#croix's theme

[shuruzy]

yanno it's been pretty fun "sculpting" out my sketch layer instead of making a separate layer for lines for the past few pieces... It's also been helping me with things like anatomy & getting that rough line feel, so I should consider just doing this from now on lmao

[irrigos]

🎂🍩🍾 for all of them!

🎂: Has your OC have any contradictory interests or traits to the first preception people have of them? How do they surprise people?

Well, usually people assume Morgan is smart, on account of all that book-learnin'. Unfortunately, they are high-INT low-WIS. Morgan recreationally drinks poison because they want to know what it does. They have an eyeless skull that's just on their mantle. His name is Mr. Funnybones. Every eyeless skull they find is named Mr Funnybones, and they are all related to each other. (Morgan refers to them as Messers Funnybones, or sometimes Funnybones and Sons. They're a law firm.)

tbh I think a canny observer can figure Eliot out pretty easily, it's just that nobody usually bothers. He comes across as flighty and charming because he wants to come across that way, and doesn't want to reveal the fact that he's deeply sad all of the time. But it's easy to notice if you know what you're looking for.

Jacob kinda seems like he'd probably be some kinda meathead when you first meet him, especially since he was a zailor and all. He's a huge beefy guy, so it's kind of a surprise that not only is he incredibly well-read, he's very thoughtful and well-reasoned, too. Not only is he political, he knows a lot of theory AND is happy and able to explain concepts should anyone ask.

Percy doesn't talk to people that much, and when he does, he's pretty brusque (which is putting it nicely) so people don't really think much about his interior life at all. He loves one thing in the world, and that is his rose garden, but he doesn't bring it up unprompted because sometimes people make a whole Thing about it, and the longer he spends having to talk to people about his garden, the longer it is until he can get back to it. (In a modern AU, I know he's also a really big fan of magic the gathering, but I'm not sure what a victorian era equivalent would be. Whist? Go?)

🍩: What's a crime your OC is most likely to commit? What's a crime they're most likely to get arrested for?

Morgan: Treason (they do a lot of murders, but like, is that even a crime?) Jacob: Domestic Terrorism (this one's canon) Eliot: Well, sodomy isn't illegal in London, so murder, I guess. Percy: Obstruction of justice. He's not a narc, and also, he is cat on his father's side, so he is GOING to be in the way no matter where you need to be. That's his right. I don't care if you're a cop.

🍾: Does your OC believe in luck? If so, do they have any charm or ritual they do before a stressful event?

I don't really think any of them are big believers in luck! I think Jacob sometimes does things for good luck out of habit (he used to be a zailor, and his mom was definitely a "throw spilled salt over your shoulder to ward off the devil" kinda lady), and Percy loves a ritual (but more because he's a creature of habit than because he thinks it will actually change his fate in some meaningful way). Eliot believes in luck only in as much as he believes that he is fated to be miserable. So, take that as you will, I guess.

[complete-clownery]

Kind of pushing through a burnout, I swear I somehow forgot how to draw tbh

more of my lmk and lwa themed brainrot,

honestly idk how i feel about the (heavily Chariot and Croix inspired) adult designs,,, probably going to rethink this, but im just obsessed with the lwa outfits hhhh

(on the last picture that is Ironfan with macaque, theyre sworn sisters, nobody dares to talk with them)

[hayleythesugarbowl]

spencer agnew where his partner is visiting shoot day and Spencer flirts with reader in his chosen outfit 🤭

I Choose You || Chosen!Spencer Agnew x reader

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ masterlist • smosh masterlist  ⋆˚｡⋆୨୧⋆

summary: when you come to visit smosh, where your boyfriend spencer works, he surprises you by showing you one of his favorite characters

word count: 1.1k

warnings: none

a/n: ahh i hope you enjoy this my love 🤭 this worked perfect for a short lil fic and i hope it’s what you wanted

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     “Can I ask why you’re wearing a jester hat?”

     You looked up at the woman in front of you.

     “This?” She said, “It’s part of my character. Though what character I don’t exactly know yet.”

     You shrugged. It wasn’t the weirdest thing you’d seen since you arrived at Smosh.

     You’d just arrived a few minutes ago, finally making your way to the right studio. Spencer hadn’t given you exact directions and you’d had to ask multiple people which way it was.

      “So are you new here?” The jester-hat woman asked. “I’m Amanda, by the way.”

      “No, I’m just visiting,” you gestured to your lanyard, “I’m (Y/n), Spencer’s partner.”

      Amanda cocked her head to the side. “Huh, so you are real. There goes my 20 bucks.”

     You chuckled. “Yeah, Spencer invited me to come watch the shoot today. He said he wanted to show me something, but I don’t know where he is.”

     “Found him,” Amanda said, pointing in the direction of Spencer 

     You watched as he walked towards you. You took in his attire. He was wearing a black wolf-themed t-shirt, khaki shorts, and dark sunglasses, a sword at his hip.

     “Oh boy,” Amanda patted your shoulder, “Good luck with that.”

     She stepped away leaving you alone, before Spencer arrived in front of you.

     “Hey Spence,” you said. “I—

    “So,” he interrupted. He put on a voice, completely in character. “You must be the new visitor here at Smosh.”

     He indicated the visitor’s lanyard you wore around your neck. You were only confused for a moment before you realized. This must be what he wanted to show you—a character. You decided to sit back and see where this went. 

      “This studio is a freaking hellscape,” he continued, “If you wish to survive here, you must listen to these instructions, and listen carefully.”

     You raised an eyebrow, stifling a laugh. 

     Spencer pulled his sunglasses down, breaking character for a moment “(Y/n), this is serious. Never laugh at the Chosen.”

     “The Chosen?” 

     “Yes,” Spencer said, becoming the character again, voice and all. “The Chosen. Master of wit and combat. Downfall of all my enemies.”

     “Right,” you nodded your head, an amused look on your face, “Got it. Continue.”

     “As I was saying,” Spencer—the Chosen—kept going, “listen up if you want to have a rat’s chance at walking out of here alive.”

     “Number one. Never ask Angela about the chronology of any important historical events.”

     “Hey!” The woman who must have been Angela shouted in outrage, overhearing.

     “It’s ok, Ange,” Amanda consoled her, “I get my ones and elevens confused too.”

     “Moving on,” Spencer continued. “Number two. If you ever need to coerce Shayne into doing your bidding, use a La Croix. Some might say it’s his life force.”

     You nodded, playing along with the bit.

     “And finally, there are many aesthetically pleasing males here. More aesthetically pleasing than I. An epidemic, if you will.  However, even though you may be tempted, pay no attention to any of them under any circumstances. They are all intellectually my inferior, trust me.”

     You giggled, rolling your eyes at your boyfriend.      

     “I doubt that,” you said.

     “I am always correct. And I assure you, my IQ is that of an—”

     “No, I meant you know I think you’re the most attractive one here.”

     “Have you heard of the warrior known as Damien?”

     “Doesn’t matter,” you smiled, wrapping your arms around Spencer, “Because I only have eyes for you.”

     “Well in that case, I’m not going to argue with you.”

     “I thought you were always right?” You shot back. 

     “Ah, I see you’ve unlocked my one weakness: beautiful people.”

     You blushed, placing your hands on his chest. “You have a weakness?”

     “I know, surprising. But even Hercules had his own form of kryptonite.”

     “Let me guess, you fought with him,” you teased, taking a step back. “What is it, clubs? Anvils? Some mythical monster?”

     “No, it was Megara’s love. Did you even watch the Disney movie?”

     You laughed. “So, beautiful people, huh?”

     You looked into Spencer’s eyes. “I seem to have that weakness too.”

     “Then you’ll know how serious it is,” he said, “And you’ll know what the only way of defending yourself against its hold is.”

     You looked at him expectantly.

     “We must kiss.”

     “Only if it’s absolutely necessary,” you played along.

     “Very,” Spencer mumbled, leaning in to kiss you.

     Your lips met his and you wrapped your arms around his neck. He pulled you in, his hand tight around your back.

      “Spencer!”

      You pulled apart slowly and both looked in the direction of the voice. 

      “Make out on your own time, we need you on set!” Amanda called.

     “Well,” Spencer said, turning back to you. “It seems I must begin another mission—one with significantly less hot babes.”

     You rolled your eyes at him.

     “I’ll see you later then,” you kissed him gently, “I’ll try to survive as long as I can.”

     “Best of luck. And remember, I may be the Chosen,” he said, “But I choose you.”

     He bent down and kissed your hand slowly, before tipping his non-existent hat to you and walking back to set. 

     You sat down on a chair towards the back of the room, reflecting on the interaction you’d just had.

     You loved Spencer so much. It was things like this that reminded you why. 

     You watched the whole shoot, enjoying seeing some of what Spencer did as a living.  You knew he was talented and funny and dedicated—but watching him work just renewed that knowledge.

     You were more in love with him than when you got there. 

     The shoot ended and Spencer walked over to you, wrapping his arms around you and giving you a quick kiss on the forehead. 

     “Well, what’d you think?” He asked, back to himself.

     “I thought you were incredible,” you answered, trying your hand at the Chosen voice.

     Spencer smiled, “Not bad, babe. But maybe you should leave the Chosen-ing to me.”

     “You are the master,” you saluted.

     There was silence for a moment.

     “So,” you began, tracing your finger along one of his arm tattoos, “Do you think you could, um, bring some of that Chosen stuff home?”

     “Really?” Spencer raised an eyebrow.

     “Yeah, I don’t know,” you said, “I think it’s kinda sexy.”

     “You do?” Spencer looked shocked and a bit flustered before clearing his throat and covering it up.

     “I mean,” he said, his voice deeper, “Of course you do.”

     You laughed, beginning to walk towards the door, grabbing Spencer’s hand as he followed you.

     “So,” he said, putting back on the Chosen voice as you giggled, “You’ve become enamored with the Chosen?”

He paused.

     “Impressive.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ˋ°•*⁀➷ hope y’all liked this one. stay tuned for more spencer fics coming soon 🫶

[somehowmags]

ive discovered that there aren't a lot of one piece themed blinkies and whatnot on here so ive decided to be the change i want to see in the world.

credits for sprites:

the one piece grand battle swan collosseum and one piece gigant battle sprites were ripped by grim on spritedatabase

the gba one piece sprites were ripped by croix and harsh29 on spritedatabase

[icarusbetide]

hamilton & in the heights

i understand and often agree with the grievances people have with hamilton for perpetuating certain inaccurate narratives but i still love the way it intertwines and builds off of in the heights.

in the heights was probably on lmm's mind in 2008 when he read chernow's biography, since it won the tony for best musical that july. i can see why he was instantly taken in: the potential parallels are too good to be true. a biography about an immigrant from the caribbean, heavily emphasizing family or lack thereof. chernow's narrative (because he does create a narrative) is such a good parallel and foil to the previous musical it's actually crazy.

usnavi: the 21th century new yorker who yearns to return to the dominican republic. an orphan, but one that grew up in a strong community with love and support. family is incredibly important - he wants to find his roots. by the end of the musical, he realizes that he contributes to his culture and family's legacy by remaining in washington heights, keeping stories alive as their steady, dependable streetlight.

hamilton (musical characterized, not the historical figure): the west indian who yearned to get off of his island, and finds himself in revolutionary new york, never to look back. an orphan, but one shamed for illegitimacy. obsessed with legacy, but his own legacy, because what else does he have? he doesn't have "roots", a true community. constantly struggling between private and public duty. after his death, his wife picks up the mantle to protect their legacy, both the familial/personal and the public achievements.

i'd even argue that you can see hints of in the heights characters in hamilton. vanessa's "it won't be long now" would fit right into a hamilton prequel musical about his time on st. croix when he was still dreaming of a way out.

one musical feels burdened by the things that came before, usnavi's parents, nina's parents (and their parents), etc. etc. all passing something down to the next generation. hamilton seems to be burdened by the future and history as a concept - the weight of creating something entirely new, if that makes sense. it's only in the second act that loved ones take a forefront: philip & eliza during that tragedy. during the duel, we get theodosia (this man will not make an orphan of my daughter) and the long list of people hamilton thinks about (my son is on the other side, he's with my mother...washington is watching from the other side...eliza) right before the bullet gets him.

both are american stories, but there's clearly a very personal, continuing thread between them. i find myself willing to overlook certain issues if i think of hamilton as less an accurate retelling of a particular historical figure, but more about the themes that can be delivered effectively through that figure. i started this ramble with a point but i forgot it.

[doodleshrimps]

Madeline de la Croix - #477 Dusknoir

I finally made the Pokemon thing with Madeline! Sooner or later I'll do it with Lucia and the two ghoulettes too. The whole Duskull evolution line fits the Grim Reaper theme of Madeline :D (her plague doctor mask resembles a Spritzee

[kermit-coded]

my heart is like a claw machine (it's only function is to reach) (7566 words) by kermit_coded Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: X-Men (Comicverse), Marvel (Comics) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Julio Richter/Shatterstar, Theresa Cassidy & Shatterstar, Shatterstar & Monet St. Croix Characters: Julio Richter, Shatterstar (Marvel), Theresa Cassidy, Monet St. Croix, Guido Carosella Additional Tags: Nonbinary Shatterstar (Marvel), we doin gender today, Autistic Shatterstar (Marvel), Gender Identity, Queer Themes, POV Shatterstar, Canon Queer Relationship, Friendship, yes ric is gay and star is transfem nb, Time Skips, Nail Polish, Makeup, Period Typical Attitudes, Making Out, Comic: X-Force Vol. 1 (1991), Comic: X-Factor Vol. 3 (2005), Gender Dysphoria, Autistic Monet St. Croix, Period Typical queer terminology, Period Typical Bigotry, Implied Sexual Content Series: Part 12 of gender feelings (multifandom) Summary: Shatterstar breaks the mold.

[just-antithings]

it's kind of a downer that when i get into a new thing and want to join some fandom server or engage with the fandom in general, there's always a full-on hesitance with it now. like even servers that aren't blatantly anti just feels like it's not worth from my experience?

idk maybe i have shitty luck and always join servers that are filled with repressed puritans in hiding. because almost always it's like. they're weird with the concept of adults talking to the kid members, or they're weird with slash ships (i left one server and my immediate thought was "finally i don't have to be heteronormie"), or they're weird with sex, or they're weird with dark themes. and by weird i mean "i don't want to witness this with my two eyeballs and i'm going to passively aggressively imply you're going to hell" (despite the fact you were discussing stuff in the right channels or tags or whatever)

it's like i keep meeting people whose only favorite drink is water and they tremble like an overly stressed chihuahua at the thought of flavors higher than la croix

[adarkrainbow]

Edmund Dulac's Fairy Tales go to War

Jstor Daily published an article with the catchy title "Edmund Dulac's Fairy Tales go to War". Of course I had to read it. The original article is here if you want to check it out, but I'll still copy-paste it below because it's crazy info. (And given it is quite long I will put two thirds of it under a cut)

Edmund Dulac’s Fairy Tales Go to War One of the best-known illustrators of the “golden age of children’s gift books,” Dulac was also a subtle purveyor of Allied propaganda during the Great War.

By: S. N. Johnson-Roehr and Jonathan Aprea ; December 16, 2022

Once upon a time, there was a young artist named Edmund Dulac, who built his early reputation on his illustrations for J. M. Dent & Company’s 1905 edition of Jane Eyre. Almost instantly, he became a leading name in the book arts, producing illustrations for the Brontë sisters and popular magazines. Annual exhibitions of his drawings and paintings at the Leicester Galleries, London, drew the attention of both the European and American art world. In 1910, critic Evelyn Marie Stuart, writing for Chicago’s The Fine Arts Journal, described his work as “rich with poetry and imagination, and strong in the possession of that decorative element which renders a picture universally pleasing.” His drawings were like "things seen in a vision or a mirage; or traced by the fancy of a child in the lichens on the wall, the water discolorations upon a ceiling, or the light shining through a broken crumpled shade; or, even like the things we try to decipher in the leaping flames and glowing embers of an open fire—many of these delightful sketches suggest to our fancy in some detail a variety of objects."

Dulac’s themes tended toward the fantastical—scenes from the Arabian Nights and Omar Khayyam’s Rubáiyát—with roots in the Pre-Raphaelites and not far removed from the work of Arthur Rackham and Kay Nielsen.

Born in France and naturalized as a British citizen in 1912, Dulac understandably awarded his loyalties to the Allies during the Great War. To support the war effort, he contributed his art and design skills to several charity books, including Princess Mary’s Gift Book and King Albert’s Gift Book, both published in 1914. If there remained any doubts as to his feelings about the Axis powers, they were surely erased when he published Edmund Dulac’s Picture-Book for the French Red Cross in 1915, with its cover proclaiming “All profits on sale given to the Croix Rouge Française, Comité de Londres.”

Even more convincing—and more inventive—was his use of fairy tales to not just further his charitable efforts but to possibly encourage the United States to join the war. Published in 1916, Edmund Dulac’s Fairy-Book was a subtle but persuasive example of wartime propaganda. Subtitled “Fairy Tales of the Allied Nations,” it included Dulac’s own adaptations of folk tales gathered from the nations fighting with Great Britain: France, Russia, Italy, Belgium, Serbia, Japan, and China.

Below, courtesy of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, are reproductions of some of the illustrations from Edmund Dulac’s Fairy-Book, accompanied by brief explanation of each story.

Snegorotchka: A Russian Fairy Tale

Snegorotchka (more commonly transliterated Snegurochka), the “The Snow Maiden,” is a recurring character in Russian folklore, playing various roles, from child to adult, in stories bounded by the winter and spring seasons. By the late nineteenth century, Snegurochka had blended fully with the traditions of Christmas, often serving as a helper to Grandfather Frost (Ded Moroz).

In Dulac’s version of a common tale, Snegurochka is a girl made from snow, brought to life to add joy to the waning years of a childless couple. An elderly man and women all but will the girl into being as they shape a tiny body of snow in the woods. Snegurochka leaps to life, filling their home and souls with warmth throughout the winter. Tragically, the little girl disappears with the heat of spring weather, leaving the parents bereft.

Another version of the Snegurochka tale formed the basis of a play by Alexander Ostrovsky, which was subsequently adapted into an opera by Rimsky-Korsakov.

The Buried Moon: An English Fairy Tale

Sometimes known as The Dead Moon, The Buried Moon highlights the dangers of living in the bog country of Northern Europe.

Traveling through a bog, a personified Moon becomes entangled in magical, malevolent branches. After some struggle with “all the vile things” that love darkness (witch-things, bogle-bodies, creeping things, and the Scorpion King, to name a few), the Moon finds herself buried deep in the mud, held down with a black stone.

Of course the humans miss the Moon, lamenting her failure to appear in the sky on schedule, but who even knows where to search for her? Even the Wise Woman of the Mill can’t see any trace of her. Fortunately, just before her entombment, the Moon had managed to briefly shine her light to guide a lost and wandering human out of the treacherous marsh. Remembering this moment, the man spreads the word. Emboldened by the Wise Woman’s words of encouragement as well as the Lord’s Prayer, the local people march to the bog, fight off the Horrors of the Darkness, and rescue their beloved Moon

White Caroline and Black Caroline: A Flemish Fairy Tale

Folklorist Antoon Jozef Witteryck collected White Caroline and Black Caroline (Wit Karlientje en Zwart Karlientje) and included it in his 1899 Old Flemish Folktales (Oude Westvlaamsche volksvertelsels), an annotated version of which was republished by Hervé Stalpaert in 1946. The story can also be found in the Annales de la Société d’Emulation pour l’Étude de l’Histoire & des Antiquities de la Flandre (Bruges, 1889).

White Caroline and Black Caroline depends on the familiar figure of the evil stepmother, a woman who loves her ugly daughter (Black Caroline) more than her beautiful stepdaughter (White Caroline). Everyone and everything, from townspeople to lambs to dancing dogs, love White Caroline and equate her beauty with good. But the mother prefers her own daughter, noting “Black Caroline was so ugly;—but she was good all the same!”

And indeed, Black Caroline is good. Her mother tries no fewer than three times to murder White Caroline, and each time, Black Caroline intercedes. Poison thorns in the pillow, poison in her meatball dinner, an “accidentally” falling millstone—none manage to kill White Caroline, thanks to Black Caroline’s quick thinking.

The abrupt entrance of White Woman, queen of all the water and the woods, brings the murder attempts to a close. Not surprisingly, White Woman also loves White Caroline and promises to give her whatever she wishes—beautiful grapes, a dress of silk, a nice sailboat. Luckily, White Caroline is also good: she wishes to have Black Caroline with her. More than that, she wishes they could look alike. The White Woman has an idea:

“Little white feathers appeared on their shoulders and spread until they were entirely covered; and there they stood together, two beautiful white swans! And ever after they swam up and down on the peaceful water and no one could tell one from the other.”

The Seven Conquerors of the Queen of the Mississippi: A Belgian Fairy Tale

While there may be an actual fairy tale underpinning The Seven Conquerors of the Queen of the Mississippi, the story’s title reveals Dulac’s probable agenda. It takes no large leap of the imagination to read the “seven conquerors” as Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Serbia, Japan, and China, all seeking an alliance with the Queen of the Mississippi—the United States—on the fields of Belgium.

The story is straightforward and structurally repetitive—each conqueror swears an oath of loyalty, and their individual strengths combine to win the Queen and kill the King (hello, Kaiser Wilhelm II).

Dulac, or some unnamed collaborator, has penned a verse that cuts through the first half of the tale with a modern rhythm and vocabulary.

“Will you travel with me, my pippy?” “Oh! Whither away? To Botany Bay?” “But no; to the far Mississippi, Where a Queen—tooral-ooral-i-ay— Is waiting for what I’m to say.” “I am yours! And the bounty?” “Either here or in Botany Bay!”

‘Will you travel with me, my pippy?” “Oh! Whither away? To Rome or Pompeii?” “But no; to the far Mississippi: There’s a Queen of great beauty that way, And there’s no one but Cupid to pay.” “I am yours! And the bounty?” “Name your price: it shall be as you say.” And so on. Travel with me, my pippy!

The Serpent Prince: An Italian Fairy Tale

The Italian poet Giambattista Basile collected The Serpent Prince (sometimes translated as The Enchanted Snake) in the seventeenth century, including it in The Pentamerone: Lo cunto de li cunti (The Tale of Tales). Folklorist Andrew Lang drew upon Basile’s version for The Green Fairy Book (1892).

Dulac has created his own prefatory material for the familiar story, opening with the popular nursery rhyme:

The old woman who lived in a shoe, Who had so many children she didn’t know what to do,

allegedly “lived about the same time in another part of the country” even though The Serpent Prince was collected in Naples.

As the story goes, a forester’s wife, Sapatella, finds a tiny serpent in her firewood. Childless, Sapatella is startled but amenable when the serpent offers himself up for adoption (“she was a kind-hearted woman and very, very lonely”).

The serpent grows—as children do—and soon demands a wife. And not just any wife! The serpent must marry the king’s daughter. Surprisingly, the king agrees to meet this demand. Or does he? He will give his daughter in marriage only if the adopted son-serpent can turn all the fruit in the royal orchards to gold.

It’s not clear why anyone is surprised that a talking serpent can wield the magic necessary to turn fruit into gold. Nor is it clear why the king would think the serpent would fail at any additional challenge placed before him. Turn the walls into diamonds and rubies? No problem. Turn the entire palace into gold? Absolutely (“not gold plate either: it was all solid gold of the purest kind.”). The king is forced to cede the battlefield. The princess will marry the serpent.

Of course, the serpent is really an enchanted prince, and here you would think the story would end: the affianced are wed, their kingdoms allied. But thanks to an additional foolish act by the king, the prince is again enchanted (and worse), and only the princess can save him. But will she be able to outwit the wily fox standing between her and her beloved?

The Hind of The Wood: A French Fairy Tale

Dulac offers a faithful retelling of The Hind in the Wood (La Biche au bois, also translated as The White Doe or The Enchanted Hind), written by Marie-Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Countess d’Aulnoy. A talented and creative storyteller, Countess d’Aulnoy gave us the very words “fairy tale” in 1697, when she published her first collection under the title Les Contes des fees (Tales of the Fairies).

Though the titular hind is the star of the story, the scene opens with an unhappy, childless queen encountering a talking crayfish. Though “hearing a big Crayfish talk—and talk so nicely too—was a great surprise to her,” the queen listens carefully to the crustacean.

The reward for her attentiveness is a kingdom transformed. Beneath her feet appears “a carpet of violets, and, in the giant cedars above, thousands of little birds, each one a different colour, [singing] their songs; and the meaning of their melody was this: that cradle, woven by fairy fingers, was not there for nothing.” Soon she will be a mother!

A troupe of fairies gather around the suddenly expecting queen and ask that she welcome them on the day of birthing so they can give special gifts to the babe, who will be named Désirée. And on that special day, the queen indeed remembers to bid them come to the palace. Sadly, she neglects to invite the talking crayfish (who is really the Fairy of the Fountain) to the celebration.

Curses. But only small ones, in the scheme of things. The Fairy of the Fountain warns the royal parents to keep Princess Désirée from seeing daylight until she turns fifteen. That’s all.

Alas, the Warrior Prince lies on his death bed. Just a portrait of Désirée is enough to make him fall in love and abandon his plans to marry Black Princess. Yet he cannot see her—she will not be fifteen for a few more months. To save the Warrior Prince, Désirée agrees to travel with her two ladies-in-waiting by darkened carriage to his kingdom.

Unfortunately, one of those ladies-in-waiting, Long-Epine, is a traitor. She slits the cover of the carriage, exposing Désirée to daylight. Just a drop of sunlight turns the princess into a dazzling white hind. She instantly runs off into the forest. And that is the curse: by day, a doe; by night, a lonely princess.

The Warrior Prince wanders this very forest and soon spots the white deer. Annoyed that the animal tries to keeps its distance from him, he looses an arrow and pierces her flank. He’s sorry! Especially when he finds out the hind is his beloved, enchanted.

She isn’t enchanted for much longer, however. The Prince, even knowing all, loves her. And that is enough to break the spell

Ivan and the Chestnut Horse: A Russian Fairy Tale

Variations of Ivan and the Chestnut Horse are abundant in Russian folklore. Sometimes Ivan rides a chestnut horse, sometimes a dun. A common version of the story, known as Sivko-Burko, was collected by A. N. Afanas’ev in the mid-nineteenth century. Included in Jack V. Haney’s comprehensive The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas’ev (Tale #179, Vol. II), this version gives Ivan a magic black steed.

Ivan and his brothers have just committed themselves holding daily prayers over the grave of their recently departed father when they hear that Princess Helena the Fair has decided to wed. To win her favor, her suitor must leap on horseback to the top of the shrine on which she sits, kissing her as he flies through the air.

Ivan, the youngest of the siblings, offers to take on the burden of graveside prayer for a week so his brothers can curl their hair and train their horses for the challenge. One week stretches to two, and then to three. The brothers ignore their filial duties to dye their mustaches. So much attention is paid to their appearance that they even neglect to feed their horses.

And yet, when the day of the leaping contest arrives, the older brothers dash away on their mounts, leaving Ivan alone to pray and weep over his father’s grave.

It was thus that two out of three brothers miss their father’s resurrection. Shaking himself free of the damp earth, the father offers to help his youngest son. He begins to call out in a loud voice—one time, two times, three times. Ivan discovers his father is summoning a beautiful chestnut horse!

Yes, this is the enchanted steed that will take Ivan to the shrine of Helena the Fair, where—after two failed attempts—it rises to the leap, allowing Ivan to press his lips to those of the princess “in a long sweet kiss, for the chestnut horse seemed to linger in the air at the top of its leap while that kiss endured.”

After summoning the steed, Ivan’s father immediately vanishes. No matter, because Ivan is soon welcomed to supper with the father of his bride, Princess Helena the Fair.

The Blue Bird: A French Fairy Tale

The Blue Bird (l’Oiseau Bleu) is another tale that comes to us by Countess d’Aulnoy. Though there are many variants of the story found across Europe, scholar Jacques Barchilon notes that d’Aulnoy’s version is remarkably robust, appearing in a French Canadian collection, “word for word the version of Mme d’Aulnoy’s with all details,” as late as 1960. Andrew Lang also included it in The Green Fairy Tale Book.

Our story opens with a rich but miserable king. He’s inconsolable, having only recently become a widower. Hoping to comfort him, his courtiers present him with a woman dressed in mourning clothes and possibly crying even louder and longer than the king himself.

Finding solace in their similar sorrows, they decide to wed. Each brings into the marriage a daughter from their first marriage. The king’s daughter: “one of the eight wonders of the world,” the young and lovely Florine. The new queen’s daughter: “neither beautiful nor gracious,” the young Truitonne, with a face like a trout and hair “so full of grease that it was impossible to touch it.”

The queen loves Truitonne much more than she loves Florine, which wouldn’t matter if the king didn’t love the queen so much that he cedes to her every wish. For instance, he allows her to dress Truitonne in jewels and Florine in rags when Prince Charming appears at court. Despite the heavy-handed costuming, however, Prince Charming only has eyes—and love—for Florine.

The queen schemes. The queen plots. She enlists maid, frogs (“for mind you, frogs know all the routes of the universe”), and fairy godmothers. And yet the Prince will not be deflected from his plans to be with Florine. Finally, exasperated with his stubbornness, Truitonne’s fairy godmother turns the prince into a blue bird—for seven years!

It’s not too bad, at first. In bird form, the prince finds it easier to woo Florine—until the queen discovers that he flies to her window every night. Wielding her dark magic, Truitonne’s fairy godmother sends the blue bird to his nest to die.

Fortunately, every bad fairy seems to be balanced by a good fairy. This bright character finds the dying blue bird in his nest and heals him. It doesn’t seem to help much—the queen is determined that Truitonne will marry the prince even if only by trickery and deception.

The queen’s shenanigans never seem to end—this is a long fairy tale—but eventually the universe, or at the least the good fairy, finds a way to bring Prince Charming and Florine together.

The Friar and the Boy: An English Fairy Tale

The Friar and the Boy, also known as Jack and his Stepdame, reaches back to the poetry of medieval England. In volume three of Remains of the Early Popular Poetry of England (1866), William Carew Hazlitt records a c. 1585 London imprint of the chapbook verse that underpins the modern version of this tale.

The story begins with Jack, a young lad wronged by his stepmother. She starves him, she yells at him, she altogether doesn’t care for him.

One day, sent to the fields to watch the sheep, Jack encounters a hungry old man. Jack’s lunch isn’t much, as his stepmother is loathe to feed him decent food, but he gives it to the stranger. In return, the old man gives Jack three wishes.

Wish one: a bow and arrow, charmed such that the target will never be missed. Wish two: a pipe, its magic strong enough to make anyone dance who hears its tune. Wish three: an enchantment that will turn his stepmother’s harsh words into laughter.

Jack instantly puts his granted wishes to work. When his stepmother begins to scold him, her words turn to laughter. She laughs herself sick. When the Friar is sent to chastise Jack for his impudence, he ends up dancing through the brambles to Jack’s piping. Soon Jack has the entire village dancing to his tunes!

Alas, his poor old father begs for a rest. Jack loves his father, so he ceases to play. Not surprisingly, the Friar takes advantage of the pause to have Jack called before the Judge, “be-wigged and severe.”

The Friar makes his case: “the prisoner here has a pipe, and, when he plays upon it, all who hear must dance themselves to death, whether they like it or not.”

Intrigued, the Judge asks to hear this so-called Dance of Death. Jack is happy to oblige and takes up his pipe to play. Soon everyone in court is on their feet, dancing madly to the tunes. Even the judge joins in, “holding up his robes and footing it merrily.” He’s a believer, but he soon asks the boy to stop.

Jack agrees, but only if everyone promises to treat him properly.

“I think,” says the Judge, “if you will put your pipe away, they will consent to an amicable arrangement.”

Court is adjourned.

The End.

[gothicprep]

This post I like a lot showed up on Facebook’s memory feature and I’d like to share it here:

Two things:

1) This meme is hilarious and I love it.

2) Thinking about how the "Disney-fication" of fairy tales has heavily altered how we perceive them. Disney's business model has basically been predicated on finding an existing story, sanitizing it to make it as cute and wholesome as possible to maximize your potential audience, and diving into the profits like Scrooge McDuck. And, like, cuteness is fine. I tend to think of Disney's adaptations of fairy tales completely separate entities from their source material because the themes and artistic intentions are so divergent. If a fairy tale is a grapefruit, Disney's version of it is a pamplemousse La Croix. You get the idea.

Like, an example you could easily point to here is Pinocchio. The original Collodi story isn't exactly heartwarming (Spoiler alert for a book published in the 19th century: Pinocchio is a puppet who runs around town being a dick and he gets lynched at the end). It was meant as a tongue-and-cheek "be good or suffer for it" sort of cautionary tale. Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid has dark and religious overtones that are also got left on the cutting room floor. Disney's version has a very "love conquers all" message about it. Anderson didn't agree with this, like, at all. The story comes by love as suffering and sacrifice. Anderson's mermaid doesn't just exchange her voice for legs, she endures the pain of being stabbed every time she takes a step, and in this version, her love is unrequited. Her despair isn't necessarily rooted in her not being human, it's because she doesn't have a soul because of this and won't be able to see her prince in heaven. The ending is the mermaid giving up her life in a Christ-like sacrifice to save the prince, and she's rewarded by being turned into a benevolent spirit who can attain a soul if she spends the next several centuries helping mankind.

Oh, and Collodi's grandson actually sued Disney because he was so mad about how unfaithful the Pinocchio adaptation was. "Moral copyright infringement." Gasp. Drama.

They seem kind of repulsive given our sanitized children's media diet, but gothic tones like these are pretty standard in old folklore. Fairy tales are layered and pretty dark sometimes, but this is a means of giving children a symbolic template for understanding the world. Research at a children's cancer clinic found that fairy tales served as a helpful tool for children to cope with their stressors and anxieties. The darkness of fairy tales can actually offer a light to children confronting adversity. But the cultural treatment we give to fairy tales no, post-Disney, strips them of their complexity

A psychologist named Susan Darker-Smith found that young girls who identified with Cinderella or Belle were more likely to end up in abusive relationships as adults, through her work interviewing domestic abuse survivors. Interpret this however you'd like.

I'm not trying to cancel Disney here or anything. These stories are, like, fine in a vacuum. But it's crazy how much the Mouse Behemoth has altered our perception of folklore because, like, let's be honest, those stories aren't giving children tools to navigate real life problems. Which was, um, the original point of children's folklore. Preparing kids for the darker aspects of adulthood in a consumable way. And there's a lot of inertia here – when Disney released films in the 70s-80s with darker tones, like The Black Cauldron, they were spectacular box office failures. The "Disney Renaissance" was basically a massive course correction back into the blanched and saccharine.

It's really something. Anyway, I hope das kinder are having fun with Hodenverstümmelung. They're better off for it.

[bronzecats]

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada: Background

There really isn't a lot of information out there about Thanksgiving in Canada, so it's harder to tie it directly to a colonial narrative. An often mentioned pre cursor is the 1606 L'Ordre le Bon Temps (Order of Good Cheer), and various festivals of thanksgiving celebrated by several different Indigenous communities. The date of colonial Thanksgiving in Canada has varied over the years

Here's a couple of excerpts from the Canadian Encyclopedia:

In 1606, in an attempt to prevent the kind of scurvy epidemic that had decimated the settlement at Île Ste. Croix in the winter of 1604–05, Samuel de Champlain founded a series of rotating feasts at Port Royal called the Ordre de Bon Temps (“Order of Good Cheer”). Local Mi'kmaq families were also invited. The first feast was held on 14 November 1606 to celebrate the return of Jean de Biencourt de Poutrincourt from an expedition. Having attended the festivities, Marc Lescarbot remarked that they consisted of “a feast, a discharge of musketry, and as much noise as could be made by some fifty men, joined by a few Indians, whose families served as spectators.” .... The first national Thanksgiving in Canada was celebrated in the Province of Canada in 1859. It was organized at the behest of leaders of the Protestant clergy, who appropriated the holiday of American Thanksgiving, which was first observed in 1777 and established as a national day of “public thanksgiving and prayer” in 1789. In Canada, the holiday was intended for the “public and solemn” recognition of God’s mercies. As historian Peter Stevens has noted, some citizens “objected to this government request, saying it blurred the distinction between church and state that was so important to many Canadians.” The first Thanksgiving after Confederation was observed on 5 April 1872. A national civic holiday rather than a religious one, it was held to celebrate the recovery of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) from an illness. Thanksgiving was first observed as an annual event in Canada on 6 November 1879. The date for each of the following years, as well as a unifying theme for which to give thanks (usually concerning the harvest, though anniversaries related to the British monarchy were also common), was determined annually by Parliament. The holiday occurred as late in the year as 6 December and even coincided several times with American Thanksgiving. The most popular date to observe Thanksgiving was the third Monday in October, when the fall weather is generally still amenable to outdoor activities. ... ... It was not until 31 January 1957 that Parliament proclaimed the observance of the second Monday in October as “a day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.” E.C. Drury, the former "Farmer-Premier" of Ontario, lamented later that “the farmers’ own holiday has been stolen by the towns” to give them a long weekend when the weather was better. Thanksgiving is an official statutory holiday in all provinces and territories except Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. It is called Action de grâce in Quebec and is celebrated to a much lesser extent there than in the rest of the country, given the holiday’s Protestant origins and Anglo-nationalist associations.

[catharusustulatus]

If Joe Keery really does go to German ComicCon, yay! Have fun if you go! But also:

Please be respectful. He doesn’t do stuff like this a lot because he’s been disrespected and mistreated in the past, and a lot of questions are repetitive. Don’t ask questions about his personal life or his hair. Don’t ask too many ship questions.

Maybe this is niche, but if you have the chance, ask him about stuff we’ve never/seldom heard him talk about, like:

How did you get into playing hockey in high school, and what about hockey appeals to you? Do you have a favorite player? If you know how to ice skate, do you know how to roller skate?

Do you have a favorite Steely Dan album or song, and why? Was Steely Dan an inspiration on Decide at all?

Can you give us your definitive ranking of La Croix flavors?

What was it like filming Marmalade/Finalmente L’alba/Fargo?

Have you been reading anything good lately? What’s the last book that you read that made an impact on you?

Who is a director you want to work with, and what kind of movie would you love to make with them?

If Steve had a theme song, what do you think it would be?

What’s your favorite Steve and Robin moment from the show so far and why?

I have a million more. Ask good questions! Learn more about him! If you’re going and this reaches you, have fun!

[rattkachuk]

so when do we get special panthers themed cans of la croix

[insomniac-jay]

The Gogo Girls [Redux]

The Gogo Girls are a group of Idol Heroes who serve as both Superstar and Sirenia's sidekicks as well as a legitimate girl group. Because of their status, the girls rarely see combat instead taking on more espionage missions. Much like Superstar, they have a 70s theme to them.

The members consist of:

Enbi Aimoto | Playgirl

Koneko Shizumiya | Kitty

Nayla Pryor | Hot Stuff

Inoka Amai | Sweetie Pie

Theresa "Rhea" Fox | Dancing Queen

Brandy St. Croix | Love Hangover

Milicent Mikako Ningyo | Barbie

Enbi Aimoto | Playgirl

Playgirl, later the Love & Kisses Hero: Lady Cupid, is the leader of the Gogo Girls as well as the lead singer. Enbi had dreams of being a hero, but was forced to drop out of college to care for her sick mother. She eventually got a job at the Music Divas Agency as a secretary for Superstar.

With enough encouragement from her boss, Enbi reapplied for college and graduated. Superstar selected her as the leader of a new group she was forming shortly after.

Quirk/Gift: Cupid's Arrow - Enbi can turn the hearts that float around her into a bow and arrows that she can fire at a target's heart. When the arrow hits their heart, the target falls madly in love with her.

Koneko Shizumiya | Kitty

The shy, somewhat reclusive second-in-command of the group, Kitty is not the most photogenic person. Much like her cousin Black Cat (Kuroneko Kinzan), Koneko was poor and homeless for a majority of her life until her senior year of high school. Because of her past living situation, Koneko has become very money conscious. When an opportunity to earn money presented itself in the Gogo Girls, Koneko took it.

Primary Quirk/Gift: Kitten - Koneko has the features and abilities of a cat.

Secondary Quirk/Gift: Teleconnection - Koneko can establish a psychic link with a person or object. Establishing a link with a person/people allows her to read minds while establishing a link with an object gives her telekinesis.

Nayla Pryor | Hot Stuff

Nayla is someone who already has her future set out for herself: be a sidekick for a few years, graduate to pro, and enter the greater entertainment industry. Hailing from Spain, her biggest dream-- and ultimate end goal-- is to be on the red carpet and become an international megastar. Her cousin is Firedancer (Esmeralda Domínguez).

Quirk/Gift: Fire Wisps - Nayla's fingertips contain kerosene that can be used to create small or medium sized wisps of fire.

Inoka Amai | Sweetie Pie

Inoka is the team big sister. A country bumpkin in mind, body, and soul, she prefers the simple things in life. Inoka joined the Gogo Girls because her younger half sister Ayame was going to school in the city and she wanted to live with her. Inoka doesn't care for the fame and fortune that comes with her job, she just wants to go back to the farm.

Quirk: Sweetheart - Inoka can blow out a heart shaped bubble that can be consumed. When eaten, it'll send whoever ate it into a sugar rush.

Theresa "Rhea" Fox | Dancing Queen

Another Hollywood hopeful, Rhea has big dreams of her own-- to become a supermodel. Rhea is a skilled dancer and the main choreographer for the Gogo Girls. Her hope is that both her skills and her status as an Idol Hero will attract modeling agencies. Being a hero is not something she finds long-term.

Quirk: Bust A Move - Whenever Rhea sings, it compels the people around her to dance. The closer they are, the stronger the compulsion.

Brandy St. Croix | Love Hangover

Brandy is the peacemaker and probably the most sought after member. Much like the others, she has plans for when she eventually goes solo but is comfortable with where she is at the moment. Brandy's in no rush to leave the nest. She has been told by many people she'd make a killing in jazz due to her deep but feminine voice.

Quirk/Gift: Beloved - Brandy can take on the appearance of a person her target(s) has a romantic, platonic, or familial bond with.

Milicent Mikako Ningyo | Barbie

Perhaps the most cryptic and mysterious member, Milicent is someone a lot of people want to know about. Whenever she's asked questions about her life, she avoids them or changes the topic. Not even Superstar or Sirenia knows about her past, and Milicent wants to keep it that way.

Quirk/Gift: Doll - Milicent is a living, breathing doll and as such has the power to shapeshift and turn her limbs into weapons. She's also much more flexible than the average person, as shown in her being able to turn her head 360.

@floof-ghostie @calciumcryptid @beyonettta @opalofoctober @elflynns-horde-of-stuff @pizzolisnacks @peachyblkdemonslayer @spoilercreati

[libcrtine]

daniel ezra.     he/they.     demi man.      ›spotted   at   the   met   steps   ,   nigel   dixon   ,   most   likely   listening   to   give   it   all   by   croix   with   their   airpods   pro   .   the    twenty   eight   year   old   gained   quite   a   reputation   ,   known   to   be   -socially awkward   yet   +genuine   to   anyone   who   knows   them   .   you'll   easily   spot   them   when   you   hear   about  football   jerseys   mounted   on   a   wall   ,   a   collection   of   first   edition   comic   books   ,   the   sound   of   the   naruto   theme   song   ,   thick   rimmed   glasses   slipping   down   the   bridge   of   his   nose   ,   followed   by   obsession   for   men   eau   de   toilette   by   calvin   klein   .   latest   nepoupdates   article   talks   about   the   football   star   being   overheard   discussing   the   possibility   of   breaking   his   contract   with   the   jets   and   retire   early   ,   but   i   guess   any   reputation   is   good   reputation   .   (   kels   ,   23   ,   they / them   ,   est   ,   no triggers   .   )

𝟎𝟏.

𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆,  nigel sebastian dixon 𝒂𝒈𝒆 / 𝒅𝒐𝒃,  28 years old / october 31st, 1994. 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆,  kingston, jamaica. 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 / 𝒑𝒓𝒏𝒔,  demi man, he / they. 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏,  unlabeled in his mind, more than likely pansexual.

𝟎𝟐.

𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕,  5 ft 8 in. 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 & 𝒆𝒚𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓,  dark brown & brown. 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒚𝒍𝒆,  natural color, usually cut close, sometimes grown out a little. 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆,  casual and laidback unless at an event or red carpet. 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎,  daniel ezra.

𝟎𝟑.

𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆,  genuine, honest, kindhearted, & intelligent. 𝒏𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆,  shy, socially awkward, unforgiving, & reticent. 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒔,  reading, anime, comic books, manga, music, animated movies, nature walks, & video games. 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒔,  being lied to, having his trust broken, practices that run late, being in the spotlight & being overwhelmed.

𝟎𝟒.

𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏, nigel was born in kingston, jamaica and spent the first few years of his life there. when he was seven years old, after his mother unfortunately passed away in childbirth with his younger sister, the family packed up their things and moved to the states. their father had spent his youth in the united states, new york to be specific, and was even going to be drafted into the nfl, but suffered from an injury that took him out of the league before he could even get started. that was when he moved back to his home country, jamaica, and met nigel's mother. growing up, nigel was the odd one out amongst the men in his family. while his older and younger brother took to sports like fish to water, he ended up not being as invested in them as his siblings. he had inherited his father and mother's (who was a netball player) athletic genes, but he what he didn't inherit from them was their love of sports. he would much rather be tucked away in a corner somewhere with his favorite comic book, or hidden away in his room watching anime. he was also much more soft spoken and sensitive than his father and brothers, which often made him the target of his father's disdain. nigel's dad tried his best to raise four children on his own, but he held onto misogynistic and toxic masculinity-adjacent qualities that he tried to enforce on them; especially nigel. that was a big part of the reason as to why nigel never came out of the closet growing up. he didn't want to deal with his father's disdain even more than he already did. so he kept his sexuality a secret from any and everyone; save for his closest friend growing up. once he entered his last years of high school, he began applying for colleges outside of new york; wanting to get away from his father for a while. he was luckily accepted to the ohio state university, where he was selected to be apart of the football team (a condition his father had if he wanted to be allowed to go to school outside of the state was to play football).

that was where he met who he would describe as his first love. they never put any labels on what they were, but they were definitely more than friends. and the more that they spent time with one another, the more that nigel fell for him. but he knew that no one, especially his father, would really accept their relationship. two football players in love? it was almost laughable to think about.

but he wasn't laughing when his lover decided to end things between the two of them because of their future careers. he knew that he had a point and that it was probably for the best, but he still felt devastated. he never truly got over him, and he still regrets letting things go so easily to this day. he also still holds anger and resentment towards his sort-of-ex too.

he made the mistake of venting to his father, who obviously didn't take his son being in a homosexual relationship all too well. it led to a big fall out between the two of them, which was what prompted nigel to accept being drafted to the rams, across the country and far away from his father and the memory of his ex.

nigel made the switch to the new york jets over a year ago when his contract with the rams ended. he was drafted by the jets, and with pressure from his brothers and father, accepted the offer instead of retiring like he really wanted to. he's been wanting to retire for a few years now, but doesn't want to disappoint his father, or the fans he's acquired over the years. there's nothing he wants more than to have a normal life out of the spotlight, but he knows that's far from possible now. he feels as though it's too late for him to switch lanes and shift into a new career field, especially because he feels as though football is the only thing he's good at; despite it not being something he's passionate about.