#He also didn't know what a peninsula is

[pastellbg]

watching one of those house hunting shows where this guy is moving to a new country.

Wanna know what his reasoning is?

To help developing country's.

Wanna know what country he picked?

Japan.

[midnight1nk]

So, this week's episode...

[Spoilers below cut]

I'm absolutely terrified, it's not even funny. I can't even click it. But I have to... for the LOREEEEEEEEE... okay, let's-a go....

(The following is my live reaction:)

ay the TADC plug, of course

"Born to shit, Forced to wipe" - not smg3

wise words Three

also, the Ferris Wheel and rollercoaster thing is still there in the background (Ferris Wheel wedding, my beloved...)

I knew someone was going to bring up Meggy and her disappearance

LEGGY! MEGGY, WE'LL RESCUE YOU I PROMISE!!!

THANK YOU THREE for asking the right questions here

oh... not what I expected. at least the crew knows this is obviously Mr Puzzles

NAME DROP

OK, a LOT to digest here:

These are all the possible minigames that we might see in WOTFI. Well, at least all the attractions we could see...

a Mr Puzzles Chonk plush (in the bottom right)

a Tunnel of Love attraction... hmmmm.......

Huh, I didn't know this was by the coast of the Mushroom Kingdom. Or it could be an island/peninsula.

The what now, Leggy?

YEP I knew that once they found out, they would want to leave

...and of course, Mario wants to stay

Yeah, Luigi said it himself

but also, look at the Mr Puzzles cardboard cutout in the back, he's wearing Meggy's cowboy hat from Western Spaghetti

Alright, but before we go in, we gotta have a buddy system, guys

All these critiques are going to make Mr Puzzles lose himself even more than he already is

I think I saw someone posted about submitting a water gun game so congrats for getting in!

Leggy Plush!!

also spider-man plush... symbiote... venom... GOOP!4????

...Once Upon A Perfect SMG4?

[*points at Four and Mario*] The sillies

ok, but like, why is Three smiling like that while everyone else looks so disappointed?

They did the buddy system!

Bob: "Those dumbasses will see ANYTHING and get excited."

I feel seen and I don't like it.

I don't like this either. I already know this is a trap but like noooooo

Three just standing there like a dad watching over his kid

Someone else also submitted a mini-game involving a ducky fishing game

GOD DAYUM.... why did you have to pose like that, Three? You're not beating the allegations, huh.

Aw, Three really wanted to enjoy a carnival if Mr Puzzles wasn't involved (writers, write that down + carnival dates)

OK NOPE WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW

🫵 🏳️‍🌈⁉️

oh c'mon now, it's just plainly obvious. Not that it should be surprising, everyone's part of the skittle squad (tm)

STRONG WOMEN we love to see it

...that can't be a real thing... can it?

same Luigi same

YES PLEASE CAN WE?

sorry dude, they really locked in

also what the hell is that building in the back?

Luigi (or rather the SMG4 fandom): "See? I can handle this! I'm not afraid anymore! Do you hear me? I'm not afraid-" [*horror jumpscare*] [*scream*]

NOT EVEN MELONY'S GOD POWERS COULD HELP US, WE'RE FUCKED

NOOOOOO NOT KAREN AND SAIKO

THREE WE NEED TO LEAVE NOW

NOOOOOOOO THREEEEE I THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO BE THE LAST ONE TO MAKE IT OUT

[*sobbing*] he sent one last text to warn them :( he really does care

AND HE SENT IT TO FOUR [*head in hands*]

the contact names they have for each other.... (I'm not well)

WE GOTTA GO [*runs*] GET OUT GET OUT

Leggy... why did your face change like that?

WHAT WAS THAT CRYPTIC CAPTION?!

Mario, please don't sacrifice yourself... oh, thank god! They really are having me panicking for the smallest things

wait... OMG THEY SAW MY SUBMISSION! THEY SAW IT!

the mini-game challenge that I submitted:

Pop & Whirl: Everyone gets a bag of popcorn. The winner must keep all of their popped kernels in their bag, without dropping a single one... while being chased around the carnival by a collapsed Ferris Wheel (Professor Layton style)!

I DON'T CARE IF IT DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN IN WOTFI, I'LL TAKE IT. But if it does happen, I'll draw lawyer Meggy with a redesigned Ace Attorney-esque outfit (somehow)

please don't tell me the green pipe is also a trap...

...the exit door from TADC?

oh god, why does this remind me of the dark web?

and the eyes on the mushrooms... [*IGBP flashbacks*]

heh heh, funny mirrors... AH SHIT PUZZLES, DON'T JUMPSCARE ME LIKE THAT

actually, now that I think of it, Mr Puzzles hasn't revealed himself this whole time...

THE DIDNEY ENGINE ROOM?!

...holy shit

so was I right about us getting to see Mr Puzzles' "truest form" and the whole "Eye of Ra" thing?

are those his arms? and the circle things, it could be part of his cyborg texture but they also look like eyes.

the fog part is really interesting because they could've gone with any "spooky" color but they chose this. It's the creative vision, the one Didney had in this room.

This really reminds me of the goo from IGBP and Wren's wire simulation in Western Spaghetti, but also from this angle, a bit of Zero's "no legs" body design.

"His obsession becoming his identity" - Puzzles connected himself to the single star Didney had. You got it right, past Ink.

HUH?! YOU CAN'T END IT THERE

AND THEY GRAY-ED OUT OUTRO, NO MUSIC! IT'S ABOUT TO GO DOWN, GUYS

also congrats to Nikej1708241 for making it to the credits 🎉

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

That was a pretty solid episode ngl. Probably not as "plot twist-y"

(i know that's not a word) as the previous episode but my spaghetti gods, it delivered! Not Marty again, we may have to rethink this one.

Ok, I've made a list of all the attractions and mini-games there are in the carnival grounds in Puzzle Park:

Ferris Wheel

"Tender Tunnel" (Tunnel of Love attraction)

Merry-Go-Round carousel

Basketball arcade game

Hammer game

Bumper Cars

"House of Crazy" funhouse (also that fits Mr Puzzles somehow)

A spooky cart ride

Water gun game

Rocket ride

Arcade (just flat-out an arcade)

Clown Ball Game

(There's apparently a cafe???)

Ducky Pond fishing game

Pizza shop (....marty?)

It's probably not all of them, we would just have to wait and see, but if you submitted a mini-game that involves any of these, congrats, you likely got in!!!

I still very much enjoyed this episode and some of what I theorized could possibly come true. And some didn't, which is totally okay with me. I'll cherish the Ferris Wheel chase scene regardless :)

We still have to wait for a trailer or a special video in regards to WOTFI, which I will have to analyze and see what's to be expected. From the looks of it in this episode, it seems like it's up to SMG4 and Mario to rescue their friends one by one by completing the mini-games. The more people they rescue, the more help they can get to complete the games. And that includes saving Meggy at the end.

Now, personally, I don't want Mr Puzzles to die. Not yet. There is still a lot of potential that could go for him. A similar redemption arc just as Three went through. Puzzlevision 2. Goop!4. Marty. Anything could happen. Then again, he could die.

Now you might think he might not die because he has a plushie, but there's literally merch of Axol and Desti and they're dead. Puzzles isn't safe from this possibility.

Put in your final bets, my dear fellows, because nothing will ever be the same again...

[napoleonic-sexyman-tournament]

Horatio Hornblower:

a. “He is the wettest soggiest boat man who hates being on a boat and hates his life but is actually very good at being a boat man and fighting Frogs. He canonically invented the shower and has a lot of other boat men hose him down every day. He has so much sexual tension going on with Lieutenant William Bush.”

Arthur Wellesley:

"So, I saw that you had no propaganda for the Iron Duke himself and thought that should be corrected, because I cannot let this man go unloved.

He is the ultimate sexyman. I don't really get that title or the requirements but I do know this man and he is the ultimate in Regency-era sexiness.

Field Marshal Sir Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington, whose full list of titles merits its own Wikipedia page, he had so many (including Prince of Waterloo of the Kingdom of the Netherlands), was so well known for his debonairness that he was often called "the Beau" or Beau Wellesley.

Our dear Duke with his eyes of "a brilliant light blue," is quite the underdog made good. The fourth son of an Anglo-Irish aristocratic family, he was a bit of a loner as a child, whose star was eclipsed by the academic success of his older and younger brothers. Yet he had a remarkable talent for the violin, which as we know from Mrs. Jefferson is quite a good quality for a man to have. As a young man he was considered extremely good humored and drew "much attention" from female society. The Napiers of Celbridge thought he was a "saucy stripling" and he was also considered quite mischievous. Yet he also had a rich inner life, reading and contemplating the great philosophers of the day.

Yes, we know about his military victories in the Peninsula (the position of Field Marshal of the British Army and the accompanying baton were created for him) and his success at Waterloo, but he was also both romantic and a ladies' man. (I could go on about the military success but that's not really what this is about, is it?)

Want the romantic side? He fell in love with Kitty Pakenham while a lowly aide-de-camp in Dublin but, with no real position or prospects, was laughed away by her brother when he sought to marry her. In a fit of pique he destroyed his violin and turned firmly toward progressing his career. Over a decade later, after he had made something of himself in India, he learned she hadn't married, supposedly because she was still pining for him. Reader, he married her, despite thinking she'd grown ugly, and got two children from her in less than two years. I'm not kidding, this man was virile. They married in April of 1806, their first son was born in February, 1807, and their second son was born in January 1808. Although he wasn't sexual faithful to her, Wellington wore an amulet she gave him for over twenty years, and was still wearing it when he sat with her on her deathbed. When she was surprised he still wore it, he told her if she'd just bothered to check in the last twenty years, she'd have found it. Despite surviving her by twenty years, the Duke never remarried.

Now, please don't think badly of him for the lack of sexual fidelity. It was the Georgian era. Sexual fidelity was not a part of marriage in high society. Men didn't sleep only with their wives and some wives could be quite happy with that (for one, it's much easier not to have one pregnancy after another when your husband is sleeping with someone else). Not that women weren't also sleeping around. Which brings me to one of Wellington's more… interesting conquests: Lady Caroline Lamb, wife of William Lamb (the future Second Viscount Melbourne and Prime Minister). Why do I know that name, you ask? The OG pixie manic dream girl, Caro's much more notably known for her affair with Lord Byron. After that particular bit of nonsense, she was in Brussels with the rest of the English aristocracy during the 100 Days/post Waterloo. She and the Duke supposedly slept together and she took his cloak away as a souvenir.

Who else did the Duke liaise with? Well, there were the usual flings with actresses and singers, such as La Grassini. As previously noted in another post on this tumblr, he was noted as a stronger, better lover than Napoleon by another of their mutual lovers. Wellington also was a client of Harriette Wilson. He visited her when she was in Paris after the Duke of Beaufort bought her off, though this was before Beaufort stopped paying her, prompting her to publish her memoirs. She canvassed her old lovers, including Wellington, to see if they'd pay her not to be in them. Wellington send her a note in return saying "Publish and be Damned." Something about his succinct dismissal of her is just so hot.

Oh, want a bit more of Wellington being a bad boy? In 1829, while Prime Minister, he got into a duel that still is commemorated almost two hundred years later. King's College, London, was set up while Wellington was also advocating for Catholic Emancipation and this led to Lord Winchilsea publicly insulting Wellington's honor to the point that the Duke (who'd never dueled before or supported dueling generally) called him out. They went to Battersea Fields and settled the matter with pistols. Wellington won and Winchelsea apologized. King's College celebrates "Duel Day" every March.

Even better, want to read about Elizabeth Bennet and the Duke being witty and falling in love? Complete with scenes of the Duke showing he knows what to do with his cannon? Then let me recommend the third variation of An Ever Fixed Mark, A Dalliance with the Duke. I dare you not to vote for him for all eternity with that portrayal in your head."

[richiehugs]

Some of you might have been wondering what has happened to Giorgos and his updates.

