#kirby gets creative

[soul-of-vengeance]

Cooler, Better Drow (and Lolth)

So this is a re-write of drow culture and the Lolth cult that I've had in my head for several years, ever since I played a Lolth-sworn drow in a friend's campaign. This is the first time I've refined it enough to write down. Hopefully someone will find it as fun as I do!

(A note: this is not part of my Anchored Worlds campaign setting, as Lolth technically doesn't exist anymore in that setting.)

The drow are not a "dark perversions" of surface elves, but merely another branch of the elven family tree. They are not as numerous as the elves above, but still number in the hundreds of thousands. Their population is fairly evenly divided among seven massive city-states in the Underdark, with a small number living in the world beyond and even, in a few special cases, above their brethren. How so many elves came to live beneath the surface is lost to history, a history most drow have no inclination to uncover. Even the oldest matriarchs remember only the comforting dark and hardship of the Underdark.

The four Lolth-sworn city-states are: Menzoberranzan (the “City of Spiders,” and the largest Lolth-sworn city,) Ched Nasad (the “City of Shimmering Webs”,)  Orlytlar (the “dark jewel”,) and Ust Natha (“the first.”) The three “free” drow city-states are Haundrauth, Erydndlyn, and Sshamath (the “City of Dark Weavings”.)

Drow Physiology

Drow at first glance resemble elves with their uniquely fey beauty, but with starkly different coloration. Drow skin tones range from jet black to light grey among one ethnicity, and from pale blue to pale purple in another. They typically have white or purple teeth. Their hair could be white, black, pale yellow, or occasionally coppery in color. Eyes could be various shades of red or pink, and some shades of near-white blue, lilac, or silver were not uncommon. 

Drow, having been so magically altered by their surroundings, cannot thrive in light. They are extremely sensitive to sunlight, so much so that only a day on a relatively cool day can cause painful burns. Those who must go above ground have specially-made balms to protect their skin. Their magic is weaker in the sun, and drow-enchanted items tend to lose their magic if they are above ground for longer than a week or two. Being in the sun too long can also cause "sun fever," which can be fatal if not dealt with.

Lolth-sworn Drow have been magically altered. They almost always have white hair and red eyes. This is a show of magical favor from their goddess, who has a fondness for those colors. They also typically have black or grey teeth, and bright red gums, tongue, and throats. Lolth-sworn women are also taller and stronger than their men. They may also rarely have some other interesting features.

Drow Culture

Drow are, of course, elves, and like all elves they are uniquely in tune with their surroundings. The Underdark is cold, harsh, dangerous, and unforgiving, and so too are the drow. The flora and fauna do not respond as kindly to elven magicks as those aboveground, so the drow have adapted without what is typically a cornerstone of elven culture. Cruelty is not seen as such, for their very circumstances are cruel, and so it is seen as perfectly normal. Softness and kindness are weaknesses that will get you killed in the wilds of the Underdark, and are discouraged even in civilization. 

When introducing themself, a drow will state first their House name, then their family name, and lastly their public name. Unlike other elves, drow do not have child and adult names, though they may change their given name if they dislike it. Drow have "public" names that are based on their true given names. Perhaps a remnant of their fey ancestry, they do not give their true given names lightly. For example, my drow character's given name is Shyam, and his public name is Sam.

Drow culture is matriarchal in nature and has a strict authority structure that begins with the family unit. Every family has a matriarch whose word is final in all matters. She may then have favored daughters who may make decisions in her stead. When she dies, her daughters will contest her position, in battles that can be physical, magical, or mental in nature. In the event that a family should ever be without a matriarch, the family name is recorded as being a "dead line," and the remaining men will petition to be adopted into another family. In the event that they are not adopted, slavery or exile to the surface are a man's only option.

Their culture is functionally caste-based, though the castes have no official names. The "castes" are, in order of authority: those of high religious standing (Houses), those of magical genius, those of artisanal prowess, those adept at combat, and those who make up the foundation. The entire family would be elevated (or lowered) to a caste depending on the skills and standing of their matriarch and her favored daughters.

Drow society is divided into Houses, which are headed by religious-caste noble families that take other non-noble families under their banner. Each House has its own distinct insignia, style, banner, and rules. Technically speaking, every drow belongs to a House even if they are born into a lower-caste family. Very rarely, a House may trade a family to another, either by choice of the House matriarch or, more commonly, by petition by the matriarch of the family. This is usually done to strengthen or elevate one's position, and requires proof that the family deserves the move.

Authority is very important to drow. They have absolute loyalty to their House matriarch first, family matriarch second, and blood mother third. Beyond that, the only other authority a drow will acknowledge is their god, if they worship one. They have no obligation to obey any other House matriarch, any other family matriarch, or even any female family member besides their mother. They will acknowledge no other law or order, even if they are in another city or country. Being in a king's country is not reason enough for a drow to follow his orders, especially an order she dislikes. A drow may play along simply to make her life easier, but she will make it clear where her loyalties lie. Even exiled drow will typically choose one individual to place their entire faith in, and will answer to no one else.

It is believed that every drow and every family has a "true place," or a "true calling," and that they are always born below their calling so that they can fight for it. In this way, the individual, and the family, become strong enough and cunning enough to survive. It is believed that eventually you will feel a sense of "divine contentment" that means you have found your place. Drow are in a constant struggle against one another to elevate themselves, and the harsh environment of the Underdark has made them harsh in turn. Violence, torture, extortion, and scheming are a drow's expected tools to advance in society.

Drow culture is, to outsiders, oxymoronic. On one hand, it is encouraged to view the drow around you as competitors to your true status in society, and it is encouraged to eliminate or humiliate them by any means necessary for your own advancement. However, there is also a strong importance placed on kin. A drow might view her sister as a bitter enemy for their mother's favor, but would still defend her from an assassin from another family. Similarly, a drow would always defend another drow from another species, but in the safety of their insular city-state, might stab her in the back in the street.

Artistry in all its forms is highly prized in drow society, and families will often strive to cultivate a favored child into an artisan worthy of elevating their family. Tangentially related to this is the hedonism that pervades drow culture. In the harsh environment of the Underdark, life and pleasure are not guaranteed, so it is said to take it wherever you can find it and enjoy it to its fullest.

Marriage is not very common, for loyalty to the family trumps other loves. Many drow may have one or even a handful of committed partners, but exchanging vows and names is extremely rare, and often seen as a betrayal of your birth family. The culture is extremely heteronormative. Due to the high mortality rate in the Underdark, having as many children as possible is encouraged, and to that end anything besides heterosexuality is frowned upon, if not punishable by religious law.

While a child will always be cared for by its mother's family, there is still good reason for the father to stay in the child and mother's good graces. A mother may pay a "child tithe" to the father of her child, which is usually based on the talent, beauty, potential, and magical ability of the child. A man who has exceptionally talented progeny may increase his family's wealth in this way. A mother will usually cultivate all of her children's talents, even her sons who cannot elevate the family. It is still a source of pride to have all your children be talented and worthy of praise.

Morality among drow is an interesting subject. The ruthless competition of their society lends itself to what a surfacer would consider deeply immoral behavior: political conniving, assassination, torture, and other "unsavory" behaviors are common. On the other hand, some things are forbidden by cultural norm. Rape and sexual violence are considered a disgusting act, as is desecration or disturbance of a dead (drow) body that has been laid to rest. Impersonating another drow by name or pretending to be of another House, even for the lauded purpose of elevation, is outright illegal and punishable by death at the hands of the slighted party.

The drow body is considered a masterwork of divinity, and extreme body modification is frowned upon. Tattoos, piercings, and dying one's hair are all seen as a form of desecration to the holy, and the punishment may be severe depending on how strict one's matriarch is. Hair is especially important to a drow. For one, hairstyle is an easy way to distinguish one's House. For another, their long hair is one of the vanities drow allow themselves. To cut one's hair dramatically (trims and accounting for style are permitted) is seen as cutting oneself off from the House. A drow will never cut her hair except under two circumstances: exile or certain death. The reasons to do so when exiled are obvious, but to do so before certain death is a superstition. It is believed that cutting your hair before facing your death is to ensure that the death doesn't creep into your family via your hair.

Slavery is one of the "unsavory" pillars of drow society that those within consider completely normal, and even natural. Their caste-based thinking extends past their selves and includes other species, which drow consider themselves above. That said, even drow (of lower caste) can be slaves. Slaves are considered part of a family's wealth, and can be obtained a number of ways. It is generally understood in the Underdark that to lose a fight against a drow is to forfeit your freedom to them. Slavery to a House is also a potential punishment for crimes against them. Slavery is a lifelong sentence, and slaves are given a magical tattoo that identifies them as such to drow. The tattoos are not House-specific, because slaves change hands as easily as currency.

The Dark Seldarine

The Dark Seldarine "pantheon" is not a true pantheon, but simply a group of gods worshiped by the drow.

