#never spoke to him again

[aipurjopa]

“Because I can’t handle being alone again”

[strawberrystepmom]

gojo telling any other sorcerer who is interested in you that they can just fight him for you if they want you so bad

like what are they gonna do??? fight him????

[toobusybeingdelulu]

steve harrington says this:

and then we have billy hargrove in s3 with a skull tattoo:

which could mean nothing.

[zehl0w]

Very messy scribble of a comic because they were on my mind (I doubt I’ll ever clean it up so I’m just posting it now so it doesn’t rot in my procreate files LOL)

[rig-a-rendal]

reading the autobiography of a damn liar means having to cross-reference absolutely every little throwaway anecdote to the point where you look somehow even more insane than him

[devilsrecreation]

Since the ep is INSPIRED by POTO, I’mma point out the similarities and differences

Similarities/references to POTO:

-There are obvious parodies of the characters in the book/musical. Neema’s obviously the Phantom, Paka kinda has Christine’s role, Nne and Tano are kinda like Madame Giry, and there’s an herbivore with Carlotta’s role. Maybe a wild ass

-Neema pulls very similar stunts Erik pulls, mainly sabotaging performances. But he also has a secret lair in a water cave that he takes Kiburi’s float and Paka

-The Grasslands has a tradition called the “kupiga mpira”, meaning “masquerade ball” where everyone dresses up in costumes. Neema crashes the party lol

-Like Christine, Paka is a (rookie) performer and has a relationship with the Phantom

-I guess you could say both Erik and Neema had a hard life (granted, Neema’s past wasn’t as bad as Erik’s but still) that somehow affected their reputation

-He put Paka to sleep with a soothing melody (AKA he recreates “Music of the Night”)

-“[Why would anyone want to date a strange individual who’s killed people? That just sounds like a toxic relationship.]”-Neema at one point

-The reptiles like to refer to Neema as an “angel of music”

-Tamka brings up “the point of no return”

-Like Erik, Neema kills someone

-One of the reasons he sabotages a show is that a certain spot isn’t left for him. It’s HIS spot, no one else’s

-Neema and Erik both get exposed

-Both phantoms get affection at the end

-Neema’s point of no return is to either quit this double life thing and go back to being in Kiburi’s float or stick to being a phantom and leave his only family permanently. Although Tamka/Nduli think Neema’s gonna give THEM a choice to either join him or he’ll kill everybody, to which Kiburi shuts it down cuz that makes zero sense

Differences:

-There is no operatic singing in the episode. It has singing (the Grasslands are a musical place) but not actual opera. Also there’s no Raoul nor Persian

-While Erik loves/is obsessed with Christine, Neema is aromantic and has no interest in anyone

-Neema does not wear a mask that covers his face (except during the masquerade scene)

-Like I said before, everything between them is platonic and healthy. Though Neema DOES have a soft spot for her. If anything, they’d be QPP’s

-Erik and Neema haunt their respective places for different reasons. Erik does it cuz of his passion for opera and obsession for Christine. Neema honestly just likes the music. The hero thing just comes with it.

-Two things: it was completely platonic and Neema hummed the song since he’s mute and can’t sing. It’s more of a lullaby than a romantic ballad

-Neema isn’t jealous nor possessive. The most he does when he sees Paka with someone else is make sure they don’t hurt her. He’s more protective if anything

-my guy is not a teacher. He’s never taught anyone anything (except maybe how to stand up for yourself)

-As much as I love the scene, it ain’t happening with Neema and Paka. Way too sexual for them (and the episode fic) 😭

-Unlike Erik he killed someone cuz he was hungry, not to sabotage the show. Though everybody else seems to think differently

-He doesn’t kill anyone cuz of it, although he does cause a monkey to interrupt it by scaring him

-While Erik’s face gets exposed during an opera in front of everyone, Neema’s confronted by Kiburi’s float and basically gets exposed then

-Erik gets a kiss while Neema and Paka share a hug and a head pat :)

-Neema’s ending is veeeeeeery different from Erik’s. Neema doesn’t die like in the book nor does he completely quit being a phantom and not see Paka again. He goes back with his float in the end, but he continues to be a Phantom hero in the Grasslands.