On the one hand, I didn't have much free-time to organize. On the other hand, there was really nothing to give you an update about. But here is a little update with some more "successfull" screenshots.

So, he reached his peak of 95 kilos / 210 or so pounds in mid May. But, he was planning to do a trip to the monastery on the Athos Peninsula. He had the trip on the last days of May, walking for hours under the scarching Greek sun, with little food and no alcohol near. Looks like he rapidly lost 5 kilos / 10-12 pounds, reaching his "ideal" weight of 90 kilos / 200 pounds. The first four pictures are from early June, around this weight.

Then, he found himself a new job and passion - construction. That's right, he started to work at his father's housing company, building houses and apartements with his two hands. He also had to move to Athens, but he keeps visiting home back to his village on the Peloponnese. Pictures 5-6 are from this time, late June-early July. New environment, without mama's cooking, and the little time to eat made him lose another 5 kilos / 10 pounds, falling back to 85 kilos / 188-190 pounds. Then he vanished from socials (I thought he had a love affair, but he stayed single whatever happened).

The last four screens are rather recent (mid July). He seems to have accomodated to the new environment, seems to have figured things out, and I'm positive he got confident enough to "care about his body" some more. He is allegedly still 85 kilos, he looks kinda proud of his weight loss (he brags about him to anyone calling him fatty - 10 kilos in less than two month is still quite impressive - I'm afraid he gets too cocky about it and will keep up "dieting"), but he still won't give up on the belly.

To be honest, his ten kilo weight loss hardly shows. Of course, that belly would look a lot softer and a lot more like Giorgos, but he still has a lot of it. He has finally found himself a passion, and hopefully it's just a question of time till the late-night gyro-runs start to show. It's also the middle of the hottest summer ever recorded in Greece, and don't forget that he is a physical worker now - I actually find it surprising he didn't go lower than where he is now, and that he is still looking out of shape. Somehow his muscles don't seem to develop, maybe because of the inappropriate diet he is following.

And you know what this means? Instability. He has no balance. His body knows that it can't go lower and has to keep storing the amount of bodyfat he is having. And I'm counting on that as soon as summer is over, his hunger will grow (as people are bilogically installed to craving less energy during the summer and more in the winter). As we know him, he won't probably be able to hold himself back, especially during the holidays. You remember how he ballooned up to 95 kilos before Christmas? And he didn't even care.

Anyway, this might mean less updates until something interesting happens (e.g. no more constructions for a while / going back to a sedentary lifestyle, getting homemade meals, probably a girlfriend who can cook for him?). I still have some "material" to post if anyone is interested but it would take some time and patience to make it publishable.

[nordickies]

Eeeeee! I'm so glad you're back. I always end up down loading your drawings just so I can save them and be happy!

Also, please tell us more/draw poor sick kalmar union Noway if you'd like? No pressure, ofc, I just love historical hetalia stuff. <3

Heyy! Please, go ahead, I'm glad to hear my art makes you happy. And sure, I can share some ideas I have about Norway during that time! But I didn't know what to draw for this prompt, will you forgive me?

A little history lesson is probably in place. Norway was a mighty kingdom during the Middle Ages; having overseas territories and the mainland extending all the way to the Kola Peninsula and parts of modern-day Sweden. But by the 14th century, the Scandinavian royal families were extremely intermingled. After the Fairhair dynasty's male lineage died out in 1319, the throne of Norway passed to Magnus VII, who in the same year became elected as king of Sweden as well, merging the two kingdoms into a personal union briefly - until Magnus' sons inherited their separate kingdoms. Magnus' younger son, Haakon VI, inherited Norway as his realm and ended up marrying the Danish princess Margaret, who'd eventually unite all the Scandinavian kingdoms under one crown and form the Kalmar Union in 1397.

However, earlier in 1349, the Black Death arrived in Norway through trading ports and hit the country devastatingly, killing over 60% of the population. Notably, the plague hit all classes of society, even the nobility and clergy. As a result, many powerful Norwegian noble families died out, straining Norway's position among the European powers. But perhaps more devastatingly to the nobles, farmsteads, if not entire villages, around the kingdom died out as a result of the plague, weakening rent and tax revenue. All of this left the Norwegian monarchy weakened in terms of manpower, noble support, defense, and economic power.

Though Norwegians rebelled a few times against the Danish-favored policies during the Kalmar Union, the Norwegian population and the Council of State were still too weak to secede from it. Sweden left the union in 1521, but the Norwegians couldn't do the same, due to their military inferiority to Denmark at the time. During the reformation battles, King Christian III orchestrated an invasion of Norway in 1537 and incorporated the country as a puppet kingdom under Denmark.

"The diminished Norwegian nobility was not able to protect the political rights of Norway in the Kalmar Union and the military power was lost to Denmark who used mercenaries from Germany; the Norwegian merchant class lost their power of the Norwegian economy to the German merchants of the Hanseatic League who established themselves in Bergen; and the dead Norwegian officials were replaced by German and Danish officials appointed to administer Norway for Denmark; all of which has been described as the decline of Norway under the Danish dominance of the Kalmar Union." [x]

And on that note...

I think all of this historical context about the country could be reflected in Sigurd's (Norway) character. His horrible health condition could explain his role shifting in the family, which left him in Magnus' (Denmark) and Björn's (Sweden) shadow for centuries to come.

Due to his poor health, Sigurd could not attend meetings, which led to decisions being made without his presence. Also due to his health, many of his former roles and responsibilities were given to other people, cutting his purpose in the union. He also couldn't work a job to sustain himself, so he had to rely on other people to keep him afloat, which only worsened his situation and made him financially dependent on others. All of a sudden his attendance or opinion didn't matter because his opinion could be outvoted by others in (and out) of the union. He was probably also unaware of agreements and plans that were not formally discussed, giving him reason to believe he was lied to or purposely kept in the dark about things that also concerned him.

While Magnus had found his place among other Nations, maintaining relations and seemingly enjoying his position, Sigurd couldn't do the same. Being bedridden and weak made maintaining friendships beyond the household practically impossible. Crashing down from his peak, and not being able to meet the expectations he once was meeting, would certainly affect Sigurd's mindset and self-image negatively. He was embarrassed and hid, sheltering himself basically. While Sigurd and Björn had grievances certainly even back then, I feel like they could still relate to one another, if not through their circumstances then through perspectives, which made them extremely close. They both had a harder time adapting to change, at least when compared to Magnus.

[momolady]

2023 Year End Stats

Not to be stereotypical or anything, but for me at least, 2023 was an odd year. I bled for 6 months straight, dealt with the worst pain I still can't comprehend, had a hysterectomy, moved in with my partner, got some cats, dealt with a lot of stress, watched the world burn. Yeah, it's been pretty good to outweigh the bad.

But anyways! I've done the math and put together a list of my stories that performed the best this year. At least in terms of notes anyways. I'm also going to share my stories that didn't perform as well and hope they get the love they deserve.

Anyways, let's get on with the count down. Forty total stories have published on Tumblr this year. Sixty-six were published on Patreon. Top monsters were orcs (7), Vampire (3), Fae, Minotaur, Romm Monster, Lich (all 2).

Top Ten Stories:

10. Kahann the Naga

This one would probably be in my top ten favorites to write of the year. This dark, twisted romance between a lonely, isolated girl shipwrecked on an island with the dangerous and sexy Kahann struck the dark romance itch I've been wanting to scratch.

9. Keir the Orc

Comfy farm romance that features annoyances to lvoers. What else could you want? Orcs are always fun to write, I feel I could do it with my eyes closed, but thankfully I don't wanna do that.

8. Atharo the Lich

The pink lich, this one had imagery in it I couldn't get out of my head. the visions of this pink lich still huant me and I wish I could conjur such sstrong imagery still.

7. Asier the Drider

A simple premise we cann understand. Getting packages and ordering online is probably yhe msot fun we can have without leaving our homes. But what if your neighbor was annoyed by this? And what if that neighbor was a drider?

6. Auberon the Room Monster

The enchanted library. i think I've written more about the romance and mystery of bookstores an libraries more than anything. But this story was special, with lots of worldbuilding wrapped like a blanket around these characters. The room this monster stays in is the library, and who doesn't wanna spend time with that guy?

5. Marek the Vampire

This murky, dark, and swampy tale is one of those that stays with me. The idea of a different sort of vampire, one in the bogs and wetlands of a strange peninsula that gets flooded every year haunts me. The image of him is one of my absolute favorite creations and I hope I get to visit this peninsula village again.

4. Placide the Paralangua

This story marks the beginning and growth of my Charcourt universe. Liek Hearthway Hollow it's a town filled to the brim with straneg creatures, only it's the Paralangua, alligator type monsters who throw a festival every year to celebrate their history and the continued growth of Charcourt. Is it a cult? Maybe. There's a new five part tale of this area up on Patreon now.

3. Ben the Werewolf

Enmies to lovers, I think most people get on board with this trope. This tale of Hearthway Hollow delves into the relationship between two high school enemies who reconnect after years and manage to put aside their competitivness to find one another. The lead in thisstory is also Rowan's little sister.

2. Leraye the Demon

Demons are always fun. My demon characters have ways of weaving themselves in and out of the world we know, sometimes as proper members of society, often not. Leraye is one of those that visits our world as a full time member, seeing out the comforts of a Chinese bakery whose owners are a family with ties into the reality he avoids.

Florenz the Vampire Bat

This would for sure also be on my favorites of the year. This dark story wove together elements of fantasy, horror, and romance that I love to death. The lead is sophisticated and dashing, the lead is adventurous and excitable. The chemistry between the leads while writing this tale was so good.

The Ten Least Appreciated Stories

10. Juniper the Tiefling

I am deeply disappointed this didn't do as well as I expected. This story was based on characters me and my bff made for a one shot DND session. So this story was more personal to me than others. but more than that, I feel it had some of my best banter!

9. Rocco the Guard

Another personal tale based on ideas me and my friend came up with during a visit where we watched the Owl House together. I also greatly enjoyed the leading lady who was smart, spunky, and chaotic in the absolute best ways.

8. Ozzie the Werewolf & Tryfon the Naiad

It has a trans lead, it has polyamory, it was set in hearthway Hollow! I thought this story was serving up gold on a platter. But maybe people weren't in the mood for gold. The comedy in this is top notch, at least I thought.

7. Laertes the Fae

Another story where the dialogue I feel sparkles and pops with every interaction the characters had. This did only recently come out, so maybe it'll grow after this.

6. Ransom the Shapeshifter

Another personal story based around lore me and my bff created for our Stardew Valley characters. It also featured a nonbinary lead and monster, I thought people would be excited for this. I loved playing with the avant-garde sci-fi aspect and being a little weird. But maybe that's why people didn't like it too much lol

5. The Leshy

Another story that would be in my top ten for my personal favorites to write. I loved the complexity of the leading lady and crafting her has made her a personal favorite. The characters and world of this story will be one that stays with my thoughts as I think about the cozy, dark streets anfdthe moss covered steps of the buildings.

4. Jaqueline the Dullahan

This story has it all! Chocolate, Halloween, a sexy dullahan chef, and it's a lesbian romance. Maybe I don't have enough wlw readers but this story came from a ko-fi prompt I wrot and just grew into a full fledged story. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of this story and how it felt like a cozy fireplace with hot cocoa.

3. Beast the Symbiote

Beast is a character I have been wanting to get out into the world for years. She's such a complex villain character, and who doesn't love that. I feel like she is one of my coolest characters. Lucky Devil was also a character I had been dying to get out, she's been in my head since I watched Magi Madoka and she took form slowly over the years. She is in part based on me, and I want to do more with this lovely couple.

2. Fia the Selkie

I'm starting to see a pattern here. Male reader stories aren't ya'lls cup of tea? Too bad, I have some amazing male readers and commissioners I adore working for. Fia was this comforting warm blanket of a story. A struggling musician and the lovely Selkie he's come to be with. I really love this story, please check it out if you want some comfort.