Eilistraee is the most widely worshiped drow goddess, who oversees beauty, song, dance, freedom, moonlight, swordwork, and hunting. While she is typically thought of as a good-aligned goddess, she seems to have no issue with drow culture, which as stated is typically seen as deeply immoral. By contrast, she deeply loves her drow worshippers, whose love of life and pleasure aligns with her domain. 

Vhaeraun, the elder twin of Eilistraee, is a god of thievery and magic, and is seen as a patron of drow men. He is generally worshiped alongside his sister, though he prefers his followers to be more ambitious.

Selvetarm, also called the Son of Lolth, is a god of warriors and battle. His worship is chiefly among those who leave Lolth's cult and find sanctuary in other cities. He despises Lolth, and encourages those who leave to take up arms against her followers.

Kiaransalee has some small churches in the Underdark. A goddess of revenge and necromancy, her worship is controversial, as some of her followers will raise drow corpses, which is seen as desecration of the beloved dead.

Zinzerena is not usually openly worshiped. She is the goddess of lies and illusion, and shares patronage of assassins with Lolth, whom she despises.

Lolth

Lolth is a lesser deity associated with the Trickery and War domains. She is, by her own reckoning, a goddess of darkness, spiders, and chaos. She is the patron of weavers and assassins. Lolth is one example of a being that was raised to godhood. Originally a tanar'ri demon, she manipulated and schemed her way to such power that she was elevated to a god. This ruthless ambition and endless drive became the center of her divinity, as she demands the same qualities of her worshippers. She pulled her original fortress in the Abyss into its own divine realm known as the Demonweb Pits. She still has demons in her employ, the Yochlols, but is now chiefly concerned with spreading her worship.

Her former demonic nature is obvious in the way she approaches her followers. Though she does need them as any god needs worshippers, she views them as more like playthings, finding great amusement in all they do in her name and at her behest. Her tenets are almost similar to a demonic deal, as she offers power and protection in exchange for worship. To the educated, her priestesses are more akin to fiend-pacted warlocks than holy woman.

Lolth introduced herself to the drow (comparatively) recently, targeting priestesses at the head of powerful Houses to let her doctrine trickle down. She slotted her own worship neatly into existing drow culture, exaggerating what she liked and downplaying what she didn't. The Lolth-sworn city-states grew even more xenophobic and closed off than they already were, so much so that they do not even allow more than minimal trade with non-Lolth-sworn cities. Four of the seven drow city-states are Lolth-sworn.

Lolth is not as capricious or actively malicious to her worshippers as in D&D 5e canon, but she is by no means pleasant. She positioned herself to the drow as the ultimate matriarch, mother of the dark and chaos in which they lived. By allying themselves with her, the Lolth-sworn gain allies among other creatures living in the Underdark.

Lolth has extremely high standards and rigid rules that her worshippers must follow. She does change these rules at times, often waiting for someone to break the unknown tenet and making an example of them to spread the news. She encourages paranoia and sadism, and found the drow society structure one that fit nicely with her tastes. She amuses herself with the machinations and ambitions of her subjects.

Lolth's goal is to spread her influence as far as she can. She is currently looking to subjugate the entire Underdark, and then she plans to turn her gaze to the world above. She plans a two-pronged attack: invasion on the weaker nations above and indoctrination of the stronger.

The Cult of Lolth

The Cult of Lolth (though they call themselves a Church) is widespread, being practiced in over half of the drow city-states. Under Lolth's rule, some aspects of existing drow culture are magnified.

For instance, far past being matriarchal, Lolth has an active disdain for men due to several drow heroes who directly opposed her takeover…and were all, coincidentally, men. For this, she punishes all drow men. This bleeds through to her followers. In ordinary drow society, sons are not favored but are still cherished and allowed many of the same rights of women, but little authority. Under Lolth, however, men are close to second-hand citizens. A man is considered to be a caste below the women in his family. Men on the lowest class are essentially slaves. Though they cannot be traded as slaves can, they have little rights and are entirely at the mercy of their matriarchs.

To distinguish her drow from "the rabble," Lolth changed her earliest followers physically, and the changes slowly spread as worship did. Those in the Underdark can tell a Lolth-sworn from a mile away, and know to avoid them. Lolth is also far less strict on body modification and hair length, allowing tattoos, piercings, and even cutting one's hair. She delights in the inner conflict this causes, as the drow's cultural sensibilities clash with the freedom their goddess allows.

Another aspect she magnifies, which was the primary reason she chose the drow as her first worshippers, is the ambition. While drow culture believes everyone has a "true" place and your life's goal is to achieve it by any means, Lolth encourages her followers to always strive to go above and not settle, even if you feel what the drow refer to as "divine contentment" with your place. She delights in the sadism and chaos she sows among her followers.

While typical drow culture views violence as another art form to be perfected, Lolth favors brutality, sadism, and even desecration, pushing her followers to the brink of their sensibilities and beyond. Her followers have a reputation for treating those they kill and capture with a uniquely twisted form of sadistic torture.

Lolth is the patron of weavers, fiber crafters, and metalworkers. She placed a high importance on those particular crafts, and had a love of woven beauty. Of course, spiders and webs are a large motif that can be found in Lolth-sworn art, as well as the colors red and white. She favors these, and may even punish someone who creates a masterpiece that doesn't meet her preferences. 

Lolth desires to one day have all drow under her rule, and her followers sometimes attack other drow to be brought back as slaves and indoctrinated. Drow captured in this manner are an abnormality in society. These individuals (and only them) may be freed from slavery by marrying or being adopted into a House or family, only after swearing fealty to Lolth and passing a trial of faith. These drow are especially favored by Lolth and her worshippers, who sees them as the ultimate triumph of their faith.

One interesting, and potentially tragic, quirk of drow born into Lolth's cult is that, unlike all other elves including drow, they do not see their past lives when they meditate. It is unclear whether this is because they do not reincarnate or if Lolth is somehow suppressing their connection to their past lives. Some of the opponents of Lolth's cult believe that she takes her followers' souls when they die, though for what purpose is unclear.

As stated above, Lolth frequently changes the rules of her cult. However, three rules have never changed:

Worship only Lolth, and put her first. (Worship or fealty to any other god is forbidden, and Lolth demands total obedience. She even asks her worshippers to put her above even their mother and matriarchs, a challenging concept for many drow.)

Second to Lolth is the brood. (Protect kin at all costs. House first, then family, then all drow. She also demands they protect and cultivate spiders, including a demonic breed she created for this very purpose.)

Dig deeper into the darkness. (Be ruthlessly ambitious, do whatever it takes to survive and thrive. Take every avenue of power available to you.)

Driders

Driders are created when a faithful drow fails Lolth in a very specific way (more than simply not adhering to her tenets) or fails a test set by Lolth. They are transformed into a being that is extremely Lolth-like, a drow's upper torso with a spider's body below. It is a truly ironic punishment: although they now resemble their beloved goddess, the drow consider their body to be a sacred and beautiful thing, and any permanent transformation is a perversion of it. Worse, they are cut off from their family and exiled to the Underdark alone.

Driders are simultaneously pitied and reviled by Lolth-sworn and regular drow alike.

[cosmic-dichotomy]

Prologue: A Better Beginning, Ch3

Rating: Mature (graphic descriptions of violence)

Fic Summary: Things have gone wrong from the first moment Rajani "Cash" Ryder has awoken in Andromeda. A mysterious force damaging the ark, their brother in a coma, and a shuttle ride turned freefall into unknown wilderness. Along with the other survivors of the crash, they must make sense of this new galaxy, and try to survive it.

Chapter Summary: Cash and Liam go looking for Kirkland, and unfortunately find him. They also find three more hostile aliens, and Cash has a very bad time.

Notes: This chapter contains an explicit and graphic description of an OCD obsession/compulsion cycle. If you need to skip it, it begins after the sentence, "A little help?" and ends at the sentence "You good?"

The way I plan to depict Cash's OCD in this story (and the entirety of the series) is to explicitly detail the cycle the first time we the audience experience it, and anytime after we experience it thereafter, I will assume you know what Cash is going to do, and will describe it much more vaguely.

Read Ch. 3 | Read First Chapter | Read Full Series

[what-is-love-babey-dont-hurt-me]

P O P P Y 🫧

>> Introducing its Fecto form! This bubble has played around with its form before, but never to this extent! What other forms should Poppy take?

[l1ght-n1ghts]

HAPPY DEDEDE DURSDAY. Have THE King of Dream Land in all of his glory in the dragon au!

+Design notes/headcanons under cut

Based off of King Penguins! It let me give him a splash of color, and so his chick plumage was brown to make him look like the Waddle Dees! And also “King” Penguin. Haha.

Also based (generally) off of Theropod Dinosaurs. Namely, the Therizinosaurus for its body plan. I didn’t give him the killer claws because I still wanted him to be able to use his hammer. Maybe in another life, Dedede.

