#in both cases i replaced female with male obviously but

[cangrellesteponme]

i don't think wonderland is ready for those alices

[quartzdawn]

Went on google search, typed in 'Ugigiugi' just to analysis her tracing again, and accidental found her ancient Egyptian Mythos art. Apparently either Ugigugi or someone else relogged them on Pinterest and because of that they are now forever frozen there as a memory of a person who is no longer on the internet (and thank god for that).

I was happy to actually find these because I genuinely need to see what these looked like, as when looking at the tracing PDF file that @/Twistedpometea made and seeing a few select of the Egyptian mythos art there, I noticed that if you go to her Deviantart (the only social media she has left) the Ancient Egyptian stuff was the only thing that was completely 100% deleted. you can't find any of the art for it other than on google.

Moving on to an actual topic, while looking at this art wise, not only can you tell that a mass majority of this art is traces of Leona from Twisted wonderland, but the designs are straight up nearly stolen from the Webtoon Ennead (Another place she also traced from in a few of her works). Her Seth is literally a hybrid of the Ennead Seth and Leona from TWST mixed together to make some hybrid child.

I'm assuming she decided to make this "beautiful' decision so that she can easily trace fanart of both Leona and Seth instead of actually have to draw anything at all from scratch.

Anyway, thought this was interesting because my closing suspicion of her possible being homophobic keeps growing because this is apart of the several pieces of work were she replaced a male character in a MalexMale relationship (whether its fanart or official original art) with her female self insert to serve a heterosexual perspective. This time being a more sever case.

If no ones ever read 'Ennead' it is strictly considered a boy love story. Seth (god of war in Egyptian mythos) is seen having several romantic and sexual relationship with men. Specifically the god Horus. Its-- the story is a lot, but the main point is that this series doesn't have many hetro elements to it.

In Ugigugi's version she keeps Seth, gives him Leona's personality (kind of), and then replaces Horus with her Self insert Julia. The stories are nearly the same from what I can gather and all she did was erase the more graphic and horrid parts of the story to create a more fluffy 'gentle' perspective of the relationship. Almost in a way to spite the Ennead version of the story which has a much darker storyline to it.

Funniest part of this all? She's drawn Ennead fanart before so I genuinely do not get why she thought she was going to get away with this.

(LMAO love how in these pieces to not make it clear that she took heavy, and I mean HEAVY inspiration, from Ennead she just changed the art style. Just because the designs [which were probably also taken from other sources] are different doesn't mean that the tracing of the characters aren't obvious)

Now the only thing I want to know is why she mass deleted all of the Egyptian artwork she did and not the obviously traced Twisted Wonderland work that's still on her DeviantArt. is the author of Ennead more threatening with copyright striking? Was the universe she created actually co owned with another user and the other didn't want to participate anymore after realizing she was a tracer? Was she accused of something like racism ? Its odd for sure. if anyone knows comment or reblog because I think its really strange.

(also in the process of making this I found more of her ancient Egyptian mythology art so will make another post. Apparently its being sold on those weird scam sites that sell things for expensive prices. Apparent they think many of this work is worth 24USD. )

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Some JJK1 leak is going around and he's singing about a girl in that..jikookers and their delusions gonna end when his album comes out and it being a ode to woman he loves or wishes to have lmao. We've been saying all this while he's straight af but yall don't believe it. Now it's time for him to prove once and for all

***

I wonder if people who say things like this have any idea how not just queerphobic this is, but also how ignorant and just plain silly it is. Like, Anon, it's hard for me to believe you've had an education. Forget about JK and jikookers for a second, and replace JK with literally any other person. Your mom, for example. If your mom was a singer and she made a song "as an ode to a woman", which of these options would that eliminate:

Your mom being straight

Your mom being gay/lesbian

Your mom being bisexual/pansexual/queer

Think about it for a sec. Here's a random JK for no reason while we wait.

*

So, what's the answer?

The answer is none.

Your mom in this example is a singer, and singers make songs with all sorts of pronouns both gender-specific and gender-neutral, all the time, depending on individual preferences, song/tonal flow, the presence of a female/male/nb featuring artist on the song, narrative cohesion within the album or some other concept. Even if the genders were switched and now instead of your mom, we assume it's your dad (as JK is a guy), who made a song as an "ode to a woman", and if we assumed this song was indeed referring to a love interest, this wouldn't mean your dad is straight. Obviously. There's a whole spectrum of sexuality that exists, and your dad could still fancy himself a nice big tallywacker even if he's written a song about a girl from his past.

And this is aside the nuances to this specific leak that make your ask even more ridiculous. I mean, suddenly we're just expected to forget that JK lives in an extremely homophobic country where the consequences to an unabashed coming out would irreversibly change his life and that of his family. Your ask also curiously ignores the fact that in the same leak you're citing, JK is also heard to use male pronouns, so how you managed to make the leap to this being an "ode to a woman", is completely beyond me.

Overall, you seem silly and desperate to disprove jikook in the best case, and uneducated or ignorant in the worst case. Neither of which is good. It's also dispiriting that the first thought that crosses your mind after hearing a snippet of Jungkook's highly anticipated music, is how you can use it in your one-sided beef with... who again? Jokers or jikook? Remind me.

You know what? Actually, don't.

Please don't send me asks like this. Lately, I spend more time on Tumblr deleting asks that are too stupid to be written by even ChatGPT, than staring at hot pics of the tannies, or engaging in fun conversation about the boys and their music. And it shouldn't be this way. You're clogging up my inbox and decreasing my chances of seeing other people who do mean well and who know how to think.

[hclluvahctel]

My muses with... PECULIAR anatomy (aka non-conforming to their biological sex and/or fantastical anatomy aka knots etc):

Alessio: 2 dicks Asmodeus: Can change his genitalia to whatever he wishes. Usually chooses not to change other than size for his partner's comfort/desires Chaz: 2 dicks Husk: He's trans, no bottom surgery. Alastor DID offer but he refused because obviously Josh: Can change his anatomy Lance: Knot Maggie: Cloaca (for rp purposes, this will essentially be a vagina) Miles: Trans Male, has had both top and bottom surgery. Chose to go with metoidioplasty and still has a vagina, as well as a penis Rizz: As a robot he can literally change and replace his parts. Usually to whatever his client wants Stella: Cloaca (for rp purposes, this will essentially be a vagina) Stolas: Cloaca (for rp purposes, this will essentially be a vagina) He's able to conjure a penis if he desires. Striker: 2 dicks Vassago: Cloaca (for rp purposes, this will essentially be a vagina) He's able to conjure a penis if he desires. Verosika: Can change her anatomy Vortex: Knot Vox: Has multiple bodies with different sorts of anatomies.

;; I have tried to do some research for cases such as Miles in particular. As a CIS female I am aware that I am not extremely experienced with this. If any of this is incorrect or misinformed please let me know! I'd love to learn the proper ways and ensure I do not spread dangerous misinformation.

[hrodvitnon]

Ozymandias, The King of Kings Headcanons (plus a Shamhat idea)

(Ok, last Ozzy-related post from me for a while- what with a new GxK trailer on the horizon and a FF7 Rebirth demo to eat up all my time (ive played it like 6 times… pure brainrot), I figure it’s probably time to move to colder pastures and even colder kaiju… Anyways- big headcanon Ozymandias post because he could always use more love)

General

Ozymandias is the oldest and largest of his clutch of eggs. Despite this- he didn’t really have much of a connection to his other brothers and sisters quite like his connection to his youngest brother.

Ozzy grew up in the shadow of Dagon- which had pros and cons.

Pros: No one would dare fuck with him or his brothers.

Cons: No one would dare even come near him or his brothers. Also Dagon- was not a very attentive father; he kinda just didn’t really care and better things to do. His mother was marginally better.

Ozzy and Goji’s mother showed a strong parental bias to the older and larger females of their clutch. Obviously, Goji would have to bear the brunt of this, being the smallest male, but Ozzy definitely didn’t get nearly as much attention as his sisters.

Fortunately, Ozzy didn’t grow up alone. When he was about 4 years old, he met a little orphaned Titan of snow-white scales and light blue eyes named Shimo.

(I know there was an older ask about Xenilla replacing Shimo in Abraxas- but I think it would be cool to have a very old and ancient Titan like Shimo that may have even been very close with Ozzy in the past, way before he met anyone like Tiamat or Mothra.)

(Also to quickly mention it because I’ve already described Shimo as female in a past ask- I’m calling her female here just because every leak is pointing towards that being the case. If they turn out to be male, I will happily eat my words (but only after I fantasize about what his dick looks like, of course). But even if she does turn out male, I will still stand by everything I have written here (even, and especially, the mate ones. Gay monsters are cool, dammit).)

Ozzy and Shimo were each other’s playmates and companions for their respective youths. Even Dagon grew to see his son playing with Shimo once or twice. Goji knew her as well- mostly from whenever Ozzy asked her to help him restrain his brother. She even froze him once or twice on Ozzy’s command.

Ozzy was Tiamat’s first mate; but I headcanon that Shimo was actually Ozzy’s first. Shimo was not nearly as much of a sex-freak that Tia was, but she was still able to keep pace with Ozzy and his nutso libido.

Not only were they best friends and mates in the later part of their relationship; they were steadfast comrades who’s very names were feared by the Gojirans’ enemies.

Ozymandias and Shimo were utterly unstoppable in every battle they fought by each other’s side. They would defeat legions of apes, devastate the MUTO population, and establish Gojiran dominance in both the Hollow Earth and the Surface.

They were so powerful together that Gigan had to wait centuries to put his plan of abducting Ozymandias into motion- as if he attacked while Shimo was still around, he was sure he’d be killed.

They were steadfast comrades, a mated pair, and best friends since they were hatchlings; so when Shimo vanished one day- Ozymandias had no real answer as to why. He has asked her to investigate a Hollow Earth portal- and she never returned. He scoured every inch of the Hollow Earth for her- and yet could find nothing. Of course- she was attacked, chained, and made into a war-mount by Skar- but Ozymandias would never know that or even see her again until he returned to Earth 2 million years later as Xenilla (or in an alternate scenario I’ll discuss later). In some timelines- he may have even died as Xenilla before ever getting to properly see her again…

Although Ozzy had Shimo and his brother for company… He was still pretty lonely. Being Dagon’s son forced him to inherit much of his father’s reputation of being a grumpy old asshole who picked fights for the fun of it. Not to mention, having a younger brother who did exactly that only worsened this problem. Ozzy was, however, nothing like his father in that respect.

Ozzy didn’t like fighting very much. Despite being 500 feet tall, having an extremely destructive purple atomic breath, and being the strongest of his clutch- he preferred diplomacy in any situation he could employ it. Unfortunately- the war with the Kongs was too far along for that to be possible, and there was no negotiating with the MUTOs. He preferred to talk, was very social and cordial, and had a very kind heart. He actually had more in common with Mothra than Goji (perhaps that’s one of the reasons that Goji eventually fell for Mothra).

