#GIL: Recruitment

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

The Vice Chancellor can surely do no wrong? Who has been complaining about their style during their time on the translation desk? Whoever it is should find a replacement translation officer themselves!

While we are deeply grateful for the Vice Chancellor's gracious offer to oversee translations in the interim, certain parties have expressed their constructive feedback via anonymous notes written in green ink:

The Vice Chancellor should know the proper Gallifreyan phrase for "Time Agent" does not translate to "idiot".

The term 'flibberwoggle' was not part of the original Mabazzian Squelchian text, and frankly, I'm offended.

Upon receiving my copy of Every Gallifreyan Child's Pop-Up Book of Nasty Creatures From Other Dimensions, I was astonished to find that the Great Vampires had been renamed 'Fluffy Nibblers'.

I was excited to receive my collection of plays from one of Earth's greatest bards, until I realised I had received The Complete Works of William Shatner.

I do not believe that "tetchiness" is an optional feature of a Type-54 TARDIS; I consider this a translation error.

I was dismayed to find that the formal diplomatic greeting for the Supreme Grand Minister of Blarn was rendered as 'Hey, mate, nice tentacles'.

Any orange text is educated guesswork or theoretical. More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →📢Announcements |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts → Features:⭐Guest Posts | 🍜Chomp Chomp with Myishu →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[wyvernquill]

I'm rewatching Anastasia and this convo would really fit in your AU

Hob: look, Murphy, I'm just trying to help Murphy: do you really think I'm an Endless, Hob?

Hob: you know I do.

Murphy: then stop bossing me around

I'm sorry, this ask is already over a year old, but I finally got around to writing a scene based on it! (Plus some Murphy&Gil bits I wanted to put in somewhere, anyway.) Hope you enjoy!

[Mild warning for contemplation of one's potential death, and having once lost the will to life - I wouldn't call it suicidal ideation, it doesn't quite go there, but I figured I'd better be safe than sorry.]

Link to Anastasia AU Masterpost!

(Tag list, let me know if you want to be added or taken off: @10moonymhrivertam @martybaker @globglobglobglobob @anonymoustitans @sunshines-fabulous-legs @dreamsofapiratelife @malice-royaume @kcsandmanfan @acedragontype @okilokiwithpurpose @tharkuun @silver-dream89 @i-write-stories-not-sins-bitch)

“Hob.” Murphy interrupts, eyes flashing with frustration.

(Today’s how-to-be-a-Dream-Lord lessons are not going well - not that any of them have, but this one is a particular catastrophe. Gil has already given up on their contrary charge for the evening, and with the way Murphy’s shoulders are up and tension bristles between them, Hob is unlikely to make much more headway tonight.)

“Tell me. Do you truly believe I am him? The Prince of Stories? The Dream King?”

“Yes,” Hob lies, easily, unflinchingly, and with a smile on his face. A good lie has to be treated like the truth, and maybe, one day, it’ll actually turn into one. They’ve been trying so very hard to teach Murphy this, he should know it by now. “Of course.”

“Then, perhaps,” Murphy spits, and despite his feral arrogance, despite the way he holds his head high and squares his slender shoulders, it’s not the regal indignation of a King, but the helpless tantrum of an angry child who’s failing in class. “You ought to finally treat me with the fucking deference an Endless is owed, Hob Gadling!”

(There are tears in his pale-blueish eyes, Hob can see them, can hear the crack in Murphy’s hoarse voice.

Nobody has treated this man with respect in all the years he remembers, that much is obvious. Nobody but his birds. And he knows, they all know, that he’s no prince, that his blood runs red, not blue - runs at all, come to think of it. Endless don’t bleed.

But he wants to be. He wishes he was. Murphy is not Dream of the Endless, but he is ravenous for the spoils of such a role. Desperate to be respected, to be worshipped and revered, desperate to be owed the sort of treatment he has never received.

Hob ought to be ashamed of himself for taking advantage of that helpless hunger for kindness and decency… and he will be. For the rest of his immortal life, he’ll live with the shame of what he did to cheat Death, and still not regret it.)

Hob plasters a smile over his impatience and opens his mouth, gentle, calming words already on the tip of his tongue. Murphy is lonely and frightened and frustrated, that much is obvious. Fine. Hob knew it wouldn’t be easy, to teach their false Dream all he needs to know, and this is not an insurmountable roadblock. If Hob can only reassure him, earn his trust, be his friend, even, it will make everything much easier. Poor thing, lashing out like an injured animal. But Hob can surely coax him into-

Murphy recoils. Flinches back from the admittedly-half-faked warmth, his face, his entire bearing collapsing into itself like a heavy portcullis rattling shut.

“Don’t you dare,” he growls, pointing one of his stick-thin fingers at Hob’s face, ���don’t you DARE! I have no need for your false pity, and I want no part of it! I want-” the white of his eyes is bloodshot, and in his terror, in his fury, in his desperation, awash in unshed tears “-I want out. This deal is off. Find some other poor sucker to teach how to play Endless, I won’t do it! I’ve had enough!”

And before Hob can say as much as a single word, Murphy has snatched up his coat and slipped out onto the rainy street, Matthew following - but not after awarding Hob with a colder glare than he would’ve thought a mere raven capable of.

Murphy does not manage to flee very far.

He is in an unfamiliar town, with no money, no valuables besides the clothes on his back that are now slightly finer than he used to be; and the winter is cold and deep and stifling. He gets no further than a handful of streets until he slows halfway across a bridge, shaking with cold more than anger, snowflakes dancing around him. It is a quiet, windless night - and it has always calmed him, to stand underneath the dark sky at night, and know that most of the city lies asleep around him.

Matthew settles on the bridge’s parapet, caws. Hops closer, cocks his head to one side. There is a clear question in his bearing, a what now? glinting in his eyes. Birds are open and honest - unlike humans. Liars and hypocrites all.

“...I do not know, Matthew.” Murphy admits quietly. He has taken the coat, but forgotten the scarf in his haste, so he tugs at his collar, to keep the cold air from trickling down his spine. “I truly don’t.”

He does not have the means to return to London on his own - and at the same time, does not have much desire to do so. He had nothing and no-one there, but for the birds. Pockets can be picked anywhere - he could make a new start in this nameless town.

…if only it weren’t winter.

Murphy shivers, feeling his bones rattle with it. The night is calm, but bitterly cold, and it will not end well for him, sitting in the snow until morning. In the dark of winter, he cannot afford a night without shelter, a day without a sure way to come by some food to keep his strengths up. In London, he would have known where to go. Here, he is helpless.

Damn Hob Gadling, and may Destruction take him! Murphy will have no other choice but to crawl back to him, and hope he’ll be kept on as Endless-impersonator. Hope, because Murphy’s made a right pig’s ear of it so far, slow and clumsy to learn, and outright refusing to play at nobility. He will always be a gutter rat, Murphy knows it. They can’t fashion him into a Dream King, and perhaps this flare of temper will prove to Hob once and for all that there is no point in trying.

There is no point in trying.

Murphy gives up on his collar, and rests his hands on the parapet. Matthew caws, and presses his head against his arm, a far better reassurance than Hob’s false smiles. It comforts Murphy, at least a little. He’s not alone, never alone - no matter how lonely he might feel.

Underneath them, a foreign river flows just fast enough to avoid the freeze. The water does not reflect any stars, but the snow dancing over the surface makes it almost look as if. His own reflection wavers and breaks across the waves.

(Some nights, he dreams of a darkened shore and a sea stretching far past the horizon, black waters that fold up into the night sky, indistinguishable from each other. Of a wooden pier, and galaxies swirling underneath.

