#north-noire notes

[north-noire]

1000+ followers?! You guys are crazy! Thank you so much for the continuous love and support of both my art and writing! You guys would legit fill up an entire room!

I'm so speechless and just taken aback by the support of my silly little FNAF AU that just has a Henry-Charlie focus (without taking away the importance of the other characters of course), and I really hope to provide more of the good content in the future :] Thank you so so much for the support, you guys have been supportive and so cool to talk to and from the bottom of my heart I can't thank you guys enough for the fanart and continuous support for the AU 😭

I'm sorry if my AU takes quite a while to update, it has been QUITE a journey to write and trust me I've been writing a LOT for it, it just takes some time to polish and be able to make things for it such as proper reference sheets and writing the ACTUAL fic. It's a miracle my alpha-beta reader and my other beta reader are willing to put up with me considering the word count, good lord 😭

Anyway, really, thank you so much for the support everyone 😭 it really means a lot to me! ❤️‍🩹

[starryeyedstray]

Noir AU: It's the late 1930s. Connor is an assassin for an underground criminal organization. Hank is a private investigator that has ties to the mafia that provides Connor intel to hunt down his targets. His current target is Markus, the leader of the newly formed criminal syndicate, Jericho. His organization wants to crush the budding faction before it has a chance to cause any problems.

“Hey Houdini, quit it with the coin tricks. It’s getting on my nerves,” scowled Hank as he rummaged through his filing cabinet. A silence pervaded. He shot a glance behind his shoulder and a shiver ran through him.

Connor was regarding him icily; he held the coin between his index and middle finger. His eyes were narrowed, and his jaw was tight. “Sorry, Detective,” he replied in a cold voice that didn’t sound the slightest bit sorry. “I am just impatient, and a coin is less hazardous than my switchblade.”

“Well, if you have to fiddle with something, I guess the coin’s fine,” Hank mumbled sheepishly opening another filing cabinet drawer. The detective had to remind himself that though Connor played nice with him, he was still an assassin for some underground organization. Hank could handle himself against the best of them, but he had no doubt Connor had more ways to kill him than Hank could come up with.

The metallic ping of the coin flipping resumed as Connor stared straight ahead with narrowed eyes, the coin zipping between his two hands. Usually, Connor was amicable towards Hank and the detective could get away with scolding and teasing the assassin, but Connor was in a bad mood. He couldn’t seem to pin down his new target’s location, and Hank hadn’t been able to find any solid leads yet. As far as Hank knew, Connor never failed his missions, and Hank didn’t want to know what would happen to him if he did. The assassin’s frustration was warranted since it’s been over a week and usually he finished his jobs in days.

Hank finally found the file he was looking for and gave a wide berth around the frankly murderous aura surrounding Connor. He sat behind his desk the assassin was currently leaning on and checked through the file. It was a file of missing people that he suspected were actually runaways. A picture of Connor’s target, Markus, recently surfaced, and Hank thought he recognized the girl he was with.

He flipped through the pages and found a newspaper clipping of a young woman who was declared missing a couple months ago. He took a long drag on his cigarette before lifting it up. “Look familiar?” he asked Connor.

Connor turned around to regarded the article. His eyes shifted to the notes Hank had made on the clipping quickly scanning the text. “She was with Markus.”

“Yep. Someone had me look into her awhile ago; she was a runaway from a black-market brothel, Eden Hall. Client ended up not caring enough to continue paying me to search for her so I dropped the case.”

“North Warren,” Connor read. He pursed his lips as he pocketed his quarter. “I suppose that’s a lead. I’ll have some connections look into it.”

“I’ll do some digging, too.”

Connor stood up and straightened his tie and put on his gloves. He turned back towards the detective, a friendly smile plastered across his face. “Thanks, Detective. I’m sorry for acting so coldly.”

“Yeah, it’s fine, kid. Just keep the murderous aura not directed at me.”

His smile dropped into something a little less genuine not quite reaching his eyes. “As long as you aren’t my target. Goodbye, Detective Anderson.”

Connor quickly walked out the door grabbing his coat and hat, not making any sound as he did. Hank made a mental note to figure out who the hell Connor’s boss was and how to not piss them off. Scratch that, trying to figure out what organization Connor worked for would definitely piss them off.

Connor showed up about eight months ago. He wasn’t the first assassin to approach Hank trying to gather some intel. The private investigator had garnered a sort of reputation for finding people and knowing how to keep his mouth shut. Seems whatever organization Connor was under had taken notice over the years. He’s had assassins come through his door and they all had the same tattoo around their temple. A thin blue circle. However, they only came one at a time. A new one would show up whenever the last one stopped visiting. Hank could assume what had happened to the assassin’s predecessors.

Connor was the youngest and he’s stuck around the longest so far. Most of the assassins seemed to be replaced after six months or less. The others were all business and cold, but Connor had approached him with a warmer attitude insisting they get along if they were going to be working together frequently. Hank dreaded the day when some other assassin walked through that door instead of Connor. The kid was still so young; too young to be in a business like this.

A few months ago, Hank had asked Connor about his organization.

“Hey, Connor, isn’t it counterproductive for your organization’s assassins to be tattooed the same way? It’s not very secretive.” Hank had been curious about the tattoo for a while.

Connor looked up from the file Hank had prepared for him and studied him with careful consideration. It was an intense calculating look that Hank didn't appreciate. Connor tilted his head as he seemed to try to decipher Hank’s intentions behind his question.

“It’s a security measure and a way to dissuade disloyalty,” Connor said after a moment. “It’s easy enough to cover up, and if I’m doing my job right the only people who would see it would be dead. Aside from you, of course.” He smiled. It did not provide Hank any comfort.

He supposed a tattoo would ensure that the organization knew Connor was one of theirs and Connor wouldn’t be able to easily leave the organization with such an obvious mark. But still…

“You ever think of quitting, kid? I know you probably are all sorts of tied up in that organization of yours, but do you ever think it would be better if you—” The rest of Hank’s words died in his mouth as he looked up at Connor.

The assassin’s eyes were cold and hard. The file he clutched in his gloved hand snapped closed. “I’m sorry, Detective, I didn’t know we were asking personal questions.” Connor’s voice was his usual amicable tone, but something about it was edged with ice. It made Hank’s blood run cold.

Connor continued as he walked closer to Hank’s desk. “I would have come better prepared to ask my own questions. Should I ask about your ex-wife? Or your son? Suggest you get a better handle on your drinking problem?”

If Hank wasn’t so terrified by the frigidity coming off of Connor, he would probably be fuming. But Connor’s brown eyes were boring into him, pinning him in place. He never thought brown could look so cold.

Connor leaned over the desk. “I like you, Hank.” He emphasized his name in a mocking form of familiarity. “So it would be a shame if my superiors decided you were too curious for your own good. There are consequences to the questions you ask. Tread carefully.”

Connor picked up the file he had set on the desk and placed his hat on his head. “Goodbye, Detective Anderson.” And Connor left without another sound.

Since then, Hank has made it a policy to avoid all personal questions about Connor and questions regarding Connor’s organization. He would regret it if the kid ended up dead, but he wasn’t going to paint a target on his back.

[deathmoth-blog]

Beautiful black witch moth

The erebid moth Ascalapha odorata, commonly known as the black witch, is a large bat-shaped, dark-colored nocturnal moth, normally ranging from the southern United States to Brazil. Ascalapha odorata is also migratory into Canada and most states of United States. It is the largest noctuoid in the continental United States. In the folklore of many Central American cultures, it is associated with death or misfortune.

Female moths can attain a wingspan of 24 cm. The dorsal surfaces of their wings are mottled brown with hints of iridescent purple and pink, and, in females, crossed by a white bar. The diagnostic marking is a small spot on each forewing shaped like a number nine or a comma. This spot is often green with orange highlights. Males are somewhat smaller, reaching 12 cm in width, darker in color and lacking the white bar crossing the wings. The larva is a large caterpillar up to 7 cm in length with intricate patterns of black and greenish-brown spots and stripes.

The black witch lives from the southern United States, Mexico and Central America to Brazil, and has apparently been introduced to Hawaii.[citation needed]

The black witch flies north during late spring and summer. One was caught during an owl banding project at the Whitefish Point lighthouse on the shoreline of Lake Superior in July 2020.[citation needed]

The black witch is considered a harbinger of death in Mexican and Caribbean folklore. In many cultures, one of these moths flying into the house is considered bad luck: e.g., in Mexico, when there is sickness in a house and this moth enters, it is believed the sick person will die, though a variation on this theme (in the lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas) is that death only occurs if the moth flies in and visits all four corners of one's house (in Mesoamerica, from the pre-Hispanic era until the present time, moths have been associated with death and the number four). In some parts of Mexico, people joke that if one flies over someone's head, the person will lose his hair.

In Jamaica, under the name duppy bat, the black witch is seen as the embodiment of a lost soul or a soul not at rest. In Jamaican English, the word duppy is associated with malevolent spirits returning to inflict harm upon the living and bat refers to anything other than a bird that flies. The word "duppy" (also: "duppie") is also used in other West Indian countries, generally meaning "ghost".

In Brazil it is called "mariposa-bruxa", "mariposa-negra", "bruxa-negra", and "bruxa", and it is also believed that when a moth of this type enters the house it can bring some "bad omen", signaling the death of a resident. In the Ecuadorian highlands they are called Tandacuchi and in Peru Taparacuy or Taparaco. These countries share the belief that if this moth, a messenger of death, appears in your home, someone will die very soon.

In Hawaii, black witch mythology, though associated with death, has a happier note in that if a loved one has just died, the moth is an embodiment of the person's soul returning to say goodbye. In the Bahamas, where they are locally known as money moths or money bats, the legend is that if they land on you, you will come into money, and similarly, in South Texas, if a black witch lands above your door and stays there for a while, you will supposedly win the lottery.

In Paraguay and Argentina, this insect is mostly known as "ura", and there is a popular belief that this moth urinates and leaves worms on the skin of people and animals. However, the insect that lays eggs in the skin and whose larvae become embedded in the flesh is the colmoyote or screwworm (Dermatobia hominis).

In Spanish, the black witch is known as "mariposa de la muerte". Other names for the moth include the papillion-devil, la sorcière noire, the mourning moth or the sorrow moth.[citation needed]

Black witch moth pupae were placed in the mouths of victims of serial killer 'Buffalo Bill' in the novel The Silence of the Lambs. In the movie adaptation, they were replaced by death's-head hawkmoth pupae.

[silkfyre]

W.I.D

The following content does not limit the type of requests I accept. If there is a topic or character that is not listed, but you wish to have included feel free to ask! If I’m ever uncomfortable with something I will simply deny the request.

HIGHLIGHTED names are my personal favorite characters. 

WRITING

Fluff

Smut

Angst

Yandere

Violence

Dub-Con

Polyamory

OTHER

Fancasts

Writing Tips

Script Creation

Character Building

CHARACTERS

HORROR

The Boy

Brahms Heelshire

The Quarry

Abigail Blyg

Emma Mountebank

Jacob Custos

Laura Kearney

Max Brinley

Ryan Erzahler

Travis Hackett

The Lost Boys

David

Dwayne

Marko

Michael

Paul

House of Wax

Bo Sinclair

Lester Sinclair

Vincent Sinclair

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Thomas Hewitt (Leatherface)

Halloween

Michael Myers

Scream

Billy Loomis

Randy Meeks

Stu Macher

American Horror Story

James Patrick March

Jimmy Darling

Yellowjackets

Lottie Matthews

Misty Quigley

Natalie Scatorccio

Shauna Sadecki

Taissa Turner

Van Palmer

SCI-FI

The Boys

A-Train

Billy Butcher

Black Noir

Frenchie

Homelander

Hughie Campbell

Kimiko Miyashiro

Mother's Milk

Queen Maeve

Soldier Boy

Starlight

Detroit: Become Human

Chloe

Conner

Gavin Reed

Hank Anderson

Josh

Kara

Luther

Markus

North

Ralph

Rk600 (Sixty)

RK900 (Nines)

Simon

Fallout

Fallout 4

Deacon

John Hancock

Nick Valentine

Paladin Danse

Piper Shaw

Preston Garvey

Robert MacCready

Fallout (series)

Aspirant Dane

Chet

Cooper Howard (The Ghoul)

Knight Maximus

Lucy MacClean

Norm MacLean

Alien vs Predator

coming soon!

Stranger Things

Steve Harrington

The Walking Dead

Daryl Dixon

Eugene Porter

James Cameron’s Avatar

Eetu

Lyle Wainfleet

Mansk

Miles Quaritch

Nor

So’lek

Teylan

Tsu’tey te Rongloa Ateyitan

SUPERNATURAL

TVD Verse

Bonnie Bennett

Caroline Forbes

Damon Salvatore

Elena Gilbert

Elijah Mikaelson

Finn Mikaelson

Jeremy Gilbert

Katherine Pierce

Kol Mikaelson

Niklaus Mikaelson

Rebekah Mikaelson

Stefan Salvatore

FANTASY

Baldur’s Gate 3

Astarion Ancunín

Dammon

Gale Dekarios

Halsin

Karlach Cliffgate

Lae’zel

Raphael

Rolan

Shadowheart

Wyll Ravengard

Zevlor

REALISM

Red Dead Redemption II

Albert Mason

Arthur Morgan

Charles Smith

Dutch Van Der Linde

Flaco Hernández

Javier Escuella

John Marston

Kieran Duffy

Sadie Adler

Call of Duty

John Price

John “Soap” MacTavish

Kyle “Gaz” Garrick

Simon “Ghost” Riley

Grand Theft Auto

Franklin Clinton

Michael De Santa

Trevor Philips

Outer Banks

Pope Heyward

Rafe Cameron

Sarah Cameron

Topper Thornton

W.I.D.D

Notes :: There may be some things on these lists that are debatable. If they are something I’m willing to write under certain circumstances then it will be ITALICEZED.

WRITING

Racism

Ableism

Ageplay

Underage

Homophobia

Transphobia

Character x Character (w/o reader)

CHARACTERS

Bubba Sawyer

Freddy Krueger

Pennywise

[cheapsweets]

The unassailable Taerfleg

My response to this week’s BestiaryPosting challenge from @maniculum

For a change I focused initially on the anatomy and worked out the rest of the composition later, which is why the adult Taerfleg looks a little stiff. I also continued my trend of drawing baby animals so tiny you can barely make them out (when I was thinking about developing my own drawing style, this wasn't what I planned... 😅)

Jinhao shark fountain pen with a fine, hooded nib, with Monteverde Raven Noir ink, over initial pencil sketch.

As ever, reasoning under the cut…

The Taerfleg is covered in prickles. It bristles, when it is enclosed in its prickles and is protected by them on all sides against attack.

Okay, so first question, what are prickles? The most defined explanation refers to plants, where technically speaking, a 'prickle' is a spiny process, but whereas thorns are modified branches/stems, and spines are leaves or parts of leaves, a 'prickle' is an outgrowth of the epidermis or skin or the plant (so, technicaly, roses have prickles, not thorns... learned a thing today!).

While I don't imagine that the authors of the bestiary (or if we're being honest, the translators) are going to be particularly fussy in terms of these exacting biological definitions, it gives me a place to start - the spiky bits of this animal are related to its skin rather than say, spiky bones or osteoderms.

For as soon as it senses anything, it first bristles then, rolling itself into a ball, regains its courage behind its armour.

Okay, armour, and curling up into balls... What kind of (land) animals have armour? Tortoises and crocodiles do, but aren't so roly poly unfortunately. Armadillos, pangolins, and all sorts of lovely bugs like isopods and pill millipedes definitely fit the bill. We just need to work out what kind of creature this is though, since its never specified whether the Taerfleg is a beast, a serpent, or something else...

Given the above note that 'prickles' are processes of the skin, rather than bone, we can eliminate crocodilians and turtles, as well as things like armadillos, which leaves us with squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes), potentially with prickly scales. I mean, I suppose these prickles could be modified hairs on a mammal, but surely the author of the entry would be more specific if that was the case, right? 😏

Plus given I interpreted the previous entry very conventionally (well, as conventional as tiny subterranian birbs can be) it's nice to stretch and draw something a little different...

The Taerfleg has a certain kind of foresight: as it tears off a grape, it rolls backwards on it and so delivers it to its young. It is also called [redacted]. This animal, thinking ahead, protects itself with twin ventilation ducts, so that when it thinks that the north wind is about to blow, it blocks the northern one, and when it knows that the south wind is giving warning of mist in the air, it goes to the northern passage to avoid the vapours blown from the opposite direction, which will do it harm.

One of the things that prompted a lot of the other design decisions was trying to work out exactly how it removes the grapes from its spines when it delivers them! I wondered about long necks (for instance, some tortoises) or tails, but ended up giving it reasonably long limbs and a bit of flex. I wasn't sure how well the grapes would survive being transported this way, so they're looking a little shrivelled...

Also, have some baby Taerflegs, one of which is munching down on a grape, the other is practicing curling into a ball, since I had to put that in the picture somewhere!).

I also read this as it digging burrows, based on the ventilation ducts. I didn't want to just duplicate what I'd drawn last week (with the cross section of the burrow), so we have the northern ventilation shaft blocked with grass and straw (I'd considered if it might block the shaft with its body, but that didn't seem likely given that the vapours would 'do it harm', and I didn't think that a weird lizardy thing would appreciate the cold draft on its posterior...

Note from this challenge - I really need to work out how to draw the interior of caves or tunnels...

So, I've taken inspiration from a lot of different creatures here. Ironically, despite picking up a copy of Charles Knight's animal drawing at the suggestion of @silverhart-makes-art (thank you, it's rad and really interesting, though I'm still on the lookout for some of the other suggestions I received too!), not a lot of use for this particular drawing, but it will definitely be useful in future projects.

One of the main inspirations here are girdled lizards, particularly the Armadillo girdled lizard (which has the greatest scientific name ever, Ouroborus cataphractus) - a spiky lizard that curls itself into a ball. Incidentally, another member of this family is the genus Smaug.... 🐉

Initial armadillo-inspired plating was superceded by pill millipedes (as most armadillos can't make a full ball); I also used the three-banded armadillo as the basis for the anatomy, but made a lot of changes along the way, particularly after I decided to make it a reptile - tortoises were considered briefly, but mostly monitor lizards (in part at least because they get big enough that I could find some good reference photos online!).

Digging claws on the forelimbs are largely from echidnas, I wanted the spiky bits to at least partially reflect the prickles on roses, back facing so they don't get in the way when its crawling through tunnels or vinyards, and there was also a lot of inspiration from Scolosaurus in the general vibe and the head (what? Dinosaurs are cool!).

Overall, interesting challenge, learned some things, have a few new things to learn, mostly had fun :)

[christinescupofcoffee]

a completed work — the original now it’s dark trilogy (now it’s dark, who cares wins, and be all end all)

started — September 2019 | completed: January 2020 | genre — science fiction, noir, cyberpunk posing as fanfiction | pov — 1st person perspective | status — third draft | currently — completed! | themes — poverty, death, mind control, manipulation, mad science, family dysfunction, the rise of ai/terminator-bladerunner type stuff, ecoterrorism

blurb | Joey hasn't always had it easy. Fresh off the boat from his singing duties in Anthrax, he finds a battered young woman in a storm drain. After taking her to shelter, he runs into a gentleman named Lars Ulrich, whom, as he finds out knows a thing or two about the woman in question. Thus ensues two fellows' journey through hell and back again.

excerpt | "Kill me now," is what I say as I stare out the window. The rain is my one true friend now. It's been a while since I've been able to make a good friend on top of this--I'm sure everyone knows about it, the whole thing where if someone, and by someone I mean myself, wasn't en route to a college or a university, or working a job already, they were kind of left out in the cold. Sure, there have been plenty of acquaintances, but as far as someone I could sit with and feel myself to be true with them, it's been a while. The whole twisted thing about everything that happened was that it happened so quick. It was four years ago Scott and Frank told me I could hold the microphone in my hand. Four years ago, and last year we may as well have hiked up to the North Pole and stood up a big black flag with the word "NOT!" emblazoned on it, beholding the fact we had conquered the world in the wake of Cliff's ashes. We rose up like the phoenix, and I was the man on fire.

There is absolutely nothing like standing out in the rain with all of your things taken out from the studio, slung over your shoulder, and your old band mates were the ones throwing you out there into the darkness while the gutters overflow over your head. There isn't a feeling like it.

And if anyone believes that I had had enough, know for a fact I was asked to leave. I had vowed to rid of the problem, to replace all of the booze with black coffee. I mean, Jesus, I like to have fun with this sort of thing. What's the point of doing it if I'm not going to have a little fun with it all every now and then? And it's not like I was drinking a ton so to speak--at least I wasn't doing those drug loaded pirate raids the four of them would do with Skid Row and Ratt. But I specifically recall telling Scott, verbatim, after he threatened to leave if I did nothing, that I would not have a sip of alcohol as long as I was a member of the band. And yet, for whatever reason, that promise did not suffice or click with any of them.

I think the sound of my phone ringing this morning and waking me up will haunt me for as long as I live. I still hear Charlie's voice on the other end, telling me it was official. They had made the decision behind closed doors and I had been thrown out on my ass as of that morning, but he never elaborated why.

The next thing I remember was asking him why and the sound of the other end hanging up.

note: this is the one. This is the fic I come back to quite often, mainly because it was such a watershed moment for me. It made me realize that I have the weirdest ability to tell a story from a guy’s point of view (which in turn made me realize that my concept of gender is way more permeable and fluid than I had realized before). It was the last thing I wrote before the pandemic hit. I made inktober art for it, which Joey himself noticed on instagram and then talked about it on Jamey Jasta’s podcast on my birthday.

When I go back and read it, it’s astounding how important it is for me, personally and as a writer. It’s arguably my magnum opus.

And you’re not misreading that, either, I literally wrote the whole three books in four months.

[ask-knowledgekeepers]

"Wisteria...?" Noir called out to the mismagius seeing the face as he gulped "You are wisteria correct ?" he asked almost carefully the feeler reaching out to the ghost type giving soft caress on cheek "What happened...?" he was stunned to see the emotionless pokemon before shaking his head pulling Ivy in a gentle hug "Sorry, I didnt mean to ask so bluntly... I feel like you need this..." he chuckled softly "Im here for you, you know ?"

Ivy seemed to calm down at the Sylveon's reassuring words, she just nervously looked away and muttered a faint "I'm sorry."

She cringed as his ribbon touched her cheek, for some odd reason, the ghost was expecting something worse. Though she wasn't sure why. From what she could recall about him, Noir wasn't a cruel or mean Pokemon. Though she couldn't be sure, her memories of them were a bit hazy.

Ivy instantly backed away at the question, she looked like she was about to say something but quickly went silent. Her gaze fell to the floor as she refused to answer. Noir didn't seem to push the matter either much to her relief. However, She didn't have time to react before Noir pulled her into a loving but firm hug.

She quietly sniffled as tears began streaming down her face, it'd been so long since she cried. Years even, now that she was she couldn't seem to stop herself. As all the memories began to flood back Ivy cuddled into Noir's hug, despite the sudden emotional pain she was hit with, she was glad someone she knew from the past was here to at least soothe it.

→ Ivy will now respond "normally" to those who know her as Wisteria. → Noir has been added to her [Family] on the Relationships Page. → Ivy is unavailable for asks until further notice.

- Mod note below -

For those who do not know who Noir is, Noir is one of the Pokemon who adopted Wisteria (Now Ivy) on @ask-north. She considers them to be one of her parents. Wisteria cared a lot for Noir, her one wish was for him to not forget her.

If you would like to see their interactions here is a list:

Original Noir and Wisteria Interaction

Original + Noir's Reply

Reply 2

Noirs Reply 2

If you enjoyed this post even slightly you have Sleepy to thank for that! They're the one that originally came up with the interaction. They were even kind enough to doodle it out then send me this ask, I just adapted it into my own style and added my own flare to it.

This post has been in the works since January of this year, I had to redraw this twice due to being unhappy with my style and the flow. I'm very pleased to finally feel confident enough to post it.

=======

I'm also happy to say this will be the last Ivy-related ask I will be answering (for now). For those sick of Ivy, I'm sure you're very glad to hear that. I love her a lot, and I'm very annoying about it. I understand. I know you've all stuck with me this long and I'm very thankful for that, especially with my ups and downs of returning only to disappear into the void again.

I did have a majority of the "Pretender" arc drawn and sketched and ready to go but I scrapped it due to a random sudden hate for how my art style looked. I unfortunately still have a lot of confidence issues with my art that I'm trying to work through. I just want y'all to know all of your love for my art and story really helped me gain it back. Knowing people like my content brings me so much joy, I hope I can continue to share the world and story I've built with everyone here.

And also, I assure you there are only Klaus-centered posts from here on. Well... until after a certain event happens that will bring the Pretender act to a close. Then I have to drag Ivy back in, Sorry not sorry! She doesn't sit in the Main character's box for nothing. /lh You'll get to meet her granddaughter very soon along with a little gremlin cat. 🤭

[tilbageidanmark]

MOVIES I WATCHED THIS WEEK #201:

The best films of the week: 'A taxi driver', 'Sudden fear', 'Sharper', 'The eloquent peasant', 'Rocks in my pockets', 'If anything happens I love you', 'Windy day', 'Late autumn', 'The big wait'.

2 BY KOREAN DIRECTOR JANG HOON, BOTH WITH STAR SONG KANG-HO:

🍿 A TAXI DRIVER (2017), my first by director Jang Hoon, is one the five best Korean films I've ever seen. What style! What a balance of emotional complexity, technical proficiency and political subtext! It's based on true events which happened during a perilous time in South Korean history. Song Kang-ho (The father in 'Paradise') is a street-smart taxi driver, who takes a German journalist into Gwangju and witnesses with him the student uprising and massacre that occurred there after the 1980 Coup d'état. Maybe even better than Scorsese's 'Taxi Driver'?... 10/10.

🍿 Jang Hoon directed only 4 features, and all were huge money makers in Korea. But his 2010 SECRET REUNION disappointed me greatly. It was just a standard police action film revolving around a North Korean sleeper cell of trained assassins, and it was unremarkable. 2/10.

🍿

"Who are you? Another relative? You have broken 18 dicks! I'll kill you, all gorillas, all policemen and all the Dutch"

THE SUNDAY WOMAN is an unusual Italian comedy about a murder investigation. An eccentric architect is bashed on the head with a large stone phallus, and the clueless police force is scrambling to solve the high-society death.

It's definitely worth watching for the star power of "Commissioner" Marcello Mastroianni (with his sexy baritone voice), Jean-Louis Trintignant as a secret gay patrician and Jacqueline Bisset as the radiant, bored wife of a wealthy businessman. Also for the unmistakable score by Ennio Morricone's.

The director's ambiguous style makes the confusing 'Chinatown'-like plot even more convoluted. It's also wonderful to see the streets of Turin as they were in 1975. 7/10.

🍿

2 OF DIRECTOR DAVID MILLER'S (??) BEST FILMS:

🍿 How come I never even heard of the stylish, smashing Noir thriller SUDDEN FEAR from 1952?? Milf'ish Joan Crawford is a rich and successful San Francisco playwright, who falls for younger actor Jack Palance, while he schemes to murder her for her inheritance. He looks here like one of the greatest film villains, with his chiseled jaw and piercing eyes, and his side-lover Gloria Grahame is just gorgeous. (Interesting side note: Crawford mentions that there were 2,174,000,000 people in the world at that time. Mmmm...) 9/10.

🍿 "If it didn't take men to make babies, I wouldn't have anything to do with any of you..."

LONELY ARE THE BRAVE is a 1962 new revisionist Western with Kirk Douglas as the "last" old-fashioned cowboy, a rugged individual and independently free. He's a 'Rebel without a cause', a freewheelin' ranch hand who refuses to join the contemporary society of mortgages and driving licenses. Unfortunately, he's now roaming a modern New Mexico which is filled with highways, Jeeps and helicopters. It's obvious that it's going to end up badly. Still, I did not expect the symbolism of his horse getting hit in a rainstorm by a long-hauling truck carrying toilets. (and chauffeured by Archie Bunker!). With young wife-of-a friend Gena Rowlands.

🍿

HEAVY TRIP, (2018), a sweet comedy from Finland about 'Impaled Rektum', a Heavy Metal band from a small rural town which after 12 years of practicing, still have never played a live gig. I have absolutely zero interest in "symphonic post-apocalyptic reindeer-grinding Christ-abusing extreme war pagan fenno-scandian metal" or any other kind, but this was highly entertaining. Its mood reminded me of "Miss little sunshine", even though story wise the two had no connection whatsoever. 7/10.

🍿

THE GETAWAY, Sam Peckinpah's suspenseful action-thriller of a Texas bank heist and Lovers on the run. Starring real-life, super-cool married couple Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw. Also co-starring both "Virgil Sollozzo" and "Al Nery" (which makes sense as this too was filmed in 1972), as well as Silm Pickens.

Also with Quincy Jones' distinct jazzy score, highlighted by Toots Thielemans' mournful harmonica sound. In Peckinpah's usual misogynistic manner, there are multiple incidents of guys slapping women around, including the otherwise-loving McQueen. Also, the famous bad guy who kidnap a meek husband and his naughty wife, and then humiliates him by sleeping with the wife in front of him. I've seen a similar story multiple other times, but can't remember where. Re-watch��️. 8/10.

RIP, Quincy Jones!

🍿

THE ELOQUENT PEASANT (1969) is the most unusual film I saw this week. It's an Egyptian morality tale based on a 4,000 year old story from the 'Middle Kingdom' of Egypt. A poor peasant is robbed by a noble man of all his possessions, and he's seeking justice from a Pharaoh, by applying flowery arguments to make his case. His language skills are so appreciated by the ruler, that he delays his verdict, just so he can hear him speak longer. It's composed in the most beautiful Technicolor brushes, and has a striking, radiant look. It was restored and preserved by Martin Scorsese's 'World Cinema Foundation' (together with the director's 'The Night of Counting the Years' which is next on my list).

🍿

ANYTHING FOR HER (2008) is a French thriller by a first time director. Diane Kruger and her husband are an ordinary couple with a kid, when she is suddenly arrested for a murder she didn't commit, but is wrongly convicted for it and is sentenced to 20 years in prison. The first two acts are okay, but unremarkable. The last suspenseful 30 minutes are dynamite!

🍿

FILMS WITH 100% SCORE ON ROTTEN TOMATOES X 2:

🍿 ROCKS IN MY POCKETS (2014), "A funny film about depression", is the most amazing adult animation feature from Latvia I've ever seen! I simply cannot understand how come there are original and amazing masterpieces like this out in the world which are completely off the radar. For. ex., it was submitted by Latvia as their official entry for the 87th Academy Award, but was not even nominated.

The trailer is all one needs to see before deciding if the movie is right for them. 💯 score on Rotten Tomatoes. 10/10! [*Female Director*]

🍿 Re-watch ♻️: IF ANYTHING HAPPENS I LOVE YOU won the Oscars in 2020. A married couple is wordlessly grieving the death of their 12 year old daughter [in a school shooting]. Inspired by (and reminiscent of) the Dutch 'Father and daughter' which also won the Oscars (in 2000). 💯 score on Rotten Tomatoes. It's Devastatingly Sad.

🍿

Re-watch of the clever thriller SHARPER. An excellent long-com game, equal to the best of the 'Grifters' genre (in spite of the final, improbable twist). With an exceptional score that includes both Talking Heads and Cole Porter at the right moments. 9/10. ♻️.

🍿

PUT OUR MÄRTA FIRST OR AS LUCK WILL HAVE IT is a traditional Swedish comedy from 1945. I watched it only because I was led to believe that it was some "obscure science-fiction comedy about drag queens", but it wasn't. It's obscure all right. But the sci-fi element was limited to a 2006 opening scene, with an old man telling his granddaughter the story about a hero from 1945, and the rest of the movie is just a flashback. The exact cross dressing plot was later used better on 'Some like it hot': 2 unemployed musicians can only get a job with a traveling women's band, so one of them has to dress up as a woman. [it even has some important scenes on a train, just like Wilder's!]. Unsurprisingly it morphs into a straight-up feminist message film, a-la-Tootsie, with a call for equal rights and free love. But it is told in a very dated, low-brow, broad comedic style. The director, Hasse Ekman, was apparently the most acclaimed Swedish director after Sjöström and before Bergman. 2/10.

🍿  

WHO KILLED JAZZ (Documentary, 2021) is a skillfully-made and impressionistic analysis of the economics of the live jazz music scene. The genre as a whole still flourishes, but the musicians themselves cannot make a living in it. Recommended.

🍿  

ITALIAN POETIC REALIST VITTORIO DE SETA IN 1955 X 3:

🍿 ISLANDS OF FIRE, a wordless natural documentation of fishermen and villagers on the island of Stromboli during a volcanic eruption in 1954. He did 10 ethnographic shorts like this during this time.

🍿 THE AGE OF SWORDFISH, another awesome story of Sicilian fishermen spear-fishing a large swordfish, a custom that disappeared around that time. 8/10.

🍿 PEASANTS OF THE SEA is even more brutal; A fleet of boats capture a large school of Tuna, and kill them all in an orgy of blood and guts. CW. 9/10. De Seta was really talented.

🍿

“Ouch-e-megouch!"

MAGIC TOWN (1947) was the last movie I anxiously watched the night before the election, while being depressed by opposing polls predicting the winner. It was recommended because city slicker James Stewart played a public opinion pollster (for time on film) who moved into Small Town USA, believing that there he can find a perfect reflection of the country as a whole. But this Frank Capra-lite was terrible all around, with a lame-ass romance, and reactionary politics, including the outlandish proposition in one of the polls that "79% favor a woman for president" [Screenshot Above]. Ridiculous! 1/10.

🍿

A BUNCH OF SHORTS:

🍿 BORED ON EDUCATION (1936), my first 'Our gang' episode, and the only one (Out of 220) to win an Oscar. The series was notable for featuring black & white children acting as equals during the Jim Crow era. I didn't realize that the series lasted for 22 years, and employed many sets of kids replacing others who grew out of their roles.

🍿 WINDY DAY (1968) was an adorable animation about two cute little sisters who chatter over each other's as they play and playact, in the cutest, most natural voices. 9/10.

🍿 GOD OF LOVE won the Oscars in 2010. It's a quirky independent comedy in a French New Wave style. A goofy-looking, young Brooklynite lounge singer receives an anonymous box of 'Love Darts' and becomes a local Cupid. Cute. 7/10.

🍿 LATE AFTERNOON (2017) a tender Oscar-nominated Irish story about an old woman who doesn't remember much of anything anymore. 10/10. [*Female Director*]

🍿 In LUCKY FISH (2022), two Asian-American girls exchange glances across the tables at a Chinese restaurant, and then meet by the magical gold fish tank to kiss. Pretty adolescent and not very deep. [*Female Director*]

🍿 PORTRAIT OF GOD (2022), a short horror story about a religious girl who prepares a presentation about a painting of God. Everything I don't like about the Horror genre is here: The eerie soundtrack, the mystical questions that remain unanswerable, the scary jump-cuts, the implied danger, the ambiguous undertone of evil. It's all so unnecessary. 1/10.

🍿 THE BIG WAIT (2023) is a lovely Australian documentary about a couple who lives alone in the middle of nowhere, and maintains a 6-cabin B&B in pristine condition, for visitors who hardly ever come there. 8/10.

🍿 MNEMONADE, a brand-new A.I.-generated short about the Sands of Time and an old woman with dementia. It's not quiet yet there, but as I said a year ago here, I'm sure that within a year, two max, we'll start seeing 'Good' A.I. features, and that in 2025, I'll be viewing some of them. (Via).

🍿

(ALL MY FILM REVIEWS - HERE).

[les-degustations-ugo]

🍷🇺🇸 And 🇫🇷

Description of the pinned domain in the comments

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🇬🇧Hello corkscrew lovers.

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🍷AOP Bordeaux red Château Crésus 2021

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🍇100% Merlot

Aged in vats and wood

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👁️A deep garnet color

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👃A nose with notes of red and black fruits

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💋A deliciously juicy Bordeaux, with fruity flavors and a beautiful elegance. Its soft and round tannins caress the palate. The aromas of morello cherry, wild strawberry, raspberry jam and plums intermingle harmoniously. The subtle blend between barrel and vat is achieved with perfect mastery. Its length in the mouth is remarkable, leaving an exquisite finish with notes of almonds and roasted hazelnuts. This vintage truly enchanted me.

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🧆Tasted on duck breasts

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🇫🇷Hello les amoureux du tire-bouchon.

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🍷AOP Bordeaux rouge Château Crésus 2021

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🍇100% Merlot

Élevage en cuve et bois

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👁️Une robe de couleur grenat soutenu

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👃Un nez sur des notes de fruits rouges et noirs

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💋Un Bordeaux délicieusement juteux, aux saveurs fruitées et avec une belle élégance. Ses tanins doux et ronds caressent le palais. Les arômes de griotte, de fraise des bois, de confiture de framboise et de prunes s'entremêlent harmonieusement. L'assemblage subtil entre fût et cuve est réalisé avec une maîtrise parfaite. Sa longueur en bouche est remarquable, laissant une finale exquise aux notes d'amandes et de noisettes torréfiées. Ce millésime m'a véritablement enchanté.

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🧆Dégusté sur des magrets de canard

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🥘Quelques accords mets et vin🥘 :Rognons de veau au Madère, Brochettes de dinde au barbecue, Canette rôtie au four,...

.

🔞« L'abus d'alcool est dangereux pour la santé, à consommer avec modération »🔞.

Dégustation non rémunéré

.

#lesdegustationsugo #wine #winelover #vino #winetasting #winetime #winelovers #instawine #redwine #winestagram #winery #beer #wineoclock #vin #sommelier #love #vinho #foodporn #winelife #instagood #whitewine #cocktails #drinks #wein #foodie #wineporn #drink

_______________________________________

🇬🇧Domain Description 🇬🇧

To the north-east of the village of Sainte-Terre, adjoining the Saint-Emilion plain, the CRESUS vineyard is rooted in gravelly-sandy soil, of which only the best plots were kept when it was acquired in 2010. In particular, all the rows of Cabernet-Sauvignon were uprooted in favour of Merlot, a new plantation of which was added in 2015 to plots that were on average 45 years old.

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🇫🇷Description du Domaine 🇫🇷

Au nord-est du village de Sainte-Terre, jouxtant la plaine de Saint-Emilion, c’est dans un sol gravelo-sableux qu’est enraciné le vignoble CRESUS dont seules les meilleures parcelles ont été conservées lors de l’acquisition en 2010. En particulier, tous les rangs de Cabernet-sauvignon ont été arrachés au profit du Merlot dont une nouvelle plantation est venue compléter en 2015 des parcelles âgées en moyenne de 45 ans.

[thinking-about-writing-mm]

Chapter 12

Title: Those Evil Ways

Pairing: OT7 x Y/N (female reader)

Genre: supernatural au, slow-burn, medical, fluff, angst, smut, war

Word count: ~9 930

Characters: (Demons!BTS) Namjoon/Corson, Jin/Agares, Yoongi/Baal, Hoseok/Alastor, Jimin/Aamon, Jungkook/Mammon, Taehyung/Gaap, human reader (with special abilities later in the story)

Warnings: description of Y/N's phobia - thanatophobia (fear of dying), mentions of visits to a psychiatrist (in a good way, nothing toxic or terrible), lots of angst, mental breakdown, lots of comforting moments/fluff of some sort, triggering, age regression (NOT IN A SEXUAL WAY, just as a means of coping with stress), Jungkook is being sweet and caring, Hoseok makes some progress – if I have missed something please send a pigeon 😅❤️

Summary: Y/N is a third-year medical student going through life like others do. On one unfortunate night she gets in unexpected contact with otherworldly beings who drag her into their world of violence, war and fight for power.

Author’s notes: TAGLIST OPEN.

The new chapter is here and I'm so excited about what's to come! Because of midterm test and other things I had to do I couldn't find the energy and time to finish the chapter for a while now... I know this one might be a bit too gloomy, dark and sad but good things are on the way :3

Please, enjoy! <3

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

A few weeks later the situation had gotten even worse. The Kings had decided it was best for them to return to their lands and reflect on what each one did, while Jin and Yoongi stayed behind in the capital in one of the residences so they can continue working on the battle plans with Taehyung.

What happened to Y/N you ask?

That… was a touchy subject for each of the seven men. At first, the three of them who got into a fight initially were ready to rip Hoseok apart but in the end, managed to keep their anger at bay. A new issue had risen and required to be dealt with with caution.

“Wake up, Y/N, please” Yoongi was repeating this sentence over and over again but she remained unconscious in his hands. He felt empty and weak. Looking up he searched for Jin’s eyes and when their gazes met the Master was stunned. He saw so much pain in the face of his closest man.

“Let’s take her to the mansion.” Agares said to Baal but hearing that King Mammon stood up.

With a stern expression, he shook his head. “Not gonna happen. I’m taking Y/N to the North.”

“Really?” Yoongi snapped at him. “After everything you’ve done…”

“What I’ve done? You and Agares are the main reason for this shit and all that Y/N’s been through” the usual calm self of the King disappeared again. Rage was still coursing through his veins, making Jungkook’s blood boil.

“Enough of that” Noir who was quiet until now intervened. All of that was completely pointless and if the feud would continue at this point, in their state of mind it would lead to nowhere. “I’m making the decisions now because apparently, none of you are capable from what I’m seeing.” The disappointment was noticeable in Namjoon’s voice.

He walked over to the table and lifted one of the fallen chairs and sat on it with his legs crossed. “I see now why we were so drawn to her, some more, some less but that doesn’t matter now. The causes for this girl’s presence don’t matter anymore too, it’s a fact - Y/N’s here with us and we all know what kind of being she is.”

Hoseok’s jaw tightened while listening to their Leader. The feeling of betrayal was still so strong and it was clouding the demon’s mind. “What’s the point of those words?” He hissed, leaning with spread arms over the table.

“My point - she’d been thrown into this mess without her consent and knowledge of the whole situation.” While saying this Corson’s eyes moved to Jin and Yoongi who were standing side by side. They visibly retreated into themselves but maintained eye contact with the King. “If Agares had let go of his grudges like I did decades ago and came to talk it out, Y/N might still be alive and well with her friends back in the human world - blissfully oblivious to all this here, without any schemes or intrigues.”

“She’s alive” Jungkook stated flatly but King Noir shot him a warning glare.

“We might be demons and according to the humans that’s the synonym of “evil” but I believe we’re more than that.” Namjoon got quiet looking around the room at the other six men. At that moment Taehyung who was awfully quiet spoke up.

“It’s not my place to rub salt in the wound but this affair has gone too out of hand. I have spent enough time with Y/N to know that she was innocent and pretty much unaware of all of this. At first, I was opposed to being involved but from what I know now there wasn’t even a slight chance of me not getting in the middle of it somehow. Mind you it was my choice in the end so I’m not blaming anyone.” The General somehow felt responsible for the young woman too. “We are intelligent creatures, that’s why each one of us has such a high position in this society.” He got closer to King Alastor and placed a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. “The first time a crisis occurred I don’t think we gave our best to avert it and we just let resentment and fury take over which was not right. That’s the main reason why we’re here now at each other's throats. This is not right…” Gaap closed his eyes in frustration. The demon wanted all this to be finally over. “We were what the humans call “friends” and now everything has crumbled to the ground and I’m still hoping there’s some way to fix it.”

“Tch…” Hoseok snorted “friends? Friends don’t choose a-” but at that second Jimin’s open hand shot up in a warning for him to stop. “Whatever.” The King of the East then said, thrown off.

“So I was saying that if we let go of our rage maybe could come together once more. Maybe Y/N is the key to make this possible.”

Agares smiled mockingly in the General’s direction. “You really think we can do that? Don’t make me laugh.”

“I’m not” Gaap replied with a serious face. “A war is approaching, a half-dead girl is laying on the ground and we’re further apart than ever before. This is not a joke or a way to mock any of you…”

“Taehyung is right,” Namjoon said backing him up. “I think it’s best for all of us to return to our regions and reflect. Think about what happened and once you reach a decision on what you want to do next return to the capital, then send a letter to the other six. Once everyone has reached a final decision we will gather here in the palace to discuss what would be the best course of action.” Then the King of the West laced his fingers together waiting for the others to say what they think about his offer. Slowly the demons nodded one by one without a word. “If someone wants to say something, anything, now it’s the time.”

“What about Y/N?” King Mammon asked with a pleading look, hoping for Noir to take the hint. The other man stared at the unconscious girl and then turned to Jungkook.

“Get her to the North. It’s dangerous for her to stay here since apparently someone is after her.”

The moment Baal opened his mouth to express his displeasure with this decision Namjoon shook his head. “It’s final. Doordale is too open. She’s helpless and given the fact that we will be far away, it’s better if Jungkook takes care of her for now. He is the best with making someone disappear and the guards there are top-notch.”

“Thank you Noir” Jungkook flashed him a smile but then felt the air getting thicker. Afraid to cause another misunderstanding he turned to Baal and Agares. “Hey! I didn’t mean to gloat don’t get me wrong. If she wakes up you will be the first to know. It’s not my intention to keep Y/N away from either of you.”

Yoongi visibly relaxed while Jin remained on edge. “You better.” The taller demon seethed through clenched teeth. “If something happens to her your head will roll, mark my words.”

“Come on, let’s get back.” Baal urged the Master to the door.

The other demons began shifting slowly and getting ready to leave. Jungkook approached Y/N who was still out of it, breathing ever so slightly. Her face was pale and the lips - dry. “I will take care of you” the demon whispered and pushed his hands under the young woman’s body, lifting her up with ease. Jimin then stepped in front of him, preventing Mammon from leaving.

“Wanna go some of the way together - to the Big Crossroad?”

The tattooed demon just nodded curtly.

…

The carriages were going together with guards riding at the front and at the back, but the two Kings were together in Mammon’s carriage.

There was still some time until they reached the place where they would go their separate ways. Both men were quiet with Y/N sleeping in Jungkook’s arms. He was mindlessly stroking the girl’s hair.

“I never meant for this to blow so out of proportion,” Aamon said quietly, never taking his eyes off the other two. You could say that he almost regretted his actions…

“Me neither. To be honest, I’ve had so many dreams of the seven of us fixing our problems and coming together as brothers but I’m too engrossed in doing my own things and enjoying celebration after celebration. The Ministers never stopped sending women and gifts… I’m too greedy.” The tattooed demon smiled bitterly. The irony - calling himself greedy.

“We’re bearers of great sins, we are born from that. I’m not going to sit here and wine about the things I’ve done” those words made Jungkook uncomfortable. It sounded like his companion didn’t want to change a thing. “Look, don’t get me wrong, I know I’ve fucked things up just as much as any of us did but you know what they say - there’s no use crying over spilled milk.”

Jimin’s eyes landed on Y/N’s pale face. “We are Kings and must only look forward. I will go back to the South and figure a way how to work things out with Hoseok.”

“What about Agares and Baal?”

“Baal will come around and as for Agares…” he sighed heavily. “He’s bottled too much hate and is still living in the past. It will take time.”

The other demon laughed lightly. It was funny how much faith Jimin had in the rest. Maybe this was not all bad though… Maybe he should do the same?

“What about her?” the silver-haired man asked softly, his demeanor and facial expression changing instantly. His biggest fear was that Y/N would choose someone else but not him which was very likely given what had happened up until this point. The young woman was nothing like them - a Spark and a demon with human behavioral patterns, so peculiar. At times she seemed incredibly confused and lost around the seven men. “It was entertaining how Y/N was struggling with herself when we were coming strong onto her.”

“Most humans are monogamous.” King Mammon stated matter-of-factly, with no emotion.

“I know, I know but her two selves were constantly fighting. Y/N’s strong since she managed to keep those primal instincts at bay.” Jimin was musing mostly to himself.

The taller demon had so many things he wanted to tell the man sitting in front of him but said only one wishful sentence. “I hope she decides to stay and stick with us.”

“Meaning?” Jimin lifted a brow not understanding where this was going.

“The Spark. It’s dangerous for her, while if Y/N chooses her demonic side… can you…” Mammon got excited and his eyes became glossy and shiny. He tightened his arms around the girl, then continued speaking in this overly excited manner. “Can you imagine how strong she would be? You saw the markings - the power of speech, this hasn’t happened in centuries.”

The maniacal look on the black-haired demon’s face worried King Aamon. “Jungkook…” he leaned forward placing a hand on Mammon’s knee. “It’s up to her. You have to ensure Y/N is safe and taken care of for now. When she comes to it will be entirely up to her. Don’t do this because it will push her away and force an unpleasant outcome.”

“My King, we are at the Big Crossroad.” The Coachman informed Jimin while tapping on the roof of the carriage. Aamon nodded and straightened up.

“Very well. I will be out in a minute.” With that, he focused on his companion once more. “Please don’t coerce or pressure her if she wakes up.”

“She will. No “if”s.” Jungkook snapped back.

The other man smiled. “You have my complete trust and I’m glad that Corson entrusted Y/N to you.” 

The King of the North rolled his eyes playfully. “Don’t fuck with me. I know how much you want to be in my place.”

They said their goodbyes and Aamon reached for the door handle but then turned back. A longing look took over his doll-like features. In a swift motion, then he bent over and placed a gentle hand on the girl’s cheek then planted a kiss on her forehead. It felt like the time had stopped. Jimin remained like this for a few seconds basking in the feeling while Jungkook sat completely still. “We will see each other soon princess.”

After that, he left and Mammon continued on his way with the young woman pressed to his chest.

…

“Mom?” Y/N woke up when the door opened.

“Hey, baby.” The woman looked anxious. It was a rare sight to see.

“What’s happening? Why’re you looking at me like this?”

Turning around in the bed the girl saw a bright light coming from the windows. The decoration in the room was from her childhood days with all the stuffed toys and books spread over the floor.

“Y/N, baby, we don’t have much time. Listen to me” her mother sat on the edge of the bed and took the girl’s little hands in hers. “It’s important to stay true to yourself and not lose track of the right path. Important decisions have to be made in due time.”

Flashes of some scary dreams appeared in Y/N’s mind - seven tall figures looming over her tiny body with hands outstretched coming closer and closer. “Mommy I’m scared” she whimpered, pulling on the woman’s shirt.

“I’m right here, don’t be.” The two hugged each other tightly and stayed like that for a few minutes. “Now, do you want to hear a story?”

Y/N nodded, her eyes still filled with tears. “Once upon a time there lived a princess in a kingdom far away from here. Her parents were extremely busy and were always leaving her alone to deal with whatever problem arose. When the princess got older her mom and dad told her that she should help them with ruling the Kingdom but this required her to become a fearless warrior.” Y/N exclaimed in surprise.

“But… mom, aren’t the princesses supposed to be pretty and get married to a nice prince?”

Her mom laughed wholeheartedly and ruffled the girl’s hair. “You know your fairytales very well.” Then she got serious once again. “This princess was not like the others, her life was harder but also very rewarding. One day on the battlefield she saved a wounded man and took good care of him and since the woman was so nice to him he fell in love with her. The princess was afraid to admit she had developed feelings for him too so she left the next night.”

“But that’s sad…” Y/N sniffled.

“It is but then something unthinkable happened. One day while the girl was taking a walk around the city the same man approached her. He had traveled the world to find her and in the end, his efforts were granted with success. Then and there the young woman promised to never leave his side no matter what. It turned out that he was a magical being with great power but the princess’ parents were mad at her for choosing him. That’s why the two ran away and hid from everyone. They had a beautiful baby girl but bad people found out and came looking for them. The parents were left with no choice but to run again. In the end the best choice was to give their child to a nice woman who kindly offered shelter for the baby. The kid grew up to be sweet and caring just like her parents, even though she didn’t have any recollection of them ever existing.”

“But mom why did they leave their child if they loved it so much?”

“Because she was in danger and they would never be able to forgive themselves if something bad would happen to their daughter. In the end, her parents were separated and they never saw each other again.”

Y/N’s lower lip trembled. “That’s a sad story mommy.”

“I know love but this story is my gift for you. Once you grow up you will understand everything.”

…

The days were passing monotonously. Things stayed the same, Jungkook woke up each morning and checked the reports from the previous night. Nothing was happening, as if the Queen was dormant, waiting for something specific to occur. After that, he was spending the day staying in Y/N’s room reading a book to her or drawing her sleeping face over and over again. She was being washed and dressed every day by the two maids who were by her side the first time when she came here.

“I miss your voice so much. Don’t leave me” he whispered. “I’ve heard Monica say you will love me one day and I will wait. I will wait for your loving one day…” He pressed his forehead to the soft mattress and closed his eyes. “Please wake up Y/N.”

Mammon felt pathetic for saying those things over and over again but he couldn’t help it. Guilt was eating away at the demon for all the times he used her for his and the other’s entertainment. Jungkook was fixated on making it right by her once the girl has woken up. Each time he closed his eyes the only thing he saw were Y/N’s sad eyes, the scared look after the markings appeared, King Alastor squeezing her neck, and how she was struggling in the King’s tight grip. All this was unforgivable indeed but she was always so good and the demon hoped that somewhere in her heart Y/N will find absolution and would be ready to accept his apology.

Let me say just this - sometimes some things are too hard or even impossible to forget but the key is to be able to forgive. Sometimes letting go of old grudges and focusing on what’s to come is the best option so you don’t lose yourself in all the anger and sorrow.

Jungkook was ready to climb a mountain if that was needed to prove he meant each word.

…

Almost three weeks went by. Jin and Yoongi were occasionally seeing each other in the mansion and even then they didn’t say much. The two men had buried themselves in old tomes looking for a way to wake Y/N up.

None of them had said a thing about what transpired in the central palace. Agares was still bitter and he felt defeated. Why?

Well, that’s because Jungkook had taken Y/N away after Namjoon gave his final ruling. After the Master had returned home the same day he had let his rage run free until Yoongi came back to the residence.

“Stop this shit.” The emotionless voice made Jin stop and turn around. The room was in disarray, broken chairs and pieces of glass and porcelain were scattered everywhere. “Do you think I’m happy that she’s gone?”

“It’s all because of them four. No! Hoseok! He’s the one to blame-”

Baal’s teeth clicked in frustration. “Don’t do that. Things will continue to go downhill until you cut this shit off. Use your brain Jin!” His voice became louder than before and the Master’s eyes narrowed.

“Mind your tone and words” he warned but the shorter demon didn’t care one bit.

“You can’t intimidate me. She’s gone now and we might never see her again so forgive me if I’m not ready to deal with your childish behavior yet.”

Agares gritted his teeth angrily but instead of deepening the confrontation, he kept quiet.

“We should fix things with King Alastor and also look for a way to bring Y/N back.”

Throwing his head back, Jin began laughing crazily. The loud sound tore the air around the two and echoed for a few seconds after the demon had stopped. “Whoa, you really know how to entertain me.” His face got serious. “There is no way in Hell I would go back to this bastard and talk with him. His selfishness got us here.”

The other man shook his head. “No Jin, all of us. We got ourselves in the middle of that shitstorm and we should find a way out of it.” Turning around to the door Yoongi stopped with his hand on the handle. “Think about it and you will see this is the best course of action. We should find a way back to each other because you remember - long ago we were inseparable.”

Looking at them you might wonder how the two demons haven’t killed each other - they were the exact opposites character-wise and yet - to see or hear a fight or dispute between them was an extremely rare occurrence. The sole reason for this was only one - Yoongi was the quiet and calm part in this friendship and then there was Jin - rowdy and loud with a short temper. You know how it goes - opposites attract.

“What about Y/N then?” Agares asked hurriedly before the other man left.

“I will send a letter to Trophonius. During the time we spent there with her the Oracle took a liking to the girl and once he knows the details of the issue at hand maybe he will be kind enough to come and help us.”

It was amazing how when it came to Y/N most of the seven men were thinking as one and were trying to make her stay in the Scarlet Land as pleasant as possible. If we… could call it that.

…

King Alastor was plagued by unwelcomed memories of the past. It was an absolute hell - each time he closed his eyes the demon was seeing scenes of the previous war, the day the seven demons fell apart, ugly disfigured faces of the enemies he had fought and the one that always made Hoseok wake up covered in sweat - Y/N, pale, struggling in his iron grip, tight around her neck and the next scene was her on the ground - lifeless. Then this was followed by the other six standing at her side looking at the King with resentment for what he had done.

“She’s not dead!” He was shouting in the dream but they didn’t care one bit and just continued to look at him, unmoving and silent.

This went on for a week or so. All the alcohol couldn’t drown the uneasy feeling and bitterness.

Then the second week came. The servants were quiet and extremely careful not to trigger the King in any way. Eternal life could be too much to handle if each day passed like that - buried in heavy, burdensome thoughts and reliving the worst moments. Hoseok began thinking that it was a punishment from some god-like being for going once more against his closest people and for getting consumed by hatred that he thought to be just.

When the third week began things slowly started to settle down and after long hours of thinking back on what had happened Hoseok concluded that he had jumped to conclusions too fast. After all, even Namjoon who was calculating and incredulous decided to grant Y/N the benefit of the doubt.

“I should talk to him…” he muttered while a maid was pouring him coffee.

“Excuse me Your Highness?” she turned to him with an apologetic look. “I didn’t hear You well.”

Alastor slowly lifted his head to look at the succubus. Her eyes widened in horror and she bowed and then immediately began apologizing and begging for forgiveness. He sighed in frustration - none of them had done anything to upset him and yet each sound that reached his ears or if a movement was a bit too wide or uncoordinated the King grew frustrated and angry at the staff. “Leave me be” Alastor waved dismissively at the maid and sent her away.

By the end of the third week, the King of the East had made arrangements to visit Noir in the West. It was easy to talk to him. The other demon was a good listener, always has been and especially if the person before him was close to him somehow. Hoseok hoped that Namjoon would be ready to hear him out after what had happened not so long ago.

The West had a different atmosphere about it even though the region was part of the kingdom of Doordale. All kinds of important people had a residence there - the demons from the ministry, fauns and ghouls who were members of the royal council and so on. The region was like the Orange county of the empire - you could wander all day long looking at the architectural wonders which were their homes. There was only one reason why they were choosing to live here - to be away from prying eyes.

"Greetings my King" the men standing guard by the massive double doors saluted Hoseok when he approached with his entourage. "King Corson is expecting You." They opened the doors to let him in. As per usual the members of the staff bowed to the demon. A butler accompanied by two other guards appeared inviting Alastor to walk with them so they could take him to Namjoon.

The Royal Protocol seemed demanding to someone who was taking a first look at it but in time it was turning out to be quite easy to get accustomed to. The key to it all - perfect coordination with others.

"Welcome!" Namjoon stood up from his chair and handed the book he was reading to one of the servants. "I was surprised when the messenger boy brought me the letter. I presume you want to talk?" There was a whiff of a good-hearted jest in Noir's voice.

"Oh no, I just came for the tea" the other King laughed lightly and they clasped each other's hands tightly as a greeting.

"Good" Namjoon became serious for a second and then smiled widely, his dimples appearing immediately "because I have none."

If he had to be honest King Corson would never say he didn’t expect Alastor to come. The subjects of the kingdom knew Noir to keep away from familiarities and empty pleasantries with the higher-ups, his calculating look that he had on constantly usually managed to intimidate everyone but it was for a reason. Who would look at him and take the demon seriously if he was an airhead who cared only about small talk and pretentious meetings? Exactly - no one. This behavior was what has gotten Namjoon this far, it was the reason why he has established himself as a leader of some sorts.

“Let me be clear - I won’t pressure you into taking a side” Hoseok said while twirling one of the strings dangling from his dress shirt between his fingers. “I just want to tell you how I feel about the whole thing. I’ve been closest to you all those centuries for a reason.”

Namjoon just nodded, suppressing the urge to ask him all sorts of questions.

“I don’t like her or… let’s say I don’t trust her. I don’t know this woman and after what came to light about her identity I didn’t see a reason to even try.” The King knew the legends very well and could recite every story he had heard of the Spark.

“Why?” tilting his head to the side Noir rubbed his chin, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“Well, it’s not like I have something against Y/N being a Spark or her being a demon. My problem is the combination - you know our kind very well and what we’re capable of, the atrocities.” The other man blinked once with understanding. “I’m not saying that the nation of the Spark was bad or dangerous but I get it now why they were killed off.”

“Really? Tell me” he really wanted to know why Hoseok had been so off about Y/N, apparently, it wasn’t just a pretense.

The King of the East was usually so accepting of other species and gave the people every chance to prove themselves without any bias. Of course, he had a twisted sense of humor and liked to push others to their limits but this was a different matter. “Imagine what would’ve happened if the Sparks began mating with us or the ghouls or even worse - the therianthropes.” Alastor huffed in frustration, the skin under his eyes wrinkled when he grimaced in disgust. Namjoon smirked, it was amusing how expressive the other King was. “You know how everyone used to say that the worst that could happen to the Scarlet Land was if the Spark turned dark.”

“Mmh. I’ve heard of this… what was it called…?”

“Dim Glow. That’s what my brother and father used to call the phenomenon of them turning rogue and forsaking the Light.”

It was a sad story. The nation of the Spark was never meant to live in a dark and rotten place like the Scarlet Land, but being feared and shunned by everyone they had ended up there, which had led to their inevitable demise. Let’s say that as a whole the supernatural beings were divided as ones of the “Light” and those of “the Darkness”. The primordial rule was to never mix the two in any way, especially if it came down to procreation because the results might turn out disastrous. The power those beings possess was said to be greater than that of a god. “So imagine if this girl turned out like this! She could tear everything around us down if the essence of the two sides mix - Y/N will be-”

“Uncontrollable. Unstoppable…” King Noir finished the sentence and he and Hoseok shared a look. “But that’s what Jungkook and Yoongi were trying to prevent recently. Baal and Agares had figured out things long before we did while Mammon was doing it out of selfish desires but all of them were helping Y/N stick to only one side.”

“I see that now, yes.” The other man’s eyes lowered with guilt. “I regret messing up the things between the four of us.”

One very specific arrogant look of Corson’s appeared and the other demon knew it was there without even seeing it. “You should. Also, keep in mind that what Y/N did was induced by our behavior - because of Aamon, Agares and Mammon throwing her around, because us three with Taehyung  had been suspicious and treating the girl as some lowly tool in order to achieve one’s goal, lower than the cheap whores roaming the streets, also you - becoming aggressive… all of those things led to this outcome.”

“I have to find a way to fix “us” if that’s even possible.”

Hoseok leaned back in his chair and covered his face with a hand. He has never been rash or that impulsive, maybe the pressure recently had reached a new high or maybe he was losing his touch…

…

I guess you all know the story of Sleeping Beauty. Y/N was now in a similar situation but the difference was that she was fighting to stay afloat and alive in her mind.

All the nightmares and terrors that were appearing in her head prevented her from waking up. I can’t even count how many times she saw her mother who was trying to influence the girl to give up and go with her. Where? Oh, I don't know exactly… so many times Y/N thought of following her but then decided against it saying "I have to wait for someone, I don't know who but they are coming to get me." Then the Kings and the other demons would appear taunting her or whispering sweet nothings, coercing Y/N to give her body to the pleasure they were offering. Another time scary creatures chased her around a dark forest and in the end she always ended up falling from a cliff.

“Hey baby” Y/N’s mother entered the room again. She had her hair tied in a tight bun which meant that the woman had just returned from the office. “Wanna talk?” Something felt off this time.

The young woman nodded and left the thick textbook on the bed. “Sure mom. What do you wanna talk about?” Back in the days it was not an unusual thing for them to share a moment like this, just the two, discussing something important but now Y/N felt weird and out of place. She couldn’t think of a topic or a problem that needed their attention at the moment.

The mother looked down at the textbook - “Internal medicine”. After a long pause she sighed as if the whole world was weighing down on her shoulders. “Why did you decide to study this? It’s so hard for you mentally and physically - you barely sleep these days or eat properly.”

“Mom…” Y/N rubbed her temples trying not to get agitated. This conversation has always been the worst, since the first day the girl announced she had planned on enrolling in the medical university. Mrs. Y/L/N had tried her best to dissuade her daughter from doing this but to no avail. “You know very well why. Moreover, it’s my last year. I enjoy every part of this - the help I can provide, giving hope to people, the efforts to lessen the struggles of others - it’s all incredibly rewarding.”

Her mother shook her head in disappointment and looked Y/N dead in the eye. The color of their pupils was exactly the same, and the face shapes too. A random thought crossed the girl’s mind unexpectedly “How could she not be my mom?” But why did she think of that? “Am I forgetting something…?”

“Don’t be a child. This crippling fear that’s been plaguing your mind since you were five? That has nothing to do with choosing this profession?” Her voice became unrecognizable, laced with menace. It also had this unpleasant sound as if the woman’s mouth was filled with unswallowed saliva.

“You know I don’t talk about that. Not anymore,” Y/N said through clenched teeth.

“That? This-“

“No mom. Stop it.” Panic began rising in her chest.

Mrs. Y/L/N had this sad expression on her face now. “The fear of death is common in many people, baby.”

Shaking her head Y/N tried to get rid of these thoughts just like before but it didn’t work now. Anxiety and desperation got her in a tight chokehold and she began breathing heavily.

“Seeing and reading about all the possible causes for someone’s death is tiring. Do you see the darkness sometimes? Do you think about it?” The girl was now shaking uncontrollably, sobbing and whimpering. She hadn’t had a panic attack in so long. “You want to become a medical geneticist or no… what was it? Genetic engineer so you can find the key to eternal life right?” Her mother took Y/N’s hands in hers and continued speaking. “You know if you let me take you away I will show you only light and there won’t be a need to ever think of that again.”

Holding on for dear life her daughter tried speaking. “M-m-mom… I’m… I-I…”

“Shhh… don’t be scared.”

“Master!” Monica ran inside the office screaming her lungs out. “Please! Come quick!”

Jungkook knew that this behavior meant only two things - either Y/N has woken up or was dying. Jumping to his feet the demon ran through the hallways.

When he entered the girl’s room he saw her in a terrible state - her body shaking from tremors with different intensity, sweat covering her face and neck, tears streaming down. The most unbearable thing was the quiet wailing reaching the King’s ears. “What’s wrong with her?!” He roared while crossing the room to sit on the bed next to Y/N.

“I-I…” the maid stuttered. “I was sitting on the chair watching her Ladyship and then it just happened out of nowhere.”

Jungkook hasn’t done this in so long but now was the perfect time for it. Closing his eyes the man emptied his mind completely. He pictured Yoongi’s face and a thin red loose string appeared, connecting the two demons. That was the telepathic bond the seven of them were sharing. “Yoongi are you listening?” Mammon said. A few seconds passed and then he continued, his voice turning frantic. “Y/N’s not well. Something is happening and I need you to come. Use the Wishing well and…”

The maid stayed on the side, crying. She liked the young woman so much and was so grateful for all the good things Y/N had said to her and for the nice attitude. The first time she felt like a human being was when the girl came to the palace and treated Monica as a friend and not as some lowlife. “Please save her, Your Highness…” the maid sobbed quietly.

A few minutes went by and the wooden door flew open. Baal came in tow with the man from Christopher’s memories - the Leader of the Oracles. The white-haired man didn’t say a word, just approached and bent down to touch Y/N’s forehead with his. Her body continued spasming in uneven intervals.

After a while the Oracle straightened up and looked at Jungkook with a grim expression. “She’s dying.”

“NO!” Both Mammon and Baal shouted simultaneously. The King’s black hair was in disarray, his cold eyes were filled with sadness and fear now and his hands were trembling from the adrenaline rush.

“Save her!” Yoongi got closer to them. He was obliged to find a way to keep Y/N alive at all costs, there was so much more to tell her and do together. The demon had plans to return with the girl to her world and clean up his wrongdoings but this…

The white-haired man nodded with a reserved expression. “Keep in mind that this might not work but since we don’t have another option…”

“Say it.” Jungkook ordered harshly, his eyes burning with determination.

“The thing is that whatever is killing Y/N is in her mind. Probably her own thoughts and since she’s been in this state for a while exhaustion is taking a toll on her. I need to channel some of your life essence into her.”

“Done” Jungkook and Yoongi both stepped forward as one but the Oracle shook his head.

“Only one thing is stopping me from doing this.”

Baal’s jaw tightened. “Those two sides of her.”

“Exactly. She might become a demon…”

“I don’t care! Do you want Y/N to…” The King was unable to say it. This was the first time in his centuries-long life he felt so desperate and lost. The woman was so precious to him and just thinking about losing her caused the demon immense pain - both physical and mental. He… loved Y/N and would give his own life to save hers. “Do it!” Jungkook grabbed the Oracle by the shoulders with gloved hands.

The other man blinked once, agreeing silently. “I will sit here and make sure to establish a bond with her. You must place a hand on my forehead and let down all the defenses so I can channel your essence into her.” The man then turned to Yoongi with a stern expression. “Keep a close watch on him. He mustn’t break physical contact with me.” Baal just stared unblinkingly.

“Come on baby, let me help you” her mother went on and on.

When Y/N was younger and an episode like this happened it was common after that for the girl to regress for different periods of time. That’s why her mom was always staying by Y/N’s side helping her recover. Why regressing? The girl’s mind was always so exhausted due to the stress caused by those intrusive thoughts. During and after an event of that sorts the regression became a coping mechanism so the brain could recover. In the past, the panic attacks used to happen almost every other day and the psychiatrist that Y/N was seeing at that time, had explained that it was a way to deal with the stress - reverting back to the stress-free, burdenless life of an infant or a child.

Y/N continued seeing the doctor for years up until her fifteenth birthday. Then looking at the cake the girl decided that the best decision was to become a doctor. The psychiatrist had advised her to find a way to deal permanently with the fear without the help of pills and other drugs. At some point the mentioning of the medical profession put Y/N on the way to healing.

“You’re strong enough to deal with this. Of course this is not a panacea, there might be times when you will get triggered by something, given the fact that being a doctor means seeing death a lot. You should have a grounding object or something of the sorts. You can always count on me and come for sessions. We’ve ruled out all of the underlying mental disorders so there’s nothing to worry about. This is just a coping mechanism for worries about the impact of aging.”

Once the girl started preparing for the entrance exams things began changing slowly. The panic attacks got rarer and rarer and those intrusive thoughts bothered her less and less with time. It all came from the fact that Y/N was working in the direction to find a way to be alive forever. A childish goal in the other’s eyes but the strongest driving force for her to stay afloat.

And now…

This uncooperative mind of hers was trying to “persuade” the young woman to let go and thus the attack happened.

At some point during the whole ordeal Yoongi began doubting if this was working at all - Y/N was still convulsing and whimpering. Jungkook on the other hand looked horrible - he was pale, breathing heavily and gritting his teeth.

“She’s so strong, there’re so many walls, metaphorically speaking, in her mind. I can’t break them down.” Trophonius murmured with his eyes closed.

“Just… figure it out” Yoongi hissed angrily. “I can feel her becoming weaker.”

The minutes were passing and nothing was happening…

At some point the King felt weak in the knees but did his best to resist the fatigue. Baal saw that and cautiously made a step towards him.

“I’m fine” Mammon spat out, still looking intently at Y/N’s face. “I don’t need your help!” So stubborn and unwilling to accept assistance from anyone.

More time went by but at one certain moment something felt like breaking. The air in the room turned static and Trophonius opened his eyes suddenly. “That’s it! Keep going!” Those words were aimed at Jungkook.

In the chests of both demons their hearts skipped a beat. Yoongi expected to see Mammon transforming but apparently the low energy level had the last say now. It was a well-known fact that in the process of shifting a lot of energy was required and now Jungkook had exhausted most of it.

“Y/N, look at me” her mom tried getting the girl’s attention but it was no use.

Y/N was crying unstoppably, the screams now resembled those of physical pain. She felt so helpless and bare. There’s no way she could die. Her mom would never be so mean to trigger her on purpose and then not even try to help her get over the episode.

“I-It… hurt-t-ts” the young woman cried pathetically. “I can-n’t” a new agonizing moan ripped through the air.

There was a knock at the door and both women cast their eyes in the direction of the sound.

“Yoongi hold him” Trophonius groaned in displeasure. “If he lets go all would have been for nothing.”

Without a second thought the other demon appeared behind the King and pressed himself to the other’s back. At that moment a nice thought dawned on him - Baal reached forward and placed his hand over Jungkook’s and the other around his chest for support.

“Whoa! I didn’t expect your spirit to be so strong” the Oracle exclaimed. It was a good decision to use the two of them but the downside would have been that both of their energy supply could run out just as fast so Trophonius needed a backup. “You are the sin of Sloth and yet this is… incredible!”

Then the white-haired man felt it - the last “wall” falling down.

Jungkook saw it first - the door in the darkness. Screams were coming from behind it and this bothered the demon to another extent. He began walking towards it but then Yoongi materialized too.

“What’s that?” Baal asked confused.

“Must be Y/N’s mind space. Let’s go, I don’t like this.”

The two approached the door and Jungkook knocked twice. It was best not to scare Y/N even more considering the state she was in back in the real world. After a second he opened the door and what they saw stunned them. This disgusting deformed apparition sat next to their pretty girl with tentacle-like appendages wrapped around different parts of Y/N’s body.

From her perspective, though this seemed different - it was still her mother and everything was completely normal.

Of course, the two demons looked exactly like themselves but the young woman couldn’t remember who they were. Looking at the men she began crying again. “I-I don’ wan-n-nt to…”

Baal crossed the room and grabbed the ghost-like creature. It screeched and another outgrowth shot out from its body wrapping around the demon’s neck. The King ran forward while the other two were struggling and grabbed Y/N who was still under the apparition’s influence. The tentacles were wrapped so tightly around her that even Jungkook with his strength couldn’t get the girl out. “Rip its head off!” the tattooed demon roared.

Yoongi didn’t answer back. He was still struggling with overpowering the creature. Seeing no other way around it Mammon began transforming partially and he dug his sharpened teeth into the black matter keeping Y/N under. No blood came out, nor did any tissue got ripped - of course this was a thought. Y/N’s thought that they couldn’t kill.

“Talk to her!” Yoongi urged Jungkook to try a different approach.

The King then knelt near the bed and grabbed the girl’s hand. “Hey princess. It’s me, do you remember me?”

Y/N’s eyes widened in horror, she knew this face from another nightmare of hers. He was bad and mean, this man was not good and the girl wasn’t supposed to go with him anywhere. She shook her head frantically. “Pl-please d-d-don’t hur’ me!”

Those words stung badly. The demon winced and balled his fists. “What has this thing done to you?” Jungkook didn’t know what to say. He was lost.

Yoongi was still trying to fight the apparition but nothing physical could make it budge. Everytime he tried punching, squeezing or kicking it felt like sand was on the other side of his fist. That’s why the only way seemed to be a battle of their minds but he couldn’t do it. It was just an idea of sorts and it didn’t have any brain to produce thoughts of its’ own.

“She has to deal with it” Baal said in the end. “We can’t do shit.” Once he stopped struggling the vision stopped fighting him too. It then turned his attention back to Y/N.

“Who are those people?!” Y/N’s mother was shouting in her face. “Tell them to go and leave us alone!”

The girl just shook her head.

“Hey, princess listen to me.” Jungkook began once again. “It’s me one of the Kings. Remember how you were feeding the birds in the pond in my garden?”

“N-no” Y/N stuttered and got her hands away from the demon’s, pressing them to her chest. “No!”

“Come on” the tattooed man smiled pleasantly and his lip ring glistened in the daylight. “The talk we had in the bathroom, the confessions?” From what Mammon knew the way to bring someone back was to remind them of some good moment but… He felt so guilty. There were almost no pleasant memories to speak of - he cause Y/N so much pain he had to atone for. If he was able to cry this was the moment he would do it. Taking a deep breath he placed his hand on the girl’s knee. Her eyes widened and she began trashing around.

“Don’t t-touch m-m-!” 

“Hey, hey. Okay I won’t touch you” the demon lifted his hands up in the air. Then Yoongi approached from behind keeping an eye on the creature who was murmuring something inaudible.

“We don’t have much time Jungkook” the shorter demon warned. “Something’s changing.”

So many sounds were overlapping in Y/N’s mind. Her mother was screaming on one side and then there were the two men saying some weird things that made her even more confused. It was impossible to think straight.

“Do you remember how sad you were-”

“That’s not how you do it” Baal cut the other man off. He feared that everything would go from bad to worse.

“Let me be. Y/N you were very sad and lonely that I left you for days during the feast. But do you also recall how glum I was when you decided to leave? That’s because I regretted my decisions then and now even more.” A tremor ripped through Y/N’s body.

“Mommy…” she wept weakly.

“She sees her mother.” Yoongi muttered more to himself. This was proving so much…

“I’m so sorry princess, I’m so sorry. I will never leave you again” those words sounded so genuine that they surprised even Baal. The mint-haired demon felt a pang of jealousy. Why couldn’t he be the one to do this? “Monica is taking care of you for so many days now. She loves you so much, the girl’s saying you’re her closest friend. I adore you for this kind heart of yours, Yoongi here feels the same way.” The King reached up to touch the young woman’s face but one of the tentacles of the apparition wrapped around his hand, stopping the demon. “Let me take you away and help you. I will make sure to eliminate every threat and danger around you, princess.”

“Liar” she sniffled.

“I can prove to you that I’m not. Don’t you want to see the people that long for you?” Y/N shivered and scooted over closer to the creature. Jungkook’s doe eyes got wider with fear.

“Y-you are n-no real…”

“But I am. Want me to prove you wrong? Think back and remember the time when I held you close. There’s something I asked you in the beginning. Do you remember what was it?”

“I don’t want to go” Y/N whispered, not listening to the King. He was becoming desperate.

“Do you remember what I asked you, princess?” he tried once again. “Let me ask one last question - demon shift or human?”

Then the girl got quiet. Everything stood still, the apparition stopped moving, the tentacles froze for a second and their matter stopped shifting too. “D-demon sh-shif’ or h-?”

“Yes.”

“Demon or human…” Y/N was talking to herself, her eyes glued to Mammon’s face. There was something strangely adorable about her disheveled look and those wide curious eyes, looking for an answer. Chewing on her bottom lip now the girl looked at the nightstand. There she saw her first stethoscope. Reaching for it with a trembling hand the creature didn’t try to stop her this time.

Yoongi followed her movement with interest - she wanted to take it. Getting on the other side of Jungkook he took it and handed it to Y/N. When she touched the stethoscope the young woman closed her eyes and her facial features softened. She ran her fingers over the cold shiny metallic parts, trying to steady the ragged breathing. “Demon or human…” Y/N said once more.

“Mmh.” Jungkook hummed. The two men stood in their respective spots, waiting for what was to come next.

“I-it’s you. Kookie…”

At this moment Yoongi visibly relaxed and sighed. The King smiled brightly and the skin around his eyes scrunched cutely. “It’s me and Yoongi. He was as annoying as ever but… helped me so much. Come on.” The demon took Y/N’s hands and kissed them.

“But…” she hesitated for a moment looking at the deformed creature, still seeing her mother with a disappointed angry look on her face. “What about my mom?”

“Thoughts can’t hurt you Y/N” the mint-haired demon tilted his head towards the apparition. “She’s been gone for a while now. You’re safe with us.”

Jungkook then carefully lifted the woman up and walked out the door with the other man following close behind.

“Your Excellency! Excuse my intrusion but the soldiers on the southern border were attacked” one of the first Lieutenants barged into the Solar room of Taehyung’s mansion. The General was snoozing on the soft daybed with a couple of books laying open on the small table next to him.

“So it’s begun.” Gaap rose up quickly and headed for the door. “It’s time to do what I do best.” Taehyung’s eyes flashed dangerously with his sharp mind already in full motion, running laps.

The supreme moment of Y/N returning after weeks of being unconscious brought joy and relief to everyone. The Oracle congratulated the two demons for their hard work which was a miracle by itself. “I will be staying at Agares’ residence so if you need me just tell the King and I will be here.” Those were the last words he said to Y/N before leaving.

Immediately after coming back to the real world, the three men noticed the state she was in - frail and on the verge of another breakdown. All those horrible nightmares and terrors that her mind put the girl through had drained her immensely. Here, now in the waking world, she was still in regression, which was concerning for everyone.

It was heartbreaking to see this strong woman in this state - eyes filled with fear and sadness, with knees bent close to her chest, chewing on her nails and lips. Y/N’s speech was disrupted, sometimes not understandable at all.

“I trust you will take good care of her” there was nothing more important to Yoongi now. He didn’t want to leave but the demon also didn’t want to overstay his welcome. 

“There’s no way I would leave her side.”

…

Soon news about the attack spread all around the empire. The idea of the Kings gathering to sort everything out at the set time and date didn’t become reality.

At that precise moment when the messenger arrived to tell Jungkook the bad news, he was laying in bed with Y/N who was sleeping in his lap. King Mammon had his head pressed to the headboard, eyes half-closed, playing with the girl’s hair and softly scratching and massaging the skin of the scalp just like she had asked him to do.

For the past three days, the demon was working on helping his precious girl recover just like the Oracle had advised him to do.

Only Monica was allowed to enter Y/N’s room and when it was time for a bath Jungkook was leaving in order to respect her privacy. On the first day, the young woman cried like a child when the demon left her side. “I will be back in a while, princess,” he said to her, kissing the back of Y/N’s hand.

Now when the maid entered Mammon noticed the antsy behavior immediately. “What is it?” he asked in a hushed voice.

“My King, there’s a messenger here. Should I send him in?”

The pretty features of Jungkook’s face got distorted. He frowned but tried to contain the bubbling irritation. “Why is he here?”

“I don’t know, he wouldn’t say.”

“Bull… send him in. I can’t come to the main hall now.”

Monica bowed deeply. “I understand.”

When the ghoul entered he stood straight and spoke in a loud exalted tone. “Greetings Your Majesty, King Mammon of the North!” At that point, if Jungkook was a character in some anime he would get this so-called “anger mark” on the side of his forehead. That asshat was so loud and annoying and he would wake Y/N up. Instinctively the King squeezed the girl harder as if trying to protect her from the sounds.

“Speak quietly, you twit. What is it?”

“King Corson of the West sent me to…” the messenger continued speaking the same way and Y/N began shuffling in the King’s arms. “Inform you that there was an attack on the southern border and many soldiers lost their lives fighting.”

Opening her eyes the young woman got startled by the unfamiliar voice. Looking up and squeezing Jungkook’s black cotton shirt alerted the demon. She then hid her face in the crook of his neck, trying to get even closer than before, if that was even possible… “So what? What did he send you here for?”

“King Corson instructed me to tell You that he had spared you for a few days, considering the situation You are in but now it’s time to come to the capital and perform your duties as King of the North.”

It was unfortunate but Jungkook couldn’t sit idly while the others were fighting to protect the Empire. “I will be there in a while.” Mammon said finally and motioned for the ghoul to go away. When that happened the demon ran his fingers through Y/N’s hair and began speaking quietly in the girl’s ear “Princess, I have to leave for a while. Monica will be here with you all the time, all my guards-”

He couldn’t finish his sentence because once she understood where this was going to happen the girl began crying immediately. “No, no! No please… d-don’t leav-ve me” stuttering, Y/N was clutching his shirt in tiny fists.

“I will be back in a few days baby girl” the demon tried reassuring her but it was absolutely useless - the sobbing didn’t stop. “Please, Y/N…” Mammon’s heart was breaking at the sight but he also knew that his brothers needed him.

“Don’t… please don’t leave me! I will die and you will forget about me!” It seemed that what occurred seconds ago now reverted all the progress they had made back to square one. There was no point explaining that if he went to see the others at the capital her safety will be more than ensured.

“Let’s make a deal - I will give you my pretty wristwatch and I promise you that I will be gone for no more than four hours. If I’m late, no matter the reason, I will bring you a bouquet made of golden flowers. Does that work for you?”

A pout appeared on Y/N’s lips and she got quiet. After a long staring contest she extended an arm out waiting for the watch. Smiling at her the King took the accessory off his wrist and placed it in the girl’s hands. Then he bent over to kiss her forehead and left without another word.

Chapter 11 / Chapter 13

Masterlist

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@princess-sunshyn @thedarkwinterrose

[north-noire]

Hello everyone, just a little update while I complete my ArtFight entries + write my fic drafts, since I know there's still people trying to read my fic or still haven't read my fic.

I set my Hidden Hands AU fic to view-only to registered users for now because there's apparently a bot scraping fics off the site (rivd dot net - thankfully and miraculously I'm not on there, but plenty of fic authors are) and I wanna make sure it never happens to my fics at all, or to anyone else who's also an AO3 author themselves.

For AO3 writers, please check this twitter thread when you can, and hope you don't find yourself in it, because it requires you to give out your REAL NAME and real life information and that's NOT GOOD. Please don't give out your information to these people/the site.

Here's what to do if you find your works/username the site instead: thread of what to do

It's disappointing to hear that these kinds of people think they can just scrape off works out of complete passion or works made for fun by authors, where we're never paid or compensated for any of it, but they think they can just steal and feed it into some stupid A/I slop because they think they could just steal our hard work and make some profit off of it, and treating it like no big deal all "in the name of the future".

It's horrible, and I hope there's going to be laws and restrictions around not just this practice in general, but to all kinds of protection around artists' works as a whole. We artists and creatives really don't deserve to be treated like this.

[filmnoirfoundation]

ASK EDDIE returns Thursday, June 22, 7:00 PM PT to our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/filmnoirfoundation/live

FNF prez Eddie Muller responds to film noir fan questions fielded by the Foundation's Director of Communications Anne Hockens In this episode, we discuss LGBTQ+ characters in noir, the best noir cinematographers, “Executive Action”, author John D. MacDonald, circumventing the Hays Code, and more. Plus, we settle a debate regarding the portrayal of women in noir for a viewer. We wind up with a discussion of our fantasy casting for noir brothers and noir sisters. Stay tuned to the end for a special furry guest star.

Want your question answered in a future episode? We solicit questions from our email subscribers in our monthly newsletters. Sign up for free at https://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/signup.html

Everyone who signs up on our email list and contributes $20 or more to the Film Noir Foundation receives the digital version of NOIR CITY Magazine for a year. Donate here: https://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/contribute.html

Can’t join us on Thursday? No problem! A recording will be up on our YouTube channel, @NoirCity, on Friday, April 7: https://www.youtube.com/user/NoirCitySF

Note: Eddie will not be able to answer questions posted during the livestream nor ones left on our social media accounts

This week’s questions:

1.       I’d enjoy hearing from both of you about LGBTQ+ characters in Noir.

Marjorie (from the poor part of Connecticut)

2.       Are there any Film Noir Foundation restorations in the Flicker Alley pipeline this year?

Michael, Post Falls, Idaho

3.       Have you ever considered The Orpheum Theater in Phoenix, Arizona for a NOIR CITY showing? Also, are there any great film noirs from the golden age that are not readily available?

Vince from Arizona

4.       In a recent ASK EDDIE, you said that "The 13th Letter” is unavailable for showings because of rights issues, Are there any other noirs that similarly cannot be shown because of rights issues?  

Bill Miller, Chicago

5.       Who do you consider the best cinematographer of the classic film era?

Harry, West Chester, PA

6.       I recently engaged in a debate with someone about the concept of film. I wanted to get your perspective. The other person posits that the femme fatale trope was a sexist derivative of men's postwar angst of women taking their jobs and workplace. I argued that men and women in noir are oftentimes equally culpable, equally shrewd and equally guilty in their indiscretions. What are your thoughts on these arguments?

Andrew, Clayton, North Carolina

7.       TCM showed “Not As A Stranger” and I thoroughly enjoyed it. IMDB says that movie is a Film Noir.  I can’t see it. What do you think?

Stephen, Allen, Texas

8.       I recently saw the Italian neorealist film “Bitter Rice”, which has many film noir characteristics. Can you recommend other neorealist films that might also be regarded as film noir?

Ron

9.       It's hard to think of a movie more detested, shunned and now ignored than "Executive Action," a 1973 political drama, directed by David Miller and written by Dalton Trumbo, that blames the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on a right-wing capitalist conspiracy. I'd welcome any comments you have about "Executive Action."

Paul from "Fargo" land

10.   I recently watched “Journey into Light” (1951) starring Sterling Hayden and found it surprisingly emotionally moving.  Are there any film noir movies that you find especially moving? Also, do you consider this movie a "religious noir"?

Dan

11.   One great American crime writer you've never mentioned is John D. Macdonald, the creator of Travis McGee. Macdonald considered Victor Nunez's 1984 adaptation of his novel “A Flash of Green” to be the best film version of his work. What do the two of you think of Macdonald's work? And have either of you ever seen “A Flash of Green”?

Doug, Silver Spring, MD

12.   One of the many pleasures of viewing classic films noir is spotting the various ways in which the filmmakers circumvent the Hays Code and express graphic violence, et cetera, despite the limitations forced upon them, with clever filmmaking techniques. Can you think of any other good examples of this sort of Hays Code circumvention, in which a film is able to express graphic content without explicitly showing it?

Sam from Iowa

13.   Where is it that you tape introductions for NOIR ALLEY?  Are you given a blooper reel each year?  Have you ever finished it in one single take.  Do you have a favorite hotel you stay at when in L.A. or do you not stay at same place each visit?  

Alan, San Anselmo, CA.

14.   I came across an excellent book called “San Francisco Noir” which shows real locations from SF movies and proves interesting anecdotes about the locations and the films themselves. At the end of the book is a description of the Danger and Despair Knitting Circle, which sounds like an elite private showing of various noirs.  Does this still exist, and do you have stories about this group?

Phil from Boston

15.   My question addresses some fantasy casting as well as historic casting.  Who would both of you cast as Noir Brothers and Noir Sisters. What would be the best combustible pairs?

William from Lafayette

[adarkrainbow]

Fables: The Ultimate Catalogue! (A)

Here it is! A complete list of all the fairytale, nursery rhyme, mythical and literary references in Fables, both the main comic book series and its various spin-offs! This “catalogue” was created by me looking throughout the series and collected editions, adding to my personal knowledge quick Internet researches, and completing it all with the Fables Encyclopedia (which despite its official status has several things wrong in it). I didn’t get absolutely everything - some references I did not get, but I will keep a separate post for them. Enjoy!

SPOILERS AHEAD, SPOILERS AHEAD!

This post will cover the issues of Fables, the main series, 1 to 59 (from “Legends in Exile” to “Burning Questions”) + A Wolf in the Fold story + The Last Castle one-shot + 1001 Nights of Snowfall 

Note that I might have missed a few references, which I have placed in my series of posts “Searching for the reference” - if I ever find additional things, I will update this post.

The main characters

# Snow-White: The princess from “Little Snow-White” by the brothers Grimm, but also the sister of Rose-Red, from “Snow-White and Rose-Red” by the same brothers. She is the “civilized child”, “good sister”, “refined princess”, “order” to Rose-Red’s “wild child”, “disobedient sister”, “crude peasant”, “chaos”. 

# Rose-Red: The character from the brothers Grimm fairytale “Snow-White and Rose-Red”. She is Snow-White’s counterpart in many way. She is the peasant girl to her sister’s princess, she is the wild child to her sister’s obedient/civilized child, she is the ruler of the Farm and its animalistic realms where Snow-White governs Fabletown and the human Fables. 

# Bigby Wolf: The Big Bad Wolf. An “archetypal” character representing the “Western myth of the wolf as a voracious killer, man-eating, cunning, terrifying beast” - even tough real-life wolves are actually shy and do not attack men in normal circumstances He was the wolf from “Little Red Riding Hood” and from “The Three Little Pigs”. His original fairytale incarnation, as the giant, all-devouring wolf-son of the North Wind, was revealed by Willingham to have been inspired by the Fenris Wolf of Norse mythology (Willingham wanted his depictions of fairytales to have roots in ancient myths, the same way the “oldest Sleeping Beauty is Brunhilde’s circle of fire”. His human persona in today’s Fabletown is inspired by a bunch of detective and spy characters - most notably by the detectives of the “film noir” genre, though he has a disheveled Columbo-like appearance, coupled with a gruffness and inherent violence typical of a “wolf” like character: he has been described by people as “Dirty Harry meets Wolverine meets Humphrey Bogart’s detective roles”. His position as the love interest to the main female protagonist/Snow White-related woman is also clearly inspired by the character of “Wolf”, from “The 10th Kingdom”.

During his adventures in World War II he happened to become Fables’ equivalent of “The Wolf-Man” from the Universal Horror movies (he even lived through “Frankenstein meets the Wolf-Man” as he had to fight the creature of Frankenstein - Willingham confessed being a big fan of the Universal classics). In fact, we know he was the main source of the werewolf myth in our world (or maybe the reverse, it is unclear with Fables), since he is a shapeshifter able to turn into a giant wolf, a human being, or an in-between, he can only be killed by silver, and he had a friendship and alliance with Count Dracula (see below). We also learn from his backstory in “1001 Nights of Snowfall” that he used to be a twisted version of the “ugly little duckling” of his family, the runt of the litter mocked by his brothers, then turned into the biggest, baddest, most powerful of magical wolves.

# Boy Blue: Snow-White’s assistant comes from the nursery rhyme “Little Boy Blue”. On a play of him being tied to the color blue and playing the trumpet, he is also a talented musician of blues music. Also an expert in jazz, his favorite song is “Blue Skies”, and he apparently will always refuse to play “Tijuana Taxi”. When describing his tragic love story with Little Red Riding Hood, he calls it a parody of an “insipid O. Henry tale”. His adventures in the Homelands, with a mask on his face, the Witching Cloak and the Vorpal Blade, turned him into a legendary figure mixing various influences - his mask, cape and sword evokes the character of Zorro, he calls himself at one point the “Blue Avenger” (which seems to be a comic book nod, as Boy Blue is seen to be a big fan of comics), and he is called by many the “Black Knight” which, on top of being a reference to the archetype of the “Black Knight/Dark Knight” in typical Arthurian tales, might be a reference to Batman aka the “Dark Knight”, another dark super-hero with a half-mask and cloak that fights in the shadows of the night. Rose Red later describes this new persona of his as “the swashbuckler supreme”, “better than Errol Flynn” (the actor who played the most famous cinematic version of Robin Hood). 

# Jack: Of his full title “Jack of all Tales” (a pun on “Jack of all trades”). Jack is ALL the Jack of fairytales, or almost all of them. He starts out as the Jack from the English Jack tales (Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack the Giant Killer, Jack o’ Lantern) but he is also promptly revealed to be the Jack from nursery rhymes (Jack be nimble, Little Jack Horner, Jack and Jill). He is also the “Appalachian Jack”, or the “Mountain Jack of American folklore” - the Jack of those folktales carried from Europe over to the Appalachian mountains (the issue “Bag O’Bones” is a retelling of the Appalachian story “Soldier Jack” or “The Man who Caught Death in a Bag”). AND he is tied to the “Jacks” of card-games, aka the four Knaves, that he can summon in his hand during any card game (he even sings the gambling song “Jack O’Diamonds”). The Fables Encyclopedia notes that the oldest Jack tale would be “Jack and his Stepdame”, and mentions how Jack is the English version of the stock-character of fairytale known as Ivan un Russia, Hans in Germany and Juan in Spanish-speaking American countries. Willingham also mentions in the Encyclopedia that “Jack who jumped over a candlestick” is another one of the nursery rhymes part of the character. 

Jack is one of the tricksters of the Fables world - though he represents the “dark gray” kind of trickster. He is a chronical liar and thief, always acting out of selfishness and base desires (greed and lust), constantly throwing himself into “get-rich-quick” plans and not truly caring about anyone else but himself. This anti-hero is also constantly stuck into a cycle of failures and successes: while by essence he has luck on his side, as he is the very embodiment of the “designated hero” or the “non-heroic protagonist”, chance alway provides him the opportunities to fulfill his dreams and to escape his ordeals, his character however also means that every time he puts together a succesful scam or gets where he wants, he will lose everything and be forced to begin everything from scratch again. The Fables Encyclopedia does point out that this isn’t part of the traditional Jack character, who is usually an “unlikely hero”, the simpleton or the weakest of three brothers, who, with courage and resourcefulness (and luck) overcomes obstacles. But Willingham explained he wanted a “trickster without the charm, a bad boy who never learns despite his frequent comeuppance”. The only Jacks that aren’t him are Jack Sprat (from the nursery rhyme) and Jack Ketch (the executioner).

# The Black Forest Witch, or Frau Totenkinder: She is introduced as the witch from “Hansel and Gretel”, who survived being burned in her own oven, but she is revealed by “The March of the Wooden Soldiers” to have been in truth much more than that. She is an “archetypal” character who was the anonymous, unnamed or barely-mentioned witch of numerous other fairytales - and she even was involved in several stories where she did not appear as a character, since her desire was to keep herself hidden from the world. Her two titles are mere aliases: “The Black Forest Witch” refers to the deep, dark forest she lived in, the Black Forest of actual Germany, and the type of cake “Black Forest” all at once. Frau Totenkinder is a German name meaning “Miss Child-Killer”, formed of “Toten”, to kill, and “kinder”, “children”. In general, I also suspect she was influenced by the character of the Witch from “Into the Woods” (notably for reasons we will see in later parts of the series). 

We get her full backstory in “The Witch’s Tale” (1001 Nights of Snowfall) and we learn she has been  the witch from Rapunzel (though this version of Rapunzel is quite different from the one we know) and the witch who cursed the Frog Prince and the Beast into their monstrous shapes (it was a hobby of her to turn handsome, rich noblemen into various animals under the pretense of “helping” them finding their “true love”). She also participated in the creation of famous stories/characters, though she never appeared in them: she blessed Lancelot of the Lake with the ability to win any combat as long as he remained pure of heart, she created the Three Billy Goats Gruff to get rid of a bridge infested by trolls, and she gave the Pied Piper his enchanted flute to lure the children of Hamelin away as a personal revenge on the town.  She played the role of an haruspex in a city similar in design to Ancient Rome (before, she was a shaman for a Prehistoric tribe), though the prophecy she delivers through her gore-reading are biblical in nature (Joseph’s famous “seven years of plenty, seven years of famine”). And finally we learned that she caused one of the “good daughter rewarded, bad daughter punished” type of fairytale, in the likes of “Diamonds and Toads” or “Frau Holle” - except her “punishment” was killing the vain, mean sisters, cooking them into pies and feeding them to their mother. 

# Beauty and the Beast: A couple from the fairytale of the same name, first written by madame de Villeneuve, but rewritten and made famous by madame Leprince de Beaumont.

# Prince Charming: THE Prince Charming of various fairytales. He isn’t all the princes of fairytales, but he was (in chronological order), the prince-husband of Snow-White, who after his divorce with her became the prince-husband of Briar Rose, and after his divorce with her became the prince-husband of Cinderella. His womanizing ways lead him to be compared to the famous Casanova (though his modern behavior evokes mostly a nicer Don Giovani). I suspect he was inspired by the characters of the prince brothers from “Into the Woods”. He also technically makes an homage to the character of Harold Hill from “The Music Man”, as he uses some sentences from his song “Ya got trouble” during his campaign for mayor of Fabletown. 

Fabletown citizens and buildings

# King Cole: The mayor of Fabletown is Old King Cole, from the nursery rhyme of the same name.

# Bluebeard: From Charles Perrault’s “Bluebeard” fairytale. 

# Trusty John: He is Faithful John, from the same name fairytale of the brothers Grimm.

# Ambrose/Flycatcher is the Frog King, from the brothers Grimm fairytale of the same name. He usually sings various folk-songs and nursery rhymes tied to his frog state, such as “Frog Went A-Courting” and “The old lady who swallowed a fly”. Due to him being not pretty-looking, not very bright or intelligent, and usually dismissed and pushed into lower positions, he is also explicitely referred to in the story as “the village’s idiot” of Fabletown. The reason Willingham chose “Ambrose” as his name is revealed in the Fables Encyclopedia to be: Willingham simply likes the name Ambrose ever since he discovered that Merlin the wizard was sometimes called “Merlin Ambrosius”. (In fact, Willingham, by choosing this name, indirectly predicted Flycatcher’s future Arthurian character-arc). 

# Grimble, the troll security guard, is one of the several bridge trolls of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff”. I say several because, when Buckingham drew the “Animal Farm” arc, he kept putting in the background an orange-fur covered creature with a green hat - the Encyclopedia reveals that it was Buckingham’s reusing another of his designs of the “Bridge Troll”, taken from the “Merv Pumpkinhead” comic series, a spin-off of Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman” that was the first collaboration of Willingham and Buckingham (Merv Pumpkinhead, Agent of D.R.E.A.M.). (Similarly, in Frau Totenkinder’s backstory she explains that when a bridge troll is killed, another soon takes his place, as they are an entire species). The Encyclopedia also reveals that Willingham originally envisioned Grimble as a big burly security guard, but Lan Medina (one of the artists working on Fables) rather drew him as a “Wally Cox, Barney Fife sort of fellow”, and Willingham adored the dichotomy of the glamour and true character. 

# Bufkin is one of the winged monkeys from “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, by L. Frank Baum.

# Cinderella is from Charles Perrault’s “Cinderella” (and not the Grimm version since her slippers are here of glass, not gold).It is in fact the name of her shoe-shop: The Glass Slipper.

# Pinocchio is from “The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Carlo Collodi. 

# Fabletown itself (and the Fables as a whole) are named after the genre known as “fable”. The Woodland Luxury Apartment, Fabletown’s unofficial town hall, refers in name the typical fairytale forest, and in role the main castle at the center of every fairytale kingdom. In its gardens we find statues of Alice with her kitten and white rabbit (from “Alice in Wonderland” AND “Alice Through the Looking-Glass”) and a statue of Humpty Dumpty (from the nursery rhyme of the same name, plus Alice in Wonderland). (My notes mention a statue of Dorothy and Toto from The Wizard of Oz, but I am not certain of it?)

# The streets of Fabletown are named after various authors. Bullfinch Street is named after Thomas Bullfinch who wrote the famous “Bullfinch’s Mythology”. Kipling Street is named after Rudyard Kipling who created classics such as “The Jungle Book” or the “Just so Stories”. Perrault Street is named after Charles Perrault, who wrote the famous “Mother Goose’s fairy tales”. Andersen Street is named after the fairytale author Hans Christian Andersen. 

# The “I Am The Eggman” diner, on top of being a pun due to being owned by Vulco, one of the crow-brothers, is a reference to the lyrics of the song “I am the Walrus” (itself a reference to “Alice through the Looking-Glass”). The Edward Bear’s Candies shop is a reference to the teddy bear that inspired the creation of Winnie-the-Pooh. The Branstock Tavern is a reference to the Barnstokkr tree appearing in the Völsung saga. 

# While not part of Fabletown, Gottfried’s Steak House seems to be a reference to Gottfried von Strauss, a poet famous for his work on “Tristan and Yseult”. The waitress there, Molly Greenbaum, serves as a reference to the folk song “Molly Malone”, that Prince Charming actually sings as he leaves her (I also mistook her for a nod the nursery rhyme “Miss Molly had a dolly”). 

# The Knights of Malta Hospital is a reference to the real-life Knights of Malta/Knights Hospitaller. Working in it, we find Doctor Swineheart (from the Grimms’ “The Three Army Surgeons”) and Nurse Sprat (actually Miss Sprat from the nursery rhyme “Jack Sprat”). Jack Sprat himself lives with his wife in Fabletown.

# The Forsworn Knight, the undead hanging knight haunting his rusty armor, has his identity secret up to this point - but the “Fables Encyclopedia” explained that his title was a reference to how the knights of the Arthurian mythos are only known by their nicknames: The Knight with Two Swords, the Dolorous Knight, the Green Knight, the Savage Knight... 

# Briar Rose is the character from the brothers Grimm’s version of the “Sleeping Beauty” story (though the fact she was blessed by fairies as a baby comes from Perrault’s “Sleeping Beauty”). 

# Bluebeard (and then Charming’s) goblin butler, Hobbes, has been identified by several as a nod to Thomas Hobbes. However I think it might rather simply be a reference to the “hobgoblins”.

# The Lewis Antiques shop seems to be a reference to C.S. Lewis, the inventor of Narnia (given it is “antiques”, an old wardrobe comes to mind), though it could be also a nod to Lewis Carroll. Nod’s Books has been identified as a reference to “The Book of Nods” by Jim Carroll. The Chateau d’If Fencing Academy is a reference to the real-life castle made mythical by Dumas’ “The Count of Monte-Cristo”: in fact Edmond Dantès himself runs the Academy. The Web ‘n Muffet Market is a reference to the nursery rhyme “Little Muss Muffet” (she lives now as Mrs. Web, having married the spider Mr. Web). The Yellow Brick Roadhouse is a reference to the Yellow Brick Road of Oz. 

# There are two shops seen in the comics but who’s true owners are only revealed later. One is “Ford Laundry” which is a laundromat runned by the Scottish bean nighe, Mrs. Ford (because she is “The Washer-Woman at the Ford”). The second is the Grand Green Florist shop, revealed in “A Wolf Among Us” to be the shop of Auntie Greenleaf, from Schlosser’s “Spooky New-York” anthology. 

# The 13th floor witches include (beyond Frau Totenkinder), the “Fairy Witch” or “Great Fairy Witch” (actually the witch from Andersen’s “Thumbelina”) and Mr. Grandours, the sorcerer-king from “The Wizard King” (Willingham took the translated version from Andrew Lang’s Yellow Fairy Book, though the fairytale origin is actually the knight of Mailly “Le Roi Magicien”, in his “Illustres fées” - the Illustrious Fairies of Le Chevalier de Mailly). When evoking Mr. Grandours in the Encyclopedia (which falsely refers to The Wizard King as having been invented by Lang), Willingham also said when designing his character he thought of all the various magical bears in fairy tales, good or wicked - and his human form is meant to evoke a “Leonid Brezhnev-kind of character”. 

# Thrushbeard is from “King Thrushbeard”, a fairytale of the brothers Grimm. Mark Buckingham designed him after comic book creator Alan Moore.

# Kay is a character from Andersen’s “The Snow Queen”. 

# The boy who cries wolf is from the Aesop fable of the same name (and lives on the seventh floor of the Woodland Luxury).

# Ichabod Crane is a character from Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. Willingham insists in the Fables Encyclopedia that he wanted to depict Crane as he perceived him when reading the original story, aka as “kind of an ass, of the prickly, pompously self-impressed sort”. 

# The Stone Soup restaurant is a reference to the very widespread and famous folktale “The Stone Soup”. The Andersen butcher shop is another nod to Hans Christian Andersen (here mixed with the word “Delicatessen”). The reparation team/company in charge of remaking Fabletown after the March of the Wooden Soldiers is called “N Rhyme” - aka Nursery Rhyme. 

# Gudrun is the goose that lays golden eggs - made famous by the “Jack and the beanstalk” fairytale, but finding her roots in one of Aesop’s fables “The goose that laid golden eggs”. As for her name, it is the one of the wife of the Germanic mythical hero Sigurd/Siegfried. 

# Barbara Allen, one of the victims of the rogue zephyr, is from the folk-song of the same name, “Bonny Barbara Allen”. 

# Mowgli is the main character of Kipling’ “The Jungle Book” (he is also explicitely compared in-universe to “Tarzan” (from “Tarzan of the Apes”), though Willingham in the Encyclopedia explains he prefers Mowgli over the other because he was “Tarzan before Tarzan”. 

# Rapunzel is the character from the brothers Grimm story of the same name. 

# Fair Katrinelje, Vulco’s part-time girlfriend, is from the brothers Grimm fairytale “Fair Katrinelje and Pif-Paf-Poltrie”.

The Farm residents and buildings

# The Farm plays various roles. In design it is described by Rose-Red as “Old Macdonald meets Walt Disney meets Munchkinland” - Old Macdonald had a farm being a traditional children song (later quoted to describe the Farm), the Disney reference being related to Disney Land the amusement park (the architecture of some buildings has been noted to be similar to the Neuschwanstein castle, which inspired Sleeping Beauty’s castle for Disney) , and Munchkinland being a reference to the colorful landscape of the MGM movie “The Wizard of Oz”. In terms of role it also fulfills the idea of the “farm” where pets are supposedly sent when they die and parents want to hide it to their children. In its first appearance, the “Animal Farm” arc, it plays the role of the titular “Animal Farm” from George Orwell’s book of the same name, and Goldilocks purposefully makes a gory reference to William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies”, comparing the Farm to the island of the story.

# Colin, Posey and Dun are the three pigs from “The Three Little Pigs” (Posey and Dun coupling as the pigs from Orwell’s “Animal Farm”). They are later replaced by three giant brothers turned into pigs, Johnny, Donny and Lonny. The giant brothers notably recite the iconic lines “Fee fi fo fum [...] I’ll grind his bones to make my bread!”, coming from “Jack and the Beanstalk”.

# The Farm hosts the Rhinoceros from “How the Rhinoceros got his skin” (Kipling’s “Just So Stories”), the Three Billy Goats Gruff (from the Norwegian fairytale of the same name), Henny Penny (from “Chicken Little/Henny Penny”), the Owl and the Pussycat (from the poem of the same name), the Hare and the Tortoise (from the Aesop fable of the same name), several flying monkeys (from “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”), a red-cap (from English-Scottish folklore), and Puss in Boots (from Perrault’s fairytale of the same name).

# The buildings of the Farm include a pumpkin-house similar to the one of Jack Pumpkinhead in the “Oz” books ; mushroom-houses taken straight out of the “Smurfs” comic books and cartoons; the shoe-house of the “Old Woman who lived in a Shoe”, as well as Baba-Yaga’s chicken-legged house.

# Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Boo Bear) are from the fairytale of the same name.

# Weyland Smith, the original caretaker of the Farm before Rose-Red, is a character from Germanic legends, Anglo-Saxon folklore and Nordic sagas, present “from the Poetic Edda to Beowulf” to take back the words of the Encyclopedia.

# The B’rer Fables are animal fables taken out of Afro-American folktales (most famous through the “Uncle Remus” books): we have B’rer Rabbit, B’rer Bear, B’rer Gator. In “Sons of the Empire” we also find out B’rer Wolf is here. 

# The “Jungle Fables” or “Kipling Fables” are characters of Kipling’s The Jungle Book: Shere Kan the tiger, Bagherra the panther, Kaa the python, and Old King Louie (the latter was a mistake of Willingham who forgot King Louie was a character invented by Disney and not from the original story). We later learn Baloo the bear is also at the Farm. 

# The Farm hosts several characters briefly caricatured in the background to avoid the copyright of Disney, such as Winnie the Pooh and Piglet, or Bambi.

# All the birds of the nursery rhyme “The Death and Burial of Cock Robin” are present in the Farm - since the events of the nursery rhyme are enacted in “Animal Farm”. Cock Robin itself is actually a Fabletown bird - and the Fables Encyclopedia notes that he is actually the protagonist of a whole cycle of nursery rhymes, including “Cock Robin got up Early”. 

# The Farm hosts various characters from “Le Roman de Renart”, “The History of Reynart”, the Reynart stories of medieval France. Reynard the Fox and Noble the Lion are the most noticeable one, but we also see Brun the Bear in the Farm (identified by Buckingham’s sketch-notes). Ysengrim the wolf also appears in “Sons of the Empire”.  Reynard the fox is here notably much more pleasant and amiable than his medieval counterpart - in “Fables Encyclopedia”, Willingham explained that the first trickster of his childhoo was Bugs Bunny, a “monster of chaos”, and that for Reynard he wanted to create a “slyer, wiser and more subtle” form of trickster. 

# The Farm has numerous nursery rhymes characters. From “Hickory Dickory Dock” we have the mouse that ran down the clock. From “Hey Diddle Diddle” we have the cow who jumped over the moon, the dish and the spoon (plus in King Cole’s “Fair Share” backstory we learn there’s also the Little Dog who Laughed). We also have the Three Blind Mice (from the nursery rhyme of the same name). As well as “Mr. Sunflower”, from a nursery rhyme by R. André. 

# Three characters from “The Wind in the Willows” are here: Mr. Toad, Mr. Mole and Mr. Badger.

# Numerous small-sized humanoids live in the Farm: Tomb Thumb (an archetypal character of English fairytales), Thumbelina (from the fairytale of Andersen of the same name) and a community of Lilliputians (from Swift’s “The Travels of Gulliver”). The Lilliputians have created a “mounted police” riding “field mice” (which I believe to be some of the field mice from “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”). In the Fables Encyclopedia, it is noted that the idea of the Mounted Police of Lilliputians, of tiny sergents riding on mice to do cop duty, actually comes from the song “And the Mouse Police never sleeps” from Jethro Thull’s “Heavy Horses” (even though the original song referred to a cat). 

# Several characters of the Alice books can be found here, most notably living playing cards, the Cheshire Cat (from “Alice in Wonderland”) and the Walrus (from “Alice Through the Looking-Glass”). 

# When the rebels have to be executed, the one called for the job is Jack Ketch, a historical figure turned “archetype/stereotype/common nickname” for executioners in England. He is also revealed to have been the executioner of Prince Charming’s realm, and the Fables Encyclopedia has Willingham explaining that, for him, Jack Ketch isn’t actually a citizen of Fabletown but rather the name given to whoever takes the role of the executioner of the Fables community - it is a job, a position. 

# John Barleycorn is from the folk-song of the same name.

# Mary and her little lamb are from the nursery rhyme “Mary had a little lamb”, while Miss Mousey and her frogs are from the folk-song “Frog Went-A Courting”.

# Peter Cottontail is present at the farm - “Cottontail” being the alternate name of the famous character known as “Peter Rabbit”. And while Peter Rabbit is most famous by Beatrix Potter’s writings, the character’s alias of “Peter Cottontail” comes from the novels of Thornton Burgess, such as “Old Mother West Wind” or “The Adventures of Peter Cottontail”.

# There are lot of little detail-characters that are here merely to evoke common sayings or beliefs. For example we see at one point a snail with a roof and chimney on its shell, evoking how it is said that snails carry their house on their back ; and at another point we see the duo of a snail with an umbrella and a ladybug, which is a reference to how the two animals are used to predict the weather to come (rainy weather for the snail, sunny weather for the ladybug).

The Adversary and his forces 

# The Adversary/The Emperor was designed to evoke the archetypal “evil overlord/dark lord” of epic/high fantasy. To be more precise, he draws a lot of inspiration from Sauron/Morgoth of “The Lord of the Rings”. A tall, dark, gigantic creature of darkness clad in a terrifying armor, whose plan is to conquer by blood and slaughter the entirety of the universe, whose armies are made of all sorts of awful monters (mostly goblins, with some trolls, giants and dragons thrown in the mix), and who enslaves evil sorcerers as top-agents... The reference is pretty obvious.

# The Adversary is also meant to have a devilish symbolism. The monsters creating his armies are noted to have been summoned from hellish dimensions or to be demonic in nature. He is served by sorcerers and witches. His name, the Adversary, can be translated as “Satan” (the Accuser, the Enemy). And in flashbacks he is depicted as a satyr-like entity, with one theory calling him a divine being cast out from heaven - a fallen god, or maybe fallen “angelic” entity.

# The last attack/invasion of the Adversary onto the European Fable-realms, the events of “The Last Castle”, are noted to coincide with the Napoleonian Wars over Europe - meaning the Adversary is also a fairytale version of Napoleon somehow. Though the way the Empire rules its conquered countries through the “illusion of freedom” and “puppet-kings”, the way they exist through a vast bureaucratic system confiscating all magical artefacts and enslaving or killing sorcers, their method of invading/annexing countries to their rule, imposing a strict list of permitted holidays and sending spies in the countries resisting them... It is all meant to evoke the Soviet Union and its Eastern Block during the Cold War. 

# The wooden soldiers sent by the Adversary to Fabletown are meant to evoke the “Men in black” from American urban legends/alien tales/ufology. The idea of an army of wooden soldiers created by an humble person that rose up to the rank of great evil is also an accidental parallel with “Urfin Jus and his Wooden Soldiers”, the second book of the “Tales of the Magic Land” series by Alexander Volkov (a Russian rip-off of the Oz books). 

# Baba-Yaga, the witch from Slavic folklore and Russian fairytales, is one of the top-agents and “right hands” of the Emperor. She oversees for him the land of the Rus (the Fable equivalent of Russia), and she has alongside her three magical knights - taken from the fairytale “Vasilisa the Beautiful”: Bright-Day the white horseman, rider of the dawn ; Radiant-Sun the red horseman, knight of midday, and Dark-Night the black horseman, rider under the stars. Willinghma noted that if he played into the most horrifying and frightening aspects of Baba Yaga, it was because she was his personal bogeyman and “nightmare monster” as a child. One of the rulers of the Rus lands, while under the Adversary’s control, is Ivan Tsarevich, a recurring character of Russian folktales. 

# The leader of the Adversary’s forces against Colonel Bearskin and the Last Keep at the End of the Known World is the Count Aucassin de Beaucaire, from the French medieval story “Aucassin et Nicolette”. 

# Chernomor, used to serve under Aucassin de Beaucaire (or alongside him) and became the governor of the “world of Kardan”, one of the frontier-worlds of the Empire. If you go to the Wikipedia article, Chernomor is listed as coming from the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila” which is partially true - but the Fables Encyclopedia reveals that this version of Chernomor actually comes from the poem/fairytale “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by Pushkine - in fact, it is this poem that Chernomor reads to himself during his first appearance. 

# In quite a twist from his Sauron-like appearance, the heart of the Empire isn’t some Mordor land. In fact, as it turns out the Empire is a vast thriving bureaucratic empire meant to evoke the Roman Empire (or Byzantine Empire, due to the very bureaucratic nature of the management of the empire). The land at the heart of the Empire shares the same name as the Capital City of the Emperor (or Imperial City): Calabri Anagni. This name is made up of “Calabri”, the name of the region of Italy forming the “point of the boot”, and “Anagni”, an ancient town of central Italy. It is indeed the Homeland equivalent of Italy, and in fact the Imperial City was drawn based on the sketches and illustrations of Ancient Rome by Piranesi. Plus, the situation of the Fables living in an “exile” and a “diaspora” because of the Adversary’s conquering Empire is meant to evoke the destruction wrecked by the Roman Empire against the Jews - more specifically the Jewish-Roman Wars. 

# Willingham takes some time to explore the life and day-to-day activities of the lower-ranked goblins and soldiers of the Empire, humanizing them in their usual duties (such as tax collecting). I first I thought it was just a reference to a similar thing Tolkien did with his orcs (see “The Return of the King”) but then it clicked when I realized the “day-to-day story from the point of view of lower-ranked members of the evil empire” +  the evil empire recruiting and enslaving sorcerers and wizards as its “new nobility” + Willingham’s love for military stories and dark, gory battles...  There is definitively here an influence of Glen Cook’s The Black Company. It would make the Adversary influenced by another famous duo of “evil overlords” of fantasy: The Lady and the Dominator.

# Buckingham explained that Ogren and Throk, the goblin duo of issue 36, were inspired by the numerous British humor comics he grew up with as a child.

# The Snow Queen from Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale of the same name is another one of the “great ladies” and right hands of the Emperor, just like Baba Yaga. In this version of the tale however she seems to be heavily tied to the evil mirror of the tale - she has a mirror above her throne, Buckingham revealed that the fragments of the shattered mirror are ornating her queenly outfit, and it is because of her that Kay ended up with a shard of the mirror in his eyes. Willingham sneaked a “Song of Ice and Fire” reference in the comic as, when she arrives in the Imperial City, the guards keep shouting “Winter is coming!”. Her name, “Lumi”, is the Finnish word for snow. And in the Fables Encyclopedia, Willingham revealed that the reason she became such an evil character in “Fables” is because through her he wanted to evoke a famous fictional character he could not have the rights to: The White Witch of C. S. Lewis’ Narnia. 

# The true identity of the Adversary (the Sauron/Morgoth-like Emperor being merely a “puppet”) is revealed to be none other than Gepetto, from “The Adventures of Pinocchio” who, after being enroled in a “benevolent conspiracy” against the megalomania and stupidity of local lords, slowly climbed up the ranks and became corrupted into the machiavelic, bloodthirsty tyrant he is today. In the Encyclopedia, Willingham notably said he wanted to get as far away from the Disney’s version of Gepetto as possible, and return to the character as described by Collodi, as a “cantankerous old grump”. The situation of Gepetto, a little old man behind a fake, artificial all-powerful imperial figure, is also very reminiscent of Oscar Diggs/The Wizard of Oz’s situation from “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum. 

# Gepetto takes his powers from the Blue Fairy that he kidnapped and locked away - the Blue Fairy is Willingham’s strange mixture of the Fairy with the Turquoise Hair, from Collodi’s original tale, the Blue Fairy (Disney’s version of the previous) and the “original” folklore of fairies, aka the “fair folk” of the British Isles: Willingham insists on the fickle, capricious, strange and alien behavior and mindset of the Fairy. 

# The other two main agents of the Emperor, beyond Baba-Yaga and the Snow Queen, are the Nome King (a recurring antagonist from L. Frank Baum’s Oz books, now governor of Oz for the Emperor) and Hansel - the boy from “Hansel and Gretel”, who grew up into a witch-hunter and Great Inquisitor. He isn’t just designed after the Puritan witch-hunters of the “witch trials” of America: he actually was a key part of those trials. During his brief time in the Mundane World he participated in almost all of the witch-hunts throughout Europe and America. He did not start them, but he followed the witch madness everywhere it went, and took a key part in the trials and executions of the so-called witches. He is said to have been in France, Germany and Switzerland, with the Würzburg witch trials and the Salem witch trials being explicitely cited (in the latter case he was the one who encouraged the execution of Susannah Martn). Trieste is also said to have been one of the places Hansel dwelled (though I never heard of witch trials in Trieste? But there were so many I can’t possibly know them all...).

# The Snow Queen’s plan to invade Fabletown, relying on four steps being “Pestilence - Fire - Winter - Famine” is of course very reminiscent of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Christian lore - Pestilence/Conquest, War, Famine and Death. The Snow Queen’s plan for an “eternal winter” are explicitely compared to “Fimbul” - aka the Norse winter predicted for Ragnarök. Among the creatures that serves her and that she plans to send in the world, she mentions the “ice giants”, which is actually a term designated a category of creatures in Norse mythology (the rest are however non-specific entities, not exact reference - frostlings, boreal spirits, fire imps...). The sorcer used to illustrate the “Pestilence” part of the plan, Tom Harrow, was actually designed after Neil Gaiman - it was Mark Buckingham’s gift to Gaiman, who had been the best man at his wedding. Finally, of the two fictional diseases the Snow Queen mentions (the Skold brownpox and the Red City Plague), the later seems to be a reference to the “red plague” from “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe.

# A last note, taken from the “Fables Encyclopedia”: the armor of Lieutenant Oakheart, a random character among the wooden soldiers of the Empire (seen in issue 52), was actually inspired by the cover of the album “Want One” by Rufus Wainwright. 

Magical artefacts:

# The Seven-League Boots, from Charles Perrault’s Little Thumbling, are kept by Fabletown.

# The Vorpal Blade from Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” poem (and “Alice Through the Looking Glass”) is in possession of Fabletown (and becomes Boy Blue’s weapon later).

# The magic beans, from Jack and the Beanstalk. Jack keeps trying to scam people by pretending he still has them, when in truth he lost them a long time ago. It is revealed in “Happily Ever After” that in truth Fabletown got hold of the last magic beans, which form the only way to reach the Cloud Kingdoms where the giants live. 

# Bluebeard keeps a hook in his office - it seems to be the hook of “Captain Hook”, from J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. 

# Snow-White’s office contains a sword in the stone (from the Arthurian myth), various Arabian oil lamps (a reference to “Aladdin”), as well as several Greco-Roman statues (a copy of the Venus de Milo, statues of Mars and Neptune...). 

# The Fairy Witch’s magical barley seeds from which little women are grown are from Andersen’s fairytale “Thumbelina”. 

# Bluebeard might have owned “The Portrait of Dorian Gray” - because there is the painted portrait of a man we keep seeing in his castle, that is not him, so... 

# The magic mirror of the evil queen from “Snow-White” is kept in Snow-White’s office, as well as the torn of head of the Frankenstein Creature (nicknamed “Frankie”). 

The Last Castle one-shot

# The titular “Last Castle”, of its full name the “Last Keep at the End of the Known Worlds”, is actually the castle from the Norwegian fairytale “East of the Sun and West of the Moon”, located by those directions, and beyond the “House of the Four Winds”.

# Little Red Riding Hood is from the fairytale of the same name (the brothers Grimm version, since in her story the wolf was defeated by a woodsman).

# Robin Loxley, or Robin Hood, is from British folklore and English literature. We also see two of his Merry Men: Friar Tuck and Small John. 

# Colonel Bearskin is a higher-ranked version of the titular character from the brothers Grimm fairytale “Bearskin”.

# We have two characters from Edmund Spenser’s “The Faerie Queene”: Lady Britomart, the “warrior damsel”, and the Red-Cross Knight (Saint George by another name). 

# The twelve crow-brothers are from the Grimm fairytale “The Twelve Brothers”.

# Old Pellinore is a king from the Arthurian legends.

# Tam Lin, the “lover of the fairy queen”, is a character of English folklore and folk-songs (the “Ballad of Tam Lin” is his most famous depictions).

# Herman von Starkenfaust is a character from Washington Irving’s “The Spectre Bridegroom”.

# The Little Tailor that “got seven at one stroke” is from the brothers Grimm’s “The Valiant Little Tailor”.

# The Kings of Madagao and Bornegascar are the rival kings from the piece of Ambrose Bierce “Two Kings”, from his “Fantastic Fables”.

# Beaucaire and Bearskin fought many battles against each other, two of which I got the reference of: the battle of Boxen is an homage to the fictional world created by C. S. Lewis as a child, while the battle of “Oakcourt” is a reference to the legend of wise, fair and just kings holding their courts under an oak. When Blue Boy confronts Chernomor in the beginning of the “Homelands” arc, he also mentions the “battle of Vesteri”, which is apparently the battle told in the poem “Tsar Saltan”, the one where Chernomor appeared with thirty-three warriors (though the events described in the poem are apparently a false retelling of the actual events, which were the invasion of the Adversary’s army, and unlike what the poem claims Chernomor lost the battle). 

# Possibles references I am not certain of: Among the refugees at the Last Keep, there is a white-bearded wizard with a pointy hat all dressed in grey, that I think might be an homage to Tolkien’s Gandalf. There is also a solidly built young man with a goat near him that I believe to be “Blockhead Hans” from the brothers Grimm fairytales. 

The Homelands:

# The Tin Woodman, Jack Pumpkinhead, The Scarecrow and a Munchkin, all from the Oz books of L. Frank Baum, are seen fleeing the invasion of the Adversary in the “Legends in Exile” flashbacks.

# The flashbacks of “Legends in Exile” also reveal Don Quixote and Pancho (from the novel “Don Quixote”), and a queen on a sleigh pulled by swans - which I believe to be a reference to Andersen’s “The Wild Swans “fairytale.

# The two first conquests of the Adversary (after his “native land”) were “The Emerald Land” (The Land of Oz, invented by L. Frank Baum) and “The Kingdom of the Great Lion” (Narnia, created by C.S. Lewis). We even see an unnamed version of Aslan, killed by the forces of the Adversary. 

# The world of the Rus is the Homeland equivalent of Russia, the land where Slavic folktales dwell. It is drawn in the style of Ivan Bilbin (a famous illustrators for fairytales such as “Vasilisa the Beautiful” or “Prince Ivan, the Fire-Bird and the Grey Wolf”). When Boy Blues travels through the Rus lands, he comes upon the “Mice Burying the Cat”, a recurring motif and scene in Russian lubok and folktales. 

# In the arc “Arabian Nights (and Days)”, the realm of Karse is name-dropped as one of the lands conquered by the Adversary. Some people think it might be a reference to the kingdom of Karse, from Mercedes Lackey’s books “The Heralds of Valdemar”. 

# The Cloud Kingdoms, located in the sky, populated by giants and only reachable through magic beanstalks, is a reference to “Jack and the Beanstalk”. Cinderella calls it mockingly “Cloud Cuckoo Land” - an insult to the absurdity of the kingdom itself, but a subtle literary nod to Aristophanes’ famous play “The Birds”, where Cloud Cuckoo Land is an utopian city in the city. The giant squirrel friend of Cinderella in this realm, Radiskop, is revealed in the Fables Encyclopedia to be Willingham’s version of Ratatosk, the squirrel of the Word-Tree from Norse mythology (the poem “The Saying of Grimnir” is evoked by the Encyclopedia). Cinderella also plays on the expression “castles in the sky” when describing the Cloud Kingdoms - an idiom meaning an unrealistic plan or impossible dream. 

# In “The Sons of the Empire”, we follow the side-quest of a group of Fables stealing food from the imperial table: these three Fables are the Gingerbread Man (from “The Gingerbread Man” fairytale), and Mr. Porky Pine with Chicken Ripple (characters actually coming from Neil Diamond’s song “Porkupine Pie”, from the Moods album). 

The Great Powers:

# The devil himself appears in “Bag O’Bones” in a “Southern USA folktale” incarnation, as an old, disheveled black man waiting in the bayou to play card games with souls as the final bet - he is called here “Slick Nick”, or “Mr. Nick”, but due to his old-looking appearance, he quickly is called “Old Nick”, a very traditional nickname of the devil in the English language.

# Death, aka the Grim Reaper, appears in “Bag O’bones”.

# The North Wind, father of Bigby, is of course the very embodiment of the North Wind. Personified winds pop up from time to time in fairytales, and the North Wind most notably appears in “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” (a fairytale already referenced by Willingham previously). But “Mr. North”’s depicton as an old man ruling over snow and coldness is also clearly meant to enter into the archetype of “Father Winter/Old Father Winter” or “Father Frost/Grandfather Frost”. Buckingham noted that while he originally drew him inspired by Peter Wyngarde playing Jason King (see the television series Department S/Jason King), he then decided to prefer the way the character was originally drawn by Mark Wheatley in “1001 Nights of Snowfall”, as more “Norse god-looking”.

The servants and affiliated creatures of the North Wind are called after different types of winds: Mistral is a violent wind of southern France, Squall is a sudden or violent gust of wind, Whiff is a puff of air, and the Zephyrs are light breezes.

# The d’jinns are here a very dark reinterpretaton of the djinn of Arabian folklore and fairytale, reinvented as amoral creatures of pure magic that have to be bound for the sake of the entire world. These d’jinns were purposefully designed as dark parodies of the Genie from Disney’s Aladdin: like him they have blue-skin, black hair, and a “tail of smoke” for legs. As per the common legend most carried on by “1001 Nights”, the d’jinns were trapped in magical bottles by “Sulymon the Wise”, aka King Solomon. However, unlike the tradition presented by the “Arabian Nights”, in the Fables world King Solomon co-worked with Daedalus (a genius-inventor of Greek mythology, reinterpreted as the “greatest sorcerer-scientist” of Sulymon’s time) to create the magical bottles. And, Sulymon had to trick the d’jinns into getting inside the bottle, by using the same ruse displayed in the fairytale “The Fisherman and the Jinni”.

# Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus, of the American Christmas lore, exist in the Fables world, and while it is strongly hinted in the main series, the Encyclopedia confirms they are “god-like” entities in the Fables verse, close to the other Great Powers.

The 1001 Nights of Snowfall one-shot

# “Be careful what you wish for” seems to have been loosely inspired by “The Little Mermaid”, or rather forming an ironic inversion of it (especially of the more modern retellings like Disney’s), since it is about a girl wishing to explore the world, and asking a witch to turn her into a mermaid to discover the sea. The Fables Encyclopedia mentions that the girl’s name, Mersley Dotes, is only similar to the song “Mairzy Doats” by pure coincidence.

# The seven dwarfs of the Grimm “Little Snow-White” are present in “The Fencing Lesson”, and their entire system of “being an underground realm digging constantly for ore and gems” is inspired by a very traditional depiction of dwarfs ranging from Norse mythology to Tolkien - the way John Bolton draws them as ugly; misshapen, bald beings with bulbous heads or strangely-proportioned limbs reminds me of the art of Brian Froud.

# In the “Diaspora” story, Snow-White says she bought a magical stone that makes soup - it is another reference to the folktale “Stone Soup”. 

# The “Christmas Pies” storyline takes place in the world from which Reynard hails from - a medieval-time valley filled with speaking animals (the setting of the Roman de Renart). I will not name all the characters we see here, but if you know your Roman de Renart, you will recognize several such as Brichemer the deer, Noble the lion, Fière his wife, Grimbert the badger, Couar the hare, etc etc... The legend of “the miracle of the Christmas pies” seems to have been invented by Willingham here - but not out of scratch. If you know your Christmas lore, you know that miracles happening during the “nights of Christmas” are very common, that pies are tied to Christmas in the English tradition, and that magical food or miracle-food in Christmas is also a staple of folklore. An interesting note is that you can see the version of Christmas celebrated in Reynard’s homeworld is not the one celebrated in our world, because they have “Seven Nights of Christmas” - whereas we have the “Twelve Nights”. Filling the pies with stones so that, after eating it, the animals will be too heavy to move is also a recurring motif in folktales and fairytales involving capturing or killing devouring monster or gluttonous animals (most famous of which being the Big Bad Wolf stories). 

#  Colonel Thunderfoot and the talking rabbits of the “Thrumbly Warrens”, in “A Mother’s Love”, have been revealed by Willingham to have been inspired by the rabbit-society of “Watership Down”. 

The Arabian Fables:

# The Arabian Fables are clearly all coming from the most famous collection of Arabian fairytales, “One Thousand and One Nights” - they notably have a very common use of flying carpets, items mostly found in this book (and the Arabian legends of king Solomon). They also have manticores - creatures of Greek folklore, but believed to have lived in Persia (another manticore, giant-sized this one, appears in the non-referential world of Skold in “Homelands”). 

# In “1001 Nights of Snowfall”, the frame-story is literaly the frame-story of “One Thousand and One Nights”, but with Snow-White taking Scheherazade’s place as the one trying to survive Sultan Shahryar. 

# The delegation arriving in Fabletown in “Arabian Nights (and Days)” is centered around Sinbad - the famous Sinbad the sailor whose stories are told in “1001 Nights”. He has two companions which I have yet to identify as references or pure invention - but one, Yusuf, is very clearly the embodiment of the archetype of the “evil vizir” of Arabian tales coupled with the “wicked, scheming sorcerer”. People online have identified him as a possible take on Disney’s character of Jafar from their version of Aladdin, but Buckingham revealed that his design of Yusuf was actually inspired by Doctor Who’s The Master, as played by Robert Delgado. 

# Aladdin and Ali Baba, two heroes of the most famous Arabian fairytales, are said to live in the Homeland version of Baghdad, where Sinbad also dwells.

# One of the co-conspirators and allies of Yusuf is Sid Nouman - aka, Sidi Nu’uman from “The Caliph’s Night Adventures” (sub-section “The History of Sidi Nu’uman”). The identity/appearance the d’jinn takes to reach out to him is the one of “The Fair Persian” - one of the two main characters of the 1001 Nights tale “Noureddin and the Fair Persian”. 

Other things:

# In “Legends in Exile”, Rose-Red forces Bluebeard to keep their engagement secret for a year. This evokes a common trope in fairytales where a character is asked to keep a secret, or a vow of silence, for a given period of time - or where a character has to hide their marriage for a given number of years. 

# “A Wolf in the Fold” reveals that, when Bigby first arrived in the human world, he stayed in the 17th century Carpathians, and became friend with a certain “undead count” - yes, Count Dracula, from Bram Stoker’s novel.

# Before Willingham decided to have the European Fables be Christian in religion, he seems to have considered a more fantasy-like religion for them, as the chapel seen in the Knights of Malta Hospital in “Animal Farm” doesn’t have any religious imagery. Instead, its stained glass depicts fabulous beasts: a dragon, a unicorn, an hydra and a phoenix.

# The desk of Grimble has two books inside of it which are references. One is titled “Shreck!”, a nod to the Shrek movies, while the other is literaly titled “Troll Bridge by Neil Gaiman”, a reference to Gaiman’s reinterpretation of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” fairytale.

# During Bag O’Bones, Jack (as a Confederate soldier just out of the Civil War) sings the minstrel song “Gwine Run All Night”, aka “De Camptown Races”. 

# At one point, the trio formed by Flycatcher, Boy Blue and Pinocchio go buy a series of Fabletown-produced comics, which are all parodies of actual super-hero titles. The Uncanny Oz Men are “The Uncanny X-Men” for example, the Fairytale Four are the “Fantastic Four”, the Tin Man is “Iron Man”, and the Stalk Thing is the “Swamp Thing”. “Red Hood - Little Riding Returns” might be a reference to “The Dark Knight Returns”, while the Un-Mundy... Maybe it is “Superman”? 

# When John Barleycorn explores one of the Emperor’s towers, where stolen magical items are kept, we can see the head of Baphomet sculpted on a disc. During the same quest, the other Lilliputians left behind believe that John must be with “some elf-king’s daughter” by now: this is a reference to Lord Dunsany’s “The Elf-King’s Daughter”. Finally, as John Barleycorn goes searching for the old cottage of the Fairy Witch, he orders his mount to go “Straight ‘til morning” - a sentence lifted from “Peter Pan”. 

# Kevin Thorn is compared by his colleagues to agent Mulder, from the show “X-Files”, due to being the only Mundane immune to the Fables “do not notice us” spells.

# During the “War Stories”, the project of the Nazi scientists couple two references: on one side it is named Volsüng (after a character of Norse mythology, tied to the Volsunga Saga), on the other the topic of mass-producing artificial soldiers raises the fear of it being too similar to the golem of Jewish folktales.

# In-universe, Jack took an opportunity out of the great hype surrounding fantasy movies caused by the (then still new) release of the “Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy - in turn, he himself plans to do a “better” version of them, centered around his own tales. 

# The Witching Cloak does not come from a precise story, but gathers various elements and powers usually attributed to magical cloaks and capes. For example, its powers of invisibility are similar to the Germanic tarnkappe of Siegfried, while its teleportation powers can remind of the flying cloak of feathers of Freyja in Norse mythology, and its invulnerability can evoke Herakles’ famous Nemean Lion pelt. In a similar way, the Witching Well (which is the Fabletown equivalent of a cemetery AND afterlife) is not coming from a precise story, but is born of a general rule and belief in the world of fairytales and folktales that wells are gateways to the otherworld and the dwelling of supernatural beings - as well as closely associated to death and the afterlife. One famous fairytale that has a well perceived by theoricians as a gateway to the afterlife is the brothers Grimm “Frau Holle”. 

# Willingham loves to play around with the topic of numbers in fairytales. For example, Bigby was one of seven brothers, tried to kill his father seven times, and himself has seven children. Meanwhile, when Cinderella has to fulfill a mission in the Cloud Kingdoms, everybody involved in it forces her to wait three days for her services - much to her annoyance as she wonders exactly WHY everybody asks for three days. 

# In “The Sons of the Empire”, an annoyed Prince Charming calls ironically the Beast “Gunga Din”, after the character from Rudyard Kiplng’s poem (later adapted into a movie).

# In “Jiminy Christmas”/“Father and Son”, the children of Bigby mention numerous fictional equivalents of cartoons and toys - but one in particular was talked about in “Fables Encyclopedia”, “Ranger Danger”, aka “Ranger Mike Danger”, that Willingham explained to have been the Fables equivalent of real-world G.I. Joe or Action Man. 

# As a last note: the original plans of Willingham for the Adversary’s identity and origin story was to have him be Peter Pan. This is why the descriptions of the Adversary in “Legends in Exile” are so strange in retrospective: he is described as “wood sprite” that became something much more bigger or dangerous, or a fallen god cast away from divine realms, while being depicted in the flashback as a satyr-like being - it all points out to Pan of Greek mythology. Couple this with the fact the Adversary was said to come from “beyond the shores of Never”, aka Never Land, and you understand it is Peter Pan. Willingham’s plan was to have an evil, corrupted, demented version of Peter Pan that wanted to expand his Neverland/playing ground to all the worlds nearby, hence the creation of the Empire. The same way Peter Pan would have been the “big bad”, Captain Hook was also supposed to appear as a heroic figure fighting the Adversary - he notably would have had a plotline about saving the Lost Boys, who as it turns out are an army of children Peter Pan stolen away from the worlds he visited and conquered. However Willingham discovered that the characters were not in the public domain at the time, still under copyright, and so he had to change his plans - limiting himself to having them depicted in battle in the front page of “1001 Nights of Snowfall”. 

[zoeyslayter]

Remaking my RWBY OCs: Team KYNT

IDC if this is cringe I made these almost 4 years ago and I'm probably going to write the fanfiction soon if I can get the motivation.

Team KYNT (Kyanite) consists of Kelly Greene, Yale Taivas, Noire Deces, and Tawny Erimos. They attend Beacon Academy in their second year, one year ahead of team RWBY and JNPR.

I'm not an artist so I made the pictures here

Kelly Greene

Name meaning: Kelly is a shade of green and also means warrior and bright-minded in Gaelic. Greene is a different spelling of the word green, while also meaning at the green, a grassy plot used by the village common.

Semblance: Banshee's Cry; she can let out a supersonic screech. This takes up a lot of aura, so in battle she only uses it in a dire emergency. One scream and she's out, two on maybe a really good day.

Weapon: Mandolin; a musical instrument with a different type of dust ingrained into each string. The colors are always changing, implying that she regularly changed the strings on her instrument before and after battle.

Background: Kelly was born in Sanus, but traveled around Remnant for most of her life. Her parents were famous musicians who would preform from big cities like Atlas to small villages outside of the protection of guarding huntsmen. It was at one of these shows where a Grimm attack took place and she got separated from her parents in the chaos. Faced with an Elk-like Grimm, she screamed for help and out came a piercing shriek that knocked the Grimm back, destroying it. This left her weak, confused, and stranded until her parents found her and packed her up along with their belongings. This traumatic experience drove Kelly to want to attend Beacon academy.

Personality: Kelly is a soft-spoken woman, avoiding large crowds when she can and keeping to herself. If you wish to find her you usually can by looking for her in an empty lecture room practicing her music or in the library reading. She values her solitude, which is challenging when met with the responsibility of being team leader. Her performance background has helped in being able to mask this, however even this can only help her so much.

Additional notes: Dating Coco Adel of Team CVFY. I don't remember if I added this before or after her sexuality was made canon but I've loved Coco ever since her debut in Volume 2. Also she absolutely has an Irish accent, North Dublin to be exact

I didn't expect this to be this long so I guess I'll put the other three in their own separate posts too.

[questiontocertaintyofreality]

tag (9) people you'd like to get to know better

Tagged by @fullscoreshenanigans thank you soo much 💖

Okay, so this post created because self explaning.

Since ı almost nothing write about me in my blog ı'm not sure maybe about doing this post but ı prefer write it because ı both wonder persons ı tag and in time ı post it what ı am think. And here is a personality things about me ı wonder a lot, curious a lot . I think a lot and want to make analys about things ı curious. I love every fandoms ı'm in and anyone want to talked about it with me can write me . But there is a warning I'm not good at talking (in internet too) so if ı'm a mutual with you or talking with, you write me or make interection with me and ı'm not going to send answer or didn't make interection in your post it is probably ı can't find ı way to answer it. So ı delete a pharagraph and can't write any longer being unknow ı prefer now buttt.

Here

Currently watching:

Miraculous (ladybug and chat noir)

Little witch academia

Sherlock ( Some episodes better than books and of course this not a remake of books but ı love Sherlock books too)

Currently Reading

The memoirs of Sherlock Holmes Sır Arthur Conan Doyle( This isn't translate like either)

Village Evenings Near Dikanka and Mirgorod (This name isn't translate so long in my language) Nikolai Vashilevich Gogol

Beyond the Sleeping Wall H.P. Lovecraft

As manga The promised neverland. againnn

As nonfiction The mistery of Animals

I write Last 3 books ı read

As fanfiction ı need a list but

Shadows in The night by Helpican'tpickmyusername

Raincarnacted as Conny by VitoDeCeniza

My favorite book was

The Neverending Story

-Michael Ende

I love the stories create univers. Fantasia's desciription's also awesome. Michael Ende's books are best for me

Currently listening

Tpn ost's, LEGO Friends soundracts, bsd ost's ,Frozen, tangled the series and soms other Disney series soundracts, songs ı love their words and made lists about them.

Current obssessions

The promised neverland, LEGO friends, Bungou stray dogs, Death Note, Little Witch academia

Not shows but ı'm obseessed with: Science, fantasy/sciencefiction/literature books, writing, forensic science, philosophy

That 9 people ı wonder about them

@bella-but-not-hadid444 @creantzy @kyouka-supremacy @shibusawaz @ningensorrow @buggachat @true--north @gouthepro @overheard-in-hlc

[papillondusoir]

Depuis toujours Bilal Berreni dessine, tout le temps, sur tout, comme un fou. Rapidement les dessins débordent des cahiers et la rue devient son terrain de jeu. À 18 ans, il crée le nom « Zoo Project ». En l’espace d’un an, il repeint tout le XXe arrondissement de Paris de fresques gigantesques : gros traits noirs expressifs creusant une forme blanche, le style est à la fois brut et évocateur. Des citations accompagnent parfois les fresques. Jamais didactiques ou manichéennes, ces phrases ajoutent une note douce-amère, un contrepoint absurde. La démarche est profondément politique sans que jamais le résultat ne perde de sa douceur poétique.

Bilal accède rapidement à la reconnaissance du milieu. Les galeries le courtisent mais il est déjà ailleurs. Parti en Tunisie au moment de la révolution, il choisit d’y représenter les martyrs puis part s’installer dans un camp de réfugiés à la frontière libyenne. Il y peindra grandeur nature sur du tissu les réfugiés du camp.

Son travail prend la forme d’installations réalisées avec et pour les gens qu’il peint, et cette fois-ci c’est la presse nationale qui s’intéresse à lui (Libération, Le Monde). Lui est déjà loin, reclus en plein hiver par -30° dans une cabane au fin fond de la Laponie, avec le projet de réaliser un roman graphique qui racontera son expérience.

Et ainsi de suite…

Sa vie sera un bouillonnement d’idées, de projets, de réalisations, sans jamais se ménager, sans jamais faire de compromis.

Zoo Project, pseudonyme de Bilal Berreni, est un peintre urbain français, né le 23 juin 1990 à Paris et mort assassiné le 29 juillet 2013 à Détroit (États-Unis) à l'âge de 23 ans. Son travail s'est d'abord exposé sur les murs du Nord-est parisien, puis en Tunisie, juste après la révolution tunisienne de 2010-2011, où il a été particulièrement remarqué.

Zoo Project, pseudonym of Bilal Berreni, is a French urban painter, born June 23, 1990 in Paris and assassinated on July 29, 2013 in Detroit (United States) at the age of 23. His work was first exhibited on the walls of North-East Paris, then in Tunisia, just after the Tunisian revolution of 2010-2011, where it was particularly noted.

zoo-project.com