While he is primarily bipedal, he can swap to a quadruped stance if desired. He only usually does this if a ceiling is too low for him, or if he goes beast mode (like in Forgotten Land)

His horns form a crown-like formation on his head that was inspired by his mask during Masked Dedede fights. He polishes them to make them shiny like gold!

He has a throat pouch that lets him store food and, when he wants to float, air. He taught himself this through pure spite. I'm actually pretty sure the spite part is canon.

Dedede actually has a good amount of scars, but most of them are smaller and hidden by his feathers. Some, however, stick out quite a bit.

Has a stubborn hoarding instinct. Dedede’s initial greed as a ruler combined with this trait is what sparked the whole “stealing all the food in Dream Land” thing. After he grows as a person (gets his ass kicked) and becomes a good King, he moves on to hoard other things. It’s usually shiny things and small bits of food. He shares it with people he trusts (the Dees and eventually his friends)

The Dees look remarkably similar to a weirdly proportioned chick in his eyes (Same general body plan. Warm shades that are close to being brown. Cute, high-pitched calls). This sets off so many protective instincts in his head it drives him NUTS. Like he knows logically that they’re fully grown, but that won’t stop his brain from going “THAT IS A CHILD.” at first. This only gets worse with time :)

[chibifox2002]

Oh hey look! A cute little father daughter duo!

How lovely!

[angermango]

someone's halls are aboutta get DECKED

holly wreath + ribbon flail [maybe with a rock inside] VS multi-headed tree ornament + tinsel flail place your bets

[paintpanic]

[starsandnoodles]

Today I did a lot of doodles so I’m going to post them now because I haven’t been posting a lot!!

First, the crossover no one asked for

Second, Taranza picking a fight and being angry because part of my soul needs more bastard Taranza content DESPERATELY. Like guys… feed my soul.

Third, Susie Haltmann but a Gijinka based more or less on my own outfit today (I cannot write T’s very well I apologize if it looks like an R)

And last but not least a drawing of Susie Haltmann I started months ago and finally finished today

[lemonykeeby]

im still trying to see if i can find some cute kirby charms to make jewelry with

[jaydove-writes]

Moving intro to pinned post so bio is less cluttered

~ he/him, cis, biromantic asexual, engaged to @starlightprincess98, (Planning to get married February 14th 2026) born July 12th 1997 (listed the year so I don't have to update my age every year) ****

Platonic soulmates: @aflairforthemelodramaticc and @translesbianfoxgirl

**** Formerly known as **** @princesssparkle42 **** @jaydovesworld **** Other blogs include **** @ask-skybluecmc, if you want to do some MLP OC RP **** @phoenix-of-grandeur, if you want to talk about your favorite games or mine (Though I also do that on main) **** @phiction-of-grandeur, if you want to talk about your stories or mine (Again I do that on main) **** @ask-the-felicity-crew, if you want to RP between your OCs and mine or ask me questions that I will answer as mine. The characters may or may not know they are fictional depending on when in the timeline you ask them.

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@ask-simon-devlyn, same as the Felicity Crew, but centered around the captain, Simon Devlyn. On this blog Simon knows he's fictional.

**** I love talking to people and making new friends! I'm also creating my own story series called Starbourne. Wanna be friends in the gaming multiverse? Here are my Friend Codes:

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Steam: 111892045

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Nintendo Switch: SW-5163-5533-6136 ****

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**** The Ghost and Molly McGee **** Sailor Moon **** Cardcaptor Sakura

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Infinity Train

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More later

**** Game Fandoms: **** Any RPG that features Mario (Such as Super Mario RPG, the Paper Mario series, or the Mario and Luigi RPG series) **** Any indie game inspired by Paper Mario (Such as Bug Fables or Born of Bread) ****

Undertale and Deltarune ****

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Kirby

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Hollow Knight and Silksong **** Zelda (mainly just watching other people play them) **** Pokemon (see Zelda) **** Might add more later **** Book Fandoms: **** Percy Jackson et al **** Amari **** Serafina **** Might add more later ****

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Book 1 of my series, Starbourne, is FREE!! For the other books please donate $6 per book to one of the aforementioned links. I'm planning on making this a series of 9, but currently working on book 2.

Doing one of those note things for motivation (or notivation because notes lol)

25 notes - I do the dishes and clean out the litter box (done, for now... But these are Sisyphean tasks)

50 notes - I clean up around the house (I did a little cleanup, might do more later)

100 notes - I do a little work on my book (it still needs editing before I can publish it and write the sequel, but I'll do some work on that when my PC stops crashing)

250 notes - I start working on book 2 (or work harder on editing book 1 if it still needs it)

500 notes - I participate in artfight (in the first July after it reaches this threshold. I doubt it'll get there by this month.)

1k notes - I start working on a video game in the Starbourne multiverse. A small one, like Undertale is to Deltarune. I'm calling it Saturn Robe which is an anagram for Starbourne, like Undertale is for Deltarune.

2.5k notes - I start working on my dream game, Starbourne. The one that's the reason I started writing in the first place. (If the small game isn't finished I work harder on that)

5k notes - I dedicate my time to taking care of myself/my partner/my family, and working on my dream game.

10k notes - I become a god in the Tumblrverse (this will not happen)

If you want to know more about Starbourne, check out my other blog @phiction-of-grandeur and my community for more details. My askbox is always open if you want to ask me something.

Here's the first book now:

And here's a newer version of the first book, with (hopefully) better writing. It's gonna be longer than the draft above.

Here's the book on AO3 as well ^^

ANOTHER DRAFT OF THE BOOK ^^^^ (This one is the newest one)

And here's my artfight link. It's new so there's nothing there yet. ^^^

Here's a game I made in Scratch back in 2012... I occasionally update it when I think of a new idea for an update. Feel free to ask me about Epic Kitty Hunt updates!

[cosmic-dichotomy]

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Thor (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Jane Foster/Thor, Loki (Marvel)/Original Character(s), Loki & Thor (Marvel) Characters: Original Characters, Loki (Marvel), Jane Foster (Marvel), Thor (Marvel) Additional Tags: Political Intrigue, Drama & Romance, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, POV Alternating, Prophecies, References to Norse Religion & Lore, Established Relationship, Slow Burn, One-Sided Relationship, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Betrayal, Genderfluid Loki (Marvel), Protective Thor (Marvel), Black Character(s), BDSM, Sadomasochism, Flogging, Whipping, Wax Play, Bondage, Suspension, Anal Sex, Vaginal Sex, Oral Sex, Sub Loki (Marvel), Minor Character Death, Blood and Violence, Abandonment, Family Secrets, Assassination Attempt(s), Implied/Referenced Torture, Eventual Smut Summary:

After falling from the Bifrost, Loki drifted through space and found himself in a place outside of reality, where he met a very peculiar being. While at first it seemed as though this meeting only served to give him a way back home, years later it seems as though the mortal (?) Golnar may be a valuable ally against the coming apocalypse. Its obvious fondness for him becomes a valuable tool in both Loki's selfless and his self-serving endeavors.

In present day, Thor is grappling with the fallout of Loki's actions against both Johtunheim and Earth, all while maintaining his relationship with Jane despite the realms between them. When ancient enemies begin to rise seemingly from the dead and his father suffers a mortal wound while fending off a creature believed to be myth, all signs start to point towards the fulfilling of an old, apocalyptic prophesy.

Together, the two brothers must work to stop the coming of Ragnarok, with allies and enemies old and new coming forth as the threat grows closer. As they begin to uncover secrets that shake their family and the world, their bond is tested as never before in the face of a divine apocalypse.

[whispersleo]

The joyous wyvern - the free book

You can find it in this drive folder!

Hello! Today I’m very excited to finally share this final project in my editorial design specialization: a children’s storybook album, inspired by the dialogue in The Wake written by Mary Kirby, where Illario talks about the time he went with Lucanis to hunt wyverns as children. I must mention that I took the liberty of introducing my own headcanon about their ages, with Illario being the oldest, because Lucanis strikes me as having a very clear "younger brother" behavior.

For this project, I’ve poured blood, sweat, and tears into it. I ended up doing absolutely everything myself when my classmate, who was supposed to help me with the layout for her part of the team project, just decided not to, but I feel content enough with the result to share it. Originally in Spanish, I translated and edited it into English so more people can enjoy it!

There’s a lot I’d like to say, I’ll be posting some sketches, the development process, the designs, and my usual notes [here], and I can answer any questions you might have about the project in the editorial area (or anything else about the project really), but for this post in particular, I just want to give you full, free access to this illustrated book and thank you because this has been on my mind and occupying my time for the last six months.

First, thank you to everyone in this amazing fandom who has supported my creative projects, whether by leaving kudos on AO3, liking my posts here on Tumblr, leaving comments, sending messages, or any form of support! You motivate me to create every day, make me feel welcome, and it’s so nice to be here.