Whenever he leans out too far, the reflected eyes he meets are not his own, and he wakes with a scream lodged in his throat.)

Murphy shivers again, and savours the last remnants of his pride, before it, too, will have to be cast into the dirt and abandoned.

“I believe you forgot this, young friend.”

Murphy’s head snaps up.

Dreams and nightmares approach without a whisper, perfectly silent at night if they choose to be. Gilbert is no exception; and if Murphy were to pay attention to anything but his heart racing like a startled hare, he would perhaps be a little distressed by the fact that there are no fresh footprints in the snow beside his own.

But it’s only Gilbert, kind-eyed and not-human, holding out Murphy’s scarf like a peace offering.

Murphy does not take it.

“Did Gadling send you?” he asks, wary.

“Robert informed me what had transpired between you two.” Gilbert admits. “But rest assured, I am here on nobody’s behalf but my own - and, well, yours. Frightfully nippy tonight, wouldn’t you say?”

Murphy does not say. He trusts Gil as little as Hob, perhaps even less. A dream attempting to betray the memory of his master seems hardly like a paragon of virtue, and is perhaps even more suspicious than a deceitful human.

(He does, however, take the scarf now. It’s too cold to be stubborn, and when he winds it around his neck, it smells of sunshine on a summer meadow, warm and comforting.)

“And if you truly wish to leave… dear boy, I won’t stop you.” Murphy does not like the way Gilbert looks at him, as if trying to see someone else beneath his skin. He does not meet Murphy’s eyes, if he can help it. “In fact I would send you off with well-earned compensation for your time, and travel fare. Unless…”

Gil steps up to the parapet beside him.

“...unless I can convince you to stay…?”

“Why would you?” Murphy mutters, instead of why would I, if you’re offering to pay me off? “It should be perfectly obvious that I’ll never pass muster.”

“Ironically,” Gilbert smiles, but only at the man he pretends to see whenever he looks at Murphy, “it is well known among the former denizens of the Dreaming that His Lordship was often prone to very similar bouts of pessimism. I have faith in you, Murphy - and so does Robert Gadling. Please, do not leave. I rather doubt we will succeed without you.”

"You…" Murphy struggles with the words, the sentiment behind them lodging uncomfortably in his throat. "You have great respect, even love, for Dream of the Endless' memory. So why do you pretend? Why try to fool his siblings that I am him?"

For a moment, Gilbert seems ready to insist, as always, that Murphy is, or at least might be - but, to his credit, he does not play Murphy for a fool, in the end. Not this time. Not like Hob always, always does.

"You are quite correct. I loved His Lordship deeply, in a way that could never be understood by anyone but a dream and their creator." Gilbert sighs, his soft meadow-green eyes gazing far into the distance of better days, lined by old grief. "He made me to be the Heart of the Dreaming, and he was the Dreaming, so I knew his heart and self better than any other. The loss, when he… you cannot imagine it, young friend. I thought I would wither away and die. I thought that would be a mercy. To live as a dream in a universe that does not contain Dream of the Endless seemed entirely unthinkable, and to be quite frank, I did not think I would survive longer than a year at most in the Waking."

"I understand," says Murphy, quietly, and he does. He is no stranger to the feeling of being so untethered, only floating along with the end looming over him, death - not Death, no longer, the Endless have been cast from their domains - only biding its time.

(In the first year he can remember, Murphy did not think he would see another, either.)

"And yet, the year passed. And I lived." Gilbert smiles, faintly, taking off his glasses to polish them. "I suspect it was humanity which saved me, for all that they robbed me of my home and Lord, as well. I found… such joy, in this world. In my human form, wandering among them. Calling a few select individuals friends, even. Young Robert's companionship was a particular blessing, and I owe him more than he can ever know."

He sets the glasses back on his nose.

"Lord Morpheus is dead." Says Gilbert. Says it like fact, like something too absolute for the sort of dream-creature born of hypotheticals he is, like an unshakeable truth he has resigned himself to. His voice only barely breaks over the words. "And I shall grieve him for all the rest of my days… but I must live to mourn him. Life goes on, young friend, and we must all move along with it. And, well. I cannot speak for Robert's motivations, but the true reason why I have agreed to this mad scheme…"

Gilbert takes Murphy's freezing hands in his own. His fingertips are not lined quite right, they would not leave prints that look even remotely like those of a human - but aside from that, his grip is warm, avuncular, firm, reassuring.

"I fear that his siblings will not be able to live on without him." Gilbert confesses, quietly. "They are not made to accept change and move on from a loss as monumental as what humanity has wrought upon them. To have you… not him, not entirely, but perhaps enough… it is my most solemn hope that it might give them some form of closure at long last."

"So that's what it is?" Murphy laughs, bitterly. "Charitable concern for the well-being of personifications of abstract concepts!?"

"No." Gilbert corrects mildly. "Love. For my creator's family."

Murphy scoffs. His chest aches with it.

"What you, hmm. What you must understand, about Lord Morpheus…" Gilbert seems to be choosing his words very carefully. "...is that, for all that he was often harsh and commanding, he was so very loving, always. My Lord loved with all his self, even if he would attempt to turn a cold shoulder to the world - and I think you are much like him in temperament, young Murphy.”

Murphy does not acknowledge that. He doesn't think he can.

“He loved his family, and he loved the Dreaming, and all the beings in it. I was his heart, or near as, you must recall, I knew the truth at the core of him.

Memories or not, love as he did, and you will be a credit to his name, and a comfort to all who knew him."

(Murphy does not have it in himself to love like Dream of the Endless did. He already struggles to love at all.

But perhaps, for the sake of the entity whose memory he will dishonour, he can try.)

“So. Will you come back and resume your lessons?” Gil asks, very gently. “You may leave, now or any other time, of course you may. But it would be to your benefit, as well as to that of many others, if you did not.”

“I’ll stay,” Murphy forces out. He could blame the way his hands shake on the cold. “For now.”

“Thank you, dear child. Thank you.” This time, when Gilbert smiles, it very nearly feels like it is directed at him, after all. “Now, let’s get you out of this cold, hm? And Matthew as well.”

Murphy lets Gilbert herd him back to their inn, sits through Hob Gadling’s apology and wonders if it was sincere - he can never tell, with this infuriating man - and continues to learn as much as possible about the life of Dream of the Endless.

But he’s slowly realising, if anything will convince the Endless siblings, then it certainly won’t be the trivia. He’ll have to learn to love like the Lord of Stories, for their deception to have a snowflake’s chance in hell.

(Oh, wonderful. As if this wasn’t difficult enough already…)

[the-heaminator]

Currently having hetalia and goodomens crossover brainrot aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[skitchune]

#01 G8 Draw-in-your-style Challenge!

I believe that this is an old challenge, but I decided that there’s no better way to dust off the old gear than seeing the boys in my style. Really liked playing around the filters. I liked given them this old, Sunday Morning Comics style. The grain is just beautiful.

I guess…I should give a little explanation?

Basically, in how I write Hetalia, there was ONE major event that changed the course of their timeline during WW2. Though the world mythos in itself is very different, suffice to say that it was that ONE event that changed the course of their world moving forward. Currently, the Nation Folks assemble as their own private entity to develop livelihood and development projects for underserved communities across the globe, instead of other global matters. Still, many retain a degree of political connection, Nation Folks, in general, all agree that they will always put first the good of humanity over the gain of any singular country. That being said…

🍝 Feliciano Vargas - more actively sexual and flirtatious, pretty much a ladies man, has a problem keeping his dick out of places it shouldn’t be but he’s a lovable tramp regardless and knows that he can get away with a lot. He has a good heart and a good head, but maybe a little bit of too much casual machismo that makes his comeuppance so fun to watch.

