#she’s either unfortunately prophetic

[littler3d]

“It’s either work tracks or ancient otherworldly symbols” Alice if you don’t stop saying foreshadowing shit I’m gonna start thinking you’re evil

[wingsofmud]

The Thrice-Born Twins

I'm starting my WoF rewrite project with the Darkstalker Legend. The book is honestly fine, but I want to see if I can turn it into more of a tragedy where Darkstalker is known to be an animus from the start, Fathom flees the Seawing Queendom after the massacre, Arctic isn't a complete abusive asshole, and Clearsight and Darkstalker were never meant to cross paths.

Here are my Darkstalker and Whiteout designs/redesigns

Design info + minor ancient nightwing fashion hcs + designs without accessories below:

Darkstalker:

I find it incredibly boring that Darkstalker looks exactly like a Nightwing and that Prince Arctic likes Whiteout more because she looks more like him.

The only Nightwing aspect of Darkstalker is his dark scales. Everything else from his body structure, to his wings, to his face says Icewing nobility. In fact, he bears a striking resemblance to his grandmother, Queen Diamond, even inheriting her signature twisted horns. He has a teardrop scale behind each eye and a round scale on his forehead that denote his mind reading and prophetic abilities.

As is expected of any noble Nightwing, Darkstalker is very intelligent and very charismatic. He was always going to be a key pawn in the Nightwing court by virtue of his birth, but when he was born on the brightest night, plans started to shift. Then, to Arctic's dismay, he presented as an animus when he was a dragonet.

Darkstalker is betrothed to Queen Vigilance's daughter and spends his time learning to become the perfect prince. He and all those around him see nothing but glory in his future, at least until he bumps into a strange Nightwing one night.

Darkstalker is always in fashion. Like many noble Nightwings, he wears a cool colored cloth around his body (the more translucent the better). He wears a matching set of bracelets and a tail band as well as silver bands on his horns and spines. The earring he has on is part of a pair gifted to him from his betrothed. He unfortunately doesn't have a nose horn or he would wear a ring on it, he wears one on his wing thumb instead.

.

Whiteout:

Though her egg turned silver, Whiteout hatched the morning after the brightest night, which is unheard of. Unlike her brother, if you painted her fully black she'd heavily resemble a Nightwing, sans some spikiness. She has Foeslayer's eyes and horns. She's shorter than her brother, but a lot more stocky. Whiteout is regarded as strange, quiet, and a pain in the tail to make wear anything.

Whiteout doesn't speak much and the words that she says are either very blunt or don't make much sense...at first. She's sensitive to a lot of stimuli and rarely changes her expression. She was very difficult to teach, regardless of how many private tutors she had, and continues to be unable to assimilate into Nightwing nobility. As a result, she's generally dismissed and escapes Queen Vigilance's eye. She very talented in painting.

Whiteout wears a triple piercing earring with a blue, star-shaped gem on the end as well as a onyx bracelet matched with a nose-horn ring studded with lapis lazuli. She does not wear any clothing outside of formal events. All of her usual accessories have been enchanted by Darkstalker to not bother her.

.

Designs w/o accessories:

[sideprince]

Eileen Prince

I'm relentlessly curious about how a witch from Slytherin, a house that values cunning and ambition on paper, and bloodlines/nobility in its culture, ended up living in a muggle slum.

Unfortunately for me, she's a barely mentioned character written by an author who consistently fails to portray female characters with depth or dimension. The women in Harry Potter are portrayed as either maternal or villains, or, in Ginny Weasley's case, as redeemed by their masculine traits (because Rowling's Thatcher era feminism dictates that equality for women = emulating patriarchal ideas of manhood). About as much as you can expect from an author who's as unable to acknowledge the personhood of trans women as she is to write women as actual people. This leaves a lot of room for interpreting or delving into what Eileen Prince's life may have looked like, and how that would have affected her son's development.

There are three direct mentions of Eileen in the text :

“The picture showed a skinny girl of around fifteen. She was not pretty; she looked simultaneously cross and sullen, with heavy brows and a long, pallid face. Underneath the photograph was the caption: Eileen Prince, Captain of the Hogwarts Gobstones Team.”

HBP Ch. 25

“I was going through the rest of the old Prophets and there was a tiny announcement about Eileen Prince marrying a man called Tobias Snape, and then later an announcement saying that she’d given birth to a" “ — murderer,” spat Harry.

HBP ch. 30

“Harry looked around: he was on platform nine and three-quarters, and Snape stood beside him, slightly hunched, next to a thin, sallow-faced, sour-looking woman who greatly resembled him.”

DH Ch. 33

(Shoutout to Harry James Potter, who didn't recognize Eileen's fifth year photo despite her resemblance to Snape, the teacher whose classroom he got his used Potions book from. Shoutout also to Harry James Potter who didn't connect the dots between the Prince's handwriting and Snape's, a teacher who regularly wrote instructions on the board. "I needed to make the plot work, ok?" - JK Rowling, probably.)

Other relevant excerpts:

“Snape staggered - his wand flew upwards, away from Harry - and suddenly Harry’s mind was teeming with memories that were not his: a hook-nosed man was shouting at a cowering woman, while a small dark-haired boy cried in a corner ”

OoTP Ch. 26

“Harry delved into his trunk and pulled out his copy of Advanced Potion-Making before getting into bed. There he turned its pages, searching, until he finally found, at the front of the book, the date that it had been published. It was nearly fifty years old.”

HBP Ch. 16

Supplemental material re: Gobstones from JK Rowling:

"...it remains a minority sport within the wizarding world, and does not enjoy a very ‘cool’ reputation, something its devotees tend to resent. Gobstones is most popular among very young wizards and witches, but they generally ‘grow out’ of the game, becoming more interested in Quidditch as they grow older.  ... Gobstones enjoys limited popularity at Hogwarts, ranking low among recreational activities, way behind Quidditch and even Wizarding Chess." [There's an additional sentence on the Harry Potter wiki's Gobstones page: "...it is also known as 'the thinking wizard's Quidditch.'"]

A few conclusions can be drawn from what little information we're given about Eileen:

She's described as "cross and sullen" around the age of 15, and as "sallow-faced, sour-looking" when she's older.

She's captain of the Gobstones club around her fifth year, so she likely marched to the beat of her own drum - given that Gobstones isn't particularly popular - and owns it proudly enough to take, or even seek out, a leadership role.

The sport is described as "the thinking wizard's Quidditch" which would imply Eileen was more interested in intellectual challenges and was clever (and can be paralleled with a young Severus' comment about "if you'd rather be brawny than brainy" to James Potter when they first meet on the Hogwarts Express).

Her marriage and the birth of her son are both announced in the paper, which might mean the family she came from was of some importance or note, or perhaps something else... but we'll get to that.

If we assume that Severus' secondhand copy of Advanced Potion Making was originally Eileen's (reasonable, though there is no textual evidence) then its publication date is likely around the time she was a sixth year, given that this particular text was specific to students beginning to prep for N.E.W.T. exams. Harry begins his sixth year in 1996 when the book is "nearly fifty years old," so we can assume Eileen was 16 years old sometime not long after 1946. Severus was born in 1960, which would mean Eileen was in her mid-late 20s at the time.

Her marriage was dysfunctional at best, abusive at worst. As per a Pottermore post that is still up on WizardingWorld.com: "...the desperately lonely and unhappy childhood [Severus] had with a harsh father who didn’t hold back when it came to the whip." Based on this, we can assume Tobias was abusive, and given Eileen's cowering as he shouted at her, she presumably feared him.

From these bits of information emerges the image of a woman who either had a surly personality, or at the very least was guarded, though perhaps just formal. There isn't really any difference in how her face is set when she's in an everyday setting like King's Cross, or when she's having her picture taken for the Gobstones Club. It's possible she was a stern, unsmiling person, but it's also possible - given that her wedding and child were announced in the paper - that she came from a family of some standing and was raised to conduct herself with hallmarks of British class, such as dignity and unaffectedness. After all, there are several wizarding families - such as the Potters - who are wealthy purebloods with social standing but are not part of the Sacred 28. Additionally, the Gobstones Club portrait would have been taken around the mid-1940s, when portraits were formal and their subjects did not often smile, and given that we see only a snippet of Eileen, we don't have enough information that she was unhappy or sour. It's also important to remember that we see her portrait and Snape's memory of her through Harry's perspective and, like his perception of Snape himself, this may convey Harry's biases.

We also know from the text that Snape had a house in a deserted part of Cokeworth, a fictional Midlands town that presumably had a collapsed milling industry, at the end of a street called Spinner's End. There's a great thread that goes into details about the kind of 2 up 2 down house it would have been, and we can assume that this is Snape's family home given that we know he and Lily grew up in Cokeworth. For all intents and purposes, the conclusion we can draw from this being the Snape family's home in the 60s is that they were working class and cripplingly poor. Most estates like this had been cleared by the 60s, and no longer exist today.

This begs the question: how did a witch from a possibly well-off family end up in an abusive marriage in an irrelevant slum?