1.Ria the Orc: an AU

I'm actually a wee bit pissed about this one. Another male reader, and Ria is a character I've come to absolutely love. This was written for a commissioner I've come to consider a friend, and writing for him has become an amazing experience. Ria and her beau have also become such real, loving characters in my head. This was an AU of the modern monsters Ria where she is in Obresh and participates in the Reaping. Who doesn't love Reaping stories? C'mon folks, give these ten stories the love they deserve!

Thank you all for an amazing year! Next year I will hopefully publish and you're going to see bigger and grander things from me, I owe that to all of you. Keep a look out for my Ozren novel hitting the shelf soon. Thank you so much and I hope I continue to write stories you love.

[anarchy-and-piglins]

After a mere half hour spent in the same room as these people, Philza has already been reminded of why he doesn't normally answer a summons.

The constant staring annoys him to no end. He supposes it's to be expected, what with his country's reputation for being a complete enigma. The Antarctic Empire is one of the lucky few nations that operates entirely self-sufficiently, producing all their own resources. They do not trade with other countries often. In fact, the mountain ranges that border the very south of their peninsula do not offer any convenient trading routes to begin with. And since that same treacherous terrain also cuts the empire off from the continent in such a way that passing through becomes a challenge in wilderness survival, they're mostly left to their devices. Some folks still believe Phil's nation is a myth, a story conjured up by fairytales.

So Phil coming all the way out here for Dante's attempt at diplomacy must be quite the sight. Most people will die without ever having seen the king of the Antarctic Empire, no wonder they have a hard time looking away.

That won't stop Phil from getting some satisfaction every time one of these pompous nobles cowers if he so much as flexes his wings and turns toward them. He's currently locked in a bit of a staring contest with a man across the room. Phil doesn't know if he's another royal or random noble, but he does know he can't stand the look on this fucking guy's face.

At one point the man smiles more broadly, as if pleased that Phil caught him staring. He bows his head a bit, with Phil half-heartedly returning the courtesy, tucking in his wings to keep them from flaring automatically with the gesture. However, this leaves Phil's elbow to bump into somebody trying to slide past him.

Phil didn't expect anybody to be there, the entire crowd had been giving him a pretty wide berth all evening. He's even more surprised when he sees it's a child, maybe ten or eleven years old. His fancy clothes and intricately braided pink hair with golden jewelry betray him as a prince.

"Sorry," Phil says. He reaches out to steady the boy, but the kid flinches and steps back at his attempted touch, pulling his sleeves up over his wrists. "I didn't see you there, are you okay?"

The boy looks up at him and instead of answering, his blue eyes widen a bit. "You're the emperor of the Antarctic Empire," he says. The statement is delivered in a deceptively neutral tone, especially for somebody of such a young age. Phil is used to more dramatic reactions.

"I am. Call me Phil. What's your name?" Phil smiles gently at the boy. He always had a soft spot for children.

Again, he doesn't receive an answer. Instead, the boy's gaze moves across him for a moment, pondering. He grins slightly, but it's a strange sort of expression. Almost private. As if nobody else is supposed to see. "You're shorter than I thought you'd be," the boy says. Before Phil can blink or respond, he's disappeared into the crowd.

Phil is very much left completely flabbergasted.

Curiosity ever the greatest motivator for him, Phil walks up to the man who was staring at him earlier. The guy pales three shades at seeing Phil approach him, maybe thinking his rude behavior is getting retribution after all. But Phil couldn't care less about this man anymore.

He wants to know who the boy is.

"The child I was just talking to, do you know who he is?" Phil asks, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.

"Who- Oh, he's nobody, sir." The way the man blunders and becomes overly formal brings Phil little pleasure. "Prince Techno. From the Blade family."

"From the Blade family? What is he doing so far away from home?"

"He's King Dante's ward." 

Phil glances over to where the man is looking, in the direction of Dante himself. Techno is standing next to the king, head bowed a bit and seeming pretty disgruntled to be there. But when Dante lays his hand almost delicately on the nape of Techno's neck, the boy flinches again and forces a neutral expression on his face.

"You know how the Blade family is," the man says grimly. "Ferocious beasts of war, all of them. It's a wonder Dante has managed to secure an allyship. They even got close enough bonds to leave their son in Dante's care."

Thinking about the summons, about how Dante was a nobody three years ago who since managed to overthrow several small countries by using superior weapons and strategies - those the likes of which only the Blade nation is known for - makes several things click into place. Allyship? It makes sense. A lot of sense.

Then what is the uncomfortable feeling that seems hooked into Phil's gut?

(Maybe it's because of the flinching. Or because of how Techno seems to move around like a ghost. Or because when he pulled up his sleeves, Phil was sure he saw the faded blue and purple of bruises on the boy's pale skin.

The Blade family runs their kingdom in a similar way to the Antarctic Empire. They don't make allies. Only enemies.)

"Are you staying for the peace conference, sir?" the man is brave enough to ask, now that Phil has broken the ice. It's probably a question for many of them. Despite Dante's ruthless way of overtaking other countries, Phil's empire isn't threatened by him. He's only here as a formality. He has no reason to stay, no stakes in this game.

Dante pulls his hand away and it's like Techno can finally breathe again. Phil's eyes meet his for a moment, then the boy looks away.

"I think I'll stick around to see how things unfold," Phil says pleasantly.

[808airsoftbros]

Missing 411 (Female Idols)

Author: This special chapter is also posted on my wattpad and decided to post it here too to help revive this dead Tumblr account. Also if you want to see more check out the Masterlist.

Y/N's POV

It's been ten years since that stormy night... Where everything went to hell... Awakened something that was never supposed to be in this world. What is it? We will never truly know and perhaps it's for the best.

Now you all must be asking what I'm talking about. I don't know much since I'm a foreign government agency from America to help with the Korean National Police Agency.

All these accounts and stories are based on reports filed by the KNPA, witnesses, and survivors of their encounters with this... thing.

I cannot disclose everything as this case is classified and under investigation by the Republic of Korea National Military and the National Intelligence Service.

It all began ten years ago on August 19, 2019, when a massive typhoon struck the Korean peninsula turning Seoul into a rubble mess than ever in history.

Everything was in total devastation, small businesses, and homes were destroyed, and families pretty much lost everything so much so that even K-pop idols began lending a hand, and those who were on tour or elsewhere donated money.

I will start with the first case... The unsolved case of the disappearance of Jennie Kim and Jeon Jungkook...

~

Flashback

Date: August 21, 2019 Location: Seoul, South Korea

Jisoo's POV

It's been two days since the massive typhoon struck the city of Seoul, I was in the safety of the dorm when it struck and thankfully nothing was damaged or lost but the same cannot be said for the unlucky ones.

Some were caught in a bad time and the street vendor's property has been damaged beyond repair including those I always visit.

"I can't believe mother nature is capable of such devastation..." I muttered looking at the rubble of fallen trees, flipped cars, and broken street lamps.

"Well, that's nature for you, come on, those people need all the help they can get," Chaeyoung replied and I nodded.

Walking around the streets, determined to help those in need as much as possible, other idols have joined us in our efforts helping where they can, and offering assistance to the rescue operatives.

The streets were flooded in some areas, especially the underground parking lots, the sewer systems were overflowed and clogged causing the sewages to flood the streets.

Everyone worked hard to guide the survivors to shelter camps to tend to the wounded and sick. My arms and legs ached like hell but if it's for the people, I must keep going.

"Jake said this is all we can do for now until firefighters and Coast Guard crews clear up the debris in the heavily impacted parts, I'd say we take a break," I explained to the girls and they nodded.

As we sat down under the shelter camp, we saw BTS covered in mud and sweat approaching, they all looked equally exhausted and worn out.

"Ah, I see you boys managed to make it, I thought you all were on a tour," I greeted and Namjoon chuckled.

"Hey, this city is our home, we can't just simply watch by as the people suffer. We lend our hand wherever we can," Namjoon replied.

"Right, there are so many children lost from their parents, I heard some of them didn't make it out," Jennie mentioned and he sighed.

"Real shame, I pity those poor souls, nobody could've expected a typhoon like this, throughout my years, I have never seen anything like this," Jungkook commented.

As the boys joined us under the tent, Taehyung was kind enough to give us water to quench our thirst, and I couldn't feel more relief as I sipped down the water.

Suddenly, Jungkok and Jennie stood up but before they could walk away from the tent I stopped them.

"Hey, where are you two going?" I asked curiously.

"I overheard there are some cabins in the woods, possible someone could've been sheltering there during the storm and will see if we can help or not," Jungkook answered and I nodded.

"Alright, be safe out there," I warned them and they nodded.

"Don't worry Jichu, we're always careful~," Jennie assured and walked away with him.

Though I had a bad feeling about it, I shrugged it off as I didn't have much time to think about it as the fire chief called us over requesting our assistance with the water pumps.

In the next several hours as the sun was starting to set and dusk was approaching, however, Jennie and Jungkook had yet to return.

"Hey, you heard from Kookie any chance?" I asked Jin and he shrugged.

"No idea, no call on the radio or anything, I was about to ask you," Jin answered unsurely and I was growing concerned.

Deciding to investigate the cabins as a group, we went to their last known location which is the cabins in the woods, we kept our guard up for any wild animals that may loom in the area, and as we reached the cabins, I felt dread as the cabins were dead quiet.

Looking around, there was no sign of any wild animals or birds in the trees anywhere and the area wasn't as damaged as the rest of the forest.

"I don't like the looks of this..." Suga commented.

"Yeah, it's too quiet for my liking, I feel like something is gonna pounce on us at any second," Hoseok replied.

"Let's make this fast and find those two before it gets dark," Namjoon said and we agreed.

Immediately, we began searching the cabins and the surrounding nature but as time went on, we couldn't find a single trace of them anywhere or signs of life.

I was now growing even more worried as they somehow disappeared like they never existed... Until...

"Hey, I think I found something!" Lisa called out and we went up to her.

"What is it?" I asked.

Lisa showed us Jennie's phone and wallet along with Jungkook's wallet containing his bank cards and IDs inside one of the bedrooms in the cabin.

"Is there anything else?" I asked and she shook her head.

"Nope, not any sign of footprints or traces, it's like they vanished like a ghost," She sighed and looked at the time it was getting dark.

"Will report this to the police when we get back, for now, there's nothing more we can do for them until morning, it's too dangerous to search at night," Namjoon explained and I felt devastated.

"W-We can't just abandon them, they're like family to us," I begged and he shook his head.

"I understand how you feel, Jisoo, and I feel the same way for Kookie but will be no good to anyone if we're attacked by predators," He replied in a sympathetic tone.

Reluctantly agreeing, I felt shameful and guilty as I felt like I had to abandon Jennie as she could be seriously injured or God knows what I knew Namjoon was right but it was my fault for letting them go in the first place.

"I should've stopped them..." I muttered to myself as we left the cabins.

~

Present

Y/N's POV

Since then, the group went to the nearby police station which was still intact, and reported a missing person case, a search was later held the next morning but despite their best efforts, no traces were ever found besides their wallets and Jennie's phone.

We couldn't turn it on as the screen was cracked and it was damaged but we did manage to extract the data but found nothing out of the ordinary.

The search went on for some time until...

~

Date: August 30, 2019 Location: Seoul, South Korea

Y/N's POV

Arriving in Korea at the airport, I was greeted by one of the agents of the NIS and he drove me over to the police station in Seoul.

"So, I was told I would be briefed on this investigation, what do we have?" I asked.

"Well, two idols vanished without a trace just a week ago when they were helping clean up the city after the typhoon hit, they went up to the cabin area in the forest but never returned and the group decided to investigate themselves to find nothing but few of their belongings," The agent explained and I nodded writing them down in my notepad.

"I see, what about the search party? Any news?" I asked and he nodded.

"After several days of searching, we did find their remains... It's quite a grizzly and disturbing sight, to say the least, and it's hard to describe it so it's better if you look at them yourself," He answered.

