#"The Hot Wing King"

[withercat1]

Some observations about Mouthwashing

Spoilers ahead!

Ok so this game has got me so hyperfixated that I’m using Tumblr for the first time in like a year just to keep a tab with the Mouthwashing hashtag open so I can refresh it throughout the day and see what people are posting. That and my tab full of Danny AOD gifs. Anyway.

So I wanted to share some things I’ve noticed because I haven’t seen anyone else mention them and I want to seem smart and observant.

First off is the name Curly. Like it’s kind of a weird name. It’s unclear whether this is his first or last name because the writing on his id card is so burned and so cursive. It is worth noting that Curly is an actual name, meaning “strong man” or “great strength”. What stands out to me though, is that Laika, the dog who was sent into space, was actually named Kudrayavka originally, which means “Little Curly” (and a little fun fact, Laika means “barker”). Thematically, both of these make sense. I don’t know which one was intentional, if either. It’s entirely possible Curly as a name is a reference, or just a name the devs liked.

Secondly, Anya’s design is based off of Shelley Duvall in The Shining, most recognizable to most people for the scene where she’s hiding in the bathroom while Johnny breaks down the door. That being her most iconic scene really reminds me of Anya’s deal with doors, being unable to lock the door to her quarters, and then locking herself in medical while the others try to get her out.

Thirdly, and the one I find most interesting, is one of the videos that plays on the tv after the storage room is opened. It’s about atoms, and states that atoms make up everything, like shoes, and ships, and sealing wax, and cabbages, and kings. I don’t know if this video was chosen by the devs specifically for this quote, but for the purposes of my rambling I’m going to assume it was. This quote is a direct reference to The Walrus and the Carpenter, a poem by Lewis Carroll.

The poem is hyperlinked above (hopefully, Idrk how to use Tumblr), but I just want to post the segment that the quote from the video comes from.

“The time has come,' the Walrus said,

      To talk of many things:

Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —

      Of cabbages — and kings —

And why the sea is boiling hot —

      And whether pigs have wings.'”

To briefly summarize the whole poem, though I highly recommend reading it for yourself as well because it’s really good, the Walrus and the Carpenter come across a group of oysters and ask them to join them for a walk. The oysters do, and the Walrus and the Carpenter walk with then a bit, before finally stopping, where the lines above happen. Right after this, the oysters ask to take a break, and the Walrus and the Carpenter agree to let them have the break - because they plan on eating the oysters. “And why the sea is boiling hot,” I believe, refers to the oysters being boiled in order to prepare them for consumption.

The Walrus says he pities the oysters, and wipes his tears away, while actively partaking in the consumption of the oysters. The poem ends with a statement that all of the oysters have been devoured.

So! Let’s focus on the Walrus here. Someone who leads innocents astray, boils/cooks them, and then eats them, all the while crying about how awful it is while doing nothing to abstain from eating them. Sound familiar? Sound like that guy we all hate? Little bit! I don’t know if it was an intentional bit of symbolism or not, but it’s super big brained if it was.

That’s all for now but I’m sure I’ll think of some more things later. I love this game. If u made it this far I really appreciate it, feel free to comment and let me know what you think

Also let me know how to tag a post as spoilers properly, I seriously do not use this site

[sparkbeast20]

My thoughts on the 3rd PV

First, the CG with each kings..

Beelzebub lending his coat to a sleep Bael: This is enough prove to tell me that Beelzebub and Bael's Relationship isn't bad or worse after Beelzebub left Avisos.

Like many others, I assume that Bael hates Beelzebub for leaving Avisos or letting Bael stand in for him as "King" of Avisos. Like I would've assume that Bael resent Beelzebub in a way, but after seeing the Chat feature vid and this CG. I think that even what Beelzebub did, their friendship is still strong.

First appearance of Leviathan in a CG: *HOT, HOT, HOT!!!!!! GODDAMN HE'S SO HOT*

Anyway, yeah. This is the first time we ever see Leviathan in a CG form, because most of the time it's just the Legendary Card artstyle. And judging from the background we are in his castle/palaces. And we can see his coffin in the background.

Seeing Satan in action: Yes!!! I love action stills CG.

All I can say is that, Satan is hot in this CG, and also, Mammon at the right side corner.

Seeing Mammon in action: RIP that Angel

This makes it clear that Hell has day/sun, and Mammon using his signature weapon which is golden fist summoned... Which (I think) that Tartaros have in common.

The Pact marks are on their tongue:

So in the 2nd PV, where Satan is licking MC's finger, it turns out that MC was "Breaking" Solomon's contract with Satan. And now with this new PV. It shows that the kings and the 72 nobles' pact mark on their tongue.

Unknown Character would I aren't sure if their angels or devil:

I chatted with my friends in discord and we assume that she'll either be one of Solomon's wives or failed angelfication.

Devils turning into angels: *I love TF (Transformation scene/art)*

I got to say, wow... That looks painful as fuck!!

And no, the Avisos devil is a lesser devil and not Naberius.

Gabriel leading the attack on hell:

RIP my theory that Satan knocked Gabriel out and dragging him into hell with us after their fight.

Seeing Gabriel with six wings is... well 🥵 "Klein, get your man!!"

Paimon's Sex CG with MC:

If you were like me, you would've think that we are having a threesome with Paimon and another devil, but no it's not.

We are in front of a mirror, and Paimon is behind us, you can tell that the one that is showing Paimon's face is his reflection in the mirror. And the dark shadow in the middle of the CG is MC, cause you can see the purple hair.

Zagan's sex CG with MC: *Oh shit his hot!!!!!*

Okay, what drew me was his quote, he is clearly referring to Solomon, when he said "Him" which hurts me... But again, it's better for the story that most if not all of the devils don't like us, because it makes developing a bond/relationship with them even more sweeter.

Bonus simping... Put me into a chokehold with your arms Sitri!!!

Ppyong can talking!!! and he sound adorable 🥺

Minhyeok's death: (RIP to our Simp)

So this conforms that Minhyeok die and he is the "Plot device" of MC's story.

Gabriel just comes out of the PC:

Just... Why XD

And that's it, I'm happy with this summary of the Prolog and story for... the first few chapters.

Don't be shy and share your thoughts on the PV, either by reblog this or sending an ask in my Inbox/

[yellow-yarrow]

"Now some of you might want to know whether demons still exist in the Elysium world in some way or form, I’m going to leave it hanging)." (x) okay well what is this then

Joyce Messier - "*A Deuill*," she pronounces: "*Who being of great Charme and Guille, sneaketh into the homes of the Godlie*." Conceptualization - That dialect is Ubi Sunt?. You recognize the quote from somewhere. A play, written way back in the Franconigerian century... Electrochemistry - Beneath her waterproof raincoat and silk shirt is a body imbibed in Numb 12 perfume. You are suddenly and intimately aware of it. You - "*And perswades them to addict themselues to his seruice...*" Joyce Messier - "Ah, you know more than you let on..." She gives you a coy little smile. "Philosopher-Detective of Precinct 41." You - (Nod.) "Devil Woman."

Harry is quoting from Daemonologie by King James VI (x)

Daemonologie [..]was first published in 1597[1] by King James VI of Scotland (later also James I of England) as a philosophical dissertation on contemporary necromancy and the historical relationships between the various methods of divination used from ancient black magic. [..] Daemonologie included a study of demonology and the methods demons used to bother troubled men. The book endorses the practice of witch hunting. This book is believed to be one of the main sources used by William Shakespeare in the production of Macbeth. (x)

the funniest thing is that I couldn't find Joyce's quote in Daemonologie. The sentence before Harry's quote is this:

Their mindes being prepared before hand, as I haue alreadie spoken, they easelie agreed vnto that demande of his: And syne settes an other tryist, where they may meete againe. At which time, before he proceede any further with them, he first perswades them to addict themselues to his seruice:

The only place I found that exact quote, was an article about Tony Blair, (published in 2014) (x), where he is described as some ancient evil demon. (it's pretty funny)

I think it's interesting how "Devil Woman" is mostly mentioned when there is something that reminds Harry of his ex

Joyce's perfume, which is "Sweet like the scent of chewing gum on some letter, long ago..."

Klaasje (blond young woman in disco era clothes, has birthmarks on her face - Dora had freckles)

Man from Hjelmdall and the Devil Woman book

another smell that is related to Dora is cinnamon

Apricot Chewing Gum Wrapper - There it is again -- the scent of apricots, with a touch of cinnamon. Smells like the end of some distant summer. The surface of another planet, or some ancient temple.

From Sacred and Terrible Air:

(..)was whispered into Fakkengaff’s ear by the very soul of debauchery. She had the white wings of an angel, but the breath against the disc jockey’s ear had been hot with passion, smelling of cinnamon and primal evil.