📋Ludwig Beilschmidt - still pretty much stiff and serious, efficient but also too much of a stickler, is the youngest of the bunch and always has something to prove, Gilbert helps him here and there but he doesn’t want Gil to meddle, it may frustrate him that everyone treats him like a kid, but he also knows that it sometimes works in his favor being the ���spoiled’ baby brother to many.

🐉 Seiryuu Honda - to keep things short, Seiryuu is and always has been this universe’s Nation Folk for Japan but Kiku does/did exist for some time for [story reasons] Sei is calm, level-headed but can come off as rather aloof and dazed, he can act a little too familiar with new people and is quite affectionate to friends. He’s a bit of a Casanova and likes the game of courtship like a round of Shogi. In many ways he might not be stereotypical, but in many ways he comes off as traditional and anachronistic.

🤠Alfred Jones - Heroism runs deep in this hot-blooded cowpoke, not the flashy guns or the prestige, but the hard work of running down the pavement for change. He’s charming, mature, headstrong, and value honest and just work. He’s the singular cause of the ONE event, becoming a catalyst to multiple OTHER notable events during WW2. Unfortunately, this has caused him excommunicated from the US government, which suits him fine as he can more actively participate in projects.

🎸Arthur Kirkland - No one fucks around with the ruling class more than Art, who has historically been a thorn in many administrations throughout the colorful history of his homeland. He is a rebel with a cause down to his core, sticking it up anyone’s arse if it means fighting for what’s right. Boston Tea Party? He was also pissing on the cartons before throwing them overboard? The IRA? Girl, he was a damn recruiter. Has he been beaten, threatened, and killed because of his insolence? Sure, but no one is gonna look good as him doing it.

⛱️Francis Bonnefoy - (P.S. I meant to draw him removing his shirt because someone accidentally spilled wine on him) Residing far away from the bustle of Paris, Franc lives the coastal orchard life along the south of France. He’s a country boy at heart who likes living the simple life. He is very introspective, usually keeps to himself, but isn’t really afraid to voice out his measured opinions. Some might say he is a tad but wistful, but many friends know he’s just daydreaming of being back in his orchard surrounded by good company and a glass of the finest wine.

💅Ivan Braginsky - No one can take this MATERIAL GWORL. Daddy Russia is a Mama Bear who claps back at heartless Capitalism and works tirelessly as the acting Chairman of the Union to increase wages and living conditions across the social classes. He is tongue-in-cheek, no nonsense, and fabulous, but above all, a big and caring figure who thinks much for others more than himself sometimes and is just grateful to come home and be wrapped around by a certain Lithuanian’s strong arms—Big Mama deserves some honey after a long day’s work.

🍜Yao Wang - Wang is a funny characters to me. He can come across as uncouth and overfamiliar, but he just doesn’t take life as seriously as the others. It’s been a long ride and there’s too much more ground to cover than he wishes to put the effort into. He likes to complain about the silliest things, but damn, if he isn’t telling the truth every time he opens his mouth.

Alternate gradient map styles under the cut

[rottenpumpkin13]

How did AGSZ handle their first Mako injections?

TW for Sephiroth's asdfghjk

Sephiroth: Only days old when the first injection pierced his paper-thin skin. Tiny fingers, barely the size of a gil coin, grasped weakly at the thin laboratory blanket as the first needle sank. His newborn cries filled the lab, the kind of cry that begs for a mother's touch. But there was no gentle hand to soothe him, no soft voice to whisper comfort. Just Hojo's barking of orders and the sharp sting of another needle causing more tears to streak his cheeks as his small body convulsed with each new injection. His little eyes searched for any sign of warmth or comfort through the incubator's glass, finding only cold eyes behind glasses taking notes on his reactions. When the crying finally ceased, it was because he learned that no one would come.

Angeal: Thirteen years old, sitting rigid on the metal table in Hollander's lab, watching the thick needles approach, the kind meant for adult arms, not a boy's. His mother's tired face flashed in his mind, how thin she had become. The mako burned like fire in his veins, but he bit down hard and thought of the gil that would put food on their table, trying to be brave, trying to be the man his father needed him to be. He counted the ceiling tiles to distract from the pain: one tile equals ten gil, ten tiles equals food for a week, twenty tiles means mother won't have to take extra shifts at the factory. When the sickness hit that night, he vomited until there was nothing left but bile and broken pride. Morning came, and he dragged himself to training despite the fever that made the world spin. Every step was agony, but the thought of his mother's worn shoes and empty pantry drove him forward, perpetually guilty even as his body begged for rest.

Genesis: Each injection was a verse in his own epic, or so he told himself as he watched the glowing green disappear beneath his skin. He recited poetry through clenched teeth, forcefully molding his pain into something beautiful and purposeful. But when the mako hit his system, the pain stripped away the grandiose quotes and elegant posture, leaving only a frightened boy. Deep down, beneath layers of self-delusion, memories of doctors shaking their heads resurfaced, his parents' worried whispers about his "condition," days of his childhood days spent in bed.

This pain had to mean something more, it had to make him special, had to cure the weakness that had plagued him since birth. He couldn't bear the alternative. So he wrote feverishly in his journal, describing the changes in his body like poetry while his hands shook and vision blurred. The fever dreams that followed became visions of future glory. Years later, when degradation began to eat away at his cells, that same journal would be filled with increasingly frantic poetry, as if beautiful words could somehow stop his body from betraying him once again.

Zack: Twelve years old, bouncing on his heels in the medical ward, a blend of anxiety and excitement. The needle looked massive, nothing like the small ones from childhood vaccinations back in Gongaga where his mom would hold his hand and his dad would ruffle his hair afterward. He was alone here, cracking jokes to the nurses, voice trembling when the first injection burned through his veins, but he kept smiling because that's what Zack Fair did.

Later that night, he curled up in his bunk, fighting waves of nausea alone for the first time in his life. No mother's cool hand on his forehead, none of father's protection keeping watch. Just the sound of other recruits retching in their bunks. He buried his face in his pillow to muffle his whimpers, missing the smell of his mom's cooking and the sound of his dad's heavy boots on their porch. Still, he forced himself to the training grounds the next morning, legs wobbling like a newborn chocobo's, flashing that trademark grin even as cold sweat beaded on his forehead. "No big deal!" he called out to concerned looks, though his vision kept blurring and his stomach churned violently. The price of freedom was steep after all, and there was noting more freeing than being a hero.

[anghraine]

Speaking of Sauron, I've been amusing myself by thinking about how a disproportionate number of people who super ruined his day are descendants of Melian:

Lúthien, obviously, kicked his ass.

Elwing retaining Lúthien's Silmaril and giving it to Eärendil led to the utter defeat of Morgoth's forces including Sauron.

Tar-Telperiën and her nephew Tar-Minastir, descendants of Elwing's son Elros, were responsible for the vast Númenórean fleet that crushed Sauron's attempts to seize Eregion in the Second Age.

Tar-Minastir's descendant Pharazôn (a usurper and terrible person, but nevertheless) led a massive force against Sauron that intimidated Sauron's armies into giving up. Sauron tricked Pharazôn and managed to take out Númenor, only to end up drowning with it, and was significantly damaged and limited by the event.

Meanwhile, a different descendant of Elros, Elendil, survived! He led Númenórean dissenters away just in time to establish sprawling Númenórean-controlled kingdoms in Middle-earth.