He was, however, starved for company. Everyone knew him as the brilliant and untouchable champion of the lizards, and that he was capable of insane feats of strength and violence. Anytime anyone would see him, they would either turn tail and get the fuck out of dodge or be very frightened of him. He didn’t blame them for thinking like this, but he really hated his reputation- and somewhat resented his family for contributing to it.

Tiamat met him when she heard rumors of an god-like ‘King of Kings’ from her kin and other Titans. Curiosity spiked in her lust-addled young adult mind, and she sought him out. It was one of the only times someone had come up to Ozzy of their own accord- and he was rather shocked when the serpent rolled up and essentially said “wanna fuck the daylights out of me?”

Their relationship started as a physical one, but quickly grew emotional when Ozzy started to spend more time with her. Meeting and mating with Tiamat was exactly what Ozzy needed to shave off that reputation he hated so much.

Quick sidebit to talk about his title. He was named 'King of Kings’ by his kin, as the first King in a millennia to actually make progress in the war with the Kongs. The Kongs refused to use this title to refer to him, as it carried the assumption that he was King of anything- and to consider a lizard in a kingly manner was heresy to the Kongs. They dubbed him another name: Ultima.

The longer he stayed with Tiamat, the more his reputation came apart. Tiamat introduced him to her friends, which he became friends with in turn, and word of mouth began to spread that Ozzy really wasn’t that bad. He finally started getting around more, spending much of this part of his life traveling the globe and meeting as many of his Titan subjects as possible.

As many asks have established- he and Tia fucked. A lot. So damn much that it became a joke among their friends, and eventually their subjects, to call their cave system 'The Heat’. When he and Tia ran out of things to try in the bedroom with each other (in record fucking time, may I add?), they just started inviting others in to join them.

The logical conclusion of this was them hosting an event every year in the Spring where they opened up their cave for any heat-afflicted females or rut-sick males to have their respective problems solved. If there was one problem that Ozzy was not going to let his subjects deal with, it was a lack of intimacy or loneliness. He knew how that felt, and he didn’t want anyone else to deal with it on his watch.

As many who knew him would say- he had a way of making you feel like the most important person in the world. And unlike many other charismatic figures, he was actually genuine about it. He helped Tiamat see that a true intimate relationship was someone was more than sex, introduced Mothra to his younger brother, and generally was a very well loved king.

But all reigns need to end somewhere, and his would end so abruptly that it shocked the entire planet when word got around. He vanished one day. Tiamat simply heard a distressed roar echo across the waves- and when she rushed to her mate’s defense, he was gone. No bones, no remains, nothing. Panicked- she went straight to Mothra and Goji about this. Even then- Mothra could never find him. He was simply gone.

Of course, they wouldn’t discover the truth until millions of years later. Gigan lured him to an isolated island with the mimicked calls of a distressed kaiju. He rushed over to help, only to be jumped by at least 20 Infested Kaiju with highly potent tranquilizer weapons. He was knocked out, handed over to Gigan, and infested with the Cordyceps.

The fungus didn’t have total control, not at first. But it did have his mind, which it started to beat into submission with its indoctrination methods. It took the better half of twenty years for it to fully seize control of Ozzy’s body. Even then, Ozzy maintained a grip on his soul within the mind. He was still himself, and unlike millions of others, that was the one thing Xenilla could never take from him.

But it didn’t make things easy for Ozzy to hold onto his sense of self, not by a long shot. It actually probably made things worse for him- to remember who he was and what had been stolen from him. This was between the horrific bouts of torture, physical and mental, that Xenilla would utilize on him.

Xenilla loved killing, and it especially liked Ozzy’s reactions when he would use his body to torment, toy with, and kill his victims. Children especially would hurt Ozzy in such a deep way when Xenilla split their skulls open and let the parasites crawl into their brain-matter.

As soon as Xenilla discovered that Ozzy’s body could experience rut, it immediately became his favorite method of torment to use on him. Using drugs crafted by Gigan to artificially extend his periods of rut to be year-round made Ozzy desperately beg for any sort of relief, lest he go nuts from his screaming instincts.

Another one of Xenilla’s favorite methods of torture: sometimes Ozzy would drift off into sleep and begin to dream of home, of what he left behind. Any time this would happen- Xenilla would jolt him awake with a cold sensation against his spine once he had gotten about a minute into the dream. He would do this any time to break his concentration whenever he even began to think about Earth. Soon, he naturally forgot his brother and mates’ faces…

One day, the begging, choked sobs, the anger- it all vanished. Xenilla suspects that he simply pushed Ozzy too far and he just dissociated- because he stopped sensing a presence. He was still there, just, asleep. No matter what Xenilla did, he could not wake him up. It angered Xenilla to no end. Playing with Ozzy like this was one of his favorite things in life. It angered and actually depressed him so much that even his conquests became boring.

That was, until, 1 million years later… when he stumbles upon a tiny backwater world mostly made of water… Xenilla descends from the heavens, roars in challenge to the worlds’ greatest warriors, and up rolls Godzilla. It was his roar, the response to Xenilla’s challenge, that stirred Ozzy for the first time in a million years. As soon as he realized what was happening, where Xenilla was, and who was standing before him… He felt the most fear he had ever felt in his entire life. His awakening stirred Xenilla, too- and the feeling of having Ozzy screaming at him and pleading with every fiber of his being not to hurt Goji did something to him- it was the best feeling he had ever felt.

Of course- after a display like that- Xenilla was in no way going to leave Earth in peace, no… He was going to draw this out as much as possible- toy with Godzilla and the other Titans for as long as he could until they were as broken as Ozzy. He knew that this would likely be his last ride with Ozzy, his last chance to inflict torture upon him before he shuts down completely. He wanted to savor every last second of it. He could’ve destroyed Earth and the Titans in a heartbeat, but decided that Ozzy’s pain was more important to him than any divine instructions from the Hivemind or Gigan.

However, this was the only real mistake that Xenilla would make. Whether the Titans destroy him completely, killing Ozzy in the process, or actually manage to save Ozymandias- it was Xenilla’s inability to put aside his hunger for suffering that led to his death.

Abraxas - King of Kings Ending

(considering he traditionally dies in Genocide and Coexistence (at least the more widely accepted versions of them) I’m referring to the ending in which he survives as 'King of Kings’. This is just for simplicity’s sake, it doesn’t really need to be a third route, I’m just doing this for this post so I don’t have to deal with a bunch of confusing vocabulary. King of Kings is the ending to Xenilla’s story where Ozymandias is saved, that’s what I’m defining this section as: The Post-Xenilla Ozzy.)

The process to remove the parasite is an extremely complex series of surgeries done after Godzilla and crew beats Xenilla in combat- knocking him out and shipping him off to Apex to be sedated and the fungus painstakingly purged from his body.

He isn’t allowed to wake up for 2 months and 3 weeks. When he finally does, the first thing he sees are the magenta eyes of his brother leaning over his giant surgery table under Apex’s Hong Kong facility.

The day of his awakening is… emotional, to say the very least. Every Titan allowed to see him cries- a lot. Even the ones that didn’t really know him super well. The only one of Goji’s close allies that is not allowed to see him is Kong, for fear that Ozzy might react poorly to the presence of an ape.

In the order of which they were allowed to see Ozzy:

Godzilla is a fucking mess from the moment his brother opens his eyes to a literal week after, despite describing that week as 'the brightest time of my life’.

Shimo, while typically a calm and serious kaiju, couldn’t hold back her well of half-frozen tears from seeing her best friend again- refusing to stop apologizing for being taken by Skar even after being assured that it was never her fault and that no one could seriously blame her for it.

For what seems like the first time in her life, Tiamat is content simply to be with another person- no explicit activities involved. Simply being allowed to wrap lovingly around Ozzy and rest her head on his chest was enough.

Vivienne walked into his surgery room feeling- conflicted. Shockingly, none of it was about Ozzy. It was about Gigan, and about her final fight with him, what she saw onboard the Mothership. Getting to see all that, see Ghidorah’s legacy, see such stark reminders of the monster that ripped her life from her- it opened old wounds she thought were healed. She wanted to tell someone about it, speak to Mothra or maybe even Goji about it- but she would feel selfish doing that, making everything about her when they needed to focus on bringing Ozzy back. When she walked into the surgery room, saw Shimo, Godzilla, and Tiamat all with tears in their eyes and surrounding the titanic creature, when Goji introduced Abraxas as one of his best friends through stutters and choking sobs, when Ozymandias looked towards her and introduced himself with such a happy and joyful disposition despite what he had just been through- even memories of Ghidorah faded away for that moment. She’d talk to Mothra later, right now was the time to be happy.

Of course, the first thing Mothra had to do was comfort her King as he had been non-stop tearing up for about 30 minutes at this point. After he is somewhat stabilized from his rampant joyous sobbing and laughter, she climbs up on Ozzy’s bed, and just looks into his eyes, observing the beating life in them. To see them devoid of all color and whitened when he was possessed was the most terrifying thing about Xenilla to her, and it was something she had not been able to unsee in the months of their conflict with him. Now, she just tries her best to take in his rampant smile and lively purple eyes to replace Xenilla’s lifeless ones.

Dagon and Barb enter next. Ozzy’s confused at first as to who the machine is when Goji calls him Dagon. After a brief explanation, Dagon states how he’s happy to see Ozzy again and that if he could cry at that moment, he would. Ozzy gets up, walks over to him, and touches his arm;

“Can you feel this?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

Then Ozzy just full-body hugs him- despite how cold the metal is.

“I missed you, dad.”

Barb, Rodan, Behemoth, and all the other Titans and that wanted to meet him introduce themselves. When they all first walk in, Ozzy’s overwhelmed at first.

“These people- they’re all here for me?”

“They all helped save you, so yeah- they want to see if you’re doing ok, and also meet the famous 'King of Kings while they’re at it.”

Of course, Ozzy’s floored that all these Titans showed for him. Through quick handshakes, he promises each one that he’ll seek them out later to introduce himself properly.

Then, they allow all the humans to meet him. They let all of the Monarch and Apex staff that helped to save him say hi. Ozzy’s mind is actually malfunctioning at this point due to so many people actually wanting to talk with and meet him.

“These are just the ones that helped! These aren’t even the civilians that can’t wait to see the King of Kings in all his glory.” Rodan tells him.

“There are more of them?!?! How many more wish to meet me??”

“Jeez- uh, rough estimate? Most of the world.” Abraxas chimes in.

“They’re- not scared of me?”

“Maybe once, but humans fear that which they can’t understand. Now? The Titans have saved us all hundreds of times. You’re all Gods to us, Guardians, defenders. Now? People look to towering monsters with hope. Now? They’ll love you.” Maia tells him.

It’s enough to get the tear ducts welling up again.

