#my og thought was 'wars vessel'

[mothorcus]

a singular Shamura doodle 4 u

[melancholymarrow]

Heyyy idk if this has been done before, but I went crazy and made a very detailed Howl's Moving Castle AU for Gravity Falls :DD

(Sorry in advance for the lack of arms. Drawing arms is like the bane of my existence hhhhh)

Lore for the au below cut

Basically, Fiddleford is Sophie, and Stanford is Howl. Fidds is like an engineer, but he wants to be an inventor & experiment with mixing magic and tech.

Ford, better known as The Great Wizard Stanford, is both a sorcerer and a scientist. When he was younger, he swallowed a star, making a deal with it. In exchange for great wisdom and power, Ford traded his heart. When this happened, the star's soul split in two. One latched on to a piece of Ford’s soul, taking his heart as it's vessel. This entity is Cipher, who appears as a ball of blue fire with a small yellow triangle with one eye in it's center. Cipher is Calcifer in this au. Because this part of the soul merged partly with Ford's, they share/swap some personality traits. Cipher has more of a conscience than og Bill, and Ford is a bit more vain about his appearance (he magics his hair blonde for a while at the start of the story).

The other part of the star's soul became a human-appearing demon. He named himself Bill, but most know him as the Demon of the Falls. Bill worked closely together with Ford for a time, but ended up betraying him and showing his true colors. After this, Ford fought Bill but ended up fleeing when it became clear he would lose the battle. He's been spending years trying to find a way to defeat Bill so that he doesn't hurt many more people.

The mystery twins take the place of Markl in this au. The Stans are just their uncles in this au, not great uncles. Shermie is their dad, and he's away fighting in the war. The twins were sent to live with Stanford when the war started so that Ford would keep them safe and also teach them magic.

Stanley takes the place of Turnip Head. Stan had been pretending to be Ford for a while to scam people, and Bill accidently tracked him down instead of Ford. Bill was pissed when he figured this out and cursed Stan to be a scarecrow. Fiddleford, when he was leaving home after he'd been cursed, found Stan stuck in a bush. He'd thought he could use the stick as a cane, but quickly found out it was another guy with a curse on him. Stan had been stuck in the bush for three days and could tell that Fidds had also been cursed, so he decided to help him out. Stan gave Fidds his 8-ball staff to use as a cane and led him to the moving castle.

I have wayyy more already thought out if y'all are interested at all. Might post some art of other characters in the au later.

[my-pjo-stuff]

At this point I think we've all seen the "Luke is a heartless monster who just started a war because of daddy issues and cared for no one" take. Which.... I'll be honest is even stupider than the pedo take imo. But it did give me the idea for this. So let's all have a thought experiment together :

What if Luke was an actual heartless monster who cared for no one?

Here's how I think it would go : >TLT goes the relative same, as Kronos wanted Percy to be his OG body I doubt Luke would seriously harm him there. >Shit starts going down in SOM. Because since he cares for no one and nothing he would have no intrest in getting Thalia. If I remember the plan with her only came up after she returned, so Luke just poisions the tree and lets it die to weaken CHB while getting the fleece himself. Possibly sending Al or other demigods >Which means that A)Thalia's tree is now just straight up DEAD including her and B)Kronos is back MUCH sooner since they have the fleece now. >If we still have the plot with Annabeth and Artemis in TTC then Annabeth just straight up dies, since Luke has no reason to protect her. Since there's no Thalia to take Luke at the finale someone else would need to fight him- or he'd team up with Atlas on Artemis. I'm gonna go with possibly Zoe or someone taking the sky from Artemis so Percy can go up against Luke. >Luke ends up capturing Percy to use as Kronos' body since let's be real, Percy had no chance in a 1v1 against Luke. Everytime they had one in canon Percy always lost until someone came to help him by surprise attacking Luke. >Percy ends up being forced to be Kronos' vessel as he's brought back. >The gods are overthrown, practically every character not in the TA dies and Luke wins.

AND THAT'S JUST HOW I'D THINK THE PLOT WOULD LOGICALY GO FROM THE START

Here are other situations I think would have been WILDLY different:

>Thalia going up to fight Luke in TTC would just end with her getting killed since he'd have no real reason to be so broken up over her or be in a bad mental state which gave Thalia the advantage she had. Thalia dies. >If Kronos didn't need Percy Luke wouldn't have done that last attempt to recruit him at the end of TLT and would only see Percy as a threat. Meaning he'd kill 12 y/o Percy in his sleep before taking off to get rid of that risk factor. >He never would have given Annabeth that dagger since he's purely selfish here. He'd probably have kept it for himself as a weapon. >Oh also NONE of the kids he rly cared for are getting any real care. Best he does in periodically manipulate them to keep them on his side- but even that would only happen after he already decided to go after the gods. So for the first time at camp he just does his own business. >This means Annabeth has NO real comfort after Thalia dies! >Oh also RIP Annabeth and Percy in SOM when they get on Luke's ship and Kronos doesn't need/want Percy. Because they IMMEDIATELY get jumped and killed by monsters. Yeah, no good night of rest for them, just immediate attack and kill. >Grover dies to the cyclops in the meanwhile. >If by some miracle they make it to TLO and Kronos does posess Luke like in canon everyone ALSO dies since Annabeth's "family Luke, you promised!" wouldn't have worked either.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk!

[acaribeau]

The vessels

Mammon x gn!reader (Can be seen as platonic) ✦ 1k words ✦ SFW ✦ on AO3 ✦ Masterlist TW : mention of corpses, slight gore at the end. Content : situated in S3 of og OM, creepy hc about demons and their influence in the human world, with slight fluff and gore at the end.

After the incident with Solomon's cooking in Serenity Manor, you found out the creepy reason why Mammon wasn't affected as the others.

I was relaxing with Asmo and Satan in the common room of Serenity Manor. After almost dying from eating Solomon's cooking they were pretty exhausted.

“Ahhh~ I thought I was going to die! I can't believe how Solomon can cook even worse each time he touches the kitchen!” 

“I didn’t think food could knock up cold demons for hours”

“And I can't believe stupid Mammon was able to eat it and be fine! Ugh… It's so unfair!”

“It probably has to do with his dead vessel and it's incapability to digest food… or the thing Solomon gave us whatever it is”

“But why should he have to be the one that didn't suffer just because he couldn't do a simple thing and keep a fucking human alive?!” 

“Ahhh… what are you talking about?”

They all looked at me as if suddenly remembering that I was in the room as well. I knew those faces… they just said something they shouldn't.

“Well… as you know, humans need to train their souls to support the strong magic in Devildom like you do your tasks, demons can't stay too long in the human world without a vessel. That consumes too much magic. We, as avatars, have enough magic to form a solid humanoid body for as long as we please… but our sins affect humans, increasing the temptation in their souls” 

“So… if we wanted to stay with you here without causing a war… we kinda have to possess some humans”

“But Lucifer and Satan came before and nothing happened…”

“Are you sure? Don't you remember what happened on the train?” 

“That's why Griselda was killed?! We were the reason for her death?!”

“Of course not. Her apprentice was already planning it. He was already consumed by pride, greed and jealousy. We only… gave him a push.”

“So… all of you are possessing someone at this moment? Are they like… trapped in their body? You just snatched the first human you saw or-?”

“Of course not! Not anyone can have the fortune of having moi inside them, physically or spiritually~”

“They all consented and they aren't conscious if that's what you’re worrying about. All of them wanted something so we made a deal for using their bodies temporarily. Most of us had losses”

“We all have our own standards, but yeah, I would normally claim their soul for eternal beauty. Instead, they even got the privilege of being my host… I really gave her everything someone can wish for~”

“And… Why did you say that Mammon wasn't sick?”

“Because that excuse of a demon killed his vessel before even making a deal. And even worse, he decided to use that body! He's stinking all over the house!” 

“I haven't smelled anything…”

“Of course not. Humans can't smell death like us”

“We were in a rush, and since you took too much time choosing yours, by the time that idiot would have chosen another, the holidays would have been over” 

“I don't know what he did to convince Lucifer to allow that… It's so humiliating having someone like him as a brother. What if someone finds out? We’ll be the laughing stock for centuries! I bet he just didn't want to pay him so he killed him… ugh”

“It really is a disgrace that someone can call himself a ruler of hell and can't get himself a living vessel”

“Just imagining how gross and sticky he must be feeling in that gives me goosebumps. See?”

Asmo took that as an excuse to grab my arm and hug me, showing me that he wasn’t lying.

I stayed there a couple of minutes more, but there was something annoying me, so I knocked on Mammon's door.

“Can I come in?" I said while poking my head through the door "I have instant noodles with hot sauce… they are not as hot as your favorites… but-"

Mammon jumped from his bed to the door "Yeah! Come in! What movie do you want to see?"

After choosing a movie, we were sitting on his sofa.

“So… I heard you are in a dead man…”

“W-WHAT? Wh-Who told you that? It was Levi? That scoundrel! I swear-”

“It doesn't matter who told me. I heard that is uncomfortable… Are you ok?”

Mammon didn't answer for a second, looking dumbfounded at me.

“…you heard I killed someone and you care about how I am doing?... Pfff! You really are a weirdo. Yeah, I'm fine. It isn't the best sensation but I can live with that”

We kept watching the movie for a while, but I couldn't contain my curiosity.

“And… Why did you do it? Killing him, I mean”

“…He was a bastard. He tried to bargain with the soul and body of his son instead of his… he was only 16 ya know? And it wasn't the first time he used him, it was written all over his body… I wasn't going to bargain with that shit! So I just took what I needed…”

“And what happened with the kid?”

“I made sure he received all the things from his father and then I asked the witches who told me to go with that asshole to take care of him”

“Wait, he was friends with the witches? Wouldn't you be in trouble?”

“Nah, I'm pretty sure they knew I was going to kill him when they sent me. He probably owed them money or something, I don't know and I don't care…”

We returned our attention to the movie until I heard him whisper shyly.

"So… aren't you freaked out by that? By me?..."

I just snuggled into him as an answer. I could feel him sigh in relief and kiss me on the forehead. I inhaled strongly, trying to smell what Asmo did, but all I could smell and feel was my demon.

Bonus:

A couple of weeks later, Satan teleported to the common room, with a knife buried in his abdomen, covered in blood and holding a head.

Mammon burst into laughter when he saw him.

“And who did you say couldn't keep a body alive??”

Satan threw him the head across the room but Mammon avoided it at the last second,  staining the sofa with blood.

“OI!”

“Not. A. Single. Word!”

“I hope you were planning on cleaning that”

“SHUT UP!" He shouted while slamming his door.

If you liked my work, please like, reblog and comment. My asks amd DMs are always open. I would love to hear your opinion, your words are my fuel to keep writing ♡

Don't repost please. I'm not native speaker, if you see any typo let me know.

