#formerly known as 'the vampire of Shadowed Castle'

[theboarsbride]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝.🕯🦇✝️

Following a mysterious string of murdered livestock and a fellow nun in her isolated Romanian abbey, Sister Sorina, a young, faithless nun, is dared to seek the truth behind this perpetrator - only to be confronted by a sinister creature that makes her question the abbey's faith, the local village's pagan beliefs, superstition, and herself.

[best-underrated-anime]

Tentative List of Submissions

Until the list of submissions is finalized, I will be accepting appeals for/against any of the shows on this list. SEND YOUR APPEALS THROUGH THIS BLOG’S SUBMIT PAGE. Appeals left in the replies or sent to my asks/DM’s will now be ignored.

By the way, I don’t follow a set standard in determining whether a show is underrated or not. I may keep in mind MyAnimeList ratings, but ratings are not absolute.

Some shows may have low stats on MAL, yet have strong voting power on Tumblr. Some may be popular in their home country but are not so well-known in English fandoms. (Tumblr is a site where most users are USAmericans, so the voting power is mainly with them. I have to consider this.)

Red - at risk of being removed

Blue - formerly accepted, but changed to pending/rejected upon an appeal/further review

Violet - formerly under rejected/pending, but now accepted

Green - newly-added

Orange - Triggers not stated. If you’re the submitter, please edit your submission in the form. Alternatively, you can add them to the Triggers Sheet (non-submitters can also help). If the show has no triggers, please still edit the form/sheet and check the “None” option so that I’ll know that you didn’t just forget. Thank you!

Updated: Oct. 20, 2023 08:00pm EST

Accepted

86 (Eighty-Six)

91 Days

Acca-13 Territory Inspection Department

After the Rain

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime

Akiba Maid War

Akudama Drive

A Place Further than the Universe

Are You Ok (You Yao)

Asobi Asobase

Beryl and Sapphire

Birdie Wing: Golf Girls' Story

BNA: Brand New Animal

Charlotte

Do It Yourself!!

Flip Flappers

Flowering Heart

Fukigen na Mononokean

Gakkougurashi!

Gakuen Babysitters

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet

Gatchaman Crowds

Girl's Last Tour (Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou)

God Troubles Me

Gurazeni

Hakumei and Mikochi

Hanasaku Iroha: Blossoms for Tomorrow

Happy Sugar Life

Heike Monogatari

Hinamatsuri

HitoriBocchi no MaruMaru Seikatsu

Hoshiai no Sora (Stars Align)

Inuyashiki

Iroduku: The World in Colors

Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?

Joshiraku

Kageki Shoujo!!

Kami-tachi ni Hirowareta Otoko

Karneval

Katana Maidens: Toji no Miko

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

Kemurikusa - Propaganda may contain spoilers (To submitter: the last part about Earth seems spoilery). Propaganda will be edited by admin.

Kiznaiver

Kyoukai no Rinne

Laughing under the clouds

Legend of Luo Xiaohei (series)

Link Click

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic

Mawaru Penguindrum

Megalo Box

Mignon

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!

No.6

No Doubt in Us

Non Non Biyori

Orient

Ping Pong the Animation

Plastic Memories - I won’t mark this as red because there is enough propaganda for it to be included. But I’m still waiting for someone to submit something more substantial about it. Also lacks triggers.

Please tell me! Galko-chan

Pretty Rhythm: Rainbow Live - Submitter might’ve shared too much about the drama in the show, spoiling it for others. Propaganda will be edited by admin.

Radiant

Requiem of the Rose King

Rokuhoudou Yostuiro Boyori

Run with the Wind

Sangatsu no Lion

Senki Zesshou Symphogear

Servamp

Shadows House

Shiki

Shinsekai Yori

Silver Spoon

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle

Sonny Boy

Space Brothers (Uchuu Kyoudai)

Talentless Nana

Tamayura: Hitotose

The Executioner and Her Way of Life

The Royal Tutor

Tonari no Seki-kun

To Your Eternity

Trese

Tsuritama

Urusei Yatsura

Usagi Drop

Vampire in the Garden

Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song

Wasteful Days of High School Girls

Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun

White Cat Legend 2020 (Dali si Rizhi/The Journal of Dali Court)

Wo Jia Dashixiong Naozi You Keng

Yurei Deco

Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero

Yuukoku no Moriarty

Zankyou no Terror

Zombieland Saga

Pending

If no reason is stated, then that submission simply had insufficient/unconvincing propaganda. Those with a (???) next to the title are shows I’m not sure are considered underrated. Anybody may submit an appeal on whether or not I should keep it.

Propaganda that needs revision can be edited by the submitter on the GForm. Others may also make a new submission with their own propaganda for it to be accepted.

If, for some reason, the original submitter cannot edit the GForm, then the updated propaganda may be sent to me here via ask or DM.

All shows that didn’t remove their pending status before Oct. 20, 8pm EST have been moved to Rejected.

