#Sorry if I messed up the province's personalities.

[harunayuuka2060]

Malleus: I'm sorry, child of man. Because of me, you were forced to live in this mountain.

Malleus: *who accidentally travelled into MC's world* *and burnt their house to ashes*

MC: Hey, I told you it's fine. I wasn't expecting you to fall to my house like a meteor. *laughs*

Malleus: ... *smiles*

MC: *is on a video call with Lilia, Sebek, and Silver using Malleus's phone*

Lilia: I'm convinced Malleus travelled there in purpose.

Silver: I second that.

Sebek: Waka-sama isn't irresponsible to do that!

Lilia: Well, where is he? I need to give him a lecture.

MC: Later, Lilia. He's sleeping right now. *shows Malleus sleeping on their lap*

Lilia: ...

Lilia: He's being cozy, huh.

Silver: MC, are you sure you'll be fine living in the mountain? How about your life in the city?

MC: *chuckles* I'm never a city-person so it should be fine. And our stay here is just temporary. Maybe in a next week or so, I'll take Malleus back to my province.

Lilia: Oh~. Are you going to introduce him to your grandparents?

MC: *laughs awkwardly* What are you trying to imply, Lilia?

Lilia: Take a guess. *chuckles*

Malleus: *reaches out and ends the call*

Malleus: *half-awake* He's teasing?

MC: Yeah. Are you hungry?

Malleus: Hm. Can I cook?

MC: Hmm.....

Malleus: I've practiced cooking. I won't mess it up.

MC: Okay. *smiles* What will you cook for us?

Malleus: Roasted chicken.

MC: But we don't have chicken.

Malleus: *pulls out one underneath the couch* We have one.

MC: ...Where did you get that?

[mllemaenad]

Er- sorry if this is a nuisance, but I just realised that, for all I know quite a lot about Joanna Hawke, I don't actually know that much about Emily the Fallout 4 protagonist you played. Can you share a bit about her?

Being asked to talk about my characters is never a nuisance. :) The thing about Dragon Age 2 was that the way the cut scenes worked made it really easy to get interesting pictures of the dialogue and reactions to talk about. I never even had quite the same success with Inquisition, and I don't seem to have the knack of taking good screenshots in Fallout 4. It's always "An NPC walked into my character and pushed her out of alignment, so now she's having a profound conversation with the back of Piper's head".

But I love my Fallout characters as much as my Dragon Age ones, and I've got a bunch of head canons about all of them.

However – I do know you are in the middle of a first playthrough. It's very difficult to talk about Emily without spoilers, and because it's possible to wander around the Commonwealth in a very non-linear manner it's hard to be sure if I'm ruining something for you. So POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW.

Emily practiced briefly as a civil rights lawyer once she finished school – but honestly she burned out hard and fast as the political situation in America deteriorated. You just didn't win those sorts of fights, certainly not as a starry-eyed young graduate who thought that being in the right (morally or factually – take your pick) counted for something.

After a couple of years of misery, she went back to school for her Masters and went into teaching (her Railroad codename is Professor because of this). She didn't really like teaching, but ... it was better than feeling like she was failing both her individual clients and society as a whole every damn day.

Shaun was very much an accident, and she and Nate were married because of him; the pre-war world was not a kind place to be a single mother.

To be clear, she liked Nate. She'd met him when she was still struggling to be a real, proper lawyer, and had been working with a group of activists on a case dealing with discrimination against soldiers of Asian heritage attempting to access medical care after being discharged. He'd had friends who were affected, and had been present on the periphery of the whole thing – and sympathetic to the cause (no, the case did not go well).

They'd been sort of seeing each other on and off for years when it happened. It was more that she had not intended a pregnancy, or a marriage, and it felt sometimes as though the world was frog marching her toward a role as a quiet suburban housewife, one screw up at a time.

The other defining experience of her pre-war life was that she lost her best friend in the annexation of Canada – and I do mean "lost". She'd been at college with Melissa (although Mel had not been studying law), and they'd remained close in the years afterwards, even when Mel went home. The last she heard, Melissa had been planning to attend a rally protesting the brutal deforestation being undertaken by American-owned corporations in her home province ... and then nothing. Nothing at all. Emily has no idea if she was killed, or arrested and imprisoned, or if she just fled and went underground. She did poke around a bit, trying to find out ... but there was just nothing. So many people were killed, or just hauled away, that the records were a useless mess.

She was never important, in any political sense. She never successfully struck a blow against injustice. But she was also ... well, dodgy. She was an academic; she'd been on the wrong side of several court cases; she'd had a hurried wedding that suggested a licentious lifestyle; she kicked up a fuss over a probable traitor in Canada. These are all the sorts of things that get a person labelled a communist, even though they obviously have bugger all to do with communism.

Even now, she kind of wonders if she was pushed into that vault as a punishment. But she also knows she'll probably never be able to answer that for sure.

Post-war? Well, there are pros and cons. Straight out of the vault, she nearly starved to death because she was physically incapable of keeping grilled radroach down, and I've played on survival mode (modded, so I can save whenever I like and still see enemies on the compass – I enjoy the immersion of needing to eat and sleep, and the disease system, but I have zero interest in making the game harder) since it came out, so she caught every disease known to man immediately. She owes the survivors of Concord her life just as much as they owe her theirs: sure, she looked really impressive in that power armour on day one, but by day three she was feverish and vomiting, and would not have survived without their care.

But mostly she regards this as a chance at redemption. She knows she let the pre-war world scare her out of doing anything important, and she's not going to let this world do the same.

She's a staunch member of the Minutemen and the Railroad – although she wishes Preston hadn't made her General. It's not that she doesn't believe in the cause, she's just not really a soldier by nature.

She gets on well with most companions (I mean, with Strong it's all a bit "Well, if he's following me around he's not actively eating people so ... that's a win, right?") and after she's grieved for Nate she usually romances Hancock. I keep trying to mod it to slow the affinity gain down enough to add some realism there, but results are mixed, honestly. Hancock's backstory really resonates with her – falling short of doing the right thing until you think you're going to explode – and they get along like a house on fire. Sometimes they have, in fact, set a house on fire. She's also tremendously close with Nick and Deacon – her high-charisma, I'm-taking-this-red-persuasion-check-to-dazzle-everyone style is fantastic for both persuading witnesses in complex detective cases, and distracting people from whatever fantastic bullshit her Railroad partner is about to pull.

I generally play with Tales from the Commonwealth installed, and she also gets on really well with R4-04/Mara. I won't go into that too much, in case you ever want to play the mod, but Mara is a Railroad colleague she can experience culture shock with on a daily basis, and being able to stand in a corner with someone and go "What the hell?" really helps sometimes, and even Nicky has had some time to acclimatise, so this is an important relationship.

I tend to play with some kind of multi-companion mod installed. This game is ten years old and I am not in it for the challenge. I'm here to haul everyone and my dog around together, so I can hear what everyone has to say all the time. I also hate leaving people behind. It makes them sad! We are a small army, stomping across the Commonwealth snarking and righting wrongs (I do this in Fallout 3, too, and it is especially funny to hear Three Dog talk about the Lone Wanderer as Hope and her team book up every damn room in Rivet City).

I'm also trying out Sim Settlements 2. I haven't finished the mod yet, so it's going to depend on where it goes, but so far I enjoy the concept. It feels as though its protagonist, Jake, is aiming to rebuild the CPG as Preston aims to rebuild the Minutemen – and the logistics of that might be a better fit for her than the military stuff. Not that I mean she'd ignore Preston's quests just ... mentally shift the focus on what she's doing. If this works out, and it doesn't blatantly contradict canon anywhere, it might slot into my personal canon.

She acquires an interesting new scar after every boss fight that leads to finding the Institute: one for the deathclaw, one for Kellogg, one for the Courser. I do wish I could find a decent body scar overlay, as putting all of them on her face feels a tad improbable, but it's not a big priority.

I tend to play the game as pushing fairly relentlessly forward until we find Kellogg, and then backing off. Early delays are around the fact that she's genuinely often sick or injured, so I can pause and build settlements while she recovers. Once you've gone through Kellogg's memories ... it's not that she doesn't still desperately want to find her son, but a) she can say with reasonable certainty that the Institute doesn't mean to eat him at that point, so one kind of pressure has been relieved and b) at that point she kind of needs a minute to adjust to the fact that her Shaun is no longer the infant she remembers.

And thus she tends to leave ... versions of Shaun, or at least of his bedroom, behind her as she progresses through the story.

As soon as she's well enough to function she patches up the nursery in her old house. This is a real rough job: they haven't got the power working yet so there's a damn oil lamp in there, and she's just shoving plywood over holes in the walls. Anything to make the place reasonably warm and safe for a baby. After Kellogg, she closes the door on that one. She still uses the house when they're in Sanctuary, but she never goes in that room.

A corner of her home in Diamond City is dedicated to ten-year-old Shaun. Goodneighbor would be preferable, but I've never found a house mod that quite gave me the space I needed – so Diamond City it is. It's got walls and a door; he's ten so he won't want his mother hovering over him all the time. And it's cluttered. He's ten! And she doesn't know him. What does he like? Books? Comic books? Robots? Teddy bears? Sports? Clothes for playing pretend? What? She just picks up anything that looks appropriate for a kid and stows it in there. She imagines that when she's got him back, and explained a few things, she can take him in there and say "We don't know each other yet. But if you show me what you like, that will be a start." When she goes to the Institute, she closes that door too.

Then there's a room in a settlement far from Diamond City. Spectacle Island is a good choice, but it does depend a bit on what order I've got the Minutemen quests in. Somewhere it won't be ... easy for the kind of people who might reasonably want vengeance to get to. This is a comfortable room for an older gentleman, with space for him to do it up as he likes. There's a brief period, after she learns who he is, where Emily still thinks she can fix this. She can reach him. She can show him that what the Institute is doing is wrong. She can convince him to leave with her. They can try to make amends, to both the synths and the people of the Commonwealth, together. The day she meets him on the surface, she closes that door and there are no more rooms.

I've done both the Minutemen and Railroad endings with her, and have never had to commit on one. Given that the television show seems to be suggesting that only the Minutemen or Brotherhood of Steel endings could be canon, I guess I'm going with the Minutemen!

At the end of it all, she's lost everything from her pre-war life, but she's also got pride in this life that she never had in the old one. She's brought the settlements of the Commonwealth back to life; she's escorted escaped synths to safety; she brought down the Institute, before it could finish wrecking everything. She has a new love and many friends ... and if the Shaun she gets isn't quite her Shaun, and maybe she could never bring herself to take him to that room in Diamond City ... well, he's still a person who deserves a shot at a life, and she's still responsible for him. They'll figure out the rest as they go.

And that is more than you ever wanted to know about someone else's character! Any cool stories you wanted to share about Georgia?

[dalishthunder]

Throw a Dart at the Map (p1)

Pairing: Nebarra/LDB (Gender Neutral Reader) Rating: Mature Words: 1131 Additional Info: Pining... Fluff and pining, Takes place after "Honor and Glory", Takes place during the Island Quest

During the Great War, there had always been a twinge of sadness when the battle ended. Whether the skirmish was won or lost, there were dead to count and name. Letters to write... and no time to mourn.

After Nebarra had begun mercenary work, that had shifted to a disappointment that his bloodlust could not be fully sated. The battle ended before he'd barely wet his blade.

And now... it was more relief. Relief and the wanting to see that furiosity and passion on your face longer. More often. It was odd to think that he'd been traveling with you for over a year now. But he wasn't about to ask you to bed just to see your expressions or passion between battles. You certainly didn't feel that way about him anyway. You were Skyrim's darling. The most eligible person in the entire province and even other parts of Tamriel....

Oh, Old Soldier...

He looked over to where you stood at the bow, cold sea air whipping all around, wreathed in the glow of the auroras above. There was something so wild and serene about it... about you.

It was the first time he'd gotten to be alone with you in probably close to a month. He wasn't even quite sure why you'd volunteered to come out here with him just to make a bit of coin.

Probably needed a break from all the pomp and circumstance.

Before he knew it, he'd made it to your side, leaning against the railing, shoulder bumping against yours as the waves rocked the ship.

You gave him a smile, eyes tired, haunting in the soft green glow, before leaning against him.

"You know..." He started after a long, long while, "We can go anywhere we want to now...."

A laugh bubbled from your throat like champagne, "We? You mean you're not sick of me yet?"

"Never said that." He almost wished you could see his grin. "But as far as traveling companions go, I supposed I could do worse. And someone needs to make sure you don't get yourself killed doing something irrationally stupid."

"That someone is Xelzaz.... For both of us."

"He does have a better head on his shoulders than most, I'll give him that."

You chuckled, and after a moment, you asked, "Where would you like to go?"

Home.

"Somewhere warm."

He wasn't quite sure if it was a good idea to bring you to the Isles. The Thalmor had started to show... interest in your activities, and bringing you into the den of serpents as it were would be unwise. No matter how certain he was that you would get along well with his brother. His parents....

Gods what a dumb turn of thought. You could absolutely not meet his parents.

Ever.

How much wine had he had already?

Not enough.

You straightened up, turning around so your back was against the railing and you could look at him. Your smile was intoxicating. "Alright. I'm down for that. I'm kind of interested in seeing the Sea of Pearl. Maybe Topal Bay?"

"Ohohoho, look who's been brushing up on geography. And here I thought I'd be able to mock you forever for being a dullard."

You gave him a halfhearted shove. "Sorry, been too busy saving the whole world to know every world detail up to your standard."

"Excuses don't look good on you, my dear Dragonborn."

You rolled your eyes. "So, it's settled then?"

