#and yes i am a very big fan of the dragon prince

[madam-whim]

The Gold Road Reveal and my thoughts on it

I’m gonna start this off by saying I love ESO. I have been playing since 2017 and I’m pretty much doing everything the game has to offer. Quests, dungeons, trials, antiquities, sometimes PvP. That being said, this post will include lots of criticism that I feel (or know) is shared by many other fans.

But first things first, let me start off by listing some of the things on yesterday’s stream that had me bouncing in my seat:

The new zone is absolutely stunning! There’s a lot of variety to it and it does look very pretty. Exploring it will undoubtedly be fun and a feast for my eyes.

Also, Fennorian will be there, so I know there will at least be one well-written character that my Vestige has an actual bond with.

The scribing system being more of a roleplay thing – I don’t know what some people were hoping for, but I’m glad it’s not some Big Damage For Those Who Are Good At Maths kind of system. It still allows for a more unique playstyle, and I suppose it’s going to turn out like always: Do whatever you want in open world spaces, but keep your bow backflip heal out of veteran content.

And maybe the biggest “Yes!” moment of the evening: Ed Stark being the zone lead for Gold Road. While I did not like High Isle as much (too predictable for my taste, but at least it had recurring characters), he was responsible for Greymoor and Murkmire as well. I thought Greymoor was fantastic (good quests, excellent new characters alongside very familiar recurring ones), and Murkmire… well, I think Murkmire suffers greatly from being “the DLC that came after the Daedric Triad” so to speak. It kind of fell into the void created by a storyline spanning a full year (or even more, if you count the setup for the whole thing, which really began with the Varen’s ghost and Darien’s letter in Wrothgar and the Gold Coast sweetroll killer quests). I think that’s why lots of people don’t seem to like Murkmire very much despite it having great storytelling. My point is this: I do have some hope that after the fiasco some recent DLCs were story-wise, Ed Stark will at least make sure Gold Road makes sense.

And now for the criticism.

Ithelia’s design (Whenever, wherever, I want to kill Hermaeus…)

… yeah, about that. As one of my friends put it, she looks like Shakira with wings.

They really could have done so much better. The way she is now, as @akaviri-dovah said, she really just looks like a Meridia clone who somehow stole Jyggalag’s crystals, which is funny on so many levels (more on that later). Suffice it to say that I personally think the design choices are kind of lazy, given that we already have an angelic-looking Daedric lady.

Also, what’s with this picture? This kinda makes it seem as if she originally looked. Um. A lil different from the way she is now. In any case, I’m just gonna call this a missed opportunity for something more unique. I do like the glass shard aesthetic, I just wish they’d taken it in a different direction.

Dragon Break Princess Ithelia, or something like that

Now I know Dragon Breaks have to work differently from what Ithelia does, but I am kind of wondering what the consequences of her fate-altering abilities are. How do you alter fate in a way that threatens reality (with reality consisting of past and present events, with all possible versions of the future being possibly-real until one actually happens) without altering the timeline? Just by removing a possible future? Then one could argue that any Daedra could do the same just by manipulating people. Granted, it’s possible that Ithelia sees all possible futures and can do whatever she likes with them, but even then, she’d only be influencing what can become reality, not what already is. So how can she be THAT dangerous?

Right now, it just seems to me that they needed an adversary for Hermaeus Mora, and since his big things are knowledge, secrets and fate, and they couldn’t very well make a Daedric Prince of Anti-Intellectualism or a Daedric Prince of Snitching, she had to be a fate-altering type of Daedra.

At this point I’m still wondering how she even works, because how does she not accidentally cause Dragon Breaks? And if she is that damn powerful, how on earth did Mora alone manage to pretty much remove any trace of her? Which kind of brings me to my next point.

Memory Issues

I know, I know, Ithelia is not the first “new” Daedric Prince. (Which makes her stolen Jyggalag crystal vibes rather funny if you ask me.) And I don’t mind her being crazy powerful either, because so was Jyggalag or else he wouldn’t have been cursed. But that, to my knowledge, required several other Princes, whereas Ithelia apparently got owned by Hermaeus Mora alone, who then erased all memory of her. Which is not only quite the feat given how powerful she has to be, but also a very weird thing for Hermaeus Mora to do. I kinda thought stealing memories was more Meridia’s style. This entire part does not quite make sense to me yet and seems a little out of character, but well. By the way, speaking of Meridia…

Meridia-baiting the players

At this point, ZOS have to know we’re getting tired of waiting for villain Meridia. Everyone I know who is even the least bit interested in ESO’s storyline wants to see it. And I’ve seen people get their hopes up in recent days (new Meridia/Dawnbreaker-themed music box, the Ayleid ruin hint on the fragments sent to streamers…). Even in the twitch chat, there were people hyped about what they thought was Meridia, and who were disappointed when they were told it was Ithelia. And yes, I am absolutely saying they did this and made her a Meridia lookalike on purpose. But I’m well aware that we haven’t gotten any new hints about either Meridia or a certain someone since Greymoor, and that chapter will be four years old soon. Even I am beginning to give up, as much as I hate to say it.

By the way, I really did NOT appreciate Matt Firor name-dropping Darien right at the beginning. If you’re not planning to do anything with him, just let it go. I know absolutely nobody who appreciates being fed very tiny hints for two years and then being left in the dark for four years straight. If you don’t want to pick that storyline up again, just stuff the man into the Old Life quest and be done with it.

Honestly, once again, I’m gonna say this is a MASSIVE missed opportunity right here. ESO’s 10 year anniversary is coming up, what could possibly be better than to go back to the roots now and reward all those loyal players with the story they are waiting for? I distinctly recall Molag Bal telling me to watch my step around Meridia, and the setup is all there. I’m honestly disappointed that there is no Meridia content at all. And this ties in with my final point, albeit vaguely.

“Recurring” characters

Ah, yes, we do love recurring characters. Sometimes. We do love it when a fan favorite comes back – a character who’s accompanied the Vestige over the course of an entire story arc or has made multiple appearances over the years and has become beloved by many players, and, most importantly, who is well-written, i.e. has a unique personality. And that’s why “recurring characters” is not always a recipe for success when it comes to getting people hooked on a story.

It is when it’s one of the five companions, or a Ravenwatch member, or your main alliance buddy (Raz, Naryu and – oh, wait, yeah, us Covenant babies don’t have one anymore). It also works when it’s a character we’ve run across several times already, like Alchemy, who I know tons of people love, or my favorite walking disaster Revus Demnevanni.

But it’s certainly not working when it’s a character we barely know anything about, and who isn’t a hit with the community. Like Eveli’s brother whom I had to google because I could not remember who he was. He’s from a prologue quest. Nothing more. That’s not a “beloved returning character”.

ZOS have several of those just lying around, and they’re just not using them. And even the base game had so many characters that were there over the course of several zones, that were well-written and at least memorable to the degree that people would recognize them with just a little reminder, like Indaenir or Holgunn and Walks-in-Ash or the Vanos siblings. Hell, we haven't seen good old Vanus Galerion in a while. They are ten years old now and deserve to be dragged to the surface again.

Okay, I’m done now!

This concludes my rant (because that’s what it is, I’m aware). I just want to say again that this is not be dragging ESO through the mud, this is just me pointing out that the devs (especially the writers) could do so much better if they listened to their lore nerds and story-interested players more.

[aphroditelovesu]

I was re-reading yan!mom Rhaenyra's hcs and read that if bby!reader was a male he would be engaged to Helaena, Baela or Rhaena (much to Rhaenyra's chagrin). So I was thinking of bby!reader as a kid hearing that Helaena may eventually marry Aegon and running to his mom to ask if the rumor is true, and his mom just says yes because she doesn't want her baby to get married with Alicent's daughter. BUT SHE WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THE ARGUMENT WITH HER LITTLE BOY.

Bby!reader with his small stature and head held high: Can we agree that Helaena deserves better than foolish Aegon?

Rhaenyra: Yeah…

Bby!reader: Do we agree that there is no one better than me in this world and therefore I am the best option for Helaena?

Rhaenyra about to have a heart attack: Baby, much to my regret if one day you have to marry it will be one of Daemon's daughters.

Baby Reader, with a smile and taking his mother's hands in his: I'm not denying marrying Baela or Rhaena, I'm simply saying that I can ALSO marry Helaena.

Yan mom Rhaenyra: . ..

Bby reader: Aegon the conqueror had two wives and Maegor had more than three, why couldn't I marry Baela, Rhaena and Helaena?

Daemon who was just passing by and heard the conversation, now glued to the door listening to how Rhaenyra is having an aneurysm: …

Rhaenyra: . .. .

Baby reader speaking with all the innocence in the world: Besides, no one is going to oppose mom, I am a Targaryen prince and rider of a three-headed dragon, as well as the second in succession to the iron throne.

Yan mom Rhaenyra, having a tic in her eye: You're not getting married, I'll make sure it doesn't happen--.

Baby reader about to cry: If I ask Grandpa Viserys, he will grant it to me.