Rejected

If no reason is stated, then that show has been rejected simply because it’s not considered underrated.

Angel Beats

Assassination Classroom

Astra: Lost in Space - insufficient/unconvincing propaganda

Buddy Daddies - one of the popular recent anime. Also has 390k tag followers on Tumblr

Cap Kakumei Bottleman DX - Propaganda contains too many spoilers. Also lacks triggers

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card - Cardcaptor Sakura is one of the most popular shoujo. And since anime with multiple seasons are counted as one, the year the first season was released is what will be checked. Season 1 of CCS was released in 1998, so it’s disqualified from this tournament.

Death Parade

Delicious Party Precure - This show is apparently part of an extremely popular franchise. The propaganda for it was also not enough.

Dr. Stone - One of the recent mainstream anime. Ranked #54 on MAL for popularity with over 1 million members.

Inazuma Eleven GO

Kyoukai no Kanata - Has over a million members on MAL, rated by over 500k people, and is ranked #122 in terms of popularity. Also has 9.7k tag followers on Tumblr, which is very high compared to the other accepted shows

Kyousou Giga - insufficient/unconvincing propaganda and lacks triggers

Mekakucity Actors - the anime itself isn’t popular, but Kagerou Project, the Vocaloid music video series which it is based on, is extremely popular. #kagerou project has 14k tag followers.

Meganebu - insufficient/unconvincing propaganda and lacks triggers

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun

Noragami - Ranked #47 in Tumblr’s Top AniManga Fandoms in 2021

Odd Taxi - won several awards during the 6th Crunchyroll Anime Awards as well as won against the iconic The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya in this poll with over 3k votes.

Planetarian - insufficient/unconvincing propaganda. Also lacks triggers.

Kekkai Sensen

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai - Doesn’t have that many fics on AO3, but it ranks #52 on MAL in terms of popularity and has over 1M in both MAL users and members. Also has 1.4k tag followers on Tumblr—not a big number but still indicates an active fandom.

Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight - Although it’s rated low on MAL, it’s apparently quite popular on Tumblr. It won against the very popular Sailor Moon in another poll tournament with over 9k votes.

Tai Chi Chasers - Submitter either made a mistake or outright lied about the year this show was released. They stated 2011, but the actual year is 2007. That’s before 2010, which disqualifies it from this tournament.

Tian Guan Ci Fu/Heaven Official’s Blessing - made it to Tumblr’s top AniManga fandoms. It was ranked #14 in 2021 and #16 in 2022.

Vatican Miracle Examiner - insufficient/unconvincing propaganda

Violet Evergarden

[imaginationmess]

The Vampire Of War- Manjiro Sano X Fem!Reader

Manjiro “Mikey” Sano X Demon Fem!Reader

Royal AU / Supernatural AU

All characters are aged up to 18+.

Warning: Violence, blood

Word Count: 1,770+

Author Note: This was originally an idea as multi-chapter series. I wasn’t sure it would be something interesting that people would be down to read. The context that is. I know this one shot is rushed and a mess. I hope you still enjoyed this piece for my Summerween Event. 

As a human, Sano Manjiro was well known throughout the country and its shadows. He was more known as the Invincible Mikey. A talented supernatural hunter who could hunt down anything, or anyone. 

He was also one of the youngest professional hunters to have hunted over a thousand before the age of 18. He had created his own gang of hunters who were around his age when he was a preteen. Everyone has a story as to why they became a hunter due to being raised in it or lost someone due to the supernatural. 

He was also the younger Prince, who would often leave the castle to hang out with his friends who weren’t royal servants. They were peasants. Did it matter to him? No. 

His older brother, Sano Shinichiro who is the next in line to become King. He wanted Manjiro to experience the outdoors instead of being locked up in the castle. He wanted him to experience life outside the walls before their mother left them all to deal with their father alone. 

Shinichiro was confident in his younger abilities to be able to protect himself. Manjiro was able to bring his friends and give them better lives to work under the royal family. This also allowed them to provide better lives for their family. 

Ryuguji Ken, his right-hand man, and his partner in crime became his own bodyguard because Mikey’s former bodyguard couldn’t catch up with him and was always losing sight of the young prince. Mikey had about 10 bodyguards due to being a sneaky boy and disappearing from their watch to go outside the walls. The king would fire each of them and not give up on trying to discipline his son.  

First time in history, there were two supernatural beings working underneath the royal family. Baji Keisuke was a hybrid between a vampire and a werewolf. Hanemiya Kazutora was a tiger hybrid, which means human mixed with tiger demon. Both were in the first division of the royal knights. Mikey gave a good word to his older brother about letting them work underneath them. 

It was traditional rules within the royal families down through generations. There were to not have any supernatural creatures within the royal premises. Formerly seen, they could easily backstab them due to being stronger than human beings. Underneath their noses, many of them are mistaken as humans due to being able to have a human form. However, there were servants who were witches to protect the royal family from curses cast by other kingdoms. 

After the rule was lifted and no consequences would be taken under the new king, Sano Shinichiro’s order. He also ordered if anyone was a supernatural creature to please step forward. There will be no consequences. He just wants honesty.

The servants that had stepped forward, never would have never suspected the ones that have been servants for generations of the Sano Family. The one that shocked everyone when it shouldn’t be truly surprised. 

The princess, Sano Emma’s royal maid who got promoted to being her bodyguard a few years back. [Last Name] [First Name]. You showed your true form, including your small horns and sharp fingernails that could easily rip someone to shreds. It shocked the brothers, but the princess knew your identity. She was the one to recruit you to be her royal maid when she was outside the walls. You had protected her from petty thieves. 

You kneel on the ground in front of three royal siblings showing respect.

“Your mastery, if you wish to demote me due to being a demon being so close to the prince-.” 

The king chuckles, “No, it brings more comfort knowing. She will be better protected even more from what you have shown throughout the years. Now you can actually use all your abilities to protect the princess. ” He gives you a soft smile which causes you to tear up knowing you are accepted. 

After the ceremony when the full moon shines brightly through the dark night with the bright stars. There was screaming, different roars, and howls of wolves echoing through the castle premise. 

There was so much blood and screaming in horror. There was a traitor within the walls that let the rebels inside. You had carried the princess out of the castle premises through the hidden pathways that are only known for the royal family and their most trusted guards.  She was knocked unconscious when you were fighting against monsters twice your size. She was saved by Mikey’s bodyguard, Draken. 

He cleaned a pathway for you to carry the princess on your back through the chaos. You find yourself with injured servants who are elderly and young who don't know how to fight back to immediately help you with the princess. They inform you who the traitors were, Hanemiya Kazutora and Kisaki Tetta. 

You knew Kisaki Tetta, who had a weird obsession with the princess. He tried to court her with numerous gifts throughout the years and she has asked you to not leave her alone with him ever again. Something happened in the last meeting that she seems to be scared for her life. She refused to tell you. You always had the suspicion of him because he was in places where he wasn’t to be. You didn’t get along with that particular knight because he had always given you bad vibes.  

When you were treating Emma for her head injuries, she begged you to go back to her brothers with tears in her eyes. 

“Please bring them to safety. Protect them.” Emma tearfully asks as she grabs onto your royal uniform that was the men’s uniform. 

“They choose to sta-”

“It’s an order from your princess!” Emma raised her voice. She never raised her voice on you. But she knew you couldn’t decline her order. 

“Fine.” You stood up and took your sword holder from your waist and placed it in her hands. “You better put those sword practices to good use!” 

You hoped all those times, at the early mornings, paid off, after she begged you to the point it annoyed you to teach her how to use a sword. She grabs your wrist. “You have permission to do whatever you need to do.” 

You left quietly from the hidden pathway. You let your true form slip out showing your small horns on your forehead and your fingernails growing into sharp claws. Your fangs are poking out from your gums. 

You started running towards the ruckus and jumping over a dead body. The dead bodies were intact or not because some of them seem like someone eats their necks. The fallen were a mixture of the rebels and royal knights to guards. 

Your own heart dropped to your stomach seeing the youngest prince, Manjiro with a twisted neck on the ground with his mouth covered in blood. It seems vampires have gotten the best of Mikey and turned him against his own will. 

You continue slaying down rebels left and right with slicing their throats out with your claws. 

When you found the king, he was dead on the ground with a hole in his chest where his heart was supposed to be to only seeing it beside him. 

“[Last name]!” The werewolf hybrid calls you showing he was shirtless but covered in blood. 

“Have you seen Mik-” 

You saw his eyes widen in shock, but you were pushed by a strong force crashing into the wall. You see Baji was knocked over whatever passed the two of you. You stood up and started running where you started hearing screams of horror instead of battle screams. 

You find royal soldiers who were turned into vampires eating their own or their enemies. Draken was on the ground having feral blond over him. You ripped the feral vampire off him causing him change his prey at the enemy who screamed in pain before his own vocal cords were ripped out. 

You helped Draken to stand up. You took the moment to scan over his body to only see a few bite marks, but not deep enough to turn him. If he did have vampire venom in his veins, as long he doesn’t die. He will be alright. 

“Mikey was caught off guard when he saw his brother get killed in front of him. That’s how they got him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be caught off guard.” Draken whispered as you stood in front of him throwing any newbie vampires to the enemy. 

Your heart hurts knowing the king was killed who just became a king for only a few weeks after their father was killed by sickness. You almost know how close Shinichiro was to his siblings, especially Manjiro. Those two were irreparable. He taught everything he knew to his younger brother. You could say Shinichiro was the one who dominantly raised his siblings. Their father was absent in their lives and buried himself in making connections with other kingdoms. 