"That you'd a dullard?"

"No!" You smacked him on the shoulder, and he just snickered. "That after everything's over we're setting sail for the Sea of Pearl."

His heart skipped a beat. "Yeah, it's settled. Once this whole mess has been dealt with, we're going south and getting some good wine. Something full-bodied. Actually, have you ever tried metheglin?"

You shook your head.

"We'll have to get some when we head south."

"What's it taste like?"

"It's a honey liquor. I haven't had any in ages.... There was a small town near where I grew up that made the best lemon infused metheglin. Last time I had it was the night before I was shipped off. Let me tell you the hangover while I was signing away my life to The Dominion was probably the worst one I've ever had." He let out a breathy chuckle. "I thought I was going to vomit over the poor hag's shoes." You laughed again, "You'll have to show me sometime."

"Maybe after the Sea of Pearl and Topal Bay."

"I'm holding you to it."

"I said maybe."

"Too late, you've already gotten my hopes up, Nebbadiah." Your smile was infectious, and as he realized the way he'd been leaning in, he was very, very glad for his helmet. He was sure kissing you was one of the dumbest ideas that had ever cursed his mind.

"Bad idea...."

"Oh..." Your smile faltered. "Yeah... sorry, that was a silly idea. The Thalmor don't really like me... no need to stir the pot even more by going into the heart of The Dominion...."

"On my oath, I will protect you if we ever do. Besides, if I'm going to retire on Auridon and buy a vineyard, the Thalmor had best get used to you or have a blade shoved through their gut."

It was difficult to make out in the dim green light, but he was pretty sure your cheeks flushed... or perhaps it was wishful thinking. And then you headbutted his shoulder. "What's the point of retiring if we can't relax."

We.

Yes, he was very glad for his helmet.

"Hmmm... I suppose we could settle for southern Cyrodil instead if we really have to." He drawled.

We.

Your forehead was still pressed into his armor. He was afraid if he moved, the mood would shatter; That nebulous future together fade on the wind....

"I think I want to travel a lot more before I retire."

"We've still got plenty of time left." After all, you were supposed to be the avatar of Talos or some such nonesense that the nords had made up. And as much as he liked to complain, Nebarra wasn't even technically middle aged.

"We've still gotta get Xelzaz to Highrock.... And figure out what happened to Lucifer."

He rolled his eyes, of course you'd have to bring them up while he was trying to live in some stupid little fantasy. He looked out over the horizon, spotting a small island. Someplace to dock for the night and potentially hide the boat until he needed it again.

Because as much as he'd like to believe the wine, and talk about sailing away or settling down together, he needed to live in the real world. So, reluctantly he pulled away.

"Yes, well, like I said, plenty of time."

[museeeuuuum]

I'm sorry if this question has already been asked and answered, but what did you go to school for and how did you enter the field of museum work? I'm currently in university aspiring to someday work in museum conservation, I and would be very grateful for any wisdom you could offer. Thank you!

This has been sitting in my inbox for a long time, partly because I have been trying to sort out how to reply, I do apologize.

I got into museum work in a roundabout way. Once upon a time, I was trying to figure out what the fuck I wanted to do with my life, and what I wanted to do was travel. What job would pay me to travel ? Ah, archaeology! I always saw those khaki wearing nerds in exotic places on TV. And they got to dig up history? Sign me up.

I got a degree in Anthropology. I didn't like it very much. At the same time I got a degree in Classics. I liked that alot more. Having come from a low income family where, to this day, I am the only college/university educated person, I was led to believe by well meaning family members that people would be BEGGING me to work for them. I had not one, but TWO degrees after all.

I spent the two years after university continuing to work at 4 star hotels, cleaning up after sex parties and fixing toilets. I was an idiot and did not apply for many jobs. I was frozen, unsure of how one acquired a career.

I did another fieldschool, got an Archaeology Assistant certificate that feels like it was worth less than the paper it was printed on, and I decided I ought to step up my game. I went and got myself a graduate diploma in cultural resource management, did a little conservation internship at a big local museum that completely changed my trajectory, and also started applying to jobs like I should have been 2 fucking years prior.

I got a job as a commercial archaeologist working on pipelines and the most idiotic hydro damn project in human history. I worked the field and also got lab experience, writing numbers on tiny fragments of rock while the lab director and assistant tried not to tear each other's throats out.

I decided I no longer wanted to be an archaeologist. I worked labour for 15 years and my injuries were stacking up. That internship stuck in my head. I started applying everywhere. Galleries. Museums. Obscure archaeology digs in muddy English countrysides.

I was interviewed for the Assistant Curator position at a small house museum that was trying to start from less than scratch: the site had been horribly mismanaged for decades and the place was falling apart, the collection a mess.

I didn't get the job. But I did get lucky: the woman who got the job got pregnant and they needed someone to cover her maternity leave, and guess who had a shiny new graduate diploma?

I got cold called 7 months later and was offered the mat leave cover. The pregnant lady had her baby and moved to Vancouver and, voila. I got a permanent position.

Some advice: volunteer with museums, make friends, and remember peoples names. Make sure they remember yours. Public history is very chic in museums right now: get a degree in that. Conservation is cool, but you get pidgeon-holed into a job that pays well and has openings once every few years. If you want to do curation and research, get a public history degree. If you want to do collections stuff, look for something that will teach you the basics of conservation and collections management. Learn how to work with your hands, how to work an electric drill, and how to clean (like REALLY CLEAN, not the shit treatment you give your apartment once every three weeks). Connections are everything in this field. The pay is okay, but don't ever expect to own a home unless you have an inheritance.

Most importantly, support your local museums, even if you don't want to work for them. Donate a little extra. Vote for mps or senators or whoever makes decisions in your country, province, state, or municipality who respect education and the preservation of cultural heritage. If you don't, jobs will be cut.

That is the story of how I got into museums and a few nuggets of advice I wish I had been told a decade ago. I entered through a convoluted way, so I am not sure how helpful this will be to you. But I wish you the best of luck.

[safyresky]

Hullo bestie, it me. So sorry for the late(ish) ask but since the weather's been warming up I have a question about CS. Specifically about how a Beach Episode would go lol.

Cause Away with the Fae is kinda almost like that considering that they go to a beach at one point. But I wanna get inside your head and wanna know how a true to form Beach Episode of Crystal Springs would go.

Considering that the Frost Fam aren't exactly beach people (I wouldn't think) this has gotten me curious as to how this would play out. Would there be snowball fights at the beach? Would the twins try and make glass by super heating the sand? Would they make it such a mess for every other beach goer? Idk, just a fun thought that I thought you could answer 😌

ANDIE GET OUT OF MY HEAD! I HAVE BEEN THINKING OF A BEACH EPISODE OF CS ALL WEEK! (probably bc of the post I saw earlier this week that mentioned how gr8 filler episodes are tbh)

And this isn't the FIRST TIME I have thought of the Frosts at the beach >:). this shit's been BREWING!

First off, surprisingly, the Frosts are beach people! 5/6 are, of course. Three are Summer Sprites and enjoy the day spent on the sunny shores of the Southern Province; and for the other two, the summer sprite blood gives them a penchant for occasional tropics, and this includes beach days :)

The only Frost that ISN'T a beach person is Winter, but she goes anyway because she does enjoy her beach ritual. BUT I AM GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF, OF COURSE! FIRST THING'S FIRST.

WHAT. DO. THEY. WEAR.

I HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS FOR SO FREAKING LONG, BEHOLD!

I cannot decide for sure if both Blaise and Jack wear that old timey stripey shorts tank top one piece swimsuit, or if it's funnier if only Jack does and Blaise goes for the swim trunks and open Aloha shirts, or vice versa, or they BOTH go for the funky shirt and swim trunks combo!

The mental image of the pair of them in this number absolutely sends me tho, tbh:

Though when I picture beach episode they are both in the funky shirt and swim trunks :)

but GOD if the old timey trunks aren't funny as FUCK

Winter covers tf UP. She wears a HUGE sunhat, absolutely GINORMOUS, and just as big black shades, probably like Gucci or Prada or something, to shield her eyes. She burns SO easily (being made of snow and ice and love would do that to a gal, she supposes) so she covers tf UP

Something victorian-esque for her as well, like this:

but with longer pants and a longer skirt, if not a full on bathing gown from way earlier like the lady behind the first one there, lmao

Jacqueline is ALSO in big sunhat mode, but not as big as Winter's. She does not burn as easy as Winter does, but does burn--usually the tops of her shoulders, her cheeks, and her nose! Her aviators are PLANTED on her face, they do NOT come off

She and the Twins are more modern in terms of swimwear. She wears a one piece, with your typical asymmetrical long beach sarong

The Twins are pretty versatile! I think usually they BOTH wear swim shorts and tops, though Fiera will switch out for a swim skirt every so often! she deffs prefers the shorts, though, since they are always running around on the beach and in the water like the wild hellions they are

SO LET'S GET INTO BEACH DAY ITSELF! AGAIN! SINCE I IMPLODED THIS ASK LAST NIGHT IN MY EXCITEMENT AND LOST THIS PART COMPLETELY!!!!!

AND UNDER THE CUT SINCE I WENT AHEAD AND UH, GOT EXCITED ABOUT ✨✨FASHION✨✨ AND THIS WILL BE V LONG

but in point form because I'm not that much of a monster!! ANYWAY, BEACH DAY

Winter's beach day ritual is as follows:

bundled up as breezy as can be when you burn as bad as she does, she finds a nice, shady corner, preferably up against a rock side or cliff face

sets up her umbrella, which Blaise has enchanted to keep her out of the sun at all times (like moving solar panels but opposite)

lays her blanket down beneath the umbrella, sits down with a good book in one hand and sunscreen ready to attack all four kids with it if necessary

She stays put in her shady corner ALL DAY.

Blaise, meanwhile, goes to the bar, gets himself a drink, plants his reclining beach chair with attached umbrella that is never deployed down right beside his wife, sits down with drink #1 (tells the bartenders to keep them coming when they see it empty) and does not move at ALL.

he sinks into the chair, kicks his feet out into the sand, and BEACH BUMS. He melts into the ground. he becomes one with the beach. he is in MAXY RELAXY mode and the ONLY THING that could move him is if Winter, in a moment of cloudy weather, asks to go for a walk or swim with him

he'll be out of that chair SO FAST

But that's IT

Some say he COINED the term beach bum; he INVENTED it! He is the OG beach bum

He will also on occasion substitute the sand for the water, and his chair for a beach floaty

these leads to a fun game Jacqueline, Fino, and Fiera enjoy called TIP DAD INTO THE WATER! They never win. Unless Jack plays. Jack always wins

(Both of these Blaise scenarios work best picturing him in the trunks and funky shirt >:)

If Summer finds out that her sister is at the beach, she will put everything aside to go hang out with Winter! The pair will spend the ENTIRE day chatting up a storm (literally on one occasion. the resulting tsunami was surfed by Jack and averted by Summer being the literal season and the one with the fastest reflexes) and lounging about together for the day while Blaise melts beside them

I never thought about the twins trying to make glass out of sand, but I am thinking about it now! Summer shows them how. They have yet to master it, but they're getting close!

(Summer fears the day that they learn she can do much the same but with diamonds, as they both will want to learn it immediately!)

The Twins are the most active people you'll ever see on a beach! They spend a LOT of time swimming, mostly splashing the crap out of each other (and the cold front if they join, but Jacqueline is really good at splashing them BIG TIME)

They make HUGE sand structures and run amok, with NO concept of beach spot boundary etiquette which means a lot of people have to deal with, you know, messy blankets, sand flying up as the pair rush by, sparks threatening to set fire to their dry beach towels, and so on and so on. The lucky ones only have to deal with a sand structure potentially cropping up beside them!

Aside from that, most people actually don't mind too terribly when the Frosts hit up the beach! Which is gr8, bc they be in situations a LOT, and Blaise deals with the dumbest people sometimes, so they're more than happy to see them chillin'

A lot of magibeans are quite happy when the twins are in the water! It warms up NICELY. Not that it's FREEZING. I mean, the South is HOT so the Arctic Sea can be refreshing, and Summer pulls some strings to take the edge of that portion of the CS shoreline--it's just nice to have warm water knowing it is because of magic children gifted with fire manipulation and not, you know, PEE

Though Fiera sometimes snickers when people say that, which gives Fino cause to be SUS

Fiera gets buried in the sand at some point by Fino and hangs out there, watching her twin wading in the shallows, trying to catch some minnows with a little net

Like. The Twins try to do ALL the beach things at once!

ALL OF THEM

And if they make rivals via sand castles or any other beach sport, it's an EXPERIENCE

Since Blinter is checked out, Jack usually takes up the "parent" part, but in the most big brother way you could imagine: very irresponsibly, encouraging the rivalries and participating until all four kiddos end up defeating said rivals

This has happened more than once. Jacqueline has lost count.

SPEAKING OF THE FROSTY BASTARD HIMSELF, He camps at the bar! He gets ALL the local gossip on beach days. ALL OF IT

Later he shares with Blinter and when Blaise gets into work the next day, my GOD do people get OWNED and does shit get DONE.

Everyone's like wow Blaise! Relaxing looks good on you!

