#it's still great to have the source back though! :D

[britishchick09]

senpai with cave people in grant's pass oregon! :D

[howtofightwrite]

Are horned helmets actually a thing? How would a fantasy race that has horns... compesate for them?

Only in the sense that people do make them for various reasons. There are ceremonial and ornamental horned helmets dating back into the bronze age. There's a famous example that was gifted to Henry the VIII in the 1500s.

As I said, some were made for religious ceremonies. Usually for priests of horned deities (there's a bunch of these.) In these cases it could be made from either metal or actual animal horns. I'm not familiar with much beyond that in these cases because archaeology and anthropology are a little outside my area of expertise. I'm not aware of any religions that still use horned helmets, but it really wouldn't surprise me if it pops up from time to time. I'd also categorize head gear with attached antlers in the same range here. It wouldn't surprise me if it exists, or existed, but, I'm not aware of any examples.

We have depictions of horned helmets from knights at tourney in the 14th century. (And at least one surviving example.) This is probably legitimate. At least, in so far as that the knights may have worn horned helmets to show off. Though, this head gear wasn't something that a knight would wear onto the battlefield.

The modern image of the horned helmet (and the association with Vikings) has a lot more to do with Wagner's The Ring Cycle, and particularly stage performances of that opera. (It's not technically original to that, but the horned Viking was a 19th century German invention.) This also the source for a lot of novelty hats and helmets that you can readily obtain today.

The problem with horned helmets on the battlefield is that it gives your opponent something to grab in a tight melee. And letting someone get control of your head in a fight is a very bad thing. This is made worse with a helmet, where the foe could easily unseat the headgear, potentially blinding the wearer long enough to kill them.

There are historical examples of horned helmets intended for use on the battlefield. The Japanese are probably the easiest example to reference. However, in these cases, the horned helmets were worn, specifically, by officers, and communicated their authority to their soldiers, so they could more effectively issue orders. Somewhat obviously, that's not someone you're going to see in the meat grinder of the front lines. (Also, in most cases, these horns were oriented vertically, and were probably too small to grip. The surviving knight's helm, mentioned above, also featured vertically mounted horns.)

Similarly, if you had examples of horned cavalry helms (particularly vertically mounted horns) used by late medieval or even early modern cavalry, that wouldn't surprise me. Especially if that was part of their parade dress. While it's not horns, the winged hussars come to mind as another example of absurd ornamentation on cavalry, and they continued operating until the late 18th century.

Now, as for a fantasy race, I could see grabbing their horns being a very, very, bad idea. This is somewhat informed by the fact that the first example that comes to mind is the minotaur, where grabbing their horns is probably a pretty good way to ensure you're going to get a horn run through your chest. Ultimately though, it becomes a bit like grabbing someone's hair. You've just committed a limb to limiting their head's range of motion, while leaving both of their arms unfettered. On the battlefield, that sounds like a great way to get stabbed in the armpit and die.

So, they are real in the sense that they existed (and still exist), but their actual use in warfare was extremely limited due to practical considerations. That said, people have thought they looked cool for thousands of years, and they're around. Though the Viking helmet is a complete fabrication by 19th century Germans trying to make the Vikings look cooler.

-Starke

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[fan-goddess]

Yes sir…

Thank you @succnfuccubus for inspiring me to write this and convincing me to actually do this

Summary: After another rejection, Billy’s feeling a little down in the dumps. But after meeting with your friend that morning and looking at a unique source material, you get a very unique idea on how to hopefully cheer him up.

Authors Note: Gave the friend a name as it was just easier. I loved the idea, but I don’t like this for some reason

Taglist: @valeskafics, @humanpurposes, @watercolorskyy, @omgbrcat @blue-serendipity @arcielee @targaryenbarbie @anjelicawrites d

Warnings: Smut books, p in v sex, m oral, praise kink, power imbalance role play, role play, angst, comforting, sad boy Billy Washington, the economy, begging, cuddling (if I miss any let me know)

Billy had never been a particularly avid reader. The most he’d ever voluntarily read probably being the required reading for secondary school English. You on the other hand, even before you’d stumbled across the smut section on the internet, had always been a common bookworm.

When your friend Lya first began to lend you books from her so called private collection though, now that’s when you became a woman possessed. Soon, most of what you were reading involved some sort of dark romance filtered in. Whether that was mafia, pirate, or just a simple brother’s best friend romance. You read it all with an expressionless face.

Yet when you’d begun to date Billy, you must confess to the amusement of Lya, who you’d been borrowing books from for all these years, that you hadn’t been borrowing and reading as many of those sort of books as you used too. Since now, you had a real life romance novel in front of your very eyes to carry out. It wasn’t exactly the dream romance kids pictured after watching a Disney movie, but what sort of relationships were these days?

The last few days, you and Billy had been unable to have sex due to a sudden difference in work times. Well, your work times and Billy’s interviews. Still, whilst you were used to this happening at some random times, your pussy had taken a sudden hit with the recent dry streak. Now, you were beginning to crave one of those novels of yours in your hands again. Desperate for a new sort of fiction that’d get brain stimulated and your cunt working.

So you called the best smut dealer you knew.

“Hey bestie!” You grinned, picking at your nail while your other hand was busy holding the phone. “I need a favour…” She’d laughed when you’d asked her for a new recommendation, yet to your relief, you and her had managed to agree to a meet up the next day to, exchange the goods.

The morning you were supposed to leave, you remember kissing Billy goodbye as your adorable half asleep boyfriend was still laying in bed all cosy and pretty. “Where are you going?” He’d grumbled, so cute with a small tired pout on his face that it almost made you want to strip back down to nothing and pounce on him there and then. The lack of sex it seemed was really getting to you right now.

“Visiting one of my friends for a morning drink. Nothing much baby. Remember though you’ve got that interview at 3, so don’t forget!” You smiled, giving him another deep kiss before you go that left Billy’s cheeks flushed from bashfulness. He’s so effortlessly fucking sexy it was utterly unreal…

When you got to the cafe you’d planned to meet Lya at, she eagerly waved at you from a discreet corner of the room. She may be honest as hell about what she reads, but she sure as hell knows how to act like a fucking dealer about it.

“Hello darling!” You smile, moving so you could give her a quick hug before sitting opposite her. “How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been alright thanks babes! Stocking up on my little novel collection, which reminds me!” She gives you a mischievous smile, and from her bag produced a book with quite a different cover than what you thought it’d be. As she places in front of you what looks to be a copy of great expectations.

“Think you’ve mixed up the books Lya!” You laugh, giggling in amusement when you see her look at you with such disappointment.

“Course I haven’t idiot!” She sighs, moving to grab the book and remove the book cover, before showing you the back of it. Where much to your surprise, you find the blurb for a very different book. Called ‘Unbuttoning the CEO’. “I read it last week and thought it’d be perfect for you!”

You laugh at the title and place the secret cover back on, before placing it in your bag. You don’t bring the book up again the rest of the catch up convo, but at the end when the two of you have eaten your cakes, drunk your coffees and were saying your goodbyes, you made sure to let Lya know what you thought of the book when you read it.

When you get back home, you head to the bedroom first to see if Billy’s back or not. The bed you can see is unmade and ruffled, yet when you feel it you can tell it’s cold to the touch, telling you Billy left a while a go. You head to the living room and sit on the sofa with a small sigh, praying Billy didn’t decide to head to the pub before a job interview.

You’re still for a couple minutes trying to think of what to do to occupy your time while you wait for Billy, and your eyes can’t help but be drawn to your bag, where the book practically taunts you from inside it. Before you even know it, you’re curled up on the sofa with the book in your hand and your lip between your teeth.

Words blur as you read sentence after sentence, but your eyes certainly eagerly tune in when you get to the actual sex part, which wasn’t even very far in to be honest.

The ceo takes the assistant on his desk, and you can’t help but clench your legs together when you read about how later on the assistant helps the CEO to ‘destress’. You take a small break to make yourself a quick drink, and can’t help but find your mind drifting to the idea of you and Billy in those scenes, playing those characters. You can’t help but forget about even making any sort of drink as you imagine exactly how you could help Billy destress from the recent unfair influx of job rejections.

You eagerly get back to reading though, and by the time Billy comes back home around 5, stinking slightly of cheap lager, you’ve already finished the book twice and reread your favourite scenes about three times over.

“Hey baby!” You smile, making note on how Billy nuzzles his body into yours as much as he can as soon as he gets close enough. Your pretty little teddy bear… “How’d it go?”

“Said I weren’t what they were looking for…” He murmurs into the length of your neck, as you kiss the top of his head softly. “Another fucking failure to add to the list…”

“Don’t say that!” You firmly say, placing both your hands on the side of his face to force his eyes to meet yours. You hate the way he looks so broken in that moment. So beaten by the world that all you want to do in that moment is wrap your arms around him and keep him safe from everything and everyone. The assholes who hurt him hurt him good and deep, and if you could, you’d beat them to death yourself. Maybe even with your porn book that’d be a right sight you must admit… “You are fucking amazing! You’re my favourite person in the whole world and I will not have you bring yourself down! Do you understand me Billy Washington?”

He gulps, and for a second you swear you can see tears build up in his eyes before they’re quickly blinked away.

“I-I underhand darling. Thank you, for being there for me. For everything.” He says, before bringing you in for a hug. Practically crushing you with how hard his arms lock around your waist and his head stays tucked in the skin of your neck.

The two of you stay there for what feels like hours. Holding each other while the time goes by. The only reason the two of you even break away from each other is because your phone rings so loudly all of a sudden and shocks the two of you into remembering the situation at hand. You quickly move to switch your phone on silent, and yet your eyes somehow manage to drift to the book peeking out from behind a sofa cushion, and an idea makes it way through your mind.

“Hey Billy…” You begin, smirking when you see Billy’s usual shy persona breaking through his shell once more when he sees that smile of yours. “I wanna try something tonight…”

“What is it?” He asks, raising a brow and stepping back slightly when he sees the grin on your face.

“Just something I read recently. Wanna see how you’ll like it…” You purr, placing your hands on his shoulders and dragging him to the edge of the sofa, before pushing him slightly so he falls backwards with a small gasp. His eyes open wide as they stare at you with such awe and admiration that you can’t help but find yourself blushing slightly.

You slowly lower yourself between Billy’s legs, which seem to open as wide as they can automatically, and with innocent fluttering eyes, lay your head on the side on his leg.

“Can I please suck your cock sir?” You beg, a pout on your lips to mimic pure desperation as Billy practically seems to have a heart attack above you. He appears breathless as you spring this sudden fantasy upon him, and yet by the way you can see and feel his trousers move and strain with his quickly swelling cock, you can tell with certainty that he definitely seems to be enjoying this.

“Yes…” He eventually murmurs with a heavy breath. “You can suck my cock….”

“Thank you sir, I promise I won’t let you down!” You smile, moving your hands to undo his belt and shimmy down his trousers and his underwear. When Billy is left sitting naked before you, as he’d claimed to feel silly if he was sitting in just his shirt, you can’t even stop yourself from admiring your boyfriends erect cock that stands proudly before your face.

“Such a pretty cock sir…” You murmur, before opening your mouth and taking it in your mouth as far as you can before your nose hits the small soft patch of hair lying at the base of Billy’s cock.

You can hear him keen and whine above you, and you’re very sad you can’t see the way his eyes no doubt roll to the back of his head. You slowly move your head back and forth, keeping a steady pace that leaves Billy practically shaking and whining above you.

“Please….” You hear him beg. A noise you love more than anything, and yet at this moment it’s not what you want. You want him to feel in control for once. To know how much you worship him and adore him. To know that he has the ability to make you become so needy and desperate for him that you’ll do anything to please him. That is, with the right words of course.

