#buuuut anyways

[crow-quet]

the preview made me want to draw moonpaw!! and her twin of course. :3

also wanted to explore both the individual designs esp since the twin gets her own

[voidcat]

notes: gn!reader x Anaxagoras — u can pretend this is canon compliant or modern au, wtv fancies your boat. First kiss trope (implied). Yes it’s two in the morning. Free me T-T

When you catch Anaxagoras by himself again, by the empty hall, you think maybe this is your chance. Now or never, what’s there to lose? Save for your dignity maybe, and the face you’ll have to be wearing whenever you look at him for the rest of your life— the more you think, the worse it gets. Each more possibility that crosses your mind is uglier than the previous and only mocks you further.

“Could I… ask you something?” The words leave your mouth and you mentally pat yourself on the shoulder. They got out just fine, you even sounded your professional voice! Alas, you scramble over the rest, like a broken dam, once your mouth has been opened, you cannot close it- call it nerves, the name of your executioner.

Stumbling over your words and overthinking out loud, he watches with confusion with a tilt of his head for a while- that is, until he takes pity on you and interrupts. Usually crossed arms now dropped to his sides, he says “Why don’t you ask me first and worry about the possibilities later?”

Were it not the predicament you’ve created for yourself and the awkward nature of your question, you could maybe even find him a tad amused in the moment, a slight glee to his voice. So you take a deep breath in, stop fiddling with your fingers and ask Anaxagoras if you can kiss him. Your worries only begin to grow the longer he remains silent- too deep in his endless train of thoughts spiraling that he didn’t realize he forgot to answer your question.

Meanwhile you’re going through several stages of death, anguish and every gut wrenching, souls wrecking, ‘May the gods hear my plea and open up a hole so I can jump right in and disappear from the face of earth’ wishing emotional turmoil possible- too caught up in your head to voice his eye wide open in surprise, his mind working at a speed rivaling yours in that moment.

He can barely react as you make a move to leave. Just as you mumble something falling to deaf ears and echoing against the lonely walls, turning on your heel to make your flee, he reaches out and grabs your wrist. Both of you stand frozen at the sudden contact, just staring at one another until he breaks the silence; saying just because he fell silent doesn’t imply he answered your question negatively.

It takes you by surprise, a ringing to your ears, a fog inside your skull maybe- it sounds unreal, unbelievable. Was it not for your wrist still in his hold, you’d be pinching yourself right now.

A moments breath passes, then another. Hands barely grazing his vest, you stand on your toes, with your movement, he moves in too, closing the space between the two of you quicker. A lithe kiss that barely touches, your breath on his lips tickles.

The kiss is small and shy ‘all that fuss and worrying for something this feeble?’ And you don’t know if this thought belongs to you or what you fear he thinks. So before you can worry any further, he leans in for the second time and kisses you properly. Any other thought, in that moment, ceases to exist.

[krussyarts]

Smth smth December 16 smth smth D-16

[the-nothing-maker]

Lazy and warm

[agathielart]

When vampires' eyes do that glowy in the dark thing *chef's kiss*

Drawing this coterie is giving me life through work

Still frame under the cut!

[somereaderinblue]

Pearl

When Telemachus had been born, one of many things that had amazed Odysseus was the sheer amount of unfiltered strength those pudgy little fingers had.

They could barely wrap around his finger. Yet, before long they were fisting Penelope's beautiful dark curls, her dangling earrings and shiny necklaces whenever they were within reach. Once, he even fisted a corner of Odysseus' himation and gnawed on it like the goats of his homeland.

That particular habit stuck long after Odysseus was forced to relinquish the beloved himation woven by his wife for the silks and baubles of a prized possession. He had worried that the hard pearls and cold metals would make his son uncomfortable in his embrace but much to his relief, the child didn't care.

Instead, Telemachus was constantly fiddling with the jewelry, stroking rows of pearls strung upon golden chains and tracing the artful lines of a rose emblem's many petals. How ironic, that the adornments he resented for marking him as a leashed beast also gave him the perfect excuse to keep his son close.

Today was no different, for his son remained transfixed on a pearl nearly as big as a thumbnail. At least it was on a looser necklace that gave Odysseus some leeway.

After failing to divert Telemachus' attention back to the ball he'd been bouncing, Odysseus huffed and reclined on the kline to settle his son more comfortably on his lap.