Elendil and the Elvish king Gil-galad proceeded to defeat Sauron in single combat after a long siege. The effort killed them but also took out Sauron himself for a very, very long time. Elendil's son Isildur cut the Ring away from Sauron's body as repayment for the deaths of Elendil and Isildur's younger brother Anárion.

Anárion's children produced various lines of descent that would go on to include the Stewards of Gondor, resolute enemies of Mordor who recruited the Rohirrim into Team We Hate Sauron.

Isildur's and Anárion's descendant Aragorn spent decades criss-crossing the map to spike various evil plans, like when he torched the Corsair fleet as Thorongil and disappeared into the night only to turn up decades later to threaten Sauron with Elendil's reforged sword.

The Ring ended up in the hands of Frodo, who would be only too happy to turn it over to Aragorn as Isildur's heir. Aragorn promptly rejected the idea, crucially leading to Frodo remaining as Ringbearer while Sauron came to mistakenly believe Aragorn had the Ring and meant to use it.

The only time Frodo was ever truly captured by Men (the people easily assumed to be the greatest danger to the quest) was by Anárion's descendant Faramir. Faramir could have taken the Ring with disastrous results for everyone but Sauron, but instead shrugged off the temptation and laughed at it before helping Frodo on his way.

Sauron understandably panicked about the Aragorn situation and sent his forces to Gondor earlier than planned, despite knowing at that point that the Steward Denethor was much better prepared than he'd hoped. Faramir used his abilities to lead a retreat across favorable ground that inflicted large casualties on Sauron's armies, as planned. This tactic functionally sacrificed Faramir and Denethor but bought enough time for the Rohirrim and Aragorn's mainly southern Gondorian armies to arrive and turn the tide of the battle of the Pelennor Fields. Sauron's forces in that battle were defeated. Again.

Aragorn exploited Sauron's understandable fixation on him by making a flashy frontal assault as (unofficial) king of the Dúnedain to distract Sauron's attention from the real threat (three hobbits making their way to Mount Doom). This was 100% successful. Through a series of good and bad choices on the part of the hobbits, the Ring was destroyed and Sauron with it.

Bad day all around for Sauron! Aragorn, meanwhile, married Elrond's daughter and became overlord of Sauron's allies with Faramir as his prime minister.

[joyride-time]

Why’d Gil Snitch On Tarvek: Theories

Gil inherited a few things from Klaus. One of them is a tendency to avoid expositing. Among other things, he’s very closemouthed about his childhood. Because of this, we don’t know much about Gil as a kid or his mindset from Gil himself.

So why did he snitch on Tarvek about his intel stash and believe Klaus was right about him for over a decade? Some theories:

1. He’s Just Not That Into Him Theory

Why does Gil refuse to believe Agatha is the Other, but decide his father is right about Tarvek when they got caught looking for Gil’s family tree? Occam’s Razor (that thing can cut through anything!): Gil didn’t like Tarvek as much as he likes Agatha.

It’s hard to disprove it because there's no one else to scale Gil's relationships with back then except Von Pinn and Klaus, whose relationship with Gil is totally different. Gil didn’t know Agatha as long as he knew Tarvek at those points, but you can like someone you don’t know. Nothing requires Gil to have liked Tarvek as much as Agatha. Tarvek was Gil’s best friend… out of zero other friends. How much does Gil have to like and trust Tarvek to recruit him for the family tree search? Who knows. Tarvek is the one who cracked the safe in the flashback, and we don’t know if Gil could do that himself back then. The information they were searching for was something Gil probably wanted to tell everyone anyways. And they have their Paris interactions to get to know each other better in the future.

2. Klaus-Gil Dynamic Swing Theory

Klaus is always right… that’s something Gil doesn’t seem to have questioned before he discovers Klaus’ mistake with Agatha. At seven years old, Gil trusts Klaus’ judgment more than his own. At twenty-two years old, Gil is more critical of taking everything Klaus says at face value. He’s also got a whole decade of change and growth behind him. In Book 2 Gil and Theo have this exchange: “You sounded just like the Gil I grew up with.” “I’m not,” Gil said flatly. “Too many things have changed. I’ll never be that person again.” He smiled and punched Theo in the arm. “But I can remember the important bits.”

So it's a different Gil making different judgment calls.

3. Suspicious Sturmvoraus Theory

It’s Tarvek. Even when they’re on better terms Gil (and Agatha) are suspicious about him working at multiple purposes. Tarvek initially approached Gil to make him his minion at the age of seven. Tarvek also thinks that Klaus told Gil about Tarvek’s family, so Tarvek himself may have told Gil very little about them, or censored what he did share. If so, having a sudden info dump about their many sins probably didn’t help anything. We also don’t know what kind of schemes Tarvek got into where Gil could see them, but Gil does know that he got a secret hiding spot. And that he’s extremely good at lying. So he looked at Tarvek and decided yeah, he's probably lying to him.

4. Trust Issues Theory

Before Tarvek, Gil had really poor relationships with his peers. Or at least, any positive ones he used to have were broken off. Present day Gil is a very friendly guy, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Gil tried to make friends… maybe even succeeded… and then they fell apart. If so, it wouldn’t be strange if part of Gil was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Something made Gil want to custom-build his own, very dependent friend construct. Definitely not a surfeit of healthy relationships with his peers.

5. Perceived Vulnerability Theory

Agatha needs protection from what Gil can see in the first arc. She’s a female Spark in an Europa where they all disappear if not well-protected. He meets her at one of her lowest points and works to build her up. Their second meeting had him pluck her from her house after she got sedated. She gets more dangerous afterwards, but Klaus does a poor job at explaining things and is very clear that leveling the town she's in to kill her is an option. Tarvek is a prince and the son of a powerful Spark, on a ship where both qualities are enormously important to their peers. They may be hostages but neither felt very endangered by it. Book 4 also states that Gil had “done his best at the time to get Tarvek sent away”, which could just be referring to ratting him out, but could also be a sign that Klaus’ first impulse was not to send Tarvek back to his family, which makes Tarvek seem even less in danger. Gil thinks if he sides against Tarvek Tarvek will just get sent back home, where he’ll continue to be a prince… and how bad can that be? Whereas with Agatha he saw a little fledgling who was going to be someone’s personal property fighting hard to avoid that. They're very different perspectives.

I'm curious what other people's theories are, so please share if you feel like it.

[royaltysuite]

Hiya! I have a new Park Joonggil spicy story idea!

Joonggil has been under extreme pressure due to the nature of his work and is snapping on others (like Junwoong) more than usual.

Which doesn't goes unnoticed by his girlfriend. So she decides to make him 'de-stress' 😏 from his work right in his office. Thanks!

Hi Pookie! This idea is honestly amazing! You, me and this man is an absolute match made in heaven.

Need To Relax

Summary: After yet another incident with the Risk Management team, Jung-gil is getting close to snapping at other reapers. However, you know exactly how to take the stress away.

Warnings: Cussing, Oral (m. receiving), Semi Public Sex, Implied Penetrative sex, Almost getting caught, etc...

Wanna buy me a coffee?

"THAT FUCKING IMBECILE!!!" I could hear his angered shout from way down the hall. I already knew, from word to ear, that he had an intense encounter with the Risk Management team once again. Their newest recruit, Choi Junwoong, had tried to harbor an unescorted soul. Said soul tried to run from Jung-gil, who was already pissed so you can just imagine how he felt when he found that his team couldn't handle finding one runaway soul.

As I got closer to his office door, I could hear glass shattering. I sighed, placing my hand on the knob to his office, not really expecting to come across the sight in front of me.