“Please darling!” He continues, his whimpering so delightful to your ears that you almost throw your plan out the window so you could give him as many earth shattering orgasms as he deserves. But patience is a virtue, so you continue to suck at Billy’s cock in a leisurely pace. Drawing all sorts of noises from him that leaves your own lower half aching for a release.

“Take control of me Billy…” You eventually say, admittedly growing tired of the lack of communication between the both of you. “Take hold of me and do whatever you want to me sir…”

It seems your words finally made it into his pretty little head. Since as soon as you try and go back to putting your mouth on him after saying those words to him, you feel a strong hand wrap itself between the strands of your hair, atopping you from getting anymore closer to his cock than what you already are. It makes your pussy admittedly wetter as you’re now effectively eye level with Billy’s weeping member, and yet am unable to touch it at all. Forced to stare at it while it weeps a single drop his precum and watch while it trails down his erection. It’s absolute fucking torture.

“Please sir!” You find yourself begging, an actual pout on your lips as desperation claws up your whole body. “I wanna make you feel good sir! Wanna warm your cock in my mouth and feel your cum trickling down my throat!”

You can feel the grip his hands have on your hair tighten, and before you know it, Billy’s cock is hitting the back of your throat and your eyes are rolling to the back of your head as your used like a pathetic fuck toy. You let your body go limp as you allow Billy to use you however he decides, yet he doesn’t seem to exactly have that part figured out yet, as he focuses on moaning and groaning about you like a porn star while he uses you to his current hearts content.

For a while, you almost find yourself unable to breathe. Gasping for air whenever the opportunity appeared. Yet still, you persist in your willingness, eager to see the usually so submissive man in front of you break.

“Fuck I’m gonna cum!” He groans, moaning as he further tightens his grip on you and forces you to work harder and faster on his cock. You moan wantonly and work your tongue harder as you feel his tip become drenched in a delicious mixture of both your spit and his precum, and feel his entire length throb under the weight of your efforts. It’s actually quite flattering really, seeing how fast he’s about to cum from your suggestions.

“Fuuuuuuck please swallow baby please please please!” He whines, that inner submissive of his still lingering as he holds your head down firmly on his cock while you feel his cum shoot down to the back of your throat, and practically choke you with how much you feel quickly filling your mouth. You cough slightly as you try and obey Billy by swallowing what you can, yet you can’t help but have a few drops of his essence flow down your cheek as you struggle swallowing the first few drops.

“Here you go baby…” Billy murmurs, using his fingers to pick up the stray dribbles and put them in front of your lips. Admittedly you feel quite bashful as you avoid his eyes while sucking the remaining taste of him off his fingers, but as soon as you finish, those same now spit covered fingers rest under your chin and force your head up so your eyes can meet.

A silent gasp releases under your breath as you see an uncharacteristic carefree yet somehow cocky smile on Billy’s face. That submissive man you saw not even five minutes ago gone as this new, changed man sits before you. Like some sort of strange sexual butterfly.

“You were a good girl for me.” He simply says, allowing you to bask in the feeling of his dominance that makes your legs weak at the knees. “And good girls if I’m right, get rewarded. You taught me that pretty girl. So please, get naked, and get on the bed for me arse up, so I can reward you for being so good for me.”

Fuck you’ve made a monster. A sexy one yes, but still a sexually dominant monster.

You do as Billy says to a T. Stripping yourself quickly so that your clothes are all over the bedroom floor, and placing your body on the bed in Billy’s desired position. You wait with bated breath for what feels like hours while your skin erupts in a multitude of goosebumps, and you swear you nearly jump out of your skin when you feel Billy’s warm skin suddenly against yours. You feel his half hard cock rubbing almost pitifully against your arse, and you realise with a very sick thrill that you can actually feel him getting harder the more your juices seem to coat him.

It seems though you were so caught up in your thoughts, that you miss the sounds of Billy’s own clumsy movements of stripping.

“So pretty…” He groans. A beautiful sound that leaves you wanting more more and more. How greedy of you… “You want to be fucked by me don’t you? By your boss?”

“Yes sir!” You whine, your head going dull as you stay focused only Billy’s body and nothing else. On the way he makes you feel so effortlessly, and without meaning. “Want you to make me yours! Want me to make sure everyone knows I only belong to you!”

You can hear Billy deeply grunt behind you, and with a gasp you don’t even at first realise belong to you, you feel Billy thrust his cock deep inside you. An intense feeling of fullness hitting you as you close your eyes and grip your hands desperately at the sheets in an attempt to ground yourself.

He gratefully allows you to get used to the sudden intrusion, but before you know it, Billy is quickly thrusting himself quickly in and out of you while you moan and keen for more beneath him. Your eyes screwing shut as your lower belly slowly tightens harder and harder.

“So good!” He groans, unexpectedly yet cautiously smacking your backside with his palm that causes an absolute pathetic sound to leave your lips. “My sweet little slut. All mine to fuck!”

An abundance of yeses comes quickly and brainlessly as you answer Billy’s statement with a high pitched moan. All you want right now is to cum. And by the way you can feel your cunt clenching and fluttering hard around Billy’s cock, you can guess it won’t be long before you do.

“Fuck sir I wanna cum please let me cum for you sir I’ve been so good!” You whine, your mouth hanging open in a silent scream as Billy somehow manages to move himself faster against you. The sound of his skin smacking at such a fast pace against your own to your ears sounding like an erotic symphony.

“Yes… you have been good…” Billy groans. His voice so strained it’s as if he’s struggling with all his strength to say them. “So you’ll continue to be good… by taking my fucking cum in your perfect cunt!”

You take that as your queue, and with a loud unwavering yell, you cum hard around Billy’s cock. Coaxing forth his own orgasm as he clutches hard at your skin and pushes himself as deep as he can to you. Moaning as you focus on the feeling of his hot cum filling you.

You can also feel his pubic hair stimulating your swollen clit, which leaves you silently gasping against the mattress and your aching pussy clenching against Billy’s softening cock.

The two of you stay where you are as you allow each other to breathe and calm down, yet it’s not long before the two of you are cuddling under the bed covers, with Billy’s cock still inside you.

“Did you like that baby?” You can’t help but murmur. Anxious on whether Billy was happy over you pushing him out of his usual comfort zone.

“It was different…” He summarises. You cannot see his face to make any assumptions. Given that your man has gone back to his roots by putting his head in the curve of your neck. “But I liked it. I liked it a lot.”

You may not be able to see it, but even so, your ego swells massively when you realise you can feel Billy’s bashful smile against your skin. It almost makes you want to have your wicked way with him again. That is though, before you realise with a warm feeling chest that Billy has steadily fallen asleep against you. With his softened cock still inside you, and your arms wrapped firmly around his body ensuring his safety.

“Sleep baby…” You murmur, kissing the top of his head with a smile. “You were such a good boy for me baby… we’ll see about rewarding you later….”

You may have imagined it, but you swear you can feel Billy smile against your skin. Yet you push the thought away and instead choose to close your eyes, and allow your own exhaustion to overcome you. You and Billy’s breaths and hearts synching as you hold each other with as much love as a sleeping person could handle.

[saltineofswing]

SHUFFLING DESTINY ENEMY GIMMICKS LIKE A DECK OF CARDS

Here’s a fun thought exercise for the discerning Destiny Lore Enjoyer™: What if you took the gimmicks of each enemy race and swapped them?

Here are the rules by which I loosely operated, in the sixty-ish seconds I spent thinking all this up:

The enemy race should remain broadly identifiable at a glance.

‘Gimmick’ herein references the aspect of the subject’s lore that dictates how they relate to themselves and wider universe (For example, the Cabal is a conquering empire that folds defeated client species into its dominion; the Fallen are desperate, disorganized scavengers; etc.), or maybe certain thematic elements.

Don’t think about it too hard.

Get weird with it.

And without further ado:

THE HIVE <--> THE CABAL: THE DOMINION OF THE WORM.

The Dominion are a vast assimilationist conglomerate of hundreds of different species the Hive have conquered and consumed. They are bonded not by common Krill ancestry, but by forced worm conversion; the bodies may appear different, sourced from different homeworlds, but the truth is that they are puppets for the Dominion’s true citizenry. Dominion morphs are based not on the instar system of an arthropod experiencing ecdysis, but on the life cycle of a parasitoid – they are alike to one another only in that there is a worm implanted where their brain should be, and it is slowly terramorphing their body into something more suitable to the Great Work, also known as the Sword Logic. At a certain threshold of age, the chitin-mold and fungal outgrowth has changed the host body dramatically enough to classify them as Knights or Wizards based on the worm that has infested them.

Different branches of the Dominion organize themselves into Courts; over centuries, worms of each Court have developed unique genetic tells in how they warp their hosts – patterns of color or chitin-mold, or predispositions to certain morphs. Acolytes still make up the bulk of the species’ fighting and civilian forces. After the implantation process (typically performed within two years of the birth of the host body) and lasting until approximate adolescence, Hive are wobbling, nascent, clumsy Thrall, still acclimating to the nervous system and motor functions of a still-growing host body. The oldest Dominion Knights and Wizards in existence, the pantheon of Gods that preserve the Wormlore and have transcended mortality by way of the Sword Logic, are the closest that the Dominion gets to ‘true’ expressions of the parasitoid race… and even then, each is unique unto themselves.

Don’t worry! By the time you would have been old enough to object to having a boring worm threaded into a trepanned hole in the back of your head, ‘you’ will have been the worm for a long time. It typically doesn’t grow big enough to burst through and replace the host’s cranium (If an endo- or exoskeleton is present) for six to eight years, but you wouldn’t mistake a Thrall for an un-infested counterpart of the same race. Think Cordyceps, or that old familiar snail parasite Broodsac. It is not infectious, as the ritual insertion of a wormling requires a sterile and calm environment as well as an actual staff of competent handlers… but it pays to be dead when the Hive are victorious over your poor, doomed race. They don’t want your secrets, they don’t need your intelligence or your memories, and they don’t need you to infiltrate and betray your people. They just want your brain. Or, rather, the real estate your brain occupies.

A Purist faction of Dominionists claim to be descendants of the original Krill, the long-extinct first peoples of the Dominion, and seek a way to purge the Worm-taint from their bloodline. The Purists are supposedly lead by one of the many Dominionist Gods, though which one and whether or not this is even true are subject to disparate rumor.

THE CABAL <--> THE HIVE: THE UNDYING EMPIRE.

Calus’s obsession with death and immortality has created a legion of the undead. The dead world of Torobatl is a planet of necropolises, stacked down to the core of the planet and then up to the stratosphere, their charnel war fleets staffed by psionic Liches mounted into powerful and gaudily gilded combat exoskeletons. Stasis was granted as a gift by the Darkness long ago; it allows the denizens of Torobatl to tether their souls to massive crystals – Phylacteries, in their buildings, their mausoleums, and their warships. And these Phylacteries are, in turn, tethered to the oversoul of God-King Calus, tithing him the experiences of his entire empire… the violence and the pleasure, and everything in between. When Cabal loves, Calus loves, and savors it. When Cabal hurts, Calus dies, and savors it. When Cabal dies, Calus devours – and your soul is folded wholly into his own. At the end of the universe, when there is nothing else, there will be Calus, and Calus will be everyone.