There’s a reason Neema kept up the whole “Phantom” act and it kinda has something to do with his past. Neema was raised by strict, but somewhat supportive parents as a hatchling. He never learned to actually talk but his parents convinced him that being quiet was a good thing. “Silence is golden” they’d always say. “Just do as you’re told and they’ll like you”. It was like that for a while until the day he saved that lizard. Being referred to as a “hero” awakened something in him that day. He likes being some mysterious heroic entity, he likes playing with the Grasslanders and telling them what to do, he likes keeping animals on their toes, he likes the music the Grasslands have.

He likes being his own animal.

He’s been following and obeying his leaders all his life. Don’t get him wrong, he doesn’t necessarily mind it and he loves his friends, but it just feels nice to be someone now that he’s found his passion.

Nne and Tano found out when they got hungry and wanted to try something different rather than a mole rat or trying to eat animals from the Pridelands. They soon found themselves in the Grasslands and just so happened to spot Paka walking around. Just as they cornered her, Neema came out of nowhere, gave Paka a chance to run away, and began to attack the pair…until they recognized him like “Hey wait a minute…we know you! You’re one of the crocodiles in Kiburi’s float! What’re you doing here?”. It took a bit, but the pair finally figured out that Neema was a phantom and decide to join him. They never let anyone know since (until Kiburi basically forced them to tell where Neema was going).

Ever since Paka heard about this supposed phantom saving one of her lizard friends, her sleep schedule has been out of whack (seeing how black-footed cats are nocturnal) and she’s been obsessed with seeing it for herself. It only grew when Neema saved her and she went from wanting to see him to wanting to get to know him. Luckily, Neema took interest in the little feline due to her personality and shared love for music and began watching over her. He’s even led her to his water cave (where he hummed her his lullaby) and their friendship grew from there. She doesn’t really understand him so they communicate by yes or no questions until Kiburi comes along. Same with Nne and Tano.

Unrelated, but I just realized a pattern with my headcanons for Kiburi’s float: I gave them all desires

Kiburi wants to be good enough to make his dad proud like he promised

Tamka wants to be seen as more than just one thing (which is an idiot). He wants to pursue his passion and show he’s capable of doing things

Neema wants to feel like somebody. Like I said, he’s been a follower for way too long and he wants to find himself

Nduli wants everything to stay the same. He’s lost so much due to change and he doesn’t want to lose anything or anybody else, so he clings to his loved ones in hopes they won’t let go

Wakali wants to be taken seriously since her young age and albinism causes other animals to underestimate her

Even Makuu wants to show everyone that he’s changed his ways and wants to leave a legacy. It was the same thing with Pua, although nowadays he just wants to live his best life

Ucheshi got what she wanted in that Udugu episode I have-she got her big brother back :)

[kingslionheart]

today i met my childhood best friend at my lecture LIKE !!! that's the kid i used to play pretend with !!! why do you have a beard

[pilonciillo]

lol didn’t think someone giving money would give me anxiety

[localbabygirl]

my summer 2024 situationship aka my friend of six years that i grew closer with and then got ghosted by the literal day after we got intimate randomly texted me this week to ask if everything is okay between us. and obviously no??? what the fuck. w h a t the fuck.

[softquietsteadylove]

I just reread My Kingdom for a Heart on AO3 (one of my faves of yours!) and I was wondering if you’d be willing to write a little continuation of that verse? Whatever inspires you! I’d just love to see the captain of the guard and royal advisor being not so sneakily flirty to each other while everyone is beggggging them to get a room

"You have been a wonderfully warm host, your Majesty," the visiting queen regent beamed at Sersi walking alongside her. She even turned over shoulder to look at the woman trailing just a few paces behind them. "And you, your Grace."

The royal advisor dipped her head to the visiting princess. "I am humbled, your Highness."

"Truly," the personable royal insisted, even stopping and stepping away from Sersi to invite her into the fold. "I have long admired the time you spent as queen regent over your own kingdom. I am visiting two queens of legend."

Thena offered a mild smile, while Sersi lowered her eyes shyly to the ground in modesty. Thena let the billowing sleeves of their dresses hide how she nudged her sister. "Her Majesty is too modest; she has done a fine job as Queen with the King at her side."