"Jung-gil, you need to calm down. Everyone can hear you from all the way down the corridor." I told him, making small strides to his shaking form. His back was turned to me when I entered, so he couldn't see the look on my face after I spoke.

"Don't tell me to fucking calm down. That idiot is messing up everything, causing chaos everywhere he walks." "Of course that's going to happen. he wasn't supposed to be here in the first place. But, you can't take your anger out on anyone without a justified reason."

My words seemed to penetrate through him as he came to realize that my advice was right. Jung-gil was slowly losing his composure and letting things easily get to him.

"How about...you take a seat while I try and help you relax?" I offered, walking him towards his desk and sitting him down in his chair. I could tell that once he sat down, the tension in his shoulders began to fade away.

I made my way to the front of him, leaning against his desk. "What do you need from me, my love? Tell me what I need to do to help you relax completely." I whispered loud enough for him to hear me. "I...I don't even know." He replied, running a hand against his tired face.

That was answer enough for me. I lifted myself off his desk and sunk to my knees. My movements caught Jung-gil's eye as he began to notice what I was doing.

"What are you doing?" "Helping you relax. Now, sit back and let me do what I need to do." I spoke, my tone helping to wind down his tension more and more.

Once my knees hit the carpeted floor of his office, I began working on Jung-gil's belt. Soon, his belt was unbuckled and his zipper down. My hands then made their way past the waistband of his underwear, slowly caressing his half-hard cock. Each stroke brought it more life and not even a minute into it, he was throbbing and hot in my hand.

As I continued to stroke his length, I laid small kisses up from the base and to the tip. Jung-gil let out a long groan, his head rolling back as his hand made its way to the back of my head. That gave me the confidence to move along.

Placing one last kiss to the tip of his cock, I began to take him into my mouth. Inch by inch until I could feel him reach the deepest part of my throat. I didn't stop even if I gagged a bit. The sudden movement caught Jung-gil off guard and he let out the deepest moan I've ever heard him let out.

I hummed around his length as I began to work my mouth up and down his length. Any part that my mouth couldn't reach, I would use my hand to compensate for it.

I ran my nails along each vein as I bobbed my head, knowing that drove him closer and closer to the edge.

"Fuck, keep going just like that, baby. So good for me, such a good pet." He sighed in pleasure and the praise gave me even more encouragement.

Soon, he got even closer. I could tell because his grip got even tighter in my hair. I then let Jung-gil take the reins, tapping his thigh twice to let him know that it was okay to let loose.

He looked down, our eyes making contact as if he was asking for further consent and I nodded to ease his concerns.

That gave him all he needed. Jung-gil scooted to the edge of his seat and began thrusting deeply into my mouth. That first thrust caused me to gag a bit, but I relaxed my throat and let him continue.

As he pounded with no restraint, I could slightly hear people walking his office but I didn't care. The thrill of getting caught sent a wave of pleasure to my core.

"Shit, fuck....I'm so close..." "Make sure you swallow when I tell you to."

I nodded as best as I could, keeping my hands to my side as best as I could. Soon, Jung-gil's hips stuttered to a finish - holding my head in place.

"Swallow, baby. Swallow it down." He groaned out before pulling me off his cock. "Open wide. Let me see if you listened."

Following his order, I swallowed the last of his finish and opened my mouth showing that I listened. He placed his hand on my cheek, rubbing it softly with his thumb.

"Very good, my pet. Very obedient...Now, let's go home and I'll return the favor. Does that sound good to you?"

"Yes sir."

[unironicallytes]

Zathiril av Mor'iargalthil

Valus Silencer (3E429~433)

I realized I didn't have a dedicated post for my Oblivion prequel Silencer OC so here we go

In the setting of Dear Brother, Zath is Lucien's Silencer before the player character/HoK arrives during the canon of Oblivion.

Age: 33 Gender: Male/Intersex Height: 5'2" Birthsign: The Serpent Birthday: 14 Frostfall 3E400 Birthplace: Tarlain Heights, Grahtwood Languages: Gilvar Bosmeris, Tamrielic Summary (under the cut):

Zath hails from a Bosmer clan called Mor'iargalthil, a very remote group up in the Tarlains. The clan is made up of isolationist descendants from Gil-Var-Delle survivors. His father, however, is a secret Keerilth vampire, having been attacked and turned in the 2nd Era after leaving the village. It is next to impossible for Zath to exist as biological offspring between his mortal mother and his vampiric father, but nevertheless, he does. He was born with no Magicka and cannot communicate with animals. His hereditary vampirism is dormant - he is perpetually in the "incubation" period, unless something triggers the change. Zath and everyone around him are unaware of this biological quirk, save for his father, who has not communicated any of that. Zath's name roughly translates to "fangs hidden in depths of beauty", a reference which his father claims is to his birthsign alone. Zath was recruited into the Dark Brotherhood's Anvil Sanctuary at age 20 in 3E420, after unknowingly stealing a kill from Lucien in Skingrad. The two were transferred to Cheydinhal the very next Evening Star in 3E421, following an "incident" centered around Leyawiin which neither of them were privy to. Many Dark Siblings were shuffled around at that time to shore up a huge and unexplained loss of family. Following this transfer, the two eventually became equal ranks and developed a close ... situationship. They aren't exactly "together", but they've also been inseparable for the better part of a decade. When Lucien advanced to Valus Speaker in 3E429, he took Zath along with him as his Silencer. Zath is impulsive, arrogant, and prone to bouts of bloody rage. He reveres the Brotherhood faith deeply; within the order's ranks, he feels the most accepted and understood he's ever been. He speaks with a heavy accent, which is probably inadvisable to comment on when in his presence. He enjoys long walks in the woods and has a knack for cooking. Even though he doesn't follow Y'ffre any longer and has lived in Cyrodiil for years, the Green Pact is still culturally-ingrained and forms many of his eating habits. Needless to say, he delights in eating his kills. As of 3E433, Zathiril is minding his own business and sitting on his laurels with Lucien when some strange things start happening in the Brotherhood.

[fjotla-vithir]

Think you know crime? Feel like you can call yourself a villain?

Let us be the judge of that.

The Vieran Mafia is recruiting! We are an RP-focused free company operating in the FFXIV roleplay world as a crime family. LGBTQ+ friendly, 18+ FC with a Discord for all things roleplay!

Known as one of the most notorious crime syndicates in Eorzea, the Vieran Mafia is widely known for concocting and peddling drugs, successful business fronts, and their use of violence to get what they want. The Family has a trove of wealth at their disposal and is always looking for new members to help expand their empire of villainy - whether you’re Vieran or not.

So join us in-game and on Discord! See what we’re all about!

This month’s event:

We are without a home after our recent move, so rather than opening the lounge this month, we’ll be hosting a GPOSE competition! Enter your best CRIME themed photo for a chance to win 1 MILLION GIL. Vanilla and “non-Vanilla” are all welcome!

[fanlovedlt]

My opinion about the previous update last week.

Spoilers but not really for previous avas demon update:

.

.

.

I love the fact that the party announcement was gonna play during this whole start of the conversation they were gonna have.

They both apparently wake up with literally two airhorns I don’t blame them. Maggie definitely look like that. She had an irritated dream while we all know what Gil was probably dreaming about~~~~~~

Not gonna lie I had to ask my twin sister to read this update for me because I was genuinely worried that this whole conversation was going to go haywire or probably go worse in case of everyone was going to get in disagreement, but I’m glad that Ava also wanted to apologize and admit that she did definitely say some hurtful things to Gil when her only plan was to try to recruit him and get him to trust her.