[forgotteneilionora]

OOC | The Citadel Ideas

ok so ive been daydreaming abt the land of stafford a good bit! and i have some thoughts id like to share!!

so, if we're using mont saint michel and/or st michael's mount (two diff but v similar places) as our inspo, i had some notions!! first, i think @thelongforgottenrealm had mentioned asp that stafford was located at the southeastern end of the country? or was that just in my imagination? anyway hahaha either way, if it is indeed on really ~any coastline a la the above references, perhaps it is also located on a tidal island where the tides make it sometimes accessible from the mainland, and sometimes not??? so its pr self-sufficient, and a bit of a feat to conquer bc a large vessel can't really besiege it bc its too narrow but at the same time a land army will literally be swept away in only a few hours' time etc?

regardless of the above, tho, im thinking it probs does more or less have the conical shape of mont saint michel/st michael's mount, but probs higher a la mont st michel? in fact, w the exception of the literal mountains of lorcan and kil-kennar, im thinking -- given the celestial ties of house stafford -- that the castle at the top is probs the tallest altitude in astaira? and certainly the tallest manmade structure in and of itself??

also that, when the sea washes in at night, that its super clear both re: the sea and the sky, and the water reflects back the stars so that you feel like, above and below, you're awash in an ocean of starlight???? and in the mornings a deep fog often swallows it up reflecting back the colors of dawn and basically its that ancient city-in-the-clouds motif, so you almost always feel like youre in the sky when you're at stafford???? and that its got this aurora borealis action too and just <33333 magical ~amongst the stars~ vibes <333333

also thinking abt how we said that the stafford swords might be meteor blades as well as the legend of how mont st michel was founded, and maybe, according to legend, the ancient ancestors of house stafford took a page out of the three wise men's book and followed three shooting stars to the spot. where they landed, they founded their citadel and turned the remnants of the three glittering stars, fallen to earth, to the three celestial blades famous of their house!

im thinking too that -- inspired by mont st michel and its historical building/collapse/rebuilding thing, that perhaps, at the pinnacle lies the ruins of the og keep, its great domed vault collapsed so that its now open to the stars and lowkey a kinda observatory kinda thing now???

also!!!!! im not done!!!!1 ;DDDDD what if, this being astaira, theyve got a hanging gardens of babylon kinda thing going, given the potentially? conical shape etc, where the whole place is a green garden, overflowing from one terrace to the next, where flowering trees and shrubs and even lakes and creeks (inspired too by eze) flow and just!!!!!! v idyllic (at least pr!roderick who knows now alksjdfkljdf)

finally, idk how up you guys are on the full history of mont saint michel, its various parts in wars w the english, its supposedly haunted situation, the angel supposedly having appointed its creation, its falling and rebuilding again and again in the early middle ages, the fact that it repelled one of the greatest generals to ever live, henry v, and stood proud and impregnable for centuries, its status as a center of pilgrimage and a sea port supposedly protected by st michael himself, its involvement in the theft of relics and reliquaries, its status as one of the worst jails in france after the hunted monks were expelled and it had fallen almost to ruin via the revolution its rebuilding, and so many other bits and piecees, but i thought we might also take some inspo from that esp re: roderick, too!

anyway some pics etc of st michael's mount and eze since ive got specific points abt them and they're more obscure than the hanging gardens/mont saint michel etc so i wasn't sure if i was making my point so well hahaha! anyway you can find them below the cut bc yeah idk if i described any of these things well at all!

EZE

so you guys may know all abt eze idk, but id never heard of eze before i went there. its on the french riviera, near monaco, and its a JAW DROPPER!!! its this medieval town w tiny, winding streets but it in no way feels oppressive bc every turn reveals a new tree and a constellation of bright flowers, and vines cheerfully winding all along the walls! and the ocean below is a shade of electric blue so brilliant it reminded me of our lizzy's eyes <3 terraced gardens are everywhere, and just when you think the dazzling sun is getting too bright you emerge into a covered alcove w a babbling fountain or lil flowing stream to delight and cool you, once supplying fresh drinking water to the citizens in the middle ages. cobbled stone paths form pretty walkways in patterns that ofen suggest -- i kid you not -- stars <3 the further you go, the higher you get but its all so gradual its not troubling at all and tbh you don't even realize how high you've climbed until you come upon a window (almost all the doors and windows are flung open so that inside and out are only concepts w everything open and breezy) and you find yourself at a jaw-dropping height from which you feel you can overlook the world entire, but even to someone like me -- terrified of heights -- there's no fear bc the mount holds you in a warm embrace and you do not fear falling

none of these pictures do it even a touch of justice but they might help give a sense of what i mean (couldn't find pictures of the sights from the tallest towers or of the streams and fountains and mosaics tho!)

ST MICHAELS MOUNT

so i only realized that st michaels mount and mont saint michel were different places a couple years ago ngl lakjsdfkjldsf and i haven't been here so ill just present pics! but its got a port to one side bc the water's so deep there but part is so shallow you can walk across at low tide bu inaccessible at high tide! its got this ring of terraced gardens, its oldest parts are built almost like an organic structure, growing out of the rock, and the waters reflect back the sky when they're calm

[agent-8449]

Agent Logos CJverse chatroom summary.... REAL!!!!

Clears throat. This may be a long post, be warned. Actually, yeah. Bwoink.

The OG AU: Voice of Reason

Whole: Dead as fuck. Sort of. Way before the events of the comic, their Whole 'died'. We refer to not-dead Whole OOCly as 'Hope', but he also sort of exists afterwards as a figment of himself-- the 'shadow' called Cast. Cast can only speak in song lyrics, and currently resides in... the TMAverse, as a cursed item. Woaw.

Heart: Would kill you if you called him Heart. Ozzy/Oz/Ozymandias is a real piece of work. Sourceless guilt incarnate, magically influenced by a cursed mirror to eat it, in a symbolic attempt to erase himself. He's so chill. So fine. So cool. Definitely not so close to collapsing at all times. Got glasses though.

Mind: Tinker/Ulysses. So violently soggy, but hides it under his inexplicable British accent and polite demeanour. Made the transmitters that allow Thirds to traverse between their Surrealities. He half-regrets this. The only one of the three fully aware that Cast is an actual sentient guy. Hid his Soul's trident in his hand after the comic, and so that hole is very much still there <he's 'fixing' it atm...>

Soul: Coda. Coba. Coba Cola. What a disaster. After the comic, it <he/it> was kept in his room as much as possible. Then Oz left, and he completely lost it. It was a big storyline, so feel free to ask about it. Coda is really fun because he's not sane

Me-only AU 2: The Negatives

Whole: Eris... also known as Chase. The Negatives are a sort of "reversal of personality". Eris is a shitty content farm-making YouTuber, and generally hates this too. He also has to deal with the Cold War he sort of constructed with his own Thirds. He remembers what his Thirds do, which is good because he split <past tense> often... like. Every day. They called it 'shifts'. Yeah.

Heart: Phobos, ahhhhh my horrible boy Phobos. Personification of egoism, self-aggrandization, imagination, and intrusive thoughts. Green. Mean. A bitch and a half. Generally sadistic. The de-facto leader of the Negative Thirds. Wears crocs. Idolises Whole.

Mind: Deimos. That is all. Personification of logic, reasoning, and thinking ahead. He is also an absolute goon and pushover. All too happy to be Phobos' lackey.

Soul: Nemesis, though he hates that nickname. Personification of 'cringe culture', self-doubt, second-hand embarassment, and critical thinking. Basically ignored by the other two. Does all the work in the Vessel. Clinically annoyed by everything all the time. Very spiteful.

ASSORTED GUYS <from co-op AUs>:

Allen: Soul from Voib, Andy, Shade and I's AI AU, also known as Reification Initiative: Apotheosis. Yeah I came up with that. My bad. Allen is shitty. So very shitty. Ran away. That's all I can say for now.

Valentine: Heart from WAAAILSSSSSS IT'S ONLY ME BUT HIS COUNTERPARTS ARE ALL DEAAAAD. The Bachelor AU, a 'Lonely' AU. He is trying to live his life now that he fucked up and he's alone. He committed arson. He has to go to government-mandated therapy. He is beloved.

Nyx: Whole from Xanadu AU. Haven't done much with him, but he's in space, and he's an idiot.

Vlinder: :>

Thyme: Mind from the Aonaran/Apocalypse AU. The world ended. It be like that sometimes. And the stress got to their Whole. Thyme killed multiple people.

Pursuit: Heart (2) from Voib's Labyrinths AU. He is big kitty cat lad. Does eat people. Tries to maintain the status quo. Genuinely satisfied with the state of things.

Magna: Mind from Demersal AU. Basically, he got pitted instead of Heart for being a delusional little shit. He did not get any less delusional. Conspiracy nut, drowning 1/4th of the time, and generally horrible person.

Brevity: Soul from Voib and I's Syncopation AU. Olde Mann. No legs, they froze off. He is not mentally well at all, but he's got to keep it together if he wants to continue being 'him'.

Crawl: Heart from the Asides AU. Fourth-wall breaking eldritch horror. Collector of things. Collector of extinct things. Full name 'Crawl of the Horizon'.

"Quinn": Soul from Good Day. Very new AU with me, Voib, Q-ott, and Ledge <@/nitroish>. Meant to be close to album guys. He's denying his halves exist and matter atm.

There you go! Not including the alternate timelines because jesus christ

[hanasnx]

i've loved the whole starlet reader little bits and bobs recently. she's my babygirl, i have posters of her up on my walls and her playboy cover under my bed <33

i know the au! is hayden-based, but my brain circled around anakin for this one. 

in my mind the prequels take place in what would be our 1940s or 1950s as the ogs reflected closer the political context of the 60s. 

which lends itself for a golden-age starlet reader, and i wanted to share a thought! ITS SO LONG IM SO SORRY  ;;

-🥩

with a war raging on, people need some sort of distraction as to not go insane with the politics and bloodshed of it all - an escapism the entertainment industry is more than happy to provide. anything you could possibly want to escape your own life for a little while, they have. 

i like to imagine each clone legion has has their own taste when it comes down to their poison of choice - the 302th are very into the thrillers of an acclaimed silver fox actor. the 127th favour comedies regardless of whoever stars in them.

the 501st claimed starlet!reader as their girl. that's quite literally how she's known in the clones barracks, "the 501st's girl".

the legion is very familiar with their girl and her filmography. even though not all of her repertoire is romance, that's the one genre they indulge in the most.  

in the two hours they get to spend with her, they get to live the romance of a lifetime they may never get to experience otherwise. she's their forbidden lover, their wife, their temptress.

their girl, really.

she's special to them, even if in a parasocial way. it's a tragic thought to think how many of them passed with a picture of her on the windshield of their ship. 

maybe that's why anakin agreed to watch a holo-film of hers with the 401st. it's important to them, so it's important to him. a little bonding time. 

he just didn't expect to become so quickly enraptured with you, too - not in the same way his clone comrades are, their girl is the vessel for their fantasies. to anakin? you're his fantasy. 

i doubt he cares much for your movies, i think he prefers your interviews and commercials.  he has a few favorite frames he comes back to often. 

he lingers on them more than he should - a parasocial relationship *hardly* counts as an attachment anyways. 

considering how most holo-projections are 3D, i'm sure he's already familiar with your form, from head to toes. 

but no projection can compare to seeing the real thing for the first time - you were actually real? he couldn't wrap his head around that idea. 

i mean, you looked real when you arrived in a pretty little white-blue outfit, accompanied by palpatine, (who ofc organized the whole thing). you were all smiles and waves, clearly trying to make contact with as many eyes as you could before you went onstage.  

you sounded real when you yelped and giggled when you almost tripped on the slippery stairs when you were headed center to deliver a small speech to your boys (as you so lovingly called them). 

but what really almost sold him on the fact that you were real, was feeling you. physically you were meters away, but with his connection to the force? you were almost breathing down his neck with how close he felt your force presence. the very essence of what makes you, you. 

you were singing your heart out up there -  oblivious to how you intoxicated almost all of anakin's senses by simply existing in the same space as him. 

he just really needed to confirm you tasted real, to be completly sold on your existence as something beyond a hallucination of his haunted mind. 

