#all of his magic is about manipulating the elements as an extension of his body

[pellelavellan]

Not me reading the wiki on Druid’s to make sure I know what I’m taking about and realizing da pelle is already damn near a fuckin Druid

[legokingfisher]

How much of your Ninjago oc's have Elemental power?

What is the name of their Elements?

What is some abilities that their power gives them?

What source dragon did their power come from?

Did the Fsm have it?

How powerful are their elements?

And how powerful are them in general?

2 of my ocs have elemental powers :D Alcyo and Two-Worlds (or just Two)

Ranting/question answering under the cut

Alcyo

Element: mist (has also been referred to as vapor, fog, clouds, steam, etc) which i made the fuck up <3

Alcyo has far from reached his true potential with his powers, and honestly he doesn’t intend to. I’ve thought extensively about all the things one could do with this power, but the limited extent of Alcyo’s abilities only include poofing into a mist cloud (like how Cinder can turn into smoke) and moving existing fog or mist around, if he concentrates.

He would go get more training with it but… he’s no warrior or ninja or anything, and has no desire to become one. Plus his training buddy is… presumed dead. So he doesn’t see too much of a point in honing his power anymore. Thus, his skills are pretty weak.

As for what source dragon mist is passed down from… Motion, i suppose. I imagine it came about as a sort of anomalous combo of wind and water. As in, at some point in history, an EM of water and an EM of wind had a child, and instead of their child inheriting one of their powers, they could manipulate mist. Clouds. Airborne water. Whatever you want to call it. By all accounts it wasn’t supposed to happen, but fate and magic are weird like that sometimes. Anyway, since water (and i assume wind as well) fall under Motion, I don’t see why mist wouldn’t.

This also means that the FSM never wielded it, as it came from the only two elements he Didn’t have control over.

Used to its full potential, mist may not be the most ‘powerful’ per se, but there are plenty of very creative ways one could use it…

—————————————

Two-Worlds

Element: water. Currently. At the same time as Nya. …i can explain.

Bear with me here, as the loredump below is fully relavent context to that.

Two is.. technically a very old oc. I watched like two episodes of s3 when I was 9, made Two-Worlds on a whim, barely developed her, and then never watched ninjago again (nor did I do anything with Two again) until March of this year. At the time I first thought her up, Nya’s power reveal hadn’t happened yet, and I’d wanted to give Two an element that wasn’t in the show.

She was also a big… dog..leopard..cat..hybrid… thing? That was 2 stories tall for some reason? I dunno. I was 9. But as of now, she’s had a design and lore overhaul. She’s still huge, just more… elephant-big rather than house-big. She’s also not a dog cat thing anymore, she’s now a nonspecific Amphicyonid. Which is, in my opinion, the closest thing you��re gonna get to a dog cat thing irl. Confusingly, they look more like bears to me than they do like canines or felines. But oh well.

But. Again. I’m going somewhere with this, trust me. I wanted a reason to keep some of her size, and a reason to keep her water powers. So a friend of mine offered a solution in the form of their fan-realm Creatura, which is home to (unusually) large, strangely colored, sapient versions of animals from other realms. Because of dimensional shenanigans, lore that hasn’t been updated since MotM, and the fact that we’re just having fun here, there is a Creaturan EM for each element that is currently held by any non-Creaturan (from Any other realm).

Anyway. With all that mess outta the way, Two-Worlds is the Creaturan master of water.

As of her lore overhaul, I have it so she discovered her power shortly post-s6, and trained under Nya and Wu. She can do just about anything Nya can with her powers, and I’d like to think her fighting style is similar to/modeled after Nya’s. …As similar as Two could get it, considering the two have completely different sizes and body plans.

Two can also use her powers to walk on the surface of water because come on. U can’t tell me a master of water has never manipulated the water to hold them up and let them jesus-walk.

As for the other questions: water’s from Motion, FSM didn’t wield it, it’s pretty damn powerful if you ask me, and Two-Worlds is quite powerful herself. She is physically strong, uses her size to her advantage, has a very good handle on her powers.

Or… she did. Mysteriously, she hasn’t been able to use her powers since the merge :).

[darkpoisonouslove]

What kind of powers does Faragonda and Grifin have?

The show gave them both various powers without ever specifying what their magical element/core is like it did for the Winx girls and the Trix. So I have my own headcanons.

I already described Griffin's core powers (since she also has other areas of expertise which I've mentioned) as particle manipulation. I want to elaborate that her powers do not work on living things (plants, animals, fungi, microorganisms, people AND the Dragon Fire) but can work on plants that are severed from the root and are considered dead as well as on dead animals and people. Plus, she can use her particle manipulation on herself and to an extent on people who are connected enough to her that they could successfully pull off a convergence.

Also, I've always believed that Griffin's necklace is a stylized monad (or monas) symbol:

Now I've been looking into it and it fits so perfectly. Here is (a translated version of) what I found:

The English astrologer and mathematician John Dee first published in 1564 about Monas Hieroglyphica, as he called it. The upper semicircle is the moon, the circle with a dot below is the sun and the cross refers to the four elements, but also indicates birth, crucifixion and resurrection. "Dee's hieroglyph represents all being, both macro and microcosm."

The Monas is a representation of the alchemical doctrine of the "One in All" and the "All in One". All the signs of the planets and the metals were hidden in the Monas. In the case of the sun or gold, the moon or silver, of mercury and copper or Venus, this is easy to see. Also, Dee used characters other than the usual for lead, iron and tin, so that these also fit into his hieroglyph. Dee regarded his Monas as a talisman, which embodies all the forces of the universe, namely those of the elements, of the heavens and heaven above. Dee's assessment of his Monas is characteristic of symbolic thinking in alchemy. It was believed that a symbol really "is" what it represents. (source)

And here are the alchemical symbols of the elements, planets and seasons so you can see for yourself how the monad combines them all in itself:

Where I'm going with all of this is that if interpreted as a monad symbol, Griffin's necklace is a perfect fit and representation of her particle manipulation powers because it symbolizes the unity of elements which is something that her powers are based on as they reshape one element into another, implying that they are all connected and are one and the same in their core. And according to alchemical principles, wearing the symbol of something allows you control over the thing itself. So basically, Griffin's necklace is a talisman that's boosting her powers of manipulating the matter around her.

Now that I rambled extensively about that, Faragonda's powers are slightly less developed. I have something but I feel like I need to think more about it. There are various abilities that Faragonda has but I'd say that her core is earth. In fact, her magic functions quite similarly to that of Cornelia Hale from W.I.T.C.H. in that Faragonda's powers can affect anything that comes from the earth such as plants, stone, sand, dirt, mud, glass and so on. (Yes, I know Valtor tried to bury her underground in s3 which seems nonsensical if her powers are earth based but I wouldn't put it past Valtor to think he's so great and powerful that he can trap her in her own element.)

For a slightly more in-depth look, Faragonda's plant magic is best underground aka on the roots of the plants. She has a much easier time consolidating things rather than destroying them aka it will be easier for her to make a boulder out of pebbles and glass out of sand grains rather than the reverse processes. She also has the ability to make magical energy itself tangible or intangible. All magic users can manipulate the tangibility of their own magic to an extent to expel it from their own body without hurting themselves (in case it's getting out of more delicate areas such as Darcy's magic often coming out of her eyes in the first season) but Faragonda can manipulate it all the way to making it completely intangible. Which can be very useful for making her magic infiltrate magically protected spaces and objects. Her magic also includes the detection and usage of underground energy lines known as ley lines.

"Ley lines are lines that crisscross around the globe, like latitudinal and longitudinal lines, that are dotted with monuments and natural landforms, and carry along with them rivers of supernatural energy. Along these lines, at the places they intersect, there are pockets of concentrated energy, that can be harnessed by certain individuals." (source)

That's why Faragonda is good at harnessing the natural energy of a planet and can open portals all over the place with ease, even portals that reach to faraway planets (aka the one she opened for Griffin as mentioned in the flashback in 3x10). Btw the pixies also use the pockets of energy along the ley lines to teleport to other planets.

[abelle25125]

Id love to hear your collector theory!

ok there might be a few holes in this because i haven't re-watched all the episodes about the collector recently - but my main theory is that the collector was an entity around at the same time as the titans, who either worked with them or with someone associated with them - and at some point there was a conflict that resulted in the Boiling isles titan sacrificing themselves to keep them trapped.

(evidence and ramblings under the cut)

first things first:

Who / what is the collector?

Based on KKKOHD we can assume theyre not a witch, given both his appearance (there are no other witches that tall) and also the appearance of his magic, which is black unlike the glowing coloured version we see used by most people and also seems to be,,,,,made up of them?

I cant show it in just screenshots but the shadow of the net stretches back and the collector seemingly comes from it

They also seem to have a serious sun and moon motif, and the moon on the Boiling Isles literally has a face on it - and is shown to have magical properties (thinking back to the moonlight conjuring that can bring life to inanimate objects?)

I'm thinking that the collector is some sort of moon elemental or spirit of some sort - an ancient magic thats different from that of witches that has been around for a long long time.

next up:

Whats his motivation?

In Hollow mind he mentions being betrayed and wanting revenge on someone

"Betrayed, beguiled, alone, deceived! We'll have our revenge on... Ugh, "unity" is so hard to rhyme."

Given the fact that it does rhyme and they don't use it - i'm going to assume they don't want revenge on humanity, especially since that motivation dramatically differs from what belos wants.

So they want revenge on someone! who is it? im guessing the titans, and maybe by extension - the witches that live on it.

They know about the draining spell and don't seem to have much of a problem with killing off all witches

And based on the scraped concept for the vision in hunting palisman we can assume the Day of Unity is going to awaken the titan in some way - presumably killing off all the remaining witches who weren't in a coven for the draining spell.

Why does the collector want to wake the titan? i think its because they're trapped underneath it.

We've gotten a good look at where the collector is trapped - a blue ball shaped prison in the space between worlds.

the closest thing we've seen to that ball is Kings temple

which bares a resemblance to the door to the round boy in Elsewhere and elsewhen

So, we have someone stuck in a prison made up of titan technology trapped in a place you can only get to with Titan's blood, underneath the body of a dead titan. i really feel like the titan either died trying to capture the collector and their blood pooling into the ocean trapped him in the space between - or someone with access to titan stuff found a dying titan and chose to stick their captured moon spirit in there.

So what now?

