#china's warrior queen

[watchinglily]

My favorite Chinese movies!

China's Warrior Queen - Fu Hao

Portraying the (probably) first warrior queen in China, this movie tries its best to cover the facts that can be inferred through the clues found in archaeological sites in China that seems to be from the Shang Dynasty.

It's a lot like a documentary. But it tries to portray her life from beginning to end and does its best to stay accurate.

AND I LOVE IT!

[nickysfacts]

The feminine urge to crush sexist men who ruined your life with a war elephant!⚔️

🐘🇻🇳🐘

[monty-glasses-roxy]

I had a funny silly thing to say about something I found in past Discord conversations about some stuff I've been doing here but nah fuck that

Guess which FNaF author has apparently been tormenting me with frustrating plots, a love for wasted screen time and a lack of details needed to tell the fucking story, since Felix the Shark.

[book--brackets]

Temeraire by Naomi Novik (2006-2016)

DESCRIPTION

Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors ride mighty fighting dragons, bred for size or speed. When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes the precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Captain Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future – and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire. 

 Capt. Will Laurence is serving with honor in the British Navy when his ship captures a French frigate harboring most a unusual cargo–an incalculably valuable dragon egg. When the egg hatches, Laurence unexpectedly becomes the master of the young dragon Temeraire and finds himself on an extraordinary journey that will shatter his orderly, respectable life and alter the course of his nation’s history.

 Thrust into England’s Aerial Corps, Laurence and Temeraire undergo rigorous training while staving off French forces intent on breaching British soil. But the pair has more than France to contend with when China learns that an imperial dragon intended for Napoleon–Temeraire himself– has fallen into British hands. The emperor summons the new pilot and his dragon to the Far East, a long voyage fraught with peril and intrigue. From England’s shores to China’s palaces, from the Silk Road’s outer limits to the embattled borders of Prussia and Poland, Laurence and Temeraire must defend their partnership and their country from powerful adversaries around the globe. But can they succeed against the massed forces of Bonaparte’s implacable army?

Wayside School by Louis Sachar (1978-2020)

There was a terrible mistake. Wayside School was supposed to have been built with thirty classrooms all next to each other in a row. Instead, it was built with the thirty classrooms all on top of each other - thirty stories high! That may be why all kinds of strange stuff happens at Wayside School. Especially, on the thirteenth floor. It is a school full of unusual characters too. Mrs Gorf the meanest teacher in the world. Terrible Todd who always gets sent home early. John who can only read upside down.

Modern Faerie Tales by Holly Black (2002-2007)

Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she drifts from place to place with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces them back to Kaye's childhood home. But Kaye's life takes another turn when she stumbles upon an injured faerie knight in the woods. Kaye has always been able to see faeries where others could not, and she chooses to save the strange young man instead of leaving him to die. 

But this fateful choice will have more dire consequences than she could ever predict, as Kaye soon finds herself the unwilling pawn in an ancient and violent power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms--a struggle that could very well mean her death.

The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist (1982-1986)

My name is Pug. I was once an orphaned kitchen boy, with no family and no prospects, but I am destined to become a master magician...

War is coming to the Kingdom of the Isles from another world, bringing with it chaos and destruction. Pug yearns to train as a warrior and fight for his kingdom alongside his foster-brother, Tomas, but instead he is forced to follow a different path: a path that will lead him right into the heart of the enemy. And one that will change the course of the war - and two worlds - forever.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (2009-2011)

It is the cusp of World War I, and all the European powers are arming up. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet. 

 Aleksandar Ferdinand, prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battle-torn Stormwalker and a loyal crew of men. 

 Deryn Sharp is a commoner, a girl disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered. 

 With the Great War brewing, Alek's and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way...taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure. One that will change both their lives forever.

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede (1985-1993)

Cimorene is everything a princess is not supposed to be: headstrong, tomboyish, smart - and bored. So bored that she runs away to live with a dragon - and finds the family and excitement she's been looking for.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (2020-present)

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

In an attempt to prove himself a true brujo and gain his family’s acceptance, Yadriel decides to summon his cousin’s ghost and help him cross to the afterlife.

But things get complicated when he accidentally summons the ghost of his high school’s resident bad boy, Julian Diaz – and Julian won't go into death quietly.

The two boys must work together if Yadriel is to move forward with his plan.

But the more time Yadriel and Julian spend together, the harder it is to let each other go.

The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi (2003-2004)

After finding a mysterious, handmade field guide in the attic of the ramshackle old mansion they've just moved into, Jared; his twin brother, Simon; and their older sister, Mallory, discover that there's a magical and maybe dangerous world existing parallel to our own--the world of faerie. 

The Grace children want to share their story, but the faeries will do everything possible to stop them...

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (2012-2015)

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs, the captain of the Queen's Guard. While they begin to uncover a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect the secret behind her musical gift--a secret so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

The Queen's Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (1996-2022)

Gen can steal anything—at least that's the boast he's made in wineshops across the capital city, and this bragging has landed him in the king's prison. His chances of escape look slim—even for someone of his talents. When he is invited to join a quest to steal an object straight out of a legend, he's hardly in a position to refuse.

[mamayura]

Official episode names of season 6 + my speculations based on their names:

Climatiqueen: seems self-explanatory. Hopefully Aurore gets to finally matter again. Would be fitting that the akuma that started it all gets to ring in the new story arc

Dessinatriste: Dessinateur means designer or illustrator, and Dessinatrice is the female form. So I think it's more likely a female character.

Sublimation: is the process of anything solid turning into gas without first becoming liquid. I've got no clue in this one. Btw, I checked, and no, Sublimation is not the name of one of the season 5 episodes.

Daddycop: Maybe a reference to Robocop? Possibly a Sabrina episode.

Papys Garous: loups-garous are werewolves in French. So probably a continuation of season 3's Papa Garou (Weredad) with Ronald instead because Papi is French for Grandpa (and Papa is Dad)

Princesse Syren: First instinct is going with a continuation of season 2's Syren, so an Odine and Kim episode.

El Toro De Piedra: El Toro is Spanish for "The Bull" and Piedra is "Stone", so The Bull of Stone / The Stone Bull. Definitely a Spanish character.

Vampigami: Im pretty sure there is no other French word "Vampi" could be referring to besides vampires. But I wouldn't necessarily say it refers to Kagami. We thought the same about Optigami, too, and the it referred to origami. Who knows, maybe it's also the word "Pig" and "ami" (French for friend) we were supposed to pick up on? Maybe something with Rose? Her French hero name is Pigella too?

Monsieur Agreste: probably a continuation from "Gabriel Agreste" and lively further backstory.

Le Château Noir: considering that Monsieur Agreste and Le Château Noir are episodes 9 and 10, and therefore an episode pair, it's possible that the Noir part is referring to Adrichat. But in French Darkblade was named Le Chevalier Noir and Dark Owl is named Le Hibou Noir. So the new episode being names The black/dark Castle doesn't need to necessarily refer to Adrichat.

Revelator: im gonna go with continuation of Cerise's season 5 episode "Revelation"

Psyconductrice: Psyco likely has the same meaning as it had with Psycomedian. Conductrice seems to be some kind of female driver of a transportation machine.

Yaksi Gozen: Definitely a Tomoe episode. Her first form was Ikari Gozen and then Ikari Dozen. Though I'm not sure what exactly Yaksi is supposed to refer to. Gozen means Lady as far as I know. Tomoe's name is a reference to a Japanese legend of a female warrior named Tomoe Gozen (Lady Tomoe). Ikari means rage. But all I kind find for Yaksi is a Buddhist goddess. Not unlikely since the Miraculous are supposed to be from China, but maybe I'm just missing something here?