The rest of the drive was silent as we went into Seoul giving me the chance to look around at the devastation the typhoon had caused and it was surreal than the pictures on the news.

Once we finally made it to the station, I walked through the backdoor leading downstairs to the evidence lab, and I was led into the forensics lab.

One of the experts bowed before leading me into the lab, laying on the operation table were the bodies of Jeon Jungkook and Jennie Kim and my eyes widened as it looked like their souls were sucked out of them.

They were skinny to the bone, there was no blood within them, and they looked almost skeletal making this the most disturbing case I've ever worked in.

"What the hell happened to them...?" I asked shocked at the sight.

"We're not sure, we ran all the tests in the book but found nothing out of the ordinary or pointers of how they died, no wounds, scratches, nothing, just their souls sucked out dry," The expert explained grimly.

~

Meanwhile...

Jisoo's POV

I couldn't sleep well ever since Jennie's disappearance, we always missed her and it didn't help that the police already found her dead body not far from the cabins along with Jungkook.

YG and BigHit sent condolences letters to their families and the funerals were held as soon as the rubbles were cleared from parts of the city.

Their remains were cremated to ashes with Jennie to be sent home to New Zealand in her hometown and Jungkook to the family cemetery.

"O comforting One, compassionate One be with us all when we suffer loss and ache with the pain of grieving. Give us a glimpse of the way it will be when love will never be taken away, when life itself will not be diminished when all that we hold most precious will live and remain with us forever. Amen." The priest said his prayer as the urn of the ashes of Jungkook was slowly lowered into the hole dug before his gravestone.

The funeral was small only consisting of myself, Lisa, and Chaeyoung, along with BTS and Twice who had just returned from their tour, and of course Jungkook's family.

To this day, I still feel guilty as I could've stopped this all from happening, now two idols were lost to the Heavens, and everyone grieved their deaths.

Jin who would always boast about being flirty and ladies man was now all silent, I can tell the loss of what he considered a brother deeply affected him.

"T-Thank you for coming, Jihyo, I didn't think you'd show up," I thanked her and she nodded.

"Hey, this is more important than our idol lives, I knew them both and they were quite exceptional and talented individuals, it's a shame they went out like this," Jihyo replied and I sighed.

"Are you okay?" She asked conerningly.

"No, not really, I could've prevented this from happening, Jennie and Jungkook would still be alive if I hadn't stopped them from going to the woods alone... I'm such an idiot..." I grimly answered and shed a tear as the guilt became too much to bear.

Instead of an angry reaction, as I expected, Jihyo gave me a sympathetic look and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"It's not your fault, my dear, none of us expected anything like this would happen," She assured and I sighed.

"Speaking of which, they never disclosed their cause of death nobody knows what happened to them, they found no wounds or indication of how they died considering they were young and healthy at the time," I mentioned.

"Well, all we can do is leave it to the authorities to handle this, I am confident they will find a trail eventually and we can soon get to the bottom of this and hope Jennie and Jungkook will be the last victims of this mess," She explained and I nodded knowing she was right.

After the funeral was finished, we all left for our vehicles, our driver picked us up and drove us back to the YG building as we needed to discuss some things about our upcoming comeback.

We headed to the top floor of the building where YG's office was located and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" He called out and we opened the door.

"Please have a seat you three, we have urgent matters to discuss," He instructed and we sat down in front of him and he sighed.

"As you all may know, Jennie was found dead, now not only has this heavily saddened the Blinks and fans around the world, but it also hurts our business as our comeback is scheduled to release soon, and without Jennie to finish her lines, we might have to cancel it and start from scratch without her or one of you will have to take her place," He explained.

"Sir, are you going to find a trainee to debut and replace her...?" Chaeyoung asked and he shook his head.

"Not anytime soon, none of the trainees so far have the skills or talent or experience like hers to substitute her absence and this will surely tank the reviews and our income, that is why I'm asking you all what you wish to do at this time," YG explained and we pondered.

As we all discuss among ourselves how we're going to finish this comeback or if will just cancel it entirely, I cannot help but feel like I'm being watched, and when I glanced out the window my eyes widened as I saw... Jennie standing on a platform...

She was unrecognizable, her body was skinny to the bone, her eyes were white and her skin was pale like she was a ghost, and was staring directly at me.

"Jichu...? Are you okay?" Lisa asked waving her hand across my face snapping me out of my trance.

"H-Huh?" I stammered as I regained my senses and when I looked out the window all I saw was the cleaner wiping down the windows.

"Is there a problem, Miss Jisoo?" YG asked.

"N-No, sir, I'm fine... Just tired is all..." I nervously replied and he nodded.

"Alright, how about this? I'll leave you all to rest for the day, and by tomorrow you all can come into my office with your final decision, is that okay with you all?" YG asked and we nodded.

As we are dismissed from leaving the YG entertainment building, we head over to the dormitory to gather our thoughts and hopefully my sanity as I feel nothing but dread.

There is much pressure added to us now that Jennie is gone and Rose and Lisa were thinking about splitting the extra work evenly but that will be difficult as fans will feel disappointed about the comeback without her.

That night, my sleep was anything but peaceful, I woke up in a grassy land, and there in front of me was Jennie wearing a white dress and Jungkook wearing a black tuxedo. They were both warmly smiling as if nothing ever happened.

"K-Kookie? Jen? What are you two doing here?" I nervously asked.

"Hello, Jichu... We are waiting for you..." Jungkook spoke but his voice sounded off.

"We are waiting for you Jichu, join us... And you will be free of guilt..." Jennie spoke up.

Without warning, I woke up panting out of breath, I was covered in sweat trying to figure out what I just dreamt of but I didn't get a chance when I heard strange crackling noises like bones cracking.

I looked around, my stomach dropped seeing what appeared to be Jennie in that same white dress walking disfigured to the front entrance.

"J-Jennie... Is that you?" I softly called out as I got out of bed.

Quickly I got dressed in casual attire grabbed a black mask so nobody knows my identity and followed Jennie out of the dorm quietly without waking up Lisa and Chaeyoung.

I followed Jennie around the city which was strangely quiet and desolated as people are superstitious about walking at night, but I can't help wondering why Jennie was walking so awkwardly like some of her bones are broken or worn.

Eventually, she led me to what appeared to be an abandoned mine long forgotten to time.

"Why the hell is she going to a mine...?" I asked myself as I watched her from the distance in the bushes.

All of a sudden, the entrance of the mineshaft was glowing crimson red yet Jennie continued walking but she stopped right at the entrance and came out of what seemed to be what I describe as the gate to hell.

Coming out of the entrance was Jungkook in that same black tuxedo from my dream but his eyes were anything but normal as it was all white, he reached out his hand and Jennie took it before walking together through the mineshaft entrance.

"Dear Lord you are our shepherd and defender please protect me from all evil..." I prayed as I decided it was time to leave.

I continued repeating the prayer all the way back to the city and I saw some planks on the ground and decided to seal off the entrance to the best of my ability.

After the work was done, I ran the hell out of the forest as fast as I could until I reached the safety of the city and the dorm.

What I witness is just something I cannot explain nor could anyone and I do not want to go near that God forsaken mine ever again.

~

Present

Y/N's POV

And that is the end of the story of what the people and the authorities know... However, what Jisoo said in the interview isn't exactly clear and straight-up bullocks to most.

The military dispatched a company of soldiers to investigate the mine and sealed off the area with electric fences and barbed wire to keep everyone out... Or something in.

I don't know what the military is doing at those mineshafts to this day as the reports are all classified and they want nobody going in there.

Jennie and Jungkook were declared dead after their bodies were found but idols do report seeing them at night or in their dreams similar to Jisoo.

Sadly... Those two would not be the only missing victims...

[mugiwara-rosewolf]

Good morning or good evening ! (I don't really know what time it is at your house) how are you? It's been so long 🥺

I loved the first part with sabo (you take your time to write the second part, I'm not here to pressure you or anything, just breathe)

I would just like a headcanons or scenario with the monster trio (especially Sanji-kun of love) where they discover and their reactions when female reader tells them that she is the daughter of a yonko...... Shanks, she is shanks daughter! (I know Luffy will be happy since he likes Shanks) but Zoro and Sanji don't know him! At least. Not personally. And I would like to know their reactions to the three of them. Thank you in advance if you accept 🥺

Hello my dear!

Thank you so much for your patience with the Sabo piece. It makes me so happy to hear you enjoyed the first part. I am about 1/2-way done with part three as we speak, but I want to get that ending *just* right, so it's gonna take a bit longer to finish & publish.

(And if you're interested, I could also do an interlude about Ace and Luffy's POV on that particular request; just DM and let me know ;)

Now, without further ado, I hope you enjoy these lovely reaction headcannons/scenarios - Enjoy! :)

***

What's in a Yonko-?

Monster Trio x Red-Hair F! Reader

Warnings: Slight!AU, mild-to-average swearing. The reader has a vague backstory.

Prologue:

You didn't know it then, but part of the reason Shanks stopped in the East Blue all those years ago was to check on you and your mother.

Unfortunately, your mother was not there to greet him - just you and a rambunctious monkey of a boy who proceeded to be your anchor in the storm.

Shanks could not be more grateful that his little girl had found a family there at Party's Bar. But the guilt of leaving you alone...of not being there when you lost your mother...the burden laid heavily on his chest, and he couldn't bring himself to tell you the truth.

Little did our red-haired captain know, but you still had fleeting memories of him. Memories of your father are like shards of glass in the back of your mind, waiting to catch the light. Unfortunately, those little shards of memory would not find the light for some time yet.

More than ten years after Shanks' 'vacation' in Fuschia Village - two years after Sabaody and Marineford and the shattered hearts that came after - you were sailing back to the Archipelago on your own.

It was at the request of your beloved captain that you'd waited this long. If you'd had it your way, you would have carved a path through hell to find him again by the end of those first 3 days. But once you read those headlines and saw Luffy's mourning face on that paper's front page, you couldn't even pick yourself up off the floor.

The sun had nearly set when you came across an island in the distance. With your newly-tuned Haki, you were able to notice a grassy outcropping. Jutting out in a sharp peninsula, you could see two clearly marked monuments at the point of those cliffs, enraptured by fresh flowers. The first monument was dressed in a great white coat like a scarecrow flapping in the wind. Fluttering from the second monument...was a bright orange relic you thought you'd never see again.

Without a second thought, you set course for that island. Barely bothering to moor your boat, you charged up that beach and scrambled for the cliffs as quickly as possible. Your rational mind protested the rush, but your heart was never one to listen. Ace was a part of your heart, just as he was a part of Luffy's. He was your friend, your partner in protecting his troublesome brother from danger. A shoulder to lean on after the death of Sabo.

First Sabo, now Ace...Were you and Luffy truly destined to be alone in the world?

No. You still had your crew. That's what you were going home to. But you had to see this through first. You had to say goodbye to the first family you'd found--one last time.

When you reached the precipice of that cliff, you expected to be alone. But no. What you saw instead had your feet screeching to a halt, startled-stiff in place with a shock you hadn't known since -since Sabo's death, Ace's death, your mother's death...

It was him.

As the sun fell into the sea, it painted the sky with vivid, vibrant watercolours like a bleeding wound across the sky. Crimson bleeding into amber and gold as it rippled with flashes of white on the tide. Silhouetted by all this light - was a familiar black coat.

The coat would have needed to be more on its own, however. The strange figure sitting in front of these memorials, sipping a bottle of sake with the breeze - you might not have known him if not for just that one shard of light. One last ray of sunlight caught crimson hair and set it ablaze.

Fire. Fire. Fire.

Suddenly, it was as if the whole world caught fire behind your eyes:

A pair of children, embers in the wind, slipping on wet sand, laughing at the waves roaring. ‘Hey, wait up!’ Luffy.

A blurry silhouette behind a crackling curtain of flames, a burning shove, a grating scream; ‘Don’t wait, GO!’ Ace.