Rhaenyra: .. .

Daemon: Damn, this kid is a true Targaryen.

Polygamy is not strange to Targaryens, especially Maegor. But over the years this practice fell into disuse and Viserys is not in favor of this, but it is funny to imagine this scene happening because it is very possible.

Rhaenyra does not want to see her precious bby marrying anyone. She does not want you to have a wife, let alone three. She does not want to be replaced or that you love another woman other than her.

One wife might be accepted, much to Rhaenyra's dismay, but three wives? Oh, sweet, maybe you're going to have to deal with some issues.

In the meantime, I imagine Helaena and bby!reader would already be very close, Alicent encourages that her favorite grandson spend time with her children, especially with her daughter and she could not be happier to see you getting so well with Helaena. Rhaenyra would be irritated and as a form of retaliation, she would encourage you to spend more time with Rhaena and Baela, with the blessing of Daemon and Rhaenys.

However, I think this marriage could work out. Like, I really think this polygamic relationship would work, Rhaena and Baela are sisters and get along very well, Helaena would probably get along with her cousins and bby!reader gets along with all. It could work.

You know, we had Aegon and his sisters. Maegor and his six wives (Henry VIII vibes right there). And now we have Y/N and his cousins ​​and his aunt.

Viserys isn't really in favor of polygamy but I can see him granting it to bby!reader as a way to please his grandson, much to the chagrin of Rhaenyra and probably Alicent. Because you know, Alicent doesn't mind marrying her only daughter to bby!reader, but she isn't a big fan of the fact that he married Rhaena and Baela either. And Rhaenyra we all know why, she is so freaking possessive of her bby.

Daemon is literally laughing at the situation, like his stepson is actually a real Targaryen. He doesn't care about the wedding, as long as bby!reader and Rhaena and Baela are happy, he's fine with that.

While Rhaenyra is freaking out about all of this-

(Rhaenyra at this moment)

~ Lady L

[catcas22]

heya, I’m a big fan of your prince of death story! I’ve made a few comments under the guest name “Myself” (probably more memorable as the guy who never shuts the fuck up about wholesome Vyke and Lansseax content, sorry about that), But then I remembered I had a Tumblr I had only used once before! If it’s okay, I have a few questions about Vyke and Lansseax’s relationship, and their history:

You’ve already explained to me in a comment reply how they met, but how did they become a couple, and who initiated it? (I’d personally imagine Lansseax, Vyke doesn’t seem like he’d be the forward type. I also imagine Lansseax made a big show of it to embarrass Vyke)

2. when all hell isn’t breaking loose, how do they normally spend time together? Or is Vyke the “brooding silent type who is begrudgingly hugged by his much taller girlfriend in public”

3. does Lansseax ever force Vyke to go flying with her? I’d imagine that would be terrifying weather or not he’s afraid of heights (although *I* am afraid of heights, so that may be a bit of a projection)

4. (Based on a funny mental image I had at one point) Being a dragon, was Lansseax ever confused about alcohol, so Vyke, humoring her, decided to take her to a bar, but then he had to deal with an absolutely trashed dragon for the next few hours?

5. despite Vyke having the personality of a homeless cat, his wife and best friend are social butterflies. Do either of them ever drag Vyke to social outings and he ends up being the guy just awkwardly standing there doing nothing?

6. Not really about Vyke and Lansseax per se, but it is by extension I guess: what’s Vykes dynamic with Fortisax? I imagine they would at they very least be friends, because in his boss fight Vyke uses Fortisax’s Lightning spear but not Lanssex’s glaive

7. how does the rest of the dragon cult view their relationship? Do people just think “lucky bastard” about Vyke, do some people think that while others think Vyke is just trying to gain favor in the cult?

8. how would Lansseax react to someone hitting on Vyke? Would she be upset or just find it funny?

9. has Vyke ever asked “would you still love me if I was a Wyrm”, )referring to the magma worm) as a joke? I definitely would, bad puns are the best type of humor

Absolutely love Prince of Death, it’s right up there with Incidence (a Deltarune story by Jungle Dragon) with being my favorite. Thank you for your time and sorry to bother you with more questions about Vyke and Lansseax XD

Hi, thanks for the ask!

Lansseax: Vyke, what was it your people call that thing you do? With the rings? Vyke: ... What? Lansseax: You know, the mammal pair-bonding ritual. Vyke: You mean marriage? Lansseax: Yes, that. Lansseax: Do you want to get married? Vyke's brain: sdfghjkjbvvvjd;ss Vyke: Sure.

In all seriousness, Vyke is a very blunt and practical guy, and Lansseax is pretty direct in going after what she wants. Once they started making a point to spend time together and realized that they wanted to continue doing so, neither of them saw any reason not to make things official.

Vyke generally doesn't get involved with Lansseax's social life. But she's constantly trying out new hobbies, and he likes hanging around and asking the occasional question while she's working on her current project. They've settled into a comfortable compromise where Lansseax doesn't try to make Vyke pretend to be social, and he finds other ways to spend quality time with her.

In this continuity, Lansseax cannot change forms at will. When she turned human, that was permanent. If she somehow turned back into a dragon, that would be permanent. Her Crucible wings allow for something closer to old-school Superman's "leap tall buildings in a single bound" than to true flight. I suppose Vyke could theoretically hold onto her while she goes springing across the rooftops, but the danger of getting dropped would be very real, and Vyke's dignity wouldn't allow for it anyway.

Lansseax actually has a pretty high tolerance for alcohol, being nearly seven feet tall. She was the one carrying Vyke home after their first time at a bar together -- he quickly learned not to try to keep up with her drinking.

Vyke is obligated to go to the occasional Cult celebration, but he never stays too long. Godwyn and Lansseax have both learned that he'll just stand in a corner if he's forced into social events -- if one wants quality time with Vyke, it's best done one-on-one.

Out of all their sister's knights, Fortissax tolerated Vyke the most. Unlike Lansseax, Forti was there for Godwyn, and didn't care for humans as a rule. But Vyke is a very dragonish human, and he's not flakey and talkative like most humans, and he didn't try to force a friendship with Fortissax (the worst possible thing one could do). They eventually warmed up to him a bit, to the point where they could sit quietly and brood together, or have the odd sparring match.

Vyke and Lansseax are an institution. Their relationship predates the Dragon Cult, and Vyke was technically the first member. The other knights see Lansseax more as a mother figure (or more rarely, an object of courtly love), and Vyke as something between a godfather and an older brother.

You know, I never considered Vyke having other suitors. But following the second war against the dragons, he would have been considered quite the catch -- the slayer of Gransax, and a close friend of Crown Prince Godwyn. He probably had a small horde of suitors chasing after him for a bit. Lansseax would have bristled at first. But Vyke is like a solitary bird of prey that mates for life and would probably just curl up and die if something ever happened to his One Person. Half the time he wouldn't even notice if someone else was flirting with him, and when he finally picked up on it he'd just be mildly bemused. Nowadays Lansseax would just find it funny.

[nabateaprodigy]

Hello! Can I request Hortensia/Clanne pairing where Hortensia gets REALLY jealous whenever Clanne is getting hit on by some girls?

I'm Not Jealous!

Series: Fire Emblem.

Characters: Clanne and Hortensia.

Genre: Fluff.

Proofread: Yes.

Hortensia was jealous even if she wouldn't admit that to herself. But the fact was Hortensia was jealous but why was she jealous? I mean, after all, today seems to be going amazing!

Well until THAT happened like the other members of the Divine Dragons army Hortensia was in the Somniel. She was taking a stroll around the Sommiel admiring the beautiful weather. She then overheard two people talking.

One of these voices Hortensia recognized was her sweet prince Clanne! Of course, this got Hortensia in an even better mood, and rushed to where the voices were coming from. However, then she saw something she wished she could have not seen.

Some girl was flirting with her sweet prince! Who did this girl think she was? Did she not realize the Princess of Elusia? Did she not realize she was in a relationship with Clanne? She would need to teach this girl a lesson!

A pout formed on Hortensia's face as she rushed over to Clanne and the girl. She wrapped her arms around Clanne in a defense way. "I am Princess of Elusia! Princess Hortensia! Who are you? You must be a witch trying to trick my prince! Away with you!"

"But-" The girl started to speak but then was caught off by Hortensia! "Away!" The girl decided to give up and leave both Hortensia and Clanne alone.

Hortensia was glaring at the girl not taking her eyes off her until she left her field of vision. "Uhm Hortensia?" Clanne spoke looking at Hortensia who still had her arms around him. "Who was she? What was she saying?"

Hortensia spoke still annoyed from the scene that she had witnessed. But in truth Hortensia was worried. She was very worried that the girl could take Clanne away from her.

"She was no one I promise she just approached me and started talking to me. I wasn't sure how to respond to her." Hortensia now let go of Clanne looking him in the eyes. "That's right she better be no one! After all, you are the president of my fan club! And you are also my sweet prince!"

