#grooming in the witch community

[apollohears]

DEMO. ( TBD ) ✸ ROMANCES. ✸ PLAYLISTS.

last updated: coming soon !

Step into the shadows of Day of Dusk, a mesmerizing blend of dark fantasy, horror, and romance. Drawing inspiration from the chilling folklore of the Brothers Grimm and the adrenaline-fueled film "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters," this interactive novel beckons you into a world where mysteries lurk in every corner and romance dances with danger.

In Day of Dusk, the line between magic and malevolence blurs, and you, the main protagonist, hold the key to unraveling its secrets. Will you dare to navigate the twisted paths where witches, witch hunters, and supernatural entities collide?

The choice is yours, but be warned: in the shadows of dusk, nothing is as it seems.

In the heart of a medieval fantasy realm lies "Day of Dusk," a tale woven with threads of mystery and the macabre. Journey alongside a band of young mercenaries, masters of the dark art of witch hunting, as they navigate a world teeming with secrets and shadows.

Their journey begins in the tainted township of Ruel-Mizu, where whispers of many vanished children echo through the fog-choked streets. Tasked with unraveling this enigma, your group treads a path fraught with peril and the weight of history's darkest deeds.

As you delve deeper into the town's grim past, you'll confront not only witches of formidable power but also otherworldly entities lurking in the shadows. Along the way, unexpected allies may emerge, and the bonds of friendship may blossom into something more.

Yet every choice carries weight in this twisted tale of power and love. Betrayal lurks around every corner, and the line between ally and enemy blurs in the gloom. Will you sacrifice everything for the truth, side with who you least expect it, save the town for good or succumb to the allure of forbidden romance?

In "Day of Dusk," the fate of worlds hangs in the balance, and only you hold the key to unlocking its secrets.

How far will you go to uncover the truth?

This game is a work of fiction; content warnings include, but are not limited to, graphic death, depictions of blood and gore, medieval violence, body horror, explicit language, depression, suicide, references to assault, grooming, mental and physical abuse, sexually suggestive themes, and drug and alcohol use. This story is intended for mature +17 audiences; reader discretion is advised.

STORY FEATURES :

Step into the shoes of a diverse protagonist, embracing your identity as male, female, non-binary, or anywhere along the gender spectrum. Explore the rich tapestry of human sexuality, navigating relationships and attractions as a gay, straight, bisexual, asexual, or aromantic individual. Your journey is uniquely yours, shaped by your experiences and choices as you carve out your place in the world.

Embark on a journey of discovery and connection as you navigate the complex web of relationships in a world filled with intrigue and danger. In the end, it is through these connections—friendships forged in fire, love born from adversity—that you might find the true meaning of your existence and the strength to face whatever challenges lie ahead.

Have your name written in history tales to come, become a hero beacon of hope, or become a feared figure among the community.

Confide in the unrevealed troubles that settle the mysterious past of your royal company's path to break tradition—or steal the heir's power to the throne for your own.

Learn the dark truth about the horrors that lie concealing just how far some would go to great lengths in order to create life.

Forge the future of a community and companions lives with the supporting changes and challenges schemed upon you and all of those who you know or love.

THE RO CHARACTERS :

Each love interest will have their own route which you will get to choose from at the end of the common route. The four romance options in this game depend purely on the readers preference which include: a man, a woman, one you can choose between their presenting gender and a ç̸̤̞̟̏̀̄̔̚r̷̛̟͕͙̼͚̼̓̒̑͝͠ͅy̷̛͉̭͙̿̒̆̈́́͊͗̅̈̀p̶̟͎̩̩͕̭̀̍̅́͛̚ţ̵̺̬̭̪͂̊̑̋̽̚͝͝ì̴̠̪͊͐̿͊̽̍͘͜͝͠c̴̗͉̭̖͕͕̐̔̾̂͘͝ͅ ̴͓͉͚͔̬͓̩̜͒̂͋́b̶̘̽̔̃̀͂̒̕͝e̷̡̡̫̮̹̻̰̺̖͋̿͂̀͑̈́̌̕̚͝ì̵͚̤͗ͅn̸̫̎̋́ǧ̶̡̳̥̾̚ͅ.̵̧̛̩̯̹̦̊̎̈́̕͝

Silas/Sophia Amon — the needling best friend and a member of your witch hunting team. Forge a deeper friendship and uncover the true meaning of loyalty with your brash yet devoted childhood best friend, whose charming demeanor hides on top of another layer of emotion.

"I'll be the bad guy if it means keeping us alive. Someone has to make the tough calls around here."

Pavlos Norlenbourne  — the neglected forsaken naive royal with a roaring secret. Draw close to a haunted prince, haunted by the shadows of his tragic upbringing, and unravel the mysteries that surround him as you delve into the depths of his troubled soul. 

"In a world where power is everything, I'm just a pretty pawn in their game. But I'll make my own moves, carve my own path."

Annette Meadowcroft — the obsessive poet with a firing spirit who refuses to be tamed. Uncover the hidden depths of a secret poet, whose words hold the key to unlocking the secrets of the heart. Join her on a journey of self-discovery as she seeks to break free from the constraints of society and embrace the beauty of the world around her.

"The ink flows from my pen like a river of defiance, writing my own narrative in a world that seeks to silence women like me."

Rune — the callow knight who isn't very fond of small talk with a foreboding origin. Dare to tread the path of a cryptic made being, grappling with questions of identity and purpose as they navigate a world that sees them as little more than a weapon. 

"If you have the audacity to think that I am some sorrowful god, then the pain of my fraud in human appearance will be all the more agonizing."

Depending on your play style, you have the ability to create, shape and destroy numerous familial, romantic, platonic, professional and community relationships with a full cast of characters whose genders and personalities vary. 

✸ Dedicated to all the hopeless romance and fantasy fans who are too engrossed in their books to talk and too shy to write, to my momanager Kass, who always likes to keep things real.

[serpentface]

SPIRITS OF THE HIGHLANDS: A POST

Depiction of a dragon in regional animal-style (simplified visual motifs that impart and communicate key attributes of animals), as used in decoration or tattooing.

The term ‘spirit’ in the Hill Tribes cultural sphere is a very broad category that includes souls of the dead, supernatural entities, and some legendary creatures, but does not include gods (entities that were involved in the act of creation). The boundaries between spirits and gods can be ambiguous sometimes- a select few spirits are venerated in similar capacities to gods and/or are reckoned as similarly powerful, and some gods are instead considered spirits in certain traditions. The commonalities among all are that they are ascribed sapience and some degree of magical ability, and/or are souls of the dead.

Spirits are understood to be a material aspect of reality, mostly existing in physical bodies (though some are disembodied). The notion of a ‘spirit world’ and a ‘human world’ is usually differentiated, but not in the sense that they are physically discrete planes of existence, rather that they are separate modes of living and different parts of the same landscape- the human world exists in the villages, farmland, and well-established roads, and the spirit world exists in 'wilderness', and in places that are wholly inaccessible (the sky, mountaintops, deep underwater etc). People enter the spirit world as part of routine movements of life (herders moving up to high summer pastures are within the spirit world) but it is regarded as unfit for permanent occupation.

Spirits are loosely differentiated into the categories of granul ('wild spirits', entities that live in wilderness) and daigh (souls of dead humans and animals). An additional subset of granul are '-folk', regarded as a type of person in similar capacities to qilik being 'birdfolk' and elowey being 'dogfolk', but living specifically as magical aspects of nature.

All spirits are regarded as individuals and many are known by name (either as key folkloric figures, or with the names of local spirits discerned through the divination of witches). Their natures range from benevolent to mischievous to malevolent to deadly, with some having the capacity for all these at once. The vast majority are not venerated (only ancestors receive this treatment in full), just accepted as aspects of reality that one must know how to engage with.

Spirits are assumed to exist throughout the world in great number and variety, it is just those of the Highlands who are best known and most important to the Hill Tribes. Most people will very readily adopt other spirits (and some foreign gods) into their worldview without this being an act of religious conversion or other such cultural paradigm shift, instead simply assuming these entities to be the unfamiliar local spirits of foreign places.

---

Wildfolk: Humanlike spirits of the forests and mountains, associated with deer. These are tricky, sometimes malicious, and easily offended entities that must be dealt with respect and care. They mostly take the form of deer during the day and shapeshift into small, pale, long-bearded and wild-haired humans at night. They exist in a parallel society as deer herders, and are led by very powerful witches who can physically shapeshift into birds. The wildfolk witch Bernike is the most famous and has a prominent place as a major character in folklore, regularly interacting with gods and heroes and regarded as a (somewhat capricious) protective spirit of the Highlands.