A last whispered wish shared between a mother and daughter's glassy eyes: 'Set out to sea, my love. You're father's waiting for you...'

It's only then that the man seems to register your presence. His posture straightens, and he turns to look at you, brows furrowed. It appears to be a ready snarl. But at the sight of you, his threatening words falter.

"-Y/N?"

A man turns in the doorway, a smiling crescent moon; ‘Wait for me?’ The sun lights his hair on fire.

Fire. Fire. 

Father.

"Shanks-" the word is a gasp as if the breath had been kicked from your lungs.

"Wait, what are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to be -?"

"It's you."

LUFFY

The moment the Red-Haired Pirates dropped you off at Sabaody, you fucking bolted for Shakky's Bar. Beckman already had the drop that Rayleigh would have brought him there first. 'Him', in this case, being Luffy. -And there was no way you would go another second without telling your best friend the good news.

"Luffy-!"

As it turned out, you were the last to arrive. The rest of the crew was gathered together, and all turned to stare at you as soon as you arrived. When the others clocked your presence, many rose from their seats, eager for a reunion embrace, but you forestalled them for the moment.

"Wait, guys, I swear this is important - Luffy-!"

"Y/N-mph?"

You found him chowing down on a ham leg the size of Brooke's afro. His eyes lit up the moment he saw you. Literally bouncing out of his bar stool to coil around you in a rubbery embrace.

"Y/N~! You're back! What took you so long~? I wanna go exploring-!"

"Exploring can wait, Lu-" You struggled to grapple his rubbery cheek away from smothering yours. "Luffy, listen, I found him-"

"Huh? Found who?" Luffy's neck retracted at an awkwardly impossible angle - something possible only with a creature like Luffy. He must've caught something about the light in your (e/c) gaze - cause suddenly, his own eyes widened.

"Yeah, him." You affirmed with a nod of your head. "And you'll never guess who it is-"

"Who? Who, who, who, tellme-tellme-tellme--"

You responded by simply flicking the straw hat off the brim of his head. "Who was the last one to wear this hat? Do you remember?"

For the first time in perhaps the entire time you'd known him - Monkey D. Luffy was perfectly still. Silent. The shock absorbed inside his rubber body instead of bouncing off like everything else did. You held your breath, observing him for a reaction.

Mere moments later, everything about him lit up like fireworks. Luffy gasped aloud, eyes sparkling. "Really-?!"

You nodded, grinning from ear to ear. "You'd better believe it..."

Luffy snapped out of your arms, whooping, cheering, and leaping into the air. All the other Strawhats around them glanced at one another, confused as to what was happening between their captain and Quartermaster. But, as always, Luffy's enthusiasm was contagious. When the Straw Hat captain leapt back into his best friend's arms, babbling incoherent excitement with those overflowing starbursts in his eyes, you and the crew couldn't help but celebrate with him. By all rights, your dream was accomplished. You'd found your family - your father and crew, your nakama - out there on the sea.

"YAHOO~! This is the coolest day ever~! We've gotta celebrate!"

Zoro approaches you after the initial reveal/celebration at Shakky's Bar, which will likely be sometime on the Sunny (after Fishman Island...?). Don't get him wrong, he'll take any chance to eat, drink and be merry - but he was still confused AF about what went down.

From his perspective, you came bursting through the doors - after not seeing anyone in that room for the better half of two years - and made a B-line for their captain. During this time, you were attacked in one of Luffy's infamous boa-constrictor hugs, only to exchange a few words, flick the tip of Luffy's straw hat--and suddenly, their captain was absolutely exploding with happiness.

Which, again, is not in and of itself a bad thing. Especially after the shit their captain had to go through these past two years, Zoro firmly of the belief that Luffy deserved any and all happiness he could get. But the point still stood. He wanted to know why. What the big deal was. Yes, usually, he kept his nose out of other people's business. But this was you. Even after all this time, to a certain extent, he found you to be more mysterious than Robin was back in her 'Miss All-Sunday' days. Nami just claimed that he was hopeless with women. And damn that witch, but maybe she was right...

Still, Zoro was no chicken. And if he had questions, he would get his answers, no matter what.

"Oi! Y/N."

"Hm?" You glance over at him from your place at the railing. The sea breeze toying with your (h/c) hair in a way that would not have been half as distracting as it was. "Oh, Zoro! There you are-! I've been meaning to tell you that you were awesome back there. By the way, what happened to your-"

"Not important." Zoro breezed past your words before you finished your question. Or, more accurately, before you could tell, his skin was far too warm talking to you. "What was that back there? At the old hag's bar? What did you tell Luffy that he was so excited about?"

"O-oh," Now he wasn't the only one with redness in his face. He took a strange satisfaction in that thought. You rubbed at the back of your neck with that sheepish smile you sometimes got when you were embarrassed about something. Zoro bit back the pit-deep urge to cut his teeth on it. "I, uh, well - I was just telling Luffy I found'em..."

"Found them?" Zoro's brow furrowed. His lonely eye narrow and sharp, his lips rolling into a firm line at the potential prospects. "...Found who?"

"My family."

Zoro blinked. He didn't know why he stopped breathing.

"I-I mean, my birth family, not just-" You motioned generally to the Sunny, including all the crew scattered about above and below decks, doing their own thing.

"Oh." Zoro didn't know what else to say. He knew your dream had something to do with your deceased mother. Some sort of promise, kind of like what he made to Kuina. But as an orphan himself, who'd had no prior stake in what a birth family was like...he supposed some of the gravity of your...goal? Your promise? Your dream being fulfilled was innately lost on him. "And...who's that, exactly?"

At that, you couldn't help but smile: "Red-Haired Shanks. Yonkou of the Sea."

All at once, every one of Mihawk's dry and pouting complaints about his 'long-lost eternal rival' came rushing back to him. Wine-drunk fireside painting the picture of his once fearsome opponent now washed up with a bottle somewhere, hardly half the man he used to be. It wasn't until Perona finally did some snooping in Mihawks personal effects that they found out the name of the gothic-dramatic swordsman's 'eternal rival'. --And then got a look at his bounty.

Zoro's mind blanked and scrambled like white noise on a Den-Den Mushi. "You've gotta be shitting me..."

It took some convincing for Zorro to believe that, YES, you were indeed serious. This wasn't just some long-con prank. That 'armless washup' he'd been lectured about by 'some vampire' was indeed your father by blood. And yes, he really was all that.

After all that explanation and hassle, you only wanted to soothe your oncoming headache with a nice cup of tea in the galley. The evening was starting to fall on the horizon as you stepped through the swinging doors. -Only to find a sight you hadn't known you'd missed as much as you had until it was right there before your eyes.

Sanji....

The one person you'd missed almost as much in your travels as you'd missed Zoro and Luffy. Missing Ace as a given. You'd given him as a part of your life, almost as close to your heart as Luffy's. The three of you had grown up together, after all. After Shanks' visit to Fuschia Village, Luffy, Ace and Sabo were the closest you could find to a tight-knit family. -Then Sabo died. Then Ace went off on his big adventure at seventeen. A few years left with Luffy, and then it was your turn.

That was how you'd found your way to the Baratie. Shipwrecked by a whirlpool, you'd escaped in a barrel and washed up beside the floating restaurant. Young and more malnourished than you'd thought you were, you were able to skate under the radar and pretend to be a boy. It was the only way Chef Zeff would hire you. The only way you could either a) save up for a new 'ship' or b) hedge your bets in hopes Luffy would be lured in by the rumour of food and come to find you. --And, of course, you should've known Plan B was the one that would come through in the end. Luffy was nothing if not reliable in his own way.

Between your shipwreck and Luffy's bombastic arrival on the Baratie, the one and perhaps closest friend you'd made among the cooking staff -much to their surprise - was the owners 'son'. The tempermental sous chef Sanji. The remaining fighting cooks didn't know this then, nor would they swallow their pride unless necessary to learn. But from your experience, neither would he, as long as you did not approach then-teenaged Sanji with hyper-masculine abrasiveness.

Sanji was kind.

And now...now he was a man. Parted his hair to the other side from what you were used to - with stubble and a goatee. You could hardly believe your eyes when you first saw the change. Years had now passed since you two first met. Sanji had long since discovered your true identity as a woman-by-birth. And for a while there, your entire dynamic was completely unrecognizable. You weren't sure where you stood with him for a while there. And now...after over two years apart...it felt like you were stepping out on thin ice all over again. Afraid to take another step into the galley if the floorboards crack beneath your feet and you'd fall through to the bottom of the ocean.

Fortunately - or unfortunately - for you, Sanji spotted you before you could impulsively decide to retreat. The moment he did - his eyes lit up like the reflection of sunlight on the ocean. You were anchored to the spot when you caught that light. Your heart squeezed. There was no escaping him now...

"Y/N-chan~!" Sanji exclaimed, pirouetting mid-sautee to come and greet you where you stood. "How honoured I am that you would come to visit me, mon cherie~" He crooned, his heart practically throbbing in his eyes. "Tell me, what can I do for you, my dear? A bite to eat? A spot of tea, perhaps? Anything my darling Y/n-chan desires-"

"Sanji..." You sighed, hanging your head. Even knowing his theatrics was a part of expressing his love and care - didn't stop the embarrassed blush from flushing across your face whenever that intense spotlight was focused on you. But instead of protesting, you simply caved. "You know me so well..."

To your surprise, he set an already-prepared cup and saucer at one of the barstools along the galley island. You blinked. Catching your bewildered gaze, Sanji simply huffed out a knowing smile.

"Noticed you getting annoyed with the dense mosshead out there-" He said, motioning out the galley window with his chin. "Figured you might need to smooth over what a headache that bastard is-"

"Ey," You scolded, wagging a finger at him even as your lips threatened to twitch into a smile at his petty quips. "Be nice...."

Sanji scoffed. "Yea, yea..." You caught the curious (dare you say potentially jealous-?) glint in his eyes - practically predicting the question before it could even leave his lips. "So," Sanji cleared his throat, straightening his posture as if he wasn't awkward as fuck prodding into someone else's business. "...what were you do talking about anyway?"

You couldn't help but snort. This boy...you chuckled to yourself, with almost sickening levels of affection hidden by the voice inside your head. "Oh, he was wondering about what Luffy was so happy about, when I met up with y'all at Shakky's Bar."

"Oh~?" Sanji lit a cigarette. He was really bad at hiding the fact that he was curious. -If he was even trying to be discrete in the first place...

Anothe soft chuckle under your breath. "You remember that night in Water Seven? When we both figured out we were holding onto promises to our mothers-?"

Sanji stilled. His back now turned to you, the pans before him continued to sizzle at the stove -but for a moment it semed as if the tass before im were forgotten. His mind thrown back into memory until he had no choice but to look back and nod. "Yea..."

"Well..." You stirred a bit of milk and sugar in your tea, as you always did.

When you first revealed your identity, Sanji had tried to do all those little things for you. That is, until you admitted to liking the clouds that would plume when you did it yourself. When at long last you met his gaze - the rising breath in your chest was like a helium balloon rising to meet the dark night sky in his eyes.

"I kept my promise."

Sanji turned the stove off completely. All of a sudden his dark, brilliant gaze was 1,000% focused on you. "You found him...your father."

You nodded.

The blond cook swallowed, corners of his lips pulling taut around the edges. You had always had this sort of gut feeling that Sanji had mixed feelings about fathers. His seething hot-n-hotter-tempered relationship with Zeff was only one facet of this. You had yet to hear the whole story, but you'd never pressed for it. Just as Sanji never asked for more than you were willing to give.

"...Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked.

You nodded. "I wanna see if you know who it is," You said, again with that itching to smile you could never suppress now knowing who your father - the ellusive heart of your lifelong dream - truly was.

"Okay. Give me a hint?" He suprised you, being willing to play your little game. "I know it has something to do with Luffy's hat, right?"

"Huh-?" You blinked. Sometimes you forgot just how perceptive the effusive cook could be. "Y-yea, you're right. Damn, there goes one clue."