Thanks to @woundedsoul12 for being the first person to welcome me to the fandom, read my works, and be vocal with me about it! In the beginning, I was so afraid of writing again, of making mistakes in some way, and I was very shy about showing what I was doing, but thanks to you, I’ve been able to gain confidence. Without your support, I don’t think I would have decided to keep creating for this fandom. You’ve allowed people to get to know me and have been incredibly kind about me and my work. I owe you so many thanks, I hope you never change, you’re an amazing person!

Thanks to @theheartmold for getting me interested in Illario as a character. Without your posts sharing your interest in the character, your analysis, and your overall enthusiasm, I honestly wouldn’t have been interested in reading Tevinter Nights or The Wake. After two playthroughs in the game, you made me decide to sit down and see that Illario had MUCH more to offer than his tragic portrayal in Veilguard. Maybe I don’t interact much with you, but I definitely wanted to let you know that without your posts, this illustrated story and in general, my content about Illario Dellamorte wouldn’t exist. You introduced me to my new favorite character, thank you so much!

And again, thanks to EVERYONE who has ever interacted with my work and with me as a person! Who has liked my art, fanfics, whatever! I hope you can now enjoy having this book that I give you with so much, so much happiness and love!

[mona-risms]

HII!! it's 🪷 Anon, I saw ur reply to my request and it's totally fine! If it's still possible could I request a demon that was made by gwi-ma specifically but hates him just as much as huntrix does. So reader(either fem or nb) helps defeat gwi-ma and live happily ever after with the girls(platonic if that's ok)

-🪷 Anon

◆ MAIN COURSE: HUNTR/X and Gwi-Ma's demon!gn!Reader

◆ TYPE: SFW, platonic

◆ ALLERGEN WARNINGS: None I think???

◆ NOTES: YAYAYAYAY THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING 🫶🫶🫶

Gwi-Ma would probably be severely Picky when it comes to ever using his power for anything. So in this case, you were probably created as some sort of failsafe/watcher/whatever the fuck for Jinu and his plan with the Saja Boys. You ARE made by him after all, made w his very essence. Why would you Ever fail him or go rogue, right? Lol

Hence, you observe. Not HUNTR/X, not at first. You observe humans first; all the way from how they move to how they speak and even how they breathe, and then you adapt. Using whatever demon magic tomfoolery there is, you manage to get yourself into their personal staff team, probably thanks to some poor guy's soul that you ate tf up so you could gain whatever skills they had that'd qualify. Yk, like Kirby

You get close to Bobby, their manager. And as a result, you also get close the HUNTR/X trio, or at least as close as you can manage for a short amount of time obvi. You learn their likes, dislikes, how they are professionally and how they are personally. And as you do so, you even start to learn about Yourself—things you like, dislike, preferences, how you respond to certain things—even though you're not supposed to be anything else but an observing demon in disguise that serves Gwi-Ma. But the more you 'observe' aka spend time with them, the more you begin to question what the need is to terrorise and kill humans, especially this specific lot

Zoey shows you her turtle collection and the notebooks of ideas and pure vibrant creativity. Mira teaches you some of their choreo just for the fun of it, if you wanted to learn, and takes you shopping to the cutest punk fashion stores (girlie the plug frfr), and Rumi would want to go out to EAT EAT EAT and bask in the very rare quiet w you, maybe even involving her lightly strumming or fingerpicking her guitar. These girls are so unbelievably welcoming w you and Bobby is so happy asw. I think Bobby gets really happy when he sees his staff and his girls getting along :((( he's like a silly dad or an uncle

But wait. You weren't just sent to observe HUNTR/X though, were you? While yes he can see and hear what his demons can anyway, you were sent to watch the Saja Boys and make sure they're not being fucking incompetent. And yet when Jinu sees you ohhhh man

You feel his presence before you hear him—a discordant chime in the winds, like an old rusted bell.. or a weathered bipa.

"You're getting a bit too comfortable with them, don't you think?"

You scoffed and crossed your arms, pointedly looking at the horizon, "Like you're one to talk. How's seducing Rumi going for you?"

"As planned, obviously," Jinu walks over to stand beside you. "And you? Any developments in your.. friendship approach?"

"Yes, actually. Though it's not like I report to you—I report about you too, don't forget that."

"Right, right. My mistake." He leaned on the metal bar as he watched you quietly, though as he spoke your attention is mildly stolen by a certain blue tiger-demon lightly headbutting your hand, with the magpie fluttering to stand on the railing. "I shouldn't overstep, right? Might make him angrier if I even dared to suggest that his precious servant is deviating."

You felt yourself stiffening at Jinu's words, though your hand went to scritch the tiger's head anyway, "No, Jinu. We shouldn't—we wouldn't want to make him angry over false accusations, would we?"

You see his eyes narrow at the corner of your eye—he caught on to the sudden mirrored circumstances, of course, he wasn't slow in the least. He pushes himself away from the railing and places his hands in his pockets, "Guess not. ..Just be careful of where your loyalties lie."

And he teleports away before you could respond.

"Asshole."

When the Saja Boys start their plan, that's when you start fully going down the descent of an existential crisis. Every time they/random demons attack, even when HUNTR/X doesn't know it, you're there. You're there to watch and observe, to see if everything's going to plan or it's all going to shit. But you can't interfere, not without Gwi-Ma's permission—just watch and consume souls. But as you're watching it's like. What the fuck. What the hell. Why is this necessary dude

It's the train scene when it all comes ahead and very much apart, where you're inside the train and very much aware of what's going on, and you hear Gwi-Ma in your head, pleased at how the trio is falling fucking apart bc of Rumi's secret

You heard singing from inside the train, singing that went on as perfect as usual.. until Rumi.

You heard hesitation. You heard the shame. And the worst part of it?

You could feel Gwi-Ma within you watching, anticipating.

...

One moment you were inside the train, the next?

You were right in front of the ogre, with Rumi pushed away from your proximity. Your hands, once human, had changed its form to the claws Gwi-Ma blessed—no, cursed—you with as you held back the giant club with a demonic growl. You bore your teeth, and your patterns blazed as bright as your eyes; the colour couldn't belong to anyone else by the one who made you.

Even the hulking demon had to take pause at the sight of you, at the sheer presence of Gwi-Ma on your person, and the trio could actually see something like genuine fear in its eyes.

"You..."

You could hear Rumi's shattered confidence in her voice, and you dare not look back in case you see the three of them look at you as anything but a monster. You don't know if you could take it, take feeling like you were wrong.

So instead, you barked out, the demonic cadence layering on top of your voice—a voice he even doctored to make you more trustworthy, "DON'T JUST STAND THERE! THE PASSENGERS!"

And you push against the ogre before forcing a teleport to the demon realm on the both of you, the scream leaving your lips gutteral and inhuman.

Gwi-Ma is worse than unimpressed. Furious, actually! Congratulations, you pissed off a Demon King! And you still see the souls drawn right into his fire, which would've looked beautiful, if it weren't for the implications of the sight—they couldn't kill of the demons on time. His mark on Rumi's breaking down their entire dynamic and Rumi herself, and the amount of people he's killed and consumed was staggering

His fire's looming at you, fed and absolutely enraged at how his own fucking creation went AGAINST him. He was lenient with his treatment on you, biding his time and leaving you to do your thing because he was expecting you to act upon his will perfectly, NOT grow attached to the people he wanted GONE. Jinu is one thing—someone self-serving, even if the look he casts on you at the top of the shrine with his pets looks like it belongs to someone who's anything but self-serving—but you were made of his very self. His essence. And if you weren't going to make yourself useful? He'll unmake you as easily as he made you

Skip to the near end, when the Saja Boys perform Your Idol and everyone's brainwashed into sacrificing themselves to Gwi-Ma before Rumi interrupts it all. By now, you're probably most likely fused back into Gwi-Ma, seeing as how you're useless sentient when you're not going to serve him. But the remaining consciousness of you can hear Rumi sing.. then Zoey, and then Mira. And Jinu not only hears them too, but he feels that lingering something from within Gwi-Ma himself

When he sacrifices himself, he gives half of his soul to Rumi. The other half? To the person who never got the chance to have a soul of their own—you. Because at least he knows you can put your loyalties on the trio where he couldn't. You're the one who grew much closer to the three of them, it's only right

Deapite your body still originally designed by Gwi-Ma, you've made it your own. With your sentience and with Jinu's soul, you successfully help HUNTR/X and you get to witness the new iridescent Honmoon that only they could make—it's so much more beautiful than the streaking soul retrieval you saw just before your 'death'

You disappeared after that day. For a little while, anyway.

Your sustenance came in the form of mostly people who weren't going to be missed, namely criminals, or people who much preferred death to whatever fate they had—an ugly thing, but half of you still lived because of Gwi-Ma's essence, even if Jinu's soul had minimised the need to feed enough that you can sustain yourself temporarily via human foods.

But eventually you were found anyway. You were leaning on the railing that Jinu had contronted you at, his friends sticking close to you, when you hear three sets of footsteps from behind you.