Hortensia spoke confidently with a smile. "That's right I am and I always will be I'll be your prince Hortensia and you are my princess," Clanne spoke as he hugged Hortensia lovingly and Hortensia hugged him back with a big smile on her face.

[aquaticptato]

✨Fandom Masterlist✨

These are the books/shows/movies I like, some of which you may find content for on this blog!

🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙

Emoji Key

×××××××××××××××××××××××××

My fan status:

🪷:I like this thing. Nothing too much.

💠: I'm a big fan, I know lots of stuff about it!

🏵️: Really into this right now, thinking about it a lot.

🌟: Current obsession! Will talk a lot if prompted.

×××××××××××××××××××××××××

Type of media:

📖: Book

📀: Movie

📺: Show

×××××××××××××××××××××××××

Story's release status:

🏢: Finished

🏗️: Ongoing

🫡: Canceled and left to rot

×××××××××××××××××××××××××

Extra tag to give a bit of background:

🏆: Badge of honor; pushed through shitty companies/fear of not happening and was continued awesomely, even if some sacrifices had to be made

🤏: Independent (aka indie); made by independent creators instead of big corporation like Disney or Netflix (yeah this one's just because of the GLITCH Productions shows lol)

🎤: Encore; was finished, but was loved so much they decided to make more of it against the original plan

×××××××××××××××××××××××××

Representation!

🏳️‍🌈: Queer (lesbian, gay, bisexual, ace, etc) canon representation! (Disclaimer: Label is included on media where the actual showing is very, VERY brief, so don't expect all of them to be full of the rep. Dw tho, lots of them have plenty)

🏳️‍⚧️: Trans umbrella (transgender, non-binary, etc) canon representation! (Same disclaimer as the Queerness label)

♿: Disability (from amputees to wheelchair users to chronic illness and beyond; wide umbrella) canon representation! (Includes allegories/coding that isn't a disability faced in real world but is commonly considered disability rep; i.e. the Owl Beast Curse from The Owl House)

♾️: Neurodivergence canon representation! (Yes, I understand that MANY of these beloved characters are super ND-coded, but this labeling system is all canon only. I don't wanna be responsible for bait. Well, okay. MAYBE I'll put it if they're so obviously ND that the show figured they didn't have to put it explicitly [like I did for Luz Noceda, though her neurodivergence was later actually confirmed by a background detail in Season 3.] and/or if real ND fans collectively relate to the character and accept them as one of us.)

💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵

Okay, Finally, The List Itself

×××××××××××××××××××××××××

-LEGO Ninjago 💠 📺 🏗️🎤🏳️‍🌈♿

-Glitch Techs 💠📺🫡

-Murder Drones🌟📺🏢🏆🤏♿

-The Amazing Digital Circus💠📺🏗️🤏🏳️‍⚧️

-Meta Runner💠📺🏢🤏🏳️‍🌈

-The Owl House🏵️📺🏢🏆🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️♿♾️

-Amphibia🪷📺🏢🏳️‍🌈♿

-Gravity Falls🏵️📺🏢🏆🏳️‍🌈

-The Spiderverse movies (ITSV/ATSV)🪷📀🏗️♿

-Hellaverse (Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss)🏵️📺🏗️🤏🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️♿

-The Dragon Prince🏵️📺🏗️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️♿

-Disenchantment🌟📺🏢🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️♿

-My Hero Academia🌟📺🏢🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️♿

-Lolirock🌟📺🏗️🏆

-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (primarily RISE)💠📺🫡♾️

-Riordanverse (Percy Jackson, Kane Chronicles, Magnus Chase, etc.) 💠📖❔🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️♿♾️

-Miraculous Ladybug 🪷📺🏗️🏳️‍🌈♿

-Nimona💠📀🏢🏆🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️♿

-The Mitchells Vs. The Machines🪷📀🏢🏳️‍🌈

-I Am Not Okay With This 🪷📺🫡🏳️‍🌈

-Heartstopper🪷📺🏗️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

-DanDaDan🏵️📖📺🏗️

🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙

If you notice that a media contains one of the things I made emoji labels for but I didn't label that trait there (i.e. I forgot to put a 🏳️‍🌈 for "Queer Rep" on something with a canon queer character), go ahead and let me know through my ask box! /nf

And vice versa! If you think I put a label on something that doesn't fit that category,feel free to correct me 🩷 (i.e. I put a 🏢 for "Finished" on a series that's still ongoing)

Tell me where you are in that media first, though, to make sure I don't accidentally spoil something! If you ask about something that is coming later in the story than where you're at, I'll just pull a Gooseworx. ("You'll have to wait and see.") I'll give you a general checkpoint (like an episode/chapter) though, where if you get there and still haven't noticed the thing, come ask again and I'll point it out.

I will, however, freely speak about missable background things and things confirmed outside of the show by the creator of someone. For instance, if someone who's never seen Star Vs. the Forces of Evil asks, "what? Where's the gay in that show?" I can tell you that A) in the background of a Season 2 episode, there are two boys kissing in the background for one brief scene, and B) that though Princess Star only shows obvious interest in boys on screen (note: obvious. there's still some slight hints of her liking girls that snuck past Disney), the creator confirmed her to be pansexual. Neither of those are spoilers for the actual story or anything important, so I can freely tell you.

[moplayspoke]

Finished the Heart of the Sun Warrior, the final chapter in the Celestial Kingdom Duology… Overall a 3.5/5. Did I have fun? Yes. Would I read it again? Nah. Here is my mini review for it:

It had some elements that I loved from the first book and it started strong... and then it just became a whiplash of event after event. For one, I had a hard time believing Wugang would so easily take over an empire of celestials with such ease and quickness. I also felt like a lot of confrontations went a little too smoothly despite the main characters running out of places to flee or hide. And then when we finally get to the primary showdown it just felt so rushed and fast, it almost felt like more was expected or there would be some major twist that occurred.

I feel like too much time was spent on the dramatics of the way-too-drawn-out love triangle and less on the actual final battle. I mean we're talking a civil war amongst the heavens surely it should take a large chunk of the final book at the very least?

Speaking of love triangle, holy mother of god did it try my patience! I am not even going to blame the love interests here, the FMC was the problem. The whole "I love them both" rhetoric and selfishness was so grating I wanted to faceplant straight into my palm every time. I had a hard time believing either of her relationships with both men were based in real love and not love of convenience with a naive character. Her inner dialogue read to me like that of a 14 year old girl who had several pretty pieces of jewelry to pick from but refused to choose just 1 because her "heart was divided". Please.

And although I liked Whenzi more than Liwei in terms of interesting character dynamic (and for his more romantic side), I feel the first book made his character almost irredeemable to remain a love interest. It would have made more sense if there was a stronger reason to believe his character had good intentions all along (e.g. if he had held her hostage as a ruse to deceive his father/kingdom but did not get the chance to tell her his plan or could not reveal the reason for his fake betrayal?). And if that were the case, it would not have been a true betrayal of trust after all, redeeming his character in full. But alas, that was not what happened and his "excuse" for it was pretty weak.

Liwei would have been an alright option as well if he did not feel like he had the personality of a cardboard box. His entire personality was just the "good son" and being in love with the FMC. He had so much more personality in the first book with his swagger, candid frankness and sense of humor.

Honestly, I feel like she should have gone for the not-so-obvious options #3 or #4: Prince Yanxi or, honestly? Herself. This girl needed more healing and to needed to learn how to love herself first. She needed to learn how to love before she could entertain any more princes throwing themselves at her feet. For how could she truly, and I mean TRULY, love someone if she did not understand what love really was? It took a death to get her to admit to having feelings for one person, she clearly needs to learn what deep, committed and irrevocable love is at its core before she can promise herself to another. Ok, rant over.

And I'm also not a big fan of characters coming back from the dead unless there's a deeper reason or they never really died. I feel like her dad coming back into the picture felt like it cheapened the impact of his "death" from the first book and left a bit of a plot hole (why did the dragon think he was dead if they are supposedly all knowing? especially if they have such a magical connection with him).

Despite all my gripes, I did actually have a lot of fun with this story and enjoyed it. The world was just as beautiful as the first book. I enjoyed learning more of the world, its descriptions and its prose and learning more about the various realms.

And Shuxiao is an absolute *queen*, long may she reign! I wish we had seen more of her in this. I am glad she ended up where she did. I also liked how things ended as a whole and that everyone got their very sought after and very fair happily ever after.

[dangermousie]

This is super helpful!

Side note: if TKA had too much murder for you, Under the Queen's Umbrella probably will too. And I am not sure about Three Musketeers.

So, I excluded: any war-heavy epics (so definitely avoid 6 Flying Dragons, or anything Lee Bang Won adjacent, for that matter. I am currently rewatching My Country which is in my Top 10, but you would NOT like it), dramas with tragic endings, dramas with heavy dose of mysticism/supernatural, time slip, or generally too much murder (TKA v Matchmakers was actually a super helpful benchmarks.)