When Goji finally takes him to meet Kong a little later, the first thing he has to say to the ape is an apology. He apologizes for what happened to the remaining apes, their banishment, and Kong’s orphaning. He says that it’s something he’d never have let happen if he was still around, and how he hopes that Kong could forgive him for his hand in destroying his people. It’s- honestly overwhelming to Kong that any kaiju would offer sympathy for the results of the war. Even the one he’d expect that from most, Mothra, never offered words like that. Suffice to say, Ozzy immediately goes on Kong’s list of 'people I actively respect’.

When Ozzy finally leaves the depths of Apex’s facility fully recovered, he actually recoils at the warmth of the sun and breeze of the wind. He stops moving for a second and Goji turns to find him stuck and looking up at the sun.

“Brother? Are you alright?”

“Yes. Please, go ahead. I’m- going to be here for a while.”

Goji leaves him for a second as Ozzy closes his eyes, breathes in, and exhales the fresh air. He returns to his brother later with fresh tears in his eyes.

“I had forgotten- how warm the Sun was…”

Shamhat

(ok- this parts gonna be a little out there, I know. It’s an extremely unlikely thing to happen and I’m not expecting it to- this is just kind of a What If that may even spark some additional ideas on how to introduce additional kaiju into Shamhat. I don’t think this contradicts anything said in Shamhat, I can’t remember Ozzy ever being mentioned in that story. This is kind of a workaround to introduce him into that timeline without having to have a war against Xenilla- although it does totally cut out that part of his character… Again, you can totally disregard this section; there’s probably lots of ways to bring Ozzy into that story that aren’t this one, this one just conveniently includes another kaiju who could also be a problematic addition to include; and also deals with some undefined lore parts of that timeline that I’ve actually been curious about whilst reading. Additionally, there are a few other headcanons here that just involve what Ozzy would do if he were in Shamhat.)

First off: the namesake of the story. We know that Mothra and Godzilla inspired the legend of Enkidu and Shamhat with their week-long time at an oasis, but there is still a major part of that myth this is undefined in this timeline- Gilgamesh. Who inspired that part of the Epic? Well, I actually think that Ozymandias is probably the best candidate here. But for him to actually establish a city and rule it like he would have Uruk, he needs to not be abducted back when humans were still evolving into Homo Sapiens (at least that’s when I picture him being abducted). So- he just doesn’t. Whether Gigan fails to kidnap him or he just never finds Earth at all, a very major change in the Shamhat timeline is that Ozzy stays on Earth and is never actually abducted. But- that doesn’t mean he can’t still vanish… and he still does, albeit for only around 2000 years this time, until the modern day. Why? Because he caught the whiff of a scent he hadn’t smelled for millions of years; Shimo. As soon as he catches the lightest whiff of his best friend from a nearby Hollow Earth Portal… he’s gone. Instantly, he rushes into the Hollow Earth with reckless abandon, portal shutting behind him, and vanishes from the surface world. Despite having his brother and mate on the surface, he knows he needs to do this- and he hopes they will understand if he doesn’t show his face for a little while. However, what he finds in the Hollow Earth is something he realizes he’ll need a little longer than 'a little while’ to handle- a fully rebuilt Kong Empire, right under his nose, and one with a scarred king at the helm, and Shimo as his personal pet. At this realization- the fury of Ozymandias knows no bounds- and he swears an oath, right there, that he is not to return home unless it is with Shimo by his side and the apes consigned to his nuclear flames. A little while turns into 2000 years of a one-man war with the Skar King- one that Ozymandias wins. Breaking Shimo’s chains, reunited for the first time in 2 million years, the two return to a fully changed surface world.

The two emerge from a Hollow Earth Portal on Skull Island, shrink down, and pretty quickly encounter a human-shifted Kong along with Andrews and Jia. Suffice to say, everyone is freaked out for their own reasons. Andrews (to her infinite credit) manages to defuse a potentially very violent encounter between the kaiju, and gets Ozzy to talk about who he is and where he’s come from. At this point- Godzilla’s sensed the insanely potent scent that Ozymandias exudes, and rushes to find Tiamat so they can investigate. Thus, the Infant Island gang takes a brief field trip to Skull Island. By this point, Ozzy’s gotten to talk to Kong a little and is relieved that there’s an ape around that doesn’t want his head on a mantle. He’s happy to introduce himself and Shimo to the Monarch folk and tries to establish a diplomatic relationship with both Kong and Monarch (through ahem whatever means he deems appropriate…). Goji and crew arrive later, absolutely over the moon to find Ozzy alive- but simultaneously a little ticked off that he up and vanished one random day without telling anyone. After a brief explanation and an introduction of Shimo (who’s introduction and explanation make Tiamat more than a little jealous…), Ozzy reassures everyone that he doesn’t intend to vanish off the face of the Earth again any time soon.

As soon as he catches wind of the Great Infant Island Mating Press- he wants in. He needs a vacation after all that shit went down in the Hollow Earth for 2000 years. Shimo probably needs one more, having not fucked anything in 2 million years. Ozzy’s so into the idea, in fact, he invites Kong and Andrews and basically insists that they join them. They end up convinced, and return to Infant just in time for Mothra’s heat to rear it’s pheromone-laced head again.

Ozzy immediately gets nostalgic for his and Tiamat’s 'Housewarming Events’ they used to hold. This is a policy he fully intends to revisit now that he’s home. Randomly in the middle of the Season, he’ll vanish for like 3 days and come back with another Titan to join them. He’ll literally do tours of the planet on like a weekly basis, running around with his rut blazing and acting like a sex ice cream truck- into the territories of other Titans yelling “COME GET YOUR HOLES FILLED AT INFANT ISLAND!! :D” Recognizing the old King of King’s scent- everyone immediately knows what’s on and the venue changes from Tiamat’s sex cave into Mothra’s sex island. There’s at least 20 new Titans in like 3 weeks…

Despite all the new guests- Ozzy is still fucking insatiable. 2000 years of no sex really did something to him. Nobody can outpace him- even Tiamat gets left in the dust. Once, Goji goes out for an 8 hour patrol, and returns to find his brother on the couch of the main building, left arm around Rodan, right arm around Tiamat, Vivienne passed out on his lap, Mothra and her priestess out cold on the carpet, San slouched up against the couch with Maia in his grip, Shimo catnapping on the dining table, Kong out cold against the sliding glass door with Andrews in his grasp, and the Skullcrawlers all passed out in various dubious positions.

“Oh, hello brother! How was your patrol?”

“What the- HOW?!”

“How… am I doing? I’m great, how are you?”

(wowsers that post got big. I guess I just had a lot of stuff about this guy to get off my chest, sorry for blasting this novel into your inbox, lol. Here’s to the big horndog King of Kings, right? Feel free to drop your own hcs you haven’t mentioned before if you want. Also I wrote this in an external program and tumblr may have fucked over my formatting soooo- that’s probably not completely my fault if it’s bad.)

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Good lord that’s a lot of Ozzy!

I like the inclusion of Shimo (huh, what few leaks I’ve seen says male, though I personally prefer Shimo female because the monster roster is all sausage) and that she was mates with Ozzy before Tiamat. Makes sense that Ozzy being so lonesome by reputation would translate to an insane sex drive, physical affection must be like a drug to him.

[littlesparklight]

A little context...

As I was interested in the idea of the Trojans worshipping Hellenic gods such as Luwians and Hittites, I began to investigate which deities were likely to be worshipped.

Then I remembered Eos.

I thought I would be adored for two things; why she could easily be related to a popular sun goddess among the Hittite pantheon, and why her relationship with Tono (which he compares to that of Zeus and Ganymede)

Then I remembered the myth of the cicada and the explanation of why in the summer it dawned earlier, and I began to doubt that taking into account that his cult would be so well received.

So my question is... Do you think that the cult of Eos (or his figure in general) is well seen in Troy? (Of course, before the arrival of Memnon)

If I understand this correctly, let me break my answer up in two to reply.

(1) I know that the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite implies/states that Tithonos would somehow be old enough by Aeneas' conception to have already been abandoned by Eos in his bed/been transformed.

This doesn't make sense (as much as any isolated part of the Greek myth timeline can make sense); Tithonos can be Priam's older brother, but in that case Tithonos would probably at most be twenty years older. He could also easily be only a few years older than Priam. Or younger! I know it's usual to imagine Priam as a (very small, sometimes) child at Herakles' attack, but that isn't actually necessary. All you need is that Tithonos himself is old enough at least 2-3 years before Herakles' attack on Troy to be taken by Eos (that is, somewhere within the ~15-22? year old range). And if Priam is around 80~ at the sack of Troy, then Tithonos is old but still within "normal human lifespan old" at that point (and would be even younger at Aeneas' conception) even if you imagine him around twenty years Priam's elder. He would either way certainly not so old that he wouldn't be able to move or do anything. Especially, I think, if he's been feeding on ambrosia and nectar for his whole life.

Basically, I suppose you could have Tithonos old enough Eos might have left him alone already by the point of the war. But it's not at all necessary that he be that old! Especially if we take the Iliad's convention of noting Eos rising from her couch from beside Tithonos. Sure, this doesn't necessarily need to be literal, but there's no reason it can't be so, either.

Which means the Trojans wouldn't be aware of the botched immortality or any transformation into a cicada, because that is yet in the future.

They could absolutely be worshipping her, then, just like they do Zeus! It'd probably be reasonable that they might, in fact.

(2) Obviously you can definitely decide to syncretise Eos with or replace a Hittite/Luwian sun goddess with her, but this isn't actually necessary for the Trojans to worship her. The Hittites liked to collect gods. So, so many gods - they didn't really syncretize. And they kept especially storm gods separate, so it'd be "storm god of place-such-and-so" into infinity. Eos could definitely be worshipped as "Sun goddess of Troy" or something, and it'd be an eminently Hittite way for them to deal with it lol

(As an aside; the Hittites had both male and female sun gods; The Sun Goddess of Arinna was worshipped alongside the Sun God of Heaven (and the chthonic Sun Goddess of the Earth). Tiwaz was the Luwian sun god - and would be cognate with Zeus.)

[simaiela]

The BFFs by simaiela

[ BFFs MAKEOVER PART 1 ]

I decided to take on a little makeover slash revamping project and I thought the BFFs would be the perfect first try. It's also my first attempt at doing these lookbook thingies. Obviously the lookbooks are meant to showoff the custom content other simmers make, but in my case, I tend to mix and match items in-game with custom content. So, these are my lookbooks for the trio!

I like color-coding my sims so I just took whichever defining color they had in their default design.

Travis Scott is our red boi. He looks kinda like tom holland, if I'm being honest but that's because of the eyes. the eyes are custom content so he looks real good. I didn't spend a lot of time on him. I, surprisingly, find it easier to speed through dressing up male sims because of how minimalistic men's fashion are and it's not necessarily a bad thing. Because of how categorical men's fashion is, it's also easy to know what to look for when dressing them up. Travis should give off basic white boi vibe, and that's okay!

