#bargain with the king

[transbookoftheday]

Trans Books By Authors Of Color

Here are some trans books by authors of color you should read:

Book titles:

Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution by Kacen Callender

The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon

The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang

The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa

Just Happy To Be Here by Naomi Kanakia

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

The Subtweet by Vivek Shraya

Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore

Drag Me Up by R.M. Virtues

Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Tsai

Three Kings by Freydís Moon

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons

[cherrirui-official]

A collection of totally normal Boisona doodles while I try to get back into the swing of things lol

@saltydkart-reblogs

I don't rlly have anything to add here but while I'm here I might as well repost some other saltydkdan related shitposts in the cut while I'm here bc it would be a waste to leave them all on my now abandoned twitter account lol

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

I like Joesph: King of Dreams but I can't ever forgive how bad they sugarcoated Jacob's family issues. Joseph makes a big stink about being only the half brother like that's why his brothers resent him but meanwhile they're still behaving mostly like one big happy family and Rachel "loves them like they're her own" (ahahahahahahhh) and it's heavily implied Jacob's ~first wife~ died and he remarried and I'm like OH NAW HE DIDN'T. literally where are Leah, Bilha and Zilpa and why are they not even mentioned. They are still ALIVE AND WELL at this point and in fact it's Rachel who should be dead before Joseph is sold off. Also, Rachel and Leah were mean to each other, none of that "Joseph, you should get along with your brothers" cheesy stuff.

[radiance1]

There was a day, a day where there was nothing that needed to be done, nobody to meet, not meetings to schedule, nothing to fight.

A rare, rare day for one Kevin the cat.

As the second in command of his Familia, who the Head delegates most of his responsibilities due to not wanting to do that at all, it is unusual that he no longer has much to do anymore.

With a pretty efficient system in place for each and every division to have an executive and their own second in commands who will soon take their place. It leaves Kevin with not as much to do anymore nowadays, most things being taken care of by other cats.

A meeting between the Familia Heads wouldn't be for the next few moons, and there isn't anyone around for him to fight.

So what does he do, exactly?

Snuggle up to gramps of course!

===

Danny doesn't mind Kevin invading his personal bed and personal space, as he has done it quite often and will most likely continue to do so for the rest of his immortal life most likely.

It seemed to be a pretty slow day, if his observations served anything. Nothing significant was happening, and the overall vibe was calm and slow.

A good day, a rare day, seeing the normal chaos that usually occupied this warehouse. Perhaps asking Selina to buy the surrounding ones proved effective.

Either way, it was a nice day.

Laying down, doing nothing except watching Tv and not really fighting the sleep when it came. He was drowsy, about to close his eyes and fall into a dream.

Then everything disappeared.

He snapped to awareness very quickly, feeling the familiar weight of magic in the air and what was most definitely the pull of summoning. Which is weird, because not many would summon him, most go for the King, which is Pariah Dark, and not the Prince, which is him.

Oh well, whoever summoned him is most likely some teens or adults who had nothing better to do than get together and try to summon paranormal entities and demons or such and such. He would take some of their food for summoning him, and be on his way.

Or at least that was what he thought.

Apparently, he was summoned by a genuine cult this time. He would take teens and adults with nothing better to do, as well as that one time he was summoned by wizards and got turned into a cat over being summoned by genuine cultists any day.

It's just, not for him really.

They did, however, do their research. Very powerful wards that was built to keep whatever was summoned in, that whenever he tapped on actually hurt him.

Drawn with the extract of blood blossoms for ghostly beings from the infinite realms.

A red mist flowed around the room, one that made Danny's lungs felt as if they were on fire and withering all at once.

A mist made from Blood Blossoms.

To top it all off, there were multiple Blood Blossoms scattered throughout the place, most of which were around the circle that summoned him. It felt like someone brought a hammer to his skull and kept pounding, his muscles felt taut and like jelly all at once, barely keeping him standing on his own paws as his eyes stung from the mist around the room and from the Blood Blossoms themselves.

Whoever this was, they knew their stuff, and whoever this was, decided that going overboard was far better than underboard.

He thinks he heard one of them speak, but he couldn't quite make out whatever was said from the ringing of his ears. Eventually, he had to fall, his eyes struggling to be kept open.