Here is the list in addition to the ones I mentioned or others like Royal Secret Inspector and Joy that were mentioned in comments.

Dae Jung Geum (2003) - this is the oldest drama on the list, so you have to be OK with a drama that looks older. This said, it was a huge hit and is a female centric story with little murder. FL starts out a cook and ends up as first female royal physician.

Ballad of Seo Dong (2005) - once again older and might have too much murder (not sure?), this is a star-crossed story between royals of two rival kingdoms. I am putting it on the list because out of all pre-Joseon sageuks, this is the closest to meeting your preferences but honestly, probably not.

Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010) - by far my favorite drama on this list. Our heroine is a girl crossdressing as a boy to attend Sungkyunkwan, the prestigious university. There her paths cross with a very upright son of a minister, a rich kid, and a potential rebellious one. It was a big hit for a reason - the characters are great, the romance top-notch and it's just a delight.

Dong Yi (2012) - the most traditional drama on the list (and the longest, at 60 eps), this follows a woman who rises from servant to favorite royal concubine. She's pretty saintly so there isn't much murder. You have not to mind polygamy or age gap.

Maids (2014) - I sort of struggled as to where recommend this one because it's probably a bit too grim/murdery for you. But you mentioned non-royal-adjacent sageuks and while they do exist and I adore them, they tend to be the most grim/bloody of the lot. This is one of the few that's not fully like that.

100 Days My Prince (2018) - a fluffy romcom piece about a prince with amnesia.

Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency (2019) - a group of hot dudes engage in matchmaking and are tasked in getting the king's chosen bride up to snuff. It's vvvvvv fluffy but cute.

The Tale of Nokdu (2019) - I don't think there is too much murder but perhaps on the cusp for you. Our ML cross-dresses as a girl to hide and runs across the fun fierce young heroine.

Secret Royal Inspector (2020) - not to be confused with Secret Royal Inspector and Joy which is an entirely different drama with different actors that would also fit but someone recommended to you already. Basically our protags travel Joseon and solve crimes. Because there are crimes there is some blood but it's a pretty lighthearted drama.

Bossam (2021) - an excellent daily life sageuk. It addresses the custom of "kidnapping" widows so they could have an excuse to remarry. This story starts when a low-life ML hired to kidnap one such widow kidnaps the wrong woman by mistake. It can be pretty grim but it's such a lovely hopeful drama and surprisingly low on murder.

Moonshine (2022) - about Korean prohibition in Joseon times. I am not a big fan (tho the romance is occasionally cute) but it's def fluffy.

Poong the Joseon Psychiatrist (2022) - what it says on the tin. Two seasons. It's sort of a psych procedural set in ye olde tymes.

Joseon Attorney (2023) - once again what it says on the tin. A procedural with an underlying revenge for wrongs plot.

Knight Flower (2024) - our FL is a meek widow by day and Robin Hood by night. This is more a comedy than anything.

This is not the world's largest list because no blood excludes a LOT but hopefully it's something.

PS I second @aceinthetrap comment that if you enjoyed Live Up To You Name, you might like Queen In Hyun's Man (2012), about a nobleman who acquires a talisman that under certain conditions transplants him into the modern world and he crosses paths with an actress.

I wanna watch another good sageuk so bad this year, but I haven’t found anything that appeals to me. Anyone have any suggestions for something that isn’t all death and destruction? (And with no time travel, because then that doesn’t really count as a sageuk.)

[shitpostingkats]

Crack Theory: Jaden Yuki is (at least partially) Atlantian

As usual, this is 100% my own connection making brain going crazy, I doubt this is what the writers intended, if they thought about it at all. Also, this essay is not free of infodumping or absurdity. 

So, Atlantis has always been... kinda weird, in yugioh. Other than just the absolute wildness of it just. Canonically existing. The Waking the Dragons arc has some of the most far reaching lore implications for the franchise as a whole, introducing ideas like the spirit world, duel monsters appearing in history (outside of egypt lol), and some major afterlife magic. Things that yugioh will expand on in following series, and things that were, I reiterate, introduced in a throwaway filler arc of the anime because they had run out of manga to adapt. 

But one character in particular not just builds on the concepts introduced in DM’s Atlantis season, but shares some interesting similarities with the main villain of that season, Dartz.

Jaden Yuki.

The first thing that caught my attention was the eyes. While yugioh has an almost ridiculous number of characters with magical eyeballs, heterochromia with one turquoise, one orange/yellow? Incredibly specific. I can’t think of a single yugioh character whose weird eye horror even passingly resembles anothers, yet here Jaden and Dartz are. Even further, both of them spend time serving as a “king” with pure gold eyes, before coming into contact with a foreign entity and developing the bilateral asymmetry. 

But Jaden’s eyes are based on Yubels, and more thematically, the colors of the polymerization card art. And Dartz’s seem to be just a random anime villain power up. 

Let’s put a pin in this for now.

The next weird link between the two is in the strange flashback we see at the very end of GX season 3. Jaden sees one of his past lives, when Yubel pledged themselves to be his guardian. In this era, Jaden is the young prince of a vague and never named kingdom. When was this? Where? We don’t know.

But the few characters we see share some interesting design elements with the people of Atlantis.

The primary front skirt panel being this narrow rectangle ending in a point at the end. The gold crown featuring a solid band with a diamond shaped piece right over the forehead embedded with a bright red gem. These capes and the big round brooch thingies. Jaden’s father’s belt has this segmented gold design that looks quite a bit like the necklace of the Atlantian king. (His granddaughter, Kris, has a similar one, I was just running out of space for references.) In fact, both Jaden’s father and the Atlantian king use red gems as their primary design element.

And finally, the biggest detail I want to point out is this little gemstone on human!Yubel’s forehead. Crowns are a pretty universal thing, but a delicate little jewel right on the forehead? That’s an iconic piece of jewelry worn by one Dartz Yugioh. It’s also worth noting, Jaden supreme king armor has the same blue diamond on its forehead. 

Now, before I tie this all together, let me take a quick aside to reassure that yes, I am aware, this sounds like the furthest reach I could possibly make. Sure, the two kingdoms might share some design elements, if you squint. Yeah, Jaden and Yubel might each have one weird feature that Dartz also flaunts. But really, is that enough to posit a connection between the two?

I mean, absolutely, I’ve built fan theories on far less and I WILL DO IT AGAIN

But no. Here’s the plot twist of this post: 

I’m not trying to prove that past!Jaden was the prince of Atlantis.  

Past!Jaden was the prince of New Atlantis.

All right buckle up kids it’s time for me to pull out the thumbtacks and red string also yes this essay is only 50% crack theory and 50% me wanting to infodump about mythology and historical dress. 

Now, ygo Atlantis is based on the “real” Atlantis described by Plato in a trio of his allegorical dialogues, wherein he invents a fictitious evil island nation and then recounts how the ancient Athenians singlehandedly stopped them from invading the known world. And ygo Atlantis actually references parts of the texts and uses some neat Atlantis details that I never see anyone else get right. For one, the three dragons, Timaeus, Critias, and Hermos, are named after the three chapters of the dialogue. Though Hermos is shortened from Hermocrates, but it means someone on the writing team gave at least a passing glance to the source material. Secondly, the layout of the city uses the concentric ring design laid out by Plato.

“-dwelt into a palace and enclosed it with three circular moats of increasing width, varying from one to three stadia and separated by rings of land proportional in size. The Atlanteans then built bridges northward from the mountain, making a route to the rest of the island. They dug a great canal to the sea, and alongside the bridges carved tunnels into the rings of rock so that ships could pass into the city around the mountain”

 Thirdly, (and this is my favorite) Atlantis itself does not resemble grecian architecture. It is SO easy for writers using Atlantis as a cool fantasy location to just slap some marble pillars on it and call it a day. But while we are getting the dialogue from Plato, and the text states that they encountered hellenistic Greeks, doesn’t automatically make them one in the same. In fact, in the text itself, we are assured that all of the proper nouns are being translated from their original records. And where did these fictitious records come from, you might ask?

Egypt!

So yeah, props to the ygo writers for actually using a fantasy civilization that has legitimate ties to Egypt in their dm filler arc. And it would in fact make sense for Dartz to be in Egypt 5-3,000 years ago, since he would be the one of the only survivors of his kingdom and as such any records that survived would have to have come from him.

I’m getting distracted. Back to Jaden.

While Jaden’s kingdom shares some similarities with the Atlantians, there’s a much stronger historical inspiration at play here.

Greeks.

Specifically, some of the modern perceptions of Spartans. 

The Atlantian long robe retains the shape of the front panel, but it’s been cut short at the knee to form a sort of pteruges (that armored skirt made from strips of leather). They maintain the shape of the Atlantian cap sleeves, but instead of cloth they have been made into bronze pauldrons. The capes, in particular, have now taken on the form of a chalamys, the iconic cloak of ancient Greek military attire. 

We even see some ancient Greeks in capsule monsters, further cementing that Jaden’s people are very much similar, but not quite. They’ve still got some Atlantian flourishes that set them apart. 