^ again with the evil thing (and aren't demons fallen angels?)

Daemonologie was written to endorse witch hunting and through the game there are times where Harry can say some pretty sexist stuff about women (calling them whores and devil women) so it's fitting

so. don't know where I'm going with this but pretty interesting stuff

[hanafubukki]

When you simp for Lilia and he is in the event where Lion King is.

CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE TOONIII-

I think he even has a voice line with that. I just, melt

Anonie please, the way I laughed at this 😂🌺

I had to go back and read the card and lines again because all I remembered was the hot springs quote and not the song, but I didn’t see anything alluding to it?

But that song is stuck in my head with Lilia and YN now 💞💞, thinking about how Lilia and YN would go on a date while the other three spy on them 😂😂 (but instead of breaking them up, they try so hard to get them together 🤣🤣)

For now though. may I have your attention focus on this line?

General Lilia Vanrouge in a hot spring, just imagine that? This beautiful handsome fae with these scars that speak of his victories and sacrifices??

It is exquisite! Time please stop. I need to burn this into my memory.

I also need to bring up the fact this card also implies you joined him at the hot springs?? Please?!? That’s such a win. No one interrupt us. We are having a moment. 🙏💞

I can already see the teasing way he would invite us:

[ “Hm? What’s this? Have you come to enjoy the hot springs as well? No need to be shy~ There’s more than enough room for two~” ]

I can’t wait for this card to be released and am very happy that it’s free 💞💞

Check out this wonderful art by @rayroseu of hot springs Lilia with wings!! 🙏🙏🔥🔥💞💞💞

[Credit for tls @/mysteryshoptls]

[atwhughesversion]

hello :) if you have more fil lore to share i would love to hear it 🫶

oh my god yes i do!! buckle in bc i love this czech man and his gorgeous beard and this post got a little long.

first, here is fil being smiley with his former teammate fil (fun fact: filip zadina is who the red wings picked instead of quinn hughes in the draft, allowing the canucks to get quinn.):

source

second, while i can only add one video, here is a link to one minute of fil and his dog (the photos below are from this vid)

fun facts about hronek:

idk if you’ve seen the clip but during one of the last games of the season, when the canucks were beating the flames 3-0, the hot mic picked up on fil shouting “you have holidays in two days” to the flames bench

he scored a goal off of a 107.9mph shot last season which is insane and i need him to do it again

quinn literally loves him:

“I thought we were going to be a very good tandem, but we’ve been way better than I could’ve pictured us being. He’s helped me so much.” [source]

“(I) probably haven’t played with a player as good as him. He’s really skilled, can move the puck, can see things, can defend, can skate…they wanted to maybe split us up but I’m happy we’re together.” [source]

“Maybe he’s not comfortable around the media, which is fine. But around us, he’s like one of my favourite teammates ever. He’s not quiet, but he’s not loud. He wants to work with me and I want to work with him.” [source]

fil vs the media:

literally gonna be a rivalry for the ages now that he’s signed a long-term deal w us and i kinda can’t wait.

backstory: hronek is quite reserved and isn’t super comfortable in front of the media, as is his right. at his exit interview this season, jeff paterson got into it with him because fil denied that he had an injury and jeff wanted him to say that he did on the record lmao. this conversation starts at around 2:25 of this video:

hronek: i mean, you named it. like, first half of the year i was producing, second half i was not.

paterson: and why was that?

hronek, my sassy king: um, why? if i know the answer, i probably would do something different.

paterson: were you playing through an injury?

hronek: ?? no

paterson, about to make his way onto my bad side: like, we gave you your space all year; we’re just trying to ask a few questions at this stage

hronek: well what do you want me to say?

paterson: i just, i was curious about where the production-

hronek: what do you want me to say on—like, on the injury, if i didn’t have injury, what do you want me to say? i said no.

[cue awkward silence until a different reporter starts talking to soucy]

now, fast forward a little while: he still hadn’t re-signed, and vancouver media was doing vancouver media things (speculating about how he probably hates it here and there’s no way he can be a canuck if he doesn’t like doing media and he probably wants to go to a more lowkey city etc etc.) when, low and behold, he signed an 8-year contract extension. One of his quotes?

"I guess I'm going to have to do more media for 8 more years. It's going to be fun." [source]

him and jeff paterson are gonna be bffs by like november 2027.

also, filip on vancouver as a market/canucks fans:

“I like it. It’s nice when people like it and they enjoy the hockey and they’re supporting us, so, it’s a lot of fun.” [source]

some fil pics:

baby fil:

[agentrouka-blog]

I’ve been rereading Game of Thrones during my doctor waiting room times, and recently I came across this bit:

She could feel the heat inside her, a terrible burning in her womb. Her son was tall and proud, with Drogo's copper skin and her own silver-gold hair, violet eyes shaped like almonds. And he smiled for her and began to lift his hand toward hers, but when he opened his mouth the fire poured out. She saw his heart burning through his chest, and in an instant he was gone, consumed like a moth by a candle, turned to ash.

I wondered if it might foreshadow Dany witnessing or causing Aegon/Young Griff to burn to death in the fight for the throne. Presumably Aegon/Young Griff would have darker skin from his Dornish heritage, and silver hair once the blue dye is washed out. What are your thoughts ?

I do think you are on to something there, and that the image of the burning heart in particular underlines the parallel to Stannis and his Azor Ahai prophecy (of the steel-tempering heart). There is a continuum of familial murder in Stannis' story. He kills his brother, he would have killed his nephew, he will kill his child. All under his banner of the flaming heart.

Dany is only a bystander in her brother's death, and her son's life wasn't intentionally traded - but still within this dream you quote she finds herself already moving past this grief on her path toward her dragon identity, urged on by her silver-haired ancestors.

She saw his heart burning through his chest, and in an instant he was gone, consumed like a moth by a candle, turned to ash. She wept for her child, the promise of a sweet mouth on her breast, but her tears turned to steam as they touched her skin. "… want to wake the dragon …" Ghosts lined the hallway, dressed in the faded raiment of kings. In their hands were swords of pale fire. They had hair of silver and hair of gold and hair of platinum white, and their eyes were opal and amethyst, tourmaline and jade. "Faster," they cried, "faster, faster." She raced, her feet melting the stone wherever they touched. "Faster!" the ghosts cried as one, and she screamed and threw herself forward. A great knife of pain ripped down her back, and she felt her skin tear open and smelled the stench of burning blood and saw the shadow of wings. And Daenerys Targaryen flew. [...] Dany released her wrist. My son is dead, she thought as Jhiqui left the tent. She had known somehow. She had known since she woke the first time to Jhiqui's tears. No, she had known before she woke. Her dream came back to her, sudden and vivid, and she remembered the tall man with the copper skin and long silver-gold braid, bursting into flame. She should weep, she knew, yet her eyes were dry as ash. She had wept in her dream, and the tears had turned to steam on her cheeks. All the grief has been burned out of me, she told herself. She felt sad, and yet … she could feel Rhaego receding from her, as if he had never been. Ser Jorah and Mirri Maz Duur entered a few moments later, and found Dany standing over the other dragon's eggs, the two still in their chest. It seemed to her that they felt as hot as the one she had slept with, which was passing strange.  (AGOT, Daenerys IX)

Dany has lost her brother and her son, but we know what she clings to above all. She always tells us.

The copper-skinned lord shows up again in the HOTU prophecy.

Then phantoms shivered through the murk, images in indigo. Viserys screamed as the molten gold ran down his cheeks and filled his mouth. A tall lord with copper skin and silver-gold hair stood beneath the banner of a fiery stallion, a burning city behind him. Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and he sank to his knees in the water and with his last breath murmured a woman's name. . . . mother of dragons, daughter of death . . . Glowing like sunset, a red sword was raised in the hand of a blue-eyed king who cast no shadow. A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd. From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire. . . . mother of dragons, slayer of lies . . . Her silver was trotting through the grass, to a darkling stream beneath a sea of stars. A corpse stood at the prow of a ship, eyes bright in his dead face, grey lips smiling sadly. A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness. . . . mother of dragons, bride of fire . . . (ACOK, Daenerys IV)

This entire passage is brimming with imagery related to false promises and prophecies leading her family members to doom. (I count Stannis among them.) The people cheer the cloth dragon but the real thing is a portent of death and destruction, kinslaying and self-destruction.

That copper-skinned lord relating to Rhaego alone doesn't feel very satisfying when we know he would have never looked like this. He was deformed in the same way many Targaryen stillborn babies were, blind and winged and scaled. Aegon is unlikely to look specifically copper-skinned, but he is bound to cut an impressive figure in the same way she imagines Rhaegar to do. She imagined her son would. He who could bebher family but will be her rival.