Riverfolk: Humanlike river spirits, generally not as dangerous as wildfolk. They travel along rivers in canoes and will often rest and sunbathe along the shore, but are often very shy of people and will usually take the forms of trout to flee when spotted. They sometimes appear in folktales as seducers, or as brides/grooms (after being caught by fishermen in trout form). Said to once have had entire kingdoms to the southwest of the Highlands, but these were conquered by the Burri. (This aspect is partly a cultural memory of early Wardi tribes that lived in the lands now called Ephennos, most likely the eponymous Ephenni or a related group absorbed by them).

Seafolk: Humanlike sea spirits. The Highlands are fully landlocked (the far north of the region is fairly close to the coast of the Viper, but not enough for people to venture that far on any regular basis) and these mostly are just assumed to exist without being regularly encountered. They appear in myths in the migration and settlement cycles, described as being encountered by the ancestors of the Hill Tribes as they crossed the sea. They are described as akin to riverfolk, but more aggressive.

Dainhrudinnas: Spirits with the bodies of humans and the heads of dogs, who are excellent swimmers and are the spirits of lakes (dainhrudinnas having meaning akin to 'lake dogs', with the word for 'lake' translating dead literally as 'great river valley'). These are said to only live in far away places (usually regarded as being across the sea to the north, or somewhere vaguely 'east' or 'south' inland), but make semi frequent appearances in stories about distant lands. They may be partly rooted in cultural memories of various elowey peoples that were encountered by the pre-migratory ancestors of the Hill Tribes, and/or a loose conceptualization of the Jazait people based in secondhand knowledge. They are regarded as akin to elowey but not the same thing (in a similar capacity to wildfolk, riverfolk, and oceanfolk being akin to humans).

Kulsigranul: Minor wild spirits, mostly associated with barley. They are usually described as tiny (1 ft tall) humans who usually live alone in the wild, but convene in barley fields on nights of the full moon to engage in drunken revelry. They are also known to steal milk from the teats of cattle and horses, which is regarded as an intoxicant for them. Their presence is beneficial to the crops (though not to livestock), and cups of milk can be left out to attract them into fields. They hate being seen by humans and can cause bad luck or the withering of crops if their festivities are interrupted. On full moons, one should generally avoid entering barley fields and never follow sounds of distant music.

Virgranul: a malicious spirit with no body of its own, perpetually seeking to inhabit human flesh. It can enter the body only at moments of transition- during conception, or at the very moment of death. Virgranul possession at birth causes a person to become a witch, virganul possession at death results in the corpse wandering off and living as undead until it becomes too rotten to hold its shape (a dangerous situation for the original soul, given it is still partly attached to the body). Particularly experienced virgranul will mummify their corpse bodies to preserve them indefinitely, and some isolated places are known to be haunted by such undead.

Tírgranul: Minor malicious spirits who take pleasure in frightening those alone (especially at night) and spooking cattle. They are usually encountered as a human silhouette peering out from behind a tree or bolder, shadows darting out the corner of the eye, and the sound of footsteps that halt just after one stops moving to listen. Sudden and unexplained stampedes among cattle are attributed to their presence. It is often said that their faces are so horrifying that merely looking upon them can kill, but these spirits are very shy and will avoid directly being seen. One should never whistle at night, it attracts them.

Dulakgranul: Minor, benevolent wild spirits who live among rocks. Herders and travelers will build small cairns out of rocks along their routes, which will invite these spirits, who in turn displace less savory ones. They will grant boons to travelers who leave small gifts of food and drink at their cairns.

Dragons: legendary beasts, younger offspring of the goddess Ariakh and the King of Eagles, and associated with thunderstorms. They are massive birds with the bodies and wings of eagles, legs of pheasants, wrinkled bare faces and necks of vultures, and the heads and tails of snakes. They roost in eyries on mountaintops, and only emerge to hunt during storms. Horses and cattle are their favorite meals, but they will settle for humans given the chance. They are regarded as vain and egotistical, jealous of their bigger, older brothers (the Winds), and highly competitive amongst themselves (forming a hierarchy system in their level of venomousness). They are often defeated in folktales by manipulation of their competitiveness and vanity to turn them against one another.

As is very common worldwide, the depictions of dragons in this sphere are influenced by distant cultural memories (or culturally transmitted accounts) of giant azhdarchid pterosauroids, with mythological dragons in this world being far more ubiquitously described as a mixture of bird and reptile and almost always identified as winged, flying creatures. Eastern dragons such as these tend to have the feathered wings of birds (largely due to greater temporal space from encounters with these pterosauroids, whose last remnant populations were thousands of miles away in the far northwestern plains).

Fuldaigh: Malicious spirits of unburied/unburned (depending on tradition) dead, or those dead by suicide, who wander without rest. Fuldaigh are twisted by their suffering and aggressive and harmful towards the living. Their spirits can usually be freed by their remains being found and properly laid to rest.

Pylidaigh: Very dangerous, very malicious spirits who emerge during snowstorms, known to kill humans via a crushing hug and drink their blood to warm their own eternally cold bodies (in most traditions, they are a variant of fuldaigh, specifically ghosts of unburied dead who died in snow or of hypothermia). They exist as pale, naked humans with very long arms, which they use to wrap around and suffocate their prey in a close embrace. They are only capable of traveling over snow; doorways and windows should always be kept clear of snowfall so they cannot get close enough to reach their freakish arms into your house.

Duirdaigh: A little-understood type of spirit known to haunt the remains of ancient, overgrown burial cairns that can be found scattered throughout the Highlands. The builders of these cairns were already long gone at the time of settlement by the first Hill Tribes, and their exact nature is regarded as a great mystery. The spirits keep to their mounds and are thus generally harmless, but are regarded as ones to wholly avoid. It's said that people who walk over the cairns will often disappear, never to be seen again. This is attributed to duirdaigh, who drag them beneath the cairns to an ambiguous but certainly horrifying doom.

Ancestor spirits: This is what the honored dead become upon reaching the afterlife in the Celestial Fields, a great landscape hidden behind the stars. They will continue to watch over their descendants and can temporarily return to the land of the living as guides. Depending on tradition, they either come to land as invisible spirits, or physically manifest as birds and use this form to fly from and to the Fields. In either case, the flight and behavior of birds can be read and interpreted into messages and omens from one’s ancestors (with some care, both given that birdsign messages can be subtle, and that wildfolk witches can become birds too and use this for the sake of trickery). Ancestor spirits go through their afterlives much in the same way as the living, farming, herding, eating, drinking, sleeping, etc. Their basic physical needs are sustained by the Fields (they are fed on the milk of heavenly cattle and will never starve or thirst), but they still must labor if they want additional foods and goods, or receive them as offerings from living descendants.

While respected and generally assumed good-natured, ancestor spirits inflict punishments against lawbreakers and oathbreakers, and may also punish descendants who do not rightly honor them, or if they are merely insulted. A testy and contemptuous relative in life will likely remain so in death, and one should take care to keep them appeased. Naming and honoring one's ancestors and practicing routine offerings is the foremost form of spiritual protection, and will ultimately allow you to reach the afterlife. The veneration of and guidance from deceased ancestors is central to cultural practice, these are by far the most important spirits in day to day life (generally outstripping gods in importance as well).

Heavenly cattle: The cattle that inhabit the Celestial Fields. Traditions usually accept these as the ghosts of dead cattle, but some tales imply that they are separate entities created specifically for the afterlife (or a combination of the two, as they are known to breed). Their existence is credited to the agricultural goddess Od, who first brought them to the heavens to ensure the people remained fed in the afterlife. Ancestor spirits are sustained for perpetuity on their milk.

Queen of Spiders: a mostly benevolent entity, the first spider and mother of all other spiders. The hero Kulyos received her boon, and now her children feed on nasty biting flies and mosquitoes and trap malicious spirits in their webs, and are thus readily welcomed into the home. If you kill a spider, you should say an apology to the Queen of Spiders. Otherwise, she will punish you by not sending more spiders into your house.

King of Eagles: Created by and the husband of the storm goddess Ariakh, father of the Winds and dragons, the first eagle and chief of all birds. He is the one who brought fire to humanity, stealing it from the sun god Hraighne. He is elevated to the status of a god in some traditions (which describe him as the creator of birds, rather than simply the first), and is one of very few non-ancestor spirits to commonly receive veneration.

Animal masters: Spirits associated with each and every type of animal, being the first of each kind that was created. Most animal masters play little to no role in cultural practice and are merely acknowledged as an aspect of reality- there had to have been a first of every animal, so this is it. (This may have elements of syncretism with animistic practices ancient Wardi/Wogan tribes, accepting the notion that each kind of animal has a spirit, but not adopting additional levels of significance). Animal masters mostly appear as characters in folktales told for pure entertainment, with the biggest exceptions being the Queen of Spiders and King of Eagles listed above (having greater cultural significance). A few individual tribes place significance on additional animal masters (or interpret certain gods as also having been such), but no other animal masters have this degree of ubiquitous cultural status.