"Puh." Telemachus babbled.

"Pearl." Odysseus corrected. "Say it with papa, pearl." he repeated, showing his son how to roll his tongue.

"Paaaaaaa." Telemachus said, sticking his tongue out exaggeratedly.

Odysseus laughed, bouncing his wonderful boy on his lap, eliciting excited squeals.

"Funny little wolf." Odysseus cooed, booping his little nose.

"Wuf! Wuuuuuuuuuuuu~" Telemachus giggled.

Odysseus kissed his chubby cheek. How he wished to bottle this moment into an amphora, how he yearned to turn every ounce of his son's happiness and innocence into a wine for Penelope to savour upon their reunion.

Oh Penelope..........

"Papa." Telemachus yanked his necklace. "Puh!"

"Yes, a pearl. You like those, hm?" Odysseus brushed his curls aside, the once fine wisps growing thicker as his body grew heavier. "They come from the ocean. It has many things; fish, coral, boats and islands. That is where we’re from, an island called Ithaca, with the bluest seas and a home on the highest hill.” 

This was an old story he has told countless times, and he tells it once more with the same gravitas as the first. He tells his son of the sun-warmed rocks he and his sister raced across to catch birds, silver fishes hauled in nets, goats he helped herd, houses he and his father built, and an olive tree turned bed, its very roots a symbol of his parents’ everlasting love. 

And though he has neither loom nor the skill, he weaves a new story for Telemachus. A sunny day, two sets of footprints across white sands, his mother’s weaver hands in his, only just cleaned of resin from fixing a boat.

“We decided to swim. And even if your mother wasn’t half-naiad, even if she had asked for the clouds themselves, I would have said yes without hesitation. And so we swam like fish and splashed one another like children. Then I dove down, down, down until I found a clam.

“I shucked it open then and there and inside, I saw it. A pearl.” he closed his eyes, remembering how he had almost dropped the treasure in his excitement. 

“Puh.” Telemachus held up the pearl in his grasp.

Odysseus stared at it, unimpressed. It was a perfect sphere with a smooth lustrous surface that shimmered pink in certain angles. This one little ball alone could feed a small family for at least a month.

It was pretty and perfect, just like him.

It was not beautiful.

It was worthless, in his eyes.

“The pearl I gave your mother was different.” he placed his hand over Telemachus’ to hide the accursed gemstone out of sight. “It was beautiful, it was real and it-”

It was imperfect and oblong, coloured a slight bluish grey that reminded him of her keen eyes, the same ones Telemachus has.

Those very eyes stared at him, wide and trusting, as he waited for his father to finish his story.

“It was our love that made it a treasure. Had I given that pearl to anyone other than Penelope, it’d have as much worth as a pebble.” he finished.

Odysseus caressed Telemachus’ face and the boy gladly leaned into the familiar touch.

“I’ll teach you.” Odysseus promised. “How to swim, how to shuck clams, how to find the beauty in things that remind you of loved ones. I’ll show you a real pearl and help you find one yourself.”

“Papa…..” Telemachus yawned. Ah, yes, no matter the tale, storytime always ended in naptime.

Odysseus kissed the crown of his head. “Sweet dreams, my little wolf.” 

Telemachus’ eyes fluttered closed and father and son both released the pearl from their hands.

The little boy dreamed of pearls while his father lied on the kline as if it were a raft desperately trying to keep them both afloat.

BONUS:

Rough full body ref of Odysseus' outfit. I kinda consider it a redesign of my first OoT design since it's more balanced & cohesive.

I also want to give thanks to @dkmbookworm, as my convos with her never fail to give me more inspo for this AU. If you're reading this dkm, I hope you liked this snippet I wrote!

[piromina]

OVERANALYSIS OF THE BURNING SPICE UPDATE TRAILER BECAUSE YOU KNOW I HAVE TO

we open up like this. pretty ominous words ... and you wonder which one is the demon and which is the god. burning spice and golden cheese seem to be very similar, possibly the most parallels that one could draw from the ancients and their respective beasts.