Liberty Lee gets purple and yellow, mostly purple, tho, which I think is a really mystical color palette and suits how out of the three of them, she probably has the most defining trait. Travis and Summer are pretty straight to the point, and one could argue Liberty is as well, but I kinda revamped her as well and I played her as this Luna Lovegood type of character who surprises you with her hidden depths.

Summer Holiday is your typical cheerleader, popular girl trope but I gave it my own twist and instead of being this Regina George character, I wanted her to be someone who, yes, is a cheerleader and popular, but she's really just friendly and comes from old money, hence the more toned down, but still fancy looks.

I also headcanon that she gets along well with Liberty despite what the game wants for them and even gives Liberty some fashion advice, and Liberty has also grown comfortable in telling Summer about her troubles as a fellow young lady. They both DO love Travis, but I reeeeally wanted to develop it into a more platonic bond.

PACKS USED:

For Rent | Growing Together | High School Years | Cottage Living | Discover University | Get Famous | Seasons | Cats and Dogs | City Living | Get Together | Dream Home Decorator | Spa Day | Parenthood | Fitness Stuff | Vintage Glamor Stuff | Perfect Patio | Incheon Arrivals

All CCs/Mods:

Default Eye Replacement by elysiantrait Lip Presets by lutessasims Male Eye Presets by nothernsiberiawinds Male Hair 1 from Mail Hair Pack 1 by wistfulcastle Violet V-Neck from Greenhouse Collection by greenllamas Leila Hair 1 by aladdinthesimmer BY JIUSSIMS Canvas Platform Sneakers from Flats Collection 04 Star Platform Oxfords from Lollipop Collection 02 Over The Knee Boots 1 and Snow Boots 3 from Winter Collection 3 Velvet Platform Sandals 02 from Crystal Collection 1 Ankle Boots 3 from Martins Collection BY CHIH Lipstick C2 Nails P3 BY TRILLYKE Candy Crush Sandals by trillyke Butterfly Effect Top by trillyke BY TWISTEDCAT Naive Eyebrows & Silk Eyebrows from Brow set No 4 Stardust Outfit Taffy Dress Spiceberry Lipstick Pyrite Makeup Set Eyebags and Eyelids Soft Glam Glitter Overlay from Soft Glam Makeup Set Heatwave Lipstick from Heatwave Makeup Set Sourfruit Blush from Sourfruit Makeup Set Dark Hour Eyeshadow from Dark Hour Makeup Set Frosty Eyeshadow from Frosty Makeup Set Mirage Eyeliner from Mirage Makeup Set Glow Lipstick from Glow Makeup Set Slated Eyebrows from Eyebrow Set No 8 3D Lashes No4 BY SIMSTROUBLE Sybil Female Hair Viola Female Hair BY HUIEN Gem Earrings from Mulani Set Lucy Shirt from Floraful Set Claire Jeans from G!rls Set Ember Dress from Lovito BY MIIKO Eva Hair from Eva Set Peach Hair Fox Hair 2 Emma Hair 2 3D eyelashes Part 3

If any of the links are not working, or if you have any questions, please feel free to send me a message. Please show some love to the cc creators! Again, please read my guides page in case you get confused.

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I'll be posting the house makeover soon so, stay tuned!

Find me on the gallery! simaiela

[inspirationjyoti]

Feminism... Female rights... equality...these are the topics that I started hearing and observing when I was in my undergraduate college. Before that I never noticed that the women around me are always busy in household chores. They rarely complain, usually listen to male members without objecting and still stays happy. And then, I realised that they were being dominated, not given their rights, were refrained from equality, and many such things. This all was the HD impact of what I read, and what I heard.

Now, try to understand my point. A married couple, where one is the bread winner, whereas other one is the homemaker. They are happy with their roles and are living peacefully. Then one fine day, their grown up children introduced feminism to them. Everytime the couple argued, the children supported mother (impact of feminism) and left their father alone. This was all because he shouted at her, or even lift a hand against her. The children took stand of their mother, and obviously they should. The children took their mother away from father and provoked her against their father. The father, who is not given a chance to apologise, to explain anything, is left all alone. Everytime he tried to talk to his wife, their children came midway and didn't let both of them sit and talk. They just decided on their own that father is wrong (feminism). It was like, the father is held guilty without even a hearing. Obviously violence in any form is unacceptable. Now, mother is with her children, away from his husband. Yes, the children love and respect her. They try to fulfill all her needs, and try their best to make her happy. But, will she be really happy, away from her husband? Also, the father is now with his mother who obviously loves him a lot and takes care of her. But also, is he happy, away from her? Obviously the children will have their family one day. No matter how much they care for her, how good they are, obviously they would also expect their privacy with their spouse. They would go on family trips with their mother, but also would enjoy their friends party without her. After marriage- children, parents, friends, or anyone else couldn't replace the life partner, never ever. Yes, the upcoming generation talks about equality and feminism, but in many ways they are ruining the kind of long term relationships that used to exist in past days. (I am talking about healthy families with no domestic violence). In those days, there were not much rules about the equality and rights, but that time also decisions were taken. I don't know much, but as per my knowledge, if the men disrespect women, he was denied the pleasure by the women, leading him to apologize.

Obviously feminism can bring positive changes in society but..but..but.. this doesn't mean that we take a flag and start embarassing men at every point. Not only women needs supports and rights, but men also need the same. Obviously we have seen male dominant society, that not at all care about respect and equality of women. But this doesn't mean that we want something opposite to that. Imagine, a female dominant society where males are the one being exploited. I am totally against that too. Infact, there should be no dominance at all. As their duties are divided, they should respect their roles in the society. As men can't carry a fetus inside their body, females lack the ability to fertilise. No matter how much noise we make for the equality of men and women, they are not at all equal. They are obviously very different - physically, mentally and socially. No matter how much women take part in body building, weight lifting, boxing, it's just not a female nature to be so harsh to anyone. Also, no matter how much men try to become gentle and soft, they are not just that way to have much patience and softness. In case any men becomes this way in a society, we all know how we percieve them. Just as women are known for peace and calmness, men have that aggression. It should not be taken as a challenge that ok... If he can do it then why can't I. Nah... Even men can't compare themselves to multitasking done only by women.

If both the partners are working, then obviously they divide their duties and both should help each other in paying expenses and household chores. And..if the man is earning and woman is a housewife, then how can one expect the man to help in household chores. In that scenario, the way a housewife can't help a man in earning, the man cannot help woman in household chores and raising children. It's always hyped that a housewife is a full time worker without a salary and off days. But it is also true that a housewife gets relatively more time to take rest as compared to men. On the other hand, men are always portrayed as the ones overburdened with responsibilities and expenses of whole family. But it is also true that they always have the opportunity to buy their dream car, or anything that comes under their budget. So, in short, i just want to say that both men and women cannot compare their capabilities and worth in the society. They have their own niche and they both are expected to respect the space of each other. Not only mother, sister, wife or daughter deserves respect. Even father, brother, husband or son do so.

[lemonhemlock]

Reblogging this thread as well because it adds a lot to previous succession discourse. ♥

Cersei is most definitely a good example of several points. She is a female heiress in her own right with two living (disinherited) brothers and many male uncles and cousins. Casterly Rock is a very powerful seat, but the law applies to the Westerlands as well and it's proof that women can and do succeed in Westeros, even without fuss. We do not hear of any Lannister disputing Cersei's claim, even when she is at her most weakest politically, after having escaped religious imprisonment.

We know that Cersei being Cersei means she will most likely double up her portfolio and not give up Casterly Rock ever, but that doesn't mean that it's not a practice a Westerosi monarch might resort to. Robert himself was the Lord of Storm's End, but when he became king, he relinquished the seat in his brothers' favour. He even relinquished the seat of Dragonstone to Stannis, even though Dragonstone was the purview of the monarchy, i.e. just him at the time. You can say that he was basically just giving up the holdings of the Crown, but it is a practice we see not only once.

Coming back to Jace, as Laenor's eldest child, he is actually the proper heir to Driftmark (ignoring his bastardy for a minute). But because Jace is expected to ascend the throne, it is decided that Driftmark should go to Luke, so that it would not be ruled by someone from a distance or by a replacement who may lack the authority of its lord. Of course that Jace could theoretically also hold the Iron Throne and Driftmark at the same time, but no one raises any issues about him not keeping two seats at the same time; the problem was always that neither he nor Luke were legitimate and, thus, did not have a claim to those seats (or had the weakest possible claim after all other trueborn would-be heirs in the line of succession).

As for a potential Targaryen takeover of Driftmark, I'd like to introduce the idea that it wouldn't potentially be that bad for House Velaryon, because it would give them a huge asset, namely potentially more dragon-riders in the future, something that no other house has. The Velaryons are not so puritanical about Valyrian supremacy, so they don't need to practice incest in order to not "dilute" their blood. For an heir to be "true" or sufficiently Velaryon, they would need to have only one Velaryon parent, which Baela and Rhaena already do, so any children of theirs would have enough Velaryon ties, both culturally and by blood, to Driftmark. Only that, by intermarrying with the Targaryens, at one point in their history, House Velaryon had more dragons that even House Targaryen! (Meleys, Seasmoke & Vhagar vs Caraxes & Syrax).

As for Rhaenys, I'm of the opinion that, had she been picked at the Great Council of 101, Corlys' children would have essentially been subsumed into House Targaryen, not the other way around. Jaehaerys could have forced Laenor at the very least to change his name to Targaryen and adopt the Targaryen accoutrements. I don't think the ruling house would have carried the Velaryon name or sigil (maybe as a compromise, quartered or partied per pale, at most, but IMO they eventually would have reverted back to Targaryen heraldry). Similar to how Joffrey Lidden married a Lannister princess and became King Joffrey Lannister - he could have changed the name of the dynasty, but there is PR power in providing continuity and reconciling previously conflicting sides by cementing one's legitimacy.

In any case, if Corlys managed to hoodwink Rhaenyra into legitimizing Alyn, he could have minimized Targaryen involvement, too. Had he wanted Baela or Rhaena to succeed him, he could have insisted that they marry one of their trueborn Velaryon cousins, but that they would be the nominal rulers, not their husbands (whichever of the girls was chosen, not both at the same time, obviously). If Jaecerys Velaryon can change his name to Targaryen when he ascends the throne in this universe, then Baela or Rhaena could have changed their name to Velaryon as well if they ever came to rule in their own right.

What do you think about Baela refusing to inherit Driftmark? And about the fact that Rhaena is seemingly forgotten in the equation?

To start with, it's helpful to look at how the book handles Driftmark's succession. We know that in Fire and Blood neither Baela nor Rhaena end up inheriting Driftmark, instead, Corlys legitimizes Alyn and Addam, and eventually Alyn inherits. The show, of course, has to get to this point too, but the difference between the show and the book is that in the book, the possibility or Baela or Rhaena inheriting is never mentioned. The betrothals between Rhaenyra's sons and Daemon's daughters are made when the children are still babies, not as a some bid to get Rhaenys to support Luke as heir to Driftmark, but likely by Laena as a way to help her brother out of a difficult situation.