The collector, now trapped in the space between swears vengeance on those who trapped him and does the only thing it can do from their prison. Watches people through the cubes, gathers information and manipulates people who can see them. He does this with the titan trappers - which results in them killing off all the remaining titans and then he does this with Belos, another lost child with abandonment issues and a distaste towards life on the boiling isles. He teaches him about the draining spell, a way to source power into a spell for when the moon covers the sun and the tide is lowest - thousands of witches pouring their power into one huge moonlight conjuring. Reanimating the Titan

The theory gets a little bit muddy after this point, mostly because i have no clue as to how the day of unity is going to go, like,,,,all balls are in the air right now

ive seen some people talking about how Belos wants to wipe out all magic - and the collector is magic, so if they are freed there will probably be some back stabbing - but i dont think the collectors going to replace Belos as the big bad in Season 3. It would be really unsatisfying from a storytelling standpoint - it would take away the colonial and real life counterparts from Belos and replace them with a magical clown child who if they where a person would be obsessed with collecting pokemon cards, and that would just feel bad thematically. It would be a lot more fun if there are these two antagonists trying to manipulate each other into doing what the other wants.

if you look at it from various sides the collector doesnt really seem all too evil. They have the mentality of a child who's been around for thousands of years and can trap living things in paper, of course they're not going to have any regard for human (or witch?) life, its the equivalent of a kid stepping on ants or chasing birds to scare them away. It would make a good extreme parallel to Luz - who literally ran away to the Demon Realm to escape her personal prison and who at the start of the show, was also very curious but naive.

there are obviously some holes in this theory - with the largest one being the timeline. The only time we see the collector not trapped in the space between is in KKKOHD - which not only had a lot of dream spookiness going on, but also looks pretty much the same from when we see the same location in Edge of the world

(there also where already a bunch of dead titans in the KKKOHD flashback so who knows how they died.)

The validity of this theory is completely dependant on the owl beasts scroll having had to float around the ocean for literally thousands of years before being picked up (which could honestly explain why there are no other owl beasts but idk) and there's honestly just so much we dont know about the collector, its fairly hard to speculate anything concrete

so yeah! thats what ive been thinking. i hope i explained it alright, but there are definitely some holes here and there.

[comiiical]

FULL NAME: sidney “syd” henry fox

AGE: 31

OCCUPATION: relic hunter and college history teacher

LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN: english, spanish, french,latin, greek, other old languages

He’s a witch. And a rare one at that, as he was not foretold desptie his high levels of powers. He was born from a regular witch with no high blood connection, and yet, as his pregnancy was taking place, he was slowly being noticeable. With powers in the womb, he caused his mother to weaken as he fed off of her involuntarily. He was forced to being given out when he grew old enough and kept on extasis to survive. Although it was not a medical system that kept him so, but a magical one.

His passion for dark places and mysteries drew him to become a relic hunter, collecting mostly magical artifacts that have been born by mistake. He is by all means The Collector, if he had been prophecied (his presence is more of a key instrument to maintain humanity from not knowing about magic.

While he has no hero identity, he still protects the innocent as a good witch and can be seen fighting for good against other threats. 

Played by James Maslow

In Rowe’s and Brewing Magic universe, Allen is one of his partners and his powers are used to depower those things that they find too strong to be safely assumed by humanity.

LIGHT MANIPULATION: Syd is a witch with the power of producing and manipulating light.

PHOTOKINETIC BEAMS: he can project light in form of concussive beams.

PHOTONIC BEAMS: he can produce heated beams that can be destructive, melt ice, etc.

LASER PROJECTION: concentrating the light he can release a cutting laser.

ENERGY BALLS

BLINDING

UNCLOAKING: although naturally immune to invisibility powers that use light as a source of cloaking, he can also deactivate/negate them the capacity of using it against others.

LIGHT SUSTENANCE: light gives him strength, as long as there’s light, he heals himself or reconstitutes, recovers energy faster, etc,etc.

INVISIBILITY FIELD: he can produce energy in forms of protective force fields, the basic energy that is created hides the elements within from anyone’s sight.

ENERGY CONSTRUCTS: the fields can come in impressive forms.

FLIGHT: the fields can be lifted in the air and carry others.

TELEKINESIS: surrounding an object with a field he can move them.

DARK MANIPULATION: Syd is a witch with the power of producing and manipulating dark energy coming from the shadows, feeding of the light around to create it.

SHADOW BEAMS: he can project condensed shadows in form of concussive beams.

DARK BEAMS: he can produce destructive beams of energy, dark in color with lightning around.

SHADOW BINDING: he can bound someone’s shadow and paralyse them or reduce their speed, controlling it.

ENERGY BALLS

INVISIBILITY: He can become invisible by melding with the shadows

CLOAKING: he can absorb light around an specific area and cloak others.

TELEPORTATION: He can access a plane made of shadows that allows him to move through large distances.

HEALING: he can heal wounds, and higher damages, albeit not of his.

ENHANCED PHYSIOLOGY: he’s stronger, faster, more flexible and durable than an average person or witch.

ELASTICITY: He can alter his own mass in order to prolong his limbs,or alter his body like he’s made of “flubber”. 

RECONSTITUTION: He can gather up if dissolved, or heal wounds no matter the reason he got them.

PAIN IMMUNITY: He doesn’t feel pain, nor burns or cold. His touch is severely affected.

PAIN INDUCTION: he can cause pain to others simply by looking at them, or reopen former wounds.

CHAOTIC ENERGY PROJECTION: His mother, and by extension Syd after he was given it by her, could project rings of energy that were thrown by her body in spirals and waves, the energy is stored within and, when not released, gives higher strength and stamina. This energy is bio-light in nature, and serves as a semi permanent storage of energy for Syd unable to starve if he is captured.

[masterweaverx]

Wacky Semblances

So, the world of Remnant has this thing called Semblances. It’s a personal super power, which everybody who unlocks their Aura theoretically has even if they never find it. And the creators of RWBY are very, very deliberately vague about the rules of semblances, but there are a few trends I’ve noticed:

Semblances fall into one of three categories: Empathetic, Energetic, or Enhancement. Empathetic semblances interact with other people’s minds (or aura), Energetic semblances interact with the physical world, and Enhancement semblances interact with the user.

Semblances can be similar, but not identical. Both Blake and Sun have semblances about generating clones of themselves, but they function very differently. Similarly, there’s a lot of speedster semblances and a number of ‘taking in power to boost strength’ semblances that are expressed in slightly different manners.

Semblances, being based on aura, do not have a direct physical presence in the world. Pyrrha’s semblance is polarity, which means she can use magnetic abilities to manipulate metal, but magnetism itself is not an object in the physical world, just a force that Pyrrha can control. Similarly, telekinesis and other nonphysical method of interaction are an extension of aura that allows the user to manipulate the world with energy. (This is a very subtle but important point.)

Semblances, being an expression of soul, are expressed in chaotic and unformed manner unless given structure by an outside force. Yang’s semblance makes her hair resemble fire, which is chaotic, and Neon’s rainbow trail is a very basic chromatic trail. Vine, by contrast, uses his own body to shape the extension of his semblance, and Blake not only uses her own form to shape her clones but can use Dust to make her clones into various elemental forms.

You got all that? Alright. The reason I bring this up is because some characters in the series have ‘semblances’ that break these rules. And it’s almost certainly not a mistake.

The Schnee Family Semblance breaks rules two and four, being both hereditary and based on the highly structured concept of Runes and Summons. We have seen runes before, used by Cinder Fall and Glynda Goodwitch, both characters with close ties to the secret war of magic that is part of the background setting.

Ruby Rose’s semblance generates rose petals and, more importantly, has been shown to actually transform her, with the three-way split move being the most prominent example. Another speedster has outright stated that her semblance is not normal. At least for speedsters. It’s best to keep an eye on her.

While not definitively a semblance, Klein Seibein can change the color of his eyes (and matches with personality shifts), which also qualifies as a transformation of self. Notably, the only other two characters to change their eye color at will are Ilia (a chameleon faunus) and Yang (whose eyes can change color outside of using her semblance).

Most recently, professor Rumpole in Before the Dawn has a semblance that lets her literally turn things to gold, which is definitely a violation of rule three. More then that, her behavior is strange even without certain plot twists, she’s surprised that anybody knows her first name, and her office is suspiciously clean of any evidence of her personal life.

There is something going on here. Some surprise that’s going to come to light, very soon I think. Or maybe not that soon, RWBY is a master of slowburn revelation, but... keep an eye on all this. It’s going to get nuts.

[fantastica-daily]

Richard Elfman on his new bizarro comedy - Aliens, Clowns & Geeks

By Staci Layne Wilson

When it comes to cult science fiction movies, Forbidden Zone stands tall. Richard Elfman's 1980 Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo vehicle was a one-of-a-kind film zooming down on a one-way street to a whacky conclusion that’s stayed in the minds of schlock cinema fans ever since. His latest film, Aliens, Clowns & Geeks is an equally wild and expressionistic indie featuring Austin Powers' Verne Troyer in his last role, promising that Aliens, Clowns & Geeks is the antidote to mainstream and a breakneck cure for the run-of-the-mill.

“I was fortunate to have my dream cast on this one, including Verne Troyer (Mini-Me) as my demonic clown emperor–his final film role,” says Elfman. “Our ninety-minute film has seventy-five minutes of driving music by my brother Danny (Elfman) and acclaimed animation composer, Ego Plum Guerrero. Along with Danny’s to-die-for clown and alien music, Ego added a Latin element with the band we play with, Mambo Demonico.” The score was composed by Danny Elfman, who wrote the theme song to The Simpsons, the music to The Nightmare Before Christmas and did the singing voice of Jack Skellington, and won six Saturn awards.

"Eddy Pine (Bodhi Elfman) is a jaded actor dealing with the cancellation of his series," reads the official synopsis. "To complicate matters, he wakes up with the key to the universe stuck up his ass. Apparently an alien Clown Emperor (Verne Troyer) is in hot pursuit of this, as are his rivals, the Green Aliens. Professor von Scheisenberg (French Stewart) and his comely Swedish assistants, the Svenson sisters (Rebecca Forsythe as Helga, Angeline-Rose Troy as Inga), come to Eddy’s aid. If only Eddy hadn’t fallen for Helga, and then the aliens manipulate his mind to confuse her with Inga! And when the mad little Clown Captain (Martin Klebba) steps on the gas and shifts his spaceship into fourth gear, all hell breaks loose.”

We had the opportunity to sit down with Richard to ask him about his movie.

Q. To what do you attribute your enduring interest in clowns? And why do you think they’re so fascinating to people in general?

As I’ve always said: “To be born a male redhead is to be born into a clown suit.” Hence my carrot-topped brother Danny and I have always had a fascination with clowns. Coupled with our wicked sense of humor and a love of the horror genre, it was an easy morph into thoughts of creepy clowns. Just like dolls and puppets—yes, I’m speaking Anabelle—clowns can have something “surreal” about them.  Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise really nails it. And I laughed my head off at Killer Klowns From Outer Space. (And we have honk-honking shit-load of killer clowns in my new film).

Q. How did the idea for Aliens, Clowns & Geeks come about? Is it similar to The Forbidden Zone?

 Joined-at-the-hip. Yes. And no. Forbidden Zone is basically a surrealistic “human-cartoon” set to musical numbers. So I was working on Forbidden Zone 2, a thematic extension of FZ but on a much grander scale. I did a successful crowd-funder to develop the project, then, with the help of my producers, raised about half the budget. They asked me if we could do something quick (and cheaper) in the interim to keep the momentum going.

So I basically locked myself in my roof-top writing garret with a box of cigars and many bottles of whiskey and banged out my Geeks script over the next three weeks.