And see those capes I can’t shut up about? 

The Atlantians fastened theirs with two big round gemstones, one on each shoulder.

Historically, and in yugioh, Greek military fastened theirs at the right shoulder, using what archeologists like to call a fibula brooch.

And Jaden’s people fasten their cloaks on the left, using that ancient Atlantian gem. 

Do we have enough evidence to even begin to guess what happened to the citizens after Atlantis sank into the ocean? No. But here’s my theory.

Atlantis, an enormous empire, crumbles. Its people were decimated by war and tragedy. A surviving group slowly migrates to Greece, either willingly or through the Athenian conquest. They take refuge with another famous enemy of the Athenians, the Spartans. They slowly assimilate with the city state, blending the two cultures together, but the Atlantian citizens still delineate themselves in small ways through fashion and political influence. These people know of duel monsters, but are hesitant to share that knowledge, fresh on the heels of the spirit war. Orichalcos is rare, coveted, and nowhere near as pure as the stones once used all throughout their city. But it still exists. And some learned few still know how to use it.

Remember Dartz’s forehead jewel? It’s not just a fashion statement, it’s actually a chunk of orichalcos. And remember who else I said had one?

I mean, we’ve seen from flashbacks what overexposure to this stone when paired with the right magicks can do, right? It turns people into monsters.

And it’s not like we have a magic artifact that is literally called the eye of orichalcum. Or even that both these stories strongly feature a mysterious red rock falling from the sky and heralding the forthcoming evil.

Huh. 

This leads to my final piece of evidence:

Anyways, yugioh fanworks should use that fact that Atlantis 100% existed in the ygo world, as well as has been apparently rebuilt/succeeded into a major city, more often. Also, from now on I will be headcanoning Jaden as half Atlantian. Because I can. <3

[cacophony-eg]

Teach Me (Traffic Light Trio Fic)

A/N I am falling hard and deep into the LMK fandom, and my inner fan girl compels me to write fanfiction.

Red Son could hardly believe the absolute absurdity of his current situation. "No" the fire demon stated flatly.

"Come on Red Son, I'm begging here" Sun Wukong pleaded, putting on his best puppy eyes, only earning a disgusted look from the red-haired demon.

"No, and that is final" Red Son huffed turning to storm away from The Monkey King.

The demon prince was forced to stop as his arm was grabbed, sparks of fire forming around him as he turned to snap at the accursed monkey. Only for his flames to sizzle away coming face to face with MK, the brunette giving him that hopeful, pleading look that made his insides melt.

"Please Red Son, I know if anyone can help Monkey King be a better teacher it's you," MK said with that sparklingly smile of his.

Red Son coughed blushing slightly as he looked away from the monkey's apprentice, considering the request for a moment, till he remembered that MK hadn't been there just moments ago.

Flames broke out from the Demon swirling around him like a tornado, burning away the MK illusion and the monkey hairs that were used to create it. "Don't you dare us the Monkie Boy's image to sway me, you foul chimp!" Red Son roared at Wukong. "I am not! Will not! Ever! TEACH YOU TO BE A BETTER TEACHER!"

"Awe come on Red Son, don't be such a sour sport, I'm just looking for a few tips, Mei always goes on and on about how great of a teacher you are compared to me" The Monkey King, only slightly bitter about that comparison.

"She does?" Red Son questioned with a mix of surprise and joy, the fire quickly calming down around him as he composed himself. "I mean- Of course, Dragon girl thinks that" The Fire Demon nodded crossing his arms and puffing out his chest, "Teaching is just one of my many amazing talents."

Wukong smirked maybe he needed to use a green, yellow punch to get Red to come around.

"Yeah, she says stuff like 'oh man, Red Son taught me how to control my powers real good' 'red boi knows how to make boring teacher lectures fun' 'red is so inventive with his training' " Sun using a higher pitch voice as him mimicked what Mei had said, leaving out the parts were the dragon girl called the monkey kings teachings repetitive, dull and not very good compared to 'Red Boi'. "Along with a bunch of other stuff but I'm sure you've heard it all before," Sun said, watching the fire demon's cheeks blooming a bright pink.

"Yes, of course, I have!" Red Son huffed, turning his head away as if the Monkey King hadn't already seen his blushing face.

"But I understand, being a teacher and teaching someone to be a better teacher are different things it's probably too much for you." Wukong sighed in mock defeat, getting an irritated look from the fire demon.

"I didn't say that!" Red Son snapped grinding his teeth.

"No, no it's okay" Sun assured waving off the fire demon "I'll just have to find other ways to be a better teacher for MK..." The Monkey pauses dramatically, preparing for the final blow, adding a smidge of his worries to make his words hit harder. "Hopefully I find a way before the next big bad shows up, I don't want the kid getting hurt or-."

"FINE!" Red shouted, whipping his arm around to point at the Monkey King "I will teach you to be a better teacher"

"Great!" Wukong cheered, doing a fist pump, hook line and sinker.

"But only under the condition that no one finds out about this" the fire demon tactfully added.

"Deal" Sun agreed with a sombre nod, no way did he want Mei or MK to know about this.

[plinfaaa]

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Okay now I will talk abt my season rating in Ninjago. I don't hate any season, I love them all but I have my reasons

16. Sons of Garmadon

Okay so my least favourite one is the 9th Season. I don't necessarily think it's bad, in fact it's good just like every season of Ninjago. I just don't like it as much as the other episodes. I REALLY hate Harumi in this season. How she betrayed Lloyd and stuff... It's just not it.

15. Hands of time

I like the concept of this season and how it shows so much stuff about the past of the elementary masters but I just don't like Crux and Acronix. They were kinda boring in my opinion... Yeah for sure Acronix was kinda funny with all his love for stupid phone games but other than that, it's just not really it. It's still over Sons of Garmadon because I really like to know more about the past.

14. The island

This one could be so cool, I love the Island concept and the small story of Wojira but it was just so short. I love Ninjago but why does this only have 4 episodes? Maybe the story doesn't need as much as explanation as the others but it's so short :,) Other than that I like the characters a lot! And I love the jungle concept.

13. March of the Oni

Same as the Island, it's so short! You could've just put it at the end of Hunted and not make it an own 'season' (yes I know it's a short but on the Wikipedia page it's listed as season..) BUT HEY! Jay asked Nya to be his Yang and I LOVE this scene. That's why it's higher than the island. And the fighting is epic asf.

12. Master of the mountain

This season is really really good! I enjoy Shintaro and I LOVE Vania. Also Vangelis is a very cool villain but tbh... the stuff with the Munks and Gekkles was a bit annoying. Still, Coles past was cool and his new special ability. I just like other seasons more but it's a good one!

11. Secrets of forbidden Spinjitzu

At this point the rating is hard. This season is enjoyable and Aspheera might be one of my favourite villains ever. She's just so cool with her Egypt concept. And poor Kai for loosing his powers ): Also I like the never realm and especially Akita as a character! But I still think the whole thing with Zane and the Ice emperor is a bit strange... not saying it wasn't cool, it actually got me in shock. I really haven't thought of that solution. Yes, this season is amazing but not as good as the others

10. Rise of the Spinjitzu Master

It's the first season and absolutely legendary! I love the snakes as enemy and seeing their early days gets me emotional asf, just as seine how they got to discover their true powers. Jaya getting a thing, Cole talking to his dad. This season is overall great! I like the others a bit more for reasons but still, this is the first and it's legendary!

9. Rise of the snakes

I love this one even more! I think the episodes just fit my taste more than the ones in season one? Also GARMADON AS VILLIAN!!!! I personally think he's kinda cool, so nothing to brag about. Also the episodes are all just amazing!! It's a very good season and I am sad that it's still that far in the back.

8. Hunted

I DONT KNOW HOW AND WHY. But I was so invested watching hunted. I am not a big fan of Sons of Garmadon BUT HUNTED. Woah that shit really got me catched. The first world is amazing and the dragons everywhere and the Iron Baron as villain is cool. Also Faith is so cool and just everything is perfect. It's a deserved place here.

7. Posession

I think we all can agree when I say the Ghost Whip is the BEST intro ever. Also Morro is an amazing villain, even his sidekicks Ghoulta, Soul Archer and Bansha are so amazing. The cloud kingdom is such a cool concept and I absolutely love Ronin, so YEAH! Ronin debut!! This season might be a lot of ppls fav one, not mine but still has a deserved 7th spot.

6. Seabound

I know people are gonna think I am crazy but Seabound is literally SO FRICKING GOOD! Prince Kalmaar is an AMAZING villian! He is cool! And I love Benthomaar a lot. The underwater stuff is so cool and the end is just so sad. It literally brought me to tears (it's hard to bring me to tears at a stupid series.) I'ts so emotional in a beautiful way. It hurts.

5. Rebooted

Okay this might be an unpopular opinion, especially because it's a rather short season but I was obsessed with it while watching. Cyrus is one of my fav characters AND PIXAL!!! Ah I love her so much. The Overlord is also kinda cool!!! It's amazing for such a short season, It's so amazing and underrated. And the intro is kinda good.