Now here's where it gets tricky. In the book, by the time Rhaenys dies, Corlys has had enough. Jace talks him down from his range, makes him Hand, and when Addam and Alyn's mother, Marilda comes forward claiming the boys to be Laenor's sons, and Addam's claiming of Seasmoke seems to prove it, he asks Rhaenyra to legitimize them, which she does. Now, since the boys are officially Laenor's sons, the same as Joffrey, and they are both older than Joff, this puts them ahead of Joffrey in Driftmark's line of succession. This way Corlys can change the succession without repudiating Joffrey, which is important, because if Joffrey is passed over, that's as good as declaring his bastardy. So this way Corlys gets an heir of his own blood, and Rhaenyra still saves face.

Now HotD has Rhaenys raise the possibility of Baela becoming Rhaenyra's heir back in S1, but what the show seems to have forgotten is that this was a move which would have disinherited Lucerys, effectively proclaiming him a bastard the same way the crown ruling in favor of Vaemond would have. That's why Rhaenyra was so desperate to get Rhaenys to accept the betrothals between her boys and Daemon's girls (which, in the show did not happen when the children were babies because the show kept Daemon and Laena in Pentos for ten years), which of course she does (forget for a moment that it's not really her choice who the girls marry). However, ever since that episode aired, fans have brought up the idea that Rhaenyra is usurping Baela's right to Driftmark by keeping her boys in the Velaryon line of succession, and further, that Baela should not be content with being Jace's queen, she should want Driftmark instead, as it is rightfully hers.

And on the first part-- well, yes. Putting bastards into the line of succession is a big no, unless they've been legitimized, which requires they be acknowledged as bastards in the first place. However, this isn't news to anyone. Everyone in the extended Velaryon-Daemyra family is, for the time being anyway, in on the ruse. They all treat the fact that Rhaenyra's boys are bastards as a non-issue, and so the kids are not going to be the ones to say something. Baela cannot declare her intent to inherit Driftmark without betraying people who are important to her. Some fans clearly think she should want this, that she should find it insulting to be betrothed to Jace, but that's not Baela's character. Now, granted her loyalty makes more sense in the book, where she had known Jace since they were babies, but the show is going for loyal Baela who cares for Jace, and she's not going to press the issue on her own.

So the show having Corlys offer Baela Driftmark, and then having her turn it down, seems to be a way to shut down these arguments and clear the way for Addam/Alyn by making it crystal clear that Baela doesn't want Driftmark, while keeping Corlys' own hands clean-- hey, he's not the one choosing Rhaenyra's cause and his ambition to have a Velaryon on the throne over his granddaughter, it's Baela making the choice. At the same time, this conveniently avoids the implications for Rhaenyra's succession because Corlys' offer never goes any further. Corlys cannot truly back either of the girls as heir to Driftmark without declaring Laenor's "line" through Rhaenyra illegitimate, and if he does that, he is declaring Jace illegitimate as well. He might as well declare for Aegon II at that point because he'd be effectively dooming Rhaenyra's cause. And this is, of course, why Baela and Rhaena were never considered heirs to Driftmark in the first place in the book.

As for Rhaena, we already heard Corlys tell Rhaenys he didn't consider Rhaena a suitable heir, and Rhaenys also gave her tacit approval to Alyn and Alyn as heirs. It does seem like the show is presenting them directly as Corlys' sons, rather than Laenor's, which, if they were younger than Laenor would still put them behind his "line" in the order of Driftmark's succession, but I think the show will likely avoid this issue by making at least Alyn older (which is probably why his actor is clearly a grown man, and not a teenager like in the book). All in all, Baela's line is there because the show complicated Driftmark's succession by bringing the girls into it in the first place, something that didn't happen in the book for good reasons, and they had to address the elephant in the room in order to move Addam and Alyn's plots forward. Baela and Rhaena were never going to inherit Driftmark, so the show invents a scenario which puts that question to rest for the audience without uncovering any hypocrisies within team black.

[rudhira]

@platinumaspiration posted some more hair conversions so obviously I have to make more clay defaults, right?

ufhairhatwitch_good replaced with Arckan Winifred, TF-EF.

Download hatwitch_good!

umhairdavid replaced with GOAmazons Frau, PM-EM.

Download david!

afhairlongpart replaced with 4t2 GP12 Long Shaggy, PF-EF.

Download longpart!

umhairachilles replaced with 4t2 GP12 Med Wavy, CM-EM.

Download achilles!

ufhairpunkflip replaced with DayLifeSims Icon, PF-EF.

Download punkflip!

ufhairshortslick replaced with GOAmazons Trinity, PF-EF.

Download shortslick!

amhairmulletlong replaced with 4t2 GP12 Mohawk Mullet, CM-EM. Apparently this is the hair Patrick Teens wears, so if you haven’t given him a makeover, he’ll get this hair.

Download mulletlong! - mirror swatch

ufhairpagepunk replaced with GOAmazons Maya, CF-EF. There’s a file replacing only the mirror hairs in case you want another replacement for the naturals.

Download pagepunk! - mirror swatch

ufhairmohawk and umhairmohawk replaced with Simomo Wild Mohawk, TU-EU. There are separate files for female and male, or both genders in one, depending on what you want.

Download mohawk! - mirror swatch F, mirror swatch M

Again, all the custom hairs can be found here, by platinumaspiration.

[talesofedo]

Good evening,

thank you always for your interesting and well researched information.

I'd like to ask if you know, wether women (of the samurai nobles) in the late Edo period were allowed to wear weapons in public or not.

I always wondered that.

Thanks in advance

Sincerely Yours

Lilith

Thank you for following my tumblr! <3

___

Women of the samurai class traditionally did not carry swords, but they often carried a kaiken (懐剣, dagger).

The word 懐剣 (kaiken) is made up of two characters: 懐 (futokoro) which means breast pocket or bosom, and 剣 (ken) which means sword or blade. Kaiken is therefore literally “a small blade carried in the bosom”. Specifically, it is carried either tucked inside the kimono or, more commonly, inside a fabric pouch tucked into the left front of the obi, the same side on which a man's swords would be worn.

Kaiken served two functions for samurai women:

First (and most obviously) as a weapon for self-defense. A historical example is the mother of Sagawa Hirobee who used her dagger to stab a new government army soldier during the battle of Aizu-Wakamatsu when he tried to rob her. (She’d left the castle to obtain vegetables for the wounded.)

Second, and perhaps less obviously, as a tool for ritual suicide. Female ritual suicide was carried out by cutting the carotid artery on either side of the neck, which would ensure a quick and certain death. Some situations in which a samurai woman might choose suicide would be if her husband had committed seppuku, if she had been dishonored, or to prevent being taken alive by enemy forces. Going back to the battle of Aizu-Wakamatsu, this was an option chosen by some 230 samurai women when the battle was lost.

Illustrations below: kaiken carried in a silk brocade pouch with a red tassel (source); the wife of Onodera Junai of the 47 Ronin preparing to take her life (source) after her husband's seppuku.

Even though women of the samurai class did not carry swords, many did receive training in martial arts. Although women were allowed to train in swordsmanship, and some certainly did, most women who practiced martial arts did so with a weapon called a naginata (薙刀, halberd or pole sword).

Naginata didn't start out as a "women's weapon": they saw use on the battlefields of the Heian period where they were successfully used against cavalry. However, as firearms were introduced during the Sengoku period and battlefield tactics changed, spears replaced the naginata and it eventually became a weapon for home defense and martial arts practice, used primarily by women.

How much training a samurai woman received in the use of naginata depended on a few different factors, not least of which was the domain in which she grew up and lived. Sticking with the example of Aizu, the strict honor code here demanded that samurai women's first duty was to her domain and daimyo and then her family, and that the women of Aizu should be equally skilled in the ways of the pen and the sword (figuratively speaking).

Illustration below: Women fighting soldiers of the new government army using naginata (source).

Does that mean women never carried swords in public during the late Edo period? Well ... yes and no.

No, women did not routinely carry swords like their male samurai counterparts for whom swords were not only a symbol of their class status but also an expected and essential part of what they carried with them when they left the house.

But yes, there are instances where women went into battle armed with both swords and naginata during the Boshin War at the end of the Edo period / beginning of the Meiji period.

Going back to Aizu during the Boshin War, samurai women who had martial arts training with naginata, swords, and (in a few rare cases) firearms, formed their own unit, later termed the Joshigun (娘子隊, women's unit), after the domain's senior retainers wouldn't let them fight as an official part of Aizu's army.

Based on period accounts, most of Aizu's female warriors went into battle dressed as men: they cut their hair short, tying it up in a young man's style, wore men's hakama, and carried swords.

Illustrations below: a statue of Nakano Takeko, leader of the Joshigun, armed with both naginata and sword (wiki) and a later photograph of Yamamoto Yae wearing men's formal clothing, carrying a long sword, and holding her Spencer rifle (wiki).

Recommended reading:

"Female Combatants and Japan’s Meiji Restoration: the case of Aizu" by Diana Wright (You can get the full text PDF free by putting the DOI into Sci-Hub.)

Media featuring Aizu's women warriors:

Byakkotai (1986) Two part miniseries. Not specifically focused on the women.

Yae's Sakura (2013) NHK drama, 50 episodes. Focused on Yamamoto Yae. Amazon Prime has the first episode (and nothing else).

[transmeds]

If there is no qualities of gender like masculinity or femininity, do you consider all identities inherently non-gendered? If there are no qualities to gender, how did you determine you are a trans man? What makes a trans man a trans man if not the qualities of the identity itself? Is it self-identification? If that were the case, anyone who calls themselves a man would simply be one because they said so. Essentially, if you do not believe that genders have qualities, how do you, or absolutely anyone, know what their gender is?

You said that you like “feminine language” used for yourself, but aren’t a woman. How is that any different from being a non-man using mealexical language? Why are you allowed to use cross-gender “female” language to describe yourself as trans man when wearing a dress, but other people cannot use “male” language and be a non-man? Why is it okay for you to declare that other people are simply wrong in their interpretation of you, but you make a declaration that everyone who uses language you fine strange or confusing wrong?