Warships and Seeder-Ziggurats, built around a Phylactery that serves as generator and Cryostasis and life support all in one, send a tide of undead out into any world that Calus desires for his Empire. The only way to kill them, of course, is to destroy the Phylactery in the warship. Or, cause fatal mental feedback by destroying the physical brain. Every Torobatlaan that has died since Calus instituted mandatory mummification rites is part of Calus’s devouring horde, representing a fighting force of at least several-trillion strong. Each Lich represents a soldier that can be sent into combat multiple times: first, in the hulking, bulbous, resplendent frames of Cabal Übercorpse legionnaires. Then, if the exoskeleton is damaged beyond repair, the Wight within may emerge, held aloft by its own Psionic might and wielding the death-cold touch of Stasis. Spare bodies, or bodies looted from the enemy, may afford a defeated Wight a second chance at corporeal un-life… assuming Calus values you more as servant than snack. The crème de la créme a la Calus, the Demiliches, are given their own discreet Phylacteries. Oftentimes these undying kings and queens of the Torobatlaan Necroworld have pared away the unnecessary portions of their bodies and reside in a crystal-encrusted skull – The rest of it is tithed lovingly to Calus. Let it never be said he does not reward dedication. All hail the new flesh.

Calus’s own daughter, by all rights a demigod, heads an underground insurgency within the Empire. The Living Resistance is small, scrappy, and fighting a losing battle – but they are always on the lookout for allies, and will take any advantage they can get.

THE FALLEN <--> THE VEX: THE ASCENDED.

When the Eliksni arrived in Sol, simultaneously chasing the Traveler and fleeing the Whirlwind, most of them first stopped at Neptune. They burned that world to the ground and ravenously devoured every scrap of technology they could get their hands on. And so, while the human race was wallowing in the mud during the Dark Age and their unlucky brethren were – also wallowing in that same mud, or pressed under the thumb of the Awoken – the Eliksni of once-Neomuna were… rapidly evolving. Achieving singularity, becoming one with their Servitors and Shanks and so much more. You know how those Eliksni enjoy their nanotechnology. By the time of the City Age, non-augmented Fallen are a rarity… but there is no shortage of Ascended, a collective consciousness dispensing sleek and sophisticated quick-fab machine bodies, controlled by telepresence, to every corner of the system. And where they go, infectious nanomachinery goes with them. Everything must Ascend. And so, everything must die.

Individuality is a dirty word to the Ascended, but it is not a cold, unfeeling machine-mind. It remembers its origins as an organic race. Remembers everything that was assimilated into it, really, with perfect computer clarity. It’s still young for a god-consciousness – far, far younger than the ancient Torobatlaan First Disciple or the Hive Conqueror-Pantheon. It relates to the natives of Sol; pities them, mostly. It is confused by the Exo, curious about the Awoken, and deeply embarrassed by the soft, squishy existence of humankind. It feels most strongly about its non-uplifted cousins: it loathes them. Despises them. The day when the last Eliksni hatchling is scanned and uploaded to the System, and its useless corporeal existence is squashed, can’t come too soon. Imagine the horror that the Iron Lords must have felt when the Fallen had finally been wiped out, and it turned out they were just running from something worse. A clean, smooth, white-paneled and gloss-coated mirror. The Ascended exists in networked systems across Sol, representing a cyber-threat that must continuously be monitored and combatted by technicians in the Last City and the Reef; when it has determined, via algorithm, an appropriate dispersal site, it sends a foundry through NLS – within hours of impact, an Ascended Nanofoundry can output a square quarter mile of nanite terraformer lattice and an army’s worth of construction, telecommunications, and servitor frames. These frames are not made for war! War is a consequence of the simplistic fear of a lesser entity. Of course, the equipment these frames use to perform their actual tasks are effective at discorporating non-augs. Sad, what is necessary in the pursuit of perfect oneness.

The remaining ‘Non-Aug’ Fallen of House Light live as Luddite ascetics, sheltering from the Ascended in the underground metro system beneath a run-down quarter of the Last City that was bombed out during the Undying Empire’s assault. They eschew all technology and networked communication as much as is possible – the more tech they use, the more likely it is that the Ascended will find them.

In the Reef, Eliksni augment themselves with crystal prosthetics. Better to submit themselves to the Queen’s will, and remain individuals, than be subsumed by the Ascended and lose themselves.

THE VEX <--> THE FALLEN.

Every encounter you have with the so-called ‘Fomorians’ is technically an encounter with the exact same crew of the exact same ship of scurrilous pirates, cast back through the Chronal Bleed from several hundred thousand years in the future. Or, a future, at least. The Foul Ship Gigantes has been making dives into the past for centuries. Or, well, actually, the ship has been making a single dive into the past, and arriving at disparate points in realspace nominal-present-time backwards along the timeline, scattered across the centuries. An unfortunate consequence of a bootleg of a stolen prototype of Braytech chronoaugural technology. Sometimes, even for Braytech, an idea is so half-cocked that it just can’t work. Imagine for a moment that you are Marcholles Antione Braythek IV (Pronounced ‘Marcus Anthony Braytech’), (in)famous pirate and disgraced son of the mighty Braythek Interstellar Dominion, and the weight of your family name inspires you to do reckless things in the pursuit of adding legends to your name. Imagine that you and your crew are maybe a little too desperate to become the first time-travelers in history. So, you use a bootleg of a stolen prototype and you don’t so much ‘travel’ through time as you do ‘smear’ through it. Look on the bright side: not only did you become the first successful time-travelers in existence, you also fuck up the laws of reality so bad that scientists in the past will designate the extradimensional skid-mark you leave through space-time as a ‘fundamental force in the cosmology of the universe.’ They call it ‘The Bleed,’ and researching it allows for the development of NLS travel. That first jump went extremely well! At least, it did from the perspective of the one version of Marcholles Antione Braythek IV that successfully made it to his destination – Humanity’s Golden Age, a couple decades before anybody had even heard the name ‘Bray’.

Funny, isn’t it? Marcholles Braythek thought he was a descendent of the most amazing tech empire in history. In actuality, he was his own great-great-great (repeating) grandfather. Another unfortunate consequence of bootleg Braytech chronoaugural technology.

I said something about ‘the one version’ of Marcholles Antione Braythek IV, didn’t I? Right. Well, when you travel through time, you leave from a single point in time and space, and arrive at a single point in time and space. But when you smear through time, you leave from a single point in time and space and you arrive at many points in time and space. Simultaneously and discretely, paradoxically existing in many places at once. And time isn’t the only thing that winds up getting smeared.

The crew of the Foul Ship Gigantes enters the Bleed intact, and emerges quite insane. The ‘Fomorians’, as they are called in the City Age, are warped, imperfect, and most of all completely unintelligible. Whatever happened to them on their journey through the Bleed has made them hyperviolent to the point that if two crews encounter one another, they’ll tear each other apart. Often, a single crew will turn on itself if nothing else is nearby to descend upon. It’s estimated that at any given time there are dozens of Gigantes in Sol, landing in random locales and then going beast mode, destroying everything around them and eventually themselves. Fomorian emergences come in semi-predictable waves, and the City has an algorithm that they can use to guess when and where a new wave will pop up. Each Gigantes ship crews several hundred time-warped post-human pirates, outfitted with mind-boggling far-future weapons tech. If they didn’t tear themselves apart within a few days of arriving in our present, they would be a massive problem! Thankfully, Light-wavelength radiation from the Traveler, specifically its effect on causal systems, prevents Fomorians from popping up anywhere on Earth or in near-Earth orbit.

Telling Clovis that his grandfather is his own great-great-great (repeating) grandson makes him experience a critical systems failure and forces him to restore from backup. Gives you a solid thirty minutes to do whatever you want in the Braytech systems around Eventide.

[destinationtoast]

*waves shyly* Hello!! First off, I absolutely adore all of your stats and get excited when you post new ones -- thank you so much for all that you do!

Secondly, a friend and I have been discussing fandom longevity lately, and I wondered if you have thoughts? Subjectively, it seems to us that new fandoms tend to have more quick bursts of fandom activity when a new season/movie/book/etc comes out that fades quickly with time, whereas older established fandoms have more staying power. I'm curious if you have any insight about whether this is objectively true in most cases or not, and as to whether or not the type of canon source material matters (eg show-based fandoms vs book-based fandoms). I hope you're having a great day <3

Hi there, and thanks! :D This is a great question, and one I have been having a bunch of conversations about lately.

I share this subjective experience -- it sure seems like the attention span of fans and lifespan of fandoms is shorter than it used to be, when I think of how quickly people stop talking about a bunch of newer movies and TV shows these days. And then I see some of the older fandoms like Harry Potter still producing a ton of new fanworks, and I think, "Wow, maybe new fandoms just don't have the staying power of older ones." At the same time, I also question how objectively true/simple that story is for a few reasons, including:

Memory bias: When we look back on the past, the fandoms we remember most are usually the ones that lasted a long time. So our estimates of past fandom longevity may be overly generous.

Changes to fandom size: Maybe any changes to fandom lifespan are mostly due to some other change, like fandom size... Attention is more splintered these days than it used to be across more streaming services/etc, and I think there are more, smaller fandoms than there used to be. Maybe if a fandom doesn't get really huge, it's just not likely to last that long.

For TV fandoms -- changes to canon release schedule: most TV shows used to have seasons that lasted most of the year, so they had a lot more reason to stay in the public mind longer. Now many seasons are shorter and sometimes drop all at once. Perhaps if we compared popular TV procedurals with 22 episodes/season from now vs. ~a decade ago, we'd see similar patterns of fandom activity?

I've been thinking about ways to try to gather quantitative data about the changes, and testing out a few methods. A few ideas I've had:

Look at the Tumblr official lists of top fandoms and see whether the top fandoms tend to leave the top 20 rankings faster now than they used to. (The Tumblr rankings go all the way back to 2013 on a yearly basis, at least -- I'm not sure how long they've been releasing the weekly lists; those may have started later.)

Look at AO3 fandom activity after new canon infusions - how quickly does activity drop off after a new movie/book/video game release, or after a TV season ends? How has the rate of activity dropoff changed over the years? (And how much of that seems to be explained by other factors, like fandom size?)

See how quickly AO3 authors/creators tend to migrate to new fandoms, and how that's changed over time - many authors tend to be active in multiple fandoms, so we'd have to define what it means to migrate to a new fandom, but I think we could do so in a way that would allow us to look for changes.

Look at Tumblr, Twitter/X, and/or Reddit activlty after new canon infusions - same as AO3, but on a platform where people are posting shorter content and there's more of a discussion. (This data would be harder to collect, though.)

I'd love to also hear other ideas. I think I'm going to need some volunteers to help gather data if I do any of the above, though... Readers, if you'd be interested in helping to gather data for an hour or more to help investigate this question, please reply/DM and let me know! And/or join the new fandom-data-projects community.

Also if any readers know of anyone else who has looked into this/similar questions, I'd love to hear about it!

[livefromcastledracula]

Book Carmilla vs Adaptations (SPOILERS)

Here are a few 'interesting' adaptations. I like some of them for their own merits, but mostly dislike them as Carmilla adaptations for the below reasons, with some notable exceptions: Vampyr: The Dream of Allan Gray (1932 film): The first Carmilla inspired movie, although it keeps almost NOTHING from the novella except 'female vampire'. In this case, a creepy old lady rather than a charming young lesbian. This is a really moody, slow, acid trip of a film though, a treat for fans of vintage vampire film. (3/10) Hammer Karnstein Trilogy: The Vampire Lovers is the gayest and most book-accurate. Carmilla still kisses/seduces men before killing them, boo. The second one her identically-named reincarnation is blonde and has sex with / falls in love with a man booooooo. She's not in the third one at all. It's all very 70's and nowhere near queer enough, but at least we got the incomparable Ingrid Pitt in the first movie. 5/10. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust: 'Carmilla' shows up as a surprise third act villain. She's an elegant and imposing vampire queen with a castle called "Cjethe" and the Vampire King offed her previously for being A Bit Too Extra. She's... Bathory. She's Elizabeth Bathory, right down to the name of her historical castle, the elaborate gowns and the blood-bathing. Bathory in Castlevania Nocturne even looks a lot like this one. Cool scary vampire lady, but Carmilla In Name Only. 4/10 Castlevania (Games): She's fine here, but mostly just kind of a big Dracula groupie like most of the other non-Dracula vampires. Often depicting as a flying skull or mask crying bloody tears, with optional succubus-like figure reclining on top of it. Cool. Rondo of Blood has her appear together with a ninja vampire Laura with bunny ears because why the hell not. 6/10 Castlevania (Netflix show): Baddass, angry Karen. She's amazing in the first season when she's scheming against Dracula, but after that she just sort of sits on her butt sipping wine and griping about men for a whole season until Isaac storms her castle. A cool character but not a great Carmilla, because Carmilla for me is defined by how much she loves women, not how much she hates men. Still amazing voice work by Jaime Murray though and her last stand was insanely baddass. 7/10

Carmilla Web Series / Movie: My favorite adaptation. It's obviously playing waaaay fast and loose with the canon and reframing her as a charming antihero in a zany urban fantasy, but there's deep current of love for the source material, especially in the movie. Natasha Negovanlis has charisma off the charts and the Hollstein romance is adorable. This Carmilla might be a black-leather-wearing snarky millenial goth with a Canadian accent, but as the show goes on it peels back layer after layer of the romantic, poetic, wistful, world-weary immortal hinted at by the novella. This show redeems LeFanu's lovelorn villain in all the best ways. 10/10. 2019 movie / Styria movie: I still haven't seen these, have heard good things about the gothic cinematography on the most recent one but not good things about the rest of it. The trailer looked moody and pretty though, I may watch it at some point.