And Blaise chuckles like thanks, but inside he's just a gossipy old man and so is his son >:)

BUT ANYWAY Jack deffs wades into the surf, ankle deep, sipping his drink and freezing the water as people drift by. He gets a kick out of it; it's very amusing, even more so when they can't tell why it's happening, AND DOUBLY SO when he does it to the Twins

who THEN proceed to warm it up again, only for him to freeze it again, and it goes on and on and Jacqueline watches from her chair like "Fino and Fiera are two halves of a whole idiot"

Jacqueline would be the person roped into a volleyball game and kicking ass with her new magibean pals

She also will go for swims too! And beach walks! And she'll hang out in the shores with Jack to shoot the sleet as he antagonizes the swimmers

That's how Jack gets his Legate gossip >:)

Joke's on him, bc that's how Jacqueline gets the latest goss on the Legends

>:) >:) >:)

SOMETIMES DITE APPEARS! And when this happens, it's bc she heard there was a beach day and jumped at the opportunity to stare at her beautiful curvy lil girlfriend in one of her fave locations

Jacqueline LOVES when this happens bc then she can spend the entire time staring at her strong gf bc Dite goes full bikini and Jacqueline is positively ENTHRALLED with her all day

And vice versa with Dite @ Jacqueline 😂😂

On these occasions, Winter scoots closer to Blaise's chair, rousing him from his zen mode to try and once again figure out where on earth Jacqueline gets her curves from

"You're curvy," says Blaise. "Well yes, but also, not quite; I have some unfortunate lankiness here and there. Perhaps she gets it from your mother?" To which Blaise SCOFFS and says "That woman was ballroom gown shaped, I am convinced. She may not have even HAD legs." And Winter giggles and says "Well, it shall remain a mystery, I suppose."

the things parents discuss about their kids! (my parents have this discussion about my nose quite often. I think wedding photos finally put that debate to rest tho)

Jacqueline, funnily enough, actually gets the curves from her maternal grandmother, the Snow Queen.

She was a very curvy woman, so much so that the Winter Warlock called her "Bodacious Bianca", and, well, Bianca simply didn't have the heart to tell him that "bodacious" doesn't quite mean what he thinks it means.

(had she, he would've replied like so: "Ah, yes, but you see, that's the beauty of words! They can mean whatEVER you want them to! And that's why I'm one of the best Warlocks there has been >:)" and she would laugh in kind at her silly little warlock)

(Queen Frost probably HATED him, given that she considered herSELF the best Warlock and did NOT appreciate this man in dress pyjamas and bunny slippers and pointy hats bouncing around claiming to be better than her)

(it was a very one sided rivalry, for certain)

(Unless Winter Senior knew she hated him and hammed it up just to piss her off more, which, goofiness aside, is highly probable)

BUT YEAH

BEACH DAY

I think that about cover all my musings! Honestly, a CS beach episode would go SO well. The Frosts would just have a very good time, probably at the expense of a couple of disgruntled magibeans but hey, can't win them all, Blaise always says.

but yeah! It'd go VERY well! An enjoyable day for them all! I think in an actual beach episode, Jack would be gossiping, Jacqueline would be chilling, the Twins would have a BEACH DAY BUCKET LIST and try to do it all, upsetting a few people on the way. By the end of the day, they have a small angry mob and Fino and Fiera look at each other like >:) because guess what the last thing on their list was?

When it's time to head home the Twins are soaked (crowd tossed them into the sea and they love every second of it), Jack is burnt af bc he BURNS BAD, Winter is chipper, Blaise is seven shades darker and so relaxed he's actually slouching, and Jacqueline has a first place volleyball trophy in her hands, a group of magibeans waving bye to her, one of them miming CALL ME.

They return later once the beach is clear to collect abandoned/forgotten sand toys, bc I used to do that with my cousins and our grandfather and I can see Blaise walking on the beach in the sunset, twins skipping ahead and collecting loose toys, tossing them into their big red bucket!

When they get home, the Twins pass out bc long, energetic day, and Blinter enjoy a quiet evening with Jack, who they chat with all evening while Jacqueline sleeps on the couch!

[mareenavee]

Okay, I want you to gimme some Varlais answers~ Because I love a disaster Thalmor

Which areas of Skyrim do they find most beautiful and most dangerous?

Do they regret journeying to Skyrim?

Who is their mentor? Who do they go to most for lessons?

What is their stance on taking a life? Do they kill without a second thought, in the name of a god or daedra, or do they adhere to pacifism?

Hehehe. Okay, alright. I'm inspired. Let's go. I'll let Linare Varlais answer these things himself. :> (From this ask game here.)

Which areas of Skyrim do they find most beautiful and most dangerous?

Hm. Skyrim. I'd say, especially now with the dragons flying about like vermin, it's likely dangerous everywhere. There is a kind of beauty though, if you ignore the danger. I'd say the most beautiful place is likely Solitude, or the surrounding mountains overlooking the ocean. It's cold, but it reminds me as much as is possible of Alinor, regardless of the snow and ice. It's still the sea and it's close enough. That said, it's still one of the most dangerous places here. There, Solstheim, Winterhold, Markarth...anywhere there is a strong Thalmor presence, honestly. You make one mistake and you're -- well. No need to worry about that. As I said, everywhere's dangerous these days.

Do they regret journeying to Skyrim?

Well, to be perfectly honest with you I never did have any choice in the matter. I've lived here most of my life. My father was a guard for -- oh. Yeah, no Ondolemar just said I shouldn't bring him up, so I won't. After a few interesting events, he was promoted to Lady Elenwen's personal guard and that opened up a lot of doors for me when I got older. The only time I get to leave this frozen boulder of a province is when I mess something up and am sent back to Alinor for retraining. After that, though...ugh. They always ship me back to Northwatch as if that'll make the difference. I do regret the mistakes, even when I can't help but make them, because I absolutely hate that fort. If I never see the inside of it again, I'll die happy.

Who is their mentor? Who do they go to most for lessons?

I think this is a complex question, and Ondolemar will kill me if I divulge too many details, maybe. But I can say this. My mother and my sister taught me everything I know about archery. My sister's skills probably outpaced Mother's, and I'm sure she could've outshone me, too, if she had survived her retraining. ... ...Yes, sorry, I was just... I was just thinking. Forgive me. Anyway. Yes, it's not possible to go to Alinor on my own right now with my current posting to train with my parents. Instead, I put all my focus behind the plan Ondolemar is working on. I look to him for guidance whenever things get a bit iffy. For me, to be honest, they usually do.

What is their stance on taking a life? Do they kill without a second thought, in the name of a god or daedra, or do they adhere to pacifism?

I am not a pacifist. Oh, but Gods would I have preferred that. No, early on I learned how it really is in this world. My parents are both veterans of the Great War, and their philosophy on the matter -- regardless of if they'd be able to form other opinions -- is that if one does not strike first, then in most cases, it gives the other person the opening they need to eliminate you. And I've seen it plenty all across Skyrim, a thousand different times. After a while, you don't think. You just aim and shoot an arrow and hope it's enough to get you out of danger. I can't say it doesn't affect me, because I do hate it. Very much. But I can't fix anything if I don't try. That said, I don't fight for a god and certainly certainly not a Daedra. I fight to remain part of the insurgence, more or less, so that I might right the wrongs done to my family first, and to my people as an extension of that.

[mariemarieohcontrary]

Love | Loathing (@choicesjunechallenge, @liaromancewriter)

Aka the loathing of one man.

Sorry, long post incoming because Constantine's bs always fills me with feelings and none particularly charitable to his dead royal ass.

I know MC in TRR bounced back from their exile at court and just took the reins with both hands upon their return but I just think it would be a whole new traumatic experience for them to have something that would have also been traumatic for them (the incident with Tariq) be exposed to the press.

And then things go from bad to worse when the press likely uses it to paint MC as something she's not.

Then things go from worse to worst when the MC is made to leave the gala like she's a criminal.

Like?? That will mess with anyone's psyche at least I think so.

So here's Evangeline in the car driving her to the airport. Her whole journey was tied to being comfortable enough to do things she normally never would have. But come the incident with Tariq, she begins slipping back into her old stuff. Plain everyday clothes, things that cover her shoulders, simple jeans, anything that makes her look plain and unnoticeable.

Then the photos were sent out and she was just kinda on a very close-to-snapping thread because now everyone knows.

Only no one knows what the real context was and instead, she was being framed as something she isn't. Next thing she knew she was being sent away from court and let's be real some press members would be wanting to take photos of her disgraceful leave from court.

Needless to say, when the whole world sees your near-naked body on a night that wasn't the best where you're definitely terrified post-incident, let's just say Evangeline ended up wanting to be covered up even more.

Evangeline ends up crying in the car ride to the airport because... well, why shouldn't she? Someone exposed a vulnerable and personally traumatic moment for her, the press is spinning it into something it's not and for some reason, she's the one being treated as a criminal. Why shouldn't she cry when she's being sent back to her motherland with her reputation in tatters and her not knowing how to explain this to her family or even the only family she felt would love her without reason or justification.

Why not cry when she thought she'd found love in a country she found to be beautiful only for it to hurt her in the end?

By the time Bertrand and Maxwell get to her, she wants to go back home to hide away in her clan's farm in the province and just try to fade into obscurity.

Want to commission me? Click the Source!❤️

[romance-of-three-memes]

Hello, I hope you see this question.

If you don't mind, I want to ask about Lü Meng's death in light of the historical records, what do they say about it? Is it authentic that he was poisoned by Sun Quan?

And would you please provide me with online sources where I can read more about the historical records? I don't have much access where I live.

I tried to search but couldn't figure out myself.

Appreciate the help.

Hooooo boy, okay, this got long, so here we go. In short, I'm 99% sure Lü Meng wasn’t poisoned by Sun Quan, (the 1% will be explained later, but basically I'm waiting for someone to email me back). We can’t even blame Luo Guanzhong for that misconception like we can for a lot of the less-than-positive misconceptions of people affiliated with Wu. In the novel Lü Meng was possessed by the spirit of Guan Yu, who killed him as vengeance for being executed. Supposedly Lü Meng bled from his orifices, lovely detail right there, isn’t it? But of course that’s also untrue, and mostly Luo being mad that Wu beat one of his faves.

Sun Quan ended up becoming quite the piece of work and treating a lot of the people who had served him well like garbage later in his life (-cough- Lu Xun, Lu Xun buddy I am so sorry-), but this wasn’t one of those situations. Lü Meng didn’t really survive long enough for that (unfortunately?… fortunately?). From everything reputable I’ve seen he died from some unspecified illness, it’s often insinuated that he’d been dealing with health issues since before the campaign in Jing.

Sun Quan seemed pleased with Lü Meng's success, and I don't see what he had to gain by poisining him. Lü Meng had just taken down Guan Yu, who has a massively overblown reputation, but it was still pretty impressive, especially considering the circumstances it was accomplished under. The whole fiasco surrounding Jing Province had been a huge stalemate between Wu and Shu for years, and a good part of Lü Meng's takeover was done with little to no direct conflict or bloodshed. He and his comrades were able to read the situation around them and use it to their advantage.

Moreover, at that point Sun Quan had tried to calm things down by offering a marriage alliance to Guan Yu, which Guan Yu mocked him and the messenger for, and he'd done a variety of things to anger Sun Quan like helping himself to one of Sun Quan's supply depos, so at that point I'm pretty sure Sun Quan was full in on burning what was left of their bridge with Shu and wasn't particularly heart-broken or upset about him being executed.

You could argue that Sun Quan might’ve faked his approval and sadness when Lü Meng died, but that seems very unlikely to me, especially since Sun Quan could’ve had him executed and made an example of him if he really was mad about it. He probably wouldn’t have gotten much, if any push-back, seeing how stringent military law was. They weren’t exactly squeamish about capital punishment, even for what we would consider minor offenses.

Admittedly Sun Quan’s... erm, ability to make sound judgments lapsed in the later part of his life, but again, that ugly mess would mostly come after Lü Meng was gone.

The only sources I’ve been able to find that claim Lü Meng was poisoned are in the 2010 tv adaptation, a Chinese ‘news’ site that also makes claims that ‘the United Nations has become a puppet of the United States’ and just seems extremely fishy to me in general, and Lü Meng’s wikipedia page.

The thing about Chinese Three Kingdoms era stuff on wikipedia is that people who edit the pages often claim something and quote untranslated lines from the Sanguozhi without it being entirely true, or at least they change the ‘feeling’ or context of passages. Since most people reading the article probably don’t know Chinese, they assume that the person making the citation is telling the truth and have pretty limited means of figuring out otherwise, especially since Chinese is a lot harder for English speakers to learn than something like French or Spanish.

OR they cite works that are very hard to find and thus make it difficult to directly contradict them, which very much seems to be the case with Lü Meng’s wikipedia page. The book cited was Rafe de Crespigny’s A Biographical Dictionary of Persons from the Later Han to Three Kingdoms… Which I have yet to find any electronic copies of online despite much searching, and physical copies cost hundreds of dollars. But I dug up his professional email and sent him a message just to totally put this to rest. If/when he responds, I’ll post about it.

I think it’s a sign of good scholarship that you were skeptical of the poison theory and tried to seek out confirmation. That’s one of the most important aspects of doing research, unlearning the instinct to just sort of accept things that don’t seem blatantly untrue, because unfortunately, there are a lot of people in the world who don’t like telling the truth.

As for sources about Lü Meng, admittedly it's hard to come across detailed stuff about him in English. But I was able to find a translated biography for him on Kongming.net (who in my experience take translation seriously and are truthful to the meaning of the original text, although some of the site pages seem to still be broken), and there's a book called Generals of the South also by Rafe de Crespigny that he's made open access, you can download it as a pdf here.

de Crespigny has said that he thinks he was a too criticial about his appraisal of Liu Bei in his earlier work, and I don't quite remember if that shows through in this book or more of his other work, but just as a caveat. It's been awhile since I read the book, I should reread it.

[paperpasta]

A Wonwoo x Female OC Alternate Universe.