Again, “masculine” and “feminine” are adjectives. They describe the being of or related to “maleness” and “femaleness” in this scenario. They are not conflating referential language with one’s presentation, it’s just that when someone says they want to be referred as a certain way, it’s shitty to to go, “well, actually, I have decided that I know you better than you know yourself and I have no respect for trans people I can’t relate to, so I am going to deliberately misdenote you”. You said that using “masc nouns” probably means you are just male anyways (another assumption that you know better than the individual knows themselves). If you enjoy feminine language, would that just mean that you’re really just female yourself? Obviously, you are a man, both of us know that and I respect that because I know you know your experiences the best of anyone. But do you not see these inconsistencies in your logic? What makes you a “good one”, Vincent? You obviously understand that being GNC is not contradictory to your identity, so why is being PNC incompatible? It’s the same concept, but instead of affecting presentation, it is referential language. Please explain.

what makes someone a man is wanting 2 have/having a dick and balls and shit man. i dnt think its that complicated. im a trans man cuz im dysphoric i wasnt born biologically male my guy. there are qualities to gender, like sex characteristics and shit. not being masculine. what makes someone a man to you? being masculine? following gender roles? self-identifying as one?

so when you say "feminine language" im going to assune you mean when i say i dont mind being misgendered.. its because its an act, its social. its like how drag queens are girls. yet at the end of the day, they are men. they identify as men. if someone cosplays and using the name and gender of the character, they dont become the character and its not what they use outside of cosplay. i have no problem with women dressing up as men and being called men when dressed up. that doesnt mean that they for themselves use male (pro) nouns. they dont.

you are purposefully not understanding what im saying and i dont know how to explain it many other ways. if you cant understand that dresses, being pretty, being a stay at home parent, acting girly are INHERENTLY DIFFERENT from words that serve no other meaning than to describe women then you are either extremely sexist or willfully ignorant. if you can't understand the difference between being feminine and calling yourself a woman i dont know how to explain it in any other way other than that You Are Weird For Thinking Women Are Inherently Feminine.

the difference is that being gnc has nothing to do with gender. pronouns however have no purpose outside of describing gender in a specific situation where it replaces a name in a sentence. if you think that wearing a dress serves no other purpose then telling people you are a woman, then yes. its the same as a pronoun. but thats not the case is it?

also where did u even get the name vincent? LOL where did that even come from, roberto?

[rikeijo]

Obviously the 'hidden story' is something that was never confirmed, so it's all just interpretation...✨But it's my favorite thing about YoI.

I absolutely agree with you that Georgi/Anya and Michele/Sara are an anti-parallel of sort to Yuuri/Victor' (and JJ/Isabelle', but I'm sure they were added to the story later) relationship. To be more precise, Georgi is a distorted mirror image of Victor and Michele is a distorted mirror image of Yuuri. (For example, the costumes point to that - both young Victor and Georgi in the show wear male/female-themed costumes, and have skated Sleeping Beauty-themed programs in them. Both Yuuri and Michele have worn European knight-themed costumes (thanks for info, Minami!) They are both extremely loyal to just one special person since forever - Victor and Sara, respectively. Funnily enough, Lohengrin is known as the Knight of the Swan, and who has skated in a swan costume in the past?✨Yuuri... That's so...🥺)

The way I personally see it, is that YoI uses a fairytale-like storytelling (I think, that it was during an event? that Hiramatsu-san said Sayo's desk is full of fairytale illustrations and obviously, fairytale motifs are abundant in the story itself) - that's why imo, the story doesn't expect the characters to grow or change, and they really don't. Yuuri is in the middle of his 'hero's journey', but that's a little bit different thing - more than to really change into a different person, he needs to find a way to be his 'true self' - the Prince turned into a piglet needs to become the Prince once more (helped by True Love™️). A lot of people thought that indeed, like Michele and Sara needed to split up, so must Yuuri and Victor, because it's not a good thing to be so dependent on each other, they need to grow...! The thing is... that is not what happened, though. In ep. 10, Yuuri still very much needs Victor's omajinai to give his best, but they are together in the last scene of the show. And Michele still stalks Sara - nobody has learned anything 😂

So back to the main topic... in fairytales, 'bad' people, actions etc. are punished in the story to show that they are indeed 'bad', and imo, the same thing happens in YoI - Georgi and Anya' relationship, Michele and Sara' relationship are 'doomed' and cannot last, because they are 'not right' - imo, in this case 'not right' means there is something missing there, that breaks those relationships. In short, in my interpretation, Georgi and Anya's relationship is missing the 'true love' bit, but instead is mainly based on lust and sex - all their scenes are pretty erotic (kissing, beds, Anya's o-face and Georgi is a massive creep) - but soon enough, he has a next girlfriend - Anya wasn't that special to him after all. Michele and Sara have the 'true love' bit, the 'you are my special person that cannot be easily replaced by somebody else' bit, but for the obvious reason, their relationship cannot be sexual - and so, Sara is already looking for a boyfriend. (Interestingly, 'the European Knight and his Lady' motif is an obvious reference to courtly love, which also *shouldn't* be sexual...or at least, shouldn't be consummated). Sooo, the YoI fairytale's moral is that for long-lasting and fulfilling relationship you need both 'true love' and the ability to fulfill your sexual desires. If the 'true love' is missing, then there is no reason not to look for somebody who you like more, and if they 'sexual' bit is missing, that leaves you unsatisfied and makes you look for a way to find this satisfaction.

About the music, if you think about it... The funny thing is that the lyrics actually don't match the story of Michele and Sara (Serenade for two is about a guy, who only for a one night can be with his Lady, he has been always watching over, and he wants to be with her, because she makes him strong and he can finally be himself when he touches her - the problem is that he feels unworthy of her love), just as lyrics of A Tales of Sleeping Prince don't match the story of Georgi and Anya (the lyrics are about a 'Princess' left alone in the dark by her Prince, she's now looking for... When she finds her Prince, and he opens up to her, she sees a 'brighter sky' (and isn't it funny that the sky literally gets brighter after Yuuri opens up to Victor in ep. 4 ?😂) - it turns out the Prince is under a 'sleep curse', so she needs to help him, save him and break the curse...) .

Today's translation #641

Go Yuri!!! Go official fanbook, Tominaga Keisuke's comment

Serenade for two

In case of this song, we purposefully made it 'doesn't it actually cross a line if it's about brother and sister?!' risky, by making the music Michele uses for his program a sweet and stylish love song in a style of standards from bygone days or old musicals. The man x woman couple from the lyrics is basically 'normal' though, so it's not that the song itself is in any way doing something that is forbidden (laugh). This song is so high-level and lavish, that it takes first or second place among all Yuri!!! on ICE music, when it comes to technique, time and effort, as well as financial cost it took us to create it. ...but in the show, we only hear it once (laugh). You should definitely give it a one more listen.

(+ Umebayashi Taro's comment) The call out line [I'm sure he means 'You mean the world to me, my lady~'] in the middle part of the song, and the interlude with a change of melody after that, is a part of the song that I'm particularly fond of. We eliminated repeats of melody, and made the rhythm less pronounced to compose a really dazzling song.

(+ Matsushiba Taku's comment) It's one of the best three compositions in the soundtrack, that I'm really proud of.

[Note: Why they put so much effort into a song that's supposed to be played once for quite a minor side character...? ✨✨✨]

[simpingforsoftboys]

Moving In With Them

ft. SakuAtsuOsaSuna

G/N Reader

Thank you so much for the request anon! I spent a few moments just imagining this and omg it’d be a hot mess! Also I added some stuff at the beginning cause I just felt like I had to explain how this was even possible aha-

The Odds of Us All readers- you can consider this a part of the series or just read it as a oneshot! But either way this Y/n can be read as either male or female~

Okay so I HC that Tomas (MSBY) was transferred overseas- so that opened a position for a new middle blocker... and luckily the third Miya in the D1 men’s volleyball scene just so happened to be interested in being transferred... now MSBY has not 2- but 3 Miya’s! Naturally this means Suna-Miya needs to move to Osaka ;) 

Prior to the transfer Suna and Y/n had been living together in a nice apartment in Hiroshima 

Meanwhile SakuAtsuOsa were over in Hirikata (which is in Osaka Prefecture) living together in their own place

SakuAtsu were obviously contracted with MSBY, while Osamu ran a branch of Onigiri Miya in Osaka City (which is abt a 34 or so minute drive according to Google)

Atsumu had heard about Tomas’s sudden interest in moving abroad and had brought the subject up to Suna on the dl

So the three of them had been planning everything so that it was ideal for Suna to be brought over to MSBY 

It wasn’t until it was all finalized in the paperwork that Suna and Atsumu realized they hadn’t told any of their partners or even thought of moving

Are we really surprised though? The both of them weren’t exactly in college prep in high school- and for good reason

ANYWAYS- the twin’s and Sakusa’s home was not big enough for four people

Then they realized you might have to stay in Hiroshima for work

Luckily for them- once they finally brought up the topic with you- it turned out you had actually been offered a promotion, though you needed to transfer to your company’s head quarters in Osaka

Definitely destiny

Oh but you, Kiyoomi, and Osamu were not happy at being left out of the loop for literal MONTHS

Getting the place:

Okay so Hirikata is a small- and I mean S M A L L city, with less than an estimated one million residents

So there’s not many housing options that fit your prerequisites

Because of this ya’ll settle on finding a nice place in Osaka City

Eventually- after much searching- you find a (pretty large) property (because budgets aren’t a thing with ya’ll) that’s just perfect!

Ofc you’re buying it ASAP

It takes a hot minute before you move in though- since everyone wants some work done on the place before ya’ll move in

Osamu insists on having all the kitchen’s appliances replaced with new, state of the art ones (makes sense though, his livelihood is all about food quality)

Your volleyball pro partners (mainly Atsumu and Kiyoomi- Rin’s just content with whatever) are having the basketball gym remodeled into a volleyball one- complete with a mini locker-room-esque washroom area

All Suna cared about was having an in home theatre- complete with a legit snack bar (we love his priorities)

Sakusa had the pool drained and deep cleaned and made sure that the mini beach volleyball court that was set up in the yard had entirely fresh sand

Kiyo also had the toilets replaced + the washer and dryers. And even hired extra (trusted) cleaners to thoroughly clean the bathrooms (because he doesn’t trust any seller to do a good job)

Ya’ll spent hella money on the house and you didn’t even move in yet

Finally moving in:

None of you guys lifted a finger when moving your stuff (much to Osamu and Kiyoomi’s chargin)

This was actually because the guy’s trainers and coaches didn’t want to risk them straining or hurting themselves with heavy lifting

I can’t imagine Suna would actually help lift anything though

So you hired movers

Kiyoomi had ya’ll thoroughly wipe the furniture and stuff once the movers left- hating that he had to let them contaminate his belongings

At least he was polite when they were around... right?

Osamu was not happy when he had to help Atsumu unpack the clothes... esp since majority of it is Tsumu’s

“What the hell is this?” Is something you’d hear from him quite a lot

“I got it at Bo’s party a few years back! Cool huh?” Yeah, Tsumu’s kinda hoarding clothes

“The pits have holes.... and it’s stained with beer- lemme just toss it-”

“NO-”

Gross Atsumu

Suna is helping unbox stuff for the sitting room (fancy ig-) and using his height to put everything on the shelves

Honestly he’s procrastinating and using this time to look through every. single. book. 

Drives you crazy istg

“Rin are yo- seriously? It’s been two hours why are you just sitting on the floor? Nothing’s put away-”

“Look at this it’s from university-” He says, holding up an old yearbook...

It’s because of this, you and Osamu are probably the ones to get the sitting room situated later

Kiyoomi is... probably binge cleaning all the stuff as soon as he pulls them out of the boxes

Yes, he wiped everything before packing it away but what if some disgusting b u g s hitched a ride?

