#character: gideon gold

[dinneratgrannys]

ONCE UPON A TIME 6.22, The Final Battle (Part 2)

[suppernerd]

My take on the classic reverse falls au!!

I imagine it as more of a role swap then anything else, this just means they swap roles but still get to keep their original personalities!! Obviously these are slightly or largely affected by the characters environment but the general meat of it stays the same!!

Dipcifica edit ⬇️

[thefishywizard]

My campaign just ended, so now you guys have to see my sopping wet ugly lizard warlock who's patron is his ex-wife.

[konakoro]

This is definitely my favorite runner in book 6

[ifyourereadingthisblinktwice]

me when one character carries a terrible weight on them that they feel the need to hide and bare on their own and they are forced to be with another character who is so terribly devoted to them to the point of destroying themselves to be of service

[femmehysteria]

I'm doing a series of "Best Character Named X" polls where all the characters have the same first name but are from completely different media, feel free to send in name/charcacter suggestions, I'm posting one poll a day, check my pinned post for active polls

[lastflowerofyourhouse]

gideon nav is such A Character. perhaps the most character ever. she's a mama's girl without a mother. she's a loyal knight without anything worth swearing her loyalty to. she's been dreaming of the frontlines since she was nine years old. she plays at being gruff and unconcerned but it's game over the second someone appears even the slightest bit vulnerable. her crush on an evil cougar almost killed her. she has horrible acne. she's the kindest person you'll ever meet and also such a dick. she's a butch lesbian. she's chivalry's stubborn pulse. she's a meatheaded jock filling in last-minute at an international science competition and she could NOT be less concerned about it. the girl who tortured her in a bunker for 17 years asked politely to torture her further one (1) time and she immediately said "yes." that same girl revealed her tragic backstory and gideon's first instinct was to baptize her and give her a little kissy on the forehead. she's the saddest girl in the world. she's a shambling corpse and maybe she has been the whole time. she's an albatross. she's lit up red and gold, a candle in the cold and dark. she's named after her mother's murderer, because everyone simply assumed she was screaming for the baby. she's a walking memento mori. she's never had a salad before. and she is also, i cannot stress this enough, quite literally jesus.

[bittersweet-jack-of-no-trades]

Stanley is an absolute asshole and that's one of my favorite parts about him. Like yeah we can talk about his hidden heart of gold and whatnot, how he subtly shows his care for the kids and for his brother, but, like. He's still an asshole.

He has beef with multiple children! (Gideon and Pacifica, at the very least). And he has a reason--- defending his family--- but it's still beef with children! He regularly scams travelers out large amounts of money! He doesn't pay his employees! He insults people to their face! Even if he's doing it out of projection love, he still gives Dipper the short end of the stick, like, all the time. He opens a potentially world-ending portal just to get back his brother--- that's an asshole thing to do!

And this isn't a critique of Stan at all. But his churlish asshole nature is a beautiful part of him that makes him a really fun character. Being a good character doesn't = being a nice character. I'd even argue him becoming nicer isn't--- shouldn't be--- a requirement for his character development post canon. This is a guy who's yelling at other boaters over the radio. This is a guy who undoes your boat's drain plug 'cause you insulted his brother. Stan's a rude, penny-pinching curmudgeon that his family insists is nice deep down because he is--- to them. He don't give a shit about anyone else!

Let Stan be mean, dammit. He deserves it.

[drenched-in-sunlight]

one thing that i find interesting is that even though we never get to interact with Marika directly, only knowing her via obscure cutscenes and other characters' dialogue... she actually displays a wide range of emotions as much as any other NPCs.

her statues depict her as having a warm, gentle smile:

the Mimic veil description points to her playful, mischievous side:

(it's a popular theory in the JP/Asian side of the fandom that it's sth from her childhood - hence the "Marika's Mischief", not "Queen Marika's", and she used it to escape the grisly fate befalling her family.

additionally, its equivalence in Dark Souls is also something described as "the mischief of a young girl who sought relief from the solitude of the woods at dusk", aka Princess Dusk who hails from "Oolacile, land of ancient golden sorceries", but i digress)

her portrait, the story trailer's "Queen Marika was driven to the brink" and Gideon's dialogue after the player defeated Malenia pointed out her sorrow:

(back when i first played the base game, this is the portrait that drove my eyes most in Roundtable Hold. i kept gazing at her - the Queen with permanently lowered eyes, and thought "there is a girl in there")

The bat lady's song, Messmer's entire Crusade, all those conflicts to establish the Erdtree, shows her anger, and the cruelty she's capable of:

Then there's Shaman's village, the clinic underneath Shadow Keep, the golden braid, the Minor Erdtree, the sealing of Death - that points to grief, trauma, survivor guilt, kindness, and the ruinous drive for revenge that results in the above path down hell:

(there's also a theory for the Crusade's headless statue being a reminder for the Hornsent of what they put Marika's mother through, but it's not concrete canon so here is the link if you want to check it out)

The fact that all of Erdtree's incantations are heal and protection spells (with only one exception of Wrath of Gold spell which was found after the Elden Ring was shattered), the Capitol's Perfumers originally being blessed healers, and that all Erdtree blessings come in the shape of tears give the picture of Marika's gentle wish at the beginning: to heal everything and everyone.

(and to me personally, there's a kind of vulnerability and honesty in showing your tears to the world and let it be your power to heal at the same time.)

the eye she blessed Messmer with (i do think the Eng translation at some part lost the sentiment of the JP text - that the eye is always referred to as a blessing)

the blessing flask that - unlike its Dark Souls equivalent (which ranges from 6-13 flasks), only have 4 available to us player, heal all ailments and status effect, and specified as sth made for Messmer.

the Marika's soreseal in the Haligtree + the waterfall near Godwyn's final resting place

the Regal Omen Bairn (that was fashioned after the Jizo statue - sth made by grieving parents wishing for protection for their deceased child in the afterlife)

the blessing, gifts, equipment that Messmer and Godwyn's personal knights all get

the fact that Marika's bedchamber and the Impaler's Catacomb (which is the only catacomb in the base game to have the spike trap mechanic used in catacombs in the DLC) remain the proof of Messmer's existence in the base game

how Godwyn's ending is the only ending where the mending rune is placed on the position of Marika's womb (the lower arc or the Elden Ring - also referred to as the basin in which its blessings pool)

that's a whole barrage of motherhood. the love, the fear, the postpartum depression, the guilt and anxiety, (the occasional scheming for revenge with her son). and despite how flawed and tragic that love ends up being for all of them, it is there.

(there's a whole subplot about how Messmer is the only demigod to be called ugly in-game (Hornsent npc dialogue) while Boc's questline is about how his mother being the only one to always assure him he's beautiful, despite everyone else calling him ugly. and how each NPCs questline does reflect a wider theme seen in Marika and her children. but again, i digress)

every time i think of her, Marika is a constantly shifting kaleidoscope, holding everything from within (the beauty and the malign, light and dark, birth and death, she's warm and gentle, she's cruel and unjust, she's strong and kind, she's weak and resentful, she's sweet and she's bitterness made flesh)... and i could only stand there and admire it all.

[kazoosandfannypacks]

oh, nifty! I'd seen Malcolm mentioned in one or two of your old posts; nice to see how he fits into everything! a lot of fun stuff going on here!

The Gold Family

Fiona and Malcolm (Gold's parents)

Collette and Maurice (Belle's Parents)

Faybelle (Gold's much younger half sister)

Alisha, & Pauline (Belle's step sisters),

Clarise (Belle's younger sister)

Belle and Rumplestiltskin

Neal / Baelfire Cassidy (Gold's oldest son, the disgrace to the family)

Jane Colette French-Gold (oldest daughter of Rumbelle)

Ginger Brie Gold (Gold's daughter from some one-night stand/hook up)

Malcolm John French-Gold

Patrick Jean French-Gold

Benjamin Florian French-Gold

Melody Piper French-Gold

Isabella "Izzy" Edith French Gold (Twin of Rosabella)

Rosabella "Bella" Anne French-Gold (twin of Isabella)

Gideon Maurice French-Gold (the youngest son)

and I was thinking of adding another lmao.

thank you @hannahhook7744 for the help with giving middle names to all the other offsprings that Gold has who aren't Gideon XD. OH and the help with Belle's younger sister

and here you go @kazoosandfannypacks I hope you enjoy this (I will be making something to go more in depth about the Gold siblings)

[dinneratgrannys]

ONCE UPON A TIME 6.10, Wish You Were Here

[mochirizu]

I made a design sheeeettttt!!!! EDIT: Altered Twig's design slightly so her hair and eyes are more accurate to her original description

Now excuse me while I go through each character and design process:

FROST

I was able to draw his face by looking at Kung Fu Panda's Tigress and Tai Lung

I gave him four fingers because it feels weird to give him five and glasses because Derek has glasses and I wanted to incorporate elements of him into Frost