WHAT THE FUCK

look i dont like long inbox msgs bcos its rly difficult for me to focus on them and all that etc etc whatever whatever but this.. this i loved reading. i want more of it. i want to hear more about the 501st's girl and how ppl joke about it "oh hows your lil girlfriend??" as if shes the collective gf of this division sldfj. i wonder how anakin gets closer, do you feel drawn to him too? if so, is it cos hes pretty or is it a magical thing? are the 501st jealous or playfully jealous over anakins success in bagging you??

my cheeks slowly heated up the entire time i read it i rly enjoyed it omg

[fountainpenguin]

do you mayhaps have anything regarding the biology of yugopotamians in ur lore notes, or anything else related?

I do, and I hold my Yugopotamian biology post fondly since it was one of my first big lore posts.

I do consider these posts outdated due to terminology I used back in the day (not to mention, I've changed things in my final lore), so take them with a grain of salt.

I plan to write new Yugopotamian lore posts with up-to-date lore and language when I'm closer to posting Mark and Vicky's arc in the 130 Prompts. Here are the existing ones:

Yugopotamian Biology

Yugopotamian Technology

Yugopotamian Name Culture

Related:

The Green Train story arc will explore Yugopotamia as well, once we reach that point in the timeline.

A post dedicated to screenshots of Mark being ridiculous - Interesting to see how his culture shows in his character

OG script of "Spaced Out" - Yugopotamia has 3 moons

OG script of "Scary Godparents" - Yugopotamians have 4 hearts

Yugopotamian calendar shown in this post - I think it's really funny that the king's birthday is a holiday (But specifically, it's not even his actual birthday- it's just observed).

The OG script of "Foul Balled" where Mark visited future Vicky in the nursing home - I just think it's neat he was still in squid form, since we know from "New Squid In Town" that Mark seems to assume he'll be welcomed in alien form and Timmy has to prompt him to go into hiding.

The bloopers reel for "School's Out - The Musical" suggests Mark knows H.P., since he calls him by name. I have some questions.

Here are two posts (Post 1, Post 2) that aren't technically about Yugopotamian culture, but capture my vision of Mark's relationship with Vicky really well.

Here's a post I made contrasting Mark and Vicky's relationship to Jane Eyre, which I was reading at the time and losing my mind over how toxic Jane's relationship with Rochester was despite my teacher being confused about why I thought they were toxic. It's not entirely about culture, but it's cool to look back on years later to see where my thoughts were and how I read Mark's character. I still hold by much of this.

My very first FOP post was about Mark and his relationship with Earth, and that's cool enough to toss on here, I think! Just an analysis of how he was interacting with the world and human culture.

Boudacian Biology & Society - Not about Yugopotamia, but Mandie's close, right?

Please enjoy them, but again - These posts are 7 or 8 years old, and some contain outdated lore and terms I no longer use today.

I look forward to delving more into Fairy World's relationship with Yugopotamia. Here are more things related to that:

- The Fae Wars - The early part discusses aliens engaged in war. Supposedly, the Snobulacs (from Season 9) kidnapped the ancestors of modern Fairies and Anti-Fairies and forced them into war. - Yugopotamians nearly wiped the Fae ancestors out multiple times, but they were defended by the Snobulacs. To this day, the Snobulacs demand tribute from Fairy World every year (on December 31st), which my 'fics reference on rare occasion (Ex: H.P. wanted to be part of the ships delivering tribute when he was young). - As time went on, Yugopotamians began a cautious friendship with Fairy World. They have trade relations under the Quadrant Pact and they're on okay terms... Tensions spiked a little with Cosmo and Wanda kidnapping Mark in Season 1 ("Spaced Out"), and Mark blowing up Fairy World in Season 5 ("The Five Days of F.L.A.R.G.") - Yugopotamians are one of the threats to Anti-Fairies. Anti-Fairies are sometimes captured by various aliens, who take their tongues because they're valuable in many societies (due to a belief that they improve fertility and luckiness in love). - The Fairy World port city Serentip - often referenced in my 'fics; its name translates to "Edge of the stars" - welcomes many alien trade vessels. There are a lot of strange goods in that area and you might run into aliens. Anti-Fairies give it a wide berth. - Here's a "Wishology" meme I made that still cracks me up

Thanks for asking!

[shukakumoodboard]

16

20

why are these numbers so enormous on my screen. help

16. you can’t understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

wooby gaara headcanons. that man is sunan royalty, a ninja president, one of the most powerful shinobi around, murder count in the thousands probably, you really think he's gonna be sitting there blushing and gossiping about his crushes to friends, or like uwu-ing over a romantic declaration? i won't name names because people are entitled to their own fandom experience even if i don't agree, but i'll see it in the tags and be like get real with me rn. there's a difference between giving a soft or gentle side to a character and projecting your own squee behaviours onto them. reminder this man was a formerly insane beast vessel who killed people at random, and afterwards he's a guilt ridden village leader on a slow redemption path learning about social relationships. he's not gonna act like a blushy middle school girl.

note: there's nothing wrong with blushy middle school girls. it's just really fucking nonsensical when applied to gaara of the fucking desert

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

lmaoooooo ok jokes aside like.... most? of shippuden? i must again caveat i haven't watched most of the episodes myself, but the plot as described via the internet and the ultimate games. i just. i thought the whole purpose of this show was about underdog ninjas and surpassing one's limits. and then we get into shippuden and magic moons and absurd power scaling and the retcons and the dumping off of all the amazing starts for side characters, and edo tensei bringing characters back that didn't need to be there, and and...

i just think shippuden, particularly the latter half, completely fails to fulfill a solid start made in og nart and that makes it so unengaging for me. the war arc especially just. sucked. there was one good part and it was the gai 8 gates sequence thats all

shit-talking answers lfg

[busghost]

“Family, friends, happiness, memories, dreams, hope, future, love... She does not deserve it. She is unworthy of this. She will never get these.” Hey, I am REALLY curious about where the personal loathing HoV has comes from. It doesn’t seem so personal to the other Herrschers... I wonder if it’s born from Sirin’s jealousy against OG Kiana? Or if it’s twisted self hatred...??

I think the reason that it seems specific to the Herrscher of the Void is that all the Herrschers of the Current Era have been extremely different from each other. The Herrscher of Reason doesn't get a Herrscher personality as far as I can tell, the 3rd Herrscher thought Mei was a coward and also told the Honkai to fuck off cause she had an identity crisis, Wendy wasn't explored enough as a character to say anything, Ana lost her sense of self basically becoming feral, Owl immediately gave himself up to Ana to create the Herrscher of the Rimestar, Sentience thinks she's Fu Hua, and Domination is a hivemind.

My point is that I don't think there's such thing as a typical Herrscher at least in this era so the Herrscher of the Void can be exactly what they need her to be a personal antagonist for Kiana. And HoV really is made to make Kiana suffer. It's like she's all of Kiana's cruelness and hatred dialed up to 11. If one believes in karmic retribution, it certainly seems like she's getting her comeuppance for the pain she inflicted during the Second Honkai War. I think that's rather cruel and far too much of a black and white view of morality. But that's enough of the meta reasons, why does she hate her in-universe?

I can't say definitively why HoV hates Kiana so much but I can come up with some ideas that I can't confirm. Hating humans is part of what the Honkai does and Kiana interfering with HoV so often has made her particularly hateful towards her. Maybe she doesn't even recognize Kiana as a person, she does often simply says she's her vessel and her existence being an obstruction to HoV's apocalypse. I could make guesses at any number of things and I couldn't be certain about it.

I think this answer got a little ramble-y sorry about that. I’d love to hear everyone else’s thoughts though!

[nanogrem]

I didn’t know you have an Undertale AU! May I ask what it’s about?

sorry this took so loNg,

a pretty long ramble under the cut

As of now AU in itself has little deviation from the original storyline, the main cast is still there with nothing more than a few outfit redesigns and Frisk has already completed their series of runs and resets before finally settling on a pacifist route to end On. They get to enjoy their ending!

My alternative universe just adds characters that don’t exist and expands on known events that occur during the human-monster war, underground, and 4- 5 years on the surf after that pacifist ending.

I made this as a way to experiment with The War, the mages and souls, the Gaster followers (this in itself I probably won’t touch on too much until Deltarune has fully released in hopes we actually get more info on that, there is only one character I have that associated with Gaster and the other scientists), new characters and their reactions to their own little loop (taking advantage of it even on one occasion) before settling on a pretty  ambiguous ending.

For example;

** The idea of Mages gaining their magic abilities via a monster soul, which in itself would be rare as very few monster souls are able to actually exist outside of the monster - and giving up that magic in the spell to create the barrier

**I'm actively developing the war aspect of this, looking into terms and strategies of older and historic wars and reading into the lore trying to get an idea of how they would have fought, diplomatic attempts, Asgore and his role as the commanding force. I also try to differentiate encounters and physical fights a bit. Physical being vs Magic being

As said, little deviation from the original game during this time.

**From what we know in the original game, monsters can’t absorb another monster's soul - ended up taking this peice of info and flipping it just a bit… determination is one hell of an adhesive.

***My cast doesn’t have much interaction with the OG cast,but there is some wholesome interaction between Undyne and Aucori with her being a veteran and all, Hershys infatuation with Muffet (Dw I won’t make it a ship), as well as Sans being Sans - Aucori has a genuine disdain for this man. First monster to get put on the “Do not serve” list.

****The main plot in itself features small-scale human-monster conflict that results in a SAVE point being unknowingly activated by the current active vessel, the rest is to be revealed.

Some sillier little aspects like;

*Froggits can have subtle color shifts, Wednesday (bandana froggit) shows this by gradually taking on a yellow hue after being given their bandana

*Despite lacking eyes, Reece can use their magic to ‘see’ around themselves in a small area - feels like a light pressure to anyone in its radius when they use it!