4. Crystalized

Crystalized is amazing, argue with a wall. I know people think it's rushed and so sudden but I love it! The different villains comming back, Harumis and Garmadons character development AND FRICKING SALLY. She is so underrated, I love her! The only think I really hate are the new Ninja. They're so annoying, for what... at least they don't annoy in the end anymore. THE END! Holy shit this is the best thing ever. I cried like a lil kid loosing its fav toy. It's so touching and sweet, inner steel playing in the background and CHRISTOFERN. I think it's an amazing end and Tommy created a masterpiece with this season.

3. Prime Empire

Underrated. Prime empire is SO underrated! It's literally so cool!! A giant video game season with amazing characters and an amazing concept. The NPCs breaking their roles AND SUPERSTAR ROCKIN JAY!!! He might be my fav thing ever. This season is a masterpiece and you cannot get me away from obsessing over this one.

2. Skybound

Another rather unpopular opinion but Skybound is amazing. I love this season more than myself. Nadakhan is an awesome Villain, with Master Chen my absolute favourite. I LOVE pirates and the vibe, that's why it catched my heart in like a second. Of course it's also sad asf, but Nadakhan as villain did a good job. His crew too! They're all so cool tbh. It's just so amazing I cannot explain it in words. AND THE INTRO AHHHHHHH!

1. Tournament of elements

I seriously love this SO MUCH. Tournament of elements has everything you need: A cool ass craizy stupid villain, A TON of amazing characters with amazing abilities. The villain has a cool dream and the final of the season is the best thing ever. All the dragons and the people... I am so glad that at least some of them (Skylor, Tox, Karlof, Neuro, Mr. Pale) are appearing later again. This season is whole perfection, it has everything I need and I do not have one negative point against this.

[jedidragonwarriorqueen]

Princess Mononoke is definitely my favorite, highly recommend! Other than that it's hard to rank them (but Spirited Away has a boy who can turn into a dragon, so...)

I'm not caught up on The Mandalorian either, to be honest, but I do really enjoy it!

I feel very smug for introducing you to a (phenomenal) cartoon you like so much you made a sideblog for it 😉 And similarly, I don't know that I would have listened to folklore if I didn't know how much you like it and recommended it!

Haha it's true I don't always know what you're posting about, but I always enjoy seeing the gifs you make! And you do reblog many quality posts. And at any rate, you put up with all my Cosmere shitposting so we're probably close to even 😂

2020 Year in Review

Rules: Answer some questions about 2020 and tag some people!

I was tagged by the wonderful @anneoftheshire . Thank you!!

Top Five Films you watched in 2020:

Princess Mononoke, and a slew of other Studio Ghibli movies (before this year, the only one I’d seen had been Kiki’s Delivery Service, years ago when I was like 8. This has since been rectified.)

The Secret of Roan Inish

Star Trek: The Voyage Home (A rewatch; it’s just. A classic. I love it so much.)

…That’s honestly all I can think of? Other than my go-to rewatch movies

Top Five TV Shows in 2020:

The Dragon Prince (Through the Moon came out this year, which counts, right? At any rate I’ve rewatched it countless times)

The Witcher (“hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm—well fuck”: a mood)

The Mandalorian (obviously)

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Criminal Minds (my sisters’ obsession that they got me hooked on; I binged so much of it during quarantine ahaha)

Top Five Songs/Albums in 2020:

Folklore (album) by Taylor Swift

Wolf by First Aid Kit

Lightning in a Bottle by Eli Lieb

Destiny (album) by Celtic Woman

Here’s to Us by Kevin Rudolf

Top Five Books of 2020

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (a stunningly gorgeous fairytale with lovely imagery and characters who feel so real)

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Six of Crows and its sequel Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly (I haven’t seen the movie though)

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

(Bonus: I’m still working on Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson, and so far it is, as expected, phenomenal.)

Top Five Fanfictions of 2020:

Downtime in Wartime by numptypylon (along with Down to Earth, Upside Downtime and pretty much everything else)—The Dragon Prince, Rayllum

Purgatory and And They Were Zoommates by zuppi—The Dragon Prince, Rayllum

Peace is a Journey by spontaneite—The Dragon Prince, Rayllum, and a very intriguing Amaya subplot

looking for a way to break in by spiritypowers and wordswithdragons—The Dragon Prince, Rayllum

(yes, I’m absolute Rayllum trash, what can I say)

The Trouble with Ghosts by Lynse—Danny Phantom, I’m getting some GrayGhost vibes

Five good/positive things that happened to you in 2020:

Well, I got a tumblr this fall, thanks to the convincing of the aforementioned anneoftheshire!

Started writing fanfiction this summer. So far I’ve had a blast!

Switched departments at work, which in addition to being a better pace for me, also allowed me to switch from night shift to day shift. I knew being on nights was really starting to affect me, but I had noooooo idea just how much until I made the switch. (Where did all this energy come from??)

As one of the good consequences of social distancing, spent a lot more time exploring the outdoors! I finally visited some lovely landmarks relatively close to where I live that I’ve been meaning to see for like, ever. And went on an overnight hiking trip for the first time in yearsJ

Despite the odds, had one of the best Christmases I can remember

I don’t have anyone to tag because I am afraid of seeming Presumptuous but anyone who sees this is welcome to try it! ❤

[ruddcatha]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favourite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💖

Thank you @eowynwise and @elkonigin for sending this to me!! I greatly appreciate both of you! Doing this as one ask rather than doing two lists 💖💖

Hmmm, this is a toughy...

Guardian would have to be one of them, my epic story that was inspired by the amazingly talented @heavenin--hell. It is a story that grew, and grew (and grew and grew and grew lol) but I am enjoying writing it and creating the world and the interactions between Inuyasha and Toga in particular.

Just Tell Me What he Did with the amazing @neutronstarchild... it started as two dorks going OMG WHAT DO YOU THINK SESS IS DOING IN THE MODERN ERA and turned into a WE NEED AN EXCUSE TO REWATCH EVERY EPISODE AND MOVIE and then a ohhhh what if Sess was cleaning up after Inuyasha every time he was in the Modern Era... and Just Tell Me What he Did was born.

Duality of Man written with @fawn-eyed-girl. First, we partnered with some amazing artists for this story. Second, its a reimagining of one of my favorite musicals Jekyll and Hyde (not as big a fan of the original book though lol), and third, I got to write massively pining InuKag and had a blast. InuKag was not supposed to be as big a part of the story, but then I was told to "ramp up the angst" in Chapter 2 where we really get to see the love between them that they can't share and well...

I'm sorry (not sorry) I am an InuKag girl at heart so it just grew.

Sir Jaken and the Dragon... Yes, its a crack story, and yes, it doesn't get a lot of attention but damnit it was SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE!! It is set in the Guardian Universe but its a Human Jaken dreaming he is a D&D Wizard with the task of saving the fair Prince Sesshomaru... It's silly, its so fun, and I just love it lol even if very few others do.

And for me, no favorites list would be complete without I Object, my Attorney AU story that I wrote for @lavendertwilight89. This story is so personal to me, and I am really really proud of it, how it shows (I hope) The anguish Inu felt and his emotions as he sorted through essentially a career crisis of what exactly he wanted... and what the cost and consequences of choices and actions were.

Thank you both so much! I adore you both!

[latin-dr-robotnik]

as someone into fantasy stuff and the like I am very eager to see if we get more like Paladin Amy

YES! It's kinda sad to think this is just for a mobile side game and not a big project, but I'm pretty happy with the stuff they're experimenting with between Hardlight's mobile games and Game Fam Studios' Sonic Speed Simulator. We've seen some very unique skins come from those games.

Like, the whole medieval fantasy Sonic cast idea has a lot of potential beyond what Sonic and the Black Knight already did. I had lots of fun back when I started Of Knights and Hammers and imagined Hammer Knight; and that was just me going off some basic inspirations I got from The Witcher games (I don't remember if I said it, but walking around Toussaint's fields was the basis of my "Medieval Spagonia" idea) and series like The Dragon Prince (peak vibes there, we need more creative TDP and Sonic fans). Imagine the possibilities if they actually had a real budget to go back to that specific kind of fantasy world.

Well, at least we can hope Sonic Prime could feature a universe similar to that, if we're actually going to get a full multiverse in the series, right? ...Right?

Anyway, Paladin Amy is amazing, I love my Hammer Knight and I want to see a lot more like it too.

[starksinthenorth]

Musings on ASOIAF Ladies and Ambition

I’ve noticed people use “ambition” to describe Sansa and Daenerys as if it’s a bad word or an insult (often called “power hungry”). Yet in the text of the series, neither of them are shown to be ambitious people as a core characteristic. I blame the series for a lot of this, because it failed to explore the internal dialogue of Sansa, Arya, and even Cersei, who ends up more humanized than either of them by the end (because of the maybe baby).