Whether this image specifically represents Aegon, as the hypothetical true heir Dany will want out of the way, or some idealized sense of Targaryen conquest, he is destroyed from within by the same flames Dany feels inside herself. In the context of the Dance of Dragons, of the Baratheon line and Stannis destruction of it, the fate of her brother and son, the burning city - and because GRRM already repeated it to keep it in our minds - I do think it's likely to come back in her confrontation with Aegon.

Who else could make this image come to life?

[queenvhagar]

"'Dragons,' Aemon whispered. 'The grief and glory of my House, they were [...] I see them in my dreams, Sam. I see a red star bleeding in the sky. I still remember red. I see their shadows on the snow, hear the crack of leathern wings, feel their hot breath. My brothers dreamed of dragons too, and the dreams killed them, every one. Sam, we tremble on the cusp of half-remembered prophecies, of wonders and terrors that no man now king could hope to understand...'" (p. 545, A Feast for Crows).

This quote is everything I think the original Fire and Blood was trying to do and expand on. The power of dragons could be a terrible thing, and though it could bring great reward, it could also bring ultimate destruction. The pursuit of power and dragons both won House Targaryen the Seven Kingdoms and doomed it to near extinction. Like ouroboros the dragon consumes itself. Of course the Dance is the ultimate moment of this, when dragons killed dragons until there were barely any left.

And yet... what we got on screen was House of the Dragon, in which basically all of this was lost in favor of Targaryen exceptionalism given purpose and validity within the narrative, in which House Targaryen and their dragons were destroyed not truly by themselves but by outside forces that they were powerless to fight, to the detriment of everyone. And really... doesn't that just fully miss the point?

[calisources]

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙇𝘿 𝙊𝙁 𝙄𝘾𝙀 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙁𝙄𝙍𝙀: all these quotes and sentences were taken from the world of ice and fire, a book written as in-universe history book of george r.r. martin's a song of ice and fire universe. change names, pronouns, locations as you see fit.

No man can say with certainty what the future may hold.

Perhaps, in knowing what has already transpired, we can all do our part to avoid the mistakes of our forebears, to emulate their successes.

What one of them does not know is known to another, and little remains truly unknown if one seeks far enough.

Glory may be everlasting, yet it is fleeting as well—soon forgotten in the aftermath of even the most famous of victories if they lead to greater disasters.

If instead you feed the wolf and tame him and turn his pups into your guard dogs, they will protect the flocks when the pack comes ravening.

When a wolf descends upon your flocks, all you gain by killing him is a short respite, for other wolves will come.

You may dress an ironman in silks and velvets, when you look into his eyes, the sea will still be there, cold and grey and cruel.

And all his smiles belong to her and her alone.

These colossal beasts, many times larger than the dragons of Valyria, are said to be made of living ice, with eyes of pale blue crystal and vast translucent wings.

Ice dragons supposedly breathe cold, a chill so terrible that it can freeze a man solid in half a heartbeat.

Like all tales, it takes on the attributes that make it most appealing to those who tell it.

The Westeros of Aegon’s youth was divided into seven quarrelsome kingdoms, and there was hardly a time when two or three of these kingdoms were not at war with one another.

Vermax left a clutch of eggs somewhere in the depths of Winterfell’s crypts, where the waters of the hot springs run close to the walls.

He was stone, hard and strong and unmoving. He was the wind, which rages and howls and blows this way and that.

One is hot and one is cold, yet these ancient kingdoms of sand and snow are set apart from the rest of Westeros by history, culture, and tradition.

Neither was ever truly conquered by the dragons.

The king in the North accepted Aegon Targaryen as his overlord peaceably.

Dornishmen and Northmen alike are derided as savages by the ignorant of the five 'civilized' kingdoms.

Dorne has danced with dragons before, and I would sooner sleep with scorpions.

The more he laughs and gives, the more they despise him.

Wars are bad for trade.

The man who honors all the gods honors none at all.

I desired nothing more than to become one of them.

There is always more to know, more to see, more to learn. The world is vast and wondrous and strange.

Amongst these river folk, women were regarded as the equals of men.

Lady Ellyn must surely be a sorceress, for she has made it rain inside the Rock all year.

His palace was a tent, his throne a saddle.

[dailydemonspotlight]

Jatayu - Day 83

Race: Avian

Arcana: Sun

Alignment: Light-Law

July 31st, 2024

Hinduism has always been a purveying theme throughout the SMT series. As one of the biggest eastern religions, and one whose practitioners spread throughout the whole world, the lack of Hindus in Japan does not take away from how common and widespread the concepts and beings that make up the sprawling tapestry of Hinduism are throughout the series. Whether it be DDS's overarching themes connecting deeply to Hinduism, to the common recurrence and respect of several Hindu deities throughout the series, I find it interesting how SMT takes so much from the faith, even to the point of pulling out far more relatively obscure figures to make up their scores of demons. Case in point, today's Demon of the Day, and one of the only commonly recurring Avians throughout the series- the nephew of Garuda and attempted savior of the goddess Sita, Jatayu. While the King of the Vultures may have perished, his memory lives on through this series... but how did he die?

Jatayu seems to originate from the Hindu Epic Ramayana, purported as being the son of Aruna and Shyeni, with Aruna being the older brother of Garuda, who I'm sure you're familiar with if you've played through the series. Growing up with an elder brother in the form of Sampati, the two birds were downright inseparable in their youth. However, this would all change one day. The two were competitive spirits, after all, and their favorite contest was to see who could fly higher than the other. Soaring up and up, the two would speed ahead of each other day after day, until, eventually, it began to grow hot. The two had entered into Sūryamaṇḍala, the mandala of the orbit of the sun! Jatayu realized too late that he was about to get Icarus'd, and, scared for his brother's safety, Sampati sped ahead of the other bird and shielded him from the sun at the consequence of losing his own wings. Sampati was sent spiraling to the ground, the two cursed to never meet each other again.

Interestingly, though, this tragic tale would only be the start of the themes of self-sacrifice common throughout Jatayu's forays in Hindu myth. This noble display was only the start of an idea brewing in the Ramayana, one of the most important (and biggest) epics in not just Hinduism, but history as a whole. The King of the Vultures' spotlight wasn't quite over yet, as his exploits would continue on into the life of Rama, specifically in Aranya Kanda, one of the many parts of this sprawling poem. Later in the bird's life, he befriended Sita, one of the many avatars of Vishnu as well as being the female protagonist of the epic. However, this would come to a head when the demon king, Ravana, had abducted her. Hearing her cries for help, Jatayu went to assist, and a tense standoff soon turned into a fight to allow her to get away. To quote,

These just and reasonable words of Jatayu but inflamed Ravana the more and fire flashed from his twenty eyes. He sprang at Jatayu in dreadful rage and a terrible fight ensued between them in that desolate forest, even as if two cloud banks or two mount Malyavans(tags) dashed against one another.

The two's battle was fierce, and surprisingly exciting- I'd honestly recommend looking at it as it's a genuinely well written fight scene- However, a demigod bird only stands a ghost's chance against the king of the demons. After struggling, he'd finally pull Sita away from the demon king, but eventually, Jatayu would be struck down. Taking the opportunity for sacrifice, likely having been inspired by his brother all those years ago, Jatayu had a final stand against Ravana, leading to an hour-long battle ultimately ending in the bird's untimely death.

Thus, the rakshasaking and the vulture-king fought with unabated fury for over an hour ; at the end of which, Ravana profited by a chapce to hew off with his sharp sword the pinions and feet of Jatayu, who fought so nobly for his master Raghuveera. And the lord of the vultures fell to the earth in the agonies of death.

However, even in his death, as he lay nearing his end, he took the time to explain the situation to the then-arriving Rama, as the King of the Demons had kidnapped Sita again already. His sacrifice to uphold Dharma and to protect Sita may have failed, but he still took his last breaths to spite Ravana by weakening the king and giving Rama the information he needed. The recurring themes of selflessness and sacrifice in Jatayu's appearances are incredibly interesting to me, especially given his connection to vultures, a bird which most would consider very selfish. Perhaps, without Jatayu around, they became a far less proud race...? I dunno, I'm just spitballing. Interestingly, something I found in a post going over the story of Jatayu in great depth seems to indicate a greater spiritual significance to birds in general, and perhaps, Jatayu's death may have spelled the end for Ravana as a whole. To quote, as this is a line from the epic,

You will find no rest for the long years of Eternity, for you killed a bird in love and unsuspecting.

In honor of Jatayu, a great sculpture was erected in the Indian state of Kerala, at Jatayu Earth Center, named so after the bird himself. The massive sculpture is the largest bird-based piece of art in the world, showing the significance of the great King of Vultures in both history and mythology.

