#Lucretia inspired

[sofancydancy]

*slams fist on table* more body hair and more light--

[corridor-bard-art]

What do you think? I'm thinking of making posters of this and selling them in multiple designs once I figure out the details.

[barry-j-blupjeans]

It would have been easy to miss her if Barry hadn't been keeping an eye out. She wore a dark cloak with a silver clasp and had her hood drawn up over her head. The crowded streets of Neverwinter— Neverwinter, why was he in Neverwinter again?— pushed them past each other but for a moment, they caught eyes. He got the shortest glimpse of her face, aged, and stressed, and focused— and then recognition. Surprise.

He knew her. No, he didn't.

Fuck, wait, yes he did.

So Barry did something he had recently discovered he was very good at doing: He ran. The crowd helped him along, pushing him forward as he stumbled over his own two feet. He kept his head low, trying to get cover from the people around him. He crossed the street, and then went left, and crossed the street again, trying to drown himself into the crowd. He kept going until he was reasonably sure that he had lost her and then ducked into an alleyway.

Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Barry twisted his bag, fumbling for his inhaler. Good fuckin' Gods. This day and gone from bad to worse. He took a hit of it (and someone in his head told him to stop saying that he "took a hit" of his medication) and leaned against the alley wall, trying to breathe deeply again.

He dug through his bag, finding the little gold coin he kept with him. He was… gods, Barry wished he knew what was happening anymore. But he couldn't— he couldn't lose focus. He was looking for someone. He was supposed to be looking for someone, but, well, this attempt had hit a dead end. And, for the first time (?), Barry had come across the person who was looking for him.

He pressed a little notch on the coin, flipping back through old recorded messages until he found the right one. The coin buzzed a little, like a staticky radio line, but crackled to life with a message in Barry's own voice. One he didn't remember leaving, but he knew the words by heart by now. They were important.

"— and— and another thing— there's this… Geez, I don't wanna call it an issue, but it's kinda an issue. There's a— there's a woman looking for you. Not the one we wanna find. On purpose, I mean. God, I hate this. It's making her sound like some sorta villain and she's no— well…"

The coin sighed.

"Her name is Lucretia." There was a shuffling noise in the background of the recording, as if someone was adjusting papers. "She's— she's part of the family you don't remember. But it's— I can't stress enough how much of a no-go talking to her is. Like, even more than the others, so, so much more. In fact, if you ever see her just— I don't know, just fuckin' run, I guess. That's— Gods."

The coin was silent for a moment. Barry took another puff of his inhaler.

"There's nothing good that you can get by talking to her right now," the coin continued. "And if you talk to her, she might— I mean, I don't think she'd do anything to you besides talk, but that's— that's enough sometimes, y'know? She's… she's the reason we're in this mess. Why we can't remember ###—" Barry winced at the static. "I don't— I can't physically explain what she did, but don't— don't talk to her. If you see her, just run. Just go."

The coin went on to describe some of Lucretia's features— her eyes, the white hair, her age ("—because she wouldn't fucking listen to me about Wonderland and #### ###### ##—"). Barry thought back to the glance he had caught of the woman he passed by and just barely managed to swallow his fear about it. He hit the notch on the coin again, shutting it off. Sometimes, it would delve into static for a while, especially when talking about Lucreita. He put the coin back in his bag, along with his inhaler.

He peeked back into the streets and then pulled back into the alley. He could still slightly see from his space between the buildings, but hopefully, she couldn't see him.

Lucretia had lowered her hood, and was looking around. The crowd had thinned some, just enough for her to stand in place without being pushed around. But her eyes never found his hiding spot and, after a moment, an orc woman jogged up to her. Barry could barely hear them over the hustle and bustle of Neverwinter, but he caught wind of,

"— just started running! What gives?"

"I thought I saw…" Lucretia scanned the area once more. Barry scooted back a bit to hide himself, holding his breath. "No, it was nothing. It's— I'm a just little on edge today, I suppose."

It was obvious the orc woman didn't believe her, but she must have known Lucretia enough to not question it. Or at least, not to publicly question it.

"You're gonna be late for your meeting," the orc woman said after a moment's pause.