Chapter 1: Here You Are

It was Saturday morning. Sound of chickens clucking and birds tweeting was heard–a sign that you are back in your province, Ilocos Sur. As weird as others may find, those things make a place a home, at least for you.

As you post a story of your family's farm—a "tradition" you do every time you go back to your second home—your phone bursts with notifications as expected.

Two of your cousins, the other one from your mother's side and the other one from yourfather'sr side, were bombarding your group chat with messages. This is also why you love to surprise them instead of giving a heads-up that you will arrive at a certain date—reactions from them never fail to make you love even when it ends up with them bickering.

Maybe that, too, makes it home.

"Plaza at 4pm?

"All right." – Jarred

"We missed you." – Kassandra

"I missed you guys too."

Honestly, informing them of the time and place is useless—no questions asked, all three of you already know when one asked to meet unless an unexpected event occurs.

You sat in one of the many food stalls you three love. It's your top-most favorite, Aling Nena's Ilocos Empanada—another thing that makes this place a home for you.

And have I mentioned? It has been a while since you came back to this lovely town. Now, year 2023, although precautions are still done, things have been better after the lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic.

With that, time passed by so fast that no one in three of you had noticed that it was almost 7 in the evening, after catching up and trying to fill in the times you've missed.

Other than your favorite Ilocos Empanada, your "food trip" was followed by Beef Mami, Siomai, Filipino Pancakes, Kwekkwek, Fishballs, Kikiam, and other street foods you couldn't name. As your last stop, as always, you made sure to visit Manang Alma's Milktea and Coffee Shop.

But before you could even order, as much as you want this day to be full of laughter and joy, maybe you couldn't avoid accidents at all. Or maybe, you're just clumsy as ever.

But, again, the moment you thought was bad was somehow a blessing—at least for you. Who could've thought that you would bump into the guy you've been looking forward to meeting? He was a friend of you, and as he confessed back then, he liked you. However, with the Milktea spill or mess you made, I guess his perception of you had changed. After all, it's been 5? 6 years? You couldn't count. All you can think of right now is cleaning the mess you made. And everything felt worse when he stopped you wiping the mess with a thin ply of tissue you know won't help.

Was he always this charming? You don't know.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. Maybe you could send me your bank details? Contacts? GCash? Or wherever? I'll pay for the laundry or do you want a new pair of clothes? I'm really sorry." You said, without a pause, showing how much you were panicking at that time. I mean, he dressed simply but all of those were designers.

"Nice to finally meet you. I thought it would always be only a glimpse. Didn't think there would be a chance for me to talk to you in person." Wonwoo replied, not even giving attention to any of the things you said or even to what happened just now.

He brought out his hand and offered a handshake. "I'm Ansley Jeon or Le– Ans for short if you can't remember."

"Amara Alcantara or Mara for short. And how can I? You're pretty remarkable."

You two exchanged smiles and looked at each other's eyes as if you two share a language only you can understand.

After a bit, Ley went to greet his seniors back in school—Kassandra and Jarred.

The five of you, with Wonwoo's friend (Scott), included shared a table. All of them know each other given that they used to study in the same school except for you who grew up in Manila. It was comfortable as if you had met Wonwoo and his friend in person years ago. They also gave time for you and Wonwoo to catch up alone, especially since it was your first time meeting after talking in the past years online.

At 8 pm, you all have to go home.

[chat]

"It was nice seeing you again, Mara. You became even more beautiful."

"I really can't take your praises seriously, Ans. Hahaha."

"I meant everything that I said, from years ago 'til now."

"If you say so, then I'll try to believe it. It was nice seeing you too. Finally, it's not a one-sided glimpse."

"Well, God gave me time to glow-up before meeting you, and I thank him for that."

"See? How can I believe you?"

"I'm not pressuring you to, Mara. Just feel it and follow your instincts. I'm confident."

"All right, if you say so."

After all, time is the ultimate teller.

[gamer-logic]

The States and 2P America

So the 2ps get to the 1p world after making a truce with their counterparts and escaping their collapsing world where they're the only survivors. They then proceed to live with their 1ps in a crazy roommate sort-of situation. The only problem is that when Allen gets to Alfred's house it's this huge mansion and one of the states opens the door making him very confused as he never had states of his own and his idiotic 1p is the father of 50 kids!

"What the *beep* Porkchop?! Since do you have fifty little brats runnin’ around?!"

Alfred gives him a full rundown on finding/raising the states and then proceeds to draft him into babysitting! At first, Allen tried to ignore them but then faces the painful realization that leaving 50 states alone is never a good idea. After finally rounding up everyone he could find and freeing the thirteen (most responsible being Delaware and Virginia) from being trapped in the barn by their younger siblings, he does a headcount.

Allen: Okay one, two, three.....45. We're missing five! Where's Nevada, Hawaii, Alaska, Texas, and New Mexico?

Random state raises their hand: I think Nevada's in Vegas gambling again. He goes there a lot to triple his allowance!

Another state: I remember Texas said something about rodeos and bull riding all the way to Dallas. Also, Alaska and Hawaii left a note saying something about hanging out with New Mexico and Tony in Roswell!

Allen: But we're in D.C.! How did they get all the way over there in 3 hours?! *States shrug while Allen looks close to screaming into the void* Okay, everyone into the bus! We're going to get your siblings!

Cue cross country road-trip like the hangover where, after hours of getting lost in Disney Land, Delaware’s nagging about being the oldest and most mature much to Massachusetts chagrin because he’s clearly got better colleges, getting into a dance contest in Maine, keeping Arizona from getting stuck in the Grand Canyon for the hundredth time, Wisconsin participating in a cheese eating contest, Maine cooking seafood, Georgia making 30 peach cobblers, Colorado making a giant igloo, Washington and Oregon's hippie phases making a return, playing hockey in Minnesota, fishing Michigan out of the great lakes, New Jersey getting stalked by the Jersey Devil who’s like that stray cat that keeps following you around, keeping New York from starting a fight at Yankee’s game, gator wrestling in the Florida everglades, getting dressed for Mardi Gras in Lousianna, getting lost in Iowa’s biggest corn maze, the Dakota twins almost killing the Carolinas for trying to graffiti Mt. Rushmore (there’s a bit of a twin rivalry), avoiding the secret service less they get caught and ratted out to Alfred, seeing Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and trying to keep Alabama from sticking his head in it on a dare, crossing the Mississippi, running from rodeo clowns that Tennessee angered after he picked a fight with them for insulting his country music, finally picking up Texas with his new Rodeo bull-riding championship belt and tying him up with his own lasso, various misadventures, including recuing Idaho from an accidental marriage, in Vegas that will stay in Vegas, finding/grounding Nevada from gambling after he almost lost 50 grand and Wyoming to a circus, they finally arrive in Roswell.

Allen, too tired to care at this point: Alright! Who's this Tony New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska said they we're with?

Maryland: He's Dad's cool alien friend from 1947. New Mexico likes hanging out with him in his spaceship playing pranks on Britain and the other nations!

Allen hardly believes her but is too tired to care at this point: A-Alien? Sure, why not?! Let’s just go get them! Maybe we’ll run into Nessie too!

Iowa whispering to Ohio: But isn’t Nessie in Scotland?

Ohio: *shrugs*

After falling into a series of booby traps a la Alaska, they finally track down Tony’s ship in Alaska and find the three playing video games with Tony. It finally registers in Allen’s mind that there’s a real freakin’ alien in front of him playing Mario Kart.

Allen: T-t-that’s an….

State: Yep!

Allen: And he’s playing video games….

States: Yep!

Allen, not able to handle this anymore: *faints*

After a not so long drive back to D.C. courtesy of New Jersey’s driving, Getting KFC in Kentucky for supper with vegan salad for Allen and irritating said state in the process, and almost forgetting Rhode Island, they finally make it bake to D.C. and settle Allen down on the couch, gathering around him to watch a Marvel marathon acting like the innocent little angels they’re not. They also duct tape California’s mouth shut and tie her up with Texas’ lasso because she wouldn’t stop complaining about watching her newest one instead. Alfred finally arrives home from a meeting in Berlin around the time they finish Doctor Strange and sees Allen crashed on the couch with the states around him.

Alfred: So did you have a good time with Uncle Allen?

States: We sure did!

Wisconsin bragging about his trophy made entirely of cheese: I’m the king of cheese once again!

Alfred: Great! Now it’s off to bed everyone!

States: Aww! But we wanted to stay up and play with Uncle Allen!

Alfred: No buts, you can play again tomorrow! Now off to bed!

The states start trudging up to their rooms with California finally being freed. Georgia putting a blanket over Allen, Hawaii putting a hibiscus print pillow under his head, and Maryland putting a note on the end table as they go out. Allen finally wakes up and Alfred, watching the rest of the marathon notices.

Alfred: You were awesome with them dude! I’m going to let you babysit from now on!

Allen: *Screams and faints again*

Alfred: Heh! He’s so excited! *Munches on popcorn*

The next morning Allen wakes up and reads the note: “Thanks for taking care of all of us today! We had a lot of fun, Uncle Allen! From the states. P.S. You were super cool playing baseball at Yankee stadium! Teach us sometime? Also, there's a salad for you in the fridge! :)"

He crumbles the note and puts it in his jacket trying not to break his tough-guy persona. But later when no one looking, he takes it out with a small smile and thinks these brats aren’t so bad after all.

Eventually, they grew on him and Allen comes to consider the all the states like his own secretly loving it when they call him Uncle Allen. They may be little gremlins but his gremlins and if you so much as touch one hair on their head you’ll get a face full of his nailed bat!

Just another day in the Jones’ household!

Meanwhile In Canada:

James is babysitting the provinces for Mathew and is currently in drill sergeant mode pacing in front of the nervous, with the exception of Quebec who's extremely excited, lined-up provinces. Kumajiro (cub) and Kuma (adult) are just chilling and watching them with whistles around their necks and cute little maple leaf hats courtesy of British Columbia.

James: All right, listen up! I’m going to teach you all how to rough it and survive out in the wilderness! Now, who knows how to start a fire?

All the provinces turn to stare at Manitoba.

Manitoba: Oh, come on! I set fire to Papa’s flannel shirt collection one time!

James: Okaaaaay ignoring that, everybody get into groups of two and I’ll assign jobs!

Nova Scotia raises her hand: But there’s thirteen of us!

James: Fine then, eenie meenie miny mo… *Points to Prince Edward Island* you! Prissy pants boy you're with me! We’re gathering firewood!

P.E.I. looking up from his mirror: Excuse me!? I’m not gonna get these designer clothes dirty picking up filthy wood!

James *facepalms*: Give me that! *Proceeds to chuck the mirror into the lake much to P.E.I’s horror and Ontario’s glee!*

(They don't get along because of P.E.I.’s arrogant personality and constant declaring himself in charge despite Ontario being the oldest and having the capital).

James: We’re out here to survive off the land which means no cell phones, no internet, and definitely NO BEAUTY PRODUCTS. NOW IS THAT CLEAR?!

Provinces: Sir, yes sir!

James being the big softie that he is but won't admit: Good! Now we meet back here by sunset and we’ll roast marshmallows!

Everyone hurries and gets on with their jobs with Alberta somehow ending up stuck in a tree and harassed by woodpeckers and Yukon and Saskatchewan being the most successful by communicating with/befriending a family of beavers that help them build a shelter. By the end of the day, James also feels a sense of fatherly protectiveness and pride over the provinces like Allen. he also secretly loves it when they call him Uncle James. Nunavut also manages to find bigfoot who helps gather food much to James’ shock!

[catcze]

Re: the thing you posted about sumeru and the skin colours.

I have to say as someone who’s south asian and has lived in the middle east + south asia, its not entirely correct. Sumeru has more of an Arabian vibe and that entire Middle East area does not have many people who are dark skinned, heck most of the people in my country (South Asia) literally have light skin. Many (people from one of our provinces) have white skin and blue/green type eyes. It depends on which parts they’re from. In the Middle east its the same, many Arabs are light skin toned and there are a few who have darker skin- but mostly those from the North African regions.

This was to kinda clear out the entire Middle East/ South Asia = Dark skin for people. I don’t think Genshin would try to add more dark skinned characters tbh because the game caters to chinese audiences which usually prefer light skin tones. As a person from the region Sumeru is supposed to be based off on, I really don’t care if they add the variations of the skin or not- and that means that if they do, then good! But i’m not biased in the sense that I don’t want them to. Its important for them to try and incorporate the culture in the Lore because of how rich it is because that would be so interesting!

We can’t expect much from a game that basically caters more to their own audience rather than others, but for others who do expect something, I think they should try to make an effort and the entire forest= light skin, desert= tan skin thing is intriguing and it is a possibility, so if they would do it then good, but once again, we can’t expect much from such a game.

I'm sorry if I said something that gave off vibes as generalizing all Middle East and South Asia as dark skinned, and i do thank you for sharing your own observations. I'm assuming that this comes from what I said regarding the one image about all the leaked characters lined up, and how all of them except Dehya were light-skinned. 

My criticism of the lineup of new characters isn't based on the expectation that we would be getting only dark-skinned characters, but on the fact that instead of, say, choosing characters who have skin tones that vary according to the region (and possibly giving them culturally-accurate outfits based on said region, instead of just throwing a lot of cultures into the blender and producing several orientalist designs) and helping to balance out the scales by giving representation to pocs who have darker-toned skin, which people have been asking for since the very start of the game, and have gone mostly ignored, they instead chose to not diversify their characters and give the majority of their characters just the one skin tone, with only a few darker-skinned characters here and there. 