I also simplified a few elements of his design so it would be easier for me to translate into future drawings consistently(this is the case with most people here)

GRICKO:

His body type was tricky because he's 3'5 but I ended up settling on giving him toned arms and a dad gut (dilf energy)

Gave him more of a shaggy-esque beard/stubble and a 5 o'clock shadow to go with it

Tooth earring because I can

KREMY:

It took ages to draw an alligator face but I think I nailed it

Gold tooth and yassified eyeshadow and lashes, he's a suave mofo

His cane handle has a moustache too. Please appreciate it

GIDEON:

Patches on his trousers and a scar on his nose to show him being roughed up a bit

The cuffs were surprisingly tricky, mainly because I didn't wanna draw all those chains so I just gave him a few(again, simplicity)

I had fun with his boots!!! (his boobs too)

TORBEK:

I felt a bit of pressure with his design because I love him so much and I wanted to accurately convey his wet cat energy

Gave him big sad dark eyes, and simplified the tubing and cannisters. I simplified a LOT of him actually, since he's so much more detailed than the others

Gave him a tail as well, he feels like he'd have a tail

CLEMENTINE

She was also kind of tricky, particularly in the face, but I ended up settling for goat pupils and a gap tooth

Since Clemmie is a satyr now(felt like it would fit her vibe better) I changed a couple of her design elements while keeping the original blueprint

Her hairstyle is two bubble braids, forget me nots in her hair rather than buttercups, wraps on her arms and a toothed belt! Im quite proud of this now :))

TWIG:

Regardless of how I thought her outfit would look, i KNEW she'd have pigtails and a frilly petticoat

The ladybug detail was a last-minute thing, mainly because she already has spots why not give her ladybug wings

In terms of face, I reference Willow from TOH for the eye shape and smile(also gave her heterochromia unintentionally, now Im sticking with it)

[sunderedstar]

good books of 2024

according to meeee.

there is no order here, at least one of these was published ages ago, I'm just working my way through my 2024 timeline, godspeed spiderman. 🫡

Metal from Heaven

surprise hit of 2024. top of the charts. stunning, spectacular. gorgeous. Metal from Heaven FUCKS. almost every single main character is an explicit spicy toxic hot mess of a lesbian committing literal highway/train robbery, the bad guy is literally named Industry, leading to such peak sentences as "I am going to kill Industry." the prose is synesthetic in a way that most writers cannot sustain for a full novel but which here culminates in a moment of pure blissful Neon Genesis Evangelion that I will not elaborate on due to spoilers. the author pulls out the FUNNIEST lines, and also the most abrupt and heartbreaking tragedies. we're not here to be subtle, we're here to put the pedal to the metal until the engine explodes. such a damning, whip smart condemnation of industry, capitalism, power. all in the form of Lesbians. also the phrase 'clown orgy' is mentioned. this shit is like gideon the ninth with CRUNCH. NSFW.

but don't take my word for it. take amal el-mohtar's.

Absolution

Absolution is a hard book. requires thought and rigor at all times to absorb what's going on - and also a reread of the entire trilogy beforehand, because there's time travel nuance involved, which makes it next to impossible to sum up the plot coherently on its own without spoiling things. jeff vandermeer described it partially as 'fuck that alligator from the movie' and - valid. the first 60% had me; the later section...swapped gears drastically, which meant it took a while to hit its stride (aka until it reached Area X again). in hindsight I was just not prepared for one of the POVs to be the Freudian, violently stoned, unreliable narrator love-child of Karkat and Dave Strider whose perception/conception of the heart of the Southern Reach is extremely phallic. and then suddenly cannibalism happens. I liked Annihilation and Acceptance better, but damn. it almost feels like this should be the set up to another trilogy. much 2 think about.

Yield Under Great Persuasion

I don't know why I didn't hear anything about this one before it came out! (instead, I only saw posts about rowland's other book released this year, running close to the wind - which sadly did not hit for me at all). Yield Under Great Persuasion is just ridiculous enough to be fantastic. stubborn little gremlin man, big mad about Pumpkingate years after the original inciting incident that set him at odds with his love interest, attempts to pack his little rucksack and run away from all his self-inflicted gay problems, fails, is forced to deal with said personal problems by direct goddess-intervention. you know it's gonna be good when the guys are hate-banging by page 2. a short, delightful mix of (extremely silly and low-stakes) enemies to lovers and hurt/comfort and working out your emotional and communication issues on page style comfort food. self-indulgent in a fanfic way that is rowland's trademark in a taste of gold and iron (which was also fantastic and probably deserves a reread now.) NSFW.