Lucretia turned and while Barry couldn't hear the curse word, it startled a laugh from the orc woman. They retreated back the way they had come. Barry sighed, relaxing a little.

Okay. Okay, time to regroup. Refocus. Once he felt it was safe, he stepped back into the street again, carefully retracing his steps to regain his bearings. From here, he'd go to Farnfoss. There was an enchanted forest that supposedly protected some powerful magic items— it was a better lead than nothing.

As long as he made it there alive, at least.

[emotionalwarmth]

I came across this picture on Facebook a while back and my mind went "oh lord Vincent Lucretia Miniroth" Alucard and Sephiroth have so much in common tho tbh And let them be happy

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

So fun fact My Last Duchess (Robert Browning) is one my favourite poems and I am currently reading The Marriage Portrait (Maggie O’Farrel) and quickly falling in love with it and one of my favourite songs is Portrait of a Dead Girl (The Last Dinner Party) and I don’t think you understand how I can never recommend enough times that if you love one of these things individually you should check out the others and if you don’t know any of them you should introduce yourself to them because *screams*

(Btw for added context The Marriage Portrait and My Last Duchess are both inspired by the same historical figures Duke Alfonso II d’Este (fifth Duke of Ferrara) and Duchess Lucretia do Cosimo d’Este (née de’ Medici). Lucretia was much younger than him and died at 16, within the first year of their marriage. Her official cause of death was putrid fever but it has been popular theorised that Alfonso poisoned her. My Last Duchess describes the painting that Alfonso had commissioned of her, known as her marriage portrait. I included Portrait of a Dead Girl in this because the themes are very similar and it makes me think of her when I listen to it. ALSO: I’m not classing this as spoilers for the book because it is real history and the book tells you what happens to Lucretia all the way through the beginning including in the epigraph, but if anyone thinks I should tag this as spoilers let me know and I’ll add it)

[theadventurezoneoftruth]

the IPRE playing Civ 6

This post started as a teehee joke, but then it became. Well. Far too long.

Anyway, it started with this simple idea: to ME Barry Bluejeans loves the Sid Meier's Civilization series. Do I feel this way because he's a long-time blorbo and I'VE been really into Civ lately? perhaps.

Anyway. He brought a copy of Civ 6 with him onto the Starblaster. He managed to achieve all victory types for all leaders by the end of the stolen century.

On what would have been his 100th birthday (if they were tracking ages normally), he got all of the crew to play a 7 player hotseat multiplayer game with him.

For those unfamiliar with Civ: it's a strategy game where you play as a fictionalized version of real life historical figures, seeking to create an empire which can survive throughout the ages. Each leader and country have certain bonus attributes, which can influence your playstyle.

Barry - Eleanor of Aquataine / England: This is a really weak civ for multiplayer, since her leader bonus only really works against the AI. But I think he purposefully chose that to try and give himself a disadvantage, since he has so much more experience. Plus it gives him Court of Love.

Lup - Hammurabi / Babylon: I think she'd like the really chaotic and off-beat playstyle of Babylon, which allows you to unlock some things crazy early if you focus in on the right tasks.

Taako - Qin Shi Huang (Mandate of Heaven) / China: I think he'd approach Civ as mainly a city building game / teehee wonders go brrr. Along with the bonus's to wonder production, the Great Wall would allow him to play more defensively.

Lucretia - Seondeok / Korea: A leader which allows her to rush a science victory, which feels thematically appropriate for the future creator of a fake moon. Requires a lot of thoughtful planning.

Davenport - Harald Hardrada (Konge) / Norway: powerful naval-focused civ goes brrr. considered giving him Portugal for a more peaceful approach, but tbh I think it'd be funny if Davenport was really cutthroat at the game.

Magnus - Tomyris / Scythia: I had to think on this one for a while, because at first I was tempted to try and pick something thematic for Magnus - a Diplomacy civ for his rustic hospitality, a civ which focuses on builders for his carpentry, etc etc. But ultimately, I think if you give Magnus Burnsides a game like Civ 6, he's mainly just going to want to have some fun making an army and attacking people.