And then we get this shot. Obviously it's showing the soul jam, but there are also some things behind it. One resembles a snake ... APOPHIS ANYONE? this has THE most Egyptian mythology symbolism ever. if golden cheese represents ra, which makes one hundred percent sense considering her kingdom and wealth and radiance and all that, and the fact that she resembles a falcon, then the snake on this wall HAS to represent apophis. it can't not. heck, in some versions of the story apophis was A FORMER SUN GOD. like crk def knows what they're doing.

there's also this tiger character ... nutmeg tiger I'm pretty sure? something like that. they seem to be under the influence of burning spice, as well as all the creatures around them. they seem to be at a higher "position" than all these other guys, though. maybe a willing host?

and there is this. this is really interesting. the fact that Golden Cheese is the one to say this is very intriguing. as far as we knew, the ancients had no knowledge that the beasts even existed until pure vanilla's trip. he wrote the letter to dark cacao, and it was all "you won't believe this - but the place called BEAST-yeast has BEASTS in it!!!" and dark cacao was equally surprised. they didn't know. they thought they were the first ever wielders of the soul jam. but golden cheese ... seems to know a bit more than she lets on to the rest of the group. and a bit more than us. what the heck is the spice swarm?

also, the return (and release) of smoked cheese!! man I missed this guy. he seems to be working with golden cheese in this shot, but then what was his little deal at the end of the first teaser about? it does make sense, though, that he would try to at least be against burning spice - his entire goal is to get the soul jam because he thinks the current wielders aren't worthy - but to me it seems like he might have his own third side in this battle. he'll probably convince both sides he's working with them, knowing this dude. he wants the power of abundance and destruction, a second half he knew nothing about, the ability to make a change in the kingdoms and the lives of everyone in them.

and these two images are probably the most interesting of them all. they seem to be part of some sort of ancient papyrus or prophecy or something like that. golden cheese is yelling about the "great destroyer." could it be possible he was some sort of legend in their kingdom, a prophecy just waiting to unfold? could golden cheese have known about this threat since the beginning? could the beasts' corruption have been inevitable from the start, written in the stars ... and could the witches have known about it?

[c0rinarii]

Deco Playable Command print for a local con i recently boothed at!

[dizzybevvie]

You're the sunflower/I think your love would be too much

[metanarrates]

i am soooo curious about your takes on otome isekai villainess stories and their morality + gender constructs 👀 if you'd be willing to elaborate....

so villainessekai is a BIG genre. like. big big absolutely massive genre. because of that it's kind of hard to make sweeping generalizations genre-wise just because there are so many different authors with different takes on the general premise... that being said, I have enough time to ramble about some gender stuff I've noticed. maybe ill elaborate on the protag centered morality another time - my tldr on that at this moment is just "for a genre allegedly focused on humanizing women who were considered 'evil,' there sure are a lot of common double standards when it comes to how its protagonists behave."

(part of the protag centered morality, to be clear, is just kind of a common effect of self-inserty escapist fiction, but it's... just sort of weird and noticeable whenever it crops up in this genre. like i said i might yap about it another time. penelope eckhart you live rent free in my head what the hell is happening in vadd)

but yeah! gender!

quick rundown for those not familiar with the genre. villainess isekai is a genre of manwha + manga + webnovels + light novels that shares a common base premise. the protagonist has been isekai'd into the body of a fictional character from a story (often an otome game or a novel) she knows. the fictional character plays the role of a villainess in the original novel, and is doomed to an unsavory fate. the protagonist must try to change the story she knows to prevent her untimely end.

or, at least, that's the more original premise. the villainess genre is huge, and over the years, there's been takes that ditch the isekai component completely. time travel villainess stories are highly popular right now. some deal with reincarnation from a different fantasy life, like, 200 years in the past or something. some ditch the "main character has some kind of knowledge about a doomed future" aspect of the premise entirely and just lock in on the protagonist being considered an "evil woman" without messing about with any kind of supernatural foreknowledge.

but regardless. the common thread is that the woman in question is considered a villainess, and that she is almost certainly aware that she will meet her doom if she doesn't play her cards right.

I'll say here straight up that this genre is almost completely a power fantasy genre. we're about to get into whether or not the main character is "rightfully" considered a villainess or not, but no matter what the answer to that is, the main character almost always 1. is a member of a fantasy european-ish nobility 2. commands some form of social or monetary power and 3. will eventually obtain a lover of incredibly high social status. being able to be "evil" is often a huge component of this power fantasy, but there's a baseline of power that can be obtained even for protagonists who seem completely powerless at the start. you will always end with a protagonist in a position of unbelievable wealth, comfort, social respect, and power.

this plays heavily into the genre's treatment of gender. because what are the acceptable ways for a woman to wield power, even in the alleged safe space of a fantasy?