The Winds: spirits of the wind, the eldest sons of the storm goddess Ariakh and the King of Eagles. They are regarded as giant dragons, but will sometimes take the form of humans or hawks. They herd their mother's cattle in the clouds.

Mak-Urudain: A gigantic dírgrahdain dog with fiery fur and eyes like stars, who watches over the Celestial Fields as its guardian. He allows the honored dead to enter, ancestors to come and go, and prevents evil spirits or dishonored dead from passing into the Fields. He also guards the heavenly cattle that are grazed there, fiercely protecting them from mere wild spirits and powerful gods alike. The goddess Ariakh is the only one who has ever succeeded in stealing cattle from him. He is sometimes considered to be the dog animal-master, though usually just accepted as a very unique dog. Represented by the dog constellation.

[lilacgaby]

01 | Mᴀʀʀʏ ᴍᴇ

~1.3k

chapter select!

the kingdom of todoroki ruled with an iron fist.

lands around were conquered easily, any resistance killed off instantly without regret. through their destructive forceful tendencies, they garnered a reputation across the many nations of the land for their brutality that rivaled even the nation of barbarians.

their harsh punishment to innocents came twice as hard if there was even a chance that the victims happened to be witches.

the tale as old as time went as followed: a witch had resisted the cruel king's orders face to face, which led to confrontation. what were these orders? that was lost to time, but the hatred for witches wasn't.

more specifically, the hatred that had arose from a fight that had left the king's face permanently scared across his eye.

since then, witches have been hunted down and executed in mere seconds, with the only witches allowed to live being ones who served the king himself. the todoroki who had set it into place, and enji who now ruled, all vowed for the same thing.

the murder of all witches who weren't 'serving' the kingdom.

this didn't stop born witch prodigy, [name], from embracing her powers.

even with the amount of books burned, the brooms and wands used as firewood, the king could not stop the generational knowledge that passed down through the witch bloodline. that very bloodline which coursed through her veins.

since childhood, she'd practice these powers. it had been awakened on a full moon when she suddenly found she had the power of ice, she froze over an entire lake just to go ice skating in the summer. feeling guilty, she felt she had to unfreeze the lake and save the now dormant fishes in it, which led to her discovering her fire.

each element of her magic was discovered through experimentation and coincidence, just like the first generations of witches.

because of her strength, personality, and kindness, she was well-known and protected throughout her town's very own taverns and cottages. the villagers would warn her of soldiers passing through, and would even give her space to practice in their yards. she would heal the townsfolk for cheap, start fires, and found other useful ways to apply her elemental magic through her assistance in the town.

in particular: shinsou, a worker at the tavern, toga, a knight, and midoriya, the town's intellect all worked to keep her safe.

everyday, after a hard days of work for them all, they'd sit in the tavern, drink, and chat. midoriya, who couldn't seem to keep his nose out of a book before too long. shinsou, who was eternally tired. and toga, always passionate. they were home to [name], and she was just as important to them as they were to her.

the town, which was abandoned from any form of assistance from the royals, had lost their main form of income which was magic long ago. but, the happiness and community that had been built from the tragedy of the loss was something that couldn't be robbed from them.

as such, this arrangement worked for years, where not a single incident where [name] was ever suspected as a witch had ever come to light. royal checkpoints, random searches, and even interrogations were never fruitful.

until a faithful day where [name] strayed out far too far for far too long.

it had been a necessary risk she neeeded to take. she ran out of frog mucus and birds tongue, which were huge parts of her healing brews.

colds and flus were abundant this time of year, the transition between summer and winter hitting harder for some more than most.

she had just gotten out of the swamp, when from behind she was approached by a man. he was dressed head to toe in expensive garments, hell even his horse was groomed head to toe.

"hello." the strange man said, a fancy air about him. his halfed red-white hair stood out from the rest of his outfit, which was all a royal blue. his heterochromic eyes watching her as she finished stuffing her small basket full of items.

"oh, hello. may i help you with something?" she tried not to show it, but she felt tense. not at the man himself, but because of the red-haired knightsguard member who was staring bullets into her, threateningly.

"yes, actually. i was hoping if you'd know of any healing remedies for my mother. the medics in my home are unable to help her, and you look like you know what you're doing."

she seemed shocked at his request. if royal medics couldn't help how could she? but she decided to indulge him anyways. "oh, of course. i'm not sure if what i can give you would be any stronger or different but, if you follow me to my town i can give you a remedy."

"that sounds perfect, i planned to head into town regardless. thank you..?"

"[name]."

he stuck out his hand, as he introduced himself back. "shoto todoroki."

she almost drops her basket at the revelation, but snaps out of it quickly enough to take his hand. this guy was the heir to the todoroki empire? and even the royal medics couldn't heal his mother? what was going on? why wasn't this headlines everywhere?

"oh, well, todoroki, you can follow me back to the village. it isn't far now."

"alright then, lead the way."

as she led him, his horse, and that red-haired knight to the village, she was deciding whether or not it was safe for him to head into town. he was a prince for godsake! or more accurately, whether it'd be safe for her to enter with him into town.

"todoroki.. if you don't mind me asking, why did you come all this way yourself? isn't it dangerous?"

"well, i suppose. but i have my knight with me here as insurance, and i can handle myself just fine."

"oh, okay. well, we're here. i'll just be a second." she ran inside a shop, and moments later came out with two vials of a pink liquid.

"these should help at least relieve some of the pain felt. while they're not a full solution since i don't know what exactly she's facing, they're a pain suppressive that will help her feel better."

todoroki looked them over, seemingly impressed.

"you have pretty potent remedies for a civilian. thank you for your assistance [name]."

"ah! well, you know, practice gets me pretty good at them!"

"don't mind my asking but, are you a witch?"

she nervously started laughing and denying the allegations. "what? a witch? you're crazy, what would ever give you that idea?"

"i went into another town before this on accident. a woman who claimed to be a witch gave me a remedy, yet called it a potion. and even so, it didn't feel half as powerful as yours [name]. just from touching yours, i feel a strong aura."

"well.. maybe she was just a liar?"

"no, [name]. i think i'm smart enough to know a witch when i see one, especially since my castle medics are witches."

[name] sighed, knowing she had been caught. "okay, fine, i'm a witch."

instead of slicing her head off right there, he just took on a thoughtful expression as he looked up at the sky.

he suddenly brought his eyes back down to her. "[name], i'm going to ask you something quite forward. i hope you can forgive me."

"forward?"

"i know this is sudden but,

would you marry me?"

she now dropped her basket to the ground, her jaw dropping along with it. was this man insane? he certainly didn't look it, he was actually quite handsome so.

why was he so crazy?

"i- i just met you? where did that come from?!"

"well you see, i really..

want my father off the throne."

next!

[rainworlddramablog]

why not the most pressing topic

(be warned, armchair phycology inbound)

oh Pansear highlight of this community (past tense) they made amazing things, such as the kiss me kill me map, their comics period, and left an empty wasteland in their leave.

God what a fucking mess, they closed off there final message, leaving the rumors to run rampant only for the source to let the blame fall a step down the chain.

I dont blame Azriel, i find it hard to do that, they are just a minor, just like me. They take just as much responsibility as us, the spread it without fact checking, you know who else did that? And they had an excuse, mental health and a particular distain for our long gone friend. (Witch mind you in fact is totally justified, they where the one wronged by Pansear, its up to morals for us to forgive Pan, but Azriel is under no such obligation.) And hey, look at that, the internet beat the shit out of them, doing exactly as I expected and not thinking a single intelligent thought.

Speaking of which I need to real quick give some sympathy to those poor bastards I just insulted. excuse me if this might get long, but I find it eager to attempt an understanding for each party in this shit show:

You, a young teen, have looked up to a famous artist for making works that you personally relate to. You follow them religiously watch there every step and treat them like a king, their word is law. You have had their work lift you, help you though the days where it just doesn't feel like you can make it. You might even find someone who kept fighting on because of that work, it might have saved someone's life.

one day you wake up to find a post, something about how pansear is a pedophile, about how they support grooming, about how they are a bitch and deserve to rot in hell. Well, you might have seen that last part, I'm sure it was out there some where. Needless to say you were devastated, it was now dangerous to even support this person you loved, and had helped you though maybe even your darkest times.