Buckle up kids, we're leaving the world of textual references and veering into deep meta territory now. I won't label any of this as head canon because I'm not set on these interpretations, and am just drawing conclusions from the text, but some of it may be a bit loose even for meta.

If Eileen was 16 years old not long after 1946, then she would have finished school in the late 40s, possibly even 1950. While some people (including past me) posit the theory that Tobias may have been injured in WWII and his injuries debilitated him, forcing him to go on the dole and affecting his mental health, I'm increasingly skeptical of this theory. It would make more sense if Eileen had known him before he was drafted/enlisted and had committed to a relationship with him, which would then have changed when he came back from the war and was altered. If we assume Eileen's age based on the idea that it was her own copy of Advanced Potion Making Severus used, then she would still have been at school during WWII (which makes an interesting parallel with Severus' own experience of spending the bulk of the first wizarding war against Voldemort as a student at school).

I do think, however, that there's merit in the theory that Tobias suffered some kind of altering injury and that he wasn't necessarily abusive before Eileen committed herself to him. It makes little sense for a Slytherin graduate who was confident and self-posessed enough to be the face of an unpopular club to be drawn to a partner so abusive his shouts caused her to cower and who whipped his child freely. If, however, he was a charming, happy man when they met who suffered a life-altering injury, the trauma of which left him a shell of his former self, then someone like Eileen might stick around for the sake of the parts of his old self she can still see in him.

It's interesting that she didn't seem to use her magic to protect herself or her son, or even to dress her son in clothing that fit, but we know from the text that depression can cause a wizard's powers to wane:

“...it is also possible that her unrequited love and the attendant despair sapped her of her powers; that can happen”

HBP Ch. 13 (Dumbledore talking about Merope Gaunt)

The fact that the Snapes retained the house in Spinner's End seems to indicate that they continued to live there even when the local industry dried up and the slum was cleared as workers were moved to other parts of the country where they were needed (presumably what happened given *gestures at British history*). The most likely explanation for this would be that Tobias wasn't able to work, and perhaps did suffer an injury, only it was at work, and not during the war. This would mean the family lived on the dole (ie. welfare) and also that he would have spent a lot more time at home. It would also explain his anger and frustration that led to abusive behavior (which isn't to say that disabled people are abusive by any means, but it would have been emasculating for a man who considered himself the breadwinner in the 60s, and chronic pain coupled with limited abilities would give anyone a short fuse).

Moreover, this living situation seems to indicate that there is no additional support coming from anywhere. Where is Eileen's family? Why were they not helping? There's no indication in the text that there is any connection with them at all. We can infer from Snape's memories that, as a child, he learned what he knew about the magical world from his mother. This implies that she talked to him about it a fair amount, and his conviction that he and Lily were going to Hogwarts well before they got their letters also implies that Eileen expected him to go there and was set on her son having a magical education, despite how little she seemed to use her own powers.

Severus knows a lot about the wizarding world as a child, including that prisoners are sent to Azkaban and that it's guarded by Dementors, Hogwarts' house structure and what to expect when he and Lily get there, and about the Statute of Secrecy and the laws around it. When Lily asks him if it makes a difference being Muggleborn, Severus hesitates before replying no, presumably because he's aware of pureblood bias being a part of wizarding culture.

Perhaps that's the reason Eileen's family doesn't seem to be in the picture. My own theory is that Eileen hadn't planned to commit herself to Tobias long-term, and Severus was an accidental outcome of an innocent tryst in which a young Eileen, an educated witch from a well to do pureblood family, was having fun slumming it with a working class muggle and ended up pregnant. While we don't know the wizarding world's attitude around pregnancy and abortion, we do know it's a conservative and classist society that parallels muggle British culture fairly closely, and that the late 50s/early 60s were a time when an out of wedlock baby would have been considered a disgrace.

Add to that the anti-muggle bias of a pureblood family and it sounds like Eileen was disowned her for her mistake (and don't @ me, but even though I know that not all Slytherins are purebloods, it does seem to be a persistent cultural value of the house reaching back to Salazar Slytherin himself, so Eileen's being sorted into it can reasonably be taken as an indication of her blood status). Perhaps the marriage and birth announcements in the Daily Prophet were put in by Eileen herself, if she was a woman from a family where this was customary. It may have been her way of letting her family know of the events, or even of asserting herself and even deliberately defying them, announcing to the whole wizarding world that a Prince married and had a child with a muggle. It makes sense that the girl who wasn't just in the Gobstones club, but became captain, would also say to herself, why shouldn't I have my marriage announced in the paper like everyone else in the family?

It's worth noting that mid-late 20s is pretty young to have a baby in the wizarding world, where the life expectancy and child bearing years are much longer than they are for a muggle. According to the Harry Potter wiki:

"Wizard life expectancy in Britain reached an average 137¾ years in the mid-1990s, according to the Ministry of Divine Health ... Wizards in general have a much longer life expectancy than Muggles, usually living two or three times as long as their non magical counterparts, some living even longer than that depending on circumstances. In addition, seeing as James Potter's parents had him "late in life,” witches likely have significantly longer childbearing years than Muggle women."

Although we see several characters in Severus' generation getting married and having kids not long after leaving school, there's a mention in the text that a lot of people were doing this during Voldemort's reign, as the fear he inspired made people more eager to get a move on with life since they thought they might die any day (I think Mrs. Weasley says this but I can't find the quote, @ me if you do). It's clear this wasn't the norm in the wizarding world. Eileen was a Slytherin, a house that values cunning, ambition, and strong wizarding heritage. Something must have gone very wrong in Eileen's life for her to end up having a child so young and living in a muggle slum.

And so it's possible Eileen Prince found herself pregnant and alone, having been disowned by her family to save face in light of her disgrace, and dependent on the only person she was still close to, the father of her child. It's the kind of storyline that Rowling would write, and it would parallel fairly closely the story of Voldemort's mother, thus adding another to the long list of similarities between Voldemort and Snape.

Lorrie Kim makes an interesting point when she talks about how Snape has a strong reaction to other people having a love life or romantic experiences (the context being Rowling's intention of his love for Lily being romantic and unrequited), but doesn't react particularly strongly to mothers sacrificing themselves for their children, whereas Voldemort does. Her insight, and I think it's a reasonable one, is that Severus accepts the idea of mothers making sacrifices for their children, whether it's Lily giving her life for Harry or Narcissa risking all she did to ask for his help in protecting Draco, because his own mother protected him from his father as much as she could.

There's a lot of room for interpretation on what Eileen's relationship with her son looked like, and what it says about her own state. She may have prioritized not angering Tobias to protect Severus, who as a child might have perceived her actions as a form of rejection. At the same time, she seems to have prepared him thoroughly for life in the magical world, perhaps in the hope that he would find his place in it and escape home. Perhaps she missed it and told him so much about it so she could live through her own memories.

The only time we see her argue with Tobias, in Severus' memory, she's cowering as he shouts. We know from JK Rowling that Tobias used corporal punishment liberally, which implies Eileen didn't stop him despite her magical abilities. We also see in the text, however, that while at school Severus stood up for himself against bullies and fought back, and that he was an exceptionally clever and powerful wizard. As an adult he was brave enough to face Dumbledore when he betrayed Voldemort, and later fought against Voldemort right under his nose (or lack thereof). So it stands to reason that at some point Severus began to stand up against Tobias too.

How much of that was Eileen's influence, or the result of Severus seeing her acceptance of her fate and rejecting it for himself, is hard to say. As for what happened to Tobias and Eileen that their house was Severus' by the mid-90s and they were nowhere in sight, I don't think there's enough information in the text to infer.

[flowerbloom-arts]

AU where the Shifting Mound doesn't snatch the Damsel so soon and you have to deal with the repercussions of existing past "Happily Ever After" with a voluntarily undeveloped Sweet Love Interest™.

(also, yippee finally found a way to put my 2 interests together!!)

(absolutely incomprehensible ramble under the cut.)

Okay so I'm going to make this as understandable as possible for the uninitiated, whether it be for the Moomin comic strip or the franchise at large.

The plushie the Damsel is holding is that of the Snork Maiden (or just Snorkmaiden), the girlfriend/love interest for the main character, Moomintroll. Now, Snorkmaiden is an interesting and largely misunderstood character, especially when it comes to her comic version where she's a bit of a "promiscuous" character who oftentimes ditches Moomintroll for another man when she sees fit, this is where the misunderstanding lies.

Snorkmaiden haters will dismiss this (if they were to read the comics, because in all honesty they aren't that widely considered or even read in the fandom) as an addition to her general unlikeability as an "obstacle" to the fandom's main gay ship between Moomintroll and his best friend, Snorkmaiden sympathizers will leap to justify this with the good ol' It Was Heteronormativity All Along, which is a very... Honestly lazy reading/justification of her character which doesn't hold up under scrutiny. I, however, have an obviously superior reading of her character (/not serious)

Snorkmaiden simply has a very different definition of romance or at least wants to gain something different out of the concept of romance as opposed to the general public perception built up around it, one which even Moomintroll can't even begin to grasp.

What she gets out of romance, and where it begins and ends for her, is the adventurous fall and honeymoon of it, and each new man she gets into a relationship with is thematically appropriate to the adventure/problem of the week that she and her boyfriend's family are currently facing. When she goes to the French Riviera she starts dating a rich actor because it is a tourist shoreline city where all the celebrities go, when she finds herself in the wintery unknown (she and the Moomins usually hibernate through it, they're creatures like that) she catches a crush on a professional winter sportsman, when she decides to live a hedonist life because some self-proclaimed prophet came in and told everyone to she decides to start it by running away with someone new, when she gets a job as a secretary she falls in love with a coworker who is really interested in accounting, so on and so forth. Even with Moomintroll, they fell in love upon her introduction and Moomintroll signifies a new life in the valley in which they currently live in.

And in the end all of these new romances fall apart either due to unfortunate circumstances, Moomintroll's jealous intervention or her simply becoming disinterested eventually, and in the end of all of them she returns to Moomintroll, as per formulaic comic strip storytelling. (I must mention that Moomintroll also falls in love with other women based on their looks, and he also fell in love with Snorkmaiden because he thought she was pretty, so, he's not that much better really)

This is a repeating cycle, one that Snorkmaiden is simply incapable of breaking out of due to the conventions of her narrative. No matter what she tries, where she goes, who she gets with, she'll always end up back in Moomintroll's arms whether he "earns it back through chivalry" or she runs back to him much to her previous chagrin. It's a self-fulfilling cycle too, in one comic it's shown that she's so used to Moomintroll's behavior that it sours her current relationship with an already bad partner even further. If she was capable of Truly Leaving then she stopped being capable at that point. Snorkmaiden is stuck with a long-term boyfriend when she normally strives in a short-term relationship.

She's also deeply entrenched in romance tropes and loves to roleplay them with Moomintroll, and especially loves them when she thinks they're real, these tropes she fancies usually tend toward kidnapping (and not alot of rescuing) or romantic sacrifice such as dueling or... Romeo and Juliet. These things are extensions of her ideas on what romance is, more about the short-term thrill than the long-term contentment.

Of course, with most Moomin media having a child demographic as opposed to the adult newspaper readers of the comics, Snorkmaiden's character in adaptations of these stories get presented without the depth or the means for that depth, as she gets presented as either a somewhat boring playdate to Moomintroll with grand, childish ideas of romance or a naggy girlfriend whom the writers try to make feminist but ultimately fails to deliver on anything subversive or substantial.

How this ties into the Princess is the cyclical nature of it all, the choices with no branching ends, the new experiences with seemingly no development, the change and then the sudden stop. And with the Damsel in particular it is the reduction of such an interesting and intriguing person full of potential to a cutout of a simple Love Interest. All that anguish is suddenly washed away into something more palatable, a parody of a fairytale princess, a goodness so pure that it is sickening, no motivation behind the eyes except for one simple goal.

Now. Don't get me wrong, the Damsel is my favorite princess, between the Adversaries and the Towers and the Witches and Wilds, the Damsel is the one which captivated my singular interest, becaus I'm not immune to her trappings of adorable beauty and saccharine sweetness with no other motivation than to make her hero happy, I believe that it's a combination of the player's desire for her to be a normal princess they can have a happy ending with but also her willfully stripping herself out of guilt of what she's done to the player.

She stripped herself of any real personhood just to make us happy, and that is the purest motivation anyone can have, really, a terribly misguided one but the sentiment is immeasurable. I pity her and I love her and I want her to be so genuinely happy because of what she's gone through but I know very well that she's incapable of that because the decisions the player chose made her that way, she is made incapable of genuine happiness without total dependence on the player's feelings and that really breaks my heart.

It breaks my heart when she's reduced to a crappy middle school anime drawing when she's put through the pressure of getting interrogated or being told strange things about what would make the player happy.

It breaks my heart when she's finally free but then immediately met with the coldness of the Shifting Mound and thought that coldness was happiness.

It breaks my heart when she accepts her second death with tears in her eyes and a smile because she thinks that's what made the player happy, and yet somehow she couldn't accept it as a real decision the player made on their own because in the first time she was warned that they were possessed, so the only conclusion she could come up with was that the cabin was causing this pain and so as the Grey she decides to burn the whole place to the ground and stare at you lovingly until her face melts away.

It breaks my heart that the Grey is in a wedding dress, on top of that.

She's so desperate to cling onto the first person to show her kindness that she seems to have become broken over it. She's so terribly tragic that I can't help but keep thinking about her and the million heartbreaks knowing that she's so lovely and selfless but she wasn't Real anymore.

I want her to have a massive fairytale wedding like at the end of Disney's old Cinderella movie and live forever with some physical manifestation of Voice of the Smitten. I want her to come back to personhood and cry and not be snapped like a twig over it. I want the Damsel to be happy in any way she seems fit to be but I know that can never happy, both by the nature of the game but also in the very programming of her character.

She is trapped, whether it's in the cabin, her own circular mentality or as part of the Shifting Mound, she's incapable of of being really free as her own person unless you count the ending of us leaving with the no-blade blade starter princess.

... And that's why I think she should hold a massive Snorkmaiden fair prize won by her darling new butch knight girlfriend.

[darin-nidk]

Shut your cakehole.| Vox &. sibling!Reader.

Content: Older brother Vox having beef with his younger sibling, Reader, once they got to reunite in Hell. Childish bickering.

▪︎ To be fair, Vox hadn't expected his younger sibling to be in Hell. Sure, they were not by any means an angel aaand Vox had recluctantly covered their ass and fuck-ups when they were alive, sometimes taking the blame for either the thrill of a savior complex or because he did care, not that he was going to show them that. Fucking no.

▪︎ So who the fuck would be giving a shit that one of the oh-so-called prophets, that Vox as a 'god' had, was none other than (Y/N).

▪︎ Still, when Vox didn't find trace of his parents in Hell, it was somewhat a bummer. Not exactly something he was looking forward to, but he wasn't opposed to the idea of, you know, having some sort of relative lingering in the back of his mind to visit or whatever it is that healthy families do.

▪︎ He didn't want to think about the very much real possibility of them getting killed before he got here.

▪︎ Nonetheless, when one day Valentino showed up at Vox's room, the one that was surrounded by security cameras (and even cameras that did not have any real purpose other than him being a creep) with a demon way too familiar to the point it was uncomfortable (what's with having an oval-shape head that was actually a LED screen. It was creepy how they shared similar expressions to Vox himself)... Yeah, Vox connected the dots. Unfortunately.

▪︎ "I had never been religious but I did pray to God that I would not cross paths with your sorry excuse of an ass", (Y/N) whined at the sight of their older brother who shared that TV trait, or more like technology theme. They groaned loudly and hid their face on Valentino's fur, and nuzzled there for a moment before straightening their posture. Making their way over to Vox, standing before him. "You looked more handsome in your coffin".

▪︎ "I was much happier when that freak accident killed me before I got home to your cooking". Vox was quick to reply at that jab, both tech-demons staring wordlessly at each other before breaking into a smile and soon it turned into laughter.

▪︎ Valentino was confused.

▪︎ Velvette was unamused when she walked into the Vee's tower and witnessed that scene. Turning on her heels to leave ASAP.

BONUS SCENARIO.

"So today in— fuck, (Y/N) stop, stop doing that!". The TV demon hissed, trying to supress his poorly hidden smile before he gave up and chuckled, hiding a majority of his screen behind the printed script that his claws gripped tightly. Thankfully, this was rehearsal and not an actual LIVE.

The reason for the ever 'everything needs to be perfect' overlord's laughter was his sibling — (Y/N) was behind the camera, displaying funny videos on their face-screen to distract Vox.

[whencyclopedia]

Antigone

Antigone was the third play in the Oedipus trilogy written by the great Greek playwright Sophocles (c. 496 - c. 406 BCE). Produced around 441 BCE and receiving first prize at the Dionysia festival, the tragedy was actually written long before both Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus. In the play, Antigone returns to Thebes after the death of her father Oedipus. Her brothers Polynices and Eteocles have both been killed in the war between Argos and Thebes. Creon, Antigone's uncle, has assumed the leadership of Thebes and by decree refuses to grant the traitor Polynices a proper burial. Antigone chooses to disobey Creon and bury her brother herself. Having violated Creon's order, she is imprisoned and left to die, eventually hanging herself. Haemon, her fiancé and Creon's son, joins her, taking his own life. Finally persuaded by a prophet to change his mind, Creon is too late to save either his son or Antigone. His wife Eurydice commits suicide, blaming Creon for the death of her son. In the end, Creon is left alone.

Sophocles

Sophocles was born around 496/5 BCE to a wealthy family from Colonus, a deme near the heart of Athens. Unlike many of his fellow playwrights, he was active in Athenian politics, serving as a treasurer and a general in 441-440 BCE with the statesman Pericles. Later, he became a member of a select group of magistrates given the task of reorganizing finances and domestic affairs after the disastrous defeat of Athens at Syracuse (412-411 BCE). He had two sons; Iophon by his wife Nicostrate, and Ariston by his mistress Theoris, whose son Sophocles the Younger also became a minor playwright, like his uncle Iophon. Writing almost to the day he died, his final play of the Theban trilogy, Oedipus at Colonus, was presented in competition by Iophon in 401 BCE. Sophocles received eighteen victories in competition at Dionysia, more than both Aeschylus and Euripides. Although active in Athenian political circles, his plays rarely contain any references to contemporary events or issues, making the dating of his plays difficult. Unfortunately, of his over 120 plays, only seven have survived.

According to Edith Hamilton in her book The Greek Way, by the time of Sophocles, the “stream of life” (196) that had existed a few short years earlier during the time of Aeschylus was long gone. Athens was in decline. Hamilton believed Sophocles viewed life as being hard. The always conservative playwright - even in the matters of religion - still believed in his beloved city and its laws, always upholding the established order. To Hamilton, he embodied everything we know to be Greek. He was “direct, lucid, simple and reasonable” (199).

Continue reading...

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

There is a kind of triple irony in the following exchange because it highlights two types of blindness: literal and metaphorical.

But all of them seemed surprised to hear Maester Aemon murmur, “It is the war for the dawn you speak of, my lady. But where is the prince that was promised?” “He stands before you,” Melisandre declared, “though you do not have the eyes to see. Stannis Baratheon is Azor Ahai come again, the warrior of fire. In him the prophecies are fulfilled. The red comet blazed across the sky to herald his coming, and he bears Lightbringer, the red sword of heroes.” (Samwell V, ASOS)

The first: Melisandre has two sets of eyes that Maester Aemon does not. One set through which she literally sees the world, and another that allows her to tap into the metaphysical. Mel is a powerful seer but she, in a tragic twist of fate, remains blind to the truth. By taking elements of prophecy at face value, she has determined that Stannis Baratheon is the hero of prophecy. But he is not. And so she employs various glamours and tricks to give him legitimacy. And when Mel finally encounters the (very literal) promised prince, her metaphorical blindness causes her to look right past him.

That’s how we get to the second irony: old Maester Aemon is literally blind and does not posses Mel’s powerful prophetic abilities either. Yet he is able to ascertain that Stannis is not the hero of legend. In his blindness, he still manages to see past Mel’s glamours. Stannis’ magic sword may be as bright as the sun, but it lacks heat. And many times, we see that this false “light bringer” only serves to blind people’s eyes (very literally making them look away) and, as Aemon would put it, lead them further into darkness. For all the vision she possesses, Mel quite tragically misses the mark where Aemon does not.

But there is a third irony because even though Aemon sees what Mel doesn’t, both of them are still blinded to the truth. Mel, utterly convinced that Stannis is her man, misses the visions literally spelling out that Jon is the king. And as far as Aemon goes, he spent a good amount of time thinking that the promised prince was Rhaegar. When he had cause to change his mind, he understood that Rhaegar’s son was the one. Yet Rhaegar died, as did his son. So Aemon remained at the Wall nursing his wounds. But unbeknownst to him, Rhaegar’s son did survive. No, not Aegon. The bastard, Jon Snow. And Aemon knew Jon. He taught him, and loved him. But how tragic, and so very convenient, that Aemon did not have the eyes to actually see Jon. Because if he did, would he have seen glimpses of the prince he had mourned all those years?

This is where information becomes important, especially information that helps us understand prophecy. Both Mel and Aemon make decisions based on what is available to them. What they miss is, in large part, due to what has been hidden from view. Mel sees with her magic eyes that Jon is her king but she dismisses it because he does not align with what she knows. Aemon gives Jon advice befitting of a king, even comparing him to one, but at the end of the day he’s only a Stark bastard; he doesn’t know that this bastard boy is Aegon V come again.

So Mel’s quote doesn’t just apply to her, it comes back to Aemon as well. Both of them come to know their prince, their king, but they do not understand who he truly is. And that raises some interesting questions regarding the nature of prophecy. One may know it to the letter, but do they truly have the eyes to see and understand it? Unfortunately for Aemon, he did not and he died in his ignorance. On the other hand, Mel might be given the chance to correct her mistakes. But something tells me that in an attempt to grasp the light, she will only descend further and further into the darkness…until it’s far too late!

[lovemyromance]

hi! happy holidays :) I've read ACOTAR last month & I was surprised to see this shipwar is so brutual. I don't get effected by spoilers when i read so I saw so many tiktoks, & just based on all the edits, I throught Gwyn & Azriel were a couple. Then I'm alsmost about to finish ACOSF, and there's still no Gwyn&Azriel? I commented on a tiktok of Gwynriel like did i miss something? And this lady (super condescending) was like yes! his BC. I say I read it. She asked me DID I READ THE 2ND HALF?

PT 2 of ask: hi same anon from gwynriel tiktoks! pt 2 - I tell this lady um yeah who stops halfway through a BC? then she tells me if i had read TOG and CC, it shows Gwyn & Azriel are mates. granted, i haven't read those yet. But I asked my bestie (sjm fanatic) if this happened in HOFAS? Bc i know ab the crossover. She looks at me like i'm crazy. I go back to this gwynriel on tiktok and explicitly ask like "where does it say Gwyn and Azriel are a couple or mates" and she tells me "oh it's foreshadowing" SmH

I'm sorry this Gwynriel literally asked you if you read the second half of the bonus chapter ?? LOOOOL that's so funny. They think anyone who doesn't understand where gwynriel comes from just steadfast is an elriel or hates gwyn. When most casual readers literally have no clue what they're talking about either.

Idk why they think SJM was only speaking to them when she was leaving these so called "Gwynriel crumbs and foreshadowing" like?? They are so condescending, acting like only they are capable of picking up on "subtle hints" like first of all....

SJM ain't subtle. She is cheesy and cliche and a firm believer in love and happily ever after. Nothing she has ever written has surprised me. Not once. She does have good plots and intricate world building, but when it comes to her couples, they are predictable because of how she sets the story up.

When I read TOG did I know Aelin was going to end up with Rowan? No. But I had a pretty good idea once Rowan was introduced that OH I see where she's going with this because SJM did plenty of buildup, she didn't just write Aelin skipping from Dorian to Chaol to Rowan in 3 pages in a bonus chapter.

When I read CC, I knew immediately that Bryce and Hunt were endgame. I did think Hypaxia and Ruhn were gonna be a thing, but by book 2 when they introduced Lydia, I knew Night/Day would prevail. Wasn't surprising to me in the slightest.

When I read ACOTAR, I thought Tamlin was the one - until we were introduced to Rhys. Immediately after their first meeting, I knew he would be endgame,

It's not hard to grasp. SJM is again, not subtle with it.

Gwynriels are always barking at people like they think they're prophets of SJM or something because they strung together 3 different "clues" from 16 different books. They always cite SJMs other romance switchups, forgetting the fact that we know endgames basically as soon as a character has been introduced.

Gwyn HAS already been introduced. And yet, nothing. No chemistry no conversations no interactions that are even borderline romantic with Azriel. This is while they ignore the straight up in your face Elriel scenes that are happening btw.

It's always "there is foreshadowing" while ignoring the black and white text stating a different thing on the page. Do they not understand elriel have tons of foreshadowing too? It's just why would we cite that when we have actual romantic moments?

Just another day,another reader led astray by the fandom lmao. You don't need to take a magnifying glass and go Sherlock Holmes on acotar to figure out the next couple. Unfortunately, that's the only way people claim Gwynriel exists, so they have developed this "I'm just a better reader" attitude when really it's like are you actually OUR LORD AND SAVIOR SJMS chosen one, or are you just dreaming?

[xavviluin05]

Cultsona: The Episode of Cult Formation

*The artwork serves as an attention-grabbing illustration, and the events depicted in it take place after this episode

So, the little bunny resurrected and survived her first assassination attempt. But she was still alone in the abandoned camp of the former prophet, facing a daunting task—the formation of an entire cult. How did she manage to achieve what she has now?

The little bunny, to be honest, had no idea how to create a cult. She couldn't fight, which meant she couldn’t save the innocent, and she was wary of making enemies at this stage. Her eloquence wasn’t her strong suit either; she didn’t think she had what it took to persuade or pressure others effectively.

So, in the first months of her second life, she focused on simpler, more tangible problems that she could handle. The cultist cleaned and repaired the camp, revived the local garden, searched for valuable items, and moved them to safer locations.

Narinder, for now, made no comment on the fact that his disciple had yet to establish a cult and was limiting herself to small sacrifices of food and animals.

The cultist, however, realized that since she was no fighter, she should at least work on improving her magic skills. She spent her time studying the Red Crown’s book and a few others. Through this, she discovered that she could create various weapons and tools.

Unfortunately, many spells were only accessible when in direct contact with the book, which wasn’t very convenient in case of potential combat.

And so, she lived her life little by little. Occasionally, travelers stumbled upon her camp, and she would offer them food and shelter.

Some of the travelers who came to the Valley of the Lamb decided to settle there. She still had no idea where to start, so she didn’t even try to talk to them about Narinder. Instead, she simply offered them food, shelter, and a bit of leisure—conversations about life and comforting those in need of solace.

At the same time, she didn’t hide the fact that she had her own faith; this was common knowledge. She performed various rituals and meditations, but always in solitude.

Over time, some of the followers began to join her voluntarily, helping out here and there. They felt a bit awkward being provided for without being asked for anything in return. A little help and companionship seemed like the least they could offer to repay her kindness, right...?

Narinder refrained from interfering from the very beginning because he was wise and patient enough to see the potential in the little bunny that she herself could not recognize. He believed that his intervention might ruin the process, making it less organic and more intimidating, which could drive away his future followers.

And when the valley’s inhabitants began embracing the faith on their own, his face was lit by a grim smile of satisfaction.

There is no trust between them — rather, they are bound by complete frankness. They know everything about each other and are too dependent on one another to go as far as murder. Both understand perfectly well that one wants to get rid of the other, and it's only a matter of time — who will take the first step?

[pencildragons]

ty for tagging me tessa @clayvedevs !!!!!!!!!

1. Do you make your bed?

NO. making the bed is evil and also too hard

2. Favourite number?

uhhh UHHHH 12 ? 12 is a good number i liked being twelve. 67 is also a good number !!

3. What's your job?

divine prophet of The Bog (extremely unemployed)

4. If you could go back to school, would you?

yes !!!! i lovee school i lovee learning & my hs? extremely chill

5. Can you parallel park?

yes fire emoji fire emoji fire emoji

6. Do you think aliens are real?

I feel like the possibility that there AREN'T aliens is extraordinarily low, even if they haven't evolved yet or would be completely unrecognisable as a form of life to us. the universe is still comparatively so so young so i feel the chances that at some point in the next quadzillion years that the circumstances of earth won't be replicated at least in part is hugely unlikely

7. Can you drive a manual car?

technically? i learnt to drive in a manual ute that is ABSOLUTELY not roadworthy but i did not get a manual licence :( sort of regret that but im sure if i got back in a manual i could do it again. probably

8. Guilty pleasure?

thinking in depth and forever abt my girl in middle earth oc hobbit fic that i havent properly written since like 2021. she means the WORLD to me i could make it sooo good if i just got over the evil puritans in my head telling me it is cringe

9. Tattoos?

soon!!! one day!!!! trust and believe!!!!!!!

10. Favourite colour?

loveeeeee yellow i love yellow so much soo much. unfortunately i am ginger.

11. Favourite type of music?

idk if i have a favourite TYPE of music persay? but ive sort of been bouncing between a mix of folk rock and Silly Power Metal and i will hit up the odd soundtrack also. wait actually this is untrue i am, embarrassingly, really into hyperpop (UNDERSCORES I LOVE YOU)

12. Do you like puzzles?

yeah! they're kind of evil and i am not great at pattern recognition and they hurt my back. but also v satisfying to do

13. Any phobias?

ants i fucking hate ants i HATE them (i stood in a bullant nest when i was 2) + also maybe thalassophobia? idk though that may have also been cured by the time i played 130 hours of subnautica in a week in december

14. Favourite childhood sport?

touch footie!!! i was very good at it lowk and i miss playing it terribly

15. Do you talk to yourself?

LMAO YEAH. when im thinking about writing especially. or doing literally anything. i will talk to myself

16. Tea or coffee?

TEA I LOVE TEA I LOVE TEA SO MUCH. i cannot drink coffee because The Side Effects + caffeine does not seem to have the intended effect on me, so i don't really drink caffeinated tea that much either? i absolutely LOVE rooibos with honey in it though one million out of ten

17. First thing you wanted to be when growing up?

i wanted to be a scientist because i was under the impression that scientists blew things up and that it was exclusively their job to do that. i still want to be a scientist tbh but for different reasons

18. What movies do you adore?

im so normal and regular and fine about the hobbit extended edition trilogy. so normal. no but fr i love unexpected journey i have watched it more than twenty times total and. five times in the last week and a bit LOL

Tagging:

@sithfox @hastalavistabyebye @patchmates @rockcattomato and anyone else who would like to !!!!

[cc-writes-stuff]

writeblr intro

hello writing community! i'm cc, an aspiring writer who is attempting to get back into writing original fiction again after around ~4 or so years of fanfic writing.

i've interacted with the community before and this is not my first writeblr intro, but i really started to stop both doing original writing and interacting with other writers on tumblr after covid hit, but i'm feeling a burst of inspiration, so i figured why not take a second shot at this. hopefully talking about my wips online will give me the motivation to keep working on them

about me

18+ and no i will not specify my age, but little to no sexual stuff (i do like angst though)

she/her

biromantic but currently feeling like a useless lesbian

also ace

virgo

psych major, writing minor

took four years of japanese

mostly fantasy and urban fantasy writing, dabbling in regional gothic, and whump writing

favorite book series is six of crows by leigh bardugo - it's actually what inspired me to become a writer

queer & neurodivergent friendly space

attempting to work on not being as socially anxious

u.s. american. unfortunately. at least i can vote now

also a big dnd, genshin impact, atla, pokemon and fma fan

have a cat and a dog

my wips

current

away from hallowed ground (working title)

genre: dark fantasy

premise: false prophet of a cult gets betrayed and ends up on the most buckwild road trip to find and either become a god or kill a god

status: 1st draft, writing and planning

planning/thinking

the town at the edge of the void

genre: debating whether i want to go more serious fantasy or more silly cozy slice of life

premise: a young witch lives in a town near the edge of the void. magical bullshit happens here. also, there's a nameless stranger in town who is very mysterious but she's also very pretty

status: thinking & plotting

in the backburner

a traitor's return

genre: urban fantasy

if you've been here long enough or are an old follower of mine, you may have heard of this one with some of my first two ocs ever created, cary and jordie

status: honestly currently considering a major overhaul now that i've gotten more experience in writing. but that's also too much thinking

unnamed costal gothic wip

no plot, just vibes involving a desolate light house, possibly ghosts and either magic, murder or both. also lesbians

but it's had me in a chokehold for at least a year

status: screaming crying throwing up (refuses to be plotted)

The Blorbo Repository

Wanna know more about my ocs? Find stuff here!

A result of me having too many thoughts and not enough time

links

ao3: cc_writes_stuff (fanfiction account)

pintrest: cc_writes_stuff

fallen london profile: theodore agnelli

i'm a little socially anxious but it's something i've been working on in real life, and i hope it translates to tumblr, too, so if you're interested in connecting with a fellow writer, it'd be greatly appreciated, and i'll attempt to do the same. best, cc!

[selkiewife]

Helaena's "Where would I go?" question. The way she looks so... interested in a way? I can't decide if it's like "Where would I go? I already know the future so I don't know where I could possibly go?" OR... maybe this is the first time someone has presented her with another option... and she is actually totally intrigued. It seems as though she receives kind of waking dreams or visions a lot and can't quite separate herself from the dreaming/real life. I think? Tell me if I'm wrong or if you have another interpretation. She tells Aemond this essentially- even if you killed me it wouldn't change anything. But maybe it would?

I have always said that I LOVE the prophecy inclusion in House of the Dragon because it brings up so many interesting questions. And I think what is the most interesting is the way people REACT to the prophecy- and that seems to be a huge thing in the asoiaf novels as well. You might have a dream or prophecy but interpret it wrong. You may have a dream or prophecy and interpret it "correctly" but go about achieving it "wrong." I'm putting it in quotes because I realize it's much more nuanced than I am describing it. I personally love the idea that the Targaryens are having "correct" dreams about the long night but are trying to solve the problem in the "wrong" way. Like yes, uniting Westeros may seem like the right idea (and I honestly can't blame them for thinking that) but it ultimately becomes a really distracting, brutal, self annihilating side quest? Maybe? Helaena, unlike most of the other dreamers or characters motivated by prophecy in asoiaf, doesn't seem to impose her own ideas or actions onto the prophetic visions she receives. She kind of just receives the visions and she doesn't say- "Oh, here is how I can help this prophecy come to fruition" (like Macbeth or Rhaenyra and now Daemon) or "here is how I can prevent this prophesy from happening" (like Oedipus and Daenys- Daenys being more successful than Oedipus of course lol.) Alicent has also seemed to travel her own "I must prevent the "prophecy" (from Otto) of my sons' death from happening- and yet everything she does to prevent it unfortunately ends up leading to her sons' death...

But Helaena doesn't seem moved to action by her prophetic visions. I think it's because she sees that as futile. It upsets her greatly that she can't prevent the tragedies (like her son's murder.) But! At the same time, she is in a culture that kind of reinforces this idea of passive acceptance. "I can't prevent the evil that I have seen is coming" pairs with Otto's non prophecy real world pragmatism of "this is the way the world is- either play the ugly game or die."

And yet, for the first time in perhaps her life, Alicent asks Helaena if she'd like to go somewhere else- to break script- to break her destined path. And I feel like Helaena seems to consider it for a moment. I think it would be an interesting exploration if Helaena is genuinely asking, "Could I? Could I do this? Could I leave the path that is laid out for me?" I also think it's interesting (and I really love) that it is Alicent that presents this possibility- who has always been such a symbol of walking the path that has been laid out for them. Helaena says later in the episode, "It's all a story. And you're but one part in it. You know your part." But can the part players improvise? Can they go off script? Can they wander off the path? Can they collaborate with the story? Can they change the story?

The finale left me with a lot of these questions. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm just really curious and wish for more exploration of these themes.

[shardminds]

a sacrifice in your name

pairing: azriel x gwyneth berdara rating: e (for eventually they'll fuck) wc: 4.8k almost (ch 1 - 3) primary tag: (for later chapters lol) dub-con, prophet/demon, blood play

read on ao3 - prologue under the cut

Honestly, the cul-de-sac picket fence cottage was exactly like the intel had suggested; sleepy little street, the cutest little picket fence and a garden filled with lavender and wildflowers. Aramis had been expecting something a little more run down, a cabin in the woods or something, but no. They’d been getting sloppy. This bitch had just been living in the town, going about her business, making friends with the neighbours. All it took was one flash of an old graduation photo to the hag working the counter at the general store, a fabricated nickname and some sob story of surprising a sorority sister from college — people will fall for anything these days. That shit would not fly in a city, but something about the cloying fresh cut grass smell and lack of starbucks drive thru’s drove these people insane. Community spirit, or something.

Hell, it made his job easier.

“Like candy from a baby,” Felix says, his meat suit — a waitress they’d picked up along the way — adjusting his- her blouse. “Only the baby’s dead and the candy is the sweetest win we’ve seen in centuries.”

Aramis nods. It’s a once and a lifetime deal. Almost worth stringing up an angel for.

“D’ya reckon this will be enough?” From the back seat of their piece of shit sedan, Leona reapplies her vessel’s cologne. Unfortunately, she’d wrangled into the flesh of a mortician in the throws of his mid life crisis. That’s the kind of stink that doesn’t fade away with a cheap $5 bottle of horse piss. Some people have no taste. “I mean, will it appease—”

“If he doesn’t want her, someone will.” Stepping out of the car, Aramis checks the surroundings for signs of life. This far past midnight, not even the streetlights greet them. “Either way, we’ve hit the lotto, boys. Now shut the fuck up until I give the signal.”

His own vessel — a twenty something peaked in high school type — stands out a little too much in this quiet town. Having two mediocre-hot girls turn up with a pre-balding guy past 2am in the middle of nowhere? It only screams only one thing. And, from the looks of things, this ain’t that kind of town. Who gives a shit. It’s an in and out job. He’ll be back in the pit tearing out spleens with his bare hands in no time.

If he’s lucky, they might even let him eat them. Damn, a guy can dream.

They approach the cottage in silence, the buzz of a far off highway their only companion. Until it’s not.

There’s a heavy creak, almost intentional, coming from the whitewashed porch. He holds out his hand, signaling Leona and Felix to halt or split or do something. They didn’t really discuss signs before they left the car. Luckily, both demon’s stop behind him.

She’s there. Outside. Sitting at a plastic al fresco dining set, as if that’s normal behavior for a human. Well, it could be. He hasn’t been human in centuries. He wouldn’t be above ground if he didn’t have a debt to pay. It’s cold here.

Gwyneth Berdara is a slip of a thing — tall and skinny, with her hair tied out of her face in some kind of messy knot. Aramis doesn’t know much in the concepts of flesh bag beauty but there’s something about her that clenches in his gut. Something other. The cherry of her cigarette glows brighter as she inhales and it illuminates the marks leading up her neck. Tattoos, perhaps? He’s not close enough to really tell, but it doesn’t matter anyway. He would wear the fuck out of her.

“Three demons, huh? For little old me?” She exhales a cloud of smoke and something that almost sounds like a laugh. “You guys are late.”

Leona shoots him a look. Felix does the same. He lowers his hand, taking tentative steps towards their prey.

“My apologies, sweetheart. Car troubles, wardrobe malfunctions — you know how it is.” He’s not too sure why he’s lying. Really, they should grab her, knock her out and drive to the closest portal without even breaking a sweat. This vessel isn’t really built for that kind of grunt work, though. The sweat pools on her lower back, a long drip following the curve of her spine, despite the pre-fall chill. That and his vessel’s wearing pretty much a handkerchief with a belt. Not exactly bounty hunting gear but, you know, needs must. He’s done more with less. “We’re here now. That’s what’s important.”

She stands, unfolding her crossed legs slowly and it’s crazy because she doesn’t even look towards them — just stands, stubbing out her cigarette in the half full ashtray as she does. Like she’s bored. This probably worked on normal people. But they aren’t people at all. Felix sniffs as if he can smell it too. Faint, but still there. Her fear.

“It’s no problem, really. Take your time.” She says, rolling up the sleeves of her jacket, the same scribbles on her neck littler her arms and wrists. They must be tattoos, or she’s an art teacher or something. He can see that — surrounded by kids, paint by numbers, sketchbooks and poster paints. Aramis’ mouth waters, suddenly hungry. Gwyneth Berdara isn’t an art teacher. No, it’s much worse than that. “Quick question, does Hell have AC? I don’t do too well with heat—”

“Shut up, bitch.”

Felix snaps his head to Leona, meat suit’s honey voice sharp with barbs. “Now now.”

Aramis shrugs it off. Leona’s never been the patient one. Millenia spent in the furthest pits only serving to hone her like a blade. Vicious. A worst case scenario type. He preferred to take it slow, play the long game. Back in hell, he’d been known for it. But a few bad bets, bad calls, bad deals — the house always wins. And in this case, the house won’t just break his legs.

“You’re going to come with us willingly or we’ll drag you out ourselves.” He says, each step a little more tentative. The fact that she isn’t cowering kinda pisses him off. Like she’s too good for them. No, it really pisses him off. She should be scared. The stench of fear should be intoxicating, he should be feasting on it, drowning in it. Fuck, he should be wearing it thicker than Leona’s piss water cologne, parading it around the pit like a king. “I don’t mind ditching this tux for yours if I have to,” He smirks. “I’d be gentle, I promise.”

Gwyneth Berdara sighs. She fucking sighs.

“Well, I was going to go nicely,” She descends the stairs, all casual arrogance as her booted feet hit the gravel path straight to them. Aramis will dream of his fist around her throat for the rest of his days. That and more, he’s sure. She’s less than an arms length away when she stops. He can scent her fear still but it’s coated in ozone, like someone left it out in a storm. She shrugs her shoulders in an act of nonchalance that boils his piss. One more fucking word— “But then you were late. No hard feelings, right?”

Felix twists, eyes black as she looks between him and the girl.

“What do you mean no hard feelings?” is the last thing he hears before the world burns from his periphery, circling in. It’s worse than the pit, it’s worse than an exorcism. His very essence is being clawed from the inside out, each extension of him severed from the confines of his vessel. He shouldn’t be able to taste his own burning flesh — fuck, there shouldn’t be any flesh to burn, especially when he can feel the vitality of the cheerleader surging in his- her skull; unharmed, cheering on his demise, waiting her turn to take control again. He screams but there is no sound. The body doesn’t obey him anymore.

Leona and Felix can’t help him, their faces contorted in pain, in horror. True faces, not their vessels. He can see them now, through the veneer of flesh. Oh fuck.

The lights go out.

“Like I said,” It comes as an echo, strung out as if rattling around what’s left of his form. He doesn’t hear it so much as it invades every part of what he is. He tries to grasp for it, but it’s elusive, like water, like salt. Pouring through smoke he’s losing control of, burning when it catches the shriveling curls of his form. “No hard feelings.”

He burns until there is nothing left.

read on ao3!!! >>>

[angel-of-hunky-doryness]

How Disney (Unintentionally) Created The Most Sympathetic Disney Villain

Yes, we're talking about Hades. So strap in, folks, this is gonna be a long one.

It may or may not come to a surprise to some of y'all that Mr. Hot head is my favorite Disney Villain. His charm, his sass, and above all his sarcastic one-liners, what isn't there to love about this walking-talking wheeling and dealing Mephistopheles archetype with the most basic villainous ambition of taking over the world.

Okay, fine, the cosmos. But at the end of the day, Hades has a very cut and dry appearance in Disney's Hercules. He doesn't even have nearly as much screentime as other Villains as I had previously believed.

First appearing quite apropos in the shadiest corner of Olympus ready to raise hell and all manner of chicanery just to incite misery to a newborn baby, only to exit stage left to cue the villainous side-plot with a bit of prophetical verse thrown in for good measure. A plan comes into being and he orders a hit on the aforementioned baby, only for the hit to fail despite y'know being the yutz in charge of the land of the dead *cough cough*

18 years pass and suddenly Hades has to completely 180 his plans, focusing not on his intended target of Olympus but the prophecy hero he thought he already axed. And so he unleashes a horde of monsters upon the city of Thebes as a result. The Titans are freed for some reason, Olympus is easily defeated and rescued, and then so is the plot device- I mean the Titans, and Hercules gives Hades the one punch man treatment, and so Hades is left to reconsider his life choices for all of eternity swirling in the Phlegethon/abyss. Pick your poison, either work.

Alright, cool, glad I got that out of the way. Oh, hold on, my sponsor, is giving me that beady eyed stare to remind our lovely audience that Meg was also an unfortunate victim in Hades' scheme. We'll get to Meg and Hades' relationship in a future post, but to summarize, Hades' treatment of Meg is far, far harsher and has tons more animosity than Hades and Hercules- the titular character mind you- ever had.

But I digress.

Despite, Hades' antagonistic role in the film, there are many, many nuggets that Disney gives that allows the audience to sympathize with his lot in life.

In his very quick introduction- it's a Disney movie the plot has to establish quickly cuz animators have lives too. Insert obligatory pay animator's fairly line here.

We have what I like to call Exhibit Alpha: The Introduction.

Now Disney Villains are no strangers to a dramatic introduction.

I couldn't find the exact gif of Maleficent appearing, but I ended up putting the one above because it proves my point. Everything about Maleficent strikes fear in the hearts of her audience. Everyone is watching her every move because they know she's a formidable threat.

When Hades makes himself known, the Olympians aren't scared or spooked like King Stefan and the 3 fairies were when Maleficent first appeared.

They're annoyed.

To them, Hades is the weird uncle no one invited, but shows up anyway. If anything, it looks like the gods have dealt with him before and know how to put on the cold shoulder to get him to leave faster.

The only one oblivious to all this is Zeus who invites him to stay and enjoy the party. But Hades isn't an idiot. He's very aware of the chilly reception he's getting and declines with this one-liner:

Keep this line in mind, we're going to circle back to it.

Zeus then proceeds to meet Hades with a quip right back and a very punny one at that, earning the first laugh since Hades arrived, and one at Hades' expense.

A laughing fit ensues and Hades storms off in a quiet rage.

A short scene indeed, but it tells us a lot about Hades, Zeus, and the gods.

Hades is an outcast.

Boo-hoo, homeboy just needs a girlfriend. Maybe a flaming flower-picking one, but that's neither here nor there.

Now, the interchange between Zeus and Hades makes it very clear how Hades started to become excluded from his family. Hades is absent to a lot of social gatherings and most of it is because of his job. A job that deals with stiffs, the dead, the dearly departed, however you wanna slice it.

Now before you say- well he was scheming to take over the cosmos on his free time, what do we see in the very next scene?

Over 5 billion souls served. Hades is a busy guy and the movie makes it really clear that even in his spare time meeting with the Fates, the work is piling up. Maybe that's why he's a fast talker, he's always moving and grooving so he can get some time to relax.

Yeah, yeah, we saw him smite some of his people on his small world boat ride, but considering we only see one god working in the underworld, he doesn't have the time of day for them and after eons of this drudgery he's gotten quite apathetic to their pleading.

The shades are just as doomed as him really.

Now we're going to gloss over a few scenes and move to Exhibit Beta: The Thebans.

Hold the phone, Hades isn't even in this scene.

My point exactly. Hades is a bit busy amassing a horde of monsters. Hecc, none of the disgruntled Thebans even mention a monster in their list of disasters. The Monster Mash party starts after Hercules rolled into town thanks to Meg after her failed recruitment of Nessus.

So what does that tell us? Whoever causes floods, earthquakes, fires probably caused by lightning incited these disasters not Hades. Hmm, on a weird side note, I don't think Hades' brothers, the earthshaker or god of storms, fit those descriptions at all.

All these disasters were happening while the Olympians did nothing. It wasn't unheard of for the ancient greek gods to send wayward mortals to do their bidding and help people or free them from monsters, so why does Phil put it upon himself to take Hercules out for the hero life? (Yeah Disney should've included the presence of other gods working on earth to make them out to really be responsible and helpful, hell maybe have Hermes fly in congratulating Herc for completing his training and direct him towards Thebes)

It's almost like Hades is the only god who's present or aware of the woes on earth. Sure he adds to it, but are the Olympians really lounging about doing nothing in this movie?

Exhibit Gamma: Storming the Palace

....

I have no words. Zeus and Hera could've been doing paperwork?? Looking out for their son??? Have a meeting with the Pantheon and that's why they're suddenly blindsided by the Titan attack???

Hades, though sassy, though sarcastic, and just a bucketful of ruthless and malicious described the Olympians to a T.

Hecc, the Olympians had no idea the Titans were out destroying the world until they were literally on their front doorstep. If Hades had told them to destroy half of Greece, they would've done so before the Olympians noticed.

And it's so contrived, but the only reason Hades lost was b/c Hercules shows up and frees some of the gods. Like if one other god was not on Mount Olympus they could've come save the day. But every god was there. Make that a fanfic y'all. ONe where the one god who was- I don't know confined to their island or something wondering where her mother went and so she has to gather all the nymphs and natures spirits to save olympus or some drivel like that.

Hermes had to sound the trumpet like judgement day to get the gods rocking and rolling. And that's not even considering how Hades gets punched into oblivion.

Exhibit Delta: Revelation 20:14 (NIV)

The one god who did his job has been thrown in prison??? Zombie apocalypse??? Is that you??? Where's Shawn when you need him???

Confine him to the underworld, Wonder Boy. Get your Greece Lightning father to take care of business in a flash. He'd get you Meg back in an instant. Just ask nicely. We know Psyche is in attendance. Meg deserves it after all she went through.

I know it's more dramatic, but the world of Hercules is absolutely screwed. Talk about a happy ending with terrible implications for the state of the world. Meg and Hercules are going to die and be sent to an afterlife with no deity to even send them to Elysium, and that's if Hades comes back at all.

*Takes a long drink from my pina colada*

I didn't mean for this post to turn into a hate show on the Disney Olympians. I'm just, I always knew Disney messed up hard on this movie. And yes I adore the hell out of it, but making a villain more sympathetic and likable than the hero? When I started writing this I didn't think it would get this bad, but the more I looked into it?

I haven't even touched how Hades has the worst employees, having to put up with his imps? The Titans who don't even know where the tallest mountain is?

For all his manipulation with Meg, Hades did give her everything he promised her. He's a devil sure, but he's a god of his word. He couldn't even force Meg to seduce Hercules, he had to convince her with some extra added relinquish your soul type bit. Hell, he was even willing to negotiate with Hercules after hurting his dog.

To finish off, even with those nuggets sprinkled in, at the end of the day Hades is a villain through and through. Yes, he's fun, yes, every single one of his lines is an improvised banger, but that's kind of the point.

One of the directors of Hercules once described Hades as being the type of evil that's attractive. Drags you in with promises of honey until you find yourself drowning in mercury. He's Mephistopheles offering you a Faustian deal, Satan with the apple, and this author trying to advertise their terrible fanfic that delves into this very topic.

I remain ever yours, dear readers.

Till next time.

[dullgecko]

I've been thinking of flavoured coffees because it's almost pumpkin spice season and I was thinking about how Riz would either really like them or hate them. No in between.

Riz wasn't really paying attention to what was going on around him, the rogue perched on the edge of a dining room table at Mordred as he tried to sort out the mess that was one of Kristen's history papers.

Kristen had been sitting at the table with him at one point to at least try to look like she was doing her own homework but he'd sent her away when she started trying to spin pens around her fingers like he did. She'd failed badly enough that it had flown out of her hand and bounced off the goblins glasses with a loud thwaking noise, startling him into spilling his coffee he'd been mid sip drinking.

They'd managed to save their notes but now the rogue was sullen and cranky without his caffeine. His pen making clicking noises against his claws as he spun it around and around as he tried to focus on Kristen's terrible handwriting. He was tempted to just scrap the entire thing and rewrite it for her but he didn't think he could replicate her horrible chickenscratch convincingly. Plus, his mom had caught him doing one if Figs assignments for her last week and made him promise to stop; he had enough work on his plate already without doing his friends school work for them as well.

And so, here he was, doing the infinitely harder and more time consuming task of proofreading Kristen's work for her. He'd honestly had cyphers in his rogue classes that were easier to crack and the lack of caffeine was just making it harder. He couldn't even make a new cup because they were out of instant coffee, but hopefully Jawbone would be home soon with groceries.

Riz took off his glasses, holding them in one hand so he could lay his forehead against the relatively cold surface of the dining room table. Not looking up when he heard the front door of the manor open and someone sat down with a thump on the opposite side of the table from him.

He could hear them shuffling around his mess of balled up papers, most of them getting knocked onto the floor, before something was placed down in their place.

"I have brought you provisions The Ball." Fabian tapped the top of Rizs head, the goblin rolling it to the side to squint at the large take away cup now sitting next to him. His glasses hitting the table with a clatter as he grabbed the hot cup and dragged it over closer.

"Uuuugh yessss. This is why you're my best friend. How did you know?"

"Adaine sent me a prophetic warning that this would be your villain origin unless we acted fast." The fighter laughed when Riz made a noise of agreement, the goblin sitting up and taking a sip of the drink and immediately pulling a face.

"Ugh. I think /this/ might be my villain origin actually. What the hell is this?" He took another sip, the drink making his face tingle as the combination of sugar and caffeine hit his tongue. On second taste it wasn't bad but it certainly wasn't what he was expecting.

"One of those fancy flavoured drinks they have this time of year. Pumkin spice, but I think it's just caramel, nutmeg and cinnamon. No pumpkin at all. I thought it was quite nice." Fabian sipped his own, watching the goblins face journey as they drank some more and tried to work out if they liked it or not.

"Huh... alright then. I mean it's not /bad/ but I wasn't expecting it. Guess it caught me off guard. Thanks." He put the drink down, tongue darting out to lick some of the foam off his lips as he reached for his glasses. "Hmmm yeah. I think I like it."

"Excellent. Do try to pace yourself with it though. It's got three shots of espresso in it and enough sugar to kill an ogre."

Fabian, unfortunately, didn't know what kind of evil he had just unleashed though. Especially because now that Riz had gotten a taste of the fancy flavoured coffees Fabian preferred he wanted /more/. The only problem was they cost fourteen silver from the good coffee shop downtown, compared to the six bronze coins his usual sludgy gas station coffee cost him. Riz was in a foul mood for weeks when he found this out.

[honoringthor]

I got curious about Apollo’s lovers after someone pointed out there wasn’t just Hyacinth or Daphne so I looked.

I found out that one kid can have a lot of different candidates for their mother.

Disclaimer: a lot of this comes from Wikipedia. I’ve included their sources in italics. It’s a long, incomplete list.

🎵🎶male🦢

There is Ademetus of Pherae in Thessaly. He was an Argonaut and hunted the Caledonian boar. His wife loved him so much that she exchanged her life for his so he could live until she was supposed to die. She did this with the help of Apollo. At one time Apollo was sent to work for Adementus as punishment for killing Delphyne, the serpent at Delphi. Apollo fell in love and after his punishment served Adementus out of affection.

Maybe Hymensias (Hymen*) god of marriage ceremonies. He’s also a Erotes**. In most stories he’s a son of Apollo by one of the Muses. Sometimes Dionysus is his dad, sometimes it’s Magnes. There seems to be a lot of instances where someone is either a son or lover depending on who’s telling a story. When he’s the son of Magnes, Apollo Falls in love and stays at Magnes house for a while. (Megalai Ehoiai) Unrelated but he and a bunch of women get captured by pirates and he and the women killed thier captors.

Adonis who it’s said “acted like a man with Aphrodite and a woman with Apollo”. (Ptolemy Hephestion, New History Book 5)

Maybe Boreas 🌬️ who’s the personification of the north wind, storms, and winter. You may know his name from the Hyacinth myth. Some of Boreas’ sons, Zetes and Calais, described Apollo as “beloved of our sire”. (Valerius Flaccus)

Branchus was a former Shepard in Miletus in what’s now Türkiye. Apollo gifted him with prophecy and he introduced the worship of Apollo to Didyma in the Ionian part of Türkiye then mysteriously disappeared.

Carnus was Acarnanian Greek and seer who was taught divination by Apollo who helped raise him. But in some stories they are friends and/or lovers. Unfortunately Hippotes used Carnus’ obscure prophesies as an excuse to murder him. And that’s how the Dorians got a plague, Apollo got a new cult, and the Spartans began celebrating the Carnia.

Cinyras was mentioned by Pindar as “beloved of Apollo” and priest of Aphrodite. (Pindar, Pythian Ode 2) Mars murdered him supposedly because he posed a challenge to Apollo. No idea why Mars would be involved, I’m pretty sure Apollo could handle it.

Cyparissus was loved by Apollo. He also accidentally killed his pet stag and turned into a cypress tree. The cypress then became associated with mourning and now it’s found in many cemeteries. The tree is also sacred to Apollo.

Helenus of Troy/Scarmandrios was a son of Priam and Hecuba and twin of Cassandra. Like his sister he was also a prophet. His name was changed from Scarmandrios to Helenus. (Photius Bibliotheca excerpt)

Hippolytus of Sicyon in the Peloponnesus (Plutarch, Life of Numa 4.5)

Iapyx/Lapis was a lover of Apollo who chose healing as his gift instead of prophecy. He became healer to Aeneas and founded the city of Apulia/Puglia in southern Italy, the stiletto part. He may be the brother of Icarus. (Aeneid XII 391-402).

Maybe Phorbas/Phorbaceus, son of Triopas and Hiscilla, prince of Thessaly, and hero of Rhodes. He was either a rival in love of Apollo or actually his lover.

🔮🔮🔮🔮🔮🔮🦢🦢🦢🦢🦢🌿🌿🌿🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛🐺🐺🐝🐝🐍🐍🐭🐭🐭🐬🐬🐬🐬🐂🐂🌻🌻🌻🏹🏹🏹🎵🎵🎵🐀🐀🐀🤧🤧🤧

🌿female🐍

Acacllis/Acalle, a princess of Crete. A daughter of Minos and Pasiphae and Ariadne’s sister. She may have had multiple children by Apollo and maybe other gods. Acacllis was a Cretan name of A narcissus flower.

Various Muses. Apollo is their leader and occasional lover who has father multiple children by some of them.

Aegle/Coronis the Lapith*** was a princess of Thessaly and mother of Asclepius. Coronis was turned into the constellation Corvus. (According to Istrus).

Celaeno of Phocis mother of Delphus by Apollo. Phocis is the area of Greece that Delphi is in.

Melaens/Melena was the sister of Celaeno and may have been the mom of Delphus by Apollo instead of her.

Aethusa was a daughter of Poseidon and Alcyone. She bore Apollo Eleuther and Linus making her the great grandma of Orpheus. She’s usually identified as a Thracian****

Chione daughter of Daedalion, By Apollo she bore Philammon, maybe. She’s also mother of Autolycus by Hermes. Then she got cocky and bragged that she was hotter than Artemis. Artemis shot her through her tongue, killing her. Her dad didn’t take it well and Apollo had to turn him into a hawk to save him. Philonis has the same story.

Alciope mother of Linus by Apollo. Maybe.

Chrysothemis maybe a lover of Apollo, she was a poet. She’s also the daughter in law to Dionysus and Ariadne.

Rhoeo was mother of Anius by Apollo. Her mom was Chrysothemis by Staphylus making her grand daughter of Dionysus and Ariadne.

Anchiale according to Servis, she was the mother of Oaxes by Apollo. Maybe.

Areia was a nymph from Crete, daughter of Cleochus, and mother of Miletus by Apollo. (Apollodorus, 3.1.2)

Arsinoe may have been mother to Asclepius instead of Coronis. She also had a daughter by Apollo. Arsinoe was honored as a heroine in Sparta.

Corycia was a naiad from the springs of the Corycian cave on Mt Parnassus in Phocis. She had a son, Lycorus, by Apollo.

Cyrene/Kyrene the lion killer was a Thessalian princess and queen of Cyrene. She killed a lion w/her bare hands and Apollo thought it was hot. She had Aristaeus, Atuchus, and Idmon by Apollo. Idmon was a seer, Aristaeus became a god. Apollo made her queen of Cyrene in NE Libya.

Dia may have been the mother of Dryops by Apollo.

Evadne, Apollo was her first love. She conceived a child, Iamus, on her.

Hecuba was queen of Troy and may of had 2 kids with Apollo, Hector and Troilus. According to Stesichorus,Hecuba was rescued by Apollo during the sack of Troy. She may have been turned into a dog in 2 different stories, one because of her reaction to being given to Odysseus as a slave. In either story This allowed her to escape, now she travels with Hecate.

Hyria/Thyria/Hyrie/Thyrie was mother of Cycnus/Cygnus. May have been turned into a swan like her son.

Issa/Amphissa. Her story was woven by Arachne during her contest with Athene. Achilles may have used this name when he pretended to be a woman.

Leuconoe was a daughter of Lucifer and mother of Philammon. Maybe.

Othreis was an oread in a relationship with Zeus and Apollo. With Apollo she had Phager.

Parthenope of Leleges*****daughter of king Ancaeus of Samos and Samia. She had one of the Lycomedes by Apollo.

Phthia was mother of Doris, Laodocus, and Polypoetes.

Psamathe her chile was torn apart by dogs sometime after she abandoned him. Her father had her murdered for some reason and Apollo avenged her and the child’s death with a plague.

Rhodoessa bore the hero Ceos.

Stilbe was the mother of Centaurus and Lapiths. Centaurus is the ancestor of Centaurs.

Syllis was mother of Zeixippus.

Thero, daughter of Phyla’s and Leipephilene, mother of Chaeron

Thyia is associated with the cults of multiple gods. One of the candidates of the mother of Delphos by Apollo.

Zeuxippe is daughter Athamas and maybe mother of Ptous. Ptous is also an epithet of Apollo.

*no relation to the body part.

**In some myths, Eros is separated into multiple deities called Erotes collectively.

***Lapiths were a legendary ethnic group who lived in Thessaly in the Pineios valley. They were related to centaurs and were excellent horsemen. Unlike their centaur cousins, Lapiths looked like regular humans. They were descended from Apollo. They also fought with the centaurs and won. (centauromachy)

****Thracians were cultures that lived in Bulgaria, Romanian, N Greece, and NW Türkiye. It seems to be an umbrella term, like Celtic or Slavic.

*****Leleges we’re president Greek inhabitants of parts of Greece