I’m glad that Maggie doesn’t seem to be butting in and it’s just allowing Gil and Ava to have a time to talk. But not gonna lie I really did like Maggie having her hair down. It just made her look very pretty, and very sort of calm because with her hair up it just kinda look like she was always ready for something while her having her hair down just kind of seems like she’s more relaxed. I don’t know how to explain it. it’s like as a girl myself I always put my hair up whenever I need to do something while I only allow my hair down whenever I know I’m going to relax or I’m just going to chill so I guess it’s kinda like that.



Ava was definitely on a roll here. She seemed as if she wanted Gil to trust her that she would believe him if he were to admit that he has Nevi as a host same way that Ava has Wrathia as her pacted demon.

I also enjoyed that Gil does seem to be listening to her, but doesn’t exactly want to put his full attention towards her probably meaning that he is still having second thoughts on whether or not to fully forgive her or to fully believe her since he’s right on one thing, they are still very different.

Ava honey no it was definitely not fate. I’m sorry, but I feel so bad that these four were stuck with having to be the host of four powerful demons that no matter what affected their life to the point where affected the people around them and affected the way of their own thinking like they couldn’t really spend their childhood doing what they want because there was always something going on.

Example:

Wrathia practically controlled Ava’s life to the point where she made her be abandoned by everyone around her.

Even though we don’t know too much, I want Pedri to Odin, all we can guess is that that similar to Wrathia, Pedri didn’t really controlled Odin, but he did become somebody that Odin was terrified of exact same way that Wrathia terrified Ava.

From what we can guess with Nevi, even though she didn’t hurt Gill in anyway, she did became the reason that when Gil tried to talk about her, or tried to understand her existence, people started considering him a weirdo because he was either seen talking to himself or doing something when he was alone.

And we don’t know too much about Maggie and Tuls, but I can’t imagine on how Maggie had to be careful with being packed with Tuls especially with the leaves, coming out of her hair and having to use his powers to get someone to like her only for that to fail and weaken him a bit.

So no matter what it pained me when Ava started talking about how it was fate that brought them together when in my opinion, they were just the unlucky group that were chosen to be hosts with a bunch of demons who wanted to escape a failed victory of some sort. 

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

Who is attempting to cover the translation desk now that Noraxoekodurosugofbyn has retired? Those are some big shoes to fill.

Thank you for your question!

Since Noraxoekodurosugofbyn's retirement, we've been in the delicate process of finding a suitable replacement for the Translation Officer role. The search is underway, with applicants invited and interviews beginning shortly.

This is taking slightly longer than hoped. It is now a priority, as we're rapidly running out of the backlog of translated posts that Noraxoekodurosugofbyn left for us.

For now, we're tackling the more complicated bits using a combination of automated translation and a general office show of hands.

We invite any applicants to apply.

Requirements for the Position

To fill this critical role, candidates must demonstrate fluency in:

🌀 Ancient and Old Gallifreyan Languages: High Gallifreyan, Low Gallifreyan, and ceremonial scripts.

📖 Modern Gallifreyan Languages: High, Low, Outsider, Plebian, Neo, and Chapter dialects.

🌍 Sol 3 Languages: (Minimum) English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Sign Language, Semaphore, Innuendo, Passive-Aggressiveness, and Sarcasm.

🎵 Other Mutter's Spiral Languages: Including, but not limited to, Blarbian Click-Code, Mabazzian Squelchian, and the Musical Glyphs of Snorklag Prime

Apply Now!

Do you have what it takes to bridge communication gaps across time and space? Are you undeterred by endless paperwork? Apply directly to the Chancellor's office today!

Any orange text is educated guesswork or theoretical. More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →📢Announcements |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts → Features: ⭐Guest Posts | 🍜Chomp Chomp with Myishu →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[phantomyre]

Masquerade at Midnight

[Roleplay Starter] Andrea Rhodea + Vincent Valentine

RP Partner: @fromthe7thsidelines

The Gold Saucer-- a monolith of grandiosity, hedonism and escapism. It was exactly what Dio had envisioned twenty some years ago. Vincent could recall the brawny eccentric, then much younger, begging President Shinra for a chance to create a massive entertainment business. Now, the place was clamoring with customers, all eager to dish every gil they had in the name of temporary amusement. And then there were those who were earning said gil; employees of Shinra who worked to dazzle every customer-- all except a certain apathetic Ex-Turk. Vincent had never met Don Corneo in person, but he knew a bastard when he saw one. Judging by what Tifa, Aerith, and Cloud had told him, he was not to be under-estimated, no matter how much of an idiot he seemed to be. Street-wise gangster leaders weren't leaders from being fools. They had earned their place through unlawful and cruel means. Cunning was at their core. For a man who was still a Turk at heart and who harbored four demons, tracking the Don and gathering intel wouldn't prove to be too challenging. Word had it that the Don was plotting against AVALANCHE, and Vincent was tasked to do some spy-work. Evening had arrived, and the nightlife had begun. Most of the group chose to wander off and enjoy themselves while others chose to turn in for the evening. Sleep wasn't necessary for an immortal, and his demons were making him restless. There was a task to do, and he needed to make use of the opportunity. He first had to find someone who might have some knowledge of Corneo's where-abouts. His gold-colored sabatons clinked as he walked across the granite flooring, scanning the vast area for any Shinra Employee who fit the description of 'entertainer'. Though dressed in a very misplaced Medieval outfit of sorts, no one seemed to even blink when they saw the oddly dressed gunslinger. For all they knew, he was just a worker in a costume. Vincent decided to ask around to see if he could get any leads. "Pardon," Vincent asked as he walked up to a pair of girls dressed in honey-bee outfits. "I'm told there is a man in Midgar who owns a famous arena in one of the Sector slums," the gunslinger began surreptitiously. "Heard he's looking for recruits. Might you know who this man is?" Vincent knew exactly who he was. However, he had to first see if these women had any knowledge of the Don without creating any suspicions, should they be in collusion with the criminal. Little did Vincent realize there was someone close by who not only knew Corneo, but was also well versed in Cloud's situation.

[mudpuddlenl]

My headcanon of a VK hierarchy

(Thank you wikipedia list of Disney Villains. I will be listing canon VK's that apply where necessary)

Rank 1 (Reflections) Kids of the "13 reflections of evil" (the 13 villains that are used most often in Disney's marketing). Often these are gang leaders (or at least high up in the gangs). Messing with any of them is a really, really bad idea. You're going to end up dead, or, if you're lucky, severely wounded.

Evil Queen (Evie) Chernabog Queen of Hearts Captain Hook (Harry, CJ, Harriet) Maleficent (Mal) Cruella de Vil (Carlos) Ursula (Uma) Gaston (Junior, III, Gil) Jafar (Jay) Oogie Boogie Scar Hades (Mal again, Hadie) Dr. Facilier (Freddie, Celia)

While some with strong connections to these villains (such as Diego and Jade) will be elevated higher due to this, they won't be in rank 1. They're more likely to be somewhere in rank 3 or 4.

Rank 2 (Big-name VK's) Kids of villains that might not be part of the reflections of evil, but still have big name recognition. Think of a disney villain, which ones outside of the reflections of evil are likely to come to mind first? Yeah, those are in here.

Examples, but not conclusive: Claude Frollo (Claudine) Horned King Tremaine family (Dizzy, Anthony, unnamed cousins/siblings of these two) Madam Mim (Maddy) Mother Gothel (Ginny) Prince Hans Shere Khan Yzma (Yzla, Zevon) Shan Yu

Rank 3 (Small-name VK's) The villains that are in movies but that you're not likely to name if asked for a villain, or even have to check a list for in order to remember them. I'll be listing their movie with them.