Geeks is utterly zany and music-driven, but it’s not a “singing musical” so to speak like FZ. It has surrealistic elements, thanks to my insane special effects department--and a little help from Hieronymus Bosch—but I would describe Geeks having cartoony elements rather than being a total “human cartoon” as FZ was…if that makes any sense. (And please don’t try!)

 Q. Tell us about the multiple roles played by your family – and do you have role as well? What was it like working with your family – any funny stories?

My son Bodhi Elfman—a serious dramatic actor with 100s of credits--did a great comic turn as Eddy, the lead; a bitter out of work actor who wakes up with the key to the universe stuck up his ass. He also played the ass-kissing clown (literally) on the space ship plus the green alien network executive who orders the destruction of Earth. My wife Anastasia played multiple roles, everything from a nun to a carny slut. She also danced and choreographed the cabaret burlesque numbers as well as played a clown…until she got sick from the chemicals inside the clown mask and had to throw up—after we got the shot, of course--committed trouper that she is. When I met Anastasia she was a ballet dancer with a “day job” at a horror fx shop. She can dance with a broken toe but seems to have developed a sensitivity to certain shop chemicals.

I played a clown as well and almost threw up from laughing. I must say Geeks was a fun show to work on (my greatest joy is creating a sense of fun) and the actors and crew had serious trouble keeping from laughing as I directed in insane clown attire. What a fucking visual!

And brother Danny—what can I say? As an independent (hence lower budget) film maker it helps when your little brother in Mozart.

Q. Tell us how you ran away and joined the circus.

Actually, The Grande Magic Circus--a French musical theatre company. 1971, I was twenty-one, visiting the Festival of New Theatre in Montreal. I ran into a scruffy Parisian street troupe. They had something though, a charisma, an élan, whatever-- it attracted me. Director Jérôme Savary needed a percussionist—et voila, that was me! I persuaded them to give me several minutes onstage at the festival doing my comedy/horror piece set to an Eric Satie’s Gnossienne. When I “killed” the pianist in a pool of blood the audience was shocked. And they loved it!

Then, back in California, I went to see Marcel Carne’s masterpiece Les Enfant de Paradise , a three hour film set in the Paris theatre scene of the 1830’s. I exited the theatre, stopped, turned around and went back in and saw it again.

A few months later I received a letter from Jerome. Peter Brook, famed director of London’s Royal Shakespeare Company was backing the Magic Circus in a large Paris theatre. Would I like to join them? Bloody hell!! Hence, I ran away and joined the “circus.”

Q. Tell us something about your time with the Magic Circus, how it influenced you and also how your brother Danny Elfman joined the show.

I might say that working with Jérôme Savary was perhaps my single greatest influence. The troupe had classically trained actors from the Comedie Francais as well as more Avant guard performers. Jerome was a genius, his material had a sense of Absurdism that really struck me. I would later develop this absurdism in my own fashion. Certainly with my own troupe, the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo (later Oingo Boingo). By the way, my film Forbidden Zone was essentially our Mystic Knights stage show set to film.

Danny—several days out of high school--showed up at my 5ème, Rue Descartes doorstep with his electric violin. The company violinist was from the Paris Opera. Jerome liked to improvise. The opera guy couldn’t deviate one note from the written score. I believe my brother is Mozart reincarnated. He could follow any improvisation and got the job and toured with us for the summer throughout France. He and I opened the show with him on violin, me on percussion—the first music Danny Elfman ever wrote.

Q. Any other interesting experiences that you and Danny had there?

We were in a Basque town near the Spanish border. If I may digress, I am four years Danny’s senior. I went to a high school in Crenshaw (Boyz in the Hood), Danny ended up at a school with no guns. I was a tough boxer. Danny might be described as a bespectacled science nerd. So it’s Friday night, the audience was really rowdy and restless. My “street sense” knew it was just a matter of time before the fights broke out. We had an Argentine fellow in the troupe, “Katshurro,” nicest fellow. Drunks in the audience picked up on his accent and shouted terrible Spanish insults about his mother. Katshurro stopped mid-performance, his eyes bugging out of head, and he dove right into the audience swinging away. All hell broke loose. Everyone was fighting, sets crashing down. Danny’s glasses got knocked off. Well, and not for the first time, I managed to get Danny out of trouble with both his glasses and violin intact.

Q. Tell us about the cast you assembled – which includes Verne Troyer in his final screen performance. What was he like? Who does he play in the film?

I really had my dream cast. Along with my son Bodhi we had lovely kung-fu kicking Rebecca Forsythe, versatile Angeline-Rose Troy who not only played Rebecca’s sexy Swedish sister, but donned prosthetics to play poor Eddy’s junkie/whore “Mom from Hell.”

Professor von Scheisenberg was played impeccable veteran French Stewart (Third Rock From the Sun). Another great vet was George Wendt (Cheers) as Father Mahoney. Six foot six comic Steve Agee (Sarah Silverman Show, Guardians of the Galaxy) played both a tough cross-dressing bar owner and a stuttering dufis in a chicken suit. Nic Novicki (Boardwalk Empire) played his nasty little-person boss. I was really blessed with a great ensemble to work with.

And, of course, Verne Troyer, our megalomaniac Clown Emperor. What a wonderful talent to work with! He was funny on set, insisted on doing things in spite of physical limitations and he gave us hilarious comic improvisations. Little body. Big spirit. I will certainly miss him.

Q. The music is by Danny and you also have great animation… please give us some details what it’s like to create worlds through music and manufactured imagery.

Danny, along with my band mate--award winning animation composer Ego Plum (Guerrero)—really gave it to us. Seventy-five minutes of music in a ninety-minute film. ♪ ♫ La, tee-da and a boom boom boom! ♪ ♫  Music is essential to everything I do—especially setting the tone of my films. I even play music before I start writing.

As soon as Danny saw our surrealistic Bosch dream sequence and goofy clown rocket ships he agreed to do the score…after he stopped laughing. I play percussion in a quirky Latin band, Mambo Demonico, led by Hollywood’s top tv animation composer, Ego Plum. He and Danny work with the same people, including Oingo Boingo lead guitarist Steve Bartek, who subsequently has done every one of Danny’s film arrangements. Steve and the original Oingo Boingo members all played on our sound track. I must brag that we do have great fucking music!

You know, Danny was a bespectacled science nerd growing up, basically stayed out of trouble. That was my department. Oddly, he wasn’t really into music. No bands, no concerts, no big music collection. Life is funny how things turned out. I showed him a rough cut of Geeks, he laughed his ass off and offered to do it. Yes, I’m very lucky to have “Mozart” as my little brother!

Q. Who is Aliens, Clowns & Geeks for? Do you think movies like this are more likely to find a mainstream audience?

Forbidden Zone may be a “cult” movie but it still plays all over the world--after forty years. Just this past month FZ played festivals in France and South Korea. Geeks is certainly not for everyone—no one falls in love then dies of cancer. But it will find an audience I am sure. Anyone who had fun with Killer Klowns From Outer Space, liked Rocky Horror, even What We Do in the Shadows in terms of a quirky, wicked sense of humor. I also think it will play well in mental asylums…it certainly shall send people there in any case.

Geeks doesn’t fit into the scheme of “modern films.” Actually, the shooting style and underlying three-act story structure harkens back to classic comedies (says the son of a former English teacher turned novelist). The trappings though, are insane and off-the-wall. You might say it’s just my own, goony creation. Love it or hate it, the humor is balls-out outrageous, definitely not for everyone--no one dies of cancer. Geeks is simply meant to be fun for essentially the genre audience.

Q. What’s your proudest moment associated with making the film?

Proudest moment? Maybe finally paying the actors. People say I’ve embraced the indie spirit. I don’t know how much I “embrace” it, so much as am fucked by it, having to work on such a modest budget. Although I’ve been a “hired gun” and directed scripts written by others, Geeks is really the first time since my 1980 Forbidden Zone that I’ve really done purely my own vision. Per John Waters, well, I’d hope he’d have something strong to drink and/or smoke and then laugh his ass off watching it! That’s what it was like creating the film: Drinking scotch and smoking cigars in my rooftop writing garret, laughing my ass off! The green aliens have a totally high-tech ship, except for the automotive steering wheel and four-on-the-floor to shift gears. For the clowns we went for an absurdly updated version of Flash Gordon. And when our tiny clown emperor takes possession of an earth body, he has little dummy of the earthling sitting in his lap, their heads connected by electrical wires. Absurd and ridiculous, and that’s my middle name.

Want to see a double feature of The Forbidden Zone and Aliens, Clowns & Geeks? You can! They will play at The Regency in L.A. as part of The Valley Film Festival on 1/30/21. Get tickets here.

Look for our review of Aliens, Clowns & Geeks here soon!

[hitbythunder]

Among the Gods of Asgard -3

A dark!Thor x Reader, minor Loki x Reader story with all the drama and angst you’re craving. Including Alexander Skarsgard as Balder.

–> Read also on AO3

Summary: The gods are being loved and feared in equal parts by their subjects, more the latter by the thousands of slaves working for them. Ten feet tall, powerful and immortal are the rulers of all beings within the Nine Realms. You, the daughter of an Asgardian merchant, fancy the three handsome princes of Odin - like any woman does - and dream of actually meeting them instead of watching them at public events. That is until, as a consequence of Loki’s tricks, you are being forced into slavery at the royal court. Amidst this harsh new reality, you catch the attention of the god of Thunder who then seeks to make you his alone. You are nothing but a toy, a puppet, in the god’s eyes and he will use you as he pleases.

Do not hope for mercy.

**** WARNING: dark story, manipulative Thor, heavy rape/non-con elements, no happy ending in sight

____________________________xXx____________________________

The crown-prince of Asgard was a man to be envied by thousands of others. For he had everything one could dream about. Wealth beyond imagination, the might of thunder coursing through his veins and a physique like carved marble, all embellishing his immortal life. And as if that wasn't enough, Thor Odinsson would soon step into his father's place and become king of Asgard. Oh how he enjoyed the sound of it already. Thor, king of Asgard, Protector of the Nine Realms and Ruler over all beings.

The prospect caused a warm pleasant shudder to rush along his spine, trailing his muscled back like slender fingers of a wanton woman. This sensation grew more violent with each repetition of the line.

Many would have called Thor a greedy, spoiled brat who strived only for his own satisfaction regardless the cost – if they had the courage to face him and his famous temper, his wrath capable of erasing whole villages with ease. Truth be told, the crown-prince was guilty at all points and probably at a few more the public didn't know about.

But Thor didn't care.

He loved his life, indulging in every single day, be it the hard training in the morning, the joyous afternoons with his brothers or the heated nights with one of the goddesses. Yes, Thor had a certain reputation in this regard too and since the branches of the gods' family tree would fill several pages, he had some options to choose from. Currently, there was Sif the goddess of harvest, who had been a dear friend of his since their early childhood. Thor's amicable feelings for her had transformed into those of a more salacious nature, however, not until Sif's name-day last year. The celebrations in her honor in early autumn had been one of the very rare occasions that the goddess had shown herself in a lovely dress. Since Sif was also a fierce warrioress, her body was usually hidden beneath cold metal but not so on that very night. The caramel silk clung to her athletic but feminine figure in all the right ways. Thus, while the citizens of Asgard had humbly presented their offerings, Thor's hungry gaze had lingered on the goddess's alluring curves, wondering how he could have missed them before.