"Ahh, guess I've been found," you turned around to look at them, your expression softer than it's ever been this whole time—you felt much more free, and judging from the way the trio had stuck to each other stronger than ever, judging from the way Rumi had opted for a simple short-sleeved shirt that showed her markings, iridescent as the new Honmoon? You figured they felt free too.

You raised your hands slowly in surrender, though you made no other move, "If you're here to kill me off, I-- oomph!"

You don't even manage to finish your sentence before you feel Zoey immediately on you, practically glomping with you with her short frame, and you feel your shoulder getting wet. You look back up at the other two, and even they're making their way over with teary looks and quivering lips before immediately joining in the pile.

"Are you-- what-- why are you three crying? I--" Your eyes start to sting, and your arms hesitantly wrap around the three of them, as if scared that one wrong move could make this moment dissipate. "Why--"

A large sniffle from Zoey as she buried her face even deeper into your neck, "We looked EVERYWHERE for you! After we sealed the demon realm away, we-- we couldn't find you and-- and--"

"We thought you got sealed off too," Mira piped in, her voice noticeably much raspier and thicker than usual, "but we looked everywhere. Even had Bobby use whatever contacts he had 'cuz he was looking for you too."

"You're not.. mad? You're not gonna kill me?"

You feel claws digging into you—Rumi's, still uncontrolled, you realise—at the question, "No. Are we mad? Sure, for not telling us and disappearing at the worst time possible, but I know what it's like to-- to hide. We just.. missed our friend."

Friend.

Because that's what you are. Not a demon, not Gwi-Ma's creation. A friend.

You felt yourself crumple in the pile, and the others followed suit as all four of you end up crying on the ground. The only spectators are the magpie and the tiger.

[justcruisingaroundrevived]

Can I get headcanons for the TEC boys with a reader who’s good at art?

Never A Frown With Golden Brown

Summary: TEC x Artist! Reader

TW/CW: mentions of crime scenes

A/N: Good news, guys! REQUEST ARE NOW BACK OPEN!

Knocked out the majority of my queue, so fill free to request anything (as long as you read my DON’Ts first! <3

Reblogs are appreciated!

- Bill isn’t a muse, and he told you as such

- Anytime it was time for portraits for school, his mom was too poor to pay the extra money (though it became more obvious it’s because she didn’t want to have any reminders of him)

- It would be no different with you. He spotted you during art class actually paying attention to the assignment, and scoffed

- “You know, there are better ways to put your normie brain to the use”

- You simply pretended not to hear him as you continue to draw the still life in front of you

- Overtime, you would catch him watching you draw, paint, photograph, even write sometimes. He got red faced and mad when you pointed it out, but that didn’t stop him

- In fact, you just made him more curious. He’ll admit: your inking was acceptable, you knew how to compose a shot and he guessed your coloring was alright

- You probably drew him Major Violence with Battle Broad for his birthday, and he just held onto the piece of paper like it would be lost forever if he didn’t

- Will stuff every doodle/unfinished drawing you’ve threw out over the years. Will get pissy if you point this out, saying that “YEAH! Well, maybe I want to draw better than you!”

- I actually think he does know how to draw, just doesn’t apply himself. If he’s feeling generous, he’ll return the favor by drawing you in a notebook and tear it out for you

- Would die of embarrassment if he was asked to be your muse for photography. Of course he’s going to agree to, just that it’s embarrassing he’ll be seen in this light! DUH!

- (Later on, would ask if you have any copies he could take home)

- It’s weird being admired like this. He’s only seen this with artists from a long gone era…not with his pimply nerdy self

- ….but maybe he’ll accept it. Maybe.

- Josh saw you drawing for the journal club. They needed a cover, and you were the “art kid”, so you were made to take the burden of it

- He likes to think he’s artistic himself (writing wise), but the way you effortlessly blended in the watercolor onto the paper…it entranced him

- He stayed up all night writing the “perfect” sci fi story for you to visualize. Maybe you can draw it like Frank Frietrzza, or even Jack Kirby

- Slides it in your locker and hopes for the best.

- Waits a couple of days, and calls himself foolish for even thinking someone of you fallible (while also stating that “you couldn’t handle the caliber of my art skills!”)

- It isn’t until he sees you also slip in a visualization of the drawing that he was sold!

- Loves to watch you in art class while you produced the most beautiful landscapes within just your imagination

- Wants to hear about your process at all times and would get giddy hearing you talk

- Secretly? He’s jealous. He can never seem to get the ideas in his head right onto the paper. It’s like a mental block for him or something.

- So, he may or may not steal some of your drawing ideas from you. Will adamantly claim he didn’t, but you knew. You always knew

- I’m you can get past that, maybe you two could be a creative writing duo

- Josh takes control of the writing; you take control of the illustrations

- It’s a weird harmony of sorts, but it works nevertheless

- For Pete, I think he would actually like a photographer

- I don’t know why, but staring at movies all times of the day means he has a keen eye when it comes to the little details

- Saw you at the darkroom while you were about to finish up. He (sort of) followed to the light and watched you examine the last photograph

- Woah…even in black and white, you know your stuff! That lighting really hits the plants well, and the composition almost wraps said plants into something…monstrous

- You end up catching him in the act, but unlike the others, he just continued to stare…creepy

- When he got home, he spread out his favorite horror films and capture every one of his favorite shots (probably stole a camera or used a shitty camcorder)

- Maybe asks you if you can take shots like this (yes, he be one of THOSE people who want free requests)

- He’s a little sleaze ball as well. The type that would BEG you to go into crime scenes and take pictures of everything, but especially the bodies

- If not…maybe a portrait of himself? Probably never got one because his parents were too poor to get one themselves

- Since Pete’s also a creative person (FXS), those “self portraits” are him in his zombie crawl look

- Internally kicking his feet when he gets them done, but acts all tough when you asked his opinion on it

- Even if you guys did break up, he still has them, sometimes even looks at them when he’s feeling bitterly nostalgic

- Jerry would love a sculptor. Someone who can seemingly make fantastical stories with just a piece of clay and such

- You met because he accidentally destroyed one of said sculptures. You were letting it air dry and Jerry was tripped up by some bullies (or even the club), crashing right down onto one of them

- After helping him clean up, he started to also notice your other work on the ground and WOAH! Is that Xena the Princess Warrior?!

- Didn’t have time to stick around, but would watch you sculpt during free time in art class

- The way your hands meticulously move around the clay itself…how it made these blobs into impossible shapes…fascinating

- It distracts him every day of his life. Even at club he’s starting to feel flustered when thinking about you and your work

- Will eventually ask if he could watch you up close while you sculpt

- He’s a romantic at heart (a little). Absolutely red faced and flustered watching you. He’s never met anyone this talented since…well, forever, really

- I think you could inspire him to create a little. “Checks out” (stalks) your profile and tries to replicate some of your more simpler pieces

- It’s…something, but he’s trying, alright?

- Would bond making mini figurines of DnD characters and keeps them up his shelf to admire

- He loves his artistic S/O so much <3

[maxwell-grant]

Any thoughts on Namor? I was going to ask about whether he counts as villain, but given that part of Namor's whole Thing is wrapped around the fact that he hops back and forth over that line all the time, I'm not sure it's a question that can be answered.

He was made king before he was even born; it was something that he didn’t have a choice in, it was destiny. - Ryan Coogler

"HE IS THE PENDULUM THAT SWINGS BETWEEN THE POLARITIES OF DEVIANT AND ETERNAL, X-51. HIS IS THE SECOND FACE OF MAN." - Earth X #0

I've spoken before on Namor and his Weird Tales pulp horror debut story, and I can't really get into how I feel about Namor as an F4 villain without giving thoughts on Namor himself. The short version is I think Namor rules, and in a better world, Bill Everett would be better remembered as a foundational creative force for the entirety of the Marvel Universe, just based on the creation of Namor. I think he's the Rosetta Stone by which the core of the Marvel Universe is first seen and is subsequently translated and reiterated, and I think it's also extremely self-evident why he got so many revivals and why he gets to stick around in ways guys like Jim Hammond and Ka-Zar didn't.

Not just for the history of Marvel but for the comic book superhero as a concept, he is tremendously significant as well as very compelling, and in the context of Lee-Kirby F4, in large part because he already ruled as a character beforehand, he makes for a really dynamic villain/anti-hero/force of nature who consistently made for some of their most fun stories. The problem here is that the influence of said villain run ended up affecting Namor for the worse in ways that seriously drag him down as a character, to the point he is very consistently at his absolute worst and most limited whenever he has to share a story with them. He's FAR from the worst Fantastic Four villain, not even close, but I can't think of a character I'd like to see lees as a F4 villain than him. It truly pains me to say I'd sooner have another Blastaar or Psycho-Man F4 story than a Namor F4 story, and to get into why we have to talk about Namor's history.