As for the design in SMT, Jatayu takes the name of King of the Vultures way more literally than most other depictions- the golden crown seems to reflect royalty, and the fur coat around the neck may be an allusion to several depictions of Jatayu also resembling eagles. However, I'm completely unsure as to where the lizard tail came from, as with the overall color palette- sure, it looks nice and intimidating, but for such a benevolent bird, isn't it weird? Whatever, I'm sure someone out there can find connections that I'm just not seeing. I will say, though, it is a very well done design, and I appreciate the fact that it hasn't changed after all the years it's existed in the series. Kinda like Cerberus, it might be a callback, but I'm unsure. Overall, though, I wasn't expecting to get so oddly attached to the vulture king, but his kind ways and tragic patterns of sacrifice certainly make him a surprise stick-out.

Now stop ambushing me in V. Please. I stole your eggs ONCE, JATAYU. PLE-

[redstringraven]

11 and 12

*crawls back over here after work week* >:J!!! thank you!!

(also, please excuse that this ask is visually a bit more of a mess. apparently i wrote too much for tumblr to be chill with my usual formatting. apologies. e-e;;; maybe it'll let me format it after the fact. it did not)

TMNT's 40th anniversary ask game!

11.) which version of raphael is your favorite?

like i said in the tags for the meme, it's obvious/a given that my favorite version for all the turtles is gonna be the 2003 one. but since i also said i won't stop/discourage y'all from asking anyway AND said i don't have a favorite out of the boys, i'll use this as an excuse to babble incoherently about some of the reasons i love them. it's not uncommon that i enjoy hot-headed characters. this could partly be because enneagram-wise i'm a 9, and we're the 'odd one out' when it comes to the anger/gut triad (i kind of touched on this concept in my enneagram series; apologies). so, while i often smother my own temper, i still feel it under the surface. i get being angry. anger is also often a secondary emotion--it's an emotion that comes up because you're attempting to disguise something else; "anger is easier" as some quotes may say. i find it interesting to squint and find out why we're 'angry'. what's actually going on? when it comes to '03 raph, i don't think his anger stems from any ONE thing, i think it's more a bundle and that's part of the reason it's so easily set off. a significant piece of it is probably due to things i discussed in his enneagram post: learning to recognize the world is cruel/uncaring and trying to find ways for him--and the few people he cares about--to survive. raph is also a very intense person. anger is an intense emotion. it makes sense that he'd find comfort turning to it when he otherwise can't identify or articulate what he's really feeling. and this isn't to say he's not emotionally intelligent (far from it), i just think he struggles to slow his head and heart down to put names and words to everything flooding him--and WHEN he struggles, he gets frustrated and impatient with himself, which just makes him struggle more. and i appreciate the handful of examples we get that in-series where he can't quite verbalize it, but you can still feel and see it. i think raph likes to take care of people. his brothers, master splinter, april, casey, tyler, mrs. morrison, angel--whether they're someone who he loves, or someone who can't fend for themselves, or both, he just seems to instinctually take people beneath his wing. he's still learning that vulnerability doesn't equate to weakness (you can't show weakness in a world that rejects you), and he's also still learning to harness and manage all those emotions when they turn to anger--steer them to something more productive and beneficial instead. because anger, itself, isn't inherently bad. it's what you do with it. this is something he struggles with at the beginning of the series but seems to get a better grasp of as the seasons pass. i love raph as a hot-headed character who's a marshmallow inside not because of the trope itself, but because it feels very real to me given the circumstances he grew up under, lives under, and how he views the world and how intensely he loves. he's not just there to be "the angry one" so we have that archetype on the team, there're reasons. it's both a strength and a weakness of his. one he's aware of and carries shame for. my man also has an excellent sense of humor; right up my alley. i love him very much but i've already talked a lot and should probably stop here. … also, he hates bugs and got fucking swallowed by one and proceeded to chest-burster his way out of it, like. we love to see a short-king winning and getting to reference a movie he probably loved in the process. talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show-stopping, spectacular, never the same; yee-frickin'-haw indeed, sir.

12.) which version of donatello is your favorite?

copy/paste that first paragraph from the above answer here.

hilariously, like how i seem to have a pattern of enjoying hot-headed characters, i also feel like i have a pattern of loving the more quiet and compassionate ones. this also probably plays into my 9 on the enneagram, since 9s tend to be peacemakers and our place in the web allows us to better see the perspectives of others. i, also, understand the struggle that comes with not wanting to 'rock the boat' and kind of keep those i'm surrounded by happy and chill and secure. but don's also SMART. and i've been a nancy drew reading/game playing bitch since i could read. puzzle-solving… mysteries… cleverness… GIMMIE THAT SHIT.

don was my favorite as a kid, and i think that came both from the fact he was 'the purple one' (joking that was a bias was half of a joke; shut up i was like thirteen) and because he was resourceful, clever, and observant. i loved his kindness, i loved how when things seemed dire he'd usually be the one with an idea, and i probably saw a lot of myself in him whether it be in playing mediator between my siblings, or in knowing a lot of seemingly Random Shit™ about a lot of Useless Things™, or in the simple fact that he often wanted to be left alone to do the thing(s) he was really passionate about. i got a lot of flack for all the time i spent on the computer as a kid. didn't matter if i was writing or drawing or reading about topics i wanted to learn more about--you know, productive/creative/thoughtful activities--i was constantly badgered that i was addicted to it and didn't spend enough time with my family. i guess any moment that don having a weird interest in something "paid off" was validating to me in a way? as well as him not being the strongest fighter, but still being valuable in the team unit (i'm an artist who grew up in a family of athletes). i also appreciated and admired that despite his kindness, he wasn't a doormat. definitely a do-no-harm-but-take-no-shit kind of guy, and lord knows teen!hannah needed to learn to stand up for herself better. so, yeah. i think as a kid i saw a lot of myself in don. i appreciated him for existing in that way.

all that obviously still stands as an adult, the 'favoritism' has just faded away as i've grown to understand and adore the other three more.

don's pretty outstanding, man. while he's usually the route of the pacifist, it's evident that he has a clear line in the sand, and once you've crossed that line… you're gonna realize that when you fuck around, you find out. and you're gonna find out very quickly.

he'll take what little he has around him to scrap together a breathing apparatus for a lost and brain-damaged triceraton (even though the triceraton was previously an enemy), he'll spend months trying to find a cure for a bunch of strangers he barely knows, he's able to empathize with a bunch of child-like nanobots… but at the same time, he'll also blast you with your own arm-canon, drill you into a pile of mulch, trick you into going to a hornet dimension, and verbally assassinate your dignity for all that it's worth.

i love that so much of him IS grounded in creation. making things. learning and understanding. and that kindness is often one of his main driving points. i just wanna take his shoulders and shake him sometimes. in the most loving, motherly and enthusiastic of ways.

…i also firmly maintain that he's physically the strongest out of the brothers. that detail, combined with him being the least competitive out of the four, really amuses me. because i like to think that when it comes to arm wrestling, someone might challenge don because they think nerd = weak. and don's initially not interested in humoring the challenge, but his brothers are behind him like ":)))c no. no, donnie you should do it. it'll be fun!" because they all know. and don's finally just like

… e_e … fine.

and proceeds to slam the other person's arm down before they even know they've lost. his brothers stand there with gremlin smirks, impish grins, snickering, mischievous boyish giggling, and don wanders off unceremoniously to get back to a project. he's got a lot to do today but this was a nice break.

[rollerskatinglizard]

20 questions for fan creators

Thanks for tagging me, @rhea314!

How many works do you have on ao3? 112 fics!

What’s your total Ao3 word count? 1,360,000, holy smokes.

What fandoms do you create for? Motorcity and Homestuck!

Top 5 Works by Kudos: Top fic is Diamonds for Princes, then comes Heredity and Blackmail (even though I didn't finish it), What it takes to satisfy a Turk, shadows spreading where you stand, and Chilton 2.0.

Do you respond to comments? All except for cowritten fics sometimes! All the rest, I may answer two years late but I WILL RESPOND!!

What is the work you’ve made with the angstiest ending? Probably the first of my whump shortfics! Here's to major character death, babyyyy

What’s the work you’ve made with the happiest ending? I try to write most of my fics with happy endings, but honestly I have no idea which one is the happy-EST. Maybe Shadows spreading where you stand? Or In the Lost Age Where the Jewels Hide!

Do you get hate on your works? Nope!

Do you create smut? Hell yes I do! Happy pornographer here.

Craziest crossover? I'm pretty sure the only crossover that might be termed "crazy" is Taking the Helm, with Motorcity characters in a Homestuck setting (as trolls).

Have you ever had a work stolen? Not that I'm aware of, fortunately.