Honestly, the main problem with the Sumeru designs as a whole isnt that people were expecting all the characters to be dark skinned–– like you said, there are always gonna be variations in features when talking about race, which is true basically anywhere you go. The issue stems from the poor representation in the game. If you lined up all the current characters we have, you'd see that there is a similar trend with Kaeya and Xinyan being the only poc characters out of all of them. This has always been a problem in genshin, and it's just that the Sumeru designs were merely the straw that broke the camel's back, considering all the expectation that had been riding on it to redeem the diversity issues. Some desi persons have also spoken up about how they aren’t satisfied with the Sumeru designs, which can be found here, for whoever may be interested X X

Criticizing these issues with diversity this strongly is something necessary, considering that they have plans to take inspiration from countries with people of color in the future— particularly with Natlan. And it would be wise to give them feedback and criticism sooner rather than later, before they can mess up another country’s culture. 

It's unfortunate that like what you said hyv doesn't seem to be listening to the people outside of its chinese audience, but I can't say I'm surprised about it, unfortunately. I agree that we shouldn't get our hopes up for them to re-design the characters, as much as many of us are asking, and as much as the variation in cultures and features would have (imo) made a lot of the characters less controversial + would have been interesting in terms of lore and character design.

[bamf-jaskier]

Who the Fuck is Philippa Eilhart?

I don’t know if you’ve been following Witcher news lately but Philippa has just been cast!

Of course, many show-only fans might not be familiar with her character and game-only fans might not know how different her story is in the books, so I’m here to give a relatively brief overview of her plot line in the books. Warning: lots of book spoilers ahead as well as the standard graphic violence that is the norm in the books.

With that, Hi! I’m Aaliyah and this is Part 6 of my WTF Series - a crash course in subject from The Witcher books.

The first time we meet Philippa in Blood of Elves, she is an advisor to the King of Redania. Dandelion is brought before The Redanian Secret Service because they wish to know Geralt’s whereabouts. 

Excerpt:

Dandilion glanced at the fourth person present at the meeting, who until then had remained silent. Philippa Eilhart must have only recently arrived in Oxenfurt, or was perhaps intending to leave at once, since she wore neither a dress nor her favourite black agate jewellery nor any sharp make-up. 

She was wearing a man’s short jacket, leggings and high boots – a “field” outfit as the poet called it. The enchantress’s dark hair, usually loose and worn in a picturesque mess, was brushed smooth and tied back at the nape of her neck.

“Let’s not waste time,” she said, raising her even eyebrows. “Dandilion’s right. We can spare ourselves the rhetoric and slick eloquence which leads nowhere when the matter at hand is so simple and trivial.”

Here are some of Dandelion’s thoughts on Philippa:

Dandilion divided women – including magicians – into very likeable, likeable, unlikeable and very unlikeable. The very likeable reacted to the proposition of being bedded with joyful acquiescence, the likeable with a happy smile. The unlikeable reacted unpredictably. The very unlikeable were counted by the troubadour to be those to whom the very thought of presenting such a proposition made his back go strangely cold and his knees shake.

Philippa Eilhart, although very attractive, was decidedly very unlikeable. Apart from that, Philippa Eilhart was an important figure in the Council of Wizards, and King Vizimir’s trusted court magician. 

She was a very talented enchantress. Word had it that she was one of the few to have mastered the art of polymorphy. She looked thirty. In truth she was probably no less than three hundred years old.”

Then, Dandelion leaves to go back to Geralt and Philippa follows him in the form of an owl:

A big grey owl glided down to the sill without a sound. Shani cried out quietly. Geralt reached for his sword.

“Don’t be silly, Philippa,” said Dandilion.

The owl disappeared and Philippa Eilhart appeared in its place, squatting awkwardly. The magician immediately jumped into the room, smoothing down her hair and clothes.

“Good evening,” she said coldly. “Introduce me, Dandilion.”

“Geralt of Rivia. Shani of Medicine. And that owl which so craftily flew in my tracks is no owl. This is Philippa Eilhart from the Council of Wizards, at present in King Vizimir’s service and pride of the Tretogor court. It’s a shame we’ve only got one chair in here.”

Geralt is trying to hunt down a wizard, Rience, who is trying to get Ciri. When Geralt is about to kill Rience, Philippa lets Rience portal away and Geralt, Shani and Dandelion are quite upset:

“Philippa!” shouted Dandilion, still holding the weeping Shani. “Have you gone mad?”

“No,” said the witcher with some effort. “She’s quite sane. And knows perfectly well what she’s doing. She knew all along what she was doing. She took advantage of us. Betrayed us. Deceived—”

“Calm down,” repeated Philippa Eilhart. “You won’t understand and you don’t have to understand. I did what I had to do. And don’t call me a traitor. Because I did this precisely so as not to betray a cause which is greater than you can imagine. 

A great and important cause, so important that minor matters have to be sacrificed for it without second thoughts, if faced with such a choice. Geralt, damn it, we’re nattering and you’re standing in a pool of blood. Calm down and let Shani and me take care of you.”

Of course, this is all a part of Philippa’s larger plan to hold a coup and gain political power. Vilgefortz hired Rience and if Geralt had found that out then Vilgefortz would be revealed as a traitor to the Brotherhood and Philippa couldn’t have that happening before her coup.

The next time we see Philippa is in Time of Contempt at the banquet on Thanedd Island. She talks to many of the guests, here is a short conversation between her and Geralt:

“There’s no caviar.’ (Geralt)

‘One moment.’ (Philippa)

She looked around quickly, waved a hand and mumbled a spell. The silver dish in the shape of a leaping fish immediately filled with the roe of the endangered shovelnose sturgeon. The Witcher smiled.

‘Can one eat one’s fill of an illusion?’

‘No. But snobbish tastes can be pleasantly titillated by it. Have a try.’

‘Hmm… Indeed… I’d say it’s tastier than the real thing…’

‘And it’s not at all fattening,’ said the enchantress proudly, squeezing lemon juice over a heaped teaspoon of caviar. ‘May I have another goblet of white wine?’

‘At your service. Philippa?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’m told etiquette precludes the use of spells here. Wouldn’t it be safer, then, to conjure up the illusion of the taste of caviar alone, without the caviar? Just the sensation? You’d surely be able to…’

‘Of course I would,’ said Philippa Eilhart, looking at him through her crystal goblet. ‘The construction of such a spell is easy as pie. But were you only to have the sensation of taste, you’d lose the pleasure the activity offers. The process, the accompanying ritual movements, the gestures, the conversation and eye contact which accompanies the process… I’ll entertain you with a witty comparison. Would you like that?’

‘Please do. I’m looking forward to it.’

‘I’d also be capable of conjuring the sensation of an orgasm.”

She is quite ruthless and cutting and while Geralt remains upset about Rience, Philippa, in true sorceress fashion, has already moved on. As well, she is explicitly queer in the books which I talk about here

Later, Geralt gets up in the night to go to the bathroom and stumbles upon Philippa attempting a coup. Triss temporarily blinds Geralt and Philippa and Tissaia exchange tense words. Philippa sends Geralt away with Dijkstra, offering him mercy despite him finding out about her coup. 

However, Geralt gets away from Dijkstra and goes back to Thanedd where a full-battle is going on. 

Turns out, Tissaia and Philippa’s fight cumulated in Tissaia releasing Vilgefortz and lowering the barrier as seen in this passage:

“They’re still fighting,’ said Carduin, grinding his teeth. ‘It’s hot down there, one spell after another…’

‘Spells? In Garstang? But there’s an anti-magic aura there!’

‘It was Tissaia’s doing. She suddenly decided whose side she was on. She took down the blockade, removed the aura and neutralised the dimeritium. Then everyone went for each other! Vilgefortz and Terranova on one side, Philippa and Sabrina on the other… The columns cracked and the vaulting collapsed… And then Francesca opened the entrance to the cellars, and those elven devils suddenly leapt out… We told them that we were neutral, but Vilgefortz only laughed.”

Geralt then runs in Keira Metz who was thrown out a window and she explains that after Vilgefortz was released the Scoia’tael (Elven and Non-human fighters who are allied with Nilfgaard sort of) attacked: 

“Sorry. How did the Scoia’tael get here?”

“They were hidden in the cellars. Thanedd is as hollow as a nutshell and there’s a huge cavern under it; you could sail a ship in if you knew how. Someone must have told them the way—Ouuuch! Be careful! Stop jolting me!’

‘Sorry. So the Squirrels came here by sea? When?’

‘God knows when. It might have been yesterday, or a week ago. We were preparing to strike at Vilgefortz, and Vilgefortz at us. Vilgefortz, Francesca, Terranova and Fercart… They conned us good and proper. Philippa thought they were planning a slow seizure of power in the Chapter, and to put pressure on the kings… But they were planning to finish us off during the Conclave… Geralt, it’s too painful… It’s my leg… Put me down for a second. Ouuuch!”

Later, there is a flashback to Philippa and Tissaia’s fight:

‘Enough!’ Philippa slammed her fist down on the table. ‘I shall satisfy your curiosity, Carduin. You ask who is preparing a war? Nilfgaard. They intend to attack and destroy us. But Emhyr var Emreis remembers Sodden Hill and has decided to protect himself by removing the mages from the game first. With this in mind, he made contact with Vilgefortz of Roggeveen. He bought him with promises of power and honour. 

Yes, Tissaia. Vilgefortz, hero of Sodden, sold us out to become the governor and ruler of all the conquered territories of the north. Vilgefortz, helped by Terranova and Fercart, shall rule the provinces which will be established in place of the conquered kingdoms. It is he who will wield the Nilfgaardian scourge over the people who inhabit those lands and will begin toiling as the Empire’s slaves. 

And Francesca Findabair, Enid an Gleanna, will become queen of the land of the free elves. It will, of course, be a Nilfgaardian protectorate, but it will suffice for the elves so long as Emperor Emhyr will give them a free hand to murder humans. The elves desire nothing so much as to murder Dh’oine.”

Tissaia states, “That is a serious accusation. Which means the proof will also have to be as weighty. But before you throw your proof onto the scale, Philippa Eilhart, be aware of my stance. Proof may be fabricated. Actions and their motives may be misinterpreted. 

But nothing can change existing facts. You have broken the unity and solidarity of the Brotherhood, Philippa Eilhart. You have handcuffed members of the Chapter like criminals. So do not dare to offer me a position in the new Chapter which your gang of traitors–who have sold out to the kings, rather than to Nilfgaaard–intend to create. 

We are separated by death and blood. The death of Hen Gedymdeith. And the blood of Lydia van Bredevoort. You spilled that blood with contempt. You were my best pupil, Philippa Eilhart. I was always proud of you. But now I have nothing but contempt for you.”

I won’t go into detail for the sake of brevity, but Philippa ends up escaping Thanedd unharmed after her failed coup and we don’t see her again until Baptism of Fire when she is forming The Lodge. 

Here is an excerpt of her pitch speech about The Lodge to the other mages:

Philippa Eilhart stood up, her dress rustling.

‘Distinguished sisters,’ she said. ‘Our situation is grave. Magic is under threat. The tragic events on Thanedd, to which my thoughts return with regret and reluctance, proved that the effects of hundreds of years of apparently peaceful cooperation could be laid waste in an instant, as self-interest and inflated ambitions came to the fore. 

We now have discord, disorder, mutual hostility and mistrust. Events are beginning to get out of control. In order to regain control, in order to prevent a cataclysm happening, the helm of this storm-tossed ship must be grasped by strong hands. 

Mistress Laux-Antille, Mistress Merigold, Mistress Metz and I have discussed the matter and we are in agreement. It is not enough to re-establish the Chapter and the Council, which were destroyed on Thanedd. In any case, there is no one left to rebuild the two institutions, no guarantee that should they be rebuilt they would not be infected with the disease that destroyed the previous ones. 

An utterly new, secret organisation should be founded which will exclusively serve matters of magic. Which will do everything to prevent a cataclysm. For if magic were to perish, our world would perish with it. 

Just as happened many centuries ago, the world without magic and the progress it brings with it will be plunged into chaos and darkness; will drown in blood and barbarity. We invite the ladies present here to take part in our initiative: to actively participate in the work proposed by this secret assembly. We took the decision to summon you here in order to hear your opinions on this matter. With this, I have finished.’

Then, later on in Baptism of Fire at the first official meeting of the Lodge Philippa discusses how she wants to make Ciri Queen of the North. 

“Who, then, is to be this Queen of the North?’

‘A girl from a royal family,’ Philippa calmly replied, ‘in whose veins flows royal blood, the blood of several great dynasties. Very young and capable of producing offspring. A girl with exceptional magical and prophetic abilities, a carrier of the Elder Blood as the prophecies have heralded. A girl who will play her role with great aplomb without direction, prompt, sycophants or grey eminences, because that is what her destiny demands. 

A girl, whose true abilities are and will be known only to us: Cirilla, daughter of Princess Pavetta of Cintra, the granddaughter of the Queen Calanthe called the Lioness of Cintra. The Elder Blood, the Icy Flame of the North, the Destroyer and Restorer, whose coming was prophesied centuries ago. Ciri of Cintra, the Queen of the North. And her blood, from which will be born the Queen of the World.”

After this, Yennefer, who was brought to the Lodge agains her will (although she is a member) escapes with Fringilla’s help in order to find Ciri and Philippa is furious. 

The next time we see Philippa is in The Tower of the Swallows and it is when Yennefer is hunting down Vilgefortz and contacts Philippa for help:

Philippa stared at her from under lowered eyelids. “If you believe,” she said finally, “that you've won peace, time, or security with this declaration, then you've miscalculated. Make no mistake about it, Yennefer. 