[impactedfates]

Okay I have this idea but yes yes anyway [might be long I'm so sorry]

So basically Wanderer practically joined Traveller to journey out to the last 3 regions of Teyvat. But but bUUUUT right now they're at Fontaine and doing some stuff [aka the current available quests]

Once he and the Traveller are taking a massive break over things, him checking out some places to hang out when he saw someone— another puppet, basically

When he approached them, surprise its his younger sibling [aka reader], and they still remember him despite the Irminsul incident one region ago

How would the interaction go from there? I want moar genshin-sibling-platonicness help

— 🫶🏻 Anon with another gift! A Neuvilette An otter with some things! 🦦🐚🪸🪷

A/N: THAT'S SUCH A CREATIVE IDEA ACTUALLY ANOIFENI. More genshin sibling platonic storys yes >:D AND THANK YOU FOR THE MINI NEUVI

W.C: 1237

Genre/Trope: Platonic + Familial

Format: Fic

Warnings: None (I think?)

Extra: Traveller Lumine because she needs more love, also I prefer Traveller Lumine ngl // Scaras a mean but caring older brother // Reader is a young adult // Sorry if this wasn't as long as you hoped, I haven't done any of the side quests in Fontaine :sob: willing to write a pt 2 though // I did not proof read this, I relied solely on my proofreader

Just Like Me - Platonic Scaramouche x Sibling! Reader

“Ahhh…it feels so good to relax”

Lumine sighed tiredly as she plopped herself on a bench. Scaramouche raised an eyebrow at the blonde and rolled his eyes as he stared at the traveller practically melting onto the bench. Paimon doing the same.

“You two are tired already? It’s only 12pm”

“AND we’ve been doing commissions and helping others since MIDNIGHT”

Lumine countered, now laying atop of the bench like it was the most comfiest bed in the world, Paimon nodded in agreement, going to fly over and lay down too but was knocked back a bit by Lumine.

“Go away Paimon…all you did was float around…”

“Hey!! Paimon makes great emotional support”

And all Lumine could respond with was a tired yet sarcastic ‘sure you are’. Scara watched the scene unfold in front of him and shook his head a bit. Perhaps it was because he was a puppet and didn’t get tired as fast as regular humans, but he wanted to continue their mission in Fontaine before they went to the next 2 nations.

He sat on the ground next to the blonde and after half an hour he was bored once again. Groaning a bit as he tipped his head back.

“When are we continuing our little ‘adventure’?”

“If you’re so up for it, you can go explore…look for people to help or ideally…a place to better relax and/or a place to dump Paimon”

“Hey! What’s with you and leaving me alone”

Scara shook his head as the two travelling companions began to playfully bicker, deciding to take the proposal Lumine suggested, he stood up again and began walking around Fontaine for a place to hang out or just someone in trouble. If he’d actually help them? He didn’t know either.

“GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME”

Scara covered his ears at the sudden loud screech, turning to the source of the sound, he saw someone being cornered by some guys, eyes narrowing a bit he quietly walked over.

“Just give us the mora, and we’ll be on our way”

“I’ve told you, I don’t have it. Nor do I have any debt to even be paid”

“Debt or not, we want the money”

Scara rolled his eyes, classical treasure hoarders. Using his vision he floated above them and slashed some anemo at them, pushing them to the ground. The person he saved looked up and tilted their head.

The treasure hoarders attempted to get up but the person quickly slashed them down with geo, knocking them fully unconscious.

“If you had a vision yourself, you should’ve used it”

Scara said, floating down and crossing his arms at the person who just shrugged.

“I was going too, until you came here. Are you a god or something?”

“Ha, could’ve been if my mom hadn’t betrayed me”

He mumbled under his breath, earning a confused look as the person didn’t know what he said. Quickly coughing into a fist he extended his hand.

“You can call me Wanderer, nice to meet you”

“Oh right, I’m [Name]”

They replied, a bit hesitant, taking his hand and shaking it. A bit quickly realising that the hand they shook didn’t feel the same as the others. And as creepy as it sounds, a puppet's hand is quite different to a human's hand.

Puppet?

Both Scara and [Name] looked at eachother, realising that well, both their hands felt like a puppets one.

“A puppet?”

“Seems so, wow I never met another puppet before”

“Don’t get used to it”

[Name] laughed a bit, before eyeing Scara up and down. Something about him felt familiar…perhaps too familiar. Before long they were pretty much staring and Scara was glaring at them as no words had been spoken during this time.

“Ah, sorry…but…Kuni?”

“...What?”

Scaras eyes widened at the name before narrowing again.

“How do you know that name?”

“My mom told me about Kunikuzushi or well…Kuni…he’s my older brother…well I see him as well, I’m not sure what my mom thinks”

“Older…brother…? Wait wait…you’re telling me your mother is Raiden Ei AND that you remember that?”

“Yes and yes…why is there a problem?”

Scara shook his head, this was quite the surprise for him. He had a younger sibling and they remembered him? Or the stories anyways. Thinking for a bit he decided to explain to [Name] about the incident with the ____ Tree.

Before long, he was walking them back to where he last left Lumine.

“Wow, so you erased yourself from this tree and now history has forgotten about you? Like you never existed”

“For the nth time…y e s”

“Sorry not sorry. But that’s just so cool”

[Name] explained, laughing a bit at their brother's tired look from explaining why he’s been pretty much deleted from history. Lumine was up by now and no longer bickering with Paimon, rather she was talking to someone with a smile. A smile that both Scara and [Name] recognised as a fake one.

“I’ll get right on that…yes yes bye”

Traveller waved off the Fontainian and as soon as they were out of sight their smiles dropped and buried their heads in their heads, proceeding to silently scream in them as Paimon attempted to comfort her.

“What have I told you about accepting everyone's request”

“...Not to do it”

“And you did it anyways”

Scara sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose but he had no bad feelings towards Lumine. He knew it could be hard to refuse after being known as such a helpful adventurer.

“Oh! It’s the famous traveller! Hello!”

A voice called out, Lumine turned her head to look at Scara and noticed [Name] raising a brow. Before either Lumine or Paimon could answer, Scara quickly explained.

“Wow so…Ei really made a 3rd puppet?”

“I believe they’re older then the Shogun puppet Paimon”

Lumine answered before turning back to [Name], holding her hand out for them to shake which they happily did. Scara rolled his eyes a bit at the interaction but shrugged it off. Not like it’s bad or anything.

“Hey! Since you two seem to want to hang out together, how about you join the commission Traveller just got?”

“Oh! That would be ni-”

“No”

Scara interrupted, coughing into his fist before looking at [Name] who stared back with a slight pout and a raised brow. Lumine and Paimon sighed a bit, they both internally knew that this was going to be awhile.

.

.

.

And it was! The pair had to listen to the two of them argue about [Name] joining the commission, and as harsh as Scaras words were to try to dissuade [Name] to join, Lumine could tell he just wanted to keep them safe. Unfortunately for Scara, he had been following Lumine to the commission area so…whether he liked it or not, looks like [Name] is joining.

He simply grumbled under his breath as he reluctantly grabbed his siblings arm and began dragging them around as Lumine started the commissions. If he couldn’t stop them from joining, the least he could do was protect them right?

That’s what siblings are for…and they’re also for

“THAT WAS MY SWEET MADAM [NAME]”

“NOT ANYMORE”

They’re also there to have silly arguments with after a long day of commissions, reminding both Paimon and Lumine what they must look like when they argue. Lumine simply laughed at their antics as she sipped her drink. (You wish that was you huh?)

If you want a pt 2 where I probably (hopefully) write Scara and [Name]s sibling dynamic better, please comment! I'll make one as soon as I finish my current requests :>>

[factual-fantasy]

23 asks! Thank you!! :}} 🎀

what

Originally I added the bandages to mirror my real hands being covered in Band-Aids when I made my sona. :0 (It was due to cat scratches and dry skin don't worry-)

Now they represent my "artist hands".... and my still really dry skin XDD

Oh yeah absolutely. His crab arm is so heavy that if he falls into the water he'll sink 😬 he cant move it fast enough to help him swim to the surface.. good thing Blue Beauty is always nearby! <XD

It also takes a lot of energy to move and he deals with sore back/shoulder muscles a lot. The way the crab arm formed, its like all the muscles in his back are used to lift and operate it. When he walks around he kind'a uses it as a crutch or a third leg. His legs each take a step and then his crab arm lifts forward and clunks on the ground.

"tap tap.. CLUNK. tap tap.. CLUNK."

Despite all this though, Louis still really likes his new arm and isn't bothered much by all the hardships it brings :)

@neo-metalscottic

Thank you so much!!! :DD I'm hoping I get over this soon 🥺

As for Grim's eyes, I mention that coloring mistake in the tags of this post. It was simply a matter of me misremembering what Gengar looks like :// But I'm thinking I'll keep his white eyes anyways. He looks a lot more friendly that way :}}

THEY HAVE SPARKS?? THEY'RE INDIVIDUALS?? I thought they were just mindless clones! Man.. That makes things in the show even darker-- <XDD

And ohhh, yeah I can see it. I wonder why they decided to add him of all characters? He does have cool shades tho XDD

@holly-opal

Yeah, that's the idea. <:/ I have yet to plan out how she died tho-

@glitchhayden418

There she is!! :DD She looks great!! :}}

And thank you, I'm hoping I get well soon too 🙂💔

She never has to stop! I've decided that my characters can eat as much as they want, whenever they want, however they want, and suffer absolutely no consequences what so ever.

Cici just seems to be taking advantage of this ability more than the others <XDD

@artblock200322022

:DD Thank you!! I'm so glad you like my interpretation of the Octonauts! :}}

@possibly-astraeus

Oof. Always disappointing to hear people finding me through stolen artwork..

But yeah, you're at the source now! :} Just remember, if you find my artwork anywhere else other than here? Its stolen ://

@shallow-isles

I simply misremembered what Gengar looks like and colored his eyes wrong :/// (I talk about it in the tags of this post) But I think I'll keep them white. He just looks so friendly and soft with white eyes.. 🥺

As for Sylveon, I like to think that tying his ribbons around others like that is his way of giving them a hug :}} Since Grim is so r o u n d, there's not many places the ribbons can comfortably tie and not be in Grim's way. His ears are the perfect spot! :}

@tallchest13-blog

THANK YOU! :D WOULD YOU BE UPSET IF I GAVE THIS TEA TO CICI THO? SHE REALLY WANTS TO TRY IT :((

@aishutoon

Ohh! They look so round and cozy!! :333

@yourstrulylightstar283 (Referencing this post)

Thank you! :}}}

@circadiananomaly (24k post in question)

Thank you! I'm hoping this is all over soon as well. :'(((

@candyglumboy

Like, my Pokémon Violet team? :0 There will not be any new members no.. you can only have 6 Pokémon in your party at a time!