It's a hit, but you survive, Pansear assures you of that. They continue to post, they seem pretty down, and you feel very down, the whole situation tugs on your mind, not all the time, but in the late hours of the night, where instead of sleeping, you think, you think about how it all could have gone better.

then tragedy strikes again, something far more conclusive, the claims previously put out now spread like open flame, lit by the gasoline of 4 screenshots.

it hurts, it hurts a fucking lot, you cry, you cry a fucking lot. Worse, Pansear isn't here to defend them self, they left, Pansear left. If it was harder to ignore, now its impossible, you cant focus, you cant even talk about it, then you would be "defending Pansear."

that would hurt, that would hurt a fucking lot. And you have not choice but to let this rage simmer for about 2 weeks, and after that time.

you find reason to let it boil over. Who could blame you, no where to put this stress, no where to put this anger, you go to whoever you can, and (for lack of a better term) beat the shit out of them.

excuse my writing, i got a habit of that. but i should clarify, i was not there, this is a prediction of how i would have reacted if i where a bit farther down the rabbit whole. I know Pansear was popular, it gives me reason to believe that this might be a common experience. Or perhaps it was different. Perhaps for some they had a server, a place to talk about there feelings without judgement, where they could prosses loss. (i know by way of my self that this might have been the first time someone truly lost someone else)

So take that story with a grain of salt, but i do find it rather important to ask you, why? Why did we have to be so cruel to each other, could we not have taken a step back and realize that name calling and death threats only made things worse.

There is a reason, even for the most extreme situations, that someone says "do not harass anyone." When did we forget that?

I should clarify, I'm not sure how the fandom as a whole responded, I'm not on twitter (GTFO of there if you are) and where I am on tumblr, it was not common mention. I've reason to believe that the story is not entirely of my mind alone, simply because with size it becomes harder and harder to not have one of each person.

i think this will be my first rant, i have only spoken on one of the things i want to talk about i have thought a lot about this, in the dead of night. i dont think ill forget this, but i will chose to remember this as something positive, what ever positivity i can get out of it.

to anyone out there reading this i think its important to let you know what i believe is the final message sent in Pansear's discord server, not the emote ones but the forest.

to anyone struggling out there, remember, Pansear believed in you. i take solace in this message, you should too.

[blazehedgehog]

Thoughts on the whole Mr. Beast situation?

None at all and even googling it doesn't really spell it out very well. I guess someone in his network was accused of grooming? Not even he himself. Just someone he employs. And people were upset it took him so long to say or do anything about it.

Listen. If there is one person on this planet I do not care about, it's MrBeast. He is incredibly rich, getting richer, and he exists in a world entirely separated from all my interests. He is way too much of a general purpose Youtuber for me to care about. He is a content factory brand to me and I am deeply suspicious of him on every level, because he feels like a fake plastic human putting out fake plastic videos.

In my entire life, I have only seen half of one MrBeast video, ever, and it was fairly recently: I was pet sitting for a cousin last week, her son watches MrBeast, and their Samsung Smart TV auto loaded to the 24/7 MrBeast channel where he was doing some kind of isolation chamber challenge.

I was surprised how earnest and personable Jimmy himself actually was, but his entourage controlling the isolation chamber were like... they reminded me of Biff Tannen's goons from Back to the Future or something.

That vibe of being like, some combination of Yes-men, nobodies, and D-list clowns. Most people probably don't even know Biff's cronies even have names (from left to right: Skinhead, 3D and Match). They are only here to crawl around in the star's shadow and laugh at all their jokes.

The dudes in that MrBeast video felt the same way. They felt like they were grown in a vat of Youtube Prank Channel parts.

So strike one: I do not care about MrBeast. Unless he gives me two million dollars. Then I'll watch every MrBeast video ever made until the day I die.

Two, I feel like pointing fingers and accusing someone of being a groomer is like, the most boy who cried wolf witch hunt of our era. I am rapidly reaching my tolerance level for finger pointing about intent because I feel like half the time I hear about it, it's nothing. Obviously it's different when it's DrDisrespect and multiple investigations have proven he was arranging a meetup with a minor and even the man himself has come right out and said "it's true but I never went through with it so technically by the strictest letter of the law I didn't do anything illegal!"

But I also feel like there are certain communities both on discord and on tumblr where accusations of grooming get thrown around a lot more casually by the younger crowd because it's an easy way to lash out at somebody you don't like.

From the perspective of a guy like MrBeast, I'm sure if he really put his ear to the ground he'd hear a hundred accusations of grooming going in all kinds of directions.

If he was a little slow launching an investigation? He's only human. His team is only human. And treating allegations like that seriously enough to do a real thorough investigation takes a lot of work. Again, if he jumped at every time somebody pointed a finger, he'd be wasting a lot of resources. I'm willing to give him slack here. It's terrible when it's real, but a lot of the time it probably isn't.

I know sometimes I say dumb things on this blog. I can think of at least two posts right now from the last year where it sometimes hits me that I said something really dumb. And that's not even counting all the stuff I'm sure some people just straight up misunderstand me about.

But this feels like busy-body stuff. The supposed groomer was already fired on the same day the investigation was started. They haven't even found anything for or against her yet. Beyond that, who cares.

[aziraphales-library]

Hi! I read an au fic involving a Tadfield community band or orchestra. It was called “friends of the lower tadfield community band” or something but I can’t get a close enough search to find it - could you help me find it again? Thank you! <3

I believe you're looking for...

The Greater Tadfield Friends Of Music Autumn Concert by CopperBeech (E)

Anthony Crowley, marketing consultant and competent amateur flautist, finds he can at least flee the smoke and congestion of London if not the golden handcuffs of his job. He’s got no personal life to leave behind; he likes things anonymous, and rough, and even a little dangerous, and far enough from home that he won’t have to deal with entanglements. So what’s he doing obsessing about a mannerly, daintily groomed, kindly man who he’s not even sure is gay? And how’s he going to cope with a hotbed of gossip, a lovelorn tubist serenading the witch next door, and an irascible music director with a Black Belt in baton-throwing?

A pro-tip I've mentioned before, if you're searching for something where you have specific details from the title, summary, or author's notes of a fic, is to use the "search within results" box in the filter options. I put "friends tadfield" in there and only had two pages of results to check through to find this fic!

- Mod D

[loonybun]

making a whumptroduction post because it seems appropriate to do for my first post :3

Blog/Whump Introduction

hello! my name is crep/loony and I use any pronouns!! i started this blog because i’ve been really interested in the whump community for some time (since like maybe October?). It pretty much has all my favorite elements of stuff all put into one genre loll. I don’t have any plans to start a long-term story as of now, but that could change in the future! I have a ton of characters, but I mainly just use them for roleplaying (if you are interested in roleplaying with me i’m totally down to try it out and see how we mesh together!!!)

some fun facts about me: my favorite color is pink, i’ve been roleplaying for around 7 years (online for closer to 5), i love coming up with new characters and intertwining them with other people’s characters!!! it’s really fun to see how they interact with each other for me. it’s like how you played w barbie’s as a kid but infinitely better. for roleplaying i’ll be using tumblr dms, discord, and also roblox. i really love garfield, and i am autistic with my primary special interest being Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll!!!

ONGOING STORIES:

- Aisling CYOA story

(more under cut)

Favorite whump tropes: kidnapping/captivity, doll whump, tiny whump, lab whump, medical whump, inhuman whumper, inhuman whumpee, immortal whumpee, fae whump, cult whump, religious theming, heavy/detailed gore, body modification, drugging, display whump, academia whump (so hard to find but so so good), carewhumpers, defiant whumpees.

Things I may interact with but will probably not post: generally suggestive stuff 👍

Squicks/things i will not interact with: almost all nsfwhump (i am a minor and do not feel comfortable reblogging smut on my page), anything related to S/A, pedophelia, r*pe, or sexual grooming, and slave historical whump. If your blog is centered around any of those, I ask that you do not interact with my blog.

DNI conservatives, anti-lgbtq, acephobes, biphobes, transphobes, racists, antisemites, islamophobes, xenophobes, terfs, general bigotry, dark/proshippers (dunno which term to use but i mean this as in people who ship incest, r*pe, and pedophelia. while i believe that it’s okay to write about these things, a lot of pro/darkshippers seem to glorify/romanticize these dynamics and that’s what i have an issue with. i want to specify that while i personally feel uncomfortable with such, i do not agree with witch-hunting or harassing people. i just will not interact and i ask you to do the same.), straight up nsfw blogs whump or not, pro-zoophiles, pro-maps, etc…

thank you all for reading!!! looking forward to being a part of this community!!

[murfpersonalblog]

Murf's AMA: Mayfair Witches

@adamnablelittledevil you sent me such an incredibly lovely & thorough ask that I wanted to address every single point you made. So I'm breaking your PM up into separate AMA-style posts. Thank you SO much!

"And your comments on the stories really help! I don't know if I'll agree with you, but you're able to say something I can completely comprehend without spoilers and give me an idea of how they are, so thank you!"

Any time! Yes, my particular stance on AR's Mayfair books is largely based on my own personal fascination with different IRL conceptions of the afterlife, and how IRL witchcraft/magic/divination/necromancy all fits in wrt communing with the spirits of the dead/undead. So reading The Witching Hour completely rewired my brain--I owe AR a huge debt. Her ghost stories just give me everything I need.