Merle - Theodora / Byzantium: I think Barry told Merle to pick this one because she's one of the strongest civilizations in the game + she has a focus on faith and culture. Merle proceeds to get a Great Prophet, found the religion of Pan, and then mess up at the game in every single way possible.

[davlucies]

taako rescuing lucretia frfom the depression nexus because otherwise there's no way he and lup can pull off this prank 🌶

[papergardener]

Pivoting from obsessing over TAZ Balance to Warriors is how I remember how much I love powerful women with deep, deep tragedies that they caused by trying to do the right thing for everyone else and should get their happy ending, even if they feel they don’t deserve it.

[queenslayerbee]

I should NOT be this surprised that (re)watching The Sopranos is giving me extra brainworms regarding "Underground Elysium"... ofc Tony Soprano IS one natural influence of Lucretia (how could he not be? he's the blueprint), but as I develop Constanza, Lucretia's mother, and I see Livia Soprano on the show being... the kind of mother that she is... damn, yeah. this should've been more obvious to me xDD

[anistarrose]

one of the most endearing (and slightly emotional) things about TAZ Balance to me is how it sets up this color symbolism, primarily around red and blue, that completely breaks down and ceases to mean anything once you get to know the characters' real backstories — but how this breakdown is actually completely warranted, because all the color symbolism is just completely made up bullshit in-universe. like. Lucretia just made that up for dramatics. all of it.

because, come on. she's a storyteller at heart, and a visual artist too. you can't convince me she chose blue for the Bureau for any reason other than to juxtapose with the Red Robes — to tell a story she thought would motivate the Bureau; a story with themes, and symbolism, and a color key. the total breakdown of her symbolic binary between good and evil, between blue and red — the way it all turns out to be meaningless, as far as indicating alignment or even identity — actually circles around, to come back and mean everything.

and that meaning is about the way Lucretia aligns herself with blue, despite the old red robe that she definitely still has tucked away somewhere, among her most treasured and guarded possessions. it's about the way Lucretia had the power to — and felt that she had no choice but to — reassign the very color the story associated with Barry, from the iconic blue to the terror-inspiring red. it's about the way Barry felt he had no choice but to play along and let her.

because Balance isn't a story about good and evil, especially not beneath the surface. and in a way that I think is part intentional, part beautifully unintentional on Griffin's part, the use of red and blue show this — they show that Balance is really a story about stories.

[sofancydancy]

Okay, so the poll reached about 70% on this one and I jumped on it because I'm ADHD...Seriously, thank you for those who voted!! Going for a Lucretia type of martyr! I am obsessed with the stomach currently because the original painting is so fleshy! Also: from far away this looks like a spicy novel cover

Gale approves

[moniquill]

Rights of Property Donald Grinde, Jr., professor of American Indian Studies and chair of the Department of American Studies at SUNY Buffalo, recounted this story in a 2002 interview with the journal Spirit of Ma’at:

Elizabeth Cady Stanton describes how, as a young girl on an Iroquois reservation — she was twelve or thirteen — she saw a man come up, and the mother of her Indian playmate went outside and talked to this man for a half hour or more. Then he handed her some money, they went to the barn and took a horse out, and he rode off on the horse.

Stanton asked the mother what had happened, and the woman said, “Well, I sold the man one of my horses. We negotiated the price, and then he gave me the money, and then he left with the horse.”

Elizabeth Cady Stanton said, “What will your husband say when he gets home?”

The woman said, “Well, it was my horse, and I can do with it as I please.”

For a young Euro-American woman, it was quite a revelation that this was possible, that a woman could behave in this way, holding property and disposing of it without the approval of a husband or father.

[princess-ibri]

Tangled Unbraided

For ages I've wanted to find a way to use the old fractured fairytale idea of "Rapunzel Unbraided" Disney was going to do in the early 2000s, and decided to just go ahead and show what I've got. So here's some sketches of how the main characters would appear in this hypothetical Tangled spin off movie:

The original synopsis for Unbraided ran as thus:

“An evil witch named Lucretia despised fairy tale happy endings and plotted to change all that. Meanwhile in modern day San Francisco, Claire and Vince are two vastly opposite teenagers who cannot stand one another. Claire is a short haired, fashion obsessed teen who was concerned with her looks. Vince is a stocky and crude pizza delivery boy on hard times. The two of them get on each other's nerves which gets the attention of Lucretia in the fairy tale realm. Lucretia takes Rapunzel and her prince Beau and transforms them into a squirrel and dog, respectively, while Claire and Vince find themselves filling their roles. Claire and Vince eventually team up with Rapunzel and Beau to defeat Lucretia and return to their respective places in time. “

---

And I'd want to follow the basic plot of that, though with changes with what we have from the actual Tangled movie. But basically two teens from 2007 San Francisco (why not make it a 'period' piece with all this Y2K nostalgia going on that makes no sense to me, a Y2K kid x) get reverse Enchanted and find themselves in the Everrealm. Searching for a way home, mentored by a talking squirrel and dog that claim to be famous fairytale characters also trying to regain their human forms.

The reason the witch tries to recreate the Rapunzel story with two people who are unlikely to give it a happy ending is that she's trying to make a spell to warp reality and bring about another golden flower (so that we can have the one that eventually shows up in Sofia the First) and so gain immortality for herself.

My ideas for the growth journeys each character goes on in this hypothetical movie is of course that Claire and Vince both learn to be more comfortable with themselves/find their real potential, as well as learn that its ok to trust others emotionally, both in a platonic sense with Eugene and Rapunzel mentoring them, and romantically with eachother as they get closer.

Rapunzel and Eugene would have this be an opportunity for them both to work through the concerns they both have about being parents. Sure they both have better parental relationships now, but both grew up with either abusive or absent parents (and then hyper protective ones in Rapunzel's case with Frederick) and though they both want kids they're afraid they might still mess it up. So, getting to help these two teens find themselves and their way home gives them a sense of the type of parents they'll be, and that they'll be ok in the end.

(They also all eventually find out Claire is their many times descendent and thats why she looks like Rapunzel so much, and why the spell called her into Rapunzel's place)

For the Witch I decided to change her name from Lucretia as I already had a character with that name for the Bluebeard story. I still wanted her to have some actual connection to the og Rapunzel fairytale, and a way to know about the Sundrop flower, and while I know we already had Cass as Gothel's kid, per my DisneyVerse she did have more then one over those many many years 😅😬

We already had a benevolent version of another Gothel daughter with my rewrite of Ginny, so I decided this time we'd get to focus on a malevolent one, so our villain for this story is Azalea.

(I based her looks on one of the tree nymphs from Gothel's backstory in OUAT, old Gothel/witch concept art and her name was inspired by Alice from OUAT being Gothel's daughter, just with a sharper sounding plant name x)

Also here's some original concept art of the Rapunzel Unbraided story treatment!

(Some of these might technically be from the Rapunzel treatment but I feel they fit the story anyway)

Also some video! A rough animatic overview of the whole story

And a more polished small clip of Claire and Squirrel Rapunzel

But yeah that's my rough little idea of how I'd incorporate the Rapunzel Unbraided concept/characters into the Disneyverse :)

[leveloneandup]

📸: womenswayphilly

https://womensway.org/news-events/womens-way-46th-annual-celebration/

LUCRETIA MOTT HONOREES: TOBIN HEATH AND CHRISTEN PRESS

2X WORLD CUP WINNERS, PAY EQUITY TRAILBLAZERS, CO-FOUNDERS OF RE-INC

*While their soccer season commitments prevent in-person attendance, we are excited to hear from them in an exclusive virtual acceptance speech to learn more about their inspiring lives and work.

Tobin Heath is a 2x World Cup Champion for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team, an equal pay pioneer, and the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of RE—INC. She is a 4x Olympian, with two gold medals and a bronze medal. She is known as one of the most skillful and entertaining players in the game. Throughout her club career, Heath has played for PSG, the Portland Thorns, Manchester United, and Arsenal. Tobin brings her vision, leadership, and creativity as a Co-CEO of RE—INC, a values-led brand that exists to reimagine the way women are seen and experienced in sports. This summer, RE—INC launched a media division with a critically acclaimed show: The RE—CAP Show World Cup Edition, hosted by Tobin.