Sersi whipped her head up and put on a smile again; Thena was telling her not to lower her eyes from anyone. She was always catching her doing little things, like that. Little - unqueenly - things. "A-And we have admired the work you have done in your own kingdom, your Highness. We both know the demands regency brings."

"Ah," the princess offered with an equally modest smile, and perhaps a more honest slumping of her shoulders. "Indeed, it is rewarding, and demanding, in equal parts. I am beginning to consider the many offers of marriage simply to have someone to talk to about it."

The three women shared a laugh between them, understanding the desperation beneath such a jest. Thena picked up her skirts again, ready to fall behind the step of her Queen and their guest.

"Tell me...what of your Captain of the guard?"

Both Queen and princess turned as the royal advisor stumbled somewhat on the castle carpet. She kept her eyes directed at the ground (queen regent no longer, she could do that as a royal advisor).

Sersi accepted her sister's show of mortification, turning back to the princess. "The Captain? Uh, well..."

"Forgive me, your Majesty," the princess excused but did not throw the topic away with a wave of her hand. "I realise how poorly showing it is for me to ask such a thing."

Thena cleared her throat, coming to a stop as they did. She reminded herself of the distance she was supposed to keep. Remain over the Queen's shoulder at all times, never be more than three paces away to whisper something but do not hover so close as to listen to things not for her ears.

"But," the princess took on something of a grin. "Is he a wedded man? I confess I hope he is not."

Sersi's jaw hovered for just a moment before she remembered to clamp it shut. A queen did not flounder like a fish on a hook. She looked at her advisor, who was keeping her head down and out of it. The Queen drew her shoulders up and smiled. "To my knowledge, he is unwed."

The princess beamed. The royal advisor gripped her skirts tighter.

"But!" Sersi continued, even offering a gentle hand to the princess', outstretched in her excitement. "I do believe he is...promised to another."

"Promised?" the princess asked in clarification. "I did not realise commonfolk held such traditions."

"W-Well," Sersi tried to continue as if she were not writing her speech with the quill of her mind in the moment. "He is a man of high station, being the King's right hand. I am to believe he has...someone."

"Her Majesty is most shrewd," the princess dipped politely, acknowledging Sersi's lack of desire to whisper about her own king's-guard like housekeepers. However, that did not stop her.

Thena gulped as the princess gravitated back towards her. "Your Highness?"

"Her Majesty is shrewd," the princess dropped to a near whisper with her in conspiracy. "But it is the royal advisor's job to know everything within - and outside of - the court, is it not?"

She had her, there. Thena gripped her skirts so tightly the fabric may never lay flat again, she feared. "It is, your Highness."

"Do you know the Captain?"

The heat was beginning to get to her. Perhaps she could suggest to Sersi that they take their meal in the castle courtyard. "I do, your Highness."

"And?" the princess asked eagerly, but in such an inviting way. In another life, perhaps they would have been friends, trading secrets and laughing. But now, all Thena felt was panic. "Do you know if he is a married man or if I might-"

"He is committed."

The Queen also looked at her with highly piqued interest.

The princess let her disappointment show. "Committed?"

"Committed," Thena repeated, clearing her throat and ignoring her sister's gaze upon her like a hawk's on a fieldmouse. "I know of questions of this nature from others and the answer appears to be that he is...committed--to another."

"I see," the princess offered in a more dull tone. "I suppose that is to be expected. He is quite a handsome specimen."

Sersi's eyebrows raised as her royal advisor's pale skin took on slightly more colour.

Thena repeated the words that kept her anchored to her position. "Yes, your Highness."

Their visitor did not catch the peculiar behaviour of the stoic woman, though. She was having a delightful time speaking with her new allies--and friends. "Working with him is an enviable task."

The royal advisor resumed looking at the ground, unable to lift her skirts and dash off in escape, tethered to her few paces following them. "Yes, your Highness."

"Oh, your Grace, please," she smiled, even bending herself to meet the royal advisor's eye. "I am not asking as a regent, I am asking as a woman. A woman who is rather tired of bearing the weight of a kingdom alone, as it were."

Sersi closed the distance again, both connecting with the amiable princess, as well as covering her sister's exposed weakness. "We quite know what that is like, your Highness."

Thena did manage a shaky smile at that. She was glad her sister could have an ally, much more a friend. Someone with whom she need not stifle herself so constantly. She did her best to take in a breath. The question had truly taken her off guard.