When you fled from Montecalvo, you made your decision. You chose to stand on a different side of the barricade. If you are not with the Lodge, you are against the Lodge. Now you're trying to forestall us from finding Ciri, and the motives that guide you are opposed to ours. 

You act against us. You do not want to allow us to use Ciri for our political purposes. You shouldknow that we will also do everything in our power to make sure that you cannot use the girl for your sentimental purposes.”

“So, it’s war?”

“Competition.” Philippa smiled toxically. “Competition only, Yennefer.”

“Decent and honorable?”

“You must be joking.”

“Obviously. Though on at least one specific issue, I would like to have an honest and genuine conversation. And, incidentally, it involves a favor to me.”

“Speak.”

“Over the next few days, maybe even tomorrow, events will occur whose consequences I cannot foresee. It may happen that our competition and rivalry suddenly has no meaning. For the simple reason that one of the competitors will not be there anymore.”

Philippa Eilhart narrowed her blue-shaded eyes. “I understand.”

“Ensure that I posthumously gain back my reputation and good name. I will no longer be held for a traitor or an accomplice of Vilgefortz. I ask this of the Lodge. I ask this of you, personally.”

Philippa was silent for a moment.“I deny your request,” she said finally. “I'm sorry, but your exoneration is not in the interest of the Lodge. If you die, you die a traitor. You'll be a traitor and criminal to Ciri, because then it will be easier to manipulate the girl.”

“Before you do something that could be fatal,” Triss said suddenly, “leave something behind for us…”

“A will?” Yennefer said.

“Something that allows us to… continue. To find Ciri. Because we are primarily concerned for her health! For her life! Yennefer, Dijkstra has found some traces of… some traces of certain activities have been found. If Vilgefortz does have Ciri, then the girl faces a horrible death.”

“Be quiet, Triss,” Philippa Eilhart hissed sharply. “We are not trading or bargaining.”

“I will leave you the information,” Yennefer said slowly. “I'll leave you the information on what I've found and what I plan. I’ll leave a trail you can follow to her. But not in vain. If you will not facilitate my exoneration in the eyes of the world, then to hell with you and with the world. But at least grant me exoneration in the eyes of the witcher.”

“No,” Philippa denied the request almost instantly. “That is also not in the interest of the Lodge. You will also remain a traitor and a mercenary sorceress to your witcher. It is not in the interest of the Lodge for him to furiously attempt to avenge you. If he despises you, he will not attempt to take revenge. By the way, he's probably already dead or will die any day now.”

“The information,” Yennefer said dully, “for his life. Save him, Philippa.”

“No, Yennefer.”

“Because it's not in the interest of the Lodge.” A purple fire kindled in the sorceress’ eyes. “Did you hear that Triss? There, you have your Lodge. You see their true colors, their true interests. And what do you think of them? You were a mentor to the girl, almost – as you put it – a big sister. And Geralt…”

“Do not attack Triss’ relationships, Yennefer.” Philippa retaliated with her own fire in her eyes. “We will find and rescue the girl without your help. And if you succeed, that's fine, a thousand thanks, because you will have saved us the trouble. You tear the girl out of the hands of Vilgefortz and we will be happy. And Geralt? Who cares about Geralt?”

“Did you hear that, Triss?”

“Forgive me,” said Triss Merigold dully. “Forgive me, Yennefer.”

“Oh, no, Triss. Never.”

I know this is a long scene, but it’s so important and isn’t one I felt right in slicing up. This establishes Triss’ true betrayal of Yennefer. Just prior to this, it is practically stated that Triss and Philippa slept together and despite Triss’ love for Yennefer her loyalty to Philippa is stronger in this moment which makes this hurt so much more. Philippa is also so cruel to Yennefer in this scene, denying both Geralt and Ciri the truth of her motivations as to better manipulate them. It really showcases how her lust for power overrides her empathy. 

The final time we see Philippa is in Lady of the Lake when Ciri is brought before the Lodge. Here, Philippa describes what their plans are for Ciri:

“You are coming with me,” Lady Owl (Philippa) said, breaking the heavy silence, “and Sile to Kovir, to Pont Vanis, the summer capital of the kingdom. As you are no longer Cirilla of Cintra, during the course of the audience you will be presented as an adept of magic, being protected by us. 

At that audience you will meet a very wise king, Esterad Thyssen. You will meet his wife, the Queen Zuleyka, a person of singular nobility and goodness. You will also meet their son and heir, Prince Tancred.”

Ciri was beginning to understand and rolled her eyes. Lady Owl did not miss that detail.

“Yes,” she confirmed. “First of all you must impress prince Tancred. Because you are going to become his lover and give him a child.”

“If you were still Cirilla of Cintra,” Philippa continued after a long pause, “still the daughter of Pavetta and granddaughter of Calanthe, you would become Prince Tancred’s legal wife. You’d be the princess and later the queen of Poviss and Kovir. Unfortunately, and I tell you with genuine regret, fate has deprived you of everything. Including your future. You will only be his mistress. His favourite.”

Then Later: 

“Your’s and Tancred’s child,” Philippa watched here with dark eyes, “will ensure the future and status of this Lodge. Take note that it will be a great thing. You will be a part of it, because right after the birth you will sit with us at this table. We will teach you. You are one of us, even if you do not want to admit it yet.”

“On the island of Thanedd,” Ciri overcame the tightness in her throat, “you said I was a mindless tool, even a monster, Lady Owl, and now you say that I am one of you.”

Then, the Lodge asks Ciri what her last name will be, Philippa and others offering theirs but Ciri declines in favor of choosing Yennefer’s:

“Thank you, Lady Philippa,” Ciri said after a few moments, squeezing the head of the sphinxes in her hands. “I also feel honoured with the proposal to take the surname de Tancarville. However, it seems to me that my new last name is the only thing that I can choose for myself, I thank the two mistresses. But I want to be called Cirilla of Vengerberg, daughter of Yennefer.”

Ciri requests to go and see Geralt and The Lodge votes on this and Philippa is the deciding vote. At first, she is hesitant but then Ciri shows her a vision and Philippa says this: 

“This Lodge,” Philippa said at last in a firm voice, “is to decide the fate of the world. So, this Lodge must reflect the world. Here, equilibrium and wisdom does not always mean cold and selfish, calculation and vileness, and sentimentality is not always naive. On one hand, iron discipline and on the other responsibility, resistance to violence, gentleness and trust. Cool reason… And heart.”

“I,” she said into the silence that reigned after her introduction, “cast the last vote. I will take into account one more thing. An element that without balancing anything, balances everything.”

“Following her gaze, everyone looked at the wall, to a mosaic of many multicolour tiles depicting the snake Uroboros, biting it’s own tail.

“That thing,” she continued, staring with her dark eyes at Ciri, “is destiny in which I, Philippa Eilhart have only begun to believe in recently, which I have only recently begun to understand. Destiny is not the way to providence or comfortable fatalism. Destiny is hope. I am full of hope that it will become what we want to happen, so I give my vote to Ciri - Child of Destiny, Child of Hope”

In the pillared hall of Montecalvo the was silence for a long time. From outside of the window came the hunting cry from a sea eagle.

“Lady Yennefer,” Ciri whispered. “It means…”

“Come, my daughter,” Yennefer whispered back. “Geralt is waiting for is and it is a long road ahead.”

This is the last time we see Philippa, but based on what we hear at other parts of Lady of Lake, we know she does not have a happy ending. After this, the Witch Hunt begin, a period of time when the Clergy hunted and murdered sorceresses and destroyed their pictures and images. The Witcher Hunts themselves could be an entirely separate post there is so much there. 

Many sorceresses, Philippa included as later considered Martyrs but she was killed viciously by the clergy as described in this passage from Lady of the Lake:

…As well as many of the other faithful, St. Philippa was also besmirched with betraying the Kingdom, inducing riots and plotting a coup. Willemer, a heretic and sectarian, unlawfully appointed himself the title of archpriest, and ordered St. Philippa to be thrown into a dark dungeon, and to plague her with cold and hunger, until she confessed to her sins of which she was accused and repented. 

Also various instruments of torture were used to try and break her spirit. But St. Philippa with disdain, spit in his face and accused him of sodomy.

The heretic had her disrobed and whipped her with barbed wire and placed sharp splinters under her nails. While unceasingly preaching about his faith and denouncing the Goddess. But St. Philippa laughed at him and recommended to him to heal his sick mind.”

“Willemer then gave the order to have her taken to the rack and stretched, while tearing her body with sharp hooks and burning her with candles. Although thus tormented, St. Philippa showed no weakness in body and indeed her resistance and endurance seemed almost superhuman. 

The executioner’s arms went limp and with fear they retreated from her. Then the filthy heretic, Willemer, began to threaten them and told them to continue the torment. They burned St. Philippa with red-hot irons, pulled her limbs out of their joints and pulled at her breasts with blacksmith tongs. And although she passed away from this torment, she confessed nothing.

The shameless heretic Willemer, we read in the books of our holy fathers, later suffered for this punishment and it was that lice and worms began to eat him alive, his entrails rotted away and he died miserably. 

His carcass carried with it a foul stench and nobody wanted to bury him, and so he was dropped in a swamp.

For the suffering and death of St. Philippa the eternal memory of a martyr’s crown rightfully belongs. Let us give the Great Mother Goddess praise for her lessons and teachings. Amen.

The Life of St. Philippa, Martyr of Mons Calvus

The Book of Martyrs Compiled in the Breviary of Tretogor, For the 

Contemplation of the Holy Fathers and Mothers.”

Needless to say, Philippa’s hunger for power and The Lodge end in ruin. There are very few happy endings in The Witcher and this is just another example. 

So that’s my overview on Philippa! I had to cut some scenes and moments in the hope of keeping it short, but I hope it was still an enjoyable read. If you want another character/topic WTF post leave something in my inbox and I will get to it when I can. 

[luminescentauthor]

random fun RatLD hcs

you came here for RatLD shitposts and that’s what you’re gonna get!

SPOILERS AND LOTS OF THEM BELOW THE CUT, IF U HAVEN’T SEEN IT YET PROCEED AT UR OWN RISK.

I refuse to post about this movie without acknowledging the cultural significance of the first SEA disney princess and I will continue to do so until people on this website start remembering that this movie is about amazing cultures and trust and overall a WHOLE lot more than just the sapphics (as great as they are.)

anyway, so, headcanon time, my dudes!

The Next Adventure

Talon is a total mess after everyone gets un-stoned. (Ok so just for posterity, my marvel fan brain just went “un-snapped” on instinct and I hate it here.) The two chiefs are fighting for control, and Noi, being a baby, is not really in a position to help (unlike Raya, Naamari, and Tong.)

As such, the crew has to go undercover in Talon to try and, you know, stop the chiefs from destroying their people with their infighting. Tong insists on coming. Naamari happened to be in Heart and gets dragged along by Sisu and Raya, complaining the whole time, but everyone knows she doesn’t mean it. Boun also shows up and exactly no one is surprised.

During this misadventure, Noi’s mother names Tong as Noi’s godfather/honorary uncle/whatever, undercover Naamari and Raya go “noooooo, we’re not the princesses of Fang and Heart, what on earth are you talking about???” on at least five separate occasions, and the crew discovers that Noi inherited her sticky fingers from her very clever mother. She’s basically a grade-A spy and thief but she’s also just like, genuinely a very nice woman.

Rayaari!

Raya and Naamari take a long time literally just figuring things out and reconstructing their friendship, because really, as much as I love sapphics, there’s also a whole lot of messy there, and because these are my headcanons, they work out their problems and have a healthy friendship for a couple years before any romance happens, because that’s how Real Life works and I don’t believe in ignoring those Pretty Important Things in fiction.

They do eventually start a relationship, but they take their time. A bit into it, Benja accidentally mentions that Raya told him she liked Naamari when they met. Naamari’s like “ha you did?” and Raya goes “BA NO.” Then Virana immediately says “oh yes, Naamari also liked her, she didn’t stop crying because she thought Raya turned to stone for like three days” and Raya goes “you did, hmm???” while Naamari turns bright red.

Before they start dating, as their feelings grow, they start calling each other “dep la” more and more and everyone is just kinda of like “oh my GOD just date already???”

Eventually Raya and Naamari get married and become the leaders of Kumandra. No I Won’t Change My Mind.

Unification of Kumandra

The unification of Kumandra felt a bit shoehorned, and I suspect the nations aren't united under one leader(s): it's more that they're now becoming close-knit again. Perhaps they have a meeting council of all their leaders that makes decisions that affect the whole land, otherwise that probably becomes a thing at some point.

When Kumandra eventually becomes totally unified, the capital of Heart (which I believe is on the island we see on the map of Kumandra) eventually becomes the capital. It still has five provinces/states, though.

Fang and Heart

Heart and Fang help each other out a lot with recovering from the “most of our people got turned into the statues” stuff. Heart has more resources, but most of its people have been stone for 6 years. So the two states/countries are both capable of different things.

Of all the kingdoms, Heart and Fang have the most to rebuild: Fang’s only standing city was destroyed in the finale of the movie, while Heart has been growing over for six years. Sure, Spine’s been stone for a while, and some of Talon’s docks and water ships and whatnot collapsed when the water vanished, but it’s still significantly easier to repair than “six years of overgrowth and rot and rust” or “literally the ground collapsed underneath us and wow um I don’t think that’s reparable.” So they really team up to fix it, and the others help them a lot.

The actual leaders stay in their capitals to lead until things have calmed down a WHOLE lot, so Raya and Naamari travel around Kumandra on their parents’ behalf a lot, and wind up going between Fang and Heart a lot to establish diplomatic relations and also to help with rebuilding.