Couchorak: not gonna lie, I'm lost on this one.

La Redresseuse: hmmm. Le redresseur is "rectifier" in French. So something with electricity and its definitely a female character.

Noe: I've got no idea.

La Fée De Beaux Rêves: The fairy of beautiful dreams. Maybe we get some backstory on Marinette's Knitting Fairy childhood dream? Or something else connecting to the childhood dream theme going on?

Les Cassetastrophes: Cassettes now mostly are connected to video tapes, right? And the name uses plural for whoever those catastrophes are. Maybe backstory on André's movie with Emilie and Tomoe? Cause in season 4, we saw that Tomoe was apparently of it too when she was younger and she looked exactly like Kagami

Riginarazione: hmm. I think another episode diving into Cerise's character. Razione is a (food) portion, and Rigi is a famous mountain in Switzerland that's called the Queen of mountains. In Italien, Queen in regina. Combining Rigi and Regina you get Rigina and then you add razione. Cause Lila was Cerise's Italien identity and I'm pretty sure that in the story board version of the season 5 Cerise in the end applied for school in an identity from Switzerland.

Renverse-cœurs: I think here renverse (NOT reverse) means something like fallen? So fallen hearts? Love square, you good?

Les Titans Chaînes: the titan chains? That sounds ominous

Lady Chaos: let's prey we'll finally get a fucking Ladybug akuma. Still think they wasted the name Miracle Queen, but Lady Chaos would fit well too.

Tristanansi: probably Alya's big sister being reakumatized into Anansi, and of course the Triste part meaning sad. So Alya episode.

La Reine de Frayeurville: The Queen of + ville means town/ city and frayeur means fright (and similar words). So the Queen of Frighttown? A Halloween episode?

Protocole Secret: im pretty sure that's self-explanatory.

And, Nemesis: not just a word for someone's arch-enemy, but also the name of the Greek Goddess of Retribution.

[shiny-jr]

I know you probably don't want to talk about this anymore, but I'm still really curious. Genshin Natlan characters have been revealed, and I want to know your opinion

Taking a long sigh. The fact that you seem hesitant to ask this means you probably have an idea of what my response would be like. Just so I don't have to end up making multiple posts about this topic, I'm gonna try to include everything here. If I forget something and someone asks later, I might be willing to address it.

So, heads up. This is a long rant. Shiny rants. Disclaimer, I am Mexican-American, so I believe I have some say on some of the cultures involved in this fiasco. Some of them, not all. That being said, I'll try to handle the others with as much respect as possible, but forgive me if I make a mistake somewhere.

I stopped playing genshin when Sumeru was announced. Despite me not having any affiliation with the cultures represented by Sumeru, I remember being livid as some of y'all might recall. So, let's start off with:

THE AMALGAMATION OF CULTURES. This meaning how very weird it is that somehow the european/east asian cultures get their own distinct nation dedicated to one sole peoples while brown/black cultures get meshed into one unrecognizable figure. Mondstadt is based off Germany, Liyue is based off China, Inazuma is based off Japan, Fontaine is based off France. On the other hand, Sumeru is a mix of south asia, the middle east, and north africa while Natlan takes that a step further by involving Incan, Mayan, Maori, Yoruban, and Hopi cultures (of what we know so far).

Why are all these other nations so carefully crafted and picked, but it feels as if for Natlan and Sumeru, the developers put up a map and grabbed some darts, then decided to use whatever culture wherever a handful of darts landed on the board? In the way they're handling it, it feels like these cultures are nothing but an accessory to them. An excuse to make these "exotic" looking characters, but not even make them properly due to the horrible designs and lack of melanin (these are two topics I will come back to).

It feels like they got lazy, and/or they clearly don't care enough to do in depth research properly as they might've done with past nations. The best example I've seen of this is Yunjin and Ororon. Yunjin is a beautiful example of a character done right and respectfully, as she is meant to be a Chinese opera singer. They even went so far as to hire an actual Chinese opera singer for a song she performs in-game. However, Ororon takes the name of "Olorun" which is a Yoruban deity, but when you look at this character's design, there is nothing that would even hint towards the fact that he's meant to be African.

This brings me to the second part, CULTURE AS COSTUMES. As mentioned previously, nothing about this Ororon character portrays the fact that he's meant to be African. NOTHING. If you do not know what he looks like, the character named after a Yoruban god is quite literally just a pale anime boy in edgy clothing and has some type of dog/cat/animal ears. I am not joking. That is what he looks like. If you don't believe me, look it up.

Do you know what the saddest part about all this is? It's the fact that I guarantee you, sometime in the future when Ororon appears in-game, gets his own quest, then his own banner, all that jazz, the chances of images of him appearing when you look up Olorun are high. In fact, when Sumeru was announced, I vividly remember doing research on the characters there were announced, such as Al-Haitham. When you looked up the name Al-Haitham then, google showed an Islamic astronomer. However, if you look up the name now, you immediately get builds and character guides and art of genshin's Al-Haitham, which is horrible when you really think about it. Because the same thing happened to Dehya (a Berber warrior queen), and it's about to happen to Kachina (Hopi spirits), Kinich (Mayan Sun God), Mualani (a princess of Hawaii), etc.

When you look at these characters, Natlan and Sumeru included, most of their designs don't even look as if they're portraying a culture. For now, I'll focus on Natlan.

Kinich is supposed to be Mayan, however, nothing about his design is giving Latino or indigenous Mayan. As a Mexican, I should be able to look at him and say, 'hey, he looks kinda like me or my cousins! Oh, I recognize those patterns, or that type of footwear/shirt/pants/headwear.' SOMETHING to that degree, but if you had shown me him and I didn't know, I would have never guessed.

Another infuriating design is Murata, the pyro archon. Tell me why does she look like a futuristic biker girl instead of a Maori/Polynesian warrior? The level of disrespect, ESPECIALLY because according to what I've gathered, her name is based off an actual entity/deity.

Time to point out the obvious, and I'm gonna say it but WHY ARE THEY WHITE? Yes, I know the argument about how not everyone from latino/arab cultures is brown, I know. But not everyone is white either, so please, get over it. If the entirety of Fontaine can be white because they're French, by that same logic, wouldn't it makes sense to make the entirety of Natlan brown/black because they're indigenous/african?

It lies well within hoyo's abilities to include colored characters. They have millions of dollars and they say they want a global audience, they just don't do it because there is major colorism there. Saying "but they're a Chinese company!" is no excuse either, because then that would be automatically classifying them as ignorant of anything outside of China when they clearly are not if they utilize strong elements of hip-hop and jazz (both with origins in African American communities) in their other games, want to pick these cultures like accessories on a shelf, and make brown/black npc enemies with locs and other poc features. I won't immediately jump to blaming the designers either, because it's probably that they have tried presenting ideas that do actually cater to the wider audience and poc people, but they were most likely turned down by higher-ups.

Anyways, I've been typing this for a while now and my mind is blanking. I'm sure I had more to say but I currently cannot remember it. I'm glad people are FINALLY speaking out against this, it's about time and actually late because the outrage around this should've happened back in Sumeru but better late than never.

If you don't agree with me or my takes on this, don't even bother trying to look for a response because I'm not gonna argue about this. That's about it for now though.

[running-with-the-feels]

When I was making that post about the masks the Shirai Ryu wear I did also discover something

One of Kuai Liang's skins in mk11 is called "Lin Kuei Prince"

And now I have a headcanon that before cryomancers were banished from Edenia (Who I hc conquered the cryomancer's realm in mortal kombat), the line that eventually lead to Kuai Liang and Bi-Han was the Royal line, which is why the Sub-Zero mantle is so important in the Lin Kuei even though the reason why has been lost

Bc it's weird that in canon the clan based in China with primarily Chinese members, has their most important warrior named in English. Add that to my hc that Tundra is the mantle given to the heir of the Sub-Zero mantle and the current Sub-Zero's apprentice, what if the words were not originally English at all, but bastardizations of the word for king/queen and prince/princess in the cryomancer language, which got conflated with the English terms after the clan started doing a lot of business and missions in the west.