"The way you described Lasher sounds terrifying. 👀 I wonder if it is as bad as Lestat's turning, the story of the twins or the Roman Coven killing the palazzo boys and torturing Armand because those were the darkest moments of TVC for me (I ignore what she pulled on TTOTBT). Is it just as heavy or worse?"

Hrm. It's complicated for me. Like, IMO Armand has hands down THE worst & most sympathetic backstory out of all the TVC characters (except Claudia). Kidnapped & gaslit & brainwashed by a satanic cult, and abandoned by the one person you trusted & loved the most when you failed to meet his ridiculously high standards/expectations.... IMO Armand is the strongest character to have withstood all that for so long and still come out the other side with his soul intact, omg.

As for Lasher, it's the totality of his iron grip over the Mayfairs for 500+ years that makes me personally put his treatment of people on the same/similar level as the Children of Satan.

There's no one Mayfair I feel particularly sadder or better for; it's them as a collective whole. There's things Lasher does to some of the Mayfairs that is just...it's graphic. With Armand it's different, cuz of the heavily romanticized & disjointed way he often tells his story. The gothic horror comes from seeing the ways traumatized people reflect on the bad things that happened to them--Armand's memory is just as spotty as Louis' sometimes; and the way he talks about Marius alllll the way to Blood Communion makes the fandom divided on what we're supposed to do with them.

But with the Mayfairs, there's no sugar-coating the carnage or softening/obfuscating the blows at all--AR describes things viscerally & graphically & explicitly in a way that you CANNOT excuse Lasher for. Even at the end of Lasher, when they "Let the devil speak his story," the prophecy (AR's Word of God) has already decided that his pretty words & excuses & tragic backstory don't effing matter in the end--he WILL be killed. Cuz he is 100% a PREDATOR, NOT a problematic love interest with abusive/grooming tendencies (a la Lestat & Marius).

Like, the vast majority of the TVC/IWTV fandom laughs at incest wrt Lestat & Gabrielle, cuz Lestat romanticizes so much of his trauma that it's hard sometimes to take it seriously. But incest with the Mayfairs is no laughing matter. It's sheer horror that's supposed to make you darn near physically ill reading about how much Lasher's twisted & manipulated everything. He's a MONSTER, eff how much he cries.

Granted, I still think the Mayfairs were awful immoral people, in ways that I don't see Armand. Unlike a brainwashed cult member, the Mayfairs KNEW Lasher was evil and that everything he gave them was tainted by his evil deeds. They call him the Devil. Unlike the Twins, they didn't control spirits ethically, in order to help their community and work towards the betterment of their society--they controlled Lasher selfishly, in order to gain riches & power. They think they can outsmart him, and pay the price.

But because they're women, they're vulnerable by default, as they lived during the Middle Ages & Tudor period & all these other times when women were being systemically persecuted by the Church; and then domestically oppressed at home as their husbands had full legal control over their bodies AND their money. The Mayfair designees completely buck the system; they're entirely matriarchal, but their power STILL comes from a demonic patriarch. So I sympathize with the lengths they felt they needed to go to, to remain at the top of the social pyramid--even if they were slaves to their greedy desires, and slaves to Lasher, as he manipulated them into thinking it was the reverse. They're victims and villains, in the best & worst of ways that always makes AR's characters so dang complex & interesting.

I think what happens to them is beyond effed up, but sometimes certain witches (*cough* Margueritte, Julien, Rowan, etc) I feel kinda deserved it???? But not even, cuz there's so much incest & mental illness in their family too, which makes me go Dang! They're not right in the head, so is it even fair to even blame them for all this? And ofc a ghost is LITERALLY manipulating them. But at what point does personal responsibility & accountability come in, esp. for Rowan?

Like, even Carlotta's evil arse has a lot in common with Coven Master Armand's most extreme(ly bad) actions--someone I absolutely love. So why do I hate her? When really, she was right all along! Her extremist draconian methods SUCKED; but if she got The Witch Carlotta book the way we got TVA, would my opinion of her change? More than likely! (Unless it was more like Blood & Gold, in which case....bye Felicia. 🙄😒)

So yeah, I see the Mayfairs as very similar to the Children of Satan, but flipped--they worship the Devil to get rich; NOT cuz they think they're inherently evil & deserve to suffer (a la Armand & the other vampires).

[bloodwr4th]

LISTEN. I have adored you and your muses since my first time starting to write Jackie in the tvd community. All the things with your witch baby. Obviously I’m going to follow you to any blog you make, but !!?!!? I am so utterly obsessed with your kol. Just expect to see your face claim at this point when watching the show. He is true to character while also being entirely yours.

You are also one of the sweetest people I’ve met on this hell site. Ilu.

Bonus that even if we were new in following each other. Id be obsessed. Especially with kol and Nausi. A proper wedding it demanded and Jackie wants invited 🔪

please tell me anonymously or not why you follow me. I could use some positive messages

please, please, please, i love you okay????? i'm so glad that we follow each other on each of my blogs and just dlkjfls i can't help but love what we had on my multi. my little witch bennett being in a relationship with her little wolf. it was life. everyone should be glad to have you as a friend and as a muse to love on.

because i know how hard it is with women oc lately and just we are going to gush about you because jackie need to have a moment; your oc is just amazing okay? not only jackie but ophelia as well. we can see the effort you pour into them, the headcanons that we love to see floating around and just jackie. she is iconic and so a canon characters at this point and we will never leave her again, okay???? she is that important and as stiles ( @humanchewtoy ) and nausi ( @wickedslip ) and katherine ( @malka-lisitsa ) , she's important to kol's story and i would never change it any other way.

as for the faceclaim, i can't help but only see him now as kol. idk what happened to me that day, but when i brought him on my multi, i just couldn't use nb because gross and just people loving this face makes me so happy. i'm glad i can bring another version of kol and just people vibing with him.

don't worry for the wedding, i think she will be either witness of the groom or bride. we wouldn't want to marry each other if no one is here. haha. thinking about the wedding right now kdsjfksjlf i'm so soft and crying because dove and i just sdljflks thank you so much to give us chances. we so deserve it and we also love jackie in this house. / @lycancursed.

[adracat]

G-Witch episode 12 thoughts

Well, that was a wild ride. I think we all know the big moment that everyone is talking about but before we sprint to the finish in angst-ville, let's enjoy the relatively lighter bits-- just joking there aren't any.

Seeing the witches go all out with their permit scoring really highlights how unique Aerial and Suletta are. Still, Sophie is able to beat the GUND-format antidote by sheer force of will. And unlike Suletta it takes a huge toll. This fight was incredibly one-sided on behalf of DoF which I think we all suspected. Witches aren't feared for nothing.

In the middle of all this chaos, Miorine is shielded from debris by Delling. His talk to her and mention of Mio's mother was enlightening. They way he speaks of her makes me wonder if she was a soldier too, possibly killed by a Gundam? Whatever the truth, it's unmistakable how much he cares for Mio's well-being. He might have a shit way of showing it in a non-deadly situation, but it's better than Fail Mother of the year, Prospera.

Before we open that masked can of worms, here's a brief mention to Nika. We see her save herself and the rest of Earth House by signaling to Norea's gundam. Lucky for her, she was recognized as an ally of the 'Prince'. Not so luckily, her little morse code session was seen. Oops.

I'd like to see her collusion and secrets come to light early in the next cour. She's a good egg, just trapped between her past ties on earth and the friends she made at military school. Will it end terribly? I'm anxious to find out.

Pour one out for Bob by the way. I won't mourn Jeturk, but it's scarred his son for life. Imagine changing to become a better man all because someone was nice to you, but whoops. Patricide. That's a twist I didn't forsee but it piques my intrigue. Will Bob return to Guel with a massive revenge scheme as CEO of Jeturk industries?

But speaking of parents and children...

Posting this entire scene because I wanted to showcase, beginning to end, how informative this is for what follows next. We have Suletta fearful for her life, shocked by seeing her mother kill. She's completely shaken, yet calms once Prospera repeats the philosophy we've been hearing the whole show. The light shines upon Prospera as she offers her hand, appearing angelic in spite of the killing. You can see the moment Suletta internalizes this. Killing for those you love is just; fighting gains you two, running would mean losing someone. She moves forward and pilots Aerial as Prospera demands. It's a subtle manipulation, and from Suletta's wide-eyed stare (similar to another episode where she's desperate to believe her mother) she accepts this new reality.

Small aside, I like this brief confirmation Aerial can communicate detailed things to Suletta despite only appearing as lights and a whale-like sound to us. Very interesting.

Now onto the penultimate scene.

Messed up and shocking as this is, I found it completely in character. I don't think she's snapped or anything like that, merely accepted her mother is right and killing for another person to survive is an acceptable trade. Her unnatural cheer in this scene is unnerving, but I read this as her desperately trying to keep herself and Miorine calm; she's acting the same as always to downplay the gruesome reality.