Examples, but not conclusive: Amos Slade (Fox & The Hound) The Stabbingtons (Tangled) Edgar Balthazar (Aristocats) The Ringmaster (Dumbo) (Hermie)

I truly am not in the position to give more examples in this rank since it really depends on each individual person tbh, but you get what I mean.

Rank 4 (Protected) Sidekicks, family, gang members, kids; if they are under the protection of higher ranked VK's they go here. This is where Jace and Harry Badun, as well as Reza, would fall. Possibly the Smee kids, Diego, and Jade too, but those might be able to make it into rank 3.

Rank 4 might have a hierarchy within itself, but it's not as formal as the actual isle hierarchy. For most if not all kids on the isle, this is the highest rank that one can climb to; anything higher than rank 4 is unachievable.

Rank 5 and lower Honestly, these are harder to be specific about since we don't really have any examples. These kids aren't really VK's. Their parents were sent here for crimes, yes, but they're not villains the same way the above are. Crimes can range anywhere from minor offences to murder. There is likely a rank system between them too (which is why I listed it as rank 5 and lower) depending on the crime the parents committed, but ranks 4 and up don't often bother with them unless they're recruiting (in which case the ones joining go up to rank 4)

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: many worlds, portal fantasy edition

A typical portal fantasy follows a human from our world who steps through a portal into a magical land (think of narnia). But there are many fun variations of this trope! Sometimes it's the magical people who come to our world; sometimes we get to follow people who have returned from their adventures and are seeking for new meaning; sometimes our world isn't involved at all. As might be assumed, most portal fantasies are fantasy stories, but some lean more toward magical realism, others toward sci-fi. It's a fun spectrum!

I'm separating portal fantasies from alternate timelines/parallel worlds type stories (which will get their own rec post soon-ish). I also generally do not include stories where the character travels to fairyland/land of the dead/etc as those feel like a genre of their own to me, but the lines between them sometimes blur and this is, obviously, a subjective list.

(Titles marked with * are my personal favorites)

Other book rec posts:

Really cool fantasy worldbuilding, really cool sci-fi worldbuilding, dark sapphic romances, mermaid books, vampire books

For more detailed info on the books, continue under the cut.

The Magicians (Magicians trilogy) by Lev Grossman*

You may not have heard of this book, but you have probably heard of the scyfy series of the same name that crashed and burned a few years ago. This is the book it’s based on (pros: it doesn’t end in the same way; cons: it doesn’t feature the juggernaut ship of the show in any major way). For the uninitiated: features what is essentially a (secret) magic university for tormented geniuses. When he finds magic isn't enough to grant him happiness, main character Quentin goes digging into the truth surrounding his favorite childhood books searching for meaning, and finds out that the magical other world they describe might not be so fictional after all.

Stray (Touchstone trilogy) by Andrea K. Höst*

Young adult told through diary entries. Including this as a portal fantasy is a bit of a stretch, but essentially: Cassandra unkowingly walks through a wormhole and lands herself on another planet, where she has to survive on her own until she is rescued. Soon she finds herself embroiled in a war between creatures from dreamlike other dimensions and the people who saved her. Skirts the line between scifi and fantasy (it has psychic space ninjas!), but generally feels mostly like sci-fi. Absolutely fantastic worldbuilding.

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan*

Young adult. Kids who can walk between our world and a magical one get recruited into a magical school that trains them either to be fighters or sort-of diplomats. Our lead decides that fighting is stupid and that he’s going to peacefully solve every conflict ever, all while being the most delightfully obnoxious little brat possible and getting incolved in the most bisexual love triangle imaginable. Very good, funny, and heart-felt coming of age story.

NPCs (Spells, Swords, & Stealth series) by Drew Hayes*

This one only counts as a portal fantasy on a technicality and on the fact that I love it and this is my list. Follows a group of DnD players whose characters immediately die, forcing them to make new characters, and, parallel to their adventures, a group of NPCs from the fantasy world who find themselves forced to take the place of a party of recently deceased adventurers. The two parties do cross path on occasion, but there aren't actually any portals involved as all characters (mostly) stay in their respective world. A fun and light-hearted adventure that turns a lot of the expected tropes of the genre and of character archetypes on their heads.

The Time of the Dark (The Darwath series) by Barbara Hambly

1982 classic. Medieval history student Gil and biker Rudy are complete strangers, but when they get mixed up with a wizard from another world the two must work together to survive and get back home. Fairly traditional fantasy with its fair share of issues, but! It has cool swordswomen, creepy lovecraftian monsters and also mammoths!

The Twelve Kingdoms by Fuyumi Ono*

Young adult, light novel. Yoko Nakajima is a regular high school student, or at least she was one until a strange man showed up in her school, swore allegiance to her and whisked her away to another world. As the two get separated, Yoko is stuck on her own in a strange world, hunted by humans and demons alike as she travels in search of a way home. Absolute high point of isekai literature, with an incredible main character and really cool and unique worldbuilding (also available as an anime, however I have yet to watch it and can't speak to its quality just yet).

Peter Darling by Austin Chant*

Novella. An older Peter Pan returns to Neverland after years spent in our world, only to find that everything is different. Before he knows it, he finds himself working with his lifelong enemy, Captain Hook. Very gay and very trans, with interesting takes on toxic masculinity. Made my heart ache in the best of ways.

A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Young adult. A retelling of beauty and the beast, where 'beauty' is a girl brought in from our world to a fantastical one and the narrative focuses a lot on what actually happens to the kingdom when the royal family suddenly disappears, and whether it’s even possible to fall in love with someone you know is deliberately trying to seduce you to break a curse. This is part one of a trilogy, however I'm only really recommending the first book as the second did not work for me at all.

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials trilogy) by Philip Pullman

Young adult/middle grade, fantasy but has a lot of sci-fi aspects as well. Already well-known and for good reason, the His Dark Materials trilogy starts as what seems a pretty typical fantasy with some cool unique aspects (everyone has a soul-bound animal only they can speak to as their best friend!), and soon veers into a truly one of a kind story. It has magical portals, it has strange worlds with equally strange inhuman creatures, it has physics, it has god murder, it has gay angels, it has tragedy, and it’s very much worth your time.

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children series) by Seanan McGuire*

A tumblr favorite, the Wayward Children novellas feature a school open to children who have returned from adventures in other realms and now have trouble adapting back to regular life. Some installments are set in our world, others follow children as they have their otherworldly adventures. The main characters vary between books, but are generally pretty diverse with among others asexual, trans, intersexual and sapphic leads. Both funny and dark, it takes a closer look at the trauma many endure growing up different.

Otherside Picnic (Otherside Picnic series) by Iori Miyazawa

Sapphic light novel with a surreal and episodic horror vibe. Following the directions of an urban legend, university student Sorawo finds her way to a reality populated by horrifying creatures from ghost stories and modern urban legends (of which I'm sure you'll recognize many). Here she teams up with fellow explorer Toriko, both to both find out more about this strange world and to help Toriko find a missing loved one. Also available as a manga and (one season of) an anime.