So basically I now hc that Bi-Han and Kuai Liang are royalty but do not know this for Years

[tranquilskies2]

Tai Lung as the White Tiger of the West

The White Tiger (also known as "Baihu" or: "白虎") is one of the five celestial guardians. She represents the cardinal direction of the west, autumn season and the element of metal from the five elements. As the queen of animals, she symbolizes protection and justice. One of her most famous legends is that whenever a tiger turns 500 years old, they gain white fur. Another famous legend is that the White Tiger will only appear when an emperor rules with absolute virtue and prosperity in the world.

One of the White Tiger's most extraordinary abilities is the ability to shapeshift. Legends say that she was granted this power by the Yellow Dragon. However, she usually prefers to remain in her default beast form. She is well-known for incredible physical strength, stamina & durability. In some legends, the White Tiger can control the wind.

Symbolizing the military, bravery and power, the White Tiger is typically shown in ancient army flags, banners and seals. Thus, she's strongly associated with China's military force and the protector of soldiers, warriors and generals. Some famous Chinese war generals are believed to be reincarnations of the White Tiger. She gains the most popularity during the Han dynasty. She appears in ancient city gates and tomb doors to ward off evil spirits. Her star appears in the novel "Tales of the Tang Dynasty" as a reincarnation of one of the major characters.

One of the main features the White Tiger and Tai Lung share is powerful physical strength. These two felines are both known to be one man armies who can take down hundreds all on their own. They also both have strong association with warriors and battles. Tai Lung's dedication to hard work can be tied similarly to the legend of tigers turning white when they turn 500 years old. One notable visual similarity they both share is the depiction of blue flames. Blue fires are known to be hotter than red fires.

One big difference between the White Tiger and Tai Lung is the usage of strength and power. The White Tiger strives to use her power to repel evil spirits and protect the innocent. Tai Lung uses his power purely for his own goals no matter the cost. The White Tiger understands the responsibility that comes with her goals while Tai Lung went on a rampage as a response to rejection.

As a celestial guardian, Tai Lung interacts with mortals the least out of others. Thus, he's regarded as the most aloof and mysterious since there isn't a whole lot written about him compared to the others. His appearances are so elusive, there is a legend where he'll be seen only when the emperor brings peace to the entire world. He mainly favors solitary time and is mostly focused on training. Sometimes, he'll meditate. On a rare occasion where he does interact with a mortal, it'll be a commander or general who highly worships him and is in need of army morale. Although Tai Lung's rare appearances are typically regarded as good luck, many mortals who have claimed to have seen seen him described him as:"scary", "terrifying" and "frightening".

-Relationships with the other celestial guardians-

Po, the Yellow Dragon of the Center:"He's the most powerful out of all of us. I have to admit, I once was extremely jealous of Po for being more powerful than me. However, he's the glue keeping us all together, so I eventually came to respect him. Besides that, I find it nice with how laid-back he is and admittedly, he's amusing whenever he's excited about something. Sometimes, we spar with each other. Although he wins most of the time, I still respect him. We occasionally hang out together at restaurants and bars. We even exchange jokes between each other. Overall, he's an admirable, wise close friend who is worthy as the center of the universe."

Chameleon, the Azure Dragon of the East:"That blue lizard is fun to tease sometimes. She can be pretty funny whenever she's mad. A long time ago, I sometimes challenged her for the position of leadership. However, she won fair and square each time and I find her skills and abilities to be commendable. She also highly admires my power and strength, which I do appreciate her for. We also sometimes spar together or use the hot springs together. Although I'm not a big fan of tea, I enjoy the taste of the black tea she makes."

Kai, the Black Tortoise of the North:"Ah, a quick-witted, clever war tactician in the battle field and in games. I'm always keen on his stories of his times on battlefields. He's a great guy who can easily make me laugh. We spar and have drinking contests together. One of our favorite things to do together is playing xiangqi together. His house is surrounded by rivers and lakes. I can't help but feel relaxed whenever I go to his house."

Shen, the Vermilion Bird of the South:"We don't usually hang out together alone. That pretty bird of flames can be a bit stuck up and vain sometimes. He'll say he's 'filthy' because a drop of tea stained one of his hundreds of robes. However, he does create spectacular firework displays, I'll give him that. It's nice that we can both agree on something sometimes."

<<Shen as the Vermilion Bird | Po as the Yellow Dragon of the Center>>

-Sources-

https://tiger-universe.com/blogs/tiger-blog/why-the-tiger-is-so-popular-in-japan?srsltid=AfmBOoruhO-ILcQQEdbaUTZ69je-FgWMm5Do1P38uNLfmbM71Y8UCcz4

https://english.visitbeijing.com.cn/article/47ONIK3WHho

https://www.chinafetching.com/mythology-in-china

https://thoth-adan.com/blog/five-heavenly-beasts

https://mythlok.com/the-mystic-quartet-the-four-symbols-of-china/

http://en.chinaculture.org/focus/focus/2010spring/2010-01/26/content_367602.htm

[huanlong-yichen]

Huan's Character Sheet

Name: Huanlong Yichen

Alias(es): Youngest of the Tianlong

Nicknames: Huan, Huanlong, youngest, Your Dragoness, youngling, baby dragon, runaway, beloved, my love, smarty pant, big brother Huan, child, sheltered child of the Tianlong, little coward, monster, eerie child, anomaly. 

Species: half-Tianlong, half-human; (immortal) 

Gender: Male

Pronoun: They/Them

Relationship: married Complicated

Family: Hao Yichen (father), Wei Yichen (Older brother), Qiang Yichen (2nd Older brother).

Place of Birth: Celestial Realm.

Home(s): Megapolis, The Tianlong Palace (at times).

Occupation: Employee at Morning Dew, youngest of the Tianlong, college student (formerly), traveler (formerly), Special Guest of The Dragon of the East (formerly).

Affiliation(s): Monkie Kids, Demon Bull Family (at times), The Yichen Family (at times), Celestial Court (at times).

Friends/Allies: Nezha, The Yichen Family, MK, Mei, Pigsy, Tang, Sandy, Monkey King (at times), Macaque (at times), Demon Bull Family (at times), Celestial Court (at times), Celestial Warriors (at times), Azure Lion (past), Li Jing (at times).

Enemies: Spider Queen, Gold and Silver Demons (at times), Not the Mayor, Lady Bone Demon, The Brotherhood, Ink Demons, Nine-Headed Demon (Xiangliu).

Likes: The Monkie Kids gang, seafood, fruits, milk tea, sweets, cutesy stuff, soft stuff, stationery, learning about everything, observing (being creepy).

Dislikes: Celestial realm, the past, his reflection, dream.

Abilities: healing, foresight, dracokinesis, dragon aura, shapeshifting, hydrokinesis, aerokinesis, empathy, eyes of truth. 

Weapon(s): TBA

Alignment: Neutral good

Status: Alive (???)

Warning: self hatred.