...Then again there's Patty.. the Hoppip that Anastasia replaced.. I miss her.. 🥺💔💔💔

I hope I feel good too.. 😔😔😔

@graminos

:DD Thank you! I'm glad you like them!! :}}}}

(Post in question)

Me reading this ask ksjnakjn 🥺🥺💞💞💞 that was all basically on point!! :DDD

@youlikwjazz004

I'm afraid I have absolutely no idea how to explain that :'(( 💔💔

The very best I can explain my art process is; "I just.. draw it. And if it doesn't feel right, I just draw it differently until it does feel right." Its all down to muscle memory and drawing what "feels" right. I don't think I'm able to explain that-- 😭😭😭 I'm very sorry! <:'(((

@askladyinwhiteandfam

Woah! What a critter! :00 ✨✨It looks great! :DD

@square-the-cyan-idiot542

WAAAHGG THANK YIU!!!- Oh crap you ok tho--

@littlelightfish (Post in question)

:DD Thank you! I'm so glad you like him!! :}}}

@beryl-shade

He'd be amazed! :00

[indigo-constellation]

Your changeling!Daniil is amazing. Your Clara Burakh is amazing. Your totally-normal-scientist (who totally didn't do anything like Jack the Ripper and Victor Frankenstein in the capital! only ethically sourced bodies here!) Artemiy is amazing.

Clara as Haruspex is breaking my heart especially! The way you wrote her being friends with the kids - how Artemiy was once with Stakh, Grief and Lara - and how she has a foreboding feeling she won't belong with them once it is all over, because her role is to protect them, not be one of them! Rat man still found a way to be mean my girl 😭 Also she and Grace are so sweet. Wanted to say that Grace's name (Ласка) in Russian has double meaning: 1) weasel (animal); 2) tenderness. Do with that as you will~

Also Daniil (both of them) is so good as a changeling. I loved that quiet moment he had with Clara on the stage, where they say how odd it is to play like that. Love the eyes of the "twins" being what sets them apart, too! Raven feels like he wants to be a bad guy, but can't quite bring himself. Regretful plague that is also a dead man who is alive but only because the sickness is. Snake being so gentle and kind and seemingly having some sort of planning he doesn't fully share even with the reader. Also Daniil speaking Hebrew! I gasped when I realised. It's also a fun contrast to him only speaking in Latin in the game, especially if we still to see him as Jewish. Makes me really want to see how you'd write bachelor!Daniil! Want to take a look inside his head! I know what I shall read next.

Artemiy having a worst imposter syndrome out of all of them because of coming back home where he was supposed to take on his father's role and finding the man who was a founder of a project that could be called Artemiy's life work is comedy gold. Also his little sister literally living the life he refused! 10/10 no notes. Artemiy and his unfun coming-home-to-steppe party! 🥳 Roots, Rain and Reflection is secretly a comedy.

Thank you for writing this amazing role reversal, don't think I will be able to get it out of my head.

tumblr is so annoying bc I had a whole response and then it got deleted roijepigjetiuheoigj let me try to write what I can remember and hopefully do it better

I literally screamed when I read this ask btw thank you so much

the healers in this fic are so incredibly dear to me and I love them so much, I love getting to focus on them, yes Artemy's organs and cadavers as ethically sourced and fresh as he can get them :D

Haruclara truly deserves so much, she doesn't fit into the Termites despite being a kid herself, half because of the way she was raised and half because of the nature of the story and the separation of Healers and Bound. While also having messy connections with the other two Healers. I really wish I could have more Grara but this is primarily p1 focused so the Bound's role is limited (the amount of Yulia/Rubin/Lara/Aspity I had to cut- istg I was so excited to have an Aspity and Artemy interaction on day 6 but it would've been too long) I will keep what you said in mind though! thank you ^^

Changeniil has been so write, he keeps so much of himself hidden, so getting to reveal those small bits of him like in that theatre bit are great. The hands and the eyes being the main things to distinguish the twins Dankovsky is fun because those are two things Pathologic focuses on a lot, though I will say that there might be more later on. The Raven is a miserable wet beast, the idea behind the twins has been that different bits of Daniil are split up, so and what's fun about that is that it's Plagueniil that has the idealism. He's a fucked up guy held together only by spite and disease but he cares so much it hurts him. The Snake is also a creature, truly, he knows his plan, Raven knows his plan (and doesn't like it at all), and I know how it will fail, the narrators being unreliable is such a fun part of patho. I always write Daniil as Jewish (because he is to me lol) but specifically Daniil I think fits with Hebrew because it is a revived language and as a guy who is trying to defeat death I think it would suit him (also revived language and revived Daniil was an intentional choice) I will say though, idk how well my old writing holds up bc my writing got a lot better while writing roleswap so go at your own risk lol

Finally, Bachtemy, a dearly beloved fool <3 he used to have a much bigger conflict with Daniil about Daniil not being who Artemy expected him to be and that being a lot more angsty but then I started writing that scene and it turned out gay so nice. There's a lot about Artemy I'm planning to go into in chapter 7 so look out for that. Artemy is also 100% the character I get to make the funniest, truly the comedian of the cast, I am putting him in the blender as I write this.

thank you again for this!! sorry with inflicting you with the thinking about it curse lol, it's happened to a few people as I've seen and idk how to fix that (I am also infected I cannot stop thinking abt this au) but this long ask really made me so happy to see and I'm so glad you're enjoying it!!

[thepigeonhasapen]

hey can i request for charon from hades x male nymph reader who is a chef in the house of hades headcanons

Of course! This is my first time writing for Charon tho so forgive me if it's not great. Also I try to keep all reader inserts as gender-neutral as possible so I hope you don't mind, sorry! Hope you like it :D

🛶Charon/Chef!Reader Headcanons🛶

I imagine you meet through Zagreus as Charon doesn't visit the House very often. It's not that he's banned from it or anything, he just much prefers to be on his own. So Zagreus is really his only source of gossip. Luckily, Zagreus is chatty as hell and mentions you to Charon almost immediately. Hades rarely hires new staff so of course Charon's interest is piqued. He's even more interested when Zagreus brings him some food you've made. Now, Charon doesn't usually care for food one way or the other. He appreciates the Nectar Zagreus brings him, but honestly he'd be equally as appreciative of like a cool rock or something. Still, something about your food is intriguing to Charon. Maybe it’s your nymph heritage impacting the way you cook? After all, nymphs are rare in the Underworld.

Charon kinda lowkey pesters Zagreus to bring him more of your cooking. Zagreus happily does, but he also meddles because he's Zagreus and I'm pretty sure that man physically does not know how to not meddle. He'll start by mentioning to you that you've got a fan in the Underworld.

"You know... Charon's been going nuts for your cooking. Well, I mean, as much as he's capable of going nuts for anything really."

He'll also encourage Charon to go see you in person himself. It occurs to Charon that yeah. That is a thing he could do actually. He doesn't really care for the House but you intrigue him so he'll manage. For a few visits at least anyway.

I choose to believe that Charon is fully capable of making himself understood by anyone if he actually wants to talk to them. He simply doesn't bother most of the time because he just genuinely wants everyone to go away and leave him to his own business. However this isn't common knowledge so you're surprised when you find you can understand Charon. You certainly weren't able to understand him when he first picked you up from Erebus.

Charon gravitates most to the open, bold, chatty type, but he can appreciate it if you're quiet and somber instead. Be a decent person, treat him with respect and kindness, and Charon will keep coming back.

Nyx likes that you've encouraged her eldest son to visit more often and will draw you aside and tell you so. Which is probably quite alarming because she hardly ever talks to you. (Canonically she does tell Dusa off for talking with Zag, but it's different in this case. Charon is perfectly alright cutting ties if people push his boundaries too much, unlike Zag who will try to work it out.) Hypnos also stops by to thank you, because now he gets to see his brother more often! Also congratulations. By befriending Charon you have now earned the respect of both Thanatos and Hypnos! Thanatos is more subtle about it, but Hypnos is now so fully intrigued by your ability to draw his brother's attention that he will routinely ditch work to come hang out with you. I hope you don't expect him to help with cooking though. Hypnos is more of a sit on the counter and gossip kind of colleague.

Charon starts to make a point to visit you as often as he can. Like his brother, he'll sit with you, but unlike Hypnos he'll actually use a chair like a proper adult. He finds it fascinating to just sit quietly and watch you work, and will occasionally rumble out a question about what you're doing. May potentially be enticed to chop vegetables or stir something, but really he'd just prefer to watch. He can't help that he finds you so enthralling!

Kind of a nuisance to be perfectly honest. Won't outright steal food but he will stare at you with puppy-dog eyes until you let him taste. And once you two grow close, Charon becomes a lot touchier. Will stand directly behind you with his arms around your waist and rest his chin on your shoulder.

Scary dog privileges activated. Because Charon likes you, you have amazing job security. If you're ever fired, Charon will be over the moon because now he gets you all to himself immediately find you another place to continue your cooking. They aren't as prestigious as the House, but there are still bars and restaurants in Elysium he can find work for you, if that's what you want to do. If you're really broken up about it though, Charon will just straight up go on strike. Look, he's besties with Zagreus and he'll still charge him like fifty bucks for a sandwich even if he's on the brink of death. My man is a petty bitch.

[canarysage]

…make a psd?

this is a question i get pretty routinely, and i’m going to tell you upfront: there is no one way to make a psd. there’s no ‘better’ way, no ‘easier’ method, you just have to figure it out yourself.

with that said, this post is going to be how i, personally, make my psds, just for the sake of reference. my way isn’t better or worse than anyone else’s—it’s just the way i do things ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i. making a showcase/moodboard

depending on the psd you want to achieve, your moodboard will probably look different—if you’re making a blue psd it will be mostly blue, if you’re making a psd based on a certain character or card set it will be based around that, etc. i made myself a general showcase that i test my psds on that includes both irl images and darker skin characters, because i like for my psds to work for those purposes most of the time. my showcase is below if you’d like to use it!

it’s best to include sources you edit frequently so you know what works on them and what doesn’t but how the moodboard looks exactly is up to you ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i also recommend using swatchies (original by zeroresources on d*viantart) as long as you bear in mind that swatchies is not a great guideline for actual dark skin

ii. creating the base

actual step two is creating a folder but that takes like two seconds. do make a folder though or you will be sad.

after making a folder, start making the base of your psd; whatever the foundation is going to be. depending on how you want your psd to look, this will look very different. i personally always start off with a gradient map, just to get things going

my settings for this are the default black and white gradient map set to reverse, and it’s set to blending mode soft light at 35% opacity. i typically do something in the range of 20-45% opacity depending on how i want it to look

i’m honestly not sure where i picked up this habit but it does make it a little easier to get things going for me personally. it’s a simple change but it’s a good start. if you want higher contrast you can do the same thing but without reversing the gradient map

next thing i do when creating a base is add a selective color layer, which helps things pick up the pace. i’m too lazy to write it all down but these are my settings:

worlds ugliest collage so i don’t max out my images LMFAO apologies. obviously depending on what colors you want to focus on this will look different. for this one i completely axed magenta and emphasized blue and red/yellow. i also maxed out the black in white, which is extremely typical in my psds. this is what our psd looks like now:

pretty different already, right? nice!