Christen Press is a 2x World Cup Champion for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team, an equal pay pioneer, and the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of RE—INC. She is one of the top 10 goalscorers ever on the USWNT and holds the scoring record at Stanford. Christen currently plays for Angel City FC. Christen led the USWNT’s historic achievement of Equal Pay and served as the leader of the USWNT Player’s Associate for 2 years. For four years, Christen has been the CEO, and now Co-CEO of RE—INC, a values-led brand that exists to reimagine the way women are seen and experienced in sports. She is a 2-year Board Member of Grassroots Soccer, a non-profit organization that uses the power of soccer to provide mentors, information, and health services to at-risk youth in Africa.

[dual-polarity]

Courtship

.

🥀Music inspiration:

Placebo - Running Up That Hill

Sisters of Mercy- Lucretia My Reflection

HIM - Join Me (Razorblade Mix)

[dreamyshifts]

Major Plot Changes | Avalon

Given that this reality is inspired/based upon Ellory’s Pureblood Culture ‘verse, things are vastly differing from what’s “canon” in HP. Aside from that, though, here are some of the more major changes to the plot we all know and love. Anyway, it’s a bit long because I got excited going through my script lololol im also nawt a fan of Dumbledore, so if you’re a fan of him, im sorry 😔

Wizarding Wars

The Oligarchy Houses primary responsibility is to protect Avalon and Magical Britain from forces attempting to exert control, fear, and violence. Dark Lord Grindelwald was defeated in by High Lady | Marchioness - Dowager Archduchess Ondine & High Lady Attina Hartridge - 2nd Branch, widow - Marchioness of the Yearning Bay ended Grindelwald when he attempted to take over Avalon and Wizarding Britain, instead of Dumbledore. She has also received an Order of Morgana, 1st Class, which includes two extra votes on the Wizengamot.

WWI & Holocaust in the Mundane World did not happen.

Most of the Goblin Wars also did not happen thanks to the active Oligarchy House. Currently, the Elegant and Most Olde House of Hartridge is considered the Regent House until Mother Magic Appoints a High King & Queen. The Goblins have a better alliance with Avalon, as do other MCs, and it is beneficial & respectful for all parties.

Voldemort Doesn’t Exist

House Hartride Sponsored Tom Riddle prior to his 1st year at Hogwarts, and ended up Blood Adopting him into the family by his 3rd year. Now, he is High Lord | Marquis of the Blood Reefs, Augustus Hartridge, well-traveled and quite protective over the family.

He married Lacerta Black (Lucretia Black’s younger sister, and Walburga’s “replacement” in the Black Family), and currently, they have three children.

Severus Snape Doesn’t Exist Either

Similar to above, Severus had been Blood Adopted into the Hartridge family when abuse had been discovered in his household. He’s now Sebastian Hartridge, and flourishing.

Political Changes

Political parties within Avalon/Wizengamot: Traditionalists (majority Most Ancient Houses), Neutralists (The Oligarchies, some Most Ancient & Ancient Houses, Some New Blood/Unattributed Houses), Progressives (Mostly New Bloods, Unattributed Houses, House Weasley, and some Attributed Houses), Liberatives (exclusive to Muggle-borns)

NOTE - POLITICAL PARTY DOES NOT EQUATE TO HOGWARTS HOUSE(S) & THEIR ATTRIBUTES / NOR IF THEY HAVE A LIGHT, DARK, OR GREY MAGICAL CORE.

The Royal House of Pendragon has 10 Votes (+ Final Decision Making), the Oligarchy Houses have 7 Votes (& Final Decision Making if the Royal House is inactive), Most Ancient Houses have 5 Votes per House (minimum — can achieve more), Ancient Houses have 3 Votes, Attributed Houses have 2 Votes, and Unattributed Houses have 1.

Traditionalists

Those in this political group strive to protect Avalon and Magical Britain from Muggle influences and danger, wish to prioritize and protect the Ancient & Olde Ways of Pureblood Society and current systems, and mostly favor the Dark Arts (not Black Magic, of course) and Rites.