He should turn back into a living cat, get out of his ghost form. But he couldn't, the willpower necessary to do so slipping out of his grasp and instead being replaced by pain, pain, and even more pain. Even the very magic in the air was against him, whatever intent those who summoned him imprinted upon it was made to specifically weigh him down, as if gravity itself were his enemy, to go against him at every turn.

Weaken him.

If he could, he would laugh, but he's in far too much pain to do so. In all of his 150 years of existence, he never expected to encounter something like this. Something this strong.

He wondered, if in all of Pariah Dark's infinite power, if he would be able to stand up to something like this. Perhaps he would, infinite power would let him be able to stand up to something like.

Infinite power, while weakened, is still infinite.

But he, Danny, Prince of the Infinite Realms, did not have infinite power. With his title came a recognition of his raw power, of his ability, and given him political power almost unmatched as he was one of the few that reigned over infinity.

But that was mostly it, perhaps a bit of boost to his power, and maybe a distinct signature due to his newfound status. But not much else.

And is this what it granted him? An end, where he was stripped away from comfort, from his home, from his Familia, where each and every breath he took burned and withered. Where his limbs failed him, where his own power was useless due to his willpower being drained by overwhelming agony.

He would not die, no. For he is incapable of death.

Yet that makes it even worse.

Would he spend an eternity like this? Trapped with nothing but overwhelming pain for company, becoming intimate with it as it raked its hands through his fur, under his skin, between each strand of muscle and piercing his brain?

He doesn't know, and that scares him.

===

The Justice League, with help from a few members of Justice League Dark, appeared to prevent the summoning of the Ghost King, known as a tyrant who enslaves worlds and a being of infinite power.

What they found, however, was not the Ghost King. But instead, magicians surrounding a circle in a room of red mist, in the middle of the circle a passed out, glowing white cat floating via magic.

They saw it as preparation to summon the Ghost King, perhaps the cat was a sacrifice? Regardless, they went in, and fought. Eventually gaining the upper hand due to have far more powerful members than just magical practitioners.

The cat, without aid from magic, fell to the floor, and Zatanna was quick to dispel the summoning in case it was in the process of calling forth Pariah Dark from beyond the veil. They took the cat back with them, for surely it had some kind of importance if they were using it for their summoning.

Later on, Constantine would choke as he recognized the significance of the cat, a signature quite similar to that of the King of the infinite, yet different.

They weren't just offering any old cat to the Ghost King, no, they were offering him his Prince, and if the look of how they handled it was any indication, it was planned to use said Prince as a bargaining to get the King into their servitude of some sort.

===

Meanwhile, back at the Familia.

All hell has broken loose, what semblance of order there was broke, the head was gone, missing. Not even the second in command, who was with him the longest, had a clue where or what happened to him.

He was there one second, gone the next.

Not many stays calm about it, the ones who do mostly trying to calm down the kittens after the panic of so many other grown, adult cats.

Kevin, the second in command and de-facto leader whenever the Head isn't involved. Panicking does not help any of the other cats feel assured.

[deltarunebt]

Well, we've gotten plenty of Spamton (which is wonderful amazing showstopping incredible-), but for the sake of fairness... What, er, changes Jevil?

When Frisk meets him, he seems genuinely concerned about the King, but judging by the fact that 1) you said he (like Spam when we first meet him) hasn't had a Fourth Wall Moment™️ yet, and 2) he used his spot in the meme to encourage overthrowing the government...

Does Jevil just find a shadow crystal? Or meet that certain Mystery Man? Or does something else happen that sends him down a weird path?

Aha my bias shows a fair bit... admittedly, its also just because I have a better grasp on Chapter 2 than I do chapter 1, though. There's more to work with and that makes it easier to work with!

As for Jevil, no, nothing like that, its actually pretty simply just.. his view of King changes over the course of his adventure with Frisk. Or, I suppose, his opinion of King changes when he gets the reality check that no, King isn't going to make an 'exception' for Frisk and is Super going to Kill Them, and also that King considers Jevil a traitor for siding with Frisk and orders for him to be locked up while he deals with the Lightner and their 'Pet Flower' .<.

Jevil is aware that King is behaving irrationally and is concerned, yes, and he believe at first his job as Jester means he needs to fix it through 'cheering up' King, more or less. Eventually he realizes that that just... isn't going to work. Of course, Spade King isn't just straight up evil, he does believe he's in the right, but just like in base Deltarune, its not something Frisk or Jevil can just change his mind on. And Jevil is especially driven to make things right in that his naïve belief that Frisk will be able to change King's mind leads Lancer to ALSO believe that, which gets Lancer in trouble (same as it does in base Deltarune.)