You pretty much grew up with them due to Emma insisting you become her maid despite being a couple of years older than her. You were 8 years old when you first met Emma. There was a 2-year difference between you and Mikey who loved to annoy you and get on your nerves. Emma often suggests the reason he keeps bothering you is that he has a crush on you. You refused to believe it, because why would Prince fall for peasant-like you. 

You could only watch the newborn of Sano Manjiro, slay down his enemies, and rip out their throats without any hesitation. As if he knew what he was doing because he no longer attacked his own members, but the enemy. 

For being a fleshly vampire, he was a powerful one. He overwhelms another vampire who has centuries of experience and kills them on the spot, slicing their heads off with the silver sword. He may have been somewhat conscious of what he was doing and knowing how to fully kill vampires was to cut their heads off with a silver sword. 

It could be that he has drunk human blood in large quantities of the human enemies. He literally eats through their petty necks in quick motions. 

He was covered in blood head to toe and turn around to show his blood red dead eyes. 

He licks off the remaining blood around his lips. 

The famous hunter Sano Manjiro got turned into a vampire, something that he was widely known to hunt. He became even more powerful now having super strength beyond human capabilities. 

After tonight’s events, he will also be known as the vampire of war.

♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡

THANK YOU FOR READING!

COMMENTS/REACTIONS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!

MASTERLIST!

♡ Let me know what you thought of this context. ♡

[setepenre-set]

Can u recommand some good books pls?

I DEFINITELY CAN! 

(I’ve divided them up into categories, and included a short summary of each, so that you can choose more easily, and put the list under a cut, since it’s fairly long.)

Comedic Fantasy With Emotional Center

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett (part of the Discworld series; everything in the Discworld series is excellent. main characters of this one are a god stuck in the form of a tortoise and his last believer.)

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett (Discworld. Death has to take over the duties of discworld’s version of Santa Claus in an attempt to keep the world from ending.)

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett (Discworld. Death gets fired and decides to live as a human—as near to human as he can, at any rate. eventually he has to battle the New Death to save the discworld.)

Guards, Guards! by Terry Pratchett (Discworld. Sam Vimes, leader of the disgraced and dying Ankh-Morpork City Watch, regains his self-respect and his interest in life as he works to solve a mystery of who is summoning a dragon and killing off citizens of his city.)

The Bromeliad by Terry Pratchett (small ‘nomes’ live secretly in this world, hiding from humans. the perpetually out-of-his-depth and put-upon nome Masklin finds himself in charge, tasked with leading them to safety and finding their way home.)

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (an angel and a demon tasked with seeing that apocalypse happens as scheduled decide to try to avert it instead. completely and utterly fantastic.)

Long Dark Teatime of the Soul by Douglas Adams (murder mystery involving Norse Gods, record contracts, and the Ultimate Bubble Bath.)

The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber (novella told like a fairy tale, full of wordplay and beauty and fun. this one just absolutely shines.)

The Gates by John Connolly (young boy, his dog, and an extremely minor demon try to stop the end of the world.)

The Infernals by John Connolly (sequel to The Gates, featuring the same characters.)

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (a young lady is cursed to be old, decides to become cleaning lady for a wizard rumored to be dangerous but actually just vain, overdramatic, and irresponsible. so very fun and romantic.)

Farmer Giles of Ham by J.R.R. Tolkien (a local peasant finds himself unwillingly roped into facing a marauding dragon.)

Comedy

All of the P.G. Wodehouse books, particularly the Jeeves and Wooster series (wonderfully fun and lighthearted comedy set vaguely between the edwardian era and the 1920’s. Rich, cheerful, and kindhearted Bertie Wooster has a habit of accidentally getting engaged to girls he has no desire whatsoever to marry; his clever valet Jeeves gets him out of trouble every time.)

With One Lousy Free Packet of Seed by Lynne Truss (hilarious and surprisingly touching at the end. lots and lots shenanigans. really fun.)

Romantic Comedy

Cotillion by Georgette Heyer (romantic comedy, fake relationship, regency era.)

When a Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rhinehouse (romantic comedy with a stolen jewels mystery plot. cast of characters stuck in a house together.)

Romance

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer (historical romance with intrigue and comedy. The main character crossdresses and, to me, reads as genderqueer. The love interest is basically a villain who accidentally becomes the hero. I LOVE IT.)

Her Every Wish by Courtney Milan (regency romance novella. hero is bisexual. subplot about bicycles being scandalous. this is the one that I have Roxanne give Megamind in Code: Safeword.)

The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan (regency romance, the last in the Brothers Sinister series, all of which are good. main character reads as autistic. her love interest is younger than she is; they’ve secretly presented her groundbreaking scientific work as his, so that people will take it seriously.)

When a Scott Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare (regency romance; main character has social anxiety and made up a fiancee years ago to get out of her impending social season. but now a man with the same name has shown up claiming to be this fiancee, and intending to marry her.)

Mystery

Behold, Here’s Poison by Georgette Heyer (1920’s murder mystery with comedy and romance. The characters are wonderful.)

Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie (murder mystery featuring elderly heroine Miss Marple, who seems fluffy and harmless but is really a sneaky, nosy, and terribly sharp woman. I love her.)

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (murder mystery featuring detective Hercule Poirot. intricate and enjoyable.)

Death Comes As the End by Agatha Christie (murder mystery set in ancient egypt. both the mystery and the historical features are extremely well executed.)

Difficult to Categorize

Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story by Leonie Swann (A group of sheep decide to solve the mystery of who killed their shepherd. Funny and moving. The point of view is amazingly well done.)

Watership Down by Richard Adams (A group of rabbits set out on a journey to establish a new home. The worldbuilding and characterization are fantastic.)

Kiln People by David Brin (science fiction mystery. amazing worldbuilding. One of the main characters is a robot who, due to a slight malfunction, has developed a personality and will of his own.)

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (A love story set during the zombie apocalypse, between a young woman named Julie and a zombie known as R, who isn’t quite as dead as zombies are supposed to be. Horrifying and romantic and uplifting.)

Dreams of Sex and Stage Diving by Martin Millar (Main character Elfish is basically the living embodiment of ‘fuck you’. She’s a guitarist on a mission to claim the name Queen Mab for her—just at present nonexistent—band from her ex-boyfriend Mo.)

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt (a young woman in the medieval era gets lost in the forest and nearly dies. When she meets Death, though, she convinces him to postpone her demise—she claims that love is stronger than death, and he tells her that if she can prove it by finding her true love within one day, he will spare her life. Full of joy and sorrow and love.)

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury (A group of children go on a fantastic trip through time with a mysterious man called Moundshroud in an attempt to save the life of one of their friends. Fun and dark and beautiful.)

The Girl Who Owned a City by O.T. Nelson (An epidemic wipes out all of the adults in the world. Ten year old Lisa Nelson bands together a group of survivors and shapes them into a new society, with her at its head. Satisfying.)

Fantasy

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley (Gorgeous worldbuilding, kidnapping, romance, magic, and adventure.)

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (The last of the Unicorns goes on a quest to find out what happened to the rest of her species. Fun and frightening and hauntingly beautiful.)

Transformation by Carol Berg (The Emperor’s New Groove for grown-ups. Formerly a magician and currently a slave, Seyonne finds new meaning in his life when he and careless, proud Prince Aleksander work together to defeat the demonic forces that threaten the kingdom. Slavery and freedom, loyalty and friendship. Intricate worldbuilding.)

War For the Oaks by Emma Bull (Urban fantasy. Eddie has just broken up with her boyfriend, and, in the process, broken up the band they both played in. She has enough problems of her own, without getting dragged into a war between the Seelie and Unseelie courts of the Fae.)

Young Adult Fantasy

So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane (Young adult fantasy adventure. Preteen protagonists Kit and Nita journey into a terrifying shadow world to fight a dark entity. One of my favorite depictions of magic of all time.)

Which Witch by Eva Ibbotson (The Great Evil Wizard Arriman has decided to take a bride! The members of the local witches’ coven are invited to a contest—whichever witch performs the most dark and wicked act of black magic will be Arriman’s bride. The young witch Belladonna is absolutely smitten with Arriman, and desperately wants to win the contest. The only problem is that Belladonna is a white witch.)

Megamind: the Novel by Lauren Alexander (A little darker and a bit more grown-up than the movie; still incredibly fun. It features additional scenes from Megamind and Roxanne’s developing romantic relationship.)

Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde (Teenage Kerry is in the wrong place at the wrong time, and ends up being taken captive by a group of people who are holding another person captive as well—a young man they insist is a vampire. Kerry thinks they’re crazy, and helps the boy escape…but it turns out they were actually right. And now she’s being held captive by a vampire on the run.)

Young Adult

Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going (Depressed teenage protagonist Troy almost commits suicide, but is stopped by a homeless teenager named Curt, who is also a local punk rock legend. Curt convinces Troy to form a punk band with him, featuring Curt on guitar and Troy on drums…even though Troy can’t actually play the drums. funny and angry and deeply moving.)

The Undertaker’s Gone Bananas by Paul Zindel (Thriller. The misfit teenage protagonists are convinced that their neighbor murdered his wife, even though no one believes them. They set out to prove it.)

Older Children

The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Bernard (Recently orphaned, the disagreeable young Mary arrives at her uncle’s house—a house full of secrets and mysteries.)

A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Bernard (Young, precocious, and strange Sara Crewe is sent to boarding school. When her father dies unexpectedly, leaving Sara a penniless orphan, the Headmistress forces Sara to work as a servant. Strength in adversity, the power of imagination, and an eventual happy ending.)

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Neatly Snyder (A group of children secretly play at being ancient Egyptians in a deserted lot. This one really captures the dangerous, wild, and intense feeling of childhood.)

Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix (adventure with young girl as heroine. genuinely creepy and exciting and so clever. my great-grandmother loved this one, too.)

The Witches by Roald Dahl (Young boy and his grandmother happen upon a convention of terrifying, evil witches.)

The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischmann (Spoiled Prince Brat and his whipping boy Jemmy run away together, much to Jemmy’s annoyance. Adventure and friendship.)

Trapped In Death Cave by Bill Wallace (An adventure story with a secret map, a hidden cave, and an evil plot.)

[aion-rsa]

A Discovery of Witches Season 1 Recap: Diana, Matthew, The Prophecy and The Congregation

https://ift.tt/3pTTgUH

Warning: contains A Discovery of Witches season 1 plot spoilers

It begins with absence and desire. It begins with blood and fear. It begins with a discovery of witches.

At the start of A Discovery of Witches season one, the magical world was in crisis. Creatures – witches, vampires and demons – were in decline on Earth. The power of witches was waning, with some forms of ancient magic extinct for centuries. Vampires were finding themselves unable to sire other vampires. 

Divisions between the three species were stark, with deep prejudice and resentment between historical enemies the vampires and the witches, while demons were marginalised and restricted by rules enforced by powerful ruling group The Congregation. Division and mistrust ruled. 

Then came Professor Diana Bishop. Born to witches but orphaned as a child, Diana spent her life avoiding magic. What magical power she displayed she wasn’t able to control. When her academic career took her to Oxford’s Bodleian Library, she came into contact with a sought-after powerful book thought to contain the secret to vampire creation. She also came into contact (and we’re talking contact) with Matthew Clairmont, a geneticist investigating magical creatures’ disappearing powers and a 1500 year-old vampire. 

By the end of the season, Diana and Matthew had broken the sacred covenant forbidding interspecies relationships and ‘mated’ for life. Diana discovered that her parents had spellbound her prodigious powers for her own protection as a child. While she began to learn how to use her magic, Diana and Matthew were forced into hiding by three witches intent on punishing them for their interspecies transgression and wanting Diana’s help in destroying the vampires. To escape pursuit, they used Diana’s magic to ‘Time Walk’ back to Elizabethan England, where season two finds them…

Here’s a bit more detail on how the first season unfolded…

Diana’s Powers

Your power is instinctive, based on need

Before Diana was born, her mother was pursued by Peter Knox, one of the three witches who sit on ruling council The Congregation. Though she refused him, Knox continued to be obsessed with her and later insisted on personally testing her young daughter’s magical powers. Diana was already showing evidence of prodigious magic as a child, so to protect her from Knox, her parents cast a spell to hide her powers. She would only be able to access her magic at times of great need and for her own protection. 

As a result, Diana grew up believing that she had little magic, and after her parents were killed, shunned witchcraft entirely. When academic work led her to call up ancient tome Ashmole 782 from the Bodleian library (a book missing for centuries that no other creature had been able to find), she experienced uncontrollable magic as The Book of Life revealed its secrets. Her access to the book made her a target. Everybody wanted it – Matthew Clairmont to learn about the origins of vampires and why they could no longer sire, Peter Knox to learn how witches could destroy vampires… Diana stood up to Knox and the Congregation, and made powerful enemies.  

When threatened and later, heartbroken, Diana instinctively conjured up Witch Wind and Witch Rain, two elemental powers thought to be extinct. After being captured and tortured by Finnish dark witch Satu for information on the book, Diana used her magic to strip Satu of her own powers and flew to her escape. When vampire Juliette – Matthew’s former lover – attacked him, Diana killed her using another elemental magic – Witch Fire. She brought Matthew back to health by letting him drink her blood and making a deal with the Goddess to give anything for his recovery. She was warned that there will be a price to pay.

After discovering that her father was a Time Walker and that she shared his power, Diana and Matthew used three objects from his past to travel back to Elizabethan England where they could hide from Knox, Gerbert and Satu, who had pursued them to New York. 

Before Diana and Matthew Time Walked, his vampire lab colleague Miriam and ‘son’ Marcus took swabs of Diana’s DNA to study her witch origins.

The Congregation

You have committed treason against The Congregation. Your punishment is death by beheading and fire.

A council consisting of nine members (at any given time, three witches, three vampires and three demons), the Congregation convenes in Venice to hold trials, deliver punishments and maintain the shaky peace between the creatures, built on a covenant which forbids inter-species relationships. 

Key Congregation members in season one included witches Peter Knox and Satu; vampires Baldwin Montclair (Matthew’s brother), Domenico Michele and Gerbert d’Aurillac; and Demon Agatha Wilson (mother to Nathaniel, who’s expecting a child with fellow demon Sophie). The Congregation want Diana Bishop because of her access to Ashmole 782, or the Book of Life, and to punish Matthew and Diana for breaking the covenant by mating.

Read more

TV

A Discovery of Witches Season 2 Trailer Centers Elizabethan Magic

By Kayti Burt

TV

Best Returning British TV Series 2021: the Most Anticipated Series Coming Back This Year

By Louisa Mellor

Towards the end of the series, Domenico double-crossed Gerbert and encouraged Gebert’s captive Juliette to break free of her bonds to go to America and kill Matthew (who had humiliated Domenico when he tried to retrieve Diana from Sept-Tours). Domenico used his deciding vote in Baldwin’s trial for treason to save him from execution, leaving Baldwin in his debt.  

Knox and Gerbert plot to remove Baldwin from The Congregation, stage a coup and replace him with Matthew’s vampire ‘son’ Marcus, who they think will be easier to control. 

Matthew’s Backstory

There were two women, two human women… not like this, not like us, but I did love them.

Born in France in 500 AD, the human Matthew was a stonemason and architect who built a church in commemoration of his wife and son Blanca and Lucas, who both died of a fever. He tried to take his own life by throwing himself off the church tower, when Ysabeau de Clermont saved him by siring him as a vampire. 

Ysabeau thus became his mother, her husband Philippe his father, and later, Baldwin his brother. He lived with them in the ancestral French castle of Sept-Tours, joining ancient philanthropic Order the Knights of Lazarus, of which Philippe was the Grandmaster until his death, when Matthew took over the role. Philippe had made Matthew promise that his brother Baldwin would never run the Order as he wished it to remain separate from the Congregation, the multi-species council led by Baldwin. 

The Prophecy

Beware the witch with the blood of the lion and the wolf, for with it, she shall destroy the children of the night. 

So prophesied Meridiana, the witch kept alive by vampire Gerbert as a decapitated head in a box for centuries. Finnish witch Satu took pity on her and ended her suffering, which incurred Gerbert’s wrath. He has a habit of making women his captives, and until her rebellion and death (courtesy of Diana Bishop), Gerbert controlled vampire Juliette – who he’d sired to be Matthew’s lover and to infiltrate the powerful Clairmont family, whose position he wanted to topple – keeping her by his side in Venice. 

Meridiana also told Gerbert a prophecy about two witches who would figure in the destruction of the vampires – one light and one dark. It’s supposed that Diana is the light witch and Satu her dark counterpart. 

As a child, Diana’s mother told her a story about a “shadow prince”, which she believes to be Matthew. 

Ashmole 782

In two parts: the first anatomical, the second psychological

Otherwise known as the Book of Life, Ashmole 782 appears only to Diana when she summons it at the Bodleian library. It’s thought to contain the secret of vampire creation, and Matthew theorises that it could help him discover the reason that vampires are no longer able to sire one another, and why creatures have been disappearing from Earth. Diana discovers that the book is a palimpsest and has hidden writing underneath its surface, including a modern inscription that reads “In two parts: the first anatomical, the second psychological.” 

Diana also discovers that there are several pages missing from the start of the book, one of which is returned to her by her Aunts’ haunted house, along with a note from her father saying “Diana, you’ll need this xx”. She assumes that her father was the one who removed the vital pages from the book during one of his Time Walks through history, and that he is the reason that only she can access the book. 

Time Walking

To Time Walk you need three objects from a particular time and place

The Aunts’ haunted house delivers a single pearl earring to Diana (along with the missing page from Ashmole 782), which Matthew identifies as having belonged to his mother Ysabeau in the 16th century. Sophie (a demon born to witches, messing up The Congregation’s theory on cross-species relations) gives a family heirloom of a white statue to Diana, who she’d been told would need it at a specific time. It turned out to be a white queen chess piece that formerly belonged to Matthew and that he lost in a bet with Kit Marlowe on All Soul’s Eve in 1590. Matthew connects the chess piece to the pearl earring, and decides that the house is trying to send them to that particular time and place. To these objects he adds a signed copy of Marlowe’s Dr Faustus, completing the three. Ysabeau also sent Diana an inscribed ring of hers to wear.

The Knights of Lazarus

It might just be that the Knights have to take on The Congregation.

The Knights of Lazarus are a parallel organisation to the Congregation, established by Matthew’s father Philippe de Clairmont. It’s a philanthropic brotherhood who protect those who can’t protect themselves. In the season one finale, Matthew resigns from his inherited position as grandmaster and gives the role to his ‘son’ Marcus, telling him, “Je suis a votre commande, seigneur” (I’m at your service, my lord). 

Sept-Tours

The season ended with Diana’s aunts Emily and Sarah going with Nathaniel and the pregnant Sophie to Sept-Tours, where Ysabeau had promised to keep them safe from The Congregation. Witches, demons and vampires all under the same roof… a taste of things to come?

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

A Discovery of Witches Season 2 starts at 9pm on Friday the 8th of January on Sky One and on Saturday the 9th of January on Sundance.

The post A Discovery of Witches Season 1 Recap: Diana, Matthew, The Prophecy and The Congregation appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3s0jI0Y

[regulusfilliusinxomine]

Moving West from the Sandsea, we hit the Doomwood that was formerly known explicitly as Darkovia, territory the Frydaes. Back during the days of the feuding royalty, though after the dragons had given out the elemental orbs, I imagine the Drakaths wanted every Frydae impaled on a spike for winning the Orb of Darkness over them. That wish would prove to be very fitting much later.

As opposed to how we aren’t very sure of what happened with the other families and groups of royalty, Lord Frydae himself said that he was there and he had lost to the Drakaths. First, he fought against them as a human. The entirety of the Frydaes were human until Frydae saw that he could no longer keep Darkovia from falling to the Drakaths without embracing the Dark that his land is known for. Who knows who turned him into a vampire. He words it as accepting a gift so it’s likely the vampire who bit him didn’t do it by accident or with malice. Unless they did and he’s just making it sound nice. And even then, he didn’t win, which could be due to several reasons that are all conjecture. I would love to see the actual history but till then—

Safiria went to sleep for 200 years and some time before that, Amaris hung her spectral moon over Darkovia and flung it into an eternal night. From both the Heroes’ Heart Day event and the quest where she gets her new look, Safiria talks about knowing both Frydae and his father, both insufferable. Should this be before Amaris put that moon up, that meant the sun still rose and set on Darkovia. Vampirism is an advantage, at night. The Drakaths could have used the daylight to fight against the Frydaes, “reducing [them] to hiding in the shadows so to speak.” How? I don’t know. Maybe they rammed the side of Frydae’s estate until the sun came in while he was sleeping and he had no more base. That could be the reason why he stays in the Guardian Tower instead of some Castle Frydae. I get that they were guardians first but I dunno, the current Frydae looks like he’d rather stay somewhere cozier if given the chance. And also to try to flex on Safiria while she continues to ignore him. Something like that? On the other hand, say the eternal night was on and Frydae is a vampire. How could the Drakaths still win? Perhaps the transition phase from human to vampire wasn’t something Frydae adjusted to right away. Or the Drakath he fought at the time was very competent. There’s also the option of subscribing to the Adventurequest alternative, where Drageth Slugwrath/Drakath found people infected by lycanthropy and used them against their opponents (with the help of a certain Dhows).

At the moment, it’s really anyone’s guess. After the Drakaths won, Darkovia became just another Doomwood. Quite apparent with how little development there is in the area outside of Amityvale. It’s almost like the Drakath’s took it just for show and for petty revenge against the Frydaes like some giant trophy to mark on a map. I mean, they could have used the lumber from there but that kind of guarantees haunted furniture.

This is the kind of thing Drakath (Prince Drakath) would loudly boast about the moment you even begin to mention Frydae. Nowhere else have I read such a straight forward triumph by this family and I imagine Drakath’s tutors would have hated the smug look on the young Prince’s face when they taught him a history he knew by heart.

“Does the creature still live? After my family’s complete victory over that lowly line, Frydae must jump at the flies biting his behind. Haha! I wonder if he transforms into a flea ridden bat or a rat.”

Frydae was kind of a wuss to us all before Book 3 but Drakath would take any chance to undermine him to the extreme. With what could have been hammered into his head in youth, he could also vastly underestimate the man and Frydae would waste no time ripping into the descendant of the slug who bested him. I’m very sad we had no slap fight between them. I don’t even think Frydae would waste time introducing himself; the little slugman needs to die. And if he did deign to speak with Drakath first, he wouldn’t be able to get a word in the moment he identifies himself. Drakath would laugh and boast over how far Frydae has fallen since his devastating defeat in a way that may have many people sympathizing with Frydae.

Thursday is another story. At a glance, Drakath would think she was just another peasant. So what? Then it gets complicated when her lineage comes to light. This Frydae gives Drakath a mixture of satisfaction and worry; satisfaction in that the enemies of the Drakaths are now living as peasants and worry in that the Frydae’s have a sliver of a chance at rising. Something he absolutely can’t have and would shatter his pride to bits if they bounced back when his own family has been reduced to nothing.

They’re a little bit similar aren’t they? Thursday and Drakath are both the most recent members of a royal family line that had been obliterated for some reason or another. They are also held as the last hope of their noble line by the accounts of different people. The huge difference is almost everything else, though the one that would stick out to Drakath is how he cares very much about getting power back while Thursday is content with what she has now. Oh, that would rub him in a horrible way. Also of note, Drakath’s family has been consorting with Doom and Darkness elements while Thursday’s has sorta done the same but most recently, a very notable light elemental has looked to them. I feel as thought Thursday would be frightened of Drakath and dislike him for hurting so many people but would also pity him in many facets.

One last note, as a result of all that history, Drakath probably hates vampires and other similar ‘monsters.’ It’s not just from the history with the Frydaes but their existence to him are merely as tools or as threats to his Kingdom. So, his opinion of Safiria is probably good for another post.