Royal House of Pendragon & Le Fay

Most Ancient Houses: Black, Malfoy, Avery, Yaxley, Potter*, Bulstrode, Carrow, Longbottom, Parkinson, Gaunt, Lestrange, Flint, Burke**, Rosier**, Macmillan

Ancient Houses: Lovegood*, Smith*, Serpen*, Adams, Taggert, Warrington, Urquhart

Attributed Houses: Prince, Fawcett, Cooke*, Nettle*, Lovett, Diggory, Alloway, Pucey

Houses: Brown, Silverling, Holland, Flower, Angelo, Farbrookes, Warren

Neutralists

Those in this political group tend to be more neutral/solidly in the middle of both extremes and attempt to see both perspectives before making a decision, so they do not skewer any results due to any biases. However, they are not as fond of the Liberatives Party as they reject Mother Magic, and also wish to protect and preserve the Ancient & Olde Ways of Magic.

Oligarchy Houses: All

Most Ancient Houses: Abbott, Fawley, Crouch, Greengrass, Ollivander, Rowle, Selwyn, Shacklebolt, Zabini, Prewett, Nott, Weasley

Ancient Houses: Bones, Odgen, Patil, Oakwood, Sprout, Trewlaney, Flitwick

Attributed Houses: Vane, Montague, Riverty, Boot, Moon

Houses: Asp*, Malkin, Starling, Belby, Lupin, Clearwater, Finnegan, Thomas, McGonagall

Progressives

Those in this group have accepted Mother Magic’s Oaths, but seek to adapt Avalon’s laws to become more Muggle/Muggle-born friendly, as well as enforce strict restrictions on the types of Magic based on what they perceive as “good.” Mostly favor the Light Arts, and have a bias against “the Dark Arts” and “Dark Creatures.”

Most Ancient Houses: Slughorn, Travers (since 1920s) , Shafiq (since 1960s)

Ancient Houses: Farring, Corner, Beaumont, Macdougal

Attributed Houses: Griffis*, Rose, Perks, Valentina,

Houses: Dumbledore, Perkins, Fortescue, Umbridge, Wood, Barrows, Lockhart, Pettigrew

Liberatives

Muggle-borns and some Pureblood families who have refused Sponsorship and Reject Mother Magic’s Oaths, and seek to change Avalon’s laws and structures to be less aristocratic-based. As they have no votes within the Wizengamot or ICW, they depend on the Progressives.

NOTE: Bloodlines speculated and/or confirmed to be descendants of one of the four inactive Oligarchy Houses.

Serpen (S), Smith (H), Nettle (R), Lovegood (R), Asp (S), Griffis (G), Potter (P), Oakwood (R), Cooke (H)

**The Affable and Most Ancient House of Weasley, due to their Paterfamilias’ choices/betrayals in the past, have had most of their votes confiscated as a consequence. They have 2 votes instead of the original 5. Same goes for House of Rosier, Burke, and Perks. They must undergo a Decade of Repentance to end the Blood Feud & regain the rights, monies, and reputations of a Most Ancient or Ancient House. House Burke & Perks are currently undergoing Year 7 of their Decade of Repentance. House Weasley completed their Decade of Repentance in 1920s, and have become a Vassal House of House Malfoy.

Other Changes

Regarding the Muggle World, they will never find out about the Magical World(s). Mother Magic has placed an irremovable, irreversible silencing spell on the tongues of Squibs, Muggle parents of Muggleborns & New Bloods, and any Muggleborns/Wizen who decide to abandon the Wizarding World. The Magical governments also keep up to date with technology advancements, like weaponry and so on, and have an entire subdepartment in the DOM and teams to invent spells and so on to combat it

Mother Magic sees it as an abandonment of Her and Her Gifts should a Muggle-born or other Wix decide to live permanently in the muggle world. There may be other consequences of such a decision.

Dumbledore — Due to his favoritism and biases, the Wards of Hogwarts denied him the privilege of being Headmaster. This is well-known but isn’t gossiped about in the open public. The scandal alone almost made the Board have him retire, if not for his proficiency and skill and history of NEWT students almost always getting EEs and Os. The current Headmaster, after Dippet retired, is Headmistress Annette Cooke of the Unwavering House of Cooke (once, a Hufflepuff).

Another consequence of such is that he has been removed as Head Deputy of Hogwarts. He is still the Head of Gryffindor, but he’s on “thin ice.”