Pretty boring compared to what’s already out there, it’s just another AU that adds some additional characters, a short story to accompany said characters, and head cannons without changing the original storyline too much - a big ‘what if’ in hindsight!

This is definitely subject to change, I might get my “Ah-Ha” moment eventually where I finally have an idea on how to further alternate the ‘original’ aspect more than just visually.

For now, just working on my characters and my story - bits and peices!

I definitely plan on doing a few cross over shenanigans featuring other popular AUs at some point purely for entertainment - silly comic things and doodles of some things I thought were really cool

[jennsmischievousmind]

Vhekadla

Vhekadla : Sandy 

Pairing: Mando x mirialan!reader 

Word count: 4.782

Warnings: Exile, reader not good with kids, mild swearing, slight angst, self-medication (needles (once)) 

Summary: Peli needs components for the failing vaporator in Hangar-2, you are meant to go the moisture farm to get them. But a renown bounty hunter lands in Hangar-3.  

A/N:  Some references to the OG trilogy and the following one. Can’t wait to see how many you find. Let me know. 

I tried not to use any gender for reader (I’m still learning about it) Text in italic = reader’s internal thoughts English is not my native language, I’m trying to get better at it, please be indulgent. 

It was fun to reconnect with the lovely Star Wars nerd in me. 

“A Mirialan would place a unique, often geometrically repeated tattoo on their face and hands to signify that they had completed a certain test or task, or achieved sufficient aptitude for a certain skill. The number of tattoos would thus often act as a good indicator of how mature and/or skilled a Mirialan was.”

You heard Peli calling out from the hangar, jumping down the reactor you were working on, you step on hangar 3′s threshold. Glancing through your fingers’ shielding the sun, as the pre-Imp beat up vessel lands in Hangar 3. You rolled down your sleeves as Peli look back at you.

“He doesn’t really like droids, so you’ll have to step-in.” stopping next to her you nodded, readjusting your tool belt.

Working for Peli you thought you'd seen everything in terms of species. Until the vessel's ramp lower down with a hiss, a shiny Mandalorian walking out.

Your eyes went to Peli and the approaching bounty hunter as she made her way to him grinning, awaiting for him to give her something. The tall, beskar clad individual gave a small green creature to Peli whom started to coo at it. Weird.

“Glad you decided to keep him.” She waved a finger your way giving you the go-to.

Treading to the gunship, the T shape visor of the Mandalorian followed your form, you didn’t pay much attention to it, hunters could be precious about their engines.

Plugging your datapad in the cargo bay panel you ran a quick diagnostic, looking around the ship while waiting, the hull was oddly neat you noted. The Datapad biped loudly, detailing the ships problems. This old thing was still flying, how, who knew.

“What’s with the Mirialan?"

“What can I tell? I’m going soft! Coz of your womp rat for sure.” He said nothing waiting for her to continue

“They needed the job, no questions ask. But don’t ask about the tattoos, they can be moody,”

“I heard that,” you strolled down the left telescopic gate, heading for the front repulsorlfits.

Why were they talking about you? Do they know each other much? Why a bounty hunter was carrying a child-like thing.

Stepping into the cockpit, you refrained on sitting on the pilot seat, you always felt that pilot seats were as intimate as beds. The Datapad ran a new diag, you eye the control panel, tilting your head seeing something was missing.

The Mandalorian stood tall before Peli “I have things to do!”

Peli waved him off “Yeaah go hunt, we’ll fix your ship in the meantime,”

After a few hours, drenched in sweat and sticky black goo on your hands you finally ease yourself in the cockpit “That should be good, punch it!” you yelled to the 3 pit-droids outside. After hearing the droids tripped on each other, they activated the engine, launching the hyperdrive for a last test.

The Mandalorian made his way back in the hangar just in time to see you hopping down the cargo ladder, sweeping your greasy hands on your overalls.

He couldn’t help but noticed the tattoos showing at your wrists as your sleeves had rolled up.

“This is not going to be a recurrent thing.” You heard the Mandalorian say, clearly annoyed. Approaching them, you could feel the Mandalorian was tense, Peli took the datapad you handed her, you tried your best no to stare at the broad shoulders at your right.

Finally noticing him, and his T-visor staring at your wrists, you swiftly turned around and brushed the sleeves back down; “She’s up to fly. The hyperdrive is as brain new, we made a few check-ups on the engines since they were coughing a bit,” you rounded a crate, looking back at him, your sleeves now attached to your fingers, “and the lights are back on!” you index pointed to the lamp on the ceiling.

_

“You’ll want a price cut, as I can see here,”

You glanced at the visor for a second, what did Peli ask him to do? “Fine,” he sighed.

“Go to the moisture farm and get my parts,” she patted at his pauldron, “you’ll be his guide.“ you were so engrossed in Peli’s friendliness with the bounty huinter that it didn’t click immediatly. Until it did. 

“Hold on, what?” voice rising a notch “I told you I’d go,.. alone!” you argued

“With all the recent things happening in this forsaken desert, I’d rather not send you alone.”

Stepping closer to Peli, your back to the Mandalorian, you stared at her, she stared back, not having it. She knew you could take down a Gamorrean if needed.

“Boss, …”

“For Force’s sake don’t argue with me,” She shooed you away, you knew she wouldn’t let go.

“You still have that speeder bike?” his modulated voice rang in your back as you made your way to the fresher to clean yourself up.

Peli snarled  “I’m gonna start renting it.” 

                                               **

Waiting near the speeder bike, Peli handed you the credits to pay for the binary brain unit and humidity sensor, she needed it for the vaporator in H-2. The moisture farm you were heading to had the parts since they owned the same vaporators.

“You can trust him,” she nudged her jaw to the approaching Mandalorian.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” 

“He’s like family, call him Mando,” you rolled your eyes at her teasing tone. Peli wouldn’t leave the city walls since the Empire fell, so obviously it became your task to get the parts or hardware from out of the walls. Before that she’d lost a few droids in the desert. 

The Mandalorian rounded the speeder, securing a bag on the right side, a green little head popped out of it.

“I don’t think ‘it’ should come, if we encounter any bandits or raiders.”

The thing looked at the his keeper “Don’t worry about that, he’s seen worse.”

You turned to Peli, eyes widenned and flailing hands. She shrugged her famous grin on. Head lolling back and squeezing your eyes shut you let out a sigh then swiveled to him. “I drive, you shoot?” you ask adjusting your scarf around your mouth and nose.

“What?” he genuinely asked. Shaking your head amused you nod your head to the main seat for him to take. It'll be easier to hold him than him hold you.

Straddling the speeder you felt tiny behind him, the beskar was cold even under the twins suns, a gurgle took your attention off the reflecting beskar in front of you. Wrinkled critter.

Keeping a grip on Mando’s side you check the Holo map as the speeder bike hovered at its fastest speed. Gesturing at Mando to indicate the path, the moisture farm would be visible in a few visvia. A glare caught your eye a second too late, you flew from the speeder, crashing hard against the burning sand. Between your grunts and those of the Mandalorian you heard Tusken Raiders' howls.

Groaning you hold your ribs rolling on your good side “Freaking dehydrated Raiders!” The little green being was confused a meter from you, sadly sat on the sand. “Mando, your .. kid,” his broad shadow came into view, soon scooping the child.

Finger at the trigger you look up at the cliffs “Thought you were friends with them!” 

The Mandalorian was trying to salvage the speeder bike while you looked at the map for a safer and faster path, still eyeing the cliffs now and then. “Don’t bother, engine’s burnt.” Greeny made a worried sound.  

“The tuskens, they are the shoot first, ask question later kind of people,” he posted himself on your right, you glanced at him stealthily. Even without seeing his face, his demeanour showed he was pissed off.

“You both have something in common,” you sheath your blaster in the small of the back holster.

“What?” you sensed it took it the wrong way, so quickly clarified “Showing skin is not allowed,”

“Just as your not allowed to show your tattoos!” he riled back.

Your head jerked back, you were not expecting the backlash. You stalked past him, “We should go, the farm ain’t far!” putting as much distance between you and the bounty hunter. 

The Mandalorian regretted his words as soon as they came out. He surely was the last one to have a say about others’ customs and beliefs. Your behavior somehow disarmed him, he didn't know how to act anymore.

                                            **

The suns were getting low in your back, you thank the maker your body was acclimated for dry lands. The hair at your nape rose in a instant, you looked back at the horizon standstill for a few seconds.

"We must take shelter," you whispered. The green critter tilted his head to you followed by his Mandalorian whom picked up your words through his enhanced helmet.

"Sandstorm!" you ran past him, heading for the rocks ahead.

Pulling your large scarf around your face, the Mandalorian was hot on your tail, you realized you wouldn’t like to be one of his bounty, his impressive broadness and the heavy beskar made you shivered. Sliding between two big rocks, you fumbled with your water jug, quickly wetting your scarf around your mouth. The Mandalorian soon joined you with a distorted groan, the baby oddly excitied about the run out was babbling.

"Here," you wet a rag you kept in your rucksack handing it to to him. "It’ll need it," taking the rag from your hand he gently folded it and wrapped the child’s mouth and pointy ears. A gust of hard wind and sand hit the rocks, the light disappearing instantly you found yourself enveloped in a dusty copper shadow. Clenching your eyes shut, your hands immediately went to the child's eyes. You felt his little hands holding onto yours. It’s not a game you thought. The sand was hard on the few uncovered patches of skin on your face, but it soon stopped. You could still hear the wind, the sand rattling the rocks but you couldn't feel it anymore. Opening your eyes carefully, your head jerked back. Beskar. The T visor of his helmet was staring at you. Looking up you saw his arm holding his cape around you three. Your hand unconsciously slowly slipped from the child's eyes. Your reflection was staring at you with wide eyes, its closeness made you uneasy yet not unwelcomed, as the kid was still holding your fingers, this one whined.

“It won’t take long,” Mando spoke, his head dropping to the green child. Adverting your eyes from his visor you scolded yourself, and your increasing heartbeat. 

His eyes were trained on your geometrical tattoos adorning your delicate face, he didn’t expect to lost himself in your eyes as you opened them. His gut twisted when you moved back with a start.

Few minutes later you were dusting sands from your hair and clothes “We should be at the farm in a bit,”

He nodded "I hope they have a speeder to lend us there,”

That yes, coz I won't make it back by walking. I'm no bantha

Both of you let out a relieved sigh when the farm appeared in the horizon. Bhindi Kayle welcomed you in the abode, the farm was practically empty, all the workers were home or in town, only an old man sat at the far end of a bench. Bhindi Kayle was an old aquaintance of Peli, he cut you off as soon as you started talking, he stood before you oddly trying to assert a sort of dominance, he’d never been like that. 

 "Yeah Peli send us a hologram earlier this week,” Mando's chest heaved as soon as the farmer interrupted you. “Didn't expect a Mandalorian to work for her,"

Aaah, a men’s ego.

The kid babbled a confused note, "I'm not working for Motto," Mando stated, galled.

"The Mandalorian is ... here for protection, somehow." The child looked at you from the satchel on Mando's hip. 

The old man rumbled from the corner, "A mirialan, a Mandalorian and a ... whatever that is ... roaming around Tatooine, what a sight." 

"Ah don't listen to him, he lost his mind since the Lars’ farm got burned down,” Bhindi leaned in whispering ”inhaled too much smoke while trying to raid the place."

Negotiating the parts’ price was not in the deal but knowing Peli wasn’t here, Bhindi tried. Yeah tried, not for nothing Peli Motto took you in, you were as stubborn as a falumpaset, gosh you missed Naboo.

"Do you have a speeder?” Mando asked his tone becoming a bit hesitant “Ours ... blown off on the way," your refrained a smirk.

 "Well, we have swoops but you'll be back to Peli in days at that speed." You followed him through the pit to the garage. Eyes skimming the messy place, looked like a junkyard, the green kid was touching everything, you lose your footing on a piece of scrap while looking at it, firm gloved hands propped you up by the shoulders without a word. Embarrassment filed you as Mando’s hands left your shoulders with hesitation.

"Are those... pieces of a Bantha-II cargo skiff?" You stepped onto the old railing, trying to distract yourself from the burning feel of his touch. "Where did you get that?"

 "That old rusty thing? We found it a few years back. The Hutts might have abandoned it, thankfully for us the Jawas were late on this one." Bhindi rummaged through a bunch of metal "We keep some engines we found for the parts, just in case. Ah!"

He proudly showed his finding. You heard the Mandalorian groaned behind you.

"Might be cramp on it with the two of you, but it can do."

Mando was not amused "A skimboard?" his hands reached his hips, he stood there staring at Bhindi. Stepping down the railing, a light smile spread on your lips. 

"I'm good with it," you grabbed the board "you fly, I use the skimboard," his bucket head turned to you, the heavy silence coming from the Beskar clad man had Bhindi lose his tough demeanour, but had you amused.

"Hum, I can probably find an old speeder bike," The Mandalorian nodded at the farmer. 

Inspecting the slick metal, your hand dusted off the sand of off it "How much for it?"

"25 alliance credits will do," he shrugged.  "Deal," Bhindi hurried away in the back of the garage.

“I’ll be back in a minute,”stepping out the junkyard, you head for the hydroponic garden. 

The sand had crawled under your layers, it soon became itchy and abrasive. Stripping down your top layers, you stayed in your dark undershirt. Vigorously dusting off your copper colored top and black hood, the dusts particles shining under the sun rays. Cupping water in your hands, your let the fresh water ran down your tattooed arms. Cold water on your face never felt so good, even after hours working on a spaceship it wasn’t as satisfying.

“Khayle found us a landspeeder” you gasped at his voice, holding your arms around you and turning your back to him; Mando became even more silent than usual. The tattoos on your arms and body were not to be seen by everyone, it wasn’t as strict as Mandalorian’s creed or the Tuskens but still, you were meant to choose the few who would see them. The one on your face were your achievement, your proudness, you could show them. But those on your body were more personal, promises to your species, and to yourself. Since the farm was empty you thought it would be safe to undress, apparently not.

Mando paused, he wasn’t expecting that, seeing the tattoos on your wrists earlier he thought that was it but seeing your inked arms and shoulders blades he felt pulled by curiosity but as soon as he saw you flinched and tried to hide your arms, he turned away. 

He walked out, not saying a word, thinking about what he said earlier. Peli did warn him. Feeling your rushed breathing haven out, and the thundering sound of your bloodstream into your ears fading you reached for your copper long sleeve top. As you tried to snatch it you felt a resistance, the child, coming to you his little claws up to touch your arms. Big dark eyes staring at you, oddly similar to the dark visor of his keeper. Feeling that pull deep inside, you frowned putting your hood on and grabbing the child, holding it bunglingly, he kept looking at you.

“You forgot something.” You gently shoved him the child, then rounded the landspeeder.

Bhindi casually leaned on the abode “You should stay for the night, Raiders thrive at night.”

Mando watched you sit at the driver’s seat, your hood hiding your expression. “We’ll be fine,” he answered not sparing a glance at Bhindi. The child fell asleep an hour after leaving the moisture farm that’s when Mando decided to talk. 

“If I’d known ...” you stayed silent “Did I endanger your faith or beliefs?” he asked seriously concerned.

“Mirialans, we …” you scoffed “I’ll be fine.”

Something in his tone changed “I’m sorry, it wasn’t done on purpose.” The child’s ears settled down in a snore; it was as he was feeling his keeper’s trouble even through his sleep.

“Something happened, when I was not even an idea.” you felt compelled to tell the story behind the tattoos since he saw most of them. “My ancestor was part of the Senate, she believed in a way of life, now long forgotten. She fought for it but soon realized it was wrong, she was never meant to fight, she was meant to keep the peace. Her loyalty faded, she did bad things ... I’m bond to her in some ways I can’t explain.”

The Mandalorian stayed silent, you were used to it at this point. 

“The old Galactic Senate banished her. No one remembers Bariss Offee now, she's been long gone. But I do.”

“The old Galactic Senate...” Mando clenched his fist “I heard about it,”

“Some of my tattoos are meant to heal her soul through me. After her fall, my family scattered, we were forbidden to talk about her, we were forced to strip ourselves from our knowledge. I was young, my parents flew us to another galaxy, there we live like humans. But my parents kept one of our custom, the tattoos.” you shrugged, even Peli didn’t know about all this, she knew about your exile but that’s all.

“I…I don’t know if I can say this and my apologize if it’s misplaced but you .. uhm” Mando asked himself why he was so stressed about telling you his honest feel about it “..they are ..pretty,” the repulsorlift the only sound perceptible. That wasn’t the reaction you were expecting, especially coming from the renown bounty hunter, eyes leaving the road you stared at him confused but somehow relieved, your hood flew back reveling your face to him.

 A tuskens battle cry made you break, standing up on your seat, immediately reaching for your blaster and glowrod. 

“Hold on,” he posed the sleeping child on your seat, getting down.

“Mando, they shoot us once, I’m not taking any chance,”

“I’ll talk to them,” he stated calmly “lower your blaster and stay close,”

You inhaled loudly, putting away your weapon. Emerging from the dark, tall figures soon surrounded you. The deep grunt coming out the helmet at your side startled you, his gestures and groans had the attention of the faceless Raiders. The silence on their part didn’t do much to ease your worry until they answered, though you couldn’t understand, the stance of your companion made you feel safe.

“They’re saying we should camp out, another tribe, the one who shot us is ahead of us,”

“Camp out, with them?” you whispered as if they could understand you “I heard things about them,”

“Not everything you hear is true,” Mando’s visor was trained on your hesitating features. Well you didn’t have much of a choice, you weren’t going to leave without him and the green thing.

“You take the first watch,” you gathered your backpack, he nodded at you, preceding you.

The kid now awaken, was nestled between his keeper’s feet, staring at the fire in front of him. It might have felt you staring because his little ears perked up and he soon waddled to you. The kid kept trying to hold you or touch your hand.

"Is it always like that? Clingy?" You poked the child’s forehead making him wobble back.

Mando tilted his head with a sigh, silently asking if your gesture was really necessary.

"Not really," He reached for the child but this latter whined, settling when he grabbed your index’ first phalanx.

"You were saying!?" You sighed as the kid looks like he was concentrating on your finger. As he kept doing that you felt that pull again, deep inside of you, an inner energy you usually only could feel during your ancestor’s vision. It scared you, snatching your finger from the kid, you look at the big eyes now staring at you. "What are you!"

“Easy,” Mando ushered the kid back to him “He has powers, I should have warned you,”

“What kind of power?”

“He can move things with his mind or something similar” your mind processed the news, “I’ve been quested to bring him back to his kind,"

The child climbed your feet to get closer, your lips turned down in an uneasy grimace, you weren't exactly gifted with children, if it was one though. Clingy beings, loud and stinky, not your thing.

The Mandalorian kept an eye on you without your knowledge, he'd never seen anyone be so hesitant with the child before.

Mando talked with the Tuskens while you ate, he sometimes translated for you in case you were interested in their conversation.

....

"You are missing a piece on the turbines’ launch lever by the way, want another one!?" You asked him sleepily, "That won't be necessary," he chuckled and it caught you off guard but you said nothing.

A young tusken handed you a fur cloth, hesitantly grabbing it you eyed Mando, he made a gesture to the raider. 

"I take the first watch," even with his vocoder you could hear the grin.

Waking up in a sweat you observed your surroundings. A bantha was snoring loudly next to a pack of sleeping tuskens. A soft snore not far from you got your attention. The child was tucked on Mando's side, his ears heaving with his breaths.

The fire reflecting on the beskar mesmerized you, it was like Mando's was made of fire. Was he sleeping? 

“You’re okay?”

“My ribs hurts, I’m cold, but I’m managing.” you stood up, stepping closer to the fire. “Take some rest, it’s my shift.” 

“Here,” you turned around just in time to caught the e-bacta shot, Mando closed his belt pocket and crossed his arms, leaning on a rucksack, ready to rest.  

“Thanks..” you stared at his calm composure, forgetting he could still be looking at you behind that visor. 

Your gaze on him got him agitated, he tried his best to rest his eyes but he couldn’t detached his from yours, somehow you always manage to made eye-contact, most people didn’t even dare look straight at him. He stayed alert as you went to the land speeder, lifting your top enough to reach your bruised flank, he saw you brace yourself for the shot. 

1,2 “Hmmm!!!” you muffled your groan in your elbow as the three needles deeped in your flesh, youknew that in a few minutes you’ll be alright but maker it hurt. 

The suns getting up, you were seated on the land speeder’s hood watching the twins made their entry, I’ll never get tired of this. 

“We’re good to go, the other tribe moved north,” Mando set the child on the hood next to you to thanks the Tuskens. 

The child lifted his head to you, silently staring, suddenly rushing to you head bumping your hip “ "Oof!” he angrily cuddled your side “Mando, what’s going on with it?” 

“Hey, hey kid, no!” he cradled him into his arms “what did you do?”

“Nothing!” you jumped down the hood “It slammed into me,”

“He never acts like that, there’s something with you,” Mando stated

“Oh maker come on Mando,” your voice tightened “I’m a nobody, an exile mirialan, I’m no Jedi like my ancestor!” you realised as soon as you said it, screwing your eyes shut. 

“Your ancestor was a Jedi?”he stepped forward, his demeanour now threatening but you stood your ground. “And you’re telling me now?”

“Mando I, ... I’m not sure about it, I don’t even understand the visions I have, that’s why I didn’t say anything.” 

“We should go!” he shut himself, the child whined against his keeper’s chest. 

The ride back to Peli was excruciating, Mando didn’t talk to you or ease the kid’s fuss. The three of you made it back to Peli without issues. 

She was about to make one of her famous punchline but she saw your concerned face as you passed by her deposing the vaporator’s pieces on her desk. 

Peli planted herself before him “What did you do?” he sighed.

Mando watched as the door hiss closed behind you. 

“How much do you know about them?” 

“What’d you do!?” Peli insisted before answering his question. As stubborn as you he thought. He related the conversation, he’d never seen Peli so mad.

The soft knock on your door told you it wasn't Peli. It opened on your command.

“We need to talk,” Mando stepped-in

“Oh now you want to talk!” you threw a wrench in your tool box “We had a full ride for that.” 

“You lied to me!” he pointed his finger to the ground 

“I didn’t LIE to you! I just ..didn’t tell you all of it. Jedis and Mandalorians are not exactly friends for all I know,”

“The child might be a Jedi and you didn’t care to tell me you knew about he’s people.” the tiny bedroom was crowded with his presence, deep inside behind the anger lied a fluttering feeling when he entered your space.

“My ancestor had that kind of power, but I don’t know shit about it, I told you if you were to even listen!” tears at the brim at your eyes remembering your parents’ tale about their exile, you inhaled trying to stay focused.

“I’ve listened,” he regained his neutral tone “if you are like your ancestor then maybe you have that power in you, that’s why the child is reaching out to you, he might feel it,” 

you scoffed “I’m a mecha not a Jedi,” the child made you jumped when he touched your hand, he had climbed the comforter hanging from your cot.

“Mando, I’d … never mean to hide things from you, I’m just..scared.” You let the child hold your finger “An unknown powerful energy in me, how would you react! Even if I’d want to know, I don’t even know where to start.”

He nodded leaving your cramped bedroom with the child. Few minutes later Peli called out, sighing you drag your feet to her desk.

“What is it that you want Motto?” you taunted but the teasing voice died seeing Mando on the other side of her seat. 

“I’ve been quested to bring him to the jedi.” his visor on you, knitted your brows you wait for his speech. “I could use a mecha on board, one that needs answer of some sorts,” his grave voice resonated in your ears, he faced Peli while saying it. She sighed knowingly; her face torned with doubts.

“I can’t, Peli you need me and I ..” 

“Kid, I’ve seen you distraught after your visions, it’s getting worse,” Peli sighed “Well, I’m not saying losing my best mecha is ideal,” you tried your best to keep the feelings at bay  “…but go if you have to, I’ll managed” she patted you shoulder, herself containing her sniffles.

“Take care of this piece of junk,” she snorted making you laugh.

“I’ll come back,”

“Don’t you dare, you're young, get out of this desolate place. Go get the galaxy,”

Smiling at her you hugged her tight “Oh come on, come on” she shooed you away, striding to your room to pack, you didn’t see her made eyed contact with Mando’s visor, a silent plead to keep you safe, he nodded. 

Stepping in the cockpit, you sat on the passenger seat at his right. The green being was on your right eyeing you, you suprised yourself smiling at him. Mando came in and the kid starts to shift in his pod, you watched Mando as he took something on the control panel and swivelled to the baby. Thlatter reached out, his keeper letting a shiny metal ball fall into his little claw.

“That’s…” you said out loud. Your eyes darted to the turbines launcher’s lever. Mando finally turned to you and shrugged tilting his helmet.

“A mirialan, a Mandalorian and a Jedi ... what a sight.” 

[flowerflamestars]

not a fic ask but i absolutely have to know if you have any theories on lyctorhood??

I love you for asking this but truly, fair warning, the murderboard of locked tomb theories in my head is a MESS

In no particular order:

1) I think the main tenet that Harrow accepted as truth vis a vis you become a tomb/ ‘a soul consumed in eternal death’ is almost certainly wrong. That her lobotomy in an attempt to preserve Gideon wasn’t necessary.

For one thing, Pyrrha Dve. Whole enough to a) pilot her necro’s body...without his consent? and b)take over his body full when his soul is extinguished fighting the resurrection beast.

Further it sounds good, but doesn’t super make sense with what we know about necromantic power. Palamedes and Harrow have that whole ‘glass canon’ conversation- give them a death and they can go for a few more minutes but thanergy always dissipates? Why would the consumption of a soul be a battery? Why would it not, actually, matter that the bond preserved that moment of death, the energy bloom that powers everything?

If the cavaliers are still there, imperfect Lyctorhood preserves the soul, but perfect lyctorhood is true necromancy: the preservation of the cav’s body, brought back.

2) I think Anastasia was doing it right, and that’s why JohnGod killed Samael

3). Alecto. Murderwife my monster babe- I don’t think whatever bond ended up being the Lyctoral concept was on purpose. I hesitate to say this, but while JohnGod is clearly a very smart and dangerous as hell, I lean toward the off the walls idea that Alecto (or a part of who Alecto once was) is the source of necromancy. 

Those eyes- the visible death monster cue, that belonged to her. 

But also the two divergent stories of AL- the woman John loved. The woman, who according the Mercy, isn’t a woman at all, might not even have dna. A monster, piloting a human suit.

Whose eyes, John has worn, since August met him pre/during Great Resurrection. 

Let’s paint an off the walls picture: AL the first necromancer, power gained from the slow death of a world. John, the second necromancer. LOVE. AL dies- John, long before he’s God, brings her back. But he can’t do it right- he has yet to ascended on the insane blast of power that is million’s dying at once- BUT THEN THE WORLD DOES DIE- and John, failing, frantic, tries to remake her.

And you know what’s there to do it? Not her original necromancy, or soul, but the souls of thousands, right there to be shoved in a vessel. Perhaps, even more interestingly, the after echo of all that death, something John has no idea if can even be killed: the resurrection beast.

He brings back her body- he is tangled in her power, but the woman he loved? Gone. 

Alecto. John’s guardian. The Lyctors are all her children (as John SO CREEPILY SAYS) because the experiments, the impetus all along, was to reverse engineer what he did. Mercy says it herself- John wanted to fix Alecto, but accidentally made her worse instead. 

What is John’s favorite alt aspect? Kindly Prince? Man who Became God? Great Resurrector? Teacher. 

Who also has hella power we don’t understand the source of until it’s revealed to be souls? Teacher, on Canaan, an experimental melange.

Does he need powerful Hands? Sure. But is the real sacrifice always toward what John really wants? Yes

4)Speaking of John’s JohnGoding about with his interpretation of history, I think it was always, ALWAYS his plan to have more Lyctors.

(not just for Alecto reasons)

One flesh, one end? Not a coincidence in a society/religion John built, with his friends, on purpose. (There people call the Houses an experiment. A project. Mercy’s out here grumbling that John isn’t supposed to tell Inathe and Harrow her name because they’d all agreed the OG Lyctors names should be forgotten, sacred.)

My point is, they made up the cult aspects. And maybe for the Lyctoral faithful the continued cavalier tradition was almost a suited memorial, something to be cherished. But John? i would bet John always needed and wanted more.

Crack theory time: John, obviously, wants the Lyctors around for personal reasons. He loves them, as much as a normal dude who became (maybe by accident) an eldritch horror in a human body after watching his species implode, can still love.

But John needs the Lyctors for necromancy.

So, I’m deeply suspicious of his powers. Harrow, our born in death literal necromancy genius, says it’s nothing like any necromancy she’s ever felt. He can stop time. He can’t be killed. When Harrow tries to off Gideon with soup, John doesn’t heal Gideon- he stops time and then the injury reels back on itself to wholeness. He somehow pulls the same move on himself, when Mercymorn has her assassination.

Necromancy in the most basic term: the reversal of death

But the Lyctors are the ones out here flipping planets to make necromancy possible on them. When there were more of them, the led battles. John’s great miracle of necromancy is all on his word... I think he needs them to do the things he can’t- the not miracles, the other necromantic acts? Normal necros are glass canons, but John is a bomb.

Further weird proof at least that he always wanted more: every other Lyctor seems to have been against it always- but their labs are perfectly preserved? all their work? after they all fled Canaan? they made the trials as experiments...but the trials are all set up as, you know, trials. In Johns old house, the King who Became God, the God who became king.

5) which leads me to what has been bothering me since like, the second I opened Harrow and we get the whole- these three, the eldest Lyctors, are who is left now.

Anastasia, seems like the only Lyctor who actually became a Lyctor at Canaan House?

“In lab conditions” vs August’s literally under fire vs Lovegood’s heavily implied suicide for Cytherea.

In Cytherea’s telling the story is, we figured it out, I wasn’t going to do it, Lovegood forced my hand because she wanted me to live. 

It also works for the Canaan angle- but she’s the seventh saint, so are we supposed to believe that they all figured it out together, August went off the fight a war (probably with Mercymorn, because of their cavalier’s intertwined maybe love probable suicide pact) August ate his brother, Mercy more reluctantly (maybe because her cav was dying??) consumed Cristobel, AND THEN the other’s went yeah, that sounds good let’s do that?

At least one of the pairs- Cyrus and Valancy- are very heavily implied to have been in love.

We also know, it seems, that each pair did it a little differently- Gideon, who accidentally perfectly preserved Pyrrha so well she’s been piloting him so often he thinks his memory is fucked up. Anastasia, who whatever she did, was so close to right that John interfered. Honestly, whatever is going on with Inathe’s perpetual eye color changes like she ate a bit of Babs AND Coronabeth.

So...was every Lyctor moment like Ianthe, making it up in a vacuum? They all seemingly lived together, knew each other, loved each other- and then when murdertime came no one helped anyone? in this cavalcade of geniuses, gathered at the feet on the One True Necrolord. 

Reasonable theory: there’s something wrong about the story of Canaan House, and we’re going back to it. Those salty ocean’s the Ninth/Alecto signature. The way Harrow thought it was a Tomb as well. The timeline that has never, a for a second, added up that Palamedes wouldn’t stop talking about in the first book.

Crack theory: all that is true, but additionally- John fucks with memory. 

[theparanormalperiodical]

The Real Story Behind The Babadook (2014), And 17 Weirdest Bogeymen From Around The World That Might Be Hiding Under Your Bed Right Now

Strange times we live in.

It’s a Saturday night, and I’m hauled up at home eating a vegetarian lasagne whilst my mother asks me for the 37th time why I’ve decided to give up meat, when really, if there was no global pandemic, I’d be hauled up at home eating a vegetarian lasagne whilst my mother asks me for the 37th time why I’ve decided to give up meat.

It really is a strange time we live in.

But, in my attempt to protect the vulnerable groups in society and halt the spread of the latest Twitter hashtag in its tracks, I decided to catch up on the horror films hadn’t found the time to press play on just yet.

So, a bucket of popcorn and some mild trauma later, I could finally join in the conversation about The Babadook.

6 years too late.

Nevertheless! Once I’d emotionally recovered, I finally had my Sex And The City moment. No, not the ones with feminism that would make Emilline Pankhurst perform the equivalent of a Viennese Waltz in her grave - the one where Carrie sits in her NYC apartment and thinks about men at her computer.

“I couldn’t help but wonder: could the Babadook be based on a true story? ”

Unfortunately, I discovered that the Babadook is based on the concept of the boogeyman, an urban legend that has a greater global reach than Covid-19. 

So, to distract you from the global pandemic with the threat of a creature lurking under your bed and waiting to snatch an ankle, I thought I’d let you in on the reality behind this queer icon.

First, let’s talk ‘bout The Babadook.

It was one of the biggest hits of the 2010s, combining the classic trope of creepy children with the classic colour palette of depression. Our story follows a single mother and her son who begins to be visited by an imaginary creature fresh from the pages of a children’s book.

With spiky talon-like hands, a cloaked figure, a jaw crammed full of teeth, a face paler than that time you bought that foundation on a whim in TK Maxx - all crowned with a dusty hat - the Babadook the child was seeing certainly had a sense of style.

The child, Sam, begins to create intricate traps and weapons designed to stop the Babadook, all the while the book predicts the mother’s rather dark future. It becomes clear that the Bababook is preying on the mother and essentially possessing her, a diagnosis that is confirmed when the mother attempts to kill Sam.

She then regurgitates a black inky substance evocative of ectoplasm, and is released from its grip. 

The film ends on the happy family feeding the Babadook as it lives in their basement.

This indie horror - once it had finished polishing the 5 awards on it’s mantelpiece - might have woven a intricate plot deviating from the simple basis of international man of mystery James Bond The Boogeyman, but the basis still sticks out more than that wardrobe in the corner of your bedroom you’re now highly conscious of.

Simply put, the Babadook matches the basic concept of the boogeyman:

There’s some weird, dark creature that knicks kids and eats ‘em if they wander alone or don’t go to bed or misbehave. Just like Krampus, the bogeyman is a legend propagated by parents to convince kids to stay in line.

That being said, the mythical creature isn’t the only inspo behind this cinema-hit.

Specifically, the brains behind the film, Jennifer Kent, claimed it was about a deep-rooted fear we all have: that of going mad. On top of this, it seeks to show parenting from a real perspective.

The film focuses on a single mother as she faces one of the most difficult challenges in life: she loses her husband whilst going to give birth to her son, and then has to raise him alone. But that is not all.

Kent also spoke of a real encounter with the bogeyman. 

Basics, her bestie’s son was being plagued by an imaginary monster, so she pretended to talk to it to calm his concerns. Sure, this tale might not have kickstarted the real terror engaged with in this movie, but it invited us into the reality behind the bogeyman.

But beyond this, the movie also detracts from the Babadook, and instead looks for the primal instincts in the mother - it looks for the bogeyman within us all.

That’s right - the real horror that was inside us all along.

Yawn.

But the thing is, it also brings up hell of a lot of paranormal activity that is remarkably accurate to theories of the supernatural.

      Let’s start with the introduction of the Babadook.

He arrives in the form of a creepy children’s book no one’s seen or heard of. Armed with a chilling nursery rhyme and an aesthetic last seen in 2007, the Babadook follows the basic principles of a basic haunting: ghost does spooky stuff, ghost spooks humans, humans invite it in following the consent laws of the universe by interacting with it, ghost spooky powers intensify.

This begins with the book itself. Although the film doesn’t consider if he is a paranormal being aligning with the concept of demons and spirits (etc.), this book follows the concept of haunted objects.

By opening the book and reading it - or, interacting with it - they invite in the Babadook. And when she tries to destroy it, it crops up again, fully intact and conveniently lying on her doorstep.

No ‘sorry we missed you card’ needed.

This closely follows the theory of the haunted object, something more on-trend than tutting at empty shelves in the grocery store. Haunted objects have a habit of failing to be destroyed, and by engaging with them, such as not asking permission for taking a picture of a haunted doll, you enter communication with them.

From there, you’ve basically consented to a full possession. The object is a vessel for a spirit or a demon until a new, better, breathing vessel can be found.

You can find out more about this here.

I can’t find anything about haunted books specifically online, but as a variety of haunted objects exist, from bunk beds to boxes, I’m sure there’s potential for it.

     Next is the eventual possession of the mother.

One of the most dramatic moments we witness is when the mother coughs up this black bile which represents the removal of the Babadook. This bears a striking resemblance to ectoplasm, a white liquid often released by those experiencing intense paranormal activity.

When mediums experience a trance-like state, they supposedly release a fabric-like or thick substance that darkens as physic energy is intensified. It allows those in the supernatural realm to interact with the physical realm, and for spirits to represent themselves to the audience of a seance.

This film was one of the first to explore the potential paranormal explanations behind the bogeyman, and give some basis to a beast that has haunted communities since the beginning of time.

Speaking of the beast…

Who is the bogeyman?

It’s sometime in the 1500s.

We are in the middle of a small country called England, struggling to make ends meet between the near constant famine, the anxiety of being cursed by a witch, or some war with [insert european nation that may or may not exist anymore].

Either way, when we aren’t trying to spell everything with an ‘e’ at the end, we are being taunted by hobgoblins.

These pesky beasts made their name in tormenting Englishmen, playing pranks on them or simply just being foul.

Hobgoblins are the OG bogeymen, or are the first we can trace back to recorded sources. But they were no means the last. And they were by no means the only ones in the world.

As a simple definition, the bogeyman is a mythical creature that makes sure kids are staying in line, and was made up by parents. The thing is, the bogeyman features in every culture that has ever been created.

And given the realm of the paranormal explored so far on this blog, perhaps your local Babadook isn’t so out of the question.

The bogeyman has always claimed a rather vague existence, representing a non-specific terror that has even extended to just ‘being the devil’ in some cases. The origins of the name are no different: ‘bogge’ comes from middle english, meaning ‘something frightening’ or ‘scarecrow’.

It has even been interpreted to mean ‘goat’ which can be traced to relations to the devil.

Appearance wise, the bogeyman has several broad features that stretch across cultures. Standard features include sharp teeth, talon or claw-like hands, hooves for feet, and even bug-like features. The Babadook might have shared in a few of these #basic-bogeyman traits, but it’s not all about looks.

How does his personality fair?

The bogeyman can pick between three personality types: something that punishes misbehaving children; one that is just violent for the hell of it which includes stealing kids, and eating them and/or taking them back to hell; or one that protects the innocent.

“So what you’re saying is, this is a vague looking creature with a vague personality with vague ambitions that is made up by parents who are tired of their kids interrupting their vague post-marital sex?”

Okay, fine, the bogeyman bears little resemblance to the basic concept of the bogeyman. But this is what makes him the international man of mystery. It’s the regional divergences between each nation’s own Babadook that makes this creature quite so peculiar.

You see, I assumed the bogeyman would be a universal concept draped in more black clothes than a kid that was in the throes of that scene where Edward leaves Bella. 

Turns out that there’s actually a band of bogeymen which can be specified by their not-so-casual racism and genitalia.

But as the 195 countries dotted across the globe have fostered their own child-eating monster, I thought I’d cut to the chase and fill you in on the world’s weirdest bogeymen.

*Rolls up sleeves of Team Edward hoodie*

     The Sack Man

Making his cinematic debut in The Nightmare Before Christmas, the Sack Man is the international symbol for the bogeyman. Whether he himself is draped in sack-like materials, or is lugging one around with him, Hombre Del Saco uses his luggage to capture and carry naughty children away to, uh, somewhere.

Most popular in Latin countries and Eastern Europe, the Sack Man is the most well travelled bogeyman on this list.

     Babaroga

The original inspiration behind the Babadook - note the similar name - Babaroga is a resident of Serbia and its neighbouring countries. However, the mood board for the Babadook’s inspiration stopped there.

Babaroga literally translates to “old woman with horns”.

And this pensioner spends her time finding children, putting them in a sack (how original), bringing them to her cave, and eating them. Or, to shake things up, she pulls childrens through small holes in the ceiling.

     El Coco

When he’s not featuring in lovable Disney hits, El Coco is snatching kids that don’t get to sleep when they should. With nursery rhymes detailing the legend - a chilling similarity to the Babadook - spanish-language countries across the globe are versed in reportedly seeing a coconut-like face hiding under their beds.

With a brown hairy face and body, and glowing red eyes to match, this famous humanoid might be closer than you think.

“Que viene el Coco y te comerá” 

 - A line from the traditional Spanish nursery rhyme.

     The Mamma

Pakistan gets its fair share of attention on the news cycle, but aside from the war going on, no one has ever noted the rather peculiar beast haunting the nation’s young women.

The Mamma isn’t the mothering being the name suggests, but is a large ape that lives in the mountains and only comes to the civilised world when in need of a young girl. Once he’s kidnapped ‘em and taken ‘em back to his cave, he licks their hands and feet so they can’t escape.

I have a strong feeling that what happens next to these innocent women isn’t as silly as someone licking your feet.

     La Tulievieja

Bringing together the award-winning aesthetic of The Ring and the naseau-inducing aesthetic of Cats, La Tulievieja is Panama’s warning for naughty children. Legend has it she is a spirit cursed by God for drowning her child.

The thing is, God’s curse was, uh, confused. Her monstrous form consists of acne scarring, long hair, claws for hands, a cat’s body and a farmyard animal’s hooved feet. On top of that, she also looks like the child she drowned.

Yep, confused.

     The Jersey Devil

Most countries suffer from multiple bogeymen - here in the UK, for example, we have 12 varieties - and America is no different. The Jersey Devil is actually one of 4 variants, and, like La Tulievieja, is also confused.

Fresh from the jaws of New Jersey, this beast has a horse’s head, bat wings, hooves, and a snake’s tail. First spotted in the 18th century and then again in 1909, it is believed that this legend was actually manufactured as a real estate hoax to coax residents into lowering their selling prices.

You might be able to deny the existence of this beast, but the Cipelahq (a large owl), the Long Black Being that makes a habit of slithering round like a snake, and Bloody Bones (a dancing skeleton and a separate skull) have yet to be disproven.

     The Copperpenis Owl

Hungary has 3 different bogeyman, and most fit the description of the international beast: there’s one with a sack, there’s one which is just a-bit-beasty, and then there’s the giant owl with a penis made of copper.

I personally feel a Babadook with rose gold genitalia circa 2013 might have detracted from the overall feel of the film.

     Ijiraq and the Qalupalik

Iniut communities also follow beliefs in the bogeyman, and probably focus on them more than others because if you wander off in the Arctic you will either get mauled by a bear and die, or freeze.

And then you’ll die.

They actually have 2 resident bogeymen. There’s the Ijiraq, a shapeshifter that kidnaps kids. You know, pretty basic bitch stuff. And then there’s the Qalupalik who is slightly more spooky.