The Spellshop

between this and yield under great persuasion there's an odd cozy fantasy pairing here. a self-isolated shut-in spellbook librarian who lives for her work escapes the fall of her city and sets up shop back in her old hometown on a severely magic-deprived island. there's some internalized trauma being worked through, against a simply charming backdrop of community and solidarity and magic spells. really. I was. charmed. which is a rare reaction on my part.

The Hunter's Gonna Lay Low

the curveball of the list, The Hunter's Gonna Lay Low is a translated (gay) Korean web novel, and it's the perfect intersection of a decent translator meeting an author who knows what they're doing. notorious tumblr user @spockandawe has a write up of the plot and its major themes here, but in essence it hooked me with its hunter/super-hero meets Pacific Rim setting, its themes of gifted kid burnout and unacknowledged trauma with the weight of the world on his shoulders, and the fact that the author clearly plotted out all of this in advance, with minor details from the opening chapter being extremely plot relevant a hundred chapters later. also, the characters are FUN! the relationship compels me. clownery abounds in all the best ways, while the world-ending stakes are also scarily sky high. its translation is currently incomplete as far as I'm aware, which is literally this story's only downside right now, since you can read it online for free - but so much of the main story is up and translated already that it's hard to imagine how much higher the stakes can go, and I'm dying to know if these two make it through and get the happy ending they deserve. a delicious repast.

Apostles of Mercy

I'm gonna rant here. this is the story of a series that got the redemption arc it deserved.

if you don't know, axiom's end is lindsay ellis's blatant Bayverse Transformers female lead alternate history fic. period. she has openly admitted this. you can easily and clearly pick out the Optimus/Megatron/Starscream expies. and that first book was GOOD. it understood the assignment. loved it.

then...truth of the divine happened. book two of the series. was frankly. god awful. it was like twilight's new moon, where the main character's depression saturates and therefore stagnates the entire narrative, in this case to its detriment. it dragged. the entire appeal of first book of the series is the bond between the main character and her new definitely-not-a-Transformer life partner, and book two managed to both sideline that - the entire point!!! the main thing you're reading it for! the alien time! - and introduce the most skeevy and (for me) unpleasant to read human hetero romance of all time. it was so unpleasant I actually forgot how bad it was.

somehow. somehow. palpatine returned. after I spent three years mourning what could have been. book three saved it. Apostles of Mercy addresses the whole damn skeevy toxic mess that was book two and refocuses on what matters - the alien love interest and a LESBIAN love interest. yes. it's true. once again the sapphics won. we now have a book where the main character is reliving lesbian sex memories as an alien-robot-insect-definitely-not-a-Transformer mindmelds with her so I mean. good job team? her love interest also acquires an alien life partner of her own to expand this into potential alien foursome range? the assignment is once again UNDERSTOOD. in terms of the action scenes, to quote myself while reading it, "I can't believe I'm saying this but you needed to channel far more Bayverse" [for book 2], and doing so for book 3 has produced a work of art. I would say skip book 2 entirely and thank me later, but experiencing how bad the series got at its darkest point is part of what made book 3 such an exhilarating high in comparison. possibly that was the goal all along, impossible to appreciate until now. I just need lindsay ellis to get the contract to write the currently-in-publication-limbo books 4 and 5. because the series deserves it. it only just got good again! NSFWish because I can't remember currently how explicit they got all these months later, forgive me.

The Deep Sky

yume kitasei is new to me, but this book hit some interesting notes as a sci fi debut. it too is about gifted kid burnout and imposter syndrome, funnily enough, in a thoughtful take on the standard sci fi concept of 'a bunch of rigorously trained young adults are sent out into deep space as an ark to save a dying humanity' that actually does discuss how fucked up that is as a concept, both for the kids as they grow up under enormous pressure to win a spot on the mission and for all those people being left behind, in what might just end up being an overhyped waste of resources, since civilization sure is still kicking when they leave. the summary on the book is somewhat misleading - asuka, the main character, doesn't fall under suspicion until wayyyy late in the book, and spends the majority of it in a pseudo-detective role that is absolutely sanctioned by those in charge. she's not 'an immediate suspect' like the book blurb insists. go figure. it didn't knock me out of the park like most of the books above, but it was an engaging little read.