Cersei Lannister is the classic ambitious ASOIAF lady, whose point-of-view is introduced in perhaps the most iconic sentence of any introductory chapter:

She dreamt she sat the Iron Throne, high above them all.

I can’t think of a sentence in ASOIAF that better introduces the internal thoughts and view of its leading character.

In comparison, Sansa’s first sentence is receiving news about her father’s whereabouts, Daenerys is shown her new dress to meet Drogo, and Arya has crooked stitches again. Arya’s works to frame her relationship with Sansa and her internal struggle to fit the feminine Westerosi mold, while Sansa and Daenerys are setting up plot points. None of these interactions signal ambition, bad or good. Daenerys did not arrange her wedding, Sansa is just told the information by her Septa, and while Arya is aspiring to have straight stitches, that’s hardly an ambitious goal for a girl of nine.

Fans rarely, if ever, deny Cersei’s cruel, cold, often stupid ambition. In fact, it’s one of the reason people seem to love her. She’s internally open about what she wants - power - and when she wants it - now:

All of them are burning now, she told herself, savoring the thought. They are dead and burning, every one, with all their plots and schemes and betrayals. It is my day now. It is my castle and my kingdom.

- AFFC, Cersei III

The rule was hers; Cersei did not mean to give it up until Tommen came of age. I waited, so can he. I waited half my life. She had played the dutiful daughter, the blushing bride, the pliant wife. She had suffered . . . She had contended with Jon Arryn, Ned Stark, and her vile, treacherous, murderous dwarf brother, all the while promising herself that one day it would be her turn. If Margaery Tyrell thinks to cheat me of my hour in the sun, she had bloody well think again.

- AFFC, Cersei V

Cersei is the definition of a power hungry lady, scheming and cheating at every point. Yes, Sansa learned from her, but most of Sansa’s internalized lessons of Cersei’s were to do the exact opposite. 

"The night's first traitors," the queen [Cersei] said, "but not the last, I fear. . . . Another lesson you should learn, if you hope to sit beside my son. . . . The only way to keep your people loyal is to make certain they fear you more than they do the enemy."

"I will remember, Your Grace," said Sansa, though she had always heard that love was a surer route to the people's loyalty than fear. If I am ever a queen, I'll make them love me.

- ACOK, Sansa VI

Cersei isn’t the only POV character who views herself outside of conventional Westerosi standards and aspires to something beyond being a wife and mother. Arya Stark has ambition writ clear on the page, though it is not so cold or denying other people their rights or chances. Compared to Cersei, Arya doesn’t want everything, crown and throne and kingdom and all. She just wants something, and even that is denied to highborn women in Westeros. Even when she asks her father about her future, a man who wants to do right by his children and loves them, Eddard Stark is blinded by Westerosi patriarchy:

Arya cocked her head to one side. "Can I be a king's councillor and build castles and become the High Septon?"

"You," Ned said, kissing her lightly on the brow, "will marry a king and rule his castle, and your sons will be knights and princes and lords and, yes, perhaps even a High Septon."

- AGOT, Eddard V

With Arya in this, I see some parallels to Elaena Targaryen, who was so good at math and management she served as the secret Master of Coin while her husband carried the title. Elaena was “more willful than Rhaena, but not as beautiful as either of her sisters,” yet is also said to have been “more beautiful at age seventy than at age seventeen,” growing into herself like Arya is expected to. They both even cut their hair, Arya to hide her gender and Elaena to hide her beauty, both instances to gain freedom from captivity in the Red Keep.

Despite both these examples of ambition - Cersei’s all-encompassing, without care for how it affects the realm, and Arya’s attempt to find a place in the world outside the Westerosi model - it still becomes an insult when people speak of Daenerys and Sansa.

Critics claim Sansa is ambitious, and negatively so, because she “wants to be queen.” But this criticism misses a vital point of Sansa’s character. Unlike Cersei, she does not want to be queen because of the power and political influence, but because she will be living a song. In the start, Sansa’s got her head in the clouds, not to the dirty world of politics. Her very first chapter lays out this motivation incredibly clearly:

All she wanted was for things to be nice and pretty, the way they were in the songs.

When she thinks of Joffrey and being in love with him, it’s because he’s “handsome and gallant as any prince in the songs” (AGOT, Sansa II), 

Alternatively, it has been said that Sansa is ambitious because of her claim to Winterfell. But compare how Sansa thinks of her claim to how Big Walder Frey does. Despite being far down the inheritance line, he is certain he will someday possess the Twins. He’s likely willing to kill his family to become Lord of the Crossing, and already has killed Little Walder.

In comparison, Sansa isn’t the one who realizes her claim as heir to Winterfell, even after her two younger brothers are believed dead. It’s Dontos who mentions it, and after she still thinks that Robb will have sons to inherit.

But she had not forgotten his words, either. The heir to Winterfell, she would think as she lay abed at night. It's your claim they mean to wed. Sansa had grown up with three brothers. She never thought to have a claim, but with Bran and Rickon dead . . . It doesn't matter, there's still Robb, he's a man grown now, and soon he'll wed and have a son. Anyway, Willas Tyrell will have Highgarden, what would he want with Winterfell?

- ASOS, Sansa II

Sansa’s not ready to kill Bran and Rickon if they show up. Her arc is about taking off the rose-tinted glasses and seeing reality, but also working to make reality like a song. For example, her idea of the Tournament of the Winged Knights for Sweetrobin. It’s a song come to life, all by her making. TBD how the ending goes, of course, but it shows that trajectory.

And finally, Daenerys.

Daenerys is not driven by some lifelong desire to win and dominate. She’s forced into it, a la Brienne’s “no chance and no choice.” If Daenerys were raised in a stable environment, I have a feeling she’d be much more like Sansa: dreamy, hopeful, sweet and studious. Happy.

But instead, her eyes are open.

When she’s introduced as a character, she shows an awareness for the schemes and politics of the world. She knows her brother is called the Beggar King in the Free Cities, and is doubtful of the smallfolk’s secret toasts to Viserys III that Illyrio Mopatis claims happen across Westeros.

Like Sansa and Cersei, there’s evidence of her goals, hopes, and wishes in the very first chapter:

"I don't want to be his queen," she heard herself say in a small, thin voice. "Please, please, Viserys, I don't want to, I want to go home."

. . .

Dany had only meant their rooms in Illyrio's estate, no true home surely, though all they had, but her brother did not want to hear that. There was no home there for him. Even the big house with the red door had not been home for him.

Daenerys remembers home as the house with the red door in Braavos. It’s her brother whose only home and stability was the Red Keep, not her.

Throughout her journey of power to take back the Seven Kingdoms, she is doubtful at every turn and most of her wishes are for happiness, for peace, for stability.

Dany had no wish to reduce King's Landing to a blackened ruin full of unquiet ghosts. She had supped enough on tears. I want to make my kingdom beautiful, to fill it with fat men and pretty maids and laughing children. I want my people to smile when they see me ride by, the way Viserys said they smiled for my father.

- ACOK, Daenerys II

A queen I am, but my throne is made of burned bones, and it rests on quicksand. Without dragons, how could she hope to hold Meereen, much less win back Westeros?

- ADWD, Daenerys II

Even later, Daenerys is determined to bring peace to the lands she currently rules. She does plan to return to the Seven Kingdoms, but it’s not driven by pure ambition. And this is, notably, from a conversation when Prince Quentyn Nymeros Martell asks her to come back and claim them now, saying she has allies for that conquest. And still she turns him down, with promises that it will only happen eventually:

"Daenerys said. ". . . .One day I shall return to Westeros to claim my father's throne, and look to Dorne for help. But on this day the Yunkai'i have my city ringed in steel. I may die before I see my Seven Kingdoms. Hizdahr may die. Westeros may be swallowed by the waves."

- ADWD, Daenerys VII

And yet in both Sansa and Daenerys, these visions and hopes for the futures they might have are considered unbridled ambition, although they turn more on happiness and peace for themselves and their people, rather than the type of ambition Cersei has, which is clearly her own power and being heralded above everyone.

Daenerys’ thoughts in her sixth chapter of ADWD have the same energy as Sansa’s “I will make them love me.”:

"A queen must know the sufferings of her people."

. . .

A queen must listen to her people, Dany reminded herself. 

Daenerys has figured out how to make her people love her, by wearing her “floppy ears” and appealing to the masses, listening to them, et cetera. She’s also a bit ahead of Sansa in the realm of ruling, to be sure.

But how are these similar thoughts ambition in either of them? It’s an attempt to empathize and connect, not to throw away and disregard and rule by force and domination. Both these ladies are more nuanced, and the fandom does them a disservice by painting them as ambitious or power-hungry when at the end for both of them, it’s a desire to have a happy, stable, loving life.

[esther-dot]

Which disney princess is Sansa most like?

I'm not sure I would say that Sansa is like one Disney Princess, I think she has similarities with several because Martin is playing with the princess archetype more than replicating any one story.