Skilled as he was, Thor had her wrapped around his finger soon after, her welcoming legs spreading wide for him. Because once the predator was awoken he would complete the hunt no matter the obstacles. And there was always new prey.

Almost simultaneously, queen Frigga introduced her first-born to the goddess Idunn, whom she deemed best suited as a wife – and perhaps future queen. In comparison to Sif's lean physique from the fighting, Idunn was a lot softer all around and she didn't shy at displaying her voluptuous assets. And Norns, Idunn's fruits were beyond ripe. So Thor didn't complain and played the charming prince, aiming at burying his face in those welcoming tits.

Which he did actually, two moons after their first introduction, and her soft flesh felt just as heavenly as expected.

Why wait with the fun until after a mayhap-wedding? Take what you desire and indulge in its utter consumption without regret. That was the motto according to which Thor fought, ate and fucked.

Both Sif and Idunn could verify that fact.

    All in all, the crown-prince enjoyed the luxuries of his life without questioning the (social) mechanisms behind them, whether they were just or not wasn't in his interest. Asgardians were far below the god and slaves mostly even invisible - if they did as being told, that is. For woe betide anyone who failed to keep up his duties! A serving girl once spilled the prince's wine while pouring and Thor had replied promptly with a mean back fist, sending her across the room.

The Thunderer was known for having the highest turn-over rate of personal slaves.

xxx

Whenever the god lay with one of his affairs, the world around him blurred and nothing else but the whimpering woman beneath him mattered, her squirms of delight ringing in his ears. Also this time, as he took Sif against the balustrade on the balcony of his bedroom, their garments removed just so that the heated flesh could meet. High up above the rest of the city, Thor succumbed to the bliss and almost didn't notice the silent observer. From the corner of his eye he spied the small figure standing on a balcony of the nearest tower, some cloth in hand.

One of Balder's maids...

The girl was staring nonchalantly at the god and continued to do so even when their gazes met.

Persistent just as Thor kept burying himself in the damp wet hole.

Sif's moans grew louder, more appreciative as her cunt pulsated with every thrust, and reclaimed Thor's attention – both cock and mind. Being close made him grip Sif's hips hard, helping himself deeper into her, the way he enjoyed most. His satisfaction was what he strived for, always, regardless the needs of the woman beneath him.And although the grand wave was already rising on the boarder of his mind, somehow, the thought of being watched wouldn't make way for the crescendo. Thus Thor increased speed, sending Sif over the edge and causing the world once more to blur around him.

Except for one particular spot.

The girl was still there, frozen in place and staring right at the panting god. His gaze was heavy laden with lust, the blue a tad darker than usual and sparkling between the strands of golden hair. When it fell upon the girl, a lovely shade of crimson painted her cheeks and Thor smirked triumphantly. Then he came.

xxx

With a quiet squeal, ________ shut the balcony door after she was back inside from shaking out a cushion. Her mind was spinning, matching the flutter of her heart and she slowly walked over to the large bed. Absentmindedly she put the pillow back in its place, images of what she had just witnessed flashing up before her inner eye. Those strong hands holding on to the moaning woman while penetrating her, each thrust vigorous as per the looks of it. _______ hadn't been able to tear her eyes away from the scene, away from the ocean blue orbs of the crown prince as he fucked. Norns, he could have me hanged for that...

During her first few weeks, ________ had learned about the dos and don'ts as a slave, when to be silent and which gods to avoid messing with. Thor was leading the ranking. The many stories of how he maltreated (not only his) servants haunted the girl in her dreams.

Luckily, Balder was not like his brother in this regard and he seemed to keep his promise, having ________ cleaning his chambers or fetching him some items. Generally easy tasks which she carried out dutifully nevertheless, giving her master no opportunity to complain. Her current punishment was harsh enough so better not add any unnecessary extensions. With that in mind, the girl wondered why she hadn't been able to look away.

She had almost given up on solving this riddle when some nights later, the three brothers decided to close the day with some cups of wine in Loki's salon. After a successful hunt together, they had each retreated quickly to their own chambers in order to change, Balder had even refreshed himself in the hot tub of the common baths, before they gathered again. While Loki had his slaves prepare some drinks and food, both Thor and Balder had each brought two of their own servants as well, ________ being among them.

It was the first time she entered the private chambers of the youngest prince, a mysterious place full of wondrous magical objects as she had heard. As they entered, the girl looked curiously around the salon, it's interior being dominated by green, gold and dark ebony. Very classy and matching the Trickster's image. Yet her admiration was overlapped by growing nervousness when she spied the crown-prince sitting on the couch next to the fireplace, the flames tinting his blonde locks in an orange glow. The piece of furniture was entirely occupied by his long, muscular limbs stretching in all directions as he relaxed, the dark red tunic being stretched as his broad chest expanded with every breath. And here I thought Balder was huge...

Upon seeing the three princes together, the differences of their physiques became prominent: Loki was lean and athletic while Balder was well-built and a tad taller. Well, and Thor was massive.

"Come and sit, brother!" the Thunderer called and waved lazily with one large hand towards the couch opposite of him. Following her master further into the room, ________ purposefully remained behind him in order to hide from the giant on the couch - a least a little while longer. As Balder sat down, she looked around for the drinks so that she wouldn't let him wait. But one of Loki's slaves already hurried towards the god, the green double-serpent inside the ring on her upper arm glowing vibrantly in the dim lit room. Thus there was nothing for _______ to do right now than to position herself a little in the background and wait for an order. Of course Thor noted her then, a spark of recognition crossing his eyes as they fell upon her. Much to the girl's relief, however, he chose to ignore her for the rest of the evening.

xxx

Time floated by as did one bottle of wine after another. The gods were in a good mood and chatting casually about various topics, some of which ________ found quite interesting to listen to. The shallow conversation was punctuated by many subtle, quite entertaining jokes of the Trickster and the girl found herself stifling a laugh at least trice. Loki, the god of Lies and Mischief, impressed her with both his witty comments and his looks. Clad in a dark green tunic atop back leather pants, matching his neatly combed raven hair, he had draped himself gracefully onto he plush couch next to Balder. The porcelain skin resembled a painting, soft strokes forming his oval face and those long black lashes atop the strong shade of emerald green. The god's appearance didn't account for the cruelty he was capable of - the snake wasn't his sigil for naught - but the way he hissed at his slaves for no reason gave a good hint. ______ was almost feeling thankful for being Balder's maid.

xxx

Later and back in Balder's chambers, two maids helped him undress while _______ drew the heavy curtains of the bedroom shut, pulling at the long piece of fabric with all her strength to move it. Her body already yearned for sleep, her plain strawy mattress in the slave quarters transforming into a wonderful prospect with each passing minute. "_________?" Balder suddenly called from across the room, already in his nightgown and walking towards the over-sized bed. "My golden bangle appears to be missing..." Her shift could have been over for today but no.

"I need you to retrieve it for me from the bath. That's where I probably left it!" the god added as he slipped beneath the silken blanket, the soft mattress giving way under his weight. _______ watched him full of envy but smiled at him nevertheless. "Of course, your highness!" she replied sweetly and bowed before she took her leave. "But don't wake me, just put it onto the table in the salon once you have it!" Balder had received the missing bangle from his father to signal the reaching of adulthood. Of course the prince would send her, the maid he trusted most with such a task. Apparently, this was Balder's way to value her well manners and upper-class education or he merely intended to test whether she would cheat on him like Harald had. Anyways, ________ could feel honored but instead she cursed the forgetful god, the Norns and above all her father for keeping her persistently from sleep.

She hurried down the empty hallways, racing around corners and past a few guards, in utter determination to find this damned piece of reminiscence.

That was until she reached the large doors to the common baths.

[visicnbcrn]

Name: Nehemia

Age: 28

Height: 6′1

Race: Air Genasi ( half air/anemo elemental & half human )

Moral Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Occupation:

- Treasure Hoarder ( High Rank, Formerly )

- Mercenary/Assassin

- Thief/Rouge

- Informant

- Adventurer ( not apart of the guild )

Personality: Nehemia at first glance is a very social and sultry creature, charismatic in how she talks and interacts with people. Her good looks and clear harmonious voice causing eyes to fall on her, a light in a darkened room. However, this is just one of her many facets, behind the personable persona, she is extremely manipulative as someone who actively exploits those very strangers she interacts with--masterfully extracting information and mora off of unsuspecting victims, either by chatting them up or seducing them into her bed, always using a different name. Nehemia, however, holds high standards for who she decides to sleep with; be it for information or for her to rob them blind. She would never sleep with someone of lower means as they have nothing to give her that is worth her while.

Vision: Hydro

Constellation: Vjetrovi kaosa ( Winds of Chaos )

Weapon(s): Catalyst, Daggers, Darts, and Wires

Powers & Abilities & Skills:

- Wild Magic ( when using any form of magic, the output of damage while increased, there is a chance for chaos to influence the outcome. For example, commanding a weather storm could give way to a possible sharknado, or in another case comes the possibility of turning into a potted plant. )

- Stealth

- Disguise

- Acting

- Seduction

- Poison Proficiency ( both using and creating )

-Persuasion

- Cooking

- Killing and being able to make it look like an accident or a brutal massacre

- Pickpocketing

- No need for breathing ( race perk )

-Levitation ( Race Perk )

- Anemo Manipulation without the use of a vision ( Race Perk )

A former treasure hoarder, she knew the intricacies of subterfuge and acting, Nehemia used cold and calculated measures in her dealings while using the force necessary to achieve her goals. It was what caused her to rise her way through the ranks, and what made the treasure hoarders let her go without a fuss, they were to afraid of her to raise a stink.

When it comes to her contracts, Nehemia is very stern and serious, always adhering to her contract--she is very picky on what she takes on however and you need to know the right people to even get an audience with her. With clients while she is all business, she is still very personable with those who hire her often making small talk--anything to ingratiate her to them, after all, they are more likely to pay more if they like her and she does an outstanding job. She is regularly contracted by the Fatui and the occasional Treasure Hoarder.

With people she is close to be it those within her information network, or her friends. Nehemia tries her best to be there for them, caring about them as if they were family, yet by extension if you betray her trust and generosity in anyway shape or form you are officially dead to her, there is no such thing as second chances, from experience second chances only ever lead to repeated behavior.

 Her parents had left Nehemia on her own her as a child. Her mother fading from the world after her birth, bestowing her all those characteristic of an anemo elemental. Her father, was a hard working man living on the outskirts of Springvale while he missed his wife, Nehemia was the apple of his eye. He himself was a retired treasure hoarder who had originally been a knight within the Ordo Favonius before he was dishonorably discharged. He had taught her all he had known, his little girl had taken everything like a fish to water. Nehemia is a hard worker eager to learn, and fiercely independent. She had to adapt to the world when her beloved father passed away due to and undiagnosed illness. That was the last time she had openly cried for someone.