"Do you know to whom he is," the princess slid her eyes between her new confidantes, "committed?"

Thena's jaw bobbed; she was floundering.

"Not that it is my place to ask," the princess amended quickly.

"Not at all," Sersi laughed off easily, still actively smoothing over Thena's ruffled exterior. "I could not say, I'm afraid. But I believe it is someone within the castle."

"A working marriage," the princess surmised with a smile. "Like something of a romance, isn't it?"

The Queen grinned, "I quite think so, your Highness."

Thena nearly gasped in relief when they turned the corner and she curtsied, "the throne room, your Majesty--your Highness."

The doors were opened for them, and Thena was finally able to slip around the two royals and slink her way up to her position over the right shoulder of the Queen's throne. She welcomed the flow of air, even if she was still feeling overheated.

"You okay?"

This was not helping. She tried not to seem that she was biting into her bottom lip as she met the eyes of the Captain in his position opposite hers. The thrones were wide, and he seemed oceans away at times, looming over the left of Ikaris' shoulder.

"What did you talk about?" he whispered as the Queen and princess took their time returning to the throne upon their raised floor.

"Nothing." It was less of an answer and more of a squeak. Thena looked to the side of the room, avoiding the Captain's discerning eye. He always knew when something was under her skin, an unfortunate remainder from when she had been the subject of his guarding.

Sersi finally broke away from her girlish whispering and giggling to look at the two unoccupied thrones. "Ikaris?"

Gilgamesh squared his shoulders. "His Majesty sends his apologies; the meeting with the generals is extending. It seems without his most trusted war advisor, he is...struggling to see eye to eye with them."

His eyes slid over to her. Thena used the back of the throne to disguise her waving her hand at him. She was the royal advisor, not the war advisor (not officially, at least). He enjoyed flattering her.

"Such capable advisors you have, your Majesty," the princess noted with a smile, although her eyes were rather locked onto the Captain.

"Quite, your Highness," he bowed slightly, wearing a smile of his own. Again, his eyes straight to his right. "A better, more wise advisor, there is not."

The royal advisor huffed faintly, feigning some annoyance with the heavy, heavy praise. The rest of the court seemed quite used to the exchange taking place. "Captain, you have polished your words so much I will fear for your armour's condition."

"Forgive me, your Grace," he answered formally, but his tone was more like a schoolboy teasing the object of his affection. "I speak only the truth. I fear for my station, the King and Queen are so well cared for with your guidance."

The princess' brows rose as the royal advisor offered a modest blush--and reticence. Her head swivelled between the two of them.

"You know very well we could not do without you, Captain."

It was quiet, but the room absorbed the words as if they had been screamed. Eyes rose and then dashed away politely from the confession, just as truthful, just as open, but much more scintillating.

The princess' mouth opened as she nodded, entirely for her own understanding. She looked at the Queen. "I see."

Sersi, no one's fool, also nodded with a kind expression. "Indeed."

"I must apologise," the princess lamented.

"Unnecessary, I assure you," Sersi offered, in a most queenly way, she was proud to say. She looked at her sister and advisor, who offered her approval of the statement.

"Thank you, your Majesty," the princess allowed, although she looked up at the royal advisor as well. "But my apology was directed elsewhere."

Gilgamesh looked at the ladies, not quite with all the pieces he needed. He looked at Thena again, who was still looking away from him, not that the royal advisor was without her shyness from time to time.

"Not at all, your Highness," Thena managed to mumble out with everyone's eyes on her. Her wringing hands were at least somewhat disguised behind the throne. "You were not to know."

"Well, seeing as your husband is still indisposed," the princess smiled again, ready to lift spirits with her mirthful nature. "I should like to continue talking with my new friends. Captain, if you would be so kind to escort us to your lovely castle gardens. Perhaps we might even like to take a meal, there."

"Of course, your Highness," the Captain dipped at the waist obediently. He couldn't even make it to his full height again before he was looking at the royal advisor once more. "Your Grace."

She gave him a withering look; she was going to tell him he couldn't speak with her so liberally in royal company later. But her hand slipped into his all the same as they descended the stairs keeping the throne separate from the rest of the room. The two found their place a mere few steps behind the royalty present. "As you wish, your Majesty--your Highness."