Have you ever had a work inspired by your works? Yes!! A number of awesome people have drawn art from my fics or made podfics of them, and there've been one or two inspired fics. <3

Have you co-recorded/co-written/co-vidded before? I have three wonderful cowriters who I click very well with! Cowriting is a very different process from writing alone, and I enjoy it a lot.

All time favorite ship? Right now, Mike Chilton/Chuck.

What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? Honestly I'm beset with doubt about many of my wips at all times... ToT Maybe my (non)soulmates fic.

What are your podficcing/writing/vidding strengths? I'm getting better at humor! My action scenes are fairly gripping, when I bother to write one, and my porn is hot or cute or both.

What are your podficcing/writing/vidding weaknesses? I almost never describe settings, I don't vary my sentence structure or paragraph beginnings enough, my fics tend to be light on plot, and my writing is neither lyrical nor vivid and visceral. It's, like... workmanlike. It gets the job done, that's it.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? Depends! If it's just a brief bit in a fic, totally, go for it, but if there are long chunks written in a different language (one I undoubtedly don't speak), that irritates me for multiple reasons. (I found Lolita's narrator incredibly irritating and full of himself for his habit of constantly dropping in long quotes in other languages.) If you're doing it because that's the language they'd be speaking, but your POV character doesn't understand, you can convey the annoyance of that just as well with skillful writing, and if the POV does understand... just translate.

First fandom you podficced/wrote in/vidded? Oh man, an age ago I started and didn't finish a number of Slayers fics, and then Gundam Wing.

Favorite work you’ve made? I... I can't pick just one! I still adore my naga fic hold you down until you're amazed, and Ace Up the Sleeve, and my (second) werewolf gangbang fic A Gregarious Species, and then there's my king/knight fic All Manner of Indignities...

No, wait. My fav fic of all is the short one where the Burners end up messing with the Duke: Spite, that great motivator. XD Even now, it makes me giggle.

Uhhh I tag @aishitara and @aspenonthecoast, and anyone else if you're around and feel like it!

[abookishdreamer]

Character Intro: Ascalaphus (Kingdom of Ichor)

Nicknames- My boy by Acheron

Darling by Orphne

Age- 17 (immortal)

Location- The Underworld

Personality- He's a broody yet eccentric young god who loves intellectual pursuits, gothic aesthetics, & a deep appreciation for classic literature and art. He's currently single.

He has the standard abilities of a god. His other powers/abilities include limited chlorokinesis (as it pertains to plants & flowers native to the Underworld), limited necromancy, being able to communicate with/shapeshift into a screech owl, limited umbrakinesis (shadow manipulation), and limited hydrokinesis (as it pertains to the waters of his father's river).

Ascalaphus is the only child of his parents- Acheron (Titan god of pain) & Orphne, a lampade.

He lives with his parents at their mansion in the Underworld. Ascalaphus' room is on the third floor. The bedroom door is built out of blackwood & there's also a terrace where he can overlook his father's river. The flooring is black marble while the walls are brimstone- covered in posters of his favorite bands, singers, movies, and deities. Instead of a laptop, there's an antique typewriter. In his room there's a simple trundle bed covered in dark blue satin pillows & black quilts, white onyx shelves for his book collection, as well as his blue-black iCHOR Tech wireless speaker that's automatically connected to Musify.

Ascalaphus is his father's twin with their olive skin, brown-black eyes, and facial features with the only difference being their frames. Acheron has a lean muscular build while his son has a bit more muscle. He feels like his mother feels left out because she doesn't look like them with her brilliant dark blue eyes, dark obsidian skin, and thick curly hair.

He's fluent in Latin.

He keeps his ink black hair short & shaggy.

Ascalaphus has a few tattoos- large owl wings on his back, a pair of dark blue eyes (dedicated to his mom) on the inside of his left wrist, a skull surrounded by black dahlias on his right arm, and the quote "What nourishes me destroys me" written in latin on his left pec. His good friend Achlys (goddess of the death mist, poison, misery, & sadness) did the tattoos.

A go-to drink for him is beer. He also likes red wine, pomegranate brandy, his dad's jallab, his mom's homemade blackberry iced tea, ginger ale, hot chocolate, black tea, mineral water, and cola.

Ascalaphus primarily writes in cursive.

For breakfast he'll typically go to a corner store to get a sausage, egg, & cheese on a hero on toasted rye bread. If he's gonna be on time for school, he'll have a bowl of steel cut oats topped with dark chocolate chips and maple syrup, a bowl of Earhtly Harvest raisin crunch cereal, or his mom's omelette- added with black olives, mushrooms, & ghost peppers.

Ascalaphus loves listening to classical, synth pop, folk, rock, heavy metal, rap, and death metal music. His favorite musical artists to listen to are Moros (god of doom), O, & the death metal rap band Death Theater- comprising of Hades, Charon (Ferryman of the Underworld), his friend Hypnos (god of sleep), and Thanatos (god of death). He also thinks that Pale Blu isn't too bad either.

He's currently a freshman at Polydegmon University, the most prestigious college in the Underworld. Ascalaphus has a full ride- a four year scholarship, thanks in part to his father as well as the king. He doesn't live on campus, an agreed compromise with his parents. Even though it's too early to declare a major, Ascalaphus is thinking about majoring in botany or art history.

Thus far his favorite class has been his gothic literature class taught by his professor- a lampade named Ms. Whiteveil. The sound of her velvet smooth voice while she reads poems and short passages automatically calms him.

He loves snacking on ash plum flavored gummy spiders. He also likes spicy mushroom flavored kettle cooked potato chips & black anise licorice twists.

Ascalaphus has a job of sorts. He tends to to the garden of the king of the Underworld, Hades (god of the dead). The orchard is primarily filled with black dahlias, frost orchids, black thorned roses, and shadow blossoms. He actually likes working in the garden. It's one of the few moments where Ascalaphus is alone with his thoughts for self-reflection. He also doesn't mind the company of the king. Hades will bring him a small cup of dark roast coffee or will lend Ascalaphus a book from his extensive library.

He also earns extra money by picking up groceries for Geras (god of old age) & by dog-sitting Cerberus sometimes.

There's a small restaurant downtown in Plouton Square that makes the best jjajangmyeon (noodles & diced pork in black bean sauce). It's a frequent takeout order for him.

All though Ascalaphus loves his parents, he feels like they're keeping him on a tight leash, especially his father. They didn't even want him to live on campus in a dorm and they especially don't want him to leave or travel out of the Underworld to any of the other realms- Olympius in particular. The Realm of Darkness is all he ever knows and Ascalaphus just wants the chance to experience something new, something different.

At school his social circle consists of cyclopes named Osric, Sybil, & Quintessa (Tessa for short), a harpy named Xerxes, a lampade named Azura (a botany major), as well as mortals named Caspian (a art history major), Rosalind, and Venetia.

Ascalaphus in undecided about whether or not to join the University's fraternity. Osric is a member.

Outside of school he's real good friends with Theodon (god of reality, uncertainty, & fate). They hang out together all the time. They smoke weed sometimes (through use of a Stygian Iron bong) & Ascalaphus will invite Theo to play basketball with him, Osric, Xerxes, and Caspian every weekend at Shadowstone Park. Theodon even tagged along to Ascalaphus' first college party!

He really likes going to the film premier of Blooddancer with Theodon. Ascalaphus even got to briefly meet the director of the film Keres (goddess of violent death). The photo of them meeting is framed & on his dresser. He also saved the ticket stubs!

In the pantheon he's also friends with Despoina (goddess of the arcadian mysteries, frost, winter, & shadows).

Also in the pantheon Ascalaphus respects and admires Nyx (goddess of the night) Erebus (god of darkness), as well as his "honorary" aunts & uncles, the other Underworld river deities- Phlegethon (Titan god of fire), Lethe (Titaness of forgetfulness, oblivion, & concealment), Styx (Titaness of hatred), and his godfather Cocytus (Titan god of wailing & lamentation).

He also admires Favian (god of philosophy) & is a fan of his steampunk historical fantasy book series The Machinery of Alchemists.

The iCHOR Tech soundproof headphones are great when Ascalaphus is working on an assignment or blocking out the sounds of his parents' lovemaking.

Sometimes (without his parents knowing), Ascalaphus will travel out-of-realm to Olympius to pick up Theodon from school. He pretends not to care as Theo drones on and on about a fellow schoolmate Heimarmene (Marnie) (goddess of shared fate). One day while Ascalaphus was waiting for Theo where he noticed him walking down the school's steps with Marnie and another girl. He thought she looked like winter's light with her flawless pale skin and shimmery silver eyeshadow on her eyelids. Her smile was just as bright as she tucked away strands of her short bouncy golden light brown hair behind her hair. When Ascalaphus asked Theo about her when he got in the car, he said that she was Marnie's best friend Eiresione (Ren) (goddess of offerings).

His favorite frozen treat is dark chocolate ice cream topped with pomegranate syrup, dark chocolate chips, and whipped cream.

His favorite dessert is his mom's black rum cake. She makes it every year for his birthday and on the Winter Solstice.

Ascalaphus is not ashamed about the fact that he's still a virgin. He wants to wait until he's emotionally connected with someone to have sex. He did make out with an empousa named Elidi at the college party.

His all time favorite meal is his dad's hearty lamb stew with saffron rice and his mom's scorched chicken.

In his free time Ascalaphus enjoys playing video games, reading, skateboarding, writing, snowboarding, gardening, skiing, ice hockey, cooking (with his parents), ink painting, going to museums, chess, listening to music, and going to the cinema. He's also been getting into photography.

"Owls inspire us to see beyond the darkness and find our own light."

[attibar]

More Toppat leader headcanons: Electric Boogaloo

These are some (a lot) of my overall headcanons that I usually use in my AUs.

Some of the leaders have unofficial nicknames in the form of “Toppat X” depending on how the clan sees them. For example Wilford gets referred to as Toppat Dad due to many seeing him as a father figure. 

 Wilford is conflicted by this. On one hand he’s flattered, on the other hand he feels embarrassed at being referred to as a dad by his subordinates.

It doesn’t help that Terrence, being the shit he is, will call Wilford “daddy” with no warning.

Dusty and Cloudface adopted Jaques as a child and raised him as their own during their reigns. It was this and Jaques expanding the clan to international level that gave him the nickname the Toppat Prince.

Henry still has the nickname the Toppat King. However if his powers get revealed some of the more overzealous Toppats start referring to him as the Toppat God, much to his chagrin.

The main reason Wilford had Terrence as his right hand was due to having immense trust and faith in him. His quick thinking has saved Wilford many, many times. Terrence, similar to Right, cares more about his chief than the clan itself; Terrence would never betray Wilford.

Wilford can be a workaholic and a perfectionist at times. He has taken Toppats under his wing to help improve their skills.

Terrence, at best, sees Reginald as a winy annoying little brother. At worst, he dislikes Reginald’s cowardice and absurd ambition, seeing him as a walking disaster waiting to happen.

The feeling is mutual though. Reginald sees him, at best, as a dumbass adrenaline junkie and at worst someone who is unhinged and will ruin the clan.

Reginald and Terrence used to prank and mess with each other prior to Terrence’s leadership. This ranged from Reginald applying super glue to Terrence’s hat to Terrence sneaking hot pink dye into Reg’s shampoo.

Wilford’s favorite alcoholic drink is whiskey. He’s got a stash of it hidden in his office.

They both joined the clan as teenagers/young adults.

Only Terrence knows this, but Wilford is actually Scottish. He’s worked on hiding his accent. However sometimes it comes out, particularly when Wilford is upset or surprised.

Terrence once got to record Wilford speaking with his accent, to hilarious results

Unusual for the time, the majority of Reynaldo’s elites and even his right hands were mostly women. To quote Reynaldo:

“Question. who is the last person you want to fight: a man or a woman? The answer is the woman and I’ll tell you why. Men will hurt you, women will fucking destroy you. I grew up with three sisters, I know my shit.”

There was little doubt to the skill of his elites. Some referred to them as the Amazons of the Toppat clan.

Reynaldo grew up in a town in the southern area of Mexico.

If a Toppat who angered him has a child, sometimes he’ll threaten to teach the little one Spanish swear words.

Randy has tried many, many different types of drugs. However there’s some even he won’t touch such as heroin.

Randy will refer to Reynaldo as “Reynaldo the bitch” if both ever came back to life. Randy’s a little salty about Rey killing him.

TRNK would prefer to keep the name instead of his original one. He doesn’t want his original identity to be connected to the monster he has become.

TRNK was fairly cognizant after being revived. Three things caused him to go mad:

The immense pain from the botched revival.

Constantly being seen and feared as an abomination no matter what he did.

His own elites seeing him as a weapon to be continuously modified for Clan purposes.

Besides that though, TRNK loves to play chess and poker.

Billy G is an excellent cook and especially enjoys spicy Indian food. He once made a meal so spicy Wilford thought the man was trying to kill him.

More than once has Sven fallen asleep on top of paperwork. He ends up with the text staining his face.

[redhairedgirl95]

Brandon seeing Stella gaining her enchantix, and his opinion of it

Brandon comments on Stella's Enchantix

Set at the end of season 3 episode 8.

Quotes in italics are from the episode

“Stella! STELLA, COME BACK!”

But she didn’t listen to him, she probably couldn’t even hear him as she was dashing towards a raging dragon, which was ready to burn her father alive. And her too. Phantoblade out, Brandon was about to jump off the ship when he saw the dragon’s mouth open and breathe fire at the princess, but Musa and Aisha held him off and he had to watch as Stella used all her energies to save her father’s life, losing hers.

“NO! NO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!” He screamed and managed to shake off the fairies’ hands, but then the brightest life he’d ever seen almost blinded him and everyone else who was standing in Eraklyon’s Palace’s court. For a couple of seconds, no one could see anything, and, when sight was restored, there was a fairy-like figure standing mid-air. Someone with long blonde hair, an orange matching set, and wings so big they could support her weight just by staying open and relying on the currents.

“Stella saved her father and she got her Enchantix power.” Bloom said, looking at her best friend.

“Her sacrifice is what brought it about. That’s exactly how it happened with me.” Aisha added, standing next to Bloom.

So that was the Enchantix form. The form a fairy assumed after she’d made the ultimate sacrifice. Stella had been willing to give her own life to save her father, a father who didn’t recognize her anymore, one who had ordered his guards to chase her and even kill her. But her father still.

Brandon watched as the princess hugged the king, merely seconds before she had to fly right into the Owl, crashing into his arms. Brandon held her as she cried, as she allowed herself to be fragile and scared, while she unconsciously returned to her human form, still crying in his arms. Riven and Timmy could fly the Owl without him. He needed to be there for his princess.

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

She had fallen asleep during the flight back home. Brandon had covered her with his suit jacket, gently caressing her long blonde hair.

“Brandon?”

“Rise and shine, gorgeous.” He smiled, leaning down to kiss her lips.

“Don’t I always shine?” Stella replied, with a smirk.

“Behave, princess. Or I won’t tell you how hot you looked in your new transformation.”

Stella sat up, smiling at him. “I definitely need to transform in front of a mirror. I wanna see all the details.”

“Let me say I had never seen wings like yours. They are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“More beautiful than me?” Her eyes grew bigger and she sounded outraged.

“Stella! They ARE a part of YOU!”

Everyone on the Owl laughed, and for a moment they could forget about the pieces of their hearts they had been forced to leave on Eraklyon.

[bestworstcase]

& since i’m on the subject of allusions tonight:

let’s talk about rwby’s actual oz allusions

so, generally speaking, the fandom—understandably perplexed by how tangential or even superficial rwby’s reference to the wizard of oz appears to be—takes the oz allusions in one of two ways: either, 1. the core ozian characters are deconstructions of the correlating oz character [the scarecrow drinks, the tin man throws his heart away, etc.] or 2. the oz allusions are a deliberate red herring intended to misdirect attention from the deeper or truer allusion to whatever, whence the g.u.n. theory or the bastardized norse myth madlibbing and so forth; or on occasion both at once.

the first camp has a lot of interesting things to say that i would probably find persuasive were it not for the fact that they also keep wrestling unsatisfyingly with the persistent questions of:

1. who is dorothy?

2. what about raven and summer and tai? (oh my)

3. how do the ozma/wizard/tip and ozma/ozpin/oscar trifectas fit together?

and the answers to all of these questions are in fact pretty straightforward...

...the trick is just that rwby isn’t alluding to the wizard of oz.

for the uninitiated there are a lot of oz books. there are-- there are so many oz books. fortunately for my sanity however rwby appears to be focusing primarily on one, the marvelous land of oz, which occurs not too very long after the wizard’s departure from oz at the end of the wonderful wizard of oz.

now, i will say up front that you are going to look at this list and immediately go “wait. what?” but just... trust me, ok? here we go.

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? god of light → mombi* ozma → ozma/tippetarius ozpin → the wizard oscar → jack pumpkinhead glynda → good witch of the ✨north✨ [NOT GLINDA] theodore  → dorothy gale lionheart → the soldier with the green whiskers ironwood → nick chopper [the tin woodman] qrow  → the scarecrow raven  → the woggle-bug taiyang → the cowardly lion [provisionally**] maria → the sawhorse summer rose → general jinjur and, last but not least, salem → glinda the good [TRUST. ME.]

*the god of darkness is sir not appearing in this book, but if rwby does what i think it will re: theodore, i’d place my bets on the nome king.

**taiyang is an unknown quantity in that i don’t think his primary role in the narrative has revealed itself yet; he might alternatively turn out to be the gump or the queen of the field mice. my money is on the lion, though, because the lion is also sir not appearing in this book but, like dorothy, appears in the next as a member of ozma’s retinue.

MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ ANY% NO GLITCH—

long story short, in the before times the land of oz was ruled by a king named pastoria who took up with the fairy-queen lurline and had a baby, ozma, rightful heir to the ozian throne; shortly thereafter, oscar diggs crash landed in oz, deposed pastoria, disappeared the infant princess by giving her to mombi, sorceress of the north, and became ✨the wizard✨. ...some... amount of time later, dorothy crash lands in oz, yellow brick road, silver slippers, smashes one witch and melts another, yada yada, the wizard sails off back to omaha in his hot air balloon, CUE MARVELOUS LAND; the starting positions are thus:

the scarecrow sits on the throne of oz in the emerald city, having been appointed to rule in the wizard’s stead on account of being Very Wise.

winkie country, liberated from the tyranny of the wicked witch of the west, is now the domain of the tin woodman.

dorothy is back in kansas where everything is grey and sandy and horrible.

the lion is...somewhere, presumably doing king-of-the-forest things.

glinda the good is occupied with research [trying to find out what the wizard did with ozma] in her home in quadling country, to the south.

QUOTE, the winged monkeys are now the slaves of glinda the good, who owns the golden cap that commands their services, END QUOTE.

mombi transformed the infant ozma into a boy named tippetarius because, why not, and raised him as her ward on a farm in gillikin country, to the north.

tip is a teenager and he does teenager things like making a life-sized puppet with a jack-o-lantern head to scare mombi with, as one does, and mombi has about had enough of this so she brews up a potion to turn him into a marble statue, as one does, and tip who does not especially want to be turned into a marble statue instead steals a pepper-box full of magic powder that makes things come to life, and runs away with his newly animate bestie/son jack pumpkinhead, AS ONE DOES. subsequently uses the magic powder to make a wooden sawhorse come to life so they don’t have to hoof it all the way to the emerald city.

the sawhorse is born with a limp and the personality of an octogenarian with no fucks left to give and also he periodically goes deaf on account of his ears breaking off, so when i say maria calavera is the sawhorse—

ANYWAY, minor hijinks ensue. jack blithely accepts everything his dear father says without question because his head is a pumpkin and he has been sapient for approximately eight hours, the terrible trio splits up for a bit on account of tippetarius falling off the sawhorse who likes to go real fast, consequently while jack and the sawhorse make it to the emerald city and meet the scarecrow, tip falls behind and crosses paths with general jinjur and her army of revolt.

jinjur is sick of the way things are and the powers that be and is therefore en route, armed with a pair of very glittery very pointy knitting needles and a lot of other girls outfitted in the same, to conquer the emerald city. tip is not about this revolution thing but tags along because he wanted to appeal to the scarecrow for help with the marble statue nonsense anyway; upon arrival jinjur and her army conquer the emerald city in approximately 0.2 seconds on account of the entire royal army being composed of one (1) man, the soldier with the green whiskers who guards the gates but squeals and books it at the first hint of a brandished needle.

tip races to the palace well ahead of the girls, who are busily sacking the city, to warn the scarecrow of the situation and reconvene with the rest of terrible trio, whereafter they and the scarecrow leave the cowardly soldier to his fate and gallop like the dickens to escape the city, heading west to regroup with the tin woodman. jack is now wracked by existential dread on account of the scarecrow having told him that pumpkins rot, meaning he spends the rest of the book worrying about his imminent decay and rapidly dwindling lifespan, this is fine dot jpg.

one unfortunate incident with a river and some drying-out and a nap later, they reach winkie country and rendezvous with *ahem* the magnificent! nickel-plated tin woodman, celebrated! emperor [it wounds his pride to be called only a king] of the winkies, nick chopper. who sweeps the scarecrow up in a hug because of how delighted! he is to see him again, tells jack not to be such a downer about the my-head-is-slowly-inevitably-rotting thing, and whose immediate response upon learning that the emerald city has been conquered is to declare, quote, we do not need an army; we four, with the aid of my gleaming axe, are enough to strike terror into the hearts of the rebels, end quote, also everybody gets tidied up and repaired and the scarecrow’s strutting by the time they disembark again.

somewhat less minor hijinks ensue on account of mombi not being pleased about tip skipping town and attempting to waylay them by means of dazzling, blinding illusions and, when that fails, dramatically altering landscape in hopes of getting them lost. the sawhorse breaks his leg and the group encounters the woggle-bug, who is very large and very keen to impress upon them that he is, having snuck into a schoolroom long ago and listened in on classes for months, thoroughly educated; eventually he was caught by the professor, transformed via magnifying glass into his present size, and subsequently ran away to do woggle-bug things. on his suggestion they fix the sawhorse’s leg by amputating jack’s, because jack is riding anyway owing to his poorly-fitted knees, and using that as a prosthetic for the sawhorse [LAUGHS NERVOUSLY]. from there the woggle-bug swiftly proceeds to earn the whole group’s ire by making an offensive number of puns at their expense. they navigate through four more illusory obstacles [a raging river; a granite cliff; a writhing maze of dancing roads; a wall of fire] with the aid of the queen of the field mice.

on making it to the emerald city they are promptly captured by jinjur, who plans to dismantle everyone except tippetarius on the grounds of their not being human, but is interrupted by the timely arrival of some mice who frighten her out of the room long enough for the gang to escape by constructing a... thing, called the gump, out of a pair of sofas and a stuffed elk-like creature’s head and various other bits and bobs and animated with the final pinch of magic powder. it flies them out of the emerald city and overshoots quadling country by a wide enough margin to crash them into a nest of nasty jackdaws somewhere not in oz, a misadventure which mainly serves to facilitate the discovery of a secret compartment within the now-emptied pepper-box and, inside that, three silver pills that grant a wish when swallowed.

tip tries one to wish the gump repaired, which doesn’t work because it pains him so badly that he instead wishes he’d never taken it; the woggle-bug does the same and succeeds, they fly back home, the pills are lost, and they reach quadling country at last.

the squad attempts to fill glinda in. she already knows everything.

she fills them in on what she’s been up to, presents evidence mombi aided the wizard in his scheme to disappear ozma, and marches with them to reclaim the emerald city, intending to capture mombi and force her to reveal the truth. further illusion-based hijinks ensue of which the most potentially interesting as it pertains to rwby is that mombi transforms herself into a red rose in an effort to escape detection.

glinda sees through the ruse. mombi transforms herself into a griffin and flees, pursued relentlessly by glinda until she collapses from exhaustion in the desert waste beyond the border of oz—whereupon glinda lassos her with a golden thread that stifles her magic, drags her bodily back to the emerald city, and demands that she tell the truth or else die by glinda’s hand. mombi tries to lie, glinda is furious and having none of it, and mombi begrudgingly reveals tip’s true identity, whereupon glinda forces her to undo the curse and then strips her of her magical power forever; tip is restored to her true self, jinjur is swiftly deposed, and peace restored, hooray!, the end.

QUESTIONS!

WHY ARE YOU SO SURE SUMMER IS JINJUR? frankly a decent case could be made for interpreting cinder as the allusion to jinjur instead: jinjur is a wrathful but cunning scullery maid raging against the powers that be, and after all it is cinder who sacks beacon academy—i.e., the emerald city stand-in.

but here’s the thing: after routing the royal army, jinjur installs herself as the queen of oz and rules without interruption for most of the story. she is not ousted from this position until the final chapter. cinder is grievously injured before the battle is even properly ended, returns immediately to salem’s side, and has been a thorn in her side and also the sides of the heroes ever since—meanwhile, all this time, salem has had an unknown lieutenant stationed at beacon, searching for the crown. somebody has been holding that throne, as it were, and we have a certain silver-eyed warrior still unaccounted for.

further, jinjur’s army of revolt makes quite a conspicuous show of being united from every province, and she herself wears the colors of all four; in the event summer turns out to be working for salem of her own accord, which i think likely, her presumable reason is something along the lines of having burnt out and shattered under the pressure of being the ideal huntress, the lone guardian, the blessed warrior—precisely in the same way that we have seen ruby begin to crack under the same—and this, i think, dovetails tidily with the imagery of jinjur’s revolt. a turncoat summer rose who still holds to ozpin’s ideal of strength and peace through unity, who is perhaps reinforcing salem’s numbers at beacon by recruiting the people of vale, is what ozpin asked her to become, turned against him for how she suffered in becoming.

also, look at this flower. common name, malay rose:

it’s not a true rose; it’s etlingera venusta, and it belongs to the ginger family.

sidebar, i don’t think cinder has an ozian allusion except insofar as i suppose she performs the functional role of glinda’s army through her relation to salem. she’s, well, cinderella, and in being cinderella also a symbolic repetition of salem through her rapunzel aspect—cinder echoes the desperately furious girl in the tower, the fairytale heroine trapped by forces beyond her control, not the formidable sorceress who would lay waste to the gods.

BUT SALEM AS GLINDA, THOUGH? REALLY?

while it is clear that rwby’s primary reference is to marvelous land, there are a handful of overt nods to the film adaptation of wizard of oz specifically, in theodore’s ruby gloves and the black-and-white photo of the girl in gingham with the little black dog. naming the good witch of the north glynda as a nod to the film (and pop culture generally) conflating the two is hardly out of the question, and a tidy bit of narrative sleight-of-hand besides.

and, listen. it’s not just enslaving the flying monkeys and it isn’t just serenely running mombi into the ground and forcing her to reveal the truth and undo the harm she did to ozma; it’s also not just that glinda the good plays a critical narrative role following the wizard’s departure and the good witch of the north does not. it’s also that of the pair glinda is the more powerful and more formidable by an order of magnitude, and indeed glinda is said to be ageless, ancient, and perhaps the most powerful sorceress in the land of oz; it’s also that the ozian color-coding checks out in both directions (in glinda’s quadling country, everything is red; and gillikin country is purple); it’s also that glynda goodwitch was faultlessly loyal to a secretive cabal and believed in ozpin, as the good witch of the north believed in the wizard, whereas salem, like glinda the good, knows ozpin for a fraud, despises emerald for her deceptive semblance, and has a keen intuition and a short temper for being lied to.

the only respect in which salem and glinda do not, within the context of rwby’s ozian narrative, almost perfectly align is that salem is an antagonist and glinda is not—but here let me remind you that rwby’s mombi is the god of light, with her deceptive shape-changing and illusions reimagined as defter subterfuge and symbolically intertwined with the blinding of rapunzel’s prince. the god of light poisoned ozma’s ear against salem so well that he persuaded ozma to drink the potion and become the wizard of his own volition, cursed and blind to the true nature of the gods, his mandate, and his lost love.

but tippetarius learns the truth and finds ozma again; rapunzel’s tears heal the ruined eyes of her prince.

where do you think rwby is going with this?

AND LEO LIONHEART, THE LION FAUNUS, ISN’T THE COWARDLY LION?!

he’s the easily-cowed and fully-bearded guardian of the closest thing rwby’s scarecrow has to an emerald city to administer on the wizard’s behalf, and he is in this capacity an army of one because he’s sent every other warrior in the faculty away and sold half the huntsmen in mistral out to salem. salem sends her needling bastard of a henchperson to menace him and lionheart folds like wet cardboard, handing over the keys to the vault without a whisper of resistance. and once the battle for haven is ended, the former allies he stabbed in the back shrug and leave him to his fate at salem’s hands.

leonine faunus or not, the role lionheart plays is precisely that of the soldier with the green whiskers, the solitary and pathetically inept guardian who betrays the scarecrow and his allies out of panicked cowardice.

meanwhile the cowardly lion does not appear in marvelous land at all, but he does figure in ozma of oz—the third book—wherein he professes himself a coward still but acts no less bravely than he ever did, now a loyal member of ozma’s retinue and accompanied by his new friend, the hungry tiger. taiyang, who has either been doing big important secret cult things or else trying to psych himself up to leave his empty nest depression cabin ever since beacon fell and ozpin died, is a much likelier candidate for being the cowardly lion’s true analogue by far.

IS RAVEN JUST THE WOGGLE-BUG BECAUSE SHE’S KNOWLEDGE?

that’s part of it but not the entirety; note that the woggle-bug is not merely intelligent but gleaned all of his knowledge by spying, for no other reason than burning curiosity; note the professor who caught him and irrevocably changed him, for better or for worse, and his hasty escape for fear of being exploited thereafter; note that he is pompous and anxious and performs intelligence far more than he shows it, and note that his often-callous and sometimes-snide commentary is met with such sharp hostility by the others that at one point nick chopper implies a threat to murder him if he makes another pun at a companion’s expense.

and note, finally, that the woggle-bug does not properly enter the narrative until after the protagonists leave winkie country, the province for which atlas is very obviously an analogue. raven played a major role in volume five, of course, one which thoroughly alienated her from the rest of the ozian characters on both sides of the conflict... but then she vanished into the ether without a shred of resolution for anything but the question of whether the relic of knowledge would be retrieved and by whom, and if that isn’t a mere prelude in her character arc i’ll eat somebody’s hat.

and as for what her future role in the story might entail. well. three silver pills that grant you wishes—and one that poisons tip when he tries,  the same one the woggle-bug uses to mend their way home. three silver-eyed warriors ostensibly blessed by the god of light—and one a turncoat poisoned by the unbearable weight of ozpin’s ideals.

we still don’t know what raven knows, or who she learnt it from.

IF THE SILVER WISH PILLS ARE SILVER-EYED WARRIORS THEN, MARIA?

to activate the pills you need to swallow them and then count up to seventeen by two. the sawhorse is the one who solves the riddle, which is to start with half one, double it, and then count up by two from one to seventeen.

...WHAT WAS THAT YOU SAID ABOUT FOUR ILLUSIONS AND A MOUSE?

the ever after may be bleeding wonderland out of every frame—and oh boy is it!—but, look, what is rwby if not a gleeful mishmash of inspirations and in the trailer and preview clip alone we’ve got a helpful mouse and three of the four [twisting, impossible paths? check. impassible cliff? check. walls of fire? check, twice over]. as obstacles go a torrential river crossing is not exactly out of left field in any setting—and then there’s the girl on the beach who’s wearing ozma’s original colors.

to say nothing of how well those four obstacles align so very nicely, symbolically, with ruby (paths), weiss (flood), blake (cliff), and yang (fire).

it’s a little eyebrow-raising if nothing else. something to watch.

[quote-tournament]

First round, thirty first fight

Quote number 61 :

If I knew then what I know now, I might have said, "It's simple. Freedom is a length of rope. God wants you to hang yourself with it."

-Castiel, 6.20: The Man Who Would Be King

VS

Quote number 62 :

"According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Ooh, black and yellow! Let's shake it up a little. Barry! Breakfast is ready Ooming! Hang on a second. Hello? - Barry? - Adam? - Oan you believe this is happening? - I can't. I'll pick you up. Looking sharp. Use the stairs. Your father paid good money for those. Sorry. I'm excited. Here's the graduate. We're very proud of you, son. A perfect report card, all B's. Very proud. Ma! I got a thing going here. - You got lint on your fuzz. - Ow! That's me! - Wave to us! We'll be in row 118,000. - Bye! Barry, I told you, stop flying in the house! - Hey, Adam. - Hey, Barry. - Is that fuzz gel? - A little. Special day, graduation. Never thought I'd make it. Three days grade school, three days high school. Those were awkward. Three days college. I'm glad I took a day and hitchhiked around the hive. You did come back different. - Hi, Barry. - Artie, growing a mustache? Looks good. - Hear about Frankie? - Yeah. - You going to the funeral? - No, I'm not going. Everybody knows, sting someone, you die. Don't waste it on a squirrel. Such a hothead. I guess he could have just gotten out of the way. I love this incorporating an amusement park into our day. That's why we don't need vacations. Boy, quite a bit of pomp... under the circumstances.- Well, Adam, today we are men. - We are! - Bee-men. - Amen! Hallelujah! Students, faculty, distinguished bees, please welcome Dean Buzzwell. Welcome, New Hive Oity graduating class of... ...9:15. That concludes our ceremonies. And begins your career at Honex Industries! Will we pick our job today? I heard it's just orientation. Heads up! Here we go. Keep your hands and antennas inside the tram at all times. - Wonder what it'll be like? - A little scary. Welcome to Honex, a division of Honesco and a part of the Hexagon Group. This is it! Wow. Wow. We know that you, as a bee, have worked your whole life to get to the point where you can work for your whole life. Honey begins when our valiant Pollen Jocks bring the nectar to the hive. Our top-secret formula is automatically color-corrected, scent-adjusted and bubble-contoured into this soothing sweet syrup with its distinctive golden glow you know as... Honey! - That girl was hot. - She's my cousin! - She is? - Yes, we're all cousins. - Right. You're right. - At Honex, we constantly strive to improve every aspect of bee existence. These bees are stress-testing a new helmet technology. - What do you think he makes? - Not enough. Here we have our latest advancement, the Krelman. - What does that do? - Oatches that little strand of honey that hangs after you pour it. Saves us millions." [...]

-Bee Movie (2007)