Personality: 

Huan is soft-spoken and very attentive to people and their surroundings, always having a smile on their face; tend to stare quietly because of this. They sew everyone's clothes back up whenever the gang trains or fights demons, and also the ones that bring first aid kits and foods that are not just noodles; basically the mom/older siblings of the team. Huan is an animal lover who has a hobby of sewing, embroidery, collecting cutesy stuff, buying large amounts of stationery that will last them a lifetime, writing letters that will never be sent, and gniklat ot na nwonknu ytied nehw gnipeels. They occasionally enjoy some alone time since MK and Mei have a lot of energy. Huan has a weird aversion to meat that slowly goes away as the season progresses, odd. Also, Huan will avoid any and every possible type of reflective surface, except bodies of water. Have a habit of turning a blind eye to small problems or thinking it as a coincidence that, somehow later, turns into a bigger problem. Huan isn’t a pushover, just a people pleaser; this toxic trait has improved greatly. Despite their look, they don't cry that often. They also don’t hold grudges, almost dying once taught them that. An anxiety-ridden halfling who is very close to throwing themself off a cliff, book smart not street smart. They will wear short sleeves and no jacket when it is freezing outside, and not catch a cold from it. Will only goes back to the celestial when it is absolutely necessary, like the New Year banquet, or when Yichen Hao tries to flood all of China just because he misses Huan. They hate themself so much that they want to die, the hate burns so much that they can't even look at themself in the mirror. During Azule Lion's recent attack on the celestial realm, they didn’t care about anything but their friends. When the Jade Emperor was defeated and the sky started to crack, there was an unreadable expression on their face. 

Backstory:

Before meeting the gang and going to the mortal realm, Huan had always looked rather tired and desolate. Huan was outcasted by the celestial beings, they viewed Huan like how they view mortals, as lesser than them. Many treated Huan as if they didn’t exist, while others mentally abused them. The problem was, that Huan took all of the celestial beings' malice like they deserved it. Huan knew that no matter how they acted the celestial beings won’t change their opinion of them, yet Huan still endured it. The celestial who liked Huan said they were too nice or that they were a fool to put up with all of this. Maybe Huan was a too nice or maybe they were a fool, but then Huan snapped. Huan endures the constant malicious from the celestial beings, and they endure Azure Lion's betrayal, but when their marriage with Nezha start to crumble; they couldn't take is anymore. So they ran, where who knows they needed a haven where no one could find them. Noitarepsed si tahw eht nomed deef no. Eht sdoG thgim evah nekasrof meht tub ton sight ytied. 100 years later, Huan was in an incident where another celestial was brutally injured, which resulted in them being punished with one hundred years of house arrest. It was lessened to fifty years by the Jade Emperor.

As a child, they were raised the same way as their older sibling but a bit more sheltered, somehow their personalities came out off; quiet and always fidgety. They were quiet and always looked terrified; the celestial beings thought Huan was an eerie child. After almost dying, they started talking. Unbeknown to most of the celestial, Haun as the ability empathy. Growing up with empathy, they mostly saw gray hazy mist around everyone in the celestial realm, later as they were able to distinguish the emotions the mist starts to change colors. Empathy basically shows what Huan already knew, the celestial beings' malice and displeasement of Huan. The celestials couldn’t do anything since the Jade Emperor had no grievances about the child. During their childhood, Huan was sheltered from the harshness that is the celestial realm, and forbidden to go to the Jade Palace without their father or older brothers; Huan had nothing to do except look down at the mortal realm.

As a child, the only place they would frequently visit was the Dragon of the East Palace. There they made friend with Ao Guang's niece, Longnu, who is currently in the care of Ao Quang. The Tianlong siblings are more or less acquainted with the Dragon of the East dragon; Yichen Hao and Ao Guang don’t particularly like each other but they don’t hate each other either. This relationship was enough to make Ao Guang put his pride aside and ask the Tianlong for help when Ao Bing was defeated by Nezha, Ao Guang pleaded to Yichen Hao to help heal his son Ao Bing, who was bedridden and dying. Longnu was in tears next to Huan, who got closer to Ao Bing. The next thing they knew, a big light appeared. It emits a large amount of dragonic energy large enough to give Yichen Hao and Ao Guang chill, after the light disappeared; Huan was lying on the floor dying. Chaos erupted, Yichen Wei flew quickly in his dragon form to the heave while Yichen Qiang flew to the underworld. Yichen Hao had his Huan in his arm, trying to seal up the dragonic energy that was still emitting from Huan body. After this incident, the Dragon of the East Sea is greatly indebted to the Tianlong dragon and Huan was bedridden for 2 years. Egairram slasoporp erew tnes rof nauH dnah ni egairram. Cracks appear on Huan body and turn into scars, without dragon abilities the celestials now can deem Huan as weak and flawed.

Before becoming an adult, Huan's only activities were embroideries, reading, napping, and his favorite; looking down from heaven at the mortal realm. Huan grew an immunity to blood and gore because of their activity of looking at the mortal realm which was usually, watching the mortals goes to wars with one another. As Huan got older, they was taken to more celestial banquets. This was Yichen Hao's way of easing his child into the celestial courts. However, Huan never makes it more than 30 minutes at the banquets before taking a plate full of food and going elsewhere to eat. It was hard to enjoy the food when a large amount of eyes were on them throughout the banquet. During one of the banquets, they happened to meet Nezha by one of the ponds that occupied the surrounding of the Jade Palace. Nezha holding his spear and looking in the distance. He didn’t seem to want to talk, a good thing; Huan didn’t want to talk either. They did, however, decide to sit just a few feet away from Nezha and also look into the distance of the pond. Huan put their plate in the middle between them and Nezha, taking a piece of moon cake off the plate and eating it. The plate shared between the two was empty by the time Yichen Hao went to collect Huan; something had bloomed that night.

Congratulations on making it down here! This is mostly summarized and less trauma-inducing of Huan personalities and their backstory. The artwork for it will be much more angst-filled. Since you made it down here, let me give you a hint. Look more closely at the bolded crossed-out words; they are significant in a lot of ways.

[dangermousie]

List of completed cdramas I plan to watch/rewatch

I’ve seen a lot of them in whole or in part (tho most so long ago it’s like starting from scratch, also I am terrible at finishing) but I haven’t a bunch, either.

Here is what you might see in this tumblr (it will take me probably two years to get through all of this tbh, also I am sure I am forgetting stuff)

The Advisors Alliance both seasons

As Flowers Fly and Fade Across the Sky

Beauty’s Rival in the Palace

Bichunmu

Big Shot/Da Ren Wu

Bu Bu Jing Xin

Chinese Paladin 1, 3, 5

Cuo Dian Yuan Yang

The Dream of Chang’an

Dugu (both dramas)

Empress of China (I have uncut version with Russian subs)

Gong 1-3 seasons

Female Prime Minister

The Firmament of the Pleiades

The Four

Four Women Conflict

General and I

Glamorous Imperial Concubine

God of War Zhao Yun

The Great Ambition

The Great Shaolin

Handsome Siblings 2005

Ice Fantasy

The Imperial Doctress

The Investiture of the Gods

The King’s Woman

The Lady and the Liar

Lan Ling Wang

The Legend and the Hero

Legend of Banshu

Legend of Condor Heroes 2008

Legend of Fuyao

Legend of Heavenly Tear

The Legend of the Military Seal

Legend of Mulan

The Legend of Qin

Listening Snow Tower

Little Fairy

Longest Day in Chang’an

Lost Love in Times

Love and Destiny

Love and Fight with the Terracotta Warrior

Love Better than Immortality

Love and Redemption

Novoland Eagle Flag

Novoland Tribes and Empires

Orphan of Zhao

Patriot Yue Fei

The Promise

The Promise of Chang’an

Qin Dynasty

Rebel Princess

Red Dust

Return of the Condor Heroes 2006

The Rise of Phoenixes

Rouge Snow

Siege in Fog

Singing All Along

Secret of the Three Kingoms

The Shanghai Bund

Song of the Clouds

Sound of the Desert

Song of Glory

Starry Night Starry Sea (period season)

The Story of Han Dynasty

The Story of Minglan

Three Kingdoms 2010

Too Late to Say I Love You

Under the Power

Untouchable Lovers

Vigilantes in Masks

The Virtuous Queen of Han

Wu Xin

Xuan Yuan Sword

Young Blood

The Young Warriors

Zu Legend

Man, I have enough to cover me until inevitable WW3 starts and we all have to depart for our bunkers.