I tend to categorize villainessekai protagonists into two broad categories, for that reason. the "actually evil," and the "unjustified victim." while there's of course a huge amount of nuance that can exist between these two categorizations, in practice they tend to be extremely rigid. what we are actually talking about here are fantasies of "unacceptable" and "acceptable" power wielding, and the protagonists tend to be constructed quite differently depending on which fantasy they cater to.

category one: the "actually evil." while these protagonists can be quite complicated and often are unjustly treated by the societies they are in, they are still women who wield a huge amount of power and take quite a lot of joy in beating people over the head with it. they're sexy, confident, and will achieve their goals no matter what it takes, even if it does mean being viewed as evil in the eyes of the world. these protagonists are actually usually not isekai'd - there is no body snatching involved. they are simply women who have had Enough with the world beating down on them, and have decided that they're going to fight back no matter what. time travel foreknowledge is common but not always necessary.

the power fantasy here is pretty clear cut to me. inhabiting the psyche of the evil, undesirable femme fatale is a fun power trip and lets the reader think about how nice it would be to just... not care about social opinion, and to effortlessly outwit and trap everyone who has ever been cruel to them. no more being niceys you can just start beating people to death with your epic magic or whatever.

villainess isekai is a romance genre. because of this, there is a layer of romantic fantasy involved as well. the fantasy that you'd be wanted because of your cruel or evil or ruthless traits, and not in spite of them. also maybe sometimes you want a man who will bark like a dog for you ok i won't linger on it but there does seem to be a fair amount of femdom undertones in a number of these

category two: the "unjustified victim." there's subcategories to this in my head, but the basic idea here is that our protagonist is Nice and does not deserve to be treated as a villainess. either she's been isekai'd into the body of someone who sucks and now has to deal with the fallout of actions she did not commit, or she (or her body host!) are being unfairly villainized and treated as a scapegoat by others. this category is populated hugely by doe-eyed ingenues. while there's a fair amount in this category who still possess some capacity for unkindness or spite against the ones who have wronged them, most of them are kind, loveable sweethearts who don't want to hurt a fly.

the power fantasy here, I would argue, is actually mostly a persecution fantasy. while there is of course nuance & a lot of authors have a ton of different takes on this, the fantasy here is one about being treated unjustly and proving the haters wrong, either by having someone step in and rescue you or by wielding power justly to defend yourself. the fantasy is about being acceptable all along, good all along, and just needing a chance to prove yourself.

the romantic fantasy element here is usually about having someone recognize your true worth. instead of believing all the shit about you being evil or cruel or whatever, someone is able to look past that and recognize that you are a beautiful and kind-hearted woman underneath. also, again, he will save you from the Haters. (the truly evil woman rarely needs a savior because the fantasy is about saving herself.)

because of this, we get two pretty clear constructions of femininity. we have a dark feminine and a light feminine. sexuality & evil, sweetness and kindness. weirdly i don't think the genre super often has much to say about this. it just simply Is. here's your power fantasy - what flavor do you like? sometimes there's some feminist reflection on this in-text but i rarely consider that like... valid... unless the entire story treats women besides the protagonist well. kinda hypocritical to reflect on the role of Evil Women and still have women who are treated as Evil Bitches by the narrative.

hey speaking of. those also are some secret other categories of woman.

i might have mentioned in another post that the villainess genre Loves to reinvent villainess tropes by recasting someone else as the "evil woman" to our "good or at least sufficiently projectable woman" protag? yeah so here they are.

there's the classic evil dark feminine, which I won't linger on because we've all seen it. she's a nasty possibly sexy conniving skank who wants to steal your man. we've all seen it. Next.

but what's interesting to me is that there's also a category of evil light feminine. these are called either "green tea bitches" or "white lotuses" by fans, and they are often (not always) the Original Protagonists of the story the actual protagonist has been isekai'd into. usually it's some kind of reveal that the entire original story was a foul unreliable narrator's trick, and the white lotus has been using her apparent innocence to torment and vex our poor protagonist.

but regardless of her role in the Original Story, the white lotus is always the same. she seems very sweet, very innocent, very pure, very acceptably feminine, but on the inside she's a living nightmare who weaponizes her femininity to hurt people.