I've kind of been referencing the song 'The Court Jester' in my head for the mentality turn Jevil has, albeit less... intense than that song sort of implies. Jevil goes from 'kids cartoon idea of what a court jester is supposed to be' to an Actual Court Jester- that is, someone who's job is to bully the King and call him a dunce to keep his ego in check.

Jevil actually doesn't get a fourth-wall moment at all (at least, not within my current outline of things), which arguably means he's more stable than Spamton is here... albeit Spamton's fourth-wall moment doesn't actually fully sink in for him, it's just sort of a Glimpse into something more that triggers a full-scale mental break down because he's kind of been teetering on the edge for awhile. Guy already has a puppet complex, having literal strings attached to him as NEO didn't uh- help, with that.

[darlingod]

Cardan telling Jude that if she wants to keep him on the throne she has to come up with a plan that ensures trust between the both of them (ch.10 twk):

Cardan telling Jude a plan that keeps him on the throne and ensures trust between the both of them (ch.29 twk, in order but paragraphs cut off):

[kojiandrew]

Photo scans of Andrew Koji's pages + photos (with Joey King and Hiroyuki Sanada) from Bullet Train - The Art and Making of The Film Book

[aurorawest]

Bargain of Blood and Gold by Kristin Jacques - 3.75/5 stars

Reminiscent of Jordan L Hawk's Widdershins series, but with vampires and werewolves. Also takes place in Maine, which isn't a very common setting. Unwittingly, I bought the second book in the series months ago, and I realized as it got to the top of my TBR that I didn't have the first book! I had to scramble to order it and I was happy I enjoyed it since, obviously, I already have the second book.

Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa - DNF at pg 2

Captive Prince by CS Pacat (reread) - 5/5 stars

Prince's Gambit by CS Pacat (reread) - 5/5 stars

Kings Rising by CS Pacat - 5/5 stars

I think I loved these books even more on my reread.

Gravity by Tal Bauer - 4.25/5 stars

Probably my favorite hockey romance that I've read.

The Modern Mythos Anomaly by Juniper Lake Fitzgerald - DNF at pg 132

I actually liked the story, the characters, and the writing in general, but this book just needed another few edits to slim it down a bit.

Lose You to Find Me by Erik J Brown - 4.5/5 stars

Leeward by Katie Daysh - 4.5/5 stars

The blurbs on this book are hilarious, because they're all like, tall ships people, and then Mackenzi Lee, hailing it as a lovely queer historical romance. This was a really lovely book and I'm excited for the sequel. Also hoping for more kissing in the sequel since this was a serious slow burn.

Riley Weaver Needs a Date to the Gaybutante Ball by Jason June - 3.75/5 stars

Starseer by Katya Hernández - 4/5 stars

Be Dazzled by Ryan La Sala - 5/5 stars

I loved this book so much!! Oh my god. Super funny, very romantic. It revolves around cosplay which is of course a special interest of mine.

Northranger by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo - 4.5/5 stars

Flying Without a Net by EM Ben Shaul - 2.75/5 stars

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley (reread) - 5/5 stars

Striking Distance by Sarah Rees Brennan - 4.75/5 stars

I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. The graphic novels were good but changing to a novel format allowed for much deeper characters. Surprisingly devastating and also really funny.

The Old Haunts by Allan Radcliffe - 4/5 stars

The Gay Best Friend by Nicholas DiDomizio - 5/5 stars

Main character is the best friend of both the bride and the groom, and everything surrounding the wedding becomes a train wreck beginning on the weekend of the bachelor party, when the bride asks the MC, Dom, to keep tabs on the groom for her. As someone who is extremely conflict avoidant with friends but not family and romantic partners, I heavily related to Dom. There's also a romance that I really loved.

Romance Languages by AJ Truman - 4.25/5 stars

I think this was my favorite of the South Rock series. It deals with some more difficult topics—Julian's self-loathing over his body image is heartbreaking (and relatable), and Seamus's guilt over the way his gambling addiction hurt his ex was very well done. I'm a sucker for stories where a character learns to ask for help, not to mention difficult parent-child relationships, and this had both. I also appreciated Julian's arc re: sex and virginity.