See, as much as I like discovering and doing pop culture paleonthology, I'm generally not in favor of propping up characters mainly through what historical importance or possible influence they had, because that, on it's own, just doesn't make an interesting character, and in fact usually marks a character as having failed to retain relevance or popularity, when all that matters about them can only be spoken about via the past tense and not what they do or mean now (Wonder Woman, and her inarguable decline of popularity, is unfortunately a relevant example of this). I think it's often one of the sadder ways to try and prop up any old character you like, and I bring this up mainly for context's sake.

I don't think this is truly applicable to Namor - his historical significance has always taken a backseat to his mercurial alliances and troubled personality and that other thing and all that's usually defined him since the 60s up to his modern appearences, and it's certainly not the thing most writers use him for anyway, for better or worse. But in his case, it is absolutely necessary to bring up because of how significant it was to his comeback, and to understand why I argue Namor is one of the most important characters for the Marvel Universe as a project and shared story. In the Sub-Mariner, introduced as an "Ultra-Man of the Deep", we have one of the first and most significant responses to Superman.

(Excerpt taken from Bill Everett: Fire & Water)

Timely's big innovation, which was to serve the embryonic Marvel well and help to distinguish it from DC, was to come down from Olympus and give voice to the elements themselves by personifying the forces of nature as heroes.

Prince Namor of Atlantis, the Sub-Mariner, was the creation of seventeen-year-old Bill Everett. Superman sometimes flouted the law, but decent people had nothing to fear from the essentially upstanding Man of Steel. Prince Namor was different: This half-human terrorist was prepared to inundate the just and unjust alike as he rode on whaleback at the foaming apocalyptic crest of the devastating mega-tsunami that he unleashed on New York in his first adventure.

Namor was the face of JD insolence, awaiting rock 'n' roll, Marlon Brando, and James Dean to ratify his power. Driven by passions and brief allegiances, Namor faced the entire world with a fuck-you snarl, committing acts of high anarchy on a scale undreamed of by terrorists in the real world. There was no shortage of sea stories, tales of Atlantis, storms, piracy, dynastic succession, and imperial vengeance from which to draw inspiration for Namor's fertile new fantasy playground. - Supergods, by Grant Morrison

Even all the way back in 1939 in his murderous beginnings, Namor already felt like a Marvel character in every way that matters, the forerunner to all the tools Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko would use to revolutionize the superhero. Bill Everett just doesn't get enough credit for how profoundly he beat everyone to the punch, all the Wolverines and Hulks and Venoms and Magnetos, descendants of Marvel's primordial super menace. Everett would eventually look back on these early Namor stories as too raw and unpolished, describing them as mostly the ventings of an angry young man, and sure enough the Sub-Mariner would quickly team up with the Torch and join the fight against the Nazis and transition into superheroics proper. But even as Namor gained solo titles, even as he became more of a household name, that unpredictability and edge to the character still remained. Namor was always a character of intriguing extremes and an irreconcilable duality, from his birth in-universe as well as out of it, up to everything that would define him for the following 80+ years.

When Everett is happy, Namor will save kids whose yacht sunk and cooperate with police while receiving accolades from the public as if he’s freakin’ Superman. When Everett is pissed about something, Namor will contemplate stealing world-destroying weapons from the villains so he can wipe out the human race himself! Sometimes Namor will be perfectly friendly initially, but be falsely blamed by humans, join up with the villains, then turn his back on them at the last minute.

Just like the gods of Greece, Namor can be mankind’s friend in some stories, in others; he can be its worst enemy over something petty. Everett may not have thought much of it, but he was doing something unique among superhero comics: Creating a character that the reader is fascinated by not so much because of the question of what others will do to him, but because of what he’ll do to others, and because watching Namor rage at the humans allows the reader (and his creator) to blow off some steam of their (his) own - Outofthequicksand

And speaking of said duality, it's also important to highlight the extent to which Namor was indeed, from day one, coded as biracial and placed in opposition to the "white race", particularly in his earliest comics that openly placed him at war with "the white man". I'll defer here to the resident Namor expert @imperiuswrecked, who has covered this aspect of Namor more extensively. This will come into relevance later.

It's important to establish the history and significance that Namor had prior to the 60s, that he was Marvel's first star character (Captain America has a much, much spottier track record until his proper comeback) but one without a consistent title to be in, because it's that very same history and significance that caused him to be brought back and remain an inviolate mainstay of the universe from the moment there was a universe for him to live in and return to. When Timely becomes Marvel, when the Fantastic Four revolutionize the superhero and begin the building blocks of the new shared universe, Namor can enter right out of the gate to add history and intrigue and turmoil to this new universe.

DC’s heroes were authoritarian in character and concept. They were authority figures, whether formally or informally. They were solidly in favor of established authority. Marvel’s heroes, however, were the opposites of DC’s characters. They rejected consensus and conformity. They were usually alienated from society and felt themselves to be men and women apart. They were the products of tragic beginnings, but unlike DC’s characters, the Marvel superheroes were never allowed to forget the tragedies that birthed them. They had uneasy relationships with the public, who often turned on them. They had uneasy relationships with the forces of authority.

Even Marvel’s villains were granted two dimensions, leaving them villainous but flawed in recognizable and understandable ways. Marvel’s heroes, villains, and stories were often ambiguous, and ambiguity was an entirely new concept in superhero comics - The Evolution of the Costumed Avenger, by Jess Nevins

Marvel can now repurpose it's old comics and it's oldest icon for texture in the new ones - we can discover that the Fantastic Four are entering a world that already beheld the Sub-Mariner, "the world's most unusual character", and forgot about him, that saw the mighty war hero enter a hypnotized slumber and, once awakened, find himself in the world of the atom bomb and the destruction it wrought upon his old life and people. Now, all the might of the former superheroic Namor is turned against "humanity", and with him an endless oceanic bestiary under his command, and a mandate to reconnect with what's left of his people and let nothing in the world get in his way.

And thus Namor takes on a newfound role - on top of being their first continuity deep cut, he is now the complicated/sympathetic/nuanced baddie who can become an ally, the first ambiguous villain of Marvel. The first of it's villains who displays a capacity to become an ally or reform, soon to be followed by the likes of Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Black Widow. And the moment a bigger menace enters the scene via Doctor Doom, the new greatest villain of their world, Namor can now be an opposing force of conflicting alliances and loyalties, assisting Doom and turning against him on the same story.

For the rest of the Lee-Kirby run, he will go on to become arguably the 2nd greatest Fantastic Four villain of the time, one reserved for special occasions in the same way Doom is, but one who demands entirely different considerations writing-wise because he is, fundamentally, not a true monster or villain, just an opposing force of mercurial allegiances but unwavering commitment. Traits that in the past made him a game-changing but inconsistent hero, here make him into a unique but difficult villain, one who unfortunately often does fall into routine as he is simply not built for the kind of long-term commitment to direct antagonism that Doom or the others are. But at his best in the Lee-Kirby run, he is incredibly fun to read about.

I simply do not get tired ever of all the weird animals and monsters and contraptions and underwater set pieces that Namor as a villain in this era brings with him in every appearence, he appeals really strongly to the ocean nerd in me and the palenthology nerd also, because Kirby absolutely was cracking open the picture books for reference, I was not expecting a Dunkleosteus and a Xenacanthus to show up when I started this run. I was so happy to find them in here, and wait you mean to tell me that Namor was piloting a fucking Mosasaurus??? Why isn't he doing that more often??? There is just a consistently enjoyable unpredictability to Namor's arsenal in this era, whether it's the monsters he summons or him pulling new weird powers related to sea creatures. Him having "the powers of all creatures who live beneath the sea" is one of those typically over-the-top early Marvel developments (like the Lizard having the powers of all the lizards on Earth) that I DEARLY miss and wish would come back, because they promise infinitely wilder possibilites than anyone's ever taken advantage of.

With the Marvel Universe underway and his newfound role, Namor now exists in a dual-role: He grows away from being a full-time Fantastic Four villain and rejoins his kingdom and ostensibly returns to something akin to his original role, but the world has now changed and changed Namor with it. Away from Everett's hands and from Lee-Kirby's vision, there are now significant competing ideas of The Sub-Mariner, and the following decades will be defined by this push and pull. He reattains a solo title, but only sporadically. He joins the Defenders, a team with fellow self-contained weirdos who defy superhero convention, and go on adventures to map out the weird corners of Marvel. He retroactively forms the Invaders, defining the vision of 1940s Marvel with Cap and Hammond, and his flooding of New York would go on to become a formative catastrophe in the history of this world. Subsequent Fantastic Four writers will drag him back again and again to diminishing results, he fights the Avengers and joins the Avengers, he gets pulled into the X-Men orbit because of his mutant connections, and when the 2000s mega-arc initiates, he is tapped to join the Illuminati, where he now must adjust to the rest of the Marvel Universe playing in his pool and worse, fucking in it.