It’s fine if everything’s cluttered on the floor/bed/counter/wherever he’s unboxing stuff atm- at least he knows it’s clean and not dirty

You have to actually be the one to put the stuff away while he wipes- lest he run out of space

It works surprisingly well all things considered

“Oh no...” He’s finally unboxing the cleaning supplies... but he’s out of disinfectant wipes and can’t wipe them down- thus rendering them useless (in his opninion)

“Kiyoomi just... grab the unopened wipes from the box- open it- and use those to wipe the rest of the supplies?” You suggest. Although hesitant he does as told... until he sees something that proves all his fears valid.

“Holy shi- THERE’S A SPIDER! I KNEW IT WOULD FOLLOW US!” He says very loudly, scrambling away from the dead spider AND the supplies

Needless to say you have to make a trip to the store to buy him more wipes- meanwhile one of your other partners have to go pick up and throw away the arachnid

Also while all this is going on- someone (Tsumu actually) has to make sure the bedsheets and blankets are all washed before putting them on the bed for the night (again in case of the bugs)

This is the only thing he doesn’t half ass tbh, since he knows it’s important to Omi-Omi

Ya’ll finish the day with a lovely shower

Well Osamu, Kiyoomi, and you do

The shower in ya’lls bathroom is N I C E and H U G E! Like it’s the type with jets on the floor and walls, plus it has that really nice overhead rain fall like shower head

Atsumu and Rintaro are relaxing in your custom made jacuzzi tub that costed more than a car-

The tub is really awesome too, big enough to fit all five of you comfortably and has powerful jets to massage any knots out 

Rip to the water bill though like that thing’s expensive- on god

Anyway that’s just the first day and daily life promises to be exciting 😭

[robininthelabyrinth]

Tedious Joys - Chapter 4 -

- Ao3 link -

It had been an inauspicious year to begin with.

A poor harvest led to famine among the common people, which in turn created conditions ripe for evil creatures of all sorts; the night-hunts that were often treated as playful competition by the cultivation world became more like the boring drudgery of everyday work, disciples setting off in packs on a regular basis all over, time and time again. The tension wore on the sects, some more than others, and dozens of small disputes began to rise up, needing to be dealt with. Lan Qiren’s schedule became busy, and then busier, and then became overwhelming; he was forced to discard one pastime after another in his efforts to hold back the rising tide, and in the end sacrificed sleep and sometimes meals to preserve only two: playing for Jiwei and spending time with his nephews.

It meant that he was unprepared, both mentally and physically, for word of the death of Cangse Sanren and her husband, which took over two years to finally come to ears of the Great Sects – such a shocking failure of information that Lan Qiren briefly wondered if it had been concealed intentionally.

The sudden shock of grief hit him hard.

He tried to convince himself that he had expected it, that she had expected it, that at least her son was now safe in the Lotus Pier, and yet all he could think about was that he had one less friend in the world. The sadness interfered with his focus, creeping in at all hours, uncontrollable, until one evening he was playing guqin with his nephews and looked up to find them both weeping uncontrollably from the music he was playing. When he tried to stop mid-song, he abruptly collapsed, and upon waking was informed that he had become feverish at some point in the night.

His sect doctors advised him to go into seclusion until he could control himself.

Lan Qiren refused.

They advised him again, this time with greater insistence, and with the support of his sect elders.

“Tell them to fuck off,” Lao Nie suggested, pouring a calming tea that he’d brought from Qinghe.

He’d come to visit with his sons, Nie Mingjue disappearing with Lan Xichen as always and Nie Huaisang engaged in the newest stage in his eternal battle of wills with Lan Wangji over a game of weiqi that they were both taking far, far too seriously.

(Despite knowing Lan Wangji and indeed Nie Huaisang better than most people alive, Lan Qiren honestly could not determine whether the two of them despised each other or were close friends. Lao Nie claimed the answer was both, simultaneously, but Lan Qiren didn’t understand that at all.)

“That is not how we do things here,” Lan Qiren said, accepting a cup. It was rude for him to allow a fellow sect leader who was his guest to serve him, rather than the other way around, but he had a headache from the persistent fever and exhaustion that was even more persistent, the boundless river of grief in his heart translating into physical agony, and anyway Lao Nie hadn’t exactly asked permission before proceeding. “It would be more appropriate for me to present a well-reasoned case for it not being necessary, based on rules, authority, and precedent.”

“Except you can’t put one together because you’re upset and tired,” Lao Nie said with a snort. “That’s stupid. You’re overworked, stretched too thin, you just found out that your friend is dead – you need sleep, not seclusion. Anyway, what happens if you do go into seclusion? Aren’t they always saying they need you to stick around to be Sect Leader so desperately?”

Lan Qiren rubbed his eyes. “It would not be true seclusion. I would be expected to continue certain parts of the work.”

“You’re joking.”

“It would be primarily administrative correspondence –”

“By that token, your brother ought to do it!”

Lan Qiren glared. “It’s not the same and you know it. And they are not wrong that I need rest.”

“From what I recall of what you’ve told me about your sect’s practice of seclusion, that’s not rest,” Lao Nie said acidly. “Surely there’s something I can do to help. I could send over some of my disciples…”

“Excellent idea,” Lan Qiren said, rolling his eyes. “We can replace all those rumors that I’ve been secretly pining for years over my best female friend with ones regarding my best male friend.”

“It is a little ‘hero rushes to save the lady’, isn’t it?” Lao Nie said thoughtfully, shaking his head in amusement. “But seriously, I came here for a reason, and it’s not Jiwei or A-Jue or anything like that. You’re always trying to help me, Qiren. For once, let me help you.”

Lan Qiren would normally protest this – because Lao Nie had so done many things for him over the years that it was an incorrect statement, because he hated the helpless feeling of letting someone do things for him, because that wasn’t something sect leaders did for each other – but he was tired and he feared seclusion and sometimes he thought it might be nice to do one thing that could be considered a little reckless before he died.

“Very well,” he said, closing his eyes and drinking the tea. “Do as you like.”

That was a dangerous thing to say to someone like Lao Nie, who promptly pulled three dozen Nie sect disciples from out of nowhere and sent them scurrying around hunting down evil with the energetic enthusiasm of youth entrusted with gigantic sabers and the freedom to use them as they would, while he himself settled in very happily in Lan Qiren’s home, sleeping on a guest bed, keeping away unwanted visitors and helping with any paperwork that didn’t explicitly require a Lan. He also recruited Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen to assist, despite Lan Qiren’s protests that bureaucratic busywork was not an appropriate way for boys of approximately fifteen and definitely twelve, respectively, to spend their time; both of them very solemnly assured Lan Qiren that they were more than happy to do whatever they could.

Even little Lan Wangji and Nie Huaisang bullied their way into being involved, insisting that they wanted to do it more than they wanted to train or play, although at their ages there really wasn’t much they could do besides grind ink and run messages to the relevant recipients.

As Lan Qiren might have expected, rumors immediately started about some sort of torrid affair – life would be so much easier if everyone obeyed the rules against gossiping purposelessly – and they even got to the point that several of the sect elders cautiously hinted to him that although cutsleeve relationships were far from being in vogue, they had at no point been explicitly forbidden by the rules, and cited several provisions which seemed to favor such things.

Lan Qiren had thanked them for the reminder and caustically commented that he would be sure to incorporate that into his next set of lectures as he could see no other reason for them to mention it, and soon enough they backed off, shaking their heads. Still, those busybodies that had his best interests in mind were still preferable to the ones that started once more raising the idea of finding him a nice bride of suitable age – by suitable age, they meant too old for children, lest he get any idea of challenging his brother’s line of descent – before he did anything foolish like fall in love, or, worse, to act on it.

Obviously he had no intentions of permitting that.

Still, after a month of enforced rest, Lan Qiren was feeling a bit more himself. He took on more and more of the work, albeit supervised by five sets of judging eyes, and even began to play once more, this time without bringing anyone to tears. Jiwei and Xinfei rested together by the door in comfortable equilibrium, hot and cold, weak and powerful, and the jade pendant that Lan Qiren carried with him remained cool to the touch, not hot at all.

“You will need to go soon,” he told Lao Nie, who shrugged, not denying it – a month was a long time for a sect leader to be away from home absent some valid excuse like a war, not quite too long but starting to push it. No matter how effective one’s deputies were nor how much work one did from a distance, a sect leader was still necessary, in the end, or else Lan Qiren’s life would have been very different.

“Next week,” he said. “That’ll give me just enough time to take the boys home before heading back out again for the conference in Qishan.”

“There’s a conference? I wasn’t informed.”

“No, you weren’t, because I didn’t inform you,” Lao Nie said, utterly shameless. “You’re going to stay here and rest. It’s just a stupid party.”

“That doesn’t matter if it is also a stupid party which everyone else is attending,” Lan Qiren said sternly.

“Jiang Fengmian isn’t going, either,” Lao Nie said. “Doesn’t want to leave his new ward alone just yet…newest rumor has it that Wei Wuxian’s his bastard with Cangse Sanren.”

Lan Qiren shut his eyes. “Of course. Wasn’t I the one having the affair with her last week?”

“Perhaps it was a love triangle?”

“A square, at minimum. Don’t forget she had a husband.”

“A pyramid!”

“Lao Nie…”

Lao Nie laughed. “Jin Guangshan isn’t making it, either. His wife’s giving birth – predictions say to a daughter, I think, assuming this one survives the birth – and all accounts say that she’s threatened to cut his balls off if he even thinks of leaving Lanling City. So, you see, it really is just a stupid party, and by missing it you’ll be doing just the same thing as all the other Great Sects.”

Lan Qiren felt a sudden stab of misgiving. “Except you.”

“Except me,” Lao Nie said cheerfully. “Me and Hanhan.”

Lan Qiren truly did not want to know what went on in Lao Nie’s mind sometimes.

“Why don’t you refrain from going as well?” he asked, aware he sounded tetchy and irritable like some jealous wife in an opera. “If no one else is going.”

“Oh, I have to go. A-Han asked for me specifically,” Lao Nie said, and Lan Qiren thought to himself oh I’m certain he did, then promptly felt bad about doing so. Sneering for no reason was prohibited. “Someone’s gifted him with some magnificent saber for his collection, apparently, and he was boasting that it was the best there was right up until someone stuck their nose in it and said that it was all well and good but no comparison to my Jiwei.”

Lan Qiren could imagine exactly how well a statement like that had gone over with Wen Ruohan.

“And now he’s demanding you show up and produce evidence?” he asked, unimpressed.

Lao Nie grinned. “Ah, Qiren, it’s almost like you’ve met the man before.”

“You shouldn’t encourage him,” Lan Qiren said. “Why should you go just because he asked? He’s your equal, not your master.”

“There’s no harm in giving him some face.”