[darkwingphoenix]

@loominggaia, Civ VI Ideas

So, I play Civilization VI, a 4X game. I don't wanna go too deep into the game, but people can Google stuff, right? We have TECHNOLOGY

And, with the new Kingdom Lore pulling up, I was thinking about making hypothetical Civ Vi abilities for the Kingdoms and their leaders. There's also a Sui Generis mod that makes civilizations parts of ethnic groups with abilities for those too.

Evangeline: Harvest Kingdom

Farms gain +1 production for every 2 adjacent Farms. This is boosted to +1 for each adjacent Farm by Feudalism, and gain an additional +1 food for each adjacent Farm. You can build Farms on Hills once you unlock Feudalism.

Farms are a common improvement in Civ Vi, so why not boost Farms to an insane level? This ability is very similar to the Incan ability, but modified to work like an early game Feudalism with Production.

Queen Indiga: House of Humanity

A Holy Site adjacency bonus grants Culture in addition to Faith. All Encampments gain +1 Gold and Production from all adjacent Farms, and grant major adjacency to Holy Sites. Finishing Encampments and Encampment districts grants a free melee unit with no maintenance cost.

This ability is very similar to parts of Byzantium's two leaders: Theodora and Basil II. The Holy Site adjacency to Farms merges well with the Evangeline's ability to make Farms, and the Encampment part is based off of Byzantium's unique District, the Hippodrome, but modified for Encampments.

Unique Unit: Kelvingyard Slaver

Unique Unit that replaces the Man-at-Arms and is unlocked at Feudalism. Stronger unit than the unit it replaces, and cheaper . -10 Strength when fighting outside of your borders, +5 when fighting against a unit from another Religion. Has a chance to capture enemy military units as Builders.

The Kelvingyard Slaver is replacing the Man-at-Arms as Evangeline's Medieval melee unit, and I fused several other Melee units for it: The Eagle Warrior of the Aztecs (The capture units for Builders part), the Spanish Conquistadors for the boost to Strength when fighting a unit from another Religion. I also put a major nerf when fighting outside of Evangeline's borders, putting a higher emphasis on staying within your borders, as a reference to how they don't really act openly outside of Evangeline. It also helps a lot if you get attacked/invaded, as they'd be super OP the entire time and even help your economy by getting you a couple Builders from it.

Unique Building: Slave Auction

Unique Building that replaces the Market, and is cheaper to build. +1 Trade Route, and +2 Production and +2 Gold if this city has an Encampment, and +2 Faith and +2 Culture if this city has a Holy Site.

The Slave Auction really isn't much, just a slave auction.

Evangeline Overall Strategy

As it may be clear to see, Evangeline's ability, as well as Indiga's, makes for a powerful farming empire, turning every available tile into Farms, while having a powerful homeland defense. Farms give Production, and Encampments and the Slave Auction do as well, and combined they're designed to basically remove Industrial Zones from the equation, as enough Farms with an Encampment and Market will do well.

The lack of any way to boost Science using Abilities isn't a bug, it's a feature: Evangeline is notably low tech, so having no Science Boost works out.

I can also see Cobalt, Cerulea, or even Azura as potential alternate Leaders (Azura can work as two leader have had two nations, and one married into another: Eleanor of Aquitaine for England and France, and Kublai Khan of China and Mongolia). I'd say Cerulea's knuckles down on Holy Sites, possibly via giving Gold equal to a portion of a city's Faith output, Cobalt is something I can't really figure out until I know more about his potential reign, and Azura would likely have an ability that boosts Gold output from Markets and Harbors while having the ability to train Spies earlier and gaining Gold and Culture from successful Spy Operations.

Matuzu Kingdom: First Kindgom

All cities gain additional Culture, and Science equal to 20% of their Gold output. All Luxury Resources give Amenities to 2 additional cities, and give 1 Housing and +2 Gold to the city they're worked in when improved.

Matuzu's obviously pretty into Gold, so why not make an ability all about that money? Luxuries also make sense, as they're valuable and worth gold.

Marghan: Frivolous Spending

Cities gain an additional +2 gold for each unique type of Luxury Resource worked, and Trade Routes give +2 gold for every Luxury Resource improved at the destination.

Marghan... would NOT be my first choice for a Leader, as he really isn't much of a good ruler. However, as High King, he needs to be included. So, his ability taps into his cross-continental DoorDash orders and his love of being an ass and doing drugs, by making that a massive Gold making ability. I strongly believe this is a bad thing, but I needed a good ability.

Unique Unit: Uekoran Archer

Unique ranged unit that replaces the Crossbowman and is cheaper. Uekoran Archers give Gold equal to the Strength of a Unit when they defeat the Unit.

Uekoran Archers are a pretty significant thing, right? So, having them as a UU makes sense to me.

Unique Building: World Atheneum

Unique building for the Government Plaza, available with a Tier 2 Government. Grants the city the Government Plaza is in +15% Science and Culture, and can hold up to 2 Great Works, which are automatically themed when completed.

I'm using the World Atheneum for Matuzu's Unique Infrastructure (Districts, Buildings, and Improvements have ALL been used for this) because it's a significant part of Matuzan culture. The Government Plaza also has like 1 Unique Building in official Civilizations and Leaders (That being the Queen's Bibliotheque for Kristina).

Matuzan Overall Strategy

Overall, Matuzu is built for a ton of Gold, Science, and Culture while improving every possible Luxury Resource and making a ton of Trade Routes for that Gold.

I'd say Azura, Jelani, and maybe Uzoma make for solid Matuzan rulers. Azura would have her ability for both Evangeline and Matuzu, Jelani would have some sorta ability focused on the military (Maybe a Leader Unique Unit (Like Rough Rider Teddy Roosevelt or Empire Victoria)), and Uzoma would probably have a good diplomacy ability.

I ain't doing the rest because this is already so long. I'll do Damijana and Zareen next tho

[burningexeter]

The Wildwood Universe

What is it —

A headcanon shared universe of all these different kinds of media from all genres that take place in the same universe. Different places, different times and most of all, different tones.

• Wildwood (2025)

• The Night Gardener (LAIKA)

• Oz (HBO)

• The Wire

• Breaking Bad

— Better Call Saul

— El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie

• Sons Of Anarchy

— Mayans MC

• The West Wing

• The X Files (the first nine seasons)

— Millennium

— The Lone Gunmen

— Fight The Future

• Buffy The Vampire Slayer

— Angel

• Seinfeld

• Malcolm In The Middle

• Arrested Development (the first three seasons)

• Drake & Josh

— Drake & Josh Go Hollywood

— Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh

• Freaks & Geeks

• Undeclared

• My So-Called Life

• Dawson's Creek

• Party Of Five

• Skins (U.K.)

• Shameless (U.S.)

• Black Books

• The Office (U.S.)

• Parks and Recreation

• Modern Family

• Weeds (the first three or six seasons)

• Orange Is The New Black

• The Venture Bros.