next thing i typically do is another selective color layer. it’s typically pretty similar to the first, but once again that depends on the psd! the worlds worst collage again:

pretty much the same but a little different. and our results:

as you can see, this is pretty saturated and a little all over the place. not to worry—let’s move onto the next step!

iii. let’s get serious

this step varies a lot depending on what my psd needs, but because this one is pretty sayurated right now and that seems to be my main problem, i’m going to add a photo filter in a light grayish-blue to help desaturate and cool it down

(i unchecked preserve luminosity here because i think it looks neat. i don’t recommend doing that if you’re using a darker color bc it gets hard to see, but you can do whatever forever)

obviously this isn’t the only way to desaturate but i find it fun. observe:

definitely better, at least to me, but still not great. we’re going to add another selective color layer bc the skintones look kinda wack. welcome back world’s worst collage:

i only adjusted some of the colors in this one because i wanted to fix specific problems; namely that the darker skin tones were too dark and ashy.

mission accomplished

with that done, it’s time for hue/saturation! for funsies ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧ this part i just had some fun with. a new collage:

and the results:

purple! this wasn’t what i originally had in mind but it was much more fun to do tbh LMAO i decided to turn the cyan/blue into purple because it looked better in my head

iv. okay now get silly again

now that the main meat—so to speak—of our psd is done, we can add some fun layers. if you want ideas for this, i have a post about it, but what i’m gonna add as my first silly layer is channel mixer, which is one of my personal favorite layers

pretty simple adjustments for channel mixer honestly ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but i thought this would look fun. as a general rule of thumb i don’t mess with the red channel so much because it tends to screw over my skintones, but, as with anything, you’re free to do whatever forever

next fun layer i’m gonna add is a noise gradient map, also just for funsies

i randomized until i got a nice pink-ish kinda one. i was hoping for blue but all the blue ones were too green and i got impatient LOL

a little fucked but for sure fun. i set the gradient map to soft light at about 15% opacity. it gave the psd a fun texture and a bit of extra warmth

v. finishing touches

sometimes i add a couple more layers, sometimes i add less, but this psd feels about done so imma wrap it up. i typically don’t save my psds as the showcase for my storage’s sake, so i’m gonna grab something to use as an icon. i typically go ahead and size it at about 300x300

hello, haruka! once i have my icon set i duplicate the folder into the new project and name both the project and the folder. how you name it is up to you, i usually either use a random word generator or just whatever comes to mind. in this case, i’m just naming it ‘tutorial psd’ lol

then go to file and save as psd, bada bing bada boom you’ve got a psd ☆〜（ゝ。∂）

as i said at the beginning, there’s no one way to make a psd. this isn’t the only process or even the best one, it’s just how i personally work. the best way to make a psd on your own is fuck around and find out <3 canarysage out

…so that’s how you do it.

P.S. the psd i made here will be posted under the tag #tutorial psd. you’re free to poke around in it and use it as per usual. if you want to copy it, feel free, but don’t claim it’s your own or repost it as your work. thanks!

P.P.S. wondering about adjustment layers? see photopea for dummies. wondering about something i haven’t covered yet? shoot me an ask ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

[wilderebellion]

Calorum Lore Shared in the Dropout Discord

Thank you, Past!Brennan.

Some of them might re-contextualize a thing or two about TRW series. Typically in response to specific questions, but I focused solely on posting Brennan's responses.

Lore on The Ravening War (from April 20, 2020 1:02am ET)

In 1188, a conflict broke out because Count Jacques Tomaté, a Fructeran noble, was by birthright next in line for the throne of Greenhold!

Culture of the Meat Lands (Feb 21, 2020)

Brennan: Meatlanders have clan delineations based on bloodline and their worship/propitiation of The Great Beasts, which is a pagan, polytheistic faith! Warfare between various clans goes back centuries and centuries, a lot like the ancient Celts, so while some Meatlanders might feel kinship with other Meatlanders over outsiders, it's just as common for a given Meatlander to feel THE MOST animosity to a member of an enemy meat clan. So "The Meatlands" doesn't really have a national identity in the same way that, say, Ceresia does, and individuals there are much more likely to define their loyalty by family, clan and faith than by nationality.

(May 18, 2020 8:14pm ET)

The Meatlanders are like ancient Celts: The fact that they don't wear shirts lets southerners stereotype them as barbarians, but their culture is equally as beautiful, ancient and complex as any other land's. Carn is a metropolis full of architectural wonders, beautiful art, etc. Meatlanders rule!!! Labeling them barbarians, like in real life, is a tool artistocrats use to breed xenophobia and hatred into their homleands population, making them more malleable and compliant

The Rocks Sisters (May 1, 2020 11:46pm)

The four sisters were the four archetypal classes! Fighter, Wizard, Cleric, Rogue!

Magic Items (April 20, 2020 9:44pm ET)

Magical items aren't quite as prevalent in other nations as they are in Candia!

Amethar's Mom (April 20, 2020 1:21am ET)

Amethar's mother, before she was Queen Pamelia Rocks, was Pamelia Pomegrana, a Fructeran noble!

Magic and Miracle Workers (from April 20, 2020 1:04am, 1:06am, 1:15am)

Brennan: Just like in normal D&D, it takes SPECIFIC training or divinatory magic to tell if magic is arcane or divine, or where its power source originates from! People's reactions to magic are LARGELY based on uninformed prejudice, and aesthetic. This is how Lapin is mostly able to con people.

Even within the Bulbian Church, 99+% of its clergy CAN'T cast magic. Being a miracle worker is a REALLY big fucking deal, and almost always guarantees ROCKETING to the top of the church hierarchy

Liam's magic truly getting him in trouble depends on context! Obvious spellcasting would get him in a lot of trouble, but Candian's magic items usually get a pass from commonfolk because it would be viewed as "alchemy," which isn't seen as being heretical at all!

Leadership in Calorum (from May 6, 2020)

5:32pm ET

Brennan: Plumbeline is the Sovereign Ruler of Fructera, yes! Gustavo had to abdicate in order to become Concordant Emperor! Plumbeline's title is still Lady though, Fructera doesn't have a monarchy, it has a complex consortium of Noble Houses that rule through an orchestrated bloc of alliances, kind of an aristocratic bureaucracy!

5:40pm ET

Brennan: Dairy Islands ALSO a monarchy, just doesn't confer the title of King or Queen to its monarch (uses Prince or Princess), also Ceresia HAS been a monarchy at times, has vacillated between Republic and Imperatorship MANY times, with some dynasties of Imperators lasting a dozen generations or more!

Social Categories

Brennan: All the food nations have weird edge cases, so the delineations are DEFINITELY social and not biological/botanical. Pie people, a combination of grain, butter and fruit, are overwhelmingly Candian. In Calorum, these edge cases would be much like they are in our world, the result of historical wars of conquest, marriages, alliances, etc!

Genetic Complexity (from April 20, 2020 2:14pm ET)

Brennan: Popping in here like a goddamned troll to say that Calorans' DNA are powerfully influenced by more than just their parents genetics, but also by the geographical location of their conception, their gestation and even their childhood dwelling place up through puberty! I suspect that every question I answer only serves to raise further questions, for which I am deeply sorry!!

Other Monarchies in Calorum (May 6, 2020 5:40pm ET)

Brennan: Dairy Islands ALSO a monarchy, just doesn't confer the title of King or Queen to its monarch (uses Prince or Princess), also Ceresia HAS been a monarchy at times, has vacillated between Republic and Imperatorship MANY times, with some dynasties of Imperators lasting a dozen generations or more!

Queer Rights in Calorum (from May 18, 2020 8:23pm)

Brennan: Candia is the MOST permissive of all the nations in terms of most issues, but no nation in Calorum is openly homophobic. However, it's important to remember that archaic concepts like bloodlines, political marriage, heirs and primogentiure [sic], etc. still exist in this world, and are more emphasized and expected in nations outside of Candia, which puts a lot of pressure on the nobility from that end of the spectrum. In a weird way, that means peasants are a lot freer in terms of who and how they love and marry than aristocrats and especially royals, which there is also some interesting IRL research and precedent for!

Post-War Events (May 18, 2020 8:07pm ET)

I don't think any of these are spoilers, but Amethar and Caramelinda married shortly after the war ended. King Jadain died shortly after the war, after the establishment of the Concord!

Funeral Rites of Calorum's Faiths (May 18, 2020 8:04pm ET)

Bulbians practice burial and very formal funereal rites, and have a sharp delineation between body and spirit, so the body which is crass and material goes back into the ground, and the soul joins the Bulb. Meatlanders practice cremation, and have different beliefs based on religious affiliation, but most Great Beast faiths belief that an afterlife is EARNED through great deeds, otherwise you're reincarnated and get to try again!

[cloudcountry]

lovely little specimen

Genre/Tropes: No notable ones!!

Summary: You decide to surprise Jade with a mushroom fairy costume on Halloween.