Through her younger years and into her teens, Nehemia had lost a lot of that light she had held as a child. the world was a dark place, where only the strong survive. Through those years of hardship, she had leaned to covet what was hers, how to survive and how to keep people at an arms length. She doesn’t trust easily, despite what her persona says otherwise. Nehemia has a talent for directing the conversation, causing others to give out information about herself, only for them to walk away from an involved conversation, only to realize never even got her name. The same can be said about her friends, no matter how close she is to people, they are still kept at an arms length, if asked what Nehemia likes or the like--they realize they don't hardly know anything about her.

Fun Facts & HCs:

- Nehemia uses her Anemo abilities subtly in tandem with her hydro vision, causing her to also utilize cryo attacks as the water turns to ice. Causing most to think she possesses a cryo delusion. She also uses her anemo abilities on their own, as a way to get a drop on someone, kind of hard to fight when the air is sucked out of your lungs and you are deprived of oxygen.

- She holds a strong dislike for tasteless and bland foods. She adores very flavorful dishes and spice. Making Liyuen, Sumerian, and Natlanian cuisine her favorite.

- She has a giant golden eagle named Zakir, she had raised him from the egg. This bird is big enough for Nehemia to ride on the back of. He also can be used in a fight.

- Being a half elemental allows Nehemia to be more durable than humans and vision wielders. granting her an immunity to both anemo and hydro attacks. having an extended life span she can live well into a few centuries. She can still die, just like any mortal, its just harder to do.

- Nehemia has an immunity to most poisons, due to injecting herself with small doses of varying types over the years. It wouldn’t be good to accidentally poison yourself on the job after all.

- She is loaded, from all of her jobs, pickpocketing, and thieving she has amassed quite the fortune. Yet despite this, Nehemia is a miser when it comes to spending mora. 

- Her most notable features are her blue gem like eyes, slightly pointed ears, her pale skin that seems to shimmer an icy blue in the light and the faint swirling marks on her body being the same icy blue. denoting her inhuman blood

[iyliss]

@one-groovy-rose​

I SHALL TALK ABOUT THE POTENTIAL CTHULHU REF

Alright so first i wanna get back a (lil) bit on gx, tcg, and what specific part of the cthulhu mythos is involved in yugioh. While I don’t know enough about how the anime’s writting and the card’s designing go on, I can assume that there’s connection, maybe similar people, working on it. Why is it important? Because if there’s an obvious reference somewhere, something else could be a reference as well. So. GX. for those who don’t talk to me nor minded that aspect: there’s a heck lot of lovecraft reference. Not detailing it, but two reference are especially important for Zexal. It is clear that the story The Dream quest of the unknown Kadath has been a bit of an inspiration (one of the monster is just too detailed to not be straight up from the story’s description), and we can assume the other stories related to that character (Randolph Carter) were red as well: The silver key and Through the gate of the silver key. Finally, Nyarlathotep is heavily referenced -though I am not sure how much- in at least one form, (that is not the one from the stories involved). Meanwhile, in the card game, an archetype is introduced: Outer Entities (beware as their designs are quite more freaky than what you would expect from ygo). It’s around the last part of Zexal, and features reference to very specific short stories that aren’t well known either (important because: the reference are straight from the stories not from things like the rpg or general knowledge) and there is, again, our good friend Nyarlathotep.

So, after this long introduction, I can get into the main part. The two important cthulhu reference I can see in Zexal are 1) with they key and the gate 2) Don Thousand and Nyarlathotep. I will ad some more thoughts about some elements of Zexal that.... vibes with hpl, but it isn’t as clear and just me having fun.

The Gate and the Key

When Randolph Carter was thirty he lost the key of the gate of dreams.

Zexal’s gate and key can be associated with many things. One I like is pandora’s box, but I really don’t understand why it took me so long to connect it with the straight up Gate and Key from hpl’s work.

In The Silver Key and Through the Gate of the Silver Key, our protagonist Randolph Carter finds a mysterious key in his pocket, through dreams and maybe some timetravel, which allows him to open a gate where godly beings welcome him to behold the knowledge of the universe, featuring travelling to other planets/dimmensions. So. Yeah I think the connection can be made.

A gate had been unlocked—not indeed the Ultimate Gate, but one leading from earth and time to that extension of earth which is outside time, and from which in turn the Ultimate Gate leads fearsomely and perilously to the Last Void which is outside all earths, all universes, and all matter.

Overall, the way the two gates and keys are portrayed are very similar. The mysteries, yet with hints to the truth, of what exactly is this gate or the guide within it, or the truth beyond it are and where it comes from. The sense of otherwordly knowledge. The link with dreams and timetravel.

Nyarlathotep and Don Thousand

He said he had risen up out of the blackness of twenty-seven centuries, and that he had heard messages from places not on this planet.

In both The Dream quest of the unknown Kadath and other stories appear Nyarlathotep (that i will call Nyarla from now on for obvious reason). He has many forms and I think Don thousand is partly inspired by him.

First, an easy one. Nyarla has some nicknames, including a first one: the Crawling Chaos. Chaos, you know? Another one is the Black Pharaoh, and we will talk again about the black part, but the paraoh part well... Don Thousand’s deck is strongly related to ancient egypt and Im sure he has reference to it I couldn’t catch. There’s also other things, like The God of a Thousand forms.

Now, lore-wise. It’s a bit hard to explain what Nyarla is but, here, we don’t need to know too much. Mostly that his hobby is mainly to sneak amongst human, alter their fate, push them into madness, into worshipping him, make them join his dark cult, and just lie, manipulate, abuse and deceive to bring out and more suffering, sometimes for his own power, sometimes for his own pleasure. And, already you can see the similarities. In Kadath, he appears at the end though he’s teased throughout the story, and it acts the final boss. More specifically, how his cult function can be associated with the Barians. Basically, throughout history, they just sacrifice their humanity out of despair and gain immortality and power and can go through various dimmensions.

 “[...]a lone figure strode; a tall, slim figure with the young face of an antique Pharaoh, gay with prismatic robes and crowned with a golden pshent that glowed with inherent light. Close up to Carter strode that regal figure; whose proud carriage and swart features had in them the fascination of a dark god or fallen archangel, and around whose eyes there lurked the languid sparkle of capricious humour. “

Finally, visually. Taking the various representation of Nyarla feels quite close to Don Thousand’s final form. His description of tall, young and beautiful, is already important. Amongst all the yugioh bosses, Don Thousand is clearly meant to be exceptionally gorgeous. The third eye could be related to his incarnation as the Haunter in the Dark, who has “three-lobed burning eye “. Finally, the dark grey skin is very much specific to Nyarla. In the Dreams in the Witch-House, he’s again describe as tall but also are dark skinned, not dark brown, but dark grey or black: “a tall, lean man of dead black colouration “.

Other things and conclusion

There are some other details that just feels lovecraftian. Like the continuation of magic and science, in cthulhu mythos, travelling through dimmension can be both done through the help of some mystical entities and objects (like they key), or with pure science like math (like Faker and Byron did, and just like in the stories, it ends terribly compared to the first option). Otherall, Byron and Faker’s story feels very lovecraftian. The travel to a distant place that few people have found, the absurd archeology, discover a lost alien civilization and multiple dimmension. They way Byron comes back “changed”, or not even himself, also feels like both in Through the gate of the silver key (where Randolph gets stuck in an alien body) and The Shadow out of time (where the father and doctorate protagonist is possess by an alien being that radically changes his behaviour).

And, yeah that’s about all I can think of right now. Am sure there could be more I may find upon rewatches and thinking, but I hope it’s already interesting enough! tried to make sure it was understandable by anyone.

[britebuck]

my hot takes, based on my altered version of equestria and hcs

gordon: unicorn

tommy: pegasus

bubby: changeling, disguises self as unicorn (but not often)

coomer: earth pony

darnold: earth pony

benrey: draconequus, disguises self as pegasus (usually disguised)

gman: alicorn (unnatural)

black mesa is a research facility still, and still under celestia and luna's rule. celestia and luna in my version of equestria take on a very lose rule and generally for the most part let equestria rule and discover for themselves. there is a parliament based on the elements and usually seats are held by bearers as well as representatives of all major pony towns. black mesa is not an endeavor celestia and luna know about and they would have likely stopped it if they knew of it's existence.

black mesa is researching dimensional and temporal travel, intending to perfect spells such as starswirl's time travel spell (seen used by twilight in the show) as well as dimensional travel like the mirrors in canon (one of which is connected to the equestria girls dimension, the other was owned by starswirl and celestia in the comics) unfortunately black mesa really didn't know what kind of shit they were really fucking with and created a magical rift into another dimension, where instead of equestria, the world is raveged by aliens. the ponies dub this world "xen"

now gordon and co. have to evacuate before celestia and luna leave black mesa's facility and the rift's location a glass glazed crater. it should be mentioned research like this is actually something that by law has to be supervised by celestia and luna so guards have been sent to arrest/kill all involved. yeah my version of equestria has a bit higher stakes.

at some point the guards jump gordon just like in canon but instead of losing his leg, they actually cut off his horn. i actually have some extensive worldbuilding in regards to how each species of pony interacts with magic, and in the case of unicorns, unlike most ponies their magic interaction is located solely in the horn/brain, instead of spread throughout the pony's body. this makes their magic more potent but also mean that if their horn is cut off, bad shit happens. horns can sustain scratches and heal, but completely cutting it off and severing the magical nodes and nerves can cut off a unicorn's magic permanently, if cut too close to the base of he skull. gordon's horn is cut around the middle like tempest shadow, so his magic isn't completely GONE, but he can't concentrate it.

gordon later gets the equivalent of the gun arm for his horn, which focuses the small spirts of electrical spark he can create with his severed horn into blasts. gman eventually takes that as it is black mesa property, and replaces it with an advanced prosthetic that allows him to manipulate objects again, but he'll never be able to perform complex spells like he used to do as a scientist working for black mesa.

they'll all have pony names btw, i just have yet to come up with them and also i need to draw them all lol

if you have questions do ask!!! i love talking about my aus!

[piermanwalter]

Thief’s Apprentice: Civil Servant Triumvirate

What does it take to keep a city of immortal skeleton wizards functioning? These revenants are the antithesis of the bros: a semi-legitimate politician who won’t fall for petty scams, another large sealed container, and a guy who breaks into houses and attacks people but legally.

The Mayor of Veilheim

Although elected by the literate class as The Mayor, The Mayor isn’t a Veilheimer or even from Surenia. His outsider status is celebrated as bringing an end to cultural and political stagnation, but has caused some problems. Counter to Veilheim customs, he still treats his children and grandchildren as family even though he died decades before. The Mayor’s continued contact with them is seen as unnecessary interference with the affairs of the living. Integration between living and dead society has swung back and forth throughout history, although recently the living in Veilheim have gone from viewing the world outside the living district as another plane of existence to coming and going as they please (only if they are plaguebearers) within a few generations, as orchestrated by The Mayor. 