Darkhearts by James L Sutter - 5/5 stars

Another bandmates-in-love treasure, with a twist—the main character, David, left the band right before they got famous. He ends up falling for one of his ex-friends/bandmates after they reconnect. The author is a musician himself, and it definitely shows (in a good way). I'm really a sucker for The Burdens of Fame, which this book definitely had, but there's actually a really good arc for David and how he deals with his jealousy and resentment over being left behind. Plus he wants to be a carpenter rather than go to college, which was cool.

Brute by Kim Fielding - 4.25/5 stars

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian - 5/5 stars

What can I say about this book? Why was it so lovely? Why did it make me feel so much? Why can I not rate things higher than 5 stars? It's a million stars in my heart. Aside from just being a gorgeous mid-century America m/m romance (my favorite), this one features an Italian-American main character. The stuff with Nick's family was spot-on. I just loved this book. I felt like I was wrapping myself in a big, comfy, historical gay romance blanket.

Drowned Country by Emily Tesh - 5/5 stars

The sequel to Silver in the Wood. Had a very mythic and sort of folk horror vibe. This one is from Henry Silver's POV instead of Tobias Finch's and takes place two years after Silver in the Wood, which is time that Henry has mostly spent sulking in Greenhollow Hall, sans Tobias. Really highly recommend this duology. Emily Tesh is a treasure.

The Alchemy of Moonlight by David Ferraro - DNF at pg 11

[foileadeux]

Consider: Herrah is the mortal most efficient at scoring gods in the whole Hallownest

TRUEEE shes always winning

[ruthlesslistener]

I just can't get over the fact it was PK who offered the hornet deal thing. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the guy with a baby death pit didn't think twice to toss a child at someone to get them on his side, but what did Herrah think? Again she wasn't in a position to refuse, needing a heir, but god that must have been a jarring proposal.

I mean, if you look at it from the political circumstances, it does make a whole lot more sense than from just a casual 'hey want me to be a sperm donor' offer. Deepnest and Hallownest had political tension between them, to the point where the Pale King signed a treaty with the Mantis Lords to guard the city's gates; Herrah is known as 'the Beast' to the citizens of Hallownest, and her den is spoken of as being 'beyond the kingdom'. So they were already in tense circumstances to begin with, and then PK comes over to her lands about a problem that primarily affects his kingdom and asks her to lay her life down for a problem that isn't fully hers to deal with. That's a lot to ask for, especially when you don't have an heir to make sure that your kingdom stays intact after you're gone. PK probably came over to Deepnest after hearing about the ferocity, strength, and loyalty of their queen, noticed that she had no heir to succeed her throne, and then offered to ensure she had one so that she could lay down her life knowing that her sacrifice would save her people in the future (yikes) and that the title of ruler was secure. That's excellent for Deepnest.

And that's not all the benefits of him siring her heir, either! That's just the most basic breakdown of the bunch. Him doing so would automatically place Hallownest and Deepnest in a position for a treaty, as the heir of Deepnest now has the blood of Hallownest running in her, essentially tying the fate of the two kingdoms together. It's a big show of peace, because he offered to create and then put his own rival on the throne, meaning that he technically couldn't become Deepnest's king after her death- because his daughter is already there. And on top of that, he is a god, meaning that none of the spiders of Deepnest could truly contest with her heir after her death, because her baby has divine blood running through her veins and a (presumably) alive father in the neighboring kingdom over. Having a halfblood heir means that her child is already LEAGUES above everyone else who might try to take the throne, both in power and vitality. So not only did PK offering to give her an heir essentially meant that he stepped forward and went 'hey, in exchange for your sacrifice, I will ensure your future and place my own rival on your throne', it also brought Deepnest and Hallownest from a place of animosity to one where trade was happening between the kingdoms (or, well, Hallownest was buying Deepnest's silk en masse) AS WELL as strengthening Herrah's lineage and basically ensuring that her baby would not only be strong and healthy, but also stay on the throne. All things considering, if everything worked out as it should have, then Herrah would have exchanged her life for a boon that might have very well set Deepnest into a golden age after her sacrifice.