Author's Comments: i would LOVE wearing one of those big mushroom hats. they look so cute and so extra i love them.

~~~~~

You felt your heart flutter in your chest as you approached the alchemy lab, a giant mushroom hat balanced on top of your head. There’s a pit of nerves twisting on your stomach that you try your best to ignore as Grim follows you to the building in his cute little witch costume. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t pick this outfit specifically for Jade, but his reaction is slowly becoming a source of dread. You know all too well that he’ll take this as an opportunity to humiliate you, but you reach out and open the front door despite your reservations. Grim grabs onto your leg with a quiet “mrah!” and you can practically feel him shaking.

There’s nobody to greet the two of you at the door as you slowly proceed into the hallway, the blue-green glow at the end of the it beckoning you further into the darkness. You feel like you’re being watched, you think, and you shiver as you clutch your little tote bag tighter.

The room emitting the glow is a laboratory, you realize. Peeking your head in, you don’t see anything overly suspicious. You should know better than you judge immediately though, as Octavinelle is known for their sneaky little tricks. Halloween was practically made for them.

Stepping over to the examination table, you try not to think too hard about what the various splatters of dark red and brown are (even though your mind screams dried blood.) Grim has been awfully quiet, so you look down only to see a blank space where he used to be. Fear grips your heart and you whip around, only to see Jade towering over you with his sharp teeth on full display.

You nearly bruise your hip with how hard you jump back, a small scream tearing its way from your throat at the close proximity. How the fuck did he get that close without you knowing? Since when did he move that quietly?! Great Seven, he was practically on top of you!

“Oh?” he steps closer, eyes raking over you form like a predator about to pounce, “What is this? A lovely little specimen stumbled into our lab...Hmm, how peculiar.”

You bunch the fabric covering your thighs in your hands, reminding yourself that this is just Jade, not a monster.

“Do you like the costume?” you ask, voice shaker than you would have liked, “I...worked really hard to put it together.”

Jade steps closer to you, a nasty smirk still on his face. You find yourself leaning back on instinct, and before you realize it Jade has you caged between him and the table with his arms.

“I appreciate the effort you put into this.” he hums, brushing his fingers along your sleeve, “Did you do it for me, Little Pearl?”

“Yes. I thought you’d...like it.” you mumble, turning your head away as he leans even closer.

He chuckles, and there’s a warm sweat that breaks out over your body at the sound. An arm snakes around your back, and for a moment you toy with the possibility of him not wanting you to bruise your back on the table. But no, this is Jade, and he’s doing it to ensure that you remain as trapped as possible within his grasp. You’re sure of it.

“How touching. I truly do have the best lover.” he smiles, this time without his teeth, and for a second his visage turns tender. You know Jade too well to be fooled, though, because he still hasn’t let you go.

“Jade...?” you say his name hesitantly, eyes darting nervously around the room. If you were to grip the table any harder, you’re certain the wood would snap underneath your fingers.

“Yes, Little Pearl?” he chuckles, eyelashes fluttering as his golden eye glows, the look as affectionate as it is foreboding.

“Your costume is nice too.” you fumble with your words, mouth curving into a wobbly smile, “You look handsome.”

“Charming.” he snickers, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear, “You flatter me, my dear.”

You open your mouth to reply, but your voice is caught in your throat as Jade presses a single kiss to your cheek. You feel his knuckle drag over the other side of your face as the black part of his hair brushes against your skin. His lips are soft and they linger, the skin that he touched tingling faintly. You’re left gaping as he squeezes your hip, pulling away.

“Apologies, my sweet. You looked too adorable to resist.” he hums, slinking off towards the door, “You best remember that this is a haunted establishment, and that my fellow Octavinelle students will not bestow any mercy upon you today.”

Your brain catches up to you and floods with questions on Grim’s whereabouts, but you can’t force any noise out of your throat as Jade smirks and wiggles his fingers at you, disappearing back into the hallway from whence you came as if he was never there to begin with.

You go through the rest of the haunted house and find Grim being chased around a table by Azul. Even after Halloween has ended, he still has not forgiven you for not finding him sooner.

But still. It was worth it.

[surely-galena]

idk how often lead paint are used (if at all)

but for total shits and giggles, in the crackiest way possible, i imagine marius using lead paint, sometimes accidentally drinking the paint water

and then someone tries to assassinate him with poison and it doesn't do shit because as it turns out, the poison isn't as strong as lead and marius sort of built a tolerance to lead poisoning on accident.

cue assassin freaking the fuck out because the poison had no effect

idk where that came from

Hi Rose!! :D

I did some surface level research for this ask because I thought that lead paint wasn't used any longer, but that's actually a myth... just not in the way I thought it was. When I think of lead paint, my mind goes to historical artists who poisoned themselves through their paintings, but the articles I skimmed were all about lead paint used for industrial/homeowner purposes. There is, however, Lead White paint for artists, but this is pretty expensive because it isn't produced as much and there are safer alternatives for artists to use, too. Money isn't a problem for Marius, so let's say he ends up using the fancy lead white oil paint for his art.

I read through this transcript of an episode from This Podcast Will Kill You on lead poisoning (tw for discussions around child experimentation) and essentially, adults are at lower risk than children because they don't absorb as much lead into their system. Also, absorbing lead through inhaling it is much worse than ingesting it because it gets into your system through your lungs. So even if drinking lead paint water sounds bad (and likely is), it would probably be much worse if Marius had been exposed to lead dust. Both are still bad though!

Plus, since lead has a sugary taste, Marius would probably be able to identify that he was drinking paint water on his first sip (and hopefully spit it out). If he doesn't... then Marius what are you doing.

Now I couldn't find a good source on this, but according to this Wikipedia article on Mithridatism (building up an immunity to poison), it is not possible to build up a tolerance to heavy metals (e.g. lead). This makes sense to me, but take it with a grain of salt since I didn't find anything to back this up.

Also, in the scenario with the assassin, let's say that Marius did somehow have a tolerance to lead poisoning. The chances of the assassin using lead would be a lot lower compared to something fast and lethal (belladonna and cyanide immediately come to mind but you may have to fact check that). So Marius would have an immunity to a different kind of substance and would still end up getting poisoned.

But say that nothing happens to Marius, like you said, and the assassin starts freaking out (as they should). Then this implies that Marius has either knowingly or unknowingly been building up a tolerance to a different kind of poison than lead (which means he's been going through symptoms of mild poisoning over and over again), and not only that, he's been continuously poisoning himself to keep up that tolerance.

Who's responsible for that?? Vyn and Luke, in some attempt to save their friend before he gets assassinated in the future? Giann von Hagen, bragging about his tolerance to X poison to Marius and thus putting ideas into younger Marius' head? Payton, who somehow predicted what kind of poison future assassins would use???

I hope I didn't lose you with all that rambling, haha. It's still a great scenario even if I didn't focus on the comedy/crack part as much, thank you for the ask!!

[hooked-on-elvis]

Want to read yet another story of Elvis being generous?

How Elvis' friendship with Tom Jones gathered the King with The VOICE

[1] Elvis wearing the 1973 Arabian jumpsuit. Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas. August, 1973. [2] Donny Sumner, letf, Shaun "Sherrill" Nielsen* and Tim Beaty of the Voice, a pop-rock-gospel trio, warm up before their performance at The Villa at 1711 Hayes St. in Nashville on March 1, 1975. They are still recovering from injuries causes by when their van veered off the highway and rolled down an embankment a month before.

LATE JULY - EARLY AUGUST, 1973 Elvis was in Vegas to rehearse for his second 1973 Las Vegas engagement (Las Vegas, Season 9 - From August 6th to September 3rd 1973) While in Las Vegas Elvis had the opportunity to help out his friend Tom Jones, who was facing the possibility of having to replace his vocal group the Blossoms on his current show. When Elvis heard about his predicament, he thought he might do Jones a favor by presenting him with a substitute group. One of the members of his entourage, Kenny Hicks, knew that former Statesmen Sherrill Nielsen and Tim Baty and J. D. Summer’s nephew Donnie had formed a new Nashville vocal group called Voice. Elvis knew all of them well; he had worked with Sherrill in 1966 on How Great Thou Art, and once introduced him to an indifferent Las Vegas audience as “the greatest tenor in gospel music.” Why not fly their new group out to Las Vegas to help Jones out?

#FYI

On the picture above, Elvis is leaving the Anaheim Royal Inn to perform his evening concert on April 24 1973 at the Convention Center in Anaheim, CA (8.30 pm). EP is with his entourage, some of them known Memphis Mafia guys, and his father, Vernon Presley. Kenny Hicks is the one guy on the left, next to Red West. There's not many pictures of them together. Kenny worked as a valet/aide to Elvis, between 1973-1975. In 2010, Hicks published the memoir book, "Elvis, As I Knew Him" (photo 2, book front cover). Kenny is told to be the one letting Elvis know about the Voice group has been formed.

Transported by private jet, the nervous trio arrived at Elvis’s suite, only to be put on the spot to sing for Elvis, Tom Jones, and country singer Bobbie Gentry. Jones was impressed with the group, and he was touched by the offer — but as it turned out, he told Elvis, he had an unbreakable contract with the Blossoms. It may have been the opening Elvis was looking for all along: After giving the group the bad news, with a flourish he produced a piece of paper for them to sign — a year-long contract, he explained, guaranteeing them $100,000 to serve as his backup group and sing with him in private whenever he felt like hearing them, while signing them to his new publishing company. They couldn’t help being shocked, but they gratefully accepted. Before the group left the suite Elvis called his father to announce the news; Vernon, though, was less than enthusiastic to learn of his son’s latest whim, which only supported his constant fear that his son’s indulgences would someday leave them all bankrupt. Excerpt: "Elvis Presley: A Life in Music" by Ernst Jorgensen. Foreword by Peter Guralnick (1998)

Cool, isn't it? EP didn't need to do this, he was in no need for another gospel group (he already had signed The Stamps Quartet to back him in concert for a while now - since 1971), but he signed the Voice, aside from admiring their talent, clearly just to make up for something that went not quite as expected — something he was actually doing to help another one of his friends.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FURTHER INFO

"Sherrill" is Shaun Nielsen's birth name, and it is the name all Elvis fans best know him with, but he changed it to "Shaun" at some point. He said that after enough instances of hearing himself paged 'Phone call for Miss Sherrill Nielsen', he thought changing his name would be a good idea. (Source: elvisoncd.com). Sherrill is a gender-neutral name but, since is not very common for a male, people currently take it as a female name right away.

[thegreatestsandwich]

So good to me, so right (Jacaerys Velaryon x Reader)

Masterlist

Pairing: Jace Velaryon x Reader

Word count: 3.5k

Summary: He met you by coincidence and for some reason, he can’t seem to let you go.

Warning: Nothing really, well it’s cringy and it doesn’t make any sense, I wrote this by being sick and drugged with the whole bunch of medicine I have to take

A/N: So here’s the second fic of my little project, it’s kinda a re-told of the little mermaid? kinda, I really don’t know what I wrote :D

The day was grey, the clouds were angry and the wind was screaming for blood but down into the darker waters, the ocean was singing in harmony within the ongoing storm and show. You could hear the song so clearly and perfectly, an inviting tune that lured you into join in.

You were swimming closer to the shore, closer to what Dragonstone was supposed to be located, perfectly knowing that in any moment, any fool would succumb into the arms of very sweet and lovingly death. You were waiting patiently as you could feel it, see it and smell it down on your bare bones. The blinding light erupted from the sky, another thunder, another sign. It was almost time for a delicious meal.

Your eyes tried to adjust at what was happening on the sky above. Different colors were dancing, trying to lead the continuous steps. Red and oranges tones across the grey canvas. Loud screams of monstruous beast, the smell of smoke.

At first it terrified you, as you were one of the youngest of your species and being that meant you needed to prove to your tribe you could contribute into hunting and feed them as well. So you force yourself to come up and finally choose what a great meal was about to happened.

Silence followed the thunder. Silence brought smoke and pieces falling freely to the ocean. The ocean was the only thing that heard their screams, the ocean was the only thing that received them with joy.

You closed your eyes, slowly disappearing into the waters, finally accepting the ocean’s call for a meal. Your sirens instincts took over you, taking you into the depths where no human could ever follow. You began searching for a source of food, pieces of things that you didn’t know were floating underwater, that’s when you sense it.

Blood.

Few corpses were floating while others were already falling into the darkest depth. A smile formed on your face and you began swimming your way to your objective. You stopped quickly when you saw the creature. It was bigger than you, and the scales on its body told you that it didn’t belong to the ocean. A huge stick was pocking through its chest. You knew it was in pain and a part inside your mind told you that it wouldn’t be fair to attack it.

That’s when you saw him. He was next to the thing, another stick was pocking on his chest as well as the beast, you saw him began to fall into the depths. You hesitated for a second, yes; you were really hungry and wanted to eat him but still, there was something inside you that didn’t let you. You made up your mind quickly and as fast as you could, you swim to him, hugging him below where the stick was poking and took him to the lonely island you knew he could be safe. You did the same thing with the beast that was closer to the human.