"Two more," Sanji established. "Then I have to guess. Alright?"

"Alright," You couldn't help for smiling now. "Hint two: amputee pirate."

Sanji snorted. "Of course you'd have pirate in your blood. You and Luffy are both too reckless thrillseekers."

You grinned unabashedly at that. "Alright, hint number three--billion berry bounty."

"Huh...ex-strawhat owner...amputee pirate...billion berry bounty-? Wha-" Something must've clicked inside Sanji's head. His jaw went slack, cigarette drooping limp between his fingers. "No..." True, you could have made the hints even more obvious than that. - But you knew Sanji didn't need it. He knew exactly who it was just from the way you smiled.

"Your father's a bloody YONKOU of the SEA-?!"

[useless-catalanfacts]

Who was the last deadly victim of the Spanish Inquisition?

Technically, the last victim sentenced to death by the Spanish Inquisition was María de los Dolores López, a Sevillian nun killed in 1781 for heresy. However, things didn't stop there.

The Spanish government of the Three Liberal Years (1820-1823) technically abolished the Inquisition, but the Inquisition continued the same now under the name of "Faith Tribunals". The same men who were inquisitors continued to do the same job as members of the Faith Tribunals, and the Inquisition's prisons simply became the Faith Tribunal's prisons. De facto, everything stayed the same until 1834.

Then, who was the last person killed by these fanatic tribunals?

It was this man: Gaietà Ripoll i Pla. A teacher sentenced to death in the city of València in the year 1826.

He was born in Solsona (Catalonia) in 1778. He fought in the Peninsula War against Napoleon's invasion, but in 1810 was captured as a prisoner of war and taken to France. There, he met Quakers and converted to Deism (belief in God that can be observed through empirical means, but not follower of one specific religion or Church). Four years later he came back and became a teacher.

He taught children in Russafa (nowadays, this town has been absorbed by the growing city of València and has become a neighbourhood of València), in a house built by the neighbours and also giving private lessons. Russafa was a very rural town, where most of its inhabitants worked in the fields and did not know how to read nor write.

Writings of the time show that Gaietà was very respected by the neighbours, who praised his integrity and goodness, but the fact that he did not go to mass caught people's attention. When a local woman asked him why he didn't go, he answered that he knew more than the priests. After some time, some neighbours told the Archbishop of València that this teacher was not following Catholicism's rules and wasn't making children pray in school.

He was arrested in October 1824 and jailed for two years in what used to be the Inquisition's prison in València, which was now the Valencian Faith Tribunal's prison. The inquisitor (now president of València's Faith Tribunal) Miguel Toranzo wrote that Gaietà refused to accept the truth of Catholicism and that he told children in his school that they should not say Ave María Purísima and that it's not necessary to hear mass in order to be saved.

To sentence him to death, the tribunal used the Medieval Partidas laws from Castile, which sentenced to death those Christians who had walked away from Catholicism to become heretics or Jewish. He was sentenced to be hanged and burned, but the sentence added that "nowadays no nation in Europe burns or materially sentences men to the flames", thus "the burning can be represented by painting flames on a bucket, which the executioner will place under the scaffold so that the prisoner's suffocated body will fall in it".

And that's how it went. He was hanged in València's Market Square, fell on the fake-flames bucket, and his body was thrown to the Túria river.

During all the centuries that it lasted for, the Inquisition/Faith Tribunals caused unimaginable amounts of suffering and death, not only to the people they were torturing and killing, also to their families, their friends, their neighbourhoods (consider the fear and trauma inflicted on everyone who saw it happen and knew it could happen to anyone), their whole communities (was the mostly-illiterate town of Russafa not better with the work of this kind-hearted teacher who gave its children a formal education?), and even the whole of Humanity (we have lost countless works of art, of science, philosophy, medicine, new ideas that could bring us all better times). Even after the end of the Inquisition/Faith Tribunals, even after the end of the Spanish national-Catholic dictatorship (1939-1978), there is so much that we can never get back that was taken by religious fanaticism / Christian extremism.

Translation of the plaque: València's City Council restores this plaque which was in this square between the years 1906 and 1940, in homage to Gaietà Ripoll i Pla, a freethinker teacher who had his school in Russafa and who was the Inquisition's last victim.

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

I tried so hard not to be parasocial about it but this letter thing is fucking me up, man. I've written a few overly flattering letters to evil government officials before myself. but how did someone convince all these reasonable-seeming people (strangers that I do not know) to publicly sign this centrist-ass letter? I understand they probably got Taika Waititi and Jack Black with the everyone can share, peace and love on the planet earth wording, but Jordan Peele? what. how did that happen. it makes no sense to me.

Ok I'm gonna front load my position on the Israel-Palestine conflict before I answer this ask so that no one can accuse me of shit I didn't say. If you want to see what I have to say on the letter itself, scroll to the big font. I'm as anti-zionist as they come I don't think that governments should even exist at all, I consider Israel to be an illegitimate state the same way I consider the country I live in (USA) to be an illegitimate state. I think that if we're going to have countries at all, which we shouldn't, that country should be Palestine and individual Jewish people certainly should be welcome to move there for whatever reason they want, including religious, but that the people who already lived there shouldn't be displaced because of it. And if they wanted me to support Israel on the basis of Jewish people needing somewhere to go after the Holocaust, they should have put Israel in Europe in 1945 instead of in the Arabian Peninsula in 1918. I tend to think the hard core zionists who aren't Jewish are trying to deport diaspora Jewish people somewhere based on the way I have heard other goyim speak about Israel. I am sympathetic to Jewish people who believe this has nuance but ultimately I cannot condone the displacement of Palestinians. That position might lose me followers but really I don't care.

Now that I have gotten that out of the way

(This first paragraph is for everyone who's out of the loop and has only seen the Tumblr posts about this issue, Anon does seem to know what I'm about to say) I do also think this whole thing with the letter is being blown out of proportion a little bit? That's not to say it's a good letter, it does contain language which blames Hamas for the conflict which is the western propaganda line so that countries like the United States and Britain don't have to admit that they caused and are funding this whole operation because they hate brown people. However celebrities are rubes who fall for government propaganda all the fucking time. What the letter itself actually calls for is Biden to facilitate the release of Israeli hostages. I consider this letter to be the vaguely Zionist equivalent of that time all those celebrities got on zoom and sang imagine because COVID was happening. I certainly doubt that the man who produced Get Out and Us supports the genocide and I also question whether the man who directed Reservation Dogs does either. Most likely they were asked "will you sign a letter calling for the release of Israeli hostages?" And they said "well releasing hostages sounds nice."

(this paragraph is for anon) Despite the fact that I think "these 70 celebrities condone Palestinian genocide" is incredibly reductive I would encourage you to see these people as human beings, and more specifically idiot millionaires who are out of touch. I believe that Taika Waititi understands the Maori struggle and generally tries to be a nice liberal but ultimately he is a man who grew up in the 80s with a lot of money who has an interest in keeping that money. His gaff transphobia tweets (which I didn't think were that bad considering he made it in 2013 and wasn't even talking about trans women, but they were still transphobic) and his pearl clutching during the BLM riots made this abundantly clear (both of these incidents are Taika Twitter originals that people have sent me trying to get me to hate him and I saw both of them and was like "that's what I thought you'd say old man"), and the fact that he married Rita "blackfish" Ora. I'm way less plugged in to what Jordan Peele is doing because I've never had an anon send me his call out post but I'm going to assume that the same thing is true of him: he understands the struggle of black people in the United States, despite this moment of basedness I probably politically disagree with him on many many counts. As for Jack Black he donates to autism speaks so he's coming for me and the Palestinians. Although that said so does Gaga and I'm still very much a fan of her.

I've basically had to come to terms with the fact that no celeb that I like the work of agrees with me about politics because all of them are rich and I am a communist. That's not going to stop me from liking their work, it's not going to stop me from bothering some of them at cons when I get the chance. Because again they're just guys. And most guys are idiots. I am an idiot about a lot of things. We don't expect Taika Waititi or Jordan Peele to know about every conflict in the world we expect them to make entertaining and perhaps insightful movies. I am not here because I think Taika agrees with me on all things. I am here because I want to watch a rom com about gay men who murder people, one of whom is just like me for real.

Anyway do your research

[tenebrius-excellium]

Help the way Sophos literally saves Gen in A Conspiracy of Kings...

The way in which the thief in Eugenides didn't necessarily die, but the way in which Attolis slowly, excruciatingly strangled him and buried him alive because he thought Gen could never see the light of day again after he'd promised to be king...

The way Gen believed he would never get the chance to be his true, most favorite self again because he couldn't afford it... that he thought he could never laugh carefree because he'd have to be ruthless like Attolia and measured like a ruler at all times...

The way he was so afraid that he hardened himself against his former friends and family, in case he'd have to wage war against them in the future... the way Eugenides was dying unhappily, fading away, deeply withdrawing into a shell, and only the husk of Attolis remained.

In comes Sophos and calls him what he knows he is. "Gen". Just Gen.

It's Sophos who proves that one can trust some people in one's life, not Eugenides, despite the latter's efforts to restore people to himself earlier, such as Relius, Costis and Teleus, because he despises killing. But Eugenides isn't good with trust either. He's good with isolation, trickery and mistrust. His relationship with Attolia still seems fickle because they're both not used to trust. Their relationship is a thin, fragile fabric of an exception.

Sophos, however, trusts blindly. The conversation at the end of ACoK shows it. Eugenides is like "how did you know my reinforcements would be there?" and Sophos is like "because we're friends and I trusted what you said."

And Gen is surprised. Humbled. Eugenides might be the glue that keeps the triumvirat together, but Sophos becomes their rock, their reassurance of everyone's generally good intentions. Sophos is the opposite of a backstabber, and every ruler of the Little Peninsula needs his naive, kind, and innocent presence as their friend to keep believing that there's something good left in this world of theirs where they have to form a never-before-seen alliance against the Mede.

They need someone safe who they can all rely on, and that rock is Sophos. My heart weeps for Gen. He really doesn't have it easy, and he is so, so alone without someone who knows his full heart.

Without Sophos turned Sounis, Eugenides could not have been the proper king everyone needed him to be in the later books. Godgenides would have brought terror on the land because he would have lost his connection to where he came from and who his friends were. Eddis sold him. It was important to have someone else from his past there who meant well. It's also beautiful to see how Sophos causes Eddis and Attolia to slowly open up to one another, and how relaxed Attolia gets when the burden of wariness falls off her shoulders. They all shed some serious armor around Sophos.

So yes, Sophos saves Gen - him, but what's more, he saves all of them - and it's the most important thing.

"Maybe the real treasure is the friends we made along the way" but threatening as in "if we are not friends, our kingdoms will tumble" - what a twist to that trope...

[little-cereal-draws]

Details I noticed in The Last Wish pt 5

I know I said I was done but then I watched it again and now I have more

So I mentioned in a previous post how there's always a big build up before they show a character's face for the first time, but I realized the extent of it during this rewatch. In the very beginning, before Puss starts singing, they don't even show the face on the ice sculpture of him. They really want the first time the viewer sees his face to be when he starts singing

They also don't show Puss' face on the painting he vandalized of the Govenor until the spotlight goes on it. I know they did this for the funny dramatic reveal but it's really quite impressive that it wasn't in the shot sooner considering Puss was singing and dancing in front of it for quite some time now

A dog pees on the Govenor's couch

The lady in a wheelchair who's on the left side of the crowd after he defeats the giant is also at the party

Speaking of when Puss defeats the giant, he winks at the crowd as it falls behind him

The song he starts singing when he gets hit with the bell is called "The Legend Will Never Die." This is one of the songs he sings when he's in the cave of lost souls that we catch the very tail end of

When Death shows up at the bar, Puss has his tongue out from drinking his leche. He does a blep a lot longer than I would in the presence of Death but when Death holds the shot glass up, you can see him put it away in the reflection on the glass

The scythe that cuts Puss in the bar fight is the one with his lives marked off

Mama Luna's house is on a peninsula jutting into the sea

During the montage of him at Mama Luna's, when he lays down on the rug for the first time he has his back claws out. They retract slightly when all the other cats come and squish him in but they're still visible

The white and cream cat who becomes acquaintances with Puss (the white and cream cat watches him on the litterbox and they nod at each other later) is the one on the litterbox when Mama Luna tells him that that's his bathroom. So they have canonly both watched each other poop... that's fun...