— Radiant Is The Blood Of The Baboon Heart

• LOST

• Heroes

• Fringe

• Pushing Daisies

• Hannibal (NBC)

• Todd McFarlane's Spawn Trilogy (HBO)

• Baccano! (English Dub)

• Hellsing Ultimate (English Dub)

— The Dawn (English Dub)

• Black Lagoon (English Dub)

• Monster (English Dub)

• Death Note (English Dub)

• Durarara!! (English Dub)

— Durarara!! x2 (English Dub)

• Attack On Titan (English Dub)

• A Certain Magical Index (English Dub)

— A Certain Scientific Railgun (English Dub)

— A Certain Scientific Accelerator (English Dub)

— The Miracle Of Endymon (English Dub)

• Chuck (NBC)

• Brooklyn Nine-Nine

• NYPD Blue

• 24

— Live Another Day

• Prison Break (the first two seasons)

• Twin Peaks (Original Series)

— Fire Walk With Me

— The Return

• Tales From The Crypt (HBO)

— The first five episodes of Season 1

— Cutting Cards, The Thing From The Grave, The Sacrifice, For Cryin' Out Loud, Four-Sided Triangle, Judy, You're Not Yourself Today, Fitting Punishment, Lower Berth, Mute Witness To Murder & Television Terror

— Abra Cadaver, Top Billing, Easel Kill Ya, Undertaking Palor, Deadline & Yellow

— None But The Lonely Heart, On A Deadman's Chest, Beauty Rest, What's Cookin', The New Arrival, Showdown, King Of The Road, Maniac At Large, Split Personality & Strung Along

— Forever Ambergris, People Who Live In Brass Hearses, Two For The Show, Well Cooked Hams, Came The Dawn & Half-Way Horrible

— Only Skin Deep, The Bribe, The Assassin, Staired In Horror, Surprise Party & You, Murderer

— Fatal Caper, Escape, Horror In The Night, Cold War, The Kidnapper, Report From The Grave & Confession

• Thief (1981)

• Heat (1995)

• Reservoir Dogs

• True Romance

• Natural Born Killers

• Pulp Fiction

• Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2

• Inglourious Basterds

• Django Unchained

• The Hateful Eight

• From Dusk Till Dawn

• Trick r Treat

• Krampus

• Doctor Who (1963 - 2017)

— Doctor Who: The Movie (1996)

— Torchwood

— The Sarah Jane Adventures

— Class (2016)

• Good Omens (Amazon Prime)

• Friday The 13th (1980) & A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)

— Part 2

— Part 3

— The Final Chapter

— Jason Lives

— The New Blood

— Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday

— Freddy's Revenge

— Dream Warriors

— The Dream Master

— The Dream Child

— Freddy Vs. Jason

• The Evil Dead Trilogy

— Ash Vs. Evil Dead

• The People Under The Stairs

• Nightbooks (2021)

• Dog Soldiers

• Big Trouble In Little China

• Overlord (2018)

• Scream Queens

• Nip/Tuck

• Remedy Connected Universe

— Alan Wake

— Alan Wake II

— Control

• Borderlands (2009)

— Borderlands 2

— Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

— Tales From The Borderlands

— Borderlands 3

— New Tales From The Borderlands

— Tiny Tina's Wonderlands

• Silent Hill (1999)

— Silent Hill 2

— Silent Hill 3

— Silent Hill 4: The Room

• Misfits

• Veronica Mars (Original Series)

— Veronica Mars (2014)

— Veronica Mars (Hulu)

• Bones

• Castle

• Attack The Block (2011)

• E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

• Family Matters

• The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air

• Martin

• The Bernie Mac Show

• Pair Of Kings

• Beverly Hills Cop

— Beverly Hills Cop II

— Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

• Rush Hour

— Rush Hour 2

• Friday (1995)

— Next Friday

— Friday After Next

• The 'Burbs

• Heathers

• Hot Fuzz

• Dead Like Me

• Wonderfalls

• Death Becomes Her

• Nope (2022)

• Close Encounters Of The Third Kind

• The Secret Of NIMH (1982)

• Contact (1997)

• Flatliners (1990)

• Rango (2011)

• The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)

• The Mummy (1999)

— The Mummy Returns

• The Jungle Book (1994)

• The Invisible Man (2020)

• Wolf Man (2025)

• Ginger Snaps

— Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed

• Let Me In (2010)

• Erma (Webcomic Series)

• Keeper Of The Lost Cities (Animated Series)

• MirrorMasks

• Gargoyles (Reboot)

• Huntik (Reboot)

• W.I.T.C.H. (Reboot)

• Walking Dead: The Animation

• The Dark Harvest (Animated Series)

• Knightriders (1981)

• Bioshock

— Bioshock 2

— Bioshock Infinite

• Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)

— Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)

• John Wick

— John Wick: Chapter 2

— John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

— John Wick: Chapter 4

• Atomic Blonde

• Nobody (2021)

• Shaolin Soccer

• The Adventures Of Tintin (2011)

• Titanfall 2

• Snatch (2000)

And that is literally not even all of it.

It will continue, just give me some more time.

[stirringwinds]

Had a random thought seeing that beautiful NZ art but would there be any changes in the mentor-protege relationship with Japan and China if it was Nyo Japan? Or maybe the reverse?

hey, anon, interesting question! but i have to admit the nature of sino-japanese history is such that this is one dynamic where i am most comfortable exploring it if they are both men—or, both women. the reason being that while there were periods where china and japan co-existed somewhat peacefully, that mentor-protégé relationship nonetheless also exists against a backdrop of asymmetrical power dynamics between both nations. during some eras, it was china as the unquestionably more powerful empire—and as we all know, after the meiji era—it was japan. as a sea/east asian woman, that most recent history has a lot of weight concerning gendered violence too. so while i wouldn't say that it's something that absolutely can't be done, it's a relationship that i personally find works best if it's explored with yao and kiku both being men—or women.

further, in the confucianist sphere of influence—there are gendered implications. it's been restrictive towards women in east asian societies due to how it's been interpreted to hold up a strict separation of gender roles as ideal, with women being restricted from many spheres of public life or ideals of "widowed chastity" (that widowed women should not remarry). now, this does not mean that chinese (or japanese) women had zero opportunities to break that mould—sino-japanese history is long, and attitudes waxed and waned. the tang dynasty is one era noted for more liberal attitudes and women in public life (including wu zetian rising to power as the only female emperor in chinese history). and of course, the ballad of hua mulan exists—even if mulan is a legend, it shows how female chinese warriors aren't unthinkable; there's the real life ming dynasty general qin liangyu. japan too, while being influenced by china and marked by public life being dominated by men, also has its own distinct history and culture of japanese women who wielded political power, whether from the shaman-queen himiko or kasuga no tsubone, who was a very important power broker during the tokugawa shogunate. women in samurai families also had certain expectations and did fight in battle. nonetheless, compared to other cultures that were more egalitarian, gender has real implications on the power dynamics in the sino-japanese context, which would have to be layered atop framing the irl power dynamic of chinese or japanese imperialism.

so, to answer your question a little—but with a nyo!china and nyo!japan duo—i think there would still be the mix of rivalry and the mentor-protégé dynamic, but with a greater emphasis on having to exercise and wield power in more subtle and creative ways, compared to how men are unquestionably accepted in ancient chinese and japanese political and public life. for example, many chinese empresses wielded power as regents or otherwise being close advisors to their sons. so, imo a greater proportion of nyo!japan and nyo!china's confrontations would be diplomatic skullduggery than yao and kiku's straight-out, battlefield clash. nonetheless, this wasn't absolute—as per the examples i've mentioned of chinese and japanese women in military life. further, humans in unequal societies are not incapable of revering the divine feminine. where i think things might result in interesting differences for canon re: japan is that nyo!japan would be far more associated with the sun goddess Amaterasu, compared to Kiku, who imo, would be associated with either a male deity like Susanoo or Ninigi-no-Mikoto (Amaterasu's grandson and the supposed ancestor of the emperor jimmu). in the case of China, probably the mother goddess Nüwa, who in Chinese cosmology, is the one who created humanity from clay—which i think works very nicely with how chinese civilisation was born from the fertile silt of the yellow river. so I can definitely see a shared experience where their clearly immortal nature opens up more space, freedom and reverence than what human women get.

[barbex]

Books of 2024 (2023 or close to it)

@hoochieblues tagged me to list books and in that moment I immediately forgot about any book I have ever read. Did I even read a single book in 2023? But thank you for tagging me, I'll do my best.

“the game is to share 9 of my favourite books from the last 12 months, or 9 books on my tbr list for this year”

I'm tagging: @mareebrittenford, @dyrewrites, @tryingtimi, @tsuraiwrites, @midnightprelude, @lesetoilesfous, @tarysande

Let me list nine books I liked, I don't know if I read them all in the last 12 months, I just went to my Kindle and picked what sparked a good memory.

Band Sinister by KJ Charles M/M romance, regency historical Lots of pining and repressed feelings in this one, until it leads to wonderful sex and love. Kj Charles knows how to do it.

A Game of Hearts and Heist by Ruby Roe F/F romance, fantasy Fast paced and very sexy fantasy heist. So much sex that even I, certified smut queen, sometimes thought "Now? Really? Don't you think you're kind of busy right now?" But I enjoyed it a lot and there's two more books in the series.

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree cozy fantasy with a little F/F romance, fantasy This book has started a whole new trend of cozy fantasy. This is a story about what happens if the barbarian warrior lady hangs up her sword and opens a cafe. The romance is not the main story. I would have wished for a bit more introspection from the main character but I know how difficult it is to write a stoic character who doesn't want to think about feelings.

The Calyx Charm by May Peterson M/M romance, trans main character, fantasy, magic Beautiful prose! Sinister magic, darkness and families at war. Two characters so very much in love, the transwoman loved and accepted by her lover. This is the second or third book in a series but I read another book in the series and it didn't feel all that connected. And the prose was not as pretty as in this one.

Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian NB/M romance, regency historical The main character uses she/her pronouns but I read in an interview with Cat Sebastian that, would she write the book today, they would probably use they/them pronouns. But it really doesn't matter much for either main character, the main male character already falls for the nb character when they dress and act like a man. A high stakes regency romance with the expected societal problems and lots of love.

Taji from Beyond the Rings by R. Cooper M/M romance, science fiction This book is so good! Cultural differences between species making romance and connection dangerous, feelings, sex, and politics raising the stakes every minute. I read this book again right after I finished it, it was so good.

The Elf Tangent by Lindsay Buroker F/M romance, fantasy A fun story about a human princess who loves mathematics and an elven warrior, trying to stop a war from happening. Nerdy and clever heroes with a bit of enemies to lovers.

The Hidden Moon by Jeannie Lin F/M romance, set in historic China This is like book five of a series but that didn't hinder my enjoyment. A woman, too smart for her own good, trying to solve a crime in a time when women were not allowed to do anything, especially not investigate assassinations and talk to street scoundrels. Or fall in love with said scoundrel.

---

Phew. That was a lot. Happy reading.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Doctor Who, but Chronologically 29ish

Fun fact! When we started this project, some Whittaker episodes did not exist, and we’ve skipped one! So Let’s hastily go back in time to 1807. We’ve just seen Tennant make eyes at Madame de Pompadour, we’re about to see Capaldi finally be a good guy and take Bill to the last London Ice Fair. Where are we this episode?

China! 1807 China, a little fishing village that gets annihilated by Sea Devils.

I was rooting for this episode, you know. It sounded great. The guest cast is smoking hot – when Crystal Yu turned up as Mistress Ching the Pirate Queen, I said “Oh no” aloud. When Arthur Lee turned up as Legendary Pirate Ji-hun, Steff said “Oh no” aloud. We are bisexual and week. Also, return of Sea Devils! And a Chinese episode! The TARDIS team is Whittaker, Yaz and Dan! Sounds great!

It’s crap. It’s just crap.

Good points: the banter between the characters is lovely, and I laughed many times. I suspect this is an actor-director. The start makes clear something I already suspected from the Flux stuff we’ve seen – that Dan is actually Yaz’s companion, not the Doctor’s. There’s a very fun scene where they all step out of the TARDIS, and Dan is dressed like a pirate. “What are you wearing?” the Doctor asks, incredulous. “Yaz told me to!” protests Dan. “Yaz!” says the Doctor. “Did you dress Dan in that?” Love it.

The sci-fi plot is okay. The Sea Devils have Team Aqua’s plan to flood the world and make more habitat for Pokemon Sea Devils, which they aim to achieve by swapping the magnetic polarity of the Earth’s poles. “I see!” exclaims a character. “That’s why all the constellations physically changed in the sky!”, a sentence that gave me 50 points of psychic damage and necessitated a quiet lie down.

The absolute worst part is that, continuing a grand tradition of Doctor Who writers trying to use Sea Devils, Silurians or Ice Warriors, these writers didn’t understand the story they were telling. We therefore ONCE AGAIN have an allegory of native people trying to commit genocide to reclaim their stolen lands and needing to be stopped. I am 100% certain that was not intentional, but fucking hell, lads.

But the second worst part is that this episode is absolutely atrociously badly shot. It is appalling. I spent half the episode trying to fucking see, because even in static scenes of two people talking to each other and not moving, the camera would just… slide off the characters, even while they are talking. And this is our second swashbuckling pirate episode featuring swordfights where they didn’t bother getting a choreographer, apparently, and thought they could make up for it by putting the camera in a bag and swinging it about in a windmill to cover the gaps.

At two separate points, two separate scenes, the Doctor offers a hand to Yaz to pull her somewhere. In both, the hand is partially-to-entirely out of shot, making the action unclear. And that is a problem, because THIS IS A DOCTOR/YAZ SHIPPING EPISODE HOLY SHIT????

It turns out Yaz has talked to Dan about this, and he has possibly talked to the Doctor, because there’s a lovely bit where Yaz fully embraces the Useless Lesbian Trope and begs him for details (“What did you say to her?? What did she say to you??? Omg tell me her exact words –“). Towards the end, while the Doctor saves the day and Yaz as ever fails the Sexy Lamp Test, the Doctor gives her a heartfelt confession.

“I can’t do relationships,” she says. “There’s no time. But if I ever did, it would be you. I’ve never felt like this, not since my wife, and I was a different man then.”

PLOT TWIST!!!!! Whomst is her wife??? How exciting. What mysteries are arising this episode.

Interesting, though, because so far, as nice as Yaz is, she’s super bland. Just nothing to her. Even episodes where she’s appeared hyper competent, she’s actually just been doing pointless busy work; she routinely fails the Sexy Lamp Test as standard. I wonder why her? Intriguing. Perhaps she will improve.

Anyway, at the end of the episode they agree to just stay friends and mutually Yearn for each other, and then the Doctor skims a stone INCREDIBLY badly (no srsly tho Jodie does Huddersfield not have a river or something you have to get LOW)

So! Let’s update!

“She” (an unknown person) is returning (perhaps River returned as Missy. Maybe Me? Maybe Clara???!)

There is something on Donna’s back

An entire planet, Pyrovilia, just… disappeared, somehow. (Maybe because the TARDIS is exploding??? Saturnine was also lost, and that WAS because of the TARDIS exploding. The lion man’s planet was also lost but he was a bit of a knob about it if I’m honest.)

Amy is maybe dead (she’s not)

The Doctor has been cubed (he’s out, but how?)

River is possibly blown up  (unless she’s Missy)

The TARDIS has blown up  (It’s fine now. Except it’s sort of melting now because it’s corrupted, but it’s fine again)

The universe appears to have ended  (the universe is back again)

The Doctor has employed(?) Nardole

(And Nardole was “reassembled???” Nardole had glass nipples and invisible hair?? WHAT THE FUCK IS HE)

There’s a vault in the TARDIS and it contains Missy but we don’t know why (sometimes she knocks for the bants)

What has happened to all these companions and where are the new ones coming from?

There’s an immortal Viking girl now. Her name is Me and she’s now looking after the people the Doctor abandons

What’s With The Silence?

Why was Rory entirely unconcerned by the entire world suddenly going silent when that is Not Normal and should have been, at the very least, extremely disconcerting?

What did the Doctor do to Queen Lizzie One?

Who is Captain Jack Harkness? (Is he the one who gave the companions a warning about the lone cyberman?)

Why is Amy seeing a one-eyed woman in a vanishing window?

What’s with the Doctor’s future involving getting shot by an astronaut?

Is Amy pregnant and why is it inconclusive?

Who is Sarah-Jane Smith?

How is the Doctor Bill’s teacher and why/where does he have an office?

What is going on with the Cyber War and the Cyberium???

Who did the Doctor lose to Cyber Conversion?

What happened with the Other Cyber War?

What happened with the Third War that deleted the void?

Why does Rose seem particularly important?

What’s with the Weeping Angel statues, and why can’t you blink at them?

What order do these Doctors go in? (Eccleston, Tennant, uncertain, Smith, Capaldi, Whittaker)

Which companion just… forgot the Doctor, and how?

Yaz and Vinder are about to die as Mori/Mwri/Muuri

There is a Lupari shield around Earth.

What’s a Time War?

What’s the Rift?

What’s Bad Wolf?

What happened with Amy’s pregnancy?

In which war did the Doctor become a war criminal, and how?

Who is the Master?

Why has Amy forgotten Rory?

Is Rory plastic or not?

Why is the Doctor sulking on a cloud?

How exactly does the Doctor have a cloud?

What exactly happened with Strax to, uh, tame him?

Which friend killed Strax?

Which friend brought Strax back?

Where did this lesbian lizard and human couple come from?

What happened with Clara as Souffle Girl and the Daleks?

How does Clara actually join?

Why so many Claras?

Why is Missy apparently in robo-heaven?

Why is probably!Missy pushing Clara and the Doctor together?

What is Trensilor and what happened there?

Who is Handles?

The Doctor is about to be dissolved by a beautiful geode man

The universe is being crushed by the Flux

Will the Doctor open the fobwatch?

Sontarans are invading Earth again

Who is Kate?

Who is Osgood? Another name of Clara’s again?

The fuck is the deal with the Grand Serpent

Does Martha get to go to an ice cream planet with 12-fingered massage aliens?

How did the Doctor forget Clara?

Who is Bill’s puddle girlfriend Heather?

How did Nardole die?

When does Bill get Cyberman-ed and die?

When does the Doctor shrink and enter a Dalek called Rusty?

Whittaker is falling to her death rn

Was that ring relevant?

Does anyone know the Doctor’s name?

When did Yaz talk to Dan about fancying the Doctor?

When did Dan talk to the Doctor about fancying Yaz?

Who was the Doctor’s wife?

[running-with-the-feels]

I read your fic that talks about the cryomancer culture and I was so fascinated with them if you can I need to know more!!

ahhhh I'm so glad you liked it!!

So, my version of Cryomancer culture is still evolving, so stuff might change but basically

They called themselves Ischeti, which translates literally to Snow Singers, and they had their own realm called Iskari which translates to Sleeping Snow, or Snow's Sleep, which was a very hostile place for any who were not cryomancers. Music was deeply important to them and they prayed primarily through song.

Dragons, called Tika were native to the realm and formed close bonds with the Ischeti quite frequently, to the point that many Ischeti were dragon riders, which when coupled with their abilities, made them a formidable military force. To be called Tikavox, meaning Dragon Child, was a great honor bestowed only to those who had proven themselves resilient, formidable, and kind in great measure.

As Iskari had many natural resources that were desired by other realms, such as a metal that could nullify all forms of magic as well as make a cryomancer more powerful when properly forged by a priest, and gemstones that could store memories to be viewed at a later date, as well as plants with potent medicinal properties and so on, Edenia tried to engage in trade with Iskari

However, the metal was sacred as it was known as Dragon's blood, or Tikarezo, and could only be found in places where dragons were buried or had fallen, forming from their veins and hearts, and it was used in religious ceremonies. To give it to an outsider was unthinkable, though the Ischeti were willing to trade the gems. Unfortunately the gems were very rare and so they did not have as many to trade as Edenia wanted.

Eventually, under Queen Sindel's reign, Edenia tried to conquer Iskari without mortal kombat, seeking to occupy the realm rather than absorb it. But no matter how many soldiers Sindel devoted to the task, for every Ischeti they killed, ten more Edenians would die. This went on for a thousand years before the queen tired of it, declaring Mortal Kombat.

I've been working on hammering out a set of rules for Mortal Kombat, since canon does not provide any, and one of those rules is that in order for the tournament to end, either the aggressor or the defender realm must win ten consecutive tournaments, and the Ischeti lasted for 32 tournaments before they fell, despite living only 500 years to the Edenian's 50,000 year life span. By contrast, Edenia lasted 27 tournaments against Outworld.

After that, Sindel outlawed cryomancy and the act of bonding with dragons, as well as the vast majority of the Ischeti's religious ceremonies and rituals, leading to them eventually leaving and moving to Outworld where Shao Khan proved an even crueller ruler. Before long, the Ischeti left for Earthrealm with the few dragons they had left, settling in Northern China in a region that resembled their former realm which they called Arctika, or Home of Dragons. Edenia still has possession of most of the Ischeti's sacred objects and artifacts, many of them made from the gems that hold memories (I haven't thought of a name for them yet) which contained memories of their many ceremonies and important days, such as the Etlara realm, the crowning of monarchs, etc

There, they founded the Lin Kuei, which was not a clan of assassins at the time. Instead, it was a refuge for any who sought it, be they Earthrealmer, Ischeti, Outworlder, etc. The name Lin Kuei was given to them by outsiders, and literally translates to Forest Demons (as far as I can find), with many thinking their powers and strange appearances meant they must be demons.

The Ischeti were formidable warriors and defended their new home as needed, eventually providing aid to others for similar ends when it was requested, which gradually lead to their becoming assassins.

The Ischeti naturally have bright blue or white eyes, with white hair being very common. They also tend to have fangs and dragon like pupils and an extra set of vocal cords which allows them to make similar sounds to the dragons they bond with.

Over the years, these traits began to fade and cryomancy became less common for reasons they do not know for certain, though they suspected it was because they no longer had access to Tikarezo, which was deeply embedded within their religion and day to day life. The only scrap of it they had left was the Dragon Medallion, a symbol of the Royal house which was to be held by the reigning monarch. The medallion was eventually co-opted by the Lin Kuei grandmasters as a symbol of their leadership.

Due to their lack of immunity to Earthrealm illnesses and the weakness that came with a lack of Tikarezo, Cryomancers began dying off alarmingly quickly until only a few bloodlines were left, most of whom had lost the ability entirely. The royal line was the only one to maintain the gift of cryomancy.

Sub-Zero and Tundra are actually bastardizations of the Chet words (Chet is their name for their language, meaning song) for Ruler and Heir respectively. Sub-Zero was originally Sut-Sawel and Tundra was originally Tondira (I will take criticism on that if anyone has criticism to offer), with Sawel being the name of the god most important to the cryomancer pantheon.

The royal house did not rule with absolute power but as part of a council who were primarily made up of those elected by the people as well as the head priests of each god.

That's about what I've got so far, let me know if anyone has any thoughts!