Lan Qiren could think of several ways that it could lead to harm, the inflation of Wen Ruohan’s already bloated ego being not the least of them, but Lao Nie was his equal as well, his equal and his elder. If the man had made up his mind, as it clearly appeared that he had, there was nothing Lan Qiren could say that would change it.

“Good luck, then,” he said, shaking his head, and called the boys to come in for dinner. As usual, the Lan half of the table remained mute while the Nie half did nothing but chatter, each according to their own family custom. It was a test of wills and endurance – Lan Wangji’s eye kept twitching every time Nie Huaisang filled in words for him, possibly due to the extremely high pitch Nie Huaisang chose to represent him – but it was a joy to share the time with them nonetheless.

Before Lao Nie left, Lan Qiren tried, not for the first time, to press the jade pendant that resonated with Jiwei into his hand. “You should take it with you,” he insisted. “Especially if you’re going to the Nightless City to exhibit your saber – there’s a great deal of resentful energy there, and you know that always gets Jiwei’s bloodlust up.”

“Which in turn will sharpen my reflexes, just when I need them most,” Lao Nie said, pressing the jade pendant right back into Lan Qiren’s hand. “Better you have it.”

“Lao Nie…”

“Jiwei likes you now,” Lao Nie said, as if that mattered. “She’s been just as avid to protect you as I’ve been, this past month – if I didn’t need her by my side, I’d almost be tempted to leave her here with you.”

Lan Qiren arched his eyebrows. “Are you suggesting that I can’t protect myself? Here? In the Cloud Recesses?”

“Saber spirits are not smart, Qiren. But even she can tell that you’re not well yet.”

Lan Qiren waved a hand dismissively. “Well enough,” he said, and it was even true – the grief was still there, of course, and likely would be every time he thought of Cangse Sanren in the near future, excluding maybe the few times when it was one of his students that resembled her only in terms of how much mischief she would get up to, but it was no longer drowning him. He had hope that, in time, this wound would also scab over and the hurt fade, and that at that time he could once again think of her with nothing but joy.

Lao Nie huffed. “Well enough isn’t well,” he grumbled, but that didn’t stop him from gathering his children and his disciples and heading out back towards Qinghe. “Take care of yourself, Qiren! Be well!”

“And you,” Lan Qiren said. “Keep out of trouble, my friend.”

From what he later heard, the party at the Nightless City went about as anyone with half a brain might have expected: Wen Ruohan swanned around until Lao Nie showed up, there were tense words exchanged, and then Lao Nie produced Jiwei, allowing Wen Ruohan to examine her and even pat her a few times before the Wen sect leader was forced, with great reluctance and through gritted teeth, to admit her superiority to the saber he had received.

The stories ended there, but Lan Qiren had enough imagination to fill in how the rest of the night might have gone, especially with the only sect leaders there being Lao Nie and Wen Ruohan. He sincerely hoped that Lao Nie had remembered all those lectures he’d given him about the foolishness of lying in the same bed as poisonous snakes, no matter how beautiful they might be on the surface.

Perhaps he had, perhaps he hadn’t.

Either way, Lan Qiren heard nothing else until the day he interrupted his own afternoon lecture with a sudden cry of intense pain – the jade pendant had abruptly gone so hot that it had burned, and although his clothing, protected by stitched-in incantations, was unharmed, the heat was so severe that it had nevertheless left a mark on his thigh through all those layers.

Clutching at his leg, Lan Qiren ordered his students to run to fetch him cold water and a doctor, and wondered what in the world had happened.

A letter, he decided. He would write Lao Nie a letter to ask.

[redrose-arrow]

Do you think Royal Ranger is not as good as his other books? I know a lot of people don't like Madelyn.

I honestly don’t think the Royal Ranger is a weak link in the series. I am aware that a lot of people don’t like Madelyn, and I think that’s fair and understandable, even if I don’t agree. I actually have another post up about that, so go check that out if you want to know more about why I like Madelyn and why I think many other fans do not!

In regards to the strength of the Royal Ranger itself - personally, it’s as high up there in my personal ranking as some of my other all time favourites. I’ll explain why in a bit.

For starters - I think a lot has to do with expectation management: we never would have gotten the stories we wanted. Romantic relationships - and even emotions, in some ways - don’t even reach the podium in terms of the series’ focus. I think, since I never really expected to read a book in which Will and Alyss’ relationship would be a focus, I also wasn’t that disappointed not to get that. More on that later.

Obviously, there’s the discourse surrounding Maddie. If you don’t like her, it’s already challenging to convince you to like her books. I have another long post about this, in case you’re curious :). In any case - I love her.

What I also loved was Will’s character development. Now, this is a tricky point, because I know a lot of fans do not approve of how Will’s depression was handled. Let me preface my own point by saying this: I understand. I understand that the harsh pull-back to reality is not something that works for everyone and I can understand that many fans would have liked to see something else. But here’s the thing: it works for some. It worked for a close friend of mine. It worked for me. Throughout the series, we always see Will as the hero. Even when he’s addicted to warmweed, he recovers from that quickly (ignoring the trauma is another point unrelated to this one). He almost dies - more than once - but he’s always quickly back on his feet. The Royal Ranger is the first (and so far only) book in the series that explores a different side of his character. His darker side. The side that’s hurting, that’s uncaring about anyone, least of all himself. The side that could kill him in more ways than one. The side that he needs to be saved from. Seeing that side of him shocked me, and I love the book for it. Especially to see his growth back to happiness. He laughs again, for the first time, but when he’s reminded of Gilan and Jenny’s relationship he’s sad and a little jealous. He has to physically restrain himself when he finds out he’s hunting Ruhl, but he’s also joking around with Maddie when they’re coming up with their plan. And then there’s the crying, and we read that the tears are for Alyss, finally, but they’re also for Maddie. And for him - most of all, for him. That growth was so relatable for me, that sentence so close to me, I loved it so much, I cannot help but love the entire book for it.

But. Alyss had to die. Believe me when I say that that was a shocker for me too. In my post about why I like Maddie I mentioned that I think many dislike Maddie because she’s Alyss’ replacement, and I want to include that here as well. Yes, Maddie’s pretty much a replacement for Alyss. And something in me hates it, to excuse a male author for killing off one female character to introduce another, and yet again, I cannot help but do so. In this book, Maddie has two roles: one, to be a female hero, and two, to help Will’s character development. There’s little for me to say about the first point, so let’s delve into the second. Given the fact that the Royal Ranger was initially the finale for the series as a whole, we can assume that Will’s character development (that I mentioned earlier), was the most important aspect of the book. So, his dark side needed to be brought out. If Halt would’ve died, Will would’ve been heartbroken and he might’ve gone a little crazy too, but his mentor was old, and so the impact would’ve been different. Halt getting murdered was just too unrealistic, which leaves a semi-natural death, and that’s just not interesting for this series to explore. (Not to mention that that would’ve truly made the fandom riot.) The death of Horace or Cassandra would’ve disrupted the Royal Family too much, and it would’ve required much more of a politics focus than the series likes to delve into. That leaves us with Alyss as the only viable, realistic, and simply useful character death. Yes, yes, YES, I would’ve loved for both Alyss and Will to mentor Maddie, I think she could’ve learned a lot from them together. But that situation wouldn’t have made good on Maddie’s second role. Add to this that a Will-and-Alyss relationship never would’ve been explored a lot anyhow, and her death can be seen in a different light. Hence, I don’t very much mind her being killed off as much as others (but I am still heartbroken about it). Especially since in the future books, Maddie has really come into her role as a character of her own, and since her second role then isn’t so important anymore, she doesn’t really feel as a replacement anymore.

Now that we’re on the topic of death, here’s a quick detour to Crowley’s. Yes, I would’ve loved to see more of Halt’s grieving, but again, that’s not something the series pays particular attention to in general. It would’ve been a little too Halt-focused book and honestly? Wouldn’t have really added something to the plot. So we have to make do with a short sentence that mentions Halt finding comfort in the fact that Crowley died happily. (Also, why do y’all want Crowley to have been murdered so bad?? The man was ancien, let him rest in peace after a natural death with a smile on his face.)

Then there’s the matter of Cassandra and Horace’s parenting. Again, something that not everyone approves of, and rightly so. Yeah, maybe disinheriting your daughter is not the way to go. I agree. I also think it’s a very interesting “mistake”, because it is something that happened in medieval times. Furthermore, Cassandra takes after her father and Horace admits to being a bit sexist. It’s interesting, especially when you see how much Horace and Cassandra grow as parents throughout the Royal Ranger books. Fairly, the fact that Horace and Cassandra admit to not being the best parents makes me readily excuse their actions, but I cannot help it (and, I have loads of headcanons about the Royal Family that make me love them more and more).

Another thing about the Royal Ranger that tends to be disliked is the “repetition” - by which I mean Will turning in Halt 2.0 (in more ways than one). Again, there’s a few reasons why I don’t mind, and even love it. One - why wouldn’t Will be like Halt? Everyone loves their father-son relationship, and there’s more than one son I’ve seen turn into their dad in real life. Two - Will’s confronted with acting like Halt by Jenny. He tells her he just tries to copy his mentor, and she shoots right back saying how much he always complained about that. Yes, Will’s a lot like Halt, but it’s fully backed up and admitted by the series - also when it’s said that Will was barely considered as Commandant because, like Halt, he tends to bend the rules a little too much, and again in Duel at Araluen, when Duncan expresses his faith in his granddaughter partially because Will’s her mentor and Halt was his. Third - I like the parallel between Halt and Will’s relation-/apprenticeship and the one between Will and Maddie. Again, it makes sense for Will to copy Halt in a lot of things (Gorlog knows I copied a bunch of my teachers when I was standing in front of a class). But here’s the thing - Will and Maddie already know each other. They’re close. They’re almost literally family. It’s a very interesting balance that I loved to see in the Royal Ranger 1, and again in book 4. I’m really hoping for it to be explored even further in book 5.

All in all, I really like the compromise of the Royal Ranger. We got another apprenticeship, without the repetition of Halt being the mentor. It’s in the future, so we get a glimpse into the later lives of our favourite characters, but the fact that there’s 15 years unaccounted for leaves enough to the imagination. We have a new main character, but the original characters play important and recognised roles. For me, that means the Royal Ranger is many of the things I love about the original series, but it’s also fresh and new and therefore a valuable addition. Getting back to a point I made earlier: it’s an addition to the series because it is a little different and a little the same. Again, if the series would’ve ended with the Lost Stories, that would’ve been perfect. But if it would’ve continued the way a lot of fans wanted it to (honestly me included, and again, a very understandable point) the series would’ve become extremely repetitive (something that it is risking now as well, I’ll admit, but it’s taken a few more books). So, to me, the Royal Ranger seems like a fair compromise between continuing the series and keeping it intact!

Again, a bit of a longer answer, sorry anon! Also, I want to stress again that no one forces you to love the Royal Ranger - least of all me. If you want to pretend none of that happened - be my guest (even I love doing that every now and then). But I hope to have shown you why I also celebrate its existence!