As the Illuminati forms, as events like Civil War and Secret Invasion and Dark Reign proceed to twist and darken the universe and all of it's heroes, as the Marvel Universe starts to reckon more and more with it's nature as The Bastardverse it has always fundamentally been, the primordial bastard must step in to respond accordingly. When representatives of the world convene in the shadows to steer it, Namor has to be invited, even if only to clash against them. When the mutants go to war with the Avengers and attain godhood, they bring him in, so he can be goaded into going on a rampage and do what they all were always going to do. And when the Illuminati has to turn truly monstrous for the sake of saving the multiverse, when it's time for Reed Richards and T'challa to drown their doubts and principles and commit to monstrosity for the sake of saving their worlds, there they must bring in Namor again, because he has been doing it longer than any of them. Because amidst everyone else grappling with moral complications and tough choices, he is the only one who is perfectly fine with who he is and what he's doing and what needs to be done. His new job is to give these people a license, and the warning that comes with it.

He gives the Illuminati a license to be villainous in the name of a greater good (surely, they can never be worse than Namor, they all think), and he warns them of the path this will inevitably lead to. He gives them a warning about how justified the Hulk will be when he comes after them all. He gives the Phoenix Five a license to drop the Miracleman act and go to war, and the early shot that warns them all of what's to come next. He gives T'Challa a license to be the monster he needs to be to save the world, and when that fails, avenge his people by taking him down. He gives the Cabal a license to pick up where the Illuminati left off and, to his horror, show Namor what real shameless monstrosity looks like, and at the end of everything, he's there to help T'Challa in his last stand, putting everything aside to distract Doom even at the cost of his own life.

And as a result of his antagonistic dynamic towards Black Panther and Wakanda culminating in this arc, Namor's deal became significantly informed by his status as a pseudo-Black Panther villain, and thus we, at last, reach the latest and most significant development regarding Namor: his role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Ryan Coogler and Tenoch Huerta to me granted the character an emotional context here that clarifies everything he is, and all that shapes his thought. He’s not angry at the surface world and its clownshit in abstract. It’s not just the anger of a distant warrior-king of the oceans. It’s the anger of the colonized, of the Othered.

What Ryan Coogler and Tenoch Huerta did is give him specificity. He’s not just a broad-strokes figure in White hands, for White writers to write as an archetypal broad-strokes morally murky angry bastard guy. No, there’s a specific history to this guy, there’s a cultural specificity and context to his very existence.

I like this Namor a lot. The character finally makes an emotional sense, to me. I understand him. I relate to his rage, as I'm sure plenty of people do. - Ryan Coogler’s Namor and Specificity

Namor in Wakanda Forever has been touted as a complete reinvention of the character, which isn't quite true: while many of the Mesoamerican traits and specific signifiers are indeed new, and certainly do a LOT to recontextualize and breathe new life into every facet of his character, Wakanda Forever Namor is less a reinvention of Namor as much as it is a synthesis of Namor. It is all the prior Namors we have discussed here unified and blended into one: He is the avenging villain/troubled anti-hero who has incredibly justified reasons to wage war on humanity for the sake of his people, he is the emburdened child king of a wronged underground civilization, he is the noble but troubled romantic figure who swings between monster and savior on a dime, he is the fun over-the-top supervillain with an endless supply of underwater trickery who will go on a rampage if he feels spurned or betrayed, he is the folk demigod who floods the great noble city in a life-shattering calamity, and he is the righteous bastard here to stake his ground on these new political backstabbing games that superheroes engage with now, dragged away from his kingdom and people so he can play the primordial shadow the righteous bastard anti-heroes of new must defeat or work with and, at minimum, recognize within themselves.

And he is, at last and once more, the righteous fury of The Other. He is no longer just coded as a POC character or implied to be, and he can now fully resume his original aims. He can now once again be at war against "the white man", against the colonial forces that have ravaged his home and people, and this no longer has to be subtext. He can fully embody a power fantasy of retribution against your oppressors without having to be allegorical about it, but because he is no longer alone in being such, he can now clash against and be in dialogue with another character who also represents such a power fantasy. He can bestow upon Shuri the hunting license to be like Killmonger, but he is no mere oppressor, and even if he himself deserves vengeance, he is what he is to protect something greater than himself, and for the sake of their people, they must sacrifice even their own vendettas. He warns that they must hang together, or be hanged separately.

And so Namor achieved this new form, and funny enough, one that ties him into the greatest legacy of the Fantastic Four. Where as he was once the 2nd or 3rd greatest/most popular Fantastic Four villain, he is now the 2nd or 3rd greatest/most popular Black Panther villain. Outside of these specific stories that can afford him a clear arc to work with, does he work as a reocurring Black Panther villain? No, not really. But he was T'Challa's most personal enemy on the biggest story either of them were ever a part of up until that point, and then his MCU debut that revitalized and redefined the character happened with him as the villain in the Black Panther sequel, so he's undeniably already there. Although as much as I throughly loved Wakanda Forever and what it did with Namor, I have absolutely zero desire to see him come back for anything unless it's the same team at the helm (I am not optimistic and indifferent towards Avengers: Doomsday for a variety of self-evident reasons, and unfortunately he is one of them).

Yes I was supposed to be talking about Namor as a Fantastic Four villain, guess it's time to ruin the fun and shoot the elephant in the room: In the context of Lee-Kirby F4, I actually think Namor and Sue's thing is mostly fine. Not good, but fine, for what it is at the time. I think there's a lot of things that I give Lee-Kirby F4 a pass for that I otherwise wouldn't on other comics and not simply because of goodwill, but because even a lot of it's problematic / outdated elements I think are useful signifiers, interesting points of contrast and discussion, or thematically relevant for the time period and what F4's aims were, although that's certainly not a blanket pass for everthing (there are good reasons why nobody has bothered to textually address how misogynistic Reed was to Sue in that era). Namor and Sue's thing, from day one, existed in the service of an exoticized "romance with the alien monster/foreigner" pulp trope that was already outdated and problematic then, but doing a 60s superhero/sci-fi take on the pulp tropes and cliches that Lee and Kirby grew up reading about was central to the whole thing, Sue's complicated feelings about Namor made it a shlocky pseudo love triangle instead of a one-sided creep obsession, the kid-friendly tone meant that things hardly ever got too uncomfortable or like actual assault (although still a little too close).

Fantastic Four was built atop their prior experience with monster comics and romance comics, a monster romance was kind of inevitable, and when Reed and Sue properly got together and married, while Namor's subsequent appearences still brought it up, it would get gradually phased out as the Sub-Mariner drifted more into uneasy ally/heroic status. That, in itself, should have been the end of it, but evidently it was not. Every decade, someone decides to reiterate this plotline, and every decade, it reflects worse on them. On Sue, it was a misogynistic reputation as someone who deep down wanted to cheat on Reed, it was being known as a character who had nothing exciting going on with her life besides the horny fishman, and on Namor's end, it's a pop culture reputation as a sleaze and a womanizer and a creep who revolves around his obsession with a married woman who does not want him. That was the thing Namor was and is known for, the main joke of every pastiche, and unfortunately it seems like not even Wakanda Forever was able to change that in the long run. I'm not sure what could, at this point.

I'm gonna be upfront here, part of the problem is that Sue Storm has always gotten the short end of the stick, and as a result has always been considerably less developed than the other 3. In the Lee-Kirby F4 era, unfortunately is is true that Namor was the only thing Sue had going on until she and Reed got married, and then the marriage was the only thing she had going on. Her lack of foundation is the original sin of Lee-Kirby F4, and things only got worse for her when said foundation was later provided by John Byrne, a putrid man who left everything he ever touched toxic for generations after to deal with. To this day, Sue Storm functionally does not have a foundation the way the other 3 have, and that's why the default with her still exists defined around either Reed, or Namor. Even Hickman couldn't think of much of anything for Sue to do other than to beat up Namor and get involved with Atlantean politics, on the one part of the book she got to have her own adventures. It's a problem that goes beyond whatever tiresome shtick she and Namor have, and it drags them both down.

And it's not like Namor playing the heel is a bad thing, that's been inseparable to his deal since day one. But it was already lame enough in the comics when he was a cool compelling versatile character constantly reduced to a shlocky trope or a creep. It's infinitely worse now that Marvel has, in the wake of Wakanda Forever, a clear interest in acknowledging Namor as not-white, in making him more explicitly indigenous, in having him exist as a principled rival/enemy within the Black Panther side of the world. I think having him be that, and doing the Sue thing, is just a complete fucking misfire on every level, just an unthinkably bad idea to combine the two, taking the allegorical exotic pulp racism of the 60s dynamic and doing it without the allegory / feeding into extremely dangerous and bigoted stereotypes against indigenous / brown-skinned men, really just shooting out the character's knees and making him too detestable for anyone to even want to see him be anything but a prop to be knocked down. I'm certainly not saying I want him and Sue to be magically chaste friends (although, again, that is a dynamic Namor can have just fine with other characters), I just don't think there's any redeeming this even if he goes back to looking like a white Dwayne Johnson. I think the best case scenario is him never interacting with the Fantastic Four again or at least until they figure out what they want out of him.