The Mayor’s political platform is normalising death so the living die happier and produce less madmen. Under his rule, living apprenticeship under dead Masters has increased, a few living businesses such as perfumers and the Rambush family distillery now serve the dead, and skeleton prostitution is decriminalised (for health and safety reasons it’s still illegal for anyone who’s not a skeleton to be a prostitute). The Mayor also implemented the infamous and controversial Destitution Inducing Tax Law, which reduced 1000 of the richest Veilheimers being taxed 0.1% of city budget per year to 100 of the richest Veilheimers being taxed 1% of the city budget per year. The repercussions of this law will be discussed later. With increased working population and ending a few monopolies, Veilheim’s self-sufficiency caused some diplomatic issues with other cities, such as Villa Princeps and Alhambra, which used to count on Veilheim for trade. The Mayor dealt with this by decreasing staple food and fabric imports, but increasing imports of luxury items from outside.

As well as being a functional statesman, The Mayor is also a great wizard. As covered before, magic is the energy derived from souls dying outside the body. Wizards can’t perform magic on their own, but can effectively use magic items, objects with pieces of mage souls in them. To use a magic item, a wizard needs to convince the soul piece inside to die for their sake. Thus wizards are all monstrously manipulative. The Mayor keeps a stash of magic items from his home country that nobody else can use because the souls inside all speak a different language. 

During the uncertain early years of his reign, The Mayor resorted to a lot of secret crimes to stay in wealth and power. After things stabilised, The Mayor has been able to stay in power via legitimate means for a long time and has worked to erase his history, but some elements of his criminal past come back to haunt him, including you. Some of his deals have gone on for so long with people so dangerous he hasn’t figured out how to end them yet. 

Noble Porter

About 10 years ago, a pirate crew attacked the city and were all arrested. While awaiting trial, some pirates died in the cell and went mad, killing and eating the rest, forming into one single creature composed of at least 8 pirates. Temperament stabilised by being made of so many people, the resulting being’s imposing size and treasure-protecting pirate instincts led to new employment. Noble Porter, most noble of porters, delivers state documents within Veilheim and also to other cities by putting them in the big cabinet. The key is delivered separately a few days earlier to the document’s recipient. Then Noble Porter finds you and kneels so you can reach the cabinet and unlock it. Noble Porter’s head is literally and metaphorically filled with state secrets. Noble Porter is constantly surrounded by guards and seems physically incapable. Despite Noble Porter’s helpless appearance, don’t forget the composition of at least 8 pirates who spent their lives killing and looting and died cannibalising each other.

Noble Porter has a very nondescript personality, can’t speak, and takes a very long time to make decisions. Noble Porter must always be referred to without pronouns, since Noble Porter lacks the mental faculty to comprehend anything other than the proper title. It’s easy to infer complete stupidity from this, but Noble Porter has a surprisingly good idea of the general vibe and often bails out of suspicious situations before they begin. How much Noble Porter likes you is determined by how long it takes you to unlock the cabinet. If you use the wrong keys too much or unlock the wrong drawer first, Noble Porter won’t like you. Noble Porter may also relock locks, change pin combinations, and shuffle documents into other drawers. It usually takes a few minutes to get the cabinet open, but you can use this to your advantage by robbing people while they are distracted. This has inevitably led to Noble Porter liking several specific nobles because they get delivered important documents a lot. This is about as fair and efficient as the standard workplace email. How has Noble Porter managed to accumulate the wealth and prestige prerequisite to being a noble without any language skills? Pirate hoarding instincts.

If Noble Porter doesn’t like you, documents will take much longer to be delivered. If Noble Porter likes you, documents will be delivered quickly and sometimes Noble Porter will deliver extra handwritten nonsense letters and random objects. These nonsense letters are starting to become a currency in high society. Noble Porter is also married to Cylinder Locksmith, who has an unfair advantage because she installs the locks into the cabinet. Is she purposefully being exploitative? It’s hard to tell.

Tax Collector

Despite being rich and influential, Tax Collector is seen as being on the same level as other Collectors, such as Rag Collectors, Dung Collectors, Ash Collectors, etc. Tax Collector has been around for at least 500 years and thus has cultivated an extensive legacy of terror. As per Veilheim’s traditional tax policy, if someone can’t or won’t pay taxes, their share will be paid by increasing taxes for other taxpayers and also Tax Collector will drag them out into the street and stab them, after which they are ridiculed by the general public and reviled by other taxpayers who had to pick up their slack. It’s possible to regain some clout by stabbing Tax Collector back. This happens often enough that it’s legal to stab him as he’s stabbing you (it’s still illegal to stab him at any other time). If you are a chronic tax evader, instead of stabbing you in front of your house, Tax Collector will drag you into the judicial district and stab you in the main square. It’s considered a great honor if Tax Collector stabs someone with the same thing you stabbed him with. Sometimes there are multiple rounds of tax collecting, where Tax Collector collects taxes from those who can pay, stabs those who can’t, then calculates how much extra needs to be paid, collects that from those who can pay, stabs those who can’t, and so on until he reaches a monolith of riches who pays for like 18% of the city budget.

Aside from tax collecting, Tax Collector is also involved with antiforgery, crime scene investigation, and tracing the origin of stolen goods. His giant soul from old age and also work experience makes him an excellent alchemist. Alchemy is the study of how souls affect chemistry. For example, if a chunk of limestone is mined by someone and put on the back of a donkey and unloaded by someone else, then burned into quicklime by a different person, the resulting calcium oxide still carries tiny fragments of the souls of three people and one donkey. Not nearly enough to be a magic item or affect its physical behavior, but still enough to be detected by an alchemist. If you touched something, Tax Collector knows. 

After his workload of 1000 people a year was reduced to 100 people a year by the Destitution Inducing Tax Law, Tax Collector is much more involved in normal law enforcement, turning him from an annoying figure among high society to widely reviled by all. As intended by the law, 1% of Veilheim’s yearly budget is enough to drive someone to destitution. Because productive property (things like food, tools, buildings of labor, working animals, and industrial materials) are counted for tax purposes as much less than other things like leisure buildings, precious metals, and jewels, people on the verge of being in to top 100 rush to convert their riches into raw flax, iron bars, and live sheep. Those unfortunate(?) enough to still be considered rich after this often have their life’s work erased. If revenants don’t die, to maintain a functioning economy they must be killed financially. The young by comparison are still afraid of this, but old revenants driven by greed to accumulate as much as they can often lose the will to live after they can no longer grow their wealth as fast as they used to and even the biggest diamonds makes them feel nothing.

Tax Collector! Render me destitute and give my life meaning again!

Then there are people like Noble Engineer and Sporadic Miner who are so absurdly rich that paying 1% of the city’s yearly budget doesn’t significantly affect them.

[ninjapolis]

I’m on a roll so I’m going to infodump about my other OCs, some of which may be related to canon characters but they aren’t fankids

Ages are in my and my sister’s main timeline

Celia Brookstone: 21, she/her, bi. As my first OC (not just for Ninjago, I think she may be my first OC in general), Celia started out extremely OP and has gone through an extensive evolution. Originally she was Cole’s sister and the EM of Magic (um, what), but now she’s his paternal cousin and a normal girl who just has an affinity for witchcraft and the occult. I haven’t had the chance to establish her personality with my sister, since we’re thinking up cooler things.

Irina Chen: 26 at death, she/her, bi, former EM of Amber. Irina is actually my newest OC! She’s Skylor’s mother, and by extension Chen’s (former) wife. She’s also Clouse’s older sister. She doesn’t really care if you try to hurt her, but if you try to hurt her baby she will cut you. One main example is that Clouse poisoned her, which caused her death, but when Lloyd finds her she says that she forgives him. She got along well with the other elemental masters, especially the former master of Wind, Nylla. Essentially I love her, she’s cute and she’s a great mom after the ninja find her and help her reunite with her family. She looks around 31/32, because she’s aging at 1/3 of the rate of the living.

Louis Chen: Unborn at death, he/him. Louis is Irina and Chen’s second child, who Irina was pregnant with when she died. He would be 17 if he wasn’t aging super slowly, but he looks 5. He loves Chen and Lloyd, begging Lloyd to play with him whenever possible (Chen is alive in this AU like Garmadon and Morro). While Skylor looks like Irina with Chen’s hair, Louis looks like Chen with Irina’s hair. 

Nylla: 31 at death, she/her, bi, former EM of Wind. Nylla was Morro’s mother, who was cold to most people she didn’t trust. If she liked and trusted you, she was extremely sweet, especially towards her son. She died when Morro was 10, causing his father to start abusing him and leading to Morro running away and eventually becoming Wu’s student. She currently hasn’t shown up in any of my and my sister’s roleplays.

Mirabelle: Unknown age (appears to be in her 20s), she/her, pan/aro, EM of Vision. Mirabelle used to just be a human girl, but she had an incident with Nadakhan and now nobody knows what exactly she is. She leads a circus, and a few people from each show are thrust into their greatest fantasies until their bodies die from dehydration and she can feed on their life force. She’s the antagonist of a fanseason I’m working on with my sister, Ninjago: Fever Dream. Her abilities can heal or degrade other people’s eyesight, or cause hallucinations. She’s legally blind, and she’s the only person who’s eyesight she can’t alter.

Sensei Neido: Unknown age (old), he/him, gay, EM of Imagination. He’s not really an OC, just an almost-completely revamped character from LEGO Universe. He teaches four students who all have some sort of parallel to one of the ninja for the most part. He’s an old friend of Wu and Garmadon, and there’s evidence he felt something more for Wu when they were younger. He’s introduced when he finds Kai injured in the woods where his monastery is and tends to his wounds.

Andrew Emily: 17, he/him, bi, EM of Gas. He was Neido’s first student. When introduced, Andrew is irritable, and he thinks his team is made of idiots. He eventually warms up to them, and in the future AU he’s in a polyamorous relationship with the other 3. His element allows him to manipulate any gas.

Brandon Mcbride: 17, he/him, pan, EM of Animals. He was Neido’s third student. When introduced, he’s extremely antisocial, preferring to talk to the bugs in the monastery. He later becomes friends with and then starts dating the others. His element allows him to communicate with animals of all kinds.

Cassandra: 17, she/her, bi, EM of Magma. She was Neido’s final student, coming from an island in the middle of the ocean. As such, she starts out with limited knowledge of how things work in Ninjago, and her huge temper doesn’t help her. She’s the tallest of the group. She later becomes friends with and then starts dating the others. Her element allows her to manipulate magma/lava.

There’s another member of this group, but they belong to my sister @amaryllis56-main.

Jonathan Reynolds: 17, he/him, gay. He’s from the future AU. He’s a high school senior who looked at Alex, an extreme disaster pan sophomore who will commit arson if he wishes and said “yep, he’s the one.” He’s extremely popular and charismatic, and Alex thinks he’s pretty much perfect.

[kryptsune]

🌼By poll, WiccaFell was one of the ones that had the most votes so here we are! This one is not as extensive world building as the other ones as it was designed to be a Red x Frisk AU at its core. Hope you all enjoy the little plot and designs! Keep voting in that poll! It helps me choose which post to do next! Have a good Wednesday everyone 💙

WiccaFell

Main Plot Synop: Frisk is a witch that lives in the woods away from humans. Monsters exist in this world but they were nearly hunted to extinction. Poor little Red is chased into the woods from a mob of humans that are looking to either kill him or make him into a sideshow. The little guy trips and just as they are around to grab him a giant beast leaps from the shadows and scares them away. It turns out this is Frisk who is able to shapeshift. It is one of her main magical abilities. She scoops him up and takes him home and takes care of him. A few years later and he works as her little helper and apprentice learning all the good magic can do and that light magic is about give and take. She also warns him about dark magic and how it twists and corrupts.

What magic can do: 

Light- Light magic revolves around the natural order and uses the earth and nature to perform things like healing. These kinds of magic users are mild-mannered and gentle to those they interact with because their souls are filled with light. A pure light witch is a rarity as they can harness more power than that of a practicing light witch.

Dark- Dark magic is the kind of magic that breaks the natural order like necromancy for example. Anything that toys with fate. Dark magic also twists and alters physical appearance. The users gain more demonic traits such as slitted pupils, sharp teeth, claws, tails, wings, and the like. It is different for each warlock/witch. These warlocks or witches have the ability to use elemental magic as well, though they are in a corrupted form:

Fire - Shadow flames that consume for long periods of time and difficult to put out. They are destructive at their core. 

Air - Poison magic is either liquid or miasmic. It can kill thousands if desired spreading like an airborne plague. It is uncommon even for dark casters to deal in this magic since it could potentially also backfire on themselves.  

Earth- Death magic that can be attributed to necromancy. This also includes curses as well. Anything that can tamper with the soul or body.  

Water- Blood magic is a form of physical manipulation. A highly skilled warlock can turn a body into a puppet just by taking control of the blood within the body. It is a terrifying ordeal as the victim is powerless and subject to the casters every will while still remaining conscious. 

Soul- On of the most taboo of all. It is the manipulation of one's very being. It is what can be used to bend the mind. Soul chains bind the victim leaving them with free will unless the caster desires a different outcome. It is like making the victim into a kind of puppet. They cannot resist and are bound to the spell for all eternity until the darkness corrupts their own soul or death. 

Shadow- A mix of the two both light and dark. This is a middle ground in which dark magic has been performed for noble causes or in desperation. It is the same if a dark caster performs light magic. It is rare that shadow users exist just due to the strong traits of both light and dark. Light magic with burn a dark magic user and vice versa. Those physical burns cannot be healed and are an easy identifier. They are weaker than the other two, having no allegiances to either a light deity or a dark one. 

Frisk is a kind and gentle soul; She tries to negotiate peace with the humans so that she and her little apprentice can be left alone. After a while, Red begins to develop feelings for his witch caregiver and doesn’t want to see her hurt anymore. He wants to be a big scary monster so he can frighten away anyone that wishes her harm. There is only one problem. He is not all that scary. She tells him that the only way to become scary and menacing is through the use of dark magic because it not only twists your soul but also your physical appearance. She goes out to gather ingredients and does not come back which obviously worries Red. 

He finds her being burned alive by the townspeople that she was trying to sell her wares too. Nothing magical more medicinal but they didn’t care. As the flames die down he is left holding her charred body in tears (yes I know it’s sad). He vows that they will pay for what they have done and boooy do they. The only way to bring her back, and he knows this, is if he uses dark magic in the form of resurrection/necromancy. The whole idea of what is dead should stay dead applies here. 

He doesn’t care at this point so he reads from the book and as her body starts to come back with the warmth of life he starts to change physically. He basically goes berserk and burns the entire town to the ground. Now he is a scary monster… and a killer ... and a warlock of darkness and evil. *whoops*

Frisk awakens only to see what he has done and it breaks her heart. She can barely even recognize him anymore, even if he is still sweet and kind to her. He tries his darndest to get her to love him again too. The evil now whispering in his skull tries to get him to force his hand to get what he wants but he pushes it away. He is just constantly struggling with it especially when it tries to coerce him into taking the pure soul of light which surprise is Frisk's soul. Apparently sacrificing the pure soul of a light witch is one of the only ways he can purge the darkness from his own soul. It is the only way for him to return to how he used to be. They are basically opposing forces now but in the end, they still end up together she just has to keep his horrible thoughts at bay. 

Alternate Outcome: 

Being bound by a soul chain Frisk’s pure light soul is constantly under strain. Red, of course, does not know how much as his ability to separate his own desires from what is right is skewed. He vows that no one will ever hurt her ever again but due to his nature he goes about it all wrong. Frisk’s gentle nature helps the corruption stay at bay for a while as he rarely forces her to do anything against her own will, however, that does not last. The purer the soul the quicker the corruption so the two cancel each other out. Eventually, it sets into her soul twisting it just like him and when he finally realizes it... it is too late. That is where the sketch above depicts. Frisk goes dark side staying with her warlock and they cause havoc for the rest of the human villages.  

DO NOT REPOST MY WORK WITHOUT MY PERMISSION IT IS NOT FOR YOUR USE. IF YOU LIKE MY WORK PLEASE REBLOG INSTEAD! It helps me so much! It makes such a difference.💙

[littlemisssquiggles]

Little Red Headcanons: Ruby the Saviour of Humanity

crystalandbrass asked

“Hey long time no speak so I have two theories on RWBY I want to run by you the first is the lamp, I feel it functions like the old 'Be careful how you word your wish' essentially you have to be spercific with what you ask as Ozpin only asked 'How do I kill Salem?' Djinn obviously said there was no way because Salem is immortal, however if Ozpin asked 'How do I defeat Salem?' Djinn might have given up how to undo Salem's immorttality. What do you think? I will give the 2nd one later”

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Squiggles Answers:

@crystalandbrass​​ 

Hey Crystal, what’s up? Apologies for the late response but I hope you’ve been doing well in these trying times, fam. To answer your question, that’s an interesting way to look at it. I agree with your point about Jinn answering questions according to their wording but I’d like to add an additional hunch that I think the results are also dependent on the person asking the questions.

During his lifetime with Norman, Ozma asked Jinn how “he” could destroy Salem. Only for Jinn to answer that “he” couldn’t. For me, I took that as Jinn indicating that Ozma wasn’t the one destined to stop Salem once and for all. It doesn’t necessarily mean that destroying Salem isn’t possible. Ozma (and by extension, the Wizards of Light following in his lineage) just wasn’t the one meant to do so. He had his own part to play in this ongoing fight for the fate of humanity.

I’d like to stand by the concept that there is someone in Remnant who destined to stop Salem.

I also believe that the key to stopping Salem for good isn’t through destroying her either. Yes she needs to be stopped, but I don’t think her fate is to die by the hands of her chosen adversary but rather the way the Gods intended for her to die.

It’s for this reason I like the theory that was eluded by Nora in V7CH6 during her conversation with Ruby.

“…We’ve spent so much time worrying about how Ironwood would react to the truth about her; but has any of us considered how we’re even going to beat her if we managed to work past that?”

“Jinn said she can’t be beaten.”

“She told Oz that he couldn’t destroy her.”

“…But…maybe someone else could?”

“…I don’t know.”

A part of me thinks that if someone were to ask Jinn the question of “Who can stop Salem?” then I believe her answer might be a bit more hopeful as she reveals the identity of humanity’s true saviour against the plight of Salem. In the Lost Fable, Jinn did say that in time Salem would’ve ultimately met her adversary. During the events of that episode, us as viewers were led to believe that that person would be Ozma.

However now that I think about it---despite creating Salem and resurrecting the soul of her former beloved, the Brother Gods NEVER really tasked Ozma with stopping Salem. All the God of Light told Ozma to focus on was figuring out a way to unite humanity as a means of recreating the world that they once had---that he once knew. A world where humanity was made whole again with the return of the Gods and their magic to live among the People of Remnant again. Now that I think about it, the God of Light warned Ozma to not pursue Salem as he more desired for him to focus on avoiding the inevitable Judgement Day and the end of the world should he fail in bringing the people together.

From the start, the purpose of Ozma and the Wizards of Light was always to see to humanity’s preservation by uniting them for it is only in harmony shall they be saved and spared the wrath of the Gods should they be summoned back to Second Remnant.

From what I gathered from the Lost Fable, First Remnant was a time when mankind more or less lived in commune with not just each other but also the Brothers. However that changed after Salem rallied all the leaders of the First People of Remnant and turned them against the Gods thus leading to their mass genocide by the God of Darkness.

You can say that from the beginning, Salem has been a figure of conflict--- dividing humanity--- turning them against one another as a means of only fulfilling her own selfish desires.

From the get-go, Salem has been a source of manipulation and division. This was not only evidenced by her turning the People of Remnant against the Gods but her first attempt was done even before that when she dared turn the Brothers against one another after manipulating Darkness into resurrecting Ozma against his brother’s wishes and prior knowledge.

Salem was only cursed because she refused to see the value in human life beyond herself and sadly to say, even after living on Remnant for over thousands of years; she still only views mankind as nothing less to her than mere pawns to achieve her goals. She even came to see her own beloved Ozma as the very same thing---an obstacle against her retaining her sense of freedom.

“…We finally have freedom!”

I know other RWBY fans have pegged Salem to be nothing more than an irredeemable villain and character; however I think the opposite. Ultimately, I think Salem’s fate is to die after finally learning the lesson the God of Light tried to get her to see. Believe it or not, I’m actually an advocate for Salem getting redeemed at some point for the future of RWBY.

While Salem has been shown to be selfish and manipulative, she’s also expressed a softer, more compassionate side to her as well; as evidenced by her love and determination for Ozma and even their children during Ozma’s second lifetime as Diggs.

I’d even go as far as to say that there is a slight, almost parental approach to Salem’s mentor and apprentice relationship with Cinder Fall; if that makes sense. Again, while I understand that Salem is a villain, there are qualities about her that has convinced me that she can be redeemed and ultimately will be saved since that’s how I think her story will end based on elements from the Lost Fable.

I think Salem is the way she is, not so much due to her corruption from her baptism in the Grimm Pools of Darkness but more so as a result of her past and upbringing; being locked away in isolation for so long---having her own freedom stripped away away from her at an adolescent age by the acts of her cruel father.

Going back to your question on the lamp---I think what needs to happen next is either for someone to ask Jinn for the identity of the person destined to bring forth Salem’s end. Or for that person to ask Jinn that question herself.

Since V6, I can’t help but feel like the show is slowly starting to pave the reveal that Ruby Rose will be the one to stop Salem. NOT destroy her or kill her. But more or less guide her back to the light after the former lonely princess had submerged herself in darkness for so long; thus transforming herself into the wicked witch we knew her to be.