if I'm being generous to the genre, this can be considered a valid reflection of the fact that there are some women who weaponize femininity in order to put down other women. many of us have met people like that. it happens. it might be considered a power fantasy to "defeat" that kind of woman.

if I'm being critical of the genre - which I almost always am - I would say that having defeated one boogeyman of Evil Woman by turning it acceptable, the villainess isekai genre must invent a new boogeyman to pit its protagonists against. we're just redefining the borders of which sort of woman is allowed to be relatable and good, rather than challenging the base notions of misogyny and patriarchy that lock women into eternal acceptability combat. oh no we have a fake acceptable woman who must be proven as a fraud! the real Good Woman is right here! etc.

sort of my endcap on Gender Thoughts here - i would note that almost none of these characters are anything other than extremely feminine. we have a few tomboyish or crossdressing protagonists here and there, but they almost always shed that in favor of ballgowns at some point or another. I've noticed this as an aspect of heterosexual romance, but it does feel very strange to me how much femininity is on display. as a nonbinary lesbian, the world of rofan always feels alien to me. whether antagonist or protagonist, whether the character is "acceptable" or "unacceptable" in her femininity, this is a world where being genuinely uninterested in femininity as a woman is nigh unthinkable. there is always an emphasis placed on the fact that she is in fact a woman, and one who will eventually be desirable to men, no matter what the circumstances are! you could draw a lot of conclusions from that. my personal conclusion is that het romance is kind of scary and highly based in affirming gender binaries. :(

[mag184]

[xxplastic-cubexx]

Charles representation enjoyed here again! I’ve not read much of the comics bc I can’t afford them but I just rewatched FC and I was wondering if Charles being paralyzed is the same in the comics (Erik doing it)? Do they often include that part of his story?

hello my inquisitive friend :] !!!! im more than happy to give some more info bout the origins charles' disability in the comics- to the best of my abilities that is !

while they don't include an origin for his paralysis in EVERY story/run, as far as i know there are three major ways charles loses his mobility (though like yourself, i havent read many of the comics so far, so i could be missing a few. this is the part where i invite readers to submit additional info if im leaving any out)

the very first manner of charles losing his legs was relayed to us in the original X-Men run of the 60's in issue #20

(X-Men #20: "I, Lucifer!")

before magneto was regarded as charles' main adversary there was the extraterrestrial lucifer (who sported the same color scheme, ironically. it wasnt as though lucifer came before magneto so it was definitely A Choice..) who charles would have a semi-reoccurring feud with for a bit early on in the series. during their first encounter, charles would corner lucifer in his lair only to have a stone slab dropped on him, disabling his legs indefinitely

the second manner in which charles loses his mobility- and the time where erik is the most involved and is most deliberate- comes from. Our Favorite Universe in 2001: The Ultimate Universe

(Ultimate X-Men #1: "The Tomorrow People")

as is typically how charles x magneto team-up arcs go, while charles and erik worked together for some time it wasn't very long before erik wanted to pursue more Dramatic Measures for mutantkind. and As This Story Goes, amidst trying to escape the savage lands sanctuary he and erik built, erik drove a metal spike through charles' spine, leading to his disability in this verse

lastly, we have the House of M- or more specifically its prequel miniseries, Civil War: House of M- verse in 2008:

(Civil War: House of M #2: "Revolution")

(Civil War: House of M #3: "Reign")

similar to Ultimate and the movies, this is another timeline where charles and erik team up. this time however, charles is more willing to follow erik's ideas after seeing the horrors of genosha upon reading the mind of a mutant who escaped the island, and the two seek to liberate the other mutants left behind. unfortunately, during their mission, a sentinel collapses the building charles and co. are infiltrating, leading to the loss of his legs

hope you had fun reading- i had fun typing up everything and looking back at these issues :] !

[beaulesbian]

so unfair i'm on my third playthrough and only for the first time i see a romance-only option added into a dialogue like this (that wasn't just between rook and their romanced companion)

[cruisingheightswithdragons]

The Vorta were once small, timid, ape-like tree dwellers…

[twisting-in-wonderland]

the presumed problem Lilia vs the Actual problem Jade....

(inedible food vs poisoned food... battle of the ages...

who'd you pick to cook for you,,,?)

[mxwhore]

'listen to my purrs, human' for @jonsimsandcats 2023 - tips