Over this period, and while doing diplomatic meetings later on, Virana and Benja come to realize that the other person is actual quite decent. There’s some mess and distrust because of Virana’s thing with the Dragon Gem, but it eventually gets worked out. (Virana’s reaction is “yes that’s fair. In my defense, I was trying to do what I thought was right for my people, who were starving, but Yes, That’s Fair.” Benja’s reaction is “honestly if your people were starving from famine and you thought the Gem would help, that makes more sense.”) After a while, they become pretty good friends.

And suddenly Raya and Naamari regret everything. See, Naamari mentioned that both parents make terrible jokes. The girls are Suffering. Help them.

Sisu loves the bad jokes. Sisu also makes bad jokes. Raya and Naamari are silently dying.

It’s silly, but I like the idea that 3-4 years down the line, Virana and Benja consider getting married just for political reasons (alliance and all that) (they’re not actually interested in each other, it’s just practicality) and Naamari and Raya, who are not dating but are definitely in deep for each other at this point, are immediately like “NO. NO. DO NOT MAKE MY CRUSH MY STEPSISTER. DO NOT.”

Virana and Benja (mostly Benja) tease them by “considering” it for a bit longer, but they don’t, since they talked about it and both kids are uncomfortable with it. (”They like each other, don’t they?” Virana asks dryly. “Ohhh yeah,” Benja replies.)

Music? Music!

I was listening to a youtube mix this morning and “Too Far Gone” by Hidden Citizens popped up and it just reminded me of Raya’s attitude towards Kumandra at the start of the movie. Also it’s just a beautiful song.

“Knife in my Back” by Alec Benjamin is Raya @ Naamari before they figured things out, change my mind.

Other Stuff!

We can guess based off how long it took the crew to get from Tail to Fang even with side adventures (I think it was 3-4 days max, I wasn't totally paying attention) that one can navigate from one end of the river to the other within a couple days even in a boat like Boun's, and the royal families probably have even faster modes of transportation. (I.e. Naamari got from Tail to Fang in a couple days, then to Spine, then beat the crew back to Fang. On land.) Therefore, unlike I was originally thinking, it's actually totally realistic for the crew to be visiting each other once or twice a month.

It's even more realistic for Naamari to crash Raya's place on a weekly basis, since that's probably like six hours on cat at max.

I don't know what the cats are, so I will be calling them saber-cats until someone corrects me.

TUMBLR JUST MYSTERIOUSLY STOPPED ACCPTING MY "E" KY HLP I HAV TO US COPY PAST

Wait I think I fixed it. Crisis averted! Sorry about that.

Because Naamari is in Heart half the time, Virana visits quite frequently too. It’s not a long trip, anyway.

Virana is not straight (haircut) but I can’t decide if she’s a lesbian or what. She doesn���t have a spouse and never did. Only those Virana closely trusts know who Naamari’s dad is. Naamari does know and she’s met him, because Virana figured she had a right to. He and Virana never had a relationship, Virana just sort of needed an heir and a trusted personal friend offered to father the kid.

Tong’s wife is a total badass and instantly fits in with the crew. She and Noi’s mother quickly become very close friends.

Noi and Tong’s kid also immediately get along. As in, they constantly throw things at each other while giggling madly and both love the Ongis, and -- are they whispering to each other in that corner?? They might be conspiring to take over the world. Who knows.

Noi learns how to talk and becomes about 5 times more chaotic. Everyone is Regret (except Tong.)

[demonslayedher]

I'm glad you reactivated the questions, here are some flowers for you: 💐 Seriously speaking I'm sorry that because of a question I asked you a few weeks ago you watched a series of videos of psychopaths 🥲It made me laugh at first but then I felt guilty 💔 it's all Muzan's fault for leaving us all with curiosity (imagine his parents' reaction once they realized there was something wrong with him even as a human)

Yay, flowers (which I shall kill with my black thumb)! And no, no, it’s fine, I had hoped it came off funny! I like listening to stuff like that while I draw anyway because I’m a nerd anyway and I found it very interesting.

Speaking of being a nerd, you have innocuously unlocked the following essay about Heian period nobility and wisteria flowers: There is nothing to state so in canon, but I find it highly reasonable to say Muzan might had been of the very powerful Fujiwara clan. Step inside my office, Anon.

Okay. So. The Heian period, simply put, was a time of cultural flourishing and beautiful pastimes, the origins of a lot of Japanese style aesthetics, and a romantic courtly like of romancing everybody else in the court. This is assuming, of course, that you were at the very, very, very, very top of society. Otherwise, the vast majority of people were poor and sick and starving and ew, in young Muzan’s world, we do not wish to associate with that. In the Heian court, Kyoto basically is the whole cultural world. Even though there were other cities that could rival Kyoto, the emperor was there, so it was essentially the cultural center of the country. The nobles who lived there got money from owning land in far-flung provinces, but actually having to live in those provinces? What a drag! Having to live away from Kyoto for work, even if it wasn’t an official banishment, often felt like a punishment to the nobles and their families who were used to the social scene at court. And, like affluent courts around the world throughout history, understanding all the intricacies of style and “Heian Rumors” was key to having social clout, and popularity was power. And yeah, nobles would be vicious to each other. While clan dynamics and history are complex and not something I’m getting into here (I don’t consider myself well-versed in it enough), the Fujiwara clan is a BIG DEAL.  Basically, in Heian times, children were typically raised in their mother’s home, thereby heavily influenced by their mother’s clan, so besides a young man’s parents, his in-laws also would had been hugely influential in his life, as they will have a long-felt influence on his progeny. The Emperors typically married Fujiwara daughters. This, in addition to other positions of influence of the Fujiwara clan members usually held with influence over the Emperor, means that politically, there was no messing with them. Now, just because I say Muzan might had been a Fujiwara clan member, I don’t necessarily mean a member of the main branch of the family. Often, due to inheritance management, different branches of various noble clans might be given different surnames. The Fujiwara clan does have different branches, some of which did go one to have close ties with the imperial family even after the fall of their power at the end of the Heian period and all the way through the Taisho, and some branches carry some impressive family legacies but otherwise live like normal or high-class common folk in modern-day. (I know one such Ojousama from a renamed Fujiwara branch; she’s a sweetheart and never brings it up herself but every time I hear other people say things about her family, I’m like, dang.) We can venture from Muzan’s likely expensive medical treatment, multiple marriages (meaning other clans sought to be connected with his family even by marrying their daughters to a sick man), and even preparation for cremation as a baby that he was of a very, very high status. 

Being the sick son of a prominent family may have warped his personality in multiple ways: first, he was probably already used to a culture of popularity equated political power. We see in Muzan’s dealings with humans in the Taisho period that he can be exceedingly charming to get what he wants (a psychopath trait, haha), so he was probably pretty aware of the complex ways of socialites in the court. But, even being aware of that, it probably frustrated him to no end that he was too sick to take part in the social pastimes where he’d gain clout. It’s also possible that he was a bit of a bargain husband for his wives’ families who were seeking to a make ties with his family, as they must not had been politically useful enough to be married off to other powerful matches. This may be some of why he was so ruthless to them, for he never saw them as useful to him in the first place. This probably got a bit worse once he became a demon. Now to be lewd, but he probably got more vigorous in his pursuit of more powerful lovers, and knew how to slay the women’s hearts as he liked (you know, popular Heian pastime, everybody had lots of lovers, it was the norm, though political marriages and legitimate children were still important). That new sense of power probably went to his head. But, ultimately, he must had been limited in clout since he couldn’t take part in any daytime activities, thereby limiting his access to more powerful spheres of influence. His reputation from having grown up sickly must had followed him too. It’s anyone’s guess how much affection his parents had for him and how happy they were about his health at first, and if and when they might had noticed his changes. He was a full-fledged adult by the time he turned into a demon, so who knows how closely they even associated with him. They likely had healthier children who they devoted more care and attention to, and invested more family resources in while assuming Muzan would probably die young.

Who knows what the final straw was in Muzan leaving court? Was it frustration at not being able to walk in daylight that made him flee to the Kanto area in pursuit of the blue spider lily (from near where the doctor lived) long before Kanto became politically affluent? Or was it the rumors at court about how he didn’t age, and that he was eating people?

Of note, a lot of the early legends of demons in Japanese culture take place in the Heian period.

In his book “Japanese History of Demon Slayers,” retired Shizuoka University professor Tetsuo Owada capitalized on the success of Kimetsu no Yaiba to dive into a lot of ties between the series and what it may pay homage to throughout Japanese history and culture. While this was published last September and a handful of his theories have been disproven by the second fanbook published last February, and while I think a lot of his theories are stretching a little too far to make strong connections, it’s still deeply, deeply interesting stuff. He goes into some specific comparisons of demons, like Minamoto-no-Raiko and his posse of four big bad warriors taking on the Tsuchigumo (giant spider demon) terrorizing the mountains north of Kyoto harkening to the case of Rui’s family (and, ding ding ding, this was the primary focus of the official Kabuki/Kimetsu crossover last November), as well as takes little questions left in canon and dives into them a bit deeper. One such question is, why were wisteria lethal to demons? According to Prof. Owada’s research, there is no historical basis for this. Some of the talk online is that: 1. Wisteria are in fact poisonous, and consuming too much of them would cause vomiting and diarrhea (though I’ve also seen people make jam out of them because of the fragrance, so, like???) 2. Beans are thrown around at Setsubun to ward off demons (like so, Feat. Muzan and Kimetsu Beans), and wisteria are of the bean family 3. Wisteria like sunlight, so perhaps like Nichirin, they soak up some of the sun’s properties that are lethal to demons 4. In the language of flowers (Hanakotoba), wisteria symbolize kindness, welcomeness, refusing to leave someone’s side, being drunk with love, being straightforward and truthful, not losing the humanity in one’s heart, thereby containing a lot of meaning contrary to the conduct of demons Interesting, but some of its kind of a stretch. While still finding it a stretch to apply it to wisteria being poisonous to demons, Prof. Owada goes on to say that since ancient times, while the wisteria has some negative connotations of how it was sometimes written with characters meaning “doesn’t heal” (不治) and growing downward with smaller and smaller flowers like symbolize the slow downfall of a family line, it conversely also carries positive connotations of longevity and flourishing family due to the fact that its vines grow upward.

Now, you might picked up at some point that the Japanese word for wisteria is “fuji.” Not to be confused with Mt. Fuji (that’s written differently), it IS the same fuji as in “Fujiwara”: 藤.

Prof. Owada goes on to explore the association with the use of Wisteria crests in Kimetsu no Yaiba, especially on the houses of supporters of the Demon Slayer Corp. His recurring thesis is that the pandemic is partly responsible for Kimetsu no Yaiba’s popularity since demon legends have long since had origins in epidemics, and he supposes the Wisteria crest has a protective effect on the houses, similar to a talisman used in a lot of real life rituals for warding off illness and then often displays in or on the entries of houses to protect the family every year (I have one such item gifted to me, it stays by my doorway, along with a couple sticks of charcoal (but the culture of charcoal is a post for some other day)). The talisman is in reference to a god of Hindu/Chinese origins being treated with hospitality by the So clan, so although other families perished in disaster/disease, he promised to always protect the So clan descendants, so the talisman says “Descendants of the So Clan” so that any household may try to claim that divine protection. The gratitude-exchange of hospitality and protection and sure sounds familiar! Prof. Owada isn’t done yet. While the crest design used in Kimetsu no Yaiba isn’t an actual family crest in in real life, there are lots and lots and lots of family crests that use a wisteria design and have the character for “wisteria” in the name. Any time you hear “—tou”, like Satou, Saitou, or even Gotou, you can typically assume it’s 藤. It’s very common nowadays, but the first family to be granted the use of this name was the Fujiwara clan, when one of the pre-Heian and very powerful emperors granted their clan head this surname, which was a major honor, and it marked the start of the Fujiwara clan’s political dominance (there was already influence leading up to this, but meh, we like clear-cut stuff to simply centuries of history, don’t we?). Furthermore, although we often think of the Fujiwara clan for their influence at court, and we might think of the Minamoto clan for warrior heroes who fought demons, Prof. Owada concludes his argument of wisteria’s protective influence by pointed out a long list of Heian period Fujiwara warriors who also were the heroes of demon slaying legends, stating that their name has also long been tied with demon slayer culture. SO!!! Let me go on with my theory here. Muzan is from the same family line as Ubuyashiki. At some point (I assume after Muzan is long gone from Kyoto), the family is told while their children keep dying, and they accept their mission to bring an end to Kibutsuji Muzan and clear this curse on their family line. My thought is that their ancestor was a full blood sibling of Muzan, one whom was more invested in than sickly Muzan. While perhaps already an off-shoot of the Fujiwara Clan and thereby not entitled to the same sorts of inheritance, they probably maintained close ties with them. But, as it was already not direct by that time, the other Fujiwara clan branches were not affected by this curse. To further spare the clan the effects of this curse, this was probably when that sickly branch took the name Ubuyashiki. (And yes, I have things to say about this name and its possible mythological origins which I find a highly, highly interesting connection. Prof. Owada supposes it is tied with Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine and that is why there are nine pillars, but as much as I love Izumo Taisha and its giant pillars I base my argument in separate Shinto (but also Izumo!) mythology and accept that there are not always supposed to be nine Pillars specifically and Gotouge simply chose that number based on the number of strokes in the kanji for ‘Hashira’ (柱) BUT I DIGRESS). So, the Ubuyashiki Clan is it’s own thing, but is sort of like a cousin to the other Fujiwara branches and thereby continues to enjoy Fujiwara support throughout the Heian period, like some of the Fujiwara warriors going out there and slaying some of Muzan’s early demon experiments, and using their influence to bring in other warriors to the demon slaying cause (pet

theory: Genpei War warrior Kumagai Naozane was a member of the proto-Corp and using Kasugai-garasu was in practice since at least late Heian period). While the Ubuyashiki Clan probably already their own inherited land (and funds that came from it), throughout their history, their cousin clans might also have provided financial support to the Ubuyashiki Clan. But, they probably distanced themselves from the clan due to the curse and not wanting to be tainted. When you bring back in the wisteria associations this puts the contrary associations with a flourishing and dying family line in a new light. Furthermore, the “not healing” way of writing “fuji” also means a lot more in the context of Muzan’s, and later the Ubuyashiki clan’s illness.