The Bees

a weird one from 2014, picked up on a whim - it's literally about bees! fictionalized bees! with personalities and priesthoods and caste politics and everything! I cried about it to be honest. very plotty, somehow all of it neatly taking place within the Lifecycle of A Bee™️, which takes some real craftsmanship to pull off and make compelling as a narrative. since I'm an unrepentant Raksura fan, I was like 'wow...how Raksura coded...' knowing full well that Raksura are dragon bee people, not the other way around. also the Raksura could never be as toxic (complimentary) as these bees are. 😂 it's just good literature your honor.

honorable mentions:

Heavenly Tyrant

has not come out yet. but let's be real. it's on the list in anticipation. it's what she deserves.

The City in Glass

I love nghi vo's work, have read and adored all of the singing hills cycle novellas. it took a month for my library hold on this book to be available. and then I promptly got distracted by metal from heaven and the hunter's gonna lay low 😂 I will read it!!! the first eight pages were good! vitrine's voice is very good! I've just had a very busy end of the year interrupting my everything. (update: I read two more pages and it immediately and promptly popped off. whoops. guess I'm reading that next. whenever I have free time again...)

[theriverbeyond]

believing in everything (and knowing nothing at all) by @lesbianjesuslovesyou

A series of childhood memories from the Ninth.

I love this fic, it makes me ACHE for baby Gideon, and I love its exploration of Gideon's dynamics with the other characters on the Ninth as she was growing up :') this is the second fic I bound for @renegadeguild's Fanfic Writers Appreciation Day event!

Fandom: The Locked Tomb

Pairing: Aiglamene & Gideon, Gideon & Crux, Gideon & Harrow

Title font: Supernova

Body font: Garamond

Pages: 200

Size: Quarto letter

Case: Pleather book cloth (Generic amazon brand) with sword shaped cut out and hand-embossed gold foil

Endpapers: Skull Natural Copper by HimalDesign

progress pics and ramblings below the cut!

I was SO excited to try a cutout cover for this, and think the endpapers I picked were perfect for it. The Pleather "bookcloth" I used was a bit thick, and that in combination with the shape of the cut out made for some very goofy progress pics. I ended up gluing scrap paper to the tiny flaps, because they were SO at parts.

Also, there were definitely several places that were like... exposed chipboard/paper, so I used a marker to color it in to hide those issues and it worked great

I initially formatted the cover incorrectly and my printer was out of commission at the time so I couldn't re-print it, so I just cut it up to frankenstien it into what I needed! I'm REALLY happy with how the sword cutout ended up lining up with the skull -- you can see in the above photos that they aren't identical, and this is because I did not think about this at all when cutting and gluing the endpaper in. OOPS!! anyway HOORAY luck was looking out for me bc it ended up looking great anyway!

The color of the cover was honestly hard to photograph but I love how it turned out and how it looked IRL. YAYY

[kazoosandfannypacks]

don't worry, folks. just found an absolutely breathtaking couples picrew because even though these characters never interacted in canon, they deserve to kiss. as a treat. to me. the fact that the creator chose to use such a detailed style while still giving a wide variety of options for things is absolutely mind-blowing.

I now present you one (1) hope swan jones and gideon gold

[tarivin]

♧Beauregard (Bo) Coal-Lecroux♧

Son of Gideon Coal and Kremy Lecroux

This little firecracker is half fire genasi half alligator folk all TROUBLE.

Appearance: Bo is a red alligator. As a kid he ran around in some perpetually dirty overalls. As an adult he dresses as a Ringmaster in red, black, and white. He wears a black top hat with two cards stuck in the band. A playing card, the Ace of clubs for his Pa (Gideon) and the tarot card of death for his Mama (Kremy). His weapon of choice is a whip that (he can light on fire if need be) he keeps it coiled on his hip. His clothing is singed and burned through in place and the tails if his coat badly frayed from adventure. He has a few old scars and a gold tooth that protrudes over his right lip.

Abilities: Bo is a bard! When he cast inspiration on others he does so as if introducing an act to the center-ring. He has the natural abilities of any lizardfolk, and his father's fire. When enraged the scoots along his back alight and he looks something like a burning stegosaurus.

Backstory: Bo is not entirely clear on how he was born to two males. Mama Kremy mentioned something about a fertility talisman and Bo being the "Baron's gift" but he's never asked more. He knows he hatched from an egg and he knows he's loved very much but his parents and his BONUS DADS (Gricko, Frost, and Torbek) and his big sister Hootsie.

Bo took over the carnival when Gideon and Kremy retired. He is always seeking new talent to exploit employ!

Bo belongs to myself and @ladadee195 as our RP baby turned into my D&D character. Art by @teethlordd