Whitin the passing seconds, you noticed he was not waking up, even though you already made sure the water was completely out of his body, same with the beast but both of them weren’t opening their eyes. You focus on the stick, it was still on them, you were afraid of taking it off, thinking something bad could happened to them.

You knew there was something deeper in the ocean, far beyond the darkness that could help them, but it was a trip even you didn’t dare to make.

The human moaned in pain, and your eyes quickly went back to him. You saw him move a bit before staying still again, so you decided that perhaps, the trip wouldn’t be a bad idea. It wouldn’t take more than two moon passings to complete it.

You sighed knowing what you were about to do, you dragged yourself closer to the human, your tail collecting sand along the way. Your hand moved a few strands of brown hair from his face, your fingers playing with them for a few seconds before finally moving his face -not- carefully, you opened his eyes. Brown. You opened his mouth, the teeth were weird, not pointy enough to eat, you wondered what he consume if he couldn’t bite meat off the bone.

He groaned again and you nodded before going back to the ocean and into the deepest depths.

The journey took a bit too long for your liking and you hoped he was still there where you left him, and hopefully alive. You found the island quickly and swam as fast as you could, a tiny bottle tucked against your ribs carefully, you didn’t saw him laying on the sand and you got worried that something attacked him at his most vulnerable state.

You reached the shore and began dragging yourself into the island. You spotted him quickly against a three still asleep, the stick still on his body. The beast behind him, completely stressed, his stand was like a predator and you made sure to not made eye contact, perfectly knowing it as it resembles closer to the ones from underneath.

You show it the tiny bottle, carefully getting closer and closer to the man, trying to show the beast that you were not a threat. The beast decided to observe you for a moment, trying to understand what your next move would be.

You manage to drag your tail closer to the human, sitting next to him as you carefully watched his features, his face was fascinating, completely different from the ones of your species. More softer. You poked his cheek and waited for his reaction. He just frowned and you smiled. Your eyes turned towards the stick, touching it softly, it was wood, easily to take off with one pull. Your hands quickly put the bottle on his legs and grabbed the stick, without much thinking, you pull it with force and it slide off from him.

He screamed in pain and it startled you for a second, but you force you to concentrate, you quickly grabbed the bottle, spreading the liquid onto his wound, you grabbed his arms as hard as you could because he was being difficult. You knew how much it hurt to have that liquid on the body but you needed him to stay still so it could work.

The beast felt the pain of his owner so it began growling at you, you were getting a bit nervous at how it began to show its teeth at you, so you did the only thing you could and hissed back. It definitely quiet it.

The human stopped fighting you and simply sighed in content as the pain was slowly subsiding. You hummed and turned your attention to the beast, watching how the stick was still on its body, your hand stretched out to grabbed it but it growled in anger, yet you didn’t let it scare you, it was in pain so you wanted to help. You leg go of the human and drag yourself towards the beast, you grabbed the stick and pull it away with force. It growled and it tried to bite you, but you manage to rest your palm against the open wound. Forcing some of the liquid into it.

You waited next to the human, the beast had already calm itself down when the liquid finally took away the last of the pain, he even curled next to you, waiting for his owner to finally wake up. It didn’t took long. The night was almost approaching when he woke up, he was confused at first, trying to recollect his thoughts about what just had happened.

His hands went quickly to his chest, trying to find the arrow but he found none, he sighed in relief, thinking it might had been a dream, but being outside, on an island, next to a creature who was putting several pieces of shells on his legs, told the contrary.

Jace quickly stood up, almost falling in the process. “What…?” His dragon woke up with the alteration from his owner, lazily stretching.

You watched him with curiosity when you heard it the sound his stomach made. He was hungry, you understood that sound, you quickly made your way back to the waters, no after pushing him into the sand and looking at him in the eye, hoping he would understand the meaning of your glare.

Jace was just confused, one moment he was flying, then someone shot him, he thought he was about to die and then he woke up next to you, a beautiful woman with a tail, no legs. A TAIL. He began pacing on the sand, trying to find any sort of coherent plan he could think of. His dragon was no help at all, opting for just sat next to the shore waiting for the girl who left moments ago. To be completely honest, Jace was thinking this was some sort of a dream.

Being trapped with your care was something he never imagine would happened to him. You were a bit rough but he suspected to the fact that you were not completely human, and the communication aspect was completely off so to spend time he decided to help you learn a few words. Jace managed to help you learn his name, he also gave you a name, he introduced you to Vermax officially and even talked about his mother.

But in reality, even if spending time with you was a break from all the responsibilities he had and even taking away his mind from the ongoing war. He needed to understand that this was just a passenger distraction. So one day he asked you to hunt for a bit because he was hungry, and you happily accepted.

You swam to the shore once again, your arms full of different kind of fishes, hoping Jace and Vermax would like your choices this time. You smiled at the thought of having another meal with your new friends but when quickly left your face as you saw the island completely empty.

“Jace?” You called out. “Vermax? Here?” Silence welcomed you once again. Your arms drop the fish on the sand, your tail barely out of the water.

Your heart felt heavy and weird, a feeling you never had experience before. A few drops began falling into your tail, your eyes went to the sky, finding it free from any cloud, there was no water falling from it.

Your fingers touched your face, feeling the water coming out of your eyes, your hands rubbed harsher against your eyes, trying to dry them out. With a grunt, you dragged yourself again towards the waters, not looking back at the pile of fishes you spend hours catching.

It pained him to leave you but he needed to do it, his return was far more important than the need and want to stay next to you. Jace rode Vermax to Dragonstone, hoping that his mother was waiting for him.

Vermax roared, breaking his thoughts, his eyes finally focusing on his home. “Finally.” He whispered. His dragon softly landed on the ground and for the first time, he felt beyond tired. He was exhausted.

With so much effort, he made his way into the castle, passing several servants who looked at him as he was a ghost. That’s when his mother spotted him.

“Jacaerys?” Rhaenyra whispered in disbelief, stopping harshly. Daemon watched carefully, his eyes searching what his wife just had saw, that’s when he saw him.

Jace turned around, at the end of the hall was his mother, completely changed, the stress was completely painted on her face, her eyes shown the mourning she has been dealing for the past few weeks. “Jacaerys?!” Rhaenyra scream, finally running towards her son.

Jace didn’t waste any time, and even if he was completely tired and sleep was trying to force its way, he run towards her. Once she reached him, she hugged him with so much force. “Oh my boy, oh my sweet boy, you are here, you are here.” Rhaenyra kissed his head repeatedly. “You are alive, you are, I knew it, I knew it.”

“Mother, please.” Jace hold her tightly. “The others are watching.” The joke he tried to make cause a small teary chuckle from his mother. “I had missed you as well.”

“Please come, come and tell me everything.” She led him towards his room. Daemon following behind them.

“A beautiful woman.” Jace said with a smile after finishing everything that happened to him. “The most beautiful woman I had ever seen, mother.” Rhaenyra smiled as she sat next to him on his bed, brushing away the hair from his face. “You would love her.”

“I already love her.” She responded. “She saved my son, she has my eternal gratitude.”

“It is impossible.” Daemon took a step forward, his face completely in disbelief. “A woman with a tail similar to the scales of a dragon.” He paused for a second. “And she came out of the ocean?”

“Daemon.” Rhaenyra stopped him. “I believe he is telling the truth.” She stared at her husband saying no more. There were somethings that the world hide beneath the eye, even an eye as experienced as the Targaryen one. “Jace has no reason to lie.”

“Not a lie.” Daemon accepted. “But perhaps a changing in ones perspective, he was injured and miraculously landed on a stranded island, loosing blood rapidly. I doubt a few aspects of his story.”

“I can show you.” Jace quickly interrupted, trying to pry away his mother’s hands from pushing him back to bed. “I can introduce her to you right now, if we leave in this moment maybe we could...”

“No.” Rhaenyra protested, quickly stopping Daemon from speaking. “What you need is rest, there is time for that another day.”

“But…”

“No, I said rest.”

But meeting you again turned out to be after a few days, a storm had made its way to Dragonstone, forcing everyone to stay put for some days, he hated that, he needed to see you again and began wondering if you would forgive him for just leaving without saying goodbye. He hoped you do.

After the storm cleared out, Jace knew he needed to move quickly. He trudge into the iron throne, startling his mother and Daemon with his brusque entrance.

“Mother, I believe it is time for you to meet her. I have waited enough and I’m already as healthy as I can be.” He said.

Rhaenyra watched him carefully. “Meet her?”

“The storm has already disperse and it’s perfect for the dragons to fly to her island.” He bowed his head, wishing that they could just say yes and begin their way to the island. “Mother, please.”

His mother sighed, knowing that there would not be anything she could say to beg him to rest for another day. She nodded, turning towards her husband. “I won’t be long.”

Daemon scoffed. “You think I will let you go on your own?”

“She won’t be on her own, I will be there.” Jace retorted. “And she is completely inoffensive.”

“You are still hurt boy.” Daemon pointed out. “You would be useless traying to defend your mother. Show us the way, we will be behind you.”

“No! I mean.” He paused. “I want her to meet mother first, I only talk about her.”

Rhaenyra smiled. “It is fine Daemon, do not worry for us, Jace it’s capable enough to take care of both of us, and we will have our dragons with us. Isn’t that right, my boy?”

Jace nodded and quickly made his way outside. He was excited to see you again and his steps showed it, they were happily and nervous at the same time. He made his way quickly towards Vermax, his mother trying to follow his steps. Convincing Daemon to stay was even harder, but Jace managed to do it in rapidly. He didn’t want to scare you away. So Jace didn’t waste any time and approached his dragon, meeting his gaze. “Ready?”

“Jace! Slow down, you have not recover completely.” His mother tried to slow him for a bit but he didn’t listen. “That boy will kill me one of these days.”

The way to the island was a quick one, a path that Jace already engraved into his memory. His heart was getting heavier and heavier the seconds he got closer to it. Vermax could feel it too, a exciting feeling to returning home. “Easy boy, we are almost there.”

Vermax descended quickly into the sand. Jace getting off quickly as well. His feet welcomed the sand and he began searching. Rhaenyra walked towards the nervous boy. Not knowing what to do. Suddenly, several pieces of rocks began hitting all of them. Jace quickly turned towards the source, a huge smile formed on his face as he saw you throwing the rocks at them.

“(Y/N)!” He happily exclaim, ignoring the pain of the hits. “Hey! Stop it! Not the enemy!”

You ignored him, now throwing pieces of sticks at him, trying to stop him to come closer to you. “No! Go! Bad Jace!”

As closer as he got the clever you got, first it was rocks, then it was sticks, then it was shells and finally sand. When neither worked to stop him you decided to just flee. You began dragging yourself using the sand.

Jace’s eyes widened and threw himself on top of you, you just punch his face. “Stop it! You are going to get hurt.” He grabbed your arms and pinned them above you. “Vermax!” His dragon hear his owner’s call and quickly walked towards the struggling duo on the sand. Jace guide your hands to his dragon, forcing your fingers to touch Vermax’s scales. You force your hands away from his and began tracing each one of them, halting your movements, now more calm than before. “See? Friends.”

“Vermax friend, you bad.” You huffed angrily. “You left, no goodbye.”

Jace’s face rested on your shoulder -still on top on you, not that you were complaining-, he sighed knowingly. “I know, but I needed to go home and show them I wasn’t dead.”

“No forgive.” You continued playing with Vermax’s scales, who happily let you, using his head to guide you where you could touch next. “You bad like others.” Jace sighed, finally turning to see his mother.

Rhaenyra was watching them fight and for a moment it reminded her that her son was actually growing up and becoming a strong man, perhaps he was starting to have some romantic interest in you. Jace motion her to come closer, mouthing a quiet ‘careful’ and she complied, she made her way silently. She saw how her son whispered something to the girl next to him and both of them turned towards her, the girl watching her with curiosity on her eyes.

Jace sat down next to the girl and offered Rhaenyra his hand, a smile on his face, motioning her to not be afraid. She sat next to his son, waiting for him to introduce them.

“Mother.” He placed his palm on her chest, Rhaenyra was confused for a second. Then Jace place that hand on his own chest. “Jace.” Then on hers. “(Y/N), yes?”

The girl was visibly confused, she placed her hand on Rhaeneyra. “Jace mother?”

“Yes!” He nodded happily. “She is my mother, the one I told you about.” He turned towards his mother. “She doesn’t speak our language so we are working on her to understand it.”

“I see.” Rhaeneyra smiled at his son. The girl placed her hand on her chest.

“Jace mother?” She asked her. Rhaenerya turned towards her son in amusement.

“No! No! Jace mother is only his mother, your mother must be down.” Jace corrected her.

“Down?” She question him, a happy glint showed on her eyes. “Jace mother hungry? Me feed her!” And she began dragging herself towards the water. Jace trying to stop her but failing as she dived into the waters.

Jace sighed into his hands. “She probably will return with several fishes, perhaps even bigger ones, I am not joking mother, she will expect for you to eat everything.”

She laughed. “Do not worry, my boy.” She stood up and stood next to him. “I will happily eat whatever she brings.”

Jace bit his lips, his eyes closing, perfectly knowing that wouldn’t be possible, but he didn’t have the time to correct his mother as you made your way back to surface, your arms full of dead fishes and your mouth biting into a calamar. You spit it into the sand. “Food!”

“Oh.” Rhaeneyra watched in completely astonishment at the huge quantity of food you manage to recollect in the few minutes you went away.

Jace sighed. “Told you so.”