The statue of the Govenor that Papa Bear knocks over as they leave Del Mar has the Govenor with a foot on a bag of money. No wonder the people didn't like him

Mama Luna has matching blue socks with her cats. They have pink paw prints on the bottom. She also has yellow paw prints on her earrings

Goldi laughs when Papa stuffs Mama Luna into the piano

On the inside of the doors in Jack's treasure room, it says J.H.

When the crime family falls through the ceiling of Jack's factory, the stained glass window of him breaks and falls outside the room. Later when Jack's packing his bag, he steps on the glass that's now inside the room. A little consistency error

Also when Jack and the Serpent Sisters walk into the treasure room, the door stays wide open. No one goes to close it and it doesn't swing shut by itself. In the next shot we get of the door, it's fully closed. It doesn't really matter but it's still interesting that they can include all these little things but didn't have the door swing shut or smth while they're talking. it would have been an easy fix. oh well

When they show Kitty's wanted poster, there's a hiss with the background music. A clever way to add a bit more of her character without doing anything too big

The music they play during the chase after Puss, Perrito, and Kitty steal the map is Puss and Kitty's Flamenco. It's the same song they play when they're fighting for the map later and dance on each other's feet

"I'll get you, my kitties, and your little dog too." A wonderful Wizard of Oz reference by Jack that no one ever talks about

When they're looking at the map in the Dark Forest, Kitty pushes Puss out of the way so she can see what her path is. Except she pushes him by his face. And she pushes him so hard, he completely flips over. That had to have hurt

Goldi has leather stitching on the back of her blue corset-esque piece where it was let out to fit her better. It's probably the same one she was wearing when she broke into the bear's house all those years ago and they've just been adjusting it to fit her as she grows

This isn't so much a detail as it is a question. They posies just hit Team Friendship but they eat Jack's people. Just pull all the flesh off their bones in one go. Why did they respond differently? Maybe it's because they didn't have the map? Maybe it's because they could sense that Team Friendship's wishes were better than Jacks? idk

Before Puss runs off from the fight by the river and has a panic attack, you can see Death reflecting in his eyes

Death smiles as he watches him run into the forest

When Mama Bear suggests that maybe they could be happy without a wish, Goldi gives her a glare. She does not like that idea lol

Goldi also pulls a face when Perrito says she won the orphan lottery and Mama says, "I like his jib as well. Lets keep him."

During the final fight at the star for the map, Puss jumps off Goldi's face to grab it

This isn't so much a detail as it is something funny I like, but I love it when Kitty has the map during the final fight and is jumping confidently through the air... and then gets body slammed by a bear lol Like she's so small and she just got completely launched by a bear coming out of nowhere

Also when Jack is ignoring Nutmegan as she gets sucked into the star and he just ducks as an entire bear goes flying over his head. idk i just think the bears fighting in very unbearlike ways is funny

So Puss must be unbelievably strong because when Baby was being sucked into the star, it took two full grown bears and Goldi to save him but Puss does it by himself. He almost gets sucked in too for much longer than Baby and no one comes to help him; he's just holding onto the Gatito Blade with one hand. And then all by himself, using only rage, he gets his feet back on the ground and rejoins the fight. Like,,,, that must have been so hard

Death growls as he talks when Puss finally stares him down after telling him to pick up the scythe

This is only something I noticed during the last fight but I'm pretty sure it's true during the rest of the movie too. Death doesn't blink. He closes his eyes when making certain facial expressions but he doesn't blink. This is such a subtle but cool way to make him feel more unsettling and supernatural without the audience picking up on it

When Perrito's trying to do the cute eyes at Jack, he puts his head down for a second and you can see his shoulder blades sticking out through his sweater

Kitty always runs like she's in an anime. Like this

When Puss suggests "chomper" as a name for Perrito, Kitty shakes her head too

Someone used the Gatito Blade to pin Team Friendship's wanted poster to the mast of the ship they steal at the end

When Puss points at it, his claws are out too. He was so offended by that being their official team name now, he was moved to minor violence lol

Part one, Part two, Part three, Part four

[napoleonic-sexyman-tournament]

Arthur Wellesley:

"So, I saw that you had no propaganda for the Iron Duke himself and thought that should be corrected, because I cannot let this man go unloved.

He is the ultimate sexyman. I don't really get that title or the requirements but I do know this man and he is the ultimate in Regency-era sexiness.

Field Marshal Sir Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington, whose full list of titles merits its own Wikipedia page, he had so many (including Prince of Waterloo of the Kingdom of the Netherlands), was so well known for his debonairness that he was often called "the Beau" or Beau Wellesley.

Our dear Duke with his eyes of "a brilliant light blue," is quite the underdog made good. The fourth son of an Anglo-Irish aristocratic family, he was a bit of a loner as a child, whose star was eclipsed by the academic success of his older and younger brothers. Yet he had a remarkable talent for the violin, which as we know from Mrs. Jefferson is quite a good quality for a man to have. As a young man he was considered extremely good humored and drew "much attention" from female society. The Napiers of Celbridge thought he was a "saucy stripling" and he was also considered quite mischievous. Yet he also had a rich inner life, reading and contemplating the great philosophers of the day.

Yes, we know about his military victories in the Peninsula (the position of Field Marshal of the British Army and the accompanying baton were created for him) and his success at Waterloo, but he was also both romantic and a ladies' man. (I could go on about the military success but that's not really what this is about, is it?)

Want the romantic side? He fell in love with Kitty Pakenham while a lowly aide-de-camp in Dublin but, with no real position or prospects, was laughed away by her brother when he sought to marry her. In a fit of pique he destroyed his violin and turned firmly toward progressing his career. Over a decade later, after he had made something of himself in India, he learned she hadn't married, supposedly because she was still pining for him. Reader, he married her, despite thinking she'd grown ugly, and got two children from her in less than two years. I'm not kidding, this man was virile. They married in April of 1806, their first son was born in February, 1807, and their second son was born in January 1808. Although he wasn't sexual faithful to her, Wellington wore an amulet she gave him for over twenty years, and was still wearing it when he sat with her on her deathbed. When she was surprised he still wore it, he told her if she'd just bothered to check in the last twenty years, she'd have found it. Despite surviving her by twenty years, the Duke never remarried.

Now, please don't think badly of him for the lack of sexual fidelity. It was the Georgian era. Sexual fidelity was not a part of marriage in high society. Men didn't sleep only with their wives and some wives could be quite happy with that (for one, it's much easier not to have one pregnancy after another when your husband is sleeping with someone else). Not that women weren't also sleeping around. Which brings me to one of Wellington's more… interesting conquests: Lady Caroline Lamb, wife of William Lamb (the future Second Viscount Melbourne and Prime Minister). Why do I know that name, you ask? The OG pixie manic dream girl, Caro's much more notably known for her affair with Lord Byron. After that particular bit of nonsense, she was in Brussels with the rest of the English aristocracy during the 100 Days/post Waterloo. She and the Duke supposedly slept together and she took his cloak away as a souvenir.

Who else did the Duke liaise with? Well, there were the usual flings with actresses and singers, such as La Grassini. As previously noted in another post on this tumblr, he was noted as a stronger, better lover than Napoleon by another of their mutual lovers. Wellington also was a client of Harriette Wilson. He visited her when she was in Paris after the Duke of Beaufort bought her off, though this was before Beaufort stopped paying her, prompting her to publish her memoirs. She canvassed her old lovers, including Wellington, to see if they'd pay her not to be in them. Wellington send her a note in return saying "Publish and be Damned." Something about his succinct dismissal of her is just so hot.

Oh, want a bit more of Wellington being a bad boy? In 1829, while Prime Minister, he got into a duel that still is commemorated almost two hundred years later. King's College, London, was set up while Wellington was also advocating for Catholic Emancipation and this led to Lord Winchilsea publicly insulting Wellington's honor to the point that the Duke (who'd never dueled before or supported dueling generally) called him out. They went to Battersea Fields and settled the matter with pistols. Wellington won and Winchelsea apologized. King's College celebrates "Duel Day" every March.

Even better, want to read about Elizabeth Bennet and the Duke being witty and falling in love? Complete with scenes of the Duke showing he knows what to do with his cannon? Then let me recommend the third variation of An Ever Fixed Mark, A Dalliance with the Duke. I dare you not to vote for him for all eternity with that portrayal in your head."

Emma, Lady Hamilton:

a. “Her boyfriend got bored with her and passed her onto his uncle. Reader, she married him, and started having threesomes with Lord Nelson. She basically bullied her way into social acceptance despite being a former courtesan. Also, she was hot as hell.”

[satureja13]

Ji Ho's Therapy Game - Part 2 It starts -> here

Princess Training continues. In the afternoon, the Queen took Princess Jihovere to the Royal Stables. She was delighted to learn that the Princess already excells at horse riding even though she descends from the Kingdom under the Sea. The Queen's eyes lit up when they reached the Stables.

The Queen: "Ah - and here is our Stable Master, Equerry Lunvik!"

Equerry Lunvik: "I will get the Princess' Horse ready." The Princess: "Thank you. This is a very beautiful Stable." Equerry Lunvik: "We have a lot of Beauty here." The Queen blushed.

It seems the Princess has also to learn show jumping. Neither Ji Ho nor Jang Mal ever tried this before ö.Ö' The Queen took her seat under the pergola to teach the Princess and Equerry Lunvik cared for the horses.

Does ingame Yang Mal even remember Ji Ho? Apart from the human NPCs they know in the real world, which don't know them, Diablo seemed to remember Vlad when they met ingame. Let's hope for the best ö.ö

Phew. Jang Mal and the Princess learned fast. I guess Yang Mal also remembers Ji Ho and they did very well. Ji Ho is determined to prosper here and is fully concentrated on their task.

Valerian: 'The Princess doesn't even notice that the Queen left her place under the pergola...' Lunatic: 'Probably for the best.'

Lunatic: 'Seems Diablo is not the only thing rising up high here.' ^^'

Then Lunatic and Valerian became aware of what he just said and it was awkward between them again. They still haven't sorted it out yet...

Equerry Lunvik: "Don't worry, my love. No one can see us here." (I wouldn't be so sure ö.ö')

The Queen: "It's about time Prince Caleb gets married so we can end this charade and go back home. I hate to hide you." Equerry Lunvik grumbled.

Little Goat: 'It's time the Boys get their stuff together! Let's have a meeting so we can end this game soon and meet back home all together again!' Little Goat: 'Right. We better push a little so this therapy shows some effects and we get to see some more spice!' (I really consider calling them 'Little Satyrs' instead of 'Little Goats'!)

Little Goat: 'We should also do something about Lunatic and Valerian. I can't watch this anymore... And then we'll have a party!' Lunatic: 'They are talking and looking at us! I bet they plan something!' Valerian: 'Let them.' Valerian really hopes for the goats intervention. It's far too long he's wooing Lunatic - in vain... (This refers to our The Stables spin-off)

After the training, The Queen and Princess Jihovere went for a ride. The Queen noticed that the Princess looked a bit off: "Is everything ok? Have you seen something upsetting?" Princess Jihovere: "No! I have seen nothing!"

And then they rode into the sunset.

'Smiles in the sunshine and tears in the rain Still take me back to where my memories remain Flickering embers grow higher and higher As they carry me back to the Mull of Kintyre'

Mull of Kintyre - Paul McCartney and The Wings

TMI: I've always loved this song so much. It had been very famous when I grew up. But I never knew what he even sang there and it took me a while to find out the song title hahaha. (The Mull of Kintyre is the southwesternmost tip of the Kintyre Peninsula (formerly Cantyre) in southwest Scotland.)