The princess grinned at them both before pulling Sersi in by the hands again. "You are a lucky woman, your Majesty. Dependable staff, a fine husband."

"Indeed," Sersi offered, catching the mischievous sparkle in the princess' eye. They would get along well.

"And a positively tantalizing working romance story, unfolding before your very eyes!"

[absowution]

Thinking of tiny Enver, following helplessly along as he's dragged through the streets by a strong, unrelenting grip. It was the middle of the night when the warlock came for him, darkening the Flymm's doorstep. The only time his mother made a fuss when they handed over their son, sparking a light of hope in Enver's heart that they might've changed their mind, was to ask the warlock if he'd counted the amount of gold correctly. After that they were right as rain.

As the trade concluded his mother never looked at him once.

The moment the door to Flymm's Cobblers closed shut behind them with a sense of finality, his fate well and truly sealed, Enver Flymm's mind was running miles a minute. Thoughts of escape had occurred to him, of course, but even if he were to manage to overpower a warlock twice his size and make a run for it, where would he go? His parents just sold him. If he went back they'd kick him right out the door again, screaming and yelling over what he'd done. He turns his options around in his head repeatedly, but he can't think well when his heart is trying to jump its way up his throat.

They're halfway through the Lower City when the grip on his arm suddenly loosens. He could barely hear a thing at first - the city uncharacteristically quiet even for such late hours. Then, there is a sickening squelch followed by a slight thud as the warlock drops dead to the ground. He sees the vague silhouette of someone on top of the body, a smaller creature dripping with blood as it tears through flesh. It's too dark to see a face, but there is something animalistic about its movements. Either it doesn't notice Enver, or it doesn't care.

Whoever or whatever wild thing it was is gone just as fast. By some God's mercy, it passed right by him.

Enver is left alone with the mangled remains of the man who bought him, whose pockets he rifles through for gold and valuables before disappearing from the scene of the crime. Without a home he has to put his mind to work living on the streets, toiling and climbing his way steadily up so as not to ever be so powerless again. It's not a way of life that comes without soiling your hands, but sometimes the messiest deeds are the cleanest, and vice versa. Stabbed backs and broken souls are left behind in the process when you need a stepping stone or two. He will rob as many people of their freedom as necessary to preserve his own because a miracle like that will never happen again. Even so he is admired. Respected. The people of Baldur's Gate support him now in a way they never would have before.

Years pass but it's impossible to forget what granted him this chance to forge connections and climb his way up to become unreachable in the first place. However oblivious it might have been back then that murderous creature freed him, and while there is little to go on in terms of finding it again he'll never forget the debt he owes.

(It grows into an obsession.)

[fictionadventurer]

@ellakas I'm so glad you asked!

Zachary Taylor is one of those presidents that no one talks about in history class. But the thing is, in the 1840s, everyone was talking about him. He was the war hero of the Mexican-American War. The war itself (a blatant land grab by President Polk) was unpopular, but Taylor emerged as a beloved hero, because was a really good military commander, and because stories emerged about how humanely he treated Mexican prisoners.

Taylor was so popular that both political parties asked him to be their candidate in the next presidential election. He had never held political office. Never shown interest in politics. He had never even voted in a presidential election before! (His reasoning was that, as a military man, he didn't want to serve a commander-in-chief that he had voted against). Yet he was eventually persuaded to run--and win--as the Whig Party candidate.

(Fun fact! His wife, who had no interest in being a politician's wife, prayed that he'd lose the election. Taylor also showed his religious convictions by refusing to be sworn in on a Sunday, so his inauguration was delayed by a day, leaving the US president-less for twenty-four hours).

Even after he was president, Taylor had no interest in playing politics. He wanted to serve the country, not the party. He refused to play political games, purposely not appointing some of the big names of the party to his Cabinet so he could have more diverse voices representing a wider swath of the country. Still in the military mindset of "I give orders and people obey", he was frustrated that he was constantly questioned by Congress, and was very much at odds with them.