So she does what she has always done and mimics Prospera, positioning herself in the same way. All the while she's oblivious to how horrifying her behavior comes across. Yet it doesn't escape us, nor poor Mio. I would not be surprised if Prospera used that phrase as a means of conditioning Suletta to do what she asks.

From groom to murderer in the span of one episode and cour 😔 Suletta now persona non grata. It's cruel to leave us here until April but also brilliant ngl. I can't wait to see how our fav couple navigates this conflict. All is fair in love and war.

I do love this shot though, bookends are my weakness.

[fuckhouse2theelectricboogaloo]

Kind of unrelated to Shep, but can we please talk about how disturbing it is that if a known piece of shit changes their identity/fandom/favorite character(s), all of a sudden it's like people forget what they did? I had a friend who was groomed by "safe adults" who were all about "protecing minors uwu!" But as soon as she did something they didn't like, they actively tried to put her in harm's way.

These people changed fandoms, nicknames, fave characters, and they managed to kerp themselves from being held accountable for the shit they did to a minor (witch hunts, stalking their online activity, making copypastas of mental breakdown posts, to name a few). A good chunk of Shep's bullshit reminds me of this incident, and thank you for keeping tabs on what fandoms and names this fuckhead tries to slip into.

Sorry for the tangent, but I just see so much happen because the general community is complacent and not actually looking out for the well-being of those that need it. They only preach it. My friend's still suffering from the aftereffects to this day, and seeing Shep still gloat and not care about the damage they did really pisses me off. Wishing nothing but healing for the victims.

Posting as is

[haggishlyhagging]

Far from being eternal, pair-unions developed slowly and precariously over a long period of time. The right of safe passage into the community of cross-cousins was a signal advance over earlier fleeting encounters between the sexes in the forest. But there were still many hesitations, suspicions, and fears between the men of the two moieties, and these were reflected in the relations between the young men and old women.

This precarious situation can be seen more clearly in what is sometimes called the "institution of the visiting husband." In the earliest stage of matrimony the husband was little more than a visitor to his wife's community. He did not start out by occupying a separate house or hut with his wife; he was given accommodations in the male clubhouse reserved for strangers and visiting husbands. There under the surveillance of his wife's male kin he slept and took his meals. A survival of this ancient practice is noted by Webster:

‘In Samoa . . . the young men slept by themselves and received the visitors to the community. In the Fiji Islands at least two Bures-ni-sa, or strangers' houses, were found in every village. In them all the male population passed the night. "The women and girls sleep at home; and it is quite against Fijian etiquette for a husband to take his night's repose anywhere except at one of the public bures of his town or village, though he will go to his family soon after dawn."’ (Primitive Secret Societies, pp. 11-12)

According to some reports, when a visiting husband arrived at the village of his wife, he parked his weapons outside before entering. Others say that he did not immediately walk into the wife's community; he sat down at the outskirts and waited until one of his wife's kinsmen summoned him to the male clubhouse where he was given accommodations.

Thus before men achieved the status of full-fledged husbands, living and sleeping under the same roof with their wives, they passed through an interim period of history in which they were only part-time visitors. Briffault refers to them as "surreptitious" husbands, and to matrimony at this stage of its evolution as "clandestine marriage":

‘Even more extraordinary in the light of our notions than the position of the husband as a stranger, guest or visitor within the group to which his wife belongs is the fact that he is commonly a clandestine and surreptitious visitor. One of the Japanese words for marriage is "Home-iri," which may be interpreted "to slip by night into the house," and the expression accurately describes the mode of connubial intercourse among a large proportion of primitive peoples.

Among the Khasis "the husband came to his mother-in-law's home after dark only. . . . The Tipperah husband gains access to his wife's room like a burglar, and leaves it before dawn. Among the Yakut, the husband visits his wife in a similar manner after dark. . . . The Kuril never visit their wives publicly, "but steal to them privately in the night." Among the Tartars, the bride-groom likewise slips into the bride's house surreptitiously, and he is particularly careful not to be seen leaving it, for her male relatives are waiting, ready to administer a sound drubbing if they should happen to catch sight of him.’ (The Mothers, vol. I, pp. 513-14)

This indicates a certain advance on the part of the stranger seeking a bride; he has breached the "citadel," that is, the sector so carefully guarded because it is occupied by the older women and the children. He is now cohabiting with his wife, in the same sector and even under the same roof as that dangerous old witch, his mother-in-law. His chief concern now is to escape detection by his wife's male kinsmen. We learn from Briffault that often the mother-in-law herself acts as a "go-between" in the cause of love:

‘The Kirghis bridegroom is secretly introduced into the bride's chamber by the "go-between," and he must depart before dawn. . . . In Khorassan, it was the rule for the mother of the bride to introduce the bridegroom secretly into the house by the back door; the male relatives were not supposed to know anything of his visits, and he had to depart before dawn.’ (ibid., p. 514)

The fearsome old witch gradually became transformed into a proper mother-in-law, although she still remained a formidable figure, to be treated with great circumspection. This explains the curious remark made by an Australian aborigine which Radcliffe Brown reports as follows:

‘In its most extreme form there is complete avoidance of any social contact between a man and his mother-in-law. This avoidance must not be mistaken for a sign of hostility. One does, of course, if one is wise, avoid having too much to do with one's enemies, but that is quite a different matter. I once asked an Australian native why he had to avoid his mother-in-law, and his reply was, "Because she is my best friend in the world; she has given me my wife"’ (Structure and Function in Primitive Society, p. 92)

-Evelyn Reed, Woman’s Evolution: From Matriarchal Clan to Patriarchal Family

[awrote]

amara was gone. one morning, silas woke to the awful news. qetsiyah, outraged by a servant of hers running away caused an uproar among the community. it happens more often than not. no human being deserves being used as property and there are several factors to acknowledge as to why the handmaiden had made that decision. he knew of her desire to be free but didn’t think it would happen so soon. without him.

guards were sent out to search for the handmaid per the witch’s orders. a capricious pursuit considering finding someone who did not want to be found was the equivalent of looking for a needle in a haystack. the nobleman went through all stages of grief during the days that followed. he didn’t accept his fate but simply let whatever was to happen, happen.

his marriage to qetsiyah took place, a wedding so illustrious everyone forgot about amara’s escape. everyone but the groom. silas faded into his craft as a healer having zero desire to keep entertaining any more stupid, gullible humans. it will take time before he and his wife gain authority over their coven. what once used to fill his ordinary life with joy was gone and so was his smile. there had never been a more miserable man before and everyone notices it but doesn’t dare to point it out. he’s unpredictable. who knows what reaction they’ll be met with.

“i can’t promise this will work. i’m a witch, not a miracle worker.”

“is there a difference?”

the woman is practically on her deathbed and her family insists that the traveler must have a remedy to restore her back to health. he’s tired after a long journey from athens and has little sympathy for humankind. ironic how someone who has the ability to heal and can be so heartless. holding a cloth over his mouth, he spares her another glance and grimaces. while he doesn’t care if she lives or not, what will it say about him as a healer? a death staining his reputation. daphne has only had one person die in her long time career. by her standards, he’s only just begun. “i’ll see what i can do. in the meantime, keep giving her the medicine.” in the man’s hand he places a vial containing a strong and pungent potion. “thank you.” silas simply nods and turns to leave.

he removes the cloth away from his face and takes in the fresh air. not quite fresh as there’s a market set up near the home and it’s very obvious there’s fish involved. a look of disgust settles on his features as he walks down the row of merchants shoving fruits and other produce at his face in exchange for money and people bargaining for a price reduction. he gently swats away any hand extending towards until his eyes see a familiar face among the crowd. “amara?” hastily, the blond pushes through the multitude to get to her, “amara!”

[houseofthelilypads]

Shrek isn't just a movie picking at of Disney, it's a movie picking at white supremacy.

Notice how all the villains were white people? Excluding Goldilocks & Death, who were antagonists/rivals, the villains were all white humans with a high status, wealth of power (figuratively and literally) who weaponized the status quo to erase, attack or manipulate marginalized groups. They weren't these powerful entities of death (heh) they looked like people we could meet in real life. Charming especially is the Perfect "Aryan" Man: blond haired blue eyed good-looking and white.

Farquad exiled all fairytale creatures from their homes and even implied to have killed some of them. He doesn't even go save Fiona himself, at least Charming made it that far. Instead he expects her love then turned on her when she embraced her true self.

Godmother talked over Fiona by trying to sell her an American Dream type wish, only to ignore her needs and desires. She runs her magic like a business. A testament to materialism and how it is a shallow replacement for genuine relationships. She also raised Charming to feel that he is so special he is above consequences, which sadly led to his downfall. It's also an allegory to how racism/yt supremacy is taught. Tow kids eagerly embrace these prejudices without question or truly thinking for themselves.