I feel like Ruby has the potential of being placed in a similar tricky scenario that Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender faced during his final confrontation with Fire Lord Ozai.

Much like Aang, this squiggle meister believes that Ruby will be the one to stop Salem but she’ll be torn over the thought of actually killing her if she were to discover to possess that kind of power.  

I’m not saying I’m expecting Ruby to talk Salem out of being evil.

I’m more in favour of my Little Red Ruby headcanon of Ruby’s silver eyes being a remnant of the God of Light’s Fountain of Light and Creation that was introduced during the events of the Lost Fable. We’ve already met Ozma---the First Wizard of Light tasked by the God of Light and blessed with his power to unite the people of Remnant to avoid its destruction should Judgement Day come.

Now what I need to know is the origins of the Silver Eyes. I want to know who the First Silver Eyed Warrior  to walk Remnant was since I believe that their beginning is connected to the Fountain of Life and Creation. Much like the Grimm Pools, the Fountain of Life and Creation once belonged to a God and thus harbours some semblance of his power.

This is how I think Salem is able to command the Creatures of Grimm. It was the God of Darkness who first made the Grimm, correct? Therefore since his pool was connected to him,  by baptising herself in said pool that once belonged to a God, Salem gained powers akin to the God of Darkness---at least in respect to the ability to command the Grimm and even create her own Grimm monstrosities.

While the God of Darkness’ Grimm Pools survived the test of time, the Fountain of Life and Creation seemed to have been destroyed during the meteor shower sparked by the God of Darkness destroying part of the moon. Since World of Remnant described man being born from dust; my assumption is that the Silver Eyed Warriors are the remnants of the Fountain. 

Therefore, the Silver Eyed Warriors are the living embodiment of the Fountain of Life and Creation. This, by my understanding, is how the Silver Eyed Warriors are connected to the God of Light. Just like the Wizards of Light in Ozma’s lineage, the Silver Eyes possess a portion of Light’s power running through their veins.

In the Lost Fable, it was shown that the God of Light cursed Salem with immortality by dropping her into his Fountain. If the Silver Eyes were ‘born’ from the Fountain then a Silver Eyed Warrior may be the only being that can actually harm Salem or even stop her.

Hence Ruby’s importance as she is currently the last living Silver Eye, according to the main series narrative. I remember reading somewhere about a theory someone had shared about the markings on Salem’s body---the weird blood-coloured scars that resemble veins---someone made theory that those markings may have come from Silver Eyed Warriors that Salem killed in the past.

I actually quite like this theory and I’d like to add my own spin on it.

In V4, Arthur Watts alluded to Salem and her minions dealing with Silver Eyes in the past and this point was confirmed in later iterations such as V6CH7 with Tock and her pawns targeting a young Maria Calavera in her prime and even the Warrior from the Warrior in the Woods tale in the upcoming Fairy Tales From Remnant.

So it’s my understanding that Salem and her pawns have been ruthlessly hunting and killing the Silver Eyes for many generations due to their unique ability to stop the Grimm.

But here’s what I think. What if…Salem’s scars were as a result on an encounter with ONE Silver Eyed Warrior and not as a result of her dealing with many over the years?

Despite hunting their kind for so long, what if…there has only been one Silver Eyed Warrior who has come close to even touching Salem and those scars are the lasting impression that that particular Silver Eye left on Salem as a relic of what that power can actually do to her.

What if… Salem got her scars from Summer Rose?

 Even though Salem succeeded in killing Summer (as alluded to in V7CH10), what if…another Summer Rose secret is the revelation of the way to stop Salem---a feat that Summer left in the hands of her daughter.

I know this is only a hunch but I really do like the thought of Summer Rose being the one who inflicted those types of wounds on Salem, revealing the witch’s own fallibility in a sense. It’s not a bad concept but for now it’s just another one for the table of possibilities.

Another Salem-inspired RWBY headcanon of mine is that the Silver Eye power will actually purify Salem of the effects of the Grimm Pools, thus severing her connection to the Grimm. What I find unique about Salem is that she is a being who has been touched by both light and darkness. Light made her immortal while Darkness gave her reign over the Creatures of Grimm.

If my hunch about the silver eyes being a remnant of the Fountain of Life and Creation is correct then Salem being hit with the power of a Silver Eyed Warrior on full blast; as displayed by Ruby Rose during the Fall of Beacon, might be what finally ‘kills’ the Wicked Witch of the West. 

For me, I really like the concept of Ruby’s power cleansing Salem of the effects of the Grimm pools that corrupted her for so many years; reverting the immortal woman back to her original ‘lonely princess’ form from the Lost Fable.

Since the Grimm Pools hypothetically granted Salem the power to control the Grimm, then hypothetically the Silver Eyes---a power born from the Fountain of Light and Creation that negates darkness--- could potentially Salem’s connection to the pools thus severing her connection to the Grimm. Therefore Salem will no longer be able to command the Grimm. I think that a huge part of Salem being a threat to humanity stemmed from her sovereignty over the Grimm. She was even described as being their leader by Raven Branwen during V5.

“…I know the Grimm have a leader…”

That being said, if Salem’s power over the Grimm is taken away---if Salem is changed back to her former self then she’ll no longer be that big of a threat anymore because the thing that gave her reign will be gone for good. Salem the Lonely Princess may return but the Salem the Wicked Witch would be gone for good. Therefore---DING! DONG! The Wicked Witch whose ancient presence haunted Remnant for years will finally be dead!

As for the fate of the original Salem, I’m still sticking to my guns on her receiving a redemption arc since according to the Lost Fable, Salem learning the error of her ways is the only way for her to lift her curse; allowing her to finally die peacefully.

The God of Light said just that. In the Lost Fable, the Brother Gods told Salem that the only way for her to reverse her curse is to learn how to value life.

 “…When you first came to me, I did pity you. But it is clear now that your selfishness and arrogance have led you astray.”

“What did you do to me?”

“I have made you immortal.”

“Immortal?”

“You cannot die. You cannot be with your beloved.”

“So long as this world turns, you shall walk its face.”

“You must learn the importance of life and death. Only then may you rest.”

That is a lesson that Salem still has to learn and it honestly won’t surprise me if her story wouldn’t officially conclude until she realises the very message the Brother Gods tried to impart on her. That’s my deduction with that.

So to conclude and reiterate my answer to your question---I’d like to think that the final question of the Lamp of Knowledge will definitely be asked by Ruby. Her brief moment with Jinn from the V6 finale where Jinn warned her about summoning her without a question makes me believe that we will get a call-back to this at some point later in the story (hopefully).

Y’know what’s funny? I think in some odd way, Ruby already knows or has somehow figured out the answer to stop Salem herself. A part of me thinks that the one question Ruby both secretly wants and is dreading to have asked of Jinn is “Who can stop Salem?” because in a weird way, I think she already knows in her heart the answer and is fearing its reveal in a sense. Maybe.

In the RWBY Theme ‘Red Like Roses Part II’, there are two lines of the lyrics sung from both Summer and Ruby’s perspectives that makes me think this:

For Summer it was “…I didn’t have a choice. I did what I had to do.  I made a sacrifice, but forced a bigger sacrifice on you…”

And for Ruby’s side it was “…I know you didn't plan this. You tried to do what's right. But in the middle of this madness, I'm the one you left to win this fight…”

“…I made a sacrifice, but forced a bigger sacrifice on you…” “…I'm the one you left to win this fight…”

Knowing what I know now in regards to RWBY’s ongoing story, these lines really resonate with me. I know we were told not to take the RWBY themes seriously in respect to the story. However Red Like Roses Part II technically is the first and only RWBY theme where we actually got a sense of Summer Rose as a character.

It’s the closest thing I have right now to knowing anything about her personality outside of the little things that other characters have sparingly said about her over the seasons and in the expanded universe novelizations.

Going off of this alone, I think what I can deduce is that Summer Rose made the choice to go after Salem herself in an attempt to stop her once and for all on her own. However Summer failed in killing Salem but not without leaving a last imprint that might just spark the key to ending the witch’s reign.

And soon, Ruby Rose will basically have to pick up where her mother left off. This is why I like the idea of Summer causing Salem’s scars. I think Summer set out to stop Salem by herself and unlike other Silver Eyed Warriors before her, Summer is the ONLY ONE who came close to actually stopping Salem. Not that she lived long enough to reveal this truth---a truth that will be revealed in time by Jinn (possibly).

And now Ruby, as Summer’s daughter and heir is left to take over where her mother left off and finish the job in a sense. At least that’s my hunch.

Not quite sure if this long response post actually answered your questions Crystal but, like always I hope it does and feel free to please let me know if it does, fam.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)  

[justdalek]

I would be interested in your Luigi's Mansion rambles. (I've become fairly interested in the series from watching multiple playthroughs of the games, so I'd love to hear more about them.)

It’s gonna be reaaaaal long, but buckle up.  We gonna learn some ghost physics

So ghosts are a very interesting species in the Mushroom Kingdom.  Different types have a different responses to physical objects.  Ghosts like Greenies and Goobs can make themselves transparent all the time, but they can only make themselves solid for a few minutes at a time before the have to rest for about an hour.  Portrait Ghosts can keep a solid form for up to a week at most, but have to take breaks at some point to recover.  

Ghost can infinitely carry objects however, as it doesn’t require the entire body to be solid, only parts. Ghosts usually wear accessories and carry weapons, but they don’t do it too often.  Portrait ghosts are an exception to this rule by clothing only as they died with that clothing on, making it part of their body (they can mask it, but they do have to master Boo Physics Magic, which I’ll talk about later).  However, accessories like sun glasses and swords are not exempted from the rules).

If a ghost ingests an object (elevator button, brief case, etc.), then the object is encased by the same physics magic that ghosts use to make themselves solid and transparent.  In a sense, the object becomes part of the ghost.  The ghost does have to get the object of them after a while, as it drains their energy.  If the ghost takes damage, that will also cause the ghost to let the object.  For example, Polterkitty ingests an elevator button and is able to go through walls with the elevator key still inside her.  However, she does barf up the elevator key after Luigi defeats her due to stress on her form and that she had the button for too long.

Some ghosts can manipulate elements (fire, water, etc.).  Ghosts cannot get injured by anything except sunlight (which I’ll get to in a minute), but they can loose control of it.  Amadeus Wolfgeist for example can manipulate fire, but has been seen loosing control of it during his fight with Luigi when he sets his piano on fire.

King Boo (and by extension Boolossus and all Boos) have a different type of physics we’ll call Boo Physics Magic.  Boos can make themselves solid, but they usually manipulate the ability to turn solid by making other places transparent (i.e.: invisible).  Their “illusion ability” is just them manipulating their own physics with the Boo Physics Magic.  King Boo can manipulate this the best seeing that he has created entire environments with the Boo Physics Magic.

Ghost hybrids are an extremely rare type of ghost, and are very limited in abilities because they are half physical being.  There has been no known documentation of any, but it is possible that they can control elements and Boo Physics Magic, but more research must be conducted.

If you have any other questions or clarity on this, the ask box is always open!