#classic little shit Dante

[of-pale]

[a-passing-storm]

mmmmmmmm

[papenathys]

1 & 5 for the book ask thing

1 - Fave Books

Gun to my head, I had to narrow it down to five books and felt like drinking bleach throughout. In no particular order, they are as follows:

Providence Girls by Morgan Dante ( @ghostpoetics on tumblr): A historical cosmic horror novel set in 1940s New England which retells two Lovecraftian horror tales in the form of a tragic sapphic love story. Fucking broke me. Exists at the very specific juncture of my mind between the lesbian eroticism and healing from trauma of The Handmaiden, and the body horror and monster romance of The Shape of Water.

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer: I'll be honest the movie was whatever for me but this book was what kids these days call a serve...a banger even. Don't know how the author described the surreal morphing sentient, geographic, sort of sci-fi sort of psychological– sort of straight up eldritch horror?? but it terrified the shit out of me, because everything was so beautiful, so unsettling and so distorted, that by the end I wanted to be consumed alive by the fungi and the lighthouse moss too. Also the biologist is to me what Camille Preaker and Abigail Hobbs are to vaguely sad white girls on tumblr.

Walking Practice by Dolki Min: An allegory for queer peoples' alienation in South Korea, wrapped up in a gruesome, dark and funny little story about a crash-landed alien that kills people via dating app stalking. Not only was this book fucking fantastic visually in terms of typesetting and illustrations, but also the translation was genuinely great. And while the narration was very funny, there were also many passages that were gut-punchingly tragic and raw, and captured how it feels to be trans, queer and disabled in a homophobic, conservative society.

Blue Hunger by Viola Di Grado: Gorgeous litfic novella about a young Italian teacher grieving the loss of her brother, who moves to Shanghai and has a toxic, obsessive, dreamlike affair with a Chinese lesbian, one of her new students. This one is not for everybody because the romance is extremely imbalanced, unhealthy and nasty but also I don't care because the writing was so hauntingly beautiful. Think cityscapes, urban loneliness, lesbian sex in dirty alleys and grief striking you at the oddest, sweatiest, most surreal hour of night.

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen: Scathingly powerful political-historical satire novel, about a Viet Cong spy in the South Vietnamese army who escapes to USA during the 1970s fall of Saigon, and once there, finds himself repulsed and fascinated by the heinous facade and global crimes perpetuated by the Western intellectual, political and military complex that he both loathes and lusts after. Easily the best book I read this year, banger from beginning to end, reminded me why I love historical fiction. It TEARS apart American imperialism, the politics of colonial/orientalist academia, propaganda film, and anti-communist fear mongering in the 70s, during the Vietnam war. Delicious and horrifying usage of the unreliable narrator. Extremely relevant, timely read today. If there's one book you take from this list, it should be this one.

5 - Book I would recommend to anyone

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds. It's a YA novel about a teen Black girl who moves to rural Georgia with her parents to look after her terminally ill, estranged maternal grandmother, but ends up having a whirlwind summer as the dark, violent and tragic secrets of her family's past–and that of her mother's childhood hometown–comes to light. This is possibly one of the best young adult books I ever read, it felt like a cross between a coming-of-age film, and a classic historical transgenerational family saga. It was at once a love letter to finding queer and Black joy and community in a conservative Southern town, but also harrowing grief about historic racism and police brutality and how trauma informs identity, as does love. I mean this in the most respectful way possible: in parts this reminded me of Toni Morrison's Beloved, that's how fucking good it was.

[rocksibblingsau]

I'm very much a multishipper, but for Classical Branch I always leaned more for Classical Broppy or Bremo. But last night, I was randomly hit over the head with a really cute but dumb idea for Branch and Dante. So...

Imagine on the earliest of early days of Branch living in Symphonyville, a 10 year old Dante that had only know Branch for like 15 minutes thinks he isz in fact, the most enthralling and fascinating troll he has ever meet. His bluntness is chocking yet refreshing, his ways are strange yet charming, his appearance is dull yet oddly special and uniquely his, etc etc. So, in all his childish confidence and bravado, he asks Branch to be his betrothed and Branch having -1 ideas of what that even means, accepts it hoping that it means Dante will finally stop staring at him a really small and innocent-looking hawk.

Once some time has passed and Dante gets hired to be Branch's manners teacher, he realizes that "oh shit Branch absolutely DIDN'T know what he was being asked" so out of pure embarrassment and fear of possible social disgrace for "tricking" the surrogate son of the Lead Composer for his hand in marriage, he decides to just sweep that interaction under the rug and hope that by the time Branch's learns what betrothal means, he would had completely forgotten about his question. And he did.

Until 20 years later, in which he randomly thought about his firsts days in Symphonyville while doing his morning rituals and he slowly goes over his first interaction with Dante "wait... wait a minute. BY THE MUSES' BONES, HOLY SH*T". For a moment he thinks about just doing it like Dante and continue to ignore their "betrothal" for the foreseeable future, but than he realizes he is kinda very much not opposed to marrying his beloved life-long friend technically fiance... But he also wants to get a little revenge for Dante never bringing up this very huge deal and trying to sweep it under the rug for the rest of their lives likely.

And that leads to Branch very publically starting "his and his beloved Dante" wedding preparations, renting the biggest Ball room, visiting the most prestigious and well-know wedding tailors and even doing some long-retired royal wedding preparation traditions, just for the shits and giggles, as they say. Dante obviously comes to confront Branch some time later, since he just woke up one day very drowning in congratulations letters from all his extended family and friends being very confused and the bastard just responds with something along the line of:

"Well my beloved Dante, I'm so very sorry for making the preconception that after 20 long years of betrothal you would have been pleased to finally be united in the eyes of the law, you were the one to ask for my hand in marriage after all. But worry not, we can still delay the ceremony for a quite few moons if that's more aligned with your wishes."

Dante is... quite shocked to say the least, but doesn't actually wish to delay their surprise wedding, what 20 years of embarrassed-fuelled pining doesn't do to a man after all. He only hopes that nobody notices how he shrinks in his chair everytime Branch tells their romantic tale of "love at first sight and their innocent but unbroken promise to one day be married when they were just small children".

I read this like three times before publishing because I love it so much.

Tiny Dante's joy at being betrothed to Branch, only for the horror/embarrassment/disappointment to learn Branch has no clue what that even is.

Forte being upset Dante never told him he was betrothed and Dante having to be like "My most darling brother, I must tell you a story, but you musn't laugh."

He laughs hysterically.

[incesthemes]

happy (late) wincest wednesday!! what do you think sam and dean's favourite books are? which books do you think they would have inexplicable (or explicable) beef with?

i'm sure after moving around twice a month for fifteen years and having to read the same books over and over again gave them a few rivalries, lol! -lizzy :)

omg happy wincest wednesday thursday!!!! thank you, this is such an awesome prompt.

ok i think they've both probably read a lot of classic lit and stuff from the literary canon because it's the kind of thing you can find anywhere, right? it's always available in some form or another, at school or in libraries or even just as movie adaptions.

based on vibes i really want to say dean's favorite book would be on the road, both for the metatextual nod to mister eric kripke and because i think dean would relate to it (well, obviously)—and the main character is dean too :) it's cute :) i also think he'd be really into westerns; the one i've read the most of is the titus bass series by terry c. johnston so while it's not quite what i imagine dean's tastes to be (too historically accurate, too little heroism) i'll go with that one. rough, gun-slinging action and lawless heroes are right up dean's alley. the trashier, the better.

on the other end of the spectrum, i see sam being quite into gothic literature. it's relatable to his feelings of exclusion and otherness, and like any child trapped inside a horrific queer narrative i think he would relate heavily to the monsters haunting the protagonists. i can see him really liking frankenstein especially, and i also definitely think he'd have a thing for kafka. it's horrible of me, but i also think he'd be drawn to rosemary's baby, imagining (subconsciously or not) his own mother as rosemary.

importantly, i think they'd both be most drawn to narratives they see themselves in, and i think they'd be rather disinterested in stories they can't directly relate back to their lives. as a result, they probably have a LOT of overlap in the books they enjoy, but the differences are marked and striking to an almost concerning degree. nevertheless i do think they've read through a great deal of the literary canon even if they don't personally love it, simply because it's what they can get their hands on. i can definitely see dean enjoying long, heroic epics like the iliad or beowulf, while sam has certainly read dante's divine comedy cover to cover (and of course, then they switch and read the other's pick, now hundreds of miles away from the library they stole the books from).

i really want them to have some kind of ongoing discourse about east of eden in particular, just because of HOW many similarities there are between cal/dean and aron/sam. i'm trying to figure out how to articulate the nature of that discourse (dean thinks it's just like them fr fr and sam insists it's not? the other way around, perhaps—though i can't see that as clearly. perhaps a simple debate as to whether it applies to them, or which generation they see themselves in most) but i really need to see something like that.

i think sam would definitely have petty beef with supernatural stories when they get the monster lore wrong. "we already KNOW what they do, how can you be THIS wrong about it???? open a book, dumbass," and the like. dean just thinks it's awesome no matter what (as long as the monsters are the bad guys) and they definitely bicker about it incessantly. on the flip side, dean would probably turn up his nose at gothic lit quite a bunch when the monsters are portrayed sympathetically (hello again frankenstein) and would, with his best Big Brother Voice, talk down to sam about the shit propaganda he's reading. sam in turn calls him an idiot in his best Little Brother Voice and doubles down on whatever he's reading. (naturally, the conflict here is that sam sees himself as the monster and therefore sympathizes with it, whereas dean sees "sympathetic monster" and shuts down entirely via john's unquestionable training. i can't imagine dean as a kid being able to comprehend the idea of sam viewing himself as wrong or bad in any way, so the thought of sam relating to the monster simply doesn't compute.)

anyway yeah THANK YOU for this ask, i LOVE well-read and self-educated winchesters so much 🥰🥰🥰🥰

[noonaishere]

Music of the Heart [J.YH] - ninety-six | it’s a metaphor

“Should we just follow the chords here?” You asked. 

Hongjoong bit his nail, listening to the track again. “Hmmmmm…”

You and Hongjoong were in the studio together, working on more demo songs for Ans:wer. Maddox was not there that day.

“Should we go discordant?”

“Cor-dant or dis-cor-dant… that is the question.”

You smiled.

“I don’t know if I would here, I think it’d fuck up the flow of the song right before the pre-chorus. I think it could really help the song though…”

“Hmm…” You listened to the song a little more. “Maybe we go discordant before the last chorus instead?”

He nodded. “I think that’d be better.”

He stopped the track and moved a few parts of the file around, adding parts the two of you had hidden earlier, not knowing what to do with them. He started the track again and you both leaned back as well as you could, both of you with your feet pulled up to your chest as you sat in the fancy studio chairs.

He stopped it, clicked back a few times and played the part that you had altered a second time. He pointed at the screen and you watched as the progress bar scanned over several layers of the song.

“Should we do a Tension Harmony here?”

“A tension harmony? In a song called Tension?” You laughed.

His eyebrows furrowed. “Too corny?”

“More like you’re a genius and someone will make a whole-ass thirty minute youtube video just to talk about it.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. Let’s go for it.”

He chuckled as he wrote notes for when Ans:wer would come in and record the song.

“Okay, we’re done with this demo. Let’s work on the next one…” He saved and closed that project and opened another one and played it. 

You listened to it a few times before you paused it. “It’s missing something traditional.”

He nodded. “Yeah, that is kind of the point…”

You sat in silence as you thought.

“Should we go with big horns?”

You put your fingers on your head like a bull.

“Cute.”

You laughed at your own joke. “Hmm… can we get a bunch of nabal players?”

“Oh, you want to go full Daechwita?”

“That’s a good idea though, we could invite a whole group and have the drums too!”

He laughed loudly. “Ohh… that’d be a good idea for a performance video!”

“Yeah! Write that down.” You hit him in the arm excitedly and he laughed as he made notes in his notebook. 

“The group can be in full hanbok and we can get traditional dancers and stuff.”

Hongjoong laughed as he wrote. “You keep saying ‘we’ like you’re going to be doing all the calling musicians and dancers and shit.”

You laughed. “I’m changing from a music producer to a movie producer. I’ll finally find out what it is they do.”

He stopped and looked up at nothing, then turned to you. “I never realized I don’t know what a movie producer does.”

“I’m pretty sure they’re like… in charge of knowing people. Like they ‘know a guy’.”

“‘Know a guy’?” He laughed.

“Yeah. Like in a mob movie or something, someone will be like, ‘I know a guy’ and then the guy is like a lockpicker or… I don’t know. Some other useful thing the movie needs at that moment.” “Huh… I guess that makes sense.”

You shrugged. “You need a guy that knows a guy. And producers? They know guys.”

He nodded.

“Dolls, too.”

He slowly looked over at you. “‘Guys and Dolls’?” He asked blankly.

You held back a laugh.

He nodded with a sigh. “How do you even know that musical? I thought your parents only let you watch classical music things. Wouldn’t musical theater be too modern?”

“Some teenagers watched porn, I spent the wee hours of the morning looking up as many other kinds of music as I could find because all of it was verboten.”

He laughed. “Makes sense.”

You nodded.

“Okay, back to the song.”

He played it again and stopped it at another point.

He pointed at the screen. “It’s missing something.”

“Hmm…”

The two of you sat together, arms crossed, listening to that 10-second loop for about five minutes.

“Snare hit right… here?” You pointed as the moment came up.

He snapped his fingers. “I agree.”

Hongjoong added it and started the song again. When the moment came up and the snare hit happened, you both nodded like two doctors proud at having saved the life of a dying patient.

“So… I had a long talk with Ans:wer’s leader and came up with something for the intro for their new album. He wants to have some lore for their songs, so this is what I came up with…” Hongjoong said as he flipped to the page in his notes. 

“Mhm?”

He handed it to you. “Tell me what you think.”

You read the page. “Hmm… who’s going to be reading it? One of the members?”

“I was going to ask Maddox to read it.”

“Does he normally read stuff like this?”

“Well, he’s the most fluent in English, so it makes sense.”

You shrugged and nodded. It did. 

“He normally does the reads for the groups. If it has a man’s voice, it’s probably him..”

“He’s never mentioned that.”

Hongjoong shrugged, nodding towards the notebook. “What do you think?”

“I’m excited to hear it. Especially with the music behind it.”

He smiled and nodded as you handed the book back to him. 

“When is Maddox coming in? He hasn’t been here all day.”

“Hmm,” Hongjoong looked at his phone for the time, “we were so wrapped up in work that I didn’t even notice.”

“He’s not here to make crying puppy noises, how could we not have noticed?”

Hongjoong laughed quietly to himself as he dialed Maddox and put the phone on speaker. You both sat there and listened to the ring and wondered if he was going to pick up. Surprisingly, he did.

“Hello?”

“Hey, buddy, what’s up? You didn’t come in today.””

“...You’re only calling to ask about it now?”

“We were busy working on the demos for Ans:wer’s new album and got way too into it.”

“We’re going to hire a Daechwita band for it.” You added.

“Wowwwww,” Maddox said, somewhat sarcastically. 

You scrunched up your face at his reaction. 

“Maddox, you’re making her pout. Are you trying to hurt her feelings?”

“Oh--! No! I’m sorry! I woke up like five minutes ago and I’m an angry waker. I apologize.”

“I didn’t even know that was a thing,” you said quietly to Hongjoong.

He smiled and shook his head. “You should apologize again, hyung, she looks like she’s gonna cry.”

You frowned at Hongjoong and he held up his hand for you to wait.

“I’m so so so so so sorry. You even took me hiking and helped me record ideas, I’m SO sorry.”

You chuckled. “Thanks, but Hongjoong lied, I wasn’t on the verge of tears.” You pinched Hongjoong’s leg, making him yelp.

Maddox sighed. “He would lie to me, wouldn’t he?”

“He’s a horrible man.”

Hongjoong laughed. “Maddox, did you just sleep all day?”

“Ohhhhhh,” Maddox groaned in jest. “Now he’s in with the criticism. Do you hear this, t/n?”

You laughed. “Such a dad, always nagging.”

Hongjoong looked at you in faux displeasure, and you raised your brows as if to say you were right and smiled.

“Ugh, he is. “And for the record, I slept all morning, because I finished three demos last night.”

“Woah! Really?” You asked.

“Mhm.”

“Do you like them?” Hongjoong asked.

“I like… all of them.”

“Wowwww,” Hongjoong said, genuinely impressed. “That doesn’t happen often.”

“Mhm! I was super inspired yesterday I guess. Everything just clicked.”

“I’m really happy for you,” you said.

“Thanks.”

You could tell from the sound of his voice that he was smiling. 

“Maddox, I also wanted to ask if you wanted to do a read for Ans:wer’s opening track. I want to go with a very epic sounding opening of spoken word over an instrumental.”

“Ooh. Should I come over now?”

“Yeah, we have time.” “Okay. I’ll get ready and hurry over.”

“See you in a bit.” 

Maddox hung up.

“It’ll take him about thirty minutes to get here so I can show you the instrumental for the spoken word.”

You nodded as Hongjoong opened the track.

The music faded in, the gentle plucking of gayageum strings accompanied by flutes and then fleshed out by a western string section to make the sound more lush. The woodwinds gave the feeling of floating for a moment, as the drums and brass instruments joined in, seeming to swirl around each other like the clashing of swords on shields or - more metaphorically - emotions, before all of it came crashing down and the flutes came back by themselves, gentle, somber.

It was then that Maddox started his line read.

“The heart of a ruler. As a single man’s will looms over his people, they wonder; does he care? Does he care about all of us? Any of us? Or is he like so many others? So many men of history who walked through pools of red so they could be the most important man. Did he do it for gold? For glory? For something more? Did he do it because he thought only he could rule? And, if he is the one who should rule over us… do we have to accept him? If he is unjust, is that what we deserve? …no.”

As he spoke, the music swirled a second time; seemingly rotating on a singular point before the sound of shattering, as whatever the feeling was broke like glass into a thousand pieces, signaling that the members of Ans:wer were going to have to fight this unjust ruler.

He paused for a moment until Hongjoong gave him the signal that the recording had been stopped. He stepped out of the booth, hair still damp from a rushed shower and dry as he hurried himself there only five minutes before getting into the booth.

“How was that?”

You and Hongjoong were stock still as you looked at him, something between shock and admiration on both your faces. Hongjoong started clapping and you joined him, both of you giving Maddox a standing ovation for his performance.

He smiled and ran his hand through his hair bashfully. “Guys, come on.”

“As expected of my oppa and your hoobae!” You clapped louder.

“As expected!” Hongjoong echoed.

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a/n: I tried my best to write a Long Journey-esque opener for a concept about revolution against a king lol. How did i do? 😅

Send an ask or leave a comment if you want to be added to the tag list! 🎵 Any comments, reblogs, or asks are appreciated! I love talking with you guys and seeing what you’re saying about the chapters, it keeps me going 🥰

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[halfetirosie]

☠😱🔪 It's all Fun and Games until somebody commits manslaughter!!! 🔪😱☠

(Exercise 17 - 20 React-os!)

1) Wait, he actually heard the story from somewhere???

I assumed he just made it up himself!

2) HOLY SHIT BRO, THIS IS ACTUALLY LEGITIMATELY SCARY!!! 😨😨😨

Not gonna lie; I know it's fake, but this still freaks me out.

It hits me in a psychological sort of way, because we've seen Blade get hurt before; so seeing him badly hurt both feels too-close-for-comfort, and builds on the familiar fear of loved ones getting hurt.

PLUS, seeing Blade acting weird reminds me of when his programming was externally tampered with in ArmyxBloodxOath, so I'm getting a wee bit of war flashbacks...

3) ....I say all that, but then my boi goes and ruins my immersion!!! 😂😂😂😂😂

There's nothing like saying "Lord Jackass" to completely ruin the spooky atmosphere!

4) YOOOOO WTF?!?!?! (⊙ᗣ⊙) 

DAMN, THEY'RE EVEN ADDING SOME BODY HORROR TO THIS SHIT??? TALK ABOUT DEDICATION!!!

Blade deserves a lil' treat after this for giving the performance of a lifetime!!!

(Come to think of it, Blade is actually a really good actor, isn't he? 🤔 I mean, when he's actually giving it his all. Like during Idol Fest when he acted as a "prince" character, he did a good-ass job; and he's doing a good-ass job now, too!!!------Damn, now I really want to see an event where Blade performs in a play or something!!!!!)

5) Ah yes, a masked psycho---the perfect role for Rei!!! :D

Dude, you just know Rei's having a little too much fun pretending to be a serial killer!

"The guy with the bird"??? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Not my mans never remembering people's names.... 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ (Shoutout to that moment in Festive Glimmer when he also didn't remember Quincy's name!)

Nah but, shouldn't Dante know Rei's now by now? Rei's hovered around him and teased him on more than one occasion...

6) Hell yeah, Eerie Escapade reference!!!!

I LOVE when the characters reference past events!!!

It just makes the stories feel more substantial, ya know? Like they carry more weight. (I wonder how Vlad is doing? I want an update on him!)

Ohhhhh, I see! So it's not so much the ghost that scares him---after all, he dealt with Vlad just fine---but the scary story that got to him. That makes more sense.

7) HOLY SHIT, KARU ALMOST KILLED MY WIFE!!!! 😱😱😱😱😱😱

IMAGINE IF HIS CLAWS WENT IN JUST A LITTLE FURTHER!!!

HE COULD'VE SLASHED EDMOND'S FUCKING THROAT!!!!!

JHBHQBR#$*#$FO!IJVNKJNW@##@!!!

!!!!!!!

*static*

🎶 We are experiencing technical difficulties. Please wait for us to fix the problem. Thank you for your patience. 🎶

🎶🎶🎶

🎶🎶🎶

*static*

Fuck, dude.....

....On a lighter note, it's very entertaining to think about Edmond running around with a sheet on his head, taking his silly task as seriously as ever! :D

8) Damnnnnn, Olivine! Back at it again with the smart-ass ideas!!!

Olivine is seriously CRUSHING it this event!

9) Wait, did Eiden actually understand what Topper was saying here, or was he just assuming?

Because, like, it is canon that Eiden ocassionally understands what Topper says, and he might slowly be learning his language, you know?

I just bring this up because I really, really hope Eiden did understand Topper, because I desperately want Eiden to eventually be able to have full conversations with the lil' homie!!!

10) The heroic return of

🐍 YAKUMO-JUMPSCARE!!! 🐍

BRUH, this is the second time one of the clan members almost fucking DIED because of their prank!!!

That is pretty true-to-life, tho. Like, it's not uncommon for irl-pranks to go very wrong because the fight-or-flight response of the prank-ee happened to be "fight." Like when they jump out to scare someone and end up getting reflex-punched.

11) Classic Introvert Dad Quincy, with absolutely no fucking clue how to handle a Distressed Yakumo---

---Although, in fairness, I feel like many of the clan members wouldn't know how exactly to handle Distressed Yakumo, either.

Hell, I probably wouldn't know what to do!!! Like, look at this sobbing string-bean of a boy!!! He's inconsolable even in the best of times!!!

(ᵕ—ᴗ—)

12) An accurate description, tbh;

Foxy Grandpa over here has been slacking off since the Grill Competition, and now he makes Yakumo do all the heat-lifting!!!

Rude. 😡

13) "The emotional range of a log"

PFFFT!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I CAN'T---!!!!

DUDE. Rei's insults are always immaculate, I swearrrr!!!!

He would be SO GOOD at making diss-tracks!!!

14) 🚨🚨🚨 SOFT KARU!!!! 🚨🚨🚨

Karu's so on-guard and fierce all the time, so seeing him act so affectionate (in the beloved Tsundere Bullshit™ flavor, or course) is such a treat!!!

Just look at that face!!! I wanna squish his cheeks!!!!! ♡♡♡♡♡

👻 End of report! 👻

[plaguery]

ok im ready to talk about my mommy didnt die high school dmc au + romy i think.

okay my eva was a part of a laveyan satanist type sect in the late 60s into the early 70s. black masses and such but its all for show, theyre not genuine theists and arent conjuring shit. she was doing post grad studies in classic language and literature. sparda began briefly investigating her sect after strange murders in the area were being pinned on the group and he quickly found out they were innocent of the crimes. but he was intrigued by eva and started attending their meetings just to talk to her. hed run into her at underground bars and she enchanted him and they fell in love wahtever blah blah blah. eva finishes her studies and gets her doctorate then they find out shes pregnant and they settle down. everything plays out like normal for a few years except she doesnt die and continues raising the twins alone. with spardas fortune and freelance work translating ancient texts, shes able to keep the family afloat.

ive mentioned before that i like the idea that she kind of "unschooled" the twins but more in the way of she just let them take charge of their own education, they were both wildly curious and she just supplied them with the books and supplies for them to fuck around and find out in all their favorite subjects. in her mind, the twins would never be able to go to a normal school.

since eva didnt die trish wouldnt ever come to exist but i want her to exist so in this ive actually made her eva's niece. eva isn't really in contact with her family, she came from a pretty well to do old money family and they disagreed with a lot of her life choices. she broke away from them pretty young. trish is about the twins' age here, a little older, and the new family "delinquint". she starts making trouble in her family too and ends up finding a way to contact eva for her help. eva takes her in and enrolls her in a private school in town

as the twins approached the high school years, dante started pushing for them to follow trish's footsteps and go to actual high school. vergil was against it. but after enough of dante's pestering and with their abilities largely in control at this point, she gave in and enrolled them as well for their sophomore year.

this is all happening in about the late 80s

dante: he is excited for school and wants to be involved in everything. every seasonal sport, drama, mathletes, etc. he struggles to balance all the extracurriculars he wants to do. he could theoretically be popular if only he didnt hang around the weird kids. early on, popular kids were interested in him and he gave them a try out of his curiosity but quickly dumped them after they tried talking shit about vergil with him. again, dante struggles to balance everything but he keeps his grades up and does particularly well in math. he keeps trying and failing to start a band. after vergil tried growing out his hair once, dante followed suit. upon noticing this, vergil quickly cut his own hair back to length again but dante has continued to grow his out. eventually it grows well past his shoulders much to the school faculty's chagrin. hes forced to wear it up while on school property.

vergil: vergil from the start was strongly against going to school and his aversion to the idea only grew once he began attending. even in his preferred subjects, such as literature, he mostly gets poor marks because he refuses to do the homework and participate in class. he does alright in his foreign language classes as he doesnt have to do much to pass, ending up in advanced latin. after trying to grow out his hair to stand out from dante and failing, he cut it again and dyed it black, shocking everyone else at the breakfast table the following morning. dressed in all black, he seems to be falling into the goth scene on his lonesome. he doesn't participate in any extracurriculars and is forced to mull about in town for hours after school waiting for dante to finish up so they can walk home.

trish: although trish should have graduated already, she's still in her junior year after being held back a couple of years. the only classes she tries in are the sciences, but only during the labs. chemistry is her favorite. she likes observing but not reporting. she's close enough with eva and grateful to her for taking her in. teen trish is a hot head and she bickers a lot with the twins, often making fun of them and making snide comments. she doesnt do extracurriculars either but avoids hanging out with vergil. after some time, she tries to get a part time job after school to save for a car and has to let dante handle her money so that she doesnt spend it all. she crimps her hair and looks like a poorly done madonna impersonation. she often skips classes and smokes in the back of the school. shes a loner who doesnt really belong to any other group but acts like shes better than vergil anyways because at least she goes to parties. she has actually never been invited to the parties in question, she just eavesdrops on people for the details, shows up, goes under the radar to steal away some booze and watch people make fools of themselves.

lady/mary: mary is also a new sophomore with the twins, but is a transfer student on an athletics scholarship. she just moved with her dad to the city. shes been a dedicated gymnast since she was young. so dedicated in fact, it seems to be all she cares about, also ending up a loner. just one that no one ever seems to see hanging around. shes always in the gym outside of class. those who have met her in class tend to not like her and say that shes moody. after being paired up with dante as lab partners for the year, they end up as somewhat of friends after discovering a shared interest in weaponry. she starts sitting with dante and vergil at lunch occasionally, not talking much outside of responding to dante. she chirps up more when that trish girl rolls around to smack the twins over the head and then the two girls end up in a back and forth. by their junior/senior year, mary and trish end up in a classic homoerotic teenage friendship.

romy/rosemary: romy is another one of the school's loners and used to be The Resident Goth until vergil showed up in her sophomore year. she attends the school on an academic merit/financial need scholarship, otherwise living in a trailer park. outside of school, she wanders off on her own into the nearby woods to do her homework and study what she can on demonology and magic. she is in advanced latin with vergil, although they never talk. one time shes working on engraving a sigil into the ground when she hears a noise, finding vergil behind her. he interrogates her but she brushes him off. it is not until their junior year after her family trailer burns down that rumors start spreading about what exactly caused the blaze. all the students blame romy and she becomes even more ostracized. but they arent exactly wrong either. romy was able to achieve her first conjuring in her home when her family was out, just with a little collateral damage. this prompts vergil to start pushing his investigations of romy further. she eventually readily tells him the truth. romy does not uncover his true nature, but an "interest" in devils that they share and they slowly start hanging out after school. eventually, she joins the lunch table with vergil, dante, mary, and the occasional trish. romy doesn't skip but does take smoke breaks during passing periods and such at the back of the school, running into trish. trish finds her weird, but unlike with vergil its in a mysterious way with romy. trish probably has a weird gay crush on romy that she doesnt recognize to herself and she reacts to this by just being mean to romy.

[hanakihan]

me and my coworker friend brainrotted a little during lunch at work which resulted a in weird ass chart

basically ‘three flavors of edsali (?)’ as my friend summarized it based on firsthand impressions and ideas and it’s kinda fun

flavor number one/‘broken summoning concept’: pretty much rider dantes and caster salieri that are never meant to be summoned or even exist unless that’s some really fucked up shit happening around to make them actually summonable, pretty much scrapped origins. considering it’s them prior their lives went to hell, they’re just being sweet and nice to each other and everyone else, free of trauma and pain and anger.

flavor number two/‘the nameless reflections’: your classic avengers in their natural environment, two weird existences that are constantly stuck in their own revenge and anger of it, hence why they refuse to be called by names they can never call their own, just a count and kapellmeister. the constant pull of push, coldness and passion towards each other, awkward and weird balance akin to a dance.

flavor number three/‘the grand origin and finality’: (grand) avenger and (grand) ruler just chilling with each other and probably playing chess, long past identity crisis, completely comfortable at who and what they are, old married power couple energy as a bonus.

[fabdante]

If you could give the reboot twins new outfits, what would you pick? If it helps any: Maybe one outfit for casual clothes, one ~*fancy*~ one, and one specifically for combat?

exCELLENT QUESTION!! i love clothes a lot and i love redesigns and i have a massive Pinterest board dedicated to collecting outfit pieces for fic and fan art of everyone in the reboot so i have Thoughts. I decided to make little outfit collages since I'm supposed to be drawing right now and am now procrastinating

Dante: In general for Dante I like to mix a lot of alternative aesthetics. Particularly stuff like crust punk, streetwear, and some elements of classic grunge (namely the thing those Seattle guys did where they were layering shorts with like leggings and shit underneath). Jackets are a big one for him. Also I think he should wear more crop tops. And a lot of t-shirts that he just finds places that he thinks are funny (he is a man after my own heart I to buy clothing because I think it's funny). I imagine some of the DIY he does himself, some of it other people have done for him in the past, some of it he just found that way. A lot of things he owns are also stolen probably. The type of guy also that if you leave him alone with scissors he will cut up all his shirts (he is me)

Dante doing formal wear I think would keep a lot of this sort of alternative energy and also be very like...casual comparatively. Like we're talking like very lazily buttoned shirts and slacks and probably still wearing some sort of combat boot you cannot get this guy in a tie and he is probably keeping his sleeves rolled up unless he is wearing some jacket he's decided is 'formal' with it. I like to imagine, like me, he enjoys a good fur coat from the thrift store so perhaps one of those also.

Dante fights in what he always wears I think. He doesn't really think ahead. If he had to have something more geared towards combat, definitely boots, definitely some good jeans, and definitely something a bit airy on top. Also fingerless gloves are a must for the traction it gives him.

Also I need Dante in this for my mental health:

Vergil: For Vergil I tend to keep his aesthetic very minimalist, very clean, and very expensive. Like we're talking 800+ dollar sweaters and such. I think he tends to be quite formal, like you're not going to find him in anything but slacks unless he is going to bed or he's exercising. I also think he is a fan of statement footwear. Also he is the type of guy who gets everything custom tailored. I also like to think, rather then his gloves all being latex doctor glove type gloves like I think is common for people to headcanon, he has a wide variety for different things and yes since he wears them all the time the do get worn down fast. Also they are all blue and yes he has driving gloves. I also usually imagine him in all black with pops of blue.

His formal wear is probably not much different then his casual wear since he is so formal, just like you know More So. He likes suits and ties and dramatic silhouettes and dramatic jackets and all that.

Due to his dedication to formality I do think a combat outfit would be similarly theatrical and focused on this very formal styling. I would hope he'd get heavier duty boots though. He would definitely have leather gloves, however, for combat as well since they'd be heartier.

[jovenshires]

🦚 for the queer ask game!

🦚 - Are there any queer books/shows/etc. that you would suggest?

oh my god YEAH absolutely. i used to be a queer media connoisseur (im no longer a romance girlie when i consume media bc i write so much of it but i still have love for the genre). i'll do one rec for each category up here but ill put some more under the cut!!

book: aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe. it's my favorite book i've gotta put it out there. literally changed my life when i was like 16 i love it so much

show: there's so many popular ones that i feel like if you're gay you've already seen them by now, so im gonna throw a curveball and go with crazy ex-girlfriend. they talk a LOT about lgbtq+ identities and explore dynamics with different couples, and if you love musicals, you absolutely must go watch it rn i fear

movie: moonlight. oh my god if you haven't seen moonlight go watch moonlight it's so so incredible 10/10. a drama that follows a black gay man from childhood to adulthood, explores the themes of masculinity, family, and friendship as well as romantic love. it's just an incredible movie it deserves all the hype tbh

music: once again there's so many popular queer musicians nowadays that i Do Not HAVE to rec (you know the ones they go hard), so im gonna rec chrissy chlapecka!! she just makes such incredible, sugary-sweet pop music about such amazing fucked up shit i love her

send me some gay asks!

okie doke as promised here's some more recs from yours truly bc i really, really love media and have a collection to rec atp NDNKFNKND ill try to order them by genre from least to most obscure LMAO

BE WARNED: i do read some graphic stuff - im an adult and my media taste reflects that. before you read anything i rec, look it up for trigger warnings!! i don't want anybody to be hurt by something i recommend. <3

books:

of course like. simon vs the homosapien agenda by becky albertalli is out there. this is one of those classics i was talking about KDNKFNFK it's very ya-gay-romance-romcom you can eat up ya know. the movie's also not too bad (people think it's 'cringey' nowadays but that was HUGE for me when i was like 19 and had my first girlfriend). anyway it's feel-good fluff if you like that kind of thing!!

red white and royal blue is obviously another classic and one i can't rec enough. i love the way its written, i love the characters, i love the plot. like it's everything, if you're into the romcom vibe this is a great one to check out. (and as a bonus this one also has a movie and it Slaps)

it's not like it's a secret by misa sigura is a pretty solid wlw coming-of-age novel that i highly rec if you're into the rom-com type book. it's also got some EXCELLENT poc representation!!

bloom by kevin panetta is a graphic novel and i love it. so so so much. truly i think i read this in a day and i am NOT a huge graphic novel reader. feel-good romcom, poc rep, body diversity, AND pretty pictures. what is there not to love. everyone should read bloom tbh

lies we tell ourselves by robin talley is Probably my favorite wlw book ever. it's historical fiction and it is Everything to me. and im actually a known historical fiction hater so take it from me - its Good.

carry on by rainbow rowell is i think a classic at this point and i love it. so so so much. you ever identify with a character a little too hard. yeah thats me and this book. i gave my best friend a copy for her graduation. it is an Excellent take on 'remember all the heroes you wanted to be gay when you were a kid. imagine if they were.' it's my beloved

a hero at the end of the world by erin claiborne is another great one in the same vein, with a punchy, dry humor twist. basically if you were a harry potter kid but you hate jkr. you'll love this one and carry on KSNDKDNFK

nimona by nd stevenson is another graphic novel!! it's another fantasy, so if that's your cup of tea, i highly recommend it. it's got an amazing queer love story, a genderfluid protag, and most importantly, found family. literally everything. (it also has a movie but i haven't seen it yet

the raven cycle by maggie stiefvater is HUGEEEE i love that series it reshaped me. it's. mystery/supernatural i would say? it has multiple of my fave queer characters of all time and honestly. everyone there is a little gay. one of my absolute faves <3

we are the ants by shaun david hutchinson is a sci-fi horror adventure story and this one. it stuck with me. the main character hit me so hard and his internal struggle is so SO interesting. if you're into this kind of shit. give it a shot!

every day by david levithan is not one of MY all-time faves, but i can still say it's super interesting and has great rep!! it has a genderfluid/agender main character (depending on how you look at it). i will say i think there are multiple books in the series (?) but i stopped at one bc. it made me too sad anyway. <3

the perks of being a wallflower by stephen chbosky is not queer bc it's explicitly about a queer character or a queer love story, BUT. it still has one of my favorite lgbt characters of all time. patrick you will always be famous to me. as a bisexual girl in a catholic high school, saw a Lot of myself in patrick. (i do also have a special place in my heart for the movie bc it was my depression movie as a teen but patrick is played by ezra miller so be warned)

one of us is lying by karen mcmanus is another one that's not just. About a Gay Couple BUT it is one of my fave books (a murder mystery retelling of the breakfast club) and it has a gay main character!! his struggle with his sexuality is something he really struggles with and he has a boyfriend and i adore him.

shows:

i mean obviously like. heartstopper is incredible. like i said im not super into the romcom/young adult genre anymore but that show is just so beautiful and amazing and really healed my inner gay teen. it has a really diverse cast and representation for all kinds. i really recommend it!!!

everything sucks was gone before its time, but it is SUCH an amazing show. it has one of my fave on-screen wlw couples of all time. it's a feel-good, coming of age classic and i miss it deeply. (what did you just say??? 'katie rewatch it' oh my god you're onto something)

now if yall know me. glee is absolutely gonna be on this list. is it good? technically no. is it one of the greatest pieces of satire ever created? up until season three yes. i realized i was gay via santana lopez. THE gay character of all time. and all the love in my heart for all the other lgbt characters (kurt hummel you will always be famous to me......) some of it's a little dated (don't get me STARTED on unique) but it does genuinely have some great lgbt rep and if you watch it with a grain of salt it's a great comedy

julie and the phantoms made by kenny ortega (of THE high school musical and descendants fame) and it has a gay character i love!! (actually technically it has a few <3)

i'm a huge consumer of kids' media (i think phineas and ferb is a literal masterpiece and im not even kidding) so if you're like me and enjoy the disney/kid show beat i cannot rec andi mack enough. it's dramatic it's campy it's fun it's silly it's got a FANTASTIC gay character and a gay couple i deeply adore and not to mention!! so much representation!! it's like junior fosters tbh

we're gonna get into a little pocket here of like. normal romance but slightly niche - animes! sasaki to miyano is like my top lgbt anime rec. it is so, SO good. just absolute feel-good romcom goodness pls give it a shot

depending on interpretation, ouran high school host club arguably has a nonbinary character, some bi/gay characters, and a trans character! now. it IS hella dated do not get me wrong. BUT for the time? incredibly progressive and a wonderful watch. just brace yourself for some out of pocket shit

stars align has one of my favorite lgbt characters EVER, a nonbinary icon <3 and it's like. a PLOT. truly so rare to see something like that done on tv, let alone in anime. this is a sports anime - soft tennis my beloved - but it has So Much More To It than that.

another gay sports anime is run with the wind, a recent fave of mine. and i don't mean gay in the way that most sports animes are kinda gay. i mean he literally says 'im in love with this guy.' it's an amazing watch if you like that kinda thing!!

if you want an aroace genderfluid protag. the disastrous life of saiki k is up there as one of my fave animes ever AND saiki (the main character) is my fave protag of all time. this silly lil show is supernatural (ish?) and comedy all wrapped into one fantastic show i highly recommend!!

segueing back into live action shows, buffy the vampire slayer is an AMAZING, iconic, female-led supernatural dramedy with some early and, for its time, incredible lesbian rep.

yellowjackets because i LOVE unhinged lesbians. i didn't even know there was gay people in this - i started watching because i love horror and girls' soccer DLNKFNFLN and it's amazing!! if you like tragic gay women i HIGHLY endorse yellowjackets.

in the flesh. look. here's my pitch for itf. do you love being sad. do you love catharsis. do you love zombies. you will LOVE in the flesh. please. i miss it so bad i've seen this show 4 times (and you're right i should also watch this one again!!!) and i never tire of it.

sense8 is a sci-fi show and IT IS EVERYTHING TO ME. truly the diversity is unparalleled. so many lgbt characters of so many different identities. polyamory, trans people, a neuro-link that's destroying peoples' lives. it literally has everything.

the get down is not just an lgbt show, BUT it has an incredible lgbt character/storyline that i adore. a musical show, a historical fiction piece (which means a lot coming from me), and almost every character is a poc. pls give it a shot it's everything

bodies is another one that isn't just about lgbt+ rep BUT. it's incredibly diverse, examining people facing discrimination throughout history (you've got a gay mc, a jewish mc, a muslim mc, AND a disabled mc) and it just has such amazing plot lines and representation. it's a murder mystery/sci-fi double whammy, so give it a shot if you're interested!!

movies:

alex strangelove is a good, underrated, coming of age classic. it follows a guy who struggles with his sexuality. very teen rom-com-dramedy core!!

i adored boy meets girl when i watched it. a very romcom-y movie about a trans woman from a small town dreaming of getting out....... friends to lovers.......... i adore it

happiest season is a christmas movie and it's very sweet. its been panned (there are some just criticisms on the plot tbf) BUT i do think it's really cute

to wong fu thanks for everything julie newmar is just. so so good. it's an underrated classic imo. three drag queens go on road trip, end up in a small town, and change it for the better. it's literally so amazing it's just feel good found family PLEASE give this one a shot

the birdcage is another classic i so genuinely enjoy. who doesn't want robin williams and nathan lane as their gay dads. at the end of the day it's all about found family, love, and old gay men.

handsome devil is a foreign film - irish to be exact! - and i love it so much. once again as a catholic school kid.......... yeah. YEAH. anyway go watch the og gay nicholas galitzine movie LKNDKFNKNLFNKLF

pride is a historical piece and an excellent movie. it's got its ups and downs but god it's just an overall good movie. another irish film, coincidentally!

the way he looks is also a foreign film, this time in spanish, BUTTTTT it's one of my faves i love it so much. it's very feel-good, sweet, romcom so if you feel like you could be into that - give it a shot!!

rent, if you're into musicals, has some of my fave musical characters ever. angel dumott schunard you will ALWAYS be the love of my life. it is deeply sad but. other than that. i live in denial.

the prom is a much more light-hearted and silly lgbt musical. people shat on that movie but i think it's SWEET and cute and has some bangers!!

i mean like. we can joke ab how hyped it is all we want but brokeback mountain is basically required gay watching. it is EXACTLY as amazing as everyone says it is. the chemistry..... oh my god we could never make that movie again it was like catching lightning in a bottle.

bodies, bodies, bodies is a fun and campy lgbt horror if you're into that kind of thing!! the ending was a bit not my fave but otherwise it's an incredible cast and got some great silly scares

on the topic of gay horror, jennifer's body is gay and again, exactly as good as everyone hypes it up to be. you want gay women who are terrible to each other? oh boy do i have the movie for you

and i promise ill wrap on gay horror with it chapters 1 & 2. reddie will unfortunately always be famous.

everything, everywhere, all at once is not Just a gay movie BUT. it has an incredible gay character and it factors so interestingly into the mother/daughter relationship. i love that movie i will always talk about it

music (these are all just people i personally listen to but there are SO many more. im not gonna expand on these ones too much just go check em out you'll get it):

lil nas x

troye sivan

kim petras

kesha

tegan and sara

brandi carlile

hayley kiyoko

rina sawayama

peach prc

renee rapp

adam lambert

scene queen

willow

halsey

clairo

cavetown

janelle monae

[danidoesathing]

🦇 favorite horror movie, 🔮 coolest concept for a horror film, and 👿 FIGHT IN THE 7/11 PARKING LOT GO (I read horror novels and watch horror game let's plays, why is this list so film centric, feel free to incorporate things that aren't movies if you prefer lmao)

🦇 favorite horror movie

Hard tie between Nope and The Thing 1982. The thing is a classic. its got paranoia its got body horror its got insanely good gore effects it's got Jed the dog its got rj maccready it's got that fucking thang!!! i love it so much

but at the same time. Cowboy cosmic horror that explores the exploitation of people and animals by the entertainment industry and how traumatic events are turned into a spectacle for people to gawk at. With the most unique take ive seen on the classic alien first contact in a long time. And the insane amount of symbolism and double meaning in almost every shot. And the most accurate sibling relationship ive ever seen in any media ever. And Angel Torres being the funniest character concept ive seen in a horror movie. And that SOUNDTRACK holy SHIT

🔮 coolest concept for a horror film

I mean. I'd say In the Tall Grass has insanely cool concepts. An ancient eldritch rock(?) warps and corrupts and infects the field around it, bending and breaking space time to trap people in time loops so they're going through the same path of being trapped and lost and suffering for every moment forward and every moment after is really cool to me. but ONLY in concept alone the movie is so fucking mid that it's painful such a cool story was wasted on a film that was just ok.

For a movie that turned out good though? I'd say either As Above So Below or Prey. AASB has the idea of a descent through hell ala Dante's Inferno using the Paris Catacombs is really fucking cool. And Prey has takes the Predator and puts it in 1719 in the Northern Great Plains, following the perspective of a Comanche girl trying to survive/outwit the Predator as well as go through her own arc about becoming a hunter not only fucks in concept but the movie also goes hard.

👿 horror movie character you would fight in the 7/11 parking lot?

herbert west no question. you dont understand I need to beat that little bastard up with my own bare hands. watching the zombies do it for two movies was not enough. plus id know id win against his twig ass and it'd be really funny if he got his ass beat by a woman. imagine the damage id do to his ego. please it'd be hilarious

[selfdiagnosedeyemotif]

Chapter Three (Tyrri), pt. 1:

Hey did you think Cunningsworth is a big city? Get ready for Whitecrux

Sitting pretty at the very centre of the Hearthlands, this thing is a metropolis

It’s very much in the same vein as Cunningsworth though: lots of back alleys that make for a much better path to the university than the main roads

Additionally, there’s some kind of really dumb roadblock on the main road. The stupider the better.

Tyrri makes it through the back alleys with little issue before reaching the university, and sitting in the highest tower is Headmaster Tasslemore

He’s a much older man than Professor Elber, much more classic wizard-looking (rather than Elber who was wearing basically just a tweed jacket, this game exists around the same time as OT2 because suits in a fantasy setting are fun)

He asks to see the water samples, and after a little bit of looking, comes to two conclusions

One: the non-elemental magic in the water appears to be biological in origin

Two: the filaments that make up the crystals very closely mimic the muscles in the heart

He says that he’s going to take the rest of the day to look further into it so he can draft up a preliminary report, and sends Tyrri away

He isn’t very fun. Not that I care.

The road is still blocked so Tyrri takes the back alleys again

Something bad finally happens to the university student walking alone in alleys as a pair of people try to steal her messenger bag (which has all of her notes and equipment)

Fight ensues, the two assailants are notably casters

After thoroughly trouncing the duo, Tyrri demands to know why they would go after a research student of all people

She’s broke as hell and her equipment matches that

They explain that they’re independent researchers and are just completely starved for gear

Why not go to the university? They look around that age and it would be a crime to make schooling so unaffordable that people straight-up couldn’t take courses

Like, no one would be awful enough to not at least have a basics course at a cheaper price

Well you’re not gonna believe this but

The duo leave her alone after it becomes clear that they’re no match for her

Tyrri is NOT sleeping good that night. Something something her black-and-white view of the world being challenged by the idea that a person who helped her being bad actually

In spite of the fact that she was supposed to go bright and early to head to the university she returns back to the place the duo almost mugged her because what they said is messing her up

She returns to find them in the same place and starts talking things out

Their names are Willie and Dante, they’re brothers, and their parents moved to the Hearthlands from the Deltalands in hope of better education for their sons

 The University of Whitecrux, in addition to its many other descriptors, is also hellishly expensive to get into

Tyrri is pissed but refuses to explain why, stares at a wall silently for a bit, and then says that she’s going to go beat the everliving shit out of the headmaster

Willie and Dante are free to tag along and do so gladly

As the three march into the university, a guard spots them

“INTRUDER ALERT. THOSE DAMN KIDS ARE BACK.”

“Guys what did you do.”

“Yeah we may or may not have tried to pull the same trick we did on you, on the university.”

With that delightful bit of dumbassery that most certainly should have been brought up beforehand, we jump into…

The Third (technically second) Dungeon: University of Whitecrux

You’d think that you already explored here but you’re WRONG

The first time Tyrri came here it jumped to a cutscene as soon as you opened the door and cut straight to her entering the headmaster’s office (jokes about it being too many stairs for her 4’11” twig frame ensue, she SMALL)

The enemies here are exclusively elementals paired with a single spellcaster, and armoured guards

Why does a university have armoured guards on its payroll? Don’t ask me. Ask the headmaster.

It’s fairly linear, just heading up and up towards the top of the tower

Definitely lots of hidden goodies to find like in Professor Elber’s office; there are going to be side quests here later on

Tyrri continues her streak of having real shitty dungeons because I truly have nothing to say about this

It’s a university with a bigass tower on it. What else do you want me to tell you.

Opening the doors to the headmaster’s office once more, a verbal spat breaks out

Headmaster Tasslemore demands to know why Tyrri would do this, Tyrri can easily explain as much

She was a street kid growing up, but she was able to scrounge and save enough from an early age and get schooling, work her ass off for scholarships, and get into the University of Cunningsworth (UoC is like. The Qamarian standard for how expensive a university should be. Its still too high but its closer to reasonable than THIS)

It was a truly awful time and she wouldn’t wish it upon anyone, even if they had tried to rob her the day before (quick glance back at Willie and Dante)

Headmaster Tasslemore. Does not like that. He does not like that the preliminary report he had drafted up had been for one of those rats

The natural thing to do? Throw it out the window. One of the siblings is thankfully able to intercept him before he can do that but some magic-enhanced keep away ensues

The room steam with rage on both sides, we leap into…

[zvahl]

hi hi!! 2, 13, and 24 for the ask game?

02. favorite main character, side-character, ship, and villain?

Unsurprising, but Laurance is probably my fave main. Garroth is also up there. Fave supporting characters are def Dante and Vylad.

I'm not super dedicated to shipping, but I like most -mau ships atleast a little. Garrance also has a place in my heart, just for old times sake if nothing else. But I'm gonna go with with Vylance on this, because I think the ship name being violence is kind of funny and I like Vylad and Laurance's dynamic a lot.

Zane (and by extension the Jury) are my favorite villains, no doubt. Zane is classic and the Jury had so much potential I think was wasted. I always liked that rebirth was clearly setting up more Jury build up, and im so sad it never continued.

13. have your sentiments towards any characters/ships changed over time? (for instance, you didn't care for them at all but now you're obsessed with them, or you used to love them but it's faded over time.)

I was never exactly a committed Aaron Despiser but I think I've developed a new appreciation for him the older I've gotten. He's still not my favorite but MCD Aaron is chill, though I much prefer his late season 1/early season 2 portrayal. As I've matured I've also come to understand and enjoy a lot of the arcs I didn't put much thought into as a kid, like Dante who I think is probably one of the best written characters in the series. Overall though I can't think of any character who I've completely 180°'d on, opinion wise.

24. if you could design your own line of merch, assuming money or time wasn't an issue, what would that look like?

It's kind of lame, but posters probably. I dislike basically every official poster Aphmau has ever put out, I don't care for the character designs + I feel like the standard character bust/head lineup collage is kind of generic. I'd absolutely LOVE some in-universe style things, like wanted posters or recruitment flyers for the Jury/guard academies, etc. I eat that shit up Everytime I see it. Any clothing merch would have to be something that isn't Too obvious because I don't want to admit I'm an MCD liker in public 😭

[rocksibblingsau]

I was listening to F+TM and No Choir came on, that song is so "classical branch playing to Trollzard for the first time after regaining his colors" core its unbelivable

Like imagine, Branch probably never really sang to him before just played some instruments and maybe hummed on occasion and since he wasnt singing/playing when he got his colors back Id imagine we would want to make a moment out of it (like the melodramatic little shit he is)

Cute!

I like the idea that Classical Branch doesn't much do singing for himself, all of his actual feelings are in his instruments. He'll sing for operas, but his violin has become his 'voice'. We know from Dante and Forte that sheet music can be read like words to Classical Trolls, so I find the idea of Branch having an entire autobiography in his song and Poppy doesn't understand it and is just like 'Wow! :D cool music'.

Branch intended for that to be how he shared his story with her before remembering Pop Trolls can't read Notes.

[lizziestudieshistory]

Books of 2024 - May, June, and July

Going to be honest folks, I've been having a really shit year particularly with my mental health but physical too. So that means I've: A. Not been reading as much, B. Not been present online, and C. Been playing far too much Zelda to be healthy. However, here's what I have read...

I've not really been feeling a lot of what I've picked up, which probably hasn't helped, and I've been doing a lot of reflecting on how my taste is changing. (If anyone has any recommendations for historical fantasy in the style of Guy Gavriel Kay or Susanna Clarke then let me know because I'm CRAVING these kinds of books right now.)

Anyway here's the books:

May

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - I wanted to love this but I ended up hating it... The atmosphere was incredible and that kept me reading, but I found it incredibly sexist and, ultimately, shallow. It felt like those annoying men in seminars... Wanting to be perceived as clever but spouting other people's opinions and secondhand observations.

Sir Orfeo by Anonymous, translated by J.R.R. Tolkien - this was a captivating little narrative poem, mainly because I love the structure - I find it slightly hypnotic to read and I just glide through it. Truly beautiful! This is a perfect example of reading for the language alone - although the tale was charming.

June

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell - genuinely loved this! I thought I'd hate it but I think I like quiet stories about small communities?! Between this and my unwavering devotion to Emma I might need to rethink my preferences when it comes to classics. Cranford was a delight to read and I'm very happy I finally gave it a chance.

Mrs Wickham by Sarah Page - I didn't know whether to include this because, technically, it's an audio drama, not a book... However it's listed on Goodreads, so... 🤷‍♀️ Either way I HATED this. It was so complete and utterly ridiculous that I couldn't even take it seriously. Of all the poor continuations of Jane Austen I've had the misfortune to experience this was truly the worst. It's like they forgot Pride and Prejudice is a regency novel... Lydia deserves a better defence than this! I'm also baffled by how it managed to be crass AND overly sentimental at the same time?!

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton - loved it! This was a stunning character study AND exploration of Western society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Truly glorious. I should write up my notes into an actual essay at some point because I have SO MUCH to say! I can't do it justice here but someone should remind me to talk about this at some point.

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien - depression induced reread. I needed some comfort and Tolkien always delivers.

July

The Rogue Prince by George R.R. Martin - House of the Dragon was so bad I needed to soothe my heart, but I also didn't want to reread all of Fire and Blood... So this was my compromise. I had a much better time with this than the show (I still haven't bothered to finish it...)

The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin - I got bored at a friend's house and read her copy. I'm glad I've never bought it because this was underwhelming.

A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay - I had a fantastic time, a solid standalone from Kay and one I think a lot of people will like. This isn't a new favourite - I don't think anything will eclipse The Lions of Al-Rassan or the Dianora half of Tigana, but it's an excellent book that I'd highly recommend to anyone thinking about reading a Kay novel.

DNFs

I'm not sure when I abandoned these but here we go:

Inferno by Dante - this was a reread but I was struggling so much with anxiety that reading about Hell wasn't a good idea. Confession time: I'm not religious and don't believe in Christianity when I actually sit down to think about it. However, I've managed to give myself a case of 17th century protestant salvation anxiety... It fucks with my head sometimes and this was one of those moments.

Peril's Gate by Janny Wurts - I think I'm done, I've given this series so many chances because I WANT to love it. On paper it's everything I should love. But I'm so bored and the ONE character I'm reading the series for feels like wasted potential. I might come back if they continue to make audiobooks for the series, but I don't think I'll come back to reading the ebooks.

The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett - on paper this book should be right up my street. However this is NOT a book for me. I also really hate rogues... Instant turn off for me.