This is a mermaid laden with green skin, long fingernails, and ratty hair that carry babies away in amauti (pouches or sacks for carrying kids) and bring them to live in their underwater world.

     Butzemann

Remember when I mentioned that thing about casual racism? It’s a bit of grey area, ironically.

Germany’s very own bogeyman is known as The Black Man.

(You can see my point.)

That being said, this probably doesn’t actually refer to the colour of his skin as most Germans during the Middle Ages hadn’t actually seen anyone from the African continent. Instead, his outdated nickname was actually down to his preference for dark corners.

The closet, under the bed, in forests during the early hours... If it’s spooky, you’ll find him here.

     Babau

Germany isn’t the only country with politically incorrect bogeyman. Italy has its very own Black Man, a mysterious figure which often features as a black man (gasp) or a black ghost. Only this entity has no legs.

The Marabbecca on the other hand is specific to Sicily, and mirrors the mythology of the Inuits.

Don’t play too close to the water, kids, or a Marabbecca will swim up and drag you to your watery grave!

     The Kropeman

Our final iconic bogeyman isn’t like the other girls, even if his fellow Luxembourgian monsters are. There’s yet another Black Man, and there’s something about an uncle, but it's the Kropeman which has me sleeping with the lights on.

Under the streets of this small country roams a man with a long hook.

When he’s not busy dodging rats in the sewers, he’s grabbing kids by their nose via the hook, and dragging ‘em down into the storm drains.

So - which one is hiding in your closet?

(Aside from the queerness your inner 14 year old hasn’t fully unleashed yet like a big bisexual dragon spewing flames of gender-neutralness.)

(Don’t worry, I’m fine.)

Are you a whore for horror? Passionate about the paranormal? Do you want to see a new real ghost story every day? Then you have to follow this blog.

Read this post next!

[imaginative-spirit]

hii! i found your twitter acc when i was searching for sefikura meta/analysis, and i found your tweet! i wanted to ask if you know some blog posts (or any posts) of their relationship analysis, as i am quite new to the whole ffvii series and i am intrigued by their relationship. i wanted to ask through cc but i noticed you dont have curiouscat so i’m asking through tumblr, sorry ;;

I didn’t mean to put all of this under a readmore but tumblr is being an ass so that’s what we’re doing now, I guess...

Hello!! Unfortunately I can’t really come up with anything on the spot, because despite seeing posts like that around before, I’m very unorganized and bad at keeping track of posts... so I decided to write you one on the spot instead, lmao!! I’ve been planning to write a more coherent, longer analysis for a while but still haven’t gotten around to it, but I’ll share some of my condensed thoughts here. The sefikura relationship is what intrigues me most about FFVII after all, and I usually yell quite a lot about them on twitter!

You say you’re new to FFVII, which means that I should definitely give a spoiler warning here. I’m going to address spoilery stuff from the OG, Remake and also some of the compilation material, because it’s hard to talk about their relationship without doing so. (I’ll also assume you’re familiar enough with the world of FFVII to know what I mean when I talk about stuff like SOLDIER, Shinra, Jenova, the Lifestream and such... this would get too long if I explained all of that here, lol)

Okay, so. Cloud and Sephiroth are narrative foils, which means their stories and arcs parallel each other in many ways. The most central themes surrounding them are their loneliness, sadness and how they cope with trauma.

Sephiroth was most likely raised by Hojo in a Shinra lab, and if you know Hojo, you know that there’s no way Sephiroth was treated as anything but an experiment. He never knew his mother, and the only person he had any respect for - Professor Gast - vanished when he was young and this seems to have given him abandonment issues. Cloud, on the other hand, had a mother but not much else. He felt alienated by the other children growing up in Nibelheim and seems to have been generally disliked by the adults as well, due to them blaming him for the time Tifa got hurt. In other words, they were both very lonely as children.

Shinra sent Sephiroth to war when he was very young (people disagree quite a lot on how old Sephiroth actually is but it’s assumed that he was around 12), and as the years went by, Sephiroth became the poster child of SOLDIER. We know that Cloud grew to idolize Sephiroth for how strong and brave the media made him out to be (A.K.A. had a celebrity crush on him), and that was what inspired Cloud to leave town and try to join SOLDIER.

As we see in the prequel game Crisis Core, Sephiroth at this point is well-respected by his peers after his efforts in conquering Wutai. His two only friends are Genesis and Angeal, who are also SOLDIER 1st Class, but they end up leaving SOLDIER, which means Sephiroth gets left behind. Considering that he already had abandonment issues to begin with, being abandoned by his only friends must’ve hit hard. I’d say this sets the foundation for Sephiroth’s downward spiral. However, at this point, I would argue that Sephiroth is still a good person at heart, despite all the trauma he has endured. He persists, refusing to hunt down his deserter friends, and even begins a hesitant friendship with Zack, who was Angeal’s apprentice.

Cloud befriends Zack as well, but doesn’t make it into SOLDIER and instead remains in the ordinary Shinra infantry, which is a crushing loss for him because he can’t achieve his dream. It’s at this point I like to imagine that if Zack had introduced Sephiroth and Cloud to one another, things could’ve gone better. Sephiroth is older than Cloud and outranks him, but with how isolated Sephiroth has been for his entire life I think there’s potential for a meaningful friendship here. They’re both very lonely and neither of them is really a people-person, so I think they’d get along well once Cloud gets over his hero-worship and Sephiroth manages to open up a bit. I would say that sefikura, if Nibelheim didn’t happen, has the potential to be a healthy relationship.

But of course, that’s not how canon goes. The Nibelheim mission happens, Sephiroth finds out that he’s not human and finally snaps after years of mistreatment, burning the town to the ground. Cloud manages to kill Sephiroth, ends up spending several years as an experiment, gets injected with Jenova cells, goes into a coma, wakes up just in time to watch Zack die, and ends up so traumatized that he creates a false identity for himself as a former SOLDIER 1st Class.

We’ve now reached OG FFVII. At this point, Sephiroth, while technically dead and chilling in the Lifestream, uses Jenova as a vessel to move around and takes advantage of Cloud, using him as a puppet for his own gains. He constantly dehumanizes Cloud and generally doesn’t give a damn about him as a person, while Cloud resents Sephiroth but can’t resist his manipulations. In a lot of ways, I think Sephiroth projects his own trauma onto Cloud here, because if Sephiroth had to suffer as Shinra’s puppet for his entire life, then Cloud should suffer as Sephiroth’s puppet as well. As a victim of horrific abuse, Sephiroth has a lot of justified anger, but he takes it out on the wrong person entirely. It’s definitely a very unhealthy situation.

But of course, unlike Sephiroth, Cloud doesn’t let his trauma define him. He reaches his breaking point and falls apart completely, but he gets back up, because unlike Sephiroth, he has a support system of friends who stand by his side and work together with him to defeat Sephiroth at the end of the game. For most of his life, Cloud has been chasing Sephiroth. This is where he finally catches up and surpasses him.

And here, the tables turn. Cloud kills Sephiroth but that’s never stopped Sephiroth before. This is where Sephiroth first develops his Cloud-obsession. He fixates on Cloud so hard that his hatred keeps him from completely fading away into the Lifestream. Cloud is literally his lifeline. (Isn’t it romantic? lol) He returns in the sequel movie Advent Children, where he fights Cloud one-on-one and basically just taunts him for 10 minutes before Cloud kills him again.  It’s implied that Sephiroth can keep coming back as long as Cloud exists as well.

Canon beyond this has, for a long time, been unknown territory. There’s a sequel game called Dirge of Cerberus that the fandom at large pretends doesn’t exist because it’s... kinda weird to say the least, lol. And it doesn’t really have anything to do with sefikura anyway. People have written post-canon sefikura as something that continues to be toxic, but there’s also fic that offers redemption and forgiveness for Sephiroth, acknowledging that he was a victim too. It’s left very open-ended.

All of this basically explains how I see sefikura. They’re two people who were alike in many ways, who could have been friends before everything fell apart around them, if things had been different. But they never did meet, before it was too late. Instead, they keep chasing each other, full of hate even though they’re probably the only people in the world who could truly understand each other’s trauma. The only real difference is that Cloud had friends to back him up while Sephiroth was abandoned, and I really, truly wish they could get an opportunity to reach some sort of understanding. And that would basically be it...

...but then the Remake happened. Diving into speculation territory here. I firmly believe that the Sephiroth we see in the Remake is a time traveller, or is at least aware of the future to some degree, and that the remake is actually a sequel where Sephiroth is quite literally remaking OG ffvii. He’s completely obsessed with Cloud to a degree that he never was in the OG, and considering how loyal the developers stayed to the characterization of basically every other OG character this immediately stuck out to me like a sore thumb even though it took me until the end of the game to piece it together.

I’m not kidding here. Sephiroth is desperate for Cloud’s attention in the Remake. He's constantly trying to touch Cloud, everything he says to Cloud makes him sound like a pining ex-husband, and he generally doesn’t do anything to harm Cloud except scaring him shitless simply by showing up. He actually has quite a few moments when he’s very gentle with Cloud. At the end of the game he basically even proposes to Cloud by asking Cloud to join him and genuinely seems upset when Cloud rejects him. And even then, he claims he doesn’t want Cloud (nor himself) to die.

For the life of me, I can’t wrap my head around what Sephiroth’s goal is in the Remake and I have no idea what they’re planning to do with his character in future parts, but I’m very excited to find out. The sefikura content in the Remake was very delicious and at this point the only thing they could do to surpass it in the future would be to have them actually make out on screen, lmao.

I hope this is coherent enough to read, I basically just tried to condense everything I could into a neat little essay and there’s definitely things I didn’t mention here, lol. I’ll write a proper, more well-thought out analysis another time!

Also, if you want to ask me anything else or talk to me about sefikura in general, my DMs are always open, both here and on twitter ;D

[digitalgate02]

What is your thoughts on the first two episodes and opening of Digimon adventure 2020 or Digimon 2020 ?

It’s too early to opine, but i think these first two episodes were good. I agree with my friends who consider OG Adv very slow in the first episodes (compared to how things are sped up in 02) and honestly I only watch OG because of the characters.

I’m happy that everyone is way too much softer than the OG line, even Yamato is soft gdi! I think I’m getting attached to Taichi because he’s so much a happy puppy. AND KOUSHIRO?? SO. CUTE?? I CRY.

Also Hikari is there since day one with an important role (if you go with the scenes in the OP) which I hope will give her justice. Takeru is intriguing me as well, since the profiles. A friend theorized he is Homeostasis’ vessel this time and maybe MAYBE it will be a thing...?

Anyway, them trying to modernize this series is going well. The first two episodes -- probably 3rd too -- are a complete modern version of Our War Game, and it was so super duper obvious because the title is “WAR GAME” and yet I’ve seen a lot of complaints. Also Omegamon appearing right now reminds me when Shoutmon X3 appeared incomplete in the very first ep, as foreshadowing.

Anyway, I’m excited for the future episodes!!