Jack Horner was jealous of not being famous like the others without fully understanding the reality magical creatures go through due to the prejudice they face. Instead of being thankful for hus very successful pie company he tries to steal everyone else's things. Showing how greedy people will never be satisfied. But also how racist white people would be jealous of another ethnic group for a naive lens of being "special" without fully understanding the struggles the ethnic group goes through.

Rumple treated the witches like servants than equals, and tried to eradicate a resistance made up of mostly ogres to keep his crown. While I classify him as a fairytale creature he doesn't have that solidarity and only thinks of himself. Showing how some would eagerly throw their own kind under the bus to enjoy the benefits a horrible status quo brings.

Charming wanted to keep his privileged lifestyle by taking over Far Far Away under the guise of helping outcasts, when it was just him nursing a broken ego. He doesn't even entertain the thought his mother is wrong, just that Shrek stole a happy ending he thinks he deserves. Again a reminder of how yt supremacy often fails the very people groomed to uphold these values, and how some simply refuse to change their ways despite suffering their doomed ideology.

They were members of the aristocracy, businessmen, who were already living it high but wanted more & keep things as they were, regardless who got hurt.

Shrek represents the marginalized adopting love and allowing themselves to love and be loved without being forced to fundamentally change themselves. Shrek believed himself unlovable because society already deemed him as a threat. But the interesting thin is Shrek never exactly defeats the villains on his own or by brute force. The villains are taken out by their actions or or by somebody else (a character who is also a victim of the oppression). The villains meet their ends at the same item they used to weaponize the status quo.

By Shrek never directly defeating the villains, it dismantles the preconceived notions of ogre being inherently brutal and violent. It also shows how fighting oppression isn't just through brute force or snark but thru love and community.

Artie & Fiona represent white people who acknowledge their privilege and uses it to help others. That even yt folk suffer under the same conditions they put in the first place as they fear or subjected to the same mistreatment if they stray out of line even an inch. For Artie it's being a softspoken dork and not the hypermasculine warrior; for Fiona it's being an ogre/tomboy & not a dainty princess. These flaws prove to be great gifts, & help them see those expectations for the harm they really are.

Shrek and Fiona's romance are the biggest aspect of the franchise,but another important aspect is community. By building solidarity with other fairytale creatures, they're able to more support then just having only each other. Without Donkey (and Dragon) Shrek and Fiona wouldn't have their happy ending; without the fairytale critters Shrek wouldn't have had the power to stop Fairy Godmother. Without connecting with Artie, there'd be no one to sympathize with the story villains. Without the Ogre Resistance Shrek wouldn't have been able to restore the timeline.

That's also why Charming's takeover failed: he hadn't formed any true solidarity with the villains only really viewing them as props for his happily after. He was so blinded by hate and jealously he failed to actually HELP the villains accomplish their dreams or their needs. He failed to acknowledge his own complicity in the way villains/outcasts were treated. Artie talked to the villains, not talked down to them.

Overall, Shrek offers a very good look at the harm white supremacy inflicts on EVERYONE and the ways to combat it. Remember, you can hate your oppressors/society but it's also important to recognize your privilege, and show up for the oppressed. That marginalized groups do have the power to make their dreams come true through love, community, action and solidarity.

[gltzgghln]

some moar dzelboan cuisine and funnie witch game bugs !! :3

some algal spores and chopped algal veggies? on a plate. and a coconut analog fruit here, native to dzelbo and mehdepulah but introduced to iezulvia maybe? and ofc you gotta have an aphid that's also a cow suckin sap

witties, kittywasps?, witties right now. witties are catlike and cat-sized wasps that weave nests that host pocket dimensions and pocket tunnels, storing anything a witty colony might need, like food, objects for defense, or to build more of the dimension inside. witties that build nests near villages tend to have more stuff like tools or lost items or even Furniture in their nests, but some deeper forest-dwelling witties may travel long distances to take a shovel or two

the one described species of nettoid ive made has 2 morphs. they groom each other with their mouthparts as a form of social bond

dusk walkers i think i'll call them.. these tubby furry waterbears which are about the size of raccoons and fill their niche too. While called dusk walkers, they can be active at any time. they tend to congregate in the villages of the southeast and frequently end up in places they shouldn't. I don't have a set magical tactic used by the nettoids and dusk walkers yet, but dusk walkers have a pattern on their necks that glow to communicate and before they attack

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: West Coast Avengers #42: ONE OF OUR ANDROIDS IS MISSING!

March, 1989

It begins here... VISIONQUEST ONE OF OUR ANDROIDS IS MISSING!

Oh, comics. You and your movie references.

Scarlet Witch: "Where is my husband? Where is the VISION?!" Wonder Man: "He -- he's gone, Wanda -- vanished as if he never existed!"

God damn it, Byrne. You know I love dialogue on comic covers.

But we're kinda jumping into things here. I don't even really feel like we need to do a last times recap because the start of Byrne's run feels like its taken a time skip forward.

Tigra has rejoined the West Coast Avengers. Hank Pym has rejoined the West Coast Avengers. WASP HAS JOINED, as more than a guest star!

Despite the cover declaring OH NO VISION IS MISSING, the beginning is a slow burn, establishing the normal functioning of the West Coast Avengers.

Implying that this new status quo has lasted long enough to be comfortable.

The Byrne run is contentious, in part due to the very story arc starting here.

BUT I WILL BE FAIR!

So lets get into it.

Scarlet Wanda wakes up from an uneasy sleep to find that despite the early hour, her robo-husband Vision is not in bed with her.

He doesn't need to sleep but still spends his nights at her side (awww) but this morning one of her husbands is missing.

Wanda checks around the guest house that she and Vision have made their home in the West Coast Avengers Compound but no trace.

Also, while she's getting dressed the narration notes that she must practice ABSOLUTE CARE not to accidentally gesture indiscriminately and cause WACKY MAGIC SHIT to happen.

I didn't think she was still experiencing that kind of magical incontinence after her training with Agatha Harkness.

But that's one of the things I've heard about Byrne's run. He prefers a certain, classic portrayal of characters like Wanda and Vision and apparently not burning down houses by pointing the wrong way is a bridge too far.

As Wanda wanders across the compound grounds, she spots Hawkeye up early and training with some absolutely ridiculous equipment.

It's some industrial looking robot arm that flails him around so he can practice his aim even while being flailed around.

I don't know how often that comes up but an ounce of preparation.

Wanda accidentally steps on the one twig on the otherwise immaculately groomed grounds and startles Hawkeye into shooting an arrow right at her.

Wanda just probabilities the arrow to lose all its forward momentum and fall to the ground.

Hawkeye shuts down the flailing and asks why Wanda is up so early. She asks the same thing of him.

Hawkeye: "Er... yeah... Well, since me an' Bobbi have been on the outs there ain't been too many reasons for lying around all day."

Oof.

You can just imagine Clint laying in bed, unable to sleep. Just staring at the ceiling and feeling the emptiness next to him. And then going 'fuck it, I'm going to go shoot things with arrows until I can't feel feelings anymore.'

Having had to admit how empty his own life is, Hawkeye repeats the question to Wanda. She explains the thing where he took off? Maybe? Without letting her know or leaving a sign. Its all kinds of weird and foreboding.

Hawkeye goes well this is why we have "eleventy skillion dollars" worth of the best communications technology.

You seriously didn't try calling him first, Wanda? C'mon.

Hawkeye calls for Vision over the intercom but only gets Hank Pym, who is also working early, running a systems check on the computer system.

See, because, he had a "biostatic analysis running overnight" and the results were off.

Also, what the hell are you doing here, Hank Pym?

You quit to fix your first wife's enormous head.

Well, that's not a happy story. Because when is it ever for Hank Pym?

Big brain lady who claimed to be Maria Trovaya was actually MODAM, the lady version of MODOK. Because MODOK is clearly a gendered name. Her not giant brain name was apparently Olinka Barankova.

She took Hank captive and replaced him with an android imposter that Hawkeye unmasked. Hawkeye and Black Widow (and Mockingbird independently) help Hank Pym thwart AIM's schemes until AIM hit the self-destruct and ran away.

MODAM went on to other things but eventually got killed by Red Skull and put on display like a big-headed trophy. While, apparently, Hank went on to just sheepishly rejoin the team.

Anyway, this went down in the Solo Avengers issue that has the same cover date as this West Coast Avengers issue so I'm surprised there's not a "wondering what Hank Pym is doing here? Check out this month's Solo Avengers for the full story!"

Anyway. Back to the point. The communications system blows out with a squawk. As if the transponder on Hawkeye's side was blasted! Or maybe there's a duck in the wiring! So Hank runs outside to confirm that there is indeed shit going down.

Shit of the most Ultron-y type possible. The Ultron kind.

Really thought he'd be gone longer after Wonder Man ripped him in half.

I know Ultron always comes back but geez.