The big issue of his presidency was the fact that the US had just gained a ton of land from Mexico, and they had to decide if they'd enter the Union as slave or free states. Since Taylor was a slave-owning Southerner, the Southern Democrats hoped he'd side with them. But Taylor didn't want to expand slavery. First, because it's dumb--it's not like we can grow cotton or sugar in New Mexico or Arizona, so why would we even need plantations? But also because he was coming under the influence of some of the most vocal anti-slavery New York Whigs. To the great anger of the Democrats, Taylor said he wanted California to enter immediately as a free state, and would prefer all the territories to be free states. Before the issue could be resolved, he died. He got violently ill after Fourth of July celebrations in 1850 (because the White House water was still contaminated by human feces), and died five days later, after only a year and a half in office.

A year and a half isn't much time to make an impact. But I'm still fascinated by this president. He was a wonderful mess of contradictions. He was a Southern slave-owner who joined the Northern anti-slavery party. He was against all talk of secession--on the grounds of "I spent forty years serving this country and I want it to stay in one piece"--even though his son-in-law was (I'm not kidding) future president of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis. As a slave-owner and US military leader in the 1800s, he logically can't be a totally good guy, yet I get the sense that he was genuinely trying to be, in the context of his time. And he was showing signs of further character development. If he had lived, who's to say what he could have become, what he could have done?

But we'll never know, because his death left the country in the hands of Millard Fillmore, possibly the most aggressively mediocre man ever to become president (though I have high hopes for Chester Arthur). He actually has a pretty amazing origin story. He was the son of a dirt-poor farmer who apprenticed him to a cloth-maker in what became an indentured servitude situation. He scraped up enough money to buy his freedom and return home. Growing up, the only book he had to read was the Bible, until he turned 17 and bought himself a dictionary. At 20, he started taking adult classes to finally get the education he'd been denied; his teacher was a woman two years older than him who he eventually married. He became a lawyer, and then went into politics, serving in the New York State Legislature. He authored no significant bills. Made no big impact. The main traits people noticed about him were "tall" and "good-looking" (Queen Victoria did later call him the most handsome man she'd ever met). He was just kind of... there.

He was picked as Taylor's vice president for much the same reason Taylor was recruited as presidential candidate--he was moderate enough to appeal to both sides of the polarized political spectrum. New York was the home of the most vocal anti-slavery Whigs, but Fillmore was moderate on the slavery issue. As vice president presiding over the Senate, people mentioned he was "very fair" in how he let both sides speak. And that's like...the best people can say about him.

The question of the slave states eventually produced a bill that came to be known as the Compromise of 1850. Taylor--the enemy of compromise--was against it. Fillmore, a few days before Taylor's death, stated he would support it. After Taylor died, his entire Cabinet resigned rather than serve under a president who supported the Compromise. When the bill passed, Fillmore signed it into law.

The Compromise stated 1) California would enter the union as a free state; 2) the slave trade would end in Washington D.C.; 3) The other territories would decide for themselves if they wanted to allow slaves or not. Most importantly, it put the Fugitive Slave Act into effect, requiring all citizens, even in Northern states, to help return runaway slaves to their owners. The North was outraged over the Fugitive Slave Act; they wanted nothing to do with the practice of slavery and now the government was forcing even free states to support the institution. This law was meant to bring together both sides and prevent war, but it probably had the opposite effect, deepening the divide and hastening the plunge toward armed conflict.

This has led historians to speculate--if the more forceful, principle-driven Taylor had lived, could the path to Civil War at least have been delayed? No way to say, of course; maybe Taylor's solution would have made things worse. But the contrast between these two presidents is so fascinating. In Taylor, you have the apolitical war hero who sticks to his guns--the increasingly anti-slavery slave owner. Meanwhile, Fillmore is a bland politician from the most anti-slavery state who refused to speak against slavery--a man who never really achieved anything because he never really stood for anything. They're such complex characters, full of irony and contradictions, and I'm outraged that my history classes completely skipped over them on the way to Lincoln.

[sappymix1]

it’s so punzover LMAO

[fideidefenswhore]

"Mr. Page received your letter directed unto my lady Anne, and delivered the same. There is yet no answer. She gave kind words, but will not promise to speak to the King for you." Cromwell to the Cardinal.

[lunamere]

that comment about why she eats alone that jang sin yu made is exactly why ya ass is cursed and dying!! cause ya spirit is nasty!

[bumblingbabooshka]

[TUVOKTOBER: Day 6] Based on this line of dialogue: