#◯ : GENERATIONS OF BLOOD & FIRE; YOU ARE ALL WAR. ( aesthetic )

[truestfeeiing]

a little pilot episode of a mellobot!au. it's actually a scene close to the end of the story, but i wanted to write it to get a feel.

android scientist!near / insurgent!mello

sci-fi/sci-fantasy, drama, rated general. (1.1k word count)

it's twenty years after the kira case, and mello and near are on opposite sides of the artificial intelligence war. today, mello has infiltrated near's base. he finds a special room with his name on the door.

Mello walked past the android repair shop, the server room, the controls headquarters. He kept heading deeper. The rooms became more personal, less organized, less like they were used for this proxy war that really wasn't a proxy war at all and instead spilt the blood of millions, and more like the battered, rattling lungs of a wounded animal, all the air sacs contracting and expanding in turn. The floor outline, based on the trackers he put in each room, became increasingly crooked and cramped as he approached its center.

“Bastard, what a nice fuckin’ place you've got, huh?” Mello snuffed out his cigarette and flicked the butt into a nearby trash can overflowing with office papers and junk parts.

There were a few facilities that implied more people may have worked here, once, but the downturn of the war on the side of the artificial had taken a toll on that too; offices abandoned, the cantine laced in cobwebs. He tagged those, too, sliding trackers under desks and tacking them on support beams.

The first room he happened upon that held his interest had a door of sturdy oak wood and a slightly oxidized plaque with an old-fashioned inscription. It had nothing to do with the aesthetics of the base that surrounded it; it had the distinct charm of the conception of the twenty-first century, when everyone was freshly hopeful that the dawn of a new age would bring prosperity and light. Mello sneered at the thought of the doomsayers. In the end, those fanatics waving signs and self-flagellating on the streets were much closer to seeing the truth. Still, it was an imperfect truth because here Mello stood, cleansed by fire, built by ash.

The world did end, but it was reconstructed brick by brick by people like Mello.

Though his vision had never quite been restored in his left eye, the curly script inscribed in the plaque clarified into perfect legibility as he approached it, and he stopped dead in his tracks five paces away from the enigmatic door.

“Mello?” He traced out the script with a hoarse whisper.

It was left slightly ajar with a gentle light source emanating from within, as though someone had been waiting and watching, as though the slight crack allowed a breath to pass through.

He tossed a tracker inside and heard it bounce twice before settling. No commotion. Carpet flooring, based on the muffledness.

Unlike the rest of the base, he had zero predictions for what could be inside, but the warm glow spilling out like silk welcomed him, so he hoisted his rifle up a bit more across his shoulders, and slipped a thumb into the holster of his handgun. His stomach twisting and turning in knots of apprehension, Mello gingerly pushed the door open with one gloved hand.

The sight of a mundane bedroom greeted him. Still the chills of a peculiar familiarity ran down his spine. The hue of the lights, the woven carpet, the bedposts in that same rich mahogany. It kind of looked— he recalled with a gulp— like his own room, back at Wammy's, a lifetime ago. Geez what tipped you off, maybe the name on the door?

There were a few odd details that kept his mind from exploding completely, principally the life-sized version of what must be his late teenage self tucked in bed facing away from him, rusty blond hair spilling over his white pillow, his face in a neutral repose. Mello swiftly aimed his handgun at the boy’s head, barking out a harsh warning. When there was no reaction he kicked the edge of the mattress. Still nothing.

He flipped the boy over by the shoulder (it was cold with a bit of give, velvety). and did a quick scan: There. The unmistakable electromagnetic signature of an android. A mighty fine one at that, but still a machine, and powered off. Mello crouched down and peered incredulously into the face of his younger self. He could almost see the scarlet blood rushing beneath his shockingly humanlike skin. None of the androids he'd met independently reached this level of lifelike. Besides the glaring difference of his facial scar and the decades packed into Mello's sallow skin, they were spitting images of each other.

It was truly state of the art.

“You sick fuck,” Mello laughed derisively.

He stood back up—almost dizzy— and surveyed the room one more time. The window, or the model of a window, was of particular interest. Just a standard LED panel behind a traditional-looking frame, with no indication that it could be opened, but it seemed a deliberate difference that only two people in the world were ever clued in to.

“You remembered,” Mello marveled to himself. Past the window played a very subtly looping footage of a generated coastline, the muted blue of brackish waters ambling in and out.

He blinked and watched more closely.

Ah, it wasn't generated. Little dots of people, vintage people, dotted the beachy shores. Even in the cliffs there was occasionally someone chancing a dive. Such idyllic coastlines didn't exist anymore, but in this window, they were immortalized. Mello’s lips thinned into a wobbling line as he put a fist beside the window, in this mirage of a room.

There was a second part to their conversation. His and Near’s. He had let the memory be buried for three decades, under the suffocating hatred and longing and all the thorny feelings stirred in him by one particular man; now it came rushing back unbidden, with vengeance.

“If you go, I wouldn't mind following. I wouldn't mind seeing all these things you find beautiful." Near had been lying on Mello's bed, feet dangling off the side because they were dusty. He didn't look at Mello, but stared up at the ceiling of that windowless room.

Mello had laughed back then.

”How are you gonna do that? You don't even want to leave the orphanage.”

”That's only ‘cause you're here, Mello. But I could do it, don't you believe in me? We'll go visit the Mediterranean Sea, then the Baltic, then sail around the world using L’s money.”

”You're gonna need to lug around so much medicine. Plus, it's kind of hard to believe a recluse like you could find anything beautiful beyond the nails of your own ten toes.”

”You can teach me to.”

In the present, Mello peered down into the youthful face of his mirror one last time before storming out of its room, slamming the door behind him.

[theusashfield]

introduction; the fire starter.

aesthetic | powers & abilities | headcanons | relationships | wanted connections

wait, is that prometheus 'theus' ashfield in the emerald lodge again? i heard through the grapevine, that the fire leaning high fae has been in town for 151 years, and currently works as the owner of emerald lodge. some say he can be hedonistic & arrogant, but i thought he was actually charming & generous. ( lee pace / appears 45, actually 284 / he/him )

i. details

full name: prometheus ashfield nickname(s): theus, ... age: appears 45, actually 284 date of birth: 1740 place of birth: the forest covered mountains of the bavarian alps, somewhere between germany and austria residential area: downtown westray | the forest gender: cis male pronouns: he/him sexuality: pansexual & polyamorous martial status: single occupation: owner and accounts manager of emerald lodge

ii. appearance

faceclaim: lee pace   hair: warm brunette, wavy, short back and sides, long on top  eyes: hazel with green facial hair: stubble to short beard, shave and repeat height: 196cm | 6'5  body type: tall, lean, athletic, strong scars: incoming

iii. personality

moral alignment: chaotic neutral astrology: aries sun . sagittarius moon . leo rising good traits: charming, generous, passionate, spontaneous, energetic, bad traits: hedonistic, arrogant, reckless, stubborn, quick-tempered,

vi. biography

he was born in the spring of 1740 (he doesn't remember the date), in the bavarian alps between what is now germany and austria. he doesn't remember the name he was given at birth, or at least he claims to have forgotten. in truth, he was somewhat of a prince... or so he says. he recalls his childhood, running amongst the trees and bushes, climbing the ridges and rocky outcrops, and swimming in rivers. he remembers playing with other children, dancing with his people at celebrations, and eating fresh food every day.

from a young age, he was mischievous and curious. he did not fear the local humans as much as he should have. he would appear before lost travellers and agree to guide them in exchange for sweets. he became a local legend, a sprite - so long as you gave him what he asked, you would gain safe passage... but if you tried to trick him, you could find yourself lost in the forest, wandering for days.

he doesn't say why he left, only that he was the only one to do so, and there isn't much to go back to.

after he left, he chose a new name - prometheus - and travelled across europe. sometimes he would stay with his own kind, sometimes he would blend in with witches, or humans, learning their cultures and languages. eventually, he got to the age where he started to grow bored. he found a witch who gave him an idea... a memory loss potion, so he could start all over again. it made things interesting... at first. perhaps it was his fae blood, but eventually, his memories returned. and when they did, he would go somewhere new.

he went to italy, spain, france, england, scotland, wales and ireland. he enjoyed meeting the fae of the lands, but he saw the growing influences and spreading civilisations of humanity. he kept finding witches for potions, but the effect of the memory loss took less and less time to fade.

he can't recall if it was a bad potion or too much drink that made him wake up on the boat from scotland to america, but by the time they reached new york in 1820, theus had accepted his fate. he gave the surname ashfield, and that was how he registered as a citizen. he laid low, avoiding the revolutionary war, retreating into the wilderness to be with his own kind while the humans killed each other. afterwards, he toured america and canada, searching for a place to settle.

in 1873, he came to the growing city of westray in the state of washington. old habits die hard, so he continued his life of revelry and pleasure-seeking. he stopped taking the memory potions since they hardly worked anymore. he'd developed too high of a tolerance for them to last longer than a few months.

his bad behaviour eventually caught up with him, and in 1950, he was presented with his first daughter.

he took in every daughter presented to him (who turned out to be his) and raised them with love. shortly after the arrival of his first daughter, he thought he should establish himself a little more... with the riches he'd acquired, he purchased the emerald lodge and has since become its owner and accounts manager. he always had an interest in counting, and what better thing to count than gold?

six more daughters would follow, and despite his recognition of his high fae blood, his dalliance with a human and a witch resulted in offspring, and they resulted in disdain from his fellow high fae.

prometheus didn't give a shit. he loves his daughters fiercely. he would kill for them, and he would die for them. besides... what's the point of being a fae if you don't bring a little chaos?

[thelastyaga]

╟ What is this blog? ╢

🌿 Good health to everyone, and welcome. 🌿

The Last Yaga blog is dedicated to my journey in writing my first novel under the same name. 

I am an aspiring author, currently working on editing the final draft of the very work you will see come to life on here. 

This is a way for me to keep my sanity, give you some laughs and a book to look forward to. 👁👄👁

Here is a bit about the piece, before you commit. 

____________

But first: 

！FOLLOW THE LINK TO HELP A FAMILY IN PALESTINE! ！gofund.me/c5d7809f

If you cannot donate, share the link, it will help my friend Layal a lot! ❤️️

Back to regular programming. ⇨

_____________

⋇ Geners ⋇ 

Fantasy, fairytale retelling, adventure, action 

⋇ Setting ⋇

Slavic fairytales and mythology. 

⋇ Tropes ⋇

Found family, religious trauma, enemies to forced allies, alternating POVs, POC characters, queer characters, mental health issues, morally grey characters, unreliable narrators. (I am aware that some of these aren’t ‘tropes’, however, I don’t know how else to categorize them, so they were placed here.)

⇶ MORE on each aspect later in separate posts. 

This book is one of multiple (the specific number is not yet known, due to drafts of future works not being complete), and I already can’t wait to get to book 2, because that’s where we get the ‘enemies to forced allies’ trope developing into something more… that’s all I will say for now. 

Tag along for as long as you’d like. 

Or don’t. 

But I’d like it if you did. 

____________

＃Useful tags (for you to tag along with): 

#TLYBook - everything related to the core structure, tropes, genres, themes, ideologies, politics and aesthetics of the book. 📚

#TLYbyTkach - some moments of (probably regrettable) intimacy from yours truly. 😘

#TLYCharecters - get to know the ones the story is about. (Main and secondary characters.) 👥

#TLYChapters - sometimes quotes, sometimes rants or simply aesthetics of said chapters. 📖

#TLYProgress - insights into my work in real time as I edit the 150k words I typed up with my grabby little hands. ✍️

#History - interesting (and relevant) real-world history facts. 📜

#TLYArt - art, music, film, books: anything and everything that reminds me of/inspired aspects of the book. 🖼

#TLYMemes - I would have classified it under ‘art’, but I’m afraid society wouldn’t appreciate it, so it has its own category. 🌝

#TLYTrinkets - things I create or obtain pertaining to the book or the characters in it. 🌰

___________

DISCAMER:

This isn’t a high fantasy, by any means, so I didn’t stray too much from our world. The countries are based on states previously seen throughout history, though scattered in time periods. 

I do want to point out that it is never (and will never be) my intention to demean or dishonour any nation. The situations are FICTITIOUS, despite the influences of historical happenings. 

The events I’ve chosen have been adapted, and therefore DO NOT represent the cultural, political or economical reality of the circumstance of the event they have semblance with. 

Culture is definitely inspired by our world, as well. 

I am a firm believer in cultural representation, and do not condone cultural appropriation. I do my best to conduct proper research, and treat every aspect with rightful respect.

The setting of my work is, once again, fictitious, which is why some customs may seem modified to preserve the integrity of the logical progression of the curtain culture and its interactions with other cultures within the world of The Last Yaga.

____________

Here is a list of TRIGGER WARNINGS for this book, as some of them could be mentioned in upcoming posts.

*All occur ON and OFF page, to main characters and side characters!

Ethnic\religious cleansing 

Genocide 

Religious war\reform

Religious trauma 

Oppression\violence towards minority groups

Radical nationalism 

Blood, gore

Murder\killing 

Massacres

Torture

Strangulation 

Drowning 

Beheading 

Death by fire

Severing of limbs 

Sharp objects (knives, swards, axes…)

Implemented death of a parent in child-brith

Death of a child due to premature birth\negligence 

Death of children

Executions 

Child abuse 

Eating disorders 

Mental disorders 

Sexual harassment 

Domestic abuse 

Dead bodies (body gore)

Slurs (not real, created for this piece of fiction)

Emotional abuse 

Physical abuse

Dead relatives

Lewd comments about a minor 

Unreliable narrators

Substance abuse (alcoholism)

*Not the final list of trigger warnings.

[shadowaj]

Heya! Welcome to our creepy studio filled with oddities!

Hi and good mourning, it’s me Aj! I’m also referred to as ShadowAj, Shady and RealShadyGhost. I’m a spooky yet silly ghost who draws and such. Here, you’ll mainly see me post fan art of my favorite series, commissions, and OC content (scroll down for more info on this!), as well as memes probably. Most of the drawings I post here will be 2D digital art, but occasionally I may post 2D traditional. I hope you enjoy your visit here!

(Small content warning, although I won’t post anything NSFW, I may post drawings with blood and/or light gore, body horror, and disturbing imagery, so beware.)

Things I Enjoy!

Ok so here I’ll just list off some of my interests so you can get to know me better. Ghosts have interests too!

- General Interests -

Spooky things, which includes horror movies and games, the occult, Halloween, urban legends, things like that.

Mysteries (I love murder mysteries, detective stories, strange and bizarre internet mysteries, and stuff like that)

Coffee (I’m a big fan)

Video Games (I’m bad at them but I still enjoy them…)

Movies (I enjoy going to theaters and watching movies, especially animated films.)

Listening to music (I am a fan of Metal/Rock (Metallica, Pantera, Ghost, etc.) music, as well as Synth. I do also listen to OSTs of my favorite series. A band I recommend checking out is ‘Dance with the Dead’, they are an indie band and mainly do horror synth and synthmetal. (Well, then again, I like any music that sounds nice or is spooky so)

Anime (Which ones? I’ll list them later give me a sec!)

Drawing (This should be obvious I mean I post drawings here but ima include it anyway)

Character Design (this is kinda an extension of drawing but I do enjoy looking at different designs and taking notes on what I can do differently with my own designs.)

Writing (Mainly my OC lore and such)

Collecting Plushies (I have an addiction help)

Theme Parks and Roller Coasters (I love roller coasters)

Cooking (I’m well known for my evil pancakes)

For aesthetics, I am a fan of spooky aesthetics (Wow!), steampunk, gothic (i love gothic architecture…), vaporwave, neon, and others.

-Anime and Games that I really enjoy-

Soul Eater

Danganronpa

Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE

Zero Escape

AI The Somnium Files

Ace Attorney

Mob Psycho 100

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

Gurren Lagann

Persona (I’m a fake fan I’ve only played the P5 games and I still haven’t finished P4G)

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Kaguya-sama: Love is War

Nichijou

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Pokémon

Sonic

Chainsaw Man (Again, fake fan, I haven’t been keeping up)

And others that I didn’t list here whoopsie

Original Content!

As I said before, I’ll be posting drawings of OCs, mainly from the webcomic series I’m working on titled ‘Shadow Realm’. I do have other original series and ideas as well, so here’s a little info…

Shadow Realm

Shadow Realm is a 4-part action horror urban fantasy series starring Sophia Alvarado, a Cuban teenage girl who lives in Miami who one day ends up in a different and strange world from our own, and ends up encountering ghosts and gaining powers of electricity. With her occult and coffee-obsessed friend Violet Bellerose and a friendly ghost she meets on the other side dubbed Shady, they encounter different ghosts and supernatural occurrences all across Miami. There’s a lot more to it, but that’s the basic gist of it for now. (It gets very complicated from part 2 onward…)

Kendall Convenience

A small game project that has the player take the role of one Katrina Diaz, a convenience store worker in Miami who works the graveyard shift. This takes place in the same universe as Shadow Realm.

Mystères de Lenoir

Mysteres de Lenoir is a series that follows the protagonist, Stella Auclair, a fresh detective who takes place in steampunk and gothic France during the Belle Époque era. Stella works with André Dupin, at the Dupin Detective Agency, and they solve a series of mysteries, most of which are murder cases.

I have two other series, but those are a secret for now… I will say though that one of them is a western, and the other is a single volume (One-Shot) comic.

Closing thoughts

If you read through all that wow good job you’re super cool and spooky methinks perchance.

Oh yeah, you can find me on other platforms like Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Pixiv, and Twitch

Even if you don’t have an account there you should still check them out!!!!

ask me anything you have questions about or if you're bored and want to talk!

another thing, i speak English and i can understand Spanish (I'm hispanic and i still can't speak this language it's embarrassing i know )

(also i may reupload this post in the future to add custom graphics, update interests, etc.)

[ladyimaginarium]

𝐓𝐀𝐆 𝐃𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘.

all my relations. — "all my relations" is a turtle island indigenous concept that is present in many tribes, my own included, that refers to a person's kinship & responsibilities & place with their family, community, & more broadly, the rest of the world, animals, nature, humanity & the universe, but for the purposes of this blog, it's a tag dedicated to kinship & solidarity with other indigenous people around the world.

us& and who? — posts surrounding what we'd& want with any of our& partner(s), whether that be depictions of love, romance, sex, and/or intimacy, although it doesn't necessarily have to be romantic and/or sexual in nature.

celtic.txt — anything related to me being a celt and my experiences with being celtic, notably irish and scottish, and ireland and scotland, respectively.

asian.txt - anything related to asia and my experiences with being west asian with being jewish specifically and reclaiming it even if i feel funny sometimes whenever i use it, it's mostly used as solidarity with other asians because it's a massive continent.

the angels will return again; one day the sadness will end. — general positivity tag.

we are healing despite your efforts. — plural positivity for us&.

for us&. — posts tagged for us&; please feel free to tag us& in anything that reminds you of me& or any of us&!

moots. — for mutuals.

moon child. — dedicated to the moon who always held me in my darkest hours as a close companion; i was always a moon child.

water child. — anything that reminds me of myself and my sacred relationship to the water; i was always a water child.

touch me and you’ll burn. — dedicated to fire. tag title comes from margaret atwood's 'helen of troy'.

what the water gave me. — dedicated to water. tag title comes from frida kahlo and florence + the machine of work of the same name.

the landscape after cruelty which is of course a garden. — gardens & greenhouses tag. tag title comes from richard silken's 'snow and dirty rain'.

forgive me distant wars for bringing home flowers. — relics of times long gone. tag title comes from wislawa szymborska's 'under one small star'.

nature knows no kings. — dedicated to nature and to mother earth. tag title comes from mark samsonovich.

in our idle town. — the horror of living in a small town. tag title comes from conan grey's 'idle town'.

take me there. — places where i'd love to travel to one day.

places that could heal me. — places that would heal me spiritually.

places to die in. — places i would want to die in.

almost heaven. — places that remind me of paradise.

somewhere beyond the sea. — dedicated to the ocean, the beginning of everything. tag title comes from the song at the end of finding nemo.

hate is a bottomless cup; i will pour and pour.— posts regarding hatred, particularly violent hatred towards those who hurt me, considering all my life i've been told to forgive those who've used and abused me for their own gain; this is my way of coping with it; block this tag if you're triggered by homicidal fantasies, murderous thoughts and violent hatred towards one's abusers. tag title comes from euripides' 'medea'.

beat me and tell me that no one will love me better than you do. — the art of dominance, submission, trust and eroticism; bdsm aesthetic tag. tag title comes from lana del rey's 'smarty'.

rancid and delicate. — dedicated to the morbid and adorable; morute tag. tag title comes from nicole dollanganger's 'alligator blood'.

we are all sleeping dead. — southern gothic / maritime gothic / local gothic tag. tag title comes from emily jane west's 'sleeping dead'.

the girl in the missing poster. — the fear that's been haunting me ever since i was fourteen, of one day vanishing, that dreadful dream. this is my way of coping with the feeling that seems to plague so many indigenous girls, indigenous women and two spirits that if g-d forbid i ever did vanish, i would be searched for. laura palmer, alice palmer and ethel cain type shit.

that kind of girl. — the crazy bitch i always was and always will be.

to being human ; to all that being human means. — dedicated to humanity and restoring my faith in it.

hold me just like the morning paper. — being held, handholding, embraces; the feeling i've yearned for as long as i can remember. tag title comes from pavement's 'harness your hopes'.

young adulthood. — growing into yourself and all the complexities that come with it.

[wukodork]

Which vibe? The antisemitism? Not really. The open world? Most games since Skyrim. The illusion of choice? Mass Effect 3 and honestly most Bioware games.

Like this is a very broad ask where an accurate answer is very much "video games".

Honestly all of the Elder Scrolls games since #3 work, but Morrowind probably has the best magic system and least freaky character models.

Lichdom: Battlemage is an FPS game But Magic. Call of Duty But Wizards

Spellcaster University has you run a wizard a school

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (and most lotr games lbr) look, a fantasy epic! Directly based on the original fantasy epic

Wands - not much to it, but if all you want to to is wave a wand around well.....it's the name

Dragon Age Inquisition has actual queer characters in it that are actual characters and has a nice fancy castle hub for you to run around in qnd a story that's actually good

I haven't played Elden Ring, but it probably does everything you'd want out of the blood libel game but better and without the blood libel

Breath of the Wild honestly fits the "nostalgia wizard bait" aesthetic much better than what hl did. Also it's very pretty and colorful

I'm tired so I'm just listing gamez now.

Dragon's Dogma and its sequel

The Elder Scrolls Online

Skyrim

Octopath Traveler and its sequel

Final Fantasy VIII

Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

Pokemon Scarlet/Pokemon Violet

Greedfall

Witchbrook, eventually

Horizon: Forbidden West

Divinity: Original Sin II

The Witcher 3

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Any other Fire Emblem game

Persona 5 Royal

Persona in general

Also if you HAVE to do a hogwarts game Hogwarts Mystery is right there and puts in effort to be less bigoted than most HP content. It still is bc a lot is in the bones of the setting. The story is also better.

Most of these I got off two lists after like 5 seconds of googling.

so with everything going on with the Hogwarts Legacy game do you or maybe your followers know of any games that have like a similar vibe or like build as HL but without the antisemtistic story?

Followers I need help!!!

But like if you're looking for a magical academia vibe check out the magicians trilogy by lev Grossman. There's a show too. The books are whiter than the show tho.

Naomi novik has the scholomance trilogy which like it does have some problems but like it's really good and there's gonna be a movie soon.

mod ali

[yearninqheart]

we burned too bright (now the fires gone).

The lives, deaths, and revivals of both Wilbur Soot and (Y/N) (Y/L/N) were anything but forgettable by the citizens of what once was L’Manberg—no matter how hard they tried to forget the consequences they so desperately tried to outrun.

or, wilbur and the reader cross paths once again but neither know who was the catalyst to their own destruction until it’s a bit too late feat. pirates, war, haunted pasts, and destruction—seemingly everywhere they go.

pairing: c!wilbur soot x reader contains: gender-neutral!reader, pirate!reader, enemies to friends to lovers, timeline is from l’manberg up to current lore (revivedbur), mentions war/fighting, blood, injuries, not entirely canon compliant (generally follows the main storyline though), mental health issues, i’ll add more as the story progresses notes: alternatively titled babylon on wattpad. taglist can be found here. status: discontinued

. . . PLAYLIST

i. all the things she said by poppy ii. teeth by 5 seconds of summer iii. my songs know what you did in the dark iv. i did something bad by taylor swift v. hayloft by mother mother vi. hayloft II by mother mother vii. burning pile by mother mother viii. control by halsey ix. anti-hero by sekai no owari x. everybody wants to rule the world by lorde xi. bury a friend by billie eilish xii. you should see me in a crown xiii. fitzpleasure by alt-J xiv. breezeblocks by alt-J xv. achilles come down by gang of youths xvi. alligator skin boots by mccafferty xvii. fairly local by twenty one pilots xviii. wires by the neighbourhood xix. devil town by cavetown xx. mad hatter by melanie martinez xxi. look what you made me do by taylor swift xxii. babylon by 5 seconds of summer

. . . CHAPTERS

LIFE

…

DEATH

REVIVAL

. . . EXTRAS

character aesthetics (main cast)

additional character aesthetics

series aesthetics

[slinkhvrds]

introducing wendy slinkhard ! Here’s a thing that people don’t tell you. We are allowed to be both soft and strong. We are allowed to be both fierce but fragile. There is a magic in our ability to bend without breaking...

the basics ;;

Full Name: Gwendoline ‘Wendy’ Slinkhard Nickname: Wends, Winnie, Dee Dee, Wen Age: Twenty Three Birthday: 28th July, !955 Gender & Pronouns: Cis Female, She/Her Blood Status: Half-Blood, Werewolf  Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual Relationship Status: Single Affiliation in the War: Unaffiliated Occupation: Assistant at the Diagon Alley Apothecary

more under the cut

personality ;;

Likes: Daisyroot draught, clear skies so she can gaze at the stars, being outdoors on sunny days, reading by the fire, anything that will satisfy her sweet tooth, candlelit baths, her dog, cooler weather that calls for knitted sweaters Dislikes: Thunderstorms, the full moon and the days leading up to it and afterwards, people who undermine her or treat her like a child, the feel of velvet, being alone, the taste of wolfsbane Fears: Accidentally hurting someone she cares about, the full moon, the world proving her right and seeing her as nothing but a monster Strengths: Selfless, kind-hearted, resilient, generous, protective Weaknesses: Uncertain, secretive, self-deprecating, anxious, too forgiving.  

appearance ;;

Height: 5 foot, 4 inches Eye Colour: Blue Hair Colour: Light brown Hair Style: Wendy’s hair is naturally curly and is kept relatively long. She likes to have it down most of the time.  Scars/Distinguishing Features: Wendy’s most distinguishing feature is the large bitemark on her left shoulder. She also have a variety of scars across her body, a new one from every time she has to transform Clothing Style: Light or autumnal colours. She owns a lot of knitwear and takes a lot of pride in her appearance. Likes to wear jewellery

wizarding world information ;;

Previous School/House: Hogwarts School, Ravenclaw House Extracurriculars at School: Astronomy Club, Potions Club Wand Type: 11 inches, Beech wood, Phoenix feather core Patronus: Wendy’s Patronus takes the form of a dog Boggart: Wendy’s Boggart takes the form of a full moon Amortentia: When presented with Amortentia, Wendy smells old books, freshly cut grass, autumnal scented candles, freshly washed sheets, sunkissed skin. Mirror of Erised: If Wendy were to look in to the Mirror of Erised, she would see herself happy and cured of her lycanthropy. She would also see a world not at war.

other information ;;

Aesthetics: Stacks of old books, a head full of ideas but you’re too afraid to pursue them, royal blue and bronze, ‘i never wanted to be this monster’, parchment and quills scattered across a desk, high wasted jeans and worn sneakers, a home full of plants, putting others before your own needs, a cauldron that always has something brewing in it, the smell of fresh ingredients, ‘be kind or say nothing’, dreading the full moon. Astrological Sign: Leo Personality Type: INFJ-T Wanted Connections: Friends, lovers, exes, hook ups, people (from either side) to try and convince her to take a side in the war, anything - i am here for all the connections! 

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

THE BOX IS NABOO

That’s it, I’m doing it, I’m writing that stupid meta I’ve had in the works for two and a half years, I’m sharing it with the world. I promised it for last Thursday, my poll was forever ago, but whatever! I’m writing that freaking thing.

(super duper long post, press j to skip)

Enter my rabbit hole.

First thing to establish: the Box makes no sense whatsoever in-universe.

((EDIT: Something I forgot to mention. IRL, the premise of a giant murder cube and the aesthetic - wall patterns, light designs, etc - of the episode come from the 1997 horror movie Cube, (see the episode’s wookieepedia page). However, while the two are very closely linked visually, the Box does not follow the movie structurally or narratively, as you can verify by simply reading the movie’s summary.))

Recap of the context for the "Box" episode (s4e17): Palpatine is planning his own kidnapping. It was never meant to succeed, and while the plan would obviously benefit him (making the Jedi look bad, pushing Anakin closer to the Dark Side, making Republic citizens more afraid -> more docile, etc...) his actual goal is never explained, and it’s weird that he’d go to such extreme lengths for results so minimal that we’re never told what they are.

So Palpatine asks Dooku to kidnap him at the Festival of Lights on Naboo. Dooku hires Moralo Eval to design a giant box-thingy to test bounty hunters to hire the best of them to kidnap Palpatine. Moralo then gets arrested to alert the Republic that something is afoot, and hires Cad Bane to break him out. Obi-Wan - undercover to learn Moralo’s plan - goes with them. They evade capture and go to Serenno, and Bane and Obi-Wan have to pass the box-thingy test. The level of brainkarked logic here... Truly on par with Megamind, Gru and Heinz Doofenshmirtz.

Setting aside the insane plot holes and utterly nonsensical behavior of the villains, the Box itself is moronic from a plot perspective. It’s insanely complex, obviously incredibly expensive and would have taken months (more like years but it’s a short war) to make when it’s not even needed for the dastardly plot! Just hire some guys who have already proven themselves against Jedi! Throw cash at Bane and Embo and a few others! Maybe attack them with your saber and see how they do! 

And after all that, Dooku still ends up trying to kidnap Palpatine on his own. I can’t even... 

So why does the Box exist? Well, apart from being a nerdy callback to Cube, giving us a good thrill and being generally awesome to look at, it has actual narrative purpose within the SW universe.

The box is Naboo.

What the Box lacks in plot relevance, it makes up for with its heavily symbolic meaning. It very closely follows Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s experiences on Naboo - but only certain parts, which I’ll explain later.

We start with clean, sterile environments, SW’s favored way of showing villainy.

Then we have the protagonists locked in a room as dioxis, a poison gas, pours in.

And then they escape... this way.

(Okay, here the shaft is down, not up. And it’s not a ventilation shaft per say, it’s the designed escape route. Same difference).

We then skip most of TPM (namely, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon discovering the droid army, finding Padmé, leaving Naboo, landing on Tatooine, going to Coruscant, etc, etc) to come back to Naboo and go directly to the lightsabers and catwalks.

(Note: in both scenes, Obi-Wan has to propel himself from a catwalk.)

In TPM and TCW, the catwalks are immediately followed by ray shields

And we finally end with the last scenes. Now, they don’t look the same but they are structurally identical. 

Obi-Wan is faced with a challenge unsuited for his abilities (facing Darth Maul // shooting three moving targets when he’s far more skilled with a blade than a blaster) on a narrow space above a melting pit/pit of fire. 

He first watches someone die failing to complete the task...

 ... and has to do it himself, faring much better than expected (holding his own against Maul // shooting all the targets easily). 

He then almost falls to his death and gets saved unexpectedly.

And then there’s the final showdown.

In both scenes, Obi-Wan is angry. And in TCW Dooku eggs him on, banking on his anger. (More on that later.) In both cases though, he centers himself and is able to overcome both his opponent and his own unbalance. But in TCW, he doesn’t go for the kill, because he doesn’t need to. 

The Box, as a literal character-explorator ex-machina, thus shows us Obi-Wan’s growth.  

In TPM, Obi-Wan follows Qui-Gon’s lead. In TCW, he is the leader. He identifies the gas, makes the plans. He doesn’t fall from catwalks anymore - he runs atop moving ones. He doesn’t stay stuck behind ray-shields, he finds the solution. (Btw, how did Moralo know what blood type Derrown the Exterminator was? There was a 50% chance of him dying - thus killing all of the bounty hunters. Was that an acceptable outcome? TCW I need answers!) He doesn’t slay his foes, because he’s become powerful enough, skilled enough and wise enough to survive (and win) without needing to kill.

He’s grown - and, even more interestingly, he’s also stayed the same. In the previous episodes, we see some of the dark aspects of Obi-Wan. How he - like all Force-wielders, all people - could lose himself if he stopped maintaining absolute control.

But in the Box, surrounded by the worst criminals of the Galaxy, the most ruthless, worthless people, he’s still kind and tries his best to keep them alive.

The Box is a reminder and a reassurance for the audience that Obi-Wan Kenobi is still there under Rako’s face. He hasn’t lost his compassion, his restrain. He’s still a Jedi. And he’s an awesome, badass one. 

And now, for what it tells us about Dooku! 

It’s much shorter, don’t worry. Basically, Dooku considers that the best way to pick “the best of the best” of the deadliest people in the Galaxy is making them go through what killed his Padawan. There, I’ve broken your hearts, you’re welcome. 

More seriously, Dooku is a manipulative ass. It’s pretty clear that he knows Rako is Obi-Wan, or at the very least suspects it. 

He has an interesting reaction upon learning Rako’s identity, he keeps praising him despite his usual distaste for low-lifes, he smirks secretively after Eval says “I’ll show you who’s weak” (not included there because it’s a close-up of Dooku’s lips and no one wants to see that) and he tells Rako he’s very disappointed when he doesn’t finish off Eval.

[Later]

(Look at this smug asshole - I can’t. YOUR GRANDSON IS THE BEST, WE KNOW, STOP ACTIVELY RUINING HIS LIFE ALREADY.)

(Dooku... why...)

Now obviously Dooku couldn’t have made the Box specifically for Obi-Wan, because it would have to have been designed months before the Council ever decided to send Obi-Wan undercover, but he has no qualms trying to use it to push Obi-Wan to the Dark Side. Ffs Dooku, making your spiritual grandson relive one of the most traumatic events of his life on the off chance that he’ll join you (and desecrate his Master’s memory in doing so) is not okay!

Final tidbits of analysis: I mentioned that not all of TPM is mirrored in the Box. What’s omitted is the droids (even though Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon fight B1′s and droidekas between the dioxis and the ventilation shafts) and anything pertaining to Sidious (all the political stuff on Coruscant). You’ll also note that the fake lightsabers are orange.

=> The Box distances itself from anything that connects Dooku to Naboo. Red lightsabers are the trademark of the Sith, so they’re not used. The bounty hunters will be facing Jedi, so logically the fake sabers should be green or blue - and yet they’re orange, the color closest to red without being red. It fits with Dooku’s special brand of dishonesty - he always tells bits of the real story but twists them just enough to absolve himself of any fault and to justify his choices. 

(”We can destroy the Sith” -> could maybe destroy Sidious with Obi-Wan, but fails to mention he’s a Sith Lord himself; “the Viceroy came to me for help, that’s why I’m attacking the Republic” -> political idealism is a small part of it, but fails to mention he’s Sidious’ underling and is playing the Viceroy like a fiddle; “Qui-Gon would have joined me” -> maybe, still fails to mention he’s working for the man who ordered Qui-Gon’s death; “I told you everything you needed to know” -> debatable, never said that Palps was Sidious; “Sifo-Dyas understood, that’s why he helped me” -> partly true, doesn’t admit to killing Sifo-Dyas right after getting his help)

So we have a twisted version of Naboo, droid-free (as droids are now irrevocably associated with Dooku, even if that wasn’t the case in TPM) and with sabers that aren’t quite red. Keep in mind that Dooku had already fallen by TPM. (We know this because he killed Sifo-Dyas and created the Clone Army - part of Sidious’ plan - when Valorum was still Chancellor, as per the episode The Lost One.) That means Dooku was (in)directly complicit in Qui-Gon’s death. And the Box doesn’t (=refuses to?) acknowledge that. 

(Also omitted in the Box are the Gungans and Tatooine. It makes sense, because Dooku probably wouldn’t have the full details regarding those parts of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan’s missio as they weren’t as public, and would see them as irrelevant if he did. He utterly despises Anakin, and Gungans are the type of people he always dismisses out of hand). 

Anyway, that’s my two cents about the Box. To quote Lucas...

“It’s like poetry. It rhymes.”

Thanks to @lethebantroubadour @impossiblybluebox​ @nonbinarywithaknife @ytoz​ and @kaitie85386​ for voting for this one. Next up is a compilation of the Jedi being casually tactile with each other (because they’re a warm and affectionate culture, dammit).

Also thanks to @laciefuyu​ for giving me gifs I ended up not using ^^; you rock anyway!

[deflare]

We’re approaching the end. Day 22 brings us... the Tome Keepers!

The Tome Keepers are an Ultramarines successor chapter stationed in the ‘western’ part of the galaxy, created in the Fourth Founding*. The world they were assigned as a fief has a long history of carefully preserving knowledge from generation to generation, which the Tome Keepers adopted enthusiastically. The chapter eagerly acquires pursues new knowledge, recording every detail of their combat encounters and devising new strategies between conflicts.

The chapter has a strong focus on reason, science, and facing reality, rather than leaning into propaganda or faith. This has earned them few friends in the Imperium, and the chapter was somewhat beat to shit during different wars. They’re particularly skilled at fighting Necrons, having spent two hundred years fighting against a Necron dynasty in their neighborhood. Fortunately for them, they recently got a load of fresh Primaris marines from Guilliman, and are active once again in various crusades.

Aesthetically, the Tome Keepers have parchment-white armor, which clearly didn’t translate well into the little chibi guy. Their names are drawn from the Library of Ashurbanipal, a large repository of clay tablets from 7th century BCE Assyria. They were created in 2020 by White Dwarf, Games Workshop’s in-house magazine, to act as a mascot chapter for the magazine. This goes a long way to explain their nerdy tendencies, as White Dwarf is the source of a lot of obscure Warhammer lore (alongside being an advertisement that you pay for).

I’d never heard of this chapter before today, but I have to say, I really like them. My own background is in history, and I have a particular interest in ancient Mesopotamia, so these guys are like catnip to me. Love a bunch of total nerds. I do wish their colors were better, though.

*Let’s talk Foundings

When a new round of successor chapters are created, it’s generally as a large batch called a ‘Founding’, where a bunch of chapters are made at once. The First Founding was the creation of the original Legiones Astartes, the Second Founding was the division of the legions into successor chapters. After that, most foundings sort of blend together. The most recent founding was the Ultima Founding, when a bunch of chapters were created made entirely of Primaris marines.

One founding does stand out, though, the 21st Founding, AKA the Cursed Founding. This one was huge, happening about 5,000 years after the Emperor beefed it. The Imperium had just gone through a period of gnarly civil war, and there was an attempt to shore up the Imperium through this new Founding... and in the process, fix some of the gene-seed problems that had cropped up in the various chapters. It was an ambitious plan, and things went very well until suddenly they didn’t.

See, most of the chapters that were created in this founding wound up having weird shit happen to them. The Lamenters**, a Blood Angels successor, temporarily suppressed the Red Thirst and Black Rage, in exchange for developing some of the worst luck in the galaxy. The Fire Hawks got screwed over as well, becoming weird warp-daemons that fight on the Imperium’s side. The Black Dragons developed wacky bone-spikes on their head and arms. The Blood Gorgons broke records for how fast they dove into Chaos. The Flame Falcons could set themselves on fire without getting hurt. It was weird. 

A lot of these chapters were eliminated for their mutations, or almost got eliminated by happenstance. They’re an odd assortment, and a lot of chapters don’t like associating with them due to the Bad Vibes they give off. Naturally, I’m very fond of them, because I love a bunch of weirdos.

**The Lamenters are one of my favorite chapters, and I’ll be very cross if there aren’t any Lamenters in this box. If tomorrow doesn’t bring me a Lamenter, I’ll go off about them all on my own.

Master post here

[honey-dewey]

Between Old Friends and New Lovers

Pairing: Shane ‘Dio’ Morrissey/GN! Vampire Reader

Word Count: 3,000

Warnings: blood, biting, mind control, but it’s all very minor.

Permanent Taglist: @phoenixhalliwell @star-wars-hell​

A/N: This is my first time making a header of sorts for my fics! I quite liked how this one turned out. 

The prompt for this week’s Writer Wednesday was given, as always, by the lovely @autumnleaves1991-blog​, and the masterlists are created by @clydesducktape.

The manor was always cold. Not that you minded much, but sometimes the ever-present chill in the air drove away your guests. Again, you didn’t mind all too much. Guests were never your forte. But he, well. He was always different. 

“Your Grace?” Your lady in waiting, Camille, came into your study, bowing her head down. “You have a visitor.” 

“Is it his visiting day already?” You asked, checking your date book. 

Camille nodded. “Yes, Your Grace. It is.” 

You smiled, putting down your pen and moving from out behind your desk. “Thank you kindly Camille. Send him to the sitting room and inform him I shall be down momentarily.” 

Camille left, and you hummed to yourself, straightening out your papers and setting your pen back down next to its respective inkwell. As you worked, you reminisced on the day you had met your favorite human being. 

Two years prior

You sighed, listening to the rain slam against the windows as you worked on a few neglected pieces of paperwork. It was mostly finances, but it all had to be done, and so you were doing it. Tonight was supposed to be horribly rainy, with scattered thunderstorms and no sign of stopping until the sun rose. You didn’t mind. It made hunting harder, but you didn’t need to hunt for a while. 

A sharp bolt of lightning lit up your study, and you finally shut your accounting book, deciding your work could wait until after the storm passed. You stood, pushing your chair back in. Office work was annoying at best. You’d much rather see people in person, share a cup of tea, and continue to build your reputation as the mysterious gothic Duke/Duchess who lived almost entirely alone. But paperwork, it seemed, was easier to send, and it meant most people could avoid your often intimidating presence. 

“Camille!” You called through the manor, shutting and locking the study. “Camille?” Usually your lady in waiting was somewhere nearby, working on her own work within earshot. But now, you had to tune your hearing up past what was normal to hear Camille’s pattering heartbeat and nervous breaths. Why was Camille nervous? She’d been serving the manor for three years, she’d stopped being nervous in the old building last year. 

“Camille!” You shouted, moving towards the sitting room she was inhabiting, worried for her safety. She should’ve alerted you immediately to a guest, and you were starting to grow concerned. Her heart rate spiked, only for a moment, and you heard her rushing footsteps coming towards you. 

“Yes, Your Grace?” Camille asked, rounding the corner and looking up at you through her eyelashes. “You called?” 

You nodded, dialing back your hearing so Camille’s close voice didn’t overwhelm you. “Have we got a visitor?” 

Camille bowed her head, nodding slightly. “I was just setting him up in the sitting room,” she said quickly. “I was about to come get you as soon as he was settled.” 

Smiling at the reassurance, you began to walk to the sitting room, where Camille had just come from. “Walk with me,” you said, and Camille hurried after you. “Is the man lost?” 

“Yes, Your Grace,” Camille said, walking a pace behind you. “He said his car broke down and he saw the manor. He asked for shelter from the storm.” 

“How is he?” You asked, already envisioning the man settled in your sitting room. “Healthy?” 

Camille nodded, her face going pale. “Yes, Your Grace,” she responded. “He’s young and seemingly in good health.” 

The sitting room doors came into sight, and you smiled, turning to Camille. “How do I look?” 

“Perfect,” Camille responded, glancing at the ornate silver-backed mirror in the hall. Only she showed up, standing beside the silhouette of your clothes. You straightened your collar, running your fingers over the two neat lines of shining buttons before adjusting your gloves and pushing the sitting room door open.

Immediately, you noticed the smell. Deep and foreign, you had to dial your senses back further than you normally would to stand it. Leather and cologne and a deep internal lust mixed with the smell of the city. He was from New York City, you could practically taste it on him. He looked odd, but no odder than you, decked in all black and leather, every bit of metal on him glimmering in the low lamplight as he moved. You took a breath, but no silver. You were safe. 

Looking the man up and down, you tried to silently determine whether he was one of you. You knew that the younger generation preferred to stay in cities, and called themselves goth in order to maintain the aesthetic. But despite his unique, timeless features, the man smelled organic and human, and you could hear his heart beating, a steady constant in the back of your hearing. 

Your guest stood, and you smiled politely. “Welcome,” you said sweetly, clasping your hands in front of you. “I apologize for not welcoming you to the manor myself.” 

The man smirked, looking you up and down. “No problem,” he said smoothly. “Nice place.” 

“Thank you.” You sat in a chair in front of the fireplace, crossing your legs and gesturing for your guest to sit beside you. “Family estate. Would you like a fire?” You noticed the man was wet, and you assumed he’d been caught in the storm. 

“I wouldn’t mind one,” the man agreed, and you gestured Camille over. 

“Camille, would you mind starting a fire?” You asked. “And when you’re done, I would love some tea.” 

Camille nodded, exiting the room and leaving you alone with your guest. 

“May I have your name?” You asked politely, turning your full attention to the man. 

He nodded. “You can call me Dio.” 

“Dio.” The name turned over like a fine wine on your tongue. “A bit of a presumptuous nickname, don’t you think?” 

Dio raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know what you mean,” he said slowly, in a tone that told you he knew exactly what you meant. 

You stood, moving to stand in front of the fireplace. “I mean, calling yourself a god. Albeit in a different language, but still. Even I wouldn’t go that far.” 

“Even you?” Dio questioned, leaning back in his chair. “Explain.” 

“Well.” You gestured around at the ornate sitting room, at the dark embroidered seat cushions and the deep wooden surfaces surrounding you. “It does seem rather on brand for someone of my status, does it not?” 

Dio’s smirk returned. “Of course,” he said, digging through his pockets and pulling out a box of cigarettes. “Instead you call yourself Duke/Duchess.” 

“It would be improper of me to not,” you pointed out. “It is, in fact, my title. You, however, have no title, Shane Morrissey.” 

Dio’s face went pale and the cigarette dropped from between his fingers, hitting the carpet below his feet with almost no noise. “How-“ 

At that moment, Camille pushed the door open, rolling in a cart with firewood and a tea tray. While she busied herself with the fire, you sat back down, taking Dio’s cigarette from the floor, lighting it on Camille’s match and handing it back to the stunned man. “I usually don’t allow guests to smoke,” you said casually. “But I suppose I can make an exception. Just this once.” You pushed an ashtray across the table, smiling. “You were saying?” 

Dio blinked, wide eyed. “How do you know-“ 

“Your name?” You finished for him, accepting an empty teacup from Camille and nodding to her when she set the tray on the table and left once more. “I could see your identification card in your pocket when you reached for your cigarettes. But if you would prefer to be referred to as Dio, I will do so.” 

Dio seemingly relaxed. But he was still on edge as you poured yourself some tea. 

“It’s a lovely black currant tea, if you’re interested,” you said, not even looking up as you poured the thick black tea into your cup. “I see Camille brought two cups.” As you spoke, you took the cream jug and poured a splash into your tea, setting the jug aside from the rest of the set. “I promise it isn’t poison,” you added sweetly, taking a sip of your tea. 

Despite your humorous remark, Dio still seemed cautious, waiting until you had taken a sip to pour himself a cup of tea. He didn’t add sugar, simply sat back and cradled the cup in his hands. You wondered if he was still cold. But the fire was going and you could feel it warming your skin, even if the feeling of warm and cold were long since lost to you. 

“So, Dio,” you said, watching Dio take a sip of his tea. “You live in the city, don’t you?” 

“Yes.” Dio’s voice was guarded, hesitant. He was scared of you. 

You hummed, nodding to yourself. “I haven’t seen the city,” you admitted. “Do you enjoy it?” 

Dio shrugged. “It’s alright.” 

You sighed. “Dio,” you said firmly, forcing his attention to snap to you. “Do I scare you?” 

“What?” Dio asked, surprised. “I mean.” His eyes went glassy as you waved your hand, forcing him to tell the truth. “Yes.” 

“Why?” 

Dio’s hand shook, spilling tea over his skin. “I-“ he faltered, blinking a few times, face pulling tight. “I don’t know.” 

You waved your hand again, releasing Dio from your hold. “Maybe I should explain,” you said, standing and setting your cup down. “I am (F/N) (L/N), sole heir to my name and the last remaining Duke/Duchess of this land. I have held my title and estate for over twelve decades, and I am a vampire.” 

Dio was silent, so silent you had to wonder if you had broken him. But eventually, he nodded slowly, setting his cup down. “Okay,” he said softly. “Okay.” 

“You’re not dreaming,” you added helpfully. “Nor is this a hallucination caused by the tea.” 

“Yeah,” Dio agreed quietly. “What about Camille, is she?” 

“Oh of course not!” You said, sitting back beside Dio and picking up your cup again. “No, we don’t keep preternatural staff anymore. Her family has been in service to my family since long before I was born, and she seemed happy enough to have the job once I reached out. I do pay quite well.” 

“Anymore?” Dio wondered out loud. “Tell me more about vampires. I want to know.” He leaned forward in his seat, and you grinned. It was rare you revealed yourself to a guest and were met with anything less than terror. But Dio seemed downright enthused. So you poured yourself a new cup of tea, adding a generous amount of cream this time, letting Dio see that it was not cream, but blood.

“Well. Where to start?” You mused. “I come from a long line of vampires, one of the longest in fact. My family, my bloodline if you will, was once well respected, but during the witch hunts, most of my kind died out. My mother survived and lived in this manor, alone, for centuries until she found me. I was lost, a wandering child, and she took me in and cared for me, turning me when the time was right.” 

“So where is she?” 

“Long dead,” you said, peeling your gloves off and setting them aside. “I’ve been the master of this estate for, oh, I guess it must be almost ninety years now. Yes, I inherited it during the depression.” 

Dio nodded, his cigarette long since forgotten in the ashtray. “So, how do you survive? How much blood do you need? Are you like Dracula? Do you have any powers? What-“ 

“Dio!” You cut him off with a raised hand and a chuckle. “I cannot possibly answer your every burning question right now.” You stood, looking out over the storm, which was fading. “Here. Let us make a deal. I will send you home safely, with no complications, and in turn, I will entertain you once a month, on the first Saturday, and I will answer one question. Only one, until you are satisfied.” 

Dio nodded, glancing out the window. “How do I know you aren’t just messing with me about the vampire thing?” He asked softly. 

You smiled. “Come with me.” 

He followed you out into the hall, where you guided him to the mirror just outside the sitting room. “Look,” you said, gesturing to the mirror. “It’s an old heirloom. Silver-backed, so I don’t appear in its surface.”

Dio gently reached out, touching the mirror with feather-light fingers. “You’re not,” he breathed. “It’s real.” 

“It is,” you agreed. “Now, get going Dio. I’ll see you in one month. Don’t be late.” 

Two years later

You opened the sitting room doors, seeing Shane sitting in his usual spot, right by the fireplace. He was already cradling his teacup, your cup sitting on the table, perfectly set up to your liking. 

“Shane!” You said happily, and Shane stood, allowing you to hug him tightly. “You’re on time.” 

“When am I not?” Shane asked, pulling away and sitting back down. “Shall we?” 

You laughed. “We shall.” 

Your cup was full to the brim of blood, no tea this time. It was a feeding day, and as much as you hated it, Shane promised he didn’t mind. 

“Actually,” you decided, setting your cup down without taking a sip. “Perhaps we should do this a different way.” 

“What do you mean?” Shane asked, worried. “Did I make it wrong? Camille brought me the teapot. She said it was your favorite.” 

You shook your head. “No Shane,” you said. “You’re perfectly good. In fact.” You stood, offering him your hand. “You’re more than good.” 

Standing, Shane let you lead him to the window, looking out over your night-darkened estate. “I don’t understand.” 

“I don’t want some stranger’s blood,” You purred softly, pushing Shane’s shirt collar down. “I want you, Shane. I want to taste you on my tongue, to have your life filling my belly and making me warm.” 

Shane gulped, his skin heating. “Really?” 

“Would I lie?” You asked, almost pouting. “My love, I would never. Say the words, and I will make you feel amazing.” 

Nodding, Shane put a hand to the window to brace himself. “I give you permission,” he said, voice wavering. “You may feed from me.” 

You smiled, putting your mouth to his neck and kissing, trailing to the perfect spot. He shivered, moaning softly when you nipped at the tender flesh of his neck. Curving your lips up at the shameless sounds you were eliciting from Shane, you finally found the sweet spot and dug your fangs in. 

If you thought Shane was vocal when you were just teasing, you were in for a surprise. As you lapped at the blood pooling on Shane’s skin, he writhed under you, moaning and breathlessly whining your name, both hands pressed fully to the window to keep stable. You licked a warm stripe up the curve of Shane’s neck, chuckling as he breathed heavily. “Do you like that, my love?” 

“Yes,” Shane gasped out. “Yes, I do, Your Grace.” 

You hummed, running a finger through the smeared blood and turning Shane around so he could see you suck his blood off your finger. “You taste exquisite,” you moaned around your finger. “So perfect.” You moved in again, licking up the last of the blood. 

Shane breathed loud against you, his breath disturbing your hair as he buried his face in the crook of your neck. “More,” he begged as you pulled away. “Please.” 

“No more my love,” you said, wiping your mouth on a nearby towel. “I will not push you, especially on your first feeding.” You gently pressed the towel to Shane’s skin, occasionally pulling it away and checking on the wounds. Two perfect little puncture holes, still seeping the tiniest bit, marred Shane’s smooth skin. “I’ll call Camilla, have her clean you up properly.” 

While you two waited for Camilla, you lay beside the fireplace, Shane laying in your lap as you held a book, reading aloud to him and stroking gently through his hair. 

“I was afraid to raise my eyelids, but looked out and saw perfectly under the lashes. The girl went on her knees, and bent over me, simply gloating. There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck, she actually licked her lips like an animal.” You smiled, flicking the page and watching Shane’s eyes slide closed. “Lower and lower went her head as the lips went below the range of my mouth and chin and seemed about to fasten on my throat,” you read softly, urging Shane to sleep, to rest as you read. 

Camille came in, carrying a tray of healing supplies. You gestured for her to leave them on the table, and she did, smiling at the sight of Shane in your lap before she ducked out of the room. 

“My love?” You asked, laying the book down and grabbing the bandages. “My love, may I see your neck?” 

Shane reflexively turned, showing you the side of his neck you’d fed from. You carefully dressed the wound, humming to yourself as you did so. 

“I never got a question today,” Shane murmured, startling you. 

“Oh.” You set down the roll of bandages, carding through Shane’s hair again. “What do you wish to ask today?” 

Shane leaned into your hands, grinning slightly. “Can I be your boyfriend?” He asked softly. “In a strictly non-vampire way.” 

You smiled, nodding. “Of course, my love,” you answered. “Of course.” 

As Shane’s eyes fluttered shut once more, you picked up the book, determined to finish at least this chapter. With Shane in your embrace and the warmth of the fire surrounding you, you continued to read your newly christened boyfriend to sleep. “I closed my eyes in a languorous ecstasy and waited—waited with a beating heart.”

[dreamsmp-au-ideas]

I was going to actually post this before asks closed (didn’t get the chance), but Teddy Bear Anon, you are one of my favorite people and a magnificent creature. You get my vibe. 

About Bad canonically being Sapnap’s dad I feel like that has so much extra angst potential when we consider the rest of the found family. Like. Sapnap, Tommy, and Fundy all have dads who started with the best of intentions but for one reason or another ended up slowly becoming a danger to them. I imagine Tommy and Fundy one day showing up with a cake and telling Sapnap “We regretfully welcome you to the shit dad club” and Sapnap is torn between being upset still and laughing over the absurdity of the situation.

Bonus points if Tommy made the cake using a recipe book that Niki gave him, the last gift Niki ever gave to Tommy. Tommy was originally a really bad cook/baker but after the egg really started to take over he went full survivalist. Leaning to cook was necessary but learning to bake was something he did as a way to raise everyone’s spirits. He’s never gotten the flavor quite to match with Niki’s perfectly but everyone agrees he’s gotten pretty decent in terms of skills. He and Fundy in particular will sometimes just spend an entire day in silence baking and then quietly eat their creations while reflecting on the friends they’ve made and lost over the course of L'manberg’s lifetime. When the group got back to the past and Niki made cookies for Tommy and Fundy the pair very nearly started crying.

Tommy is in an interesting position as a character since he did commit a lot of minor crimes and acted as a general nuisance but he was also still a child. (A very traumatized one considering I canonize SMP Earth with its unlimited lives but even more wars. Including against God. Tommy fought God just let me have this.) He acknowledges the moments when he went over the line and has tried to apologize. In particular at some point before the egg fully takes over he pulls aside Jack and tells him that he’s sorry for the way he acted when he was still in exile, taking one of Jack’s lives and all. Jack and Niki in particular are an interesting subject to address and a painful one for immune!Tommy to think about when he sees younger Niki because the three never fully tossed out the hatchet but it was obvious in the eyes of someone like Sam that both of them were growing more and more hesitant to hurt Tommy. It was made worse by the fact neither were even marginally immune, and it didn’t take long for the egg to get to them.

He never stopped being chaotic. Tommy at his core is just that kind of person. He did, however, grow up enough to act in a more mature manner. Started to recognize what’s too much. In particular he became a lot less violent and willing to lash out after Sam Nook in essence reparented him. He’s still an absolute wild card of a person, which in the eyes of Sam and Sapnap is a good thing. For this au I think we should actually address Tommy having severe ptsd and during the building of his hotel/the early days of the egg before it becomes a noticeable threat it shows. He’s a lot more subdued. Shows of aggression all carry a kind of desperation and his typical jokes feel flat. Lashing out at people slowly becomes more of a defense mechanism to see if someone’s going to leave or betray him, to test the limits of how nice they’re willing to be. After all, nice people have only ever been nice to Tommy when they wanted something from him. His eyes, especially after L'manberg is blow sky high, are well and truly gray. The first time Tommy genuinely laughs after filling Sapnap’s room with chickens is considered celebration worthy to them. His pranks take on a more hermitcraft-esque feel to them which honestly makes them more funny.

By the time they get to the past Tommy has recovered, but he still carries the kind of maturity that like Teddy Bear mentioned is reminiscent of age swap Tommy. When he gets especially stressed though, Immune!Tommy will slip into moments where he acts as tired and done with the world as age swap Tommy. With that said, most of the time he just acts like a more mature Tommy. Nothing could ever completely erase his unique vibe which Ranboo has gone on record as describing “Willing to fight God deaf, blind, and backwards just to prove a point." 

Immune Fundy and Tommy get on really well once Fundy manages to catch up with the rest of the group. It gets to the point where everyone from the past is kinda shocked since smp Fundy and Tommy do not get along. At all. Literally the first night Fundy’s back someone goes to wake them up and they find Fundy asleep on top of Tommy which is a wild experience since this Tommy is a goliath who often refuses to take off his full Netherite max enchant armor. He really becomes a "looks like he could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll” kinda mans.

Also, yeah, this is Dream’s retirement arc. He is literally just sitting in the corner watching Tommy dote on his younger self and Tubbo before completely pile driving two of the most powerful people on the server straight into the dirt. At some point Tommy sits down with past Punz. He tells this Punz that their Punz died protecting him and Tubbo and that Tommy never got to properly thank their Punz so he’s going to thank this Punz. Tommy then gives Punz an entire stack of Netherite. If we’re gonna go ahead and agree on Phoenix Tommy then Tommy is fire proof, meaning he probably spent a large amount of time in the nether to avoid the egg crew and get rare supplies. Meaning he also probably did a lot of mining just to distract himself and it resulted in him being loaded. Tommy used to have a fear of tnt and explosives but he seems like the type of mad lad to say “exposure therapy” and make a massive cavern in the underbelly of the nether.

I think it would also be really interesting to dedicate like, a couple of chapters to other people’s perspectives. I kind of want to set the time they arrive in the past partway through the Pogtopia arc since I like mildly unhinged but not completely gone Wilbur. Plus then it also makes more sense for Techno to be there. Just prefer the aesthetic really. I want to have Wilbur see this version of Tommy and come to a sudden “oh” moment. I want to have a moment where Tubbo looks between his Tommy and this new Tommy, seeing himself nowhere to be found, and has enough what the fuck moments to become aggressively protective of his own Tommy. Especially if immune!Tommy ever admits to the past Tubbo why he is the way he is, what he faced under the thumb of the people he trusted. Which, out of everyone on the server, Tubbo would be the first one from the past to actively learn. 

I am fully on board with Tommy knowing how to sew. That should just automatically be canon in literally ever AU. Tommy for all intents and purposes is still Phil’s child for me. Survival runs in the family the same way that chaos does, so he’s got a ton of basic survival skills that he just doesn’t show off because it’s still Tommy. He would have been completely fine in exile if it wasn’t for Dream. Whenever someone ruins their clothes in the Immune group they automatically go to Tommy and at first the past versions are very confused (except for past Tommy and Tubbo obviously) and then Tommy’s just “Sapnap this is beyond ruined it can’t be saved, let me make you something new” and within a couple days he makes Sapnap a completely new outfit. Like maybe Sapnap fell into a lava pool because Blaze Sapnap Supremacy and his clothes are beyond saving and everyone is beyond baffled when Tommy just acts like this is a weekly occurrence. He’s memorized Sapnap’s measurements and style tastes and already had a new outfit in the works for him that Sapnap immediately adores upon it being presented to him. It takes about a week for past Eret to learn that Tommy stress sews new clothing and he cannot think of a better model. Eret has never had such a full closet. Eret has everything from three piece suits to ball gowns now. Eret lives in terror of the days where Tommy disappears god knows where with Fundy and the two reappear with a new wardrobe for the entire god damn server. 

Speaking of disappearing I really like the idea of part phoenix and part tanuki Tommy for a couple reasons. Being a Tanuki he’d have access to enough magic to hide his hybrid traits, which if they’ve been present for long enough would be a necessity to him. Additionally think about Fundy and Tommy building a den under Church Prime that slowly turns into a maze. Think about it. It starts off simple and then they both start digging more and it gets deeper and deeper and more complicate and the two just refer to it as their den and the only ones who are fully aware of the connotations of that word are Sam, Sapnap, and Ranboo who remember the absolute hell that was trying to navigate the original. Just Fundy and Tommy bonding over the fact they are literally the only creatures on this server that have this catacomb memorized and at the end of the catacomb is their saferoom which connects to rail way that the two spent a month straight on. It goes at least 25k blocks from spawn and it’s a final emergency resort in case they can’t stop the egg and the Immunes needs to regroup and essentially try again (if they keep bringing their younger selves with them then hopefully they’ll finally get an army large enough to stop this, but everyone really hopes it doesn’t come to that.)

I’m working on the first chapter of my fic right now actually if I’m gonna be honest and phoenix Tommy is absolutely without question canon to it but I’ve still been going back and forth on if I want him to be part tanuki as well or just blessed/favored by one like Teddy Bear mentioned. I’m also tucking away the whole thing about the magma blood for later use. Phoenix Tommy just makes sense. They used to call him Zombie Kid for a reason back on SMP Earth, he just literally does not die ever unless he decides he does.

~Snapdragon & Firefly

[st-just]

Semi-coherent Thoughts on the Poppy War Series

(Because I really need to start forcing myself to write semi-consistently again)

So I’ll say outright that I actually liked the series quite a bit, which does mean I actually got engaged and invested enough to start turning it over and picking it apart in my head after I finished it. So, like, this is probably going to come across as more negative overall than my actual opinions of the books.

Anyway, first off I really do adore Rin as a protagonist (I’d say ‘heroine’, but, well, no). Now partially this is because I always love even minimally sympathetic morally grey (..grey like coal soot, in this case) protagonists. But she’s just also such a complete garbage fire of a person, it’s kind of endearing. Well, that’s a bit callous – her entire personality is more or less a conflict between different kinds of unhealthy responses to powerlessness and trauma. Be she’s also just such a mess, and when she really starts leaning into delusions of grandeur you can’t help but root for her and hope things do actually turn out okay, regardless of how many fivers of blood she’s currently fantasizing about creating.

A big part of that is just how thoroughly awful the entire setting is, and how terrible everyone in it are, of course. Like, there are basically exactly three developed character in the entire trilogy who are unambiguously at least mostly good people (Chen, probably Venka, specifically the amnesiac and semi-delusional version of Jiang, but that’s being generous), and the fact that they stick around with Rin right to the end kind of puts that into doubt, honestly. Beyond that – almost every family has negligent or abusive parents, and literally every political figure is a bloody-handed tyrant ruling through violence and fear. The Hesperians are racist imperialists convinced they have a divine mandate to conquer the world, the Mugenese are every horror story from the IJA during WW2 translated to a pre-industrial fantasy setting, the ruling elite of Nikara are so many racist, scheming, power-hungry snakes with no concerns except their own position....

And, part and parcel with how terrible the setting is, Kuang does an incredible job of making all the worst things Rin does (until the final act, anyway) incredibly cathartic and badass and fun-in-a-fucked-up-way to read. There’s a terrible sort of awe while she turns the main islands of not!Japan into a pyroclastic hellscape. And whenever she gets a chance to enact any of her numerous revenges on some of the many people who abused and betrayed her it’s always poetic, in a Count-of-Monte-Cristo sort of way, and so kind of sickly compelling, even beyond it being some of the only times Rin’s really hopeful and happy. (Also, there are fun villainous monologues and quippy post-murder one-liners!)

Also, all forms of love are a terrible idea 100% of the time and is only going to end in at least one of the parties dead, abused, or (more or less literally) killing themselves in order to keep up with the other/earn their approval/try to keep them together. (I mean, Rin mostly had horrible taste in men, but Chen wasn’t able to stay mad at her for longer than a few months even after the whole ‘genocide’ thing, which he’s just about the only person to react to with any horror whatsoever. And look at how that ended up working out for him, so-)

I’m sure comparing grimdark fantasy to A Song of Ice And Fire is thoroughly out of fashion by now, but the overall perspective really did strike me as incredibly similar to Martin’s, a lot of the time. ‘Legitimate’ power and ‘lawful’ authority are ultimately nothing but polite fictions maintained by violence, terror and brutal oppression. War is a hell suffered most keenly by civilians with the misfortune to live and die in the middle of it, and least of all by the people with the power who actually start and end them. A flawed and unequal peace is very often preferable to dragging everything to hell with you as you die for the sake of freedom. And so on.

Now, to start the nitpicking – this is entirely personal and aesthetic, but it was kind of annoying how each of the first two books ended in moments of megalomaniac grandeur and terrifying empowerment, and then the next book started with a timeskip of things having gone to shit and her back under someone else’s thumb, and then a solid majority of the text is spent getting manipulated, betrayed, and finally crawling and clawing her way back out to the same point (both emotionally and in terms of independence/vision) that she had been at the previous book’s climax.

This isn’t anything even close to unique to TPW, of course – everything going to shit between the end of one story and the start of the sequel is kind of endemic to a lot of genres, really. And it is frankly incredibly in character for Rin to go through cycles flipping between resentment at being manipulated and used, and desperately craving authority figures to tell her what she should do and give her validation as valuable or useful. Still a bit annoying to read, though.

I’m sure it’s more me than the books – not like they didn’t put in the effort – but I could just never get really invested in the whole enemies-to-almost-lovers-to-enemies-again-to-? Thing with Nezha. Like, he’s interesting in that you can do a 180 perspective flip and he’d clearly be just as suitable a protagonist as Rin is, and his life’s very sad and everything. But, like, we get a front row seat to Rin’s internal monologue, and she gets thirsty for plenty of terrible men (and one awful woman), the only thing that makes Nezha special is that he’s not at least twice her age. So I never really got nearly as emotionally invested in them as the books seemed to expect me to. Which does kind of hurt the whole final act of book three.

Speaking of – okay, the ending isn’t awful or anything, but it is kind of disappointing in being exactly what you would expect it to be, as far as Rin’s character arc goes? Which might be just because I was already primed to compare this to ASOIF and she just literally pulls a Daenerys (fire-aligned vengeance/justice character with revolutionary impulses and an autocratic sensibility is willing to burn down the world in the process of freeing it, goes mad with power and paranoia, needs to be put down for the good of the country), but still. Her reading Venka throwing her to the ground to avoid an assassination attempt as a betrayal and burning her to death before she realized what was happening was just really heavy handed, you know? Same with turning on Kitay, who at this point is her actual literal soulmate. (Also sad in a broader sense, because those two are like literally two of the only characters in the entire series I’d actually peg as worthy of/capable of being trusted with political power.)

The specifics aside, I’m a miserable enough person to appreciate how unsatisfying the actual resolution at the end of the book is – imperialism wins! Literally no choice but to sign those unequal treaties and hope you’re eventually able to grow strong enough to force them out! Everything is the same as before this forty-year cycle of wars except much, much worse! - but yeah, I really just don’t actually care about Nezha enough as a character for it to really land. Also Kitay and Venka deserved better, even if literally no one else did.

Anyway, yeah, good series. Would recommend if you like the genre and can stomach all the, well, everything.

[knine-nights]

I just wanted to make a list of the Fears’ (from TMA) tangible (non supernatural) effects. Like, categorizing actual fears and effects irl to Smirke’s 14. Some (most) are really obvious, I’m mostly doing this for my sake, because I like categorizing things, and for the sake of my friend for when she gets to that episode. I also decided to throw in the phobia that makes least sense to fit into the categories yet still fit the aesthetic of the Entity. Some are weirder than others. I have no idea why I put so much effort into this, it’s literally basically on their wikia page (this one) but whatever!

1. Eye

Fear of being watched, observed, known, etc. Includes basically all facets of fear of knowledge (except lack thereof). Also, Ommetaphobia (fear of physical eyeballs), admittedly this fits pretty well, I just couldn’t come up with one that didn’t.

2. Web

Fear of people manipulating you (intentionally or otherwise). I think it would also be when you take a philosophy course and end up questioning whether or not you actually have free will. Also, Arachnophobia (fear of spiders), which fits the aesthetic but not the fear itself.

3. Spiral

Fear of lies. Fears of both your perception of reality lying to you and other people lying to you. I guess fear of optical illusions would fall under this too. Also, Entamaphobia (fear of doors) because the Spiral likes weird doors and hallways apparently.

4. Stranger

Fear of the unfamiliar and things being just not quite right. The uncanny valley fits here too. As do caricatures of humans like mannequins, dolls, wax models, etc. It also includes fear of the unknown (though that’s shared with the Dark). Also, Coulrophobia (fear of clowns) which kinda fits but it’s the weirdest one out.

5. Corruption

Fear of decay, rot, filth, and disease. Includes fear of bugs (except spiders apparently), fear of germs, and just that feeling of your skin crawling in disgust. Also, fear unhealthy relationships (not a phobia - couldn’t find a phobia name for that) which also fits the theme but it’s definitely the odd one out.

6. Lonely

Fear of being alone. I mean, that’s basically it. Fear of isolation, inability to connect with others, and just being alone in general. Also, Homichlophobia (fear of fog) because spooky fog makes you feel lonely.

7. Buried

Fear of small spaces, fear of drowning, fear of being buried alive, etc. Includes basically all aspects of the fear of being trapped. It’s not the fear of the ocean, just the fear of drowning/being trapped under so much water. Also, aspects of Chrometophobia (fear of money), such as fear of debt, obviously not all aspects of that phobia fit, but it is the closest name to a phobia of debt and financial issues.

8. Vast

Fear of heights, wide open spaces, space, the sky, the ocean, etc. Basically, fear of your own insignificance. Also, Cetaphobia (fear of whales) because whales are big and big animals evoke feelings of insignificance, but also whale sharks are just cute.

9. Slaughter

Fear of unpredictable violence, unmotivated violence, and unexpected pain. Includes fears of war. Also, Aulophobia (fear of flutes), because apparently flutes are associated with war/death music - like the connection with the pied piper - and the Slaughter plays flute in its spare time.

10. Hunt

Fear of being chased and fear of being prey. This is a fear animals experience more than humans (which is why it’s a distinct fear apparently), but it still manifests in the fear that someone is following you. Also, Lupophobia (fear of wolves) because wolves are predators, it fits the aesthetic pretty well.

11. Flesh

Fear of mutilation and body horror. Fear of meat, bones, viscera, blood, etc. Pretty straight forward. Includes self image issues and insecurities. Also, BDD (Body Dysmorphia Disorder), which isn’t a phobia, but falls under this category.

12. Dark

Fear of the dark. This is also pretty much it. It does include fear of the unknown, fear of things hiding in the dark, and fear of being blind. Also, Frigophobia (fear of cold), because you’re cold in the dark sometimes.

13. Desolation

Fear of fire, loss, destruction, and pain. Specifically, cruel pain inflicted upon you. Also, Keriophobia (fear of candles), because the Desolation aesthetic is on point.

14. End

Fear of your death. That’s literally it. It can manifest as fear of things that remind you of death (like skeletons and zombies) but it’s literally just the fear of death. There’s no fun “Also” here, it’s basically just Necrophobia (fear of death and all things related to it). 

15. Extinction

Fear of catastrophic change and destruction. Basically the merging point between the Slaughter and the End. Also, probably Plastophobia (fear of plastic), because that’s related to climate change and thus extinction, but it’s not super clear.

[af1899]

FEH - And our Resplendent for early Sep/2021 is...

Tailtiu!

(Official artwork by Kaya8)

I have quite the appreciation for her so it makes me happy she’s getting the next upgrade, I’ll talk about her life and personality (minor Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War spoiler warning) and what I like about her, plus what I think of the artwork and my current build on her, this post quite a bit but I hope you've enjoyed reading through it if you did!

First of all, for those that don’t know me: I’m a sucker for purple, it’s my favorite color by far, I find it aesthetically pleasing in a lot of applications, so if I learn about a purple-haired character, chances are I’ll end up warming to them, and in most cases that’s been true, Tailtiu is no exception to that and I’ve known about her since her home game a bunch of times but never got around finish until around the date of the 25th anniversary.

I’m drawn by her bubbly and friendly personality, give her time to chat and she’ll happily agree to do so even for a few hours, she seems to get easily bored too.

«You're on patrol? That's no fun. Let me help out. We can do it together!»

«Keep it interesting, and I'll chat with you for as long as you like. Got a spare hour or two?»

She also has a caring side to those dear to her, as seen in one of her quotes:

«Well, I'm worried about you. So I decided to protect you.»

But of course, I’m not going to cover just her appearance in Fire Emblem Heroes, so let’s now look at something in her home game which is Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, starting with this dialogue:

(English patch by Dark Twilkitri... yes, I’m not using the Project Naga translation 🙂)

In this dialogue, she has offered to protect Father Claud of Edda, an important character from the first generation of the game who has to pay a visit to the Tower of Blaggi.

After conquering Silvail (the castle to the west in chapter 3), Tailtiu appears with Claud on the far north of the map where the Tower of Blaggi is located at, Claud bears an important message to Sigurd, and they both become playable for the remainder of the first generation in the game, Tailtiu is a [Thunder Mage] that possesses minor [Holy Blood] from Thrud (aka: Tordo), this means that she hails from nobility of Freege, one of the dukedoms in Grannvale, where the use of thunder magic is predominant, she’s a tad difficult to train at first but when used correctly where she appears at, she can dispatch the roaming pirates from Orgahil in one hit, be sure to take good care of her because she can only stand one hit!

After the Battle of Belhalla, Tailtiu managed to survive the massacre and spent a couple years on Silesse with her children (if married, hers will be Tine and Arthur) before she was forcefully separated from them by Hilda, the wife of Duke Bloom of Freege, she:

(Official artwork from the old trading card game)

If she is added to Fire Emblem Heroes, I’ll be sure to fodder her right away and you’ll see why.

But jokes asides, I’d keep a copy until the rerun for the quest (assuming she’d be a [GHB] unit) and then fodder her.

Hilda managed to capture both Tailtiu and Tine, but Arthur escaped successfully... still, poor Tailtiu endured abuse from Hilda for years before she fell victim to both physical and mental stress, Tine won’t forget what she’s seen, so once you recruit her and make her fight Hilda, they’ll have a special little dialogue that hints at what happened, Tine shows to be highly upset about Hilda’s despicable acts and wants to avenge Tailtiu, you encounter Hilda twice but you’ll beat her for good in the second time.

Anyway, that’s more or less it for her, in the end, she’s drawn a lot of interest on me and I love her OG design, I’m excitedly waiting for the day Tine and Arthur will be added to Fire Emblem Heroes:

(Their official artwork)

Both are pretty likeable and have something of their mother, Tine is more serene and calm while Arthur may come off as standoffish, but both have a great deal of kindness and care towards each other and those they care for, and eventually join Seliph’s army in his struggle to free Jugdral from Loptyrian influence.

Anyway, I’d now like to show my current build on Tailtiu on Fire Emblem Heroes, here she is:

I’ve updated her build today but I’m still drafting it, I want to make a proper showcase once her Resplendent skin is out this 10th, I might give her an {area-of-effect} spamming one with either [Growing Thunder] or [Blazing Thunder] later on but for now I’m satisfied with her kit... and true, I haven’t used her often but that’s because I normally use my most invested projects or units without maxed [HM] but once I can subscribe to [Feh Pass] I’ll start working on this.

As for art, I’ve already expressed I’m delighted with it but Kaya8′s take on Tailtiu has made a wonderful job captivating her friendly personality, the Embla thematic seems like the best fit for her since it sort of makes a reference to Ishtar’s uniform, overall, it gets a 10/10 from me, props to the artist!

(Ishtar’s official artwork from Fire Emblem TREASURE)

I should be getting Sonya tomorrow or some time later, there was a minor inconvenience but that’s all fine, I can wait some more time, I’m just so happy right now. ☺ And congrats for you if you've been waiting for her upgrade as well.

Also, on an unrelated note, I've opened my AMA section, I thought it already was but I found out the contrary... anyway, it's not open to anonymous questions for now but I'll think of it, so feel free to ask me anything or even send me some feedback!

[theseerasures]

Which part specifically? I mean, yeah, the whole game is a disaster, but I'd love to hear specific points. There was so much I didn't like about Fates that it just collectively merges as 'bad' in my mind.

it's not really anything specific tbh!! because the way Fates is misogynistic is not different from the way the other Fire Emblems (that i’ve. played. it’s possible all the ones pre-Sacred Stones were actually Forbidden Feminist Utopias) also carry that unmistakable whiff of misogyny. it's not done out of malice, it's just...a franchise that loves to play high fantasy tropes straight, particularly the bit about Restoring the Good Monarch. i never got the sense that they thought hard about the fact that the dude protags (Ephraim, Ike, Chrom) get intricate coming of age stories about tempering their talents for murder with wisdom, while all the lady "protags" (Eirika, Elincia, Micaiah) mostly don't change at all and just kinda swan around doing the "we are ethereal maidens too good for this sinful earth" thing, and when they do wibble it's always about how they wish they could be as "strong" as their dude counterparts except they inevitably can't and don't want to be, because war is bad!!! there's too much war in this war game franchise, buy our next DLC for how to solve war with war

(Lucina's a weird case, but that's why i love her, and...i suspect the only reason Lucina got to be the way she is was because she was doing DRAG, which is a rabbit hole that we don't have time for.)

Fates (sidebar: i played Revelations but i know what happens in Birthright and Conquest. i ended up doing all the Paralogues, because i was morbidly curious about how many different ways you could tell a "no dad!!! it's your dream" story, and the answer was "around four, so spreading them across TWENTY ONE versions basically creates the story equivalent of ultra skim milk.") doesn't do anything functionally different from its predecessors, it's just...more egregious this time, because so much of the story feels exclusively catered to drawing attention to it. i get the sense that the devs were trying to aim for bigger, more sophisticated storytelling than what they did with Awakening, which is why we got Fire Emblem: More Royals Than Ever and the requisite chin-stroking about families of blood vs. families of choice, but that they were trying to be Deep (tm) just made the parts that have always been shallow in the franchise look uglier.

i'm just gonna talk about the Royals, because the story privileges the Royals to a truly mind-bending degree (see above: high fantasy, monarchism). with the Royals we have:

the Hoshido/Nohr sibling matchy-matchy that is eerie from the outset (did Sumeragi and Garon set TIMERS so they'd impregnate women at roughly the same time and murder the babies who didn't come out the right gender?), even before you get to the part where they are "foils" for each other in p much aesthetic only, since their personalities are not actually that different when you get down to it. you have the Dutiful Big Bro (Xander and Ryoma), the Closeted Lesbian Big Sis (Camilla and Hinoka, representing opposite ends of the gender presentation spectrum), the Insecure Lil Bro (Takumi and Leo), and the Incorruptibly Pure Lil Sis (Sakura and Elise, the latter of whom for her crime of being outgoing was punished with death in Birthright, which...yikes)

so like. extremely paint by numbers right from conception (heh). why couldn't Xander have been the one who was Naive and Not Ready for This World? because he is Boy, which means he can only be flawed in the Boy Ways, so he must be Too Worldly instead. why couldn't Camilla be the oldest? she's already jaded and weird, so why not make her the heir just to shake things up? because she is Girl and Too Weird and Wearing BLACK, and weird girls in black can't be queen--even if Xander dies, she can't be queen.

Azura is clearly supposed to The Chrom Surrogate of this game insofar as she's your blue haired pal with whom you share a destiny, but she is The Chrom Surrogate but MAXIMUM GIRL, so she's the quintessential non-combatant class, she has a special song that soothes the hearts of warriors, she LITERALLY DIES FOR THE PEACE (TM) IN BIRTHRIGHT AND CONQUEST. (and obviously her hair can't be the Fire Emblem Classic shade of blue--that's too masculine.)

wrt the second gen, lineage is passed through the dad in the eugenics factory this time, which is on paper a fine shakeup from in Awakening, but...ALL the definitely-royal second gens are boys? don't get me wrong: i actually adore what they did with Forrest--like, fucking superb u gender-nonconforming fashion-loving Prince of Peace--but Forrest being an actually interesting inversion of what we expect (that isn't played for laughs!!!) makes all the other boys come off as much blander than they could be. why can't Kiragi be a dirt and hunting loving GIRL? i love Shiro's supports with Kana, but his whole "boisterous laid back but also inferiority complex" deal would be much less tired if he were the Crown Princess instead of Prince. i suppose if Siegbert were Girl with Anxiety and Kingship he'd just...be Lucina, but that's not necessarily a bad thing!!! bitches love Lucina!! (i'm bitches)

the thing is all of this would be...well. not FINE, but more acceptable if they did some things to flesh out those cookie-cutter personalities. Fates didn't deliver for any of the Royals to the extent i wanted it to, but even for what we had the girls got markedly less than the boys did. the moment that made me go "hoo boy maybe i will make poast about this" was in the climax when all the Five Whatevers lit up to form the Fire Emblem and we got some nice concept art of Takumi Leo Ryoma and Xander making :O faces, while the girls...were also there! in Revelation i'm pretty sure you can cut out Camilla Hinoka Elise and Sakura and leave the plot basically unchanged. you could say they fare better in Birthright and Conquest, but you could just as easily say they fare WORSE, because what they get to do if they're NPCs in those routes are: be sad and die, be sad and be spared from dying, be sad and get even weirder before being spared from dying, or be sad.

Camilla and Hinoka feel like the most wasted potential, because we haven't had as many "female royal who is actually pretty down with murder" characters before. but the devs clearly had no idea with what to DO with that, so (outside of her daddy and mommy issues, the details of which we learn about via supports with Niles the resident sex pest and hoo boy the "queer rep" in this game is whole other can of worms) Camilla became your momsistergirlfriend with built-in innovative airbag technology, whose creepiness is played for laughs, and Hinoka was...wait which one was Hinoka again

i am partly just being glib for comic effect, but like--the underlying problems are there, no matter how seriously or generously you want to read it. Fates doesn't go out of its way to mistreat its women; it just doesn't expend any effort thinking about them, so the misogyny breaks loose and stands out anyway.