Last Bus to Everland by Sophie Cameron

Young adult. Brody is dealing with a lot, but it all gets a little easier when he meets Nico, who shows him how to access Everland, a magical land where he feels less out of place. But when the doors to Everland start disappearing, Brody must choose which world is really home. I'd categorize this less as fantasy and more as coming of age with a fantasy slant. It's also very gay.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Surreal and fairy tale-esque, The Starless Sea is stories within a story, following graduate student Zachary as he finds a strange book which, in-between other tales, tells a story from his own childhood. Trying to find out how this came to be, Zachary gets involved with a pink-haired woman and a handsome man who are doing their utmost to protect a strange, otherworldly library available only through magical doors. It's a book hard to put in words, but which I once described as "romantic without being a romance while stile having a love story at it's core", and which can be summed up only as "an Experience". It's also quite gay!

The Memory Theater by Karin Tidbeck

Listen, there’s a whole bunch of Swedish portal fantasies I read growing up that I'm dying to include here, but I'm not because they’re not available in English. The Memory Theater however is available, and is very good. Two children who were stolen into an otherworldly realm that wants them dead fight return to earth, and are followed by one of their captors across universes. The story has the feel of a dark fairy tale, and their captors, while not fey, are very reminiscent of them.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow*

Historical young adult, more magical realism than fantasy. In the early 20th century, January is living under the care of her father's employer while he travels the world searching for valuables and secrets. But both her father and her caretaker are keeping something from her, something about her own family's history. When she one day stumbles upon a strange book, one that speaks of other worlds, she finally sets out to find the truth. However, there are those seeking to stop her and destroy the doors between worlds, no matter what.

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher*

Horror rather than fantasy. After having divorced, Kara moves to stay with her uncle and help him run his museum of curiosities, until one day she discovers a hole in the wall of his house. The hole leads to a strange bunker, and beyond that, a dark and dangerous world beyond her understanding. In the company of a friend, she goes to explore this world, but quickly comes to regret her decision to do so.

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood*

The sort of portal fantasy you get when all the worlds connected by portals are fantasy worlds, and none of them are ours. The portals themselves become simply a part of the worldbuilding that the characters use to travel between fascinating places, and it's all really cool. It follows Csorwe (lesbian orc assassin whom I love), who grew up in a cult, indoctrinated as a child sacrifice to a god. But on the day she was meant to die, she instead chose to follow a powerful wizard and train to become his loyal servant and sword. Aside from being an excellent fantasy, it's also a close look at the hard path of unlearning indoctrination and the search for love and validation where you'll never find it, and learning to live for yourself.

Odin's Child (the Raven Rings trilogy) by Siri Pettersen

Norwegian (vaguely Norse mythology inspired) young adult. Fifteen-year-old Hirka grew up thinking she simply lost her tail to a wolf attack, but one day she finds out she never had one: she's an Odin's child, a human, sent from another world and rumored to spread rot and ruin wherever she goes. To keep her secret safe, she goes on the run, but there are forces hunting for her, wanting to use her in their war. This reads mostly as a fairly typical epic fantasy, with the portal aspect not playing a major role until the second book.

The Barbed Coil by J.V. Jones

1997 classic. Tessa is a young woman with little going for her, until she stumbles upon a strange ring that transports her to a magical and dangerous other land. Here she meets Ravis, a mercenary who takes it upon himself to protect her, and discover her own special abilities, which she must use against an evil king whose mind has been corrupted and taken over by his crown, the Barbed Coil.

Skeen's Leap (Skeen trilogy) by Jo Clayton

1986 classic. While most portal stories are fantasy, this one has a distinct sci-fi flavour. Skeen is master thief wanted in a myriad solar systems, until her spaceship gets stolen and she's stranded on a backwater planet. Here she hears rumors of ruins leading to a strange other land. Hoping for treasure enough to get her off-planet, Skeen goes in search of this place, but finds herself stuck and unable to get back. This one has a unique, almost stream of consciousness prose that takes a while getting used to, but rewards you with a one of a kind experience.

Inkheart (Inkworld trilogy) by Cornelia Funke

German middle grade/young adult, in which the fantastical other worlds are those told of in books. Young Meggie's father has the ability to, when he reads, bring things and people out of the books, or put other people into said books. However, once having done so, he knows of no way to put anyone back where they belong. Now, years after he accidentally brought the terrible villain Capricorn and his henchmen out of their book, he and his daughter must evade them at all costs or be forced to bring further horrors out of the page and into the world.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows

A teenage girl accidentally follows a worldwalker from her world to a magical realm on the brink of civil war. I believe this on has both a major polyamorous relationship and ace/aro characters?

The Sleeping Dragon (Guardians of the Flame series) by Joel Rosenberg

1983 classic. A group of college dnd players find themselves transported to the magical realm they previously thought just a game.

The Wandering Inn by Pirateaba

Webnovel. After having been transported to a magical world, Erin decides to, rather than become a warrior or a mage, start running an inn.

Honorary mentions AKA these didn't really work for me but maybe you guys will like them: The Marked Girl by Lindsey Klingele, The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay, Child of a Hidden Sea by A.M. Dellamonica, Spellsinger by Alan Dean Foster, The Shattered Gates by Ginn Hale, The Awakening by Nora Roberts, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

[splatoonpolls]

SPLATOON OC TOURNEY ROUND 3 BATTLE 8

Tami by @wyrm-in-a-closet vs Nixie Gill by @salt-pile

BACKSTORY/PROPAGANDA

TAMI

An inkling born to ordinary parents who worked at Gone Fission power plant. However, a salmonid big run happened in the area, and because Grizzco didn't yet exist, it had to be abandoned, and Tami's parents were killed. Tami herself, who was also there, was badly injured and lost her right arm, was found by some salmonids, but because she was a young inkling the salmonids didn't know what she was and so instead of killing her took her home. She then spent almost her entire life growing up with the salmonids, and became a very skilled fighter, but also starting a band with a couple other salmonids. They make music that's like horrible to listen to and will overestimate you. Once she was 14, she joined the war on salmonids on the side of the salmonids. Over time Grizzco expands and poses a larger and larger threat to the salmonids, so Tami decides that she's going to go try and put a stop to it, because she's the only one who could make it to inkling civilation without being killed, although that doesn't change the fact she didn't know the language, culture, or anything. After spending several nights on the streets of splatsville, Tami is found by Tide, an octoling who's been living there for some time. Tide takes Tami under their wing, despite them knowing nothing about each other. Over the next few months Tide teachers Tami inkling language, has Tami participate in battles (where she fuckin rocks at it bc she's been literally trained for war), all while Tami searches for more info on Grizzco, but unfortunately nobody knows shit about it. Finally she happens across Cuttlefish and eventually falls into Alterna, where she has no idea what's going on until eventually wow Mr. Grizz is there. She fucking kills him and then just kinda leaves without really joining the squidbeak splatoon she just wanted to kill Mr grizz. Anyways then she and Tide probably go back to salmonid or something I haven't really figure this out. Sorry for the text wall

NIXIE GIL

New Agent 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. She grew up in a small harbor town an hour south of Inkopolis with her mom, her dad, and her older sister Coral. When she was younger, her dad sometimes would take her and Coral to salvaging expeditions and allow them to view what got unearthed, which led to Nixie becoming interested in salvaging as one of her hobbies (later doing this hobby with a Smallfry she took in a few months before moving to Splatsville, nicknamed Biscuit or Little Buddy) and a desire to learn the history of unearthed artifacts. Merely two weeks after moving to Splatsville with her sister and her sister’s friend, she was recruited as New Agent 3 of the NSS by former Cap’n Cuttlefish (much to her sister’s dismay). She takes her NSS missions very seriously, especially with all of the stories about how cool the current Captain was when he was still Agent 3. Outside of missions, she’s usually curious, thrill-seeking, and actively engaging in banter with friends and family.