of 'well I have nothing else to do better get to it'. Which is the worst way to go about it, if he was truly sorry then he'd make it known he abused his wife/kids and actually do things to remedy his actions (like maybe donating to anti-abuse and pro-survivor charities would be a good start). He doesn't have to step down from the #1 spot, if anything he can use that to spread the message that his actions/beliefs were no excuse to abuse his loved ones and he wants to be a better example for others to do better than him.
  
• When he found out that Touya was still alive, he couldn't take it. The guilt hit him hard, because he never truly confronted it. This is why I say his 'atonement' is fake, it was to make himself feel better rather than actually doing better. So when he was truly faced with what he did, he broke. And he whined about it, saying he 'could not fight Touya' because that was the ONE person in his family that he truly cherished most. He had shut off that part of himself that was filled with love solely for Touya, he used the abuse he inflicted on Shouto and then his 'atonement' to hopefully feel better after losing the one person he knew that he truly failed.
  
• Instead of trying to save Touya, he decides to try and commit a double suicide as 'atonement' for hurting Touya and causing Dabi to be 'born'. Which, again, is not what he should've been doing. He should've been not only stopping Dabi, but (again) actually admitting to his crimes/abuse and doing things to help other abuse victims. But the ENTIRE time, he's just feeling sorry for himself and assuming that erasing his own existence will do the world any good. Which is so backwards, he had all the support to make better changes and he just ignores it all unless it fits with his 'oh woe is me' mindset.
  

Endeavor is SO lucky his family didn't outright abandon him, especially Shouto whom is the most innocent one in all this (everyone had a hand in Touya becoming Dabi but Shouto was too young and never really knew Touya to really make a change - all Shouto did was be born, and is most likely a rape baby too compared to Touya being born/raised with genuine love from Enji).
And I'm not saying Touya is entirely blameless either, he could've made a couple choices that would've been better for him in the long run (like when he came back after his 'death' he should've waited and the family would have eventually seen he was alive a lot sooner and accepted him right back in). But that leads to another thing - he felt like he didn't belong anymore, that he could no longer be 'Touya' anymore. And it's not what he wanted. He wanted to be Touya again, to have Enji see him and love him like before. And I believe that, if Touya did just wait, Enji would've stopped the abuse entirely and things would be better for everyone...and Shouto is the one who is doing all the necessary work, despite being the most innocent in the family and having every reason to run away like Touya did.
And that's the thing about the Todoroki drama. The intentions started out good, but then Enji fucked up and now the most innocent in the family (Shouto) has to pick up the pieces. Which I do not agree Shouto should do at all, but it's his choice and I can see he still has that hope while Dabi had lost that same hope when he stopped being Touya.
And in the end, what I hate most about all this is while the rest of the family crowded around a nearly dead Dabi they did not ONCE check on Shouto. I do understand the symbolism in why (Shouto had no part in what happened with Touya aside from being born after all), but the role reversal is so heartbreaking to see. Shouto is the exact same age as when Touya became Dabi (16 years old), and both had the family basically 'forget' them when they need that comfort/love the most.