I didn't even know it was written by Paul McCartney omg (I thought Roger Whittaker sang it)! As often I googled the story of this song and it's quite interesting! You can find it -> here Oh - and have you ever heard of the Mull of Kintyre test? 'According to the myth, the BBFC would not permit the general release of a film or video if it depicted a penis erect to the point that the angle it made from the vertical was higher than that of the peninsula of Kintyre in Argyll and Bute on maps of Scotland.'

hahaha omg! More -> here

From the Beginning  ~  Underwater Love ~  Latest Current Chapter: 🕹️ 'The One' from the beginning ▶️ here 📚 Previous Chapters: Chapters: 1-6 ~ 7-12 ~ 13-16 ~ 17-22 ~ 23-28

[ottpopfic]

It's not the first time Nico has had to turn their ass back around the way they came because they fucked some underworld something in what di Angelo has dubbed their ‘Gay Chicken On Steroids Quest’. He's equally pissed at both Leo and Jason every time, so Leo tries to take some solace in that

Like, hooray Leo we‘re glad you're back, go back from whence you came we gotta go close the hole you crawled out of or whatever

---

The last death

-

Leo is alive, again, for like the sixth time 

Something something Jason went off to gather parts of all the plants people have been turned into to make a sacrifice? Dr. Frankenbonsi a Leo? He's not sure, all he knows is he got spat out of Thalia’s tree and it was both gross and hella painful. Not the worst resurrection so far, but definitely the one with the most tree sap

Also, Nico’s pissed again that they fucked around too much. Whatever Jason did with his spooky tree thing has apparently made a weak spot for underworld magic and now they have to go close it 

It's not the first time Nico has had to turn their ass back around the way they came because they fucked some underworld something in what di Angelo has dubbed their ‘Gay Chicken On Steroids Quest’. He's equally pissed at both Leo and Jason every time, so Leo tries to take some solace in that

Like, hooray Leo we‘re glad you're back, go back from whence you came we gotta go close the hole you crawled out of or whatever

The issue this time isn't how Leo came back, but the fucking cultist that have taken over the spot Jason did his Zuse wood magic thing

They end up in Newport State Park near the tippy-top point of Wisconsin’s peninsula, in a clearing in a grove of Oak and Linden trees. The place has to be hidden by the mist, Leo has checked the satellite imaging on Google Maps multiple times as they trek through the trees and underbrush to see nothing out of the ordinary, or even a landmark. There's some kind of temple off up a hill with way too many Canadian Geese guarding it, but that's not what they're after 

What they are after is the lowlands under the temple where the earth was carved away by an ancient flood. The trees never grew back there, leaving room for the milkweed, cardinal flowers, and forget-me-nots to flourish under the sun. It would be a lovely sight, if the flowers hadn't been trampled by the cultists

Fucking cultists, they're digging a hole

“What's with the hole?” Piper asks. The three of them are up in the brush at the top of the hill across from the temple, watching the robed dudes down below and desperately avoiding the geese. 

“Fuck if I know” Nico monotones

“Dude, you're the whole reason we're here,” Leo gapes “How do you not know what's up with the hole?”

“Just because I know that cultists are fucking around doesn't mean I know the method to their madness” Nico grouches 

“Oh no wait I think they're planting that guy,” Piper identifies “Or burying him alive? Whatever there's a dude going in the hole”

“Yeah, looks like it's time to step in,” Nico tosses the binoculars back at Leo to stash in his tool belt and draws his spooky-ass sword “Whatever you do don't bother the geese, I think they are only here for the temple”

“There is no way in hell I'm fucking with a goose,” Leo relents, tucking everything away “Have you ever been one on one with a goose, because I have”

“Oh yeah same,” Nico shudders “I got chased by like four of them when I was homeless in Central Park”

“Fucking vicious right!?” 

“Yeah, if I didn't know better I'd say they were hell spawn”

“Is there a plan?” Piper cuts in before they start down what she calls ‘sad homeless orphan lamentations’

“Keep the cult from burying anyone, don't die,” Nico tells them “I can close the weak point once we clear them out”

“Fantastic,” Piper says 

They end up splitting up slightly, being outnumbered puts a damper on charging in even if it looks mostly like mortals below. Nico poofs off one way whereas Leo and Piper sneak off the other, it works for about eight seconds before they are spotted in the wildflowers 

“You there!” cries one of the cultists pointing “Show yourself!“

“What is he a fucking Monty Python character” Piper grumps

“Hello!” Leo improvises, standing abruptly “Hello fellow cult members, I have come to uh, help you with the cult stuff” Leo can see Nico facepalm in a patch of swamp lupine on the other side of the hill

“Yep sure do love digging holes and putting people in them, uh” Leo is apparently now the distraction because Piper is lining up her blow dart as his hip and Nico is creeping in from the back “Sure am excited using a whole ass man as a seed, that's definitely gonna appease our god!”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” cuts in one of the cult guys in the back, Piper blow darts him two seconds later

Things go fast from there. There are six above-ground cult members and one fancy one in the hole, Nico quickly takes out the one next to Mr. Blow Dart In The Neck. Leo pulls a handsaw and a ball peen hammer out of his belt, whipping the hammer at the closest robed figure and following a knife-wielding Piper into the fray 

It's the classic chaos of a close combat fight; dodge, duck, swipe at a weak spot, and don't hit your friends. They're holding their own pretty well for being outnumbered in a goose poop-filled muddy clearing. But it's when Leo turns to throw another hammer at the man starting to overpower Piper that he hears a new voice enter the equation

“Leo!”

And there he is, it's Jason. 

He's alive, walking talking breathing moving of his own accord. Or he would be, if the knife that was meant for Leo wasn't sticking out of his back

Leo hasn't seen him in three years . 

“Jason?”

They lock eyes for a second, blue to brown, and then Jason gives one hard bloody cough. Leo can see the tip of the knife just piercing through his shirt, the smallest hit of silver surrounded by spreading red

“ Jason !”

The Hole Cultist pulls his blade up first, making a sick crunching and ripping noise accompanied by Jason’s cut-off scream, before wrenching it back out and kicking the blond away. Jason falls hard, and he stays down, the robed man turning back to his original target of Leo with a sneer. There is a lot of blood, like the knife went through a major artery or organs or something, pooling around where Jason lays barely moving, it makes Leo see red

He tends not to be the one fighting in the front lines, especially not with his fire. Like Leo can defend himself and others if he needs to, but he much prefers to launch wrenches at people like Ratchet from Transformers or act as a support. Fire is too hard to control in close or crowded combat, and there is too high a risk of hurting someone friendly or catching the landscape ablaze

Leo doesn't really care about that right now, his body moves on its own

Charbroiled he thinks the term is, or at least extra crispy, because for once Leo is not holding back. That tight panicked control he's had to keep on his fire his whole life whips away from him in a flash of light and heat at the cultist, a Saturn's rings of flame surrounding him and then projected at the man. Either way, there's not much left of them when he's done, half the flesh seared off the bone and all

“Jason!” Leo screams as he turns back, scrambling away from the horror show he's made of the robed figure and sliding on his hands and knees next to the blond. He gathers Jason into his arms and onto his lap, not caring for the blood and viscera that are coating them both, Jason grabs him back with shaking hands the best he can “ Jason !”

“O-oh hey,” Jason says like he's not actively bleeding out “It's good to see you”

“Jason, what the fuck” Leo cries, vision blurring with the water in his eyes “Don't do this to me!”

“It’s okay,” Jason tries to soothe him through the blood in his mouth, gore-slick hands losing their grip on Leo’s jacket and looking straight into Leo’s eyes like a promise “I'll get you on-on the n-next round, just-just wait, for me” and then he's gone, the light leaving him In one last desperate rasping breath

“No no no nonono no! ” Leo begs through his tears, shaking him in his arms like it will make Jason’s spirit come back to his body “Jason come on please! ”

It's not fair, he's right here and it's not fair . They were so close, Leo can feel how close they were to making it

He's on fire, he knows he is but he doesn't have it in him to care. It's whipping around like a storm, like a tornado, pouring off of him harder and hotter than it's ever been, the heat making Jason's body slowly cremate in his arms. All Leo can do is burn and sob, hunched over what's left of the man he's so desperate for even as other things around them catch with him

It's not fair, they were so close and it's not fair

Leo is done. He's played by the rules and bent over backwards to appease the gods and this is what they get? They were never going to let Leo have him, it's always been just a show, just another stupid myth to add to the collection. Here's a parable on what wanting what you can't have will do to you, it is storm or fire after all

Leo is over it, he's going to write his own story

He can hear Piper’s panicked voice somewhere off somewhere, but he can't find it in him to care for once. If he's going to die this time for this at least she won't be there like all the other deaths. Maybe she can be spared for once

It's hot, his fire, so hot for once it's blue. Jason’s body might be dust slipping through his hands but Leo knows without needing to look it's the same color as his eyes

So he hulls himself up. He's still burning, the ash that is Jason combining with the ash and stone that is the landscape and changing. Magma, lava, stone and glass. 

Obsidian 

Leo walks 

And the ground melts away

He walks the whole way down like that, all the way to the underworld. Nothing stops him, not the earth or spirits or monsters, nothing even tries. He creates his own tunnel like that, burning his entrance to the upside down, an Obsidian Field

He may not be falling into the planet, but it sure is close

Leo doesn't waste time when he gets to the upside down, beelining it to the queue of souls waiting to be judged, honed in on the blond like he's being reeled in by the heartstrings. He's terrified, he's breaking so many rules, but he can't care about that right now. He won't care about it. If they want to strike him down for this Leo can just step in behind Jason, he's not above cutting in line.

It doesn't take Leo long to find him, in the long procession of semi-transparent dead people Jason is surprisingly opaque. He has a hand in his grody ripped jeans pockets and staring at an outcropping of stalagmites like a crappy waiting room TV. The microsecond Leo is close enough he grabs him out of line by the hand, Jason looks surprised to see him so soon

“We are leaving ” Leo demands through his teeth

“Okay,” Jason says, and then Leo drags him back the way he came

He doesn't let go of Jason's hand the whole way up, but he doesn't look at him either, just in case.

When they get upstairs the land around them is one big sheet of black glass with the hole to the new underworld entrance smack dab in the middle. there's a spot in front of them, where the new stone is discolored and rippled like water. Where Jason died, where Leo caught fire. It’s kinda pretty in a way, glittering and reflective, but nothing looks better than turning around and Jason still being there

“Hi,” Jason says, a huge grin on his face

“Hey,” Leo breathes back, still terrified their both about to be whisked away back under

“I missed you,” Jason tells him, squeezing his hand

“ Dude ” Leo is trembling, is this really happening?

“Just, come here ”

Jason pulls him into an embrace by their joined hands, and Leo melts into it holding him back like a lifeline. 

It's probably the best hug in existence Leo thinks, even though it's one-armed and they are both hella gross. But it's Jason , and he's here. He's here and he's sticking his stupid handsome face in Leo’s hair and pulling him in so tight it makes his ribs hurt. Leo thought he had run out of tears somewhere between the Metamorphic Rocks and the Mantle, but apparently not. He's sobbing into Jason’s nasty ass shirt, and Jason lets go of his hand just to hold him tighter

“Holy shit!” Leo hears Piper shreek in the distance “Holy shit he did it! ”

There's more screaming, the sound of friends and family inbound across the still-steaming ground, but right now it's just Leo and Jason standing in the cooling obsidian 

Leo looks up at him, just to make sure it's true and Jason is here for realzies this time. He's met with blue eyes, blue like the sky above them clear of clouds, blue like the heart of the hottest flames, blue like home

“Let's go home,” Leo tells him

“Okay,” Jason replies, seconds before Piper body slams them both to the ground “Let's go home”

---

@queenjunothegreat