(And it also points to how desperate PK was for the Dreamer plan. Not only did he sacrifice his top scholar and someone who looks to have been essential to managing the City of Tears, he also gave a whole hell of a lot without getting a whole hell of a lot in return. Trade and kingdom security is great, but it looks like it was mostly Deepnest selling to Hallownest, and Hornet being raised by the White Lady certainly didn't place Deepnest under Hallownest's rule. If anything, she ended up inheriting both kingdoms...though not through happy circumstances)

Personally what I think is funny is that PK's solution to everything seems to be 'make baby to fix problem'. I mean, it makes sense in both the highly specific contexts that required it, but it also places him as the anti-zeus of mythology (has a lot of kids but not bc hes a slut, just bc he can fuck his way out of it instead of fight) which is personally very funny to me

[vicstenius]

[imagination-overreaction]

I haven't done an official intro post, and I have no idea what to write here, so...

Hello!

I'm Shrub! I'm an adult, and I use it/he pronouns, no particular preference

Here's some stuff about me!

Things I like, in no particular order:

Team Fortress 2, drawing, Undertale, Deltarune, Blue Eye Samurai, Faith: The Unholy Trinity, FNaF (to some extent), embroidery, Buckshot Roulette, The Arcana (I love to hate it), Will Wood, plant symbolism, SCP (kinda) (mostly just the idea of it), Gravity Falls, Stardew Valley, Empress Theresa (I love to hate it)

How many OCs do I have?

143 147. If you ever wanna know about one, just give me a number and I'll be more than happy to share about that one (or the one after that if that one is boring). I have been coming up with fake guys for about 5 years now, and with all my works-in progress there is going to be more.

Characters are tagged as #oc-name

What am I working on?

The biggest ones are tagged on this post, but if you want more detailed descriptions...

A short story based on "Cabinet Man" by Lemon Demon, from the perspective of the maintenence man that looked inside that thing.

My longest official project that I'm still not 100% sure what format I'll be publishing in: A choose-your-own adventure set in the realm of the fae where you play as Mina, who just tripped into this world and has to get out alive.

Another longer project: A (hopefully) novel titled The Faceless King. It's lower priority, but I have a lot of characters crafted and a lot of setting made, so I might show off some of it.

Short stories (or a long one? Haven't decided) about my OC Chase, a bold and stubborn idiot that bought a really, really cheap house. The house is a demon. Near-death shenanigans ensue, but he is too bull-headed to let some peeling paint get the best of him.

An AU about the same stubborn idiot becoming a Fazbear franchisee. Near-death shenanigans ensue, but with enough duct tape and common sense, anything is possible.

A shorter, personal, sorta-vent-y project utilising the Software Automatic Mouth, as well as a couple of other projects using SAM.

A series of short stories about my OC Abe, an android created by a deity, and how he interacts with himself and the world around him.

The longest silly goofy project that can and will never be finished, where I take my OC Xavier, toss him head-first into whatever media I like at the moment, and make his celestial partners go find him in a sadistic game of cat-and-mouse. Might post some of this if I have parts I really like.

Any questions about the above things are welcome, and I have so many more characters that I'll probably talk about eventually too! I'm still getting the hang of actually posting to tumblr instead of watching and spam-reblogging from the sidelines, but I do plan on posting at least semi-regularly once I can properly wrangly my executive dysfunction.

If you read this far, thank you! I hope you have a good day :]

[foxgonyoom]

S4 Spoilers

My man got the full set.

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

I don't know if this makes me heartless, but I have a really hard time feeling sorry for princesses who have to make political marriages. Unfortunately, that's the job that you were born into but you are super rich so I guess it all balances out? The princess would have known this was going to happen, that's the whole point of princesses. I don't know if it would realistically make her so distressed if that's what she was expecting anyway. Honestly, she should be happy to still be alive and able to be married politically, given what happened. Did she really think she'd just hang out with her brother indefinitely?

If they thought the marriage was a bad idea because it wasn't a good political move, then maybe I'd be more sympathetic? But especially a country that is so small like Korea needs all the help it can get so the massive empire(s) beside it doesn't squish it like a bug...

(Also, this whole incident makes me very worried about her long-term survival)

Edit: I guess what bothers me is that the princess is always shown as so distressed. You'd think a fair number of them would be reisned to their fate I guess?

[cruelprincae]

@acourtcfmuses spice for our favourites ( cardan's definitely the bottom )

[akumanoken]

OMG my brain is stuck on the goddess imagery of Sakura and how it'll probably get back that the princess conjures healing flowers now, that he's learned magic and that it takes on the form of springs bounty and the fervor among the people. They can't wait for their queen's return.

For that's the only reason he'll return yes? To take the throne from his foolish father?