So yes, I think Namor absolutely does count as a villain - he is not just a villain, but being a villain, being able to play the villain and play the hero in varying measures, is a core part of what he is and does. Namor is a character that I think will probably never be particularly or especially popular again for similar reasons as to why some of the pulp characters I talk about or Captain Marvel or, shit even the Fantastic Four, face difficulties in that regard - their deal has been replicated endlessly and absorbed into what everyone else around them does, and even if they remain unique and dynamic characters, their cultural import and significance will never truly translate to them being a thing most non-comics people have reasons to know or care about. But even if Namor will never be a particularly important character for the Marvel Universe on an ongoing basis, I do think he is an extremely important character for understanding the Marvel Universe and how it works. Even past whatever he means for Marvel - in many ways, I'd still argue he is The Marvel Superman - the purer, more primal or powerful strain of what the others are trying to be and do.

Whether he is hero or villain, whether he leads the charge or takes a backseat, whether he is right or wrong, he is The Guy. The universe comes from him and around him, if not in-universe then outside of it. The universe is shaped like him. He comes to tear down the order of things and brawl with whoever tries to stop him, to meet brothers in arms and war against new enemies and guide his monstrous children to their futures. The DC heroes aspire to be like Superman, the man from the stars who wants others to rise and meet him there, while the Marvel heroes deny the Namor within them, the man from the depths who beckons them to the abyss where he lives. Because the truth of the Marvel Universe is not joining hands in the sun as the people of tomorrow, it's the avenging sons and children without love flooding New York City and fighting each other atop the ruins.

Rather than slap a symbol on an altruistic strongman’s chest, like so many other characters in Superman’s wake, Everett eschewed those impulses, pulling instead from legend and literature to craft a unique character. In an odd way, this gives Namor and Superman a deeper kinship than his caped imitators, as the Last Son of Krypton was also inspired by mythos, literature, and, some theorize, profound personal heartbreak.

Superman is the immigrant who never knew his destroyed homeland, and fights so that his new homeland does not suffer the same fate, while the Sub-Mariner is the product of two races, and cannot find peace within himself until his peoples find peace with each other

It is appropriate Superman came from another star; he is a kind of unsullied messiah. Namor, however, is a demigod, fully in tune with his sometimes visceral passions, and fully aware that sometimes that leads to trouble. But he is alive, and this is his nature.

a bastard son, a half-breed prince his underwater race never fully trusted, and a super-powered anomaly the human race always feared, leaving Namor forever at odds with both worlds. He has all the power and uses it for vengeance – although sometimes, reluctantly, for a common cause, as well.

Fighting between self-interest and emotional nobility, he is a reflection of us. - The Brilliance of Bill Everett’s Sub-Mariner, Marvel’s Superman

[thanyatargaryen]

Surprise My Love

Ok I'm trying to do this for the first time because I'm not used to creative writing and if you see this and you have any ideas please let me know.

Rating: PG

Pairing: Pedro Pascal x reader

You have been in LA more often creating content for your Youtube channel and you started hearing rumors in social media that you were dating an older man. At the same time the heartthrob Pedro Pascal was seen more often in LA spending time with a secret someone. The situation spiked the paparazzi lenses taking pictures of him talking with someone in a coffee shop often or having secret encounters with a person in secluded restaurants.

Funny enough, you were indeed dating an older man... Pedro Pascal whom you met a few months ago at the announcement of The Fantastic Four: First Steps at San Diego Comic Con. You were recording and interview for your channel since you had an agreement with Marvel for promotion. The situation was funny since you both were able to jock around and the vibe was so carefree even after the age difference. The vibe was in high levels between you to that even Vanessa Kirby noticed and invited you to the after dinner event and that how it all started.

Throughout the night you were talking about everything and nothing with Pedro. The conversation was so light hearted talking about your childhood in your home country and his childhood and how he used to go to the movies with his dad, living with his siblings mostly Javiera. His jobs and the first time you saw some of his work, the books both like to read and the movies you watch to disconnect from the world. Even after dinner you kept talking outside the restaurant and he asked your number to keep in touch. You could feel the cold breeze of the sea near the restaurant and your cheeks getting hotter by the second as you took your phone and exchanged numbers. You saved your number on his phone with your name and he being cheeky saved his as Z. Pascal which you knew what it meant and made you giggle. Pedro offered to take you home or order a cab for you but you declined since you had parked your car at a nearby hotel.

After that, you exchanged numbers with Vanessa with whom you had a great connection throughout the interview and dinner. She was asking question about your work as content creator and how it all started with your youtube channel. You explained how you had always wanted to do content creation and how much it took you to actually take a leap of faith on yourself and actually do it. She was amazed on your trajectory from being a student and all the work you did with your family and as a university teacher while taking classes making life a bit harder. She was amazed and asked what was to do in San Diego you gave her a list and she was interested in many places to visit.

Time ran out and you all ended your night around 2 am as the valet got your car you were playing with your phone and a text came through "Are you free tomorrow night?" P. It made you smile and right at the moment you were going to answer your car arrived. You got in after giving a tip to the valet and fixing your seat. The car felt warm but it wasn't the car it was you feeling happy after the text. As you start driving you make the call answering "I'm free after 5 pm tomorrow" :) and that was how you got your first "date".

It was a quick dinner at the hotel restaurant where he as staying, a sushi bar and you got to talk even more about what you do and what you like to do. The date was full little touches on each other, knee, hand, shoulder, arm you name it. the night ended around 10 pm. "I appreciate you taking the time to have dinner with me, even though I'm not often on the west coast I would like to keep talking if you feel like it." You were completely surprised and over the moon you took a big gulp and looked at him "I appreciate the invitation, i had a great time and I hope we keep talking too. If you ever want to come to San Diego i can be you and your family's personal tour guide." He closes on you and kisses your hand like a gentleman "I will take that offer for sure and i hope to see you after we come back from filming."

"Are you going straight to filming after the con?"

"Yes we are going to Spain as i finish a few things for Gladiator "

"Wow well i hope to her from you soon and take care it was an amazing and beautiful dinner."

"I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed the night because i did too." Right at that moment your car got to the valet, Pedro opened your door and waved goodbye.

Months passed and at this point you were biting your nails at the airport on your way to Malta to visit Pedro. It was your first time doing something so crazy as this. You could see a few people walking around and a few groups of teenagers and college age people looking at you. Out off nowhere you feel a hand on your shoulder and they as "Hello, I'm sorry to bother you but i was was talking with my friends and we think you look like this Youtuber that does interviews to people from Hollywood and things like that..."

"OH! Yes it's me." that answer brought a group of 15y/o asking for a group pic when you hear your flight getting called for second time which was a bad thing. The group was going nuts that if they wanted individual pics or group. "Why don't we ask someone to take a picture with your phone and then i reposted on my stories... it will be nice to have it before i get into the plane." That is when they all agreed and someone took the picture, at least 20 teens were scattered on the floor and smiling which made you happy since it was your job that brought so many people together and this is proof of it.

After the picture gets taken the last call comes through and to take the people and run to the plane almost not making it. I that's weird to think that since you had been at the airport 3 hours prior to your flight. You were nervous about how impetuous this decision was for you. After talking with John (Quinn) and getting the surprise for Pedro this was the only way the surprise could happen. You apologized to the flight attendants for the delay and go to your seat, the crew makes all the safety checks and talk to the passengers. Straight after that you get your earbuds on and try to forget not to be anxious for 16 hours. You started watching a show on netflix for a few hours, then a 1 hour nap and then read your book for the last 4 hours of your flight arriving to Malta around 1:30 pm.

It took about 30 minutes to get through customs and pick up your luggage since you had done customs online at the kiosk after you got off the plane. By 2 pm John had a car waiting for you and when you get picked up the jitters start on your belly. While arriving to the hotel you get a note from the people at checking it is from John "We are having lunch and the car that picked you up will take you there" Johnny Boy. Giggling you get taken to your room where you change your clothes to a nice flowy dress and flats. You run to the elevator and down to the car where the driver took you to that little restaurant near the beach. John had sent a text with his location for you to find them easier when you arrived. The driver gets to the main entrance of the restaurant and the hostess takes you to the main path towards the isolated tend where Paul, John, Pedro and Fred were eating.

You were so happy to see Pedro even from afar, you saw John taking a selfie and what bette moment to surprise him than with a hug. You sneaked up on the small group and stood behind Pedro. He was weird out because he could smell your perfume and that's when you lean into him and whisper "Hello General." Pedro is speechless and all the guys are taking pictures, he stands up and hugs you tight while you wrap your hands around his neck and kiss him. "This is indeed a good surprise my lady."

I hope you like it and please let me know what else i could do to improve my writing.