[amtwst-tls]

Scary outfit Jade Personal Story Translation Part 2

Jade Scary Outfit Part 2

Would you please teach me?

Where the 2nd years all talk about the Halloween traditions back at their places.

Classroom

Jade: Would you mind teaching me about the many different ways you all celebrate Halloween?

Riddle: ...Halloween, huh.

Riddle: In my hometown, typically young children would gather in the plaza and hold a 'Fun Party.'

Jamil: Why do you sound so detached?

Riddle: That's because I've only ever attended it once. So I can't speak much about it.

Riddle: The one thing that left an impression on me was the 'Apple Bobbing.'

Floyd: Goldfish-chan, what's that...Apple....whatchamacallit? That sure sounds real tasty~

Riddle: It's a traditional game that is played in the Rose Kingdom.

Riddle: You fill a large tub with water, and some apples will be tossed in, floating on the surface, which you have to try and catch with your mouth. Of course, you can't use your hands for this.

Jade: That... certainly sounds like a game to be played on the surface.

Azul: Indeed, the moment one lets go of the apple under the sea, it would immediately try to rise to the surface.

Jade: I suppose chasing after the apple could be a game in itself.

Floyd: That actually sounds real interestin'~

Silver: However... is it even possible to catch an apple with one's mouth?

Riddle: They normally use smaller apples rather than the regular ones... but even then it can be difficult.

Jade: Children with bigger physique would have the better advantage in trying to capture the apple in their mouth.

Riddle: Certainly, one would need good jaw strength to match the size of their mouth as well.

Ruggie: In this school, Jade and Floyd definitely have the advantage here.

Ruggie: They're dang huge. With sharp teeth to boot.

Jade: Fufufu, I wonder about that. I would be too shy to open my mouth so wide with people staring at me...

Jade: And I just may not be able to catch the apple in time while bumbling around...

Floyd: I mean, how do ya even decide on who wins in this kinda game?

Riddle: According to our rules, I think the one who manages to catch an apple the quickest would be considered the winner.

Riddle: There are regions in the Land of Pyroxene that play this game as well.

Riddle: Cater said that in his hometown, the winner was decided by who got the most number of apples.

Riddle: I was never able to grasp the technique, and would end up drenched from head to toe...

Riddle: Thinking back on it now though, I suppose the result was never the important part.

Riddle: Having fun, laughing at each other as we all struggle to catch that apple... I think such joys are important.

Jade: Certainly, to be able to see Riddle-san desperately chasing after an apple with his mouth wide open would be quite amus-

Jade: -I mean, would be worth seeing, yes.

Riddle: Just what were you trying to imply...

Kalim: I get what you were trying to say Riddle! It's not about winning or losing, it's all about whether you had fun or not!

Riddle: Yes... that's right.

Kalim: It's kinda different from the Rose Kingdom, the Halloween over at our Land of Hot Sands is real fun too!

Jade: Oh? Does the Land of Hot Sands have it's own peculiar recreational activity as well?

Kalim: Nope! When you say Halloween in the Land of Hot Sands, we mean 'Feast'!

Kalim: That's because in our homeland, to spend time together as we enjoy a splendid feast is what we consider to be the most fun!

Kalim: That's why, when Halloween comes around, the tables are almost overflowing with all kinds of delicacies!

Jamil: We do this so the ghosts that come back can also eat to their heart's content.

Jamil: Sweet, salty spicy... from small appetizers to large platters, we prepare a wide variety of dishes.

Jamil: When Halloween is close, the kitchens are always on full overdrive from the meal prepping alone.

Jade: Someday I would love to feast my eyes on such a sumptuous dining table myself... Are there any staple dishes for the tradition?

Kalim: The star of the Halloween Feast... it's definitely gotta be that dish.

Kalim: What was it again? That dish we bake with vegetables and sauce...

Jamil: Who knows?

Kalim: Ah, your face tells me you know it. C'mon, it's that one! The one with potatoes, eggplants and tomatoes!!

Jade: Is it something like... a lasagna that had the pasta replaced with vegetables instead?

Kalim: Ahh that's actually pretty close to it. It's super delicious when freshly baked.

Azul: I see, it certainly sounds like a dish that would be popular with people who prefer a healthy diet.

Jade: Jamil-san, would you mind telling us the name of the dish?

Jamil: Ha... It's a local specialty called 'Moussaka.'

Kalim: Yeah that! That's the one!

Kalim: When we were younger, even if there was no banquet or feast going on, I'd still ask Jamil to cook it for me time to time!

Jamil: It was quite the mess back then... my parents, and even the other servants would always scold me, telling me that children shouldn't handle fire by themselves.

Kalim: Eh!? That happened??

Jamil: We were still in elementary school after all.

Jamil: It's not like I was already great at cooking from that age... It would've been a big problem if I accidentally set a fire.

Jamil: I can now understand why my parents and the people around me used to get angry whenever I tried.

Kalim: Oof... I'm really sorry about that.

Kalim: But the moussaka you cooked back then was also super delicious! I can still remember the taste...

Kalim: Talking about it got me hankering for it again. Jamil, you gotta make it for me soon!

Azul: I would like to request it as well. It may be a good addition to the Mostro Lounge menu....

Jamil: No.

Kalim: Aww, don't say that Jamil~

Jamil: Moussaka is a very time-consuming dish that needs a lot of ingredients to make, it even needs two kinds of sauces to be prepared for it

Jamil: I don't believe such a dish is a good fit for a cafe.

Jade: From the sounds of it, it seems to be a dish that requires an oven to bake it.

Jade: The oven back at the Lounge isn't quite big... it would be quite difficult to bake enough of it.

Azul: I'm sure there are a number of ways to increase the turnover rate if you cook it all in one big platter.

Ruggie: Octanivelle's the same as ever.

Jade: Fufu... I suppose we can have a nice, long discussion about this once I have tried Jamil's cooking myself.

Jamil: Wait, I never said that I would make it- ...sigh...

Silver: *snore*

Jamil: See, you've bored Silver to sleep while you were hyped up about making profits.

Jade: Oh my, this won't do. My apologies for derailing the conversation.

Jade: Excuse me for a moment, Silver-san, Would you please wake up?

Silver: ...ha! I apologize. You want to know the traditions of Halloween at the Valley of Thorns, was it.

Jade: Yes, if you would please.

Silver: Halloween... all I can remember is my fath- I mean, Lilia-senpai going all out on dressing up for the occasion.

Riddle: As I recall, both of you are from the same province.

Jade: I see, so even the people from the Valley of Thorns would have costumes... It seems to be a standard custom no matter where you are from on the surface.

Silver: Do merfolk not have costumes?

Jade: We do not have a habit of wearing clothes in the first place.

Jade: But it is precisely because of that fact that I find wearing the many different kind of clothes from the surface quite interesting. Silver: As a matter of fact, it is quite difficult to say that dressing up was a fun memory... I shudder even now when I recall it.

Floyd: Ehh~ Wasn't pancake devilfish-chan even smaller back then?

Silver: Oh, there is not much of a change in terms of appearance, however...

Silver: It was the one and only Halloween that I had seen Lilia-senpai in such a fearsome visage....

Jade: My, that does sound very curious indeed, since he prides himself on being quite cute, and it's hard to disagree.

Silver: Lilia-senpai's threatening demeanor when dressed up like that...

Silver: Sebek who had witnessed the horror with me was also trembling in fear...

Silver: The two of us were so afraid to fall asleep that we promised to stay up all night together.

Jade: Oh my, if I were to be exposed to such horror, I would surely let out a loud scream myself...

Floyd: Ehh~ What the heck, I wanna see that too~ We've been together since the day we were born and I haven't got 'ta see that even once!

Ruggie: So~? Did you both end up greetin' the dawn with tears?

Silver: No, I ended up falling asleep at some point.

Riddle: As I thought...

Silver: Apparently, Sebek had to hold off on going to the toilet the whole night, so the next morning he was angry at me and called me a traitor.

Ruggie: Wow~ Even Sebek had such a cute side to him huh.

Jamil: Well then Ruggie, how is Halloween over at your place?

Ruggie: Me? I don't think our Halloween over at the slums would make much of a reference for ya.

Jade: Now now, I find any and every aspect of culture on the surface to be interesting, so please do enlighten me.

Ruggie: Well, I don't mind tellin' ya, but don't go gettin' all weirded out after hearin' it...

Ruggie: "Trick or Treat" is where ya get pranked if ye don't hand out the candy yeah?

Ruggie: But back at my place, it ain't anythin' as cute as that.

Ruggie: If candy isn't handed over, you'd be marked until ye do... it's a 24 hour candy collectin' endurance event! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wow that was long, really long, I almost died but I did it for y’all ;-; Note: Jamil and Kalim actually call the dish “Munazzara” but I believe that is another term for ‘Moussaka’ in jpn, I changed it so it’s easier to place. Part 1 Part 3

[according-to-the-laura]

StackedNatural Day 11: 7x02

StackedNatural Masterpost: [x]

September 30, 2021

7x02: Hello, Cruel World

Written by: Ben Edlund

Directed by: Guy Bee

Original air date: September 30, 2011

Plot Synopsis:

The leviathans destroy Castiel's body and break loose. Now Sam, Dean, and Bobby have to track them all down. Meanwhile, Sam is beginning to struggle with what is real and what is a hallucination.

Features:

Cas walks into the reservoir, Dean holding the trenchcoat like a war widow, more Lucifer hallucinations, finally an episode for the Samgirls, Bobby is a good dad and also capable of performing an autopsy, the indestructibility of leviathans.

My Thoughts:

Half of the effects in this episode are really cool and the other half are incredibly, atrociously bad. I love the black goo dripping off Cas’ fingers and down his face, it is so gross and so ominous and so good. The reveal of the Leviathan mouths though….. Just the worst cgi I’ve ever seen on this show, and there’s a fair amount of bad cgi on Supernatural.

The disappointing thing is that even without enough lead up on the leviathans as a monster (see my thoughts on what would happen this season in the secret good supernatural here), they’re a really cool monster until you see the bad mouths. The ability to infect people via dark clouds in the local water supply (hello, Dead in the Water parallel) and to blend in based on the knowledge of their host body (vessel?) is really cool! The blood splatter was a bit overdone, but it was in a fun way and definitely showed how lethal they are. And then the mouths appear and I completely lose the ability to take them seriously. Also, what a bummer that the one leviathan didn’t stay in the little girl. I love when the monsters are creepy little kids.

This episode gets a bump in my rating because I love watching Dean pick Cas’ coat out of the water and fold it up like a war widow with a flag while he says “dumb son of a bitch” in the shakiest little voice. Makes me sad in a way that is also somehow over the moon.

The Lucifer hallucinations ramp up in this episode and I love them, personally. Unreality plot lines are so fun and I think this one is really well done, even though I wish it ramped up a bit slower. This is my complaint for basically this entire season, can you tell that I love a slow burn? Anyways, I think the scene where Sam is talking to Dean and Bobby about his hallucinations and Lucifer is chiming in rules. It’s just good storytelling! Also very much enjoyed one of the later Lucifer hallucination scenes when Sam is in the kitchen and Lucifer is in the living room, and has red rim lighting along one side of his body the same way Sam does in the season 4 premiere. Good shit.

Do we ever get an explanation about what happens to the original hosts of the leviathans? Like once they’re in a human body they can shapeshift (but NOT in a cool way by ripping off their skin like the original shifters), so when does the soul of the host leave the body? This will never be answered.

If anyone else was curious, I looked up what “5150’d” means (Sam says, “Look, Bobby’s running the hub, I’m – I’m 5150’d, which leaves you to follow this thing up”), and it’s the number of the section of the Welfare and Institutions Code, which allows a person with a mental illness to be involuntarily detained for a 72-hour psychiatric hospitalization.

I do like that Sam and Dean get a chance to talk about their respective Hell-trauma finally, but if I’m remembering right it doesn’t really go much deeper than what we see in this episode, which does bum me out in a big way. Unpack your mental issues! Try and get better! These boys need a therapist (and medication probably wouldn’t hurt, Sam).

Notable/Kickass Lines:

“You think this fruit-bat fever dream is reality? You come back, I'm sorry, with no soul like some peppy American Psycho, till Saint Dean glues you back together again by buying you some magic amnesia. You’re real. I’m very real. Everything between is what we call set dressing.”

“It had to be a mess, Sam, or you wouldn’t believe it was your life.”

“You just lost one of the best friends you ever had, your brother’s in the bell jar, and Purgatory’s most wanted are surfing the sewer lines, but yeah, yeah, I get it. You’re – you're fine.”

“Now we’re getting there. Pinocchio’s seeing his strings.”

“Hey, so maybe I’m not real. Nobody’s perfect. And I’m not going anywhere, Sam.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 7.5

IMdB rating: 8.5

In Conclusion: Tomorrow is The End, one of my all-time favourite episodes! Get excited!

Also, if you’re in Canada, happy first ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. My trash province won’t recognize it but my not-trash employer thankfully will.

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