Rapunzel is the princess who is literally stuck in a tower and Sansa has been captive for the majority of her story. The idea of a damsel in distress who waits to be rescued is implicitly being referenced in her story. (Why I’m a big fan of the “girl in grey” theory. It feels like Sansa’s meant to take her life into her own hands/show a lot of agency soon/defy this).

Belle loves stories, her father is taken prisoner, she begs for mercy and ends up being captive herself. Kinda familiar.

Cersei's relationship with Sansa feels like a Snow White reference because the evil queen's "fairest of all" obsession reminds us of Cersei's YMBQ preoccupation.

Sansa has the same hair color as Ariel, desires to experience new things, and gets taken advantage of by a person who promises to give her what she wants.

Sansa is associated with the dawn per (butterflies-dragons post here) and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) is Latin for dawn. Also, in the show, Sansa is saved from a "dragon" (Dany) by a prince (Jon).

And, being Disney Princesses, these girls sing. Sansa sings too. More specifically, as @melodyherwholelifelong points out (here), Disney has a trope of a boy secretly listening to a girl singing to establish him as a love interest. That is particularly interesting considering this quote, "Of Sansa, brushing out Lady's coat and singing to herself."

@elegantwoes talked about similarities between Sansa and Disney princesses too (here).

If pressed, I'd agree with many others who have pointed to Beauty and the Beast as the most influential in her story because of the theme of beauty not meaning good. She hasn't really experienced the monstrous (appearance) not meaning evil yet. The Hound is often selected as her “beast,” but I pulled some quotes to illustrate what that dynamic is meant to be:

"Beauty," said the monster to her, "may I watch you have your supper?"

"You are master here," said the trembling Beauty.

"Not so," replied the Beast; "it is you who are the mistress; you have only to tell me to go, if my presence annoys you, ad I will go immediately. Tell me, now, do you not consider me ugly?"

"I do," said Beauty, "since I must speak the truth; but I think you are also very kind."

[deleted dialogue]

"Sup well, Beauty," said the monster, "and try to banish all dullness from your home--for all about you is yours, and I should be sorry to think you were not happy."

"You are indeed kind," said Beauty. "With one thing, I must own, I am well pleased, and that is your kind heart. When I think of that you no longer seem to be ugly."

"Oh yes," answered the Beast, "I have a good heart, right enough, but I am a monster."

"There are many men said Beauty, "who make worse monsters than you, and I prefer you, notwithstanding your looks, to those who under the semblance of men hide false, corrupt, and ungrateful hearts."

And clearly, The Hound isn’t it. He is awful, violent, threatening, intended to rape her. Hardly, what we’re looking for. That means, Sansa it’s still waiting to meet her beast, a kind man, someone who is...brave, gentle, and strong, perhaps? This version also has this line:

"The sisters were greatly mortified when they saw Beauty dressed like a princess, and more beautiful than the dawn."

(these quotes are from Beauty and the Beast in a collection of Charles Perrault and Madame d'Aulnoy's French fairy tales)

agentrouka-blog talked about a Sansa and Snow White connection (here) and princess-in-a-tower has a series of meta about Sansa and Beauty and the Beast (here) that goes much more in depth.

[twistedtummies2]

Well, you've done DC. How about Marvel?

Okay, this one was REALLY tricky. XD The issue with Marvel is that while there is one character who is consistently one I adore, the rest of the characters I can have kink crushes on tend to be in flux, so to speak. Like, sometimes I'll like them a whole lot, sometimes I'll only like them a small bit, sometimes I'll like certain designs or portrayals and not others, etc. So there are NUMEROUS Marvel characters I wouldn't mind writing for and can fantasize about, but how much those levels stand is forever fluctuating. Having said that, this won't REALLY be a Top 5 of favorites, but more...a Top 5 of consistency. Because aside from my number one (and maybe my number two), the other characters here fluctuate in terms of how much I like them compared to others. HOWEVER, they are ALL characters I CONSISTENTLY enjoy to some degree or another in a pred/big eater role. (Mostly pred, if you haven't guessed from previous answers.) Now, let's get into them...

5. Galactus.

Ah, yes, the Eater of Worlds himself. In point of fact, Galactus' literally cosmic appetite is both his biggest pro AND his biggest con. Galactus is a veritable god of destruction; a nigh-omnipotent being whose entire existence REVOLVES around consumption on a massive scale. Galactus literally eats worlds; he absorbs all energy the planet has into his being, and his hunger is neverending. Time and again he's come after Earth, but every time, he's outsmarted by the heroes and left to find some other place to gorge himself. On the one hand, God-level predators are freaking AWESOME, and that level of sheer hunger is INTENSELY squeak-and-blush-inducing. On the other hand, however, it doesn't leave much room for intimacy or for writing that will present an especially great amount of conflict. As a result, Galactus' appetite is both incredibly appealing and yet slightly off-putting for me.

4. Fin Fang Foom.

While his name is pretty silly, this giant dragon is actually one of Marvel's most underrated and intensely powerful antagonists. Originally imagined as a sort of unlikely cross between Godzilla and Fu Manchu - a monstrous distillation of all things that terrified people during the Yellow Scare - Fin Fang Foom has evolved with the times and, much like the Mandarin, still has a steady home at Marvel in the comics and in animation. He's not very well known, however, I think mostly because he hasn't appeared in any movies. As you know, I love dragons, and Fin Fang Foom is a dandy of a beast: a regularly rampaging monster who is, indeed, a canon pred. The image used here is actually from a defective clone of Fin Fang Foom, which had much of his power but little of his intelligence; the REAL Fin Fang Foom is actually highly intellectual...but this does not make him any less ravenous than the version depicted above. (Plus...come on, with imagery and writing like that, I HAD to make this the image I shared.) He's pretty much perfect for macro/micro type stuff, if you're into dragons.

3. Nightcrawler.

There are several X-Men characters I have had crushes on: Beast, Blob, Toad, and Sabretooth are the chief ones. However, in all four of these cases, how much I like them tends to fluctuate, as I've said before: it depends on a LOT of factors. However, the one X-Men character I seem to consistently want to stuff full of food or end up feeding myself to is, ironically, one of the least likely options: Kurt Wagner, a.k.a. Nightcrawler. I WOULD say this is because he's my favorite X-Men character (which is true), but I don't really think that's the reason. There's not much evidence of Kurt being an ESPECIALLY big eater, and certainly no evidence of him being of a predatory mindset...yet he has developed a niche group of vore-loving or belly-loving fans who really love the thought of feeding him one way or another, and I am in that niche. I think it's a mixture of his design and his personality: Kurt looks like a fanged, fuzzy demon, but his soul is actually that of a very fine fellow. He's an impish mischief maker, a charismatic and chivalrous gentleman, and a kind, charitable, religiously devout sweetheart, all at the same time. You can imagine Nightcrawler being a big tease to someone who has certain kinks, but you can also imagine him being very docile or very comforting. He's pretty much a tailor made character for the softer, safer, more playful sides of these interests almost without trying.

2. Tiger Shark.

I've only come to know Tiger Shark fairly recently, and I haven't READ much of him...but with what I have seen of him and learned of him, he's definitely worthy of the number two spot. Remember how I said in a previous thing of these sorts that Killer Croc was sort of "King Shark done right"? Yeah, I think Tiger Shark is an even more accurate example of that. In the comics, this rogue's story goes like this: Todd Arliss was once an Olympic swimmer who lost his abilities in an accident: desperate to regain his athletic capabilities, he gave himself over to experimentation, and his DNA was fused with that of a tiger shark, and also of the mythical Sub-Mariner, Prince Namor. The resulting mutation turned Arliss into a predatory monster, with superhuman strength and a savage appetite. Over the years, Arliss has been depicted less and less human and more and more animalistic by various artists; whether this is a canon show of his worsening mutation or just artistic license is anyone's guess. Tiger Shark has a more consistent personality than King Shark, and while his design has changed over the years, he's at least retained the basic concepts, as well as his hunger. I have to admit that I actually prefer a version OUTSIDE of the comics for my interests: the version that appears in the series "Avengers Assemble," which gives him a whole new backstory and a decidedly beastly design. If I were to write for the guy, I'd likely follow that one more closely. Still, the comic version definitely has some merits, too.

1. Venom.

Now, I'm specifically talking about the original Eddie Brock Venom; other versions just don't interest me as much. With that out of the way...Venom didn't START OUT as a predatory beast, but quite quickly, as time went on, the character became more and more focused on that aspect of things. Just looking at the guy, it's easy to see why. The Jekyll-and-Hyde-esque relationship between Eddie Brock and the ravenous Symbiote that controls him is one that can be used for both comedy and tragedy, and Venom's gluttonous, aggressive, and at times delightfully witty personality makes him a very fun character to imagine. He can devour massive amounts, has a canonical love of chocolate (as well as human flesh), and has more appealing dialogue than you can shake a stick at throughout his long history. He's right up there with Killer Croc as one of my favorite predator crushes in comics, and possibly the only Marvel character I can consistently say I adore above ALL others.