Meanwhile, inside Tigra's bunglow, she's asleep. Not everybody is awake at ungodly hours! Take a page from her book, the Avengers!

But only the sleeping in part. Not the weird fucking dream she has.

Tigra dreams of being a tiger with a perm, hunting blue alien space deer.

But when she pounces and tears out its throat, she wakes up only to a mouthful of feathers. Having lived the punchline "and when I woke up, my pillow was gone!"

Except, I can't figure out what Tigra is sitting on. Doesn't seem like a normal bed. Maybe its a large, feather pillow and she uses it like a cat bed? Maybe its a small feather mattress and she uses it like a cat bed? Maybe don't sleep on a cat bed and you won't have cat dreams, ya dork.

I canNOT believe that I had live through the drawn-out "oh no, Tigra's cat instincts are getting the better of her!!" plotline and now we're just doing it again.

We're doing Ultron again, we're doing Tigra having cat problems again. Some fresh start.

I do hope her cat problems don't manifest as uncontrollable hypersexuality again.

Tigra is considering that maybe she should tell her teammates that she's having vivid dreams about murdering animals but a loud BOOM draws her attention and she rushes outside.

Also rushing outside is the Wasp! Hi, Jan! You definitely left so I'm wondering if we'll get an explanation for why you decided to come back and join the team.

Also also, Tigra notices that Wasp is flying out of Hank Pym's bungalow, instead of the main house where Jan's room is.

She notices it and thinks hmmmm.

A lot of writers try to put Jan and Hank back together. And a lot of writers try to more definitively break them up.

Englehart was one of the latter. He had Jan yell "divorce means divorce" at Hank when he tried to hug her. He brought back Hank's first wife and basically annulled Hank's marriage to Jan.

But, remember, Maria turned out to be a big, evil science brain so the divorced marriage is unanulled and it seems like Byrne mgiht be one of the former type of writers who want to undo undoing the marriage.

Busiek was one too. One of the creative decisions I wasn't really onboard with for his run but he tried his damndest to sell the idea, including having Hank reconcile (again) all the disparate parts of himself.

Then the following writer Geoff Johns had Wasp shoot down the idea that she'd ever marry Hank again.

It comes and goes in waves.

Less so now that Hank is turbo-dead.

Anyway.

Tigra and Wasp rush toward the training area, where they heard a big boom. And Wonder Man is rushing to check it out too.

Wasp: "Simon! You can fly faster than me! Get up ahead and reconnoiter!" Wonder Man: "Just what I was going to do, Wasp!"

You don't need to get snippy, Simon.

He grouses to himself that Wasp got too used to being in charge and that she's still barking orders like she's Captain America.

I guess there's always gotta be some kind of tension in the team. And Wonder Man always gotta be fighting someone. And he's stopped being the Hawkeye to Hawkeye.

Wonder Man flies up and sees Ultron. And like me, is surprised because he didn't think he'd see him again so soon.

Ultron blasts Wonder Man with "some kind of magnetic field blast." Not usually a weapon Ultron has so maybe he upgraded.

Wonder Man just gets off the tree that he broke with his butt and launches back at Ultron.

Simon William's nearly indestructible fists strike the robot's sterling hide like the clappers of a great bell... The sound that reverberates across the California hills has the ominous tones of a death knell!

Hawkeye cheers on Wonder Man but Dr Pym warns him that Ultron could turn the tables.

COMPLETELY UNPROMPTED, Scarlet Witch has an intense expository flashback about Vision's ENTIRE BACKSTORY.

Important for setting up future stuff but fucks sake, Wanda, get your head in the game.

You should know the drill.

Dr Phineas Horton created the Human Torch, no not Johnny. A lifelike robot that accidentally burst into flames whenever exposed to oxygen.

Jim Hammond Human Torch became a hero, the first Marvel hero. The company wasn't called Marvel but he was in Marvel Comics #1 so there.

Since Stan Lee rebooted Human Torch as a teenage human for Fantastic Four, there needed to be some explanation for why the robot guy wasn't around anymore.

And the answer is that his flame burned out of control and he exploded and collapsed in the desert.

Where he was found and rebuilt by the Mad Thinker who used him to fight the human Human Torch. Until robot Human Torch learned that the Mad Thinker was Evil, Actually, and turned against him.

And the Mad Thinker's failsafe made robot Human Torch explode again.

The Fantastic Four just left him in the Mad Thinker's abandoned base because Reed is an asshole and doesn't believe robots deserve due to the dead.

Where Ultron found him.

Anyway. Back in the here and now, Wanda remembers that she's actually in a life or death fight and that everyone else has been participating while she's been gazing off into the middle distance.

Again: fucks sake, Wanda. You're one of the win buttons against Ultron! Get your head in the game!

But Hank notices that Wonder Man's punches have been denting Ultron. Which should be impossible if Ultron is made of adamantium, as he usually is.

Figuring never asking forgiveness is easier than asking permission, Hank shrinks Wonder Man tiny size and insists he flies down Ultron's throat.

Wonder Man says, uh, no, I don't want to unshrink inside an indestructible chassis, that sounds like a horrible way to spend my time.

But Hank insists so Wonder Man does it but complains the whole time.

The Journey To The Center of Ultron is weird. The usual atomic flame that burns in Ultron's mouth (yes, that's apparently what his mouth glow is) is just an illusion.

Also, when the shrink wears off Wonder Man OH YEAHS right through Ultron instead of that not happening.

Hank explains that when he noticed that Wonder Man was actually denting Ultron, he realized it couldn't be the real deal.

But the (West Coast) Avengers were kept so busy fighting Ultron that they didn't notice the discrepancies.

Until Hank did. And instead of explaining it, he decided to demonstrate it in the most dramatic and visually interesting fashion possible.

Hank, you weirdo.

Scarlet Witch wonders why someone would send a fake Ultron and Hank realizes it was probably a distraction.

Taking charge, he yells "AVENGERS DISASSEMBLE!" which is a big oof with cursed future knowledge. But what he means is everyone split up and search for clues.

If someone was distracting the (West Coast) Avengers from something, its likely to be something around the compound.

Instead of actually helping search, Scarlet Wanda wanders off to the cliffs to moodily stare off at the ocean and CONTINUE TO FLASHBACK.

FUCKS SAKE, WANDA!

Anyway.

Blah blah blah, Ultron found robot Human Torch's body.

He wanted to rebuild it into a cool minion but Ultron apparently sucks at robots. Ironic, since Hank Pym shoulda sucked at robots and somehow built the worst one and Ultron has Hank's brain.

Anyway, Ultron kidnapped the robot Human Torch's creator Dr. Horton and forced him to rebuild the Human Torch into Vision. Making his skin red as a private joke about the flame powers he once had.

Didn't think Ultron's sense of humor ran that subtle, honestly.

After the rebuilding was done, Ultron had to erase the Human Torch's personality because he kept trying to fight Ultron. So Ultron used some Simon Williams brain tapes that he swiped from Hank Pym's lab. And with that as a base, Vision lived!

Ultron sent him to attack the Avengers where he pretty promptly defected and switched sides. And the Avengers accepted him because the Avengers are cool like that sometimes.

And it was on the Avengers that Scarlet Witch met Vision and they fell in love and got married and then Vision dry humped two babies into her, magically.

THAT SURE WAS VISION'S ENTIRE BACKSTORY, WANDA. VERY HELPFUL.

Meanwhile, the other Avengers were actually searching.

Hank Pym contacts her on some kind of video phone that stalks her to the cliffs and tells her that they found something but they really need to discuss it face to face.

And when Wanda joins everyone who was actually doing work, Hank Pym explains that Vision is "gone."

Because A) he's nowhere in the compound. They still don't know where he physically is except 'not around.'

But things have gotten a bit weirder and more sinister.

B) Hank finished that computer scan he was doing and found a sophisticated computer virus. One that found and erased every trace of Vision from the Avengers' files. All the information they had on him, every report he's ever entered, everything.

And the virus infected the East Coast Avengers' computers as well. And SHIELD (not actually around currently, so slight continuity hiccup) and the Pentagon and the Fantastic Four.

Every system the virus infected has lost all trace of Vision.

Its like he never existed. Except for all the memories everybody has of him. And also any physical record like print-outs or photographs. But digitally its like he never existed!

Hank Pym: "For this to have happened means somebody got in through our defensive network. Somebody got past all our alarms, all our codes... Everything!" Wasp: "And to do that... They'd have to be one of us!!" Hawkeye: "One of the Avengers has turned traitor! But... WHO??" Mockingbird: "Is that really so hard to guess, Hawk?"

MOCKINGBIRD

WHAT

DID

YOU

DO?

Follow @essential-avengers and be very angry with me about things that are about to happen. Like, reblog, and comment maybe. I don't know about mockingbirds but my cat definitely tried to stop me from finishing this post.